Earlier this week during the Google Glass Walk in San Francisco tons of pictured were snapped of the augmented reality headset and we have now received are first look (gallery below) at them not being worn. What does this reveal? A power button on the inside of the frame, a micro-USB port for charging and probably flashing new software, as well as a wide array of color options Google already has on the table. From Orange, black, grey, metallic blue, and even different color aluminum frames too. Orange might be a bit too “loud” for me, but then again you are wearing crazy awesome glasses that will get some head turns either way.

Then another Google+ post shows us not only multiple photos taken with the prototype glasses, but some 720p video capture too. Man, if they wanted to tease every nerd with tons of coverage slowly appearing, Google’s doing a fine job of it. Check out the video below and imagine the possibilities with Google Glass.

[via SlashGear]

I think I’d have that same grin on my face if I’d just snapped a photo and then shared it with all my colleagues in a matter of seconds too. Before speaking at Zeitgeist for the Beyond Talk session Larry Page started off with Project Glass. Calling them Google Glass, because there is only one, and not glass on both sides. Here’s what he had to say while using his very real — working version of the glasses.

“These are obviously Google Glass, it’s only Glass because it’s only on one side. It’s still in a bit of an early stage but I’m really excited to be able to have one. And to have it working. … It doesn’t yet show me all of your names, but I’m really glad that you’re all here.” – Page

It really is neat to see them working and you can see the images flickering right on the glass while in use. He appears to snap a quick photo using a side-control touch sensitive area on the top of the device near his temple, then hits another button to share it with his friends and co-workers. Whether he actually did all that we won’t know, and I don’t see the picture on his Google+ page but I’d love to get a look at it.

Obviously these are just an early prototype but they appear to have a physical dedicated camera button for snapping photos, but hopefully that will all be voice controlled on a final version if they ever see their way to the market. We’ve seen hands-free photos taken with Project Glass, so it might have both options. Around to the side seems to be a touch-sensitive area for swipes and gestures but at this point it’s really anyone’s guess.

If you’d like to see them in action on Google’s CEO Larry Page himself then have a quick glance at the video below. Enjoy it while it lasts, and don’t get too jealous (I know I am). Hit the timeline links below for additional coverage of Project Glass. I want it now!

[via SlashGear]

Netflix for Android has seen various updates and improvement over the past few months, including Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich support, improved UI and volume controls, and now this update today. While the video playback and streaming still leaves something to be desired I can honestly say this update does improve the experience as they claim. Even WiFi could be better, but we’ll take it for now. Here’s the official changelog:

– Enhanced playback experience on phones and tablets
– Improved stability
– General bug fixes

Neflix has also added a secondary installation method for some reason. While it’s nice that they are offing this for anyone having “problems” I don’t know of anything worth mentioning in regards to updating an app from the Play Store directly.

If you are having problems updating your application, you can update your device manually by opening your mobile browser and going to this URL: http://tinyurl.com/nflx180
Once the application is downloaded please tap on it and follow the instructions to install this application. In some cases you may have to allow applications from untrusted sources to be installed.

I guess that is better than downloading and installing some random and possibly unsafe version of Netflix. After all that was an issue last year for Netflix when fake versions were causing some problems. If you’re going to install it manually at least use the correct one from Netflix themselves. Get the update from the Play Store link and enjoy all of our Netflix coverage below.

Netflix for Android Link

Huawei is sporting this as one of the thinnest smartphones around. Coming in at just 7.6mm thin it is extremely sleek and stylus, although their P1-S will be the “world’s thinnest smartphone” according to Huawei. This phone might not be at the absolute top of the pack but still comes in quite decent. Under the hood is a 1.5 GHz dual-core TI OMAP4460 processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, while up-front is a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 Super AMOLED display. The screen isn’t HD but you’d hardly tell from looking at its crisp and vivid colors.

The specs aren’t the best but they aren’t too shabby either. Huawei’s tossed in an 8 megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash and a 1.3 front shooter for self portraits and more. They’ve opted for capacitive touch buttons with ICS instead of the on-screen buttons with the Galaxy Nexus. Overall our first impressions are quite favorable. Huawei hasn’t always made the best hardware but this is a step in the right direction for sure. While still having a cheap Samsung-like design the phone feels solid and durable in the hand. For now check out the unboxing video and pictures below and expect a full Android Community review in the coming days.

This video is pretty Tron-inspired if you ask me, just watch past the first 0:23 seconds to see the exquisite phone in action covered in orange light tails and more just like the popular TRON movie. LG plays up the NVIDIA quad-core Tegra 3 processor under the hood, as well as the 4.7-inch True HD IPS display on the phone and more.

The video doesn’t really show us anything new that we haven’t seen, but is neat to see LG themselves showing off what makes this handset special and their new flagship smartphone. The phone will be available throughout Europe early next month running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with LG’s new Optimus UI 3.0 overlay. Stay tuned for US availability and check out all of our coverage and hands-on below.

[via PocketDroid]

The newest commercial, shown first, has T-Mobile and the always pretty Carly showing off the HTC One S using Google Play Music capabilities. Touting on the fly music access using Google Music and their street bike fast 4G HSPA+ network. It gives us a quick glance of Carly, as well as the new One S and you can see our review by clicking here. They are calling this “fast songs” by T-Mobile.

Next is the older video that was released early last week. It takes some direct shots at both AT&T, as well as the iPhone while comparing it to the One S again. I have to admit even though I’m not a fan of this type of comparison because they are so different the video is quite awesome. Shows Carly race by the slow and old (AT&T blue) motorcycle and then gives us a replay — with Carly basically saying “Peace out dude” and racing off into the sunset. You can’t tell me that’s not hot! I’d be chasing that bike trying to toss her my number if that happened to me, just saying.

T-Mobile is basically saying their 4G and the HTC One S is so fast compared to AT&T and the iPhone 4S that all you need to do is blink and you’ll miss them fly by you. What do you guys think of this latest round of videos. Do you like them? Hate them? Or think T-Mobile’s getting a little desperate here? Either way more Carly is a good thing if you ask me.

I’ll admit, I had been wondering how a tiny display that sits at about the same height as the eyebrow in all the model photos (and only over one eye at that) was supposed to completely cover binocular vision. The Terminator-style connected interactions displayed in the video would seem to be a little outside of Google’s reach, at least with the designs that they’ve showed thus far. Speaking of which, they’ve already submitted a patent for same, including the prescription lenses that Google confirmed on Google Plus.

Here’s the video again, for your consideration:

There’s still a lot that you can do with a wearable display that doesn’t completely span your field of vision. Said the Google representative, “it’s the simple interactions that are making people the most excited.” That’s well and good - navigation and facial recognition will still be just as useful – but some of the more fanciful applications like this first-person shooter concept are out of the question. What say you, readers: does Google’s reduced outlook for Project Glass dampen your enthusiasm?

[via SlashGear]

The Tab 2 10-inch was rumored to be delayed in favor of a quad-core processor but that wasn’t the case. Instead Samsung has opted for a cheaper 1.0 GHz dual-core processor (not a Tegra 2 like the original Tab 10) but instead a Texas Instruments dual-core chip. Don’t worry though folks, it performs great and is being offered at a friendly price starting at $399 for the 16GB model. We’ll start with the hands-on and tour video below then dig into the details.

Hardware
With the new Tab 2 the hardware has seen a few design and internal changes but for the most part is very similar to the original Galaxy Tab 10 from Samsung last year. What you’ll get here is a different processor, a sleek design, better speaker placements and a lower price point. Like mentioned above, under the hood is a 1.0 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and it comes with 16GB of internal storage. However Samsung did provide a micro-sd slot for additional storage. Then we have the usual 3 megapixel camera on the rear, and a 1.3 front for video chatting and self portraits.

Samsung has taken what they learned from the first 10-inch model, their recently released Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE, and the smaller Tab 7 and added everything into one. Gone is the cheap feeling plastic back and instead we have a brushed aluminum designed plastic back that feels very durable. Then they’ve added the SD slot, and the Infrared port from the older 7-inch model for controlling your home theater or TV.

All of the controls are actually up top with nothing on either side of the slate. We have from left to right the power and wake button, volume up/down, micro-SD slot, Infrared eye, and the 3.5mm headphone jack. The front half has a dark grey shiny aluminum while the back keeps that brushed rugged and durable look. I’m actually a total fan of this latest model and it might be my favorite Galaxy Tab to date.

I’ve always hated the rear or bottom facing speakers on tablets, especially if there’s only one like the Transformer Prime. The new Galaxy Tab’s have been improved and offer a pair of front facing stereo speakers. The new Galaxy Tab 2 10-inch model we have here today by far has the best audio of any tablet I’ve tested to date. They are clear, crisp, and get extremely loud. Not only that but you don’t have to worry about your hand covering them up during use. This makes the tablet much easier to hold, gaming is loud and exciting, and streaming Netflix (which comes pre-installed) is better than ever.

The 10-inch screen is still only 1280 x 800 like most tablets available, and isn’t AMOLED but sure is bright, vivid, and seems to have similar viewing angles to most Samsung tablets. Their displays are never much of an issue anyways and always are good quality with Sammy. The lightweight design also doesn’t add any weight over the first Tab 10, and it’s much lighter than the heavy quad-core ASUS Transformer Prime.

Software
Samsung has released these tablets with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the OS. With their own tablet-optimized version of TouchWiz over the top that offers impressive widgets, screenshot features with edit mode, and a new keyboard that is actually really nice to type on compared to the stock ICS tablet keyboard. The changes are lightweight and performance remains strong and usage is swift.

Like mentioned above, Samsung appears to be going for a cheaper consumption device here and will be targeting the high range with the 10-inch note. The Galaxy Tab 2 comes pre-loaded with tons of media apps such as Samsung Music Hub, Music Player, a custom video player, Netflix, a photo and video editor, as well as Peel smart remote to use the Infrared. Clearly this is all about consuming media with this WiFi tablet and so far I’ve done plenty of that. Playing games and watching movies is awesome with the improved speakers up front.

Performance
Being only a 1.0 GHz dual-core processor this is actually one of the lower spec’d devices released in the past 6 months in the dual-core category. With everything lately coming with 1.2 or 1.5 GHz dual-cores or higher at first we questioned Samsung’s choice. After using this for the past week I can safely say so far I don’t miss the speeds. Usage is solid, performance is great for movies, games like Grand Theft Auto III and more. Sadly we can’t access those TegraZone THD games because they’ve moved from NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 to a Texas Instruments processor, but most games are still available in the Google Play Store.

Obviously you can see where she lies in regards to benchmark tests such as AnTuTu. With many devices including the quad-core ASUS Transformer Prime blowing past its results, but that was sort of expected. Only scoring 3000 in Quadrant this is hardly an improvement over the original, more of an additional option for those in the market. Needless to say, from my video above you can clearly see performance is still stellar even though benchmark results are low. For $399 this tablet rocks.

Camera and Battery life
With the new Tab 2 the camera isn’t anything great, just like all of Samsung’s tablets. I guess they don’t see a need to offer a better camera and the Tab 2 comes with the same 3.2 megapixel camera all the others have. Their smartphones have excellent cameras but tablets are another story. I’d hardly consider this a con though, as I rarely if ever take pictures with my tablet. Below is a few pictures for those curious on the performance. As long as you have enough light it will take a few pictures with ease that are worthy of Facebook and the likes.

Battery life however is pretty awesome. Samsung’s equipped this slate with a 7,100 mAh battery and I’ve manged to get nearly 3 days of casual usage from a single charge. While usage will vary from user to user this is on par if not better than most tablets on the market — as long as you don’t watch Netflix for 6 hours a day.

Wrap-Up
From the media apps and widgets, Netflix, Peel Smart Remote and more it’s clear that this tablet is made to play and enjoy media. Offering hardly any difference over the original other than mainly the speakers and Ice Cream Sandwich coming stock — this tablet is about the same. I’d say I was disappointed with how similar they are but I’m not. For the price they’ll be asking ($399) this is an great tablet experience. The hardware is excellent, build quality is top notch and creak free, and it comes with the latest Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

If you were wanting or expecting a powerhouse Ice Cream Sandwich tablet or gaming machine the Galaxy Note 10.1 will be their flagship quad-core tablet once it’s made available later this summer. If you don’t want to wait, for the price point your options are this tablet or the Transformer Pad TF300. It does offer a quad-core processor but it’s not as premium feeling, has a plastic design, and isn’t as thin and beautiful. If you want the work horse the TF300 is for you, if you’d like a thin and awesome overall experience the new Galaxy Tab 2 10-inch from Samsung is worth a look.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section below and check out all of the pictures from the gallery, as well as previous coverage or comparisons from the links below.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy Tab 2 (10")

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : February 25, 2012

Release Date : May 13, 2012

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 10.1 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x800
• Screen Type : TFT PLS

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 6.9 Inch
• Width : 10.1 Inch
• Depth : 0.38 Inch
• Weight : 580 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Polymer

• Battery Capacity : 7100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)
• WMV

Hardware

CPU : OMAP 4

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1000 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 3.2 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

Both of these phones are packed with technology from Samsung and below you’ll find a nice video full of compare and contrast talking points. Obviously we have different processors, different software, and the screen sizes are a bit different too. Below is two videos, the first of which will go over the hardware differences and show why the SGSIII is the new king, then followed up with another Galaxy S III hands-on.

In this second video Bidan shows us more of the Galaxy S III in terms of hardware and software. Explaining a little more about what’s new regarding the software — Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich — as well as TouchWiz and the little tweaks they’ve made to make it even better on the new flagship smartphone.

Then we’ve also snapped a few more photos of the all new Galaxy S III for you below. You’ll see some settings, the about screen, as well as that Nyan Droid screen we all seem to love on ICS. Let us know what phone you’d rather use and check out all the coverage on both phones from the links below.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

From accessories, cases, charging packs and more we saw plenty in New Orleans but we’ll start off with the new HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE heading to Verizon. Officially announced at the show we have some hands-on and plenty of pictures of the latest DROID to get the Verizon 4G LTE treatment.

We were covering everything live at our sister site SlashGear too. Check out what they reported by the CEO of EA games and the death of consoles and mobile gaming. Then we saw some impressive water-proof techniques to save our precious devices from HzO and their Waterblock.

OtterBox had a slew of new cases for the HTC One series, the iPhone, the new DROID Inc 4G LTE, and even the Galaxy Note. We also took a minute to check out more from team LG, stopping in for a hands-on with the LG Optimus Vu Phablet — as well as the Tegra 3 quad-core LG Optimus 4X.

The folks from Kyocera (remember them?) announced a few new budget friendly Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phones and you can see our hands-on of both of the new phones from Kyocera by clicking here. More importantly, we also enjoyed some time with the brand new HTC EVO 4G LTE and have some impressive pics from its camera below but to start here is our hands-on video.

ZTE was showing off their new 10-inch Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet with 4G LTE running on a 1.7 GHz Qualcomm processor, one of the faster tablets on the block and we even had a few minutes to sit down and talk with the CMO and Community Managers from the popular 3rd party keyboard for Android SwiftKey.

We were able to enjoy more time with the Samsung Galaxy S III and even got some hands-on showing specifically some changes to the software side of things with their improved TouchWiz user interface. I really want this phone and can’t wait for more details on the US launch.

Last but not least was more about the impressive new HTC EVO 4G LTE. Thanks to the folks from HTC I had the opportunity to take a full tour of New Orleans as well as test out the 8 megapixel camera on the EVO 4G LTE in our New Orleans photo tour through the lens of the EVO 4G LTE. The photo below was captured by the new EVO while on a moving vehicle — impressive right?

We have a lot of interesting news we can’t share yet at this time, and tons of exciting things we’ll be bringing you over the course of the next few days and weekend. Once more hit our CTIA 2012 Portal for all our news, and stay tuned to Android Community for more coming soon.

SwiftKey is something we’ve covered extensively here at AC, and you can read more about their impressive new SwiftKey 3 beta in our initial hands-on. Their current offering SwiftKey X is great, but the new version 3 makes it even better with a refreshed and impressive new UI, better predictive text, and the Smart Space is awesome and a selling point for me in itself. Here at CTIA along with the CMO of SwiftKey we also had a few minutes to talk to Evan Tapper, the community manager over at the VIP forums. He’s been the one reading all your comments (giving back the comma button) and adding all the changes that the VIP beta members have requested.

SwiftKey has a strong beta and VIP following with well over 60,000 members, and your valuable feedback has helped SwiftKey grow into the third iteration we see today, and one of Google Play’s editor picks for best apps. The newest beta released last week introduced tons of user feedback improvements, tweaks, and changes — and they promise us they’ll continue to add as much as possible from the feedback they’ve received.

The new smart punctuation button next to the spacebar for example, is an awesome way to quickly toggle different punctuation as needed but many are complaining about needing to long press for the options. If you have the new SwiftKey 3 beta you’ll be glad to know that just sliding your finger will enable the smart punctuation feature for your selection. SwiftKey also plans to add a quick gesture left or right to pick the most often selected punctuation based on the user in a future release.

All these awesome features, new features in development and more are all what make SwiftKey X and the new SwiftKey 3 one of the best and most popular 3rd party keyboards available for Android phones and tablets. With tons of money from investors, a community of over 60,000 users, and a dedicated team that is working to make the best product possible for their users.

We can expect to see SwiftKey 3 for phones and tablets leave beta and arrive in the Google Play Store soon. IF you’d rather not wait feel free to hit the VIP forum link above and sign up for your own free copy of the keyboard, and enjoy the VIP community yourself.

While HTC didn’t brand this a ONE device like the One X or One S, you’ll get nearly the same specs as the top-tier One X here with the Now Network. The EVO 4G LTE comes with a 4.7-inch IPS SLCD2 display with a 1280 x 720p HD resolution. Under the hood is the impressive Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Krait 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. One difference from the others is the EVO 4G LTE has a micro-SD slot for expanded storage unlike some of the others from HTC.

You’ll get the same impressive 8 megapixel rear camera with HTC’s Imagesense chip for enhanced photos, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC’s Sense user interface changes as well. Just like the One X sadly the EVO’s battery will not be user accessible or replaceable, but does come in at 2,000 mAh and should hopefully last plenty long — even on 4G LTE.

Pre-orders for the new EVO 4G LTE started yesterday, and it should be available come May 18th from the Now Network for those interested.

Don’t get me wrong, this comes as no surprise as the original always had a “halo feel” to it if you know what I mean — and that was a good thing. The original trailer released earlier this week (linked to below) had a striking resemblance to EA’s Crysis, and now this multiplayer video shows even more of their “inspirations”. This game is shaping up to be one awesome shooter for mobile gamers, that is for sure. Check out that Warthog with its top-mounted gun and all.

You may or may not like the similarities to Crysis, Halo, and other shooter games but there’s only so much you can do with this style of game. Right? Obviously I wish they’d be a bit more creative but I’ll be buying the game on release day that is for sure. As long as it’s compatible with Android 4.0 and the Galaxy Nexus of course. Something that isn’t ever guaranteed with Gameloft. I’m still more excited for Crysis 3 but this will probably be one of the best mobile games of the year from what we’ve seen thus far. Oh and look at that, capture the flag shown nicely in the video too.

Will you be buying or playing N.O.V.A. 3 when it’s released later this month?

For those that missed it here is a rundown of the specs. The Galaxy S III will come complete with an amazing 4.8-inch 720×1280 Super AMOLED HD display, a powerful 1.4 GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor (in the UK at least), 1GB of RAM, 16/32/64GB of storage options, an 8 megapixel camera on the rear with zero shutter lag and a 1.9 front camera for video chat. The device is super thin coming in at 8.6mm, weighing less than most phones of this size (133g) and runs on the absolute latest Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and Samsung’s Touch Wiz interface changes.

While the design might not be the revolutionary step many had hoped for, Samsung has brought an impressive device to market and focused on improving their already award winning and top selling design, while enhancing many of the features and things we use day to day. They’ve beefed up the camera and introduced a 20 shot burst-mode, and the SGSIII automatically picks the best photo of the bunch, has face detection so you can easily tag and link photos to contacts, and they added camera mode while recording 1080p video. All of that and more was detailed in the video above, and we have more below.

Then, since we know everyone wants to see it we’ve compared the size, shape, and performance to the other king of the mobile world — the HTC One X and its 4.7-inch display and quad-core Tegra 3 processor in the video provided below.

Along with a great camera comes easy and simple functionality and that is exactly what you’ll get with the Galaxy S III and Samsung’s new S-Voice controls. A new competitor to Apple’s Siri, S-Voice takes the Google voice actions one step further and allows you to set alarms, check the weather, make calls and more — but best of all it can open apps. Siri can’t do that. You can open Google Maps, place a call, start music and more all with your voice using Samsung’s S-Voice integration.

Since rumors are a moot discussion at this point. Here are a few key links regarding the new Samsung Galaxy S III announced earlier today.

Another neat little feature or two you might not have read elsewhere is the SGSIII has Flipboard for Android, an exclusive to the device while they prepare to launch globally for Android. Then there’s this neat facial recognition feature. Not like the facial unlock from the Galaxy Nexus, but where the phone will actually recognize your face while you’re viewing a page, reading an email, or watching a movie and will not dim the screen. If you look away the screen dims to save battery, and stays on when needed so you don’t get interrupted. Neat right?

Now when can you get your own you ask? Well, Samsung has announced the phone will be available globally soon, but it will start off on May 29th in Europe, and May 30th in the UK. What about the US you ask? Samsung made a short statement that both an LTE and a HSPA+ model will be available for the various carriers in the US. That means most likely Verizon and the other two LTE carriers will get an LTE model (probably dual-core sadly) and HSPA+ models for folks on T-Mobile and possibly even a non-LTE model for AT&T. We can expect these phones in the US sometime in June if we are lucky but Samsung only mentioned “summer” for a release window. See everything and more from our Galaxy S III Portal.

Thoughts on the all new Samsung Galaxy S III quad-core superphone?

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

Both of these phones are extremely impressive in their own right. Both coming with quad-core processors, impressive 8 megapixel cameras, and huge 720p HD displays. While we don’t have all the details or answers regarding the US models, overseas the HTC One X is powered by NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3, while the Galaxy S III runs with Samsung’s own Exynos 4 Quad processor. These both run at 1.4 GHz and come complete with 1GB of RAM and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. We’ll just show you, check out our comparison video for all the info you’d need.

While both phones are almost the same size, and have went with similar capacitive touch buttons rather than on-screen keys like the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy S III is actually a hair thinner and about 3 grams heavier — so basically even. While not a big difference, the Galaxy S III comes with a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD display compared to the barely smaller 4.7-inch screen from camp HTC, and until we get more time with both devices we can’t really comment on display quality as they are both excellent. Both offer 720×1280 HD resolutions and crisp vivid colors.

Once we are able to bring this beautiful Galaxy S III come we’ll be sure and run multiple benchmarks and comparisons to see how well the new Samsung Exynos quad-core handles tasks, but if it’s anything like their previous processors it will be blazing quick. This was just a quick short preview of the two and stay tuned for more in-depth hands-on coming soon.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

It’s a bigger phone than the Galaxy S II, but it doesn’t feel so huge thanks to slimmer bezels and curved edges. The plastics aren’t as high quality as the HTC One X, but neither are they quite as cheap feeling as before; the coated polycarbonate doesn’t quite live up to Samsung’s “it feels like ceramic” billing but it should help avoid too many scratches.

Performance from the modified Ice Cream Sandwich and new TouchWiz is slick and smooth, with no lag or slow-down observed on the Exynos quadcore. We’ll have to wait for full benchmarking for all the details, but the Galaxy S III could comfortably play an HD video in a floating box above a full webpage, with no impact on zooming or panning.

Samsung Galaxy S III hands-on:

The new camera tweaks work well, particularly the burst photography mode. HTC’s One Series may have rapid capture too, but it lacks the Samsung’s useful automatic suggestion as to which it believes is the best shot. In our experience, we generally agreed with its selection. We had less time to play with the facial recognition linked to social networks in the gallery, though, without our own contacts and images loaded on the phone. According to Samsung, contacts will automatically be recognized and links to Google+ and Facebook floated on top of the frame.

Samsung’s Siri alternative, S-Voice, struggled in a busy briefing room. Much like Siri, it uses server-side processing to do natural voice recognition, opening apps and setting alarms. We managed to coax it into setting an alarm and telling us today’s weather, as well as doing basic searches, but otherwise it proved frustrated by ambient noise.

Overall, though, there’s plenty to like about the Galaxy S III. Samsung had a best-seller on its hands with its predecessor, and we’ve seen nothing to suggest that the Galaxy S III will be any different. Great speed, distinctive looks and a brilliant display that’s perfectly suited to multimedia add up to a fitting flagship.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

The video just released today by Google, shown below, highlights how simple syncing everything mentioned above with Android truly is. No additional software or apps are needed — simply sign into Google and you’re ready to rock. Backing up previously downloaded apps to a new phone is a breeze (preferably over WiFi) and I’ve been using everything else since day one.

While Google Music isn’t featured too much in the video, and still relatively new to the market I’ve been truly enjoying it. Every song I purchase (or download) on my phone, tablet, computer, or laptop all gets instantly uploaded to Google Play Music, and is then available anywhere on any device. The same goes for contacts, photos, calender appointments and more. The video is also another reminder that Google is now selling the Galaxy Nexus unlocked right on their Play Store.

Neat little video huh? I love his hair!

[via Google Nexus]

After our sister site SlashGear reached out to Samsung they received a quick and short answer from them that was direct and right to the point. Here’s what they had to say:

”Samsung Electronics Australia has nothing to do with the ‘Wake-Up Campaign”

This situation instantly had people taking to Twitter saying nothing but negative things about Samsung. Calling them “childish” and “out of line”. The previous videos calling iPhone buyers iSheep while promoting the Galaxy S III were one thing, but this was taking it too far. Or was it? When the flashmob of dozens of black-clad men and women holding “Wake Up” signs begin chanting outside of the Apple store I instantly was extremely surprised anyone from Samsung would sign off on this, and apparently they didn’t.

For now, it’s unclear who planned or arranged the anti-Apple flashmob, or if we’ll ever find out. The man behind the video, Blunty3000 was in the right place at the right time, or maybe he knows more than he’s telling. What do you guys, the readers think of the video below? Was this just one of many attacks as of late and not a big deal? Or was this taking things too far?

As reported by The Verge, Sebastian Thrun while getting interviewed by Charlie Rose shows them off on camera for the world while talking and enjoying himself during the interview. He even takes a photo with the glasses and uploads it to Google+. If the digging is accurate here is a photo snapped with Project Glass.

Obviously this is still an early prototype, but it certainly looks like this photo was taken by Project Glass. Thrun goes on to talk about how Augmented Reality in its current form isn’t ideal, and that Google is working to expand that. Thrun talks about composing emails, getting them read back to him and more but those features were already expected. For the full interview video click here. Pretty interesting stuff and I can’t wait to see more from Google about Project Glass. I’m waiting and willing to buy. Are you?

NOVA has been extremely popular and is still one of my favorite first person shooters for Android. The controls are excellent, and same goes for the gameplay and graphics. A nice mix of Halo and Gears of War is what NOVA could be considered if you ask me. Without further interruption check out the awesome new video trailer provided today from Gameloft.

We don’t have any details at this point as the preview trailer was just released earlier today. According to Gameloft this will be their next big blockbuster release (hopefully in time for summer) and will be available on Android and iOS. Hopefully they release it at the same time for both platforms, that has been a common practice as of late. I can’t wait to see more from Gameloft as this looks to be one of their best yet.

Who’s excited?