SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE SET TO LAUNCH IN FEBRUARY ON AT&T NETWORK

The Samsung Galaxy Note is back in the news! Samsung is set to launch the tremendously-sized tablet/smartphone hybrid on February 19th, 2012 via AT&T. If you have $300 to spare and a hankering for a Texas-sized display, your day is coming!

Bloggers and tech writers are calling devices of this type the “phablet“, which is a ridiculous yet catching-sounding nickname for this prototype. The Galaxy Note certainly isn’t the first phablet to hit the market, but may very well be the first successful device to enter the high tech mobile market.

In the past, we saw the Dell Streak 5 do a big fat belly flop when it entered the world of smartphones, and it fizzled just as fast as it entered. But Samsung’s Galaxy Note has taken a different approach to the phablet concept, and they’ve added a pile of features that we have not seen in the past.

The Galaxy Note will sport a whopping 5.3″ Super AMOLED 1280×800 display and it will be packing a 4G LTE radio. But there’s something unique that the Note will include that others have not. The Galaxy Note will attempt bringing back the stylus. We haven’t seen styluses since the days of the Palm Treo.

Unlike the stylus-packing “somewhat smart” phones of the past, the Note will have a capacitive screen just like the regular line of Galaxy S devices. You’ll be able to operate the phone with your fat little fingers, and you’ll also be able to make much more accurate delineations with the stylus, dubbed the “S Pen“.

The S Pen will take you to new levels of functionality. You can make hand written notes on web pages and documents, convert handwriting into standard text, and even take screen shots on the fly. This is something we have never seen in a smartphone, and what I believe to be the biggest missing feature of all the tablets on the market including the iPad.

The Galaxy Note is not packing the latest processing power, however, as it will only feature a dual core 1.0GHz cpu. Honestly, I don’t think this is going to cause any lagging or other serious issues with operation, but I sure would have liked to see the 1.5GHz Exynos processor in this device for what they are charging.

Nonetheless, it’s going to be a versatile gadget that will stand out in the crowded Android smartphone market. If I wasn’t on month number 3 of my current upgrade, and if I had $300 burning a hole in my pocket, I would probably be the first in line to buy the Note. It would be perfect for the engineer type that I am.

Is the Galaxy Note in your crosshairs? Do you think $300 is a fair price for a monstrous phablet? Sound off and let me know what you think!

Carlton Flowers
Phabulous Phablet Watcher

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

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ROLL CALL FOR SPEED TEST RESULTS!

Ok gang, today I was pleasantly surprised when I ran a Speedtest.net check on my Samsung Galaxy S2 and I was very surprised to see the test results on the screen shot to the right. 4.52Mbps just happens to be the fastest download speed I have experienced to date.

I was prompted to test my speed after getting a text message from a very excited Tim Largent who was more than elated to report a download speed of 7.2Mbps on his iPhone 4S while visiting the Lake Of The Ozarks area, specifically in Osage Beach.

According to AT&T’s high speed coverage map, we now have HSPA+ towers in the Osage Beach area. I was unable to verify any increase in speed 2 months ago when traveling through the area. But it sure looks like the network has been upgraded since.

Network improvements must be taking place in Jefferson City, the capital city of Missouri. Not only did I verify the fastest download speed for my smartphone, but I also got an equally record-breaking speed when testing my wife’s Samsung Galaxy Skyrocket which returned a 5.2Mbps download. That’s pretty incredible!

We don’t have any AT&T LTE 4G towers in Mid Missouri at this point, but the ramped up download capabilities of our enhanced 3G network are certainly welcomed. This is fast enough to keep me thoroughly entertained and satisfied until we receive our own LTE coverage.

Until recently, the fastest speeds I have recorded on my Galaxy S2 have been in the 2.0 to 2.8Mpbs range. On Tim’s iPhone 4S, we have only clocked a lowly 1.5Mbps download speed. Upload speeds have not improved much at all, but something is definitely in the works.

Our coverage map still does not show that we have HSPA+ service in Jefferson City, so I’m not sure what the cause for the increase in the download speeds could be possibly attributed to. But this means that we should see a significant jump once the transition to “Fake 4G” has been completed.

We’ve had a few comments posted from some of our trusty CZ Blog regulars around the country, but I’d like to have a full roll-call of current download speeds to see what people are experiencing. Post your speed test results in the comments section along with your smartphone device, the coverage type that you have in your area, and anything else you’d like to report.

Let the testing begin!

Carlton Flowers
Feeling the Need 4 Speed

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

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THE SPECTRUM SQUEEZE & THE MOBILE DATA CRUNCH THAT  WILL BRING RAPID CHANGE

CNNMoney.com is telling us that smartphone companies and carriers are desperate for network capacity and they are hard-pressed to find it. I recently blogged about AT&T plopping down $1.9 Billion for the 700MHz spectrum owned by Qualcomm (read about it here), so this is without a doubt a very serious problem.

To make matters worse the FCC is projecting a huge increase in data traffic, on the order of 612% per cell site this year and 925% in 2013. This will certainly put the squeeze on the telecoms like never before. I’m not so sure that anyone even has a real solution to this problem as of yet.

Reuters is now reporting that the iPhone 4S consumers are using twice as much data as its predecessor the iphone 4, and three times more than iPhone 3G/3GS users. Some say that Siri is to blame for the spike, but nobody can really nail down the true reason.

Apple just upped their 2012 iPhone sales estimates by 20%. Add that to the pile and this situation gets messier. Plus they are predicting the sale of 125 million iPhones this year. Can you say data traffic jam?

One thing is for sure… this will put network engineers to the test as they scramble for solutions. With problems like this, technology will have to make a quantum leap. It has happened time and time again throughout the course of history. We saw a quantum leap when we went from cramming data through the audible frequency range to DSL not too many years ago, and I predict that the next leap will be equally as significant.

Sure, we have a brand new LTE (Long Term Evolution) network rapidly growing throughout the country as we speak. It promises super fast data transfer speeds of up to 10 times that of the existing 3G network, but it won’t solve the problem of crowding. The challenge we face is that the faster network speeds get, the demand for service grows almost exponentially.

What will the next development be with high speed data transfer? Will it run through the existing network, or will we have to turn to an entirely different hardware system? Will we end up with new cell phone towers littering the countryside in the same way that telephone poles and power lines exploded during the industrial revolution? I don’t think so…

I truly believe that we will see some crazy new way to ram data through the existing network in much of the same way we have seen before. If we don’t, the demand for data downloads will out pace our ability to expand the telecommunications infrastructure. Someone is going to come up with a new idea that hits us by surprise.

When that happens, I truly believe that measuring data download speeds will become something of ancient times. People will look back and remember the days that everyone focused on how fast the latency speed and data transfer speeds are as a measurement of service quality. Data transfer speeds will be so fast that we will think nothing of instant transfers.

By that time, we might be laughing at how the cellular service providers bragged and boasted about 21Mbps transfer rates. People will come to think that instant data transfer of any size is supposed to be, well, “instant”. Nobody will know any different. All of this will probably have to happen within the next 2 to 3 years.

It’s an exciting time in the history of technological advancement. Things change so fast, we can’t even conceive of how much we have improved over time. It’s mind boggling just to consider where we have come since the days of the first affordable cell phone services. If we continue at the current pace, the sky will truly be the limit to what we can accomplish.

What are your thoughts and predictions of the next paradigm shift in data and communications services? What type of devices will we be carrying in our pockets. Or, will we even have rectangular shaped gadgets that we carry with us to access the internet? I’d love to hear your thoughts, my fellow geeks!

Carlton Flowers
Technology Nostradamus

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

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GREAT MARKETING & THE DISTURBING PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE “4G-CLUELESS”

Today I had an interesting conversation with my partner-in-crime Tim Largent. Not quite satisfied with the download speeds of his new iPhone 4S, he posed the question of whether or not the 4S is an HSPA+ compatible device.

This sparked a long discussion that raised some interesting facts about people’s general understanding of 3G/4G/LTE, and I have come to realize a few things…

I think an embarrassingly large percentage of people really have no clue as to what the heck “4G” service really is, and the reason behind this is the misleading marketing schemes that the big 4 telecoms put in people’s heads. I think the majority of smartphone owners are being bamboozled. Why?

First of all, I think 3/4ths of people that own “4G” smartphones don’t have any idea that they aren’t getting 4G service at all.

Case in point, the slick-talking reps at the local T-Mobile store had my wife bouncing off the walls with excitement when they sold her an HTC MyTouch 4G smartphone last winter. Sadly, she came to realize that her beloved carrier doesn’t even have 3G service in Central Missouri. We only have crappy dinosaur-speed EDGE coverage. As a side note, I dumped my wife’s T-Mobile service and purchased a Samsung Galaxy Skyrocket LTE smartphone for her in its place. At least she can operate her smartphone at 3G speeds now.

There are a lot of people buying “4G” smartphones from fast-talking sales reps who fail to mention that 4G service is nowhere near available, because the network has not been expanded to most areas as of yet. Sure, there are some lucky metropolitan areas that have an actual LTE 4G network up and running, but the majority of the rest of the country does not. Yet and still, the carriers advertise it like it’s everywhere. I think it is borderline consumer fraud to say the least.

What makes it even more complicated is the fact that AT&T and T-Mobile are calling their HSPA+ service “4G“, which is the same label given to LTE service. They claim it’s all about the speed capabilities, not the hardware, that makes the service “4G”. But again, phones are being promoted by sales agents without making it clear that most areas don’t even have HSPA+ available.

9 out of 10 times that I ask people if they know the difference between HSPA+ “4g” and LTE “4G”, people don’t even have a sliver of a clue. The carriers march right on, bragging about super fast download speeds, but they don’t put much focus on making this clear. As I’ve said before, I’d be happy just to have HSPA+ “Fake 4G” service in Jefferson City, let alone LTE 4G.

Something else that I really find disturbing is the situation with Verizon Wireless. They are selling iPhone 4S devices in record numbers. From my research, the AT&T version is supposedly capable of running HSDPA/HSUPA speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, not the full 21Mbps HSPA+ speeds that are advertised. But Verizon isn’t in the business of developing an enhanced ‘3.5G” network like AT&T. To the contrary, they are trying to ditch the entire 3G network by the end of 2013.

Verizon wants all of the smartphones sold on their network to be 4G LTE capable by the end of the year. But what about the millions of iPhone 4S devices being sold by the truckloads since the launch in October 2011? What will happen to all of the customers, numbering in the millions, that are left holding these devices? What will become of these phones once the switch has been made after the 3G network has been phased out?

The AT&T version of the iPhone 4S will still be able to run at respectable speeds on the enhanced 3.5G network this year and next year. This tells me that the market for used iPhones should still be a viable market well into the 4G LTE phase. But will this render the Verizon iPhones useless? I’d sure love for someone who is in-the-know to shed some knowledge on that.

Meanwhile, I think all of the carriers need to settle down and stop pumping out these commercials bragging and boasting of “instant downloads” that are so fast, they reach into the future before events even occur. The whole idea of this marketing scheme is laughable to say the least. I’ll bet you that Consumer Reports jumps into the picture before the year is out and issues a warning to uninformed buyers.

I don’t want to even get into the Sprint situation, which is even more muddy, with their “WiMax 4G” version of high speed service. It’s on the fast-track to being mothballed. Sprint knows that true LTE is the future, and they’ve already been in hot water with class action lawsuits in the past year for pushing their smartphones as 4G-capable and charging and extra $10 per month fee. We’ll save that for another day.

In the meantime, I guess ignorance is bliss. If people are happy to have a smartphone that has a “4G” sticker on the box and a fancy flashing 4G icon at the top of the screen, I suppose we shouldn’t rain on their parade and just leave them in their happy state. But hopefully more of the noteworthy tech blogs will bring this to the light of day and get people informed.

Maybe I’m off my rocker, and maybe I’m being a little picky. But if I can help someone save $200 and a wasted 2-year commitment to a device that could be rendered obsolete within the next several months, I’ve done my honest duty. My rant is done. I’ve spoken my peace.

Let me know what you think. How many of your friends remain clueless regarding all of this 3G/4G/HSPA+/LTE nonsense? I’m curious to know. If you want more information, be sure to check out my previous post “Fake 4G vs Real 4G – The Shootout Explained“, and “GSM And CDMA Explained In Simple Terms“. Enjoy!

Carlton Flowers
4G Whistle Blower

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

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SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 TO HIT EUROPE NEXT MONTH

How about a tidbit of Samsung Galaxy S3 news to hold you over for the day? Word is that Samsung will be rolling out the next generation flagship smartphone in February of 2012 in Europe.

This all but confirms the reports and leaked pictures that have been circulating the web for the past couple of weeks. They are probably true to life. It looks like the Galaxy S3 is about to launch! We should hear the official announcement at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. This is the same place and time that we saw the Galaxy S2 come to be unveiled.

And yes, the super-charged Galaxy S3 will come packing a quad core Exynos 1.4 GHz cpu along with a whopping 2 gigabytes of RAM. It’s probably a foregone conclusion that the SGS3 will have the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and all the usual Samsung TouchWiz 4.0 (or higher) bells and whistles.

Size-wize, I think we can settle on the fact that we’ll see a 4.6″ Super AMOLED HD display on the Galaxy S3, not a 5″ screen that was spoken of previously. That will make for amazing multimedia eye candy, and gaming will probably be off the chain with this device. We’ll probably see a few minor changes by the time the superphone lands in North America, just like we did last time.

The European version may have 4 physical navigational buttons. The US version will likely have the same four touch buttons that we now see. I’ll be happy to see that, because the fewer buttons we have, the less we have to worry about wearing out.

For the US launch, I’m going to have to put my money on a late summer or fall 2012 launch. Samsung will probably try to upstage the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5, which I believe will come in October of 2012, one year after the release of the iPhone 4L.

Recently, there have been some nasty articles written predicting the fall of the dominance of Apple’s iPhone in the coming year. They claim that the public will grow tired of the iPhone’s clunky, fragile squared-off design and opt for the sleeker handsets offered by Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and others. I don’t see that happening.

I think you can rest assured that Apple will be going for the jugular with the redesigned iPhone 5, and this would fit the normal schedule of breaking out a new design after an incremental remake of the current form factor. I’m hoping for the best for the iPhone 5, because the better Apple does at pushing the limit, the harder other tech companies will work on stretching their own smartphone designs to stay in the game.

I’m really anxious to experience the speed of the new Samsung Galaxy S3 running on the new AT&T 4G LTE network, but I’m not holding my breath. As I’ve said time and time again, I’d be happy to see them at least get the HSPA+ network expanded in my area so I can experience the full capability of my Galaxy S2. If they do shock me and provide an LTE tower in Central Missouri this year, I’ll be able to swipe my wife’s Galaxy Skyrocket when she’s not looking for some high powered surfing fun.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep our ears on the railroad tracks for more breaking Samsung Galaxy S3 news. That’s all I’ve got!

Carlton Flowers
Galaxy Nerd

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

Tweet This Post

RUMOR MILL SAYS GALAXY NOTE COMING TO AT&T IN EARLY 2012

We are one week away from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012), and I’m gonna put down a solid bet that we hear an official announcement from the likes of AT&T about the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note in the US.

As of this very moment, the Galaxy Note will be my next upgrade. If all things remain equal, I’ll have a Note in a fanny pack on my side in November of 2012. There are several reasons why.

First and foremost, the Galaxy Note is following the “bigger is better” screen size trend. The display is a whopping 5.3″ of Super AMOLED HD wonderment. With a screen that big, I would have to forever retire my complaints of one-handed smartphone use. But it’s definitely worth it.

The 5.3″ display size puts the Galaxy Note smack dab in the middle of the smartphone and the tablet computer. It’s a hybrid of sorts. With a large enough smartphone, a tablet would not be necessary for my use. I’d love to own a tablet, but this would most definitely suit me well.

As I have written before, a smartphone/gadget device with a stylus would be my perfect accessory. I love the feeling of having pen in hand when I am being creative or when I’m organizing my thoughts. The Samsung Galaxy Note could “erase” paper notepads and sticky notes from my life forever. Somehow, I just don’t get the same writing feeling with a computer, smartphone, or a tablet.

For whatever reason Apple decided that the iPad didn’t need a stylus, I will never know. When the whole “slate” concept was brewing before they made the announcement of the official iPad brand name, I thought the inclusion of a stylus would fit tablets perfectly. In my opinion, the lack of a stylus ruins the iPad’s ability to be used for freestyle art or creative writing. They should have capitalized on the opportunity.

The Galaxy Note will clobber the competition in that regard. Sure, there are a few fat-tipped styluses out on the market that will work with iPads and other smartphone capacitance induction displays. But it’s not the same. The Galaxy Note appears to have a sharp-tipped stylus that maybe operates with a magnetic response like some of the Dell laptop/tablet hybrids currently on the market. I’m not sure at this point of exactly what touch technology the Note stylus is using, but it must be different that the soft jelly-filled rounded stylus tips we’ve seen recently.

Internally, it looks like the Galaxy Note has respectable processing power with a dual core 1.4GHz Exynos CPU. The 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED HD display will keep up the Samsung tradition of fantastic visual performance. Another good “note” about the Note, you’ll be able to run it on AT&T’s 4G LTE network along with their HSPA+ enhanced 3G service where LTE is not available.

Add to the package Android Gingerbread 2.3.4, Samsung’s TouchWiz 4.0 interface, and the Note’s proprietary “S Pen” software, and you’ve got one heckuva capable smartphone/tablet hybrid that I would do anything to get my hands on. Well, unless HTC kicks in with something better, of course!

Let me know what you think about the rumored 1,000,000 Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet hybrid units that are supposedly on a boat en route to the United States. Are your hot little hands burning for one of these?

Carlton Flowers
Jumbo Smartphone Guru

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

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SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 TO COME IN TWO FLAVORS: AS HD AND 3D

Let the buzz continue with a fresh rumor about the Samsung Galaxy S3! The latest talk, you ask? A new version of the next-generation Galaxy superphone that will be dubbed the “3D“. The kicker? A glasses-less three dimensional display.

To one-up HTC with their EVO 3D and the LG Optimus 3D, the Samsung Galaxy S 3D will not only take pictures and video in stereo with its rear dual cameras, but it will also feature a breakthrough 4.65″ 1280×720 3D display. Okay… It depends on which rumor mill you subscribe to, but the screen size prediction varies from 4.2″ to 4.65″. I tend to believe the 4.65″ version because of the trend towards larger display sizes.

Under the hood of this monster garage device, the rumor mill has bumped up the power of the engine. Now we are hearing of 1.8GHz of quad core Exynos horespower. I just don’t know if that’s true or not, but I like the way they’re talking.

One would have to assume that the Samsung Galaxy S3 HD would be released in the first quarter of 2012 with the Galaxy S 3D coming much later. But this would be a logical release strategy. By the time the new iPhone comes out, the market could be saturated with Samsung greatness.

You might want to jump back to my first Samsung Galaxy S3 prediction post to see what specs that would be included in the base model, and you can let your imagination upgrade the rest. Looking forward to the Galaxy 3D will keep me from being envious of the Galaxy S3 and allow me to continue enjoying thee heck out of my Samsung Galaxy S2. That’s a whole lot of Galaxy, ain’t it?

Carlton Flowers
Galaxy Explorer

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

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OFFICIAL FAKE PICS SURFACE FOR SAMSUNG GALAXY S3

The official fake pictures of soon-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S3 super-D-duper phone are now out in the wild. Could there be a more appropriate time than now to stir up the SGS3 rumors again?

While I am 100%  satisfied and still loving my Galaxy S2, I think it will be a barrel of fun talking about the next generation model and anticipating the release just like we did with the current version. If the picture has a shred of truth to it, this is gonna be one gorgeous phone.

The rumor mill states that the display will be anywhere from 4.7″ to 5.0″ in size diagonally. But it appears that the bezel has been reduced. So that means the phone might not be as big as far as outer dimensions in order to achieve such a large screen size.

The Samsung Galaxy Note which still hasn’t been released as of yet in the US has a 5.3″ display. The Galaxy S3 could be sporting the next-generation dimensions with less bezel and more screen. Rumor has it that the Galaxy S3 will also have a stylus like its cousin, the Note, but it will not have a place to store the stylus within the phone.

The large display and shrunken outer casing would break serious ground for smartphone design if this is indeed a real fake pic. It might even create a new sweet spot as we see the trend for bigger displays continuing on. I for one would be the first in line to upgrade from the Galaxy S2 to the Galaxy S3 because the increase in size would make me even less apt to buy a tablet device.

I would boldly say that Samsung and HTC could change the future of the tablet market if they keep this up. I truly believe that the 5″ size is the perfect happy medium that merges the smartphone with the tablet. Financially speaking, who would want to buy two devices when you can save a pile and get something like this that falls directly between the two?

I know I wouldn’t.

I’m still at a point where I can’t justify spending the bucks on a tablet that I just don’t think is an absolute necessity. Truthfully speaking, this feature-packed smartphone that I have has far more stuff than what I really need. But since I can’t survive without a cell phone, it’s nice to have all those extras.

But I digress… getting back on the Samsung Galaxy S3, let’s talk about the specs. We’re looking at the possibility of the following ramped-up hardware:

• 5″ 1280×720 Super AMOLED Plus display
• 9mm thick body
• 12 megapixel main camera with LED and Xenon flash
• 2 megapixel front-facing camera
• 32 or 64 Gb of internal memory
• USB 3.0 capability
• 4G LTE right off the bat
• 1.5GHz Quadcore Samsung Exynos CPU
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating environment
• Touchwhiz 5.0 overlay

This looks like the makings of a monster that will definitely keep Samsung on the forefront of the smartphone battlefield. If they keep this up, I see them snatching even more of Apple’s iPhone market share. But at the same time, I still see the iPhone plowing forward keeping the tiny-smartphone-display fans happy.

Come November of 2012, if the Mayan Calendar allows us to still be present on this Earth, I’ll be making my 1-year upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S3. Count on it.

Carlton Flowers
Loyal Samsungite

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for between $179 and $199 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for between $99 and $149 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! Pricing depends whether you are getting a new account, adding a line, or upgrading an existing line.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint)

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G Android Phone by Sprint packs all of the features that you want, just like the AT&T version and is now selling with a 2-year plan as low as $79.99 over at Amazon Wireless!

This version of the Galaxy S2 line runs on Sprint’s WiMax Network at blazing speeds. With unlimited data available with your contract, you won’t be a disappointed surfer! Get it now while the price is low!

Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Get the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G Android smartphone made for T-Mobile with the large 4.52″ SUPER Amoled PLUS display that packs all of the features you expect with Samsung’s amazing flagship line. Currently, the price of the T-Mobile version is $199 with a 2-year contract.

The T-Mobile version runs on the fastest HSPA+ network at speeds up to 42Mbps! It will certainly get the job done and maximize your surfing experience!

Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android phone is the monstrous version of the Galaxy line made especially for Verizon Wireless. It features the all new Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” operating environment, and is jam-packed with the latest hardware specifications.

If you are drawn by the jumbo 4.65″ Super AMOLED contoured display, hit the link and check it out! It’s currently on backorder, but Verizon will be releasing the phone soon so check back often!

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GET THE GALAXY S II SKYROCKET WITH LTE FOR A PENNY AT AMAZON

Black Friday fever is in the air this Thanksgiving! I was very surprised to find the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket LTE smartphone priced at one cent at Amazon Wireless. This is only for new accounts or line additions to existing accounts. If you qualify for an upgrade, I suggest you jump on this right away. I don’t know how long the deal will be valid for.

The original Samsung Galaxy S2 HSPA+ “fake 4G” smartphone is also being offered for one cent, so you can take your choice of having the smaller 4.3″ screen or the jumbo 4.5″ screen. There are still a few differences between these two phones, as I have written about in the past, but either one is a great deal for a penny plus a 2-year contract.

The two Samsung phones are close enough that most people will not be able to tell a difference in performance, but the Galaxy Skyrocket is equipped with LTE while the Galaxy S2 is an HSPA+ (basically an enhanced version of 3G) device. So if you are in an LTE area for AT&T, speed-wise you will be at a major advantage with the Galaxy Skyrocket.

On the inside of the devices, they are different. The Galaxy S2 has the higher performing Samsung Exynos 1.2GHz cpu while the Galaxy Skyrocket sports a 1.5GHz Qualcomm cpu. Even though the Qualcomm cpu is rated at 1.5GHz, it does not beat the Exynos processor in performance benchmark tests. So if you want to do some major application crunching with your smartphone and you a cpu speed purist, you might lean towards the Galaxy S2.

Both of these devices have an amazing visual experience waiting for you. The Samsung Super AMOLED Plus display is the best on the market, in my opinion. You just can’t beat the vibrant, rich colorful array even though there are other devices on the market with a higher pixel density count. Again, you have your choice of the Skyrocket’s 4.5″ display and the Galaxy S2’s 4.3″ display. My personal preference is the 4.3″ display, but I have a smaller grip to contend with.

It looks like I will be purchasing a Galaxy Skyrocket for my wife to replace her current T-Mobile MyTouch “4G” phone. My choice will be the Skyrocket for my wife just because of the fact that she would enjoy the bigger screen, and she does not do much one-handed manipulation of her phone. So the extra size will not be a detriment at all.

I slightly lean towards the Galaxy Skryocket for those that have not made a clear decision, only because it is LTE equipped. Whatever the case, click on the links below and join the frenzy. Get one while you can, as I don’t know how long the offer will stand. I’ve already loaded up my cart. I have two Galaxy S2’s for the kids, and the Skyrocket for the wife. That rounds out the entire family!

I hope everyone had a great 2011 Thanksgiving, and I wish you all the best with your Black Friday bargain hunting. As always, thank you for enjoying and supporting the CZ Blog!

Carlton Flowers
Bargain Beast

Help support the CZ Blog by taking advantage of these great deals from our partner, Amazon.com!

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for only ONE CENT with a new 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! You will also receive the special pricing when you add a line to your existing family account.

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for only ONE CENT with a new 2-year contract agreement with AT&T! You will also receive the special pricing when you add a line to your existing family account.

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

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MATT M SHEDS HIS ADVICE ON STRETCHING BATTERY LIFE ON THE SGS2

A couple of days ago, I wrote my very own special report about the performance of the 1650mAh battery inside of the Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone. CZ Blog member Matt M chimed in with a PILE of great information on what he does to stretch the battery life on his Galaxy S2, and the list is so good I had to share it as a blog post.

Check out Matt’s tips for getting the most out of that smartphone battery, and I’m sure you will benefit from extending the unplugged waking hours of your Galaxy S2 (or any other similar Android smartphone, for that matter). With no further adieu, here’s Matt M!

MATT M’S BIG OLE BATTERY TIPS

I have been on a quest for the last two weeks, obsessed with optimizing my Galaxy S2 to give me the most possible battery life.  My journey took me a little further down the rabbit hole than I had planned, and I ended up rooting my phone…but that’s just me.  I’ll start with the things that people can do WITHOUT voiding their warranty. Here goes:

1.  Do not use Words with Friends when the phone is not charging.  I have found it to cause tremendous battery drain on my phone. Generally, 1 minute of play time resulted in about 1% of my battery gone.  10% in 10 minutes??  Unacceptable.  Also, make sure it is not checking for notifications…mine was set by default to check every 5 minutes.

2.  Use Tasker or JuiceDefender to turn off data when the screen is off.  I say “or” because you can use either of these to do it, but there are slight trad-offs to each.  JuiceDefender is easier and simpler to use, but it may actually use as much battery as it saves.  Tasker is more complicated and difficult to figure out, but it is extremely battery-efficient.  JuiceDefender also has an option to leave data on if a download is in progress.  Tasker does not have this option, but I use a pretty simple workaround.  I just add a condition in my task to prevent it from cutting off data when certain programs are running, anything that I use to download stuff.

3.  Buy BetterBatteryStats from the market.  It will let you find out what programs are using wakelocks to run when your phone is idle and using up your battery.  Identifying and eliminating wakelocks is an important step to optimizing battery life.

4.  Make sure you are logged out of Facebook Chat.  The Facebook app is sneaky…if you don’t log out of Chat when you close the app, it will keep running in the background.  In BetterBatteryStats, it will show up as com.facebook.katana.Facebook.

5.  If you can handle it, set your email accounts to only check for new email every hour.  This will use up less juice than leaving them on push or having them check more often.  Leaving them on manual refresh will save you the most battery, but I just don’t remember to check mine often enough, so I set it to hourly.

6.  Other accounts, the ones that like to sync contacts, calendar, etc…turn autosync for those off.  Really, how often do you really need to sync your contacts?  I only do it when I add one, which is not that often.  Same goes for calendar and others.

7.  Set your screen to auto-brightness.  I know Carlton already mentioned this, but it’s so important that I had to mention it again.

8.  Turn bluetooth and wifi off when you are not using them.  Contrary to popular belief, you can actually leave your GPS on without affecting battery life.  This is because “turning it on” really just means “allowing it to turn on.”  It will not actually activate and use power until you open a program that uses it, such as Google Maps.

9.  Don’t use a live wallpaper.  I place this so far down on the list because I actually haven’t found it to be that important.  Over the course of a day, it never really used more than about 5% of my total battery life.  Of course, some live wallpapers use more than others…

That’s all the non-root battery saving methods I can think of off the top of my head.  If I find that I forgot any, I’ll come back and add them later.

It’s getting late, so I’m gonna stop there.  Tomorrow I’ll add a few of the things you can do if you want to take the leap and root your phone, like I did.

TOMORROW’S TRIPLE TIP BONUS FROM MATT!

Here are a few of the battery saving tips for root users I’ve collected:

1. Get rid of bloatware. A lot of it runs in the background and normally can’t be uninstalled. Use Titanium Backup to freeze or delete it.

2. Underclock the processor when the screen is off. This sounds complicated, but it can be done pretty simply with SetCPU or Tasker.

3. MAYBE install a custom ROM that is optimized for battery life. This is a little over my head and I haven’t done it (yet), but there are several ROMs that people swear by…just head over to XDA Developers and do some searching.

That’s all I have for now.

MATT M

—————

Big fat thanks to Matt M for sharing such awesome information! You are a valued CZ Blog Member!

Carlton Flowers
CZ Tip Taker

And now… a special word from our sponsors!

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is available right now on Amazon.com for only $189 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T!

This is the lowest price you will find the Skyrocket, the super capable LTE Android smartphone with the jumbo-sized 4.5″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is good!

The Original Samsung Galaxy S II 4G Android Phone (AT&T)

The original Samsung Galaxy S II is available right now on Amazon.com for only $144.99 with a 2-year contract agreement with AT&T!

This is the lowest price you will find the Galaxy S2, the super capable HSPA+ Android smartphone with the optimal 4.3″ display.

Click the link or the thumbnail pic to hop to the Amazon Wireless Store and get it now while the price is still this low!

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