Samsung’s Jelly Bean Update Schedule And Plans Leakded For Galaxy Smartphones


 

We know there are many new and existing owners of successful Samsung devices, but as Samsung continues to churn out new flagship devices– the old ones may be left in the cold and not subject to updates of the latest Android software. While it’s certain owners of the Galaxy S III are all clear for the Jelly Bean update, it looks like owners of both “older” devices such as the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II will possibly be primed for some Jelly Bean lovin’ as well. SamMobile reports “the test firmwares for the Galaxy S III are passed and they are working on a public version of the first Jelly Bean updates for the Galaxy S III”. All that’s left now is the public version to be complete for the device as well as the OK from Google itself. The Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note currently has firmware that’s being tested by Samsung at this time and has been successful so far, but should Samsung decide against offering the full update for both devices— it would offer a Value Pack instead (sound familiar…?). And finally, the Galaxy Note 2 is currently running on Android 4.0 at this time and it’s not certain if Sammy will the Galaxy Note 2 will launch with ICS or Jelly Bean— if it does indeed launch with ICS, then the public can expect an update within a few months after the device’s initial release.

SamMobile also provided an unofficial guidance of if/when we can expect the Jelly Bean update for the respective Galaxy devices:

 

  • Galaxy S III – End Q3 – Start Q4
  • Galaxy S II – Q4
  • Galaxy Note – Q4
  • Galaxy Note II – begin Q4

 

We’re excited for Galaxy S III owners, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II smartphones as well! Maybe then you won’t have to give up your old Galaxy phone to Sammy after all.

source: SamMobile

 

Samsung Galaxy S I, II And III Go Head-To-Head In A Display Shootout


The Samsung Galaxy smartphone series has presumably gotten better over the years, right? Well as far as processing speed, memory and improved UIs are concerned, then absolutely. But what about the AMOLED displays—- has it gotten better over the years? Well, yes and no. As seen in a Galaxy shootout thanks to some curious individuals at DisplayMate, there are some interesting findings about the displays seen over the years. For example, the color gamut across all devices fell between 136 – 139 percent. Typically a color gamut too large is visually worse than a small color gamut and results in what’s considered to be an ‘irregular display’ where the Green is more saturated compared to Red or Blue, as seen in the Galaxy S line of smartphones. In addition, there were additional findings such as each device having an unusual color shift when the displays on each device at an extreme viewing angle. Specifically– DisplayMate highlights the displays of the Galaxy I, II and III “take on a distinctly strong blue color shift and cast” when being viewed at an angle of greater than 45 degrees.

On the flipside— it’s not all negative findings. The running time of the displays on the devices has improved which each passing generation. When running at maximum power in Airplane mode, the Galaxy S I sees a run time of 3.2 hours,  the Galaxy S II sees 4.4 hours and the Galaxy S III sees an astounding 5.6 hours.

The study and conclusions are certainly a bit on the technical side, but they’re both nonetheless interesting as heck. If you’re interested in checking out additional or more specific details, make sure to hit the source link which you can find below.

source: DisplayMate

Samsung Outlines ICS Update Additions, ‘Face Unlock’ Now Requires You to Blink for Added Security


Samsung today announced new features that were added to the ICS update that is scheduled to hit select Galaxy devices. Samsung’s Product Planning Team, the folks in charge of creating the update, spoke with Samsung Tomorrow detailing what is to be expected in the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S firmware updates.

The man in charge of the Galaxy S “value pack” update, SangHyuck Nam, says the device’s firmware update will contain five additional functions and expects customers to be happy with the upgrade since they “tried to make functions as similar to those found in ICS as possible.” One of the more notable features included is the more secure ‘Face Unlock’ function, requiring the user to blink to prove that in fact it isn’t just some ne’er-do-well using a picture of the owner in an effort to unlock the device. Another big addition is a custom  version of Go Launcher, called S Go Launcher. This new launcher will allow the user to further customize the phone’s home screens and to replace standard ICS icons with ones of the owners chosing. Also included is ‘Photo Editor’, ‘Beta Font’ for font sizing, and a ‘Snapshot’ feature that allows for taking pictures while filming video.
Read more

Ice Cream Sandwich AOSP Builds Arrive For Many Devices [Courtesy of XDA]


Many of you felt let down when Google’s Mobile Product Manager, Hugo Barra, announced that the big G had no plans to update the Nexus One to ICS because the device was cited as being “too old”. This news didn’t sit well with XDA members either, and because the released ICS SDK-port for the Nexus One was entirely too slow for any real use, members decided it was time to get crafty.

It was only last week when news broke about the release of the ICS Source Code and we knew it would only be a short time until AOSP builds would arrive on the scene. Here we are 5 days later and we are pleased to see that XDA member, dr1337, has created a functional AOSP build for the Nexus One and is ready to share with the world. What’s even better is the fact that this is just one of the devices to receive ICS AOSP builds, and even more XDA members have been busy as well.

Thanks to the hard work from, dizgustipated, MongooseHelix, stritfajt, jaybob413, onecosmic, Chaosz-X, and zFr3eak; the Nexus S, Droid Eris, Hero, Hero CDMA, Galaxy S I9000, Desire, and Desire HD now get to feast on a little Ice Cream Sandwich treat. I know this has got to be great news for many of you and you are just dying to get to work on your own device. We have included the following XDA links to help you in your task:

Most of these are going to have a few hiccups here and there but that can be expected with any early AOSP build. Please read all the directions carefully and pay attention to the XDA comments for your respective device, you may find out that there are certain bugs that you may not be able to deal with. Reported user feedback has been overwhelmingly good but, TalkAndroid is not responsible for anything you do to your device and this is purely for your reference. If you are a Nexus S owner and want to see what is in store for you, jump past the cut to check out a Youtube video of the phone in action. Lets all be sure to give thanks where it is due, these guys must have been working really hard to bring these builds to the public. Thanks guys!!


Read more

Samsung Galaxy S Gets Alpha Ice Cream Sandwich Build


The next phone on the list to get an unofficial upgrade appears to be the Samsung Galaxy S. Two MIUI developers decided to take a break from MIUI in order to port Android 4.0 to the Galaxy S. And guess what? They were successful. And by successful, I mean very little is working and it is so unstable that they haven’t even released it to the public yet. But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Developers only really have the option to make half baked versions of ICS because Google has released the Source Code yet (just the SDK). But if you want an early build of ICS on your Galaxy S, stay tuned!

[via xda]

Samsung sells 30 million Galaxy S, Galaxy S II phones


Apple may have succeded to successfully block the sales of select Samsung devices in a couple countries around the world but that hasn’t stopped the Galaxy series of phones from becoming an international hit. South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung, announced that sales of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II have sold a whopping 30 million units worldwide between the two devices. The first generation Galaxy S has reached nearly 20 million, while its sequel, the Galaxy S II recently passed the 10 million mark.

Samsung also reports that the GSII is Sammy’s fastest selling device to date, only taking five months to break 10 million units sold. Adding to the success story, the GSII received various accolades such as the ‘Mobile Choice’ and ‘Consumer Award’ 2011, and the ‘Phone of the Year’ title from the Gadget Awards 2011.

30 million consumers can’t be wrong, if you are one of them sound off in the comment field below.

[via koreatimes]

Galaxy S Plus up for Pre-order on Vodafone UK


We have yet to see the Samsung Galaxy S II hit the U.S., but there continues to be new little brothers of the device hitting elsewhere.

An upgraded version of the Galaxy S has appeared for pre-order on Vodafone’s UK web site. Trending to be more a reboot to the SGS, it’s almost identical physically (aside from the chrome rim around the bezel), has a faster 1.4 Ghz single-core, and a larger 1,650mAh battery on the inside (though no upgrade to a flash on the back). Its look is a little cleaner for those considering the Galaxy R which could be a deciding factor.

Everyone might not be hungry for a dual-core processor, but with the SGSII similar in price, it’s hard to see people stepping backwards to yesterday’s hardware.

[via engadget]

Samsung denies leaked roadmap with 720p Samsung ICS phone


Yesterday there was a leak of a Samsung roadmap for upcoming devices. The roadmap as already been pulled from the reporting website and Samsung is already saying that the information is inaccurate.

The list included a 7-inch Galaxy Tab successor and a pair of devices running Ice Cream Sandwich. The tablet, P6200, is said to have a 7-inch Super AMOLED screen, Honeycomb 3.x, HSPA+, and dual lenses (3MP in the back and 2MP in the front). The P6210 seems to be a WiFi-only version with the same specs.

The GT-I9250 phone sports a 720p 4.65-inch display running ICS with a 5MP camera. No processor was listed here, but it would be surprising to see anything under a dual-core. A whopping 5.29-inch Super AMOLED screen at 720p is touted for second phone, the GT-I9920. This larger companion has a dual-core 1.4 GHz chip, an 8MP camera, and running Gingerbread 2.3. The rest of the list held nothing ground breaking or exciting mostly listing entry level devices.

All of this may be just a bunch of hot air though. Hit the break for Samsung’s statement on the list.


Read more

Samsung Galaxy R set for Europe and Asia officially


Nothing ground breaking here since we’ve heard about this before, but the Samsung Galaxy R is now official. I’m still having a very hard time getting over that home button though it looks a little different than the Galaxy S II.

Here’s what we’re looking at: 4.19-inch Super Clear LCD (800×600), 1Ghz Tegra 2 dual-core processor, GeForce GPU, twin cameras (5MP on the back and 2MP on the front) with single LED flash, 720p video capture, 8GB onboard storage, micro SD card slot (support for 32GB Micro SD), Gingerbread, and TouchWiz over the top. If this phone even hits North America it will probably be a budget little brother version of the SGSII especially without the Super AMOLED+ display.

To get a peek at how it runs check the video. Do you think there will be a market for this if it hits the U.S.?

[via presser]

T-Mobile creates Live Angry Birds Game – video


angrybirds live tmobile

In the video you’ll see below, T-Mobile created a life size, live action Angry Birds environment, where users could walk up to the booth at the front (seen above) grab a T-Mobile device (looks like a Samsung Galaxy S) and interact with the game. The game on the Android smartphone when played actually causes the live action elements to play out in the background for all to watch, exploding pigs and all!

Have a look below, this is awesome.

[via youtube]