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Samsung building mid-range phone with 6.3-inch display, says ETNews
Korea's ETNews doesn't have a flawless track record with Samsung leaks, but it's hoping to revive its reputation with this latest sliver of gossip. It's suggesting that the company is going after those people who think the Galaxy Note is a bit on the weeny side by releasing the 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega. The device, which is codenamed "Project Möbius," is likely to come with a dual-core Exynos chip, 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel shooter up front. On the other hand, SamMobile has thrown out a bucket-load of specs to say that we could see a 5.8-inch Mega with a low-res 960 x 540 display, a 1.4GHz Exynos CPU and 1.5GB of RAM. We get the sense that neither device is coming with bleeding-edge specs and will instead slot into the mid-range tiers of the company's product lineup -- assuming they exist at all. Either way, at least we've managed to get through a whole post without using the word "phablet"... damnit!
Samsung's iCloud rival delayed after in-house service deemed 'unsuitable'
Korean newspaper ETNews is developing a reputation for bold claims, the latest being that Samsung's "answer" to iCloud, S-Cloud has been significantly delayed. SDS, the conglomerate's IT infrastructure division had originally been tasked to build the network, but its work was found to be "unsuitable." After the setback, Samsung's Media Solution Center had to enlist KT, operators of public cloud services in Korea and Amazon to help move things forward. An unnamed "cloud industry" source who spoke to the daily pointed out that one of the burdens of releasing so many (oh so many) devices is that the company has to work a lot harder to ensure all of them are compatible with any unified cloud service -- but them's the breaks, eh?
Rumor Mill: 7mm-thick Galaxy S III coming in May?
Korea's ETNews is betting its reputation upon this raft of rumored details concerning Samsung's Galaxy S III. Since the only thing we know for certain is that it'll be announced "After MWC," lets take all of these tidbits with a strong pot of "We'll believe it when we see it," okay? According to the report, the handset's going to be 7mm thick, helped by the company shrinking down its PCB, connector and chip sizes by between 10 and 20 percent. The only thing that hasn't lost any weight is the camera, which may sit on a "protrusion" (like the Droid RAZR's hump). It'll be running a custom quad-core processor with HDMI and LTE baked-in, and rather obviously it'll be running Ice Cream Sandwich. Here's where things get a little confusing, either this is the first of a raft of models that will highlight different features (so we'll see subsequent GS3s with an S-Pen, 3D display or souped-up camera) or the above perks will come with the flagship as standard. Parts are reportedly gearing up to be shipped, but the only time we'll get confirmation is when that special event kicks off closer to the summer.[Thanks, Erich]
Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 troubled by screen issues, chubbier version the result?
Everyone 'round here knows that Samsung has a lusty 10.1- and premature 7-inch version of its Galaxy Tab tablet. But we've heard nary a peep from Samsung about that $469 8.9-incher announced alongside its bigger, just-as-thin sibling back in March. We might know why. According to Korean news site Etnews, Samsung is having trouble getting it to market due to low yields of the 8.9's G1F touch-panel which uses one less film layer than conventional GFF (glass fiber filter) panels. This G1F architecture is behind Samsung's Super Clear LCD which you'll find on Sammy's own Galaxy Player, (Russian) Nexus S, and Wave II handsets. Etnews claims that Samsung will offset the G1F shortfall with GFF-type touch panels that are 30 - 40 percent thicker and dimmer, thanks to the extra layer. If true then we have one question: which regions will get the chunkier Galaxy Tab 8.9 when if finally does launch this summer?
Korean rumor puts iPhone 5 release in June (updated)
Update: The Loop remains convinced this will not happen. TUAW has seen an uptick in the number of rumors making their way around the blogosphere lately, purporting to know when the iPhone 5 will finally arrive. The latest is from Korea, where ETNews is reporting that the fifth-generation device is going to appear in June at an event to be held after WWDC. The rumor doesn't hold water when held up to Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer's recent comment that 8 MP Sony digital camera sensors would be delayed getting to Apple due to earthquake damage at a plant in Japan. Then again, Sony supplying camera sensors to Apple may be a misunderstanding anyway. ETNews also states that two South Korean telecom companies, KT and SK Telecom, will be getting the iPhone 5 soon after launch. That's contrary to common shipping patterns for Apple products, in which South Korea gets products well after launch. For example, the iPhone 4 just made it to South Korea on March 16. It's also rare for Apple to hold a press event for a new product so close to the Worldwide Developer's Conference. Most of us here at TUAW are treating this as a hopeful rumor, and we're holding out for a September release of the latest iPhone. [via Electronista]
