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Tag: Samsung

  • Samsung Bricks Galaxy Notes With Ice Cream Sandwich Update

    Carriers and device manufacturers have been messing up Android since the beginning. Not simply content with a free operating system good enough to immediately allow them to compete with Apple, they have abused Android’s open source nature and adapted the OS, and mostly for the worse. In the U.S., smartphones routinely come packed with crapware and have some features of the Android operating system, such as tethering or mobile hotspot, disabled.

    All of this meddling not only hurts the Android brand, it also fractures the Android operating system. Manufacturers are slow to upgrade Android software on phones that have already been released, meaning frustration. While Google has just announced that Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be launched later this month on the Nexus 7 tablet, most smartphones don’t yet have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

    One of those smartphones is Samsung’s Galaxy Note. Samsung has promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich for owners of the ultra-large Note smartphone, but have delayed the release for months, though the international version of the phone has it. Many of the features Samsung has dangled in front of Galaxy Note owners are features that owners of Samsung’s Galaxy S III got with their purchase.

    This week, just when it finally looked as if Galaxy Note owners were going to get Android 4.0, Samsung dropped the ball. According to a Gizmodo report, some Note owners in France are having their smartphone crash or even become completely bricked by the update.

    France was one of the first places to receive the Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich update. Samsung has acknowledged the problem through its Facebook page, where the company is urging its customers to fill out a detailed form on the problem so that it can do some much-needed debugging.

    Take a look at the video below to see all of the features Samsung is promising its customers, then ponder whether the software is worth waiting countless months for an upgrade to the newest version of Android:

  • Galaxy Nexus To Get A Software Patch To Circumvent Apple’s Injunction

    On Monday we told you that Apple had secured a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Google’s flagship Android phone, and the first device slated for the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean rollout later this month. The injunction, as you might imagine, set off a flurry of activity in Samsung’s legal camp. The company quickly filed notice that it planned to appeal.

    The judge in the case, Judge Lucy Koh, declined to stay the injunction while Samsung appealed, meaning that once Apple posted its $96 million bond, the Galaxy Nexus could no longer be sold. Apple, as you might imagine, posted the bond quickly, and the Galaxy Nexus was pulled from the Google Play store and other online retailers. That, of course, is not the end of the story. According to a report from AllThingsD, Google and Samsung have prepared a software patch for the Galaxy Nexus that should resolve the patent infringement on which the injunction is based, allowing the Galaxy Nexus to go back on sale.

    What’s more, Google is now making plans to get more directly involved in Samsung’s ongoing legal battles with Apple, and is planning to get Apple’s patent declared invalid. The patent covers universal search. Google is reportedly planning to request the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office overturn the patent on the grounds that the concept of universal search is older than Apple’s patent on it.

    It’s not at all surprising that Google has decided to step into Apple’s ongoing legal battle with Samsung. While some of the patents at issue are design patents related to the form factor of Samsung’s devices (many of which bear a striking resemblance to Apple’s), many are software related. In fact, many of Apple’s ongoing patent infringement cases with companies like HTC, Samsung, and Motorola are really just proxies for Apple’s rivalry with Google. Steve Jobs believed strongly that Google had ripped off the basic iOS interface in designing Android, and famously declared “thermonuclear war” on Google because of it.

    Between the software patch, the challenge to Apple’s patent, and the upcoming release of Jelly Bean, it’s a fair bet that the Galaxy Nexus will be back up for sale on Google Play and elsewhere very soon. For now, the Google Play store simply says that the Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean is coming soon, and offers visitors the chance to sign up to be notified when it’s available.

  • Samsung Smart TVs Will Use Windows Azure for Cloud

    Samsung announced today that it has chosen Windows Azure as the software on which its Smart TV cloud infrastructure will run. The company claims that the choice will reduce its operating costs and increase its scalability. Samsung said in an official statement today that it “achieved a tenfold cost reduction” by moving its infrastructure to the cloud.

    “After extensive testing, Windows Azure is the only cloud offering that met our exacting conditions,” said a Samsung official.

    What those exacting conditions are is unknown, though Samsung stated that Azure met its reliability requirements as well as its “mission-critical needs.” Also, Samsung emphasized that the Microsoft’s cloud platform is flexible enough to meet Samsung’s scalability requirements, which are high because of a planned expansion of its Smart TV service.

    Samsung claimed in its statement today that it is seeing growing demand for its Smart TVs. Most of the company’s Smart TV traffic comes from Asia, though it has begun marketing smart TVs in the U.S.

    “Samsung Electronics’ Smart TV is taking advantage of the unique capabilities of Windows Azure,” said Bob Kelly, corporate vice president of Windows Azure at Microsoft. “Windows Azure gives Samsung the ability to focus on its business rather than having its technical team deal with problem-solving and troubleshooting issues.”

  • Samsung To Appeal Galaxy Nexus Ban As Apple Targets Galaxy S III

    Earlier this morning we brought you news that Apple had secured a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in U.S. District Court. The injunction means that the judge in the case – Lucy Koh – believes Apple has a strong case and is likely to be able to prove in court that Samsung is infringing on its patents.

    Samsung, as you might expect, wasted no time in filing their notice of appeal. According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, Samsung filed their notice of appeal yesterday (the injunction was granted on Friday afternoon). The notice outlines Samsung’s strategy for the appeal, and asks that the injunction be stayed until the Federal Circuit Court can rule on the appeal.

    The Galaxy Nexus injunction was the second won by Apple last week. On Wednesday Judge Koh also granted an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which Apple says violates its design patents. Samsung was similarly quick off the mark in filing a notice of appeal in that case.

    Meanwhile, Apple appears ready to make trouble for Samsung’s newest flagship device as well. Earlier this month we told you that Apple tried to block the sale of the Galaxy S III before it even hit U.S. shores. Though that attempt failed, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White recently told investors that he expects Apple to continue attacking the Galaxy S III in court, and that a victory by Apple against Samsung’s latest phone would cause “big problems” for Apple’s chief rival in the smartphone industry.

  • Apple Gets Galaxy Nexus Banned With New Injunction

    Late last week we brought you news that Apple had won an injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 on the grounds that it infringed on some of Apple’s design patents. Now it seems that, as the old saying goes, it never rains but it pours. On Friday afternoon U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh granted a similar injunction against the Galaxy Nexus over a patent related to system-wide search capabilities.

    While there was sure to be rejoicing in Cupertino following the ruling, this is certainly not how Google wanted to end its week. On Wednesday Google announced the latest (and very impressive) version of their Android mobile operating system – Android 4.1 Jelly Bean – at their annual Google I/O conference. When it first ships in mid-July, Jelly Bean will be available on exactly two devices: the Galaxy Nexus, and the Nexus 7 tablet. Unfortunately for Google, by the time that shipping date comes, there may only be one Jelly Bean device on the market.

    As with the Galaxy Tab injunction, the fact that Judge Koh granted this injunction means that she feels Apple has a very strong case and is likely to prove its infringement claims in court. According to the ruling, the injunction cannot go into effect until Apple pays a $96 million bond. The bond is designed to offset any harm to Samsung’s sales should Apple fail to win in court. Apple was forced to pay a similar – though much smaller – bond for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction. That bond was $2.6 million, and Apple handed over the with surprising speed. Though this bond is almost 37 times as much money, it’s a fair bet that Apple will be writing a check as soon as possible – perhaps within a couple of days.

    So, if you’ve been in the market for a Galaxy Nexus, it looks like now might be your best time to get one. The 4G LTE model is only available on Verizon’s network. The HSPA+ GSM model is available contract-free on Google Play. The upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, coming later this month, should hit Nexuses (Nexi?) ordered from Google Play immediately, and will probably roll out to the Verizon version shortly thereafter.

    Judge Koh’s order is embedded below:

    Galaxy Nexus Injunction

  • Apple Wins Samsung Galaxy Tab Injunction

    Apple Wins Samsung Galaxy Tab Injunction

    Apple has succeeded in securing a ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in U.S. stores. Late yesterday afternoon Judge Lucy Koh granted Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction on Samsung’s tablet. She declared that Apple had offered enough evidence to prove that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes on some of Apple’s design patents. On those grounds, she said, “denial of an injunction would cause Apple irreparable harm,” and that “any further delay of the injunction is not justified.”

    This ruling overturns a previous denial of the same request. The court previously ruled that although Apple had met most of the requirements necessary to justify an injunction, the design patent in question was invalid. A Federal Circuit Court overturned that portion of the ruling, clearing the way for this injunction to be issued.

    In her ruling, Judge Koh says that Apple “has presented a strong case on the merits,” and that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is “substantially similar” to the design patent in question. To put it simply: Judge Koh is pretty sure that Samsung copied Apple with the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

    Samsung, of course, wasted no time in responding. In what has to be some sort of record, it took them a mere five hours to file a notice that they planned to appeal the ruling.

    It’s not clear when the injunction will go into effect – that is to say, when Galaxy Tabs will start being pulled from U.S. shelves. You can read Judge Koh’s ruling below:

    Apple Samsung Injunction

  • Galaxy S III’s Chaotic U.S. Launch Could Cost Samsung Millions

    It’s clear now that Samsung underestimated how popular its new flagship Android smartphone would be. Sales of the Galaxy S III are predicted to top 10 million units by the end of July. However, supply problems have begun to become a problem, and as a result, the U.S. launch of the smartphone has been a confusing mess.

    Reuters is reporting today that Samsung believes their supply problems are nearly behind them. Samsung admitted to underestimating demand for the smartphone, telling Reuters that, “It is simply that demand far exceeded our expectation. But that doesn’t mean we had set a very conservative demand forecast.” Reuters also reported that a problem with the design of the “pebble blue” version of the device was part of the reason for the manufacturing delays.

    According to financial analysts cited by Reuters, the delays have hindered the shipment of an estimated 2 million Galaxy S III devices, meaning millions in lost sales this month for Samsung. Samsung seems to be telling the truth about the supply problems being fixed, though. Barclays, a British financial services company, revised its third-quarter shipment forecast for the device from 1 million units to an amazing 15 million.

    Despite the delays, it’s clear that Samsung’s new smartphone is on fire (figuratively and literally). It’s also clear that Samsung has propelled itself past HTC and Motorola to become the strongest Apple competitor in the smartphone market. If the company can continue its success, it’s not unimaginable that rumors of it splitting off from the Android community and creating its own software ecosystem could come true.

    As for Android fans in the U.S., most customers should be able to get their hands on a Galaxy S III by June 28. Verizon customers, though, will have to wait until July 11 for the phone to go on sale.

  • Breathing Robot With Perfect Posture Patented by Samsung

    Samsung this week was issued several patents (1, 2, 3, 4) relating to walking robots. The patents describe a walking robot that moves in a natural, human way, and maintains a good posture.

    Of course, the robot, which you can see the illustration of above, bears an eerie similarity to Honda’s Asimo. I suppose the point is, though, that Samsung’s robot will walk more naturally than the hop-happy Asimo.

    One of the patents, which deals with “pose control” for the robot, describes that it would maintain an upright, erect pose regardless of whether the ground it is standing on is tilted. I imagine this sort of feature would certainly help the robot from falling, but humans aren’t so perfect at maintaining an erect pose without plenty of Yoga. Perhaps Samsung’s robot is intended to be an Irish stepdancer.

    Samsung's robot patent, from the inside

    Another one of the patents describes how the human-like walk of the robot will be acheived. It will take into account its own stride, velocity, rotation, and direction, and then use that information to map out a way to move through its surroundings. It will also walk using patterns determined from those variables.

    The most wacky thing about Samsung’s new patents is that the robot described by them will breathe. Well, simulate breathing, anyway. The patent states that the breathing motion will provide “intimacy and aesthetic stability to users.”

    I actually find it incredible that tech companies can patent things of this sort. Even though the technology for such robots hasn’t ever existed until now, the idea for a humanoid automaton has been around since the beginnings of human civilization. I suppose that’s just how the U.S. patent system works now.

    In celebration of Samsung’s patents and to set the right tone for the coming weekend, have a look at a video of an old version of Honda’s Asimo seizing-up and falling down some stairs. It’s funny because it can’t feel pain.

  • Judge Tells Apple, Samsung To Keep It Simple

    Judge Lucy Koh, the U.S. district judge presiding over the U.S. edition of the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung, has ordered the two companies to keep things brief in the upcoming trial. The goal is to keep the trial’s length reasonable and force the two companies to stick to the point as much as possible.

    According to Electronista, Judge Koh limited the two companies to 125 exhibits and 25 hours of arguments each. Judge Koh reportedly set the limits in response to requests by the two companies for guidance regarding the amount of evidence that they would be able to present to the jury. The limitations will force the two companies to streamline their cases, each focusing only on the most important claims.

    The pending trial is the culmination of a case that began all the way back in 2011, when Apple sued Samsung in U.S. District Court. Apple accused Samsung of infringing on their design patents with devices like the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1, which they said too closely mimicked Apple’s designs for the iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued both in the U.S. and elsewhere. The massive legal battle now includes dozens of individual lawsuits in ten countries.

  • Samsung Easy Phone Sync Helps You Dump Your iPhone

    Switching to a new phone is often a daunting task. Getting your contacts, messages, apps, photos, and whatnot moved to your new phone can be a tricky process, and sometimes not everything makes it. The process is especially daunting if you’re jumping ship from one mobile phone OS to another – i.e., from iOS to Android, or vice versa. For many smartphone users who are thinking of making a switch, that can be enough to make them decide to stick with the platform they’re on.

    With the Galaxy S III hitting the U.S. soon (kinda), Samsung wants to make it as easy as possible for would-be users to switch to their new flagship phone. With that in mind, they’ve released Easy Phone Sync. The purpose of Easy Phone Sync is to make switching from an iPhone to any Galaxy device as easy as possible. You install Easy Phone Sync on your computer and on your Galaxy phone. The app transfers all of your content – music, photos, videos, messages, podcasts, and all – from your computer to your new phone.

    The app is free for Galaxy owners. The Android app is available from Google Play. The desktop version is available for both Mac and Windows, and is available at easyphonesync.com.

    Easy Phone Sync

    While it may not be quite as easy as syncing a new iPhone using your old iPhone’s backup, it looks pretty darn close. If you’re switching from the iPhone to one of Samsung’s devices, this sounds like your best bet for migrating your stuff to your knew phone.

  • AT&T Gives Galaxy S II An Ice Cream Sandwich, Then Takes It Away

    AT&T Gives Galaxy S II An Ice Cream Sandwich, Then Takes It Away

    The hot item around the country today is the Samsung Galaxy S III. Samsung’s latest may be having all the tech and Android blogs in a tizzy, but there are a lot of people who are still happy with the Galaxy S II. If you bought the phone through AT&T, you were eligible for an upgrade for a bit.

    Over on the Android Central forums, it was found that AT&T began pushing Android 4.0 out to Galaxy S II owners through Samsung’s Kies software. It was supposed to be a simple update that would take less than 10 minutes and give Galaxy S II owners some delicious Ice Cream Sandwich. Unfortunately, it’s not working for everyone.

    Soon after the news of the update went out, many forum posters began reporting that the Kies software told them that there was no update available for their device. After a lot of troubleshooting for various things that could delay the update, it was decided that AT&T mistakenly leaked Android 4.0 before it was ready. Just as well since one user reported that it was just base 4.0 and not the latest 4.0.4.

    Jumping around the other Android forums reveals a similar problem. There are people who have been able to upgrade to ICS, but the majority seems to have trouble upgrading. At least we know that the update is out there and being applied to some users so it should be getting around to everybody soon enough.

    As to the cause of the potential problem, one moderator says that AT&T will rollout major updates like ICS over regions so as not to bog down the servers. It could also have been the aforementioned premature leak. Both scenarios seem entirely plausible at this point in time.

    As you wait for ICS to hit your device, you should go download Kies to be ready. You can only update to ICS with the desktop version as it’s not available over the air. Be warned: Some users are reporting that ICS is performing somewhat sluggishly on the Galaxy S II so be sure you want to upgrade if your current Gingerbread installation works just fine.

    UPDATE: AT&T just got in contact with us about the ICS upgrade. Here’s their official statement:

    We plan for the upgrade to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for Galaxy S II customers to be live very soon. Like with every OS update, we test it on our servers before we roll it out to customers. We’re in the process of doing that with Android 4.0 (ICS) for Galaxy S II customers and hope to make that live soon. We recommend customers wait to attempt the update. More information will be available as soon as the update is published at http://blogs.att.net/consumerblog.

    It seems that speculation over it being a leak was indeed accurate. If you weren’t able to get ICS when it dropped this morning, you’ll just have to wait. If you did, you probably got a test version that’s still unstable. We’ll let you know when it’s officially available.

  • Samsung Galaxy S III U.S. Launch is a Confusing Mess

    Samsung Galaxy S III U.S. Launch is a Confusing Mess

    No doubt Samsung would have loved to have launch it’s new flagship Android smartphone, the Galaxy S III, globally in a single day. The realities of cellular service in different countries, however, make this impossible. The next best plan is to release it in Europe and Asia first, then roll it out to the U.S. Samsung scored big when it announced all of the major U.S. carriers would be hosting the phone on their network. Unfortunately, the U.S. cell phone industry is so screwed up, and Samsung’s supplies of the phone are so limited, that not even a country-wide debut on a single U.S. carrier was possible.

    Samsung announced today that the Galaxy S III has officially launched in the U.S. The company held a large party in a trendy New York gallery last night, hosted by Ashley Greene (I Googled it for you – she’s an actress from Twilight). While U.S. Samsung executives were partying with Steve Nash and Skrillex, though, it was already clear that most customers in the U.S. would not be able to purchase the new device for around another week.

    The only guaranteed place for customers to get their hands, physically, on a Galaxy S III today is at a T-Mobile store in a very large city. T-Mobile is also selling the phone on its website, though it states that the device is not in stock, and will ship as soon as it arrives (the website estimates a June 29 ship date). The top 29 markets for T-Mobile are selling the smartphone today (via TmoNews): LosAngeles, CA; Chicago, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Houston, TX; SanDiego, CA; NewYork, NY; Seattle, WA; Miami/Ft.Lauderdale, FL; Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX; SanFrancisco, CA; SaltLakeCity, UT; Denver, CO; Minneapolis, MN; Tampa/St.Petersburg, FL; Philadelphia, PA; SanAntonio, TX; Portland, OR; Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA; KansasCity, MO; Boston, MA; Sacramento, CA; Orlando, FL; Detroit, MI; Washington DC; Cleveland, OH; Jacksonville, FL; Charlotte, NC; and McAllen, TX. T-Mobile customers in other cities will have to wait until at least June 27 to see the phones in their area.

    Sprint, like T-Mobile, had promised supposed to launch the Galaxy S III today, but demand for the phone means that not everyone will receive theirs on time. The company has stated that it will try to ship all 16 GB Galaxy S III pre-orders to customers today, but there might be delays of up to two days. Customers who pre-ordered the 32 GB version will have to wait until at least June 28.

    AT&T pre-orderers were promised their Galaxy S III’s as early as today, but the company is now asking them to be patient with its June 28 ship date. And that’s just for the 16 GB version. It doesn’t appear that AT&T is even getting the 32 GB version any time soon. Instead, the company is offering a more expensive package with a 16 GB MicroSD card included, and calling that the 32 GB package. AT&T will be getting a red version of the phone at some point, though. Yay.

    Verizon was already going to be the last carrier to get the Galaxy S III. Today the company announced that its launch date for the smartphone has been pushed back yet another day, all the way to July 11. Customers who pre-ordered early should have their devices by July 9 or 10, though.

    Why is all of this happening? The demand for the phone has somehow exceeded Samsung’s manufacturing capabilities. Instead of simply selling the phone and allowing the customer to choose a carrier (as it’s done in Europe) every separate U.S. carrier had to split a deal with Samsung on subsidy pricing. No doubt ship dates were a factor in these negotiations. So, we now have tenuous release dates where most of the country has no idea when the phone will arrive in their area.

    At least Samsung managed to sidestep Apple’s patent lawsuit, which would have delayed the phone’s release even more. Also, it’s clear from the delays and staggered releases that the Galaxy S III will probably be Samsung’s best-selling smartphone of all time. That, and not the release date, is certainly what Samsung was celebrating last night in New York.

  • Samsung Releases Two Galaxy S III Ads, Doesn’t Mention Apple Once

    As you’ve probably heard by now, Samsung’s new Galaxy S III is on its way to stores in the U.S. right now (kind of). By all accounts, it’s a fantastic phone packed with a whole slew of amazing new features (assuming you get one that doesn’t blow up).

    Which is why Samsung’s latest ads for the Galaxy S III are refreshing. If you’re familiar with Samsung’s advertising at all, you know they have a bit of a… fixation with their main rival in the smartphone market: Apple. A huge chunk of their advertising for products like the Galaxy S II or the Galaxy Note have focused on Apple. More specifically, they’ve shown a marked tendency to insult Apple’s fans. Two separate ads earlier this year ridiculed Apple fans who wait in line for new products, while another implied that they were sheep.

    The two new ads for the Galaxy S III, though, take a different approach. In a somewhat unusual move for Samsung, neither makes any reference – subtle or overt – to Apple or the iPhone. Instead, they focus on the Galaxy S III’s new features, including the ability to transfer data back and forth between devices by bumping them together, and the fact that you can text and watch video at the same time. Check the ads out for yourself below.

  • Galaxy S III Bursts Into Flames In User’s Car

    There’s no doubt that Samsung’s new Galaxy S III is a popular gadget, despite not yet being available for many people in the U.S. and elsewhere. Indeed, you might even say it’s one of the hottest gadgets around right now. Of course, if you were to say that, you probably wouldn’t mean “hottest” literally. Unfortunately, though, that’s exactly how one particular Galaxy S III seems to have taken it. It seems that this phone, a global HSPA+ version, actually burst into flames in its owners car.

    The phone’s owner, who posted the about the incident at Boards.ie, said that he was driving with the phone in a car mount when it began to emit white flames and sparks, followed by a bang. Upon inspection, he found that the phone had been burned from the inside out, melting the case to the phone and leaving melted plastic in his car. Though the phone continued to function (once it stopped burning), it no longer had any signal. The retailer where he’d purchased the phone promised to replace it, but only after sending it off to Samsung for inspection.

    Fortunately, he also posted a few pictures of the burned phone. Check them out below:

    Galaxy S III Go Boom

    Galaxy S III Go Boom

    Galaxy S III Go Boom

    Samsung issued a statement about the incident this morning on their Samsung Tomorrow blog. Unsurprisingly, they say they can’t say much without the actual phone in hand, which they’re still waiting to receive. They promise further details once the phone has been examined, and insist that “[w]e are committed to providing our customers with the safest products possible and are looking at this seriously.”

    Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a smartphone blowing up. Last November we told you about an iPhone that cracked, smoked, and glowed red during a flight in Australia (apparently due to shoddy repair work).

    There is no word yet on whether Apple intends to sue Samsung for copying yet another iPhone feature.

  • Foxconn Head Slams Samsung In Slightly Racist Rant

    If you’ve got a pair of eyes and half a brain cell and have been paying attention to the tech world for the past couple of years, you know that Samsung and Apple aren’t exactly the best of buddies when it comes to the smartphone market. Despite being great friends on the supply side (Apple is Samsung’s biggest components customer), the two companies pretty much hate each other on the consumer end. Apple, for its part, believes that Samsung is in the habit of ripping off Apple’s designs. Samsung, meanwhile, thinks people who buy Apple products are sheep.

    Apparently, though, the rivalry doesn’t stop with Apple and Samsung. During a recent shareholders meeting Terry Gou, chairman of Hon Hai, parent company of Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, vented at length about Samsung. Gou apparently still carries a grudge from 2010, when Samsung “snitched” on four flat panel manufacturers in Taiwan during a European Commission investigation into price fixing. Samsung escaped the €433.92 million ($551 million) fine levied against the other companies in exchange for their cooperation.

    According to Focus Taiwan Gou, who owns a personal stake in Sharp in addition to Hon Hai’s significant investment, praised Japan-based Sharp at the expense of Korea-based Samsung. “I respect the Japanese and especially their execution and communication styles,” he told shareholders. “Unlike the Koreans, they will not hit you from behind.”

    Backing off a bit on the sweeping racial generalizations, Gou also praised the iPhone, which Foxconn manufactures. He suggested that consumers wait to buy Samsung’s new Galaxy S III until after they’ve seen the new iPhone, which will put the Galaxy S III to shame.

    The Galaxy S III is due out in the U.S. sometime in the next week or so (depending on your carrier), while the new iPhone is coming out sometime in the fall, probably October.

  • Galaxy S III U.S. Release Date Pushed Back

    Galaxy S III U.S. Release Date Pushed Back

    Earlier this month we brought you news that both AT&T and Verizon had made Samsung’s new Galaxy S III available for pre-order through their websites, following closely on the heels of Sprint and T-Mobile. Three of the four carriers – all but Verizon – were projecting shipping dates of this week. AT&T promised they would begin shipping the phones on Monday, June 18th, while Sprint and T-Mobile listed tomorrow, the 21st, as their shipping date. Surprisingly, Verizon’s shipping date was July 9th, a full three weeks after the other carriers.

    Now, though, it seems that Verizon might have been a little more prescient than their competitors. Shipping dates for the Galaxy S III are slipping left, right, and center. AT&T’s shipping date has slipped into next week – the 28th, to be precise. Sprint is having similar troubles and is also tentatively promising to have filled its orders by the end of next week. T-Mobile, meanwhile, has announced that they’re splitting up the launch. If you’re fortunate enough to live in one of their top 29 markets, you should still be getting yours tomorrow. If, on the other hand, you live anywhere else at all, your Galaxy S III will be coming… wait for it… next week. June 27th, to be precise. So while T-Mobile’s Galaxy S III may be more expensive than other carriers, at least they manage to beat the other carriers to release by a day, right?

    Verizon, meanwhile, hasn’t made a peep. They’re presumably still on track for an early July launch. From the way things are looking with the other three carriers, maybe they won’t be as behind as we thought.

  • Samsung Galaxy S III The First SAFE Phone In The U.S.

    With our increasingly connected world, people have to make sure that data is safe. Data safety is especially important for businesses who don’t want corporate secrets making their way out through a misplaced data transfer on smart phones or other easily made mistakes. That’s why Samsung is all about making their smartphones SAFE

    Samsung announced today that the Galaxy S III is the first phone to get the Samsung Approved For Enterprise (SAFE) label in the United States. The move was made in response to their projections that say Android will be the number one platform for enterprise smartphones by next year. The Galaxy S III has a number of new features that should help make it the brand of choice for enterprise markets.

    Samsung says that the Galaxy S III “supports a full suite of enterprise-ready features and capabilities” right out of the box. Some of those features include support for on-device AES-256 bit encryption, enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and support for Virtual Private Network and Mobile Device Management solutions.

    “It’s now safe to say that the ‘Next Big Thing in Enterprise’ is here with the near-term availability of SAFE-branded Galaxy S III devices at five U.S. carriers,” said Tim Wagner, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Sales at Samsung Mobile. “The highly desirable, SAFE-branded and QA-tested Galaxy S III smartphone systematically defragments Android to provide a consistent level of IT compliance for individuals who demand the very best in both their personal and professional lives.”

    As you can see, Samsung is really going all out to capture the enterprise market. After RIM began to crash and burn, other handset manufacturers jumped at the chance to capture the lucrative enterprise market. Since Samsung is now the number one consumer Android device manufacturer, it just makes sense for them to go after the Enterprise market.

    In other good news, Samsung will be starting a program called SAFE2SWITCH for those who want to trade in their old smartphones for the Galaxy S III. They’ll take handsets from both Samsung and their competitors. The deal isn’t just for Enterprise customers either as regular consumers can trade up to the Galaxy S III as well. Unfortunately, my HTC Inspire 4G is only worth $80.

  • Apple & Samsung Hold 55% of the Smartphone Market, but Earn 90% of its Profits

    According to some new figures by ABI Research, Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2012, but took in over 90% of the market’s profits.

    Looking at vendor shipments for the quarter reveals some interesting figures. Apple shipped 35 million smartphones. That number was small compared to Samsung who sent out over 43 million.

    The challenge appears when you look at everyone else. Their next closes competitor, Nokia, only shipped out 11.9 million smartphones. That’s a huge discrepancy. RIM wasn’t far behind with just over 11 million, but again, these figures don’t reflect any real competition for Apple of Samsung.

    ABI Research senior analyst of devices, applications & content, Michael Morgan, comments on what Nokia would have to do to compete in the smartphone market:

    “At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments,”

    Jeff Orr, practice director for devices, applications & content, comments on opportunities in the smartphone market:

    “As Nokia’s market share in China plummets, the competition to fill this power vacuum has the potential to make or break smartphone OEMs currently struggling with profitability and differentiation,”

    You can discover more about opportunities and trends in the smartphone market by reading ABI’s Smartphone Market Data report.

    Currently, it doesn’t look like Nokia has the capacity to step up to the plate, and Research in Motion is still struggling to stay afloat as we await the release of the new BlackBerry. So I don’t think we’ll see either Apple of Samsung releasing their stranglehold on the smartphone market anytime soon.

  • Video Captures Siri, S Voice Showdown

    Video Captures Siri, S Voice Showdown

    If you’ve heard much about Samsung’s new Galaxy S III, you’ve probably heard about S Voice. In case you’re not familiar, S Voice is the new voice-activated personal assistant software that’s integrated into the Galaxy S III. Of course, in fine Samsung tradition, it totally doesn’t look anything at all like Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant software that’s integrated into the iPhone 4S. And by “totally doesn’t look anything at all like Siri,” I mean “looks an awful lot like Siri.”

    Of course, in the great War of the Fanboys, there’s plenty of… discussion about whether Siri or S Voice is better, whether S Voice is a ripoff of Siri, and which smartphone is the fairest in the land (turns out neither phone gives the answer you’d expect).

    Of course, the obvious answer to the debate is to put the two together in a head-to-head competition. And that’s just what you’ll find in the video below. As it turns out, Siri and S Voice are pretty evenly matched. While S Voice takes a little more time to perform certain tasks than Siri, it does them equally well. Of course, S Voice wins in one respect. The last test is finding a particular restaurant. While Siri balks (being as this is in Australia, where Siri doesn’t do local business searches), S Voice pulls up Google Maps and displays a route to the requested destination.

    While that might seem to give S Voice a bit of a lead, iOS 6 will fix that when it launches this fall. Apple announced during their WWDC 2012 keynote on Monday that the iOS Maps app would be getting turn-by-turn navigation and local business search in a variety of new countries when it launches this fall.

    Check out the video for yourself and decide who wins:

  • Nokia Cuts Jobs as it Struggles to Stay Afloat

    Nokia Cuts Jobs as it Struggles to Stay Afloat

    Nokia is struggling to stay afloat ever since Apple introduced the iPhone.In fact, Samsung and Apple have gained huge handset market shares and Nokia is on a roll with four straight quarterly loses in a row.

    Today they announced a reduced earnings forecast for the remainder of 2012, and they really don’t expect to turn a profit in 2013 either.

    Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop has been struggling with plans to reorganize operations and regain some of the company’s market value. He also introduced plans to cut over 10,000 jobs in research and manufacturing. Along with the job cuts, sites in Finland, Germany and Canada will be closed. Also top executives Niklas Savander, Mary McDowell and Jerri DeVard will part ways with the company.

    Nokia’s Chief Executive Stephen Elop commented on the cutbacks in a statement:

    “These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,”

    “We have very challenging business conditions and its very important that we move forward aggressively and urgently,”

    “We need to ensure that we have the capital requirements in place to help us through our transition.”

    “We must re-shape our operating model and ensure that we create a structure that can support our competitive ambitions,”

    Take a look at Bloomberg’s coverage of the events at Nokia:

    Currently, Nokia has a market value of $9.3 billion which has declined over 48% in the last twelve months. The current job cuts come in addition to 14,000 cuts they announced last year. All of the reductions should be complete by the end of 2013.

    Naturally, the instability of the company leaves them open to a takeover by competitors. Hopefully they can regain a foothold in the market after the restructuring.