Samsung - 9/172 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Google Play's Favorite Things Twitter Sweepstakes: Win One Of 10 Nexus 10s, 7 Nexus 7s, 4 Nexus 4s, Or 100 $10 Gift Cards

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Google, News, Nexus 10, Nexus 4, Nexus 7

Got a dog bite? Maybe a bee sting? Perhaps you're just feeling sad? Google's got a little mid-week pick-me-up in the form of a sizeable giveaway. To promote the new look of the Play Store and the Google Play Twitter account, they're giving away ten Nexus 10 tablets, seven Nexus 7 tablets, four Nexus 4 phones, and no less than a hundred $10 gift cards to the Google Play Store. Unfortunately for our international readers, the sweepstakes is only for US residents.

To enter, you'll need to follow the Google Play Twitter account (@GooglePlay), then tweet out one of your favorite things (copper kettles, woolen mittens, unlocked devices with AOSP software builds) with the hashtag #favoritethings.

Apr

Deal Alert: Woot.com Offering Refurbished Galaxy Note 10.1 For $329.99 Today

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Deals, Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000 / N8010 / N8013), Samsung

The Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung's creativity-minded, advanced digitizer-packing slab from last year has been a lot of places – everywhere from the crazy life of James Franco to the music stands of the Brussels Philharmonic. If you've followed the 10.1's life so far, but haven't pulled the trigger to buy a unit for yourself, you're in luck – Woot.com has a deal on the tablet, offering up the 16GB variant, refurbished, for $329.99, while the tablet, new, usually sells for around $449.

If this sounds like the deal you've been waiting for (it's cheaper than the last three deals we've seen), you've got 16 hours to take advantage of it, or until supplies run out.

Apr

AT&T's Galaxy S II Skyrocket Getting Its Official Taste Of Jelly Bean, Rolling Out Now Via Kies

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Device Updates, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, News

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

You know the spill by now: Samsung is pushing Jelly Beans to umpteen hundred Galaxy devices, yadda yadda yadda. Now, it's the Galaxy S II Skyrocket's turn. We haven't heard anything about this phone in some time, so to see this update make its way to the airwaves was quite a welcome surprise.

Like many of the Jelly Bean updates for other Galaxy devices, this one appears to be rolling out exclusively via Kies – at least for the time being. There's always the off chance that AT&T could start pushing it via OTA as well; if it's like the others however, it's nearly a gigabyte in size, so OTA may not be the best way to go.

Apr

Samsung Announces US Availability Of The Wi-Fi Galaxy Note 8.0, Will Be Hitting Store Shelves April 11th For $400

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Note 8.0, News

In a world full of Galaxy devices, some are great, some are good, and some make you scratch your head as to why they even exist in the first place. Among those considered by most to be good (or even great), we have the Note series. It all started with an oversized phone set to change the way people use their mobile devices. And it did just that – soon after it was followed by a bigger, better successor and a 10-inch tablet wearing the same name.

While there's no shortage of other 10-inch Android tablets to choose from, there is one space that has yet to really be covered by a high-end Android device: eight inches.

Apr

[Update: Winners!] International Giveaway: Win A Sony Xperia Z Or Samsung Galaxy Note II From Android Police And Bitdefender

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Contests / Giveaways, Galaxy Note II, Xperia Z

Last Updated: April 28th, 2013

When it comes to keeping your data safe, you can never be too careful. And while there are a slew of various anti-virus apps available for Android, there are few that provide the type of protection that can be obtained from Bitdefender.

Enter the team's newest app: Bitdefender Antivirus Free. This app offers all the goodness of Bitdefender's antivirus protection – minus some of the advanced features of the company's Mobile Security suite – at absolutely no cost. This is a fantastic solution for anyone looking to get some of the best anti-virus protection available for Android without having to spend a penny.

Apr

[Update: It's Back!] T-Mobile's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Finally Getting Bumped To Android 4.1.2

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, News, T-Mobile

Update x2: The update is rolling out again as of April 8th. Hopefully it'll last this time.

Update: Turns out that T-Mo recently halted the update. At this point there's no word on why it was delayed, but the carrier updated the support page to reflect the change, noting that it is "paused until further notice." We'll let you know when it starts rolling out again.

Thanks, Zachary!

If you picked up the T-Mobile-branded version of Samsung's newest 10-inch slate that doesn't have "note" in the name, you may want to head into the Settings menu and tap the update button, as T-Mo has quietly started pushing the Android 4.1.2 update to the device.

Apr

Samsung Announces A Mid-Range 4.7", Android 4.1 Phone Called The Galaxy... Sigh... The Galaxy 'Win'

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Samsung

Don't let your eyes deceive you. That is not a Galaxy S III (or IV) you're seeing. No, that is a new phone from Samsung. Yes, it has a name. You know what else it has? A 4.7" 800x480 display powered by a 1.2GHz quad core processor. What's that? You want to know the name? No, you don't. You want to hear about the 5MP camera, or the 8 whole GB of internal storage!

Let me tell you all about how this phone is a decent device for mid-range customers. Not cutting edge, but not too terrible, either. Hmm? You still want me to tell you the name?

Apr

T-Mobile's Galaxy S II Now Getting Jelly Bean, Available Via Kies Only

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

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

The Jelly Bean rollout for Galaxy device has been fast and furious as of late, with Samsung making the update available to nearly all of its current and former flagship devices. Today's the day for T-Mobile's version of the Galaxy S II – but the download is only available via Samsung's Kies software.

In order to pull the update, you'll need to be on the latest official firmware from T-Mobile, and must have at least 50% battery. Otherwise, grab the newest version of Kies, plug up, and get to downloading – the 756MB file is going to take some time on slower connections.

Apr

On Dealbreakers And Breakthroughs: Why You Really Shouldn’t Hate Any High-End Smartphone Right Now

Posted by David Ruddock in Editorials, Galaxy S4, HTC, One, Optimus G Pro

In Android Police’s private chat room – deep in the bowels of a place known only to a select few… Android Police writers – conversations are often had over what makes a phone good, and what makes a phone bad.

And, of course, views on this issue vary. Some have a strong preference for stock Android, and anything attempting to subvert or otherwise ‘break’ Android the way Google intended it (unless Google’s intentions sucked) is a waste of time. Others are more concerned with how it works: is it smooth, fluid, and functional? And, of course, there are the typical arguments about SD cards, removable batteries, and plastique.

Apr

[Deal Alert] Unlocked International Galaxy S III (16GB) Only $379 On eBay Daily Deals (In Limited Quantities)

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Deals, Galaxy S III, News

As the launch of the Galaxy S IV fast approaches, the prices on last year's model (which is still less than a year old) is bound to drop. In fact, it's already begun with this deal on the unlocked international model currently going for $379 on eBay Daily Deals. This model packs 16GB of internal storage, which makes it only $20 more expensive than the comparable Nexus 4.

This deal is only available in limited quantities, so we can't say how long it will last, especially at this price. If you want to get it, sooner would be better than later.