SamsungExperience
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Samsung cleans up its Android skin with 'One UI'
In addition to unveiling its much-rumored folding phone at its developer conference today, Samsung also shared its plans for a cleaner Android skin. The new look will be called One UI, and feature not only a refreshed design with rounded corners in its icons, but also a minimalist aesthetic that the company said will draw users' eyes "to what matters."
Samsung wants you to beta test the next Galaxy phone's software
Are you champing at the bit waiting for a taste of what the next Galaxy phone will be like? You don't have to wait until 2018. Samsung is launching a public beta for Experience 9.0, its customized take on Android Oreo that will show up on the next Galaxy flagship. As of November 2nd, "select" Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus owners (more on that later) in South Korea, the UK and the US will get to peek at the next-gen interface in return for feedback on performance and usability.
Samsung's latest smartphone-camera hybrid launches in the UK tomorrow
Samsung appears intent on single-handedly bringing back the word "cameraphone," if the Galaxy S4 Zoom and recently announced Galaxy K Zoom are anything to go by. The newer of the two does a much better job of hiding its hybrid bloodline, and tomorrow (May 31st) it arrives in the UK at various online and bricks-and-mortar outlets, including at Carphone Warehouse and Samsung's own Experience stores. If the official K Zoom product page is any indication, you'll be looking at around £400 all-in, and we doubt they'll be a wealth of carrier-subsidised deals on offer for the niche device. The K Zoom doesn't quite rival the Galaxy S5 in terms of raw power, but it's the 20.7-megapixel camera with 10x optical zoom you'll be buying it for; and, how can you resist something with a Selfie Alarm mode?
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 arrives at one UK store: £339 for the WiFi-only, 16GB model
Have you been feeling a bit like a UK-based Goldilocks? The Galaxy Note II's too small, the Note 10.1 a trifle too big, but the Note 8 looks just right? Well, today's your lucky day, as the mid-sized tablet has officially launched in the Queen's dominion. The WiFi-only, 16GB model will set you back £339 (approximately $516), and at the moment, you'll only find it at the Samsung Experience Store in Westfield Stratford City. It'll be available elsewhere shortly, and it's probably worth waiting -- from April 15th for a limited time, buyers will get a few extras: a £20 voucher for the Samsung Learning Hub, a two-month subscription to The Times, free access to the Samsung Music Hub for a month, and a couple of games and AVG Anti-Virus Pro gratis. If tethering ain't your bag but you need data on the go, a gent from the Westfield store told us the 3G version is on its way, but couldn't give us a firm arrival date. It's our duty to warn you Westfield is a crowded nightmare at the best of times, and the arrival of a new Samsung tablet ain't gonna help that.
Samsung partners with Best Buy to bring Experience Shops to 1,400 stores
Not content with a gazillion Galaxy phone sales, Samsung is hoping to continue winning the smartphone war in one of the biggest battlegrounds any manufacturer can face: retail. The Korean OEM has partnered with Best Buy to bring its Experience Shops to the big box retailer nationwide -- 1,400 of them by early summer (with 900 launching this month), to be precise. So what does Sammy hope to achieve? In addition to the standard shopping setup, the company wants to give customers the ability to actually use its products and get a first-hand feel of what they have to offer: phones, accessories, Smart TVs and tablets will be on display. Each shop will be manned by Samsung-employed consultants as well as specially trained Best Buy employees. This appears to be Samsung's way of offering a thorough retail experience without actually launching its very own stores across the country. It'll be interesting to see if it will be a more effective retail alternative to what companies like Apple and Microsoft have adopted, but Samsung sure seems quite optimistic about its chances. Find the press release below for the full experience. Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
Daily Update for August 24, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Samsung's new Sydney store closely resembles ... an Apple Store
In case you've missed it, Samsung and Apple are battling it out in a U.S. federal court to determine once and for all if Samsung copied the iPhone and iPad too closely. The South Korean electronics manufacturer apparently still has a crush on Apple's designs, as a new "Samsung Experience Store" in Sydney, Australia's George Street looks surprisingly like an Apple Store. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the location -- which is only a block from Apple's Sydney store -- has a glass entrance, plain tables showcasing Samsung tablets, smartphones, and computers, and even employees in blue shirts. The Herald's Asher Moses interviewed Tyler McGee, Samsung's vice president of telecommunications for Australia, who said that the proximity of Apple's Sydney store wasn't a factor in determining the location for the Samsung storefront. Pressed about the remarkable resemblance of the store to an Apple Store, McGee noted that the design is "the layout we use around the world, and it's about basically giving the consumers the opportunity to interact, learn and play with our devices." Regardless of the similarities to Apple Stores, Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore was quoted as saying "I think it Samsung will find it more difficult to copy the buzz or excitement that Apple's stores generate for its customers." [via AppleInsider]
Palo Alto Library to loan out Google Chromebooks alongside real books
Google has teamed up with the Palo Alto Library to offer its Chromebooks on loan, as part of a pilot program slated to kick off in January. As Wired explains, the Silicon Valley library has long offered laptops for visitors to use, though these devices were only available for two-hour windows, and were forbidden from leaving the premises. A few months ago, however, Google approached the library about offering Chromebooks for longer periods, in the hopes of bringing the device's cloud-based "shareability" to a wider audience. Palo Alto's librarians tried out 21 Chromebooks over the course of one month before deciding to loan them out for one-week periods, beginning next year. The notebooks have been available for on-grounds use for the past month, though according to Senior Librarian Jessica Goodman, the institution's Windows-based laptops are still more popular among patrons. "People would try it and say, 'That was pretty cool. I wish I could do word processing with that,'" Goodman told Wired, adding that the forthcoming one-week loans should give users more time to familiarize themselves with the device, and "spark a little bit of interest." East Coasters, meanwhile, can reap similar benefits at the Samsung Experience store in New York, where Chromebooks are now available on loan from the Chrome Zone. Check out the source link for more details.
Samsung 3DTVs put to the test with World Cup, Monsters vs. Aliens and... iCarly?
Of course we've talked 3D to death and back, and we've seen several reviews and previews, but Technologizer took some time out to grab a more "man on the street" impression of the technology. With a mini focus group intact they checked out the Samsung Experience in NYC, taking time to focus on the top of the line 55-inch C9000 LED LCD HDTV. With not much 3D content (the initial viewing was before the world Cup started) they checked out some regular 2D content converted by the display into 3D, while viewers were surprisingly receptive to The Daily Show and Transformers 2 that way, iCarly and American Idol didn't fare quite as well. Still, viewers seemed excited by the 3D Blu-ray movie pack-in, and a short time later, some German 3D fans were impressed by the World Cup presentation, though like our impressions the effect varied based on the camera angle. Ultimately, none of the people asked seemed ready to buy a 3DTV yet, citing lack of content and prices as their main reasons. click through for the full impressions, we'll wait a week or so and see if there's a followup when there's two or more 3D channels and Blu-ray 3D movies to watch.
Samsung releasing Helix and Nexus this month?
Well, looks like 25th of April will see the official release of Samsung's Helix and Nexus XM sat rads at the Samsung Experience in the Time Warner Center in our fair city of New York. We've been kind of expecting the release of the Helix (which was announced at CES) any day now, but the Nexus is way overdue, having been announced last September. For those thinking of swooping in to make a purchase, the Helix is Samsung's portable with live streaming XM and an FM transmitter. The Nexus doesn't have the same live sat capability, but does have 512MB and 1GB versions for playing back pre-recorded XM streams; both feature MP3 and WMA playback, and can use the XM / Napster service. You can already pre-order the Nexus for $219 / 270, but don't forget that you can pre-order that Pioneer Inno for $399, too.
