Samsung Galaxy S II turns one – Android apps explode
In May last year, when the Galaxy S II first hit the shelves, the Android Market was still trailing the App Store by some way. But now, with all the big hitters on Google Play (the most recent recruit being Instagram) and developers like Rovio and Rockstar choosing to launch titles on both iOS and Android from the start, it’s looking more like a two horse race than we first imagined.
Take a look at our pick of Android apps this week for starters, and if you went the whole hog and grabbed a Galaxy Tab this year, you’ll need our ten of the best Android tablet apps too.
Samsung Galaxy S II turns one – Ice Cream Sandwich arrives
Some Galaxy S II owners are only just getting an update to the latest version of Android – but new handsets like the HTC One gang (X, S and V) are going on sale with ICS straight out of the box.
If you’re halfway through what seems like a horribly long contract on your Galaxy S II, all the networks are now offering the update so you can get new goodies like improved multi-tasking, personalisation via S Go Launcher Pro and Face Unlock.
Samsung Galaxy S II turns one – Samsung smartens up
Samsung Smart TVs stepped up to the gauntlet laid down by the Galaxy S II’s success and now if you can afford one of its fancy new tellys, you can easily share content between your Samsung smartphone with the allshare app.
And since LG has just unleashed its own cloud, we’d be mighty surprised if we didn’t get an S Cloud announcement at the May 3rd event.
Samsung Galaxy S II turns one – The core wars heat up
What about the rest of smartphone land? The big talking point right now is what chip is powering what and how many cores it comes with – hardly the sexiest debate ever but you’ve got to know your Tegra 3 from your Snapdragon S4.
Not to mention, screens are getting longer and wider, builds getting slimmer and cameras packing in more megapixels than ever before. But let's save all that hankerng after new hardware for our Samsung Galaxy S3 wishlist.
And the Galaxy S II is still an incredible smartphone
The Galaxy S II was arguably the best smartphone on the market when it launched – and even next to newer phones like the Sony Xperia S and iPhone 4S it still holds up remarkably well. Along with those two, the just-released HTC One X is the only other handset above the S II in our current smartphone Top Ten.
That said, we’re not exactly going to ignore a Galaxy S3 with a 4.8in Super AMOLED screen, 12MP camera and quad-core Exynos processor if it comes knocking on May 3rd.
