Samsung is back for more, today introducing the third generation of its Galaxy S smartphones with an impossibly large 4.8-inch display and a handful of the iPhone’s best features (such as a Siri knockoff) thrown in for good measure. Gee, maybe they actually like getting dragged into patent court all the time? At least Apple can’t say the Korean manufacturer is stealing their screen size. With that in mind, let’s jump into the rest of the day’s news for Thursday, May 3, 2012.
IDC: iPad Still Tablet King with 68 Percent Share, Kindle Fire Plummets
Amazon’s Kindle Fire made quite a splash out of the gate last November, but according to new data released by IDC, the flame appears to have mostly been snuffed out by the release of the new iPad. Overall, the tablet market dropped 38.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, a bit more than IDC’s previous prediction of 34 percent. Total tablet sales hit 17.4 million, but Apple’s iPad nabbed 11.8 million of those for a 68 percent market share, which didn’t leave many potential customers for competitors to mop up. After grabbing 16.8 percent of the tablet market late last year with the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s darling dropped to third place with a mere four percent share in Q1 2012, bumped out of second place by Samsung. Lenovo ranked fourth, and Barnes Noble sopped up the rest of the market for fifth place.
The Daily Arrives for iPhone
It certainly took long enough, but the first iPad-only newspaper The Daily has finally made the leap to the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPod touch. Even better, the subscription pricing has similarly gotten a downsizing at only $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year. iPad users won’t get those cheaper rates, but they do get a small bonus: Free access to the iPhone edition as part of their 99-cent per week or $39.99 per year tablet subscription.
iTunes Connect Adds 10 New Languages for Developers
App developers are about to have some expanded options when it comes to offering their apps internationally, as iTunes Connect has announced 10 new languages: Traditional Chinese, Norwegian, Turkish, Finnish, Danish, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, and Greek. “Now you have more ways to reach millions of users around the world,” the developer news website notes today. “We have expanded language support in iTunes Connect, so you can localize app metadata, keywords, and screenshots in 10 new languages.” Sadly, we don’t speak a single one of those, but it should be good news for customers in those regions.
“Designed for Humans”: Samsung Galaxy S III Gets Official
We’re not likely to see a new iPhone again until October, but Samsung is taking advantage of the lull in Apple’s schedule by introducing the third chapter in its flagship Android smartphone line. The Samsung Galaxy S III has been officially unveiled at an event today, with a whopping 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display featuring a 1280×720 resolution. Despite being 20 percent larger than the iPhone 4S, the GS3 is actually lighter and thinner, and even includes a Siri-esque feature Samsung has dubbed the “S Voice.” The handset won’t be available in North America until this summer, but begins an international rollout on May 29 in Europe before moving on to Asia. Aside from the enormous tablet-sized display, the handset is noteworthy for bundling 50GB of Dropbox storage for two years as well as an exclusive app: Flipboard for Android, which will eventually roll out to other handsets as well. Oh, and the Korean manufacturer claims the GS3 is “designed for humans” — at least those with hands beefy enough to hold it, that is. And just try to watch the GS3 commercial without making a smart-aleck remark — we dare you!
iLounge Claims Next iPhone Won’t Feature Rumored Teardrop Design
Looks like iPhone rumor season is in full swing again, with iLounge publishing a number of tidbits on what we might see come October. Fans of that mocked-up teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 design that made the rounds last year will be disappointed to hear that the next iPhone is likely going to retain a similar look to the existing iPhone 4S, but shed 2mm in thickness and get stretched out by 10mm in height to create a larger 4-inch display. The more bizarre part of this dubious rumor suggests that “a metal panel” will be added to the center of the back of the otherwise Gorilla Glass-covered handset. The website likens it to the current iMac generation, but we say it’s just butt-ugly. Finally, in keeping with a volley of other rumors, iLounge is also predicting the 30-pin dock connector will get a big shrinky-dink with a smaller “pill shape” hole. Do we need to remind you yet again about getting your hopes up too much with these rumors? We didn’t think so.
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