Hands-on with Samsung's Galaxy Player 4, 5 personal media devices

Samsung Player 4

Samsung Player 4

Samsung Player 4

We got some hands-on time with Samung's long-in-the-making Galaxy Player 4 and Galaxy Player 5 this evening. The Galaxy Player devices both run Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and can be considered Samsung's answer to Apple's iPod touch.
Both Player devices are entirely plastic, and neither has a terribly expensive feel when you hold it. The back covers are glossy plastic, which is very good at collecting fingerprints. It would have been nice if Samsung included the textured battery covers that have shown up on its recent smartphones.
As one might expect, the Galaxy Player 4 is the smaller of the two, with its 4-inch, Super Clear LCD display. It is essentially a Samsung Vibrant 4G smartphone without the phone, as it features a 1GHz, single-core processor and Samsung's TouchWiz interface on top. Performance was acceptable in the short time I handled the Player 4, and Samsung's TouchWiz interface did not seem to overpower the processor. The version of TouchWiz found on each Player is the older, decidedly less attractive version than found on Samsung's newer Galaxy S II smartphone. The Super Clear LCD did look good though, despite it not being a Super AMOLED Plus screen that Samsung is so famous for.

Samsung Player 5

Samsung Player 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

The larger of the two media devices, the Galaxy Player 5 offers much the same experience as its smaller sibling, though obviously presented on a larger display. The 5 is much closer to tablet territory than the 4, and it can be a bit unwieldy in your hands. Nevertheless, typing on such a large screen is a dream, and videos really looked great on the 5-inch, LCD display. I do wish that Samsung opted for a denser pixel resolution than WVGA, though, as individual pixels are certainly noticeable with that resolution stretched to five inches.
The Galaxy Player devices are obvious competitors to Apple's iPod touch, though they could also serve as good Wi-Fi-only VoIP phones. The access to the Android Market opens up endless possibilities when it comes to apps, and the Player's low cost of entry could be very attractive to some buyers.
The Galaxy Player 4 and 5 will be available to purchase for $229 and $269 respectively on October 16.

Samsung Galaxy Player 5

Samsung Galaxy Player 5

Samsung Galaxy Player 5

Samsung Galaxy Player 5

Samsung Galaxy Player 5

Samsung Galaxy Player 5

Samsung Galaxy Player4

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HTC Thunderbolt Gingerbread update still scheduled for this month

It is not a secret that many HTC Thunderbolt owners are getting antsy about having their phones updated with Gingerbread. Many software leaks have been spotted in the wild but weren’t really official which means that the normal phone user wouldn’t have been able to install them because they’ll have to root their phones. HTC promised that the both the HTC incredible and Thunderbolt will get Android 2.3 during September, and so far only the Dinc had the honors.
A Twitter user going under the handle @treybarnes66 asked HTC about when he will be able to get Gingerbread on his Thunderbolt. They replied with the following statement: “Yes, it’s still scheduled for this month. Thank you for your patience, Trey.” So there you have it, the update is still on its way and we will know for sure in four days.
Source @HTC
via Phonedog

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HTC EVO Design 4G Appears In Official Press Image

The HTC EVO Design 4G for Sprint has popped in an official press shot for the device. The EVO Design was formerly known as the HTC Kingdom and will also be headed to US Cellular under the Hero S title. The device will feature a modest 1.2GHz single-core Snapdragon, 768MB of RAM, 4-inch qHD display, 5MP rear/1.3MP front facing cameras and running on Android 2.3.3. Given the fact HTC has cut back on many of the higher-end specs we’ve come to expect on devices like the EVO 3D, I would imagine this device will be priced right a lot less. This will make the EVO Design 4G stand out for Sprint shoppers on budget. Still no word on release date but with a leaked press shot — we don’t imagine it could be too far now.
[Via Pocketnow]

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SanDisk Memory Zone Now Available In The Android Market – Back Up SD Card To The Cloud

SanDisk has released a new memory management app onto the Android Market today called Memory Zone. The app acts as sort of super file manager app giving you the ability to manage all of the saved content on your phone’s SD card (or internal memory) by moving it around, deleting or uploading/downloading it from one of your existing cloud services like Dropbox or Picasa. The cool part? You can even schedule regular backups to make sure all of the content on your phone is safely secured in the cloud. SanDisk Memory Zone also adds to functionality of password protecting any file or folder on your phone’s SD card if you wanted to hide something like, your extensive collection of… flower photos.

Where the app really shines is the fact it combines the functionality of more than a few apps currently on the Market, all into one. Now you only have to make one stop to manage, protect and backup all your most important files. You can download SanDisk Memory Zone for free right now in the Android Market.
[Market Link]

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Developer Successfully Ports Beats Audio to HTC EVO 3D [ROM]

A developer on XDA known as Virus has successfully managed to cook up the very first Beats audio ROM for the EVO 3D. The ROM is essentially a port of the stock Sensation XE ROM but built from the ground up to allow compatibility for the EVO 3D on Sprint. This is actually the first EVO 3D ROM to feature HTC’s new Beats technology so I’m sure many rooted 3VO owners will be excited to try this one out. Check out the full list of all the mods featured in this ROM below.

• THE FIRST 3d rom to have FULL BEATS AUDIO from the Sensation XE!!
• REMOVED CARRIER IQ from EVERY smali file in ever jar !!
• Odexed for a SMOOTH EXPERIENCE
• ROOT (SU + SuperUser Permissions – Thanks to ChainsDD)
• Zipaligned (Improved RAM management)
• Zipalign on boot (for user applications on data partition)
• init.d scripts (BusyBox run-parts) support
• NANO text editor & sysro/sysrw commands support
• All the sense packages have been opted and extra languages have been removed (Will finish with the rest of the apps soon)
• Full HTC Sense 3.0 Interface
• Fully Optimized and Tweaked
• Forced GPU UI Rendering
• SD Card speed tweak
• Battery auto-calibration script (Thanks to seo)
• Bloatware applications removed
• Signature check hack by RC Team
• Eternity Custom lock ring (THANKS wrmx4temp)
• Eternity custom bootscreen (Thanks wrmx4temp)
• Transparent notif pulldown
• Transparent app drawer
• Disabled scroll by page in app drawer
• SMS Backup & Restore feature (Thanks Xron)
• Enhanced stock browser (Custom UI string, 20tabs & more) (Thanks Xron)
• Stock % battery display
• CRT TV screen on/off animation
• unlocked HTCModem (USB tethering & internet sharing)
• unlocked hotspot (thanks leoisright)
• 5-in-1 reboot menu
• DSP manager (thanks cyanogen)
• EPST that allows all ## codes
• ipv6 privacy enhancement (rfc4941)
• Modified Camera (Extra scenes, Mirror app, ability to toggle shutter sound on/off, long press on screen to take pictures and 2MP resolution for front cam) (Thanks SteelH)
• Lots of build prop enhancements (Thanks Mike1986 Leadroid and Romanbb)
• ext4 tweaks (Thanks TrevE)

Now that development seems to be up in full effect on the EVO 3D, I think the time for root is now. Hit up the source link for download links and the thread for InfectedROM Eternity with XE Beats Audio.
[Via XDA]

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 hits the FCC

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (GT-P6810) has just cleared the FCC making us even more excited to see this bad boy come to the US.

While we heard all the details when it was announced we’ll go over them real quick. The Tab 7.7 will come with a 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED Plus display all on that 7.7″ form factor, along with a 1.4 GHz dual-core Samsung processor, 1GB of RAM, and offered in 16 and 32GB flavors. With a 3MP camera on the rear and 2MP up front this really is a portable tablet with everything you could ask for and then some.

Seeing it pass through the FCC gives us a clear indication that it’s headed to the US but we are still in the dark regarding the details. Something being called the Galaxy Tab Plus was spotted for T-Mobile but this latest FCC filing only implies a Wi-Fi version but most likely both options will be available. This is all we’ve seen regarding the Tab 7.7 since it went missing from the IFA showroom floor. Hopefully more details and a possible release date are unveiled shortly.

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Samsung Officially Announces Galaxy Tab 8.9, and Galaxy Players coming in October

Samsung has just announced full pricing and retail availability for three new Android devices today. Those being the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 as well as the Galaxy Player 5.0 and 4.0 media devices. We’ve seen plenty of these over the past few weeks as well as full Tab 8.9 pre-order information. Today we have full details and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 will be available starting October 2nd.

First off we’ll start with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 as it should be an awesome tablet. Just like its bigger brother the Galaxy Tab 10.1 it features Android 3.1 Honeycomb along with the Samsung Touch Wiz for tablets user interface. Running on an 8.9″ beautiful display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, coming in both 16 and 32GB versions upon launch. With a huge 6,100 mAh battery it should last longer than most tablets around and be the ultimate portable companion.
Samsung has stated the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is available for pre-order now at places like Best Buy, and will be for sale nationwide starting October 2nd for $569 for the 32GB version and $469 for the 16GB version.

Next up is the Samsung Galaxy Player — coming in both a 4.0 and 5.0″ size and also available in October. The Galaxy Players will bring the portability and power of Samsung’s Galaxy line powered by Android to the media device market. Offering a great priced alternative to the iPod Touch. Both the Galaxy Player models will come aboard with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, full Google services and Market support, 1.0 Ghz single-core processors, 8GB of internal storage, and have 3.2 MP cameras on back and VGA front for video chat. Then they vary a bit regarding size, weight, battery life, and screen size obviously given the names. The full spec sheets can be seen below but it’s interesting to note the Galaxy Player 5.0 has a huge 2500 mAh battery while the 4.0 only comes with a 1200 mAh battery. Either way these both look great and will make the perfect media player for the Android user.
The Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 will be available this October, starting on the 16th with the 5.0 being $269 and the Player 4.0 will come in around $229
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HTC Vigor poses for a photo shoot and confirms LTE aspirations [Gallery]

The HTC Vigor is starting to become like the DROID Bionic as we are seeing leaks just about daily now. What better way to confirm all the specs than to get actual hands-on images of the about screen giving us the dirty on all the specs right? Check out the gallery below for all the information and views you’ll need of the upcoming 1.5 GHz dual-core phone with that 720p HD display.

We have heard more than a few rumors regarding this phone and its name. Last we heard it will be called the Incredible HD but now sources are claiming it might be named the HTC Rezound at launch. While we have already confirmed the Vigor will sport Beats Audio integration there isn’t any sort of branding on the rear other than Verizon 4G LTE. Maybe the Sensation XE was just lucky, we don’t know.

The image above outlines most of the important details but lets go over them shall we? Clearly it shows the 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and that 4.3″ qHD 720p true HD display. As well as the 8MP rear with dual LED flash and the front camera is also confirmed at 2 megapixel’s rather than VGA like many we’ve seen thus far. All of this lines up exactly like the original leaks way back in July. Not everyone trusts those NenaMark benchmark results but this one has been deemed pretty accurate if you ask me.
Currently while we know plenty about the HTC Vigor, no other details have yet to be confirmed regarding price, release date, or the official name although I think we’ll be seeing it as the DROID Incredible HD. If the leaked Verizon roadmap ends up accurate, we should see the HTC Vigor early October. Stay tuned for more details, news, and leaks as there’s bound to be plenty more over the next few days or weeks.
[via TeamBAMF]

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ZTE Smart 7″ Android Tab clears the FCC

We saw the ZTE Smart tablets back at IFA 2011 but no details confirmed where it would launch. Now the 7″ Honeycomb tablet from ZTE has cleared the FCC making us hopeful it will see a U.S launch soon. It’s about time we get a few more 7″ tablets in for some competition although I have a feeling we’ll have plenty to choose from very soon.

Looking through the FCC filing we see a rear facing camera, Google stamped on the back, as well as support for both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. We are looking at a soft coated rubber texture type backside for easy grip, as well as Android 3.2 Honeycomb but the rest of the details remain pretty tight lipped. We did see an ZTE Tab with 4G LTE back in March, so this new tablet could have the same fate although we only se 3G stamped on the image above.
Along with the Vodafone versions we can expect Android 3.2 Honeycomb and a dual-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, and coming in both 16 and 32GB flavors. The rest of the details regarding the ZTE Smart Tab are a bit scant but once we dig up further details we’ll be sure to update you all. Pricing and availability is still unknown at this point.
[via SlashGear]

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