Articles about Samsung

According to a Forbes report, South Korean consumer electronics heavyweight Samsung is integrating the still-new, still-unreleased open source operating system Tizen into its surprisingly popular Bada mobile operating system.

Tizen is the latest incarnation of the seemingly ever-changing mobile Linux distro formerly known as MeeGo; which itself was the combination of Nokia's Maemo and Intel and the Linux Foundation's Moblin projects.

Continue reading →

Apple products are deeply entrenched in the creative world. Both Mac and iOS-based devices are the common tools among graphic designers, artists, music producers and composers, and yes, even journalists. (Especially journalists, don't even get me started.)

At CES 2012 this week, Samsung made a major appeal to "creatives" with the new Galaxy Note mini-tablet. In a large booth in a hallway outside of the show floor, Samsung set up caricature artists with Galaxy Notes, who were drawing passers by as musicians played in the background, using the Galaxy Note and the apps touchOSC and TouchDAW as a part of their performance gear.

Continue reading →

If you missed the new Series 5 Chromebook at Consumer Electronics Show 2012, there's a reason. Samsung practically hid the thing, during an event of otherwise big, big announcements from the South Korean electronics giant. Disappointment is my reaction to the new offering, which, regrettably doesn't temp me back to using a Chromebook.

I asked my colleague Tim Conneally, who got up close to the new Chromebook in this video, for his reaction. "My first impression: it looks like a plastic MacBook". Ah, yeah, hasn't Samsung been having problems with Apple, fending off accusations of imitating products. Judge for yourself, from the photo and link to Tim's video. Doesn't the new Series 5 Chromebook resemble MacBook but donned in plastic?

Continue reading →

While Samsung cut an imposing figure at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2012 with its huge flashy booth, the Korean electronics company managed to quietly display its upcoming second-generation Chrome OS devices without attracting tons of attention.

These new Chrome OS products include an updated Series 5 Chromebook which has 2GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD and a moderately faster CPU. It retains the smooth and ergonomic feel of the first generation Chromebook, but unfortunately also retains that device's somewhat cheap and plasticky feel. Samsung said the price will also remain the same.

Continue reading →

AT&T LTE is now available in San Diego, which means I'll soon conduct speed test comparisons around the city against Verizon's 4G network. It will be the Wilcox household network speed test face-off, the wife's Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket against my Galaxy Nexus.

San Diego joins 10 other cities, which LTE service AT&T announced today. They are: Austin, Texas; Chapel Hill, N.C.; New York City metro area; Los Angeles; Oakland; Orlando, Phoenix; Raleigh, N.C.; San Diego; San Francisco; and San Jose. They join 15 others: Athens, Ga.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Oklahoma City; San Antonio; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Washington, DC. AT&T claims its LTE network reaches 74 million people; Verizon, 200 million.

Continue reading →

It's only fair. When iPhone 4S customers complained about poor battery life, I raked Apple for ongoing design problems. Now that I'm having problems with Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and AT&T, the Android camp deserves its due. Perhaps with different AT&T customer service you wouldn't see this post at all.

There's a problem with the Skyrocket I purchased on November 8 from AT&T. Battery life sucks. But it wasn't always that way. During the first 3.5 weeks, battery life was exceptional -- on par with what I had with iPhone 4. Then something dramatically changed, quite suddenly, like someone cutting the electric lights and replacing them with candles. My experience went from bright to dim, and I don't like living in the darkened room.

Continue reading →

Owners of Samsung's Galaxy line of tablets and smartphones won't wait long for Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich", according to an announcement the company made today. Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note will receive ICS in the first quarter of next year, followed by other Galaxy devices throughout 2012.

The new version of Android's operating system is a significant upgrade over previous releases, including enhancements such as "face unlock", improved multitasking and notifications support, and a updated user interface.

Continue reading →

The year isn't over yet, but Samsung is celebrating 300 million handset sales -- a record for the company and a number not to be trifled. The South Korean manufacturer touts success of its Galaxy S and S II lines -- the latter which is available in more than a half dozen iterations globally, and expanding, when adding LTE and white models. AT&T offers two different S II models, 4.3-inch HSPA+ and 4.5-inch LTE.

While an achievement, Samsung sees solid rather than exceptional growth -- so far. The company sold 281 million handsets in 2010, according to Gartner. Still, second and third quarters were exceptional, even by the expectations set for Apple's iPhone. In Q2, Samsung's homegrown Bada smartphone OS -- not yet then a year old -- outsold Windows Phone, according to Gartner. In third quarter, Samsung sold 24 million smartphones -- nearly 7 million more than Apple.

Continue reading →

Today was the launch of Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the UK, bringing the first flagship Android device running Ice Cream Sandwich, the newest build of Google's mobile operating system to the British Isles.

The device is expected to launch in the United States on Verizon Wireless soon.

Continue reading →

I spotted something really bizarre last night. AT&T apparently dramatically dropped the price of its new 4G LTE phones one day after offering them for sale. The HTC Vivid fell from $199.99 to a cool hundred bucks on the company website. The Galaxy S II Skyrocket listed for $149.99, not the original $249.99. What? Did AT&T's LTE phone launch not go as planned? Did the company respond to Verizon's upped LTE data plan caps? Or was it a terrible glitch AT&T might regret?

The pricing, captured in the two screenshots here, simply stunned me. Suddenly I was ready to trade in my standard Galaxy S II for Skyrocket, after all. Why not save 50 bucks (since S2 still listed for $199.99) and get faster data (whenever LTE comes to my area)? I also wanted to score information to offer readers who bought S2 Skyrocket on Sunday and might want partial refunds.

Continue reading →

Not me, likely, and I'm surprised by the answer.

Today, AT&T flipped the 4G LTE service switch in four additional markets and launched its first supporting smartphones -- HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyocket. Last week, I asked "Who will buy them?" I'm less surprised by your responses than my own.

Continue reading →

I'm feeling kind of cranky today and having bad flashbacks to the 1990s, when the honking PC bought one day seemed oh-so last year weeks later. On October 2, I bought the Galaxy S II from AT&T. Problem: On November 6, the carrier will launch its first two LTE phones -- and service in four new markets -- the HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. I so want the Skyrocket. It's an investment for the future, because of LTE. But AT&T probably won't let me have it, because the new S2 releases a couple days outside the 30-day return period for the older model. Not hopeful, I will nevertheless try.

What about you? Would you buy either phone, and would the main reason be LTE -- that is, if an AT&T subscriber? Verizon's LTE rollout already is farther along and reaches many more people, and the carrier offers six LTE phones (seven with the forthcoming Droid Razr) and two tablets. Have you bought a Verizon LTE phone, with faster data being a reason? Please answer in comments below.

Continue reading →

After years of promises and demos both from Samsung and a host of other companies, the flexible screen is set to finally become a reality in 2012. Samsung confirmed plans during its quarterly conference call.

"The flexible display, we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012", company spokesperson Robert Yi says. The company aims to introduce the first flexible screen device in the early part of the year. He adds that it would "probably start from the handset side".

Continue reading →

Following a brief leak onto Amazon yesterday, Samsung on Friday officially announced the availability of its second generation 7" Galaxy Tab in the United States, The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

With its 1.2GHz dual core processor, 16GB of built-in storage, Android Honeycomb, a 7" screen and a 9.96mm profile, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus offers a considerable jump in power over its predecessor.

Continue reading →

To celebrate the introduction of the newest version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich, Google and Samsung introduced the flagship Ice Cream Sandwich phone Tuesday evening, the Galaxy Nexus.

Continuing Google's naming culture where "Nexus" represents the most cutting-edge Android phones, the Galaxy Nexus offers impressive hardware to back up the impressive Android software update.

Continue reading →