Samsung posts an official teaser of its Galaxy K (S5 Zoom): to be announced tomorrow

The Samsung Galaxy K, also referred to as the Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom, isn’t exactly what you’d call a secret. The device – a blend between an Android smartphone and a 20MP point-and-shoot camera with optical zoom – got exposed in photos multiple times over the past few weeks, and its hardware specs are no mystery either.

What we have to share with you today, however, is not a leak. It is an official teaser (Click here to see it) coming straight from Samsung’s Instagram account – an image of the Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore, where “The Next Galaxy” is going to be announced on April 29. Clearly, the teaser hints at a device with superior (for a smartphone) zooming capabilities, and according to what is known so far, the Samsung Galaxy K will offer 10x optical zoom, just like last year’s Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom.

Of course, the Samsung Galaxy K (the name has yet to be confirmed, by the way) should be capable of a lot more than just taking photos and videos. It will also be a fully-functional Android smartphone, with a 4.8-inch 720 x 1280 pixel display, a hexa-core Exynos 5 SoC, and 2GB of RAM. Android 4.4.2 KitKat will come pre-loaded, along with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface in its latest form. A feature-rich camera application is assumed to be on board as well.

Samsung sends invites for ‘Kapture the Moment’ event!

It hasn’t been long since we saw the first leaked image of the Samsung K Zoom camera phone, the successor to the Galaxy S4 Zoom launched last year. Now, Samsung has started sending out invites for the launch event, which will be held in Singapore on April 29.

Although Samsung hasn’t explicitly stated the occasion for the event (when do they ever?) the tag ‘Kapture the Moment’ makes it quite clear what it’s going to be about.

As we have already seen, the K Zoom will have a 20.2 megapixel sensor with 10x optical zoom, 4.8-inch, 1280×720 Super AMOLED display, Exynos 5 Hexa processor with 2GB of RAM and Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

We will find out more in a couple of weeks from now.

Samsung officially unveils ATIV Q and ATIV Tab 3 Windows 8 tablets and announces ATIV Book 9 Plus, ATIV Book 9 Lite ultrabooks and Galaxy NX Camera

Today Samsung has announced the next generation of their sleek Series 9 ultrabook. The two new ultrabooks are called ATIV Book 9 Plus and ATIV Book 9 Lite respectively and both run Windows 8, as you might have guessed.

Both feature aluminium unibodies and 13.3-inch screens with touch functionality. The one on the ATIV Book 9 Plus however packs the whopping 3200 X 1800 QHD+ resolution.

The ATIV Book 9 Plus uses Intel’s fourth gen Haswell CPUs – both Core i5 and i7 ULT are available – and provides up to 12h of battery life. It has 2xUSB 3.0 ports, it weighs only 1.39kg and comes in black.

The ATIV Book 9 Lite takes it easier on the wallet with a screen, which has 1366 x 768px resolution and touch functionality only as an option.

The ATIV Book 9 Lite is powered by a low-voltage quad-core CPU and weighs 1.44kg-1.58kg depending on the touchscreen option. It has one USB 3.0 port and another USB 2.0 port on board. It will be available in both black and white.

There is no info on pricing and availability just yet.

Samsung announces Galaxy NX, first Android-powered interchangeable lens camera with 20.3MP APS-C sensor

Samsung just unveiled the first interchangeable lens camera that is powered by Android, the Samsung Galaxy NX. The device is a more advanced version of the Galaxy Camera with a much larger sensor and you get a choice of NX mount lenses.

The Galaxy NX uses an APS-C sensor with an effective resolution of 20.3MP. Besides high resolution stills, the camera can also record 1080p video at 25fps. The camera features DRIMe IV Image Signal Processer and can do burst shots at 8.6fps with a maximum shutter speed of up to 1/6000 sec.

The big sensor isn’t the only advantage – with the Galaxy NX you can use any NX mount lens, pancake lenses, fish eye lenses, long primes and zoom lenses, even a 45mm 2D/3D lens. Some lenses feature Optical Image Stabilization too.

The camera packs a powerful xenon popup flash and you get an electronic viewfinder with SVGA resolution (800 x 600) if you are into that sort of thing.

The Samsung Galaxy NX also packs a 4.8″ HD TFT LCD display on the back, which is a lot better than what cameras usually get (yes, even expensive DSLRs). It gets much better functionality too, thanks to Android 4.2.2 with TouchWiz 5, which is becoming standard issue for recent Galaxy devices.

The Samsung Galaxy NX is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. The storage can be expanded with a microSD card (up to 64GB). Connectivity is worthy of a smartphone too with LTE (market dependent), HSPA+ (42Mbps download), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS plus GLONASS for accurate geo-tagging.

The TouchWiz software means users get the same creative camera modes that we saw on the Galaxy S4 Zoom – more than 30 Smart modes including Animated photo (creates a GIF), Multi Exposure and Sound & shot.

The Galaxy NX will come bundled with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for advanced image processing, but the camera also comes with True 3D Creator for making 3D images and movies.

The camera measures 136.5 x 101.2 x 25.7mm and weighs 495g with the battery. Speaking of which, it’s a 4,360mAh battery, which is close to four times the capacity of the Samsung NX2000 battery, but it’s needed for the bigger screen and powerful chipset.

There’s no info on the price and availability of the Samsung Galaxy NX just yet.

Samsung officially unveils ATIV Q and ATIV Tab 3 Windows 8 tablets

At today’s Premiere event in London Samsung officially announced two tablets – the convertible ATIV Q and ATIV Tab 3. Both devices run Windows 8, while the ATIV Q can dual boot Android as well.

Starting up with the Samsung ATIV Q, as it is the more interesting slate of the two. It’s built around a 13.3″ display with the jaw-dropping resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. This results in pixel density of 275ppi, more than some not-so-old smartphones out there.

Since its a slider tablet, it supports a few lock modes: typing, floating (the display is lifted from the base), stand and writing.

It’s powered by a fourth-gen Intel Core i5 processor with Intel’s HD Graphics 4400 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD storage. It runs Windows 8 and can run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, as well. Connectivity options include one USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 port each, micro HDMI, Ethernet port (via a dongle), and an SD card slot. The front-facing camera is capable of shooting 720p HD video.

The Samsung ATIV Q weighs 1.29kg (2.84 pounds) and measures 327.0 x 217.8 x 13.9mm, which is not too shabby for a tablet with these specifications. The battery is of unknown size, but Samsung claims it can power the ATIV Q for up to 9 hours.

Samsung ATIV Tab 3

On to the Samsung ATIV Tab 3, which sports a 10.1″ display, packing a more modest 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. It runs Windows 8 again but is powered by he Intel ATOM Z2760 CPU and 2GB of RAM. The internal storage is 64GB, expandable via the on-board microSD card slot.

The ATIV Tab 3 weighs 550 grams and is just 8.2mm thick, which Samsung claims is the world’s thinnest as far as Windows 8 tablets go. The company hasn’t provided details about the battery yet, but says it’ll be good for 10 hours of usage. There’s one microUSB and one microHDMI port as well.

Sharing the design of the Galaxy Tab series, the ATIV Tab 3 also features an improved S Pen, which is fully compatible with the Microsoft Office suite, which is preloaded on it (Home & Student version).

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom pictured in an official photo

It is no secret now that Samsung still has at least one more smartphone device to add to its ever growing Galaxy S4 range, and now what looks like to the Galaxy S4 Zoom has leaked in some images with the device having a point and shoot camera resemblance.

Talk of the company releasing its first camera phone first emerged at the beginning of last month and comes after we have already seen the Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy S4 Active. Now the images that you can see on this page are claimed to be of the Galaxy S4 Zoom and come from two different sources.

It is being claimed that the actual camera part of the device will pack a 16-megapxiel sensor, and from the images it seems this part of the device does stick out quite a bit. While there is no guarantees this is the real deal the other image you can see on this page is from Techtasticwho have some slightly clearer images of the alleged device instead of renders.

There is a good chance that Samsung will officially announce the device in the coming days leading up to its special press event it has pencilled in for June 20th. It won’t be until then will we hear more solid news on release dates and pricing for the new Galaxy S4 line up.

Internal memory is suggested to be 8GB, and is going to be expandable with up to 64GB microSD card. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE and GPS.

The right side of the device houses the lock/unlock button, volume rocker and shutter button.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom camera sample leaks and a 5G Network from Samsung soon?

By now everyone plus the dog know that Samsung is preparing to strike back with a cameraphone of its own against the expected onslaught of Nokia Lumia EOS and the Sony i1.

It could be called Galaxy S4 Zoom (SM-C101), and eventually feature 10x optical zoom, but the screen size and other specs are likely to be more akin a Galaxy S4 Mini, rather than cannibalizing on the sales of the flagship S4.

Now the ever-telling Snapseed has apparently become home for the first sample picture from what is rumored to be a 16 MP camera unit on the back of the S4 Zoom.

The picture is with obviously resized resolution, and carrying the enticing name “Morning view”, snapped by one Shahriar Hossain, who just happens to be working at Samsung Electronics. Take a peek below what can we expect once Samsung’s Android cameraphone gets eventually introduced at the end of the month.

Samsung unveils 5G mmWave tech for ‘tens of gigabits per second’ wireless downloads

When you just can’t wait a minute to download that huge video, Samsung comes to the rescue. Sort of. Eventually. Reports Monday indicate Apple’s rival has found the key to delivering gigabit download speeds through a new fifth-generation cellular radio technology, dubbed 5G mmWave. It’s unclear whether the new tech can gain acceptance to eventually overtake 4G networks still rolling out.

For the iPhone maker, however, Samsung breaking today’s wireless speed barrier may mean more court wrangling as the two companies seek any advantage in the lucrative smartphone market…

Samsung announced the 5G breakthrough Sunday, claiming it enabled downloads and uploads of “tens of gigabits per second,” reported Yonhap News.

According to Samsung’s official blog post, 5G will be “capable of providing a ubiquitous Gbps experience to subscribers anywhere and offers data transmission speeds of up to several tens of Gbps per base station.”

The technology would theoretically allow you to download a full-feature 1080p flick on future iDevices in under a minute.

Until now, 4G LTE – with transmission speeds that reached 75 megabits per second – led the wireless drag race. The Korean firm achieved the faster speed by using the 28GHz wireless band and 64 antenna elements.

Samsung explains:

Once commercialized, 5G mobile communications technology will be capable of ultra-high-speed data transmission up to several hundred times faster than even the 4G LTE-Advanced technology due for launch later this year.

Samsung’s new technology will allow users to transmit massive data files including high quality digital movies practically without limitation.

As a result, subscribers will be able to enjoy a wide range of services such as 3D movies and games, real-time streaming of ultra high-definition (UHD) content, and remote medical services.

In the races between Apple and Samsung, the weekend announcement is interesting for a couple reasons.

Firstly, until Apple released an iPhone supporting 4G, transmission speed was a selling point for Android handsets, such as those sold by Samsung. Introducing a wireless 5G could regain that lead.

Secondly, 5G technology could be another arrow in Samsung’s quiver in the long-running patent dispute with Apple. A dispute over 3G patents has gone back and forth, with Apple winning a lawsuit in the UK while losing a similar wireless case in Germany.

As AppleInsider notes, Samsung’s wireless patents “are typically standard essential,” where the patent holder must grant other companies licenses on what courts have variously defined as ‘fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory’ terms.

Just what those three words mean is often in dispute, as Samsung found in late 2012. Beyond the patent, Samsung’s 5G news faces other roadblocks. Foremost is the technology won’t even be ready to sell until 2020.

That could give the company and carriers time to convince half of the U.S. consumers there is even a need for 4G speeds, let alone 5G. Then there are all the carriers who haven’t built 4G networks, waiting for consumers to get the memo that faster is better.

Even if Samsung can sell the idea of 5G, they must argue that their version is better than Japan’s NTT DoCoMo’s. That version uses the 11GHz band and has been around since February.

Kinda disappointing to build a wireless hotrod and discover the tires won’t be ready for more than a half decade, there are no eager drivers and most roads were built for the family station wagon.