The big question is whether TouchWiz legitimately adds to the Galaxy S III or if Samsung would’ve done users more of a service by delivering untampered Ice Cream Sandwich instead. There’s no doubt that Android 4.0 marked a vast improvement in native UX over earlier iterations, and we’re big fans of ICS’ simple UI too. Third-party reskins inevitably lead to delays in OS upgrades – and Samsung has a mixed track record for that anyway – while users new to the skin generally have a steeper learning curve.<p>

On the flip side, those coming from an earlier Samsung device should be able to dive straight in, and will probably find at least one or two improvements in the Nature UX that work to their advantage. It’s the cleanest version of TouchWiz so far

Smartphones powered by the Android and iOS mobile operating systems accounted for more than eight out of ten smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12). According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the mobile operating systems held shares of 59.0% and 23.0% respectively of the 152.3 million smartphones shipped in 1Q12. During the first quarter of 2011, the two operating systems held a combined share of 54.4%. The share gains mean that Android and iOS have successfully distanced themselves from previous market leaders Symbian and BlackBerry, as well as Linux and Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile.

<a href="http://androidcommunity.com/samsung-s-voice-leaked-for-all-ics-devices-20120520/">The S-Voice APK</a>, which contained services that were exclusive to the Galaxy S III, allowed owners of other Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphones to install Samsung's new voice assistant (its Siri rival) and perform commands on their devices.</p>
<p>It appears that in the last 24 hours, Samsung (and its partner Vlingo, the technology behind the voice functions) have begun detecting requests from non-supported devices and blocking them, displaying the message: "Network Error. Please Try Again."

In a conversation with Samsung's Ryan Bidan today, we learned that the company's <a href="http://www.theverge.com/products/galaxy-s-ii-skyrocket-hd/4792">Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD</a>, announced at CES earlier this year, has been shelved. He explains that it simply didn't make sense in light of the Galaxy S III announcement, leaving the product "orphaned" in AT&T's lineup — it's hard to justify an updated 720p version of the existing Skyrocket with the S III on the horizon.

The Galaxy S III is... well... it's ugly. There's really no other way to put it. But why? Why is it ugly? I don't mean aesthetically, why is it ugly, I mean, "How did something like this ever make it out of Samsung's design studio?" I'll tell you how, it was never in the design studio. This phone design was born down the hall, in a room where the door sign reads "Samsung Legal."</p><p>
It was designed by lawyers.

So what did we get? The <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/12/2486618/siri-weird-iphone-4s">Siri</a>-imitating S Voice, a quad-core SoC that's already been announced for the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/15/2951189/meizu-mx-quad-core-available-june-price-cut">Meizu MX</a>, a suite of camera enhancements that rips off HTC's <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/2/2916098/htc-one-s-review">ImageSense</a> wholesale, and a signature animated lock screen that emulates interaction with water, something that's been a live wallpaper option on Android phones since 2010. Oh, and industrial design and build quality that you'll find on any anonymous South Korean MP3 player &mdash; Samsung seems to have tried trickling its design language <i>up</i>, never a good idea.</p>
<p>We're told not to be sheep, yet Samsung itself is just falling in line with the herd. The company seems oblivious to the sense of betrayal this has engendered in the informed consumer. For the first time in its history, Samsung had enough sway with phone buyers to convince them to hold off on the premier option on the market, HTC's <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/5/2927291/htc-one-specs-features-release-date-reviews">One series</a>, in wait for Samsung's riposte. The Galaxy S pedigree was on the line, and if Samsung could live up to it, a bond of trust was going to be its reward. People were ready to start treating Samsung like Apple, giving it the benefit of the doubt both in terms of product timing and the adoption of unfamiliar new features.</p>
<p>Then the talk about wind, water, pebbles, and feng shui home screen organization started.

Samsung has fully unveiled the Galaxy S III here at the London event today, and one of the inclusions to its modified version of Ice Cream Sandwich is an exclusive version of Flipboard. It marks the first time that Flipboard will be making the jump to Android, previously having seen a home on iOS. Samsung say that they have an exclusive window on the app, so it won’t be hitting the Play Store or other handsets until a later date.

After a small pilot of BlackBerry Torch devices in the third quarter of last, where clinicians reported the devices being too small for dealing with the scheduling information, the trust began to take a second look for tablets with a larger, 7in screen.</p><p>

While a range of devices had entered the market in the intervening time, only one – the Samsung Galaxy Tab – had the necessary level of 256-bit AES encryption.</p><p>

The trust is using Vodafone for the roll out, which will see the mobile operator's Secure Device Manager software deployed on the devices.

Looking at product mix, Samsung growth is shown to be almost entirely due to smartphones while Nokia’s stagnant growth seems to be a failure to have any smartphone traction.</p><p>

It’s even more clear when showing the above mixes of devices as percents of total.

Samsung Electronics announced today (March 28th) that GALAXY Note, released in October last year,  has surpassed 5 million sales in just 5 months.
 
Thanks to the fast selling GALAXY Note, Samsung Electronics has gained about two thirds of the South Korean mobile phone market share, making Samsung the leading mobile phone provider in Korea in addition to China, France, Spain and others.

Strictly speaking, analysts say that its 5in size means they'll classify it as a tablet. Note too that these are "sales" to the retail channel - what others call "shipments".

However, it still means that the same two companies dominate in the smartphone and tablet markets. This is one of them. For an example of those struggling further down the tablet market, read on...

For most people, moving from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich has been a <a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/19288/google_galaxy_nexus_android_ice_cream_sandwich">night-and-day change</a>; particularly on a phone, ICS really is a whole new Android experience. Unfortunately, for owners of Samsung phones -- excluding Nexus devices, of course, which are controlled by Google and thus free from Sammy's modifications -- it's going to be more of an incremental upgrade. Still a <em>significant </em>upgrade, mind you, but more <em>evolutionary </em>than <em>revolutionary</em>. And that's a shame, because ICS as Google created it is <a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/19130/android_ice_cream_sandwich_10_reasons_to_be_excited">pretty damn impressive</a>.

Ice Cream Sandwich is coming to the Samsung Galaxy S2 this month. It may be later than hoped, but it seems the S2 will update to the latest version of Android on 15 March.

That's according to a post on Samsung's official Facebook page in Israel -- which has since been deleted. Fingers crossed, folks...

As a mobile phone, the Galaxy Note is positively gargantuan. It’s almost 6 inches long and over 3 inches wide. When you hold it up to your ear, it pretty much covers the entire side of your face. You look like you’re talking into a piece of toast.
The Note is so big, an iPhone can almost fit within its display. And it dwarfs even the more-bloated crop of recent Android phones, like Samsung’s own Galaxy S II series, whose screen can be as large as 4.5 inches. And while it can fit into a large pocket or handbag, the Note isn’t going to slip unobtrusively into your jeans or a small purse. It weighs 6.28 ounces, nearly 30% more than the iPhone and nearly 50% more than some Galaxy S II models.

The company’s u-turn follows disappointing global results earlier this month when first quarter net profit fell 26% to $365m, its first quarterly decline in earnings for two years as it faced competition from Apple and Samsung’s Galaxy range.

HTC UK chief Phil Roberson (pictured) told Mobile the manufacturer will return to a strategy of launching a limited number of high-spec devices this year, with a focus on second quarter releases. He said: ‘We have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great customer experience. We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do too much."

"Samsung Electronics Co said on Tuesday it planned to merge its 'bada' mobile software with a platform backed by chipmaker Intel Corp in its latest push to diversify away from Google's Android.

"Samsung, which emerged as the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer on the back of booming Android models in the third quarter, joined forces with Intel last year to strengthen its mobile software push.

"In September two Linux software groups, one backed by Samsung, and another by Intel, agreed to jointly develop Tizen, a new operating system for cellphones and other devices, by merging their LiMo and Meego platforms in a bid to gain wider industry and consumer support."