Sprint Epic 4G Touch (Update: but not US Cellular Galaxy S II) ICS update is official, start rolling out today

Just as the leak last night indicated, Samsung is finally ready to deliver Ice Cream Sandwich to Sprint’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch. Samsung also announced today that US Cellular’s similar but WiMAX-less SCH-R760 Galaxy S II is getting the same (Update: an entirely different) FF18 update as well. The changelogs are available at the source links below, interestingly Android Beam is mentioned since these devices lack NFC, it’s hard to see how that could be on the list. US Cellular users can download and install the update right now using a SimpleDL tool on a Windows PC, however unfortunately there’s no support for any other operating systems at this time. On Sprint the update is coming out OTA and will slowly arrive on devices over the next few days, but if you’re impatient then we’d keep an eye on the thread at XDA Developers for reports on how well it works as well as some sideloaded workarounds.

Update: So sorry for US Cellular folks, it appears your wait will continue. While sharing a tag, the update for your phone resolves an issue with getting GPS lock… and that’s it. There’s always CyanogenMod or AOKP, right? Also, while we’re at it, check out the updated ZDA Developers link to download ICS for the Epic 4G Touch directly, plus a quick how-to install video (embedded after the break.) [Thanks @jbro456]

Continue reading Sprint Epic 4G Touch (Update: but not US Cellular Galaxy S II) ICS update is official, start rolling out today

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Sprint Epic 4G Touch (Update: but not US Cellular Galaxy S II) ICS update is official, start rolling out today originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S, II and III pitted against one another in DisplayMate shootout

Samsung Galaxy S, II and III pitted against one another in Display Mate shootout

Feeling nerdy? Good, because the folks at DisplayMate have put together quite the comparison of the three different AMOLED displays featured in the Samsung Galaxy S, II and III smartphones. While the study places an emphasis on quantitative measures — and thus leaves more subjective qualities out of the discussion — the comparison is nonetheless an insightful look into the progression of Samsung’s AMOLED display technology. Curiously, some elements remain unchanged, such as color gamut, which is 138 percent of the sRGB standard across all displays and is to blame for images that appear over-saturated. In terms of color temperature, DisplayMate reveals that while Samsung is trending closer to a white of natural daylight, even the Galaxy S III — which measures 7,900 K — is still far too bluish in comparison to an ideal 6,500 K.

Believe it or not, but there’s one area that DisplayMate suggests is subtly worsening over time, and that’s light reflection. The issue is nearly moot, however, as the 5 percent reflectance of the Galaxy S III is but a small shift from the previous iterations, and what’s more, this remains among the lowest reflectance in the industry. We’d be fools to try and summarize all of DisplayMate’s findings, but if you’re curious to learn more — and we hope you are — be sure to hit up the source link below.

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Samsung Galaxy S, II and III pitted against one another in DisplayMate shootout originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade reportedly arrives tomorrow

Sprint Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade reportedly arrives tomorrow

After seeing many other Galaxy S II variants get upgrades to Samsung’s TouchWiz’d edition of Android 4.0, tomorrow should finally be the day for owners of Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch. While the date has been rumored before, now TechnoBuffalo has posted the image above showing off the date and details, while Phandroid also points out that source code for the FF18 update has already arrived on Samsung’s servers indicating a release is imminent. That the update is showing up just in time to still be out of date now that Jelly Bean is officially shipping however, still puts just a little drizzle on the parade.

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Sprint Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade reportedly arrives tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTechnoBuffalo, Phandroid  | Email this | Comments

Samsung expects record earnings for Q2 thanks to all those Galaxy phone sales

Samsung’s complete earnings results for the April – June 2012 period won’t come out until July 27th, but Reuters reports its early guidance to investors estimates the company’s profit at a record 6.7 trillion won ($5.9 billion). That’s mostly due to strong sales of the ever-expanding (and increasingly targeted by lawsuits) line of Galaxy smartphones. Sales forecasts are slightly below earlier estimates, and while there’s no specific numbers for each division, a Bloomberg breakdown of analyst predictions suggests there should be more good news to go around later this month.

Continue reading Samsung expects record earnings for Q2 thanks to all those Galaxy phone sales

Samsung expects record earnings for Q2 thanks to all those Galaxy phone sales originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ICS officially available for AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II beginning tomorrow

ICS now officially available for AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II

While it’s true a few lucky AT&T Galaxy S II owners were able to get their hands on the official upgrade to Android 4.0 just a matter of days ago, the company wasn’t ready to push it out to the masses quite just yet. The initial tests must’ve gone as well as hoped, however, because AT&T will be ready to make ICS publicly available tomorrow to anyone willing to go through Kies to grab it. Indeed, the one drawback to this wonderful news is the fact that ICS doesn’t just come to you… you need to go to it. As in, no over-the-air capabilities. The silver lining to that, though, is that this may actually work out better for anyone that feels better off sticking with the tried-and-true Gingerbread TouchWiz experience. On a sidenote, AT&T also reaffirmed its commitment to bringing the next version of Android to more devices this summer, but refused to specify which ones we can look forward to. Head below (or check out the source link) to learn how to grab the update.

Continue reading ICS officially available for AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II beginning tomorrow

ICS officially available for AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II beginning tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAT&T  | Email this | Comments