Galaxy S II - 6/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

[Updated] T-Mobile Brings Battery And Wi-Fi Calling Enhancements To Samsung Galaxy S II Today, Dec 14 With Android 2.3.5 (KL1) Update

Posted by John Thompson in Galaxy S II, Gingerbread 2.3, News, T-Mobile

If you're currently using a Samsung Galaxy S II on T-Mobile's network, keep an eye out for a software update KL1 with Android 2.3.5 that will be heading your way starting today, December 14th.

The update brings caller ID, battery, and Wi-Fi calling enhancements and will arrive over-the-air, although you Kies Mini may also be used for installation (starting December 15th). T-Mobile says that it is being rolled out over the coming weeks, so you may have to be patient or wait for it to be available via Kies Mini.

Beginning December 14, a software update will be available for the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Nov

Samsung Knocks Apple's Cult Following In New Ad, Tells Customers "The Next Big Thing Is Already Here"

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Galaxy S II, Off-Topic, Samsung

Last Updated: November 24th, 2011

In a new 60-second ad spot that could be described both as hilarious and extremely bold, Samsung tells consumers that "the next big thing is already here" with the Galaxy SII, while taking a pretty strong shot at die-hard Apple fans, satirizing Apple's cult following.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4VHzNEWIqA

The spot opens with customers happily waiting in line outside a very Apple Store-ish location nine hours before opening. We then see a eureka moment when the customers catch sight of a Galaxy SII. Some are amazed. Others resist with retorts such as "I could never get a Samsung – I'm creative," to which another customer responds "dude, you're a barista."

What's great about this ad is that it refrains from mentioning Apple or the iPhone directly.

Nov

White Galaxy S II Hitting T-Mobile Just In Time For The Holidays

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News, T-Mobile

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.

The white version will most likely share the same specs as the current, black version:

4.52-inch 480x800 Super AMOLDED Plus display
1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon
1GB RAM
16GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
8MP rear shooter, 2MP front
Android 2.3.x with Touchwiz

Anyone interested in picking one of these up when it comes out?

Nov

Behold Amazon's Mind-Blowing Black Friday Deals: All VZW, Sprint, And AT&T Phones Are Now Just $0.01 (Rezound, RAZR, Galaxy S II, EVO 3D, etc.)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Atrix 2, Bionic, Deals, Epic 4G Touch, EVO 3D (Shooter), Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX, Rezound

Last Updated: November 29th, 2011

Amazon Wireless, one of our favorite online mobile retailers, launched its Black Friday promotions a little early this year, and boy are they good!

Did I say good? I meant absolutely incredible (though, unfortunately, only for new customers): every single phone at Amazon Wireless sold by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint is going for just 1 penny.

Yup, even such $299 monsters as the HTC Rezound 4G and the DROID RAZR, along with the Galaxy S II variants (including the Skyrocket) are all priced down to a cent above free.

97 phones in total are participating in this Penny Pincher promotion, which is scheduled to go through Cyber Monday (November 28th), giving you ample time to pick up the best cell phone deals of the year.

Oct

CyanogenMod 7.1 Nightlies Expanded To A Slew Of Devices, Including AT&T's Samsung Galaxy SII, Motorola Atrix 4G, Optimus Black, And Tons Of Xperias

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Development, Galaxy S II, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Arc (Anzu, X12), Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone), Xperia X10 (es209ra), Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

It looks like the Cyanogenmod team, in a continued effort to bring continually-updated Gingerbread goodness to as many devices as possible, have brought nightlies to a new crop of handsets, including AT&T's variant of the Samsung Galaxy SII, the Motorola Atrix, LG's Optimus Black and a handful of Sony devices including the Xperia X10, Play, Arc (X12), X10 mini, ST18i, and about five others.

Update: Here are some of the popular device/codename mappings (mapping these took a significant and unnecessary amount of time. This is exactly why Artem posted this today):

AT&T Galaxy S II - galaxys2att
Atrix 4G - olympus
Optimus Black - p970
Xperia X10i - es209ra
Xperia X8 - shakira
Xperia Play - zeus
Xperia Ray - urushi
Xperia Mini Pro - mango
Xperia Mini - smultron
Xperia Active - satsuma
Xperia X10 Mini Pro - mimmi
Xperia X10 Mini - robyn
Xperia Neo - hallon
Xperia Arc/X12 - anzu

Personally, I am on pins and needles waiting for CM9 to bring us Ice Cream Sandwich, but if you're more interested in the latest and greatest software that's actually available for your handset, head over to download.cyanogenmod.com and look for your device.

Oct

[Deal Alert] Unlocked Samsung Galaxy SII On eBay For $489 (That's About $110 Off)

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Deals, Galaxy S II

Last month we saw an unlocked version of Samsung's Galaxy SII at Mobile Daily Steals for a cool $100 off its original price. If you were hoping to get an ever so slightly deeper discount on Samsung's hottest smartphone to date (still waiting on the Galaxy Nexus), your chance has arrived. For the next 24 hours, a "limited quantity" of SIIs are available on eBay for just $489.99.

If somehow you've forgotten, or haven't been paying attention, here are some of the SII's specs:

Android 2.3 Gingerbread
4.3" WVGA Super AMOLED Plus Display
8MP rear shooter and 2MP front shooter
1GB RAM
1.2GHz Dual-Core ARM Cortex A9 Processor
Expandable Storage via MicroSD, up to 32GB

The unlocked SII will work on a wide array of networks, making it ideal for an off-contract purchase, or phone to take on trips.

Oct

Samsung Releases Kernel Source Code For T-Mobile's Galaxy S II

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News, T-Mobile

Last Updated: November 23rd, 2011

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.

Samsung Galaxy S II (T-Mobile) Source Code

Oct

iPhone 4S Vs. Samsung Galaxy S II Drop Test - And The [Clear] Winner Is...

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News

Last Updated: January 30th, 2013

So, do you want to see how the Galaxy S II compares to the iPhone 4S when dropped directly onto concrete? Yeah, we thought you might -- and you you may actually be surprised at the results. Before you watch the video, though, I must warn you: watching these electronics plummet to their (presumed) demise can be a bit cringe inducing, even to not-so-squeamish among us. With that caveat out of the way, have a look at the video:

Pretty impressive, no? While the iPhone 4S was rendered basically unusable after a couple of drops, the Galaxy S II's Gorilla Glass kept it safe, secure, and intact.

Oct

[Review] The T-Mobile Galaxy S II: Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, But The Bloatware Goes On Forever

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Galaxy S II, Reviews, T-Mobile

Finally it's T-Mobile's turn to take a swing at the Samsung Galaxy S II, almost six months after the rest of the world. No adjective soup for this variant; its official name is, plainly, the "T-Mobile Galaxy S II." Formerly known as the "Hercules," this is the misfit in the GSII family. In its heart pumps a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, instead of the normal Samsung Exynos. So it's not just a carbon copy of all those other GSIIs. My initial impressions were posted a few days ago, and since then I've had some time to see if this thing was really worth the wait.

Oct

iPhone 4S VS. Android Benchmarks Posted: Even The Galaxy S II Is Getting Smoked (For Now, At Least)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Galaxy S II, News

Last Updated: August 20th, 2012

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:

The closest competitor to Apple's iPhone 4S? The testers decided to make the Galaxy Tab 8.9 the Android Honeycomb representative, and even with its aging Tegra 2 chipset the Tab pretty much matched Apple's iPhone 4S inch for inch. But we think we have an explanation for the Tab 8.9's extreme browser performance figures: Honeycomb.