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Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) now hitting unlocked Galaxy S II in America
See that? That's the sign that awoke yours truly this morning. And that just happens to be confirmation that the long-awaited Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update is finally coming to unlocked (read: global, non-carrier branded) Galaxy S II smartphones situated in the United States. If you'll recall, said update started flowing to units in South Korea (among other locales) eons ago, but owners located in the US of A haven't been treated equally... until today. Head on into Settings and check for an update -- seeing anything intriguing?
Mobile Miscellany: week of March 19th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we've spotted the Lumia 610 in two new colors, and the open source community received new goodies from the likes of HTC, Qualcomm and Samsung. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of March 19th, 2012.
PSA: ICS customer guide now available for Samsung Galaxy S II owners
Now that Ice Cream Sandwich has (finally) begun rolling out for the Galaxy S II, Samsung has decided to put together a little guidebook to help its European customers get started. It's actually more PowerPoint than book, but it's just as informative as you'd expect, offering a full rundown of everything GT-I9100 users will need to know before making the jump. The folks over at Coolsmartphone were kind enough to put it all into a pocket-sized PDF, so check it out for yourself at the source link below.[Thanks, Jonzer]
Samsung heralds European arrival of Ice Cream Sandwich for Galaxy S II (updated)
After that March 10th mishap, Samsung reaffirmed to us that it'd deliver Android 4.0 for its GT-I9100 Galaxy S II when it was darn good and ready -- well folks, the company appears ready. It's just announced both via Facebook and Twitter that the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade that so many have lusted after is now available and will begin its rollout to users in Poland, Hungary, Sweden and Korea today, and will move onto other markets from there -- subject to carrier requirements, of course. Better yet, Samsung has affirmed that its Android 4.0 update for the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 will follow shortly. So, if you're one of the lucky ones to receive the upgrade, let us know how it fares for you in the comments below. Otherwise, feel free to keep clicking that update button.Update: Pocket-lint reports that the UK can expect the update to arrive on March 19th. Don't forget your Kies.
Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-I9100) to get ICS on March 10th (update: recalled)
Two days. That's the amount of time remaining for you, dear Samsung Galaxy S II owner, before the long-awaited upgrade to Android 4.0 -- the dessert known as Ice Cream Sandwich -- becomes readily available for your device through Kies. Naturally, this is going to be adorned with Sammy's TouchWiz UI, and it's only going to be ready on the GT-I9100 (global version) for now. According to the notes, we can expect to see Face Unlock, Android Beam and data usage included, and multitasking and some apps will be improved. We're sure this is just the tip of the feature iceberg, however. Curiously, the site specifies that because of "ICS OS feature," Flash and Bluetooth 3.0 HS won't be supported. The update will come to individual carriers and their own GSII variants eventually, after a hefty amount of testing on their end, but at least this -- combined with HTC's rollout of Sense 3.6 to the Nordic countries today -- means the ICS ball is officially rolling for custom skins. Let's just hope it's going down a steep hill. If you happen to be packing a GT-I9100, be sure to check the links below for the full set of instructions, and let us know what you find. [Thanks, Argel and Roger] Update: Samsung's just tweeted that March 10th date is (sadly) wrong. It added that once the upgrade schedule is concrete, it'll confirm through its dedicated Twitter account.
Samsung's GT-i9300 is probably not the Galaxy S III, as revealed by its low-res screen
Straight from the Dana Scully school of debunking, Android Community has poured cold water on the notion that the GT-i9300 is the quasi-mythical Galaxy S III. Having happened upon the user agent profile of the device bearing that codename, the stats reveal a lackluster 1024 x 600 resolution display that's easily beaten by the Galaxies Nexus and Note. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled at Mobile World Congress and hope that Samsung isn't planning to ruin the pedigree of the handsets that have previously born that code: the i9200 i9100 was the Galaxy S II and the i9250 was the Galaxy Nexus, after all.
Engadget's Holiday Blues-buster 2011: win a Samsung Galaxy S II, courtesy of Broadcom!
We continue into Day 3 of our week-long Holiday Blues-buster giveaway, in which we're handing out a top-of-the-line gadget to a lucky reader every single day! Today Broadcom is hoping to "connect everything" by hooking you up with an unlocked GT-I9100 Samsung Galaxy S II. That's right -- the original and international version. So if you've been following along in our contest, you know what to do. All of our newcomers, head below to the peek at the rules before entering. Good luck!
Samsung Galaxy S II review
If you don't already know all about the Samsung Galaxy S II, where have you been the past two months? The successor to one of the most popular Android handsets to date carries a burden of expectation almost as sizable as its 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen. It promises to be thinner, lighter, and faster than the Galaxy S that preceded it, while garnishing Android 2.3.3 with a set of TouchWiz customizations that might actually enhance, rather than hinder, the user experience. As such, the Galaxy S II earns Samsung full marks for ambition, but does this slinky new smartphone live up to its interstellar hype? The answer, as always, can be found after the break. %Gallery-122444%
Samsung Galaxy S II hits the FCC, potentially ready for AT&T 3G
Surely you remember the Samsung GT-i9100, colloquially known as the Galaxy S II? Sammy's been tight-lipped about which US cellular carriers might offer it, but the Federal Communications Commission might have an idea. You see, the Exynos 4210-toting Super AMOLED Plus smartphone just made its way to the FCC authorization database, 850MHz and 1900MHz GSM frequencies in tow -- which just so happen to be the ones required to get a gig at AT&T. Mind you, the handset could also be moonlighting in Canada with those particular bands, but the odds are decent we'll see it stateside sooner than that. By the by, this particular Galaxy S II is also sporting 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, meaning it'll almost certainly come with dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi. The Galaxy S II wasn't the only Samsung to hit the FCC this week, though, as the SGH-i708 also dropped on by -- it appears to be a worldphone with 850 / 1900MHz GSM frequencies alongside CDMA, EV-DO, and the standard Bluetooth and 2.4GHz WiFi.
Samsung i9100 is the dual-core Galaxy 2, sequel to the Galaxy S?
Along with a Sony Ericsson Anzu, the James Bond of cellphones -- alias Eldar Murtazin -- claims to be playing with a Samsung GT-i9100 right now, calling it the "Galaxy 2" and saying it's "so technically advanced" thanks in part to a dual-core processor. It seems like a long shot that this would be the Cortex-A9-based Orion since chips and development boards are just now being sampled -- but considering how far in advance Murtazin tends to score phones, we can't rule anything out. One possible scenario is that the i9100 could be something akin to a TouchWiz-skinned version of the upcoming Nexus S, much as HTC's Desire was essentially a Sense-skinned version of the Nexus One. Samsung, of course, has been pushing TouchWiz very hard across its Galaxy S line this year, and if the Nexus S is as beastly as the rumors are claiming it to be, there's little doubt that Samsung would love to repurpose the hardware for something with a little more of its flavor thrown in. Speaking of the Galaxy S, keep in mind that the original European GSM model goes by the code GT-i9000, so it would stand to reason that the i9100 could be the proper successor -- and with Gingerbread-based TouchWiz and a dual-core processor on board, we'd say they're off to a strong start. [Thanks, Peter]
