ICS officially available for AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II beginning tomorrow

The customer experience for AT&T Samsung Galaxy S® II owners is about to get much better.

Starting tomorrow, customers who purchased the Samsung Galaxy S® II from AT&T will be able to get an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), the latest version of the Android platform.

ICS takes the customer experience many steps forward by making navigation more intuitive with faster user interface and browsing. The many new features include an enhanced Recent Apps shortcut to ease multitasking, new lock/unlock features including Face Unlock, improved home screen folders, a new notifications bar and an app to help you track your data usage.

It's easy to get the update (free of charge). Here's how:

1. Visit the Samsung website from a personal computer.

2. Download and Install the Samsung Kies Upgrade Program on your PC.

3. Connect your device to your PC and follow the instructions on Samsung Kies to get the update.

For more information, customers can also visit http://www.samsung.com/us/attgalaxys2/update.

Through my own personal experience, I have found much improved performance through all the ICS features, especially Recent Apps where I can go back and forth among multiple apps effortlessly.

Taken with the features already included in the Samsung Galaxy® S II, ICS is a clear win for our customers.

ICS updates are coming this summer for more AT&T Android devices so stay tuned.

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Samsung files patents for robot that mimics human walking and breathing, ratchets up the creepy factor

By Jon Fingas posted Jun 22nd 2012 2:14AM

As much as Samsung is big on robots, it hasn't gone all-out on the idea until a just-published quartet of patent applications. The filings have a robot more directly mimicking a human walk and adjusting the scale to get the appropriate speed without the unnatural, perpetually bent gait of certain peers. To safely get from point A to point B, any path is chopped up into a series of walking motions, and the robot constantly checks against its center of gravity to stay upright as it walks uphill or down. All very clever, but we'd say Samsung is almost too fond of the uncanny valley: one patent has rotating joints coordinate to simulate the chest heaves of human breathing. We don't know if the company will ever put the patents to use; these could be just feverish dreams of one-upping Honda's ASIMO at its own game. But if it does, we could be looking at Samsung-made androids designed like humans rather than for them.

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AT&T says Galaxy S III pre-orders won't land until June 25th, Samsung decides to celebrate anyways

Samsung Galaxy S® III Available Starting Today

Samsung celebrates launch of "The Next Big Thing" in smartphones with expansive marketing campaign, consumer experiential event, and $1.5 million donation to World Wildlife Fund

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Samsung Galaxy S® III has officially launched in the U.S. The premium content sharing smartphone is available online starting today on T-Mobile's Web site and in select retail stores. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular will have the Galaxy S III in-store and online within the next several weeks.

The Galaxy S III celebration kicked off in New York City last night with a star-studded event hosted by actress Ashley Greene. Five hundred Samsung fans were granted access to an experiential event held at Skylight Studios in the trendy SoHo district to test drive the sharing capabilities of the Galaxy S III, get their picture taken with NBA stars Steve Nash, Kevin Love and Stephen Curry and share those once-in-a-lifetime experiences thanks to the Galaxy S III. Capping the night off was a special surprise performance by Skrillex.

Taking its inspiration from nature, Samsung Mobile designed the Galaxy S III features to respond intuitively and naturally to human use and interaction. It balances ergonomics with intuitive use so that the device becomes an extension of the user. To celebrate the launch of the Galaxy S III, Samsung Telecommunications America will donate $1.5 million to benefit the World Wildlife Fund (www.wwf.org), which strives to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. Samsung fans can share with the world which animal species they love by voting at www.facebook.com/samsungmobileusa and at the various launch events being hosted June 20-22. Samsung will announce the donation on its Facebook page and tap into its community of nearly 7 million fans on Facebook.com/samsungmobileusa to help raise awareness of the WWF initiatives with posts throughout the week.

The launch of the Galaxy S III is being supported by the largest and most innovative marketing and advertising campaign ever conducted in the U.S. by Samsung Mobile. The campaign leverages technology to engage consumers in new and interactive ways and reward Galaxy S III owners.

* With sharing as a key feature of the Galaxy S III, Samsung is rewarding new owners with premium content via Samsung Share-to-Go Stations across the nation at no cost. Leveraging the NFC technology incorporated into the Galaxy S III, Samsung customers are able to download content directly to their device with a simple tap of their phone to the smart board or kiosk. Content is stored on the device so it can be viewed at any time.
* This summer, Samsung is launching an interactive cinema 3D game experience at theaters across the country. The Samsung Galaxy SIII Cinema Game allows the audience to uniquely interact with a 3D phone on-screen and move the images with hand motions to score points.
* This weekend, the Times Square Share will give consumers on the streets of New York, the first opportunity to share photos and video with the Galaxy S III. Consumers that perform actions such as playing air guitar or showing off dance moves can watch their video on the Samsung Big Board in Times Square and on Samsung's social media channels.
* Samsung presents Beacon, a mobile-only magazine and content hub with the latest news, tips, information and entertainment designed for people who've left the desktop behind. Beacon will offer daily news and features curated from more than 1,000 sources across the Web, as well as exclusive stories and downloadable content in the form of music, video, and e-books and magazines.

"Once again, we are putting the 'Next Big Thing' in consumers' hands. The Galaxy S III introduces a completely new way of sharing and socializing that no other mobile phone can," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications.

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