Galaxy

Samsung took a big step into the health and fitness market with its Galaxy S5. One of the device’s main selling points is its built-in heart rate sensor. This new feature allows users to check their heart rate using the preinstalled S Health app, but the truth is, nothing special is happening here. According to Samsung’s official Galaxy S5 page, it’s the first smartphone with a built-in heart rate sensor, but technically almost any device with a camera and flash is capable of providing this functionality. The same sensor is found on Samsung’s new Gear smart watch lineup and certainly makes more sense ona wearable device, but unfortunately it’s nothing more than a gimmick on the Galaxy S5.

The heart rate sensor found on the back is no different than what many third party apps have offered for quite some time. Runtastic’s Heart Rate Monitor app is a perfect example. This app uses the LED flash and camera on almost any smartphone to read your heart rate, and it works surprisingly well.

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Earlier this month some specs that looked a lot like a next-generation Galaxy Zoom camera phone device— a followup to last year’s Galaxy S4 Zoom— appeared in benchmark results. Today we get what might be our first look at the device with a new leaked image that popped up today on a sketchy looking blog that was discovered by PhoneArena.

While it does appear to be a next-generation Galaxy Zoom, the blog that leaked the image is referring to it as the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom. Perhaps Samsung has plans to change up branding this time around or we could still be looking at a codename of sorts.

The leaker also confirms the previously leaked specs, which include a much thinner and lighter design, a 20MP shooter, 10x zoom, NFC, Android 4.4.2, a 1280×720 4.8-inch display, 2GB of RAM and a Samsung Exynos 5 Hexa CPU. The image also shows what looks a lot like the faux-leather material that Samsung has used on a lot of its recent Galaxy devices like the Note 3. 
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This week both AT&T and T-Mobile have shared their launch plans for Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone, and this morning Sprint has released details for its customers as well.

Starting this morning, Sprint is taking reservations in its stores to be notified of Galaxy S5 availability on April 11th. Sprint will offer the Galaxy S5 in black or white for $0/down and 24 payments of $27 through its Sprint Easy Pay plan. This offer, in conjunction with signing up with a Sprint Framily plan, includes a 7″ Galaxy Tab 3 tablet with a 2-year contract and data plan for a limited time.

Sprint is also offering pre-orders for customers purchasing the Galaxy S5 through the traditional methods for $199 after a $50 reward card redeemed via a mail-in rebate… so $249 up front.
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If it’s the “copper gold” Galaxy S5 you’re waiting to get your hands on in the UK, Vodafone UK will carry the gold version of Samsung’s new flagship smartphone exclusively at launch along with the other colors offered for UK wireless subscribers.

[tweet https://twitter.com/VodafoneUK/status/445477153543831552]

While Samsung revealed the Galaxy S5 last month at Mobile World Congress and has since given us even more material to admire ahead of its availability, the company announced it would allow UK customers the chance to preorder the handset.
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Samsung showed off its new flagship smartphone at Mobile World Congress just two weeks ago, and today the Korean firm is announcing availability details for the Galaxy S5… in the UK. While pricing has yet to be officially announced, Samsung is allowing its customers in the UK to preorder on Friday, March 28th, through Samsung’s web store, selected retailers, and the Stratford Westfield Experience Store. Samsung also notes that the Galaxy S5 will roll out globally on April 11th. Earlier this week, Samsung shared a detailed video promoting its new smartphone. For all the details, read on for the official press release…

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Image via <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/03/10/jay-z-kanye-west-sxsw-samsung-concerts/" target="_blank">Mashable</a>

On the heels of its Galaxy S5 product announcement, Samsung will once again enlist JAY Z to make a publicity splash for its smartphones. According to Mashable, JAY Z and Kanye West are set to perform a one-night only concert on March 12th at SXSW with entry only permitted to fans with the Milk Music app installed on a Galaxy device. The imagery on the invitation hints that the duo will revisit their raucous Watch The Throne days.

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Samsung announced today that it’s launching a new free and ad-free music service called “Milk Music” that’s powered by Slacker and available to customers of select Galaxy devices. Samsung says the app, which is available now on available as a download on Google Play, is “fully customizable” and offers over 200 stations and a library of over 13 million songs.

“Milk Music introduces a fresh approach to music that reflects our innovation leadership and our focus on creating best-in-class consumer experiences,” said Gregory Lee, president and CEO of Samsung Telecommunications America and Samsung Electronics North America Headquarters. “We’re offering consumers amazing, rich music experiences built around what matters most to them and their lifestyle.”

The service is launching today in the US and available to those with a Galaxy S® 4, Galaxy S® III, Galaxy Note® 3, and Galaxy Note® II  as well as the upcoming Galaxy S 5.  Samsung added that it will soon offer “unique music programming from top selling and emerging artists available exclusively through Milk Music.”

While Samsung is promoting the service as completely free and free of ads, the Google Play page for the app says that the app will only be without ads and free for a for a limited time. It’s unclear if Samsung is referring to the ads or the service being free of charge, but it appears that it will either be implementing advertisements or a fee for the service in the future.

Here’s a list of features from Google Play:
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZLvv0q8ltw]

Samsung today published two new YouTube videos detailing its latest products. The first video runs through just about every imaginable feature of the new Galaxy Gear devices, from fitness applications to customizing the interface, to Android smartphone integration and, you know, checking the time.

A second video, embedded below the break, shows off the company’s Galaxy S5 smartphone. This video recounts the various specs and statistics that most smartphone buyers are familiar with before jumping into a breakdown of the phone’s form factor and design (GOLD IS BEST!).

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Photo: digitaltrends.com

With the number of Galaxy S5 leaks in recent weeks, many are expecting we’ll get our first official glimpse of the device at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February. While Samsung’s invites for the “Unpacked5” event did all but confirm an unveiling for MWC, today the company has flat out said that a new flagship Galaxy smartphone will be launched in the coming weeks. In a blog post announcing new LED flash components for mobile devices, Samsung said the technology will be “used in the next Galaxy smartphone, which is expected to be introduced later this month.”

Because high-quality smartphone cameras require a wider FOV (Field of View) angle for better picture quality, Samsung’s new reflector-integrated flash LEDs are designed to enable a great deal of flexibility by providing a wide FOV within a small space through the integration of a light source,  a lead frame, and a reflector with its own optics and diffusion features.

Of course Samsung has a long line of Galaxy devices that it could possibly be referring to, but there’s a good chance we’ll see the new flagship S5 on Monday Feb. 24. The event will be live streamed at youtube.com/samsungmobile and we’ll be bringing you live coverage as new products get announced. 
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According to a new report from Bloomberg, Samsung plans to take the curved display technology it used to make its recently launched Galaxy Round smartphone one step further with a new Galaxy device next year. The device will apparently feature a curved display that “wraps around the edges” forming a three-sided screen:
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Following Samsung’s announcement of the Galaxy Round, the world’s first curved-display smartphone, Engadget has discovered a few renders of LG’s upcoming entry to the curved smartphone arena. The phone, called the G Flex, will feature a top-to-bottom curved display—the opposite of the Galaxy Round, which left-to-right. Reports earlier this month stated that the oddly-shaped display will be a massive six inches.

Nothing more is known about the phone at the moment, but it is said to be expected some time next month. More renders are included below.

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Samsung has just officially announced the world’s first curved-display smartphone, dubbed the Galaxy Round. We first saw photos of the Round earlier today from smartphone leaker @evleaks. The phone will only be available in Korea and will only come in one color, “Luxury Brown”—at least for now. If and when the phone will make its way to the United States and other markets is still unknown, though we expect that it will eventually make the transition.

The Round sports an impressive array of hardware features, including a massive 5.7” Full HD Super Flexible AMOLED display; 3 GB of RAM; 2,800mAh battery; 13 MP camera; all of the latest LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi connectivity; and a 2.3 GHz processor.

The full hardware specs can be found below the break, along with additional photos of the device.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3qeJKax2CU

Despite the device’s universally-abysmal reviews, Samsung is continuing to market its Galaxy Gear smartwatch as the wave of the future—and the past—with two new TV ads. The first, titled “A Long Time Coming,” Samsung uses clips from some of the most popular TV shows of decades past to set the Galaxy Gear up as the long-awaited wrist-mounted computer from Dick Tracey, The Jetsons, Knight Rider, and more.

The ad has a similar feel to Apple’s “Hello” TV spot, which it launched with the iPhone 5c last month, but rather than featuring customers using the advertised product, Samsung’s ad shows fictional characters using Hollywood’s various conceptions of the smartwatch.

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IDC is out today with its latest report tracking worldwide tablet shipments reporting that total shipments have experienced a sequential decline during Q2 at the expense of Apple and the iPad. Apple already announced that it had sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, a significant drop from the 17 million it sold in the year ago quarter, but today IDC gives us some insight into where that puts Apple in its lead over Samsung as the top tablet vendor.

Apple was able to pick up 32.4% of the market during Q2, continuing its lead as the top tablet manufacturer, but dropping from the 60.3% of the market it had in Q2 last year. While Apple’s tablet shipments are clearly suffering from lack of new product announcements this year, it’s also losing share to Samsung and others. IDC reports 277% year over year growth for Samsung, giving it 18% of the market with 8.1 million units shipped during Q2. All of the top 3 vendors– Apple, Samsung, and ASUS– experienced a drop compared to Q1 2013, but the Android tablet makers have experienced significant growth compared to Apple since last year.
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If you’re hoping to get your first glimpse at new Galaxy and ATIV devices that Samsung plans on unveiling tonight in London, the company will be live streaming its entire ‘Premiere 2013″ event on its Youtube.com/SamsungMobile channel. The event is scheduled to kick off at 7pm local time (2pm EST), but in case you miss the live stream, our own Ben Lovejoy will be live on the scene bringing you the latest updates here on 9to5Google.

A few possible products that come to mind for tonight’s event: the much rumored Galaxy S4 Zoom camera/smartphone hybrid, the S4 Active, a waterproof, dustproof device specifically geared towards government and corporate customers, and the Galaxy S4 Mini, which earlier reports said would make an appearance at the event. 
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We’ve been hearing more and more about the Galaxy S4 Active lately– the rugged S4 variant that Samsung is hoping will help attract more corporate and government customers. Today we get an official look at the device courtesy of theunlockr.com with what appear to be official press shots of the device for AT&T.

The report adds that the device will sell with model number SGH-I537 and arrive in dark grey and teal alongside a few other Samsung devices coming soon to the carrier including the S4 Mini and the Galaxy Mega 6.3. The details arrive ahead of a Samsung event scheduled for June 20 where the company is expected to introduce the Galaxy S4 Mini and other devices.

Yesterday we told you that Samsung had scheduled an event for June 20th next month in London to unveil new Galaxy and Windows ATIV products. While we speculated that we could very well see the launch of the Galaxy S4 Mini (as well as possibly a few other rumored devices), The Wall Street Journal reports today that the S4 Mini will indeed likely make an appearance:

A person with knowledge of the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the S4 Mini is likely to be one of the several new products the company plans to launch at the event next month at London’s Earl’s Court exhibition center. At the event, Samsung is expected to unveil new devices that run on Google Inc.’s Android and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating systems.

We’ll have to wait until next month to find out for sure, but we’ll be in London on the 20th to bring you the play by play live from the ‘Premiere 2013’ event. 
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There are a few products that we might get a look at during an upcoming event that Samsung just announced for June 20th in London. While we don’t get much information from the invite itself, we do see that Samsung will have both Galaxy and Ativ related product announcements. That of course leads us to believe we might get our first official look at one of the rumored Galaxy devices that have yet to launch. A few that come to mind include the Galaxy S4 Mini, the much rumored Galaxy S4 Zoom camera/smartphone hybrid, and the S4 Active, a device that is said to be waterproof, dustproof, and specifically geared towards government and corporate customers. There is also no shortage of Galaxy tabs rumored to be landing sometime this year, but we’ll have to wait until next month to find out for sure.