05/25, 9:10am
Samsung targets budget Windows Phone market
Windows Phone fans currently face a limited selection of new devices, however a few companies, including Samsung, continue to release new offerings powered by Microsoft's mobile OS. Electronista checked out Samsung's Focus 2 earlier this month at CTIA's spring conference for a quick hands-on preview, however our full review takes a closer look at the latest budget-priced Windows Phone offering to arrive at AT&T.
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05/25, 6:53am
AUO starts mass production of AMOLED panels
Taiwanese display giant AU Optronics is set to ship its first AMOLED mobile display panels to Sony and HTC in June, according to Digitimes. Currently, Samsung display division dominates the manufacture of AMOLED panels. However, AU Optronics yield rates are only at 20 percent on average at this early stage in its implementation of the technology, meaning that it will still be some time before it poses a serious competitive threat to Samsung.
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05/23, 6:52pm
Samsung a major buyer, also supplier of chips
Apple is by far the largest buyer of all kinds of microprocessors, buying 50 percent more RAM, processor and other chips than any other company, with its appetite having tripled since 2009 due to the success of its iOS devices (and to a lesser extent its growing Mac business). At an industry conference, IHS iSuppli researcher Dale Ford said that the company will buy $27 billion worth of chips, up from $9B in 2009.
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05/23, 1:21pm
Galaxy Appeal becomes first side-slider for AT&T's GoPhone offering
AT&T has just introduced a new smartphone for its GoPhone pre-paid offering, the Samsung Galaxy Appeal. The first side-slider for GoPhone sports a hardware QWERTY keyboard and a 4.3-inch, 480x320 touchscreen. It's powered by an 800MHz Qualcomm processor and Android 2.3.
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05/23, 11:45am
July trial may be virtually guaranteed
Apple and Samsung have failed to reach any kind of settlement after court-ordered talks on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Korea Times. A Samsung official tells the publication that the companies could find "no clear agreement" on their patent dispute. The talks were extremely high-level, involving Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung.
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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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05/22, 9:19pm
Small form factor computer runs Google's Chrome OS
Images of Samsung's forthcoming Chromebox desktop appeared briefly on the Internet today, as retailer TigerDirect posted a video featuring the device. The video has since been taken down, but it confirmed details Samsung had previously released when it revealed the device in January. The desktop computer, similar in its form factor to Apple's Mac mini, will be one of the first desktop PCs to run Google's Chrome operating system.
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05/21, 2:39pm
Device makers to roll out handsets on fledgling OS
Tizen, the operating system developed as a partnership between Intel and Samsung, may finally debut on smartphones in the second half of this year. The scalable OS, sources tell Digitimes, will be appearing on smartphones, tablets, and notebooks from a number of different manufacturers.
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05/21, 2:15pm
Samsung motions for three expert testimonies to be excluded
Samsung has accused experts on Apple's side of patent litigation as being strong fans of the Cupertino-based company, pointing towards an engineered “cult-like following to all things Apple.” The claims that the experts had “cast aside established scientific methods... in favor of slavish adoration of their client” appear in Samsung motions filed on Thursday, as noted by Florian Mueller.
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05/21, 11:21am
Apple, Samsung CEOs to meet today in court-ordered talks
Samsung is still hoping to settle in its global legal disputes with Apple, Reuters reports. The head of the company's mobile division, J.K. Shin, spoke to journalists at a Seoul airport yesterday shortly before flying to the US. "There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options including cross-licensing," he said. Shin is joining Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook today for court-ordered settlement talks.
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05/19, 5:30pm
Apple may help achieve hat-trick of import bans
On the heels of an appeals court win that suggested that Samsung should have been barred from selling its copycat Galaxy Tab 10.1 from the get-go, Apple has now filed a motion for a new injunction against the tablet asking it to be pulled from US shelves. The two companies are scheduled to begin high-level settlement talks on Monday, but should they fail the new injunction request could be ruled on as early as June 7.
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05/18, 10:09pm
Commission documents shed light on launch plans
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.
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05/18, 6:13am
Samsung Galaxy S III pre-orders in the millions
Samsung is reported to have notched up 9 million pre-orders for its Galaxy S III smartphone ahead of its launch. According to Reuters, the pre-orders have been made from over 100 global carriers, not customers, ahead of its release. Customers will be able to get their hands on the device starting May 29 in Germany, before it begins rolling out across other countries.
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05/18, 2:53am
No city list or timeline for rollout
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.
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05/17, 5:51pm
UK games now being regulated by Video Standards Council
The Video Standards Council has become the UK's sole statutory video-games regulator, administering the PEGI rating system. The changes now mean age checking for the sale of any game rated PEGI 12, 16 or 18 would become enforceable under UK law. Previously, the system was in an advisory capacity and not legally enforceable, with PEGI games rated 15 or higher also being rated by the BBFC for content.
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05/17, 10:06am
Samsung Cares Android app brings information, troubleshooting abilities
Samsung has just released a new Android app called Cares (Google Play) that aims to improve the customer service experience. It will allow users to check out FAQs, How-To guides, tutorial videos, and troubleshoot issues with their Android 2.1 and newer Samsung devices. Not all devices are covered, however.
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05/17, 8:37am
Japanese Samsung Galaxy S III users get bonus RAM
The forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S III for Japan has been fitted 2GB of RAM, versus the standard 1GB of RAM for most other international markets. The Japanese variant of the GS III also runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 ‘Krait’ dual-core SoC, which is compatible with Japan’s NTT Docomo 4G LTE network. The inclusion of the additional RAM is likely to help support Japan-only features such as 1 seg TV tuner without bogging down overall system performance.
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05/17, 7:28am
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 set for quad-core CPU
Suggestions that Samsung may have delayed the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in order to leapfrog the dual-core (quad GPU) A5X processor in the new iPad with a quad-core processor have gained momentum with leaked benchmarks spotted. The South Korean company had revealed a version of the forthcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 at the Mobile World Congress in February running the same dual-core processor as its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note stable mate. The leaked benchmarks show a Samsung tablet with a 1280x752 resolution running the 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 quad-core processor paired with Mali-604T graphics.
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05/16, 11:10am
Samsung QF20 and W300 reaches US stores
Samsung has put two camcorders up for sale in the US. The QF20, which we tried at CES, can sense if it has been flipped over and changes both filming and menu orientations automatically, and the W300 is claimed to be water-, shock-, and dust-proof.
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05/16, 7:04am
Samsung and HTC shares suffer at the hands of Apple
Samsung and HTC stock have both taken a hit thanks to separate actions instigated by Apple. Samsung’s stock saw $10 billion wiped off its value following a report by DigiTimes indicating that Apple had placed a large order for DRAM from its struggling Japanese competitor Elpida. Separately, HTC’s shares also slumped by over 6 percent following an Apple initiated ITC injunction being enforced by US Customs, stopping the importation of its hotly anticipated One X and EVO 4G LTE handsets.
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05/15, 3:21pm
Fledgling Samsung OS could debut with full app lineup
A company called Open Mobile has been demoing a method that allows devices running Tizen, Samsung and Intel's in-house mobile OS, to run apps intended for use on Android devices. As a video from The Handheld Blog shows, the technology could allow for future Tizen devices to circumvent the dearth of apps that typically plagues devices based on alternate operating systems.
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05/15, 12:39pm
Android 4 reaching Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tabs
Samsung has expanded its Android 4.0 update list to include several devices sold through T-Mobile. The carrier appears to have committed to Ice Cream Sandwich for several Galaxy handsets and two Galaxy Tabs.
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05/15, 10:33am
FTC posting shows global release version of Galaxy S III
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.
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05/15, 1:02am
Opens door for another Apple copyright suit against Samsung
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.
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05/14, 4:03pm
Samsung chief statements could mean bendy iPhones
The coming years could see bending, twisting, and even wearable iPhones and other devices, if The Korea Times is right in its interpretation of one Samsung executive's remarks. Samsung reports sizable offerings for its bendable OLED displays, and analysts believe the quantities on order could signal that Apple is interested in bringing the technology to future devices.
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05/14, 10:30am
Galaxy S III places near top in two of three tests
The crew over at GSMarena have got their hands on Samsung's Galaxy S III smartphone and tested its battery performance. They came away impressed, comparing it to the performance of 31 other handsets in the process. The 2,100mAh battery managed to provide 10 hours and 20 minutes of 3G talk time on a single charge, placing fourth and behind the Motorola Droid Razr MAXX and Samsung's own Galaxy Note and Wave 3 S8600, in that order.
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05/11, 9:47pm
Third case stayed, more incoming
A third Apple patent suit versus Samsung was stayed today pending the resolution of a separate required proceeding before Germany's Federal Patent Court. The stayed patent in question is a general patent that covers, amongst other things, the basic pinch to zoom interface action as found in OS X and iOS. The court that stayed the trial today is the first of two courts that operate in parallel, but on different timetables. One court is responsible for the scope of the infringement, and the other court is responsible for the validity of the patent.
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05/11, 7:20pm
Scalable OS feature set shown off in conference video
Since Tizen, an in-house alternative to Android was unveiled by Intel and Samsung last year, speculation has abounded as to the ultimate fate of the fledgling operating system. First, Samsung announced a merger between Tizen and Bada; then Samsung backpedalled on that statement, giving itself room to maneuver. Now a video has emerged from The Handheld Blog, showing version 1.0 of the Tizen OS in action, and running on a Samsung prototype phone.
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05/11, 3:57pm
Galaxy S III accessories shown off by Samsung
Samsung has gone ahead and released official images of the accessories it will offer for its Galaxy S III smartphone. This includes the C-Pen, which looks somewhat thicker than the pen bundled with the Galaxy Note. The soft flip cover is also seen, as is the Wi-Fi Display Hub, which will let users charge the handset while outputting its content over a full-sized HDMI port.
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05/11, 3:13pm
Display tech wrongly speculated for Galaxy S III
The previously spotted Samsung GT-i9500 is rumored to carry a Super AMOLED HD Plus display. According to sources of SamMobile, the handset was seen at the Tizen Delopers Conference in San Francisco sporting the display tech, previously speculated to be destined for the Galaxy S III.
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05/11, 12:45pm
Claims Samsung has track record of destroying evidence
On May 1st Apple filed a motion through a court for the Northern District of California, claiming "spoilation of evidence" by Samsung, according to NetworkWorld. Apple says that Samsung failed to preserve documents it needed to submit for the discovery process in the companies' ongoing legal battle. In fact, Apple accuses Samsung of spoiling "vast quantities of relevant evidence in blatant disregard of its duty to preserve all such evidence."
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05/11, 11:24am
Europe gets Samsung Omnia M in lieu of Focus 2
Samsung has mentioned on the company's blog that its Omnia M will be released in Europe soon. The handset, which was announced just days after the US-bound Focus 2, will feature a four-inch Super AMOLED display with a glare-reduction coating, along with Samsung-specific apps and 25GB of SkyDrive cloud storage.
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05/11, 10:19am
New Samsung phone to support LTE, get Android 4.0.4
Yet another Samsung smartphone has been quietly revealed, this time by carrier KT in South Korea. The device, known thus far only by its SHV-E170K model number, would get an LTE radio and sport a dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4. It will also ship with Android 4.0.4 onboard, SammyHub reported, but it will have Samsung's TouchWiz custom skin onboard as well.
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05/11, 5:58am
Samsung says PenTile AMOLED displays offer long-life
The launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S III was met with a muted reception from some sections of the tech community. While its quad-core Exynos processor has been shown to be very fast, some have criticized its extensive use of plastic materials and some its size. However, one detail in its specifications that probably caused the most consternation is its use of a Super AMOLED PenTile pixel array instead of the Super AMOLED Plus technology found on its predecessor, the Galaxy S II which includes a true RGB array without sharing subpixels.
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05/11, 3:01am
Gives company further leverage over rival
Late Wednesday evening, Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern California Circuit Court filed a decision giving Apple the right to re-file litigation in the future on any of the patent claims it will drop in its current two US cases with Samsung. The decision could have strong strategic importance to Apple, as the company will be free to continue threatening litigation on specific patent claims against Samsung. The trials are schedule to start this summer.
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05/10, 11:01am
Samsung SPH-L300 coming to Sprint with 1.5GHz dual-core chip?
Sprint may soon be adding another Android-powered phone to its lineup with the SPH-L300, a photo of which was shared by BriefMobile. The phone should share the same 1.5GHz, dual-core MSM8960 processor as the Evo 4G LTE. The battery also has mention of Near Field Communications, so the phone should ship with it included.
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05/10, 10:28am
Samsung shows production-ready 55-inch ES9500 OLED
Samsung is showing off production-ready models of its 55-inch OLED HDTV flagship introduced at CES. The ES9500 set is on display at the 2012 World's Fair in Korea and it will retail for more than 10 million won in its home market (over $9,000), according to the Associated Press. For that kind of money, buyers will get OLED technology and an upgradable dual-core CPU.
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05/10, 6:10am
Samsung Galaxy Note gets ICS, Premium Suite, multi-core support
The Samsung Galaxy Note (N7000) has received its long promised update to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The revised firmware (XXLPY 4.0.3, build date May 4) is rolling out to users over-the-air in Germany and the Netherlands at the time of writing. It brings with it Samsung’s revamped TouchWiz UI and its new Premium Suite of S-pen based apps including S Note, Shape Match and My Story.
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05/09, 10:11pm
Newcomer dives into Android arena
While wandering around the CTIA show floor this week, we noticed that a newcomer to the smartphone arena, Plum Mobile, brought along several intriguing devices. One of the new models, the Might, appears to be a cheap clone of Samsung's Galaxy Note. We had a chance to try out the device and see how it stacks up against the competition.
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05/09, 4:15pm
AT&T VP said Skyrocket HD is no longer coming to the carrier
The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD that AT&T promised back at CES and was subsequently leaked in a roadmap for the carrier will not be sold after all, The Verge learned. The news came during an interview with Ryan Bidan, Samsung's VP of marketing, who explained that there is no point of bringing it out considering the Samsung Galaxy S III was recently unveiled. By the same merit, the VP pretty much confirmed AT&T is getting the S III, though he didn't commit to a date other than that it will arrive this summer.
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05/09, 2:43pm
Samsung teases pair of 1080p LED monitors with MHL support
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.
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05/09, 10:24am
Samsung looking for third-party supplier to maker Galaxy S III charger?
The official wireless charger for the Galaxy S III unveiled last week won't ship until September, learned from UK retailer Mobile Fun, who will sell the accessory. That's between about three and four months later than the phone's launch, depending on which market one's in. Included in the kit is a replacement rear battery cover that likely adds thickness to the handset and a desk cradle that will wirelessly charge the device.
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05/08, 10:03am
Apple thought to be in rush to slow down Samsung
Late on Monday, Apple and Samsung both agreed to drop several patent infringement claims in the companies' California legal battle, according to FOSS Patents. Apple is said to have started the process, filing to drop roughly half of its claims. Five hours later Samsung followed suit, offering drop five out of 12 patents, but still arguing that Apple's case is too large to go to trial in the summer. In its filing Apple accused Samsung of being uncooperative.
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05/08, 9:14am
Samsung and Qualcomm take on Wireless Power Consortium
Samsung and Qualcomm have formed the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) in order to mount a challenge to Qi’s Wireless Power Consortium. The move may result in a battle analogous to Sony’s battle with Toshiba over the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats as one side seeks to establish its technology as the international standard. The Wireless Power Consortium, however, will present a formidable opponent -- it already has over 100 companies on its list of members, including heavy-weights like Energizer, HTC, Huawei, LG, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Texas Instruments and Toshiba.
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05/08, 3:22am
Ordered to produce a one-page summary
A US-based International Trade Commission (ITC) judge has accused Apple of trying to get around a page-count limit in court filings in its dispute with Samsung and has struck some 3,000 pages of patent analysis the company produced. Instead, according to Administrative Law Judge E. James Gildea, Apple must submit a one-page table of its invalidity contentions as contained in the ITC rules by the end of business today (Tuesday).
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05/07, 7:17pm
New Windows Phone targets budget market
AT&T held a special event in New Orleans to detail its home automation and security system, however the carrier also brought along Samsung's Focus 2. Electronista had a chance to try out the company's latest Windows Phone device, which represents the third model to feature the Focus label and the carrier's first to be equipped with an LTE radio for 4G data speeds.
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05/07, 10:47am
AT&T to get the Samsung Focus 2 on May 20
AT&T will soon begin offering the Samsung Focus 2 handset. Powered by the Windows Phone 7 operating system, it will support AT&T's 4G LTE network and cost just $50 on a two-year contract. The phone otherwise has a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen and a five-megapixel camera out back with a front VGA camera.
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05/05, 7:05pm
Company failed to produce 'design-around' source code
The ongoing Apple vs. Samsung case being tried in the United States took an unusual turn yesterday as Judge Paul S. Grewal granted an unusual "preclusive sanctions" order against Samsung for failing to produce source code for Apple in a timely fashion. The judge had already found Samsung in violation of the order two weeks earlier, and found that the company was guilty of blatantly stalling the case.
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05/04, 5:59pm
Carriers: O2, Orange, Vodaphone, T-Mobile, Three
The brand new Samsung Galaxy S III is now available for pre-order in the UK, just one day after the device was unveiled at a special event in London. Five carriers have started orders, with an expected availability date of May 30.
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05/04, 4:46pm
HP edges apple by 40,000 to climb back on top
According to new figures out from analyst firm Canalys, Q1 2012 saw Apple slip from the top spot in the client PC market. Thanks to a boost in shipments, former number one company HP retook its perch atop the market for at least one quarter. The report, though, may signal troubles ahead for PC manufacturers, as it suggests seismic trends at work in the marketplace.
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