Samsung will be holding a press conference in France on March 22nd, however it will not be unveiling the highly anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone at that event. Since the South Korean company announced the event, numerous outlets reported that the next-generation handset would be the focus. The French event, however, will concentrate on the company’s existing product portfolio, a Samsung representative confirmed to The Next Web. Recent reports suggest the device will instead be unveiled in April and launch in May. The Galaxy S III is rumored to be 7 millimeters thick, and will supposedly feature a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, a Super AMOLED Plus display and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Read

Samsung has plans to announce a new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphone at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona later this month. An image of the unknown device was published on Thursday by industry insider Eldar Murtazin, though no additional details were provided. The handset looks very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S II handset, but the buttons beneath the display have clearly been updated to support Android 4.0. The phone is likely not the upcoming flagship Galaxy S III, however, as Samsung recently stated that its Galaxy S II successor would not be announced at MWC. The phone is also likely not the rumored Galaxy S II Plus according to benchmark test results that surfaced recently, as it is believed to be running an older version of Android — though that certainly may have changed. Whatever the device may be, we’ll be reporting live when Samsung finally unveils the sleek smartphone during its press conference in Barcelona later this month.

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Samsung has sold more than 5 million units of its popular Galaxy S II smartphone in South Korea. The milestone was hit just five months after the phone’s launch. In October, Samsung announced that it had sold more than 30 million Galaxy S and Galaxy S II devices. Variants of the phone are currently available on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S., although Samsung has not yet revealed sales figures for the device here. Samsung also said its South Korea market share was 53% for 2011, according to SammyHub. The phone maker is expected to unveil its Galaxy S III smartphone during the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona next month, and we’ll be bringing you all the news live as it breaks. 

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A United States judge has denied Apple’s formal request for an injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy family of smartphones and tablets. “It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed,” San Jose U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said. Samsung was pleased with Koh’s decision. “This ruling confirms our long-held view that Apple’s arguments lack merit,” Samsung lawyer Jason Kim said. Apple has accused Samsung of “slavishly copying” its products and could still come out as the winner in the patent infringement lawsuit. The two companies have similar cases underway around the world. An Australian judge recently lifted a ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia after ruling the initial injunction was “not terribly fair” to Samsung. Samsung released a tweaked Galaxy Tab 10.1N after the original model was banned in Germany, though the new model is now the target of an Apple complaint as well, and lawsuits are going on in Japan and France, too.Read

Samsung recently filed lawsuits in Japan and Australia in an attempt to prevent Apple from selling the iPhone 4S. In addition, Samsung is seeking to block the sale of the iPad 2 and the original iPhone 4 in Japan, Bloomberg said Monday. In September, the South Korea-based phone maker also filed motions to ban the iPhone 4S in France and Italy. “Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology,” Samsung said. “We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property.” Apple filed similar lawsuits against Samsung in the United States, Australia, Japan, France and the Netherlands. The iPhone maker successfully prevented Samsung’s local subsidiaries from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and the Galaxy S, Galaxy Ace and Galaxy S II in the Netherlands. Samsung recently announced that it will tweak its the aforementioned smartphones in an effort to dodge the European sales ban.

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Samsung will upgrade its Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace smartphones in the Netherlands in an effort to get around an injunction that prevented its local subsidiaries from selling the devices. In August, a Dutch judge banned Samsung’s Netherlands-based companies from selling the aforementioned smartphones after ruling it guilty of infringing on Apple’s patents. However, the judge also said Samsung had until October 14th to make changes that would allow it to bring the phones to market. “We’ve fixed the technological problem and upgraded products to address the issue,” Samsung spokesperson James Chung told Reuters. “They will be shortly available for sale.” Samsung is locked in similar legal battles with Apple in the United States, France, Australia and Japan.
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We received our Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 review unit on Tuesday, and we’ve spent the better part of this afternoon tooling around and getting a feel for the smaller cousin of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The tablet has an 8.9-inch screen with 1280 x 800-pixel resolution, and it is also equipped with a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor clocked at 1GHz, 16GB of storage (a 32GB model will also be available), a 6,100 mAh battery and a 3-megapixel camera capable of recording HD video. We definitely appreciate the smaller screen size of the Galaxy Tab 8.9; it feels much more portable and yet does not sacrifice any of the power that was offered by the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) runs smoothly and Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface adds plenty of useful widgets without slowing the system down. We think Honeycomb still needs a lot of work before we really get excited for Android on a tablet, however, but the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is shaping up to be our favorite Android tablet yet. Of course, we’ll have to wait to see what Amazon has in store on Wednesday before before we jump to any conclusions. We’ll get started on our full review shortly but in the meantime, be sure to check out our photo gallery below.

Korean tech news site IT Tong has released details and images of an unannounced Galaxy S II model codenamed “Celox.” Unlike the current Galaxy S II devices, the Celox packs support for 800/1800/2600MHz 4G LTE networks. That means the handset could make its debut in European markets and, hopefully, in the United States with different bands at a later date. The Galaxy S II Celox reportedly offers a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 16GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel camera and a 2-megapixel camera for forward-facing video chats. It’s unclear when or where the Celox will make its debut at this time, but we’re definitely excited at the possibility of a 4G LTE-enabled Galaxy S II.

[Via Unwired View]

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When Samsung brought the Galaxy S to the United States, each of the big four carriers launched a variant of the device. We’re expecting the same roll-out with the Galaxy S II finally comes to our shores, but we haven’t heard or seen much… until now. Thisismynext recently leaked images of what appears to be a Sprint branded Galaxy S II. There are some small tweaks — the edges are rounded and aren’t as sharp as the original — but it has the same textured back and an 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash. Rumor has it the device could launch under the “Galaxy Within” moniker and it should offer the same gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus display and blazing fast dual-core processor as its European counterpart. It’s also said to be running Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), which means it will offer full support for video chat using Google Talk. Hit the jump for another picture of the phone.

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Last week Samsung filed an official complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) asking the government body to block the import of Apple’s iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple flipped the tables on Samsung and has filed its own complaint with the ITC asking that it block the import of Samsung’s tablets and smartphones, Bloomberg said. The move follows Apple’s request to a U.S District Court in San Jose to block the import of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, DROID Charge and Nexus S 4G. The legal battle has been ongoing since Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung in April and accused the Korean phone maker of creating copycat devices that infringed on its intellectual property. Samsung bit back later in April and said that it will do everything it can to protect its own intellectual property. Meanwhile, U.S. courts have granted Apple access to Samsung’s most recent products, but have denied Samsung the same access to the Apple iPhone 5 and iPad 3. The legal battle could place strain on Samsung’s component business, which is expected to struggle during the second half of this year — Apple is the largest buyer of Samsung’s LCD products.

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Apple on Friday filed a new patent infringement lawsuit in South Korea alleging that multiple Samsung products are infringing its patents. “It is no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” an Apple spokesperson said regarding case. The move is the latest in an ongoing legal battle in which each company claims the other is making unlawful use of protected IP. Apple struck first back in April when the Cupertino-based technology giant sued Samsung, claim it copied “Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products.” Samsung responded just one week later by filing countersuits in South Korea, Japan and Germany, and then in the U.S. as well. Both companies are thought to have grounds for legal action, but their close relationship stands to take a hit as a result of the feud; Apple is currently Samsung’s largest buyer of LCD components.

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In April, Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung for intellectual property violations and alleged that Samsung’s Galaxy S, Nexus S, Epic 4G, and Galaxy Tab products, among others, were copycat devices that all-to-closely resembled Apple’s products. Now, the Cupertino-based firm has expanded that initial lawsuit to include several more of Samsung’s devices, including the DROID Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S, Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the Galaxy S II. Here’s the kicker: Apple also believes Samsung’s hardware QWERTY sporting Sidekick 4G is infringing on its intellectual property. Apple argued that Samsung has products that “blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success.” Samsung responded to the original lawsuit in April and said it is “responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business.” Read on for taste of Apple’s revised complaint.

Apple also said:

Before Apple’s introduction of the first iPhone product, no other company was offering a phone with these features. Prior mobile phones were often bulkier and contained physical keypads. Some had a rocker-style navigation button and sets of buttons for numbers and calling features. Others had a front panel with a partial or full QWERTY keyboard and a screen. None had the clean lines of the iPhone, which immediately caused it to stand apart from the competition.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

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While Samsung and Google gave out limited edition Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 units to Google I/O attendees, the general public hasn’t yet been able to get their hands on one of the thinnest Android Honeycomb tablets to date — and, coincidentally, one of our favorite. Today, Samsung announced that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available exclusively at the Union Square Best Buy store in New York, NY starting on June 8th, with availability expanding to all Best Buy locations on June 17th. The Galaxy Tab 10.1, the world’s thinnest tablet, will be available starting at $499 for the 16GB model, with the 32GB model coming in at $599. The full press release is after the break.

Updated with revised press release.

Samsung Galaxy Tab™ 10.1, World’s Thinnest Mobile Tablet,

Makes Official Landing in U.S.

Premium Android Honeycomb Tablet with Ultra-slim, Lightweight Design and Brilliant

10-inch Touchscreen Available Exclusively at Best Buy Union Square Store in New York City Starting June 8; Available Nationwide Starting June 17

DALLAS, June 2, 2011 – Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.[1], and Samsung Electronics America, a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today announced the upcoming retail availability of the Galaxy Tab™ 10.1, starting June 8. The WiFi-enabled tablet measures at just 8.6 millimeters slim, making it the thinnest mobile tablet currently available in the world. The 32GB version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi edition will be available for $599, while the 16GB version of the device will be available for $499.

A limited quantity of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi edition will be available for purchase exclusively at the Best Buy Union Square store in New York City on June 8. Best Buy customers may also pre-order the Galaxy Tab 10.1 online or in-store beginning that day.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is powered by Android™ 3.1, Honeycomb offering faster and smoother transitions between different applications, more intuitive navigation to and from home screens and broader support of USB accessories, external keyboards, joysticks and gamepads.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the thinnest mobile tablet currently available in the world, measuring in at an ultra-slim 8.6 millimeters. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 also boasts an incredibly light weight of just 1.25 pounds (565 grams) for outstanding mobility and comfort in the user’s hands.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is designed with a brilliant 10.1-inch HD touchscreen display with WXGA 1280 x 800 resolution delivering vibrant colors and crisp clarity. This expansive screen is centered inside a narrow bezel to enhance the wide viewing angle.

“Ensuring that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 launched with Android 3.1 Honeycomb was part of our constant commitment to meeting the needs of our customers,” said Dale Sohn, President and CEO of Samsung Mobile. “The Galaxy Tab 10.1’s ultra-thin design and 10-inch touchscreen are impressive differentiators in the tablet market place. We’re going to make the Galaxy Tab 10.1 even more powerful, entertaining and secure through a series of upgrades coming to this device.”

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will receive these new upgrades through a software update that customers can access over the air in the near future. Those upgrades are currently scheduled to include:

FEATURES/SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH FUTURE SOFTWARE UPGRADE

Customized User Experience “Samsung TouchWiz UX”

Samsung’s TouchWiz user experience is designed with a Live Panel menu for customizing the home screen of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with digital pictures, favorite Web sites and social network feeds.

In addition, the TouchWiz UX includes a “Mini Apps” tray of commonly used features such as task manager, calendar and music player which can be launched while other major applications are already in use.

Samsung Media Hub

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 software upgrade will introduce the evolution of Samsung’s popular movie and TV content service, known as Media Hub. Media Hub has been redesigned with a new user interface for even easier downloads of rented or purchased content. The new version of Media Hub also includes an HD Extender which allows the user to playback Media Hub content on TV through an HDMI cable from the Galaxy Tab 10.1 dock or adaptor.

Readers Hub & Social Hub

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will also gain access to Samsung’s Readers Hub service, which is a robust library filled with more than 2.2 million books, 2,000 newspapers and 2,300 magazines. Also, the software upgrade will install Samsung’s Social Hub service, which aggregates email, instant messaging, contacts, calendar and social network connections into a single interface.

Versatile Content Sharing

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will also receive Samsung’s Allshare service, for seamless content transfer between the tablet and other DLNA-enabled devices such as HDTV’s, monitors and digital cameras. The software upgrade will also transform the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 into a device capable of accepting streaming content from a TV to the tablet itself.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES AVAILABLE AT PRODUCT LAUNCH

Impressive Speed, Power & Battery Life

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity to deliver rapid mobile download speeds and reduce data transfer times. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 also includes a Nvidia Tegra 1GHz dual core application processor for powerful gaming and multimedia performance. The Tab’s ultra-thin design does not sacrifice battery life, thanks to a 7000 mAh battery providing up to 9 hours of continuous use on a single charge^[2].

Full Adobe Flash Player Compatibility

The device offers extensive Web browsing access through Adobe® Flash® Player compatibility. Flash Player delivers beautiful HD video, faster graphics rendering, and high performance on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and is designed to take advantage of native device capabilities — enabling richer, more immersive user experiences.

Optimal Enterprise Solutions

In addition, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 integrates several enterprise solutions to provide support for exchange device management policies, improve the security of data and services maintained on the tablet and meet IT guidelines for remote device access. The enterprise solutions include:

• On-device encryption of user data
• Cisco AnyConnect SSL VPN
• F5 SSL VPN

• Enhanced Exchange ActiveSync Support

Quality Cameras and Sound

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a 3 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera providing smooth video chat capabilities and seamless 1080p HD video playback^[3]. High quality speakers are positioned on the right and left sides of the device for a rich, deep audio experience.

Google™ Mobile Services

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is preloaded with the full suite of Google Mobile Services including access to more than 60,000 Android Market™ applications for Galaxy Tab 10.1^[4], Gmail™, Google Search™, Google Maps™ 5.0 with 3D maps, and Google Talk™ with video and voice chat.

Availability & Pricing

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi edition will be available exclusively starting June 8 at the Best Buy Union Square location in New York City. Starting June 17, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available at Best Buy online and in-store along with Fry’s Electronics, Amazon.com, Micro Center, Tiger Direct and Newegg. These retail outlets will have the 32GB version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi edition available for $599, and the 16GB version of the device will be available for $499. In addition, the WiFi version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available through Sprint starting mid-summer 2011. Visit www.samsung.com for additional details.

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According to a leaked silicon gel accessory page for the Samsung Galaxy S II, the highly anticipated phone will at least be landing on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in the U.S. The information also reveals the unique names that the phone will receive from each carrier. It will be the Samsung Attain on AT&T, the Samsung Function on Verizon Wireless, and the Samsung Within on Sprint. Oddly, those monikers don’t seem to nearly portray the hardware muscle of the device and we’re surprised to see no mention of T-Mobile. The Galaxy S II sports a dual-core processor, a large Super AMOLED Plus display, an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording HD video, and runs Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread with Samsung’s revamped TouchWiz 4.0 user interface on top. There’s no word when the Galaxy S II will make its U.S. debut, although we wouldn’t be surprised to see a summer launch.

[via Pocketnow]

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We’ve just scored some hands-on time with Samsung’s latest Android tablet, the new and improved Galaxy Tab 10.1. Officially unveiled at Mobile World Congress, the device was re-announced  — with new and improved specifications — at CTIA in March. The tablet that we fondled is a “Limited Edition” Tab, complete with a white alien-engraved backing made just for Google I/O attendees. Our first impressions? Thin. Like, really thin. And the Galaxy Tab 10.1, in case you haven’t looked at the pictures yet, is absolutely gorgeous. Darkened chrome bezel, textured polymer backing, nearly perfect weight… it’s all there. The device we have is running Android 3.0 but we’re being told that it will be updated to the just-announced Android 3.1 in the “new few weeks.” Having handled the original Tab 10.1, we’re definitely happy that Samsung took some extra time to refine the design before pushing it out to market. We’ve got a handful of images waiting for you in the gallery linked below, so have a look for yourself and let us know what you think.