Samsung Rugby Smart rugged phone for AT&T leaks

Some new details and images have leaked for an upcoming Samsung handset headed for AT&T. While it wont be winning any awards for its charming good looks, it does have some rugged and durable features that should make it stand the test of time. Being called the Samsung Rugby Smart lets hope this phone can hang in there during the scrum.


We’ve heard rumors regarding this phone back during some Galaxy Note leaks but with the new images we can confirm it is coming, and to AT&T. This entry-level Android phone looks quite rugged and packs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Full details aren’t yet known but we see plenty from the pictures. Leaks suggest a 1,650 mAh battery, AT&T HSPA+, and 512 MB of RAM. Most likely it will be powered by the Samsung Hummingbird (Galaxy S) processor and be 1.0 GHz single-core with 512MB of RAM.
Gingerbread on board based on the pictures, and that makes sense given this is an entry-level device. Rocking a front and rear camera but specs on those aren’t confirmed. The cover on the phone looks a little weird but the lock in place gives is a few things to consider. They are calling it the “Rugby Smart”. Looking at the image it appears the rugged and “rugby” part can come off with the twist lock shown on the back, making this go from a rugged and durable phone to something more normal and smartphone looking, but that is just a guess. Either way the lock on the back leaves us wondering.
PocketNow is reporting the phone should have launched around February 18th but that hasn’t happened. We’ll probably see more at Mobile World Congress next week.

AT&T Galaxy S II Skyrocket Android 2.3.6 update rolling out, appears broken

We have some good news and some bad news. Lets start with the good shall we? Apparently Samsung and AT&T are sort of ready to start updating the AT&T Galaxy S II Skyrocket because users are getting an over the air update as we speak. Now for the bad news. This same update seems to be failing for most users that have tried to install it — rooted or stock.


According to multiple owners over at XDA Developers the update is small and quick and shouldn’t take but a minute. Only problem is the persistent failing of the update. Many fail before the download completes, and for others they manage to download the entire file but failure is still the end result. A few were lucky and one member was able to update after a few tries and posted a quick screenshot showing the new build.

The update is around 21MB in size and from looking at the screenshot above we can clearly see Android 2.3.6 on board instead of 2.3.5 and UCLA3 for the build. Sadly we don’t have Ice Cream Sandwich just yet but they are getting the latest Gingerbread build complete with all the security patches and performance improvements from Google. Samsung has probably fixed a few bugs too but at the moment we don’t have a change log and since the update is failing we can’t report much on what’s new.
Check for updates now manually as usual by going to settings > about phone > check for updates. Let us know how it goes and if it works for you. If so, report any changes in the comments below.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S II Skyrocket

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : AT&T

Announced Date : October 31, 2011

Release Date : November 06, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.5 Inch
• Resolution : 480x800
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED Plus

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.11 Inch
• Width : 2.71 Inch
• Depth : 0.37 Inch
• Weight : 130 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1780 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Qualcomm

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1000 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Verizon Galaxy Nexus desktop dock available from Samsung

Since Google and Samsung first announced the Galaxy Nexus we have been waiting for some official accessories from Samsung themselves, especially for the Verizon LTE model. Thanks to a watchful eye it appears Samsung.com is all set and has recently started shipping the desktop dock for the Galaxy Nexus. Looking at the compatibility list the Verizon model is clearly listed.


Being listed as the Galaxy Nexus i515 Pogo Desktop dock this landscape mode dock uses the 3-pin connectors on the side of the Nexus for wireless and easy charging. We have seen a few accessories for the GSM international Galaxy Nexus but not the Verizon model. Under supported devices the Galaxy Nexus is listed as “SCH-I515MSAVZW”. See the VZW at the end folks?
More pictures of the new dock are available in the gallery below for those interested. With no HDMI-out option I’m a little sad but Samsung has provided an audio output for those looking to stream music, don’t forget the Galaxy Nexus supports MHL either guys. The official Samsung Galaxy Nexus Pogo desktop dock will run you $89.99 but is currently listed as out of stock. We’ve reached out to Samsung for more details and hopefully will have one in for review soon — if they ever become available.
Samsung link

US Cellular grabs Galaxy S II

Samsung’s Galaxy S III may be just around the corner, but not everybody has the existing Galaxy S II yet: regional carrier US Cellular has just announced that the Super AMOLED Plus smartphone will be hitting its airwaves imminently. Priced at $229.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, the US Cellular GSII will have a 4.5-inch WVGA touchscreen, 1.2GHz Samsung Exynos C210 dual-core processor and an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash.


There’s also Android 2.3 Gingerbread and 16GB of onboard storage, along with a microSD card slot. No LTE, unlike say AT&T’s variant, but 3G along with WiFi and Bluetooth. It’ll come preloaded with Swype, too, together with Samsung’s own TouchWiz interface modifications.
While it may be showing its age, the Galaxy S II is still a decent performer and one of our favorite handsets of recent months. The Super AMOLED Plus display is colorful and bright, with excellent viewing angles; only its WVGA resolution shows it up in comparison with qHD and 720p HD panels on other devices.
Camera quality is also solid, and the 1080p Full HD video capture is admirable. Perhaps best of all is the overclocking potential, with the aftermarket ROM community already cooking up plenty of hacks for the handset. No exact word on launch dates, but we’re guessing US Cellular won’t want to dawdle.

US Cellular officially getting the Samsung Galaxy S II

It's been a couple months now since we broke the news that US Cellular would be getting the Samsung Galaxy S II, and today the carrier manufacturer made it official. Samsung's flagship phone from 2011 will be making its debut on the regional carrier sometime in the future (no date was given) and it'll launch with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Don't everybody go rushing to the store at once.
That's not to say you'll be getting a bad phone -- it'll cost $229.99 after $100 mail-in rebate. It's odd timing considering we'll be seeing new fare from Samsung in the coming weeks and months, most likely. And nor is it slated for USCC's fledgling LTE network. But you do get Samsung's 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos processor, an 8MP rear camera and 16GB of storage tucked into that 4.5-inch form factor, which is nice, we suppose.

SwiftKey apparently makes the leap from Android to BlackBerry PlayBook

So our pals at CrackBerry have been killing it with their BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 coverage. Killing it. But in keeping an eye on it -- remember that part of BB's MO now is to just use Android applications -- something looked strangely familiar.
See, the third-party Android keyboard I use loves to mock me by suggesting "Collins" every time I type my name. Phil Collins. Har. Only, the PlayBook does that, too. Odd. Either somebody has a strange sense of humor (and/or is stalking me), or perhaps that keyboard has leapt from Android to BlackBerry.
That keyboard is SwiftKey.
A couple more pieces of evidence:
Read Write Web in its write-up of PB 2.0 mentions a "SwiftKey-like auto correctoin and predictive word completion." Not just suggestions and auto-correct, but "SwiftKey-like." Maybe they're just fans of the Android keyboard, though.
But then there's this: In the course of writing an e-mail, we typed the name "Ben." What was suggested? Franklin? Roethlisberger? Vareen? Nope. Medlock. Not-so-coincidently, Ben Medlock is Swiftkey's chief technical officer, whom we've met before on the Android side of things.
Dammit, RIM. Is there nothing from Android you won't take?

AT&T Galaxy S II Skyrocket getting an update, failing for many

Folks are letting us know that the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is in the midst of receiving an update. However, that update's failing for a good many. We're not seeing any official changelog just yet either on AT&T's or Samsung's side, but we've got inquiries in. Chances are we're looking at bugfixes with just a 21MB update, but we'll let you know if/when we hear more

Samsung Galaxy Nexus accessories showing up on Samsung U.S. website, but we can't have them just yet

The seemingly endless wait for the official Samsung Galaxy Nexus accessories continues to drag on. Latest developments see the range added to the Samsung US website. Sounds good right? Before you all go rushing on over there waving your credit cards, you might want to take a step back. 

The range is showing up as out of stock, and worse still is on a two week backorder. Being on backorder is practically the same as no order, but perhaps we're gradually edging closer to getting our hands on  these -- particularly that sweet car dock. We really want one of those. 

On the other side of the Atlantic over here in the UK, things aren't looking any brighter. Clove Technology were hoping to have had their first stocks for the GSM Galaxy Nexus by now. Their product pages have been updated to reflect "availability to be confirmed" and "first stock delayed."

Expansys UK are still showing availability over Tuesday and Wednesday next week, but their dates haven't changed in some time now. We're all hoping they're accurate, but sadly not holding out too many hopes. 

If Samsung themselves have placed a two week backorder on stocks though, perhaps that means we will actually be able to get our hands on some in two weeks. Looks like for now though the wait continues.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus gets a bugfix update

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus Android tablet has a small bugfix update available. No real idea of what's new, other than "software and stability improvements," but the update takes half of forever to apply, which is a little surprising given that it's only a 19.38-megabyte download. We'll keep an ear out for any real deets on this one. Otherwise, head into the settings and get your update on.

T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G moves from 'later this year' to 'in late March,' gets $149 price tag

When the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G was announced at CES last month, it was done so without a hard release date. Not surprising -- that's how it's done. We still don't have a firm date, but Samsung and T-Mobile tonight in a new release have dropped "late March" on us. We've also got on-contract pricing to go along with it -- $149.99 after $50 mail-in rebate.

The Galaxy S Blaze 4G, in addition to being a mouthful, is one of T-Mobile's newer 42Mbps devices. That is, it can pull down data really fast. Other specs include:

• 3.97-inch Super AMOLED display
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Dual-core qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor at 1.5 GHz
• 5MP rear camera
• 1.3MP front-facing camera

Stay tuned for our next installment, when we might actually get a release date.

T-Mobile Announces March Availability for Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
The latest addition to T-Mobile’s fastest 4G device lineup, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
keeps consumers entertained and connected

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Feb. 22, 2012 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.,1 today confirmed the upcoming March availability of the Samsung Galaxy S® Blaze™ 4G, exclusively from T-Mobile®. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G is the latest addition to the successful Galaxy S line of products, and T-Mobile’s newest fast 4G smartphone to take advantage of 4G (HSPA+42) technology, providing customers with the ability to browse the Web faster than the average home Internet2 connection while on the go.

Consumers are increasingly demanding more from their smartphones — keeping them entertained, staying connected with loved ones and enabling them to complete more tasks using a single device. A recent T-Mobile survey3 found 79 percent of smartphone users are less likely to carry other technology devices, such as cameras, laptops and GPS devices, when they have their smartphone.

T-Mobile’s newest 4G smartphone offers a variety of features and applications to help consumers be entertained and have access to the information they need when they need it. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G entertainment offerings make it easy for T-Mobile customers to stream their favorite movies on Netflix®, enjoy live or on-demand TV programs on T-Mobile® TV in mobile HD4 or download a popular movie or TV show using Samsung Media Hub. Additionally, the smartphone features TeleNav GPS Navigator, which provides hands-free, voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions, real-time traffic alerts, full-color 3-D moving maps and local alerts, helping customers get to where they need to go. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also comes preloaded with a customized version of the Yelp mobile application, featuring the ability to save profiles so users can keep preferences the same with one touch in any city, making it easy to find and read reviews for local places to eat, shop, drink and play.

Also pre-loaded on the device, the T-Mobile 4GPro App Pack offers an aggregation of key business applications, such as DropBox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, Camscanner and LinkedIn, helping busy consumers be even more productive while balancing their professional and personal lives.

“The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is loaded with rich features and services to keep consumers entertained and connected virtually anywhere they want to go,” said Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA. “Paired with T-Mobile’s fast 4G network and our unlimited data plans, we’re making it easy for consumers to enjoy the benefits of 4G experiences at a price they can afford.”

Featuring a sleek and stylish form factor, the smartphone comes in a carbon black color and runs on Android™ 2.3 Gingerbread. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also features a Snapdragon™ S3 processor by Qualcomm® with 1.5 GHz dual-core CPUs and a beautiful 3.97-inch Super AMOLED™ touch screen providing consumers with a rich experience watching their favorite movie or TV show on the device.

The Galaxy S Blaze 4G also makes it easy to connect and share photos and video with loved ones. It features a 720p HD video recorder, 5-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, flash and advanced shooting modes, as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.
Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is expected to be available at T-Mobile retail stores, select dealers and retailers nationwide, and online at http://www.t-mobile.com starting late March. The Galaxy S Blaze 4G is expected to cost $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate card, with a two-year service agreement and qualifying Classic voice and data plan. For more information, visit http://galaxy-s.t-mobile.com/samsung-galaxy-blaze.

¹ No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. claim for Samsung Mobile based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Q4 2011 U.S. Market Share Handset Shipments Report.
² Based on average download speeds on T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ 42 Mbps network in four major markets versus average home Internet speeds as determined by independent third-party testing.
³ Survey Methodology: This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of T-Mobile USA from December 20-22, 2011 among 2,573 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 235 will be first time smartphone buyers in 2012, and 988 are current smartphone users who will remain smartphone users in 2012. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact kmcfadzean@waggeneredstrom.com.
⁴ Mobile HD TV can deliver a bit rate of 800 kbps and 16:9 resolution; the bit rate and resolution you experience will vary based on many factors (e.g., programming, network connection, and device). Playback on the device limited to 480x800.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus Offer - Best Price Online!

This week we have a nice little surprise for people looking to get their hands on the device that Phil calls "Android's most cutting-edge smartphone" -- none other than the Galaxy Nexus running on the Verizon 4G LTE network.
For this Wednesday and Thursday only, ShopAndroid.com in conjunction with Best Buy Mobile Solutions are bringing you a deal that is much too low to show, as it is the very lowest price that you'll find anywhere for this amazing smartphone.
How much of a deal?  You'll need to follow the link below to find out but we can tell you that if you're looking to start a new Verizon account with a 2 year contract you'll get it at up to $210 less than most options online and if you've been wanting to renew or upgrade your existing Verizon contract you'll still be looking at up to $100 less than other offers.
So if you've been lusting to get your hands on the amazing Galaxy Nexus, there probably hasn't been a better time to do so than right now.

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G to hit T-Mobile in late March

T-Mobile has confirmed that it will be getting a new Android device as an exclusive next month. The device is called the Galaxy S Blaze 4G and will operate on the T-Mobile HSPA +42 network. The mobile phone will come packed with apps for entertainment and navigation. Preloaded apps include Netflix, T-Mobile TV in mobile HD, Samsung Media Hub, a customized Yelp app, and TeleNav GPS navigator.


The smartphone will be offered in carbon black color and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread for the operating system. The phone uses a Snapdragon S3 dual core processor running at 1.5 GHz. The screen of the smartphone is a 3.97-inch AMOLED promising great colors and brightness for multimedia use. The phone also comes preloaded with the T-Mobile 4GPro App Pack that adds in applications for professional users including LinkedIn, DropBox and more.
The rear camera is a five megapixel unit that can record 720p HD video and has four times digital zoom. The camera also has integrated flash and advanced shooting modes. The phone has a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video chats. The Blaze 4G will show up in late March and should cost $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. Naturally, you’ll need a new two year agreement for voice and data.