03/17, 11:44am
Four cores clocked at faster speed than 'octo-core' version
Chip manufacturer Qualcomm confirmed on Friday that the US version of the recently announced Galaxy S 4 smartphone will come with a 1.9Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, rather than the "octo-core" 8/4 processor Exynos 5 chip used in the international versions. The move is similar to the situation with the Galaxy S III, which in the US is a dual-core processor, with a quad-core model internationally.
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01/14, 9:04am
Chip performance estimated less than current iPad processor
Rumors suggest that Samsung's new mobile processor will have decidedly current-gen graphical capabilities. The Exynos 5 Octa was claimed at CES to have twice the 3D gaming performance of any other mobile processor, but did not reveal its GPU configuration, leading to speculation it will have performance between that of Apple's A5X and A6X.
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01/09, 2:54pm
Microsoft demos Youm-based Windows Phone prototype
Today Samsung unveiled a new flexible OLED technology, dubbed Youm, during a second-day keynote at CES. To demonstrate the technology the company brought in Microsoft, which showed off a prototype Windows Phone device. Microsoft also presented video from a lab test, in which a display was projected onto an entire room for the sake of an Xbox game.
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01/04, 2:15am
No announced release date for patch in other countries, including US
Samsung has begun to address a serious security flaw found in Exynos 4 ARM-based smartphones. A patch for the Galaxy S III has been released in the UK that fixes the problem, according to SamMobile. A date for a wider release for the patch has not yet been made public.
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12/17, 5:56am
Samsung Exynos 4-based processors vulnerable to serious
Devices running Samsung’s Exynos 4-based processors (4210 and 4412) including the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II have been shown to be vulnerable to a hack with potentially serious ramifications. A developer on the XDA Developers forum @alephzain uncovered the vulnerability, which could give a malicious app the ability to wipe data, brick a device or access a user’s data without their knowledge.
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08/28, 6:59am
LG Optimus G stakes claim for smartphone crown
LG has made its latest Android flagship smartphone, the Optimus G, official. The Optimus G is the new leading Android smartphone on the market based on its specifications alone and is possibly the most advanced smartphone yet made. It’s 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) with ‘Krait’ architecture is very similar to the Cortex-A15 architecture, but with performance that blows away the quad-core Exynos 4112 based on the older Cortex-A9 architecture used in the international version of the Samsung Galaxy S III.
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08/27, 11:32am
Galaxy Note 2 will support 4G networks, sport a more rounded design: source
The Galaxy Note 2 that's due for release on August 29 will have a 5.5-inch touchscreen with 1280x720 resolution, a Korean newspaper reported. While this technical detail, among others, has been rumored before, the paper does seem to have had an early look at the actual device and thus confirms the official specs. The phone, known by the GT-N7100 model name, will also have an integrated stylus and support 3G as well as 4G networks.
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08/10, 7:07am
Samsung Exynos 5 Dual with ARM Cortex A-15 enroute
Samsung has published a white paper (pdf) outlining the technical details and product highlights of its next-generation mobile processor. The new Exynos 5 Dualseries of mobile processors will be clocked at 1.7GHz and have been manufactured on Samsung's 32nm process using its High-K Metal Gate method. Underpinning the design is ARM's Cortex A-15 architecture, which will pit Samsung's latest chip directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 'Krait' processors.
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07/13, 6:51am
Quad-core ODROID-X offers hackers new microPC toy
Following in the footsteps of the popular $35 Raspberry Pi ARM-based Linux hacker home theatre microPC, Hardkernel is about to ship the ODROID-X for $129 at the end of July. For the price differential, users will get access to substantially more powerful hardware, not least of which is the 1.4GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos 4412 processor featured in the Galaxy S III. As the video embedded below shows, the it will also offer users a solid gaming experience in the vein of the OUYA Android gaming console that recently took Kickstarter by storm.
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07/05, 11:59pm
Quad-core ARM expected for new device
Notorious source DigiTimes, citing its usual Chinese manufacturing contacts, claimed that Apple's next-generation iPhone will be powered by a quad-core ARM processor based off of Samsung's Exynos 4 architecture. Other details, such as clock speed, or graphics processor technologies, were not provided. Analysts expect that Apple's move to a quad-core chip is necessary to keep them ahead in the smart phone arms race.
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07/05, 7:27am
Samsung releases first quad-core LTE variant of GS3
Samsung’s first quad-core LTE variant of its popular Galaxy S III is headed to Korean carriers on July 9. The US version of the Galaxy S III with LTE uses the fast, but dual-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. The new Korean model uses the same 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor on international variants of the Galaxy S III, but which has so far only been made available for 3G networks.
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06/04, 1:50pm
Galaxy S III is judged relatively easy to tear down, gets Gorilla Glass 2
The crew over at iFixIt have, once again, revealed the innards of another consumer electronics device, this time focusing on the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. This time around, however, the report is a little different, as it involved photos from Chipworks, and the iFixIt guys haven't actually put their own hands on the handset. As such, they haven't published a repairability score for the handset.
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05/31, 7:16am
Galaxy S III lands in Australia in white, blue to follow
The Samsung Galaxy S III has gone on sale in Australia with the Exynos 4412 quad-core model on sale initially. The Marble White model in 16GB is available immediately, with the 32GB listed as coming soon. The Pebble Blue model, which Samsung recently confirmed as having issues with its special paint process, is listed as available for pre-order now although shipments won’t start for 10 days. Australians will also soon have the choice of the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon LTE variant with 2GB with Telstra saying that it is currently negotiating with Samsung to bring it to its new 4G network.
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05/23, 9:05am
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 case redesigned
The forthcoming, and heavily re-engineered, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has had its case redesigned to accommodate the S Pen. Although the smaller Galaxy Note 5.3 has a slot for the S Pen, it took observers by surprise at Mobile World Congress in February when Samsung first revealed the device without an in-built location to stow it. Since its Barcelona unveiling, Samsung has completely revamped the Note 10.1 and has now also shoehorned the same 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 quad-core processor from the Galaxy S III into the device.
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04/27, 8:35am
Galaxy S III may be curved, narrow-bezel
The Samsung Galaxy S III may have had its final form uncovered based on a rumor Friday. The shot forwarded to Phone Arena would show a device that would still have hardware home, menu, and back buttons, but with a display roughly as large as on the Galaxy Nexus. It would possibly have a very narrow bezel as well as a metal border.
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04/26, 2:25pm
Galaxy S III detailed for different markets
Samsung officials in Korea have purportedly hinted that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III will get different chips for different markets. The comments were made by an unnamed exec after Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs admitted that the 28nm MSM chips were facing a supply shortage, The Korea Times reported. Qualcomm chips will only be used in the US, the Samsung exec said, not explaining why.
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04/25, 10:50pm
Samsung Exynos 4 Quad to rival Tegra 3, more
Samsung on Wednesday ended one of the largest rumors surrounding the new Galaxy S with news of its main processor. The Exynos 4 Quad carries a namesake four ARM Cortex-A9 cores and is made on a newer, smaller 32 nanometer process. Although it clocks in at the same 1.4GHz as in newer Samsung phones, it's roughly twice as powerful while using 20 percent less power, the company claimed.
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04/25, 6:30pm
AnTuTu benchmark shows no quad-core
A device being billed as a Galaxy S III has shown up in AnTuTu benchmarks that could point to more modest hardware. The device spotted at Droid-Life is listed as having a 4.7-inch, 720p screen like some rumors, but it would only have a dual-core, 1.4GHz Exynos 4212 chip, not the quad-core 4412 commonly attached to the next-generation phone. It added a 12-megapixel camera to the otherwise suspected details.
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04/25, 4:10pm
Samsung Kies app makes clear Galaxy S III link
A sighting in Samsung's own Kies app may have cemented the GT-i9300's status as the Galaxy S III ahead of its release. As caught by SamMobile, the syncing software shows two "Galaxy S3" models, both using the i9300 name. One of them is badged as the i9300T, likely a reference to support for frequencies at a different carrier or country.
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04/24, 11:30pm
Samsung i9300 shows heavy disguises
A briefly available posting (since pulled) has given a closer look at the i9300, which may be the Galaxy S III. The physical design appears to be using the rumored disguises for Samsung's extreme secrecy, including a physical home button that likely won't persist and a bulkier, plainer design. The software layout may have changed since the older prototype: it would have four on-screen navigation buttons, including an oversized menu button.
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04/23, 3:30pm
Samsung i9300 given unofficial benchmarks
Samsung's GT-i9300, possibly the third-generation Galaxy, has had its performance leaked through inadvertent postings to GLBenchmark. The 3D tests caught by a Phone Arena reader show that the quad-core Exynos 4412 chip in the device looks to beat any existing Android phone, and likely the iPhone 4S, by a wide margin. In the common-use Egypt test, the i9300 would be roughly a third faster than the similarly quad-core Tegra 3 in the international HTC One X and three times faster than Samsung's own Galaxy S II.
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04/20, 7:00pm
Samsung may have new Galaxy Tab to show at
Samsung may bring more than just a third-generation Galaxy phone to its upcoming May 3 event. As asserted by a source for CNET, the company would purportedly have a new 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab variant in store for the gathering. Other than a dual-core processor, the informant was short on details.
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04/20, 7:55am
Galaxy S III now known to be GT-i9300
Samsung's May 3 event was spoiled in conspicuous fashion on Friday after Vietnam's Tinhte briefly posted (since pulled) a detailed look at what's now very likely to be the Galaxy S III. Previously seen earlier as the GT-i9300, the hardware appears to have roughly the physical footprint of the Galaxy S II but with a taller, 4.6-inch, 720p screen that uses Android 4.0's onscreen controls. A quad-core 1.4GHz chip (likely the Exynos 4412) makes it clear the device is high-end.
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04/18, 9:55pm
Next Samsung Galaxy to focus on speed first
Following launch secrecy details, a second leak Wednesday has dropped hints that the Galaxy S III, or whatever the device is named, may be a breakthrough in speed. The same source for The Verge as earlier said it would use the rumored quad-core chip, likely the Exynos 4412, and deliver "superlative benchmark performance." The part isn't confirmed, but it's likely to be identical to the Samsung chip in the Meizu MX Quad-core, which could be 60 percent faster than the dual-core MX.
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04/17, 9:15am
Samsung Galaxy may face iPhone 4S moment
Android supporters may be dealt a degree of irony at Samsung's May 3 event based on rumors from an uncharacteristic if potentially major source. A UK telecom insider told CNET that the new Galaxy phone would be an "incremental" update, where the quad-core Exynos 4412 and eye tracking would be the highlights of an otherwise safe design. Despite criticisms of Apple using a cosmetically similar design even with major upgrades inside, Samsung would face the same complaint itself.
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04/16, 6:25pm
Refreshed Galaxy to get massive marketing push
With the official announcement of Samsung's Galaxy S III drawing nearer, rumors and speculation abound. Now, BGR claims information on the device's specifications and capabilities, as well as the marketing push that may accompany its launch.
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04/15, 10:20pm
Meizu MX Quad-core ups ante
Meizu started its week in China with the MX Quad-core. The design promises to be one of the fastest phones on the market, partly through its using a Samsung chip instead of the NVIDIA Tegra 3. While shy on details, Meizu mentioned it as an Exynos based on a 32-nanometer ARM Cortex-A9 design, likely making it the Exynos 4412 and giving it a 1.5GHz clock speed.
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04/07, 6:55am
HTC One S for T-Mo nails speed tests
The HTC One Sfor T-Mobile has surfaced undergoing benchmark testing and the results are impressive. Its dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (Krait) processor shows a result that it is more than twice as fast as the Samsung dual-core Exynos processor at the heart of the Galaxy Nexus in its Quadrant score. Where the Galaxy Nexus scores around 2,000 on the benchmark, the HTC One S pushes past 4,000 giving it the crown, alongside its similarly powered sibling, the HTC One X.
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03/24, 3:20pm
Chrome OS may use Samsung flagship CPU
A new discovery within Chromium OS bug tracking has suggested that Chrome OS is not only close to using ARM but may use one of its fastest processors. Thomas Taschauer has spotted numerous references to "Daisy," an unknown device that would use Samsung's Exynos 5250. The 2GHz, ARM Cortex-A15-based chip could both significantly improve battery life and thinness while making a Chrome OS device as fast or faster than current Intel Atom Chromebooks.
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03/19, 11:10pm
Samsung Exynos 5250 to get next-gen T604 MP4 GPU
A slide leak Monday has unearthed more details about Samsung's Exynos 5250 than what it has shared so far. The SemiAccurate copy shows that the 2GHz, ARM Cortex-A15 performer should also be mated to a much newer Mali-T604 graphics core. With 2.1 gigapixels per second and a wide 12.8GBps memory bandwidth, the T604 should blow past the already fast Mali-400 in the Galaxy S II.
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03/07, 10:00pm
NVIDIA upset it may lose to Apple in mobile GPUs
NVIDIA responded to Apple's claims of performance for the new iPad. Representative Ken Brown told ZDNet that NVIDIA didn't have the benchmark criteria Apple used to claim a fourfold speed advantage over the Tegra 3 processor. As such, it couldn't verify the authenticity of the claims, which it implied might have been biased through the choice of apps.
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03/05, 11:55am
Samsung Galaxy S III gets late spring intro
Samsung has denied a rumor that its headlining phone for the year, thought by most to be the Galaxy S III, would ship in April. In Korean, it said only that that the April launch was "not true." It wanted customers to wait for an official release date, suggesting that the phone would arrive late in practice.
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03/02, 12:55pm
Samsung Galaxy S III said possibly on track
Samsung's decision to skip unveiling the Galaxy S III at this week's just-ended Mobile World Congress may not have been a sign of a delay but a competitive move to keep its final plans a secret. Leaks from unnamed Samsung officials to ZDNet had the company still on track to ship the third-generation phone in April, a year on from the launch of the Galaxy S II. It may have timed it for as late as the summer, but was taking advantage of a lack of immediate releases from Chinese firms, as well as a presumed half-year wait from April to the next iPhone, to "move ahead of competitors."
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02/27, 1:10pm
Galaxy S III to get 1080p touchscreen, 1.5GHz CPU
The Samsung Galaxy S III may be powered by a 1.5GHz, quad-core Exynos processor and have a 4.8-inch, 1080p touchscreen if the latest specs leaked to BGR prove true. These are in line with earlier reports from the same source, and while the phone isn't officially being unveiled at the currently ongoing MWC, it's expected out soon. Otherwise, it's said the rear camera will be an eight-megapixel unit, with the front rated at two.
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02/25, 10:50am
Galaxy S III may take pages from Nexus, iPhone
An unusual rumor Saturday may have provided some details of the Galaxy S III. Keeping with Samsung's near-tradition of increasing screen size with every new high-end conventional smartphone, the BGR source claimed it would supposedly push the screen out to 4.8 inches. The back, however, would take a partial cue from the iPhone 4 and 4S with a ceramic back, presumably to improve reception and help keep the device slim.
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02/24, 1:00pm
Samsung to release Galaxy B this summer?
Samsung will release a bezel-free smartphone as late as this summer, Korean paper Maeli Business reported. Thus far being referred to as the Galaxy B, the phone would just have the front glass panel visible when viewed head-on on its sides and bottom. Only a small section of the bezel will be visible atop the handset that would house a front-facing camera and earphone.
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02/23, 5:35pm
Samsung teases 32nm quad Exynos part
Samsung at the ISSCC event this week has shown the first example of a quad-core version of its Exynos chips. Its new example still uses the ARM Cortex-A9 but runs on a more efficient 32 nanometer manufacturing process, which should improve both speed and battery life over 2011-era chips. Along with a newer graphics core with four pixel effects processors, it should be about 26 percent faster even as it uses 34 to 50 percent less power. Each core, as well as media processing sections, can be shut off independently to save power when a task isn't needed.
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02/23, 2:25pm
TI OMAP5 demo shows A15 more than 2X faster
TI has posted a demo video (below) of its OMAP5 processor in what could be a sign of how fast many next-generation processors will be next to even chips that have yet to arrive. Even clocked at just 800MHz with only two main cores, the use of ARM's new Cortex-A15 was able to run a web browser, MP3 playback, and downloading multitasking test more than twice as quickly as a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor. While the A9 wasn't named, it was likely NVIDIA's 1.3GHz Tegra 3, showing how little clock speed mattered.
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02/21, 1:00pm
US Cellular bringing Galaxy S II for $230
US Cellular has a teaser page up for its version of the Samsung Galaxy S II, promising to ship it soon. It will run on the carrier's 3G network and thus gets the overall faster 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos processor instead of the 1.5GHz Snapdragon in the 4G-capable versions. The screen is nonetheless the larger, 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, and an eight-megapixel camera with LED flash continues to sit out back.
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02/19, 1:15pm
iPad 3's chip may be upgraded A5 instead
An apparent discovery Sunday has shown what's purported as the iPad 3's mainboard with an unexpected A5X, not A6, processor name. The WeiPhone details don't directly indicate what this would imply, but they imply more of an evolution than a major overhaul. A date code on top suggests it was made in 2011 week 46, or about November 14-20 and the timeframe when iPad 3 production may have started.
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02/17, 4:30pm
AMD exec to kickstart Qualcomm Adreno graphics
AMD's recently departed graphics CTO Eric Demers is now thought to have jumped ship for Qualcomm. An insider connection talking to The Inquirer said the graphics expert had made the hop "under good terms," but partly in the view that Qualcomm wasn't seen as a direct competitor. Intel and NVIDIA may have tried to poach him in the past.
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02/07, 3:45pm
Samsung says France event not linked to new phone
Samsung in a response Tuesday quickly dampened rumors that it had already picked a special event date for the postponed Galaxy S III. A French invitation to a March 22 event was just a biannual open house event, Samsung told The Next Web. The Korean company had promised a separate event later than Mobile World Congress in late February, but hadn't said when.
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02/06, 8:30am
Samsung Galaxy S III details allegedly slip
A new rumor has fueled speculation surrounding the Galaxy S III. The hardware will reportedly squeeze down to as little as 7mm (0.28in) thick by eking every amount of thinness from the internal components, ETNews claimed. The mainboard, chips, and connectors would all be about 10 to 20 percent thinner than usual.
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02/01, 10:35am
Samsung demos formula for Galaxy Tab 11.6 in advan
Samsung has given a technology preview of how it will answer the third-generation iPad with the now more probable Galaxy Tab 11.6. The abstract demo shown to Phone Arena combined the extremely sharp 2560x1600 LCD with the upcoming 2GHz Exynos 5250 chip. The test both proved that the resolution was possible on new hardware and touted the efficiency of the smaller 32 nanometer chip.
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01/27, 7:30pm
Release mired in uncertainty
Samsung continues to send out conflicting signals about when its future flagship phone, the Galaxy S III might be released. Earlier today, Samsung's Senior marketing VP, Younghee Lee, said that the company was "still reviewing" options. At the same time, a probable reference to the phone has since shown up on Samsung's UAE support page as the GT-i9300.
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01/27, 5:50pm
Samsung may have 11.6-inch, 2GHz Tab for WMC
A fresh rumor backs a Samsung Galaxy Tab running at 2GHz to be unveiled at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Android and Me claim to have unknowingly played with the device at a special media-only closed door Samsung seminar at CES. It is said to sport Samsung’s latest dual-core Exynos 5250 processor that is built on ARM’s latest Cortex-A15 architecture, which incorporates its next-gen Mali-T406 GPU.
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01/26, 8:40pm
Samsung full results lean heavily on mobile
Samsung has detailed its full results following a brief preview earlier in the month. The Korean electronics giant mustered the equivalent of $42 billion in revenue, but owed much of this and its profit to a 30 percent increase in its cellphone business. Almost half of its working profit, $2.3 billion out of $4.7 billion, came from its mobile group; profit as a whole was up 17 percent.
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01/16, 4:50pm
Samsung Austin factory needs 1b bond
Samsung disclosed Monday that its new Austin plant might require that it sell $1 billion in debt for funding. It expects to sell a five-year bond and has been talking to banks to help orchestrate the deal. The arrangement would be its first significant sale of the kind in over a decade.
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01/06, 10:05am
iOS 5.1 references four cores
A delve into the iOS 5.1 beta has supported beliefs that the A6 chip will have four cores. Its processor management software was seen by 9to5 as referencing "core.0" through "core.3," a giveaway that it has to control quad-core hardware. iOS 5.0 only stops at "core.1" and hints Apple is at least using iOS 5.1 as a testbed for quad-core devices, if not as the initially shipping version.
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01/05, 11:25am
Galaxy Nexus to get coveted white and 32GB soon
A common request for the Galaxy Nexus was answered on Thursday after UK dealer Handtec confirmed two new models. The Android 4.0 version will be coming in both white 16GB and black 32GB models as of February 6. The white version is expected to be a front-to-back color change.
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