Samsung’s popular Galaxy S II smartphone and its supersized Galaxy Note handset are both scheduled to get official Android 4.0 updates in the first quarter of 2012. Samsung on Tuesday announced that the pair of smartphones would be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich within the next three months, and it listed a number of other devices that will be updated at some point thereafter. Android 4.0 upgradable devices include the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy Note, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. The South Korea-based vendor said it will announce Ice Cream Sandwich update details for those devices as it works out the particulars with various carrier partners.

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It has been a month since Apple released its latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S. A month since it crushed sales records. A month since consumers got their first hands-on experience with Siri, the intelligent assistant that may help change the way we interact with consumer electronics moving forward. A month since we had to fight the urge to dry heave upon seeing “The S stands for ____” in every third headline across various tech blogs. We reviewed the smartphone in October and called it “the best phone Apple has ever made,” and while the phone might look exactly like its predecessor, we’re not so sure that’s a bad thing. After all, Apple’s year-old iPhone 4 and two-year-old iPhone 3GS were the best-selling cell phones in the U.S. last quarter, so age doesn’t seem to be much of an issue among consumers.

When Apple first unveiled its new smartphone in early October, feelings were mixed. The word “disappointment” was tossed around a bit more than Apple zealots were hoping, and a number of people were in fact disappointed thanks to rumors of a redesigned iPhone 5 that had been swirling for months. It was supposed to feature a brand new case that was amazingly thin and sported an aluminum back. It was supposed to have a new teardrop shape. It was supposed to feature a larger edge-to-edge display. It was supposed to be a lot of things but instead, it was the iPhone 4, S’d.

The iPhone 4 wasn’t the first Apple smartphone to be S’d. In June 2009, Apple launched the iPhone 3GS, which had also been greeted with mixed emotions at its unveiling. How could Apple release a new smartphone that looked just like its old smartphone? The answer, easily, became fairly apparent when the company went on to sell one million units during the phone’s first weekend of availability, shattering earlier smartphone sales records.

Two of the main groups of consumers targeted by the iPhone 4S have been and will continue to be blown away by this device. First, the millions of iPhone 3GS owners whose contracts expired recently, will be met with a massive upgrade compared to the phone they’ve loved for the past two years. The design is completely different than the 3GS, the Retina Display is much better than Apple’s displays of old, the new 8-megapixel camera is the best I’ve seen on a phone, and though the 3GS was significantly faster than the 3G, the bump from 3GS to 4S is exponentially more substantial. To this group, the iPhone 4S is a brand new smartphone that will not disappoint.

The other group Apple is targeting with its latest handset is non-iPhone owners. This much larger group of consumers might own smartphones from a variety of other vendors, or they might be feature phone users in search of something new. Should non-iPhone owners choose the iPhone 4S as their next device, they will find one of the best user experiences on the market. They will find simplicity, high-end performance, the largest catalog of third-party applications on the market and a gorgeous physical design comprised of glass and metal.

Most likely to be disappointed by the iPhone 4S are iPhone 4 owners who were hoping for a completely redesigned smartphone from Apple. I count myself in this group — an iPhone 4 owner who was hoping for a redesigned iPhone 5 — but I can safely say that any disappointment I might have felt upon seeing the iPhone 4S unveiled was short-lived. I learned my lesson following the jump from 3G to 3GS, and seeing Apple lay out the various improvements iPhone 4S owners could look forward to painted a similar picture. Of course, I couldn’t know for sure until I got my hands on one myself.

I was one of millions of consumers who took ownership of a new iPhone 4S exactly one month ago, and I have been using the handset regularly since then. It has been anything but disappointing.

Despite being underclocked to approximately 800MHz, well below the processing speeds of competing smartphones, Apple’s dual-core A5 chipset helps provide marked speed improvements compared to the iPhone 4, which was already remarkably fast. An interesting side note: the word “processor” doesn’t appear a single time on the web page that lists specifications for the iPhone 4S, nor do any details surrounding the A5. Read into that whatever you’d like, but I see it as a statement that these details just don’t matter. Apple doesn’t have to separate its iPhone from dozens of similar devices on the iOS platform, so it doesn’t have to worry about insignificant specs for the sake of differentiation.

But back to performance. When I tap an icon to launch an app, it is open and loading data the instant I lift my finger from the phone’s display. The same is true when moving between apps using the iPhone’s app switcher. There is no lag whatsoever in most cases, with the only exception being poorly designed applications. The difference in speed is just a few fractions of a second compared to the iPhone 4, but fractions of a second matter a great deal to the overall user experience.

Data speeds and reception have improved as well. “Antennagate” aside — I am right-handed so the dreaded death grip never caused a single problem for me — I find that the iPhone 4S picks up signal better than its predecessor when the two are placed side by side. Data speeds are marginally more impressive as well, with the iPhone 4S consistently in excess of 3Mbps on the download side in my area, while the iPhone 4 often hovers below the 3Mbps mark. Both phones peak above 5Mbps when the stars are aligned, and they regularly test at about 1Mbps on the upload side.

The other big change is Siri, Apple’s virtual personal assistant.

I am on record as a Siri skeptic ahead of the service’s announcement. Even when it was unveiled during Apple’s press conference, I wasn’t terribly impressed, half-jokingly calling it “the most awesome iPhone feature I will never use,” in a post on Twitter. Avid fans of other smartphone platforms often downplay the feature, likening it to voice command support on their platforms of choice. I can assure you, however, it’s not the same.

Android and Windows Phone 7.5 each feature terrific voice command support, so someone who has not had first-hand experience with Siri might think these solutions are similar. They support voice-to-text and allow users to perform a variety of functions with their voices. Android’s voice action support likely played a role in inspiring Siri, just as the platform’s notification system inspired the new notifications in iOS 5.

But Siri is a different beast. A smarter beast.

Firstly, Apple’s implementation is far more accurate than other offerings in terms of understanding conversational speech. I rarely correct Siri whereas I am constantly repeating myself with other platforms. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Google’s voice implementation supports conversational speech to an extent, but Siri takes the ball and really runs with it. Siri supports a huge range of commands and questions. It integrates with numerous apps such as Calendar, Reminders and more, so you can schedule appointments and set reminders that are triggered at a certain time or when you arrive at a certain location.

Ask Siri “What should I eat for dinner?” and she will show you a list of restaurants close to your current location. Say “I want Chinese food for dinner,” and Siri will drill down to just Chinese restaurants in your area. Find one you like and say “Call Restaurant XYZ,” and you’ll be making a dinner reservation in no time. Apple’s commercials showcase examples much better than I can here, but it’s the kind of thing that doesn’t fully sink in until you try it yourself.

I don’t use Siri on a regular basis, but it is a feature that adds both wow-factor and utility to the iPhone 4S. When I do use it I am consistently impressed, and I can’t wait to see Siri arrive on more platforms like OS X and the TV Apple may or may not have in the works.

I do want to see Siri’s capabilities expanded, however, as there are a number of limitations right now. Users cannot open apps or create contacts with Siri yet for example, and a set of APIs for integration with third-party apps would be terrific. I think we’ll see these things and plenty more from Siri in the near future, and in the meantime there are a few tweaks that can expand Siri’s capabilities to an extent. For example, using Siri coupled with a web service I love called ifttt, I can post messages to Twitter or Facebook using only my voice, and that’s just the beginning. Ifttt allows users to perform a huge range of tasks by sending “triggers” via email or SMS, and the service’s capabilities are expanding regularly.

The iPhone 4S most certainly is not perfect. Nothing is. I would have liked to see a screen around 4-inches, for example, as that is the sweet spot for me. I also wish battery life was at least as good as it was on the iPhone 4, which easily carried me through a full day on a single charge. Battery life has definitely taken a hit in the iPhone 4S, and although I don’t have the problems some users are reporting, I do often have to charge the phone more than once in a day.

In the end, the iPhone 4S is a big update wrapped in the same case as its predecessor, just as the iPhone 3GS was a big update compared to the 3G. Happy iPhone 3GS owners coming off contract will be blown away by the 4S, and consumers coming from other smartphone platforms or from feature phones will find themselves with a terrific smartphone that is anything but disappointing. IPhone 4 owners are the wild card, and I’m not sure spending up to $850 for an early upgrade is a wise move for everyone, especially considering we could see a new iPhone model released just seven or eight months from now.

Personally, I don’t regret the upgrade at all. Along with Siri and the new camera, the speed and performance bumps are more than significant enough to have made the purchase worthwhile. It’s everything the iPhone 4 was and more, which is exactly how Apple billed it.

Apple is preparing to launch a slightly upgraded iPad 2 in March of 2012, DigiTimes reported on Thursday. The new iPad is rumored to be thinner and is said to offer better battery life than the current model. It is unclear what Apple will call the device launching in March, but the company reportedly has plans to launch a “real” iPad 3 during the third quarter of 2012. Samsung, Sharp and LG are said to be working on a new Retina Display for the next-generation iPad, which may also pack a faster A6 processor, but rumors of manufacturing issues have suggested it may take Apple longer than originally planned to introduce a model with that equipment. A report last month from Ticonderoga Securities suggested that Apple is planning a cheaper iPad model that will debut early next year ahead of an iPad 3, which won’t launch until the second quarter.

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Google on Wednesday confirmed that its next-generation Android operating system will soon become available as an update for the Nexus S and other Gingerbread phones. Engadget reports that Google executives Gabe Cohen and Matias Duarte have both confirmed that an update is already in the works for Google’s previous-generation Nexus smartphone, and the same process being used to update the Nexus S from Gingerbread “theoretically should work for any 2.3 device.” Google took the wraps off  Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on Wednesday morning during an event in Hong Kong, and the new version of its popular mobile platform features a host of improvements over Gingerbread and Honeycomb. The company also unveiled the Galaxy Nexus smartphone alongside Samsung, the device’s manufacturer.

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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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Sprint has reportedly started to send out letters to its Sprint Premier customers alerting them that it is ending the program. The letters indicate that December 31st, 2011 will be the final day of availability for Premier benefits, and Sprint’s New for You Upgrade Program will take the Premier program’s place.”To allow us to continue to offer you the value of unlimited data plans and cutting-edge devices, we’ve had to make some hard decisions,” Sprint said in the letter. “We want to let you know that the Sprint Premier program is coming to a close. This decision was not an easy one for us but one we feel is necessary at this time.” Sprint’s Premier website has been updated to reflect the closure of the program, and Premier subscribers can follow the read link below for additional details.

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Motorola XOOM owners who want to take advantage of the promised 4G LTE upgrade can finally begin to do so beginning Thursday. Once a customer signs up to receive the upgrade, Verizon Wireless will send the shipping instructions along with a box. The option is free and Verizon Wireless said changes to data plans are not required. Verizon also advises that XOOM owners back up their devices before sending them in for the upgrade. The process is expected to take six business days. Verizon Wireless also announced on Wednesday that it will begin to sell the Motorola XOOM with 4G LTE pre-installed for $499.99 starting October 13th. Read on for the full press release.

MOTOROLA XOOM 4G LTE UPGRADE AVAILABLE TOMORROW

Upgrade to Add the Speed of the Largest 4G LTE Network in America

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless and Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE: MMI), today announced the Motorola XOOM 4G LTE upgrade will be available for existing Motorola XOOM customers beginning tomorrow. The Motorola XOOM 4G LTE will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com beginning Oct. 13 for $499.99 with a new two-year contract.

Starting tomorrow, Motorola XOOM customers can visit www.verizonwireless.com/Xoom4GLTEupgrade for complete instructions and to begin the 4G LTE upgrade process. Customers who signed up for email alerts will receive an email notification with instructions tomorrow. Customers should expect to get their updated Motorola XOOM with 4G LTE back in approximately six business days. The 4G LTE upgrade is free of charge and customers do not have to change their current data plan when upgrading to 4G LTE.  Customers are encouraged to back up any personal information prior to shipping.

Faster speeds and connections enhance the Motorola XOOM experience, allowing customers to download songs in seconds and movies in minutes. Customers should expect average download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE mobile broadband coverage areas.  When customers travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, the Motorola XOOM automatically connects to the Verizon Wireless 3G network, enabling customers to stay connected from coast to coast.

Key features:
·         10.1-inch widescreen HD display
·         32 GB built-in storage (actual formatted capacity is less), with microSD card slot supporting additional 32 GB
·         Android™ 3.2 Honeycomb – supports Google™ Mobile Services including Gmail™, YouTube™, Google Talk™, Google Search™, Google Maps™, Google Movies™, Google Books™ and Android Market™
·         Dual-core 1 GHz processor
·         Adobe® Flash® 10- enabling the delivery of rich Flash based web content including videos, casual games and applications
·         2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats over 4G LTE, 3G and WiFi
·         5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash
·         Wi-Fi networks are generally short ranged and provide wireless Internet access to localized public areas (often called hotspots) such as airports, hotels, and coffee shops.

Data plans:
·         Motorola XOOM customers will have the option to choose one of the following mobile broadband data plans:
o   $30 monthly access for 2GB monthly allowance
o   $50 monthly access for 5GB monthly allowance
o   $80 monthly access for 10GB monthly allowance

For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. Visit www.verizonwireless.com/4GLTE for more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network.

Regardless of any potential delays, shortages or other impediments, Apple’s upcoming next-generation iPhone models will fly off the shelves following launch. This is a given. As Apple’s announcement approaches and Apple fans get ready to upgrade, however, some may be in store for a rude awakening. Current iPhone users looking to part ways with an old model in favor of a shiny new handset have likely already missed the boat if they were hoping to sell their iPhones to help recoup money spent on a new iPhone. Read on for more.

According to data collected and analyzed by consumer electronics recycler NextWorth, the value of previous-generation iPhone models has historically declined rapidly beginning well ahead of next-generation announcements.

The average selling price of Apple’s iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G models sold on eBay last year began to decline rapidly in mid-May according to the data, dropping between 10% and 15% by the time Apple announced the iPhone 4 on June 7th. The mere anticipation of a next-generation model is enough to send iPhone resale values south.

By the time Apple’s iPhone 4 launched in late June 2010, eBay resale values of the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G had dropped roughly 22% and 27% respectively, and they continued to decline until the middle of July. To make matters worse for iPhone owners planning to pawn off their phones, Apple is expected to unveil a new low-cost iPhone 4 model alongside the iPhone 5 in the coming weeks.

The draw of a brand new iPhone 4 available for $99 or less on contract — and possibly $350 with no contract in some markets, as BGR reported exclusively back in July — could potentially push the resale value of older models down even faster than last year.

Apple is expected to unveil two new iPhone models in the coming weeks, a low-cost version of the current iPhone 4 model with various minor design tweaks and a brand new iPhone 5 said to feature a new case with an aluminum back, a larger display and an 8-megapixel camera.

The IFA trade show in Berlin kicks off on September 1st and Samsung has already made it known that it will have a big presence there. We’ve heard that it will announce the Samsung GALAXY Tab 7.7, the Wave 3, and the GALAXY Note but now Sammyhub suggests there could be more in store. Samsung could be preparing to take the wraps off of an upgraded GALAXY S II smartphone that could be the world’s first 4G LTE/WCDMA/GSM handset. The phone may also sport a faster 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, a 1,850 mAh battery and a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. The rumor of NFC support definitely has us wondering if this will launch in the United States as the Android Ice Cream Sandwich-packing Nexus Prime, which is rumored to hit Verizon as a 4G LTE phone.

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Motorola has started to email XOOM customers to alert them that it will begin to upgrade the XOOM with support for 4G LTE next week. According to Droid-Life, Motorola will start with business and government customers during a “pilot program” first and then will begin updating XOOMs owned by the general public. Customers will need to file an upgrade request before Motorola mails a package containing a pre-paid FedEx box and instructional material. Motorola suggests backing up the data on your XOOM before sending it in and said the process should take approximately three business days. Read on for an image confirming the details.

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Motorola will finally make a 4G LTE upgrade available to owners of its XOOM tablet beginning in September. The tablet ships with an embedded EV-DO modem for 3G connectivity on Verizon Wireless’ network out of the box, but Motorola had promised that an upgrade to 4G LTE would become available this past May. Motorola has not been clear on the cause of the delay, but the company began sending emails to XOOM owners telling them to expect the update in September. Applying the 4G LTE upgrade requires that a new modem replace the old one in the XOOM, and Motorola will need customers to ship their tablets out for up to a week in order to have the upgrade applied. The process will be free of charge for XOOM owners.

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Apple will release its fiscal third quarter earnings on Tuesday afternoon and analysts have boosted the stock price target in anticipation of a solid quarterly report. The iPhone maker’s shares hit a record high of $373.80 at the close of the day on Monday. BGC analyst Collin Gillis has boosted the price target of Apple’s stock from $390 to $430. “We are more positive on the outlook for share acceleration in the second half as it is reasonable to expect multiple hardware refreshes combined with the back-to-school and holiday shopping quarter,” Gillis told Reuters. A group of analysts recently predicted that Apple will report that it sold between 15 and 20 million iPhones during the quarter, with the average estimate falling at 16.9 million iPhones sold. Apple is expected to “report earnings of $5.84 per share on revenue of $24.9 billion,” Reuters said, citing Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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While Apple has indeed been giving some developers access to a device known as the iPhone 4S — an iPhone 4 with upgraded internals — BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored. We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone, though we have not been given any additional details surrounding the design of the new iPhone case. What about a release, then? The consensus is that Apple is going to announce the next-generation iPhone at the company’s annual September event, traditionally focused on iPods, but we have heard it’s quite possible Apple will break tradition. According to our source, Apple may hold an event in the beginning or middle of August to announce the new iPhone, with availability to follow in the last week of August. We’re not sure if that means the iPod event will be moved up slightly, or if this will be an iPhone-specific event. Thisismynext reported earlier that the upcoming iPhone 5 would feature a new teardrop-shaped case design.

Apple on Tuesday officially announced that its iWork productivity applications, including Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, are now available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Apple has completely redesigned the applications to take advantage of iOS’s multitouch features. “Now you can use Keynote, Pages, and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents, and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” Philip Shiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary multi-touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize, and share all of your documents from the iPhone 4 or iPod touch.” The applications offer improved document management and a tools button in the toolbar for quickly sharing documents without closing the application. Keynote, Pages, and Numbers are available in the iTunes App Store now for $9.99 each. Existing iWork for iPad users can upgrade for free, and the Keynote Remote is available for $0.99. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Apple iWork Now Available For iPhone & iPod touch Users

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® today announced that its groundbreaking iWork® productivity apps, Keynote®, Pages® and Numbers®, are now available for iPhone® and iPod touch®, as well as iPad®. Created for the Mac® and then completely redesigned for iOS and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface, Keynote, Pages and Numbers allow you to create and share stunning presentations, beautifully formatted documents and powerful spreadsheets on the go. iWork apps are available on the App Store™ for $9.99 each to new users and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers.

“Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch.”

Keynote, Pages and Numbers import and export documents from iWork for Mac and Microsoft Office; print wirelessly using AirPrint™; and include beautiful Apple-designed themes and templates. All iWork apps now include improved document management with thumbnail images that let you find your files quickly, organize them and group them into folders using intuitive gestures. From the Tools button in the toolbar, you can easily share any presentation, document or spreadsheet without leaving the app.

Keynote makes it easy to create impressive presentations, complete with animated charts and transitions. You can play your presentation in Full Screen view on the stunning, high-resolution Retina™ display or connect to a projector or HDTV for a large audience. Available separately, the Keynote Remote app allows your iPhone or iPod touch to control a Keynote presentation on any iOS device or Mac.

Pages is the most beautiful word processor ever designed for a mobile device and has everything you need to create amazing documents. Pages takes full advantage of the high-resolution Retina display on iPhone 4 and iPod touch so you can see all the detail and richness of your documents. To make working with text easy on iPhone and iPod touch, Smart Zoom automatically zooms in to follow the cursor while you’re editing and zooms back out when you’re done.

Numbers uses Multi-Touch gestures and an intelligent keyboard to help you create compelling, great-looking spreadsheets with over 250 easy-to-use functions, flexible tables and eye-catching charts. Just like Pages, Numbers takes advantage of the high-resolution Retina display and Smart Zoom to make working with text and cells on iPhone 4 or iPod touch easy.

Pricing & Availability
Keynote, Pages and Numbers are universal apps that run on iPad and iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, and iPod touch (3rd & 4th generation). Keynote, Pages and Numbers are available from the App Store for $9.99 (US) each for new users, or as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers. Keynote Remote is sold separately via the App Store for 99 cents (US).

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

In a note to investors on Friday, Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek claimed knowledge of Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone. While most are now in agreement that Apple will not unveil its new iPhone until September this year at the earliest, thereby breaking its annual summer release cycle for the first time, the feature set coming in Apple’s next iPhone remains a topic of debate. Misek’s channel checks found that the next iPhone will be called the “iPhone 4S,” and it will feature minor cosmetic updates, Apple’s A5 processor, better cameras and HSPA+ support. More interestingly, perhaps, Misek claims that the next-gen iPhone will be picked up by both Sprint and T-Mobile. Of course we already knew Apple was testing an iPhone compatible with T-Mobile’s network, but Misek’s note is the first confident claim that the device will launch on T-Mobile since our exclusive report. Regarding 4G LTE compatibility, Misek says the Qualcomm LTE chip Apple would use in a 4G model is not available in the quantities Apple would need for the huge production volumes that are expected. This claim jibes with earlier reports that Apple’s iPhone is not likely to support LTE until next year at the earliest.

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