28
Jan
smashed-galaxy-tab-broken-screen

Early this morning (or late last night if you want to get technical), Samsung made its quarterly earnings call, and the company's mobile division is doing quite well - profits are up 38%, thanks in large part to the Galaxy S line of phones.

Samsung managed to sell over 10 million Galaxy S handsets in 2010, comprising roughly a third of all the manufacturer's smartphone sales. Given the Galaxy S's global launch along with its premium hardware and fair pricing, it's no surprise that device has been a big hit. But what about the Galaxy Tab?

Since its release, the smallish tablet has received mixed reviews (though our own Aaron Gingrich thoroughly enjoyed it), and given its treatment by some of the major tech blogs, "mixed" is putting it politely:

This thing is just a mess.

27
Jan
image

Nexus S owners, listen up. If you own Samsung's flagship "Google Experience" device, it's likely you've experienced a random reboot bug that we reported on over 2 weeks ago. The Google bug tracker thread for this issue has been a roller coaster of emotion - after getting filled with a large number of comments, it was declined by a Google employee, only to be reopened shortly after due to a public outcry.

As if adding fuel to the fire, the thread was closed yet again in the past hour by a different employee. His action were reverted mere minutes later, which is making me wonder whether Google engineers sometimes need to talk to each other a bit more often.

27
Jan
andr_sidekick3

Been wondering when we'd hear more about T-Mobile's newest Sidekick? If so, today's your lucky day: TmoNews has some new info on the device, and a few blurrycam shots to boot. Perhaps the two most important facts: it will be manufactured by Samsung, and is apparently running Android 2.2.1.

andr_sidekick1 andr_sidekick3

You'll never guess where these images are from.

That's not exactly great news, especially for those who had high hopes for the device. Why? Well, because Samsung doesn't exactly have a great reputation when it comes to Android updates, and for good reason. Further, T-Mobile has previously stated that they are committed to keeping their Android devices updated - and yet this phone is running Froyo.

27
Jan
gals2_tab2_MWC

It looks like a bit of an oopsie has resulted in Samsung's official Mobile World Congress (MWC) schedule leaking out. The details of the slip aren't available and aren't especially important, because this looks and sounds legitimate - especially since it (sort of) reinforces rumblings we've heard before.

gals2_tab2_MWC

Surprisingly, we have absolutely no idea what kind of hardware to expect. What I do know, though, is that if The S 2 ends up being this... boy, will my face ever be red. But hey - I still feel fairly safe in saying it won't be. (I hope.)

[Source: Electronista via Mobile Crunch]

26
Jan
image
Last Updated: May 14th, 2012

Samsung is well-known for its ubiquity in the feature-phone market, and it's starting to look like they'll be employing the same assault-on-all-sides approach with Android phones too. As if they aren't struggling already to keep their phones up to date, Sammy is now digging a deeper hole with today's announcement of four budget-oriented devices set to prop up the rather premium Galaxy S.

image image image image

Galaxy mini

image

Starting from the bottom, we have the Galaxy mini, intended to be a "first smartphone" for those crazy, hip youths you keep reading about. Not quite sure where the fun springs from in a 3.14-inch QVGA device, but Samsung is betting heavily on the "flashy color stripe along the side" to shift units.

25
Jan
tmo

Thanks to a leaked slide, some rumored release dates for upcoming T-Mobile 4G devices have been cemented. First up is Dell's Streak 7, which is set to debut on February 2; that will be followed by the Galaxy S 4G on February 23, while the Honeycomb-sporting G-Slate won't be launching until March 23.

lgdellsamsungreleaseswtmk streak7pricewtmk-1024x764

Also leaked were two promos for the Streak 7 that nail down an on-contract (presumably) price of $299 - a pretty good deal for two cores and 7 inches of screen real-estate. T-Mobile's 4G lineup isn't lacking for tablets, but a refreshed Galaxy S handset probably isn't going to turn heads when compared to HTC's Thunderbolt or Motorola's Atrix 4G.

25
Jan
vibrant

Want in on the Galaxy S action but not interested in any features like a front-facing camera or HSPA+? T-Mobile has a deal for you! Now until January 26 at 10:00 pm (PT), the Samsung Vibrant is free with a two-year contract, and is only available online. So, if you really can't wait a few more weeks for the Galaxy S 4G, this is probably the time to act.

Source: T-Mobile Twitter

25
Jan
samsung-tab-tesco

TmoNews posted an image last night confirming that tomorrow, the price of the Galaxy Tab with a new T-Mobile 2-year contract will be cut to just $250 after mail-in rebate - $50 less than the current mark. Price cuts for the Galaxy Tab have been popping up all over it seems, and after Verizon announced that it'll be getting a new-and-improved 4G Galaxy Tab with a faster 1.2GHz processor, it makes sense. Unfortunately, the Tab will still cost you 500 big ones off-contract at T-Mo.

galaxytab_pricecut_wm1-1024x764

And if you live in the UK and are in the market to buy an Android tablet (or any tablet, for that matter), now is the time to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

21
Jan
Screenshot20101021at7.39.06PM_thumb_thumb

It appears that T-Mobile is staying true to its word when it comes the Android 2.2 update for the Samsung Vibrant - the much-anticipated software upgrade is now slowly but surely rolling out.

There's a catch, though: it's only available through Samsung's Kies Mini software (which runs exclusively on Windows - sorry, OS X users). We aren't yet sure if/when an OTA update will accompany this Kies Mini version, but here's what we do know: the update's build number is UVKA6, and it contains T-Mobile TV and WiFi calling in addition to all the usual Froyo goodies.

Update: T-Mobile confirmed that the update rollout has begun and posted upgrade instructions together with a handy FAQ right here.

20
Jan
1-20-11-tmobile-sidekick-4g

So it's true: Samsung and T-Mobile have indeed built an HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S, although it didn't cause the Android 2.2 update for their current offering, the Vibrant, to be held back (contrary to what some had assumed).

Unfortunately, we don't know much about the phone yet - in fact, all we've been told so far is that:

  • It'll be called the "Galaxy S 4G" (not the "Vibrant 4G," mind you).
  • It will feature full HSPA+ connectivity, meaning that it will be able to reach theoretical download speeds of up to 21 Mbps. Up until now, T-Mobile's HSPA+ devices (the G2 and the myTouch 4G) have been limited to 14.4 Mbps.