Galaxy S II - 9/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Aug

Samsung To Release LTE Variants Of The Galaxy S II And Galaxy Tab 8.9, Both With Upgraded Specs

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, News

It looks like Sammy has some big news for us in the coming weeks -- we already know we're going to hear about the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Note at the IFA conference beginning September 1st, but now we're hearing rumors that Sammy will also unveil LTE versions of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab 8.9, both rocking upgraded specs from their non-LTE counterparts.

The LTE Galaxy S II is said to have a larger, 4.5-inch display along with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor (no word on whether it's an Exynos, but we assume that it is) along with the first ever LTE/WCDMA/GSM multi-band radio.

Aug

Verizon Will Not Be Getting The Samsung Galaxy S II, Make Ready The Pitchforks And Torches

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News, Verizon Wireless

Samsung has an event coming up on Monday where the US Galaxy S II will finally be announced. We've all been waiting for this beast of a phone to hit US shores for some time, but word just broke that one big name will be left out of the announcement: Verizon. That's right, folks, Big Red will not be getting the SGSII.

It's rumored that VZW will instead be getting the Samsung Stratosphere, a QWERTY-slider along the same lines as the Epic 4G, as well as the Nexus Prime. If that's the case, then I say it's a worthy tradeoff -- the Prime is going to be one device to be reckoned with.

Aug

The Stars Have Aligned - The First Samsung Galaxy S II In The U.S. To Arrive September 9th, 2011?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II, Rumors, Samsung, Sprint

Last Updated: August 30th, 2011

After months of anticipation, we are now finally on the verge of the Galaxy S II launch in the U.S. Yesterday's events now have us strongly convinced that the first variant of the Galaxy S II, most likely on Sprint (as the recently approved by the FCC Epic Touch 4G, if you remember), will be launching Friday, September 9th, 2011.

Clue #1

First, today we received a tip from a trusted source inside Sprint, putting the 9/9/11 date on the radar with a very high probability. The source has always been reliable in the past, and the only way I see the scenario not playing out would be if between now and the 9th Sprint cancelled the launch and pushed off the release date.

Aug

Samsung Releases New Galaxy S II Promo Video, Promises "It'll Be Big In America"

Posted by John Thompson in Galaxy S II, News

At Samsung, size clearly does matter. The South Korean company has just released a new promotional video for the release of the Galaxy S II in the USA, with one theme: big.

Boasting about how the smartphone is already big in Europe and Asia, the video ends with a shot of the Statue of Liberty with the slogan "and soon, it'll be big in America."

The video fuels previous speculation over a potential State-side debut for the Galaxy S II on August 29th, as the company has arranged a product announcement in New York for that date.

Hopefully, by this time next week, we'll have all the information on the US release of the Galaxy S II, but until then you can sit back and drool over this video in the hope that you'll be able to get your hands on the device before the month's out.

Aug

Samsung To Hold Event in NYC On August 29th, US Galaxy S II Release Imminent?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News

It looks like Sammy has something up its sleeve that will be exposed for all to see on August 29th in New York City. Touting a "major product announcement," we can only assume it means one thing: the Galaxy S II. Just typing it fills me with excitement, as we'll finally be getting what is probably the best smartphone on the planet.

^{See that 'II' at the bottom? Subtle, Sammy. Real subtle.}

Hopefully we'll get the full skinny, including cost, carrier availability, and a finalized (probably atrocious) moniker for each, so we can lay all the rumors to rest.

Now, there's only one thing left to do: wait.

Aug

Samsung Hercules - T-Mobile's Galaxy S II Variant - Pictured, 4.5" Display Confirmed

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Galaxy S II, Hercules, News, T-Mobile

Still holding out for the mythical (pun intended) Samsung Hercules, leaked via a T-Mobile roadmap a couple months back? While we don't have any pricing or release info just yet (though that September 26 release date certainly seems possible), TmoNews has gotten a hold of a few pictures of the device that confirmed it as the 4.5" Galaxy S2 T-Mobile variant.

These pictures don't confirm everything that is rumored about the phone, but they do have some good information in them:

The Hercules will officially be marketed as a Galaxy S2 phone
Runs Android 2.3
TeleNav GPS Navigator and Netflix pre-installed
4.5" display
TouchWiz 4.0
8 megapixel camera
Four capacitive buttons (unlike the international version of the GS2)

Yeah, September can't come soon enough.

Aug

Skype For Android Updated To v2.1 With Official Video Support For 17 More Devices (Including EVO 3D/4G, Thunderbolt, SGS1/2), And Unofficial Support For Any 2.2+ Device

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Charge (i510), Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Desire HD (Ace), EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO 4G (Supersonic), Flyer, Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab, Incredible S (Vivo), News, Revolution, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), Thunderbolt (Mecha), Xperia Mini / Mini Pro (Smultron / Mango), Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone), Xperia Ray (Urushi, ST18i)

Last Updated: September 16th, 2011

Skysoft... errr, I mean Skype updated its previously measly Android device support from 5 devices to more than 20 today with the introduction of version 2.1 of its Android app. There are no new features outside of expanded device support, which was badly needed in order for the app to climb out of the sea of 1-star reviews (although stability and quality improvements would have made today's release even sweeter).

Update: Other devices with 2.2+ should work, but you need to enable Video support in the settings, according to the in-app changelog.

The new devices are (glad to see many flagships here):

Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Galaxy S
Samsung Droid Charge - Verizon
Samsung Galaxy Tab
HTC Desire (2.2)
HTC Thunderbolt - Verizon
HTC Sensation
HTC Evo 4G
HTC Evo 3D
HTC Incredible S
HTC Desire HD
HTC Flyer
LG Revolution - Verizon (2.2)
Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro
Acer A5

As usual, download the app from the Market by using the links below.

Aug

Leaked Verizon 2011 Roadmap Reveals Launch Dates For A Slew Of Android Devices, Including Bionic, Stratosphere, Vigor, Revolution 2, And XOOM 4G Upgrade

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Bionic, Galaxy S II, HTC, LG, Motorola, News, Revolution, Samsung, Verizon Wireless, Vigor, XOOM

Last Updated: August 27th, 2011

Get ready, Verizon customers. IGN just leaked Verizon's alleged 2011 roadmap, and, unsurprisingly, it features Android quite heavily. While there aren't too many details on any of the devices outside of what we already know, it will give you a good general idea of what to expect from Verizon this year:

Samsung Stratosphere: Previously rumored as Verizon's version of the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Stratosphere is listed as a "4G Smartphone w/Android 2.3." While it isn't exactly confirmation, there is a chance that this rumor was spot-on. Prepare for its release on September 8.
Droid Bionic: Months after its original unveiling, the Droid Bionic is finally going to be available to purchase.

Aug

Rumor: Sprint Getting The Galaxy S II In September, To Be Called The Epic Touch 4G

Posted by David Ruddock in Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II, News, Rumors, Samsung, Sprint

Last Updated: August 30th, 2011

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.

The phone will also feature Sprint's WiMAX 4G - which raises another big question: just how should Sprint subscribers reconcile the carrier's planned adoption of LTE with yet another WiMAX handset on the way?

Jul

Samsung Galaxy S II With AT&T Radios And NFC Hits The FCC... Wait, What?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News

Normally, we don't post FCC filings, but this one caught our attention. It appears that a variant of the Samsung Galaxy S II with NFC just hit the FCC sporting AT&T radios. But wait, this is where it starts to get interesting. Back in March, another variant with AT&T bands hit the FCC. Curious, yes?

The rabbit hole gets deeper: earlier this week, we saw photos of a version of the GSII sporting a keyboard that is rumored to be heading to AT&T, yet today's filing shows identical dimensions to the European variant of the GSII, suggesting that there is no keyboard.