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Mar

AT&T Pushing Small Update (I777UCLL6) To Galaxy S II With Bug Fixes And Security Enhancements

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in AT&T, Galaxy S II, News

According to a forum post on AT&T's support site and some scattered user reports, the carrier's Galaxy S II variant is receiving a small update today. Rolling out over the air as you read these words, the software fixes an issue where devices would become unresponsive or power down while idle.

The update also includes the requisite "security enhancements." If you haven't updated your phone to 4.0 yet, well for starters, why not? Secondly, you'll need to do so first before you can apply the update. This is rolling out over the air, so hit your Settings app to find it or just wait for the notification to show up.

Mar

U.S. Cellular's Galaxy S4 Pre-Orders Begin On April 16th, Price Not Yet Announced

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S4, News, US Cellular

Last Updated: April 22nd, 2013

Carriers across the country are gearing up for the next big thing to hit shelves, with T-Mobile offering the handset from May 1 and AT&T accepting pre-orders beginning on April 16th. As it turns out, U.S. Cellular will also begin taking pre-order on the 16th, though the regional carrier hasn't yet announced how much the device will cost. When I reached out for more info, I was told that "pricing will be available on 4/16."

So, mark you calendars U.S. Cellular customers – you're only a little over two weeks away from throwing your money down and committing to the Galaxy S 4 as your new smartphone.

Mar

Google Posts Jelly Bean Factory Images For The Verizon (4.2.2) And Sprint (4.2.1) Galaxy Nexus

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Nexus, News, Sprint, Verizon Wireless

If you've been waiting for an official means of recovering your Verizon or Sprint Galaxy Nexus should an emergency arise, Google's just fulfilled that need. The factory images for both devices – 4.2.2 (JDQ39) for the Verizon variant and 4.2.1 (GA02) for Sprint's – just hit the "Factory Images for Nexus Devices" download page.

These images allow you to return your device back to its stock state, which includes the stock bootloader and recovery if you choose to flash it. If you root, ROM, and/or tinker, it's a good idea to have these handy – you never know when you might need them.

Mar

[Updated] Sprint's Epic 4G Touch Gets An Update To Jelly Bean, Requires Kies Due To File Size

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Epic 4G Touch, News, Sprint

We sure weren't expecting this, but today Sprint announced on its support site that the Epic 4G Touch (the Now Network's branded version of the Galaxy S II) is getting an update to Jelly Bean. Undoubtedly version 4.1, but this would still be a welcome upgrade as it brings with it the ability to access Google Now, among a host of other features.

The update will require Samsung's Kies software to install. Apparently the file size is too big to rollout over the air. Though, if we had to guess, the fact that the device is nearly two years old by this point and is relatively low-priority for Sprint played a factor in the decision to let consumers foot the bill for the bandwidth.

Mar

Samsung Galaxy S4 Available For Pre-Order In The UK From All Major Networks, As Well As Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, And Amazon

Posted by John Thompson in Everything Everywhere (EE), Galaxy S4, O2, Orange, Samsung, T-Mobile, Three UK, Vodafone

If you've been waiting to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S4, today's the big day, and you're not short of choices when it comes to retailers or networks.

The phone is up for pre-order on all of the UK's major networks - EE, Three UK, Vodafone, O2, Orange, and T-Mobile - as well as Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, and Amazon. Don't know which network to go with? Let's break it down for you...

EE

EE is the only network that will provide the phone with 4G for the time being, as the other networks are yet to get their services up and running.

Mar

Jelly Bean Rolling Out Now To The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II On Verizon

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Device Updates, News, Stratosphere II, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

If QWERTYs are your thing, the Samsung's Galaxy Stratosphere II on Big Red is one of the only choices left on the market. And while it may be nothing to write home about in general, it is getting a nice bump up to Jelly Bean right now. Announced officially on the Verizon Blog just a bit ago, the update has started making its way out in phases and brings all sorts of fun goodies like voice search, enhanced notifications, Google Now, and lots more.

Aside from the stock Android enhancements, Big Red also decided to throw Verizon Remote Diagnostics and Polaris Office on the device.

Mar

Samsung Galaxy S4's Enormous 1.5GB System Dump Leaked And Ready For Download [Updated]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Galaxy S4, Leaks, News

As with any exciting new flagship device, it was only a matter of time before Samsung's recently-unveiled Galaxy S4 got the system dump treatment. Sharing the goodies this time (having already leaked S Voice, wallpapers, and ringtones) is SamMobile.com, who claims to have an "insider" that provided the leaked dump. According to SamMobile, the system dump is based on the S4's latest test firmware, affectionately called I9500XXUAMCH, built just a few days ago on March 23rd and based on Android 4.2.2 JDQ39.

For those interested, SM also posted the device's build.prop along with a few screenshots.

Mar

Galaxy S 4 Will Launch On T-Mobile On May 1st With LTE

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Samsung, T-Mobile

T-Mobile is not playing around today at its "UNcarrier" event. In addition to formally announcing the new, simplified prices with optional equipment repayment plans, and a shiny new LTE network, the company also says that the Galaxy S 4 will be arriving on its airwaves on May 1st, packing the ability to hook into that lovely 4G.

The carrier did not, however, elect to mention the pricing of the device. It has said that the iPhone, HTC One, and Blackberry Z10 will all have a $99 up front price and a $20/month payment plan. Over the course of 24 months, this makes the final price about $580 for those devices.

Mar

AT&T Announces Jelly Bean 4.1 Update For The Samsung Galaxy Express

Posted by Liam Spradlin in AT&T, Device Updates, Galaxy Express, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

Released last fall, Samsung's Galaxy Express is a plucky mid-range handset with – for those who don't know – a 4.5" Super AMOLED display (constrained by an underwhelming 480x800 resolution), a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and a gig of RAM.

If you happen to be carrying around a Galaxy Express, listen up – AT&T, in a post to its Consumer Blog, announced today that an Android 4.1 update has begun rolling out to users, bringing with it everything you'd expect, from Google Now and rich notifications to Samsung-specific enhancements like Easy Mode, Blocking Mode (to keep unwanted calls and texts at bay), and a lock screen news ticker.

Mar

[Breaking] Steve Kondik (Cyanogen) Leaves Samsung After Less Than Two Years On The Job

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, News, Samsung

Steve Kondik, the founder of CyanogenMod, needs no introduction. This man is a star in the Android community and a true Nexus warrior (hi, /r/acj!). 19 months ago, in August of 2011, he joined Samsung to change the world and make beautiful mobile babies together. Today, he's a free man once again, as he announced his departure from the company via a Google+ post on his Galaxy S4 impressions minutes ago:

On the Galaxy S4

I got to spend some quality time with the S4 (final hardware) before I left Samsung. I'm a huge a fan of the S3 and use one everyday, so I was quite pleased with the S4.