Samsung unveils limited edition Team GB Galaxy S3 phones, to start selling on August 1

Right as we fervently waited for the official kick off of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Samsung made our day even brighter by unveiling two special edition Galaxy S3 phones. These will be available for sale in the UK soon and target British tech users who want to show their support for their Olympian heroes.
The Games’ grand opening ceremony might start in just a few hours, but the Olympic fever won’t be easily quenchable across England for the next 17 days. That’s why, even if the two limited edition Galaxy S3 models won’t actually start selling until August 1, they should still prove fairly successful all around Great Britain.
The two special S3 versions look very similar to the Olympics-branded Notes released some time ago – they have the same hardware and software as the “normal” phones, but come with a different casing. You can go for either the Pebble Blue model with UK’s flag slapped on the back, or the Marble White version with the beautiful Team GB lion on it.

Either way, you’ll be offered both the special Team GB cover and a regular S3 one, so as to choose when or for how long to show your passion for sports and support for your nation’s athletes. The best thing about Sammy’s special phone is that you have the liberty to bundle it with your carrier of choice (Vodafone, Orange – T-Mobile, O2, Talk Mobile, or Three), and you can get the handheld for free by signing up for new two-year contracts starting at £28 a month.
More details about specific plans and network offers will be made available on August 1, when the special S3 should start selling from Carphone Warehouse, both online and in retail stores across the UK. Look for the phone then, or get back to our website to find out more.
In the meantime, tell us your bets for the Games. How many medals will Team GB bring home? How about Team USA? And who will be the biggest star of them all? Could it be GB’s Andy Murray? Michael Phelps? Usain Bolt?

SOURCE: View the original article here

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MetroPCS-bound Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G leaks, to be released in August

Dominating the high-end part of the smartphone world doesn’t seem to be enough for Samsung, which is constantly looking to strengthen its presence in the low-end and mid-range niches as well. One phone that could place itself right between these sectors is the Galaxy S Lightray 4G, supposedly headed to MetroPCS in August.
The information comes via a Howard Forums leak and is not yet confirmed, but the fistful of high-quality “spilled” photos and the almost complete spec sheet guarantee that we’re not dealing with a bogus rumor.
That said, the Galaxy S Lightray 4G seems like a pretty bizarre device, starting with its name. I’m sure that most of you tuned in to this article because of the “S” branding in the phone’s title, which made you hope the phone might have something to do with the Galaxy S2 or S3. Well, it doesn’t, as far as we can tell, neither in terms of design, nor in hardware.

The exterior is actually very similar to that of Verizon’s Samsung Droid Charge, a 2011 LTE-enabled phone which hasn’t exactly been a winner. As far as specs go, we don’t know all of them just yet, but the ones we do know place the Lightray ages behind the Galaxy S3 and quite significantly behind the S2, too.
Sporting a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with an unknown resolution, the Galaxy S Lightray 4G is set to come with an 8 MP rear-facing camera with flash, an 1.3 MP front-facing webcam and 4G LTE connectivity, which ain’t too shabby. However, the phone is rumored to be only packing a 1.3 GHz single-core processor and that’s clearly below par even for mid-rangers these days.

Furthermore, based on the leaked photos, the 4.3-incher might only run Android 2.3 Gingebread upon its release, which would be terribly disappointing. An included 16GB microSD card, HDMI port, TV antenna for “Mobile TV”, and mobile hotspot capability complete the rumored spec sheet of the Lightray, making it one tough nut to crack. Will it be a low-end device? A mid-range one? Something in between?
We should find that out pretty soon, considering that MetroPCS has supposedly scheduled the new Samsung handheld for a mid-August release. If that’s true, an official unveiling is quite imminent. Is anyone excited about the Lightray?

SOURCE: View the original article here

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Sony might unveil new smartphones in Berlin on August 29, Hayabusa and Mint could lead the line-up

The CES, MWC and IFA electronics tradeshows used to be the events where new trends were made and products were unveiled. But lately some of the big manufacturers have shifted their strategies. Samsung, Sony, and Asus have all started to hold exclusive events of their own, to ensure that all the spotlight is on their products.
The Samsung Unpacked event from May, when the Galaxy S3 was unveiled, was probably more popular than both this year’s CES and MWC together, and now Sony is trying to do something similar with an exclusive Berlin press conference and “booth unveiling”.
Sony’s special announcement will take place just two days before the beginning of IFA 2012 (also set to be held in Berlin), and, while we haven’t yet got an invitation from the Japan-based tech giant, we’ll cover the event extensively, right from the “crime scene”.

The guys over at GSM Arena have received one of the first invitations from Sony, but unfortunately it doesn’t say much about what products are to be revealed in Berlin. The invite doesn’t specifically mention the company’s mobile division, but the fact that it was first sent to a website like GSM Arena is a clear indicator that we’ll see one or several new Android smartphones.
There are only a few likely suspects for the headline title of the event, but Sony might also be prepping a surprise. The LT29i, a.k.a. Hayabusa, a.k.a. the global version of the Japanese Xperia GX, could well be made official on August 29, although we frankly expect it to come much sooner.

The LT30 Mint is another high-end Sony smartphone expected to be launched quite soon, with rumors from January stating that it could start selling in September. That possibility seems pretty slim right now, but it’s not impossible that we’ll see the Mint unveiled in Berlin and made available a few weeks later.
Towards the lower end of the range, there are two other Sony smartphones leaked in that launch schedule from January, but both of them are still wrapped in mystery. We haven’t heard a thing about the “AFFM” or the “Atlas” over the last six months, so there’s a good chance they have been either postponed or canceled altogether.
The August 29 event, which is set to start at 16:15 and end at 17:00 (CET), could also be the perfect occasion for the unveiling of  a non-smartphone Sony product. We might see a new Walkman or even the much awaited Playstation 4 get some attention.
No matter what devices Sony is planning to unveil next month in Berlin, it’s pretty clear that we’re all in for a treat, so don’t forget to check back to our website to find out what this event is all about.


 SOURCE: View the original article here

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5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phablet coming on August 15, release date not available yet

A few days ago, we told you that Samsung sent out press invites to members of the media for a special event scheduled to take place on August 15. At the time, we wondered whether the company would announce the Galaxy Note 2, its second-generation smartphone/tablet during the presser, especially since Samsung was said a few weeks ago to unveil the new phablet on August 30 in Berlin, a day ahead of the start of the German IFA 2012 tech show.
However, an even more distant report suggested that Samsung is interested in launching the Galaxy Note 2 as fast as possible, in order to beat the sixth-generation iPhone to market.
BGR now says that Galaxy Note 2 is going to be unveiled on August 15, according to a “source close to Samsung.” The same source seems to have confirmed that the device will come with a thinner and taller 5.5-inch display, which sounds familiar since it’s a spec we’ve seen in various reports so far.
However, the source did not reveal an actual release date for the device just yet. We’re also curious about Jelly Bean-friendliness for the Galaxy Note 2, not to mention the rest of its specs and features, but we’ll just have to wait and see whether the South Korean company does indeed announce its next-gen phablet in mid-August.
We have already showed you all we think we know about the Galaxy Note 2, and we used that info to offer you a preview comparison between the Note 2 and the Galaxy S3 well ahead of the actual launch of the phablet.
Are you buying a high-end Samsung smartphone this year? Is it the Galaxy S3 or the Note 2?

Source: View the original article here

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AT&T announces new Mobile Share plans, to launch in late August

We knew for a while that AT&T would eventually follow Verizon’s example and move to a shared data model for its plans but we now have the official details.
Today, the carrier announced that starting this fall, customers will be able to choose new Mobile Share data plans that come with unlimited talk and text and a common pool of data that can be shared between up to 10 devices.

AT&T’s new scheme is quite similar to Verizon’s Share Everything plan – both plans have tiers for data, with the price per gigabyte being higher for the lower tiers. In addition, you will have to pay a fixed fee per added device (of which at least one must be a smartphone). On AT&T, you will have to pay a monthly $30 per feature phone, $20 per laptop or netbook, and $10 for a tablet or gaming device. For each smartphone, you will have to pay between $45 and $30, depending on the size of your data bucket.

As a quick example, a family with two smartphones and a tablet that uses a maximum 6GB of data per month will have to pay $170 per month: $35 for Smartphone 1 + $35 for Smartphone 2 + $10 for the Tablet. The two smartphones will have unlimited voice and talk, and will share the 6GB of data with the tablet. If you go over your monthly data allowance, you will have to pay $15 per GB.

Unlike Verizon, which completely phased out their old plans, AT&T is playing it safe and keeping their other plans. In other words, new customers won’t be forced into the new pricing scheme for now.
What do you think about AT&T’s new pricing model? Is it convenient or just another scheme to help customers part with their money?


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Quad-core Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD to launch in August for under $500

Whether we like it or not, the wait for a true “iPad killer” has extended much longer than expected and is not set to end very soon. Samsung and Asus have come up with more than decent 10-inch tablets the past year or so, while Amazon and Google have released some really competitive 7-inchers. However, to be completely honest, there still isn’t one Android flagship that can truly go head to head with Apple’s iPad(s) in terms of hardware performance and software reliability.
But what if that “iPad killer” was to come from someone else than today’s top Android makers? Impossible, you say? Well, you’ve probably never heard of Huawei’s MediaPad 10 FHD, a 10-inch quad-core beast unveiled back in February and officially priced earlier today.
And if the MediaPad was intriguing months ago based simply on its tech specs, the tablet has now become a product to really wait for, based on its features, but also pricing. Powered by a quad-core 1.5 GHz Huawei K3V2 processor and featuring 2 GB of RAM, the 10-incher will start selling for “less than 3,000 yuan”, according to official statements from Yu Chengdong, the company’s head of the Consumer Business Group and Senior VP of Huawei Technologies.
Now, 3,000 Chinese Yuan would convert into about $475, so you might dream to get the MediaPad 10 FHD for less than 400 bucks. Then again, we’re almost certain that “less than 3,000 yuan” means 2,999, so don’t get carried away! Still, $475 seems like a very small price to pay for what the tablet promises to bring to the table, and it’s also very likely for that Chinese“mark” to be lowered in the US after all.

Chengdong’s official statement provides some insight on the tablet’s release date, promising to get it out in “late August”. Huawei’s VP didn’t mention if that timeframe is for a Chinese only release or for a worldwide launch, but we’re guessing it’s the former. However, we’re almost certain that we will be seeing the 10-incher come to the US, so there’s a good chance it will be up for grabs stateside as soon as the first leaves will start to fall.
To get a better picture about all the fuss surrounding the MediaPad 10 FHD, you should know that, aside from that very snappy chip under its hood and the 2 GB of RAM, the slate will also be coming with an 1920 x 1200 IPS LCD panel, Android 4.0 ICS, HSPA+ support, 8 MP/1.3 MP dual cameras, 8 GB of on-board storage, and a microSD card slot.
The MediaPad 10 FHD is not set to break any records in terms of battery life and will only come with a 6,400 mAh unit capable of running for around six or seven hours of heavy use, but then again the very slim profile (8.8 mm thickness and 589 grams weight) will most likely make up for it.
It’s far too early to even think this 10-incher will be able to steal some of Apple’s popularity in the tablet arena and be a true “iPad killer”. But it’s clearly not too early to say that the name Huawei (see how to pronounce it here) will be on the lips of many tech users these coming months. Ascend P1 + Ascend D Quad + MediaPad 10 FHD = so much win. Do you guys agree?


Source: View the original article here

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