Samsung appears to be readying a Galaxy S III variant for T-Mobile's network, according to Federal Communications Commission filings. The carrier has yet to officially confirm plans to launch the Korean handset maker's latest flagship device, however the FCC test documents point to a new model geared specifically for T-Mobile's 1,700MHz AWS spectrum.
On May 16, British mobile telecom carrier O2 announced that they are building out a DC-HSPA wireless network capable of 42Mbps wireless downloads in the UK's largest cities. Samsung has jumped on board the effort by announcing yesterday that the Samsung Galaxy S III would connect to the DC-HSPA network. The Galaxy S III is expected to launch in the UK on May 29.
The FCC has posted a filing for the Samsung Galaxy S III without LTE onboard. The tested handset seems to be the global release version, which is limited to HSPA+ and EDGE, with the filing more a formality for handset imports to the US before the LTE variant is released.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed a previous judge's ruling that there was no merit to Apple's copyright complaint against Samsung. Prior judgements on iPhone versus the Galaxy Nexus phone were left untouched. The original ruling against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was that Apple's patent was "obvious", meaning that the original patent should never have been granted.
Samsung is believed to be the first company to launch two computer monitors that support Mobile High Definition Link (MHL) technology. The technology made its mainstream debut on the Galaxy S II smartphone, which is also made by Samsung. It involves the ability to send HDMI signals over a microUSB connection, though it requires a separate power source.
Samsung held its "Unwrapped" event in London yesterday to show off its next handset, the Galaxy S III. Electronista attended the unveiling, and spent some time with the handset after an hour-long presentation from the company management. The new model is considerably larger, but not significantly thicker. It offers a high-quality screen, faster processor, a Siri-like voice management feature and a smooth finish in Samsung's latest attempt to best the industry-leading iPhone.
After months of rumors, the Samsung Galaxy S III was officially unveiled at the currently ongoing Mobile Unpacked event in London. As expected, the Super AMOLED touchscreen is 4.8 inches in size and has 1280x720 resolution, while the processor is Samsung's own Exynos quad-core unit clocked at 1.4GHz and paired with 1GB of RAM. The phone weighs in at 4.7oz (133g) and its thinnest point measures in at 8.6mm.
With a Samsung-hosted event just two days away, where the electronics giant is expected to officially unveil the Galaxy S III handset, new images of the handset have been shared online by SamMobile. The source also revealed that the phone will ship with Android 4.0.4 and confirms that the Galaxy S III is indeed the GT-I9300, as earlier reports maintained. A small chance remains that the phone picture below is just a dummy version, and is not representative of the final product, with the strongest supporting evidence coming from the three dedicated buttons at the bottom.
For HTC, 2011 was sometimes considered a write-off: what looked to be a promising year with an early 4G lead saw the company overwhelmed by Apple and Samsung, and even by its own at times confusing lineup with problematic phones like the Thunderbolt. The One series for 2012 is the reboot, a return to basics with an emphasis on high-end design and even stripping back the custom Sense interface layer. We'll determine in our review of the HTC One X in 4G LTE trim, and to some extent the Evo 4G LTE, whether HTC is back to being a fierce competitor for the iPhone and Galaxy roster.
The judge mediating settlement talks between Apple and Samsung firmed up details for the proceedings late in the week. Both sides, likely including their CEOs and chief counsels, are expected to meet the mornings of May 21 and 22 in a San Francisco court rather than in the full trials' San Jose venue. The two will additionally have to produce statements by May 9 saying how likely the believe they are to win at trial, although it's unlikely this will produce concessions.
An upgrade roadmap has given out tentative upgrade timing for Android 4.0 as well as T-Mobile's next myTouch smartphones. Although details are still in flux, TmoNews heard that the custom, upsized version of the Samsung Galaxy S II for the network would get its update on or near May 14. Those with the two most recent HTC phones for the carrier, the Amaze 4G and Sensation 4G, would get theirs over a month later, on June 16.
Samsung on Friday gave a statement denying that it was responsible for the Wake Up campaign 'protesting' at Apple's retail store in Sydney, Australia. The company told SlashGear that it wasn't involved at all with the campaign, which makes no mention of any company or organization's name. The company behind the campaign, marketing agency Tongue, hasn't identified its client.
IHS iSuppli posted an estimate that suggested Apple may have kept its frontrunner position in smartphones in the earliest quarter of 2012. Although Samsung hasn't officially published smartphone shipments, researchers believed that it had shipped 32 million devices, putting it behind Apple's 35.1 million iPhones. If true, the gap would be wider than in the fall, when Samsung's reported 35 million to 36 million was close to Apple's 37 million.
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.
Samsung has achieved a milestone in toppling Nokia for the crown of top cellphone maker, Strategy Analytics estimated in a new study. Using unofficial figures for Samsung as well as official data elsewhere, it had Samsung leading with 93.5 million cellphones sold, or 25.4 percent of the entire space. Nokia's rapid decline in smartphones saw it tumble from 108.5 million phones at the start of 2011 to 82.7 million a year later, or 22.5 percent.
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.
(Update: Samsung denies involvement) Samsung has decided to go beyond just TV ads decrying Apple stores to actively campaigning in front of them. As seen first-hand (below) by well-known Australian video maker Nate Burr and recounted through checks by mUmBRELLA, the Korean company has recruited marketers at Tongue to send buses of mock protesters to Apple's Sydney store, urging those inside to "wake up." Although the street team makes no mention of Samsung, a Wake Up Australia site has a countdown that directly lines up with Samsung's Galaxy S III event on May 3.
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.
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.
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.
LG saw itself return to health Wednesday with early 2012 results that showed it back in form. It swung from an equivalent to a $13.9 million loss in winter a year ago to $213.3 million in profit based on a much stronger position in smartphones and better 3D TV sales in is native South Korea. Its mobile division made the equivalent of $34.2 million in profit, almost all of that from cellphones, after having lost $88.7 million at the start of 2011.
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.
Canadian provider Bell on Tuesday introduced its Push-to-Talk service, based on the provider's 4G-branded service that offers HSPA+ download speeds of up to 21Mbps. It also launched a new rugged handset that can take advantage of it with the Sonim XP5520 Bolt. Bell's Samsung Galaxy S II 4G and BlackBerry Curve 9360 can also take advantage of the network and PTT service.
Samsung has posted an upgrade guide for the US that shows just which devices in the country will get an Android 4.0 update. Galaxy S II variants at AT&T, including the regular and Skyrocket versions as well as the Epic 4G Touch, are slated to get the new OS. The Galaxy Note also gets an update, while the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G either have or already are getting their upgrades.
UK carrier Vodafone has gone out on a limb and committed to offering the next Galaxy-branded handset from Samsung. Interested parties can sign up to receive updates from the wireless provider on details such as shipping dates as soon as Vodafone is ready to release them. Unfortunately, the teaser doesn't offer any more insight as to the phone's capabilities or specifications.
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.
Samsung on Monday started showing a teaser video (embedded below) for its upcoming next-generation Galaxy S. Following a countdown that started Sunday, the clip is short on details but talks about having a galaxy that "fits perfectly into your hand." In a probable dig at Apple, it also claims that the new phone will help avoid users become "sheep," an ironic statement for a company hoping to outsell Apple in smartphones.
The Samsung Galaxy S III may have had a handful of technical features given out with a tentative listing at Amazon Germany. The placeholder has few details, but it claimed a possibly contradictory 12-megapixel camera, unlike the eight-megapixel example that emerged in Vietnam just on Friday. A 4.7-inch Super AMOLED display and 16GB of built-in storage are at least close to the details of the prototype.
After reaching overseas versions of the Samsung Galaxy S II, the official Android 4.0 update is now reaching US versions of the unlocked device. The 216.6MB over-the-air update is gradually being released to handsets, though users can go and check for its availability by going into the Settings menu.
Samsung's once thought frozen parallel to iCloud, informally known as S-Cloud, could still be on tap for the Galaxy S III launch. A claim emerging late Friday from Korea's Maeil Business claimed that it would have at least 5GB of space, but would supposedly be more universal. It purportedly would serve as a general storage space where Apple prefers it for syncing either specific OS-level or developer-specified content.
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.
HTC's market challenges have seen it lose more than half of its share of online usage, Chitika found in a new study. Its traffic on Chitika's relatively large ad network has dropped 60 percent in the space of five months, down to 7.3 percent of the total in March. While only representative of Chitika's share, it contrasted with Apple's gain in the same space of time, where it leapt from 46.8 percent in October to 76.9 percent in March.
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.
Samsung's Galaxy S III launch is running under security levels previously associated most closely with Apple, scoops on Wednesday unearthed. A tip to The Verge understood that test units were being put in generic enclosures that disguise the actual look for field testing. One such example was caught by Gizmodo in Brazil (pictured) and was "not even close" to the final look.
A rumor surfacing Wednesday has both Apple and Samsung turning towards exotic materials for their next-generation smartphones. Apple would purportedly take advantage of its Liquidmetal patent deal, ETNews said, to get a shell that was both thin and light but resistant to external damage. The design was "expected" to show at the World Wide Developers Conference in June, though without an official WWDC date, this part would be more speculation than a claim of fact.
Samsung on Tuesday started rolling out the Android 4.0 upgrade for unlocked versions of the Galaxy S II. Those whose phones were bought SIM-free, or unattached to any carrier, should have the option of updating through the Kies desktop app. Multiple European carriers had already seen their carrier-locked versions get updates sooner.
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.
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.
Samsung ended months of speculation with an invitation to a special event on May 3. Asking fans to "come and meet the next Galaxy," a believed reference to the expected Galaxy S III, it plans to both have an open house at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London as well as to livestream the event. Few clues if any are available as to the hardware, with hints limited to blue and white 'droplets' with a brushed metal texture.
Samsung has released a pink version of the Galaxy Note in South Korea. The color, named “Berry Pink,” went on sale in an attempt by Samsung to appeal to a female audience in a similar move to the Galaxy S II in November.
Samsung has filed trademark applications for three more Galaxy device with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Named in the filings were the Galaxy Lift, Galaxy Perx, and Galaxy Sire. As is often the case in its trademark applications, Samsung provided no details about the devices other than they fell under the "Mobile telephones; Smartphones" classification.
Apple has largely been unsuccessful in attempting to appeal its denied early ban on Samsung devices in the US. Judges in an appeals court hearing on Friday was told that, while the main case's Judge Lucy Koh thought it probable Samsung had copied Apple technology, there wasn't a strong enough sign that any imitation was doing damage to Apple's health. Apple had tried to argue that it didn't need to show a direct loss.
LG's mobile Managing Director Kwon Bong-suk in a Korean interview on Friday suggested that his company was about to make a sharp break from its past and its peers in smartphones. Arguing that the next innovation "doesn't necessarily have to come from Apple," he explained to INews 24 that LG was moving away from putting in more features solely to say it had them and to focus instead on a "thinking" phone that reacted to real conditions. In a rough example, he raised the idea of a phone waking up its owner at 5:30AM instead of 6AM if it knew that traffic would be unusually bad on the route.
Samsung late Thursday gave upbeat early estimates of its first calendar quarter results that showed a possible breakthrough in smartphone sales. Its pure operating profit would be 5.8 trillion won (nearly $5.2 billion), or almost twice as much as from a year earlier. Pure revenue would sit at $39.8 billion.
As promised two months ago, US Cellular has started shipping its first LTE smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator. The handset sports a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen and is preloaded with Android 2.3.6 onboard. More importantly, however, it can access the carrier's 4G LTE network, offering significantly higher speeds than 3G networks.
Samsung hoped to quash rumors with a statement denying any plans for 3D smartphones. The Korean firm explained to Engadget that it was "constantly exploring new technologies," but that there was "no immediate plan" to use 3D screens or cameras for its future phones. The remarks leave the GT-i9300 and other hardware using conventional technology for now.
Samsung decided to take its own leap into mobile advertising on Tuesday with plans for its own mobile ad exchange. The AdHub Market outlined to MarketWatch would let advertisers buy space either from app developers or Samsung itself to put them on apps across the Korean company's platform. The OpenX-powered service would be active in the second half of the year.
Samsung's Galaxy Note commercial titled "The Best of a Phone and Tablet" has been rated the most effective ad for the first quarter of the year, according to a survey conducted by analyst firm Ace Metrix. The televised commercial is said to have achieved a higher score than ads from Doritos and M&Ms, which rounded out the top three.
Samsung should retake the edge in the smartphone space as of the first quarter, Canaccord Genuity said in early estimates. Analyst T. Michael Walkley saw Samsung going back to 28.2 percent share on the back of 41 million smartphones. Apple would have its strongest winter ever, but at 32.6 million iPhones would have a more modest 22.4 percent.
Although previously clued earlier in the week, the once-mysterious Phones4U and Samsung event on Friday was revealed to be a Samsung store-within-a-store at the phone retailer's location on Oxford Street in London. As caught in a quick tour by Engadget, the store has slight traces of an Apple retail store, including dedicated tables with fully working samples and staff trained to answer detailed questions.
