Galaxy S II

After waiting for months, Sprint customers were finally graced with the white Galaxy S II. Samsung announced the news in a press release today (available after the break), and said the device will be available online and in-stores Jan. 8. The white variant will be priced the same as the black for $199 on a two-year contract. Man, she is gorgeous…

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AT&T has officially announced a white variant of their Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket slated for a December 4th release. The device is more than likely identical to the original black model which debuted on AT&T as one of their first true 4G LTE devices on November 6th.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Skyrocket, you can expect a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED display (800×480),  8-megapixel cam (2-megapixel front shooter), a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and Android 2.3.5. That device is available for $250 on a two-year contract, and the white model will land for the same price at the end of the week.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CGvzF56CRwI]

Four days ago, Google released the source code for Ice Cream Sandwich, and it was inevitable hackers would get working on an ICS port for devices. One of the most popular Android handsets to date, the Galaxy S II, is one of the first outside of the Galaxy Nexus to receive Ice Cream Sandwich’s touch. The port is pretty stable, only missing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and audio from the mix, but we expect bug fixes to be rolling out soon.

LG’s Optimus 3D is also among the first devices to receive the Ice Cream Sandwich port. The status of this port is unknown right now, but from the looks of it everything seems to be pretty smooth. Check it out after the break. (via Android and Me)

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/?v=elKxgsrJFhw]

The iPhone 4’s design was heavily criticized over the use of chemically strengthened glass for its enclosure. The pundits typically highlight a zero percent probability of the device landing on the “right” side in an unfortunate event of slipping out of your sweaty hands onto the pavement. Whichever way you look at it, both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S have questionable droppability compared to other handsets using chassis engineered around the usual metal + plastic combo.

The folks over at SquareTrade took an iPhone 4S for a spin and pitted it against Samsung’s Galaxy S II to see which one survives a waist high and shoulder high drop. As you can see in the above clip, Apple’s latest and greatest handset was pretty badly damaged from the outside, just like its predecessor. It did, however, fare pretty well landing on its stainless steel band. Dropped face down, however, the iPhone 4S’s screen completely shattered. Samsung’s device didn’t suffer nearly as much damage (note that being light weight is probably a factor).

In addition, the plastic back on the Samsung device has gotta be more prone to surviving the shock of a sudden impact compared to glass. By the way, if you’re concerned about your iPhone’s droppability, head over to 9to5Toys and get yourself a great case. SquareTrade is an independent warranty provider cover nearly everything – excluding, of course, intentional damage shown in the clip. Hop over to their web site for more information.

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber summed up nicely the problem with the iPhone 4’s easily breakable all-glass design. For those who don’t recall Gruber’s comment, here’s a thought he shared shortly after the device had gone on sale in the summer of 2010:

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Samsung’s Galaxy-branded smartphones are poised to become the fastest-selling alternative to the Apple’s iPhone family of devices. The latest Galaxy S II had gotten off to a great start, shipping three million units in the first 55 days of availability and five million units in 85 days. It shipped a total of ten million units in the first five months on the marketplace, beating the company-imposed end-of-2011 target by a significant margin. Today, Samsung announced (via Cellular-news.com) that the Galaxy S and Galaxy SII smartphones have achieved a combined total of 30 million global sales. The publication quoted president and head of Samsung’s mobile communications business JK Shin:

Since its launch only five months ago, Galaxy SII has seen tremendous sales success and garnered enthusiastic reviews from consumers and mobile industry watchers across the globe. This is in addition to the continued sales momentum behind Galaxy S, which we launched at Mobile World Congress 2010 as continues to be a run-away success with consumers

It is important to remember that these aren’t your bargain basement Androids, but really nice high-end devices comparable to Apple’s iPhone with their advanced features, the pleasing and slim design and price points. Considering the aforementioned 10 million Galaxy S II milestone was made public September 25, after which the handset hit the U.S. shores, it’s safe to assume that the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II shipped roughly 15 million units each to this date. In addition to positively impacting Samsung’s bottom line (even though they no longer detail sales of phones and tablets in quarterly earnings reports), the Android patent protection Samsung signed with Microsoft could bring the Windows maker a cool $300 million in licensing revenues on the combined sales of 30 million Galaxy S and S II phones.

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As 9to5Google reported this summer, Apple and Google are battling it out in several categories in Gadget Awards 2011, an annual gadget awards ceremony organized by British monthly Tomorrow’s Technology Today, better known as T3. The smartphone category pitted Apple’s iPhone 4, HTC’s Incredible S and Sensation, Motorola’s laptop-killing Atrix, Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Samsung’s Galaxy S II against each other. Samsung’s phone, which shipped ten million units in five months, has beatten Apple’s sixteen months old iPhone 4 and took home the prestigious Phone of the Year 2011 award. Per the official Gadget Awards web site, Britons this year voted Samsung’s phone as their #1 choice, the first time in three years that neither Apple nor HTC had won the award:

Samsung smashed it into the roof of the net with its top-of-the-range Android blower. A gorgeous looking phone with slick operation, the S II also features the best camera on any smartphone to date, great integration with Samsung’s TVs and other kit and a screen that matches the iPhone 4’s, without aping it, thanks to the unfathomable power of Super AMOLED.

Samsung should launch the Galaxy Prime (alternatively named the Nexus Prime) soon, perhaps November 3. Nexus Prime will be the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich device built in partnership with Google. It should boast the original Android experience (meaning no skins). Hardware-wise, the device is expected to sport a big, native 720p display, an eight-megapixel camera that captures full HD video, a speedy dual-core 1.5GHz processor and other treats. The phone should have already debuted, but Samsung and Google decided to delay the launch out of respect for Steve Jobs.

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Talk about speeds and feeds.

Underwhelmed with Apple’s new iPhone 4S, but obviously viewing it as a potential threat, Samsung is luring undecided or perhaps disappointed fans into considering the Galaxy S II smartphone. The company has issued an email to customers, attaching a convenient comparison table that pits the features of the iPhone 4S against its own Galaxy S II device. On closer inspection, however, some of the entries in Samsung’s table raise eyebrows.

For example, Samsung is downplaying the importance of Siri by describing it as the ‘voice activation’ feature and comparing Siri to Vlingo, a free download from Android Market. While Vlingo is billed as the best personal assistant on Android, it isn’t as comprehensive or deeply integrated as Sir, which surprises with its conversational attitude and artificial intelligence features allowing it to learn from past interactions with the user.

Also, the Cameras section in Samsung’s tablet ignores the iPhone 4S’s enhanced camera system, which is based on Sony’s lens and the improved sensor from Omnivision. The iPhone 4S’s back camera has a fifth lens, the larger f/2.4 aperture, the backside illumination sensor, as well as face detection and video stabilization capabilities, none of which Samsung bothered to mention. Instead, they tout their admittedly superb Super AMOLED Plus display which is “preferred 2 to 1 against other leading displays by Strategy Analytics”, a 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz dual-core processor (versus the A5 chip in the iPhone 4S) and, of course, 4G networking supporting WiMax, HSPA+ 42 or HSPA+ 21 MBps.

Apple’s handset sports HSPA 14.4Mbps networking that marketing chief Phil Schiller said could file as 4G, but underscored Apple won’t follow in the footsteps of its rivals by misusing the term “4G”. Perhaps Apple’s decision was influenced by a new bill to force carriers to disclose real 4G speeds?

Samsung’s table also underscores the openness of Android allowing for multiple app stores, music stores and online services. Finally, they are still referring to the Galaxy SII as the thinnest smartphone despite losing out the title to iPhone 4 in the U.K., per last month’s ruling by the UK Advertising Standards Authority.

Go past the fold for the full speeds and feeds chart and Samsung’s email message in its entirety.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9tXDLyeoBE]

BGR has discovered a pretty big security flaw in AT&T’s version of the Galaxy S II, which hits shelves tomorrow. For users who have a unlock pattern or pin set, they can simply bypass it by waking up their screen to unlock and then let the screen timeout to go black. Then simply, the user can wake up the phone once again and they’ll no longer have to use a pattern or pin to access the phone. BGR shows how simple it is in the video above.

Samsung offers a temporary work around, while they work on a permanent solution, after the break:

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iFixit is once again ripping apart some of our favorite smartphones, this time giving the tear down treatment to Samsung’s 8.49mm thin Epic 4G touch, also known as the Galaxy S II.

While there isn’t much here we didn’t already know, when it was all said and done the Epic 4G grabbed a 7 out of 10 for repairability (10 being the easiest). Here’s an overview of their findings, more shots after the break.

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Anandtech has published some interesting findings based on their extensive Samsung Galaxy S II review. It’s the first smartphone to use the graphics processing unit based on the Mali-400 core from ARM Holdings, a fables chip maker from the UK. In fact, Samsung has engineered and manufactured its own system-on-a-chip solution for the handset.

They call it the Exynos 4210 and it combines a dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU core and the aforementioned Mali-400 GPU sporting four cores. The resulting performance, says Anandtech, is comparable to Texas Instruments OMAP 4 chip that incorporates Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX540 GPU core. However, the quad-core 1.2GHz Exynos 4210 probably won’t hold a candle to iPhone 5, which will likely carry the same dual-core processor-GPU combo as the iPad 2’s 1GHz A5 chip:

Samsung implemented a 4-core version of the Mali-400 in the 4210 and its resulting performance is staggering as you can see above. Although it’s still not as fast as the PowerVR SGX 543MP2 found in the iPad 2, it’s anywhere from 1.7 – 4x faster than anything that’s shipping in a smartphone today.

Interestingly, and per the GL Benchmark seen in the above image, the Exynos 4210 is more than twice as fast compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that runs Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chi. It’s also nearly four times speedier than iPhone 4’s 800 MHz A4 chip which has the PowerVT SGX535 GPU core. However, the 4210 falls short in the triangle throughput department.

The publication this this could be a big disadvantage over the iPad 2’s A5 processor that clocks nine times the graphics performance of the original iPad’s A4 chip. Triangle throughput is important in graphics-intensive games and will become key in “future games that may scale along that vector rather than simply increasing pixel shader complexity”. The video of Anandtech’s Samsung Galaxy S II review is right after the break.

Cross-posted on 9to5Mac.com.

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Samsung has just officially unveiled the U.S. version of the Galaxy S II in a press release, before the event starts this evening. The device has been highly anticipated, after seeing much success on the European continent. The Galaxy S II will be available in three versions: Sprint, AT&T, and T-mobile. Like we previously mentioned, Verizon isn’t in the lineup.

Sprint’s version is dubbed the Epic 4G Touch — which features 4G WiMax.  AT&T and T-mobile’s version are both on the HSPA+ network. Specs for the device run the same across all three carriers: a 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display (except AT&T which features a 4.3-inch), 1.2GHz dual-core processor, Gingerbread with TouchWiz, 16GB of storage, 8-megapixel camera with 1080p support, and 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch will launch September 16th and the AT&T version September 18th. T-mobile is still saying “in the coming weeks”.

View the livestream

Update: Samsung also unveiled a pretty cool voice feature. More to come.

Full press release and gallery after the break:

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Due to weather conditions, Samsung is pushing back their Galaxy S II event from Monday, to Tuesday. Currently, Hurricane Irene is barreling its way to New York, where the event is going to take place. Thanks Samsung for making a good decision, to keep all of us bloggers safe. You bet we’ll have full coverage Tuesday, but in the mean time stay dry — will ya?

Pocketnow has leaked an exclusive shot of all of Samsung’s Galaxy S II variants on Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. You’ll notice both the T-mobile and Sprint versions are rounded, while the AT&T version is square. Besides the shape we don’t see any noticeable differences between the devices (besides the branding of course). You might be thinking, where’s the Verizon version? This week we reported that Verizon wouldn’t be carrying a Galaxy S II variant for the time being, and it was later confirmed by the WSJ.

The Galaxy S II is going to be announced next Monday, maybe along with a few more devices. At any rate you bet we’ll be there to cover the event.. if the weather doesn’t stop us.

So now we have a pretty good idea about that “big thing” Samsung recently promised. SammyHub reports that the Korean consumer electronics maker will demo a new Galaxy S II smartphone at the IFA trade show scheduled to run September 2-7, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. It’ll feature 4G connectivity and Samsung intends to pitch it as the first true world phone capable of connecting to LTE, GSM and WCDMA cellular networks.

The device will also sport slightly revised specs, including a bigger 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, NFC, WiFi, Bluetooth, eight-megapixel camera with flash and a 1850mAh battery. The 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab tablet will also get LTE and a 1.5GHz processor, in addition to a 1280-by-800 pixel resolution display and a three-megapixel camera. The company should reveal US launch plans August 29 at a major product announcement to take place in New York City.

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Earlier this week we reported the beloved Galaxy S II wouldn’t be launching on Verizon, after it is announced next Monday. A new report from the Wall Street Journal backs up or claim stating the Galaxy S II will launch on Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T — but not Verizon. Verizon confirmed WSJ’s report to TechCrunch, saying the Galaxy S II won’t be available for the time being.

At an event Monday at New York’s Time Warner Center, Samsung will announce it is selling the device starting in September on AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA’s networks, according to people familiar with the plans, but Verizon Wireless said it won’t offer the device.

The Galaxy S II has seen much success in Europe, and it should certainly do well in the U.S. Do well enough in fact that it might be the best contendor to the rumored launch of Apple’s iPhone 5 this October. We look forward to covering the event Monday, so check back to hear more.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUinl4Wclr4&feature=player_embedded]

Samsung already told us “something big is coming” on September 1st during this year’s IFA in an announcement accompanied by two extremely vague teaser videos. While we’re still unsure which of the many rumoured devices will be unveiled, the teaser vid above released by the company today indicates their upcoming August 29 announcement in New York will be focused on bringing the Samsung Galaxy S II to US carriers.

We’re not exactly impressed with the creativity in the ad/teaser vid, but at least it isn’t the typical iPhone/Apple commercial knock off. There are many that hope the September 1st announcement would bring that mysterious Ice Cream Sandwich-powered, 4.65-inch (hybrid tablet/phone?) “GT-I9250” device we’ve heard about. There is definitely still a possibility Samsung will take time to unveil new products other than the Galaxy S II at IFA, we’re hoping to get a sneak peek at a new tablet (perhaps a 7-inch Galaxy tab refresh). We’ll be on hand on August 29 for the New York event as well as during IFA to bring you the latest updates.

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We’ve known that Samsung’s Galaxy S II is on its way to U.S., as confirmed by a Samsung exec, but what we aren’t quite sure of is the II’s exact branding in the great states or if it’ll hit all four carriers. According to T-moNews the Galaxy S II will be available on T-mobile under the branding ‘Samsung Hercules’.

The Hercules is said to feature a 4.5-inch touchscreen and Galaxy S II branding on the back (as seen above). T-moNews was also told the Hercules features Netflix preinstalled, along with the usual apps from Google. Where will this white version be heading? Check out another shot from PocketNow after the break:

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BGR is reporting the Samsung Galaxy S II will finally hit U.S. shores in September, but under the branding ‘Samsung Epic Touch 4G’. The international version of the Galaxy S II is seeing much success in Europe, and many Americans have been anxiously awaiting it to hit. As of now, we only know the device is no longer going to have a QWERTY keyboard, which seems odd seeing how bulky it looks, but the device will include 4G WiMAX on Sprint.

BGR also says there is chance this Touch 4G could be available across all four carriers, like the original Galaxy S.
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Wow, isn’t she pretty? A picture of the white Galaxy S II has leaked, and it’s looking pretty legit to us. A UK retailer announced yesterday that the white version will be available August 15th, after seeing much success of the Galaxy S II we currently know and love. Live in the U.S. and interested in the Galaxy S II? Go sign up on Samsung’s official page, and pray to the smartphone gods that the white will land on U.S. shores.

via Engadget

Korean news agency, Yonhap News, reported on Wednesday (via Boy Genius Report) that Samsung shipped five million units of its top-of-the-line Galaxy S II smartphone, a successor to the wildly successful Galaxy S phone. Samsung achieved the milestone in 85 days, which means an average sales rate of nearly 60,000 units a day. The previous milestone had Samsung sell three million units in 55 days, amounting to some 55,000 units a day, so sales of the latest smartphone from the Galaxy S series are steadily accelerating. The device reached the milestone 40 days earlier than its predecessor, the Galaxy S, which shipped five million units in 125 days, and is the top-selling phones in ten European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Samsung is the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, but it could soon overtake Apple and become #1. The company launched the Galaxy S II in South Korea on April 29 and the device went on to grab a surprising 56 percent smartphone market share in the country as of last month. The handset later rolled out in Japan and some European countries and is due to hit the US shores next month. Meamwhile, Engadget uncovered an FCC filing revealing CDMA and WiMAX radios for the US version of the handset. Paired with a recent leak of AT&T’s flagship slider phone purported to be the Galaxy S II, Samsung could be looking to bring its handset to AT&T’s 3G GSM network, Verizon Wireless’s 3G CDMA network and Sprint’s WiMAX.

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Due to their wide variety of popular Android devices, Samsung “may have” surpassed Apple in smartphone sales according to Boston-based Strategy Analytics. In Q2 2011 Samsung is estimated to have sold between 18 – 21 million smartphones, while Apple sold 20.3 million iPhones, and Nokia sold 16.7 million.  Certainly, they are at least #2.

Much of Samsung’s success is credited to sales of the Galaxy S II which has been booming overseas.

It’s far from official that Samsung has surpassed Apple, but at any rate they’re becoming a close competitor. We can’t wait to look at these numbers again when the Galaxy S II hits U.S. shores, but then again, the iPhone 5 is reportedly on its way too.

via Bloomberg