Samsung Galaxy Camera Announced, Features Android Jelly Bean, Wi-Fi, 4G, 16MP Sensor & More

Samsung registered the name Galaxy Camera earlier this year, and ever since, the rumor mill has been abuzz with speculation of the Korean company offering an Android-based camera. Today at IFA, the Galaxy Camera has finally been unveiled to the public, and the device – which looks conspicuously similar to the Galaxy S III – certainly packs in a decent punch.

Smartphone snappers have been consistently evolving over the past five or so years, and the days of the grainy VGA shots have been gradually replaced thanks to the much more agreeable shooters placed on the majority of smartphones. That said, the quality of images taken on the iPhone 4S,Galaxy S III and HTC One X still pales in comparison to the mainstream standalones, and Samsung hopes the Galaxy Camera will prove a hit thanks to its heavy Android influence.

Nikon released its own Android-based snapper some time ago, but the Galaxy Camera certainly looks to be a step up. There had been the odd murmur prior to today’s IFA announcement, that Samsung would indeed bring an Android cam to its roster, but with no real hardware leaks, didn’t seem particularly likely.

Despite not actually being a smartphone, it packs in as much power as the very best, and will ship with Android Jelly Bean (4.1) out of the box. The Galaxy Camera’s 21x zoom lens and a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor will run rings around your current smartphone’s image-taking ability – even if you are indeed running Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III device. The camera features a sizeable 4.8-inch HD SLCD display, and although this is nothing out of the ordinary for a smartphone – many are in excess of the 5-inch mark – in camera terms, this is a very generous offering.

Then again, the Galaxy Camera is no ordinary camera, boasting a worthy 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos SoC. It includes 8GB of on-board storage space, although naturally, you can expand this by means of a microSD.
Meanwhile, the 1650mAh battery will keep things ticking over nicely, and for those who like to frequently share, there Galaxy Camera will feature as both a 3G+ Wi-Fi and 4G + Wi-Fi offering.

Exciting for the photo aficionados, but will it find a place in the market? Leave your thoughts via the usual mediums below.

Samsung Galaxy Note II Announced, Here’s Everything You Need To Know

Samsung has finally showcased the long-awaited sequel to its popular niche product, the Galaxy Note, and although the first iteration wasn’t exactly lacking in the hardware department, the Korean company has still managed to pack in a host of healthy upgrades.

Announced over at IFA 2012 in Berlin, the Galaxy Note II’s display will be bumped to 5.5″ as expected, and although it’s only one-fifth of an inch larger in diameter to that of its predecessor, it’s still a noticeable amount of additional real-estate. Said display will be at 1280×720 resolution, so although the pixel density will be less than that of the first Galaxy Note, it will now be a true 16:9 aspect ratio.

As was the case with the first Galaxy Note, the screen will be a Super AMOLED HD, and a 1.6GHz quad-core CPU will keep things ticking over quite nicely. It’ll include a healthy 2GB of RAM, and seeing as though it’ll be running Android’s latest and greatest Jelly Bean (4.1) from the get-go, there should not even be a trace of lag. The rear snapper will offer 8-megapixels, whilst the front will offer a 1.9-megapixel camera. The battery will be 3,100mAh – 600mAh up on the "smaller" Galaxy Note, and it does look as though Samsung has offered a similar transition as it did with the S II to the S III earlier this year.

As well as the hardware specs, there’ll be plenty unique new perks such as Air View, which will allow users to hover the redesigned S Pen over content in order preview without opening, which certainly sounds like an intriguing implementation.

The Note II will be slightly thinner than the current, measuring in at 9.4mm compared with 9.65mm, although it will be a couple of grams heavier. Depending on how much space you require, you can pick from the usual 16, 32, and 64 GB storage configurations, although the microSD expansion will allow you to bump your standards quota by a further 64GB. Meanwhile, connectivity is HSPA+ 21mbps, and there’ll be a 4G LTE model available for those whose area / carrier permits.

It’ll begin shipping from October in Europe, and will be available Marble White or Titanium Gray. No word has yet been said of the US release, although we’ll bring you that information as it arrives.

How To Root Galaxy S III (AT&T, T-Mobile Or Sprint Model) [Tutorial]

The international version of the Galaxy S III was rooted a few weeks ago and now, just days after release, all US variants of the Galaxy S III – for AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile – have been rooted and we’ve got root guides for all three smartphones ready right after the jump.

DISCLAIMER: I will not be held responsible for any damage incurred to your device as a result of following this guide. Follow at your own risk.

T-Mobile / Sprint

As it turns out the rooting method for T-Mobile and Sprint variants of the Galaxy S III are exactlythe same. Same files, exact same method.

Part 1: Initial Setup

Step 1: Download and install USB drivers for Samsung Galaxy S III [Direct Link].

Step 2: On Galaxy S III, enable USB debugging from Settings > Developer options.

Step 3: Connect your device to your PC via USB cable.

Step 4: Download CMW_SuperUser_v3.07.zip [Direct Link] and transfer it directly under the parent directory on your device’s internal storage.

Step 5: Disconnect your device from PC and power it off.

Now, onto the second part of the guide:

Part 2: Flashing clockworkmod.tar

Step 6: Download Odin3-v3.04.zip [Direct Link] and extract its contents using a suitable software (we recommend PeaZip).

Step 7: Similarly, download clockworkmod.tar [Direct Link].

Step 8: Boot your Galaxy S III into download mode by pressing and holding Volume Down, Homeand Power buttons. Press Volume Up when the prompt comes up.

Step 9: Once in download mode, run Odin3 v3.04.exe from the .zip file in Step 7.

Step 10: Connect your Galaxy S III with PC once again. Odin should detect your device.

Step 11: Click on PDA and select the clockworkmod.tar file you downloaded in Step 7.

Step 12: Ensure that Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are selected. Then, click on Start to begin process.

Part 3: Flashing SuperUser

Step 13: Now you must boot into ClockworkMod Recovery Mode. Shut down your device, press and hold Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.

Step 14: Navigate to install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard > [CWM_SuperUser_v3.0.7.zip file you downloaded earlier]


Step 15: After it’s done, choose reboot system now from main menu.

Part 4: Final Steps

Step 16: Install BusyBox from the Play Store. Grant it SuperUser permissions and follow on-screen instructions.

Step 17: Launch the SuperUser app from your app drawer and update binaries from [wrench icon] > Su binary > Update.

AT&T

The method for rooting AT&T’s Galaxy S III involves the same steps as above but uses different files. Please be careful about using the correct files; you may brick your device otherwise.

Step 1: Follow Part 1: Initial Setup above.

Step 2: Follow Part 2: Flashing clockworkmod.tar but, instead of clockworkmod.tar, use fixboot.tar [MediaFire].

Step 3: Follow Part 2: Flashing clockworkmod.tar but, once again, use this recovery image file [Direct Link].

Step 4: Follow Part 2: Flashing clockworkmod.tar, Part 3: Flashing SuperUser and Part 4: Final Steps (in that order) as it is.

For queries regarding AT&T Galaxy S III root, head over to the official thread here XDA-Developers.