Jordan Kahn

While many of the above Samsung Galaxy Camera accessories are still prototypes, it is clear Samsung has high hopes for the recently unveiled Android-powered point-and-shoot. Apart from the cases and covers, which will likely hit the market alongside the camera itself, Samsung showed off prototypes of external lenses, an intricate tripod setup, a waterproof casing, lens hoods, ring lights, and even a wireless charging concept that the company confirmed will not work with the first generation of Galaxy Cameras yet to hit the market. Unfortunately, Samsung did not have any more information about the accessories that were all displayed in a locked glass case on the IFA show floor.

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Samsung took the stage at its Unpacked event this evening to kick off the annual IFA taking place this week in Berlin. During the event, Samsung unveiled its all-new Galaxy Note successor: the Galaxy Note II. Furthermore, the South Korean-based company brought a new product into its line-up:  the Galaxy Camera. We broke the news of the new devices a few minutes before the event started; however, it was definitely interesting to hear Samsung talk strategy and products on stage.

We compiled a gallery below with complete coverage of what happened during the event. Give it a look and tell us if you are satisfied with Samsung’s latest offerings as we gear into the fall. Check out our time with both devices earlier this afternoon and then zoom quickly below the break for the event in photos:

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With Nikon and Polaroid getting ready to launch their Android-powered cameras as early as September, Samsung officially unveiled its entrance into the market today in Berlin with its first dedicated point-and-shoot running Android. While recent rumors pointed to the possibility of a device with specs close to those announced for Nikon’s Coolpix S800c, Samsung unveiled a 4.8-inch device with specs closer to its own Galaxy S III.

We were able to get some hands-on time with the device and were quite impressed…to say the least. Put simply, the Galaxy Camera is everything you love about an Android device in a quality point-and-shoot camera (minus voice calling). It includes full Google Play access, Wi-Fi/3G/4G (HSPA+), and voice control on a full-sized display like the Galaxy S III.

More specs below and hands-on BELOW:

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Samsung officially took the wraps off its next-generation Galaxy Note today with the introduction of a bigger-and-faster Galaxy Note 2. While it is not a huge departure from the previous generation, the new device packs a larger 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display while introducing an even slimmer frame at just 9.4mm.

While the majority of Samsung’s presentation focused on the new redesigned S Pen and features, it also made a point of explaining its goals for the device. Samsung said its device included three emerging customer desires: Better & Faster Discovery, Advanced Multitasking, and Free Capture & Expression.

To meet goals for the Galaxy Note 2, Samsung introduced a number of new features mainly geared to faster multitasking and creative expression using a new, longer S Pen that sports a better grip and rubber tip. On top of being greeted with a contextual page for performing multiple tasks upon pulling out the S Pen, it now includes a previewing tool called “Air View” that is accessible in many apps. So, when hovering over videos from your videos app or photos from the redesigned gallery app with the S Pen, a preview will now pop up within the same window. The feature is further useful for visually searching a scene within a video without stopping or losing your place.

One other interesting new S Pen feature allows you to quickly enter a command using the S Pen. Holding the Pen’s button and drawing a line up activates the feature and provides a new dialog where you can jot down, for instance, “@Jason”. This could then open the email app with your contact details for Jason preloaded.

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There were some hints over the past few days but now Hisense Pulse made things official with the announcement of a new Google TV box set to be unveiled at IFA next week and released in the United States in the fall. Much like Vizio’s recently announced Co-Star; the new box from Hisense will also debut under the $100 mark while packing in support for 1080p, USB and HDMI ports, and a double-sided remote with a full QWERTY keyboard and Netflix button. The Google TV-powered Hisense Pulse will officially hit the market in mid-November. The full press release is below (via AndroidCentral):

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We told you earlier this month that a judge in the Google/Oracle case ordered the companies to disclose any payments it made to journalists, bloggers, and other members of media who made commentary or reported on the lawsuit. It was no secret at the time, but even paid blogger Florian Mueller of Foss Patents admitting previously that Oracle, in addition to other companies such as Microsoft, funded some of the posts on his blog.

Oracle later disclosed to the courts that Mueller was indeed a paid “consultant.” Today, we get an update on Google’s follow up to the judge’s request in a recent court filing (via The Verge).

While the majority of the people listed by Google include former interns, copyright lawyers, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Verge noted Mark Lemley, a Stanford professor who is often quoted by Google with no mention of the relationship, appears on the list as Google’s “outside counsel” for unrelated cases. Another name mentioned in the document is Google employee Tim Bray. The document cited tweets made by Bray from his personal Twitter account related to the case:

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Following the verdict in the Apple vs. Samsung trial today, where Samsung was found guilty of infringing various Apple patents related to the case, Apple is also coming out a winner, at least temporarily, in Google/Motorola’s attempt to block imports of iPhones and iPads to the United States.

In late June, we told you about Google’s attempt to block U.S. imports of iPhones and iPads based on a previous ruling that Apple infringed on one standard-essential Motorola patent. The initial ruling was under review by the ITC, which has power to block U.S. imports of Apple devices from Asia, with a decision expected at a hearing scheduled for today.

The ITC has now concluded its review (via paid blogger FossPatents), finding no violations for three of the four patents in the initial suit (including the one mentioned above), but remanded an investigation on a fourth, non-standard essential patent to Judge Thomas Pender. The result? According to FossPatents, there might be a violation and import ban related to the patent, but a remand and ITC review could take up to a year:

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J.D. Power and Associates is out with the second half of its 2012 “U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study”, and Verizon once again come out on top for network performance in five of the six regions included in the report. Only second to U.S. Cellular in the North Central region, Verizon posted the best overall network performance among the other carriers in the remaining regions based on 10 key problem areas that could impact the customer experience.

For a 16th consecutive reporting period, Verizon Wireless ranks highest in the Northeast region. Verizon Wireless achieves fewer customer-reported problems with dropped calls, initial connections, transmission failures and late text messages, compared with the regional average. Verizon Wireless also ranks highest in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and West regions… U.S. Cellular ranks highest in the North Central region for a 14th consecutive reporting period. Compared with the regional average, U.S. Cellular has fewer customer-reported problems with dropped calls, failed initial connections, audio problems, failed voice mails and lost calls.

The study also covered the customer experience specifically for data-related problems. Not surprisingly, LTE device users experienced significantly less issues than older 3G devices like the iPhone:

The study finds that the number of data-related problems, especially those related to slow connection speeds, is significantly lower among customers using 4G LTE-enabled devices than among those using devices with older 3G/4G technology standards, such as WiMAX and HSPA+… For example, among customers with 4G LTE-enabled devices, the problem incidence for excessively slow mobile Web loading is 15 PP100, compared with the industry average of 20 PP100. Furthermore, the overall problem incidence for excessively slow mobile Web loading is even higher among customers with WiMAX and HSPA+ technology

Based on responses from over 26,000 U.S. wireless customers, the report explained how network performance was calculated:
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Google Product Manager Austin Chang made an announcement on his Google+ today highlighting some new features rolling out on Google+ (via TNW). In addition to the “sliders” the service rolled out last year, allowing you to filter what you read and share on Google+, Google is rolling out three new features today that provide even more control. The new features allow you to control notifications from specific circles, opt to send emails for important news you are sharing, and mute notifications from a specific contact within a circle. Chang explained:

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We knew from an announcement in January that the ARM-based Armada 1500 chipset from Marvell would be at the core of new Google TV products in 2012. Today, we see the chips inside of one of the latest Google TV streaming products that went on sale last month, the Vizio Co-Star. The guys and gals over at iFixit decided to make the Co-Star its latest teardown victim, revealing the $99 set top box is powered by Marvell’s Armada 1500 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor, 1GB of RAM, and various other Marvell components:

* Here’s the specs on the Co-Star:
        * Marvell Armada 1500 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor
        * Marvell 88DE2755 QDEO Video Processor
        * Nanya NT5CB256M8GN-DI 1 GB RAM
        * Samsung K9GBG08U0A-SCBO 4 GB NAND Flash
        * Marvell Avastar 88W8787 WLAN/Bluetooth/FM SoC 

iFixit provided some highlights after giving the Co-Star a respectable 8 out of 10 repairability score:
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We told you last week that Google was readying physical gift cards for Google Play content, and the company made things official today by announcing the cards will roll out to Target, GameStop, and RadioShack retail outlets in the coming weeks. The cards will be available in $10, $25, and $50, and they will initially only be available in the United States at the retailers mentioned above and through Walmart.com later this month.

-Explore millions of songs from top artists, thousands of your favorite movies and TV shows, the world’s largest selection of eBooks, and much more. Play your purchases instantly on the web or on the go — no need for wires or syncing.

-Shop for all the Android apps and games you love with your Google Play gift card. You can even use it to purchase extra levels, add-on packs, and virtual currency.

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Over on the Chrome Blog today, Google highlighted some of the new features in this week’s stable release of Chrome OS with the most notable being a redesigned apps list that includes an omnibox search bar at the top:

Notably, we made the apps list much more compact, so you can access your apps without interrupting your browsing experience. We also added a search box at the top of the apps list, which you can use like an omnibox to search the web, specific websites, or the apps on your computer.

Other improvements included in the release: custom wallpapers, a redesigned Cloud Print dialog, and the ability to save files directly to your Google Drive. Google also noted the release includes”audio support for USB and HDMI, additional sandboxing security features, and many more bug fixes.”
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If the spec sheet above picked up by SamMobile is to be believed, we could be looking at the specs for a next-generation Nexus. The device in question is listed as the “GT-I9260”, which would put it between the Galaxy Nexus (I9250) and the Galaxy S III (I9300). As for upgrades, the document lists a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display, a 1.5 dual-core A9, as well as better cameras like an 80megapixel main camera and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera. Unlike the Galaxy Nexus, the I9260 is listed with an SD card slot. There is not any other information present in the report, but we will keep you updated when we find out more.

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Shortly after becoming available in the United States and Canada at various retailers and Google Play in mid-July, we reported Google suspended orders of the 16GB version while reports claimed the company had simply sold out of initial supplies. It would take Google weeks to restock the device, according to reports, but the 16GB model was again available on the store just a week later. Today, we get a look at just how many Nexus 7 tabs Google might have sold with analyst Sameer Singh estimating 6- to- 8 million units sold by the end of 2012 (via ComputerWorld):

Google could sell between six million and eight million of its $199 Nexus 7 tablets by year’s end, according to a new estimate… That’s more than double the three million Google expected to sell by the end of 2012, after putting the device on sale in July and seeing the 16GB version sell-out briefly… The estimate, based on projections using expected shipments of four million touch panels for the Nexus 7 in the third quarter 2012,

Google has not released any sales data related to the device and declined to comment on the estimates. Singh’s estimates definitely blow by the “1.5 million units in five weeks” estimated by Gartner. The estimate of 8 million units by year’s end is also significantly higher than Gartner’s estimates. According to Singh, “Google and Asus may have roughly doubled their [sales] estimates and cranked up the production volume.” Singh explained how he used panel orders to come up with his estimates:
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The folks at iFixit are once again ripping apart the latest devices. This time Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1, officially launched just last week, gets the teardown treatment. It scored relatively high for repairability compared to the industry’s leading tablet, the iPad. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 came in at 8 out of 10—that is in comparison to the newest iPad’s 2 out of 10 score.

* Major players on the motherboard include the following:
        * Samsung Exynos 4 Quad 1.4 GHz processor with integrated 3D graphics
        * Wacom W8008 (we assume this is used for S Pen input)
        * Atmel mXT1664S touchscreen controller
        * Samsung KLMAG2GE4A NAND flash memory
        * Wolfson Audio WM1811AE audio codec
        * F0514A 430 1201KP411

iFixit shared a few of the highlights:

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Google announced today on the Lat Long Blog that it added even more Street View imagery to Google Maps; this time for Brazil and pre-hispanic Mexican cities. While there was already Street View imagery available for the locations, the latest additions include panoramic imagery for 70+ cities throughout Brazil including “colonial cities like Fortaleza, architecturally compelling cities like Brasilia and coastal landmarks like Recife, Natal and Salvador.”

You can even virtually travel to the west side of Brazil and visit Foz de Iguaçu, or if you’re planning an upcoming trip, preview the the area around your hotel as well as nearby shopping malls, historic monuments, restaurants and more. With so many upcoming events, like the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, we’re excited to share the riches of Brazil’s cities not only with tourists from around the world, but also with locals who might want to visit a city, neighborhood or landmark they’ve not yet experienced.

Also included in today’s update is 30 Mesoamerican archaeological areas in Mexico, including the 1,100-year-old Kukulkan’s Temple pyramid, and other sites such as Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, and Tulum.

Google rolled out its Google Wallet web app at the beginning of the month and introduced support for all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, America Express, and Discover, at the same time. Today, the company announced on the Google Commerce blog that Discover Card is the first to implement the new “Save to Wallet” API for credit and debit card issuers.

Discover securely transmits all required information directly to Google Wallet. You can then select your Discover Card to be the primary method the Google Wallet app will use for in-store purchases, or when shopping online from Google Play or other merchants that accept Google Wallet. You’ll continue to earn rewards on every purchase you make. Discover has also provided Google Wallet with card imagery for the Discover More® Card, so you can easily identify your virtual Discover card in your mobile wallet.

Google demoed the new API during its full Wallet session at Google I/O in June. The feature allows card issuers and eventually other partners to provide a “Save to Wallet” or “Add Your Card” option in their website or application to securely transfer card and account information to Google Wallet. Google said the API would eventually extend to saving Offers in addition to payment cards.

To save a Discover Card to Google Wallet, follow the instructions below:

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