There were hints a couple of days ago, but Samsung officially confirmed on its website this morning that it surpassed 30 million global sales of the Galaxy S III since it first launched five months ago in May. Samsung noted that’s 20 million more devices than the 10 million Galaxy S II units sold in its first 150 days. Samsung also announced last week that it sold 3 million units of its new Galaxy Note II in just 37 days of being on sale.
Samsung has website with a straightforward list of its U.S. devices that have received or are expected to get an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. The handy resource will refresh with current data “as updates are confirmed or released.”
You may have heard of the world’s thinnest Android phone, the Oppo Finder, when the company put it up for pre-order last month. At just 6.65mm, the company also wanted to show off how tough the device is, and it recently did so by using it to hammer nails into a piece of wood. We would not recommend doing this with any smartphone. Nevertheless, at $393, Oppo Finder packs some decent specs with its 1GB of RAM, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, Android 4.0, and 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display.
I spent the last week with two Samsung Galaxy S IIIs—a Sprint version and an AT&T version. Sprint’s version is LTE, which has not rolled out yet, so it has been on the slow 3G CDMA. AT&T’s version is also LTE, which I am often able to get access to while on the outskirts of Silicon Valley. For that reason, I have used the AT&T version most of the time. But really, they are the same phone, which is the big news here…
The unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III has not officially released in the United States, nor have pricing details, but at least one seller on eBay is offering the 16GB version for just $649.99.
The listing offers free standard shipping to the United States and Canada with a 30-day money back guarantee, and the top-rated seller has near-perfect feedback based on thousands of reviews. Hurry and purchase this off-contract device now, because the eBay page indicates “limited quantity available.” PayPal is the only form of payment accepted.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is being unveiled in London right now, but the first hands-on reviews have already hit the web. Check out the first-impressions below, and then head over to 9to5Google’s live gallery to get full coverage of the launch event.
In a land where SUVs rule the landscape in the face of growing fuel costs, it is little surprise that a well-made, huge Android Phablet would sell well in the U.S. Indeed, Samsung’s Galaxy Note got a supers-shot of sales adrenaline when it reached the United States shores.
Just in case you had not heard that Samsung pushed its Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich update from Q1 2012 to Q2 2012, here is a reminder on Samsung’s Mobile USA Facebook page. Perhaps as a bonus, this build of ICS appears to be extremely light on TouchWiz. Is there any chance Samsung is dumping its overlay?
Even though Samsung stopped divulging exact phone and tablet sales last summer amid competition from Apple, the South Korean consumer electronics conglomerate took to its official blog to announce the flagship Galaxy S II smartphone sold 20 million units globally in 10 months after its release. JK Shin, president and head of Samsung’s mobile unit, announced:
Since its launch in late April 2011, the Galaxy S II has seen tremendous growth reflecting its tremendous popularity with customers around the world. We are thrilled that 20 million customers around the world has enjoyed the smart life Galaxy S II has brought us. We will continue to introduce products to satisfy our customers’ high expectations.
For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy S sold thus far 22 million units globally. Cumulatively, the company shipped 42 million units of both the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II. In late September 2011, it announced the 10 million units milestone for the Galaxy S II. As it took Samsung five months to ship its 10 millionth Galaxy S II and another five months to double the figure, one could argue that average monthly performance of the handset is steady.
Samsung kick started its anti-Apple Galaxy S II campaign with a November 2011 advert that enraged people who would wait in line for a new iPhone. A follow-up commercial downplayed Apple’s iCloud and iTunes Match services as the campaign continued on Facebook. Earlier this week, Samsung shifted gear with an advert that lambasted Apple’s iPhone over its lack of stock turn-by-turn navigation software akin to Google Maps with Navigation for Android.
Today, the South Korean consumer electronics conglomerate aired another commercial following the “Samsunged” theme and focusing on the barista character featured in the November 2011 commercial. More precisely, it mocks the barista’s latte-making art. Samsung reserved an ad slot during Super Bowl XLVI, therefore, things should get interesting come Feb. 5. Let us know in the comments how you liked the new commercial.
Another advert pitting Android’s speech-to-text capabilities against Apple’s is right after the break.
One in 10 South Koreans now own a Galaxy S II smartphone made by Samsung as the company announced that sales of the handset in the 48 million-people country surpassed 5 million units, or more than 10 percent of the country’s population. It took Samsung nine months to hit the milestone since the phone’s release at the end of April 2011.
Strong domestic sales helped Samsung achieve a 53 percent market share for smartphones in South Korean throughout 2011. Japanese business daily The Nikkei said the Galaxy S II is the first handset to sell that many units in the country. In September of last year, Samsung sold 3.5 million Galaxy S II smartphones in South Korea. The 1.2GHz dual-core device comes with a 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1GB RAM, Android 2.3 and is upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich.
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:
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 (viaCellular-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.
As 9to5Googlereported 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.
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.
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:
By all accounts, Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphone family has risen to become the most serious challenger to Apple’s iPhone. Sales are picking up and Samsung now has the momentum to ship some ten million Galaxy S II units by the end of this year. This came from the mouth of Andy Tu, Samsung Taiwan’s president of mobile communications unit. Tu toldDigiTimes, an Asian trade publication:
Global sales of the Galaxy S II are expected to top six million units by the end of September 2011 and 10 million units by the end of the year.
Considering the Galaxy S II hasn’t yet hit the U.S. with full force, ten million units is a pretty impressive number. That Samsung is aiming for four million units in the holiday quarter is especially telling in the face of sales blockade imposed in some countries as a result of Apple’s patent and design complaints.
Samsung today launched the Galaxy R in Taiwan, basically a rehashed Galaxy S version running Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip instead of Samsung’s own speedy Exynos 4210 processor. The device is coming to North & Eastern Europe, South East & West Asia, Middle East Asia and China soon.
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.
So now we have a pretty good idea about that “big thing” Samsung recently promised. SammyHubreports 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.
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. Expand Expanding Close
Korean news agency, Yonhap News, reported on Wednesday (viaBoy 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, Engadgetuncovered 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.
The Galaxy S II has seen much success in Europe, and we’ve seen leaks pointing to its arrival in the great states. During a South Korean media event yesterday, Samsung’s chief of mobile business division confirmed our suspicion, saying the phone will land in August. Will we see the European version or the ‘Samsung Within’?
Android 2.3.4, a minor update to the Gingerbread-named release of Google’s operating system for smartphones has leaked onto the web ahead of the official carrier release. For now, it’s only available for Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone through the means of a downloadable firmware file. Even though it’s only a minor update, Gingerbread 2.3.4 carries a few little surprises worth mentioning. For instance, the update enables Google Talk video calling on Samsung’s device and battery life improvements are also being reported. Some early adopters also claim improved reception due to an updated baseband software. If you’re eager to take the plunge and install the new firmware yourself (and void your warranty in the process), check out a handy guide and download links over at the SAMFirmware blog.
It’s interesting how Microsoft is becoming an intellectual property vendor these days. This is all thanks to Google’s Linux-based Android operating system which incorporate Microsoft’s many patents, allowing the Redmond firm to seek royalties from handset vendors. Microsoft first forced HTC to pony up five bucks in royalties per each handset sold. The revelation has prompted pundits to note that the HTC deal earns Microsoft more money then licensing fees collected from Windows Phone partners.
Microsoft has signed a similar pact with General Dynamics Itronix and their licensing division took cash from component maker Wistron Corp., in addition to Android backers Veloicty Micro and Onkyo Corp. And now, we learn that Microsoft’s legal rottweilers are after Samsung, the leading Android handset maker, reports Reuters based on local media. Note that Microsoft already has licensing agreements in place with Samsung and LG.
Microsoft Corp has demanded that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd pay $15 for each smartphone handset it makes based on Google Inc’s Android operating system as the software giant has a wide range of patents used in the mobile platform, local media reported on Wednesday. Samsung would likely seek to lower the payment to about $10 in exchange for a deeper alliance with Microsoft for the U.S. company’s Windows platform, the Maeil Business Newspaper quoted unnamed industry officials as saying.
Let’s put it this way: Microsoft is set to make $30 million in Galaxy S 2 royalties alone based on sales of three million Galaxy S II smartphones. That’s a run-rate of twenty million handsets a year, meaning the Samsung deal could be potentially worth a cool $200 million in annual licensing fees on the Galaxy S II smartphone alone. And what happens if an Android vendor does not sign with Microsoft for patent protection?
