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IRL: TYLT cables and a standoff between two Galaxies
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. IRL is a column about stuff we're using in real life and yes, that sometimes includes neon-green charging cables. It also includes all manner of smartphones, as you know, and this week we've got a short-and-sweet write-up comparing the GS3 and GS4. Is the 4 worth an early upgrade? Not if you ask Jon Fingas, anyway, but that's mostly because he's happy with the camera, performance and LTE radio on last year's model.
Photos of a new Samsung Galaxy S 4 emerge, could it be the Active?
A stock GS4 may look virtually indistinguishable from its predecessor, but it looks like Samsung's got a new variant of its flagship phone that'll bring it some much-needed visual flair. The folks at GSM Arena unearthed photos of a GT-I9295 model (allegedly called the GS4 Active) sporting a bright red shell with black inserts at the top and bottom and a trio of physical buttons on its chin. If the results returned by the AnTuTu benchmark are to be believed, the phone's equipped with standard GS4 fixins: a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.9Ghz and an Adreno 320 GPU (aka, a Snapdragon 600 SoC) and a 1920 x 1080 display. Naturally, there's no word on pricing, carrier support or an arrival date, but there are a couple more photos of the handset at the source.
The Weekly Roundup for 05.13.2013
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.
Samsung's Galaxy S 4 to hit 10 million in sales next week, says CEO JK Shin
According to co-CEO JK Shin, Samsung's Galaxy S 4 will soon hit the 10 million mark in sales, less than a month after its debut. That beats the Galaxy S III's time to that mark by nearly three weeks, making it far and away the company's quickest seller, ever. The model will also get another push thanks to a stock Android 4.2 version that'll be available for $649 at Google Play on June 26th. That's a pretty impressive figure, especially considering its bizarre reveal.
Fitbit now syncs to Galaxy S 4, broader Android device support is coming
The state of Fitbit wireless syncing is far from ideal for Android users, but the company's latest step is proof that it's slowly getting better. Today, Fitbit updated its Android app to bring wireless syncing to the Galaxy S 4, which follows a previous update for the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. According to Fitbit's blog, its difficulty in supporting more devices stems from software differences on various Android smartphones, which causes trouble regardless of whether the device includes Bluetooth 4.0. On the upside, just yesterday, the Bluetooth SIG announced that Android will gain support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices in the coming months, which Fitbit reckons will solve much of the compatibility issues that it and other device manufacturers have faced. So, if you have a Galaxy S 4, take the opportunity to get syncing your fitness data today -- it won't be long before other Android devices get to join in the fun.
The Daily Roundup for 05.16.2013
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 responds to GS4 storage complaints, might free up space through 'further software optimization'
After being taken to task by the BBC's consumer rights show, Watchdog, Samsung says it's looking into reducing the memory footprint of its TouchWiz features on its flagship Galaxy S 4. A spokesperson told CNET UK that Samsung, "appreciate(s) this issue being raised," and that it is "reviewing the possibility [of] securing more memory space through further software optimization." The 16GB GS4 offers only 9.5GB of space for users to fill, but at least we know it's a possibility: Google announced yesterday that Samsung's Galaxy S 4 will arrive in an entirely vanilla Android guise this June. We've got the full statement from Samsung after the break.
Google Wallet comes to Sprint HTC One, Galaxy Note II, GS4 and US Cellular Note II
Currently, Google Wallet is available on a plethora of smartphones, but is there really such a thing as too much coverage? Google surely doesn't seem to think so. Earlier today, the company added support for its mobile payment system to the GS4, HTC One (Sprint) and the Galaxy Note II (Sprint and US Cellular). If you own one of these devices, hit the Google Play link below to add its NFC-powered tap and pay capabilities.
Google unveils Samsung Galaxy S 4 running stock Android Jelly Bean, available June 26th for $649
Google just dropped a pretty big surprise during its opening day I/O keynote. It's taken the wraps off a new edition of Samsung's Galaxy S 4 that runs stock Android Jelly Bean. The device itself is fully unlocked and packing LTE support for AT&T and T-Mobile, along with 16GB of storage and what Google promises will be prompt system updates. Not surprisingly, this won't quite be the budget-friendly off-contract option that the Nexus 4 is -- the phone will run $649 when it hits Google Play on June 26th.%Gallery-188436%
Apple wants to add the Galaxy S 4 to its 2014 patent case against Samsung
FOSS Patents reports that Apple is seeking to add Samsung's latest flagship device -- the Galaxy S 4 -- to its second California case against Samsung, currently scheduled to begin in March of 2014. Back in April, Judge Lucy Koh instructed both Apple and Samsung that they have until February 6, 2014 to limit the number of accused products to 10 per side. Until then, Apple will have some work to do as the company currently accuses 22 Samsung products of patent infringement. What's more, now that Apple has gotten its hands on the Galaxy S 4, it wants to add that product to the litigation as well. The purpose of the responses Apple and Samsung submitted yesterday was to identify 22 accused products per side. The filings reveal a major new disagreement: Apple has analyzed the Galaxy S 4, Samsung's new top-selling product, and "has concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S 4 as an infringing product". In a filing made with the court, Apple notes that it will be willing to drop a product from its current list of 22 accused Samsung devices to make room for the GS4. Given that the GS4 is Samsung's flagship Android device, it stands to reason that if Koh allows Apple to add the device as an infringing product, it will ultimately be one of the 10 devices Apple will fight against at trial.
Verizon bumps up Samsung Galaxy S 4 launch to May 23rd
Disappoined that Verizon wasn't going to offer its variant of the Galaxy S 4 until May 30th? You're in for an unexpected treat: Big Red has just moved up the launch by a full week, to May 23rd. The $200 contract price remains the same, but we won't complain much when Samsung's quad-core flagship should now arrive ahead of the long weekend. It looks like those supply issues weren't quite so bad as some thought.
Samsung's rumored dust and waterproof Galaxy S 4 Active shows up in Bluetooth certification
Samsung's Galaxy S 4 Active -- a dust and waterproof version of the company's flagship -- is currently just a rumor, but documentation has started popping up online to lend some corroboration. A handset going by the handle GT-I9295, which SamMobile has linked to the S 4 Active, has shown up in a Bluetooth SIG filing. Furthermore, a user agent profile for the same model lists the display resolution as 1080p, matching that of the standard GS4. With all these small clues pointing in the same direction, the existence of an S 4 for outdoorsy types is starting to look more like a dead cert.
Samsung's Galaxy S 4 gets 'blue arctic' paint-job for NTT DoCoMo
Samsung can add "mist" and "frost" to its color names, but deep down we know the Galaxy S 4 only comes in black or white. That is, unless you're one of NTT DoCoMo's customers, who can expect the Korean flagship to arrive in blue arctic as well. A leaked pamphlet reveals that the third shade will be announced when the quad-core handset is announced on May 15th -- confirming once and for all that Japanese mobile users get all the fun.
Refresh Roundup: week of May 6th, 2013
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 Weekly Roundup for 05.06.2013
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.
The Daily Roundup for 05.06.2013
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 S 4 with Exynos Octa-core: what's different?
More Info Samsung Galaxy S 4 review Samsung announces eight-core Exynos 5 'Octa' chip at CES Dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy S 4 launches in China with an Exynos 5 Octa inside Samsung's latest flagship, the Galaxy S 4, comes in two distinct flavors -- and they're both good. One uses the much-hyped Exynos Octa-core chip, while its identical twin takes advantage of the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600. In either case, the availability depends on where you live: the Exynos-powered I9500 is difficult to find in North America (at least for now), but our friends at Negri Electronics, an online retailer currently stocking the Octa-core device, gave us the opportunity to play with a unit for a few days. During our time with the device, we were able to get a solid feel for how this particular version of Samsung's flagship compares to the Snapdragon 600-powered model. So how does it hold up against its Qualcomm brother in terms of performance and battery life? Read on to find out.%Gallery-187610%
32GB Samsung Galaxy S 4 coming to AT&T May 10th for $250
We knew that the 32GB version of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 would be coming to AT&T to complement its 16GB sibling for an extra 50 bucks, but the carrier kept pretty quiet about when it would show up. A tweet from AT&T's official account has finally confirmed that we'll be able to grab one starting May 10th for $250 with a two-year commitment. This is a solid option for those who have been looking forward to buying the flagship phone but aren't so keen on how much onboard storage is taken up by the OS itself.
Refresh Roundup: week of April 29th, 2013
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!
CyanogenMod 10.1 arrives for T-Mobile's Galaxy S 4, other variants promised to follow
Just over a month ago, CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik left Samsung, with a parting elucidation about the Galaxy S 4. The very same phone was expected to not be supported by the CM crew, leaving prospective buyers and fans of the firmware to consider their loyalties. Hope was restored when Kondik teased an image via Google+ showing the about screen for CM10.1 on T-Mobile's version of the handset (SGH-M919). Now, he's confirmed it's here (and quickly done, too), with word that other variants (I9505 etc) will follow as and when hardware is sourced. Kondik claims that, while not quite perfect, that the port is complete enough to provide all core features, including, at some point, support for Android's hover events. The nightlies are available now, so if you've got the right mix of Magenta and Cyan, keep an eye on the usual sources for the goods.