Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 Review: Right on the mini - GSMArena.com

Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 Review: Right on the mini - GSMArena.com: "Minis are supposed to be the cheaper, stripped down version of the bigger and superior gadgets. There’s a long list of bigger and superior siblings for the Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 to choose from but it has its own two feet to stand on.

So, the Galaxy Mini is the last shake of the bag. It will never get to rub shoulders with the big and scary smartphones. But it’s not all bad you know. Not bad at all actually for what basically is an entry level smartphone with complete connectivity, social networking, internet, Android apps and music. It’s the right kind of device for smartphone newbies. A good option if you just don’t want to spend a truck-load of money on a smartphone.

Key Features:

1. Quad-Band GSM and dual-band 3G support
2. 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
3. 3.14” 256K-color QVGA TFT touchscreen
4. ARMv6 600MHz processor, 384MB RAM
5. Android OS v2.2 (Froyo) with TouchWiz v3.0 UI
6. 160MB internal storage, hot-swappable MicroSD slot, 2GB card included
7. 3.15 MP fixed-focus camera with geotagging
8. GPS receiver with A-GPS
9. Stereo FM radio with RDS
10. 3.5mm audio jack
11. Document editor
12. Accelerometer and proximity sensor
13. Swype text input
14. MicroUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth 2.1
15. Social network integration
16. Good build, youthful styling

Main disadvantages:

1. Low screen resolution limits choice of apps
2. Fixed focus camera
3. No secondary video-call camera
4. No flash, no dedicated camera key
5. Poor video recording QVGA @ 15fps

The Galaxy Mini was not made to impress. It was made to serve and be simple to use. It’s a solid little smartphone that has all the important ingredients. It can do most of the things your Galaxy S can, just without the stuff that pushes the price up."

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Samsung S3850 Corby II preview: First look - GSMArena.com

Samsung S3850 Corby II preview: First look - GSMArena.com: "Feature phones have been busy adding more features to their arsenal in a bid to survive the onslaught of cheap smartphones. The Samsung S3850 Corby II is one such phone. Corby put a bargain price on touchscreen – the Corby II moves up a notch but stays within budget.

Touchscreen, Wi-Fi, multitasking, app store – those things used to be associated with smartphones, but the Corby II has them all on its list of features.

The latest TouchWiz, fresh from recent stints with both Bada and Android, blurs the line with smartphones. In fact, the major difference between the Corby II and a low-end Bada phone is that you install Java apps on it, instead of Bada apps.

The J2ME platform has been around longer and many useful apps have been developed for it, while Bada OS is relatively new.

Anyway, the Samsung S3850 Corby II can’t run away from its name. The bigger screen and better specs aside, the Corby II is for beginners. So, no high-end features, thank you very much."

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FCC gives the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 the ole' once over - Phone Arena

FCC gives the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 the ole' once over - Phone Arena: "Visiting the FCC the other day was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The tablet, powered by Android 3.0, was designed to challenge fellow Honeycomb flavored Motorola XOOM and the Apple iPod 2. Designated model 7100, the tablet visited the FCC with a radio that supported the 850 and 1900MHz bands. Those are two U.S. frequencies which hints of an imminent launch soon in the U.S.

One thing that might hold back the release of the tablet is last week's announcement of the Apple iPad 2. As we reported yesterday, Samsung's executive VP of mobile, Lee Don-joo, called the Galaxy Tab 10.1 inadequate after seeing how thin the Apple iPad 2 is. Besides the issue about the thickness of the Samsung tablet, the executive also said that after seeing the Apple iPod 2, the Korean based firm would have to reconsider its pricing of the device. The problem is that with the Apple iPad 2 listed as the same price as the older, original iPad, it puts pricing pressure on all newer tablets even if they have many improvements over older models."

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Samsung S5260 Star II review

You must remember this one – maybe not by face but certainly by name. The Samsung S5260 Star II has some big shoes to fill: over 10 million units sold propelled the predecessor to Stardom. The original Samsung Star was one of the most popular handsets in the early days of affordable touch phones. For the sequel, the count-up to 10 million has begun but this time around customers are harder to please.

Maybe this is part of the reason why it took Samsung over two years to release the Star II. An upgrade is certainly in order and it’d better be worth it. Here’s what the Star II is bringing to the table in short:

Key features:

1. GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE class 12
2. Dimensions: 107.5 x 54 x 12.4 mm, 94 g
3. 3" capacitive TFT touchscreen, WQVGA resolution (240 x 400 pixels)
4. TouchWiz 3.0 UI
5. 30MB onboard storage
6. Hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
7. 3.5mm audio jack
8. 3 megapixel fixed focus camera with smile detection
9. Wi-Fi
10. Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP
11. microUSB v2.0
12. Document viewer
13. Smart unlock
14. Smart dialing
15. Accelerometer sensor
16. FM radio with RDS
17. DNSe
18. SNS integration
19. Find Music recognition service
20. Great battery life
21. SMS spam filtering
22. Decent audio quality

Main disadvantages:

1. No 3G
2. Low-res display
3. Basic fixed-focus camera with no flash
4. Poor video recording – QVGA@15fps
5. Poor web browser
6. Laggy user interface
7. The changes aren’t too many but they should be significant enough for an entry-level handset. Does anyone really expect miracles from a €100 phone – 1080p video recording and big AMOLED screens are reserved for the expensive devices.

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Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 review: Ace in the hole - GSMArena.com

The Samsung Galaxy Ace can get far with a name like this but it isn’t going any further than its comfortable midrange spot. You know, if you want the best seat in the house you need to move the cat. The Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 is a feline droid – the black cat in Samsung’s Android portfolio. And it spells bad luck for the competition – mid-range droids are a force to be reckoned with in the smartphone world.

With the kind of specs, the Samsung Galaxy Ace could have passed for a high-end phone a while back. So, if your processing power and screen estate needs haven’t risen sharply during the past year or so, the Ace will serve you well.

In fact, with Froyo on an 800MHz processor, good connectivity and screen size and resolution that were good enough for the first three iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy Ace is looking good.

The only downside to the package is the QVGA video @ 15fps. That may be acceptable on a low-end dumbphone but certainly disappointing on a mid-range Android.

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Samsung Google Nexus S review: Royal droid

Another year, another heir to the Droid throne – and Google are trying to be democratic about it. Which is a roundabout way of saying they’re not monogamous. For the Nexus One, Google teamed up with HTC. This time around, they trusted Samsung to do the job, using the Galaxy S as a base. It’s only their second try and users are given a second chance to like the Royal Droid. A tall task it is – the very concept is fundamentally incompatible with the free and open source Android system. Royal blood is not a benefit in a free democracy. Google did learn it the hard way with the Nexus One.

Google’s second smartphone child has more than just an image problem to tackle. The Nexus S has to keep pace with the evolution of the platform. The 'S' in the name may stand for many things - from second to superior. But with Android 2.3 Gingerbread inside, speed is not far from the truth either. Here’s what else the Nexus S has to offer in a nutshell.

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Samsung Galaxy 551 review

Samsung Galaxy 551 (I5510)

The Samsung Galaxy 551 is something that should have happened a long time ago. This is not to say that the form factor was out of favor with Samsung. But it took a slew of CDMA messengers to finally see a QWERTY side-slider to land in Europe.

Android debuted on a full QWERTY phone, but messengers were never meant to be the dominant species. The Galaxy 551 is pragmatic enough to accept the fact and live with it. Samsung itself knows better than expect the market to embrace more QWERTY messengers the skill and size of the Motorola Milestone or the HTC Desire Z.

The Samsung Galaxy 551 does not look forward to making a big splash, It’s part of a broader effort of giving the Galaxy lineup some depth in the midrange. With Froyo and all-round connectivity the Samsung Galaxy 551 makes perfect sense in the segment of affordable smart messengers.

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Samsung I9010 Galaxy S Giorgio Armani review

We wish the Samsung I9010 Galaxy S Giorgio Armani was carved out of a gold bar. It would’ve been so much easier. The world would’ve been a better place. But for a change, the Armani-branded Galaxy S is not a tacky, overdone and overrated piece of useless crap. It’s a phone that brings beauty and performance together to please even the most demanding user. It doesn’t feel right when a fashion phone is the better smartphone. But not everything that makes sense to you makes sense to everyone else. Armani and Android – they just don’t mix, do they? What’s the point in selling performance to customers that want bling? Does a smartphone need to be dressed up and well groomed?

But you know, these are the easy questions. And now for the tough one – is the I9010 worth the price premium over a standard Galaxy S?

The answer is most definitely no in terms of user experience, and probably only just in terms of build quality and design. OK, some would gladly spend a little extra perhaps on superior materials and better looks, but how is that nearly 200 euro.

On the other hand, now that the Galaxy S can match the good looks of the iPhone 4 it only makes sense that it’s priced accordingly. And even the I9010 remains cheaper than the cheapest of last-gen iPhones if you discount carrier subsidies.

And it doesn’t even take the expensive Apple iPhone to realize that the I9010 Giorgio Armani is not doing as bad as it may look. True, it’s more expensive than the Desire HD, but the difference here isn’t that great and the Super AMOLED screen and the better build quality seem more than enough to show for it.

We are yet to see how the Gingerbread-packing Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc will be priced, but we are guessing it won’t be notably cheaper than the I9010, not until the middle of this year at least. And until then it would be a choice between looks and functionality, which is never one-sided.

To be honest though, there will be other phones competing against the XPERIA Arc. Destined to a niche existence, the Armani-branded Galaxy S is will struggle to reconcile its two different selves. To say that a very capable smartphone will be scraping a miserable existence as a fashion phone is not too far off perhaps.

The Samsung I9010 Galaxy S Giorgio Armani is a phone in which brilliant looks and brilliant performance are the two parts of a perfect whole. Its curse though is that very few customers will appreciate a perfect blend of fashion phone and smartphone. Fewer yet will want to buy it. Like we said, it’s not fair.

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Samsung S5260 Star II preview: First look - GSMArena.com

A sequel to a bestseller, the Samsung S5260 Star II has good genes and a lot to live up to. Building on a successful recipe is a shortcut to success and that’s exactly what Samsung have done with the Star follow-up.

The latest TouchWiz interface to put users in control of the Samsung S5260 Star II. It’s the feature phone variety of TouchWiz rather than the Bada OS but, with added multitasking and improved homescreen, Bada won’t be badly missed.

There are always ups and downs to buying a phone in this class – here’s the list of pros and cons for the Samsung S5260 Star II.

Samsung S5260 Star II at a glance:

1. General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE class 12
2. Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
3. Dimensions: 107.4 x 54.0 x 12.5 mm, 93.9 g
4. Display: 3" capacitive TFT touchscreen, WQVGA resolution (240 x 400 pixels)
5. Platform: Latest TouchWiz UI with multitasking
6. Memory: 30MB user available storage, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
7. Camera: 3 megapixel fixed focus camera with smile detection, QVGA video recording
8. Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP); standard microUSB port; 3.5mm audio jack
9. Misc: FM radio with RDS; accelerometer sensor; Facebook and Twitter integration; DNSe sound enhancement; Find Music recognition service

The lack of 3G connectivity isn’t a surprise on the Star II – Samsung wanted it to be as affordable as possible. The lack of multitouch though is a disappointment – it’s one of the major points of a capacitive screen. We should note perhaps that the unit we tested wasn’t completely finalized.

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Mobile phone display mega shootout: The full picture - GSMArena.com

There are so many of them that it’s pretty hard to make up your mind. It all boils down to LCD vs. LED although this simple fact is easy to overlook. You can go ahead and blame it all on marketing but that’s one thing that just can’t be black and white. Instead of keeping it simple, manufacturers are busy making up catchy names.

Had enough with LCD? Be our guest, try Super LCD. There’s even Super Clear LCD for the sake of being different. Same with AMOLED. There’s the garden variety. But there’s also Clear Black and Super AMOLED.

Anyway, with so many screens around even we got mixed up. And instead of writing down “We’ll never again mistake regular LCD for Super LCD” three thousand times, we got assigned to do this article. Yes sir. Coming up, boss. It’s about LCD and AMOLED, about Super AMOLED and SUPER LCD. It’s about the Retina display, which technically is a type of LCD.

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Samsung S8530 Wave II review: Riding the wave - GSMArena.com

They shall come in wave upon wave. Or so it seemed in the beginning. Samsung certainly wanted a strong start for their own Bada OS and they had it. It is usual for sequels to be questioned and belittled. That’s one thing the Wave II doesn’t have to worry about. It’s bigger and heavier than the original. When the second gen phone has a familiar sounding model name with an actual ordinal number in it – that doesn’t mean a complete lack of imagination. It’s a way to promote continuity. The Wave II has this base covered too – it’s nearly the same phone as the first Wave but presumably upgraded to reach to a more high-end market segment.

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Samsung S7230E Wave 723 review: A waving hand - GSMArena.com

It’s been smooth sailing for Samsung’s Bada OS and the Samsung S7230E Wave 723 is one of the first of the lineup aimed at the mass market. But beware, this smartphone may change the way you perceive feature phones forever. While amazing, the S8500 Wave costs a pretty penny. It did a great job of attracting attention to the new platform (selling a million units in four weeks), but Samsung designed Bada to be the “smartphone OS for the masses”, so the relatively high priced S8500 wouldn’t be enough on its own. Enter the Samsung S7230E Wave 723. It’s one of the first mid-range models and while it preserves some of the features from the S8500, it drops others and its lower price will help further the adoption of Bada.

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Q3 summary:Top 5 Mobile Phone Vendors

This week was chock full of financial reports and now it’s time for a summary. According to industry analysts IDC, mobile phone market grew 14.6% with 340.5 million units shipped. Smartphones are playing an ever-increasing role - the estimated smartphone market share is expected to grow by over 50% by the end of the year.

Apple entered the Top 5 phone manufacturers and it’s the second smartphone-only manufacturer among them. Along with RIM (the other smartphone-only company), the two manufacturers have the highest growth rates in the third quarter of 2010.

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Samsung Q3 results are out: market share and profit increase - GSMArena.com news

The second largest cell phone manufacturer just published its Q3 results and things are looking pretty good. Unlike their neighbors from LG who had a rather rocky quarter, Samsung continue to gain pace and have moved another step forward in their plan to become Numero Uno. In Q3 the sales of the conglomerate have increased by 12 percent to 35.8 billion US dollars, while net profit rose by 17 percent to reach 4 billion dollars. The mobile division was among the more profitable Samsung businesses, generating 9.9 billion dollars of sales and 1 billion of profit. Those numbers represent an increase of respectively 16 percent and 0.3 percent compared to the same period of last year.

During the past three months Samsung sold 71.4 million handsets, giving them a market share of just over 22 percent (it was 20.8 percent in Q3 of 2009). In comparison, for Q3 of 2009 Samsung only pushed 60.8 million mobile phones.

The average selling price of the Samsung mobile phones has also increased by 14 percent over the previous quarter up to 122 US dollars.

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Samsung I9000 Galaxy S gets the official Froyo treatment

One of the coolest smartphones currently in existence just got even cooler. Samsung is already seeding the Android 2.2 Froyo update to I9000 Galaxy S units in selected markets and worldwide availability should come in the following days. So head to Kies and hit that Firmware Update button to see if you are among the lucky fellas in the first wave. But even if you are not, don't get discouraged just yet - wider availability should be a matter of days only.

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Samsung Focus Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Samsung Focus

OS : Microsoft Windows Phone 7

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor

CAMERA : 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash

DISPLAY : Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen, 16M colors, Size 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches, Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off.

READ MORE - Samsung Focus Microsoft Windows Phone 7