Photo: jp.ubiqua / Flickr

When the Samsung Galaxy S phone arrived, it was quickly propelled into the upper echelons of smartphones. Now, with the just unveiled Samsung Galaxy S2, the Korean consumer electronics giant solidifies its position as one of the best manufacturers of smartphones on the planet, and truly Apple’s biggest competitor.

Fantastic specs

Samsung have never been ones to hold back on technology with their top of the line products, and this smartphone is no different. The device packs a 1GHz dual-core Exnos processor, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, as well Bluetooth 3.0 + connectivity allowing transfer speeds of up to 24mb/sec. NFC technology makes an appearance here, too, literally ensuring the device checks off every single cutting edge feature afforded to contemporary smartphones.

Oh so pretty

Aesthetically, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a looker. The handset is a slim 8.49mm thick, and is exceptionally light at just 116g. The device has a gorgeous 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display with an impressive 800×480 res screen. That’s not all of it, though, with Samsung boasting this display’s power consumption is 80 per cent less than that of its predecessor, and that the screen’s response time is an insanely fast 0.01ms.

To take full advantage of this display capability, the handset packs an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calling purposes, full HD video playback and recording, and looks the business.

The Android fight

The Samsung Galaxy S2 proves why the Korean consumer electronics giant has become so important to Google’s fight against Apple and RIM. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with Samsung opting to bring back its hugely divisive TouchWiz OS overlay to the party.

When you can get

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is on course for a 4 March 2011 release date in the UK, with the handset priced at £549 unsubsidized. Our MWC 2011 coverage continues, with some interesting developments still on course for the remainder of the conference.

Photo: wstryder / Flickr

When the Samsung Galaxy S was launched seven months ago, reviewers world over quickly dubbed it the marquee Google Android smartphone. Yet having media praise translate to significant sales is not always the case. For Samsung, however, the just reward for a great product – good sales – has panned out. The Korean company has just announced that its flagship phone has moved over 10 million units worldwide. Yes, this is a very big deal.

The big December push

The Korean consumer electronics giant had set itself the goal of selling 10 million Galaxy S smartphone units before the year’s end. On 23 December, the company had reportedly moved 9.3 million units, meaning in the last week alone Sammy managed to move 700,000 units – double what it usually sells each week.

Strong, consistent sales run

Quick back of the envelope mathematics pegs the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone at selling an average of 1.4 million units per month, reports Samsung Hub. Taking the equations further, this places Galaxy S sales at a highly respectable 40,000 units per day every day since release. Given that there are now tons of Android handsets on the market with a reported daily activation of 300,000 units, 13.3 per cent of all those smartphones were Samsung’s.

Steps toward world domination

The global distribution of the Galaxy S smartphone sales also follows worldwide trends, though Samsung will no doubt be desperate to make a bigger impact in the rest of Asia, South America and Africa. Of the 10 million units sold, 4 million units were sold in North America, 2.5 million units in Europe and 2 million units in Samsung’s home country, South Korea. The remaining 1.5 million units were spread out across territories around the world.

The Samsung Galaxy S smartphone is a brilliant handset deserved of its high sales numbers. Now the pressure for Samsung to repeat its success is on.

Photo: Google (Nexus)

How about this for some continuity – when Google unveiled the Samsung-developed Nexus S, everyone called it a tweak of the Galaxy S. Now a rumour coming out of a Korean newspaper suggests that we will see the Samsung Galaxy S2 launched at the Mobile World Congress in February, with it being a tweak of the Google Nexus S. Confused much? Yep, that’s it.

Dual-core

Korean newspaper Chosunilbo (sub required) reported the news, saying that the tech will be an almost exact replica of the current Google Nexus S. That means a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.3, gyorscope, NFC technology, dual video cameras, and 16GB of internal memory. Where it will differ, apparently, is in having a dual-core processor, as the defining characteristic of the handset.

This could make the Samsung Galaxy S2 one of the most powerful handsets in the world, considering its predecessor is already up there with the rest of them in terms of raw speed and power.

Umm, well Nexus One became the Desire

This transition from a Google-branded phone to a Samsung-branded phone is similar to the transition HTC went through when they launched the HTC Desire, since the Desire was a tweak of the Nexus One. This is a positive omen, since the HTC Desire is still considered by many – these parts included – to be one of the best smartphones on the market. Period. Given that the original Galaxy S is categorized in the same league, one can only imagine how good the S2 turns out.

Smartphone overload

Unless you write about technology, it’s becoming extremely difficult to keep up with the many smartphones released these days. The Google Nexus S, for example, was launched literally the other day in the UK.

Photo: Google

Smartphone lovers, and particularly those who like themselves some Google Android action, rejoice! The Google Nexus S is finally available in the UK, with Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse currently being the only retailers of the handset in the country.

Hurry, or you’ll miss out

If you have plans of picking up a Google Nexus S handset before Christmas, you may want to avoid dragging your feet too long, with the Carphone Warehouse announcing stock will be tight.

‘Due to strong customer interest, limited stock will be available to buy direct at key Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy stores in the UK,’ read a statement. It continued with: ‘All other branches of The Carphone Warehouse will be taking orders via instant ship delivery which will allow customers to pick up the phone from any store at their convenience.’ Noted. Go, go, go!

Pricing

When the Google Nexus S was first announced, it was set to cost a wallet-crushing £550 prepaid. That price has been dramatically reduced to a more palatable, yet still wallet-bruising £430 prepaid. If you’re going for the contract option, you’ll pay £30 monthly on a 24-month contract.

The big play

The Google Nexus is the latest Google Android flagship phone, shipping with Android 2.3 – the latest version of the mobile OS platform. On paper, the phone, which is a tweak of the beloved Samsung Galaxy S, is a beast. When it was unveiled, we pointed out that it ‘ships with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Samsung’s powerful 1GHz Hummingbird processor with discrete GPU aboard it’ as well as the expected dual video cameras, and 16GB of internal memory.

Strangely Google omitted the option to add a microSD card, but here we’re nitpicking. Now that we finally have our hands on the device, we’re going to put it through its pacing over the course of the week, and kick out our Google Nexus S review before the year is up.

Photo: Google

One of the worst kept secrets in all of technology, the Google Nexus S handset manufactured by Samsung and carrying Google Android 2.3, has been officially unveiled. Act surprised. The handset, however, is definitely a force to be reckoned with, especially considering the pedigree Samsung now brings to the smartphone game.

Why should you care?

For those wondering why they should care, it’s essentially a modification of the brilliant Samsung Galaxy S. That means it ships with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Samsung’s powerful 1GHz Hummingbird processor with discrete GPU aboard it, and the now requisite dual video cameras for video calling. Internal capacity sits at a manageable, if not large, 16GB.

Where the Google Nexus S differs from the Samsung Galaxy S, importantly, is its built in NFC (near-field communicator) technology that’ll allow it to communicate with digital objects in the world – as well as potentially allow it to behave as a mobile payments device. Additionally it has what Google is touting as the world’s first curved screen. While we think it just looks plain weird, Google claims that it’s designed as such to be both comfortable in your palm and ‘along the side of your face’.

Oh, and did we mention that this is the first device that ships with Google Android 2.3 right out of the box? Yes, sir.

UK release date

UK-based Google Android fans itching to get their hands onto the Google Nexus S can rest easy, with the Android team announcing that it will see our shores before Christmas at Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy. It’s not cheap, though, with the sim free version costing a princely £549.95, but a £35 monthly contract with the phone thrown in for free is also available. These smartphones sure aren’t getting any cheaper, economies of scale be damned!

Or if Christmas is too far for you, and you don’t mind waiting a little longer for Google Android 2.3 on your handset, you could always buy the Samsung Galaxy S. It’s rather brilliant, you should know.

Photo: Samsung

This is our second entry in our seven part series chronicling the hopes tech titans have for 2011. Our first post covered Sony’s 2011 hopes, and this one covers the hopes and plans of its biggest like-for-like rival, Samsung. And if the South Korean tech giant’s 2010 is anything to go by, Samsung 2011 will be a serious force to reckon with, likely playing a big part in the collective tech push back against Apple’s unbelievable dominance.

The smartphone factor

Photo: Samsung

For our money, Samsung 2011 will be all about the smartphone. The company finally turned the corner in 2010, from making lackluster smartphones to releasing what is easily a top three contender for best phone in the world, period: the Samsung Galaxy S. The South Korean company’s immediate roadmap is even more interesting than that, with an as yet unnamed phone sporting an 8mp camera is looking to make the Galaxy S look like old news come February 2011.

And not only is the South Korean giant killing it on Android, their Windows Phone 7 handsets are very competent, too. Seriously, in terms of handset manufacturer quality, off one handset alone, Sammy has put itself in the company of HTC and Apple both, which is no mean feat.

The tablet factor

Photo: Samsung

Samsung second anti-Apple assault comes in tablet form with its Galaxy Tab and the inevitable Samsung 2011 tablet(s). While the Galaxy Tab has been extremely divisive to say the least, it’s on track to move a million units before the year is up, to leapfrog into the second highest selling tablet in the world. The problem is the tablet up in first is generally considered superior and is outselling it hands down right now.

Sammy 2011 will be about outdoing one of Samsung’s most important frenemies, which at this stage is impossible for many, but the Korean giant stands an outside chance of making a dent.

The television game

Sammy’s vice grip on the global LCD TV market has only recently come under threat, and that’s within only one – albeit very important – market. What makes the South Korean company’s performance in this market particularly impressive is that not only does Sammy have the volumes game, they’re also highly competitive on price even with a remarkable product. This is a recipe for success few have any chance replicating with ease.

Samsung 2011 is likely to also keep throwing resources at their 3D TV lineup. While we’re still not sold on home 3D television yet, manufacturers are hell bent on making it work, and Sammy is at the front of this curve.

While Samsung 2011 focus will be on taking major strides in consumer electronics, one needs to remember that they’re the leading manufacturer of memory in the world, which means insofar as the uptick of flash memory continues, Samsung will make bank, too. Of all the companies on our list, Samsung is the one with the most eclectic product mix, and uncanny ability to generate support. Can it upend Apple? We’re doubtful in the short run, but anything can happen in the long term.

Between the Galaxy Tab, Galaxy S, the successors of those two products, and its major bet on 3D TV, it’d be irresponsible to ignore Sammy.

Photo: Samsung

So you thought we were joking when we said that Samsung were hell bent on becoming Apple’s number one competitor in the mobile computing space. Did you think it hyperbole when many of us considered the Samsung Galaxy S as one of the top three phones available in the world today, and wondered out loud what they could come up with next? Well, if a leaked Samsung slide of what could be the company’s next phone is anything to go by, come next February, you may start agreeing with us.

Flagship Samsung

The as-yet unnamed Samsung smartphone, shown on a slide uncovered by the industrious folks over at Engadget, shows a sleek-looking black handset, that will be available in either 4.3-inch size or 4.5-inch size. The display has been codenamed ‘sAMOLED2’, which likely stands for Super AMOLED 2 display, suggesting Sammy have likely made some notable improvements on their already dazzling display seen on the sensational Samsung Galaxy S. And if you’ve still not been floored by the prospect, it packs an 8MP camera with flash enabled and full HD 1080p recording and playback. Yep, this phone is the business.

Flagship Android

Standing out on the Samsung slide in big, bold text, are the words ‘February’, which may be some indication on when Samsung plans to release this device. As Engadget itself points out, that also happens to be around the time of a rather big mobile phones conference you may have heard of – the Mobile World Conference. It will also sport the next version of the Google Android mobile OS software – Gingerbread – which, depending on who is right, is either version 2.3 or version 3.0 of the mobile OS platform.

In short, Samsung hopes to make the Samsung Galaxy S look like old news come February, laying the gauntlet and likely setting the standard for all Google Android handsets to come after.

Photo: Apple

2010 has been an unprecedented year in smartphone technology. It saw Apple solidify its smartphone stronghold, Google go from strength to strength, HTC ride the Google Android wave, Microsoft give its mobile OS platform ambitions a reboot, and older stalwarts like Nokia struggle to keep up. As the year winds down, however, we take a peak into the top three smartphones of the year so far. Why ‘so far’? Though we doubt anything will sneak in at the last minute, one can never be too safe, right?

iPhone 4

Antennagate aside, and glass gate aside, Apple showed its iPhone dominance reporting an unprecedented 14.1 million iPhones sold in the last quarter. Furthermore, though it doesn’t have the unit numbers comparable to other mobile phone manufacturers, it sure does horde the industry wide profit. With its retina display, gyroscope in lieu of the older accelerometer, a notable speed boost, and FaceTime, Apple reminded us why people love their iPhones so. What’s more, it’s really difficult to ignore 300,000 apps, especially when the mobile OS platform, iOS, is what powers the best selling tablet computer in the world, too.

HTC Desire

Photo: HTC

For our money, the HTC Desire was the first big deal smartphone to be released in 2010, and as testament to how high a bar the handset set, few mobile phones have come even close to it. This Android smartphone packed an impressive 5mp camera, with more power under the hood then mobile phones should be allowed to have. While we loved the HTC Magic and the HTC Hero before it, the HTC Desire showed that the Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer really does have the desire to be the best in the world at this. Read our HTC Desire review to see why this is a no brainer in any 2010 best smartphones list.

Samsung Galaxy S

Photo: Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S is the most recently released ‘let’s collectively gush at how awesome this phone is’ handset this year. While Samsung’s TouchWiz interface continues to be highly divisive, the overall build quality of this Android smartphone is, in many areas, peerless. Samsung borrowed many ideas from Apple in making their smartphone, but so what? Copy what works, and do your own thing as you attempt to make it better. And, one look at our Samsung Galaxy S review will confirm why we think it’s also a shoe-in on any 2010 best smartphones list.

The trend

For those keeping score, two of the three smartphones on this list are Google Android devices. If there were space for additional handsets, the brilliant Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini would likely waltz onto this list, making it three Google Android phones in our top four. It’s no wonder Android is growing like a weed. We are keeping a keen eye on the decidedly brilliant Windows Phone 7 mobile OS platform, though.

Do you agree with our 2010 best smartphones list, and if not, what would you remove and what would you substitute that with?

Photo: Samsung

Historically, if you thought technology rivalry, you thought Apple vs. Microsoft, perhaps, and Samsung vs. Sony. As time has lapsed, however, the lines between mobile computing and consumer electronics have blurred so much that everybody is playing in each other’s stomping ground. And one of the most fascinating rivalries to emerge in recent months is Samsung’s rivalry with Apple.

What adds a fantastic twist to it all is that Apple and Samsung are partners, with Samsung being a key iPhone supplier. Below are some thoughts on the Samsung-Apple rivalry.

Mobile phones

Apple has the runaway success that is the iPhone 4 on its hands right now. Samsung, for its money, has the fantastic Samsung Galaxy S in its pocket. We’d argue that those are the two best mobile phones on the planet, bar none. Samsung is in the fortunate position that, insofar as Apple keeps selling iPhones as fast as it can make them, Sammy gets some money from providing Apple with memory. Even then, though, Samsung will no doubt want to outsell Apple altogether with its smartphones, and the Samsung Galaxy S is certainly a massive leap in the right direction.

Tablet computers

If the Samsung Apple smartphone rivalry is the frontline, then slate computers are the second battalion, with Samsung looking like a front runner in the tablet PC space, too. The problem is the horse way out in front is the iPad. And, as you no doubt know, Apple makes that, too. If – and this is a mega ‘if’ – the Samsung Galaxy Tab can deliver on its promise with a tablet that genuinely gives Apple a run for its money, it may get a big chunk of change, even if the company gets a comparatively small piece of the marketshare.

The rivalry

Photo: Apple

What you should focus on when it comes to Samsung Galaxy strategy versus Apple’s product range is how Samsung is competing with Apple by going head to head with the best Cupertino can deliver. If Samsung can deliver even comparable product, as they no doubt have with the Galaxy S phone, they’ll get users off the back of many looking for an Apple substitute.

However, what concerns us about Samsung’s ability to do this is their focus – or rather lack of it. Apple’s whole business is built around the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac. Samsung makes phones, smart and dumb, tablets, PMPs, laptops, hard drives, televisions, PC monitors, home appliances and a slew of other products. With that many distractions, can Samsung focus enough to take on the most successful company of the last decade? If that focus can be attained, somehow, this Samsung-Apple rivalry promises to be as fascinating as Apple’s other rivalries with Nintendo, Sony, Amazon and Microsoft.

Photo: Zimbio

Samsung sure knows it has a mega hit on its hands with its Samsung Galaxy S phone. So much so that Samsung has adopted the ‘Galaxy’ name for three lines of its products now – its mobile phone, it’s tablet PC, and now its personal media player, designed to slug it out to the death with Apple’s iPod Touch.

Samsung Galaxy S, minus the phone

The Samsung Galaxy Player 50 is currently available on pre-order in France, of all places, at £175 for the 8GB and £220 for the 16GB model, while the rest of the world waits for concrete release dates, and basic information, too. Much like Apple tout the current the iPod Touch 4^th gen as an iPhone minus the phone, The Galaxy Player follows the same motif for Samsung. In this respect, it has everything the Samsung Galaxy S phone has, including access to and the ability to play Android apps, minus only calling and dual cameras. This fantastic promo video shows exactly what it has going for it.

The differences

The obvious differences between the Samsung Galaxy Player 50 and Apple’s iPod Touch are the core differences that distinguish Android phones from iOS. Which is to say, in terms of capability, very little, but UI differences and the like come into play.

One thing that the Samsung Galaxy Player 50 has going for it that the Apple iPod Touch 4^th generation does not is built-in GPS. This is found in the iPhone, but not in the more bare bones iPod. And while that may seem insignificant, couple that with Google’s fantastic turn by turn navigation, you’ve got a device that, depending on how Samsung markets it, is another threat to stand-alone GPS devices.
What it lacks, though, is dual cameras – it only has a 2mp rear-facing camera – so FaceTime-esque or Skype video calling and the like will not be possible from here.

Thoughts

Seriously, if this device is genuinely a Samsung Galaxy S phone minus the phone, we think we’re likely to be gushing about it, too. Sammy just needs to revisit that price tag a little, though, if it is to go at Apple like this.

While a release date has yet to be confirmed, it is widely expected this device will be ready before Christmas time to cash in on the inevitable shopping spree.