Samsung Galaxy S II Lands On US Cellular

If you’re one of the ~6 million customers of United States semi-regional cellular carrier U.S. Cellular, you’re probably used to getting older smartphones (or just not getting them at all) by now. Well good news, thrifty consumer: you can now enjoy one of the best phones from 2011, on the regional/value carrier of your choice. The Samsung Galaxy S II will be available from U.S. Cellular soon, at a rebated price of $229.99. There’s no exact release date for the phone, but it should be available within the next few weeks.

It's been heard that Samsung’s massively popular Galaxy S II smartphone was headed to US Cellular, the handset is now available for $229.99 after a $100 mail in rebate. The Galaxy S II is available when you sign up to a new two year contract with the carrier, and the device recently won the GSMA best smartphone award at this years Mobile World Congress.

Ever US carrier has a slightly different version of the Galaxy S II, and U.S. Cellular is no different. They get the larger 4.52-inch variety (though the AMOLED screen keeps its 800×480 resolution) with a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor. The rest of the specs are standard: 16GB of on-board memory, an 8MP camera, and Samsung’s TouchWiz-enhanced Gingerbread. Like the rest of the American variants, it uses four capacitive navigation buttons instead of the home configuration on the international model. This version has an empty SD card slot and uses 3G data bands, since US Cellular’s LTE market is in its infancy.

The phone runs $229.99 after a mail-in rebate, for new users who sign up for a two-year contract. Existing customers who use the “belief” plan can qualify for the upgrade price. Naturally a data plan is required. Options for pre-paid customers haven’t been unveiled yet, but should be disclosed shortly after the Galaxy S II goes on sale.

We would like to remind something that, the Samsung Galaxy S II features a 4.5 inch Super AMOLED Plus display, and a dual core 1.2GHz processor, plus an 8 megapixel camera and 16GB of built in storage. Make sure you have a look at our Samsung Galaxy S II review to see what we though about Samsung’s most popular Android handset.

Samsung Galaxy S II Unboxing:

Trinity kernel brings overclocking and better battery to Galaxy Nexus

No matter how good your device's battery life may be, it can always be better, and allow you to play more games or watch more video, or even some of those less battery intensive things like checking e-mail or using your phone to make actual phone calls. Now, if you're a Galaxy Nexus user with root access, you could get a boost in battery life.

The boost comes from the custom Trinity kernel by Morfic. Trinity kernels are known for boosting performance, but this one will also help battery life. The trick is that this custom kernel overclocks the CPU while also undervolting, as well as underclocking the CPU when the phone is in sleep mode in order to both kick up performance and add battery life.

The Trinity kernel is available for both CDMA and GSM variants of the Galaxy Nexus, and you just need to have your device rooted and unlocked.

Seidio's 3800mAh battery turns the Galaxy Nexus into Quasimodo

If you from the type of people who complain about battery life on high-end smartphones, which most of their owners are, you'd love to hear that Seidio outed an extended battery for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the current Android ice Cream Sandwich poster child.

The juicer is with the astonishing 3800mAh capacity, ready to power your device for more than a day of heavy usage. That is more than even the one on the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX, and TI's OMAP chips are known for their well-optimized power consumption anyway.

The only thing you have to part with, besides $69.95 for Seidio's 3800mAh battery, is your pride. When you tack the fat Li-Ion unit, a hunch forms on the back of your device, so it won't be as pretty as its maker intended, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Oh, you also lose the NFC connectivity, in case you ever used it.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets a white version next month, available for pre-order in the U.K.

If a contemporary smartphone is to be considered fashionable, it must have a white version too. Take the iPhone 4S, Motorola DROID RAZR, and the Samsung Galaxy S II for T-Mobile, for example – all of these hot handsets are available in white for those who do not like the conservative look of their black variants.

Well, another top shelf smartphone is expected to follow that trend pretty soon. A white version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be released in the first half of February, and U.K. retailer Clove is already taking pre-orders. The white Galaxy Nexus costs just as much as its titanium-silverish counterpart and is expected to arrive during the week of February 6.

Sadly, there are no images of the device for us to drool over. Furthermore, we have no clue whether Verizon is planning on releasing a white Samsung Galaxy Nexus too. Just to be clear, the white model that can be pre-ordered is GSM-based and has no LTE radio, while the one that Verizon offers supports the CDMA standard. Still, rest assure that we will let you know as soon as we learn more on the matter. In the meantime, those of you who would love to own a Galaxy Nexus dressed in white are free to drop us a line in the comments below.