Samsung Launches Range of Full-HD and 4K UHD Curved LED TVs in India

Samsung on Wednesday announced the launch of its 2014 Curved TV range in India. The lineup includes what the company is calling "the world's first Curved UHD (4K) TV."

While the jury is still out on the advantages of a curved panel, manufacturers like Samsung believe curved TVs are the next phase in the evolution of the home viewing experience; offering "a deeper sense of depth, wider viewing angles and a clearer picture quality with higher contrast levels creating a more immersive viewing experience from virtually any viewing position or angle."

Samsung has launched two range of Curved TVs - ones with UHD (4K) display, that has four-times the resolution of a full-HD panel, and the other with standard full-HD resolution.

The Samsung H9000 Series of curved UHD (4K) LED SmartTVs with 3D support have been launched in two sizes: Rs. 4,49,900 for the 65-inch and Rs. 3,29,900 for the 55-inch.

The TVs come with UHD upscaling, which converts full-HD, HD and lower resolution sources to nearly-UHD clarity through a four-step process that includes signal analysis, noise reduction, upscaling and detail analysis.

Samsung's UHD TVs support today's standards like the HEVC, HDMI 2.0, MHL 3.0 and HDCP 2.2 and the company claims they are 'future-proof' thanks to the Samsung UHD Evolution Kit. The One Connect Box essentially houses the brains of the TV externally, enabling customers to switch out the box with the latest Samsung UHD Evolution Kit (at an extra cost) to stay up to date on the latest UHD standards.

Samsung also used the launch event in Delhi to showcases its flagship 105-inch Curved UHD TV which will be available in the country second half of the year.

The Samsung H8000 Series of curved full-HD LED SmartTVs with 3D support have been launched in three sizes: Rs. 3,85,900 for the 65-inch, Rs. 2,51,900 for the 55-inch, and Rs. 1,62,900 for the 48-inch TV.

Samsung also launched the HU7000 series of flat (i.e. not curved) UHD (4K) TVs which will be available at Rs. 4,09,900 for 65-inch, Rs. 2,93,900 for 55-inch, and Rs. 1,04,900 for the 40-inch.

All new TVs come with a new, faster Samsung Smart Hub and the Multi-Link (Dual) feature that lets you access live TV and streaming video/ webpages from the Internet side-by-side. The TVs are now powered by what Samsung calls a "Quad Core Plus" processor that "is up to two times faster and delivers quicker loading and navigation with an overall improved Smart TV performance."

Speaking on the launch, Mr. S.K. Kim, Managing Director, Sales at Samsung India said, "In 2014, Samsung is opening a new era of Curved TV with the ultimate immersive viewing experience. With the launch of world's first Curved UHD TV, Samsung is blending its innovative Curved form factor with its UHD TV technology. With this launch, we are further augmenting our robust product portfolio in the home entertainment segment."

Samsung Galaxy S5 'Copper Gold' Variant Now Available in India

Samsung on Monday announced a new Copper Gold colour variant for the Galaxy S5 smartphone in India. The Samsung Galaxy S5 Copper Gold colour is available via the company's India e-store and retail stores across India.

The Galaxy S5's new Copper Gold version is listed as 'Golden' on the official Samsung India store at Rs. 51,500, alongside its Black, Blue and White colour variants.

Samsung's latest flagship smartphone went on sale worldwide on April 11, including in the Indian market.

(Also see: Samsung Galaxy S5: 10 big new features)

The biggest new features being touted on the Galaxy S5 by Samsung include a fingerprint scanner on the home button, a heart rate sensor placed near the 16-megapixel camera, and the IP67 certification that makes it dust and water-resistant. As of now, there is no word whether the Galaxy S5 Crystal Edition will come with such features. The smartphone also features a new design in terms of the back panel now being perforated, a wider choice of colours, and optional designer back panels.

(Also see: Samsung Galaxy S5 vs. Sony Xperia Z2 vs. LG G Pro 2 vs. iPhone 5s)

The South Korean giant, in an attempt to boost the sales of its new flagship smartphone is offering limited free subscriptions to various premium services, paid apps, and cloud storage accounts.

Commenting on the availability of new colour variant of the Galaxy S5, Samsung India's Vineet Taneja, Country Head, IT and Mobile Division said, "The Galaxy S5 is a testament of people-inspired innovation from Samsung. This specially crafted Galaxy S5 in Copper Gold variant is aimed at consumers seeking seamless integration of stunning classic design and exceptional functionality to make their lives more efficient."

(Also see: Samsung Galaxy S5 grabs 1 percent share of Android market in a week: Study)

It's worth noting that the Galaxy S5 (Review | Pictures) owners in India are getting a free 1-year membership to RunKeeper Elite, which is an app to track fitness activities; a 1-year free premium service of the personal wellness assistant Lark; 6-months Map My Fitness app access which tracks running, cycling, and other activities; free 50GB cloud storage for 6 months on Box, and up to 12-months of Evernote Premium, the note-taking app.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Rs. 51500

• REVIEW
• 
  

• Design
• Display
• Software
• Performance
• Battery life
• Camera
• Value for money

• Good
• Fantastic camera
• Great battery life and performance
• Innovative software features
• Compatibility with Samsung Gear accessories

• Bad
• Heart rate monitor feature is unreliable
• Cluttered interface
• Expensive

Samsung Galaxy Note II Reportedly Receiving Android 4.4.2 Update in India

A week ago, users reported Samsung had started rolling out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for its Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet in France. Now however, Galaxy Note II users in India have also begun reporting that their devices have started receiving the update.

The news comes via Twitter, where a Samsung Galaxy Note II user in India, @dinakaran, on Fridaytweeted he had received Android 4.4.2 update for the international GT-N7100 variant, with build number KOT94H.N7100XXUFND3, complete with a screenshot of the details. However, the mode of update (OTA or via Samsung Kies software) used was not mentioned.

The Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Samsung Galaxy Note II is said to bring several new features, like full screen album art; option to bring camera shortcut on the lock screen; transparent status bar; wireless printing functionality; NFC tap-to-pay support; option to set default messaging and launcher apps, and is also set to revamp the overall response time and speed of the phablet.

Users would be also receiving some Samsung goodies like the latest Samsung Knox and Samsung Wallet seen in the new Samsung's TouchWiz UI. The KitKat firmware for the Galaxy Note II was first spotted on Samsung's Kies PC suite software.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet was launched with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in August 2012. Some of the key features of the phablet are its 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD display, 1.6GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. The device also comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1.9-megapixel front camera and a huge 3100mAh battery on-board.

Couple of weeks ago, Samsung reportedly began rolling out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for itsGalaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) (Review) tablet. As per the report, the update brought similar enhancements along with revamped sound controls.

Samsung Galaxy Note II

• KEY SPECS
• 
  

Display

5.50-inch

Processor

1.6GHz

Front Camera

1.9-megapixel

Resolution

720x1280 pixels

RAM

2GB

OS

Android 4.1

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

8-megapixel

Battery capacity

3100mAh

Samsung Galaxy Note II reportedly receiving Android 4.4.2 KitKat update

Samsung has reportedly started rolling out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update to the international variant of the Galaxy Note II (GT-N7100) phablet.

The roll-out is said to have begun on Friday in France, and will gradually roll-out to other regions and carrier-specific models.

The Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Samsung Galaxy Note II is said to bring several new features, like full screen album art; option to bring camera shortcut on the lock screen; transparent status bar; wireless printing functionality; NFC tap-to-pay support; option to set default messaging and launcher apps, and is also set to revamp the overall response time and speed of the phablet.

Users would be also receiving some Samsung goodies like the latest Samsung Knox and Samsung Wallet seen in the latest Samsung's TouchWiz UI. The KitKat firmware for the Galaxy Note II was firstspotted by Sammobile on Samsung's Kies PC suite software, though GSMArena says it is also available to download over-the-air (OTA).

The Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet was launched with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS in August 2012. Some of the key features of the phablet are its 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD display, 1.6GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. The device also comes with an 8MP rear camera, a 1.9MP front camera and a huge 3,100mAh battery on-board.

Last week, Samsung reportedly began rolling out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for its Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) tablet. As per the report, the update brought similar enhancements along with revamped sound controls.

Samsung Galaxy Note II

• KEY SPECS
• 
  

Display

5.50-inch

Processor

1.6GHz

Front Camera

1.9-megapixel

Resolution

720x1280 pixels

RAM

2GB

OS

Android 4.1

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

8-megapixel

Battery capacity

3100mAh

Samsung Galaxy Beam 2 projector phone with 4.66-inch display launched

Samsung's new projector phone and successor to the Galaxy Beam, the Galaxy Beam 2 has been listed on the company's China site. However, the South Korean giant has not revealed its availability or pricing details.

Notably, Samsung's first projector phone, the Galaxy Beam, didn't make much of an impact in the smartphone market. The Galaxy Beam was announced at Rs. 29,900 for the Indian market in July 2012.

The Galaxy Beam 2 comes with built-in mini projector, the highlight of the device and also sports a metallic design. The Galaxy Beam 2 is a single SIM device and is expected to go on sale in China via the China Mobile network. It runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box and comes with a 4.66-inch (480x800 pixels) WVGA display.

Samsung's latest projector smartphone is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core (unspecified chipset) processor. The official listing does not provide details about the RAM or inbuilt storage, though it does reveal the Galaxy Beam 2 supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 64GB).

The smartphone sports a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera and also includes a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. On the connectivity front, the Galaxy Beam 2 includes 3G, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, AGPS, GLONASS and Bluetooth options. The Galaxy Beam 2 packs a 2600mAh battery. It measures 134.5x70x11.64mm and weighs 165 grams.

Samsung Galaxy Beam 2

• KEY SPECS

Display

4.66-inch

Processor

1.2GHz

Front Camera

0.3-megapixel

Resolution

480x800 pixels

RAM

OS

Android 4.2

Storage

Rear Camera

5-megapixel

Battery capacity

2600mAh

Samsung Galaxy S5 grabs 1 percent share of Android market in a week: Study

A week after the launch of the much-hyped Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone, a study indicates the device has grabbed nearly 1 percent of the global Android smartphone market.

According to a report by Localytics , an analytics and marketing platform, the Galaxy S5 device has covered an impressive 0.7 percent of all active Android smartphones worldwide. To put this in perspective, Localytics says the iPhone 5s achieved a 1.1 percent share of all iPhone models a week after its launch last year.

On comparing the graph of both the handsets' OS-based market share post launch, the SamsungGalaxy S5 seems to have fared worse, until you take into account the size of the vast Android ecosystem.

The report also indicates the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone is quite popular with Americans. While the US currently holds a 64 percent global share of the device, Europe and other regions hold 23 and 13 percent shares respectively. The Galaxy S5's predecessor, the Galaxy S4, was also very popular in the US, with 51 percent of Galaxy S4 smartphones currently in the market found in the US, 28 percent in Europe, and 21 percent in the remaining countries.

The vast difference between the Galaxy S5's US and European market share is said to be caused by the lack of availability of the handset in some European countries, though it should become more widely-available over time.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone was launched during the Mobile World Congress 2014 event on February 25 and went on worldwide sale on April 11. Some of the key specifications of the handset are Android 4.4.2 KitKat, 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1080x1920 pixel full-HD resolution, 2.5GHz quad-core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM, and 16-megapixel rear and 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Rs. 51500

• REVIEW
• 
  
• 
  

• Design
• Display
• Software
• Performance
• Battery life
• Camera
• Value for money

• Good
• Fantastic camera
• Great battery life and performance
• Innovative software features
• Compatibility with Samsung Gear accessories

• Bad
• Heart rate monitor feature is unreliable
• Cluttered interface
• Expensive

Samsung and Amazon partner for 'Kindle for Samsung' ebook service

South Korean electronics giant Samsung in a deal with Amazon has launched a custom-built ebook service, called 'Kindle for Samsung', for its Galaxy devices. The service will offer bestselling books, newspapers and magazines with over 500,000 titles exclusive to the Kindle Store.

Initially the 'Kindle for Samsung' service is exclusively for the Samsung Galaxy S5 users, but the app is available to download via Samsung Apps for Galaxy devices running Android 4.0 or higher. Samsungsaid that the store will launch across 90 countries within this month.

Also as a part of the service, Samsung and Amazon will launch Samsung Book Deals, which will be available to all customers using the service. It will provide 12 free ebooks a year to all Galaxysmartphones and tablet users.

"We are delighted to be able to deepen our long-standing relationship with Amazon and offer Kindle for Samsung as the perfect app for reading on a smart device. With this service we demonstrate our commitment to creating and broadening key content partnerships that deliver rich and personalized experiences for our customers," said Lee Epting, Vice President, Samsung's Media Solution Center Europe.

"We're thrilled that Samsung has chosen Kindle as their eBook provider. With Kindle for Samsung, people around the world will have instant access to the best digital bookstore and reading experience, including more than half a million titles that are only available from the Kindle Store, and innovative features like Whispersync, Time to Read and much more," said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, EU Kindle.

Previously in March, Samsung had launched a free music service for its Galaxy smartphone users, similar to services like Pandora, Spotify and Apple's iTunes. The service, dubbed "Milk Music", offers some 200 ad-free radio stations to US customers with Samsung Galaxy devices.

Milk Music is powered by the radio service Slacker. It has 200 genre-based and curated stations and over 13 million songs, and like other service will allow 6 song skips per hour per station.

Samsung Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit compatible with 20 Galaxy devices

Samsung has announced the device compatibility list for its latest Gear wearables - the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit. The new wearables will support 20 Galaxy devices, which includes 12 Galaxy smartphones and 8 Galaxy tablets.

Samsung had first launched the Galaxy Gear smartwatch with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in September last year. The Galaxy Gear was compatible with only three Galaxy devices initially, and company had later updated the compatibility to include more devices.

Similarly Samsung has updated the list of devices that will be compatible with Samsung Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear fit devices. These devices are - Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, Samsung Galaxy S III,Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8. Additionally they will be compatible with Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A and the Galaxy Round, specifically for Korea.

Other than Galaxy smartphones, the three new wearables from Samsung will also work with a list of Galaxy tablets - Samsung Galaxy Tab4 series (Samsung Galaxy Tab4 10.1, Galaxy Tab4 8.0 andGalaxy Tab4 7.0), Samsung Galaxy TabPRO series (Samsung Galaxy TabPRO 12.1, Galaxy TabPRO 10.1 and the Galaxy TabPRO 8.4), Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition.

According to 9to5google, its team have found a way around to make the Samsung Gear Fit wearable work with other Android devices to its full potential. So far it could only test it with devices such as theGoogle Nexus 5 and HTC One (M8) and HTC One (M7). Reportedly it worked fine with Gear, but the similar method did not work with the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo.

Samsung Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo go on sale worldwide

Samsung Gear Fit fitness band and Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo smartwatches are now officially available in 125 countries, including India.

Samsung, at MWC 2014 had announced the Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, alongside the flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S5, which is also now available across the globe.

Notably, the Samsung Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo were officially available in India, ahead of the wearable devices' announced April 11 release date. The Samsung Gear Fit and Gear 2 Neo are priced at Rs. 15,450, while the Samsung Gear 2, which is the successor to the company's first smartwatch, is available at Rs. 21,550.

Earlier on Friday, the Samsung Galaxy S5 went official in India at Rs. 51,500; the price in India is in line with what we had reported earlier.

For those unaware, the Samsung Gear Fit is the "world's first" wearable device with a curved Super AMOLED touch display and is a fitness band. It is smaller and lighter than the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches, and is focused on health. It features a 1.84-inch Super AMOLED display with a 432x128 pixel resolution. The Gear Fit comes with a pedometer, heart rate monitor, and a sleep monitor.

A 210mAh battery powers the Samsung Gear Fit, which gives a typical usage of 3 to 4 days and up to 5 days with low usage. The device measures in at 23.4x57.4x11.95 mm (body only) and weighs 27 grams.

The Samsung Gear 2 on the other hand, features a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display, a 2-megapixel autofocus camera and sports a metal body. The Gear 2 is dust and water resistant (IP67 certified). Other features include accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, IrLED and Bluetooth 4.0 LE.

The new Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo have heart rate sensor, pedometer and various tools to measure exercise, sleep and stress levels. Notably, the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are based on Tizen OS, instead of Android. The Samsung Gear 2 Neo, like the Gear 2, features a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display. It does not come with a camera.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo with 4.8-inch HD display launched at Rs. 26,200

Samsung has quietly launched the Galaxy S3 Neo smartphone in India. The Samsung Galaxy S3 Neois now listed at Rs. 26,200 on company's online store. However, there is no word on the availability of the device, with the page providing a 'Notify Me' option for consumers.

The smartphone was listed on Samsung's India e-store without pricing earlier in April. Notably, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo appears to be an India variant of the Galaxy S III Neo+ that was launched for the Chinese market in January.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo is a 'lite' variant of the company's 2012 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III. It's worth pointing out that the design of the Galaxy S3 Neo is identical to the Galaxy S III; however, the specifications of the former are much more basic than 2012's flagship.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Galaxy S3 Neo is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It features a 4.8-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) Super AMOLED display. The Galaxy S3 Neo is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, with no word on the chipset. Notably, the Galaxy S III Neo+ variant packs a 1.4GHz processor. The Galaxy S3 Neo comes with 1.5GB of RAM and supports expandable storage up to 64GB, while there is no mention of the amount of inbuilt storage.

It sports an 8-megapixel rear camera accompanied by an LED flash and features CMOS sensor, while there is a 1.9-megapixel front-camera. Connectivity options on the Galaxy S3 Neo include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB and 3G. The smartphone measures 136.6x70.7x8.6mm and weighs about 132 grams.

The Galaxy S3 Neo packs a 2100mAh battery, and will be available in seven colour options - Black, Blue, Brown, Grey, Maroon, Pink and White.

Earlier on Tuesday, Samsung announced its new Galaxy Ace Style mid-range smartphone for an April release.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo

• KEY SPECS
• 
  

Display

4.80-inch

Processor

1.2GHz

Front Camera

1.9-megapixel

Resolution

720x1280 pixels

RAM

1.5GB

OS

Android 4.3

Storage

Rear Camera

8-megapixel

Battery capacity

2100mAh

Samsung Ativ SE with Windows Phone 8 launched by Verizon

Samsung Ativ SE, the much anticipated new Windows Phone smartphone from the Korean giant, is now official. Without any major announcement, Verizon has put up the Ativ SE for pre-orders via on its website, which shows a shipping date of 12 April.

The Samsung Ativ SE, as per the Verizon listing, is available for $599.99 (roughly Rs. 35,900) off-contract. The smartphone also comes with a 2-year agreement at $199.99 (roughly Rs. 11,968) with a choice of plans. There is no word as to when the handset, or a variant, will start rolling out to other regions in the world.

The smartphone runs on Windows Phone 8 OS, which we assume, will be updated to the recently announced Windows Phone 8.1 OS update in the coming months. The Samsung Ativ SE features a 5-inch full-HD AMOLED display with pixel density of roughly 440ppi, and a Gorilla Corning Glass 3 screen. 

The handset is powered by an unspecified 2.3GHz quad-core processor (presumably a QualcommSnapdragon 800) paired with 2GB of RAM. The Samsung Ativ SE includes a 13-megapixel autofocus camera with flash and can record full-HD (1080p) videos along with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Both cameras can capture 1080p HD videos. 

The smartphone comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card. Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi and 4G LTE comes under the wireless network connectivity option of Samsung Ativ SE. The handset is backed by a 2600mAh battery capacity which is claimed to run for 20 hours and 20 days under standby mode. 

The Samsung Ativ SE measures 137x69.8x8.3 mm and weighs 135.7 grams. It comes with Microsoft Office Hub that enables users to work on Microsoft Word and Excel, edit files and sync from the cloud. Xbox Live also comes built-in with the device.

Samsung Ativ SE

• KEY SPECS
• 
  

Display

5.00-inch

Processor

2.3GHz

Front Camera

2-megapixel

Resolution

1080x1920 pixels

RAM

2MB

OS

Windows Phone 8

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

2600mAh

Samsung Galaxy S5's anti-theft features praised

A move by Samsung to include free anti-theft features on its Galaxy S5 smartphones sold by Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular won praise on Friday by two U.S. members of an international coalition aimed at combating robberies involving smartphones.

The new features allow Samsung Galaxy S5 users to track devices and require the owner's account information to reset the phone. The features, Find My Mobile, and Reactivation Lock, will come installed in the phones but must be activated by users.

"The decision ... to provide Samsung's Find My Mobile and Reactivation Lock features on Galaxy S5 smartphones and to allow those features to be activated for free is a step forward in our effort to ensure the industry makes effective theft deterrents available on every smartphone sold in America," New York's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, and San Francisco's district attorney, George Gascon, said in a statement.

(Also see: Samsung Galaxy S5: 10 big new features)

Schneiderman and Gascon, along with London Mayor Boris Johnson, are co-chairs of the coalition Secure Our Smartphone Initiative.

They said, however, that they remain "concerned that consumers will need to opt in to the system, thereby limiting the ubiquity and effectiveness of the solution."

Both Schneiderman and Gascon have criticized the cellphone industry for what they say is a perceived unwillingness to solve an escalating theft problem.

Schneiderman has publicly supported bills currently in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate that would require a kill switch to be installed in every smartphone manufactured in the United States. The switch would prevent the phone from being re-activated in the black market.

In 2012, 1.6 million Americans were victimized for their smartphones, according to Schneiderman's office.

Samsung Galaxy S5

• KEY SPECS
• 
  

Display

5.10-inch

Processor

1.9GHz

Front Camera

2.1-megapixel

Resolution

1080x1920 pixels

RAM

2GB

OS

Android 4.4.2

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

16-megapixel

Battery capacity

2800mAh