Samsung and Panasonic mull Android smart cameras

So far manufacturers have stuck Android onto a wide variety of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and even smart watches. According to seperate reports, both Panasonic and Samsung could be looking to use Android as the base operating system on digital cameras in the future.

First up, TechRadar reports that a represenative from Panasonic UK says the company is looking into the possibility of using Android on digital cameras in the future. Barney Sykes says:

It’s one option for the future, but we have to be mindful of the consumer and the warranty that we offer. If we open up the platform to third parties, then we lose control of the warranty that we could offer the customer, because you never know what you’re downloading.

Sykes goes on to say that the main concern is app compatibility with the various optics and technology packed into existing cameras. If Android were to be used with apps being downloaded to smart cameras, there’s no guarantee it would play nice with what Panasonic already include. It does open up interesting avenues, however, not just creatively, but also financially.

Meanwhile, Engadget paid a visit to Samsung’s headquarters in South Korea, where they sat down with the research and development team. Just like Panasonic, Samsung have also been toying with the notion of using Android in a digital camera. They didn’t comment on whether a camera featuring Android would hit the market this year, but Engadget believes the hints were there.
Could Samsung’s hint be related to the Galaxy Camera trademark that they filed in the US just last month? Typically the Galaxy moniker has been reserved for the company’s line of smartphones, so a move to include it on cameras ties in nicely with the idea of them using Android as well.
Back at CES 2012, Polaroid unveiled their own smart camera, equipped with a 16 megapixel camera and WiFi/3G connectivity to tie into social networking services, all running on Android. Taking that into account along with Panasonic and Samsung’s ideas, then the so called smart camera could just be the next big thing.

Samsung Galaxy S III press image leaks again – looks fake

The Samsung Galaxy S III is coming. Yay! I’m just as excited about this phone as the next Android enthusiast but that is about where it ends. Until we get any official details or leaks all these fake renders are just pointless. Most likely the next Galaxy S III will look something similar to what we see below, but after a quick closer look you can obviously spot the faults of this Photoshop job.


The guys from Phone Arena received this “official press image” but clearly it is a fake, or Samsung is getting sloppy. Between the widgets being different size, shape, and not the same on the corners and even the lighting being off and messed up this is clearly fake — don’t get me started on that font. I have a feeling the next Galaxy S III will probably look something similar to this, but most would guess the same thing. With Android 4.0 ICS not needing the hardware buttons we no longer see the rectangle home button from previous devices. The design also gives the phone a longer look to go along with the suggested 4.8″ screen from previous rumors.

Nice widgets right? Clearly tossed together pretty fast and without attention to detail. In the gallery below you’ll also see the brightness increased and how the light reflection is clearly not right either. If this was real then we’ll be hearing something soon and even possibly an official announcement on March 22nd — but that is doubtful. Earlier this week we heard reports that the device has started production, and will have a unique ceramic design that will truly be revolutionary.
Latest rumors suggest a 4.8″ display, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a quad-core Exynos processor, 12 megapixel camera and more. Not to mention the ceramic casing for a strong and lightweight design like mentioned above. I can’t wait to see some official information about the Galaxy S III and hope Samsung releases some details soon. For now, enjoy this fake photo and dream of what the future holds for Android.

Samsung Nexus S users still angry at missing Ice Cream Sandwich update

It’s been almost four months since Google posted the first open-source code for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. A month later the official ICS update began rolling out to owners of the Samsung Nexus S, Google’s developer phone that was less than a year old at the time. Almost immediately Google pulled the update, citing battery and WiFi issues. Three months later, there hasn’t been a peep out of Google on the status of the update – which is small comfort to owners of the Nexus S CDMA variant, who haven’t seen any update at all.

With more and more phones and tablets getting Ice Cream Sandwich updates from their manufacturers, Nexus S owners who bought the phone to get timely updates are seeing red. Sure, advanced users can root the phone and use a custom ROM, but that’s not the point – one of the selling points for the Nexus series is that they’re supposed to get the newest versions of Android first. That doesn’t appear to be the case any more, and user frustration is easy to sympathize with.
Combine that with concerns over Verizon’s control of the new Galaxy Nexus and problems with other CDMA phones, and the Nexus program itself seems to be dropping fast in the eyes of Android fans. Add in A lack of communication from Google, and you’ve got a crisis of confidence among the Nexus faithful. It’s not as if updates are promised in perpetuity, but some sort of indication that the ICS update for the Nexus S is still being worked on (including Nexus S 4G models) would go a long way towards solving the problem.

Samsung Galaxy S III preview a spoof

Today there’s an image floating around the Android world pretending to be the next generation Samsung Galaxy S III – we’re here to tell you that it’s quite simply a fake. It’s not our business to disprove rumors unless there’s something we can learn from them – and it just so happens there is a bit that can be gleaned from the phone render you see before you. An intrepid designer, likely working with a 3D modeling application or just Photoshop, has presented this simple device which at first may appear to be an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich toting Samsung device with TouchWiz over the top – on second glance, you must realize that it is not.


First have a peek at the light as it travels from the top of the device to the bottom – the first thing you should notice is that it does not. While real renderings of devices such as these have a line of light traveling across their face as well as the frame surrounding it, this one only has a tiny portion of that. Next you’ll notice in a modified example below created by your humble narrator that the light does not match up from the top of this device down to the bottom.

Our good friends at Android Community have presented another clue that lends itself to destroying the credibility of this image – that being the relatively badly set lettering across the endire device (save the Google logo) and the fact that the widgets do not match. These widgets were created in a post-op environment and are not real. If this device were released tomorrow, Samsung would be lampooned for their half-baked graphics and the design of the user interface would have to be re-baked entirely.

That said, the next version of the Galaxy S line will likely be called Galaxy S III and have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a quad-core Exynos chip created by Samsung. This device will be amazingly powerful and, like the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II that came after it, will dominate the Android world for essentially its entire lifespan. Expect it!

Galaxy S II Ice Cream Sandwich update mod posted for all international models

You know this one was coming. The recently released Ice Cream Sandwich update for Samsung Galaxy S II owners in several European countries and South Korea is for the I9000 model of the phone, which is basically identical in almost all areas of the world, save a few localization files. This being the case, a public-spirited modder from Tech Splurge has posted a quick guide on flashing the software package to any GSII-I9000, saving plenty of folks weeks of waiting while their local carrier gets around to sending out the update.

Unfortunately it’s a little more complicated than the standards custom recovery method: you’ll need Samsung’s Odin desktop software and a USB cable in order to apply the update. That said, it’s probably a good idea to make a Nandroid backup to your phone’s SD card anyway – anyone willing to attempt this process probably already has that capability and know-how. Once that’s done, install Odin, turn off your phone, put it into download mode, connect it via the USB cable (you’ll need the proper drivers as well) and flash the package. Oh, and say goodbye to your warranty.
This process won’t work for any of the Galaxy S II models released in the United States, and probably not for all the variants like the Galaxy S II LTE, X, HD, et cetera. Updates to these and other Samsung phones are coming, but it could be a while. If you’re that anxious to get ICS running, your best bet is probably the various ROM communities out there, but again you should probably tread with caution. Nothing ventured, nothing gained: here’s hoping Android 4.0 finds its way to a phone or tablet near you soon in any case.

Turn Your Galaxy Nexus Into a Mini Tablet

Want to make your Galaxy Nexus screen appear even bigger than it already is? Then you need to check out this awesome mod created by Rootz Wiki member CurrentWeb. What he has done is create a flashable .zip file that will trick your ROM into thinking your GNex is actually a tablet. This means that instead of having the typical status bar up top and the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, you will now have the exact same layout as any Android tablet. The nav buttons and status bar will be moved to the bottom, your app drawer and Google search will be up top, and you will have more room to place apps on your home screens. It seems that this would make more sense in landscape mode but actually looks pretty good in portrait mode, too.
There is already a large list of compatible ROMS and the developer plans to keep adding to it. If you are running any of the more popular ICS ROMS right now you will be pleased to see that it is most likely already supported. All it requires is a simple flash over your current ROM and your up and running in tablet mode! The developer is even working on some sort of toggle so that the mod can be turned on or off with a simple reboot. I don’t know about you but I think this is a pretty sweet idea and may give it a go later today barring any major user reported issues. As it stands right now, some ROMs are having a few issues but the dev is looking into all reported problems. If you’re ready to check it out for yourself hit up the source link below.

O2 Confirms Galaxy S II ICS Update for Mid April, Vodafone ‘As Quickly As Possible’

The Samsung Galaxy S II and its update to Android 4.0 has been all over the interwebs recently. We watched yesterday as Samsung released the official update to the international version of the device, shortly after Korea’s SK Telecom had to pull their tweet confirming the update for March 13th. This was all fine and dandy for those who own a SIM-free Galaxy S II, but the question still remains, when will carrier branded GSII’s receive the update? Well, according to a few recent carrier statements, we can pinpoint their release a little bit more accurately.
Vodafone has gone on record as saying the update will be pushed out “as quickly as possible” and O2 decided to get a bit more specific. According to an O2 spokesman, the ICS update should hit Vodafone GSII’s in mid-April. That’s not exactly a precise date, but it’s better than a vague ‘coming soon’ announcement we’ve grown accustom to. As far as U.S. carriers go, well, they have taken the more uninformative route and have decided to not mention their update plans at all. Based on how long it’s taken them to push out OS updates in the past, you can predict a release sometime in the summer unfortunately. Here’s hoping they prove me wrong and deliver much sooner rather than later.

Latest 'Galaxy S III' render looks no more genuine than the last two

Another week, another Galaxy S III rumor. This time it's a new purported render of the still unannounced device, which has been sent to PhoneArena​ by way of an anonymous tipster. We've seen a couple of purported images of the mythical phone over the past few months, and both have turned out to be mock-ups or fabrications. On account of a few major inconsistencies in this latest image, we're gonna call foul here, too. If you take a closer look at the image, you'll see awkwardly large fonts, icons from an older version of TouchWiz and copy-pasted Galaxy Nexus notification bar and software buttons. That's before you even get to the reference to an event in Paris which Samsung has already denied has anything to do with the Galaxy S III.

Hold tight, folks -- we'll have a new flagship phone from Samsung before too long, but for the moment we're almost certain this isn't it. The official line from Sammy remains that the successor to the Galaxy S II will be revealed at an event during the first half of the year

Samsung Galaxy Note in white on 1SaleADay for $579

It's not very often that I'll use the word "deal" when something costs $579, but the Samsung Galaxy Note is an exception. If you've been looking for one, and prefer an unlocked world version over the AT&T version, now is you chance to save a bit of cash and pick it up in white.

Is this the Samsung Galaxy S III?

It wouldn’t be a normal day here at TalkAndroid without a Samsung Galaxy S III rumour to ponder over. Earlier today we brought you the rumour that the design was finalised and headed to production, well now we may just have a sneak peak at what the device will look like. An anonymous tipster posted the above image to the web and has sparked a series of debates across the tech world.
My first thoughts are that this looks awfully like a photoshopped Galaxy S II. The front face of the device looks pretty much identical aside from the ICS on-screen navigation buttons in place of the usual physical home button and capacitive buttons combo. I would like to believe that Samsung will be a little more imaginative with the design and I’ll personally be filing this particular rumour as ‘unlikely’
The Samsung Galaxy S III is probably the most highly anticipated Android phone of all time and as the summer draws closer the hype is hitting fever-pitch. Brace yourself folks as I suspect there will be plenty more speculation to follow in the coming weeks. The one thing I can say with confidence is that when the Galaxy S III finally does arrive, it will have been worth the wait.