Three UK Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4.0 Update Released

South Korean, Polish, Swedish, and Hungarian Galaxy S II's have already been updated to Android 4.0, and the unlocked version of the phone has been upgraded in the UK, too. The key word there is "unlocked" — if you've got a UK carrier-locked variant, you might notice your phone is stubbornly stuck in heap of Gingerbread, awaiting carrier approval before getting the update. Thankfully, we've got a few details on when you can expect Ice Cream Sandwich: Three UK has confirmed that its users are receiving the update now (connect to the Kies software to do so), and O2 UK says it'll upgrade the phones in the beginning of April. Orange and Vodafone haven't given an ETA, but they have both confirmed that they're working on it, and T-Mobile UK, meanwhile, hasn't even said that it's making progress on the update. If you can't wait, you can of course (unofficially) load the ROM onto the phone yourself, or you can take a look at our hands-on with the update to see what you're missing.

samsung galaxy nexus (android 4.0.3 UPDATE UK):

Samsung Galaxy Note Android 4.0 ICS Update Delayed?

When we met with Samsung General Manager Tim Wagner in Miami one of the things we talked about was the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Samsung Galaxy Note. With Ice Cream Sandwich being a hybrid update of sorts for both phones and tablets, and the Galaxy Note being both a phone and a tablet, we thought that Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, was a natural fit for the Galaxy Note. Samsung must have agreed with that logic at some point because they originally announced that the Galaxy Note, along with the Samsung Galaxy S II would see Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, before the end of Q1.

Today, Gottabemobile reported that Samsung Norway has told customers that they won’t see an Android 4.0 upgrade until sometime in the second quarter of 2012. Norway was presumed to be one of the first markets on tap for the upgrade for their customers with the Galaxy Note.

As we know all to well, the U.S. is usually last to see an Android OS update, and most definitely after their international counterparts. This could mean we won’t see the Ice Cream Sandwich man graze the beloved Galaxy Note until late in the second quarter or perhaps even Q3. The Galaxy Note is primed for the upgrade. After switching from a Galaxy Nexus to a Galaxy Note there were intuitive functions of Ice Cream Sandwich that would only feel natural on the 5.3″ phoneblet.

Galaxy Note Android 4.0 ICS :

Samsung Galaxy S III About To Go Into Production?

The Samsung’s Galaxy S III rumor mill has been gathering plenty of momentum lately, and it’s not hard to see why. The hotly-anticipated device is set to feature a 1080p full HD, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and if the projected release frames ring true, will go head-to head with the iPhone 5.

The Samsung Galaxy S II is the most successful Android smartphone to date, and only recently won ‘Best Smartphone’ at the MWC 2012. As well as the award and popularity, the device also now supports the Big G’s latest and greatest Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.3), after the mobile OS began rolling out to devices two days ago.

Reports on a release time have been somewhat conflicting, with some predicting April, while others a little later. The last coverage we gave of an ETA was earlier this month, when ZDNet Korea claimed to have confirmed the release date as indeed next month, in April.

According to Android Spin, the S III is rumored to be in production, which suggests the device will be releasing next month or, at latest, May. The Korean LCD will want to utilize the London Olympics as a marketing hub since it is a big sponsor, and although the Games don’t begin until July, the build-up and advertising is already gathering steam as we speak.

A Samsung spokesman declined to confirm the release bracket, which leaves us to play that familiar guessing game once again. With the iPhone 5 also set to drop in the coming months, though, Samsung will be keen to nab a few Apple loyalists with its next flagship device.

Samsung Galaxy S3: What to Expect:

Samsung Galaxy Pocket Android Smartphone Announced

Meet the Samsung Galaxy Pocket, officially announced today. The Galaxy Pocket measures 103.7 x 57.5 x 12 mm, and comes with a 2.8 inch QVGA display – this making it almost the same size as the Samsung Champ (the company’s smallest touchscreen handset ever).

Needless to say, the Galaxy Pocket is made for budget users. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with an “upgraded TouchWiz UI,” and features HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, Wi-Fi, GPS, accelerometer, digital compass, Samsung’s ChatON communication service, Social Hub, 3.5mm headset jack, Bluetooth 3.0, stereo FM radio with RDS, 832MHz processor, 2MP rear camera with QVGA video recording, and a 1,200 mAh battery. The new, tiny smartphone also comes with 3GB of internal memory, expandable to 35GB via a MicroSD card slot. All in all, not bad for a budget device – if you don’t mind the QVGA display.

The Samsung Galaxy Pocket will be first available in the UK, sometime “later this year”. Its price hasn’t been unveiled, but I really don’t think it’s going to be higher than €150. Now, since you’re already introduced two entry-level sartphones this year (the Pocket, and the Mini 2).

Samsung Galaxy Note Unboxing, First Look and Pocket Test:

Samsung Galaxy S Advance Appears At The FCC

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance was announced back in January, and the device has just appeared at the FCC in the US, an it looks like it is headed to US mobile carrier AT&T. As a reminder, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance comes with a 4 inch WVGA Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and it will come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance also features a dual core 1GHz processor, plus 768MB of RAM, and a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat, on the back there is a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and an LED flash, the rear camera can record HD video in 720p at 30 frames per second. Other specifications include a choice of either 8GB or 16GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot which can take up to 32GB cards, there are no details on pricing for the US as yet.

Samsung Galaxy S Advance Preview:

Samsung Exhilarate announced for AT&T; LTE-powered, eco-friendly smartphone for under $50

Here is a smartphone that is built with the environment in mind – the Samsung Exhilarate. Constructed from 80 percent recycled post-consumer materials, the device successfully meets a number of sustainability standards. That is why it has been given a Platinum certification by UL Environment – a group of folks that determine how “green” a certain product is.

At the same time, the Samsung Exhilarate should deliver a decent Android experience, and while we are not expecting to see any spectacular hardware under its hood, its front is occupied by a 4-inch Super AMOLED display. Both a front-facing and a rear camera are on board, along with an LTE radio for speedy access to the internet. The Samsung Exhilarate is planned to launch on AT&T in the forthcoming months, and getting your hands on one will not cost you more than $50.

Pantech Burst, Pantech Element & Samsung Exhilarate Affordable LTE Phones Announced at CES 2012:

Samsung Star 3 and Star 3 Duos unveiled: smarter feature phones

Samsung has just announced the newest edition of its feature phone superstar - the Samsung Star 3 and Samsung Star 3 Duos promise to make feature phones smarter with better social networking, Samsung’s ChatON and an extremely affordable price tag.

The Samsung Star 3 comes with a 3-inch capacitive QVGA LCD display, a 3.2-megapixel camera which can record QCIF videos, the TouchWiz Lite user interface and 20MB of internal memory extendible via a microSD card slot accepting cards of up to 16GB. In terms of connectivity, you get EDGE speeds, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The battery is 1,000mAh. So overall, in terms of hardware features, the Star 3 looks almost identical to the second-gen Samsung Star.

When speaking about the features, the most notable addition is ChatON - Samsung’s free messaging platform, which a welcome addition on a feature phone. You also have stereo FM radio with RDS and a music player with SoundAlive.

Designwise, the Samsung Star 3 is not a revolutionary change - the screen sizes are the same, the looks and weight nearly identical, but the devices has become slightly wider and thinner. Save for the support for two SIM cards, the Samsung Star 3 Duo is virtually identical to its single SIM sibling. The two devices are ready for an almost immediate release in late January in Russia, and they are also gearing up to arrive in CIS, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia. The Star 3 Duos will also make an appearance in Southwest Asia.

Samsung Star 3 and Star 3 DUO:

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G For T-Mobile Announced

T-Mobile has just announced another smartphone that will be made available to the masses – the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G. This is another handset that will fall under T-Mobile’s range of 4G devices, the third actually, where the Galaxy S Blaze 4G will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor that runs on dual-cores at 1.5GHz. Not only that, your eyes will also appreciate the brilliant Super AMOLED touch screen display alongside a host of pre-loaded entertainment to help you get started right out of the box. No idea on pricing, but we do know that the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is being prepared for a release slightly down the road. Patience, my friend, is the key to unlocking its promise. It runs on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, although whether an Ice Cream Sandwich update is coming down the road or not remains to be seen.

Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA, has this to say, “Consumers want the accessibility and entertainment capabilities that smartphones offer, and we’re committed to providing a range of 4G device options. The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is the latest smartphone that enables consumers to unlock the full potential of T-Mobile’s faster 4G network. With a compelling set of entertainment features, paired with our Unlimited Value and Monthly4G plans, we’re continuing to make it easy and affordable for consumers to experience the benefits of 4G.”

T-Mobile announces the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G available 'later this year':

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Lands On Verizon Today For $299.99

It is finally official, Verizon has announced that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be available on Verizon Wireless from today the 15th of December for $299.99 when you sign up to a new two year agreement. As a reminder the Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and it features a 4.65 inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. There is also a dual core 1.2GHz processor, 32GB of storage, 1 GB of RAM, an advanced 5 megapixel camera which can record HD video in 1080p, and a 1,850 mAh battery.

A tipster sent in a shot of an internal VZW email outlining the next few weeks of launches and in-store displays. Chief amongst those is the December 8th arrival of banners, signs and other marketing materials for the world's first ICS handset. Our source reports that posters and all the relevant merch will be rolled out after close of business and the Nexus will officially go on sale December 9th. As a bonus, this also seems to confirm that the Droid 4 will be launching this Thursday. So, if you're fine with Gingerbread and have a thing for QWERTY keyboards December 8th could still be the day all your dreams come true. The rest of us will just have to wait just an extra 24 hours.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review:

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket brings fireworks inside a man's pocket

Recently we published some news on a pair of Apple iPhone 4S units that suffered from spontaneous combustion. And with Apple's legal team alleging that the Korean based manufacturer has been copying Apple's designs for its own products, it is an amazing coincidence that a Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket literally exploded in a man's pocket. The man felt a burning sensation down his leg and when he reached to pullout his phone he smelled something burning. And in his hand was one literally hot handset.

Yes, Samsung was hoping that the model would explode in the U.S. and become a hot product, but not exactly like this. And perhaps the Korean based manufacturer had an idea that something like this could happen when it tacked on "Skyrocket" to the name of the phone. The charred model was a variant of the hugely successful Samsung Galaxy S II that is enabled for AT&T's fledging LTE network.

More information's:
http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/01/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-skyrocket-explodes-in-mans-pocket/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28BGR+%7C+Boy+Genius+Report%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Unboxing:

Samsung Illusion Hits Verizon Wireless November 23rd

The Samsung Illusion was recently announced, and now it would appear that the device will be available from Verizon wireless from tomorrow, the 23rd of November at Verizon online, but it looks like it won’t actually launch in Verizon stores until the 12th of January.

As a reminder, the Samsung Illusion comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and features a 3.5 inch touchscreen display with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution, plus 512MB of RAM and a single core 1GHz processor. There Illusion also features a 3 megapixel camera, plus 2GB of built in storage and a microSD card slot with a 2GB card pre-installed, and whilst no pricing has been announced it is expected to retail for about $100.

More information's:
http://www.unwiredview.com/2011/11/21/verizon-samsung-illusion-to-finally-be-available-on-november-23/

First Look: Samsung Illusion 4G:

Samsung reconfirms Galaxy S II is getting ICS

The Samsung Galaxy S II is most probably the single best selling high-end Android for 2011, but just like most every other handset around it's running on Android Gingerbread.

Good news is that the Galaxy S II is not going to keep that Android version forever. We've already heard Samsung Italy spill the beans about the upcoming update to ICS for the S II, but now Samsung's UK Twitter account reconfirms that keeping all doubts away.

Now, our guess here would be for early 2012 as the majority of phone makers are aiming to roll out the ICS update around then, but we hope we've erred and it's coming even earlier. In the meantime, you can already get the ICS-based latest version of MIUI ROM on your S II.

More information's:
https://twitter.com/#!/samsunguk/status/136838488954912768

Samsung Galaxy S II Gets Android Ice Cream Sandwich ROM

Samsung are expected to update the Samsung Galaxy S II along with their other Android devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but now it looks like the guys from the XDA developers have put together a ROM for the Samsung Galaxy S II.

But, Samsung hasn’t as yet confirmed when they will officially release Android 4.0 ICe Cream Sandwich for the Galaxy S II.

More information's:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1335745
http://phandroid.com/2011/11/08/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-receives-android-4-0-ice-cream-sandwich-miui-rom/

Samsung Galaxy Nexus UK Price To Be £515

Samsung and Google announced their first Android Ice Cream Sandwich device, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus yesterday, we heard earlier that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus would alnd in the UK in November.

Now we have some pricing details for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus here in the UK, according to the guy over at Clove, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will retail for £515 for the 16GB version SIM free, this price include taxes. Obviously the various mobile carriers will be selling the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for a subsidised price when you sign up to a new contract with the network, and we know that it is headed to Three, Vodafone and O2.

More information's:
http://www.clove.co.uk/samsung-galaxy-nexus-16gb

Sneak Peak of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Three:

Samsung Galaxy S and S II sales top 30 million

Samsung has just announced that its Galaxy S and S II are doing extremely well in sales, registering over 30 million units sold for the 20 months since the first device hit the shelves. The Galaxy S II alone accounts for more than 10 million of those - truly stunning results, solidifying the Galaxy S series as the best selling in the high-end Android world.

It still falls short of the iPhone as the latter has been breaking sales records recently, managing to sell 1 million on day one of pre-order availability. If we are to calculate an average for Galaxy S and S II sales, it will appear that 1.5 million of those together were sold per month.

"Since its launch only five months ago, Galaxy SII has seen tremendous sales success and garnered enthusiastic reviews from consumers and mobile industry watchers across the globe. This is in addition to the continued sales momentum behind Galaxy S, which we launched at Mobile World Congress 2010 as continues to be a run-away success with consumers," said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business.

The Galaxy S is in the very core of the current legal battles between Samsung and Google as its looks bear some resemblance to the iPhone according to Apple, just as the TouchWiz skin on top of Android, which Cupertino claims copies some visuals from iOS.

Back in its day, the Galaxy S shocked with its huge 4-inch screen, but nowadays the display standard has moved upward in the Android world. Actually, it’s exactly the smaller screen on the iPhone 4S that most of you were disappointed in. In either case, sales show that both phones are doing extremely well, and it’s that very cash dollar vote that counts.

Samsung B3410 GSM Quadband Phone

SAMSUNG Samsung B3410 GSM Quadband Phone (Unlocked) Green Model: B3410-GREEN Description: 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Size Dimensions 102.3 x 52.4 x 15.9 mm Weight 113.7 g Display Type TFT touchscreen, 256K colors Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches - QWERTY keyboard Sound Alert types Vibration; MP3 ringtones Loudspeaker Yes 3.5mm jack Yes - DNSe (Digital Natural Sound Engine) Memory Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall Call records 30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls Internal 30 MB Card slot microSD, up to 8GB Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps 3G No WLAN No Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP Infrared port No USB Yes, v2.0 Camera Primary 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels Video Yes, QVGA at 13fps Secondary No Features Messaging SMS (threaded view) Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording Games Yes GPS No Java Yes, MIDP 2.0 - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player - MP4/H.263/H.264 player - Organizer - Google Search, Widgets - Voice memo - Predictive text input Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 960 mAh Stand-by Up to 640 h Talk time Up to 10 h 40 min.

Samsung B3410:

Sensational New phone Samsung Captivate Glide

Feel the sensation of elegance, style, quality and elegance with the recent Samsung Captivate Glide. Samsung Captivate comes with fascinating features in a vigorous body and is considered one of the best by Samsung.
Samsung Captivate Glide is the newly announced GSM cell phone by Samsung Company. It is will have powerful Android v2.3 Gingerbread OS with 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 AP20H dual core processor and 1 GB RAM also included for fast operating of phone. It will work on GSM 2G and 3G network.

Device has large 4.0 inches of Super AMOLED Gorilla Glass touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels and 16M colors. Display feature TouchWiz UI, Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Touch-sensitive controls, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Gyro sensor and QWERTY keyboard.
With its 8 Mega Pixel camera users can captures high quality photos and videos 1080p@30fps. Camera has other features like autofocus, LED flash, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection. 1.3 MP camera also inbuilt with this cool device for video calls. Phone has 8 GB of internal memory for data storage, users also has option to upgrade memory up 32 GB with microSD card.
It also has other connectivity features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, microUSB, GPS etc. It is also a good social networking device which will always connect with family and friends via Mail, Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, YouTube, Google Talk etc. Samsung Captivate Glide other features Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, Digital compass, Document viewer, Image/video editor, Adobe Flash support, Image/video editor, Java MIDP emulator, MP3 and Mp4 player, Stereo FM radio with RDS, Loudspeaker, 3.5 mm jack, SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS etc.
It is expected to be release on October month of 2011.

ChatON, Samsung's answer to BBM and iMessage, is now on the Android Market

The ChatON instant messenger, courtesy of Samsung, has landed in the Android Market today and is available to anyone holding on to a device running Android 2.2 or higher. Yes, that is correct. Even though the Korean manufacturer is behind the service, using it is possible on any compatible Android smartphone regardless of its make.

ChatON is Samsung's blow against BBM and iMessage, and unlike the two of them it is not proprietary, which is why it isn't available exclusively to Samsung devices. What's more is that iOS and BlackBerry OS versions of ChatON are about to be released soon as well.

Besides one-on-one conversations, the service supports group chats, broadcasts, animated messages, as well as sending pictures, videos, audio, location data, calendar entries and contact information to your buddies. There are also a few more perks like the so-called Interaction Rank, which shows how active a user is at ChatON, as well as the ability to comment on user profiles.

Feel free to check out ChatON in action below, and if it sparks your interest, hit the source link to get it from the Android Market. Once you try it out, the comment section is all yours, so do not hesitate to share your impressions with us.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus appears in Verizon's system with LTE, pictures from the phone pop online

A screenshot from Verizon's Device Management system now clearly lists a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and 4G LTE connectivity seems to be a go, but it won't be a world phone.

Could this be a sign that Verizon will indeed have an exclusivity period with the most awaited Android phone out there, and the GSM version will be coming at a later point?

After all, Android's proliferation in the US started with the DROID line on Verizon, so Google might be paying a little tribute here, or it just wants to flaunt the goods that come with LTE first.

We'll know more come Tuesday, but in the meantime pictures have started popping up on Picasa, whose EXIF data shows a Galaxy Nexus origin. One of them has since been pulled, but incidents like these are usually indicative of imminent launch. Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Nexus is expected to feature a monstrous 4.65" 720p HD Super AMOLED display, and a 5MP camera capable of 1080p HD recording. Oh, and that Android Ice Cream Sandwich you see the statue of in the picture.

Samsung To Sell Modified Galaxy S II And Other Devices In The Netherlands

Samsung will sell a modified version of their Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone in the Netherlands, as well as other devices which have been modified including the Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy Ace.

Samsung has modified the devices in order to comply with a court ruling which would have seen the devices banned in the Netherlands for violating Apple’s patents, and the ban comes in to force tomorrow the 13th of October. It isn’t clear as yet how the device will be modified to comply with the court rulings, and both Samsung and Apple are still involved in a number of cases around the world.

More information's:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111012-703168.html