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.
Nothing super-shocking in this latest report from NPD — not after seeing fairly similar numbers from Strategy Analytics not all that long ago, that is. According to the research group, Apple’s leading the pack at 39-percent of US smartphone sales in the final quarter of last year — that number’s down from 41-percent this time last year. Bigger changes are afoot over at Samsung, however. The handset maker jumped from 21- to 30-percent from the same time last year, thanks in no small part to demand for the Galaxy S III. Go figure, NPD’s top five list is dominated entirely by iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S iterations — in fact, combined, the two manufacturers make up some 70-percent of sales. Motorola is in at a distant third, with seven-percent of sales, followed by HTC and LG, each at six-percent.
It has been a while since we last heard about the patent war between Apple and Samsung, but that doesn’t mean the two companies haven’t been busy going at each other. Earlier today, it was ruled that both companies can introduce new gadgets into their ongoing lawsuit, including the iPhone 5 and Galaxy Note II. Both sides claim the other’s gadgets infringe on its patents.
Back on November 16, Judge Paul Grewal had ruled that both companies could add products to the lawsuit, citing concerns that not allowing them to do so would prompt new lawsuits. Earlier today, Judge Grewal once again approved the adding of products to the lawsuit for both Apple and Samsung, with the former adding five.
Apple has tacked the Galaxy S III running Android 4.1, as well as the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 with wifi, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, and the Rugby Pro to its filings. Samsung, meanwhile, was a tad more conservative, simply adding the iPhone 5. The trial isn’t set to take place until March of 2014, so we’ll likely see more products added before it’s all said and done.
Neither Samsung nor Apple have made any public comments on the update yet. This is part of an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies, with both claiming harm due to the actions of the other. If you feel like picking your way through the legalese, you can check out the lawsuit Apple v. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) Ltd., 12-cv-00630, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
[via CNET]
Apple and Samsung add array of devices to patent lawsuit is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Amid the chaos of CES 2013, we discovered that Pelican is plotting to enter the mobile case business. The company was showing off cases for the iPhone 5 and iPad, but it also had two cases for the Samsung Galaxy S III on hand and ready to show off. The cases we saw for the Galaxy S III were certainly impressive, and if you find other protective cases a bit too bulky, you might want to give these a look.
That’s because Pelican’s goal with these cases seems to be to protect the phone from all manner of damage while keeping the overall size down. That’s especially important with the Galaxy S III, which is a pretty thin phone – having a big, bulky case attached to such a sleek phone would ruin the aesthetic, so Pelican is trying to hit the protection bullet points while keeping a thinner form factor overall.
The first case we have is the ProGear Vault Series, which actually requires you that use screws to seal your phone within the case. While that will make removing your phone a bit more difficult than your usual case that snaps together, there are benefits in that it makes the case resistant to “wind-driven rain.” The case also offers protection against dust and scratches, thanks to the fact that its made from magnesium and engineering-grade polymer. This case really locks down every opening you can think of with your phone, with Pelican even placing acoustic membranes over the microphone and speaker openings to prevent water from getting in without hindering audio quality. The Vault Series, which is also shockproof from a height of 72 inches, will be releasing in April or May with a “tentative” price of $75-$80.
Next we have the ProGear Defender Series, which is a little more accessible for folks who want to keep their phone safe without spending an arm and a leg on a case. The Defender obviously boasts fewer features than its more expensive brother, but it’s built with the same engineering-grade polymer and sports a rubber interior to make the case crushproof and shock-resistant. It also has a smooth plastic finish to make it easier to pull your out of your pocket. At the moment, Pelican is saying that the Defender series should launch in April with a price point of $35, but those could change by the time its release rolls around.
So there you have it, a duo of new cases from Pelican for your Galaxy S III. The cases seemed pretty solid when we checked them out, and the felt pretty light to boot, which means that they shouldn’t add too much weight to your phone. Expect to see more of Pelican in the mobile space as moving forward, but for now, be sure to check out our CES portal for all the news you need from the show!
Pelican offers protection for Galaxy S III with two new cases is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
What’s the lion’s share look like in sales numbers? About 500 handsets a minute, according to Samsung. The Korean hardware giant flaunted the sales estimate in its Q4 investors guidance, where it says it expects to see $8.3 billion in profits when the official earnings report drops later this month. That’s just shy of double what it reported over the same period in 2011. Sammy contributes the growth to a plentiful supply of regional variants of handsets like the Galaxy S III and Note II, as well as high demand for its display technology. The streak may not keep forever though, according to Reuters, analysts are predicting a first quarter slump without a new Galaxy S phone for the spring. We’ll have to wait for the full earnings release to see how things pan out, but it doesn’t look like the firm will be hurting for cash any time soon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Samsung
Source: Reuters
Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III smartphone has been available for some time now, but it’s still one of the best Android devices out there, and carriers are still promoting it as one of their elite devices to choose from. Case in point, it’s rumored that T-Mobile will be outing an LTE version of the Galaxy S III sometime next year.
A Samsung GSM phone that goes by the model name SGH-T999L has just been certified by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, and it’s presumably a version of the Samsung Galaxy S III that’s tailored for sale with T-Mobile in the US, since the current T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S III goes by the model name SGH-T999.
The “L” that’s tacked onto the end of the rumored device is allegedly short for “LTE”, meaning there could be an LTE variant of the Galaxy S III making its way to T-Mobile sometime soon. While this doesn’t do the carrier any good now, T-Mobile is expected to launch its own LTE network at some point in 2013, so it makes sense that they’re readying LTE phones for when they launch their LTE network.
Then again, the T-Mobile Galaxy Note II has LTE on board, which will eventually be enabled when the carrier launches LTE, so this new Galaxy S III with LTE might release a little earlier than T-Mobile’s own LTE. However, take it with a grain of salt because it could end up that the SGH-T999L might be something completely different, but we’ll keep our ears to the ground.
[via Android Community]
Samsung Galaxy S III with LTE rumored for T-Mobile is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The smartphone market of 2012 has seen some heated competition. The usual contenders all released solid hardware. But the dynamic between them changed, too—Windows Phone arrived as a serious third OS option, and 2012 ended with exciting new models of iPhone and Android devices. Here’s a look at the best new products people put in their pockets this year. More »
Samsung has started rolling out the Jelly Bean 4.1.2 update for international Galaxy S III users, bringing with it a series of features call the Premium Suite Upgrade. Galaxy users can now enjoy some features already available to Galaxy Note II users, such as multi-window view. Thus far, users in Poland, India, the UK, France, Sweden, Italy, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Algeria are seeing the update.
The update is split into two categories: contextual awareness and enhanced features. The contextual awareness updates include Page Buddy, which is a predictive feature that prompts your phone to respond to your actions, such as launching the music player when headphones are plugged in. A contextual menu now allows users to view the most frequently used apps first, while contextual tagging allows users to immediately tag photos with date, place, and weather.
The enhanced features, meanwhile, include multi-window support, something Galaxy Note II users have been able to enjoy for awhile. Users can now view two apps simultaneously via dual windows, or can switch to Reader Mode and tweak text size while single-click sharing Web pages. Facebook Lock Ticker makes it easy for users to monitor their Facebook news feeds via a ticker on the lock screen. Finally, Galaxy S III users can now auto share snapshots via an “Auto Share Shot” mode on the camera, allowing photos and videos to be shared with NFC.
If you look closely, you’ll see that the video above is labelled as Part 1; Samsung teases us in the announcement with an allusion to more features that will be announced in Part 2. Need something to keep you entertained until the update rolls your way? Check out this video of how Samsung stress tests the Galaxy S III, which includes mechanical button pushing and a robotic backside clad in denim jeans sitting squarely on the screen.
[via Samsung]
Galaxy S III gets Jelly Bean 4.1.2 “Premium Suite” update is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
As December begins, the year starts coming to a close, and with that comes the “best of 2012″ awards for pretty much everything. Video tracking service Visible Measures has rounded up the most popular tech ads of 2012, and surprisingly, Apple isn’t in the top five. Even more surprising, is that Samsung owns three out of the top five spots on the list — the number one ad being Samsung’s iPhone-mocking commercial that touts “the next best thing is already here.”
Samsung’s top ad received 71.8 million views this year, which is nearly four times the views of Apple’s top ad, which took the #6 spot. However, Apple’s ad isn’t even really an ad, but rather just one of Apple’s introduction videos, which is the seven-minute-long video introducing the iPhone 5 in this case. That video garnered almost 18.4 million views.
Samsung has been one of the big success stories over the last year, mostly thanks to its flagship Galaxy S III smartphone, but the marketing team that works behind the scenes for the Korean manufacturer can also be to blame for the company’s success, due to the several clever commercials that they’ve released throughout the year.
Other notable tech ads that claimed top spots on the list include “The Beauty Inside” commercial from Toshiba and Intel, which got over 54.4 million views, and “LeBron’s Day”, which features NBA superstar LeBron James. That ad ended up fetching just over 42.1 million views. Other companies who made the top ten include Google, LG, and Microsoft.
Samung’s iPhone-mocking ad named most viral tech ad of 2012 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We’ve all seen those ridiculous drop tests. The ones where people drop brand new gadgets on purpose and try to get them to break. While we all know that almost any smartphone will break when you drop it, what we really want to know is how smartphones hold up when their buttons are pressed thousands of times in a row. Samsung has released a video demonstrating their process of stress testing their flagship Galaxy S III smartphone, and it’s actually really interesting to watch.
The video isn’t in English, and YouTube’s built-in closed captioning translation system isn’t that great, so don’t bother turning your sound up to hear it. In any case, the video shows you several of Samsung’s stress tests, including sitting on the phone, putting it through a water bath, twisting it, and pushing the buttons 200,000 times in a row.
One of the tests includes quite a risque robotic caboose dressed in denim jeans and all, sitting on the phone in order to simulate the moments when users sit on their phones while its in their back pocket. We had no idea that Samsung went through the trouble of building a fake rear end in order test the durability of their devices.
Overall, knowing what companies put their devices through before selling them to the public is reassuring. While some people might scoff at plastic-built phones and call them fragile, manufacturers like Samsung and others seem to be spending a lot of time trying out different building materials in order to keep the phones durable and long-lasting.
[via Android Community]
Samsung shows how they stress test the Galaxy S III is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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