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Samsung Galaxy S ICS-like 'value pack' upgrade officially released in Korea
The so-called Value Pack upgrade that was leaked for original Samsung Galaxy S devices after the company announced they would not be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich (it was later given a passing mention in the Galaxy S II ICS upgrade notes) has been officially released, at least in Korea. The official Samsung Tomorrow page has a link to Gingerbread and Froyo upgrades for the Galaxy S, as well as the Galaxy K and Galaxy U phones. Just like the leaked version, it adds some Ice Cream Sandwich features to these non-Android 4.0 phones, including Face Unlock, the ability to take pictures while shooting video and launcher improvements, without the fully reworked underpinnings of the new OS. Owners of compatible devices can hit the source link for all the details and the files, as long as they have Kies 2.0 at the ready and a bit of open storage space (backing up existing data is also, naturally, encouraged). Of course whether this will officially come to any of our US-carrier optimized Galaxy S models is still unknown.
Samsung switches up the alphabet soup, launches Galaxy U in Korea
We'd previously heard about South Korean carrier LG U+ picking up a moderately downscaled version of the Galaxy S series as the Galaxy U before... and, well, sure enough, here it is. The U trades down from a 4-inch Super AMOLED display to a more modest 3.7 inches at the same WVGA resolution (the same size as the Beam, for the record) and includes a bunch of notable features like Bluetooth 3.0 support, 802.11n WiFi, 720p video capture, and -- since this is a Korean phone -- T-DMB mobile TV tuning. Looks like it'll be hitting stores in your choice of black or white (all white, without a black bezel) for 800,000 won ($683).
Samsung Galaxy U and Galaxy K add to the alphabet soup in South Korea
SK Telecom already offers a version of the Galaxy S -- but it's often the case that two or all three of Korea's top wireless players want in on the same hot handsets, so it's no surprise to hear that rivals LG U+ and KT are both working on flavors of their own. Confusingly, they'll be called the Galaxy U and the Galaxy K -- apparently in tribute to their carriers' names -- but they'll both be a touch smaller than the original S, clocking in at 3.7 inches (see the U pictured next to an S above). Word on the street is that they'll both be hitting between August and September, so the wait's a mercifully short one. Ironically, it's the supply of Samsung's 3.7-inch AMOLED displays that forced HTC's hand on moving into SLCD -- so we guess this is where part of that supply's being diverted. Check another picture of the U after the break. [Thanks, Pete]
