One of Samsung's most popular Galaxy handsets, the Galaxy S3 which debuted in 2012, will not receive the Android 4.4 Kitat upgrade.

Recently, Samsung released the KitKat kernel source code for the Sprint variant of Galaxy S3 bearing model number SPH-L710; the update came with Linux 3.4 kernel.

Following this, Sprint started rolling out Android KitKat update with build number L710VPUCND8 for its Galaxy S3 variant having 2GB RAM. Although Samsung has not confirmed anything, Sprint's update roll-out was a hint that the company might release KitKat for the international version as well.

Recently, an internal Samsung document containing the list of Galaxy smartphones to get the much anticipated Android 4.4 software leaked online.

According to the list, a number of Galaxy devices such as Galaxy Note 2, Note 2 LTE, Galaxy S3 LTE, Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Mini LTE, Galaxy Note 3 Neo, Galaxy Grand 2, Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Mega 6.3 will get Android 4.4. But the international version of Galaxy S3 is missing from the list.

Sammobile reached out to Samsung to get more clarification about the Android 4.4 update for Galaxy S3. Samsung confirmed that the Galaxy S3 and its mini variant with only 1GB RAM are not capable of running KitKat.

In order to facilitate an effective upgrade on the Google platform, various hardware performances such as the memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), multi-tasking capabilities, and display must meet certain technical expectations. The Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions come equipped with 1GB RAM, which does not allow them to effectively support the platform upgrade. As a result of the Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions' hardware limitation, they cannot effectively support the platform upgrade while continuing to provide the best consumer experience. Samsung has decided not to roll-out the KitKat upgrade to Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions, and the KitKat upgrade will be available to the Galaxy S3 LTE version as the device's 2GB RAM is enough to support the platform upgrade," explained Samsung Mobile UK

The Galaxy S3 was shipped with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and is currently running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which seems to be the last update as Samsung will not extend further software support for the device. As for the Galaxy S3 Mini, Samsung will end the support at Android version 4.2.

The curved display on Samsung's Galaxy Round offers distinct advantages in reducing reflections and the high glossiness of flat displays, according to a report out Tuesday.

"There is widespread misunderstanding regarding curved displays. They aren't simply a marketing gimmick as has been widely reported," Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, a firm that does display testing and evaluation, said in a report published Tuesday.

"In fact, curved screens are a major and very important new display technology innovation," he said in his introduction to the report, which is based on his own in-house testing of a Galaxy Round.

Soneira's findings about Samsung's curved 5.7-inch OLED display include: 

• Concave screen: The curvature on the Galaxy Round is fairly small -- the left and right edges of the screen are just 2.66 mm (0.10 inch) higher than the center. "So the effect is subtle, but it's very important." 
• Improved screen privacy: Screen privacy is improved because the curvature makes it harder for other people to see the screen. 
• Lower reflectance: A curved screen cuts down on reflections. The curvature directs reflected ambient light "coming from behind away from the viewer's line of sight. This is very important because you want to minimize the amount of ambient light that is seen reflected off the screen." The screen also magnifies the size of objects reflecting off the screen which "substantially cuts down on the interference of light reflections." 
• Glossiness reduction: Flexible OLED displays are manufactured using a flexible plastic substrate, "so they don't have the glossy cover glass used on virtually all existing mobile displays." And without the cover glass, the OLED display appears to be right on the surface of the screen, which is "visually striking." 

The Galaxy Round -- which has the same-sized 5.7-inch display that is on the Galaxy Note 3 -- also features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.3GHz quad-core processor, 32GB of internal storage, 3GB RAM, and an up-to-64GB microSD card slot.

Samsung has finally launched the much-awaited flip phone in the Indian market, the Galaxy Golden, pricing it at Rs. 51,900. The device doesn't seem to have it store shelves yet however, and Samsung has not announced precise availability.

Flipkart is taking pre-orders for the smartphone however, at a price of Rs. 49,900. The South Korean giant first introduced the flip phone for the Korean market in August this year and said then it would be released in other markets soon after.

The Samsung Galaxy Golden sports two 3.7-inch Super AMOLED displays, on the inside and the outside of the top-half. The phone is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz processor (unspecified chipset) along with 1.5GB of RAM, and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The phone also includes FM radio and will come in Champagne Gold colour. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS / A-GPS and Bluetooth.

For now, there is no official word on 3G connectivity, though third-party sites do list it, and at the price, we can assume. The Galaxy Golden comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and also includes a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It includes 16GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable up to 64GB via microSD card. It packs 1820mAh battery, with no word on talktime and standby time.

The Samsung Galaxy Golden also comes with features such as Easy Mode, which features large fonts and icons that enables the users to access and search apps, and Hidden Receiver, which allows users to take calls without opening the flip phone.

Commenting on the launch, Vineet Taneja, Country Head, Samsung Mobiles and IT said, "At Samsung, we are committed to making lives easier and smarter for our customers and GALAXY Golden does exactly that. With its innovative dual display and premium golden finish, GALAXY Golden brings together the best of touch and type experience on a smartphone. This specially crafted device is aimed at consumers seeking seamless integration of stunning classic design and functionality to make their lives more efficient."

Reveal date September 4
If official invitations that clearly point to the Note as the big reveal weren't enough, a Samsung executive confirmed the Galaxy Note 3's September 4 debut (alongside the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.)

Bigger than ever

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be larger than its 5.3 and 5.5-inch predecessors. Samsung co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun claimed the Galaxy Note 3 will feature a 5.9-inch display. I put my money on that measurement, though the most recent rumors suggest it will have a 5.68-inch1,920x1,080-pixel display. Even earlier, conflicting rumors indicated that Samsung had been testing other screen sizes.

Some models will reportedly feature an LCD panel, whereas others will see Samsung's own Super AMOLED screen tech.

Body shape
So far, leaked images suggest the Galaxy Note 3 will maintain the same design as the first two generations and will employ the same button layout. It would also make sense for Samsung to model the Note 3 off of its Galaxy S4 flagship design. While the screen size is larger, the overall footprint of the device is reported to stay the same.

High-end hardware
The Galaxy Note 3 will most likely come with different CPUs and GPUs depending on the region, just as older models did. Some customers could be buying a Note 3 with a 1.8GHz Octa-core Exynos 5420 processor, while other phones might ship with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset. Additional specs should include a 13-megapixel camera and a choice of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of internal storage, which will also vary by market.

Plastic body
Nothing suggests that Samsung will stray from the same plastic materials found in the last few generations of Galaxy S and Galaxy Note models.

Latest Android version
The Samsung phablet is expected to run the latest version of Android, 4.3 Jelly Bean, with many of Samsung's own custom software touches.

Three colors
The Galaxy Note 3 will be initially offered in black and white with a pink version arriving a few weeks later.

In stores by September
The black and white colors should be made available in the days following the announcement; the pink version could arrive by late October. According to ePrice (translate), the global model will be offered on September 27 with preorders starting on September 16.

4K video recording
Recent rumors suggest that the Galaxy Note 3 could record Ultra HD (3,840x2,160-pixel) video, though the phone's most common storage capacities (16GB and 32GB) and low 4K television adoption -- the reason you'd care about 4K video capture in the first place -- give us pause.

No Flexible display
Although Samsung has demonstrated this technology on multiple occasions,  Galaxy Note 3 s not getting a flexible display.

Advanced camera features
Reportedly, Samsung had hoped to bring OIS (optical image stabilization) and shutter functions to the Note 3; however, new whispers say this won't show up until the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Memory
The Galaxy Note 3 could be the first smartphone to feature a whopping 3GB RAM (translate), a staggering amount to be sure, and a figure that could vastly improve performance.

US carrier support
Since Samsung likes to offer its big device releases across numerous carriers, we should anticipate the same for the new Note model. With this in mind, we might expect Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular to make their own announcements officially backing the Galaxy Note 3.

Price
Perhaps the most important question surrounding the device, the cost of the Galaxy Note 3 still remains unclear. Historically, the Note series costs more than the flagship smartphones. In the US, expect it to come in around $250 with a two-year service agreement.                                                                                                                                                   Source: Cnet

Google has acquired the smartwatch manufacturer WIMM Labs, seemingly as part of an effort to bolster its own plans for wearable devices. The acquisition was first reported by GigaOM, and has been confirmed to The Verge by a Google spokesperson. WIMM Labs released its first smartwatch back in 2011, the WIMM One, which ran Android and included a platform for developers to code apps for it. We said at the time that the product had great potential, and now it looks like that potential could come to pass under the guidance of a bigger company.

WIMM Labs' employees are believed to be working under Google's Android team, reports GigaOM. That would be a natural fit given WIMM Labs' history with the platform and immediate eye toward building an app store that's open to developers. The acquisition is believed to have occurred last summer, when WIMM Labs was about three years old. At the time, WIMM Labs announced that it had "entered into an exclusive, confidential relationship" that prevented it from continuing its current products, and this would appear to be that exclusive agreement.

What Google's own plan for wearable devices actually is remains to be seen. It was previously reported that the company was at work on an Android-powered smartwatch, but further details have been scarce. When it will happen isn't clear either, but other companies are seemingly starting to rush into the market: Samsung is planning to unveil a smartwatch based on Android in just days time, and Microsoft, Apple, LG, and more than a few others are expected to be on its coattails. For now, WIMM Labs' old products may be an early look at the type of ideas that could end up in an eventual Google watch.

Introduction

The middle child in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 forges its own distinct path in the tablet universe. But it's not just a clone of the Galaxy Note 8.0, Samsung's 8-inch, stylus-driven slate. Rather, this model's differently tweaked design reflects how quickly tablet technology has evolved in just the four months since the Note 8.0's launch.

Priced at $299.99, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 offers a display one inch larger than that of the $199.99 Tab 3 7.0, while being noticeably smaller and lighter than the $399.99 Galaxy Tab 3 10.1.

This model joins the growing realm of 8-inch tablets, a market that includes Apple's iPad Mini at 7.9 inches. Such tablets offer a satisfying compromise among screen size, weight, and price. However, while it would be easy to assume this model would closely resemble the Galaxy Note 8.0, Samsung has made several design tweaks. The Tab 3 has the same height as the Note 8.0, but is noticeably narrower, by more than half an inch. In that regard, it more closely resembles the iPad Mini. Like that tablet, the Tab 3 8.0 has narrower bezels running along the length.

While its physical design makes the Tab 3 8.0 feel light and well-balanced in hand, that narrower bezel ends up being an albatross. But we're glad to see Samsung bring a third display option back to its lineup; the Galaxy Tab 2 series had just 7-inch and 10.1-inch varieties, whereas the first-generation Tab series had an 8.9-inch model as its tweener option.

Better still is that the Tab 3 8.0 avoids the performance oddities we saw with its larger cousin, the Tab 3 10.1. That model uses Intel's Atom processor, whereas the Tab 3 8.0 uses Samsung's own Exynos processor. That chip powered the Tab 3 8.0 to good results in our performance tests. The slate didn't set any benchmarks on fire, but it wasn't the slowest of its competitive set of 7- and 8-inch Android tablets, either. Of note: Its battery eked out nearly an hour more than the Galaxy Note 8.0, and its browser performed better than the Note 8.0 on HTML5.

With its $299.99 price tag, the Tab 3 8.0 comes in at the higher end of the current generation of small tablets. It is pricier than the 7-inch tablets, including Samsung's own 7-inch Tab 3 and Google's updated, $229 Nexus 7. But it's less expensive than the iPad Mini at $329, and $100 less than Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 with its stylus.

Design

With the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, Samsung pushes the design ahead a notch ahead from its Note 8.0 cousin. The Tab 3 8.0 shaves 0.07 pound off the weight of the Note 8.0; at 0.69 pound, it matches the weight of Apple's iPad Mini.

The Tab 3 is also noticeably narrower than the Note 8, by a full half-inch. Its 8.3x4.9x0.3-inch dimensions make it taller and narrower than the Apple Mini, by 0.4 inch in either direction. These ever-shrinking physical specs are generally a good thing for portability: They mean you can more easily toss a tablet like the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 in your bag and forget it's there, or hold the tablet in one hand while reading a good book.

To put an exclamation point on the Tab 3 8.0's design finesse, let's compare it to the ultimate budget model, the $129 Hisense Sero 7 Pro. That slate is 0.1 pound heavier, 0.2 inch thicker, and 0.1 inch wider than the Tab 3 8.0—in spite of having a smaller 7-inch display.

The Tab 3 8.0's case has a similar, smooth plastic design to the Galaxy Note 8.0. The model we tested had a white back; gently curved, silver plastic edges; and a white front bezel (albeit with a cross-hatch pattern, as opposed to the Note 8.0's smooth design). The plastics have the same feel as on Samsung's phones, which is to say it feels sturdy, but also as if the materials are inexpensive. The tablet also comes in brown.

From the front, top, and bottom, the Tab 3 8.0 looks very similar to the Note 8.0. The buttons and inputs are all in virtually the same places, oriented around the portrait position. The headphone jack is at the upper right corner, along the top edge; the power and volume buttons along the right edge, along with the infrared sensor so you can use the tablet as a universal remote control with your home entertainment components. At the bottom edge sit two speakers, flanking the micro-USB port for data and charging. The Samsung logo and front-facing camera are centered above the display in portrait mode.

In fact, from the outside, you'd only notice three physical differences between the Tab 3 8.0 and the Note 8.0, beyond the obvious aforementioned difference in dimensions. The physical home button, centered in portrait mode beneath the display, is slightly more raised on the Tab 3 8.0 than it is on the Note 8.0. This makes the button marginally simpler to locate by touch. The MicroSD card slot is closer to the bottom of the left edge than the top, as it is on the Note 8.0; and, its door is designed into the silver plastic edging, as opposed to the Note 8.0's design into the bottom of the tablet, beneath the edging. This door is perhaps the only design flaw we found, as we found it unexpectedly challenging to set the door's stubborn plastic back in place after inserting a card.

It's worth noting that, like the 10.1-inch Tab 3, the Tab 3 8.0 has a similar problem with the touch targets for the capacitive menu and back buttons that flank the home button. As with the 10.1-inch tablet, we could touch a half-inch above and below the button and still activate the function. This is not the case on the Note 8.0, incidentally; on that tablet, only tapping the button itself will actually activate it. What surprised us, though, was that in spite of the inaccurate touch targets, we didn't have nearly as many accidental activations on the 8.0 as on the 10.1 unit. We suspect this is simply because of the tablet's smaller size: It was easier to hold, with the buttons in a different place than on the 10.1-inch tablet.

Of course, the front bezel is also visibly narrower than on the Note 8.0, a change that reflects the narrower dimensions. While the Tab 3 8.0 looks stylish and feels good in one hand, we actually found the narrower bezel a hindrance to one-handed tablet handling, as our hands often struggled to find a safe position that didn't activate the touch screen inadvertently.

Features

The Galaxy Tab 3's 8-inch display packs 1,280x800 resolution, the same resolution as on the Galaxy Note 8.0. That exceeds the resolution of the iPad Mini (1,024x768) and packs in a respectable 189 pixels per inch to the Apple's 169 ppi. The delta makes a visible difference: Text on the Tab 3 8.0 was sharper than on the iPad Mini, though not as crisp as on same-resolution 7-inch tablets, which have 216 ppi. And the new Nexus 7, with its 1,920x1,200 resolution, is in another stratosphere entirely at 323 ppi. While we always prefer higher pixels, the Tab 3 8.0 is what we'd call acceptably sharp, though it can't compare to the clarity of the Nexus 7.

The display itself was good, and produced accurate colors. But in a side-by-side comparison with the Galaxy Note 8.0, we saw some interesting differences. The Note 8.0's display is slightly brighter, something that was particularly evident in an app like Gmail, where we saw whiter whites and slightly darker text. In a test image, we saw near-identical color reproduction, but more natural skin tones and finer detail in the Note 8.0 versus the Tab 3. We don't know whether this is due to any differences in the displays themselves or to software variances (the Note 8.0 uses Android 4.1.2 while the Tab 3 uses 4.2.2).

Like the 10.1-inch Tab 3, the 8-inch model has the updated image gallery, with aesthetically pleasing and sharper image thumbnails that vary in size. We didn't see the same sluggish behavior as on the 10.1, but we did notice that high-resolution images had to take a moment to render sharply on screen.

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 has just 16GB of memory, with 11.3GB free, about the same as on the 10.1-inch Tab 3. The MicroSDHC card slot can accept up to 64GB cards, at least.

As with all Samsung tablets, the Tab 3 runs Samsung's TouchWiz UX software. This variant is similar to the Tab 3 10.1-inch's: It has some but not all of the features we've been introduced to in Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone and the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet. For example, the tablet has Smart Stay, which sends your tablet to sleep when you're not looking at it (we had mixed results with this, and preferred to disable the feature since the sensors often couldn't detect our eyes); but it doesn't have Smart Pause or Smart Scroll, both found on the S4. TouchWiz UX does continue to provide a menu with shortcuts to frequently used actions, a touch we've long appreciated on Samsung tablets; you can reorder these shortcuts, but not add to them.

Samsung provides a selection of pre-installed software, including Dropbox, Story Album (for auto-generating albums from your images), S Translator (a speech-to-text tool that requires you to set up a free Samsung account), Peel Remote (for use as a remote control), Polaris Office, and Samsung Watch On for finding TV shows.

The Tab 3 has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5 megapixel rear camera, with no flash. Neither will capture images that will challenge those from today's average cell phone, but they will do the job to capture a memory in the absence of any other device. The rear camera was similar to the Note 8.0's, but the camera's interface is completely different. The Tab 3 8.0's interface resembles that of the Galaxy S4 Smartphone, complete with the S4's special modes, such as Panorama, Sports, and Sound & Shot (which adds audio to an image file).

Audio output on the Tab 3 8.0 is best described as adequate, albeit a bit thin and high-pitched. This effect was especially pronounced at max volume. We preferred the audio of the Note 8.0, which sounded more well-rounded to our ears. As is typical of portrait-mode, downward-firing speakers, we found it easy to accidentally muffle audio when holding the tablet with both hands in landscape mode.

Performance & Conclusion

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 uses Samsung's 1.5GHz Exynos 4 (4212) dual-core processor, and has the unusual complement of 1.5GB of RAM. We found this processor highly capable, even though it was dual-core vs. the 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4 (4412) processor in the Galaxy Note 8.0.

In day-to-day use, we had no issues during movie playback. The tablet was responsive and smooth, even when we had multiple apps open. Gameplay was good, too, but Riptide GP lacked the splash detail and graphics finesse found in the same segments on the quad-core Note 8.0.

On our suite of objective benchmarks, the tablet yielded average numbers. We compared the Tab 3 8.0 to a set of 7- and 8-inch Android tablets representing a range of processors: Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0, the HP Slate 7 (1.5GHz Rockchip dual-core), the Hisense Sero 7 Pro (1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core), the Google Nexus 7 (1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro), and the Asus MeMO Pad HD 7(1.2GHz Mediatek MT8125 quad-core).

Let's take the example of Linpack for Android. Here, the Tab 3 was merely average on both the single-threaded and multi-threaded tests, coming in behind the Nexus 7, the Memo Pad HD 7, and the Note 8.0 ... and even being outscored by the Sero 7 on the multithreaded test.

However, the story was very different on the 3D graphics benchmarks An3DBench and An3DBenchXL. Here, the Tab 3 8.0 came in second, behind only the Note 8.0.

On Futuremark's 3DMark Ice Storm and Ice Storm Extreme, the results were mixed. The Tab 3 8.0 came in third on Ice Storm, behind the Nexus 7 and Note 8.0. However, it came in second on Ice Storm Extreme, edging out the Note 8.0 on this graphics-intensive test, in spite of the Note 8.0 having what should be a better processor.

And on GFX Bench 2.7.2, the Tab 3 8.0 came in second on the Egypt HD Offscreen test, and third on the more challenging T-Rex Offscreen. Again, the leaders this tablet traded off with were the Google Nexus 7 and the Note 8.0, which underscores how competitive the Tab 3's performance is, especially on graphics.

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0's boot time was quick. It was the third best of this group.

In browser-based tests, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 came in second behind the Google Nexus 7 on the SunSpider JavaScript 1.0 benchmark, and clobbered all comers on the Peacekeeper test.

Battery Life & Conclusion

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 lasted 8 hours and 49 minutes playing a 1080p video on continuous loop. That's a reasonable amount of time, and will at least last you through much of a day of use without requiring a trip to the power outlet. But it's not even close to the spectacular numbers put up by the MeMo Pad HD 7 (12 hours, 6 minutes) and the Nexus 7 (10 hours, 26 minutes).

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is a solid tablet, and a strong choice if you're looking for a middle-of-the-road screen size that makes reasonable compromises to balance price and portability. In spite of our design nits, we recommend this tablet because—app ecosystems notwithstanding—the Tab 3 8.0 does offer more bang for fewer bucks than Apple's iPad Mini at the same screen size. Google's new Nexus 7 is less expensive and a better performer, with a better display; but that model sacrifices the expansion slot and lacks the IR port, both conveniences that distinguish the Tab 3.

If your choice comes down to the Tab 3 8.0 and the Galaxy Note 8.0, the decision comes down largely to price and whether you feel you'd use the latter's stylus. If you love the idea of using a stylus on your tablet, the Note 8.0 is worth the $100 premium (though we wish it was only a $50 premium instead). If the stylus isn't on your radar, though, save the bucks and go with the Tab 3.

                                                                                                                                                                                             Source: Compshopper

A new report tips a 3450mAh battery for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 — the largest battery for a Samsung phone yet.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 speculation just got bigger. Literally. According to a tipster at PhoneArena, Samsung’s forthcoming “phablet” will feature a 3450mAh battery – the largest cell Samsung has ever used in a phone.

To illustrate just how big this battery is, consider this: The 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega, currently Samsung’s largest phone, uses a 3200mAh battery. The original 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note used a 2500mAh battery, while its sequel, the Galaxy Note 2, uses a 3100mAh cell.

The Galaxy Note 3 is expected to feature a full-HD 5.7-inch display, up from the 5.5-inch 720p panel on the Galaxy Note 2. That means this phone will need all the juice it can get, making the rumors of such a large battery seem plausible. Of course, the larger size of the device also makes it easier to Samsung to put a larger battery inside of it.

Given their size, battery life hasn’t been a major complaint for the Galaxy Note family of phones, so clearly Samsung is doing something right by stuffing these oversized cells into its devices.

Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy Note 3 in just under a month, at its Unpacked event in Berlin.

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone has finally slipped from its top position to third in customer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The new study of 10 top-selling smartphones for the past year found that Samsung's Galaxy S III ranked No. 1. In second place was the Galaxy Note II.

The Apple iPhone 5, 4S, and 4 took positions 3 to 5 respectively, followed closely by the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Galaxy S II. The results offer two major conclusions: Apple has lost the brand lead it had enjoyed for years and Apple's own customers don't see much difference between the various iPhone models available. The latter has bad implications for Apple's product development, innovation efforts and profitability.

ACSI is a leading indicator of customer satisfaction across many categories of products. Conducting about 70,000 consumer surveys a year, ACSI rates each product on a 0 to 100 scale. Apple has traditionally done well, although for a long time it was judged only in the personal computer category, where it began to dominate in consumer satisfaction in 2004.

Last year, in mobile phones, Apple had a rating of 83. The next closest companies were Nokia, HTC and LG, all of which had scores of 75. The most recent numbers indicate a significant reversal for the maker of the iPhone.

The difference between the Samsung products and the iPhone 5 was only two points, but it still marks a a reshuffling of the ranks and a marked improvement for Samsung, which was at 71 in 2012. The change shows how Apple has lost its frontrunner status not just globally, but in the U.S., where its predominance was particularly strong.

As the ACSI points out in its press release, there is also significance in how close the iPhone 4S and 4 scores are to the iPhone 5:

 "Not only does Samsung edge ahead of all iPhones, Apple customers themselves don't see much difference between the iPhone 4, 4S or 5," says ACSI Director David VanAmburg. "The latest earnings report from Apple was better than expected, but the name of the game for Apple has always been innovation. Samsung, on the other hand, shows a strong upward ACSI trend from the Galaxy S II to the Galaxy S III. If the S4 performs as well -- or even better -- in the eyes of customers, Samsung could threaten Apple's dominance in overall customer satisfaction."

In its latest earnings report, although the company sold a record number of iPhones for a calendar second quarter, average sales price dropped sharply over the past six months, likely because many customers opted for the cheaper, older models, not seeing a compelling reason to buy the iPhone 5.

It's becoming more like an annual tradition as Samsung will unveil the next generation of its Galaxy Note smartphone in advance of the IFA technology conference in Berlin. The company sent invitations to the press on Monday for an event on Sept. 4, two days before the first day of the conference.

Like previous device unveilings, Samsung is calling the event "Samsung Unpacked 2013." The event will be live streamed via the web, and Samsung will host a press event at the same time in New York City's Times Square for people to watch and get hands-on time with the devices.

Samsung isn't officially revealing information about the devices. However, the invitation and subsequent tweet (see below) include the phrase, "Note the Date" (emphasis added). Plus, at the two previous IFA events, Samsung released the first and second generations of its Galaxy Note smartphone, which have extremely large screens relative to other phones.

Samsung #UNPACKED 2013 Episode 2. Note the date. pic.twitter.com/XkNBXXc8Bp

— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) August 5, 2013

Thus, it's a foregone conclusion that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Note 3 (or III) at its September event. It's been almost a year since the company released the Galaxy Note 10.1. The question on everyone's mind this time: Just how big will Samsung go?

Competitors have responded to the Galaxy Note's success (now at 5.6 inches with the Note II) with large screen sizes as well, including the 5.5-inch LG Optimus G Pro and 5-inch Droid Ultra. Samsung itself debuted the 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega earlier this year.

Samsung's other plans for Sept. 4 also remain unknown. Last year, it took the wraps off several new devices, including its ATIV line of Windows 8 PCs, the first phone to run Windows Phone 8, and the Android-powered Galaxy Camera point-and-shoot. We'll likely see more focus this year, but Samsung could still surprise — perhaps with an entry into wearable computing. Its rumored smart watch is called "Gear."

What do you think Samsung has in store for Sept. 4? Let us know in the comments.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is definitely one of the most anticipated smartphones of the year as it will come to continue the success of the Galaxy Note family introduced back in 2011 by the South Korean phone maker. As the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 release date is getting near, the rumors regarding the next-gen Sammy phablet are starting to intensify and, after we’ve heard reports about its technical specifications or design, today it’s time to talk about the launch date of the handset.

A couple of weeks ago, a Korean analyst reported that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 release date will be in September, so we’ve asked a couple of questions here and there, in search for a confirmation. Well, we were able to get in touch to a person close to the matter, who was capable to provide some details regarding the Galaxy Note 3 release date. Just like everybody was anticipating, he said that the Galaxy Note 3 will indeed be introduced in September, just head of IFA Berlin 2013.

He also said that, sometime in August, the South Korea-based company will announce that a special Samsung Unpacked event will be hosted on September 4th, in Berlin, adding that the Galaxy Note 3 will be officially introduced during the aforementioned press conference. The Samsung Unpacked will be a part of the IFA 2013 expo, being a press-only event, that will debut on the first day the Berlin-based tech fair will open its gates for the media.

There’s no surprise that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be introduced around the debut of IFA Berlin, as both its predecessors received the same treatment. The first Galaxy Note was officially unveiled at IFA Berlin 2011, followed next year by the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which was made public during an Unpacked event a couple of days ahead of IFA Berlin 2012 debut.

An early September release date for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is ideal for the South Korean phone maker, as the next-gen phablet will hit the market almost synchronized with iPhone 5S’ debut, which will help Samsung steal some of Apple’s customers.

Expected Specifications:

A recent report was indicating that Samsung might use both Super AMOLED and IPS LCD displays for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the type of screen being market dependent, just like happens now with Samsung Galaxy S4′s processor. Talking about processor, it is speculated that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be underpinned by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 320 GPU. If you’d ask me, I would say that there will be two Galaxy Note 3 variants: one equipped with the Snapdragon 800 and another sporting Samsung’s proprietary octo-core Exynos 5 Octa SoC clocked at 1.8 GHz (200 MHz higher than the one of the Galaxy S4).

As you probably noticed, the high-end Android-powered smartphones that were introduced this year come with full HD displays (see HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, Sony Xperia Z, and Xperia Z Ultra). Since the Galaxy Note 3 will be in Samsung’s front line of attack, the phablet will definitely come with a full HD display. Anyway, there are a lot of speculations regarding Galaxy Note 3′s screen size, some sources saying that it will be a 5.7-inch or 5.9-inch panel, while other saying that it will go past the 6-inch threshold.

We are expecting the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to borrow the 13 megapixel sensor of the Galaxy S4, and, of course, to boast all the TouchWiz Nature UX-specific Camera app features, plus S Orb, Samsung’s name for the 360 degree panorama mode. The amount of RAM and the internal storage options of the Galaxy Note 3 will also be borrowed from the Galaxy S4 flagship: 2 GB of RAM and 16/32/64 GB of storage, plus microSD card support.

Since Samsung announced the acquisition of 5% in Wacom shares, a company popular for its graphic tablets with stylus input, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 might come with an improved S Pen stylus and a couple of new S Pen-related software features. The phablet will probably come pre-loaded with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, but since the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean rumors are hinting towards July release date, the Galaxy Note 3 might actually leave the factory gates with the latest Android iteration on board.

Please let us know what are you expecting from the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The comments section below is all yours.

The new device could run on some of the world's fastest networks, which remain overseas for the time being.

Get ready to drool, folks. A version of Samsung's Galaxy S4 has been spotted that reportedly supports LTE-Advanced, a mobile broadband standard that could finally deliver on the true promise of 4G networks.

LTE-Advanced is designed to deliver higher capacity and peak data rates of as much as 3Gbps for downloading and 1.5Gbps for uploads. While carriers here in America are still working on blanketing our significantly more vast landscape with regular old LTE coverage, South Korea's SK Telecom claims to already be hard at work on its first LTE-Advanced network.

Such a hot, fast network deserves an equally sought-after and nimble phone, it would seem. Enter these shots of a Galaxy S4 that's apparently ready to run on an LTE-Advanced network. The unboxing snaps have been leaking out all over Korean and Samsung-obsessed sites worldwide.

There's no way to verify what we're looking at here at the moment -- images leaked out with a list of purported specs including a quad-core 2.3GHz processor, 2GB RAM and a 1,920x1,080 HD display -- but it does line up with recent reports.

So there's a good chance we're looking at the future. Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, it's not exactly the near future.