Samsung takes another swipe at Apple with its latest teaser for the upcoming Galaxy phone that is supposed to be announced in Samsung Mobile Unpacked in 10 days.

The previous ads that was aimed at Apple lovers are the SII’s:

And

Also

According to a Vietnamese site this is soon to be unveiled Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-9300). that has a 4.6” 1184×720 screen, 1.4 Quad-Core CPU, 1GB of Ram, 8MP camera 16GB storage and a MicroSD slot.

There is a plastic casing around the device in the video to keep the final design a bit of a secret. The 2050mhA battery will come with NFC capability.

More photos at XDA

This is what using a capable modern mobile device (in this case the Galaxy Nexus) as a desktop PC. Connection that are used are:

• Micro USB to HDMI MHL Adapter (supports audio)
• 3.5mm Audio caple (optional. as HDMI has audio)
• Bluetooth Mouse/Keyboard/Apple Magic Trackpad

With mobile devices getting more  powerful with each release, and HTC already rumored to release the first quad-core phone. The days of having a separate desktop PC are numbered except for hardcore gamers and professionals. Phones like the Motorola Atrix tried to harness the power of current generation mobile devices by releasing a “lapdock” for their phone.

Even Asus think that phones are pretty capable devices. They showed-off  the “Padphone” concept phone last year where you slide the phone in a tablet casing making it a full fledged tablet.

What I think this needs is induction charging and a wireless display technology to get rid of all the wires. This might not get me hooked, but I know a few users that like the extra real-estate that a desktop PC gives them, and this might be the answer.

A more detailed video can be found [here].

I have no idea why Google needed all these years to get this on android but they finally releasing Chrome for Android. Google claims better smoother performance and now you can view your open tabs from your desktop (using Chrome for desktop of course) and also sync you bookmarks.

It is still in beta and doesn’t support all countries or devices but you still get it via installing the apk file.

Download it [here].

Source

I got to play around with the recently released 5.3″ behemoth Samsung Galaxy Note for a short period and managed to grab a couple of pics for comparisons. The device has a Super HD Amoled screen, 1.4 dual core CPU, 1GB ram, 16/32GB internal memory, 8MP rear camera and a Stylus.

As you can see from the pic above, the phone is a hair slimmer than the iPhone 4/4S and has a curved back which makes it comfortable when held in the hands.

But the phone is a little big in my opinion, as its blurring the line between tablet and phones.

Thanks Abdullah

The Samsung Galaxy Note was announced almost 2 months ago, but I didn’t comprehend how big it is until I saw this video. Its massive. I like it.

Viva:

Even though Viva is the newest Telecom in Kuwait, it has the best packages for the heavy user. It is the only company to offer truly unlimited packages without any kind of throttling. The only issue with Viva is its spotty coverage, but once you get it, its smooth sailing from there. I use it for tethering at work and and its great. But they have a connection problem this week and they say they’ll have it fixed ASAP. It’s also the only company with connection speeds up to 42.2Mb, I haven’t tried it though.

Zain:

Zain revamped their data packages a few months ago (or year not sure) but the new packages now competes with Viva’s unlimited plans. Even though its not unlimited the 10, 20 and 30GB are quite sufficient for mobile usage (no tethering). Zain have a better coverage but that doesn’t always mean 3G, as speed often drop to edge when neither 3G nor HSPA is available.

Wataniya:

I’m sure that Wataniya’s 20MB and 200MB packages where designed for the old dumb phones where they hardly use any data. So they are idiotic at this point of time. The other “unlimited” packages where you get just 1GB or 2GB of data before being throttled to a pathetic 128Kbps is absurd and it has the lowest cap of any of the 3 Telecom companies. I used it to tether to my laptop this week during Viva’s outage and I passed the limit in just a few hours (we are already at the end of the month I know) but I rarely use the my mobile data other than the occasional WhatsApp, Twitter and very light browsing.

Recommendation:

If you have Viva coverage then go with them, as a heavy user myself, I really appreciate the TRULY UNLIMITED packages. If you are unlucky and don’t have Viva coverage in your workplace/home then Zain is the second best option.

Are you the kind of guy that drops his phone constantly? the video will shows what will happen if you drop your iPhone 4/S from various heights vs the Samsung Galaxy S 2. The outcome is predictable as the iPhone’s glass finish is more prone to breaking than the lighter plastic finish of the SGS2.

Samsung just released its cross platform chatting application that will compete with BBM, iMessage and WhatsApp. The app will be available on a wide range of mobile OS’s like iOS, Blackberry OS, Bada, and Android. But one of the main features of ChatOn is -as Abdul Aziz puts it- its ability to receive notifications on the PC.

Android just joined the twitter party and its second tweet was the video above with the description reading “Live: YouTube.com/Android, 10/19/11, 10AM, Hong Kong Time (HKT)”. So it’s a safe assumption to say that they will be releasing Ice Cream Sandwich in 4 days, But will they also be announcing the Nexus Prime? I hope so.

The Nexus Prime announcement was scheduled for October 11th, but was postponed due to Steve Job’s death.

The upcoming Nexus Prime has been leaking like crazy in the past 24 hours, the latest is a quick video walkthrough of the device running the latest version of android “Ice Cream Sandwich”.

There has been also some reports about the specs of the device, 2 conflicting reports. First the underwhelming:

• 1.2 GHz dual core processor
• 5 MP camera with 1080P video support
• 1750mAh Battery

Other reports suggest:

• 1.5 GHz dual core processor.
• 8 MP camera with 1080P video support
• Dual core GPU
• 2050mAh Battery

Both reports say the the device will have a 4.65” screen that boost 1280×720 resolution, 1GB of RAM and up to 32GB of memory.

source

Samsung are having another “Unpacked” event on the 11th of October at CTIA. At Samsung’s last “unpacked” event we saw a number of announcements like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Note. With the latest installment of Android dubbed “Ice Cream Sandwich” scheduled for release in October/November, it seams like the perfect timing to announced the highly anticipated Nexus Prime, Google’s next flagship phone.

IFA 2011 kicked off today and Samsung quickly announced a number of hardware product. The 2 major ones were a tablet and something in between a tablet and a phone. First was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, the successor to the original 7″ Galaxy Tab. It comes with a dual core 1.4 CPU, A 1280 x 800 7.7″ super AMOLED plus HD screen, SD card slot and a reduction in thickness as this new 7.7″ will be as thin as the new Galaxy Tab 10.1. The device still has shortcomings, The device won’t have a full size USB port as I think Samsung will try to push its dongles on the consumers but I would have preferred the Tab to have a full USB port as the Android OS can make use of it in a lot of scenarios. And will have samsung’s Touchwiz UI. Even though the Touchwiz UI is great, I prefer the Android’s Vanilla experience.

The other Samsung announcement was a little weird one. A phone named the Galaxy Note that has a 5.3″ super AMOLED plus HD with a resolution of 1280 x 800 that should “blur the line between smartphones and tablets”. The Dell Streak-esque device also has a stylus tucked away underneath to remind us of the glorious Windows Mobile days. and it also comes with similar specs to the Tab 7.7. The phone is a little humongous for my taste but we will see when it gets released Q4/Q1 2012.

You should note the Nexus Prime, google’s flagship device for 2011, that had its specs leaked last weak had similar specs to the Galaxy Note, but I doubt that Google will release a phone with a 5.3″ screen, 4.5″ is more practical but we have to wait and see if Samsung can squeeze their new Super AMOLED Plus HD screens in a 4.5″ frame. I hope so.

My guess this will also work on a number of other devices. It’s cool how you can increase the functionality of your device with a simple cable.

Ever since I got my first Android device a little over to years ago, I fell in love with the OS and really liked what Google were trying to do with the operation system and how they are approaching the mobile platform from a different angle.

In these 2 years I’ve owned a number of android devices, all of them are phones. I haven’t bought an Android tablet just year and waiting for the quad-core system to make their way into the market. Because of the large number of devices and different designs, Finding a devices that perfectly fits you shouldn’t be that hard.

Missing from the pic above is my HTC Hero, my first android device. So I replaced it with a Samsung Galaxy SII just for the shoot.

There are a number of game console emulators on Android that makes it a great retro gaming platform. The problem was playing those games with the virtual keys were annoying. The availability of the Wiimote Controller app that lets you connect your Wii controller to your Android device made gamin a lot easier on Android, but having just 4 buttons on the Wii controller makes it hard to play SNES, Genesis and N64 games, But not Anymore.

Enter Sixaxis Controller that lets you connect your PS3 controller to your Android device via Bluetooth. The costs less than $2 and there is a compatibility checking app that you can download for free and run to make sure that your device is compatible.

Sixaxis Compatibility Checker

Sixaxis Controller

UPDATE:

Forgot to mention that your device has to be rooted. And for newer HTC and Samsung devices that might be incompatible, installing a custom ROM like Cyanogen should solve that problem.

Cyanogen mod is finally available for the Samsung Galaxy SII. Its not the final release yet, but I have been waiting a while for this mod so I jumped in as soon as they released their nightly builds for the SII.

The phone feels much snappier (if that is even possible) as there is now much less crap running in the background. And there is the usual tweaks of CM7, Like in the camera, dialer and other departments. But if you are using the SII as your main phone I would advise that you hold off a little while longer for a stable version.

Cyanogen Mod is available to a number of android devices. Check out their website to see if your device is supported.

Cyanogen

Galaxy SII Nightly builds

When I first got the Samsung Galaxy S II I was really impressed by how light it is. And when I tried to put in the battery and sim car I knew why it was that light. The back cover is virtually non-existent, I was afraid I would break it. But I came across this video that assured me that it is tougher than it looks.

I showed previously a method that required a little command prompt know-how or required you just blindly follow the video to get Arabic support on your Galaxy S II.

Madmack, The guy who is almost single handedly bringing Arabic support to the SGSII released another custom ROM based on the leaked middle east ROM. Its stable and has great battery life. I highly recommend it. Also installing it is very simple.

Installing this ROM will wipe you device clean. so backup using titanium rom if you want your stuff.

Download the files needed from here

Installation guide: (From XDA-Developers)
1. put phone in Download Mode by holding Volume Down+Home Button+Power Button.
2. open Odin 1.85
3. Place my file in PDA.
4. DONT CHECK ANYTHING ELSE
5. flash away.
6. (Optional) factory resetting is probably a good idea too. Some people have suggested that it helps with bad battery drain when moving from one ROM to another.

Via XDA Developers

Tasker really shows the strength of the Android OS and how its taking advantage of the openness of the platform. With this program you can automate almost any task on your phone.

Some examples of some profiles I have created for the App:

• Make your music automatically play when you plug your headset.
• Turns off the ringer and switch the phone to vibrate only as soon as I’m at work.
• Switch on WiFi and turns ringer volume on to half way when I’m at home.
• Turns on “Airplane mode” at midnight so I won’t get any notifications and turns the phone back on with my alarm.
• When the remaining battery life is less than %15, the brightness is switched down to minimum, radios are switched to 2G and GPS is turned off to conserve battery life.

These are just a few examples of what I’m doing with the phone.

Tasker

The iOS is a great mobile operating system but it is still lacking in certain areas. This video shows how to implement 4 of those shortcomings seamlessly into the iOS. The funny thing is all of those 4 features are already implemented in the Android OS.

Thats not the case with the Samsung Galaxy Pro. Its the phone I was looking for. I didn’t expect it to be released in the middle east but thank god it did, as I didn’t want to own another Blackberry.

The device reads and writes arabic on it 2.8″ touch screen. It has a more than adequate 800Mhz processor, a 3MP rear camera, 512MB of ROM. All that for KD75.

I got the Galaxy Pro last night so I didn’t have enough time to fully check it out.

Google I/O  just concluded yesterday with a ton of announcement. The one that really caught my attention was that Google is expanding its Android Market to 99 countries. And after going through the list you can see Kuwait listed along with Bahrain and Qatar. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are still missing from the list.

Source

Picture from ZDistrict

A few days ago, Marzouq tweeted that VIVA introduced new caps on their data subscriptions. After checking their website there was a disclaimer stating that they are enforcing a “Fair Usage Policy” and that is 2GB per day and 60GB per month.

I have a VIVA line that is dedicated for data use. its installed on my Android device (used to be the Nexus One but switched to Samsung Galaxy SII 3 days ago)  acting as a hotspot while a number of devices connected to it. So the 2GB limit wont cut it.

And what about the people that signed up for a 2-year contract thinking they will get an unlimited service? will they still be expected to pay the termination fee if they don’t like the “new” terms of service?

The only reason I went with a VIVA line was the “unlimited” part. And now that’s gone.

Also, A few weeks ago. My line was disconnected and I had to use their online service to pay my bills. After paying the amount that was due. I browsed around and noticed that my monthly subscription was KD25. I paused a little bit and was a little confused, I could have sworn that I used to pay less. So I went back a few months and I was right, I used to pay KD22 up to last September and on October’s bill it was KD25. I never got a call or a message telling me that I will be charged more than what I signed up for, which was KD22 monthly.

Before:

After:

The were able to notify me 2 weeks before my bill was due, but not to tell me that they will charge me extra or that I’m not getting what I paid for.

It looks like I’ll be terminating my VIVA line before I get charged extra without being notified..

Rooted SGSII. Follow Instructions [here]

Files

Following the above video should give you full Arabic support on your SGSII. I followed the previous method by the same user and it worked just fine but it needed a few tweaks. He summarized it in a single video.

All credit goes to Abdulrahman Al-Enzi of XQ55.net for the great work.

To stay up to date, follow this XDA developers thread. All credit goes to Madmack for his effortless work

UPDATE:

Latest Arabic support post can be found here

Step One – Driver Installation:

• Download and install Samsung Kies. You must do this so that you can get the SGSII drivers on your PC.
• Connect your SGSII to your PC. You will see WIndows installing the drivers.
• Close Samsung Kies.
• Disconnect phone.

Step Two – Setting Up:

• Enter the recently named “Downloading Mode” by holding: Volume Down+Home Button+Power Button.
• Press Volume Up to continue.
• Start Odin3 (best start it as administrator)

• Make sure that only “Auto Reboot” and “F. Rest Time” are selected on the left.
• Click PDA and select “XWKDD_insecure.tar” in the unzipped Odin3 folder.
• Connect the Your SGSII.
• Press Start.
• After its done you should see “Pass” in green on the left.
• Disconnect your phone.

Step Three – Rooting:

• Make sure that you have “USB debugging” is enabled in Settings> Applications> Development
• Connect The SGSII. PC will reinstall some drivers.
• Run “SuperOneClick” as Administrator also.
• Choose the “Root” option from the top left.
• During the rooting procces, it will ask you if you would like to install “BusyBox”. Click on Yes.
• After installing the files and rooting the device it will ask you if you would like to run a test. Click “No”.

Step Four – Enjoy

Thats it.

First off, the device is not that much bigger than the iphone/Nexus one. Even though it has a 4.3″ screen. And because its slightly larger it feels super thin. Its also really light you can definitely feel the deference as soon as you pick it up.

The device is very snappy with no lag whatsoever. And I’m not talking about a clean device here. As soon as I turned it on I filled it with apps and widgets from my Amazon and Market accounts and it still ran smoothly.

The screen is great also and its much easier to use the on-screen keyboard on a screen that size. Its also very much viewable in the sun but will test it out more when I do a proper review.

The battery is something I haven’t fully tried out yet because I just got the device and also the device must go through a few cycles before the battery reaches its full potential. So will wright about that more in the review.

The device doesn’t support arabic 100%, it shows broken arabic letters. I managed to root it and enable full arabic support across the whole device. will do a step by step in a later post.

So I guess one more day?