Today, Samsung unveiled a new smartphone model, the Galaxy S II Plus.  As the name suggests, it is an update to the popular Galaxy S II Android phone, though the updates it offers aren’t exactly mind-blowing.

Like the original S II, the Plus has a 4.3" 480×800 Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, an 8MP primary camera, Bluetooth 3.0, and 1GB of RAM. The only hardware differences appear to be a faster camera, a microSD slot compatible with microSDXC cards up to 64GB, NFC, and reduced internal storage of 8GB (down from 16GB).

Another noteworthy change is the OS; although the S II has been updated to Android 4.0 with further updates on the way, the S II Plus ships with Android 4.1.2 “Jelly Bean.” 

No word yet on carriers, pricing or release dates.

View the Samsung Press Release

The Verizon and T-Mobile versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III Android phone have already received OS updates to Android 4.1 “Jellybean,” and now AT&T S III owners can update their phones as well. 

AT&T will not make the S III Android 4.1 update available over-the-air; the update requires you to download and install a piece of software called Samsung Kies which performs the update via sync on PCs and Macs.  You can download Samsung Kies here, or visit Samsung’s update page to learn more about the new features and the upgrade process.

This leaves just Verizon Wireless S III users waiting to be updated to Jellybean.  No word yet on when that update is expected to drop.

Extended batteries offer extra hours of use per charge for your smartphone, something that – for many – is worth quite a bit.  Fortunately, if you’re a Samsung Galaxy S III owner, this benefit doesn’t have to cost much at all.

At $22, the QCell Samsung Galaxy S III Extended Battery Kit is a bargain.  For that price you get not only a 4200mAh Li-Ion battery (double the capacity of the included battery), but two replacement battery covers for the phone: one blue, one white. 

The battery is also NFC friendly, so you’re ready to go with Google Beam and Google Wallet – if you use either feature.

The Amazon.com reviews are glowing, with five out of five stars as of this writing.

Straight Talk, the $45 unlimited prepaid service, already has a small selection of low-end Android phones in its lineup.  But if Android is your thing and a $45 a month smartphone bill is attractive, the service’s latest addition is worth a look.

The new Samsung Galaxy Proclaim is perhaps the best option available for Straight Talk.  A rebranded Samsung Illusion, the Galaxy Proclaim works on the Verizon voice and data network and has a 1GHz single-core CPU, a 3.5-inch touchscreen display, a 3MP primary camera, and a microSDHC memory card slot (2GB card included, 32GB max). Android 2.3 comes pre-installed, and will likely be the only OS version the phone ever sees.

Priced at $179, the Samsung Galaxy Proclaim is now available for purchase online, but doesn’t seem to have hit Walmart stores or Walmart.com as of yet (Walmart is Straight Talk’s exclusive distributor).  As with other Android phones from Straight Talk, the handset requires the $45 unlimited monthly plan and will not work with the 1000 minute $30 plan.

The phone will also soon be offered by Net10.

Adopting new technology often requires compromise. In the case of Bluetooth headsets, we traded boring ol’ sound quality for ease of movement, freedom from cords, and a tech fantasy dating back to Lt. Uhura with a silver chess piece in her ear. In the early Bluetooth years, many made the trade and went about their lives with poor audio assuming – at some point – quality would catch up to convenience.

Fast-forward ten years, though, and the picture hasn’t changed as much as we might have hoped. While there are many more – and far better – Bluetooth headsets available today, half of the original tradeoff remains: while what the user hears has improved, sound quality on the other end of the “line” still leaves much to be desired.

For this reason, many steer clear of Bluetooth headsets, not wanting to subject family, friends, or business associates to audio dropouts or the “tin can” effect. I, too, have tried a number of wireless headsets, only to set them aside and return to the phone-between-ear-and-shoulder paradigm.

So, a few weeks ago, I decided to see if the tradeoff could be eliminated once and for all, or at least significantly mitigated. I would gather several Bluetooth headsets of a specific type – those with boom microphones that extend near the mouth for the best outgoing audio – and see if there is, at last, a Bluetooth headset that can offer bi-directional satisfaction. What I discovered was somewhat disappointing, but incredibly useful. Put another way, there are at least a couple of Bluetooth headsets available that offer phone-like sound quality, going or coming.

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