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Tag: samsung

  • AT&T Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II Skyrocket Get Android 4.0 Update

    Good news finally for all the AT&T Galaxy Note and Skyrocket users! According to a report, an ICS update for the AT&T Galaxy Note and Skyrocket is ready and would be distributed starting today July 10th 2012. What it means is that users who were hitherto stuck with the older versions of the Android OS will finally get a taste of the relatively new ICS.

    So what does the update have in store for the users of these two smartphones? For the Samsung Galaxy Note users, the update will have apart from the major version change and the tiny bits and pieces changes that come with it is the one major addition of the Premium Suite. This means the S-Memo and the S-Note along with the integrated Wolphram Alpha update. This allows better functionality with the pen which should give users of the Samsung Galaxy Note more reasons to cheer. The remaining bits and pieces updates will also ensure that the phones upgrading from the older Gingerbread will have plenty of goodies to keep their users engaged for a while. For those users who are familiar with the S-Beam, S-Voice and Smart Stay features of the Samsung Galaxy S3, there is however bad news as these changes will not be available in the update.

    Some of the users are expected to get an advance access to the update, but the majority will get it sometime on the 10th. For Skyrocket users they can download the I727UCLF6 update patch from Kies and install it.

    At this point there is a simple piece of advice, just keep your wireless connections on and wait for that alert to appear and enjoy the new ICS when it gets successfully downloaded and installed on your smartphone.

  • iPhone Revenue Hits $150 Billion in 5 Years

    Apple iPhones have had a resounding success since launch, having generating huge revenues for the Cupertino-based company over the time.

    With an estimated volume of 250 million iPhones sold over 5 years, Apple rose among the most profitable and valuable companies in the world, managing to collect, with this range of products only, revenues that currently exceed $ 150 billion. However, from the equation are excluded accessories, software and other services, which together generated between 3% and 5% of quarterly revenues associated with Apple’s iPhones.

    However, the spectacular success enjoyed by Apple in the last five years is not a guarantee for the future. According to Neil Shah, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, there are already appearing signs announcing a more difficult progress for the iPhone range.

    "Some mobile operators are becoming concerned about the high level of subsidies they spend on the iPhone, while Samsung is expanding its popular Galaxy portfolio and providing Apple with more credible competition,” Shah told CNET.

    According to him, mobile operators’ concerns are based on economic reasons. Shah gave an example where an iPhone priced at $ 600, then offered through a two-year subscription contract at $ 299 or even $ 199, the difference of $ 300 – $ 400 from the original price is supported at the expense of mobile operators. Aware of the sales power they hold, those from Apple are willing to negotiate for a lower price.

    The story is radically different when it comes to popular Android terminals such as HTC One X or the Galaxy S3 from Samsung. Taking as example the Galaxy S3, with starting price set initially at $ 500 – $ 550, mobile operators have managed to negotiate discounts at $ 400 or even less, considerably shortening the time required to recover the investment in the payment of contracted subscriptions. "The Galaxy S3 subsidy is considerably lower," Shah told CNET, also adding that this might convince phone operators to think twice before working with Apple.

    However, there are some doubts about the ability of operators to make things right. Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said that most mobile operators are contractually obliged to provide certain subsidies, and these contracts will remain in force for at least several years. Even worse is that all these contracts will expire simultaneously, virtually excluding any possibility that the large operators to ally against Apple, seeking more favorable conditions for subsidizing products.

    Helped by favorable contracts and the popularity enjoyed by its products, Apple is likely to achieve record revenues in the years to come, even if the competition comes with products that are reaching a level that can be considered convincing alternatives.

  • Samsung Expects to Sell Over 10 Million Galaxy S3 Smartphones by July

    Samsung, the world's largest mobile phone maker, expects the Galaxy S3, the most advanced smartphone in its portfolio, to sell faster than previous models and to exceed 10 million units by July, informs Bloomberg.

    The company estimates that these sales will make the revenues of the mobile division in the second quarter of this year to exceed those recorded in the previous quarter. Samsung shares on the stock market in Seoul are dropping, due to the speculations according to which the results will be under estimated by some analysts.

    Galaxy S3, the most advanced smartphone produced by Samsung and the most important rival to Apple’s iPhone began to be sold in Europe in late May and in the U.S. on June 21.

    As regards global phones sales (not only smartphones), estimates made on April 27 by the research company Strategy Analytics show that Samsung would have sold 93.5 million phones in the first quarter of this year, up by 36% from a year earlier. In the same period, Nokia would have sold 82.7 million phones, down by 24% and Apple would have sold 35.1 million terminals, up by 89% over the same period in 2011.

    Samsung would have sold 44.5 million smartphones in the first three months of this year, according to the same research company.

    South Korean manufacturer is currently investigating a complaint made on an online forum in Ireland regarding a Galaxy S3 model that would have unexpectedly caught fire, possibly due to the battery overheating. Samsung officials insist that preliminary data show that the destruction of the phone would not have been caused by the explosion of the battery.

  • It's Official! Samsung Galaxy S3 to Be Launched on May 3

    The Samsung Galaxy S3 release date has been officially confirmed by Samsung. The smartphone, initially announced at the 2012 Mobile World Congress (MWC 2012) in Barcelona will be presented by the South Korean company on May 3 in London, as the gadget is being promoted as the official smartphone of the 2012 Olympic Games.

    Samsung on Monday sent the invites for the press conference during which will be presented the much-awaited smartphone. Although on the invitation is not specified the launch of the smartphone, international press’ opinion is unanimous, anticipating the launch of the new gadget. Samsung Galaxy S3 will be launched simultaneously in New York, Seoul and Dubai.

    The upcoming Galaxy smartphone will probably run Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, rumors say, with the special interface Samsung TouchWiz 4.0. Speculations emerged once with the announcement focused on all its specs, but nothing has been confirmed by Samsung so far, which preferred to let the Galaxy fans to promote the smartphone.

    According to androidadvices.com, the phone will have a 4.65” AMOLED SuperPlus HD display, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, a quad-core 1.5 GHz Exynos processor, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB storage capacity and two cameras – one of 2 megapixels in front and another one of 8 megapixels capable to record in Full HD. The phone will support the 4G LTE technology, the same source adds.

    The new S3 is expected to have a thickness of only 7 mm, 1 mm thinner than HTC Ville and 0.1 mm from the Moto RAZR. The phone will weigh 118 grams, will come in two colors – black and blue – and will have a battery of 1750 mAh.

    The launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S3 will be held at Earl’s Court in London, on May 3.

  • Samsung Expects 1st Quarter 2012 Profits to Double

    Samsung, now the world’s biggest-selling smartphone maker, says it expects to see its profits double for the first three months of the year.

    Online investments experts told BBC Monday that Samsung Electronics apparently has been able to hang on to its lead as the market leader in the heated smartphone niche, with its 1st quarter 2012 profit expected to hit $5.1 billion.

    BBC said analysts from the LIG Investment & Securities and Kiwoom Securities in Seoul see Samsung’s increasingly popular Galaxy range of smartphones as the engine for the Korean company’s continuing profit growth, despite great competition from the active smartphone market led by Apple’s iPhones, RIM’s Blackberry and Nokia’s Symbian OS models. 

    Samsung’s high-end Galaxy S and Galaxy Note editions have been the year’s best sellers, having overtaken the Apple iPhone last year.

    The company’s efforts to keep its profit margins healthy despite sharp competition from its giant smartphone rivals have been cited as the key to the double profit figures set to be released in detail in a formal quarterly report on April 27. Profit margins for the company’s fast-selling handsets have been higher than 20%, accounting for the 4 trillion-won profit for the smart phone division. 

    The analysts noted that despite Samsung’s current difficulties in its other products, notably in memory chips which are suffering from a glut in worldwide supply, the company could still rev up its overall profit margin as the global economy improves later this year, as predicted, and as parts suppliers such as Japan and Thailand recover from various economic and political problems.

  • Blackberry Maker Says It Plans to Release New Model First Before Disclosing Financial Figures

    RIM, the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone today said it was postponing its earlier scheduled disclosure of the latest company financial figures, preferring to go ahead first with the release of its awaited new BlackBerry 10 models.

    In a report by Reuters, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said it was delaying its scheduled disclosure of financial figures to analysts set for May this year, instead setting the business meeting for later in 2012. RIM had typically released its financial report for analysts during the Blackberry World conference, usually held in the summer.

    RIM spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy told Reuters the company is deciding to focus instead on its worldwide customers, developers and partners as the Canada-based technology firm goes into the final stages of the impending public release of its new generation of smartphones to be led by the popular BlackBerry.

    Kennedy confirmed that the company is planning to set up a session separate from the product-oriented BlackBerry World conference in May that would target the interests of investors looking to RIM as an alternative investment focal point, at a point level with such smartphone leaders as Apple, Samsung, Nokia and LG. 

    Research In Motion had earlier announced its impending release of the new BlackBerry 10 editions which will use the same operating system of the company’s PlayBook tablet.  The PlayBook itself has not made a successful sales impact on the strictly competitive tablet market, led by Apple’s top selling iPads.

    The new RIM schedule, both for the postponement of the public release of its financial position as well as the marketing of the BlackBerry 10 models, has been interpreted by industry observers as the firm’s redoubling of efforts to come out with a competitive smartphone that would make use of powerful chipsets it said were set for delivery to its factories sometime early this year.

  • Rugby Smart – The Most Resistant Samsung Phone

    Samsung will launch on the U.S. market its first phone resistant to water, dust and shocks. Rugby Smart will be available in the first phase on AT&T, following to be launched on other markets.

    Rugby Smart has 122.4 x 65.9 x 12.19 mm and comes with a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen. The phone has two cameras, one of 1.3 megapixels on the front and the other one of 5 megapixels with flash and auto focus, capable of video recording at 720p HD.

    The phone runs Android 2.3 and has a range of up to 8 hours in conversation and 16 days in standby thanks to its 1650 mAh Lilon Poly battery.

    Samsung Rugby Smart is dustproof, can be submerged in up to 1m of water for 30 minutes, and can withstand extreme temperatures.

    Rugby Smart will be available at a price of $ 99.99 for a 2-year contract with AT&T.

    Specifications
    Technology: GSM, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA+
    Operating System: Android 2.3
    Display: 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display
    External Memory: Supports up to 32GB via microSD™
    Internal Memory: 4GB
    Dimensions: 122.4mm x 65.9mm x 12.19mm
    Weight: 4.2 oz
    Camera: 5MP rear facing with flash and auto focus with HD 720p video capture; 1.3 MP front facing camera;
    Battery: 1650 mAh LiIon Poly
    Talk Time: Up to 8 hours
    Standby Time: Up to 16 days

  • Samsung and Apple Hasten the Launch of their New Smartphones

    Initially the two companies were placing the releases of their new smartphones in the second half of the year. Meanwhile the things have changed and the new Apple and Samsung smartphones are expected to be launched in the first part of 2012.

    Both companies seemed, at the end of last year and earlier this year, quite convinced that the best time to launch new smartphones will be in autumn. Apple released all the iPhone generations, every time, towards the end of summer, early fall. Meanwhile, the people at Samsung have returned to last year's strategy of beating their overseas rivals, meaning that will launch their smartphone much earlier.

    Latest information circulating about the release date of the new Galaxy S3 shows May 22 as the earliest date for the phone to be available to the public. Now, the Cupertino company seems to also have reconsidered its earlier decision to launch the next iPhone – iPhone 5 – this fall and, according to South Korean media, its launch could take place before summer. iPhone 5 is promising a new display similar to the iPad 3, the next generation of Apple's A5 processors and better camera.

    Displays in both phones are the same quality as both are produced by Samsung. We know that on Galaxy S3 will be mounted a Super AMOLED Plus HD, which could be on the iPhone 5 too. If the iPhone comes with next generation A5 processor, Galaxy has a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM and a 12-megapixel camera, compared to Apple’s 8-megapixel camera. Galaxy S3 will also be somewhat larger: while the iPhone 5 is rumored to have 4.6 inches, Galaxy S3 will measure 4.7 inches.

  • iPhone Is Shattered In China: Apple Fails To Win The Chinese Market

    Apple’s strategy of aligning the iPhone to a single mobile operator seems to have failed in China, where Samsung has achieved impressive market share. According to Bloomberg, iPhone has a 7.5% share of smartphones sales in China, while Samsung has 24.3% market share.

    This percentage makes Apple the fifth smartphone seller in the country, while Samsung ranks first. Samsung has sold phones through the three largest mobile operators even since 2009: China Unicom (about 200 million subscribers), China Telecom (129 million subscribers) and China Mobile (655 million subscribers).

    Apple, on the other hand, has sold exclusively through China Unicom, but two weeks ago began to sell its iPhone through China Telecom as well, which should increase the company’s market share. But China Telecom, although huge considering the Western standards, is the smallest of the three Chinese mobile operators.

    The “Father” of mobile communications in China, China Mobile, expects to start selling Apple’s iPhone only after the Cupertino company will release the LTE version, expected by the Chinese company later this year. About 15 million “decoded” iPhones are already in use in China Mobile’s network, without the operator to sell one.

    The reason why the market share is so important is that the smartphones have become a marketing platform, on which developers are building applications running on different operating systems. As for Windows, if a platform reaches a dominant market share, developers tend to “gravitate” around it. Thus, a risk for Apple in China (and worldwide as well) is that Android could become the dominant platform for application development.

    The operating system developed by Google, which supports the smartphones produced by Samsung, is the market leader in China with a share of almost 50%, even though Apple has regained an important part in the previous quarter thanks to the sales of iPhone 4S.

    It is likely that Apple’s sales through China Telecom to help reduce the difference between the Cupertino company and Samsung in China, but until will sell the smartphone through China Mobile, Samsung will remain the leading smartphone manufacturer in China.

  • Samsung Launches New Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy Pocket

    Samsung has announced the newest handset in the Galaxy range. Samsung Galaxy Pocket, with Android 2.3 it is wanted to be an affordable smartphone. With a thickness of 11,98 mm, weighing only 97 grams and featuring a 2.8-inch display, the device remains portable, ensuring at the same time, the best viewing experience of content and images.

    The updated user interface – TouchWiz – features an improved navigation system, providing handy shortcuts for the frequently used functions. Also, thanks to the improved writing function, users can easily browse the Web or write messages faster.

    The device has 3GB memory for applications, MP3 files, photos and other media materials as well as an integrated FM radio, which gives the ability to listen to the favorite radio stations. The integrated high-speed Wi-Fi and the HSDPA 3.6 connectivity, provides a Web browsing experience without delay and fast downloading of multimedia content.

    Samsung Galaxy Pocket provides quick sharing of content through the features responsible for communication and access to social networks. However, the platform Samsung ChatON, available in Samsung Apps, it connects all users in a single community, offering them instant messaging, group chat and content transmission in multiple formats, making communication simpler and more intuitive. At the same time, the already well-known Samsung service, Social Hub, gives users the possibility of storing messages, social networks and e-mails in a single Inbox, making the service easier to use.

    We could say that these are minimum requirements for an Android smartphone. The small screen has a QVGA resolution, which does not encourage browsing the Internet. It’s 2-megapixel camera stresses the fact that Samsung Galaxy Pocket is an affordable smartphone.

    In what concerns the price, the Koreans have not announced it, but say it will be very affordable. It will compete with LG Optimus L3, an entry-level smartphone recently presented at MWC 2012. On the other hand, the comparable models from Sony Ericsson and HTC come with a higher resolution screen and superior specifications.