SamsungGalaxySIi
Latest
Samsung Galaxy S II gets new ICS ROM, offers Kies to the kingdom (video)
New year, new you ROMs. Yep, the Galaxy S II is getting even more attention, with a duo of Ice Cream Sandwich versions landing on that capacious 4.3-inch screen. They consist of an early Android 4.0.1 build made on December 20th and version 4.0.3 crafted just ten days later. The interesting part is that, according to YouMobile, both of these will arrive through Kies, Samsung's Android connectivity software. The mobile news site also suspects that these are close (but still buggy) approximations of what we'll see on our as-yet un-tinkered Galaxy S IIs in the very near future. These Kies-capable builds also have a few cosmetic differences to the build leaked earlier, like a distinct lack of Tron hues adorning the notification bar at the top. While we await a release through the official channels, you can check out a swift run-through right after the break.
Holga brings its retro, rotary, filter phone case to the Galaxy S II
We get it. Really, we do -- photo filters fun. We also get that sometimes an app just isn't gonna cut it. You want quick access to double, triple or even quadruple image lenses as well as colored overlays. Well, iPhone 4 and 4S owners had their prayers answered in mid November a $25 Holga case, now Android fans have their own version -- provided those Android fans own a Galaxy S II. If you don't mind adding some bulk to your super-svelte super-phone head on over to the source link to get your own rotary-style lens case for the somewhat reasonable price of $28.
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 26, 2011
This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 26, 2011:
GTA III goes on sale for the holidays, brings violence and cheer to Galaxy Nexus owners
A classic title like Grand Theft Auto III isn't exactly at hard sell at $5 on your smartphone or tablet -- at $3 you're almost a fool not to snatch it up. Perhaps more importantly though, Rockstar has expanded support for the crime adventure to a trio of Android handsets -- the Droid Bionic, Galaxy S II and, the phone of the moment, the Galaxy Nexus. While the white list only gains three new devices right now, there's potential to add more handsets down the line. The game is finally optimized for use with PowerVR GPUs, which are found in any phone running an OMAP or Exynos processor. So, what are you waiting for? Hit up the market now to get your dose of violence, mayhem and hall of fame gaming.
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!
TouchWizzed Ice Cream Sandwich leaks for Samsung Galaxy S II (video)
Like to dabble in the dark arts of smartphone ROM flashing? Got a Samsung Galaxy S II? Well, get ready to weigh up the pros and cons, because here's another tempting slice of Ice Cream Sandwich. A leaked version of Android 4.0.1 firmware has appeared, replete with TouchWiz, adding a hefty dose of credence to the release. Granted, this means it's not a vanilla filling in this Ice Cream Sandwich, and according to Sammobile's video run-through, Samsung's own UI skin looks to be present throughout the handset. As expected, the phone functions with the built-in capacitive buttons instead of the onscreen replacements seen on the Galaxy Nexus. Due to both this and the TouchWiz customizations, on the surface it's all looking pretty similar to the Gingerbread Galaxy S II, albeit with all the slick features of 4.0. The leak is tempered with a warning, though; Due to its non-stock nature, your phone will adjust its custom counter if you install, which will void your warranty. However, if you're still lusting for a lick of ICS, you can check the video after the break and pick up the file at the source.
Refresh Roundup: week of December 5, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. 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 from 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!
French court squashes Samsung's quest for iPhone 4S ban
Apparently it's time for the French to deliver Apple's tit for Samsung's tat won in US courts last week. Sammy's request for an injunction against the sale of the iPhone 4S was rejected by a court in France, which called the reaction out of proportion with its claims of intellectual property theft. And, as if to rub salt in the wound, the judge ordered Samsung to pay €100,000 (about $134,000) to cover Cupertino's legal fees. Of course, €100,000 is mere pocket change for these companies which probably spend more than that every day just to keep each other tied up in protracted legal battles.
T-Mobile confirms Samsung Galaxy S II in white will arrive December 14th
T-Mobile's going to have a rather important day on December 14th: earlier it announced a special event with Nokia scheduled for that evening, and it also tweeted out confirmation that the white Samsung Galaxy S II will be meandering into stores and online warehouses on the same day. If you've been hoping it would show up in time for the holidays, rest well tonight knowing you won't have to air any grievances this season -- at least, not for this reason.
Samsung Galaxy S II LTE arrives in Japan, NTT DoCoMo offers up its first course of 4G phones
Japan has got its first taste of an LTE smartphone, and this one's Galaxy-flavored. Oh yes, Samsung's Galaxy S II LTE has made an appearance on NTT DoCoMo, running on the Japanese carrier's next-generation Xi network and promising top download speeds of around 37.5Mbps. The latest member to the carrier's top-drawer Next series will set you back around $260 (¥20,000) on a two-year contract. DoCoMo is aiming to reach the hands of 30 million customers by 2015, with another as-yet unnamed several more 4G devices already penned for release before the end of the year. Perhaps the pair of data-loving handsets will help to fill that iPhone-shaped hole in the carrier's phone catalog. Update: Contrary to the Asahi Shimbun report, it looks like both the Fujitsu Arrows X LTE F-05D and the LG Optimus LTE will cosy up on the new high-speed network before the end of the year.
T-Mobile to bleach Samsung Galaxy S II in white, arriving 'in time for the holidays'
What's that gorgeous device doing in a pearly white on this side of the pond? T-Mobile will be offering a second color option for its flagship TouchWiz device, the Samsung Galaxy S II, "in the coming weeks." Though its exact launch date is uncertain, the two companies assured us that it would land in time for the holidays. We're just hoping they're not referring to Valentine's Day. %Gallery-140072%
Ice Cream Sandwich coming to Galaxy S II, Samsung UK confirms
Here's some exciting, if somewhat unsurprising news for Galaxy S II devotees: Samsung's UK outpost has just confirmed that the handset will indeed receive an upgrade to Android 4.0, delectably known as Ice Cream Sandwich. As of this moment, details are relatively scarce, and Sammy has yet to make similar declarations for markets outside of the UK -- but at least it's coming. "The Galaxy S II will be receiving ICS, but there are no dates confirmed as yet," the company wrote in a tweet this morning. "We will keep you posted." As will we.
T-Mobile Galaxy S II screen issues have some seeing (poorly rendered) red
The T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S II is certainly a fine piece of hardware and we didn't have any complaints about the Super AMOLED Plus display in our review, but others have come across some perplexing problems with the screen. There's a thread going over at the XDA forums that takes pretty in-depth look at the panels on both the Sprint and T-Mo variants of the GSII and turns up some major disparities between contrast levels and color reproduction. There are also some odd artifacts, including lines and blobs that pop up when viewed with the brightness cranked in a dark room as well. Now, we'd hardly call the poorly calibrated display a deal breaker but, for those who are sticklers about that sort of thing, it could be a major annoyance. Some of the crafty devs over at the forums, including our friend Francois Simond (Supercurio), are looking for a potential software fix to the problem. Hit up the source link to see what all the hubbub is about and head after the break for one more image.
NTT DoCoMo's Galaxy S II LTE makes way through FCC with swagger
Among the litany of smartphones that NTT DoCoMo announced last month, the SC-03D -- otherwise known as the Galaxy S II LTE -- was undeniably among the forefront of the bunch. The handset will begin shipping in the Land of the Rising Sun before year's end, but it seems that a lucky punk at the FCC got to review its dirty bits ahead of the glorious release. Like its Korea-bound siblings, the phone sports a Snapdragon S3 SoC with a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU and an Adreno 220 GPU, but unlike the over-achieving HD variant, the SC-03D's 4.5-inch display is limited to WVGA resolution. Jet-lagged Japanese travelers will find GPRS and EDGE love with our 1900 and 850MHz domestic networks, although HSPA is restricted to the 2100 and 900MHz bands. As for that lusty 75Mbps theoretical speed for the Xi LTE network, you'll have to excuse us while we attempt to hide our jealousy.
Samsung delivers kernel source for T-Mobile Galaxy S II, developers can now collect all three
Developers, start your engines. T-Mobile's version of the Samsung Galaxy S II was the slowest in the family to get the official kernel source. It's here now, though, arriving on Sammy's site a whole four days after the phone's release; this isn't an eternity by any means, but its counterparts had the source available no later than the actual launch date. No matter the reason, make your way to Samsung's official site to dive in and make some magic happen. [Thanks, Aubrey]
CubeStormer II rocks a Samsung Galaxy S II, makes CubeStormer I look downright slothful (video)
CubeStormer I was pretty cool, we guess, but that was way back in 2010. Now we're all about CubeStormer II. Built by Mike Dobson and David Gilday, the puzzle-cracking robot is capable of solving Rubik's Cubes at blazing fast speeds, shaving precious fractions of seconds off of human world records. The 'bot was constructed from four Lego Mindstorms NXT kits, with our old pal the Samsung Galaxy S II serving as the its "brain." CubeStormer will be making a public appearance at ARM TechCon 2011 in California, later this month (and really, the whole thing seems like a bit of an ad for ARM -- albeit a really awesome one). In the meantime, check out some video of it in action after the break.
Engadget Podcast 260 - 10.14.2011
Things are happening in the air around us: our tabazine is beaming its way to iPads around the globe, iThings are being shuffled to and from various parts of the stratosphere, and there was a frightening dearth of airborne activity in the BlackBerry-based community. Tangible inventions have also made their usual marks on the week in tech news: newly-minted iOS 5 guru Dante Cesa joins Tim and Brian this to bring it all down to earth and straight to your ears in this, the 260th episode of the Engadget Podcast.Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian HeaterGuest: Dante CesaProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: I Can't Go For That00:01:30 - Engadget Distro is ready for download!00:03:45 - Photoshop contest: send us your best / most terrifying Frankengadget00:05:00 - iOS 5 review00:13:30 - iCloud opens to the masses, iOS 5 lurks near00:23:45 - BlackBerry services offline for some in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Again. (update: RIM confirms India, South America, too)00:25:13 - BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada, continues in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America (update: RIM confirms)00:26:00 - Mike Lazaridis apologizes for BlackBerry outage: 'We've let many of you down' (video) (Update: full services restored)00:38:40 - Motorola Atrix 2 hands-on at CTIA E&A 2011 (video)00:41:18 - Archos 80 G9 review00:46:11 - T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II review00:52:15 - HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio review00:56:51 - ASUS Zenbook UX21 and UX31 headed to the US October 12, starting at $99900:59:02 - Samsung crashes iPhone 4S block party, lures Aussies with $2 Galaxy S IIs00:59:29 - Dennis Ritchie, pioneer of C programming language and Unix, reported dead at age 7001:00:12 - Listener questionsHear the podcastSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)Contact the podcastSend your questions to @tim_stevens.Leave us a voicemail: (423) 438-3005 (GADGET-3005)E-mail us: podcast at engadget dot comTwitter: @bheater, @timstevens
Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Amaze 4G on sale at T-Mobile
Sure, we knew this day was coming, but now the wait is finally over. Now the main question for T-Mobile customers at the end of their contract is whether to pick up the Samsung Galaxy S II or HTC Amaze 4G. Both handsets are now on sale from the carrier, running $229 and $259, respectively (plus plan, post-rebate, naturally). Thankfully, we've got a full review of the 4.52-inch Galaxy S II magenta edition and a hands-on with the 4.3-inch Amaze 4G, which should help make the deciding a bit easier.
Samsung modifies Galaxy smartphones to satisfy Dutch court, plans to resume sales soon
Earlier this summer, a judge in The Netherlands ruled to ban sales of Samsung Galaxy S, S II and Ace smartphones, stating that the devices violated an Apple patent which deals with a "method of scrolling." Well, nearly two months have passed, and Samsung is just now getting around to releasing "upgraded" versions of the affected devices, presumably implementing a non-infringing scroll tool. A Samsung spokesman told Reuters that the three phones will "shortly be available for sale," neglecting to provide an exact release date -- so we wouldn't suggest lining up to get your Galaxy S II fix just yet. This small victory is only the latest in the Apple / Samsung lawsuit saga, which has created quite a stir in a handful of courts around the world. We have yet to hear about a solution to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban in Australia, for example, where fingers are being pointed in every direction.
CyanogenMod 7.1 brings support for Xperias and 20 other handsets
All it took was a little love from Sony Ericsson and now CyanogenMod's latest official release includes support for a happy cohort of 2011 Xperias as well as the X8. The same goes for Samsung, which doled out a free GSII and some employment and now finds that the Galaxy smartphones are on version 7.1's list too. Wondering if your particular Droid, Optimus or Incredible can run the cyan shade of Gingerbread and its attendant perks? Then check the source link for the full roll-call of newly supported devices -- but remember, despite the increasingly friendly overtures from manufacturers, installing a custom ROM comes with certain pitfalls and can void your warranty. Got that? Now go and play some juicy FLAC files on that Arc.
