The Verizon Fascinate was the last Samsung Galaxy S variant to hit the U.S. and the carrier is doing its best to keep the phone up to date with software updates, even though some of them caused problems for users. Interestingly, Verizon is now listing the phone with a “retired” label.

You can see the red watermark embedded all over the device page. It says the phone is retired and so has already been removed from the carrier’s online store. So what would they replace it with? Probably the Galaxy S II variant for Verizon (whether it will be called Samsung Galaxy S II, Function, Fascinate II or Stratosphere).

Today students have many more tools at their disposal for research and studying. For example Samsung will be offering 1,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1 units to 1,000 students at the University of South Mississippi. The tablets will be given to selected Honors College, McNair Scholars, Southern Style and Gulf Coast students, and the goal is to give students and educators mobile access to their courses, textbooks, grades and schedules.

It will be interesting to see if grades improve after they receive the tablets or if it just means more playing of Angry Birds.

At last, a tablet that will gladly soak up your kid’s drool and take the appropriate beating as it is thrown around. It was first seen back at CES in January: a 7-inch tablet for kids. Back then it was actually a Samsung Galaxy Tab with a kid friendly casing.

Looks like they have figured it all out and you can now preorder it. There are two models, one priced at $389, another at $479. The differences are a 6-hour battery, compared to 3 hours on the lower priced model, and it includes more pre-loaded learning content.

Apple’s iPad 2 and Samsung’s new Galaxy Tabs are among the thinnest tablets on the market today. Well, there’s a new thinnest tablet on the scene according to an announcement made by a Chinese manufacturer known as Shenzhen Guangxuntong Communication Technology.

They have developed what they claim is the “world’s thinnest tablet PC’, and it comes in the form of its new EKing T9 device. The EKing T9 sports a 9.7-inch IPS capacitive touchscreen display and Intel’s Z670 processor which is clocked at 1.5GHz. The EKing T9 tablet is also said to feature 2GB of memory, along with both front and rear-facing cameras.

The white Samsung Galaxy S II has been spotted. This leaked snap appears just one day after a UK retailer promised that it would go on sale August 15th. We don’t know if that’s true, but we know that you can now sign-up for “more info” on Samsung’s website.

In any event US fans of this phone should be hearing more from the company soon. So do you like your phones in white or black? Or do you want another color entirely?

After several delays, Vodafone has decided to kill the EVO 3D instead of wait out HTC’s supply issues, and has removed it from the company’s “Coming Soon” page. Hopefully you weren’t waiting for this phone. If you were, we feel your pain.

Customers who had already pre-registered their interest in the EVO 3D on Vodafone will be contacted and the decision explained. Well, you always have the Samsung Galaxy S II.

[Android Community]

The folks over at BGR have obtained exclusive images of AT&T’s upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone, headed to AT&T. It sports the Galaxy S II model number, SGH-I927 and a slender build in spite of adding on a full sliding QWERTY keyboard.

The Galaxy S II is already the fastest-selling Samsung smartphone ever and it has yet to launch on any carrier in the U.S. Though U.S. carrier versions of the smartphone are expected to arrive in August, release and pricing for the AT&T version here is unknown. We also don’t know if it will launch with the Galaxy S II moniker or with AT&T’s own branding.

Just a few more days until this dual-core Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet arrives at Verizon Wireless. Best Buy already put the device up for sale last month. Verizon’s version is now up for pre-order, with a 10.1″ display at 1,280 × 800 resolution, a 3-megapixel camera right at the back, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat, and 4G LTE connectivity.

The 16GB and 32GB models will retail for $529.99 and $629.99, with a two-year contract. A Wi-Fi-only 16 GB model is $499.

Samsung has to be very happy about sales of their new Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone in Europe and other countries. They have already sold more than 3 million S II handsets, but in the US, Samsung still hasn’t released it.

Now it looks like we may have a firm launch date. According to the president of Samsung mobile, Shin Jong-Kyun, the Galaxy S II will arrive in the US in August, but we still don’t know an exact date. To refresh your memory, the Samsung Galaxy S II features a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display, with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, and also comes with a dual core 1.2GHz processor, 16GB of built in storage and a microSD card slot.

Samsung has issued an unusual statement in response to the launch of a third-party iPad Smart Cover made for its Galaxy Tab 10.1. In the statement Samsung has denied any involvement with Anymode stating that the company used its branding without its permission, and they want to make sure that everyone knows that they distance themselves from the imitation of what is a patented Apple design.

Samsung doesn’t need to be fighting a war on another front since they are currently in the middle of a serious ITC patent infringement dispute with Apple already.

Last month we heard that Samsung was working on a new version of the original Galaxy Tab, and now we have word that this new Galaxy Tab might have a 7 inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.

Netbook News is saying that the new 7 inch Galaxy Tab will come with Android Honeycomb, in addition to that higher resolution display with a 1280 x 800 resolution. Other rumored specs include a dual core 1.2GHz processor, plus 1GB of RAM. We should know more soon as Samsung gears up for release.

Many believe that Sprint and other US carriers are preparing releases of branded handsets based on the Galaxy S II, Samsung’s successor to the Galaxy S. Now some new shots seem to support this rumor. One shows the textured back of a device bearing both Sprint and Samsung logos along with an 8 megapixel camera.

The texture and camera are similar to what we’re expecting from S II-based models, so it makes sense. It might be called the Galaxy Within when it launches within days or weeks. It will probably be marketed as a high-end alternative to the EVO 3D that swaps 3D support for Samsung’s Super AMOLED Plus display tech.

Most docks look the same, but iLuv is offering something different with their new imm517 and imm514 ArtStation Pro speakers for the iPad 2. This speaker systems puts your iPad above the speakers and makes it look like an all-in-one PC.

The ArtStation Pro system will come in both white/silver, or black silver, and comes with a remote and optional matching bluetooth keyboard. A wireless keyboard even helps to turn your iPad 2 into a neat version of the iMac Mini.

Samsung has finally begun selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 keyboard dock. This 83-key keyboard delivers all the features of a common desktop keyboard to your tablet, including hotkeys and media controls, effectively turning your slate into a desktop PC. Almost.

The device will also charge your Galaxy Tab and keep it synchronized. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 full-size keyboard dock will cost you $79.99.

Samsung would only say “mid-summer” when it revealed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for Sprint, but it looks like the time is almost here. Sprint has announced that the WiFi-only tablet will be available on its website and elsewhere on June 24th for $499.99.

Great news but it won’t be until July 24th that you can get one at a Sprint retail store. Your wait is almost over my Wi-fi loving peeps.