Samsung sells 300 million phones in 2011

Someone call Guinness, we've got a new record – a new internal record that is, as Samsung announces it's sold 300 million mobile handsets in 2011, the most it's ever sold in a year.

In 2010, aka the year of the Samsung Galaxy S, the manufacturer sold around 280 million handsets. This year, the company sold 10 million Samsung Galaxy S2 handsets, which made a significant contribution to its record-breaking results.

"We look forward to extending this success going into 2012," said JK Shin, president and head of Samsung's mobile communications business, wholly unsurprisingly.

Phone wars

The results will be one in the eye for HTC, which recently revised its profit estimates for the year down by 20 per cent, and reported a 30 per cent drop in handset sales in November.

If we were being flippant, we'd say Samsung was the Ebeneezer Scrooge to HTC's Bob Cratchit here – who knows, maybe JK Shin will show up at Peter Chou's house on 25 December with the biggest goose a street urchin could find him and toys for Tiny Tim.

Either that, or the two companies will continue to battle for smartphone dominance in 2012; we're expecting big quad-core things from both manufacturers to launch at CES 2012 and Mobile World Congress 2012. It might not be as heart-warming but we'll get some great new phones out of it so we'll be happy, at least.

Samsung sells 30 million Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 phones

Samsung has announced 30 million Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 have been sold worldwide

Samsung has announced that it has passed the 30 million global sales mark for its Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 smartphones.

The news follows reports from September that the company had sold 10 million Galaxy S2’s since the handset launched in Europe and Asia in April this year, leading Samsung to describe the phone in July as its fastest selling device ever.

The debut of the Galaxy S2 in the US in September, under carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, has further boosted sales since launch. In a press release announcing the record sales, Samsung was keen to point out the original Galaxy S is still seeing strong sales despite the arrival of its successor.

‘Since its launch only five months ago, GALAXY S2 has seen tremendous sales success and garnered enthusiastic reviews from consumers and mobile industry watchers across the globe,’ said JK Shin, president of Samsung mobile communications.

‘This is in addition to the continued sales momentum behind GALAXY S, which we launched at Mobile World Congress 2010 as continues to be a run-away success with consumers.’

Apple also announced that sales of its new iPhone 4S have broken its previous records for the opening weekend. If sales continue at this rate, it will outsell the Galaxy S2 in short order.

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Walgreens sells Android tablet for $99, but is it real

The drugstore Walgreens has an Android Tablet called the Maylong M-150 on their site for sale for only $99. They claim that the tablet sports a 7-inch LCD screen, and runs the Android operating system but does not state which version. The rest of the specifications are very nice if true for the price, they are as follows:

• Google Android™ Operating System
• LCD color touch-screen 7-inches
• Full Internet browsing capability
• Experience YouTube at your fingertips
• Easy access to emails
• Download and play games
• Included digital music, video player and digital picture viewer
• Digital picture frame
• e-Book reader
• Download and install custom Google Android™ Applications

• CPU: ARM9(VM8505+)
• Memory – RAM: 256MB DDR
• Memory – Flash: Built-in Flash
• Display – Touch Panel: 7-inch TFT LCD
• Display: Resolution 800 X 480 Pixels
• WIFI: 802.11b/g
• Input/Output – Touch Panel: Resistive type touch panel
• Input/Output – Speaker: Built-in loud speakers
• Input/Output – SD/MMC: T-Flash card slot
• Input/Output – Network/USB: Dongle for RJ-45 network and USB connection
• Buttons/Switches: Power On/Off, Volume adjustment
• Battery: Built-in Li-Polymer battery
• Charger – Input: AC 100-240V, 0.5A
• Charger – Output: 9V, 1500MA

• Tablet device with 7-inch color touch screen
• Stylus
• AC Adapter
• Network/USB dongle
• User’s manual

One of the main problems I have with this tablet is the picture, take a good look what do you see. It is a sideways picture of an iPad and not the actual tablet that they claim to sell. I doubt that Walgreens would sell a fake tablet but they need to actually use the correct picture.

The specifications specify an ARM9 CPU but not the clock speed. Upon searching for the processor I found that it could be around 533 MHZ which isnt too bad and I even found asimilar tablet for the same price. The tablet I found is a TOLOVO which runs Android 1.6 which is quite possible the version of Android that the Walgreens tablet may be running.

Samsung Galaxy S II sells over 5 million units in three months

The Galaxy S II first arrived in South Korea on April 29, 2011. The following month, it was released in other Asian and European countries, including Japan and the UK. Last week, the smartphone debuted in China.

Samsung's long-term, worldwide ambitions for the Galaxy S II are relatively modest: 10 million units in all of 2011, which is the number it sold of the original Galaxy S in 2010. At this rate though, the company will break that number very quickly.

The Galaxy S II runs Android 2.3 (codenamed Gingerbread) and features a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. It is the first handset to offer Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus screen technology (4.27-inch display, 800x480 resolution), and is the company's thinnest phone at 8.49mm, with a weight of just 116g. The device also features an 8MP primary camera with 1080p video capture, and a 2MP camera in the front, as well as integrated NFC support on some versions. It also has BlueTooth 3.0+HS and HSPA+ connectivity.

The device's new Live Panel allows you to aggregate web, social networking, and app content to a single customizable home screen. You'll be able to switch between three adjacent home screens by simply pressing and holding on the screen. The phone will come with four new content and entertainment hubs: music, games, e-reading, and social networking.