Samsung Galaxy S5 (CDMA) / Galaxy S5 Sport
Older Sprint Galaxy Phones Get a Taste of Marshmallow
Sprint is rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport and Galaxy Note Edge. The update is being pushed in phases, which Sprint expects to complete by May 11 for the S5 Sport and May 2 for the Note Edge. In addition to the operating system update, Sprint says the Galaxy Note Edge is also receiving the latest security patches from Samsung and Google. Sprint did not say if the Note Edge update includes the improved Edge Panel behaviors that have been made available to the S6 Edge and S6 Edge+.
Sprint Pitching Galaxy S5, Tab 4 Combo for $100
Sprint today announced a smartphone/tablet bundle that combines the Samsung Galaxy S5 or S5 Sport and the Galaxy Tab 4, plus service, in one monthly payment. The offer costs $100 per month, which includes a Sprint Easy Pay lease on the smartphone and the tablet. The service includes unlimited talk, text, and data on the smartphone line, and up to 2GB of data on the tablet line. Sprint says the deal saves customers as much as $300 over a two-year period.
Sprint's HTC One and Galaxy S5 Earn Lollipop
Sprint today began delivering the Android 5.0 Lollipop system update to the HTC One (M7) and Samsung Galaxy S5. The One gained new lock screen tools, a larger view of recent apps, and a search function within the settings menu. In addition to Lollipop, the GS5 was given a new user interface for the VoWiFi application. Sprint also removed the Lumen Toolbar application. The Android operating system update is free to download over WiFi.
Verizon Begins Updating Samsung Galaxy S5 to Lollipop
Verizon Wireless today said owners of the Samsung Galaxy S5 can expect to see Android 5.0 Lollipop hit their device in the days ahead. The update carries with it Google's Material Design, including improved notifications, as well as some Samsung-made changes. For example, Samsung added a short cut to the phone on the home screen. Samsung added the Material Design floating action button to its own Touch Wiz user interface, too. The update includes new ways to manage incoming interruptions and also makes improvements to multitasking. Android 5.0 Lollipop is free to download and install. The update is being pushed out in phases and may take time to reach all users.
Samsung Lists Developer Edition of Galaxy Note 4 for Verizon
Samsung recently revealed a forthcoming variant of its Galaxy Note 4 handset for Verizon Wireless. The Note 4 Developer Edition ships with an unlocked boot loader, and is free of Verizon-branded apps and services. Developers can use the device to test their apps on Verizon's network. The phone will be sold at the full retail price of $662. Samsung said the Galaxy Note 4 Developer Edition is coming soon.
Verizon Starts VoLTE Roll-Out; Wi-Fi Calling on Deck for 2015
Verizon Wireless has slowly begun to enable VoLTE on select devices on its network. To start, VoLTE is available to the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the LG G3. In order to use the service, subscribers need to download an app called Advanced Calling 1.0. More devices will supported over time. In order for VoLTE to work, both parties need to have VoLTE-capable phones and access to Verizon's LTE 4G network. The service, which is free to use, offers high-quality calls that are passed over the data network rather than the traditional voice network. Separately, Verizon Wireless said that, like AT&T, it is going to wait until 2015 to launch Wi-Fi Calling. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said it will eventually roll out the service, which is supported by the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but it is not a priority. "We built our voice platform so extensively [that] there was never a need for us to tell our customers, 'Oh, our network is not good enough so you need to go on Wi-Fi to complete your call,'" said Shammo. Both Sprint and T-Mobile offer Wi-Fi Calling to a growing number of handsets. T-Mobile just today launched its Personal CellSpot in order to help its customers experience better voice connectivity when in their homes.
Best Buy Scores Electric Blue Galaxy S5
Best Buy today announced the August 17 availability of an electric blue Samsung Galaxy S5, a color exclusive to the big box retailer. The blue GS5 will be available to AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless customers for $99 with a new two-year contract, which represents a savings of $100 off the normal contract price. Customers who'd rather use one of the carriers' monthly installment plans will be able to pick up the blue GS5 for $0 down and still receive a $100 Best Buy gift card. The promotional price will be available until August 23.
Hands On with Samsung's Galaxy S5 Sport for Sprint
Sprint today revealed the Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport. Sitting somewhere between the standard S5 and the Active model, the Sport gives you physical keys and a distinctive design. We take it for a quick spin.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport Exclusive to Sprint
Sprint today announced that it will offer the Galaxy S5 Sport, a variant of the Galaxy S5 with rubber grips and physical front buttons. The Sport includes fitness apps such as MapMyFitness with a free year of MVP service. Sprint is also offering $50 off the Galaxy Gear Fit plus 50% off certain sport headphones. Like the standard Galaxy S5, the Sport is water- and dust-resistant. Other features and specs are the same, including 16-megapixel camera, heart rate monitor, full HD display, and 2.5 GHz processor. The Sport can be pre-ordered today and will ship July 25th. It costs $650, or $0 down and 24 monthly payments of $27.09 each. It's available in both Electric Blue and Cherry Red.
Samsung to Shutter Its Music Hub and E-Book Service
Samsung today confirmed it will close its Music Hub and e-book store on July 1. The Music Hub served alongside the Samsung Hub - which sold music, videos, books, games, and educational content - on last year's Galaxy S4 handset. The Music Hub was a full music store, much like Google Play Music or the Amazon MP3 Store. It allowed users to buy individual tracks and albums. The same was true of the e-book store, which duplicated Google's own offering, in addition to those of other providers, such as Amazon. Samsung didn't explain the rationale behind its decision to shutter the music and e-book stores other than to say it was "striving for service differentiation and customer value enhancement." The Samsung Hub itself will also go away, and is no longer preinstalled on this year's Galaxy S5. Instead, Samsung's surviving services - movies, games, and educational content - will remain available as stand-alone apps. Samsung's music and e-book services will still be available to consumers in its home market of Korea.
Sprint Gets a Gold Galaxy S5, Too
Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless followed T-Mobile today by announcing that they, too, will offer the Limited Edition Galaxy S5 Gold beginning May 30.
Verizon Brands Its Dual-Band LTE Markets as 'XLTE'
Verizon Wireless today announced the launch of XLTE service, which is a new way for the company to market its dual-band LTE network. Verizon Wireless initially deployed LTE in the 700MHz band. Verizon's build-out of LTE in the 700MHz band is functionally complete. Verizon began rolling out LTE on its 1700MHz AWS spectrum late last year, and has been slowly adding markets over time. As of today, Verizon says it has initiated service on its AWS spectrum in half its existing LTE footprint. Moving forward, Verizon Wireless will market its dual-band LTE coverage as XLTE in much the same way that Sprint is marketing its tri-band LTE service as Sprint Spark. According to Verizon, XLTE markets offer consumers far more headroom thanks to dramatically improved capacity. With twice the spectrum to work with, XLTE markets can deliver faster peak data speeds when compared to Verizon's 700MHz-only LTE markets. Verizon said a number of its most popular devices are already compatible with its XLTE service, including the Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, and Note 3; the Apple iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c; and the Motorola Droid Maxx, Ultra, and Mini. Customers who own these devices don't need to do anything in order to take advantage of XLTE. They'll automatically connect to Verizon's dual-band LTE network where it is available. Non-XLTE devices will still be able to access Verizon's LTE network as normal. Verizon will continue to roll out XLTE to more markets over time. Verizon didn't say how long it will take to build-out its AWS LTE coverage. Verizon acquired the AWS spectrum from a consortium of cable companies in 2012.
Samsung to Push Biometrics to Low-Cost Phones
Samsung executive Rhee In-jong today said the company plans to increase the use of biometrics in its mobile devices and will eventually make them available to low-cost smartphones. Samsung recently added a fingerprint scanner to the Galaxy S5 as one of several security options. Owners can choose to use their fingerprint, rather than a password, to lock and protect their device. The Apple iPhone 5s also has a fingerprint scanner. Both devices are flagship models, however, and aren't necessarily affordable to everyone. Samsung wants to make biometrics available to all its devices, though Rhee didn't say just how quickly Samsung will accomplish this goal. Rhee did indicate the company is also looking at iris detection as a means of securing mobile devices. The motivation behind these efforts is to drive adoption of Samsung's Knox enterprise security platform, which Samsung believes will help it sell devices to corporate clients.
Samsung Makes Knox 2.0 Available to Galaxy S5
Samsung today announced that its second-generation business security suite is now available to the Galaxy S5. One of the core features of the improved software is support for split billing. Knox 2.0 can determine the amount of monthly data used by personal apps and the data used by business apps and split the bill so businesses only have to pay for the portion generated by actual work. Knox 2.0 also improves compatibility with other applications so they can be secured or sandboxed. The suite has a new series of cloud-based services, as well, such as a dedicated store for enterprise applications, and tools for IT to manage and control employee devices. Knox 2.0 is only available to the GS5, but Samsung said it will become available to more Galaxy devices in the months ahead. Samsung created Knox to help generate more appeal for its devices within businesses. It competes with BlackBerry's BES product.
Samsung Admits Some Galaxy S5s Affected By Camera Bug
Samsung has confirmed that a limited number of a Galaxy S5 smartphones sold are afflicted with a bug that permanently disables the camera. "We have learned that a limited number of Galaxy S5 devices may have an issue that causes 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message. We ask that customers affected visit their carrier for service under Samsung’s standard limited warranty," said the company in a statement. The GS5 has a 16-megapixel camera. Consumers with affected devices may contact Samsung directly or exchange the device at carrier retail stores. Verizon has reached out to customers via social media, but other carriers have not yet done so, and it isn't clear if their devices are also being affected. The GS5 is sold by most carriers in the U.S. for about $200 on contract or $26 per month with an installment plan.
PayPal Launches Swipe Payment App Alongside Galaxy S5
PayPal today made a new version of its mobile app available explicitly for the Samsung Galaxy S5. The app, first announced in February, lets GS5 owners make payments across the web by swiping their finger on the GS5's fingerprint sensor. PayPal says the feature can be used with most online merchants and mobile apps that accept PayPal, in addition to select retail stores. Further, PayPal launched a separate app for Samsung's Gear 2 and Gear Fit smartwatches. The watch-based app lets people save and redeem offers, check their balance, receive payment notifications, and check-in at local stores. Both the smartphone and smartwatch apps are free to download.
AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Nix Download Booster from GS5
Samsung's Download Booster, a feature of the Galaxy S5 meant to improve file download speeds, has been removed from the device by AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless. The companies did not provide a reason for cutting the app. T-Mobile will be the only major U.S. carrier to support the feature. Download Booster splits file downloads between Wi-Fi and LTE in order to create faster speeds. AnandTech reports that Download Booster only works with files from apps such as the Google Play Store, YouTube, Facebook, and the browser that are larger than 30MB. Download Booster's usefulness will vary depending on local network connections.
C Spire to Offer Galaxy S5 in May
C Spire Wireless recently revealed that it will begin selling the Samsung Galaxy S5 as soon as May. The company didn't share pricing details, however. The GS5 reaches most major carriers this month.
Sprint Taking Galaxy S5 Preorders Today, Too
Sprint announced its plans to sell the Samsung Galaxy S5. It is accepting pre-orders for the phone beginning today. Customers may choose between two different financing options. Customers can pay $199.99 (after rebate) with a new two-year contract, or pay $0 down followed by 24 monthly payments of $27.09 with Sprint's Easy Pay option. The GS5 is compatible with Sprint Spark, its faster LTE service that is available in 18 markets around the country. Customers who choose to sign up for a Sprint Framily Plan with the GS5 are eligible for a free Samsung Galaxy Tab 3. Sprint will also offer the Samsung Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit wearables beginning April 11 for $299, $199, and $199, respectively.
Samsung Says Galaxy S5 Packed with Freebies
Samsung today highlighted some of the third-party applications it plans to install on the Galaxy S5 smartphone, and claims their total value exceeds $600. Most of the freebies take the form of limited-time memberships to web sites or services that would otherwise charge for their use. For example, the Galaxy S5 will include a six-month subscription to the Wall Street Journal and a 12-month subscription to Bloomberg/BusinessWeek. It will also include a $50 voucher for PayPal merchants, 50GB of Box storage for six months, 50GB of DropBox storage for two years, and 1TB of Bitcasa storage for three months. Several fitness subscriptions will be included, as will gaming credits. Smartphones are often sold with third-party apps and services pre-loaded. The Samsung Galaxy S5 will go on sale worldwide in April.
Boost and Virgin to Sell Samsung Galaxy S5, Too
Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA today both announced plans to sell the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. Both companies, which are owned and operated by Sprint, said the GS5 will be compatible with Sprint's Spark LTE service. Pricing was not discussed, but the prepaid carriers said the GS5 will arrive during the second quarter with contract-free, flexible service options.
Hands-On: Samsung Galaxy S5
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S5 smartphone today in Barcelona. Those expecting a great leap forward are bound to be disappointed, but the Galaxy S5 makes progress all the same. Here are Phone Scoop's first impressions.
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile Hop On Galaxy S5 Express
AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile each today affirmed that it will off the Samsung Galaxy S5 when it goes on sale in April. Exact sales dates and pricing were not shared by the carriers.
