Samsung has a real chance of being a player in the tablet game. From what we've heard so far, their offering will be basically a larger version of the Galaxy S cell phone, called theGalaxy Tab. It will run Android, presumable 2.2, on a 7-inch screen. There might even be a phone function, something the iPad lacks.

A Reuters report published today echoes pretty much all of that but notes that Samsung is shooting for a Q3 release. Interestingly enough, shortly after that report hit, I got a fancy invite to some big Samsung event scheduled for August 11. Imagine that.

Notice that Tim Baxter, President of Samsung America is speaking and there will be an opportunity to “see new products.” It’s not that much of a stretch to think that the Samsung tablet will be announced at this event. That will give the press a couple of months to build-up the device before it launches at the beginning of the Christmas spending spree. It will also give developers some time to jump on the Android tablet bandwagon and tweak their apps for the device.

Or I could be totally wrong and Samsung will show off some random 3D TV or clock radio. We’ll find out on the 11th.

As Windows Phone 7 draws ever nearer to launch day the leaks surrounding it are starting to mount. It wasn't long ago that we saw HTC's Win Phone 7 handset codenames leaked and today it's the turn of Samsung to see one of their upcoming Win Phone 7 devices make an appearance on the interwebs. The device, named Cetus, presumably after the constellation and not the ancient Greek terror of the seas, will be running Microsoft's latest OS and will sport such features as a 5 MP camera, GPS and a front facing camera. The screen will be an OLED effort and weigh in at a very respectable 4 inches. Obviously there is no word on things like pricing or release dates as yet, although the handset will apparently receive the catchy title SGH-i917 in the U.S. What it will be called and when it will be released anywhere else is up for debate.

We first heard of Cetus (albeit with a different model number) from a purported leaked UK mobile phones roadmap. Now new details have surfaced about Cetus, courtesy Bluetooth SIG which obviously holds more legitimacy than the leak before.

Although we’re not sure if it will be the first one, Cetus or SGH-i917 will run on Windows Phone 7 OS. Amongst other features, the phone will be more or less at par with Galaxy S and feature a 4-inch WVGA AMOLED screen (we presume Super AMOLED), GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11n, FM Radio, microUSB port, 5MP rear camera with front-facing VGA camera. The only difference we’ve found is the Bluetooth version, which is Bluetooth v2.1 in Cetus.

No details on the availability but we'd guess it should be around the time Microsoft releases WP7.

The day before yesterday, we reported on the availability of a new test firmware for theSamsung I9000 Galaxy S that brings Froyo aboard. We flashed our unit and played around with it but it's not ready for prime time yet. Now, there are two newer versions available, which fix some of the bugs but not all.

We also shot a video of the thing this time around, so you can see the new stuff first hand in case you're curious but don't want to risk flashing your phone…

The official Froyo firmware for the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is expected this September, but you don't have to wait that long – you can give the latest I9000XXJP3 firmware a spin. It still has its issues though CellID location has been fixed, but the Flash player hasn't budged and still doesn't work.

Also, while in most benchmarks Froyo runs circles around Eclair, in other tests it's just as fast and in some places there are even noticeable lags. This is to be expected from test software though.

The JP3 firmware looks just like JP1 on the surface. Check out our video demo to see what you have to look forward to in September (or today if you decide to risk it and flash your Galaxy S).

Let's just point out some of the UI differences we found, in case you missed them.

There is an active widget now indicating how many apps are running in background and consuming your RAM and battery. Clicking it brings you to the new task manager, which allows you to quickly kill or even uninstall apps. The task switcher also got revamped and now brings shortcuts to 8 of your recently used applications, rather than only 6.

The notification area has been improved too and now features a rotation lock key in case you want that accelerometer-enabled rotation disabled. The Google Quick search box now gives you the chance to search in a specific part of your phone interface (music tracks, for example) or initiate a web search. Other areas that got minor updates are the Gmail client (which now allows quicker switching between accounts) and the lock screen.

Samsung's quest on popularizing the Bada powered Wave continues. All the Wave users are now able to get lifetime Route 66 voice guided navigation for 30 euro. In addition they'll get one year free speed camera database updates.

Samsung Wave comes with Route 66 navigation preinstalled but it's only good for a 30 days trial period. After that all Wave phones can get a lifetime license for 30 euro. That 30 euro offer however only includes one country. The Western or Eastern Europe packages cost 40 euro, while a license for all Europe is priced at 50 euro.

The license applies only for one Wave unit and can’t be transferred to another. It will last as long as you own this particular Samsung Wave.

The additional bonus you get is the one year free speed cameras updates. After the free period it costs 6 euro per year per country (or 10 euro for the entire Europe).

Route 66 may still not be free as Nokia’s Ovi Maps, but the price reduction is certainly a step in the right direction.

The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is expecting its Android v2.2 (a.k.a. Froyo) update sometime in September but if you're too eager to taste the Froyo, you can do it right away since an official Galaxy S test firmware packing Android v2.2 has just leaked.

While some companies haven't even started working on the Froyo updates for their devices, others are, apparently, almost ready to give their smartphones the Android v2.2 treatment. The first Samsung I9000 test firmware with the Froyo on board (called I9000XXJP1) has leaked and is already available for download.

However, before you start downloading the file and start updating your Galaxy S, make sure that you understand that this is a test firmware so some things might not work properly or be missing (for example, there is no Flash support in the web browser yet).

So, if you don't want to put your phone at risk, you'd better wait until September when you'll be able to get the update through the Samsung KIES software.

If you still want to give the test firmware a try, follow that link and read carefully the instructions inside. The I9000XXJP1 is quite stable and is certainly faster than Eclair, but according to the guys who got it tends to slow down when asked to do heavy multitasking.

The Galaxy Q is expected to launch with Android 2.2 out of the box, a 1GHz Hummingbird processor under the hood and quad-band GSM / tri-band 3G support. The 3 inch multi-touch display will be Super AMOLED with resolution of 720 x 480 pixels and the camera will be 8MP with LED flash and HD video recording. There will also be a front facing 1.3MP front-facing camera. To go after the BlackBerry nation would require strong messaging capabilities and the Galaxy Q will have a physical QWERTY keyboard and an optical keypad. The phone will have 16GB of internal memory expandable with the use of the microSD slot that accepts up to 32GB in additional space and a 1500mAh battery is expected to power the model. Will BlackBerry fans make the switch, or will the upcoming 9800 Slider keep current 'Berry users right where they are?

There is no doubt Samsung Galaxy S is one of the most threatening competitors against the iPhone 4. It seems Samsung won't stop with the nagging ads, but will step even further give away a free Galaxy S to unsatisfied iPhone 4 users. Beat that, Apple!

Samsung UK offered free Galaxy S to a few angry iPhone 4 users on Twitter. Those people posted some complaints about the reception issues and later received a message to send their details and receive a free Galaxy S. This comes directly from the official Samsung UK Twitter account. Nice, eh?

I got my iPhone 4 a few hours ago and the first call I made dropped due to my natural handgrip. I’m certainly not surprised but really – the first one?! And it happened in an area with some perfect network coverage. A further inspection on the “death spot” shows all bars dropped to one, just by touching it on that special spot.

So if anybody tells you there are no reception issues, take it with a pinch of salt. And if Samsung wants to give you a Galaxy S because of your iPhone 4 problems

And The story goes on. Samsung did say something about the Antennagate but their official statement on that matter never showed up. Up until now. Here it is. It just can't get any more official and clear than that.

This is a Samsung I9000 Galaxy S ad that has just appeared in the UK press. Click on the image to enlarge it and take a look at what Samsung had to say about Apple's recently unveiled iPhone 4.

Last time when we heard Samsung talking about that the company sounded calmer, but this time it's all aggressive. And there is a reason for that. After all, instead of finding a real solution, Apple involved a handful of companies and products in their own mess, better known as the Antennagate.

Sprint sure love touting their 4G network (WiMAX) The latest addition to their 4G capable lineup is the modestly named Sprint Epic 4G. The Epic 4G is a Samsung Galaxy S phone but unlike most others, this one comes with a QWERTY keyboard.

So here's a promo video of the Sprint Epic 4G see up their, which shows you the Samsung Epic 4G 

In case you’re confused about why the Samsung Galaxy S has a QWERTY and is called Sprint Epic 4G, well, it goes like this. Samsung has churned out a number of Galaxy S phones, most of which got renamed (Vibrant, Captivate, etc.). There are some cosmetic differences between the models, like differently styled keys.

The Sprint Epic 4G however has undergone the biggest transformation of the pack – it's got a hardware QWERTY. The various Motorola DROID phones have proven quite popular – plus, a hardware keyboard is one area where Android has the iPhone beat.

The Sprint Epic 4G pricing and availability will be announced in the coming months, but Sprint is already promising an Android 2.2 Froyo update in the near future.

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