Valentine’s Day maybe a week away but Samsung has decided to celebrate the day a week before and after by giving away a bunch of paid apps for free to its users. Samsung is gifting its bada or Android users with free paid apps till February 21 and also a chance to win a $5 app voucher, in case a user downloads all the apps.

You can head down to Samsung Apps to check out the apps and supported devices as Samsung is also offering discounted apps for some devices.

Samsung Apps

Thanks, Mark!

iGR, a market strategy consultancy that focuses on wireless and mobile communications industry, revealed in its Android consumer research that Samsung is the most preferred Android device brand. Of the major brands supporting Android, Samsung has the highest brand preference among consumers, followed by Motorola, HTC and LG. ZTE and Huawei ranked toward the bottom of the brands studied, although note that these brands currently sell comparatively lower volumes in the U.S. market.

iGR’s new research also shows that 45 percent of Android users researched the OS prior to purchase and specifically selected an Android device when they bought a new smartphone. It also appears that Google’s reputation is driving Android sales – 27 percent of Android users said that they selected an Android smartphone because they believed that Google was a ‘reputable company’ and therefore inferred that Android must also be reputable.

UPDATE: Available on the Android Market as well. Link below.

Samsung’s cross-platform communication service, ChatON is now available for mass consumption. The app is currently available on Android via Samsung’s own app store. ChatON, if you’re unaware is Samsung’s tool for communication across various platforms including Android, bada, iOS, BlackBerry and PC.

Currently, Samsung preloads the ChatON app only in bada 2.0 devices whereas Android users can download from the store.

ChatON will enable users to have a 1:1 conversation, group chat and share multimedia content.

ChatON currently supports over 25 languages.

Samsung Apps
Android Market

Samsung has announced to release a new Galaxy S II software update that will add two new features to the phone. Expected to release soon, the new update’s highlight is the Big Home that increases the icon size by 30%. Next feature is the System Update widget. The new update brings firmware-over-the-air widget that allows instant access to update phone software and notify if a new one is available.

UPDATE: Samsung has released a new statement saying this new update is restricted to Korea and is an ‘option’ in addition to the regular UI.

Update: We have a fresh set of updates coming in from GSMArena that majorly proves the BGR.com mentioned specs wrong.

GSMArena was contacted by a tipster from inside Google that revealed the specs. Besides being a world phone, the Nexus Prime will also be LTE enabled. With so many specs leak coming in, we would take this with a pinch of salt. Please see the updated specs below.

Although we are waiting for 11 October Samsung Unpacked event for Google and Samsung to reveal their next developer phone in the Nexus series, the Nexus Prime, bgr.com has managed to get the details of the upcoming flagship device. They received the information from a trusted source and that makes us believe them. Here’s the specs of Nexus Prime that will take the Apple iPhone 4 S headon.

- Runs of Android Ice cream sandwich (ver.4.0)
- Measuring 9mm thin
-
- Powered by TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocking at 1.2GHz Samsung’s own chipset,
with a blazingly fast dual-core 1.5GHz processor
- PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU
- 1 GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage
- 5-megapixel main camera 8-megapixel main camera and 1.3-megapixel front camera
- High-definition 1080p video capture support
- LTE/HSPA support
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and NFC as well
- Powered by 1750mAh 2050mAh battery

Lastly, the Nexus Prime will be Verizon exclusive phone. It would be interesting to see like the other Nexus phones will it be also available unlocked, that is, without contract.

Source: bgr.com

Teaser videos are not the only things Samsung is using to hype their Unpacked event. They’ve now released an Unpacked application on the Android Market that gives event info like schedule, location, time as well as a direct YouTube link to watch the teaser. The app will also enable live streaming of the event which will be done after an update on September 1.

Samsung will also release the app on Samsung Apps Store.

Android Market

Thanks, Suraj!

One news to spread like wildfire this Monday is Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility. And despite Motorola being a hardware manufacturer, Google was quick to clarify that this buy was to strengthen the Android ecosystem, which in simpler terms meant to use their wide patent portfolio. Samsung’s JK Shin also believes this acquisition will help protect Android and its partners.

We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.

Samsung has developed a new application that will give Galaxy device owners an overview of apps and games worth downloading. The app is known as Samsung Hub and it segregates itself in three sections (four, if you count Help) — Samsung Suggests, Games and Exclusives. Suggests shows a mash up of apps and games which Samsung thinks are worth downloading; Games is a premium placement for paid games whereas Exclusives shows up offers or any exclusive app that is available with your network and the device.

I did try this app and frankly, you wouldn’t miss it unless you want some recommendations from Samsung.

The app is compatible with devices like Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 10.1 and is available for download from the Android Market.

Android Market

Microsoft earns a decent chunk of their revenue from royalties from Android handset manufacturers and when you put Samsung into the equation, one of the largest manufacturers for Android handsets, the royalty influx is bound to inflate. A report by Maeil Newspaper claims that Microsoft is demanding Samsung to chalk up a royalty of $15 per unit, which can get even lower to say $10 or $5 per handset if Samsung agrees to show strong support for Microsoft’s Windows Phone.

Samsung has a lot riding on the Android platform and a deal like this could put a serious dent on the Korean’s financial figures.

Via

UPDATE: Samsung has released an update that supports Galaxy Player 5 (YP-G70).

Samsung has released a new Android app that will allow Galaxy S II and Samsung Smart TV owners to relay content directly from their TVs to the smartphone. Dubbed as Smart View, the app is available in the Android Market and transmits TV content to the phone over Wi-Fi. Any content, including normal cable TV, content from Blu-ray player, set-top box etc. can be played on the phone.

Additionally, the app can also be used as a remote control for the TV or Blu-ray player, a game controller or a QWERTY keyboard for Samsung TV apps.

The app works with D7000, D8000, and D9500 series Smart TVs and is compatible with Galaxy S II. The app will support Galaxy Player 5 (YP-G70) in July and Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab later this year.

Download the app from the Android Market link below.

Android Market