Samsung Preparing 3 New A-Series Galaxy Smartphones, A300 Specs Leak on GFXBench

Samsung Preparing 3 New A-Series Galaxy Smartphones, A300 Specs Leak on GFXBench

Samsung announced its first metal built Galaxy device last month – Galaxy Alpha. The device offers a premium build and a slightly more appealing overall design compared to the other Galaxy smartphones. It was aimed primarily at taking on the Apple iPhone 6 and offers comparable specifications to the latest Apple iPhone. Now Samsung is planning to expand the Alpha family of devices with three new models under development. All three are said to feature similar design and premium metal body as the Galaxy Alpha. The model numbers of the three devices are: SM-A300, SM-A500 and SM-A700. The lowest end model, A300’s specs seem to have been leaked via the GFXBench app.

The leaked details point to a 4.8” display with 960 x 540 qHD resolution display (perhaps S-AMOLED), Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with Quad-Core 1.2GHz CPU and Adreno 306 GPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, 8MP rear camera with 1080p video recording, 5MP front-facing camera with 1080p video recording and Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system. These specs are pretty decent and could mean Samsung is looking to position this one as a premium mid-range handset. This is also the first time that Samsung would be using a 64-bit compatible Qualcomm Snapdragon chip.

According to SamMobile, the A300 as well as the other two models are expected to be released by the end of the month. It does seem like a good idea for Samsung to offer premium built smartphones at different price points with these three A-series Galaxy devices. The A300 itself sounds like a very promising phone and the 5MP front-camera will certainly appeal to the youth and everyone else who is crazy about taking Selfie on their smartphones all day. The other two devices still remain a mystery at this point but we expect to learn more about them in the coming days.

KitKat Update Android 4.4.x: Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 3/8, S4, S3, Mini, Tab 4 [September]

KitKat Update Android 4.4.x: Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 3/8, S4, S3, Mini, Tab 4 [September]

Samsung has tons of devices in which they send out an update for at least one, every single day. Today, we’re going to look over their current plans and see which devices they are updating this month.

Android 4.4.4

Last week, we talked about Optus, an Australian carrier, and their latest update news for Android 4.4.4 KitKat on the Galaxy S5. They told us that Samsung has approved the final code and they are expecting it to be sent to them very soon. Once Optus has received the code and completed their internal tests, they can start pushing the update out to their customers. Speaking of 4.4.4, we’ve also seen reports that indicate the European Galaxy S5 LTE-A should be receiving the latest version of Android very soon.

Android 4.4.3

As for Android 4.4.3, Rogers (in Canada) is reportedly getting this update ready for a bunch of their Samsung devices. If everything works out, we could see devices like the Galaxy Note 3, the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S3 Mini and the Galaxy Note 8 receiving this Android 4.4.3 update soon. There is no hint as to when this update will be released, though. We will be sure to update you with their progress as soon as we know more.

Android 4.4.2

Even though 4.4.2 isn’t the latest version of Android, this is the version that Samsung is currently sending to most of their devices. This is because of several reasons, but the main reason relates to how long it takes Samsung to complete and send out an update. Just because Google releases Android 4.4.4 KitKat, doesn’t mean Samsung will abandon all the work they have done on the 4.4.2 updates to that point. Whichever devices they are working on at that time will continue to be worked on until they’re released to the carrier/customers.

As of right now, we’re seeing the Galaxy S4 devices in Baltic, France, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, UAE, UK and in South Korea receiving this 4.4.2 update. Also, Galaxy Tab 4 devices in Baltic, France, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago are receiving the 4.4.2 update. Galaxy Note 3 users in Russia, Ukraine, Portugal, Hong Kong, Argentina (Note 3 Neo) and New Zealand are receiving the 4.4.2 update. Lastly, Galaxy Note 2 users in Slovenia, Italy and Portugal are receiving the 4.4.2 update as well.

These are a lot of devices and a lot of various countries around the world. If you don’t see your device or country listed, then rest assured that Samsung is working on it and they should be pushing out an update sometime in the future. Just looking at all those countries and all those devices gives us a little perspective on exactly how hard Samsung works on updates even if it does seem like they’re working slowly.

If you have a Samsung device that is not listed, but has received a 4.4.2, 4.4.3 or 4.4.4 update, then please leave a comment below. You could also send us an email to report the update that you have received. As long as we see multiple users in a certain country (or a certain carrier) receiving the update, we will write an article about it. This way, we can make sure the report is legit and so our readers know what to expect in the near future.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Rumor Roundup Before IFA 2014, Berlin

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Rumor Roundup Before IFA 2014, Berlin

We are just days away from the official announcement of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 4. There have been a lot of rumors going around, so let’s gather them all up and see what we expect out of Berlin this week.

Note 4: One Final Rumor Roundup

We first started talking about the Galaxy Note 4 last year, shortly after the Galaxy Note 3 was released. At the time, it was speculated that a 20MP rear-facing camera could be used in the device. It seems like the plans have changed (or those rumors were false) – now we’re expecting to see Samsung’s own 12MP or 13MP ISOCELL sensor used.

Then, at the start of 2014, Samsung’s Mobile Chief told Bloomberg the Galaxy Note 4 would come with a ‘three-sided display‘. A few months later, we heard from Samsung’s Senior Vice President and he told us a little more about this new design.

Yoon Han-kil told us that Samsung was currently working on a Galaxy Note 4 with a ‘new form factor‘, but nothing was final. Later in the interview, he said that if Samsung was unsatisfied with the results that they could go with a more traditional design. Samsung is able to produce devices with a three-sided display, but it’s possible that the device couldn’t pass durability tests. It’s also possible Samsung has been unable to create intuitive functions for the additional sides. We’ve seen them used as shortcuts for apps and functions in a couple of patent filings, but Samsung might not be happy with what they have so far.

We’ve also seen patents from Samsung for advanced handwriting recognition. We don’t know whether or not this technology is ready for the Galaxy Note 4. It could be included at the launch – it could arrive with a software update, or Samsung could end up waiting until the Galaxy Note 5 before introducing it.

In April, we also read a report from CNMO about the rumored Quad HD display in the Galaxy Note 4. We’ve seen multiple rumors back this up, and with the inclusion of Quad HD in the LG G3, it would be interesting if Samsung decided to pass on this until next year. Samsung has been using a Quad HD Super AMOLED display in the Galaxy S5 LTE-A variant, so we suspect the Galaxy Note 4 will have this resolution display as well.

In May, we saw reports suggest the idea of a 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 4. Since Apple is rumored to release a 5.5-inch iPhone 6, it was said that Samsung might want to compete head-to-head with a device of the same size. Recent rumors suggest Samsung is sticking with the 5.7-inch display for the Galaxy Note 4.

In June, we learned about Samsung’s decision to release two variants of the Galaxy Note 4. One of these is said to utilize the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, while the other would use the in-house Exynos 5430. A few days later, we saw rumors suggesting that Samsung will use the Exynos 5433 instead of the 5430.

In July, we came across a tweet from the Samsung Exynos Twitter account that teased a retina scanner for their Exynos processors. They didn’t directly say it would be included in the Galaxy Note 4, but it does seem possible, if not in the Note 4, then possibly the Note 5.

July was a hot month for the weather as well as Galaxy Note 4 rumors. Around the middle of the month, we saw a Samsung patent for ultrasonic sensors that would be used for the stylus. We’ve seen this technology used in a Qualcomm demo tablet but we have yet to see it incorporated into a device.

Toward the end of July, there were reports of Samsung working on an ultraviolet sensor for the upcoming Galaxy Note 4. This could be implemented into the S Health application or possibly in some sort of smart widget, like LG uses for the G3. Shortly after this, we saw alleged photos of the upcoming Galaxy Note 4. However, last week we saw some leaked cases that are also allegedly for the Galaxy Note 4. These cases don’t match what we were expecting to see because of the previously leaked photo.

We seem to have a general idea about what to expect from Samsung this week at IFA. There are some details that remain fuzzy, but all in all we have an idea of what Samsung has been working on.

Deal: HTC One M8 and LG G3 Just $50, Samsung Galaxy S5 $80 at Amazon

Deal: HTC One M8 and LG G3 Just $50, Samsung Galaxy S5 $80 at Amazon

The three flagship smartphones have been discounted by Amazon and they’re price at $50 for the LG G3 and HTC One M8, while the Samsung Galaxy S5 costs $80. The prices are available with a Verizon two-year contract and include free shipping.

This is a really good deal, especially compared to the prices offered by other merchants and we expect them to increase again soon, so you should act fast if you want to get your hands on one of them. The LG G3, HTC One M8, and Samsung Galaxy S5 are three of the best flagships of the year and they have been recently released, so we don’t expect the price to go down anything soon.

They all come with very similar specs and I’m going to refresh your memory with a summary of their hardware. The LG G3 sports a 5.5-inch 2560×1440 UHD IPS display, a 2.5Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. The HTC One M8 features a 2.3Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, a 5-inch Full HD 1920×1080 display, 32GB of internal storage, and 2GB of RAM. The Galaxy S5 has the same processor as the G3, along with a 5.1-inch Full HD 1920×1080 pixels Super Amoled HD display, 16GB of internal memory and 2GB of RAM.

All of them come with Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box, so the differences aren’t really huge between them. If you want a bigger and higher-resolution display, then you should pick the G3, but if you need more features, like the fingerprint scanner or heart-rate monitor, go with the S5. HTC One M8 stands out for the really premium build, which simply looks amazing.

If you’ve decided to order one of them or just want to take a better look of them, head over to the following links which will get you to Amazon’s page: LG G3, HTC One M8, and Samsung Galaxy S5.

Samsung Galaxy S3 I9305 4G KitKat Update Android 4.4.2 Still MIA Outside US

Samsung Galaxy S3 I9305 4G KitKat Update Android 4.4.2 Still MIA Outside US

Samsung started rolling out the Android KitKat 4.4.2 update for its 2012 flagship – Galaxy S3 a few months back, but the update release has been painfully slow. Not just that, but many variants of the Galaxy S3 are yet to receive the much awaited update from Samsung.

While US owners of the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G LTE model have received the update, owners of the device across Europe are still waiting. They’ve only received the Android 4.3 Jellybean update from Samsung so far.

Vodafone Spain says they’ve not received any official word from Samsung on when the KitKat update will be pushed to the devices. They claim to have only received information about the Android 4.3 update, which remains the latest update available for S3 LTE users.

Not just Spain, but carrier-bought S3 LTE devices across the UK and Australia are also stuck on Android 4.3 Jellybean. The carriers seem to have no fitting reply for frustrated Galaxy S3 LTE owners who’ve been waiting for the Android 4.4.2 update for a long time. They wonder why the US models with the same hardware have received the update from Samsung, but not their devices. What’s making the wait even more difficult for owners is the buggy Android 4.3 Jellybean firmware for their devices.

Australian network carrier, Telstra, seems to be as clueless as European carriers on the S3 LTE 4.4.2 update. They’ve received Android 4.4.2 and other updates for devices like the Galaxy Note 3, Note 2 4G and the Galaxy S5, but nothing for the S3 LTE.

Samsung Galaxy S3: KitKat Update Android 4.4 Further Delayed

Samsung Galaxy S3: KitKat Update Android 4.4 Further Delayed

Even though some Samsung Galaxy S3 carrier variants in the United States and Canada have received the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update, most users around the world haven’t seen it yet. There’s actually been a new response about this topic, but it doesn’t seem like good (or bad) news.

We saw Samsung push the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Galaxy S3 to all four carriers in the United States back in May. We even see the KitKat update head north and land at a few carriers up there. Most of the rest of the world however, has yet to see any sign of KitKat for their 4G Galaxy S3 (GT-I9305). We’ve even looked at some carriers’ software update schedules and none of them have given us any indication that an update is coming soon. Those carriers even have update schedules posted that go through September.

Many Galaxy S3 users still waiting for the KitKat update

A customer in the Vodafone Spain forums asked about this update and they were actually given an answer in the thread. Alberto from Vodafone Spain tells the customer that “they have not officially confirmed or denied the KitKat update for the Galaxy S3″. They continued for a little while and then said “for now, the latest version available for the Galaxy S3 is Android 4.3″.

You can take this as a piece of good or bad information. It’s great that Samsung hasn’t shut the door completely on the S3 (yet). This means there is a possibility that the update is currently being worked on and that it will be released soon. Then again, this doesn’t tell us anything that we haven’t heard already. We already knew that there wasn’t any new information out there. We have to give Vodafone Spain some credit though. They could have easily just ignored this question, but they stood up and talked to their customers about it.

This is really all we want as a Smartphone customer. We want our carriers and our Smartphone manufacturers to talk to us and tell us what is going on. All of this silence from Samsung is only going to cause idle speculation and false hope. Even if Samsung told us that it would be 6+ months until we saw an Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Galaxy S3, at least it would be something. As much as Samsung thinks this silence is better for them than disappointing news, it’s only going to cause some grief between those of us that are looking for information about the Android update.

It’s going to cause those customers to think long and hard about whether or not the sacrifice of Android updates (and transparency) are more important than the customizations of TouchWiz. Sooner or later, stock Android (and even an OEM skin like Motorola’s or HTC’s) will catch up to where TouchWiz is today. Let’s just hope that Android optimizations stay on track and it doesn’t get as bloated (performance-wise) as TouchWiz is right now. If not, then the casual Android customer will continue to give Samsung their money.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Teaser Released

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Teaser Released

The Galaxy Note 4 is shaping up to be one of the biggest launches of 2014, and Samsung wants to leave no stone unturned to make sure its UNPACKED event next month gets as much attention as possible. We have been seeing a lot of leaks related to the Note 4 in the past few weeks, including some official teasers by Samsung as the launch nears.

Samsung releases teaser for Note 4′s S-Pen feature

Today, we have yet another teaser by Samsung – a YouTube video highlighting the functionality of the S-Pen on the Galaxy Note 4. The video highlights the advantages of taking notes and writing them with the S-Pen instead of just typing on a keyboard. There is no arguing though, the S-Pen indeed is a very useful tool and increases your productivity significantly when you’re on the go.

Samsung doesn’t forget to remind us about the announcement date at the end of the video – September 3rd. Although, unlike last year, it will not be launched at IFA. Instead, Samsung is hosting its own UNPACKED event before IFA kicks off.

We are really excited about the event and can’t wait to get our hands on the Galaxy Note 4. Going by the recent specifications leak, it is going to be a monster of a device. The rumored specs make us giggle with joy: 5.7 inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 805/Exynos 5433 chipset, 3GB RAM, 16 MP camera with OIS and LTE-advanced connectivity for up to 300 mbps download speeds. There are also some sources that claim it will come with 4GB RAM, not 3. If that turns out to be true, Note 4 would be the first Smartphone to ship with 4GB RAM.

It’s certainly going to be very interesting to see how the market reacts to the Note 4. Samsung’s high-end sales have been slowing down lately and Galaxy S5 sales were reported to be below expectations.

Samsung OTA Update For The AT&T Galaxy S5 Active Adds... Well, Not Much

Those of you with a tough-as-nails Galaxy S5 Active for AT&T are probably wondering when your phones will be updated to Android 4.4.4. And you can keep on wondering, because the latest over-the-air update from Samsung keeps the phone on the same 4.4.2 build it had when it was released52. But it does add... uh, some user interface changes in the default email app? Roll out the barrels!

Here's the full list of changes from Samsung's support page.

·         Visual Voice Mail (VVM) enhancements

·         Security updates and patches

·         Application installation enhancements

·         Accidental emergency dial fixed on the lock screen

·         Several lower layer modem crashes and sluggishness improvement enhancements

·         E-mail UX enhancements

·         Re-activation lock improvements

To be fair, those issues with the emergency dial and modem crashes sound like they could seriously annoy at least some users. Samsung isn't saying how big the G870AUCU1ANG3 update is, but I don't think those changes could warrant more than 100MB at most. Even so, the support page recommends connecting to a Wi-Fi network before initiating the download.

As for when you can expect a more recent update to Android itself... since the standard Galaxy S5 is still rocking 4.4.2, you could be waiting a while, and Samsung might just skip all of it in favor of the inevitable Android L update. Whenever that might happen to come.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Reportedly Coming with "side touch" Sensor for Selfies

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Reportedly Coming with “side touch” Sensor for Selfies

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date is only a couple of weeks away, but, as we are getting closer to the highly-anticipated event, we hear more about the next-gen Sammy flagship phablet. A couple of days ago we’ve told you about a Note 4-compatible ultrasonic case, yesterday we had a look at the benchmark scores of the Exynos 5443 variant, and now we learn something about the handset’s selfie-taking capabilities.

As you all may know, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will debut on September 3rd at IFA 2014 Berlin tech fair. What you might have not known is that the new smartphone will arrive with a new “side touch” feature that would allow you to take selfies easier. How does it work? Instead of pressing the shutter button, you will be able to tap an area on the side rim of the Note 4 to trigger the camera. With selfies getting more and more popular, this new “side touch” feature is definitely pretty handy.

The report comes from the folks at Sammobile, a trustworthy source when it comes to reports about unannounced Samsung devices. The publication also claims that the “side touch” feature was supposed to debut on the Galaxy S5. Anyway, it seems they decided to ditch it in the last moment, but the code is still embedded in the Galaxy S5, which means it might be patched in a future update.

Sammobile also talks about other camera-centric features of the Galaxy Note 4. We’ve got Wide Selfie (allows you to take wide-angle selfies), Selfie (you can trigger the camera shutter by smiling or winking), Selfie Alarm (the rear camera automatically detects and focuses on your face while in self-portrait), and more.

Hardware-wise, the Galaxy Note 4 is expected to arrive with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD (1440 x 2560) resolution, quad-core Snapdragon 805 / octo-core Exynos 5443 CPU, 3 GB RAM, 16/32/64 GB storage, microSD card, 16 MP primary shooter with OIS and 4K video recording, and a front-facing 3.7 MP camera. Thoughts?