Having announced the availability of the upgrade for the latest version of the Android platform – Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – for the Samsung GALAXY S II, yesterday, the uptake has since been astounding says Samsung.

“Android 4.0 builds on the things people love most about Android — easy multitasking, rich notifications and customisation – adding a powerful new way of communicating and sharing,” says Craige Fleischer, Director of Mobile Communications for Samsung Electronics SA. “It’s easy to see why our local Samsung GALAXY S II users are eager to get their hands on the ICS platform.”

“Given the high demand, users may struggle to upgrade immediately due to the limited capacity on the FOTA servers, but we urge GALAXY S II users to keep trying. We also encourage users to upgrade via Kies, as not only is it easy and simple, but as it is done via the PC, it has unlimited server capacity and as such, during this initial period of high demand is the preferred download method.”

Want Ice Cream Sandwich on your Galaxy S2? Get Samsung Kies here

The Samsung Galaxy S2 was BandwidthBlog’s favourite phone of 2011, so we highly recommend users to upgrade their software.

Press Release from Samsung regarding Ice Cream Sandwich for the South African Galaxy S2:

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Instagram’s popular tilt-shift feature has now been added to the photo sharing service for Android, five weeks after its arrival.

When Instagram for Android was launched in early April, among the many features available, tilt-shift was not included, remaining only on the iPhone version of the app.

The popular feature allows users to focus on a specific area of a photo while the rest remains out of focus, creating a miniature effect.

“Tilt-shift within mobile photography applications is often the process of selective focus in order to simulate a miniature scene, also known as miniature faking,” Instagram said in an official blog post.

“Selective focus can also be used to give the appearance of a shallow depth of field (DoF), or placing the focus on a subject in the background while blurring out the foreground and vice versa.”

The blog post also included tips on how to maximise the feature, explaining what the feature is and how it works with step-by-step instructions.

The inclusion of the feature came with the roll-out of the Instagram Android version 1.1.0 update that is now available to download in the Google Play Store.

Source: Mashable

Samsung has officially announced its new flagship phone, the Galaxy SIII. The highly anticipated device and the successor to the popular Galaxy SII (the best-selling Android handset and the only smartphone to rival the iPhone in sales), was announced at a media event in London where, putting rumours to rest, the official specs were revealed.

The phone will feature a 4.8-inch PenTile Super AMOLED display at 720p resolution, 8-megapixel primary and 1.9-megapixel front-facing cameras,  3.3fps burst mode and best-shot selection, Bluetooth 4.0 support, GPS with GLONASS reception, NFC, a 2,100mAh battery and a quad-core Exynos CPU.

There will also be a choice of 16GB or 32GB storage with The Verge reporting that a 64GB version will be coming later. Samsung has also partnered with Dropbox to offer additional free storage for the new device with a maximum of 50GB available that will remain valid for two years.

Powered by Google’s Android 4.0 OS, the Galaxy S III will also feature a Siri-like app called S Voice that gives users the ability to dictate commands to the device and prompt action. According to a Samsung representative quoted in the New York Times, “The feature can also be used to play songs, adjust volume, organize schedules and send e-mails.”

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BGR has reported that more information is beginning to surface about the new Samsung Galaxy SIII that is scheduled to be announced on the 3rd May.

A source has revealed that “there will be a huge international roll-out for the Galaxy S III” and that the company’s new flagship handset will be the official device of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,  which explains why Samsung are unveiling the device in London with additional simultaneous launches across the globe including Dubai, Seoul and New York City.

Leaked details of the the new Samsung Galaxy SIII, the successor of the Galaxy SII, revealed back in February that specifications include: a 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor, 4.8-inch “full HD” 1080p resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio display, 4G LTE and will run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

Consumers will be offered the device in both 16GB and 32GB storage options.

The site also reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S III will be available in two colour options with one in blue and black and the other in white.

Up until now, tablets have for the most part been produced and made available commercially in two different sizes: either the smaller 7-inch or less like the Kindle Fire or Galaxy Tab 2 or the larger 10-inch tablet like the iPad.

However, there now seems to be a new extra large size available from Toshiba. The company recently unveiled its new 13-inch Android tablet as part of its new Excite range alongside the Excite 10.1-inch and Excite 7.7-inch tablets. The line-up of Android 4.0 powered tablets is part of Toshiba’s strategy to provide consumers with next-generation features that compete head-to-head with Apple devices but are more affordable.

The Excite 13 tablet, undoubtedly the highlight of the range, unsurprisingly packs more weight than the standard tablets currently available on the mass market, weighing in at just under 1 kilograms although it is only o.4 inches thick.

It also features a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chip with GeForce graphics and 1GB of RAM and as with the Thrive tablet that the Excite is replacing, has micro USB and micro HDMI ports, plus a full-size SD card slot. Its LED-backlit LCD screen has a resolution of 1,600 x 900 pixels and a widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio, and 10-finger touch support.

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Lenovo has recently revealed a new tablet called the IdeaTab S2109.

The  9.7 inch tablet that runs on Android 4.0 offers a unibody, 8.9mm-thick case and a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 IPS screen.

The tablet also features a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera (but no rear camera), quad speakers on the back, a micro-HDMI jack, a microUSB slot and a microSD memory card slot.

The CPU that powers the device as well as the memory storage capacity has not yet been revealed but what is known is that the tablet will run on Android’s latest version, Ice Cream Sandwich. In terms of battery life, Lenovo claims the device will provide a full 10 hours of power.

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Since Instagram first announced that it was finally planning a version for Android in March, the app has now arrived. Android users can now take part in the joy of Instagram that has up until now, only been experienced by iPhone users.

In an announcement on Tuesday, Instagram said that “The Android app offers an extremely familiar Instagram experience when compared to the iOS app. You’ll find all the same exact filters and community as our iOS version.”

Since its release for Android, the app has managed to generate over one million downloads in the first 24 hours with the iOS app currently sitting at 30 millions downloads, which it achieved in just under two years. The app is compatible with Android 2.2 or higher.

The free photo-sharing app made its official appearance on Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) on Tuesday following a pre-registration period on March 24 that captured 430,000 interested users.

CEO Kevin Systrom told The New York Times  that the app was seeing 2,000 signups each minute following its debut.

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A newly uncovered patent design from the “quietly brilliant” HTC indicates that the mobile phone maker could be developing its very own Android-powered media player.

The submission, that was initially discovered by Patent Bolt, reveals that the company applied for the patent in Q1 of 2011 with the design of the rumoured device appearing to fall in line with that of HTC’s recent smartphone offerings.

The front face of the device has speakers across both the top and bottom, the backside has yet another set of speakers and a camera as well as the familiar HTC kickstand. While there so no mention of the Micro-USB and/or Micro-HDMI ports, they can be clearly seen in the image below. The device also boasts a touch screen, a feature that will put it up against that of the iPod Touch and one that has been attempted by other companies with very little success.

While this device may look like a smarthphone at first glance, Patent Bolt points out that the patent makes no reference to mobile network access or other phone features and given that it only suggests Wi-Fi connectivity, it is possible that the device will be similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Player.

Considering HTC’s investment in Beats by Dr. Dre technology, it was only a matter of time before this type of device emerged.

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