Samsung Epic 4G Gets Leaked and Rooted Gingerbread with ED12

by Mitch Wright on
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Superbly talented ROM cook group ACS (Android Creative Syndicate) has released a fully rooted Gingerbread ROM based on the Epic’s leaked ED12 source that they are calling Leaky Gingerbead. Our friend’s over at Android Central have the full info on their forums, but the basic gist is that it’s a fully functional ROM, minus a few things that you may not want to part with.

  • 4G non-functional
  • GPS non-functional
  • Wake lag present
  • Does not boot when plugged in and powered off, unplug to boot
  • Temperature sensor readings are incorrect. You may see interrupted charging due to bad battery temp readings.
  • Slide to unlock button sometimes ‘sticks’
  • Has Carrier IQ (dieplz

Still, for you Epic flashaholics wanting to get the flavor of Gingerbread on your tongue, here’s a good chance to do so. Video of the ROM in action after the break!

» Read the rest

Can ZTE become a Top 5 Smartphone Manufacturer by year end?

by Adam Johnson on
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That sounds pretty optimistic to me. Being in competition with the likes of HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, LG, and Erricson, I say they have a long hard road ahead of them. Either way, why not shoot for the stars right? They take on this challenge, by showing their first quarter sales being up 51% over this time last year. And i like their new term “smart terminals”. Which would seem to refer to all devices, be it a smartphone, or a tablet. Hit the source for more on the story.

[via intomobile]

Rant: Hey Motorola, LG, Samsung, HTC… Stop focusing on performance, start focusing on batteries

by Dustin Karnes on
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Yes, it may be a tired old song and dance, but it’s time the manufacturers stood back and took a listen. Will this be the venue they decide to do it in? Probably not, but I suppose it’s possible. So listen up, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, LG… it’s time we had a talk. We all love performance on our devices… of course. We know there’s an ever-growing demand for bigger, better, faster, stronger (insert more Daft Punk lyrics at your own risk) devices. But, let’s step back a moment. What good is bigger and better hardware that sucks the life out of the battery… without improving the battery?

I don’t know about everyone else, but I for one am tired of seeing tutorial after tutorial of the same info on how to improve your Android’s battery life. Not that the information is bad or wrong, but I don’t feel that it should, at this point be necessary. Shouldn’t we be seeing smaller and smaller batteries with more and more power jammed into them? And please, readers, no comments like “well, just buy an extended battery”. I have an extended battery for my Evo, and I absolutely despise what it does to the device aesthetically. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice looks and style for longer performance.

So, manufacturers, where are our killer batteries that actually still allow us to fit our phones in our pockets? I know I’m waiting around for mine, and I’m relatively certain that most of these readers are, too. You can give us 4.3″ screens all day long, but what good is that if we have to keep our brightness at 10% so we can’t even see it in any kind of light? How about a battery that can play Angry Birds for more than an hour? Or can actually play more than one movie on a single charge?

What makes you angry about your Android’s battery? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

LG licenses with ARM, will start development of its own mobile chips

by Robert Nazarian on
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In looking to compete better with Samsung, LG has entered into a licensing agreement with ARM. LG plans on developing their own processors based on the Cortex-A9 MPCore and Cortex-A15 MPCore Processors, as well as the ARM Mali-T604 graphics processor.

LG has been using chips by NVIDIA and Texas Instruments, but feels they are a step behind Samsung who has been producing their own ARM chips.

We expect to see the first devices with the A15 sometime in 2012.

Hit the break for the full press release

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v Coming to Portugal with €590 Pricetag

by Mitch Wright on
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A while back, Samsung had announced two pretty impressive tablets, coming in 8.9 and 10.1 inch flavors. Afterwards, the iPad 2 came out with an extremely impressive 0.34 inch slimness, causing Sammy to take their tablets back to the drawing board to knock them both down to 0.33 inches thick, the thinnest tablets currently announced. Well, back then, Samsung had stated that the original tablets weren’t going to be completely scrapped, but instead made available for overseas Vodafone customers. This promise has come to fruition, as tomorrow Vodafone Portugal will be getting their realease of Sammy’s Honeycomb-flavored 10.1v tablet love. The Galaxy Tab-branded tablet will also be sporting elements of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface to complement Honeycomb’s tablet optimizations. Don’t be concerned about it being an older version either, as the dual-core 1 GHz processor and 16 gigs of on-board memory match what’s on its slimmer brother. Any of our Portuguese readers out there planning on picking this up? Let us know in the comments!
[via engadget]

Best Buy has Samsung Nexus S 4G available online – no shipping date.

by Jesse Bauer on
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We’ve been told in the past that the Samsung Nexus S 4G should have been available by now, but alas, the dates given have passed us by. Fear not Nexus S 4G consumers, for Best Buy is allowing you to order the Samsung Nexus S 4G at $199.99 with a new two year contract via their website, even though they haven’t given any clear shipping dates. Either that or you could buy it without a contract for a mere and measly $699.99! If you fear they may fly from the shelves before you can grab one, this may appeal to you.

Just for good measure, here’s the long list of amazing features this Google experienced device will have within;

  • 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capability, supporting up to six Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously
  • gyroscope sensor to provide a smooth, fluid gaming experience
  • Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which allows the device to read information from everyday objects, like stickers and posters embedded with NFC chips
  • 16GB Internal Memory (ROM)/512MB (RAM)
  • Wi-Fi® – 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR
  • Integrated GPS
  • 1500 mAh Lithium-ion battery
  • Android 2.3 Gingerbread
  • 5 megapixel rear-facing camera and camcorder and front-facing VGA camera

Are you interested?

[via best buy]

Samsung Infuse 4G will sell at Walmart for $178.88

by Jesse Bauer on
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samsung infuse

We had heard just over a month ago about the Samsung Infuse 4G getting some FCC love for AT&T launch, and this Walmart flyer basically confirms it. Even better yet, Walmart will be letting this go for $178.88. You gotta love Walmart’s weird pricing rollback prices. To add the kicker, the Samsung Infuse 4G will be available sometime in May.

The Samsung Infuse 4G is no laughing matter of a device, as it’ll boast a 4.5 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a 1.2GHz processor, putting this device right up there with the HTC Thunderbolt, Motorola Atrix and Samsung Droid Charge. Yep.

[via ac]

Samsung responds to Apple’s lawsuit with 10 new patent infringement claims

by Dustin Karnes on
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Who doesn’t love a good slap fight? If you do, then it looks like you’re n luck with the drama currently brewing between Apple and Samsung. We reported a little while back on Apple filing a lawsuit against Samsung for patent infringement claims. Samsung isn’t taking it lying down, as they have now shot bak with ten patent infringement claims of their own.

The Android device manufacturer has created patent claims in South Korea, Japan, and Germany. What do you think of Samsung’s fire-back? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

[via engadget]