Android 4.2.2 for Galaxy S3 Firmware Leaked, Download it Now

The Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy S3 has leaked online ahead of its official release date – and you can download it here! To note: there have been Android 4.2.2 update leaks in the past, but this is the most complete yet.

Samsung Galaxy s3's Android 4.2.2 update features a lockscreen with a new "light effect"/ © SamMobile

SamMobile is the first site to get its hands on I9300XXUFME7 - Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean test firmware for the Galaxy S III. It includes a number of software enhancements, like a new Galaxy S4-esque lock screen, support for multiple widgets, an additional "light" unlock effect, improved ripple animation and the ability to change the clock size and post a personalized message. 

According to SamMobile, the official update can be expected in July or August, although we don't yet know for sure. Previously, SamMobile reported that the final version was supposed to be released in June.
This new firmware also features Adapt Display mode which optimizes colors based on ambient light conditions, a new Daydream mode, actionable notifications and the addition of voice control settings. Not only can you see a video of the update in action, read about all of its features, but you can also flash it on your device!

Android 4.2.2 Build ID: JDQ39 Features:

- New S4 Lockscreen: Multiple Widgets, two Unlock effects (Ripple and Light), improved ripple effect than Android 4.1.2, ability to change clock size and set a personal message
- New Screen modes (From S4): Adapt Display and Professional Photo
- Daydream
- Driving mode
- Actionable notifications
- New Additions in Notification Center
- Completely revamped Settings UI (Tabbed interface – Exactly like the S4)
- Addition of Voice controls (Let’s you control various parts of the phone using voice commands – Galaxy S4 feature)
- Gallery modes have white background (When changing gallery modes to 3D the background changes to white)
- Full screen Samsung apps
- New S-Voice (from S4)
- New smart switch widget
- Found more? Tell us about them in the comments below!

Here are the full firmware details:

Android Version: 4.2.2 – JDQ39 (Jelly Bean)
PDA: I9300XXUFME7
CSC: I9300OXAFME7
MODEM: I9300XXUFME7
Region: Open Europe
Carrier: Unbranded
Changelist: 702147 (Previous leak: I9300XXUFME3 = 611730)
Build Date: 21 May 2013

Here's What it Looks Like On Video:

Finally, here's how to download and install the update on your device (warning: it involves wiping your device):

• Download the firmware here.
• Unzip the file
• Open Odin 3.04 (already included in the firmware package)
• Restart phone in download mode (Press and hold Home + Power + Volume down buttons)
• Connect phone and wait until you get a blue sign in Odin
• Add I9300XXUFME7_I9300OXAFME7_I9300XXUFME7_HOME.tar.md5 to PDA
• Make sure re-partition is NOT ticked
• Start flash, sit back and wait a few minutes.
• If you encounter any issues with the firmware (Any FC, Bootloop etc)
• Boot into recovery mode (Home+ Power + Volume Up)
• Choose to wipe/factory reset. (THIS WILL ERASE ALL OF YOUR DATA INCLUDING YOUR INTERNAL SD CARD!)
• Then choose reboot and you should be good to go!

Samsung Galaxy S4 Top 10 Tips and Tricks

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is probably the most feature-laden smartphone ever released. In addition to the wow-worthy Smart Stay and Air Gestures features, the Galaxy S4 is packed with helpful tools for increasing battery life, blocking unwanted calls and notifications and helping you stay safe when you're traveling alone. Let's take a look at some of Samsung Galaxy S4's top 10 tips and tricks.

Top Galaxy S4 Tips and Tricks / © AndroidPIT

1. Decrease Lag in Touchwiz

If you don't see yourself using S Voice too often, you'll find that disabling it will lead to a much smoother Touchwiz experience. Have you noticed the slight lag between hitting the home button and the home screen appearing? That's because your Galaxy S4 thinks you might be trying to launch S Voice. To speed up the transition, open S Voice and turn off the "Open via home key" option.
Another way to speed up Touchwiz is to change a few options in the Developer Options menu. Go to Settings –> More –> About Device. Then scroll down to the build number and tap it seven times.
Now go back and you should see the Developer's Option Menu. Turn off "Drawing," "Window animation scale," "Transition animation scale" and "animator duration scale."  There will be less animation now, but Touchwiz should be more responsive.

2. Prolong Your Power

So you've got 10% battery left and the whole night ahead of you. What do you do? It's pretty easy: to increase your Galaxy S4's battery life, all you need to do is turn on Power Saving Mode. You can find this option in the Quick Settings notification pane.
The feature allows you to turn on CPU power saving, screen power saving or turn off haptic feedback. For best results, try disabling all three. If that doesn't work, turn off your data connection.

3. Enable Multiple Window Mode

If you're a multi-tasking fiend like me, chances are you're going to want to enable multiple window mode on your Galaxy S4. This feature allows you to run two applications at once, like email and web browsing for example.
To do so, simply hold down the back button to trigger the multi-window menu, which appears on the left hand side of the screen. Slide it out, select which apps you want to run simultaneously and enjoy!

4. Customize Your Notification Panel

From the notification pane, tap on the icon that looks like a few squares and two arrows in the very top right corner. Now tap the pencil icon that appears on the left.
From here, all you need to do is drag and drop icons around to move your most-accessed settings into the top five.

5. Enhance The Quality of Your Photos

You'd think the Galaxy S4 would take 13MP shots out of the box, but you'd be mistaken. To enable the highest quality shots, you're going to have to set the size for 13MP by opening the camera and hitting the settings button.

6. Get 50GB of Free Cloud Storage for 24 Months

This one's easy: to enable free cloud storage, just download Dropbox and log in. Voila! You have 50GB of free cloud storage for two years! You can enable Dropbox to upload any photo you take yo cloud storage, which means you won't lose those photos if your phone gets lost or stolen. Yes, Google+'s photo upload feature works well, too, but Dropbox will save your photos in the highest quality.

7. Enable Air Gestures

To answer your phone simply by moving your hand above the sensor, enable Air Gestures. You can easily do this via Quick Settings.

8. Take a Screenshot

You can take a screenshot using two methods. Either hold down the power and home buttons together or swipe your palm across the screen. The latter method requires you to first enable it by going to Settings –> My Device –> Motion and gestures –>Palm Motion and switch on "Capture Screen."

9. Block Unwanted Calls

To ensure you're not bothered by unwanted callers, turn on "Blocking Mode" via My Device. With this enabled, you can block all incoming calls, notifications, alarms and even your LED indicator. You can either turn it on manually or set it to disable communication between specified hours of the day.
If you want to reject specific numbers, go to Settings -> My Device and under "Call" menu, go to "Auto Reject" enter a specific number, check the box next to it and you'll never have to hear from that person again. You can even have the Galaxy S4 send a personalized meson to the person explaining why their call was rejected.

10. Enable Safety Assistance Mode

This is a great feature if you're traveling somewhere alone and concerned something might happen to you while you're away. By holding the volume up and the volume down keys, you can send an emergency message to predetermined contacts, as well as two photos taken by the front and rear cameras. Your phone will also send your location to your contacts. To turn it goon, go to Settings –> My Device –> Safety Assistance

Galaxy S4 Survives Steam and Sparks in Epic Stress Test

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Samsung's Galaxy S4 Stress Test/ © Samsung

Samsung's stress test videos are my absolute FAVE because they:

1. Use bizarre contraptions that seem to have been designed purely to beat up phones.
2. Are insanely extensive.
3. (Most important) involve mechanical butts.

The latest Samsung stress-test video, for the Samsung Galaxy S4, doesn't include the aforementioned mechanical butt, which is disappointing to me on so many levels. But, it's still pretty damn entertaining. In it, the Galaxy S4 is flipped over and over again in a rotating machine, held underwater, placed in an oven and zapped with static electricity.
Unsurprisingly, the S4 survives all of these tests with nary a scratch. (That must be why Samsung insists on using plastic). To watch all the madness, take a look here:
When it comes to durability, certain phones (like the iPhone 4) have gotten a bad rep. But it seems like manufacturers are caring more and more about creating phones that can last a long time. Sony's Xperia Z, for example, can be used underwater (for more than a few seconds), and can also survive dust and dirt.
Usually I wince at videos like this but for whatever reason (the music? the sound effects?) Samsung's in-house durability tests are oddly soothing.
How important is phone durability to you? Do you look for this when shopping for a new phone? Let us know in the comments below!

Ascend P6 vs HTC One, Galaxy S4, and Xperia Z

With the official announcement of the Ascend P6 yesterday in London; Huawei is hoping to jump into the ring of high-end smartphones with the release of their ultra slim design. Whether or not the Chinese company can compete in the race for the top Android phone, alongside the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z, and Samsung Galaxy S4 still remains to be unclear. However, let’s have a look at all the devices side by side.

So, how does the Ascend P6 stack up compard to the rest? / © AndroidPIT

Media attention was all on board for the presentation of the Huawei Ascend P6 last night and as a part of the major event the smartphone was revealed to the assembled tech press. Here at AndroidPIT, we had a correspondent on location during the reveal and the first impressions of the device were very positive.
Behind the impressive design of this new smartphone, lies a somewhat confusing lump of hardware specs that don’t quite fit in with the coveted top spot it seems to be seeking. The Huawei Ascend P6 still does rank pretty well, but when put against the competitors in the same class, it seems to rank more closely to an upper mid class device. So, the main question remains: can the Ascend P6 keep up with the others? I’ve decided to compare it on seven different categories below.

	Ascend P6	HTC One	Galaxy S4	Xperia Z
Material:	Aluminium	Aluminium	Plastic	Glass
Display:	4.7 inches, LCD 1.280 x 720 Pixel 312 ppi	4.7 inches, LCD 1.920 x 1.080 Pixel 469 ppi	5 inches, AMOLED 1.920 x 1.080 Pixel 441 ppi	5 inches, LCD 1.920 x 1.080 Pixel 441 ppi
Processor:	Huawei K3V2 1.5 GHz, Quad-Core	Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.7 GHz, Quad-Core	Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.9 GHz, Quad-Core	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5 GHz, Quad-Core
Software:	Android 4.2.2 Emotion UI	Android 4.1.2 HTC Sense 5	Android 4.2.2 TouchWiz	Android 4.1.2 Xperia UI
BAttery:	2.000 mAh	2.300 mAh	2.600 mAh	2.320 mAh
Dimensiomns:	132.6 x 65.5 x 6.18 mm	137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm	136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm	139 x 71 x 7.9 mm
Price (Amazon.com)	North American prices unconfirmed. From 449 € Euros.	From $680 US Dollars	From $630 US Dollars	From $590 US Dollars

Material

When it comes to the material that is preferred on a device, that of course is a matter of personal taste. The debate about the pros and cons of each material isn’t worth getting into a heated discussion over, however, personally, I think an aluminum body looks elegant and sleek, feels good, and is less susceptible to grease stains and fingerprints. As such, the HTC One and Ascend P6 are front-runners in my eyes.

Display

When looking at the data sheet above, you can see that the Ascend P6 has the lowest resolution, pixel density, and screen size (along with the HTC One) out of the bunch. In practice, however, the readability of LCD panels in the open air is known to be better than that of AMOLED screens and as we stated in a previous post, the human eye cannot distinguish anything more than 300 ppi at a normal viewing distance of 30 cms.

Processor

All the other manufacturers that were part of this comparison were running Qualcomm chips, with Huawei being the lone wolf building its own processors. Technically, the quad-core chipset of the P6 keeps up with the Snapdragons and is on par with what is behind the Xperia Z. Upon first impressions though; the performance of the device is absolutely satisfactory.

The Emotion UI draws some inspiration from Apples iOS. / © Huawei

Software

The Ascend P6 comes with the latest Android 4.2.2 and with that, Huawei stands ground along with Samsung in releasing the latest version of the OS. As with all the manufacturers, each brings their own user interface to the mix. As with the contentious issue of preferred material, the UI remains a matter of personal taste. The Huawei Emotion UI has similarities to Apple’s iOS and dispenses with the classic App Drawer. In previous tests of the UI, we found the Emotion UI to be surprisingly good.

Battery

The battery capacity of the Ascend P6 is much weaker than that of competing models. With the lower resolution and a smaller display on the Ascend P6, the battery should be more than enough for what it needs. Moreover, thanks to some power-saving technology built inside the device, the P6 should have about 30 percent more juice in its battery.

Dimensions

Here, the Ascend P6 is the clear winner, at least it you are judging it by having the most compact dimensions possible. Coming in at an impressive 6.18 mm in thickness, Huawei has unveiled the thinnest smartphone currently in the world.

Both sleek and stylish, the P6 also is the thinnest. / © Huawei

Price

Huawei also wins in this category as well. While street prices are not yet available, the retail price for the device definitely shows in what direction they’re aiming. With a price significantly below the $680 US dollar amount, the Ascend P6 is a real bargain compared to the other devices. Comparable in price to the Nexus 4, it has a much more pleasing appearance (in our opinion).

Conclusion

The differences are few and tiny. Even if the current top of the line smartphones seem a bit overpowered when it comes to the Ascend P6, it is technically still at the same level of the rest. In conjunction with the low price and stylish design, the Ascend P6 is definitely a serious contender. And while Huawei still has to take on the role of the underdog in most markets, it’s important to note that Huawei are the world’s third largest smartphone maker, behind Samsung and Apple, and are definitely looking to prove that they are up to the task.However, with only a slated release in specific parts of Europe and in China, it's unknown whether this device, or any Huawei device, will make its way to North American shores within the near future.

Samsung Premiere 2013: Galaxy galore

While there wasn’t really much that came out of the Samsung Premiere event at London that was a huge surprise, there was a nice feel to have a polished presentation to the Samsung devices that we’ve been keeping tabs on over the past few weeks.  On the Galaxy side of things, we got a hands-on demo of the Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Active, and S4 Zoom as well as confirmation of the anticipated Galaxy NX Camera.

The Galaxy S4 lineup. / © samsungmobile.com

Glossing over on the already announced Galaxy S4 Mini, Samsung spent a little time acknowledging its existence and moved on to a little bit more hands-on time with the other Galaxy S4 devices.

S4 Active

Asides from already knowing the basics behind the technical specs of the device, Samsung concentrated on showing us exactly what the rugged Galaxy S4 Active could do. Claiming an IP67 protection against dust and water (check out what the different IP ratings stand for over here), it means that the Active not only is completely protected against dust, but it is also water resistant to a depth of 1 meter.

The S4 Active is phone of choice for people who either want protection for their device coming standard...or who are extremely clumsy. / © samsungmobile.com

In fact, that Active can spend up to 30 minutes submerged at a maximum depth of 1 meter. That’s a long time for a smartphone just out of the box, without a protective case. As well, while the touch screen will not work underwater, you do have access to an Aqua Mode to take pictures by using the physical volume buttons. And one of my favorite reveals? The fact that you can use the touch display with gloves on! No more braving the cold while skiing around just to be able to respond to a text or take a quick snapshot of the mountains around me!

S4 Zoom

The news about the S4 Zoom was much like what was already presented in the Press Release one week ago. A portable camera and phone all rolled into one, it also boasts a 10x optical zoom.

The S4 Zoom will be aviable in two colors: White Frost and Wine Red. / © samsungmobile.com

We got an on-hands demo of how In-Call Photo Sharing works: simply rotate the lens ring while in a call, snap a photo, and share it with whoever you’re chatting with. A simple three steps! As well, Samsung revealed a little bit more about their smart-modes, allowing users to concentrate more on taking a photo and less about tweaking around with settings in order to get the best picture. Professional level results from an easy to use interface.

© samsungmobile.com

Galaxy NX

One of the only devices that was a little bit of a surprise during the London Premiere (…and even then, we had reports of it last week) was the Galaxy NX Camera. Having heard rumblings of this device last week, we didn’t have an official confirmation of its existence until today.
Running Android 4.2.2 and boasting a 4G LTE Connection, this high-end camera hopes to revolutionize the higher end camera market. As with the S4 Zoom, the Galaxy NX has access to a bunch of smart modes when capturing photos, allowing users to simple let the system choose the best setting for them given a certain scenario.

The Galaxy NX in all its glory: a smart, high powered camera. / © samsungmobile.com

As with information that we knew before: the Galaxy NX will be compatible with current Samsung NX interchangeable lenses and will boast a 20.3-megapixel sensor inside of it. Otherwise, it’ll have a 4.8” LCD touch screen on that back and will boast a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor inside.
And while there weren't any surprises or anything that really blew us away during the presentation of the Galaxy devices, it was definitely a nice touch to get a hands-on approach behind the devices. I particularily liked the water demonstration of the S4 Active and especielly the over-view of the smart modes on the S4 Zoom and Galaxy NX.

Galaxy S4 Active: not as waterproof as you'd expect

It didn’t take long for people to take Samsung seriously when they officially revealed their rugged Galaxy S4 Active last week at their London Premiere. During the presentation itself, the host “accidentally” dropped the device in a water tank to show just how waterproof it was.  However, it seems that when put to some practical real world tests, the S4 Active didn’t really perform as expected.

Caution: device might not like all this water. / © AndroidPIT

Initial reports were pretty good, giving the S4 Active a rating of IP67 for water and dust resistance, pretty high on the Ingress Protection (a scale that specifies the environmental protection of enclosures around electronic equipment).  Edward Baig from USA Today decided to see just how good the S4 Active was.
The device performed well, passing tests that included dunking it in a bowl of water, pouring water over it, shooting it with a water gun (y’know, for those impromptu smartphone water fights that break out all over the place), but the one obstacle for the S4 Active: a swimming pool.

Check out the video of Edward talking about the tests here.

As noted by Edward, after the dip in the pool, the display went black and only came back alive shortly after to indicate that it still had some juice in it left before it died again. He did note that after being dried out, the S4 Active did become active around a day later, but still exhibited funky behavior: a messed up touch-screen, device thinking it had headphones plugged in, and more.
There isn’t much to go from on the video other than Edward talking about the tests, so it’s uncertain whether he was following recommendations to ensure that the S4 Active is water resistant. How deep did he go in the pool? Was it submerged for longer than it should have been? Samsung does remind users to tightly seal the battery and USB covers before going for a plunge, and also noting that it’s water resistant to a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.  However, having “flaps” and covers that could easily be not set in properly by the user significantly increase the risk of the water and dust resistance failing all together.  While there might not be a practical solution that Samsung could have come up with, say by removing all ports and going to a fully inductive charging system and wireless file transfer, it’s still a downside that everyone should be aware of.

Maybe you should be checking all of the openings on the S4 Active before actively flinging it in water? / © samsungmobile.com

However, it seems like this isn’t an isolated incident as reports are showing up online of people with similar issues. Is this something that Samsung didn’t highlight clearly enough when marketing their new rugged member of the S4 family or a possible few bad apples in the production run?

Samsung Galaxy Tab Series Coming On July 7

Samsung has announced that the new Galaxy tab series that we reported about previously is coming to the United States on July 7th. The tablets are coming in 7, 8 and 10 inch variants, and are going to be priced at about $199, $299 and $399 respectively. This time Samsung is focusing on more affordable and thin devices which are designed to meet the needs of the mass marketing.

The 10 Inch Version of the upcoming Galaxy Tab 3, which is now available as of now, online and at Brick and Mortar retailers / © Samsung Mobile

Differences in Specs

Each of the upcoming devices has different things under the hood. For the 7 inch variant we are looking at a 1.2 GHz Dual core Marvell chip, for the 8 inch version we are looking at a 1.5 GHz Exynos CPU, and finally for the 10.1 inch version of the series we are looking at a 1.6 GHz dual core chip. The 7 inch version of the series of tablets sports a 1024x600 display while the other ones both have a 1280x800 resolution.

Appearance & Android Version

Despite the differences on what is actually under the hood on the different devices, all of them look like Samsung products and are instantly recognizable as such. The 7 inch tablet will be running Android 4.1 whilst the other two will come running with Android 4.2.

Availability

If you are in the United States you can now pre order your Galaxy Tab 3 devices online at Samsung's own store or at other online retailers such as Amazon and BestBuy now, or if you prefer you can also pre order the devices at actual brick and mortar stores too.
What do you think of the specs that the new Galaxy devices are coming with and will you be buying one of these soon?

Google Play Edition HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 Available on Google Play Store

The Google Play editions of the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S 4 are available for purchase though the Google Play Store today. The Google Play editions of these flagship smartphones take the manufacturer software out of the devices, stripping away Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC’s Sense UIs to deliver a pure Google experience. Both devices run on Android Jelly Bean, and will be among the first to receive important updates and Google goodies.

The handsets will come unlocked, allowing owners to choose a month-to-month contract or a pre-paid service option as they please.The device is not being sold outside of the U.S. however, so international customers will have to wait.

Both devices can be purchased through the Google Play Store, and will be shipped to customers starting on July 9th. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 comes with a price tag of $649 for the 16GB version, and the HTC One comes with 32GB of storage and is a little cheaper than the S 4, coming in at $599. So head on over to the Google Play Store if you’ve got your eyes on one of these powerful, pure Google experience touting  devices.

Samsung launches Galaxy NX, Ativ Q, and much more at Premiere 2013 event

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Samsung promised new Android and Windows devices at its June 20th event in London and it delivered. The Galaxy NX wedded Android with an interchangeable lens camera, the Ativ Q combined Android and Windows into a crazy convertible tablet form factor, and two new Ativ Book laptops brought Samsung's ultrabook line into the Haswell age.

Catch up on all of Samsung's announcements right here.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 will soon be available in five new colors

To go along with the slew of new products Samsung is announcing today, the company also took a few moments to tout its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone. Samsung also took a moment to introduce the phone in a number of new colors, much as it did last summer for the Galaxy S III. As shown on stage, the five new colors are blue, purple, red, brown, and pink — each with an appropriately goofy adjective added on for good measure. Samsung first announced that it would be bringing new colors out last month when it trumpeted Galaxy S4 sales of 10 million, but unfortunately it didn't say when or where these new colors would be available. If last year was any indication, we'd expect international territories to get them first, with different colors eventually trickling down to various US carriers a bit later.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra takes on the Galaxy Note with insanely large 6.4-inch display

For good or ill, the oversized smartphone trend shows no signs of abating. In fact, Sony's just taken it to the next level with the Xperia Z Ultra — a new smartphone with a simply monstrous 6.4-inch, 1080p screen. Despite the huge panel and respectable 3,000mAh battery (which it surely needs to power that massive screen), the phone is also extremely thin at only 6.5mm and weighs 212 grams. That's thinner than the iPhone 5, but also twice as heavy — we'll have to see how these dimensions feel when you're holding Sony's supersized phone. Other noteworthy features include a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage plus a microSD slot, Android 4.2, and an 8-megapixel camera
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Samsung Unleashes Kernel Source Code for Galaxy S 4 Active and Galaxy Note 8.0 LTE

Samsung recently released the kernel source code for two of its newest devices: the Galaxy S 4 Active and the Galaxy Note 8.0 LTE. The source code will allow developers create custom ROMs for all of you flash-happy owners.

Both devices were released as AT&T exclusives last friday, each welcomed entries to the carrier’s lineup. The Galaxy S 4 Active rocks a majority of its Active-less brother, but ships with a tweaked and ruggedized design that’s both water and dust resistant. The Galaxy Note 8 LTE is exactly what it sounds like – An 8-inch tablet from the Note family, meaning it ships with an S-Pen and all of the expected features that you’d expect from the Note line of devices.

If you’re an owner of one of these two devices, you have a little more time to wait, as developers need some time to do their thing. But soon enough, you’ll be able to flash a custom ROM if you so choose.

Head on over to Samsung Open Source site here to download the code now.

Galaxy Note 8.0 Now Available in Brown

These days, our electronics are coming in lots of colors. Tablets and phones come in the standard black and white, metallic variants,red, blue and even gold. Now Samsung is giving the American consumers what they’ve been clamoring for: a tablet that comes inbrown!

Like coffee and chocolate, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 joins the ranks of brown things that you’ll you want to use every day. The warm, rich tone of the case will make you feel like an artisan of old, plying your trade on a slab of fresh walnut -every stroke of the stylus a masterful etching, revealing the grain below. Samsung knows what the people want.

Kidding aside, it’s a great tablet whatever the color. Enter our contest with CSR today, for your chance to win a (not brown) Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0!

Yes folks, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is available in brown today. You can get your hands on one at Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H. Just be sure to wash the chocolate off your fingers before you use it!

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 entering mass production in August

Samsung will likely unveil the new Galaxy Note phablet at some point in September. According to ET News, the Korean company will start mass producing the powerful device in August, helping its suppliers along the way.

If you recall, we’ve told you that Samsung has halved its orders for the Galaxy S4 due to weaker than expected demand. The company’s suppliers were obviously concerned but since the new Galaxy Note 3 is coming soon, they hope to get back to the “business as usual” within a month or so. And thanks to the upcoming Note the impact to suppliers will be “minimal.”

So, if Samsung is ready for the mass production, the designs were most certainly completed as we can attest with quite a few in-the-wild photos we’ve seen in the past.

Earlier, we’ve heard that the Galaxy Note 3 will boast Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 processor, at least 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel rear camera, front-facing camera, a ton of built-in storage and other top-notch specs…

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 leaks again in China

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has been leaked,again. This time the leak comes from China, showing the upcoming phablet from two different angles.

We already know pretty much all there is to know about the Galaxy Note 3: it will pack a large full HD screen, super-fast Snapdragon 800 processor (or Exynos 5 Octa), a ton of built-in storage, S-Pen stylus, 13-megapixel rear camera, front-facing camera and so on. Once released, it will probably be the single most expensive phone on the market but we’re sure Sammy will sell a ton of them, nevertheless.

It is said that the Korean company will launch the new Galaxy Note in early September, just before the IFA trade show in Berlin. We’ll most likely get back to you in the meantime with all the details we catch from unofficial sources. Stay tuned…

Galaxy S4 Active hands-on: what the original should have been

It's not technically premiering today, having already been announced earlier in the month, but Samsung's Galaxy S4 Active is very much present at the company's Premiere 2013 event in London. The new water- and dust-resistant variant of Samsung's multi million-selling Android flagship immediately feels more robust in the hand. It's a bit thicker and a bit taller than the original S4, but those are small trade offs to make for its much-improved durability.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 ACTIVE HANDS-ON PICTURES

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In terms of internal specs, there's little to distinguish the S4 Active from the original Galaxy S4. Probably the biggest change is the move to an LCD panel in lieu of Samsung's beloved AMOLED technology, but — at least in my brief time with the new device — that hasn't resulted in a notable drop off in quality. Resolution remains the same at 1920 x 1080. The 1.9GHz quad-core processor inside the Active has already been present in one configuration of the S4, and the battery is also unchanged at 2600 mAh.

The real changes are external, with the S4 Active both looking and feeling significantly more rugged. It's still made out of polycarbonate, but the rougher texture on the back and squarer edges actually make it easier to grip and handle. The three Android buttons at the bottom of the handset are also physical, eschewing the capacitive side keys, and there's now a flap above the Micro USB port.

Beyond the black model on show today, there'll be white and orange versions, the latter of which will be launching in the UK on June 29th.

GALAXY S4 ACTIVE VS. GALAXY S4