Hasta La Gadget!

Between social networks and a near infinite number of messaging apps, there are frankly too many ways us humans can keep in touch. With so many platforms competing for a slot in your app drawer, some are attempting to absorb SMS traffic and become your one-stop messaging shop. Google Hangouts was updated a month ago with SMS support (stock Android 4.4 KitKat does away with a pre-loaded SMS app altogether), and now Samsung’s ChatON for Android has followed suit. The latest version of the app allows you to set it as your SMS/MMS inbox, though the feature is only live in Germany and Brazil at the moment. Not that anyone uses ChatON, but it’s another mixture of cellular and data threads that’s a recipe for confusion. Facebook recently killed SMS integration from its messaging app due to poor uptake, probably because users still prefer the distinction. Everyone uses Snapchat exclusively now anyway, right?

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile, Samsung

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Via: SamMobile

Source: Play store

Though we haven’t received any ChatOn messages ourselves lately, Samsung says that its messaging service has caught on with some. In fact, it’s just chalked up a “global subscriber base” of 100 million folks in around two years, thanks to its availability on diverse platforms like iOS, Android, Bada, the web and Windows Phone. Samsung singled out China and India as key markets for the service and touted features like drag-and-drop media sharing and the ability to hand-write messages with an S Pen-equipped device. Though the numbers sound good, we’re not sure if the Korean company is counting active users or just those who registered out of curiosity because it came pre-installed on their phones. By contrast, WhatsApp counts 300 million subscribers who use the service monthly. We’ve reached out to Samsung to confirm and maybe we’ll get around to registering for the service ourselves, some day.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Samsung

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Source: Samsung

Samsung is revealing what Smart software additions the Galaxy S 4 will bring to the table, and they’re well beyond what’s been rumored. The camera is one of the biggest focuses, borrowing much from the Galaxy Camera: Cinema Photo captures still images with moving backgrounds, a Drama Shot burst mode that creates animated GIFs, an Eraser mode to remove unwanted background subjects, and a Sound & Shot mode that puts audio in the background of still images. A Story Album automatically creates photo albums based on common details such as location and time. And did we mention that it can shoot photos and video from both the front and back cameras at the same time?

That’s just the start. AirView now works with your finger, rather than a pen, and is effective right from the lock screen. Adapt Display and Adapt Sound automatically tune the picture and speakers for varying viewing conditions, and WatchOn uses a built-in IR blaster to tune your TV. S Translate, meanwhile, will take both spoken and written words and translate them through several languages, inside of multiple apps. S Voice has been upgraded to S Voice Drive to let drivers get navigation, find points of interest and otherwise interact with the phone without having to take any hands off the wheel. S Health, which Samsung initially mentioned last year, is around to track calories and steps through accessories such as S band, a body scale and a heart rate monitor.

Like to do things that involve more than one person? There’s more still. ChatOn has been upgraded to support video chat, and Group Play both allows for sharing songs in a surround mode or playing local multiplayer games — when it’s supported, that is. All told, there’s a small deluge of new features that could amount to a lot, even excluding new hands-free elements like Smart Scroll. Check after the break for a quick preview video and the press release.

Check out our event hub for all the action from Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 event.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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In what was supposed to be a celebration that saw Samsung introduce the ChatON update for their range of Android-powered smartphones turned out to be a bummer of sorts, as the update more or less screwed up ChatON. In other words, users are unable to have it synchronize because of some sort of network error, and hopefully, Samsung will be able to sort this particular mess out within the shortest time possible.

Basically, the ChatON app is Samsung’s multi-platform messenger solution, and you will be able to download it from the Google Play Store or via Samsung Apps. It is said that one of the biggest improvements in this particular update would be the ability to synchronize with the Samsung account. Just how does that work? Well, users with the same Samsung account will be able to locate all of the chats and buddy list synchronized with up to 5 different connected devices, in addition to having improvements made to My Page, not to mention being able to send multiple images simultaneously, amongst others.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AT&T Delivers Multi-Window Update For Galaxy Note 2, BBM Video Arriving In BlackBerry 10,

ChatON , Samsung‘s instant messaging client, has just been updated with new features. Samsung has released the new version just in time for the London Olympics. So, if you’re in London right now with your Android device, version 1.9.5 for smartphones now has a nifty Olympic Buddy feature that will keep you updated with game schedules, breaking news, and medal tables. Other new features will include a walkie-talkie feature, skin/ bubble download, typing status, image zoom-in/ out, a new ChatON logo, ability to edit buddy names, and a couple of minor bug fixes.

On the other hand, if you’re using the app on your Android tablet, version 1.7.3 now has new animation emoticons, an app lock feature, a new ChatON logo, the abiltiy to send documents, buddy suggestions, and of course, the Olympic Buddy feature. If you haven’t received the update yet, you can check it out via Google Play. ChatON was first launched by Samsung  last year. The app serves more than 120 countries in 60 languages and it is currently available on Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phone. Cheers!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung’s ChatON could be making its way onto Windows Phone, Samsung’s ChatON now available in Android Market,