Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung saw quite a bit of success with its GALAXY S III handset, prompting a large launch party for its next-generation flagship, the GALAXY S 4, late last year. Earlier this evening, Samsung announced that the handset has broken records set by previous iterations of the phone, selling 10 million units in the one-month time span since its launch.

According to the announcement, the 10 million-units-sold milestone was reached a full 20 days earlier than with the previous unit, the Galaxy S 3, and quite a bit faster than the Galaxy S (seven months) and the Galaxy S 2 (five months). The smartphone is available for purchase in 60 countries. By the end of June, the total number of Galaxy S – S4 handsets available will span 327 operators in 155 countries.

We reported on May 17 that GALAXY S 4 sales were expected to exceed 10 million units sold this week, information that was passed down by co-CEO JK Shin. The announcement was expected to be made on May 24, so Samsung hit the range a solid two days ahead of its anticipated schedule. Samsung has plans to roll out additional colors for the handset, expanding on the black and white varieties with Blue Arctic, Red Aurora, Purple Mirage, and Brown Autumn starting this summer.

On May 15, it was revealed during Google’s 2013 I/O event that a 16GB Google Edition of the GALAXY S 4 will go on sale later this year via the Google Play Store, receiving updates straight from Google and running a vanilla variety of Android. The handset will work on both AT&T and T-Mobile’s 4G LTE networks.

Of course, with the greatness that will be an unlocked vanilla Android Google Edition GALAXY S 4 comes a comparable price tag, pegged at a hefty $649. The handset won’t feature the Nexus branding, and will run Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2, Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, and mostly all the regular hardware to be found on the regular variety. The Google Edition is slated for sale on June 26.

SOURCE: Samsung Tomorrow

Samsung GALAXY S 4 breaks records with 10 million sales in first month is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We heard late last month that Samsung was getting ready to unveil its next-generation TecTile technology, and today the company finally pushed it out to users of the new Galaxy S 4. The phone comes with a newer NFC chip, which makes the previous-generation TecTile tags incompatible. However, TecTile 2 is finally now out available for the taking.

The good news is, these newer TecTile tags are backward-compatible with older Samsung devices that are NFC-enabled, allowing you to use them with your new Galaxy S 4, as well as any other Samsung devices you have lying around, including the Galaxy S III. These tags will allow you to automate a variety of tasks for certain situations, like adjustments to settings and opening up an app with a wave of your phone.

If you’re not all that familiar with TecTiles, they are Samsung-specific NFC stickers that you can program to activate certain phone tasks when the tag and the phone are touched together. You can place these tags all around your house and in your car, which allow you automate tasks, like setting alarms, switching a phone to silent mode, starting up media players, etc.

The downside is that if you’ve invested in the original TecTiles and have upgraded to the Galaxy S 4, you’ll need to grab the newer TecTile 2 tags, which sell for $15 for a pack of five, and are available now online, with availability in stores coming next month.

Currently, the only device that comes with native support for TecTile 2 is the Galaxy S 4, but we’re guessing that future Samsung devices will be utilizing the updated technology as well. As for the advantages of TecTile 2, it seems it’s a bit faster than the previous-generation, with the possibility of extended NFC capabilities, but if you can’t rush out and get new tags now, it won’t hurt you to wait around in order to grab some.

Samsung TecTiles 2 pushed out for Galaxy S 4 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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It’s well established that Apple and Samsung have been in a legal cat fight for a while now, and while things seemed to have settled down for a bit, both companies are at it again. Apple and Samsung will be going to court next year in the spring for what will be the second patent trial between the two companies, and the Cupertino-based company is looking to add the new Galaxy S 4 to the mix.

As a part of Apple’s statement recently filed with the US District Court in California, the company said that the Galaxy S 4 “is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product.” The Galaxy S 4 now joins a list of 22 Samsung products that Apple believes are infringing on their patents.

Both sides have over 20 products from each company that they claim infringe on each other’s patents. Samsung has included almost all of Apple’s iOS devices, while Apple has focused on Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup, as well as the Note series of phablet-style smartphones.

Judge Lucy Koh will oversee the upcoming patent trial, as she was the judge during the first patent trial that saw Apple win with a whopping $1.05 billion award. However, that was since cut down by $450 million. However, while it seemed Apple was fine with that for the most part, the company claimed the re-calculation is off by $85 million, and thus, another court case will begin in November to re-calculate the damages.

If you’re slightly confused by all that’s going on between the two companies, you’re most likely not alone. Apple and Samsung have been going at it for a couple years now, and both companies are starting to slowly end their partnerships in the industry. For instance, it’s been rumored for quite some time that Apple is completely dropping Samsung from its manufacturing partners, which would cut ties between the two companies. Of course, Apple wants to develop their own chips anyway, but the separation is probably for the best at this point.

VIA: Phone Arena

SOURCE: US District Court Filing

Apple to add Samsung Galaxy S 4 to upcoming patent trial is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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