The Samsung Galaxy Portal is the first handset in our range to use the new Android Eclair operating system. I made this short video to show you some of the improvements Eclair brings to the table, and to have a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy Portal too.
The Samsung Galaxy Portal will be available online and instore very soon. We’re looking forward to welcoming it to our range.
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I just got a Samsung Galaxy and any messages i recieve keep getting sent to me multiple times and i dont understand why. Is there any way to make it stop?
@Ben – I’m really sorry that you were given the wrong information but Samsung have advised there is no update to froyo on the Galaxy Portal as the internal memory is not big enough to support it.
I was also told by my local Three store that it WOULD be upgradable to 2.2 “before Christmas”. Checking online for the upgrade I saw that this was reportedly even confirmed by Samsung and 3 Support. This is also backed up by some of these comments.
I am sure I’m not alone in being VERY disappointed that we were told one thing when, as stated by the moderator, the opposite is the case and this has been known since August (I got my Portal in September!). So will we have an opportunity to upgrade to a 2.2 compatible phone early? Or do we serve out our 2 year contracts and find another provider?
@ Pete- Good news! Galaxy Portal already has Android 2.1 which is called eclair and it already supports Skype.
Available for download at mobile.three.co.uk from the Portal browser
Happy Skyping.
@ Peter Moss- I am sorry to hear that you feel cheated. I have messaged across to find out when the Android 2.1 upgrade will be available and as soon as I know I shall get back to you. Bare with me.
I was persuaded by the upgrade team to purchase a Samsung Galaxy Portal upgrade for my wife last month. What we really wanted was access to the skype messaging application. I now find that this phone is not compatibly with that applicationa and when I try to download from skype they divert me to the 3 website who then tell me my phone is not supported. In researching further it seams that I need Android 2.1 which is not available for this phone at present
I feel really cheated and will NEVER renew with 3 again even though we have been with 3 for 10 years or so.
I upgraded to the Galaxy Portal as I was told by my local Three store that it WOULD be upgradable to 2.2 “before Christmas”.
Had I known what a crock of S**t that was I would have waited 2 months and got the Galaxy S instead, now I am in a new 2 year contract and a phone that wouldnt have been my first choice had it not been for the lies in store.
When I called Samsung they said “their engineers were working on an upgrade” (number called 08457267864) which is indeed as stated by Martyn H above as a Sumsung number (check it out in google if you dont believe it)
I am just angry that I am unable to upgrade to a “latest” phone as pomissed by Three, its an old phone and they knew it but wanted to shift the stock !! makes me think twice next round of new contract time I can tell you !!
@JohnW – No it’s not a known issue but we can take a look into this for you. I’ll send you an email.
I have a recurring issue with missing SMSs with my Galaxy Portal (Android 2.1).
It seems if someone sends me an SMS when I’m either (a) downloading files via 3G (eg off Market) or (2) in an area of poor signal strength, then they only arrive about 24 hours later (sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes even later). Even if I switch the phone on/off several times and take the battery out.
Eg, my wife (PAYG Orange, Nokia) sent 2 SMSs to me at about 8pm last night. I still havent received them. Its NOT the case that they never reach me. Just that they are severly delayed.
Is this a known issue with either (a) the 3 Mobile network, (b) networks in general or (c) the way my Galaxy Portal retrieves SMSs (it is set to Auto-Retrieve. Should this option be unchecked??)
Thanks
John
I have just been speaking to Samsung on the phone and they confirmed that the portal within the next few weeks will be being upgraded to 2.2. called 08457267864 if you need to confirm this
Martyn
I believe from what i have done on the samsung galaxy portal what it deserves froyo 2.2 as its snappy and it is worthy of an upgrade so please 3 talk with google as i want live wallpapers and wifi hotspot modes please is boring with out and most android apps need froyo 2.2 these days its unbearable :S
@Tim – I’m afraid Galaxy Portal won’t be getting an update to Android 2.2, due to the handsets memory limitation. If you’re having issues with your phone I can arrange a call from customer services for you?
i really wish i knew this about the 2.2 update otherwise i wouldn’t have upgraded to the portal. Also because you cant save/install/launch apps direct to/from the sd card, its means you have to use the internal memory which isn’t alot and means you can only have so many on there. The phone is pointless without 2.2. I went into my local three store and they told me it should get the update but i know they were talking rubbish. The galaxy portal is a ticking time bomb and is pointless upgrading to. No wonder vodafone, o2, orange, virgin and even tesco mobile didnt want this phone on their networks. Its not worth having a phone that cant have many apps!
So, why exactly can’t Samsung Galaxy Portal users get an upgrade from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2? I’m hoping that it will improve the frankly shocking battery life I am experiencing on my phone, even after sending the device back to 3 once before with the same complaint. 3 quote in the brochure a huge amount of standby time, yet my phone will only achieve a little over a day with light use. Sort it out, 3! Either stick a genuine battery life in the brochure and apologise to all customers with this phone experiencing the low battery life, or release an update to 2.2 which is far less demanding on the processor!
@Martyn Hatton – I’ll drop you an email and try and get this sorted.
I have got the Galaxy portal and was looking for the Skype application but could not find it. also the messenger too. i can go to the link and try to download skype but this tells me that my phone is not supported. Please help.
@Chelsea – Right, got some examples for you of what 1GB of data will give you. As a guide it’ll allow you to:
- View over 100,000 Facebook or Twitter pages or- View over 60,000 BBC mobile pages or
- Browse and send around 6,000 emails from your webmail account (if you want your emails pushed to your phone you’ll need an Internet and Email Add-on, available through My3 for £5) or
- View You Tube for over 16 hours (around 500 clips) or
- Use Spotify for 20 hours a month
@Chelsea – I hope you like your Galaxy Portal
It’s impossible to say how long 1GB of data will last you as it depends how much you use the internet on your phone. I will see if I can get you some examples though to give you a rough idea. You can check your data usage on My3, see here. Free messenger and Skype means it won’t use your data allowance up and we’ve also launched free Facebook too, make sure you use Facebook.0 if you want the free service. If you accept the message that asks whether you want to use the local WiFi it won’t use up your data. I hope this helps 
So I just bought a samsung galaxy portal
I got it on contract for £20 a month
I get 1gb internet… first off, if I browse quite often roughly how long would this last ?
and secondly…
It says free messenger and skype… so when I use these does it count as my internet allowance or not ? because it didn’t count on my pay as you go phone.
Lastly…
When I connect on wi-fi if I use my apps such as facebook or twitter or just browse the net from `browser` will it automatically use the wi-fi or might it still use my internet allowance ?
Thanks
@Flynny – Check out my response to @Leslie… Sorry it’s probably not what you want to here.
@Leslie – Thanks for your post. Samdroid is an unofficial version of Froyo, not released by Samsung. They’ve advised us due to the limited internal storage of the device that Portal cannot be upgraded to the full Froyo version. In fact as it stands Samsung will not be relasing Foryo for Portal for any operator.
I really wish Three and Samsung would get their act together. This link http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-spica/153404-spica-android-2-2-offical.html has evidence of Three Support saying the Galaxy Portal/Lite/Spica/i5700 will get the 2.2 update. And you are now saying that the Spica/Lite/Portal will NOT get it?
Can you please go as high up in the chain of command as you can, and just get a definitive answer?
Hi
No prob actually the protal will run froyo quite easily as it is all ready in development by the guys at samdroid, I currently have a test copy working on the phone as i write and I must say that is far better than 2.1 maybe your dev guy should check this out as the portal is more than capable of running froyo.
Also several from samdroid have contacted three ireland and been told that 2.2 is on the way for the portal????
Could you clarify this please
Many Thanks
Les
@Leslie – I’m afraid it’s looking likely that the Galaxy Portal will remain on 2.1. This is probably due to the huge amount of memory that a 2.2 update would take up. Sorry I can’t be the bearer of better news for you!
Hi
Will the Galaxy Portal be getting Android 2.2 Froyo on three
@Rebecca – Samsung Galaxy S launched online today!! Take a look here. We’ll have more of an update on the phone and it’s benefits from Brendan in our Handset team on Monday
Any update on the release of the Samsung S
@Biccys – Whoops! I’ve clearly got iPhone on the brain! We don’t have pre-registration on the Galaxy S I’m afraid. It’s still going through testing, and as soon as I have an update I’ll let you know.
Erm…. that’s for an iPhone, not the Galaxy s….!
@Biccys – you can register your interest here
Is there anywhere I can register my interest in the phone as I am due an upgrade and would like it asap with you guys as the deals you offer are far better than anywhere else?
@Biccys – not yet I’m afraid. It’s in testing at the mo..
Is there any more feedback on when the Galaxy S is to be rolled out? EVERYONE else seems to be throwing them out their doors….
@Logan – Galaxy Portal has a ‘light’ version of the Touchwiz UI, but we don’t believe Samsung has any plans to upgrade it. The phone does support 3D gaming though.
i have the Galaxy Portal, i was wondering if the phone has any 3D effects apart from the sound library, and can you use samsung’s touchwiz UI instead of the andriod 2.1.
@Robert – good news. I can confirm that we’ll be stocking the Samsung Galaxy S, but the timings are a bit hazy at the moment. We’re waiting for updates from Samsung right now, and as soon as we know more we’ll let you know the details
Christ I wish someone would respond to my request for information, Here we have Brendan saying “that they are looking at the Samsung Galaxy S ” this was back on March 29th 2010. almost three months later and varoius request to see if or when three will be having the Galaxy S. I have placed various questions on lots of three blogs to diffrent people. ……………….. All I get is this ” Moderator ……. Robert Checking up on Samsung Galaxy 3… As mentioned before I have four contract phones with three and two are up for renewal. Vodaphone stock the Samsung Galaxy S and has a big promotional home page about the Phone. Please Please can someone answer the simple question are you going to be selling the Samsung Galaxy S if so when is the release date.
Yes or no
Happy Easter everyone! The blog won’t be manned full time over the Easter Bank Holiday so don’t be alarmed if your comment doesn’t appear immediately. For any urgent customer enquiries please give us a call on one of these numbers
@Kyunghyun – Sadly multi-touch isn’t supported on the Galaxy Portal, even with Androi Eclair.
We’re looking at the Samsung Galaxy S now, but no ranging decisions have been made yet. We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve reviewed it.
Is multi touch possible on this device?
I know it wasn’t with other network but since 3 launched the device with Eclair,I am having this hope it might have multi touch as well..
Samsung i9000 Galaxy S was great with multi touch and android 2.1.
Is there any plan for Samsung i9000 Galaxy S?
I have a business contract with Three and two phones are due for renewal.
Will the Samsung GP be available to business customers on a fair price plan. At present members of the public get much better price plans than business customers. This is one of the reasons that I will probably be moving away from Three in the next month.
Will the operating system be restricted/branded by Three or will we be able to install upgrades direct from the manufacturer/Android when available?
What I would really like would be the Nokia N900, but as far as the off shore call centre can tell me Three will not be offering it.
Hi Simon – you’ll find a bit more info in my latest post here
so when will this be availablem, im looking to get my hands on one ASAP
Excellent Review. How are you finding the responsiveness of 2.1 on Spica?!. Hope they let out the 2.1 update worldwide.
Hi Mark, Philip. In short, yes it will. We’re in disucssion with HTC on when exactly, but it looks like we’re on track for roughly April. With regards to OTA or download -we’re looking at and testing both options right now.
Will the HTC Hero be receiving an upgrade to Android 2.1 in the near future – and if so, how will this be facilitated – OTA or a download?
Hi Sunjay – as Brendan mentions in his video, this handset will be the first to 3′s range which uses the latest version of Android – it’s called Eclair.
Once again it sounds like its being recorded in the dinning room to much background nose, great to see that the time on the phone goes from 306 one sec to 3.11 another then to 3.13 i wonder what bits have been cut
I am able to upgrade anytime, can you confirm this phone is a Andriod 2.0 ?
Yah! Android phones! Glad more are being released. Look forward to playing with one in store and wishing my upgrade date was not so far away.