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Tag: Samsung

  • Apple vs. Samsung: Dueling Tablet Rumors Hit the Web

    A pair of rumors has hit the internet regarding the next generation of tablets. In one report, BGR cites a “trusted source” at Samsung saying that the company will be unveiling a new 11.6-inch tablet at the Mobile World Congress in February. The rumored device will have vastly improved screen resolution, a 2GHz dual-core processor, and thanks to a smaller bezel will be close to the same size as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 despite the increased screen size. It will also run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The announcement, BGR says, will be timed to beat Apple to the punch. The original iPad was announced in March 2010 and went on sale in April. The iPad 2 was announced in early March of this year and went on sale in mid-March. Applehas generally tended to be a creature of habit when it comes to product cycles..

    Samsung, however, may not be getting as much of a drop on Apple as they hope. Business Insider is reporting that Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner posted a note to clients saying that he expects Apple to unveil the iPad 3 in February of 2012, rather than in March. He cited a lack of “significant technical hurdles” preventing the release of the device earlier than usual. He also said that he expects the device to have a much higher resolution than the iPad 2, but apparently avoided using the term “retina display.” Debate has raged since the introduction of the iPhone 4 last year as to whether and when Apple would try to add a retina display to the iPad.

    At this stage neither of these reports amounts to more than rumor and speculation, however both rumors are at least plausible, especially in light of the ongoing legal battle over Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. A new Samsung tablet would neatly circumvent the court case by allowing the company to start selling a non-disputed product. It also makes sense that the Samsung would want this new device to beat the iPad 3 to market, especially if it is sporting specs that will give Apple’s tablet a run for its money (currently the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is widely regarded as the iPad’s closest competitor).

    Conversely, while Apple does tend to follow fairly rigid patterns regarding its product launches, it is in the company’s interest to keep Samsung from gaining any ground in the tablet market. Therefore it is at least possible that the company would move up its launch of the iPad to undercut Samsung. However, Apple has also shown marked indifference to the launch of other companies’ products when unveiling its own products.

    Of the two reports, it seems much more likely that Samsung will be launching a tablet in February than that Apple will. However, everything is still just rumor at this point. Of course, we will post more when we know more.

    What do you think? Would Apple move a product launch to undercut a competitor? Sound off in the comments.

  • Apple/Samsung Ruling Accidentally Reveals Secret Details

    The ongoing patent war between Apple and Samsung took an interesting turn on Friday as a poorly redacted document was accidentally filed that revealed details the companies had tried to keep secret.

    The document was filed as part of US District Judge Lucy Koh’s ruling that denied Apple’s request for an injunction on sales of Samsung’s Galaxy devices. The document that was posted online by Judge Koh’s office left clear certain details that she had intended to black out, apparently at the company’s request. The error was quickly caught and the document sealed, but not before several news organizations managed to obtain a copy. A correctly redacted version appeared later in the day.

    The document contains references to market research conducted by Apple which shows that consumers are unlikely confuse Samsung’s Galaxy phones and tablets with Apple’s own iPhone and iPad. The foundation of the suit, which was filed in April and quickly spread to ten countries, is that Samsung’s products copy the design and interface of Apple’s devices too closely, such that they constitute a violation of Apple’s patents.

    Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, in particular, is generally seen as a major competitor for Apple’s iPad, and one of the best of the myriad Android tablets available. That fact may be at least part of why Apple has pursued this case so vigorously, rather than simply setting up a deal whereby Samsung licensed the relevent patents from Apple. Last week The Verge reported that Apple had in fact licensed one such patent to IBM and Nokia, but not Samsung.

    In most places the legal battle has gone largely in Apple’s favor. Most recently, we reported that Apple got a injunction that had been overturned in Australia reinstituted until its appeal could be heard.

  • Galaxy Nexus Rumor: Release Date This Friday

    As indicated by the title, this is a rumor, and therefore unconfirmed. However, RootzWiki claims to have confirmation from multiple sources that the Galaxy Nexus will “land on American soil” this Friday, December 9.”

    They are showing allegedly leaked documents from “an authorized Verizon retailer” which display a 12/9 release date following a 12/6 shipping date. Other info from the document includes:

    – Each store will be direct shipped a minimum of 15 phones

    – You will also have product available for replenishment

    – You will not receive this product through the normal receiving process using vendor receiving

    – Keep all original paperworkl in your reveiving binders. Do not throw away

    – We cannot sell or display the Samsung Nexus until 12/9/11.

    – On 12/9, the planogram will be loaded on the intranet

    Again, to be clear, we can’t confirm the legitimacy of the document, but it is certainly worth noting, especially since the date is so close.

    Recently, we saw indication that Best Buy would be getting the device on December 11.

    Other reports have indicated that the device will not support Google Wallet. More on that here.

  • Apple Fails to Get Samsung Injunction in US

    The ongoing battle between Samsung and Apple has another chapter. A US federal judge declined Apple’s request for an injunction to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. The ruling, released late on Friday by US District Judge Lucy Koh, refused to grant the injuction that would have prevented sales of the devices in the US.

    Friday’s ruling came closely on the heels of an opposite ruling in Australia, where an injunction that had been overturned was extended by one more week, in order to give Apple time to have its appeal heard.

    The cases in the US and Australia are two of over 20 cases being heard in ten countries. Apple filed the suits against Samsung in April, alleging that the Samsung devices were, in effect, ripoffs of Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices. Apple argues that the design of the Galaxy phones and Tabs copied the style, user interface, and packaging of Apple’s products. While Apple’s original suit was filed only in the United States, Samsung responded by filing counter suits in the US (which it later dropped), South Korea (where Samsung is based), Germany, France, and Japan. Apple fired back, filing suits or counter suits in Australia, Japan, Germany, and South Korea. Samsung accuses Apple of violating a number of patents related to the basic function of mobile phones. Both companies have sought injunctions against the import and sale of each others’ devices.

    Digital Trends has a thorough (though slightly outdated) breakdown of the ongoing conflict between the two companies, which may be found here.

  • Samsung Galaxy S II Outsells iPhone 4S in UK

    Samsung and their Galaxy S II continue to cramp Apple’s style. First, they toss a pie at the face of Apple’s tribe of loyalists, then Samsung wins Pocket-lint’s Gadget Award for Best Phone of the Year and then, only a couple of days later, they manage to fend off the release of Apple’s iPhone 4S and retain the spot of the best selling phone in the UK for November. This latest victory for Samsung marks the eighth consecutive month the Galaxy S II has topped the list of phone sales in the UK.

    Some assert that iPhone’s failure to overtake the Galaxy S II in sales is owed to a supply deficiency during the Apple device’s first month on the shelves. However, Samsung has received some attention because of the aggressive initiative taken in targeting Apple and the iPhone 4S with advertisements that attempt to make the case that it’s now cool to not be an affected cool person (This is basically the “I know you are but what am I?” tactic in cellphone battles). So far, Samsung has given no quarter to Apple – they won’t even let Apple be the only company with claims of crotch-combusting technology. That’s some real dedication you got to winning there, Samsung.

    It’s a telling sign of the times whenever Apple “fails” to be number one at something and that constitutes news, as if they are perpetually expected to be this juggernaut of technology that topples all competitors without breaking a sweat. That’s the high cost of being awesome a lot, I suppose. At this point it’s hard to conclude whether Samsung’s ad campaign has been pivotal enough to actually depress sales of the iPhone 4S or, as retailers have speculated, if the only thing keeping Apple from trouncing the Galaxy S II in the UK is merely a matter of supply-and-demand. I haven’t seen any data that supports the latter explanation – if you have found any, please post in the comments.

  • Galaxy S II Catches Fire In Guy’s Pants

    Talk about a close call. A really, really close call.

    Apparently, a Samsung Galaxy S II caught fire inside someone’s pocket. The incident was reported on the xda-developers forums, by a friend who seemed to be seeing at least a little bit of humor in the situation:

    My friend almost lost his nuts! He said he heard a sound, a burning sensation on his leg and as he pulled this piece of junk out of his pocket he smelled burning. There was smoke coming out of his pocket and out of the phone. LoL, He said he was scared.

    You think? One time a friend secretly dropped a lit firecracker in my front pocket. I imagine the situation was similar.

    According to the report, the victim hadn’t even had the phone for longer than two weeks and hadn’t recently used it either – it was just sitting, cold in his pocket. He posted some photos of the melted device to prove his story. From the looks of those photos, it appears that the battery may be to blame for the incident:

    It appears that iPhones aren’t the only smartphones spontaneously blowing up these days. Two high profile reports emerged earlier this week about Apple devices smoking and catching fire. The first came from Australia, where a group of passengers were startled when one of their iPhone 4s began smoking and emitting a red glow. Luckily, they were in the process of landing. Officials are still investigating the cause of the incident.

    A few days later, a man in Brazil had a bad morning when he awoke to his iPhone 4 on fire, only inches away from his face. It’s thought that the battery could be the issue in those cases as well.

    So look out, guys. It’s not just the radiation that could hurt your reproductive prowess when you carry your smartphone in your pocket.

    [Via RegHardware]

  • Carrier IQ, Samsung, HTC Hit With Lawsuits, Apple Speaks Out

    Carrier IQ, Samsung, HTC Hit With Lawsuits, Apple Speaks Out

    The ongoing controversy over Carrier IQ’s hidden software has taken an unsurprising turn as class action lawsuits were filed yesterday against Carrier IQ, along with handset makers Samsung and HTC.

    The lawsuit claims that the companies violated federal wiretapping laws by including Carrier IQ’s software in their phones. On Monday Android app developer Trevor Eckhart posted a YouTube video in which he demonstrated that the software records an alarming amount of information about the users of phones on which it is installed. The app tracks users’ location, as well as intercepting web traffic and SMS messages, and logging keystrokes.

    The controversy has also drawn the attention of Senator Al Franken, who sent Carrier IQ a letter in which he asked the company about its data collection practices and some of the seemingly contradictory statements the company has made.

    In response to an initial posting by Eckhart calling Carrier IQ a rootkit, the company sent a cease-and-desist letter in which they threatened legal action. When the EFF took up Eckhart’s case, however, Carrier IQ withdrew the threat and apologized. They also posted a statement on the company website claiming that the software was nothing more than a diagnostic tool employed by carriers to gauge the performance of their devices. In turn, Eckhart posted his video demonstration, which caused enormous controversy as more and more phones were found to have some version of the Carrier IQ software installed.

    In the U.S. carriers have been somewhat slow to respond to the scandal. Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile have issued statements saying that they use the software only for network and device diagnostics, and nothing else. Meanwhile Verizon and UK carriers Vodafone and O2, as well as handset manufactuerers Nokia and RIM, have denied that the software is installed on their devices at all.

    In many respects Apple has come through this scandal relatively clean. Although the software is present on iOS devices, it appears to only be active when the device is in diagnostic mode. Moreover, Apple issued a statement yesterday that they stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5, and that a future software update will remove it completely from all iOS devices. Apple’s statement also asserts that the data collected by the software is encrypted and sent anonymously.

    For Android users who want to know if they have Carrier IQ installed, app developer François Simond has developed an app to detect the software. For iPhone users the process is somewhat more simple, as a simple settings change allows users to disable the collection of diagnostic data. From the Settings App, tap General, then About, then Diagnostics & Usage.

    Disabling data collection on the iPhone

    Continue to check back with WebProNews for more on this story.

  • Apple Gets Samsung Galaxy Tab Ban Extended One More Week

    Just when it seemed Samsung was making headway in their legal battle with Apple over the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Apple managed to strike back at its rival. We reported on Wednesday that a federal judge in Australia had lifted the injunction on the sale of the device. Just as Samsung was bringing shipments of the device, which they planned to put on sale today, into the country, Apple filed an appeal to Australia’s supreme court. The high court agreed to extend the injunction on the tablet’s sale for another week – until December 9th – to give Apple time to have its appeal heard.

    This is just the latest in a lengthy battle between the two companies over the Galaxy Tab 10.1. In July 2010, Steve Jobs contacted Samsung over his concerns that their Galaxy phones bore too much of a resemblance to Apple’s iPhone. With the unveiling of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, though, Apple felt it had sufficient grounds for legal action. Before the tablet’s planned release in April, Apple filed suit in ten countries – including Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands – to block sales of the device. Courts in several countries have sided with Apple, agreeing that the Galaxy Tab mimics the look and feel of the iPad closely enough to constitute patent infringement. The Australian courts had continued the trend of siding with Apple until Wedneday’s ruling, which overturned the injunction and criticized the lower court’s decision.

    With the injunction re-instituted for another week, it remains to be seen whether Samsung will be able to get the Galaxy Tab into the Australian market in time for the holidays. Katrina Howard, attorney for Samsung, told reporters that if Samsung cannot get the Galaxy Tab into Australian stores by then, they may scrap plans to bring the device to that country altogether.

  • Galaxy Nexus Rumor: Landing At Best Buy December 11th

    Unfortunately for everyone eager to get their hands on the Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Samsung Galaxy Nexus, we’ve heard of no official release date. And until we do, rumors will have to suffice.

    According to a Best Buy source quoted by Engadget (with accompanying screenshot), they will have the device in inventory by December 11th. Of course, this isn’t a release date – simply a date for when the phone will arrive at their stores. It’s possible that the Galaxy Nexus could go on sale that day, and it’s also possible that it could go on sale days or weeks later.

    But it is a sign that December is going to be the month for the release. Leaked documents surfaced earlier this month that indicated a December 8th launch for the device in the U.S. Other sources said earlier this week that December 8th would be the day – but that source also pegged November 29th as the kickoff for pre-sales. Obviously, this prediction was incorrect.

    While the specific date is unconfirmed, Samsung did confirm that the U.S. release would occur in December.

    Even if Best Buy does have to wait until the 11th to get the phone, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Verizon stores couldn’t have it by the 8th, like rumored. When pushed for further comment, a Samsung rep told CNET that the Galaxy Nexus launch date “is not public information at this time.” She once again confirmed that it will show up in the U.S. before the year is over.

  • Galaxy S II’s Facebook App: Samsung’s Latest Jab At Apple

    Hey, remember these commercials?

    You probably do because it was pretty effective in establishing the “cool” cult of personality that most people identify with Mac while simultaneously categorizing PCs as a square, inadequate, and just not very hip to be seen with.

    The thing is, Apple may have done too good of a job with this ad campaign, and their competitors have been taking notes. You may have heard about the patent dispute currently going on between Samsung and Apple and, more amusingly, have likely seen Samsung’s latest commercial for their Galaxy S II:

    Yup. Samsung is trying to turn the cafeteria tables on Apple by taking a page out of Apple’s own playbook. I gotta admit, that’s a pretty bold swipe Samsung took with their new commercial by accentuating the risible and affected archetype so often associated with Apple’s legion of fans. Stepping up this spirit fight of the hip tech culture, Samsung has now released a Facebook app where users can compare specs of the new Samsung Galaxy S II with the iPhone 4S as well as… an old cordless phone from the 80s and a couple of cans attached by a string. The app also allows visitors to post comments about how much cooler they think the Galaxy S II is than the iPhone4S. While the campaign grabs your attention pretty quickly, there’s also this uncomfortable suggestion of techno-virility (or impotence, depending on which device you use) loaded in each of their tag-lines on this app:

    “The next BIG THING is ALREADY HERE.”

    “I’m experiencing serious phone envy.”

    “It’s so thin… and that screen is massive!”

    See where that’s going yet? Thought so.

    Still, lumping the newest iPhone in with examples of communication devices you’d find in an Acme Corporation catalog is a pretty hilarious move from Samsung. It remains to be seen whether it’s effective enough to even cause a blemish on Apple’s shining armor of cool, but this is a pretty good start. What do you think of this latest move in Samsung’s ad push for the Samsung Galaxy S II? Effective or egregious? Leave your comments below

  • Galaxy Nexus Release Date: December, Says Samsung

    It looks like the hopes of a stateside November release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus are fading fast.

    Samsung has confirmed to Business Insider that the Galaxy Nexus will not launch until December on the Verizon network. The specific day in December as well as the exact pricing were not revealed during that confirmation.

    When the Galaxy Nexus was announced back in October, initial statements indicated that the plan was a November launch for the first Google phone to come installed with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The unlocked GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus just launched in the UK on November 17th.

    The Samsung and Google Nexus Twitter feeds, which have been actively discussing the Galaxy Nexus, are both quiet on the topic of the U.S. release date.

    Since Samsung has confirmed December as the release date, the rumor we reported on Monday still has legs. Leaked images reportedly coming from marketing spreadsheets indicated that the Galaxy Nexus would be launching on December 8th in the States.

    Many potential customers have expressed frustration with the U.S. launch situation, and to some this feels like a “push back” of the date, even though an official release date has never actually been set.

    Samsung has just released an advertisement for the Galaxy S II that slams Apple fanboys by showing a group waiting in line for hours to buy the newest iPhone. Ironically, it seems, they are promoting this ad on Twitter using the hashtag #stopwaiting. Check it out below – maybe it will give you a chuckle.

  • Amazon Gets In On the Penny Smartphone Sales, Too

    Amazon Gets In On the Penny Smartphone Sales, Too

    Last week, it was announced that AT&T would be holding a Black Friday sale, offering an array of phones for the low, low price of one penny. Of course, there are stipulations involved including a two-year contract and the acceptance of a data plan. Apparently, one cent smartphones are the trend of the day-after-Thanksgiving sales, because Amazon is in on it, too.

    Over at Amazon Wireless, the details of the sale are discussed, which are as follows:

    For a limited time only, all phones from Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T with a new line of service are on sale for a penny and include standard FREE Two-Day Shipping. Offer valid between midnight PDT November 21, 2011, through 11:59 p.m. PDT November 28, 2011, while supplies last. Plus, if you buy an eligible hotspot-ready smartphone and activate the hotspot feature, you’ll get a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card.

    There are a number of Android-powered handsets as well as BlackBerry. However, for those of you wanting to grab a new iPhone 4S during Amazon’s sale, sorry, no Apple devices are included in the one cent blowout. That being said, the DROID RAZR 4G (from Sprint) is available, as is the BlackBerry Torch. The HTC Thunderbolt falls into Amazon’s sale, and there are a few Samsung handsets as well.

    Basically, Amazon’s smartphone sale carries just about every phone except the iPhone. If Amazon’s list is comprehensive, there are almost 97 phones featured in during the one cent sale, which, according to Amazon’s disclaimer, is “valid between midnight PDT November 21, 2011, through 11:59 p.m. PDT November 28, 2011, while supplies last.”

    Phones purchased during the sale are required to have a two-year contract, which is the same stipulation issued for AT&T’s one cent sale. As for the iDevice family, Apple is also having a Black Friday sale. Unfortunately, there are no one cent iPhones or iPads, although, the tablets are scheduled for an apparent markdown.

  • HTC, Samsung Push Apple Aside

    Perhaps the effects of the iPhone 4S won’t be felt until the 2012 estimates are factored in, but if the research offered by Canalys is to be believed, the number one smart phone provider in the United States is HTC. Not only that, but Samsung garnered the title of being the world’s top vendor in relation for these mobile devices.

    It should be noted these numbers were taken from the third quarter of 2011, which helps explain the lack of an iPhone 4S push back, which has been selling like hot cakes since it launched earlier this month. The question is, did HTC and Samsung benefit while consumers were waiting for the newest iPhone? It certainly looks that way.

    According to the research, Samsung’s appeal was evident:

    Samsung shipped 27.3 million smart phones under its own brand to capture a 23% share, becoming the number one vendor in APAC, Western Europe and Latin America, ahead of Nokia, Apple and RIM respectively.

    As indicated earlier, these numbers are for the third quarter of 2011. HTC’s third quarter was so strong, it helped push the device maker into the top spot in regards to being the number one smart phone provider in the United States, also for the three month period that made up 2011’s third quarter:

    In the United States, the world’s largest smart phone market, HTC shone in Q3 2011, edging out Apple and Samsung to become the leading vendor. HTC shipped 5.7 million smart phones in the US under its own brand, giving it almost a quarter of the market, as well as an estimated 70,000 units under the T-Mobile brand.

    As for Apple, Samsung’s strong performance not only granted them the top spot as far as worldwide smart phone distributor, it also put them ahead of Apple in the United States, coming in second behind HTC. All that being said, it wasn’t like Apple struggled as people waited for the new iPhone to hit the stores:

    Apple’s US smart phone shipments totaled 4.6 million in the quarter and it was affected around the world by consumers waiting for the launch of the next-generation iPhone.

    Considering that the latest Siri-powered iPhone topped four million the first weekend it launched, it’s safe to say Apple’s profile should be a little stronger when Canalys posts their fourth quarter research. Unfortunately, the good news did not bleed over to RIM, the makers of the Blackberry handset.

    According to the research, RIM’s market share dropped under 10 percent for the first time ever.

    Clearly, it’s an iPhone/Android world and the rest of the providers are just trying to carve themselves a sustainable niche.

  • Phones With Flexible Screens Coming Next Year, Says Samsung

    At Samsung’s earnings call, the company announced intentions to introduce phones with flexible displays as early as 2012.

    “The flexible display, we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part,” said spokesman Robert Yi during an earnings call. “The application probably will start from the handset side.”

    He went on to say that the flexible screens would start appearing in tablets and other devices following their debut in smartphones.

    Of course, this isn’t the first time that we’ve heard about the flexible display technology – it’s been around for awhile. Various prototypes have been shown off by a number of companies in the past few years, including Samsung itself. Here’s an demo of Samsung’s flexible AMOLED display at the 2011 CES show –

    Samsung is not the only one demoing this technology, but it’s interesting that they have come out and definitively said that flexible display phones would be hitting the market in early 2012.

    In September, a concept-phone called the Samsung Galaxy Skin made the round on the interwebs. The Galaxy Skin was a super-thin device that could be bent – and nearly rolled. There were conflicting reports as to whether the phone actually existed in prototype form, or if it was simply a concept. Samsung told CNET that Samsung wasn’t involved in the product, it was just a theoretical design that was stamped with the Samsung name to make it look legit.

    But Samsung is now saying that these flexible phones will arrive in 2012. Whether they have anything to do with this “Skin” concept is yet to be determined.

    Here are some other example of flexible display technology, from other sources.

    Here’s Nokia demoing a flexible device at Nokia World –

    And here’s Toshiba, with a flexible LCD display –

    Would you buy a flexible phone? What does the technology have to offer? Let us know in the comments.

  • Galaxy Nexus Release Date Set For November 16th in the UK?

    Hungry for when you might be able to get your hands on the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus with all of the delicious Ice Cream Sandwich goodness? Some information spotted on the web might give us a clue.

    UK smartphone retailer Phones4u has listed a delivery date for the device on their site. According to this, it looks like folks (in the UK at least) could be getting their new Google phone as soon as November 16th.

    The site has the Galaxy Nexus available for order through Orange.

    When the phone was officially unveiled at the Samsung/Google event in Hong Kong, the tentative release timeframe of “sometime in November” was set.

    Around the same time that the Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich was being unveiled in Hong Kong, a leaked MAP list suggested that we could see the device release as early as November 10th. The list showed a MAP period that ran parallel with the HTC Rezound.

    The Galaxy Nexus (previously codenamed Nexus Prime) is set to launch with impressive features. It will boast an enormous 4.65 inch screen running at 1280×720 resolution – a true Super AMOLED HD experience. It will sport 1GB RAM and a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor.

    Aesthetically, it is a thin phone, measuring only 8.84 mm thick. There are no mechanical buttons on the phone, instead everything it built into the massive touch screen.

    Are you excited about the Galaxy Nexus? Let us know in the comments.

    [Hat Tip to Phandroid]

  • Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich: It’s Official

    After weeks of speculation, the Google/Samsung mobile event lived up to its promise and delivered on both the hardware and the software that everyone wanted.

    At the Hong Kong event (taking place last night for those of us in the West), the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS was unveiled, as was its flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (previously referred to as the Nexus Prime).

    The Galaxy Nexus (seen above), is the new member of the Google phone lineage. It lives up to many of the specs that have been rumored for some time including a 4.65 inch screen, 1GB RAM and a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor.

    That giant screen is a Super AMOLED true HD experience – running at 1280×720 resolution. By all hands-on accounts, it’s one of the most gorgeous looking screens on the market.

    As far as the camera goes, it’s a 5 megapixel device with an instant shutter (like the iPhones 4S). You can shoot 1080p HD video with the Galaxy Nexus.

    It’s a thin phone, measuring 8.84mm thick (and 4.29 mm bezel) and has a new, sleek feel as there are no mechanical buttons – everything is built into the touch surface, including the home button. The device comes equipped with NFC capabilities, which not only sets the stage for mobile payments but allows for the Android Beam feature – a way for users to share apps, videos, contacts and more by “bumping” their Nexus with another Nexus. It’s also a 4G phone, as promised.

    But one of the biggest draws of the Galaxy Nexus is in the software – the all new Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS. Google sought to create an OS that would function equally as well of tablets as mobile devices, a Gingerbread-Honeycomb on steroids. Here’s what they have added –

    With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

    ICS also updates the tab manager, inbox browsing and has cleaned up the calendar function. The OS integrates Google+ photos into the People app, which is the new contacts system for ICS. The all new interface also sports a brand new font, designed by Google, called “Roboto.”

    Android Ice Cream Sandwich had also introduced a phone unlocking feature that uses facial recognition. Like Apple’s new voice assistant service Siri, time will indeed tell how effective the “Face Unlock” function really is.

    With Apple’s new iPhone 4S (with the new iOS 5) selling like crazy and Motorola just unveiling their impressive new beast of a phone yesterday, Google and Samsung look to have made a huge splash with the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich.

    Both the phone and the new OS will become available in November.

    What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

  • Samsung Rips iPhone Screenshot For Galaxy Player Promo

    Did Samsung just use a 3-year-old screenshot from Google maps on iOS on a promotional page for its new Galaxy Player Android-powered media device?

    Daring Fireball got a tip from a reader last night that the official page for the Galaxy Player 5.0 contained a screenshot from iOS, only slightly modified in order to appear to be running on the Samsung device. “Modified” means that it looks like they simply replaced the distinctive Apple status bar with their own status bar (as you can see in the comparison above).

    It turns out, the image that used to appear on the Samsung site is the exact same image from a user named Laura Scott’s Flickr account. The photo in question was taken on December 14th, 2008.

    Here’s a screenshot of how the promo page appeared. This display is no longer there – if you go to the Galaxy Player 5.0 page you are redirected to a page where you can choose your home country.

    Of course, this is all especially funny because of the lengthy battle that Samsung and Apple still find themselves tangled in. The two have hit out at each other, claiming that the other stole their designs and infringed upon their patents.

    Samsung is in the process of seeking injunctions to stop the sale of iPhones and iPads in almost a dozen different countries. Apple successful stopped the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tablet in Australia last week.

    Just yesterday, industry rumors said that despite these legal battles, Apple would still use Samsung to make their processors for their devices – most notably the A6 processor that might come inside the next iPhone.

    When everyone is talking about who stole what from whom, it’s amazing to see a possible theft at a level like this.

  • Nexus Prime Release Date Hinted, Launch Confirmed By Japanese Carrier

    With the Google/Samsung Hong Kong event just a few hours away, one major Japanese wireless carrier has let the news regarding the upcoming Nexus Prime (Galaxy Nexus) slip a little early.

    According to a tweet from the carrier, the Nexus Prime will be launched at the event and released to the public sometime in November. The event in question will also see the unveiling of the new Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich. It is set to kick off October 19th in Hong Kong – and will stream live tonight, October 18th at 10 pm EST on the Android YouTube channel.

    Here’s the tweet from the Japanese carrier, DoCoMo –

    @docomo
    NTTドコモ    予告: 明日10月19日 香港にてサムスン電子とGoogleが発表する 最新Android OS搭載スマートフォン。ドコモは世界でもほぼ最速にあたる、11月に発売を予定。詳細は後日。 http://t.co/rF9nifJx #docomo 10 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    With the help of Google translate, we see that it says:

    Notice: the latest Android OS smartphone with Google and Samsung Electronics announced on October 19 in Hong Kong tomorrow. DoCoMo is almost equivalent to the fastest in the world, scheduled for release in November. More later.

    So it looks like we will see a Nexus Prime debut with Ice Cream Sandwich in just a matter of hours.

    The “scheduled for release in November” part echoes information we saw on Monday that said the release date could be as early as November 10th. A leaked pricing list showed a sales window starting on that date.

    As a bonus, Italian site Android.hdblog has come across what they say is a flyer to the event. It shows the Nexus Prime from two angles, and it appears to looks like the same phone we’ve seen in supposed leak videos and other promo photos.

    They also confirm some device specs, most of which we have heard before – 4.65 AMOLED HD screen with curved glass, NFC, 1GB RAM, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. The device is also said to be 5.4 in. x 2.7 in. x .35 in. (.45 in. at thickest part), which would make the Nexus Prime extremely thin.

  • Nexus Prime Release Date As Early As November 10th?

    UPDATE: Launch confirmed for Oct 19th Samsung/Google event by Japanese carrier, release date said to be sometime in November.

    We know that the big Google / Samsung mobile event is going down on October 19th, and we know that one of the big reveals set to take place at said event is the new Google OS, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Invitations went out last week for the event, which was rescheduled after the two companies cancelled the previous October 11th date out of respect for the late Steve Jobs.

    It is widely speculated that the next Google phone, the Samsung Nexus Prime (Galaxy Nexus) will also be unveiled at the October 19th event. It would be the first device to run the brand new Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

    Now, a leaked MAP (minimum advertised price) list reveals not only the suggested price of the device, but a possible release timeframe as well.

    Droid Life obtained the list, which shows the “Samsung Galaxy Nexus” as a minimum $299 phone, with a MAP period beginning on November 10th, 2011. In addition, the list shows another buzzed-about phone, the HTC Rezound, with the exact same details.

    Of course, the front end of this window is not a definite launch date, but it is possible. As Droid Life points out, it would be surprising to see the device launched before it can be advertised at the minimum price – so the speculation by some that we could see it hit stores even earlier looks to be on shaky ground.

    And if you want to be super cynical, it’s always possible that the leaked memo could be incorrect or intentionally misleading in the worst-case scenario. But the timeframe definitely feels reasonable given this week’s probable unveiling.

    Leaked specs have said the phone will sport a 4.65 super AMOLED screen with curved glass, as well as 1GB RAM and NFC capabilities.

    Earlier this month, a video surfaced reportedly showing the Nexus Prime in the wild: It has yet to be totally confirmed or denied:

    What do you think? Will this be a huge device for the Android platform? Can it challenge the just-released iPhone 4S? Apple just announced that they have sold over 4 million 4S devices in the first 3 days. Let us know how you feel about the upcoming phone in the comments.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: A6 Processors Supplied By Samsung?

    According to industry sources, Apple will continue their relationship with Samsung and use their processors in the upcoming iPhone.

    The source said that Samsung is ramping up production of quad-core A6 processors, the Apple-designed chip, at their manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.

    This is interesting, in large part, due to the ongoing legal battle between the two companies regarding so-called patent infringements.

    Here’s what the source had to say about the A6 processors, as quoted in the Korea Times:

    Apple has been in talks with Samsung over shipment of its A6 quad-core mobile processor (AP) chips to be used in the next iPhone. It appears that Apple clearly has concluded that Samsung remains a critical business partner.

    Samsung Electronics will apply its advanced 28-nanometer processing technology to produce qualified A6 mobile APs. TSMC will provide customized chips with designs from Apple, however, the volume will be very small.

    This rumor comes on the heels of news regarding the Samsung/Apple patent wars. According to the WSJ, Samsung is trying to stop the sale of Apple’s new iPhone 4S in Japan and Australia. They are asking that the sale of the iPad 2 be halted as well.

    Japan and Australia join a list populated by 10 countries that Samsung has petitioned to ban the sale of Apple devices. They have already made filings in France and Italy to stop the sale of the iPhone 4S.

    Apple also claims that Samsung has copied their designs and infringed upon their patents and intellectual property rights. Last week, Apple requested a temporary injunction in Australia to stop the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy tablet – a request that was granted.

    Apple and Samsung have a tenuous partnership, and these legal battles only strain it further. Some analysts think that the patent wars will irreparably damage the relationship – but according to this rumor, Samsung will provide a key part to at least one more Apple product.

  • Nexus Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich Launch Rescheduled

    It looks like we have another official date set for the big Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS release. Invitations have been seen out for the rescheduled Google / Samsung event, now taking place in Hong Kong on October 19th.

    For those in the West, that’s 10 pm Eastern on October 18th. There will be a live stream of the event available on Android’s YouTube Channel.

    This unveiling was supposed to take place on October 11th at the Unpacked event in San Diego. But just 4 days before the event was set to take place, Google and Samsung postponed it, saying that they agreed “it is just not the right time to announce a new product. Of course, it was widely believed that the two companies delayed their big event out of respect for the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

    Here’s the invitation, which confirms that Android’s brand new OS Ice Cream Sandwich is going to be the star of the show:

    Also expected to make an appearance at the event is the first device launching with Ice Cream Sandwich – the Nexus Prime (Galaxy Nexus), the new Google phone. This phone has a huge amount of buzz surrounding it, as Android fans are looking for the next great phone to compete with Apple’s just-launched iPhone 4S.

    According to Ars Technica, PR photos from the cancelled October 11th event in San Diego suggest that the Nexus Prime was definitely a part of the big launch. However, we have yet to hear any official word on the phone

    Are you excited about the new offerings in the world of Android? Let us know in the comments.