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 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 S II Running Android 4.0 Official ROM

We’ve seen Android Ice Cream Sandwich getting ported or leaked for many devices, including the unlikely Samsung Galaxy S, Amazon Kindle Fire and HP TouchPad. Well, those were all unofficial release, but this time we have something truly official: the leaked ICS ROM for Samsung Galaxy S II, that has just been tried on by the guys of Pocketnow.com.

They also made a video showing their experience, that you can check out below. The Galaxy S II runs Android 4.0.3, apparently with an improved TouchWiz, that to me looks exactly the same. Also, the handset is now more stable, it’s really fast, smooth and even the battery life improved. Android 4.0 has arrived on this phone before, via custom ROMs, so we know what to expect here. The Robot font looks nice on the crisp Super AMOLED Plus display and the Exynos dual core 1.2 GHz CPU seems to fit the experience like a glove.


Well, Gingerbread may have become sluggish if you had a ton of updating widgets enabled, but that’s in the past now, courtesy of ICS. The performance upgrades are also pretty clear, as shown by everyday use (Video below) and a couple of benchmarks, generating 6257 points in AnTuTu, 4225 in Quadrant and 2517 in SmartBench. I guess that it’s only a matter of time till all the Galaxy S II (tens of millions) units get the update to the latest Android, which Samsung promised for Q1 by the way.

Samsung Galaxy S II Running the Official Ice Cream Sandwich ROM XXLPQ:

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 Galaxy S II Wins Best Smartphone Award At MWC 2012

Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone has been an incredibly popular device, and probably one of the most popular Android smartphones available at the moment. The of this years GSMA award fro the best smartphone at this years Mobile World Congress has just been announced, and Samsung’s Galaxy S II has taken the top spot, beating off competition from Apple’s iPhone and other devices.

Last year Apple took the top spot at MWC 2011, so we suspect Samsung are more than a little pleased to have won the award this year, and we wonder who will win next year, possibly Samsung with the new Galaxy S III or Apple with the iPhone 5.

Samsung are expected to launch the new Galaxy S III later this year, and from the rumors we have heard so far it looks like it will be an impressive device, although whether it will be as popular as the Galaxy S III remains to be seen.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Best Smartphone 2012 MWC Award:

Samsung Rugby Smart Gets Official, Lands On AT&T March 4th

It was only a matter of time, we suppose. After having seen the Samsung Rugby Smart poke its head out from time to time, Samsung's new rugged smartphone is officially hitting AT&T stores on March 4th. Much like the Pantech Element, the Rugby Smart will be "waterproof," meaning it can be submerged for up to 30 minutes in one meter of water. The phone itself is built to mil-spec 810F standards, so it's going to handle most extreme conditions pretty well. So let's list off the specs we've heard so far: it will launch with Android 2.3 -- shocker, we know -- as well as a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED panel, 4GB of internal storage, 1,650mAh battery and a 1.3MP front-facing shooter for video chat along with a 5MP rear facing autofocus camera with LED flash and 720p video capture. The Smart will also be 12.19mm thick (also not a surprise, given its rugged nature) and weigh 4.2 ounces. We don't know what CPU's inside yet, but we'll update as soon as we find out. To check out all the extreme details, head to the videos and press release under the break.

New Samsung Rugby Smart Mobile Minute:

Samsung Rugby Smart Durability Test:

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 Advance Hits The UK Later This Month, Up For Pre-order

With Samsung’s Galaxy S III no longer expected at MWC 2012 later this month, we’ll have to make do with the Samsung Galaxy S Advance, officially announced on Monday and already up for pre-order. An variant of the original Galaxy S, the Galaxy S Advance I9070 is scheduled to drop roughly at the same time as the Barcelona mobile show, according to UK retailer Clove, with pre-orders priced at £295 ($467)plus tax.

That means a 4-inch Super AMOLED display running at WVGA resolution, along with a 1GHz dual-core processor paired with 768MB of RAM. There’s also 8GB of internal storage plus a microSD card slot. The 5-megapixel camera is paired with a 1.3-megapixel front-facer, and there’s the usual bevy of sensors and wireless: GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and an FM radio. OS is Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Samsung’s own TouchWiz mods.

In case that all sounds reasonably familiar, you’re not going mad. Samsung revealed another iteration of the Galaxy S back in March 2011, the Galaxy S Plus, similar in many ways to this “Advance” model. The “Plus”, however, had a 1.4GHz single-core processor and only 512MB of RAM, though the battery is 150 mAh bigger.

If the Galaxy S Advance takes your fancy, shipments are expected in the week commencing February 27 2012. Of course, SlashGear will be at Mobile World Congress that week, bringing back all the juicy details as to what other phones Samsung and its rivals have to impress us with.

Samsung Galaxy S Advance:

Samsung Ships 700,000 Galaxy Notes In South Korea

Samsung will be making a big push on the new Galaxy Note in the US this weekend, as the company is showing off a special Galaxy Note advert during this Sunday’s Super Bowl. Samsung recently announced that they had sold over 1 million Galaxy Note devices around the world, and now the company has announced that they have sold over 1 million Galaxy Note smartphones in their home country of South Korea.

Samsung are obviously hoping that the US launch of the Galaxy note will increase their number significantly, and we suspect that this hybrid smartphone and tablet device will be popular in the US. As a reminder the Samsung Galaxy Note comes with a a 5.3 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, processing is provided by a dual core 1.4GHz processor and it comes with Android Gingerbread 2.3, plus dual cameras, on the back there is an 8 megapixel camera with an LED flash, on the front there is a 2 megapixel camera for video chat.

NEW White Samsung Galaxy Note - Korea ONLY:

Samsung Considering Android 4.0 ICS For Galaxy S And Galaxy Tab?

Apple has begun seeding iOS 5.0.1 to a few end users now, aside from those developers who have been using it for beta testing. iOS 5.0.1 brings a fix for the battery issue that some people were experiencing (it’s a vast minority of people, but significant enough to do something about it apparently).

The seed to these end users comes following tests from developers for the update, which was meant to test against applications in addition to test for battery life and Siri improvements. Quite a few users who were previously complaining about battery issues in the iPhone 4S have been seeded the bug fix release through Apple’s AppleSeed program (which they would have needed to sign up for).

The iOS 5.0.1 release that was dished out today isn’t a “public” release, and Apple warns those that are using it to fix their issues that they will not be able to return to iOS 5.0 after installing it. They will, however, be able to update normally to iOS 5.0.1 when the official version goes public to all soon.

The iOS 5.0.1 update also brings Siri improvements for Australian users, and has given back the multitasking gestures to the first generation iPad, something I originally thought was total craziness to remove. There are apparently other minor bug fixes as well.

This means that everyone who’s been experiencing battery issues with the new iPhone, along with those who miss having their multitasking gestures before on iPad 1, are going to be getting their problems solved soon. Apple store employees, however, have actually been told how to deal with customer complaints for battery issues, as pointed out by 9to5Mac. Basically, employees have been instructed to tell customers that they need to wait for this software fix, and have been instructed not to replace devices for battery issues.

For more information's:
Samsung Considering Android 4.0 ICS For Galaxy S And Galaxy Tab

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

Verizon's Infocenter reveals an illusion-the Samsung Illusion, to be precise

After some high-end devices were pulled out of Verizon's hat-like the Motorola DROID RAZR, the HTC Rezound and the Samsung GALAXY Nexus, one of the next handsets expected to be introduced by Big Red is the low to mid-end Samsung Illusion. The device now shows up on Verizon's Infocenter and details some of the specs that sets this device apart from the trio of high-end devices coming out of Verizon, starting with the Motorola DROID RAZR on November 11th, continuing with the HTC Rezound on November 14th and the Samsung GALAXY Nexus November 21st.

The specs expected for the Samsung Illusion are certainly nowhere what we see for the trio of high-end phones, starting with the 3.5 inch screen with resolution of 320 x 480. A single-core 1GHz Hummingbird processor is under the hood with 512MB of RAM aboard. There is 2GB of internal storage and the phone comes with a 2GB microSD card. A 3MP camera is on back and Android 2.3 is pre-installed. While pricing hasn't been disclosed, a source tells Android Central that the phone should be launched sometime this month. And that, good friends, is not an illusion.

More information's:
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-illusion-device-page-surfaces-verizon-infocenter

First Look: Samsung Illusion 4G:

The Galaxy S II arrives pretty in pink for South Korea, Samsung's baseball team gets a Galaxy Tab 10.1 Lions edition

The Samsung Galaxy S II was one of the best Android flagships this year, proven by its record sales figures for Samsung, but the black plastic shell is nothing to phone home about. Granted, we have a white version, too, but nothing in between. Well, the company is righting this wrong by issuing a pink version. It looks pretty nice, and somehow not overly girly, although that is the obvious target market.

The Samsung Galaxy S II Pink Edition is going on sale in South Korea only for now, but we hope this one and more colored versions can make their way outside the Korean Peninsula, and into our trembling hands, it's a good way to keep the interest in the handset high. The company will also make 150 units of a Galaxy Tab 10.1 Lions Edition, to commemorate the title of its baseball team the Samsung Lions, in the Korean series.

More information's:
http://asiadroid.com/samsung-introduces-galaxy-ii-pink-galaxy-tab-10-1-lions-edition/2011/

Samsung Galaxy S II hands: