With the upcoming Galaxy S6 in the horizon Samsung has made public that they plan to strip their TouchWiz interface of some of its default programs.
The cool thing about smart devices is that, when it comes to them, it’s always users who are in control. Precisely because of that it is quite annoying when users find their devices come with preloaded apps, chosen by the manufacturers: whether we need them or not, we’d like to be the judges. Samsung are aware of this, and that is why the next version of their TouchWiz interface will feature less preloaded programs and allow more user customization. The Korean giant has reported that the next TouchWiz will not feature any of Samsung’s built in applications, but bundle instead some essentials such as Skype, Office Mobile, and OneDrive.
The Galaxy S6 will be shown to the world at the Unpacked event on March 1. We know for a fact it will feature TouchWiz (the unique interface Samsung set on top of Android) as to differentiate itself from its competitors, but instead of including bloatware users will get to choose for themselves. They will still be available at the marketplace, so it’s not like they’re going anywhere, though.
Samsung had a rough year in 2014, with profits going down and hard competition popping up everywhere, even in key zones they used to be in control of. That is why this Unpacked event is so important, and there is so much focus on the user, the Korean giant is fighting hard to earn back their lost goodwill.
Via Cnet
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It wasn't a part of Samsung's IFA 2012 press conference, but Samsung is showing off Google TV hardware for the first time since CES 2011 (pictured above), and will release a Smart TV with Google TV later this year. According to its press release and a blog post by the Google TV team, it will "enhance the Smart TV experience" with premium content from its Samsung Apps services. How exactly it will be merged we should see soon, but now that ARM chips are powering a cheaper, more conventionally built experience we figure whatever hung up the deal has been squashed. We should get an eye on it if it's anywhere on the show floor soon, as well as the Google TV box from Hisense, and Sony's NSZ-GS7 which already launched in the US and UK, but is coming to Germany, France and the Netherlands soon.
Update: We caught up with working hardware at Samsung's booth, but the device was disconnected from the internet, so we weren't able to take it for a proper spin. You can take a somewhat superficial look in our hands-on gallery below, along with the video after the break.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Samsung Smart TV with Google TV on display at IFA 2012, ships 'later this year' (update: hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, the HTC One V marked its debut at US Cellular and Verizon announced a dumb phone with a surprisingly handy feature. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of July 2nd, 2012.
Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of July 2nd, 2012
Mobile Miscellany: week of July 2nd, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Popular newsreader Flipboard is finally officially available on Android, coming out of beta and Galaxy S III exclusivity. As seen in the latest test version, it now supports integration of shared articles from your Google+ feed alongside Twitter and Facebook feeds, and has also added support for YouTube video feeds (all of these are now available on iOS as well). Beyond the Google Play app market, it's also available in the Amazon Appstore, Nook Store and Samsung Apps, so slinging the APK to your Android device of choice should be too difficult.
We gave the final release edition a quick run through ourselves and found it just as smooth on a Samsung Galaxy S II as it has been on any iPhone or iPad, and being ICS-ready out of the gate is a nice touch, although we couldn't force it to switch to landscape viewing. Another handy toggle is the option to go full screen with no menu bar up top, if you need a few extra pixels on your display (optimized for screens up to 7-inches in size). Article sharing is also here and like other Android apps, shares to any services you have installed, not just Twitter or Facebook. The final update is news that Flipboard is launching fully localized editions for Germany, Korea, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands, in addition to the existing localizations for Japan, France, China, United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. All of the details are in the press release after the break, or you can check out pretty much any app store to give it a try yourself.
Update: It's out! As of 1AM or so. Hit the source link to grab it from the Play Store.
Flipboard officially launches on Android, in multiple app stores and for more countries originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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