Samsung unveils the Galaxy S2 Plus, minor spec bump over the original

Samsung has today introduced another new Android smartphone to add to its portfolio, and you'd be right in thinking it looks an awful lot like the Galaxy S2. That's because it does, and this new device is the Galaxy S2 Plus. The most notable improvement is the software. 

Running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's latest Touchwiz Nature UX, the rest of the specs are either a minor bump from the Galaxy S2 or pretty much the same. The Plus houses a 4.3 inch WVGA Super-AMOLED Plus display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8MP and 2MP rear and front facing cameras respectively. On board storage is just 8GB, but is expandable by microSD card which Samsung says is supported upto 64GB.

Otherwise, that's about all she wrote. Looking through the specs there appears to be an NFC version and a non NFC version, and the camera has a pretty nice sounding zero lag shutter speed. No word as yet on price or availability, and you'll find the full press release after the break.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

CES 2013: Samsung’s New Exynos 5 Octa Processor Has Eight Cores

Samsung has a new Exynos 5 Octa Processor, and it’s absolutely wild. The company announced its new technology on Wednesday, saying that the Octa takes advantage of two sets of four core processor, all in your tiny little smartphone. It’s probably a safe bet this will power the company’s highly anticipated Galaxy S IV.

The company said its new chip uses ARM’s big.LITTLE processor tech—ARM Cortex-A15 for performance, and Cortex-A7 for common tasks. That should lead to better battery life, and an enormously smooth experience when playing games or simply browsing the Web. The future of mobile devices is looking brighter by the day. Samsung is already one of the leading companies in the world, and that’s likely to continue as we get settled in 2013.

Samsung says that being able to switch between performance and energy efficiency makes for a 70 percent increase in battery life. In addition, users should expect twice the 3D performance of something like the Exynos 4 Quad, which should do a lot to whet the palette of Android-gaming fanatics.

We can’t wait to hold a device using Samsung’s new Exynos 5 Octa. Hopefully we’ll start to see more information hit the Web in the coming weeks and months.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

CES 2013: Sony Xperia ZL Introduced with 5-inch 1080p Display

Sony just announced the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL. The two phones are very similar from what we can tell so far. The Xperia ZL sports the same 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor as the Xperia Z, as well as a 1920 x 1080p 5-inch display, 2GB of RAM, 4G LTE support and a 13-megapixel camera.

Unlike the Xperia Z, however, the ZL doesn’t appear to be water resistent. The two looked nearly identical in our brief look at both of them, so we’re guessing there isn’t much of a difference on the surface. The Xperia ZL is due out during the first quarter of this year.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Samsung Support Documents Detail Jelly Bean Upgrade for Galaxy S II

If you’re still grasping onto the glory days of Samsung’s Galaxy S II, your commitment to the almost two year-old device will soon pay off in a big way. Support pages for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean have appeared on the company’s Korean website, meaning users can probably expect the OS to hit the device relatively soon—though how soon is unclear.

In any case, the update is set to arrive through Samsung’s KIES, and bring along the expected Jelly Bean smoothness along with a few of the company’s built-in features like Smart Stay. The support document warns that the incoming upgrade will actually lower your internal memory by 1 full GB (from 12GB to 11GB), so be mindful of that when the upgrade actually starts rolling out.

Hopefully carriers here in the states can do all the necessary testing rather quickly so that Galaxy S II owners can grab the software sooner rather than later.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Google 'currently working' on Google Maps redirect fix on Windows Phone, explains former stance

As recently as yesterday, Google was explaining its auto-redirect of Google Maps on Windows Phone devices to Google.com as a question of incompatibility rather than one of choice. "The mobile web version of Google Maps is optimized for WebKit browsers such as Chrome and Safari. However, since Internet Explorer is not a WebKit browser, Windows Phone devices are not able to access Google Maps for the mobile web," Google told us yesterday. Case closed, right? Apparently not.

As The Next Web reports, Google's changing its tune today, and is working on a redirect as we speak. "We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users," the statement reads. "In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that's why there is no redirect for those users," it continues. The kicker? "Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users." So! It looks like Windows Phone users employing Internet Explorer for Google Maps will soon be back in business. As of right now, we're still seeing the redirect in place, but feel free to let us know if you're already seeing the fix enabled!

[Source: Engadget]

Is this the first real glimpse of the Samsung Galaxy S4?

What is supposedly the first press shot of the Samsung Galaxy S4 has emerged online.

The photo was first published by Sam Mobile, which claims to have received it from an "insider at Samsung", who was unable to provide any further detail on the Galaxy SIV. Unsurprisingly, we're approaching this with plenty of caution after the deluge of fake snaps of the Samsung Galaxy S3– just take a look at our gallery.

Button-less
The big talking point is the missing home button - will Samsung really do away with the physical button given that it has remained a Samsung staple even on its most recent handsets such as the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Premier?

Credit: SamMobile

Although the design of the phone shown here is very similar to that of the Galaxy S3, the screen appears elongated compared to the older phone suggesting we'll see onscreen Android keys – something which Google has wanted manufacturers to adopt even since Ice Cream Sandwich was launched.

We're not holding out any hope that this is the real deal as the image could easily have been faked, but this will surely open the floodgates to more images claiming to show Samsung Galaxy S4 over the coming months.

[Source: TechRadar]

Nearly 400K for Nexus 4

A wonderful piece of crowdsleuthing by the fervent Android fans of theXDA forums has revealed how many Nexus 4s have been built. The astonishingly cheap phone was one of the most popular phones of 2012 -- coming second inCNET UK readers' Phone of the Year awards -- but production shortages left many would-be buyers frustrated. So how many Nexuses are out there?

In a post spotted by TechCrunch, XDA user Alexander T deduced that the first four figures of the serial number on the box reveal when and where your Nexus was made. Get your box out and have a look -- the first figure is the year of production, so 2 for 2012, 3 for 2013. The second and third figures are the month, so 11 for November, 12 for December, 01 for January. The fourth letter determines where the phone was built: K for Korea, C for China.

After several people confirmed the system worked by posting their first four digits and when they received their phone, user draugaz suggested, "Now it would be interesting to decode the rest of the numbers so we could roughly estimate the actual production counts."

The last six figures of the code, which correspond to the last six digits of the IMEI number inside the phone, appear to be a simple counter of the number of units produced. By looking at serial numbers in Nexus 4 YouTube unboxing videos, the intrepid draugaz began to work out rough production counts for October, November and December. Soon other users were joining in and a good spread of data appeared.

Read the full article here [source Crave]

Vodafone's Nearly New program entices penny-pinchers with pre-owned smartphones

If you cherish saving coin and don't mind owning secondhand devices, Vodafone's Nearly New program is angling to hook you up with previously-loved smartphones. The UK firm's new effort takes handsets returned by users in "very good condition," repackages them with the appropriate accessories and doles them out at cheaper prices with pay-as-you-go or contract plans. According to Vodafone, the offering is particularly aimed at bringing pay-as-you-go users into the smartphone fold without breaking the bank. Available devices will vary each month based on return inventory, but the outfit already has iOS and Android choices on tap. Customers happy with off-contract service can choose between an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, with an 8GB flavor of the latter ringing up at £250. Folks who have their eye on a contract plan can pick between a Samsung Galaxy S III, which is free with a £33 subscription, or an HTC One X. On-contract Nearly New devices are already available online and in select stores, while commitment-free phones are up for grabs in-store and will find their way online next week.

[Source: Engadget]

More BlackBerry N-Series images surface, appeases QWERTY lovers with sharper focus

Remember this little guy? It was Christmas Eve when Mr. Blurrycam gave us a look at this keyboard-equipped BB10 prototype. Skip to the present, and N4BBhas apparently come across news images of it, minus the fuzz. Aside from being clearer, the phone's screen is notably powered on in this round images -- essentially proving it's more than a dummy. While we've known the unit is likely part of RIM's N-Series, the site notes that its actual model number may officially be presented as the X10 (not to be confused with Sony Ericsson, Klipsch and Fujifilm offerings of the same moniker). Things will certainly become even cleareron January 30th, that's for sure -- for now, hit the source link for a couple of more images.

[Source: Engadget]

'Leaked' BlackBerry 10 info shows video chat and screen sharing in BBM, new task manager

Top dog at RIM Thorsten Heins heavily implied that video chat would be added to BBM when BlackBerry 10 showed up, and now possible confirmation of the feature has come from what are thought to be leaked presentation slides. Originating onCrackBerry's forums, the images have been taken down on various sites, leading us to believe they're legit and that strongly worded requests have led to their removal. Not only do they suggest BBM video chat is coming to BB10, but also the ability to screen share during these video calls. Another slide details a new task manager for the OS called "BlackBerry Remember," which can sync with Outlook and -- based on its description and what was uncovered in the gold SDK -- may include Evernote integration. We've contacted RIM for comment and will update you with any response, but until then, take a look at the slide above and the pair hidden after the break to assess for yourself whether they're the real deal.

[Source: Engadget - Click here to read the full story]

Major UK networks confirm they'll carry BlackBerry 10 wares in early 2013

While our immediate attention is focused on the fast approaching tech-fest that is CES, let us not forget another important event taking place in January -- the eagerly awaited launch of BlackBerry 10. We don't know if its success will equal RIM's expectations, but just this morning all major UK carriers emailed us confirmation they'll be stocking BB10 handsets. Three and EE (Orange and T-Mobile included) announced availability next year, but nothing more specific; O2 told us BB10 gear will land on its network "in early 2013"; and retailer Phones4u, which covers all the carriers, specified a Q1 2013 window. Vodafone implied that it'll be offering handsets immediately after launch, but we've been in contact the network's PR folks just to confirm that's true and not confused wording. We'll update you with their response as soon as we hear back.

[Source: Engadget]

Twitter for Blackberry 4.0 adds Connect tab, more modern UI

RIM may be finally ready to move on to its platform-in-waiting, BB 10, but that's doesn't mean its current user base has been forgotten. In fact, Twitter's just announced a 4.0 update to its native BlackBerry app, bringing it mostly up to par in looks and functionality with existing Android and iOS offerings. The most notable addition to this version bump is the inclusion of Connect: the "@" tab which lets rampant tweeters keep abreast of who's favoriting, following and retweeting them, as well as filter information on that feed. The Discover and Me tabs have also been expanded, with the former now featuring information on trends and suggestions for "Who to follow," while the latter neatly consolidates all of your DM, lists and favorited tweets. The update's currently available on the BlackBerry App World store, so hit up the link below to start your download.

[Source: Engadget]