Epic 4G

Sep

Battery Lives Of 8 Flagship Android Phones Tested And Compared - LCD Wins, AMOLED Loses, Droid X Takes Home The Crown

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Captivate, Devices By Manufacturer, Droid 2, Droid Incredible, Droid X (Shadow), Epic 4G, EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Streak, Vibrant

Here’s something to get your teeth into. Over at LaptopMag, a whole host of Androids have been put through their paces in a grueling battery life endurance test. The goal was to keep the phones’ screens on while doing a moderate amount of processing, namely cyclically browsing a collection of web pages. Despite the supposed power savings afforded by AMOLED screens, the phones employing that screen technology fell quite a ways behind in comparison to the traditional LCD phones.

Why is that? AMOLED is supposed to only use up power on non-black pixels, right? Well, as LaptopMag points out, the majority of webpages are actually dark text on a light background, a scenario in which AMOLED actually uses more power than an equivalent backlit LCD.

Sep

Sprint Launches An Epically Awful Ad Campaign To Promote Samsung Epic 4G And Media Hub

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Epic 4G, News, Sprint, Videos

I'm not sure how much money Sprint spent on this but I'm sure whatever the amount was, they overpaid. In an effort to promote the recently launched Samsung Epic 4G handset and the new Media Hub, the company shot a series of short movies, all with the word "Epic" in the titles.

The website layout, production quality, and presentation are all top notch. What is not top notch, however, is the most important part - the content. Plain and simple, it sucks. It is mostly the opposite of I would call funny or entertaining, ends way too abruptly (yeah, they really are short films), and makes no sense in the scope of effectively promoting both the phone and the new media service.

Sep

Samsung Releases Minor Update For Epic 4G - Adds Media Hub, Fixes A Few Bugs

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Epic 4G, News, Sprint

Yesterday, Samsung released a fairly minor update for the Epic 4G. There are only a handful of changes, including some light optimizations and a few small bug fixes - but more importantly, it adds Media Hub functionality. Media Hub is a new service that was introduced last night by Samsung, and provides access to movies and TV shows from most of the big dogs - not too shabby.

Full list of changes:

DI07 Update Details
Please see the list below for details of some changes found in the DI07 update.
Optimized, HotSpot in 3G idle mode to help conserve battery power
Optimized, Applied Qualcomm patch for performance enhancement
Added, Media Hub
Modified, WiMAX exit delay
Modified, UI "Noisey" One to "Noisy One"
Fixed, 32GB mSD card is not recongized when formatted in device
Fixed, When playing video, the playback is paused if a headset is connected/disconnected
Fixed, Sorry popup when DRM file is selected in the Gallery
Fixed, Hotspot registration/deregistration
Note, below is a screen shot of the descriptor.

Aug

Move Over EVO - Sprint's 2nd 4G Phone, Samsung Epic 4G, Now Available

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Epic 4G, News, Samsung, Sprint

It's August 31st and like clockwork, the first CDMA Galaxy S counterpart of the T-Mobile Vibrant and AT&T Captivate, the Epic 4G is finally available both online and in stores.

If you've been following our Epic 4G coverage, you would know that:

we were very excited about this phone when our own Ian Douglas reviewed the Epic in detail last week
we were not alone - other reviewers were just as excited
it has already been rooted, before even hitting the general population
you can shave an extra $50 off that hefty $250 price tag that Sprint decided the Epic was worth by ordering through Amazon, as we discussed here.

Aug

Samsung Hits A Milestone: Over 1 Million Galaxy S Devices Shipped In US

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in AT&T, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, News, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Vibrant

Samsung just sent out a press release that should help dampen the dullness today: according to Samsung, they've shipped over 1 million Galaxy S devices in the US. Not bad, especially considering they've only launched on 2 of the 6 carriers that will be getting the device. With such a hotly-anticipated and well-received line of devices, it's likely sales are really just getting started - after all, the Vibrant and Captivate only launched just over a month ago.

Samsung's Epic 4G will be launching on Sprint in just a few days (August 31), and rumor has it that Verizon's Fascinate won't be far behind.

Aug

Root Available For the Epic 4G You Don't Even Have Yet

Posted by David Ruddock in Epic 4G, Mods, News

That was quick - the Sprint's Epic 4G has already been rooted by the crew over at SDX-devs. In other words, now you can root that phone you don't have yet. It's a method requiring adb (Android Device Bridge) commands and thus desktop connectivity, but a one-click solution will probably emerge sooner rather than later. Note: it says EVO root, but the method works on this phone as well, don't let the filename fool you. Instructions below:

download this file
http://evo4g.me/downloads/evo-root.zip
run these commands thru adb
adb push c:\downloads\rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp
adb shell
chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin
cd /data/local/tmp
./rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin
exit out of the adb shell, and type adb shell again.

Aug

Amazon Gets Aggressive - Samsung Epic 4G For $200 With New Contract

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Epic 4G, News, Off-Topic

Looks like Amazon isn't going to wait a few weeks to drop the price on the Epic 4G: they're already offering it for $200, $50 less than the other big-name stores. The device won't ship until launch (August 31), but they're offering free two-day shipping - albeit, with a minor disclaimer:

The new Samsung Epic from Sprint is now available for pre-order and should begin shipping on August 31, 2010. Due to demand for this device, you may experience a slight shipping delay.

_{"See price in cart?" Oh Amazon, you're so sneaky.}

I suppose that's to be expected with such a major launch, but it's hard not to wonder if Sprint wouldn't be doing a little better right now if they could actually keep up with the demand for their hottest hardware.

Aug

[Updated] Hands-On Review Of Sprint's Samsung Epic 4G

Posted by Ian Douglas in Epic 4G, News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Samsung, Sprint, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

When offered to preview Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S offering, the SPH-D700, also known as the Epic 4G, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. While my first personal-use Android device was the Nexus One, I’ve handled my share of Android smartphones, and my history of smartphone use has included several Samsung phones over the years. This being the first Galaxy S device I’ve personally handled, I’m glad to say that Samsung does not disappoint, and I can highly recommend the device to users who need a physical keyboard and can sign up for a contract with Sprint.

Update #1: added a 720P video sample.

Aug

Samsung Epic 4G Review Roundup: Keeps The 4G Fire Burning

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Epic 4G, News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Sprint

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

After months of leaks, announcements, and the releases of its sister phones, the Epic 4G is here... sort of. While the device won't go on for sale for another two weeks, the big players in tech have managed to snag some early review units. We've filtered through the roundups and come up with the four that we deemed most worthy. Let's take a look:

Engadget

Chris Ziegler (who seems to get all the flagship phones) spent some time with the Epic 4G and came away extremely impressed, despite a having a few minor niggles:

So is it the right phone for the job?

Aug

Samsung Epic 4G Pre-Order Begins - Here Are Your Options

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Epic 4G, News, Sprint

Looks like the floodgates have opened and pre-orders have started for the Epic 4G. All the usual suspects are offering the device, and all in their own way. As with the EVO 4G, Sprint will be requiring the Premium Data (or 4G) surcharge of $10/month. As always, to get the lowest price, you need to sign a 2-year agreement.

Sprint is selling the device for $350 with a $100 mail-in-rebate (MIR). Currently, if you pre-order online, you pick it up in-store on the August 31 and pay for it then. Looks like full retail on the phone is $500.
Best Buy is pricing the device at $250 with no MIR, as usual.