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Tag: samsung-galaxy-s3

  • Xiaomi 2 Launched in China

    Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is launching its new smartphone Xiaomi 2 today. The Chinese say that the gadget will compete with Samsung Galaxy S3, the new iPhone 5 and HTC One X+, the price being expected to be the main argument for this statement.

    In a first phase only 50,000 phones are on sale and then another 250,000 units in the second half of November.

    Officially announced in August, the phone comes with a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 2 GB RAM. The screen is a 4.3-inch IPS LCD at 720p resolution and a density of 342ppi.

    The smartphone has two cameras, an 8-megapixel one that uses the same lens as the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S III, and a second one of 2 megapixels for video conferencing. Xiaomi 2 provides the user with a storage capacity of 16GB or 32GB, expandable, of course, using an SD card.

    In terms of connectivity, the phone features 42Mbps HSPA+ radio and supports WCDMA 850/1900/2100 MHz.

    Xiaomi 2 comes with two versions of batteries: 2000mAh and 3000mAh.

    Xiaomi Phone 2 runs Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, along with the MIUI Rom package of applications developed by the Chinese manufacturer.

    The phone is available in the Chinese market at a price of 1,999 Yuan ($320) for the 16 GB version and 2,299 Yuan ($370) for the one with 32GB storage capacity.

    Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi did not announce when or if it will begin selling the new smartphone worldwide.

  • 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.

  • 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.