Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
The USA legal case between Apple and Samsung has been amended to add several devices including the original Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and Galaxy S III. This complaint does not yet include a request for a ban on these products, but does make it clear that Apple wishes to include them in the set of Samsung devices that Apple says infringes their patent rights. The full list also includes such devices as the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, and Galaxy Player devices as well.
Thus far Apple has won over $1 billion USD in damages from Samsung in the USA case which has had a verdict read just days after the month-long trial took place. The results of the trial are currently set for appeal per Samsung’s request, and no cash has been exchanged thus far. The newest additions to the list of Samsung products in the trial include several of Samsung’s newest hero products. The full list of devices Apple has suggested should be included in the list of devices that have infringed upon their patent rights is as follows:
“the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S III – Verizon, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II – T-Mobile, Galaxy S II – AT&T, Galaxy Nexus, Illusion,Captivate Glide, Exhibit II 4G, Stratosphere, Transform Ultra, Admire, Conquer 4G, and Dart smartphones, the Galaxy Player 4.0 and Galaxy Player 5.0 media players, and the Galaxy Note10.1, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablets.”
These devices have been specified as being “imported into, offered for sale, or sold in the United States.” Apple has added that Samsung has “continued to flood the market with copycat products,” since the first filing of the case that’s just been completed – so to speak. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus specifically was a device Apple was able to get a temporary injunction against earlier this year – Samsung was granted a stay pending appeal which has allowed the device to continue to be up for sale throughout the USA today. The complaint in that case had to do specifically with Apple’s ’604 “Unified search” patent.
Check the timeline below for more key points in this trial since its first verdict reading. Also stay tuned as Samsung and Apple continue to kick back and forth until they’re satisfied in the legal realm or one of them gets knocked out of business entirely. In other words, expect yourself to be watching this story for some time to come!
Today at its IFA 2012 press conference, Samsung confirmed that the newly announced Galaxy Note II will make use of a new, redesigned S Pen. In addition to boasting an improved 8mm grip, it has a rubber tip. It also recognizes 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is already true of the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Other than that, Samsung hasn’t shared much in the way of specifics, but if you’d like to see video of the new Note in action, we can at least offer that.
Judging from the rows and rows of Samsung flag lining the outside the Messe Berlin, the company’s planning another big show for this year’s IFA. This time last year, the company took the wraps off of its industry-shaping Galaxy Note, and if all goes according to plan, there’s seems a fairly significant chance that 2012 will see a sequel. And, knowing Samsung, that’s not all we’re in store for today. Hold on tight and join us after the break.
Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Note II, the successor to its surprising hit “phablet” the Galaxy Note, with a 5.5-inch stylus-enabled display and 1.6GHz quadcore processor. Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with 2GB of RAM, the Note II also includes a fatter, longer stylus – though still fitting it into the body of the phone itself – with a new rubber tip for more comfortable handwriting and sketching. Perhaps most impressive, though, are the dimensions: by trimming the bezels, Samsung has managed to bring the new Note II in at almost the same size as the model it replaces, despite the larger screen.
In fact, it’s 9.4mm thick and 180g, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Galaxy S III. Two color versions will be offered – marble white and titanium grey – and three storage models, 16/32/64GB. The screen, an HD Super AMOLED, has lost a few pixels in width – it’s now 1280 x 720 rather than 1280 x 800 – but the battery has gained capacity, now up to 3,100 mAh and, Samsung told us, charges more quickly and lasts for longer than on the Note. Connectivity will likely include various 4G models, along with NFC, WiFi and Bluetooth.
The biggest changes, though, are to the software, which Samsung continues to refine for digital notetakers. Pull out the S Pen stylus and Popup Note loads for quickly jotting down reminders; hold down the barrel button on the side of the stylus and swipe up, and you get Quick Command, which uses handwritten shortcuts to toggle settings or load apps. It’s also capable of more advanced functionality: for instance, you can write “@ Paul” and then a brief message, and it will open up a new email, address it to Paul, and paste the message into the body.
Other changes make the most of the screen size on offer. The gallery can now show a column of albums on the left and their contents along the right, all on the same screen, and the Popup Play floating video tool we saw on the Galaxy S III has been brought over and makes more sense on the larger Note II display. Hover the nib of the pen over a gallery folder, message, calendar entry, contact or photo, and it will expand as a preview. The same system gives video timeline previews as you hover-scrub through clips.
Facebook calendar entries now sync with Samsung’s own calendar, and there’s a Screen Recorder tool that can create a video clip of your pen actions, useful if you need to show someone exactly what changes you need made to a document or presentation. As before, clipping out sections of the display as screenshots is simple, and there’s handwriting recognition.
Samsung hasn’t confirmed pricing, nor carrier versions, but we’d expect to see the same sort of numbers and availability as the existing Note when the Galaxy Note II hits stores in Q1 2013.
Samsung US gave us the following comment:
“Samsung Mobile is planning a U.S. version of Galaxy Note II, which will be available later in 2012. Building on the success of the original Galaxy Note, we’re confident that the Galaxy Note II continues to redefine what consumers should expect from their smartphone and delivers a powerful, innovative and unique experience. Exact timing and retail channel availability is not being announced at this time, we will continue to share information as it becomes available”
Take the DNA of the original Galaxy Note, add the style of the Galaxy S III, and throw in a more comprehensive understanding of what digital pen-users want, and you’d come up with the Galaxy Note II. Samsung’s second-gen “phablet” manages to deliver a larger screen in a more pocketable form-factor than its trail-blazing predecessor, including making the digital S Pen itself easier to wield. We caught up with Samsung and the Note II ahead of its official launch at IFA 2012 to see if one of our favorite devices could really have been so improved.
Make no mistake, it’s still a big phone. Samsung has trimmed the top and bottom bezels and so managed to fit 5.5-inch screen into a space where previously a 5.3-inch one resided, without making significant changes to the overall bulk of the handset, but it still dominates the hand. Happily the blunt edges of the original Note are gone, replaced by the softer curves and glossy plastic we saw previewed in the Galaxy S III. It’s a visual trick, but it does make the Note II appear smaller.
The other big physical change is to the S Pen, which still gets a silo in the body of the phone itself, but is both longer and thicker than the first-gen version. It also has a new, rubber tip, which does make tapping and writing on the touchscreen feel less like you’re scratching away at your phone with a toothpick. The new stylus is compatible with the old Note, though of course it won’t stow away inside.
When it comes to the display, Samsung giveth and Samsung taketh away. The panel itself is bigger – and just as bright, color saturated and generally delicious as we’re used to from AMOLED technology – but you actually lose out on some pixels. The Note II runs at 1280 x 720, just like the Galaxy S III, whereas its predecessor ran at 1280 x 800. You don’t really notice the difference, but it does mean that some of the apps and changes Samsung has made for the Note II won’t be rolled back to the original Note, because of hardware differences that include the new resolution.
Samsung Galaxy Note II video demo:
Part of the reason you don’t notice the change is that Samsung has made more intelligent use of the real-estate on offer. The gallery UI, for instance, has been tweaked to accommodate both a folder list and the contents of the currently selected folder simultaneously, making navigating through a far swifter affair. It works particularly well with the new Air View previewing system, which finally takes advantage of the hover-support Wacom’s active digitizers provide.
Float the nib of the stylus above a gallery folder, for instance, and it will bloom up to show thumbnails of what’s in that folder (up to nine pictures at once, with the previews scrolling to show more for as long as you keep hovering). S Note gets its own homescreen pane appended onto the default list of seven, for browsing your folders of existing notes or starting a new one; alternatively, as soon as you pull the S Pen out, a blank note is brought up onscreen.
Officially, the Note II should run faster than before – indeed, we had no problems using Samsung’s Popup Play video picture-in-picture with an HD video clip, while simultaneously browsing full webpages – though we’ll need to get our hands on a review unit (and final software) to see how it holds up under true everyday stress. The 2GB of RAM is a welcome addition, though, and generally moving between apps proved lag-free.
Twelve months ago, the original Galaxy Note was met with both derision and delight. Some loved the idea of a tweener phone/tablet which made “proper” use of a stylus; others took great pleasure in reciting Steve Jobs’ famous comments about devices using pens being instant failures. In the intervening period, though, its built a strong following of users loving the expansive display and convenience of digital notetaking.
The Galaxy Note II promises to build on that. It’s an evolutionary change, not revolutionary, but it’s further evidence of how Samsung’s “a device for every sub-segment” strategy with phones and tablets can deliver some highly appealing products, especially when you take the Korean company’s very capable supply chain into account. You can’t really argue with the Note II’s display, or its processor, or indeed its 8-megapixel camera.
What you can argue over is whether the Note II is still too big. If you felt that about the original, then this new version is unlikely to change your mind. Still, we can see the new phablet finding a similarly enthusiastic audience as its predecessor, and in a marketplace filled with me-too phone slabs, its S Pen functionality remains a welcome diversion from the norm.
Today the Samsung Galaxy Note II appears to have been revealed before its final release time with specifications and high-res images appearing together. This leak comes from PocketNow where they’ve got two different iterations of the Galaxy Note II, one of them blue, the other white. This device will have a 5.5-inch 1280×720 resolution display which will be a massive HD Super AMOLED panel – that’s bright and sharp for certain.
This device will be popping up with a 1.6GHz quad-core CPU more than likely from Samsung itself – Exynos, that is, with 2GB of RAM inside. On the back will be an 8 megapixel camera, the front will have a 1.9 megapixel camera, and the device will be running on a massive 3,100mAh battery. This gigantic battery will not make the device thicker than its predecessor, but it will make it heavier.
This device will be released with a body that’s 9.4mm thin compared to the original 9.65mm body of the original Note. It’s going to be just 2 grams heavier than the first Note, and will be coming in 16, 32, and 64GB iterations. Thus far we have no news on the device coming to the USA nor do we know when it will be available anywhere in the world.
We’ll be seeing final details soon, we’re sure, with the device more than likely appearing later today at IFA 2012. Stay tuned for more information as it pops up!
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 phablet is believed to be only days from its official release, but a Korean newspaper claims to have jumped the gun on what, exactly, the stylus-toting handset will bring to the table. The Note 2 GT-N7100 will have a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720 display, so the Seoul Newspaper claims, along with 3G/4G connectivity and a 1.4GHz quadcore Exynos 4412 processor. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s also tipped to arrive running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, not the older Ice Cream Sandwich.
The screen itself uses one of Samsung’s Super AMOLED panels, according to the leaked spec sheet, and there’s an 8-megapixel main camera along with either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. Physically, the blunter edges of the original Galaxy Note have supposedly been rounded off, the newspaper says.
None of those details come as any particular surprise, given what we’ve seen of the Galaxy S III and heard whispered about the Note 2 already. Some details, like the camera, are seemingly unchanged from the current-gen model too – at least on paper – though if Samsung can trim down the physical design to make it more pocket-friendly then that might be enhancement enough. That might take advantage of Samsung’s flexible screen tech, allowing the display to curve somewhat around the body of the phone.
Although it met with some confusion when first announced, the oversized Note soon built up a following of loyal users thanks to its accurate digital stylus and expansive screen size, ideal for media consumption, note-taking and browsing. It also prompted rivals to consider larger phones, such as the LG Optimus Vu.
Samsung is expected to reveal the Galaxy Note II at its Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday, August 29. SlashGear will be right there to bring you back all the details; keep an eye on our IFA 2012 hub for all the news.
Square gets most of the media hype, but without an international presence, would-be competitors have had a chance to carve out their own niches in the mobile commerce market. Sweden’s iZettle has managed to make quite a splash in its homeland, and it’s expanding its mini empire by finally bringing its wares to Android — albeit in an extremely limited form. Unless you’ve got a Galaxy S III, S II or a Note then iZettle still isn’t for you and with availability in a single Nordic country, it might seem more accurate to describe Android support as being in beta, but the company has ditched the testing tag regardless. Rest assured, however, it is actively working to add more handsets and export the app beyond its particle board-loving borders.
This month we’re hearing rumors upon rumors that Samsung will be releasing their second full iteration of the Galaxy Note line with a “2″ model toting a massive 5.5-inch display – but you might want to go ahead and skip it. We’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy Note – the first one – since it was released, and are now working quite actively with both the Galaxy Note 10.1 (the tablet-sized version of the device line) as well as the Samsung Galaxy S III. As it turns out, there might not be a need for yet another Samsung display size.
Of course who can say such a thing when Samsung has been making a killing over the past couple of years in creating Android devices in a variety of sizes. They started really hitting it when the began manufacturing the Galaxy Tab lineup, starting with the classic original Galaxy Note and moving up to the 10.1-inch tablet and back down to the 8.9. They’ve also hit 7.7, 7.0 several times, and have certainly moved through every inch between 3.5 and 4.7 as well.
NOTE: The image above is a mock up, not the real deal. That said, the designer behind the mock-up is a pro – hats off to him!
The first Galaxy Note has a 5.3-inch display and a chassis that’s not too thick, made to work with HSPA+ radios at its fastest, not quite hitting up the world of LTE (in its first international iteration, anyway). We assumed that this was because LTE components made the device a bit fatter than Samsung would have liked it – though the Galaxy Nexus proved us wrong with its own slight weight gain – and the LG Optimus U may have been another clue with its future exclusivity. That’s not confirmed, of course, but such a similar form factor is certainly set to cannibalize the market Samsung has all but cornered right this moment.
The Samsung Galaxy S III also presents a bit of a conundrum for you potential future Galaxy Note 2 purchasers – do you want that next-gen device, or do you want this already fabulous smartphone? Have a peek at a hands-on we did with the Galaxy Note (original) and the Galaxy S III vs one another before the Galaxy S III was released earlier this year.
Now with the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, we’re likely going to see everything we had with the original Note, but with a larger display as well as some Galaxy S III flair. We’re hoping to see each of the following bits of fabulousness that came with the Galaxy S III line for one reason: if Samsung is able to continue to bring on Samsung-unique features such as each of these, they’ll have an Apple situation on their hands with people wanting to remain “in the family” – aka brand loyal. Of course when we say “we hope” it’s more of a hope for Samsung if they want to continue to rise in the market ranks.
S Beam Hands-on
AllShare Play / Group Cast Hands-on
Share Shot / Buddy Photo Share Hands-on
If the next Galaxy Note does indeed appear with these features onboard when it comes into the light at IFA 2012, I will congratulate Samsung on a continued job well done. If they are not aboard, I’ll question Samsung’s ability to stay confident in their own software. That’s no joking matter!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
