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Verizon brings Lollipop to Samsung's Galaxy S5 in the US
The rollout started in Europe already, but Samsung Galaxy S5 owners in the States are about to get a taste of Lollipop -- so long as you're on Verizon. Big Red is ready to update those handsets, and it's the first carrier in the US to offer the latest version of Android on said device. The new version packs in Lollipop's new features and a heavy dose of Material Design, all while still sporting Sammy's latest TouchWiz skin. You likely won't see a notification to install Android 5.0 immediately, as these things usually roll out in stages. However, folks with a Verizon GS5 can rest easy knowing that Lollipop will arrive shortly.
IRL: Olloclip's 4-in-1 photo lens for Galaxy S4 and S5
We first met Olloclip's tiny pop-on camera lens more than three years ago. The iPhone accessory got its start on Kickstarter, in the crowdfunding site's infancy, and became our very first featured Insert Coin project. Today, it's a staple at the Apple Store and a slew of other retailers -- you can even pick one up at those Best Buy vending machines in the airport. Several more iPhone versions have since debuted, but we've never seen an Olloclip for Android smartphones, until today. The first Android versions are compatible with two recent Samsung flagships, the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5. Because photo effects are created using a physical lens rather than an app, Olloclips are designed for specific devices. If you don't own a Galaxy S4 or S5 (or an iPhone), don't lose hope -- we may see models for other handsets in the near future.
Galaxy S5 Active launches on AT&T: tougher shell, same water resistance
We knew it existed but now it's finally crawled out of some jungle (or beach vacation) to go official. Samsung's Galaxy S5 Active is available today on AT&T and while ruggedized phones typically lack.. something compared to flagship devices, this time it looks like no notable corners were cut. The Galaxy S5 Active has the same full-HD AMOLED 5.1-inch screen, while the 16-megapixel camera and fingerprint sensor are also lodged into the rugged smartphone. That said, water-resistance is now part of the original GS5's bag of tricks, which makes it less of selling point here. Regardless, there's the shock-resistant dust-proof shell and a burlier look: even if it's dreamy rendered view we're seeing here, the metallic details and finish could well win over Galaxy fans that aren't pro-plastic -- we're a little intrigued to see it IRL.
Weekends with Engadget: GS5 and Fire TV reviews, Sony's Yoshida on VR, and more!
Welcome to Weekends with Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines from the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. For even more action, subscribe to our Flipboard magazine!
Daily Roundup: Galaxy S5 review, Sony's Shuhei Yoshida on VR and more!
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.
Samsung Galaxy S5 review: a solid improvement, but don't rush to upgrade
Now that I've been testing it for a few days, let's see if the Galaxy S5 lives up to all those promises.
Sprint gets the Galaxy S5 and Gear smartwatches April 11th, pre-orders go live today
Sprint's getting the Galaxy S5, too. And like fellow underdog T-Mobile, the carrier plans to offer Samsung's flagship handset for no dinero upfront on its Easy Pay plan. Which means, you still have to pay, but just in 24 monthly increments. Those pre-orders begin today for folks visiting Sprint's retail stores -- that is if you can still find one that isn't shuttered -- and begin shipping on April 11th. And to sweeten the pot a little for those that aren't entirely sold on the GS5, Sprint's even tossing in zippy 4G LTE for subs that live in Spark markets, as well as a "free" Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 for qualifying Framily (ugh, that word!) members. Though note you'll have to open a separate two-year agreement to get it. But there's even more Samsung gadgetry on the way. On the same day the GS5 becomes available, Sprint will also add Samsung's new line of Gear smartwatches -- the Gear 2/Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit -- to its portfolio. As a relatively low-end impulse buy, you'll be able to get the Neo and Fit for $200, while the more "luxe" Gear 2 will go for $300.
T-Mobile to offer the Samsung Galaxy S5 for no money down, pre-orders begin March 24th
Looks like the embargo is officially up on Samsung Galaxy S5 pricing. After AT&T revealed earlier today that it'll sell the new flagship phone for $200 on-contract, T-Mobile chimed in to say it will offer the device for no money down, with pre-orders beginning next week, on March 24th. Of course, anyone who knows anything about T-Mobile's UnCarrier pricing plans knows that doesn't mean "free" -- it means you're committing to 24 subsequent monthly payments. So, if you're already sweet on the GS5's Band-Aid-like stylings, and know you prefer T-Mo, you'll want to sign up first thing on Monday.
Samsung Galaxy S5 will cost £69 in the UK on Three
It's a big day for Three as it becomes the first UK network to reveal how much it'll charge for the Galaxy S5 when it lands on April 11th. The handset will set you back £69 up front on a variety of two-year deals, the cheapest priced at £38 a month for 2GB data, while £44 a month gives you all-you-can-eat texts, minutes and data with an additional 2GB for tethering. No other UK network has tipped its hat thus-far, but we'll keep harassing them until they break down and tell us everything.
Samsung's Galaxy S5 won't be considered a medical device in South Korea
Samsung's shiny new Galaxy S5 packs quite a stats punch with built-in sensors and the help of S Health, but the monitoring of vital signs could lead to regulatory issues. Officials with South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety had been reviewing the handset, and today it ruled that Samsung would not be forced to get formal approval as a medical device. The GS5's heart-rate sensor subjects it to stricter regulations under current laws due to the fact that it monitors organ function. In order to clarify the requirements, Korean regulators will rework the parameters in regards to how it classifies everyday gadgets for fitness use. This could lead to a similar process to that of the US, where consumer pulse sensors are not subject to approval from the Food and Drug Administration. S Health was approved as a "cardiology signal transmitter" by the FDA in the States back in January and originally debuted alongside the Galaxy S III in 2012. Back then, it monitored glucose levels and blood pressure with body composition tallied via a Bluetooth-equipped scale. However, those functions weren't a part of S Health when it finally debuted stateside on the GS4 -- despite another lot of health-minded accessories that were available abroad.
Spritz's speed-reading tech shows up to 1,000 words a minute, makes its debut on Samsung devices
Two weeks ago, we were so busy getting hands-on with the new Samsung GS5 and Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch that an exclusive app for the two devices flew completely under our radar. That "app," as we call it, isn't really an app at all: it's Spritz's speed-reading technology, and if all goes according to plan, it will soon be embedded into loads of websites, apps and wearables devices. For now, though, the tech is making is debut on the GS5 and the Gear 2, with a public SDK set to come out in a few weeks.
AT&T's Galaxy S5 gets FCC approval, just like you knew it would (update: T-Mobile and Verizon too)
Samsung already made it clear that the Galaxy S5 would reach AT&T when it launched globally in April. Still, it's nice to know the flagship is on track for an on-time arrival, right? The 5.1-inch phone just surfaced in a fresh set of FCC documents, which show a GS5 variant with AT&T-friendly LTE bands (2, 4, 5 and 17) and support for ANT+ sensors (handy for wireless heart-rate monitors and the like). Predictably, the phone also includes GSM, GPRS, EDGE and UMTS, for when you can't manage a 4G signal. That still leaves lots of questions -- how much will it cost? How good is this thing? -- but we suppose we'll just have to wait until April 11th to find out. Update: Sure enough, a T-Mobile version of the GS5 has also surfaced at the FCC. Update #2: And here's the Verizon version too. Enjoy. Update #3: A few days later, Samsung has also passed another CDMA model through the FCC; this one's most likely destined for relatively small carriers, such as US Cellular.
Why did Samsung play it safe with the Galaxy S5's processor?
Of all the phone manufacturers out there, Samsung seems to have a particular talent for creating an anticlimax. Our first thought when holding the Galaxy S5 was that we'd been through all this before a year ago, with the equally underwhelming launch of the GS4. Our disappointment jibed with the reactions of other bloggers around us at Mobile World Congress and with many readers' comments on our hands-on article. Folks seemed to forget about the phone after five minutes and switch their attention to Samsung's new smartwatches, especially the delectable Gear Fit. First impressions aren't everything, however. A phone's charm can take a while to sink in, and you only have to look at the Galaxy S3 for proof of that. (I reviewed that handset many moons ago, and must admit that I never expected it to do as well as it did.) As add-ons go, the swipe-based fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor may not be astounding now that we've had the HTC One Max and fitness gadgets like the Withings Pulse, but they might prove their utility in time. Even if they don't, the GS5 has other redeeming features, such as its 1080p AMOLED display, phase-detection autofocus and basic water resistance, and it comes at just the right time to win over GS3 owners whose contracts are coming to an end. But the anticlimax is there nonetheless, and it most likely stems from a suspicion that Samsung's vast scale and manufacturing strength isn't being fully exploited. Like Apple, but unlike most other phone makers, Samsung has control over many different technologies that go into a smartphone, including the memory, display and -- most importantly -- the processor. It showed us glimpses of this cross-discipline expertise with the global versions of the Galaxy S2 and S3, whose in-house Exynos processors brought extra speed and graphics just when Android needed it, and it did something similar with the big-screened, stylus-equipped Galaxy Note series. But the GS5, like the GS4, seems much less distinctive, and so perhaps what we should be asking is this: Why isn't Samsung able to muster its in-house resources to create something truly different? And that, at least, is a question we can begin to answer.
Daily Roundup: a Galaxy S5 knock-off, dual-lens mobile imaging and more!
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.
Samsung quietly reveals a Galaxy S5 variant with an eight-core processor
So that's Samsung's new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5. The company makes the majority of the components itself, but what happened to those home-grown Exynos processors? Well, Samsung tells us that the GS5 will come in two variants, one with the 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chip (the model that we tested out at MWC), and another with a 2.1GHz octo-core Exynos 5 processor. Samsung did the same with the Galaxy S4 last year, but we didn't pick up any huge differences in performance when we compared the two phones. The LTE-capable GS4s never left Korea, however, so we'd predict a similarly limited roll-out for any Exynos-powered GS5s.
Daily Roundup: Galaxy S5, Samsung's new smartwatches, Nokia's Android phones, and more!
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.
Samsung Galaxy S5 preview: simpler in some ways, more 'glam' in others
Once a year, Samsung takes some of its best material and slaps it together into a premium flagship model called the Galaxy S. While 2014's version -- the S5 -- came a bit earlier in the year than some earlier iterations, we're no less excited to see it become the star of the show at Mobile World Congress. The new device will ship in April (on stage, Samsung specifically mentioned that it launches on April 11th in 150 markets), although exact pricing and availability are still unknown. It features a refreshed design language, yet anyone who has used a GS phone recently will immediately recognize it as a Samsung flagship. Despite its familiar design, the GS5 has a few new useful hardware features, including a fingerprint scanner, heart rate sensor, and a toned-down TouchWiz UI on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all, however, was that Samsung didn't overload its prized new smartphone with a heaping dose of new S-branded features. This is a marked departure from the company's previous strategy of cramming in every software feature under the sun, which leads us to wonder if this is related to Samsung's recent agreement to dial back the customization it does on Android devices. So what else is new here? Read on for a deeper dive.
Weekly Roundup: Comcast acquiring TWC, the Galaxy S 5 and more!
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.
Daily Roundup: Lumia Icon headed to Verizon, the Galaxy S 5 and more!
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.
What Samsung is saying about the Galaxy S5
Samsung isn't going to make a big song-and-dance when it finally reveals its next flagship smartphone, at least not literally. When it announced last year's Galaxy S 4, the company put on a pretty grand show in New York. However, that isn't to say the current darling of Android is keeping everything a secret when it comes to the Galaxy S5. In fact, the company has shared a surprising amount about what to expect, without us even getting close to the rumor mill. And, because Samsung makes the majority of its smartphone components in-house (processor, screen and battery) many of these announcements are made from the sidelines, months in advance, then not-so-miraculously appear (eventually) in the company's mobile devices. Last year's Samsung flagship didn't scream that it was truly a new phone in its own right ... something that Samsung's Mobile EVP, Lee Young Hee even admitted. Broadly, Samsung's said that it's had a "back to basics" rethink on its next smartphone -- a good idea given that the GS 4 really didn't fall far from the Galaxy S tree. Slimmer, faster and sharper are all good, but last year's flagship didn't scream that it was truly a new phone in its own right. It's even something that Samsung's Mobile EVP Lee Young Hee, admitted in an interview with Bloomberg. "It's partly true that consumers couldn't really feel much difference between the two products from the physical perspective." With this year's model, she added, "mostly it's about the display and the feel of the cover." So that's the front and back, right? At its most asinine, it could simply mean the GS5 will pillage the faux leather effect that's now the standard on both Samsung Android tablets and its Note 3 series. Samsung's already transplanted the look to a limited-run Galaxy S 4, but it's the mention of changes to the screen that's got us a little more enthused than last year.
