Samsung Electronics have today announced they will be offering consumers a chance to get their hands on a new smartphone that should be immediately recognizable to those who keep up to speed with the industry. The Galaxy S II Plus was originally leaked back in August of last year, with South Korean based Samsung now officially introducing us to the device that is essentially an upgraded version of the extremely popular Galaxy S II.
If you've been using smartphones consistently over the past five or so years, you'll doubtlessly have noticed that, through generations, they have become considerably faster, and this is due largely to the increase in processing power. Samsung has led the way in terms of delivering stronger, more consistent mobile chips for its array of mobile devices, and with 2013 now upon us, has announced and 8-core Exynos 5 Octa mobile processor.
The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES as it is most often referred to, is without a doubt one of the biggest date in the tech calendar. While there are plenty of rumored and confirmed announcements to look forward to, Samsung has been working tirelessly to ramp up momentum in anticipation for the event. Having made a solid foundation in the touch-based market with a fleet of Android smartphones and tablets, Sammy is hedging its bets with a couple of Windows 8 hybrids, named Chronos and Ultra.
The success of a smartphone these days depends on a lot of factors, and for that reason, it’s hard to single out devices that have been successful with all sorts of crowds. For Apple, success comes mainly from the immense ease of use that their phones and tablets deliver, and from the fact that the company sells on its brand name, too. When it comes to Android. a lot of other factions come into play. For instance, the device’s hardware specifications, the Android version that it’s running, and equally importantly, how much customization friendly it is. On the last front, advanced users are more concerned with how much hackable the device is. Recently, Samsung’s high-to-middle range phones have been on a roll, not just receiving rooting methods, but also, a lot of community support.
Although it doesn't appear to have been a particularly widespread issue, some Galaxy S III users have seen their handsets suddenly cease to work for no apparent reason in the past month or so. Some left it charging overnight, while others simply turned the screen off, only to later discover that the device had become bricked. Samsung has been helping Galaxy S III owners resuscitate their devices by free repairs and in most cases, replacements, but reports now suggest the Korean company is planning a firmware update to remedy the issue causing the initial problem.
Apple is reportedly making a significant move to further reduce its reliance with bitter rival Samsung by moving production of the A6X processor away from the South-Korean based company. Speculation has been rife over the last few months surrounding a possible shift in manufacturing partnerships, with suggestions being made that Apple has the end-goal in sight of removing all of their business away from Samsung for obvious reasons.
It is being reported that the Samsung Galaxy S IV, the next generation of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, will hit the shelves in April 2013 and include features from the Samsung’s mini-tablet, the Galaxy Note, such as the infamous ‘S Pen’.
For the last few years, Apple and Samsung have been on a legal battle over smartphone patents, demanding massive cash settlements and attempting to ban the sale of each other’s devices. According to the European commission, Samsung might now be issued fines for attempting to use standard-essential patents in its lawsuits, unlike Apple’s, which refer to less restrictive patents.
Samsung’s Galaxy Camera is a truly remarkable device. To begin with, it’s the first of its kind, offering a truly powerful and capable camera running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The connectivity options on board are truly a tech-enthusiast’s dream come true. Then, you can do a lot more on the device than you’d be able to on any traditional point and shoot camera. Despite being priced rather steep, there’s a lot of love that the unorthodox Android device has received. You have root access on the Galaxy Camera whilst running Android Jelly Bean, and then there’s an unlocked boot loader, too. Is there more to wish for? Yes, you certainly can, because XDA member Adam Outler has discovered some neat Samsung internal codes that can be executed even on the Galaxy Camera to gain access to hidden menus and secret areas.
Flashing new ROMs every now and then is something that’s almost a must for any Android owner that wants to modify their device in any way, and if you’re using custom ROMs, this phenomenon is going to be even more frequent. Developers continually release newer versions of their offerings at a very fast pace, and more often than not, you may find yourself flashing a new ROM every other day. While all of this is both exciting and rewarding, you may at times run into some problems with the firmware that you’re trying, ultimately resulting in the need to go back to a stock one. Samsung devices here have a clear advantage over the rest of the crowd, in that they have Odin3 – the magical tool that lets you download stock Samsung ROMs and flash them to your Android phone with ease. While other manufacturers do prefer offering something similar, Odin3 remains, by far, the easiest to use.
