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Samsung recently starting updating its aging-but-not-dead flagship phone from yesteryear (OK, technically it was the year before that, but yesteryesteryear isn't a thing) to Jelly Bean. And when Samsung updates things, you know what that means, right? Source code. Because a new version of Android brings with it a new kernel. And Android modders want new source to go along with that new kernel. So Samsung delivered, as always.
A small, 11MB over-the-air update is on its way to T-Mobile's variant of the Galaxy S II this morning, which brings a few minor enhancements to the year-old device. Among those, you'll find a "Qualcomm fix," along with Vlingo S Voice improvements, and some general security enhancements.
Nearly two years ago, Samsung unveiled what would become one of the most iconic Android handsets of all time, and its powerhouse smartphone for the year: the Galaxy S II. This follow-up to the original Galaxy S brought the goods in a major way, further increasing Samsung's undeniable presence in the Android world. And now the company is updating it to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2).
T-Mobile just announced via Twitter that its iteration of the Galaxy S II will be getting the Android 4.0 bump come June 11th.
Some owners of the original AT&T Galaxy S II may have been left feeling unwanted when Ice Cream Sandwich leaked for the GSII Skyrocket a couple of days ago, but now they have their very own version to download and play around with.
Update 2/29/12: The Galaxy S II is now available for sale.
You made your nominations, and you voted. Now we have a winner. The Andy for Best Non-Nexus Android Phone of 2011 goes to...
Who wants a white Galaxy S II? Good news! Your dream is going to become a reality soon enough - if you're on T-Mobile that is. That's right, an all white version of the GSII will be landing in T-Mo stores and online sometimes before the holidays. Vague, I know, but that's all the info we have right now as far as availability is concerned.
We've already seen the source for the AT&T Galaxy S II, the Epic 4G Touch, and a handful of other new devices, so why not throw T-Mo's Galaxy S II into the mix? Sammy dropped the code earlier today -- hit the link below to download it. Let's see how fast that Snapdragon will actually run, gents.
The folks over at the always impartial, numerically obsessed hardware review and benchmarking site Anandtech have gotten their hands on some results comparing the iPhone 4S to a slew of Android devices in browser and GPU performance. The results are, well, interesting. Take a look at these graphics comparing browser JavaScript performance:
While Samsung may have promptly released the kernel source code for Sprint's Epic 4G Touch on release day, it has gone one step further with AT&T's variant and already uploaded the code to its Open Source Release Center. AT&T just announced the launch date of October 2nd this morning, so this makes the code available nearly two weeks before the phone.
We've basically known all there is to know about the US versions of the Galaxy S II for a while now, just short of the release date and price for AT&T and T-Mobile.
When Samsung officially unveiled the US variants of the Galaxy S II, the spec sheet for T-Mobile's variant was oddly absent from the show. After that, we started hearing that it would not be sporting the same Exynos processor of its AT&T and Sprint siblings, but rather a chip from a "different manufacturer," with no word as to who that manufacturer could be.
Update: On further reflection, we're going to tentatively call this image a "rumor" for now, as we have no way to confirm its authenticity, but we have no reason to think these images are fake, either.
Well, the Galaxy S II rumors are really starting to heat up stateside. Earlier today, BGR let loose a tip that Sprint may be getting its own Galaxy S II-based handset as early as next month (September), and that it will be dubbed the 'Epic Touch 4G.' This obviously implies that the device will not share the physical QWERTY keyboard of its etymological ancestor, the Epic 4G.
Samsung's original Galaxy S was undoubtedly a great success for the company. One could say it was their first serious smartphone, and its core was widely dispersed around the globe, appearing as the i9000 in Europe and Asia, and - perhaps more familiarly - the AT&T Captivate, Sprint Epic 4G, T-Mobile Vibrant, and Verizon Fascinate in the USA. While we have yet to see firm plans for a repeat of this four-pronged attack with the successor to the Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II i9100 (aka the Samsung "It's Over 9000!") is already widely available throughout the rest of the world and is making waves while at it. Let's take a look at this shiny new handset.
While the US patiently waits for any of its carriers to announce the Samsung Galaxy S II, our neighbor to the north just got itself a heaping helping of awesome. Not just one or two, but three Canadian carriers - Bell, Virgin Mobile, and SaskTel - announced that they would be carrying this superphone in the coming weeks.
So, you bought that fancy new Nexus S/DROID Charge/Galaxy S II/G2X/Flyer with a front-facing camera, and you were excited to make video calls. Then you noticed there isn't any native video chat client for Android (yet - Talk will have this integrated soon). Then you heard about fring, which is pretty cool. Then you tried to install it, only to discover it didn't work. Then you probably had a sad.
Pocketnow, via a wireless accessories website, has apparently discovered the names of 3 of the carrier-branded versions of the Galaxy S II that will be coming stateside later this year. The device will be known as the Attain on AT&T, the Function on Verizon Wireless, and the Within on Sprint.