Galaxy S

Jan

Samsung Reinvents Average With the Galaxy S Advance - 1GHz Dual-Core Processor, 768MB Of RAM, And Gingerbread

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S, News, Samsung

Did you think that the Galaxy S II was the follow-up to the widely-popular Galaxy S line of phones from Samsung? Think again! Samsung just announced the Galaxy S Advance, a dual-core, mid-range device sporting an HSPA+ radio and shipping with Gingerbread. The new phone also sports a curved display, which is quickly becoming a hallmark of Samsung phones.

The device isn't a wimp, by any means, but it's also not going to top any benchmarks, which places it firmly in the mid-range of devices, which is a curious position. The phone has 768MB of RAM instead of ...

Jan

[CES 2012] T-Mobile Serves Up A Slew Of Announcements – Introduces Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, Bobsled Messaging Enhancements, And Expanded 4G Network

Posted by Liam Spradlin in 4G, Galaxy S, News, T-Mobile

At CES today, T-Mobile, in an effort to outline "the company's ongoing efforts to fuel consumer adoption of mobile data," revealed a handful of announcements, ranging from the introduction of a new 4G-capable device, to Bobsled Messaging, to expanded 4G networks.

You may remember that T-Mobile announced updates to its Bobsled Messaging service back in October. Well, T-Mo today announced further enhancements, including free unlimited messaging to Android users worldwide. Bobsled, for those who don't know, is essentially a service which allows users to communicate using mobile devices (through messaging or calling), regardless of platform or network, requiring only ...

Jan

Samsung Galaxy S "Value Pack" Update Leaked – Brings Minor UI Changes, Face Unlock, And More

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Galaxy S, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

It's been a rather wild ride for Samsung Galaxy S users regarding a possible update to Android 4.0. First, Samsung, issued a statement saying that they could not update their former flagship phone. After a community outcry, however, they responded with a different possibility - a "Value Pack" update, one that would include some key features from Ice Cream Sandwich (such as Face Unlock) but which would still be based on Gingerbread. Samsung later decided to not go through with the Value Pack update.

The plot has thickened once again, however: a version of the update has been ...

Dec

163

Editorial: Samsung To "Review" Possibility Of Galaxy S, Tab Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrades, But Why?

Posted by David Ruddock in Captivate, Editorials, Fascinate, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, Vibrant

After initially deciding it wouldn't update Galaxy S phones to Ice Cream Sandwich last week, Samsung has now (supposedly) given some semi-official lip-service to vocal Galaxy S and OG-Tab owners who have been clamoring for an official update to Ice Cream Sandwich. The English-speaking side of Samsung's media arm hasn't commented on the alleged statement as of yet.

According to a translation of the Korean source articles, Samsung has officially committed to "reviewing" the "possibility" of an Ice Cream Sandwich update for its Galaxy S phones, as well as the original Galaxy Tab. If that's not a concrete statement ...

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, Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Desire HD (Ace), Droid Charge / i510, 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 ...

Jul

[Updated x3] Netflix Adds Support For 16 New Devices, Including The Thunderbolt, EVO 3D, Droid 2, 3, X2, Charge, Atrix 4G, Bionic (!), And... One Honeycomb Tablet

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Droid (Sholes), Droid 2, Droid 3, Droid Bionic, Droid Charge / i510, Droid Incredible, Droid X (Shadow), Droid X2, Epic 4G, EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO 4G (Supersonic), Fascinate, Froyo 2.2, G'zOne Commando, G2 (Vision), Galaxy S, Galaxy S 4G, Gingerbread 2.3, Incredible 2 (Vivow), myTouch 4G Slide (Doubleshot), News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Revolution, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Netflix this evening appears to have quietly unleashed the Android app on 16 more previously unsupported devices, all without updating the application at all.

The whole situation threw us off quite a bit, as the Netflix app description now lists both the new devices and a reference to a new version 1.3, while the app itself is still stuck at 1.2.2.

Nevertheless, after trying to find it in the Market using devices that were previously unsupported (HTC EVO 3D and Thunderbolt), to our pleasant surprise, we succeeded. So... it seems that Netflix indeed simply updated the list in the Market ...

Jun

[Leak] Android 2.3.4 For The European Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S, News

The guys over at Samfirmware have gotten their hands on an official build of Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread for the European variant of the Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000. The build date on this is June 3rd, so it's relatively new - but there's no word on whether this is a finalized build or not.

This firmware is for the European Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000 ONLY. If you attempt to flash this on any other device, the result will most likely be irreparable. This is not compatible with the any of the US Galaxy S devices.

This article deals with a

...

Jun

XPAL PowerSkin Review + Giveaway: Extra Juice Meets Extra Protection [Updated: And The Winners Are...]

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Contests / Giveaways, Droid X (Shadow), Droid X2, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Galaxy S, Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy SL, myTouch 4G (Glacier), Vibrant

Last Updated: June 15th, 2011

Horrific battery life on Android phones is nothing new, and neither is the mind-~~blowing~~ shattering frailty of said handsets. We've seen - and reviewed - solutions to both of these issues, but for those who want a convenient, all-in-one product, nothing beats XPAL's "PowerSkins."

Available for a variety of devices, PowerSkins are, in a sentence, silicone cases with built-in batteries from which your phone can sip juice once its internal supply has run dry. With the help of the kind folks on XPAL's PR team, I hooked my EVO 4G up with one and am now ready to report ...

May

Galaxy S, Vibrant, And Nexus S 4G Join The Captivate As The Latest Officially Supported CyanogenMod Devices - First Gingerbread Nightlies Served

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Captivate, Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, Mods, News, Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Samsung, Vibrant

What a week for Samsung Galaxy S family device owners! First, the Captivate was officially added to the list of devices supported by CyanogenMod, the largest Android ROM community in the world, and now not 1 but 3 more phones are following suit - the Galaxy S, the T-Mobile Vibrant, and the Sprint Nexus S 4G (crespo4g).

The news hit yesterday, but since no downloadable builds were available from the CM mirror network until late last night, we decided to wait until they're up.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some

...

May

CyanogenMod Gets First Official Galaxy S Release - Captivate Nightlies, Now Serving Gingerbread 2.3.4 (GRJ22) On Aisle You

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, Mods, News, Samsung

Galaxy S owners, you may have a reason for some early celebration. CyanogenMod 7 for the GS variants, which has been around in relatively unsupported early alpha stages for the last couple of months, has just gone quite a bit more formal with the introduction of the new "captivatemtd" device branch.

What does it mean? Captivate is the first device of the Galaxy S bunch to move to the official CM download area in the form of nightlies. Once the nightlies, which, as the word implies are rebuilt nightly, are stable enough to warrant a daily driver, you can expect ...

May

Galaxy S And Tab To Get Gingerbread According To "Regional Plan" - Whatever The Hell That Means

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Samsung

Samsung has just announced via press release its plans to officially update its Galaxy S line of phones (yep, including North American ones) to Gingerbread starting this week, with the UK and Scandinavian countries first on the list to get the Ginger-bump. Samsung has again remained characteristically ambiguous about exactly which Galaxy S devices will be eligible (and when) for the update directly from Kies, Samsung's device management software.

It's entirely unclear if "North American" Galaxy S phones include the heavily carrier-customized versions of the device in the United States (Captivate, Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic), or merely unbranded Canadian versions of ...

Apr

Surprise, Surprise - Gingerbread Update For Galaxy S "Temporarily Suspended"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, Samsung, Vodafone

Don't tell us you didn't see this one coming: Samsung's Gingerbread update for the Galaxy S has been "temporarily suspended." Great.

This time, the abeyance was actually brought about by Google - apparently, the update includes "an issue," though Vodafone claims that their variant of the device is not affected. Nonetheless, the 2.3 software is no longer available from KIES, and won't be until it is "reinstated" (which will happen "as soon as possible").

In the meantime, well, you can look forward to hearing your Galaxy S-wielding friends bemoan Sammy's unreliable updates... again.

Source: Vodafone Forums via Engadget

...

Apr

Samsung Galaxy S Gingerbread Source Code Now Available For Download

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Dev, Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, News

I'm not sure what has gotten into the folks at Samsung as of late, but they seem to be on top of their game. They dropped the source code for the DROID Charge and Fascinate last week, the Gingerbread update for the Galaxy S started rolling out for European users this weekend, and this morning, the source code for the aforementioned 2.3 update hit the Open Source Developers Center. Ergo, we can almost certainly expect to see some custom Gingerbread ROMs for the Galaxy S in the coming weeks.

To download the source, head over to the ...

Apr

Samsung Delivers Gingerbread-y Goodness To European Galaxy S Owners

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Android OS, Devices By Manufacturer, Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Samsung

When it comes to timely Android updates, Samsung's reputation has been less than spectacular, so I was fairly surprised to see that a Gingerbread rollout was taking place for select European Galaxy S owners right on schedule.

That's right, according to users on the revered XDA-Developers forum, the update began rolling out late last night (late for the US at least) via Samsung's Kies software - provided you live in Holland or Germany. Forum user 'downunder30' was nice enough to post some information about the update:

http://i56.tinypic.com/5kpmyp.png
PDA JVB Phone JVK CSC JV3
Baseband is I9000XXJVK
Kernel version

...

Mar

Official Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) ROM Leaked For Samsung Galaxy S I9000

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Samsung

You might want to take a seat for this one: an early Gingerbread build has leaked for the Samsung Galaxy S I9000, and is now available for download. The file first landed in the hands of one Tricky103, and shortly thereafter was downloaded from Samsung's internal database and uploaded to a public mirror courtesy of iammodo.

Installation instructions are ~~virtually non-existent in the post, so you should probably know your way around modding already before attempting this~~ (update) turns out installation instructions aren't there because it's super simple: just use the three button combo to flash the ...