08
Oct
image
Last Updated: August 2nd, 2012

The FedEx man brought me a lovely little gift yesterday: The T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II. This is the last stateside arrival of the Galaxy S II family. The review will take a bit to get out the door, so until then I figured I'd whet your appetite with some initial impressions.

IMG_20111008_134913  IMG_20111008_1349131 

First of all, this thing is big. Really big. I have to say though, I love the design of it. It feels sturdy and very well made. Like Samsung really knows what they're doing. The plastic back has a wonderful texture to it that almost makes it feel like leather.

07
Oct

We've been hearing about the Nexus Prime for months now, but things have really been heating up in the past week or so: first, Samsung released an official teaser trailer about the event and gave us a glimpse of the device's side profile. And yesterday, we had two conflicting sets of specs "leak out" (though obviously neither was confirmed). Finally, the official AndroidDevelopers YouTube account put up a video called "Android ICS Launch," set to stream during the Samsung Unpacked event in which the Prime and ICS were set to be revealed.

Update: Samsung's own blog confirms the delay.

06
Oct
nexus81

It's apparent that the Nexus Prime/Galaxy Nexus announcement is getting closer, as new information is starting to surface almost daily. Today, the hardware specs have been revealed by a "trusted source" in BGR's camp -- so let's have a look:

  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (Note: we're still not sure of the version number for ICS, so take that with a grain of salt)
  • 9mm thin
  • 4.65-inch 1280 x 720-pixel Super AMOLED HD with curved glass
  • TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1.2GHz
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 32GB of built-in storage
  • 5-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel in the front
  • 1080p HD video capture support
  • LTE/HSPA depending on carrier
  • Wi-Fi a/b/g/n
  • NFC
  • 1,750 mAh battery

After reading through the specs, it's clear that there are a couple of things that may come off a bit...

04
Oct
nexus

Hot on the heels of the Nexus Prime's blurrycam debut, Samsung has provided us a tantalizing peek at the so-called Nexus Prime in a teaser video leading up to Mobile Unpacked 2011, where they are sure to unveil Google's next flagship device.

It appears that rumors pointing toward a curved display are true, and that the Nexus Prime will share the sleek, trim form factor that we've come to expect from Samsung's mobile offerings. BriefMobile speculates that the three dots we're seeing on the right side of the device will be its docking connection, and that the camera will jut out forming the slight chin we see on the backside of the Prime's alleged 4.6" 720p display.

04
Oct
gsmarena_001

Of all the questions that have been surrounding the upcoming Nexus Prime, there has been quite a bit of intrigue about the buttons, or lack thereof, I should say. How will it work? What will the on-screen buttons look like? How will Ice Cream Sandwich work on device that already has physical buttons?  ...and that's just the beginning of the inquiries.

While we still can't confirm how ICS will handle the latter, thanks to a leaked blurrycam photo obtained by GSMarena, we now have a better idea of what to possibly expect from the Nexus Prime and its button configuration.

29
Sep
nexus81

So, by now you've heard of the Galaxy Nexus/Nexus Prime/Droid Prime/Samsung Prime... or whatever we're calling it these days. If you haven't, well... you should find a rock with internet access to live under. Details are few and far between, but thanks to the guys over at MyDroidWorld, we have a full listing of the installed system apps to gander at while we wait for something better to come along.

There are a few notable entries in the list, but we can talk about those after you look over it in its entirety:

ApplicationsProvider.apk
BIP.apk
BackupRestoreConfirmation.apk
Bluetooth.apk
BooksTablet.apk
BrowserGoogle.apk
Calculator.apk
CalendarGoogle.apk
CalendarProvider.apk
CameraGoogle.apk
CertInstaller.apk
ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter.apk
Contacts.apk
ContacsProvider.apk
DefaultContainerService.apk
DeskClockGoogle.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
DownloadProviderUi.apk
DrmProvider.apk
EmailGoogle.apk
ExchangeGoogle.apk
FaceLock.apk
Galaxy4.apk
GalleryGoogle.apk
GenieWidget.apk
Gmail.apk
GoogleBackupTransport.apk
GoogleContactSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleEarth.apk
GoogleFeedback.apk
GoogleLoginService.apk
GooglePackageVerifier.apk
GooglePartnerSetup.apk
GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk
GoogleServicesFramework.apk
GoogleTTS.apk
HTMLVierwer.apk
HoloSpiralWallpaper.apk
IMSFramework.apk
KeyChain.apk
LatinIMEDictionaryPack.apk
LatinImeGoogle.apk
Launcher2.apk
LiveWallpapers.apk
LiveWallpapersPicker.apk
Maps.apk
MarketUpdater.apk
MediaProvider.apk
MediaUploader.apk
Microbes.apk
Music2.apk
MusicFX.apk
NetworkLocation.apk
NfcGoogle.apk
NoiseField.apk
OneTimeInitializer.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
PhaseBeam.apk
Phone.apk
Phonesky.apk
PlusOne.apk
SDM.apk
Settings.apk
SettingsProvider.apk
SetupWizard.apk
SoundRecorder.apk
Stk.apk
Street.apk
SyncMLSvc.apk
SystemUI.apk
TagGoogle.apk
Talk.apk
TelephoneProvider.apk
Thinkfree.apk
UserDictionaryProvider.apk
VZWAPNlib.apk
VZWAPNService.apk
Videos.apk
VisualizationWallpapers.apk
VoicDialer.apk
VoiceSearch.apk
VpnDialogs.apk
YouTube.apk

Alright, let's do this in alphabetical order, shall we?

29
Sep
Android-Money

It certainly seems like it. Yesterday, Microsoft announced via blog that it had concluded negotiations with Samsung and reached a licensing deal for the same seven patents it previously licensed to HTC for Android (along with other, smaller Android manufacturers). There were rumblings about just what royalty rate Samsung is paying, but the guess is anywhere from $5 to $15 per handset (it's likely on a percentage-of-MSRP basis - so think about 1-3% per $500 MSRP phone).

When it comes to royalty agreements, rates are usually internally fixed regarding certain categories of IP to avoid confusion about damages in lawsuits, but when there are allegations of continued infringement, the game changes.

29
Sep
exynos

In a press release earlier today Samsung announced an update to its Exynos line of mobile processors with the release of the Exynos 4212 a 1.5 GHz dual core ARM Cortex-A9 chip. The chip is designed on Samsung's advanced 32nm low-power processes and is intended for the burgeoning smartphone and tablet market. According to Samsung's release the Exynos 4212 will deliver a full 25% increase in processing power over the previous chip and will feature an enhanced GPU capable of delivering 50% higher 3D graphics performance. All this sounds great, but if the battery dies before you can even start the game then an increase in power is useless.

28
Sep
rogers lte

After just over a year of envious grumbling, the Canadians have finally gotten their first taste of LTE. Rogers Wireless announced today that true 4G speeds are available to customers in specific coverage areas in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver.

While this is surely a cause for excitement for my fellow Canucks, the devices that are currently on this new network aren't. At the time of launch, the only LTE device available to consumers is the Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U, a mobile "LTE Rocket stick" for laptops. On October 18, the HTC Jetstream will hit the market, with an LTE version of the Galaxy S II and the Sierra AirCard 754S mobile hotspot to follow in the weeks after.

28
Sep
222-logo-t-mobile_logo1

Everyone's getting on the peace train, it seems. T-Mobile, in concert with Verizon's filing last week, submitted an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief to the Federal Court for the Northern District of California this morning in regard to the ongoing patent and trademark suit between Samsung and Apple. Its contents? Basically the same thing Verizon's said - that denying Americans their 4G Samsung devices just for some silly little patent infringement will hurt 4G deployment in the US and decrease access to high-speed mobile broadband. T-Mobile actually refers to Verizon's brief in their own document, basically saying "Yeah, whatever he said, too."

tmo

After T-Mobile's statement regarding the fact that it still doesn't have the iPhone earlier this week (as though customers needed a reminder), this brief is a pretty logical step for the company to take.