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Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Specs

2012-10-10T09:46:00.004-06:00

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Specs

We take a look at the reported Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini's specs.

By David Court | PC Advisor | 10 October 12

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Specs

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Samsung has confirmed that tomorrow (11 October) is the official launch date of the 4-inch Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, the Korean tech giant will be unveiling the new ‘Mini’ Android smartphone at an event taking place in Germany. Here's the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini's specs. See Samsung to launch Galaxy S3 Mini tomorrow.
Sections of the UK technology press are claiming that official Samsung spokespeople have been in contact with them to confirm the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini’s specs. The most surprising feature of the S3 Mini is its not so ‘Mini’ display, which is said to measure in at a sizeable 4-inches. Take a look at Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review too.

The Samsung spokespeople have also revealed that Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will come equipped with a STE U8420 dual-core 1.0 Ghz processor, which means it will not boast exactly the same performance levels as its big brother. However, it is reported that the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will have the same amount of RAM as the 4.8-inch Galaxy S3 (1 GB), and a five megapixel camera instead of the 8 megapixel camera found in the original S3. Visit Samsung Galaxy S3 review.
Furthermore it is understood that the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will come equipped with 16 GB of internal storage as well as having an expandable SD card slot, which has the potential to give the S3 Mini an extra 32 GB of storage. See also iPad Mini release date, specs and rumours.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean preinstalled on the device, which dimensions are expected to be 121.55 x 62.95 x 9.85mm with a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen. Finally the S3 Mini will include an NFC chip to allow payments to be made with the phone as well as file transfers with other NFC compatible devices. Go to iPad Mini price in UK.
Interestingly Samsung does not seem to be put off by the whopping $1 billion fine US courts slapped them with last month, for copying Apple’s designs too closely. In fact, by the looks of the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, the $1 billion fine has had the opposite effect as the 4-inch S3 Mini places the Android smartphone in direct competition with the iPhone 5. No doubt Samsung will have another slightly aggressive advertising campaign lined up to point out the areas in which the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini ‘outspecs’ the iPhone 5 – notably the inclusion of a NFC chip (something the iPhone 5 has been widely criticized for not having); having expandable SD storage; full use of the popular Google Maps app; an established charging and file transfer port – to mention just a few.
Another offensively obvious way in which Samsung appears to be gunning for Apple is the naming of the not so mini, Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, as it is common knowledge in tech circles that Apple plan to reveal its - years in the planning - iPad Mini a week today (17 October). Surely both companies launching new ‘Mini’ devices is more than just a coincidence?

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iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3: And The Winner Is… Samsung (Review)

2012-10-04T09:55:00.003-06:00

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3: And The Winner Is… Samsung (Review)

23 hours ago by Dwayne Madden

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is one of the most popular of handsets and has been since July when it was launched. Now it is face to face with one of its biggest rivals, the iPhone 5, which has just been released by Apple. So how do the two handsets compare to each other?

iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3: which is better?

It is a bit hard to compare the two devices when Apple fails to give out information regarding the processor speed of the handset along with the amount of RAM that the new iPhone has. All they tend to say is that the device is twice as fast as the A5 processor, which may lead some to believe that the iPhone 5 has a quad core processor, when it does not.
Popularity of the iPhone 5 is clear from the sales since launch, as with the Samsung Galaxy S3. More than 5 million people pre-ordered the iPhone 5 as soon as it became available. Samsung on the other hand sold over 20 million Galaxy S3 units in the first 100 days of its launch.
Form factor: The Samsung Galaxy S3 is 133g and comes in at 136.6×70.6×8.6mm, while the iPhone 5 is 112g and measures 123.8×58.6×7.6mm. When it comes down to thinness and weight the the iPhone 5 wins. And this is the best way to subjectively compare handheld electronics.
Screen: The iPhone 5 has a display of 4 inches and is LED IPS TFT and has a resolution of 1136 x 640 and the display is covered with Gorilla Glass. The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S3 also has Gorilla Glass 2 and is 4.8 inches at 1280 x 720 resolution. The display of the S3 is larger and recent tests by DisplayMate prove that is also has better screen technology than the Retina iPhone 5. So the S3 wins here.
Connectivity: Both handsets have connectivity to LTE, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, while the Samsung Galaxy S3 also supports NFC. The S3 can be charged with any microUSB cable, while Apple has changed their connector and now users cannot use older accessories unless they pay for an adapter. Thanks to the fact that the S3 has NFC and S Beam for sharing photos and files and it has the universal port, it is the winner on the connectivity front.
Storage: Both of the handsets are available in 16GB, 32GB and 64 GB versions and have 1GB of RAM (international S3 model). However the Samsung Galaxy S3 supports SD card up to 64GB, which puts it ahead of the iPhone 5.
Camera: The handsets have 8 megapixel cameras on the back with autofocus and LED flash and they can take HD video and have video and image stabilisation. The Samsung Galaxy S3 supports smile detection, but it doesn’t beat the BSI sensor of the iPhone 5. In low light the iPhone 5 does take better photos, so it has to be the winner.
Power: The processor of the iPhone 5 is the Apple A6 chip which is based on two Apple ARMv7 cores of up to 1.3Ghz, and is helped by a triple core PowerVR SGX 543MP3. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the Exynos 4412 chipset and four Cortex A9 cores at 1.4GHz with Mali 400MP GPU. If you want to play 3D games then it has to be the S3. Even the US version with is dual-core Snapdragon has a solid 2GB RAM to back it.
Battery: The battery on the iPhone 5 is 1440mAh, which should offer up to eight hours of talk time and the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with a battery of 2100mAh which gives 11 hours and 40 minutes of talk time, both on the 3G network. However in real world tests we found that the Samsung Galaxy S3 didn’t live up to its 11 hours 40 minutes promise and came in around the same as the iPhone 5. This category is therefore a tie.
OS: The two handsets have different operating systems. Apple of course has their iOS 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 runs on Android 4.0 ICS, with the Jelly Bean update coming soon. Which is the best is a matter of preference. If you want customisation then it has to be Android, however iOS is said to be the easier of the two to use.
Design: When it comes down to design the iPhone 5 is on top as the Samsung Galaxy S3 does look a little on the plastic side that isn’t fitting for a premium device.
In conclusion the Samsung Galaxy S3 took more points than the iPhone 5 (4 points versus 3). It beat the iPhone 5 when it came to the processor, display, connectivity and memory. However the iPhone 5 won over for its dimensions, the design and the camera. It was a draw when it came to battery life and the operating system on the handsets.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 review by trustedreviews

2012-07-03T11:17:00.000-06:00

Key Features

4.8in, 720 x 1280 pixel display
Quad Core 1.4GHz CPU
8MP camera with 1080p video
Android 4.0 ICS with TouchWiz

Samsung Galaxy S3 - Design and Build

You might say the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been highly anticipated. You also might say Jesus seemed like quite a nice guy…

Few products in recent years that haven't had a bitten Apple logo somewhere upon their chassis have garnered as much attention as the Galaxy S3. After the huge success of the Galaxy S2 last year it is this follow up that many people have expected to again be the flag bearer for Android smartphones. But has Samsung succeeded? Is the Samsung Galaxy S3 the pinnacle of Android smartphones, and indeed of mobile phones in general? Lets find out.

Head straight to Page 2 for our thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S3 screen and controls or our video comparison of the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 4S.

Video review

Design and Build
Anyone that's already familiar with the Galaxy S3 will know that its design and build has courted controversy. Eschewing the premium feeling materials of the iPhone 4S or HTC One X, it uses a glossy plastic back which, although by no means inherently budget, is a finish more associated with cheaper handsets.

Does this inherently make the Galaxy S3 undesirable? No, it certainly doesn't go that far, and indeed if you put it next to the Sony Xperia S it really shows just how much Sony slipped up on that design, but next to an iPhone 4S or HTC One X it's these two that give off the stronger whiff of craftsmanship.

In practical terms there are a few genuine issues with the Galaxy S3 too. While the polycarbonate that the backplate is made from is very tough due to its pliability, it isn't very scratch resistant, even with an extra scratch resistant coating – either the matt finish of the HTC One X of Xperia S, or glass of the iPhone 4S will standup to more punishment. That said, it should be relatively inexpensive to get replacement backs for the Galaxy, and given that it's a single piece that covers the entire back, this will make your phone scratch-free in one fell swoop. Samsung's choice of finishes – glossy white (Marble White) and faux brushed metallic blue (Pebble Blue) should wear any scratches reasonably well too. That said, we're actually not fans of the styling of the blue version – pretend metal just isn't cool – so it's just as well that's the version that has been delayed.

The other potential issue is that, particularly given the Galaxy S3 is such a large and thin phone, it could succumb to being crushed. Particularly we're thinking in comparison to the iPhone 4S and its tough steel sides here. That phone can take a right squishing and squashing when in a pocket whereas we'd be a little more wary of cracking this phone's screen if crouching down or some such. Then again, this could equally apply to many other large, thin phones and we pretty sure you'd have to be rather unlucky for it to actually happen.

Moving on from the Galaxy's plastic back, we have few complaints about the rest of the design. The smooth glass face with its tapered edges, the tidy silver plastic trim (real metal would again have been nice) and single central home button combine to create a tidy, premium look and feel. The screen is also Gorilla Glass 2 so should be very scratch and impact resistant.

What's more, pop that battery cover off and you're into a whole world of goodness. There's a microSD slot that'll take cards up to 64GB in size, potentially giving you up to 128GB of storage if you opt for the Galaxy S3 version with 64GB of built in memory.

You also get a large 2100mAh battery that not only can you swap out for a spare when needed but also in the future you may be able to get extended batteries that last longer on a single charge. While the SIM slot on the Galaxy may look large, like the iPhone 4S and HTC One X, it actually houses a microSIM. One counterpoint to the removable battery is that you can't hot-swap SIM cards like on the One X.

Also under here, to the left of the battery, are two gold contacts. These are for a future wireless charging backplate and dock that will allow you to simply place your Galaxy S3 on its dock to charge it, without the need to plug in. Its technology we first saw built into a phone on the Palm Pre, and we think it's downright brilliant. Sadly the required accessories are delayed for several months.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 available on Sprint today for $199, next week on Verizon

2012-07-02T15:01:00.000-06:00

By Michael Rougeau

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is the flagship for Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is finally available today on Sprint, after many delays and much confusion on every carrier.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in 16GB and 32GB sizes, for $199 and $249 respectively with a contract from Sprint.
Verizon's Galaxy S3 is expected to release next week, and its pricing for the Android smartphone is also expected to be $199/$249.
Samsung initially announced that the Galaxy S3 release would take place on June 21, but on that very day the company announced that "manufacturing issues" would delay its release on all carriers.
That didn't stop them from fulfilling many pre-orders on time, but Sprint customers looking to walk into a store and try the phone out before they buy it have been out of luck until now.

Which carrier is best for Samsung Galaxy S3?

Sprint has the advantage of releasing the Samsung Galaxy S3 first, but which carrier's version of the phone is best? Read TechRadar's reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S3 for T-Mobile and AT&T.
The Galaxy S3 is the first Android smartphone to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, Google's Android 4.0 OS, which has arrived on many phones as an update.
But not every carrier will be taking advantage of the Galaxy S3's 4G LTE capabilities.
Sprint's version will run on 4G LTE, and the carrier's limited LTE network is expected to continue to expand.
Same goes for Verizon and AT&T, though T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy S3 won't support the fast 4G LTE network.
T-Mobile's version is also more expensive, at $229/$279 after a $50 mail-in rebate.
AT&T's, on the other hand, can be acquired at a discount from Target or Amazon Wireless, at $149 for the 16GB Samsung Galaxy S3.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in white or "pebble blue" on Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, and an exclusive red version will be released by AT&T in the coming months.

Samsung Galaxy S3 is the Android 4.0 flagship

TechRadar recently pitted the Samsung Galaxy S3 against its biggest competitors, Apple's iPhone 4S and HTC's One X.
The Galaxy S3 sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display, Qualcomm S4 processor, 8MP camera, and 2100mAh battery.
The Android 4.0 smartphone also features NFC capabilities, facial recognition to track users' eye movements, and voice controls mimicking the Apple iPhone 4S's Siri.
Samsung expects to sell 10 million Galaxy S3 phones this month, and now that the phone's actually seeing a wide release, that number could be attainable.

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Samsung Galaxy S3: Which US carrier should you choose?

2012-06-20T08:57:00.000-06:00

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Samsung Galaxy S3: Which US carrier should you choose?

By Sebastian Anthony on June 20, 2012 at 8:52 am

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Tomorrow, June 21, the Samsung Galaxy S3 arrives in the United States. A carpet bomb launch will see the phone arrive on all four major carriers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile — at the same time, at the same price ($200 for the 16GB version, with a two-year contract). Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular will also offer the 32GB variant for $250. But which carrier is the best choice for the Galaxy S3?
Fortunately, as you may have noticed, Samsung seems to have pulled off the impossible and convinced every US carrier to call the Galaxy S3… the Galaxy S3. For the time being at least, we won’t be seeing the same hyperbolic noun treatment that previous Galaxy S phones went through (Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic 4G, Epic 4G Touch, etc.) This has the knock-on effect that almost every Galaxy S3 available in the US will be virtually identical — at least hardware-wise.
Every US Galaxy S3 has the same Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 dual-core 28nm SoC, clocked at 1.5GHz, with the Adreno 225 GPU. They weigh the same (133g), have the same battery life (around 9 hours), have the same 2GB of RAM, and most importantly, they all have Qualcomm’s awesome multi-mode 2G/3G UMTS & HSPA/4G LTE radio. The only difference as far as we can tell is that the T-Mobile variant (SGH-T999) doesn’t support LTE, and the AT&T/Verizon/Sprint models (SGH-i747, SCH-i535, SPH-L710 respectively) don’t support T-Mobile’s HSPA+. We believe the Snapdragon S4′s radio might be reconfigurable with some firmware hacking, however; it might be possible to take a T-Mobile S3 and use it on AT&T’s LTE network.
All US Galaxy S3 phones support Bluetooth 4.0 LE, 2.4 and 5GHz WiFi a/b/n/g, and NFC. Except for the Sprint variant (SPH-L710), it is likely that all Galaxy S3s are quad-band GSM and should be capable of GSM roaming in Europe and Asia.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the main difference between the Galaxy S3 on each carrier is bloatware. While all of the carriers’ S3s will have Samsung’s fancy new apps (S Voice, AllShare Play, Media Hub, etc.), each carrier will have a different selection of bloatware on offer. The Sprint S3 will come with the usual Sprinty stuff (Hotspot, SprintZone), plus Dropbox and Google Wallet. The AT&T S3 is relatively svelte, with just the normal AT&T apps (Navigator, Messages, myAT&T) and YP Mobile. Neither the Verizon or T-Mobile S3s have been released for review, so we won’t know how bloated they are until they arrive on our doorstep tomorrow.
All Galaxy S3s will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, skinned with Samsung’s TouchWiz.
Except for bloatware, then (which you can easily remove), any Galaxy S3 purchased from a US carrier will be virtually identical. There are still two very important variables to discuss, though: Network speed, and the international quad-core Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300).
While the US Galaxy S3 is an LTE phone, there isn’t actually a whole lot of LTE coverage in the USA. Fortunately, our sister site PC Mag has just published its Fastest Mobile Networks 2012 guide. While Verizon is the overall 3G/4G winner, there were still 11 cities where T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network provided faster download speeds than Verizon LTE, and where AT&T LTE is available it simply blows away the competition.
Bear in mind that Sprint’s 4G LTE network is almost nonexistent (though its Network Vision upgrade is underway). T-Mobile is also beginning to roll out LTE (alongside HSPA+), though again you will probably have to hack the radio firmware to be able to use it.
Before you pick a carrier for your new Galaxy S3, I strongly suggest you check the 3G and 4G speeds for your city or region.
Finally, it’s worth remembering that you can also buy an unlocked, off-contract international (i.e. non-US) quad-core Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) for around $800. The GT-I9300, with its 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad and Mali 400 GPU, seems to clock in significantly higher scores in GPU benchmarks, JavaScript benchmarks, and CF-Bench (a multi-core CPU and memory benchmark). Battery life seems to be roughly the same, but the Exynos version only has 1GB of RAM vs. the Snapdragon’s 2GB.
If you don’t like bloatware, it’s also important to note that there’s already a CyanogenMod 9 (i.e. vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich) build for the GT-I9300 — though I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of days or weeks before we see CM9 for the SGH-i747, SCH-i535, SPH-L710, and SGH-T999. The GT-I9300 should work on AT&T’s HSPA+ network, but it will be incompatible with T-Mo, Verizon, and Sprint.

Samsung Galaxy Note N7000

2012-06-04T13:13:00.000-06:00

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE 700 (region specific)
	Announced	2011, September
	Status	Available. Released 2011, October

Body	Dimensions	146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm
	Weight	178 g
		- Touch-sensitive controls

Display	Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	800 x 1280 pixels, 5.3 inches (~285 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass
		- TouchWiz UI v4.0

Sound	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

Memory	Card slot	microSD, up to 32GB, 2 GB included
Memory	Internal	16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM

Data	GPRS	Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
	EDGE	Class 12
	Speed	HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0 with A2DP, EDR
	NFC	Optional
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go

Camera	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization
	Video	Yes, 1080p@24~30fps
	Secondary	Yes, 2 MP

Features	OS	Android OS, v2.3.5 (Gingerbread), planned upgrade to v4.x
	Chipset	Exynos
	CPU	Dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9
	GPU	Mali-400MP
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML5, Adobe Flash
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White, Pink
		- S Pen stylus - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - NFC support (optional) - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

Battery		Standard battery, Li-Ion 2500 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 960 h (2G) / Up to 820 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 26 h 10 min (2G) / Up to 13 h 30 min (3G)

Misc	SAR US	0.16 W/kg (head) 0.96 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.34 W/kg (head)
	Price group

Tests	Display	Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal) / 2.970:1 (sunlight)
	Loudspeaker	Voice 64dB / Noise 64dB / Ring 72dB
	Audio quality	Noise -90.4dB / Crosstalk -87.4dB
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Battery life	Endurance rating 39h

Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

Samsung Galaxy Tab by Wikipedia

2012-05-31T15:54:00.000-06:00

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is an Android-based tablet computer produced by Samsung^[2] introduced^[3] on 2 September 2010 at the IFA in Berlin.
The Galaxy Tab has a 7-inch (180 mm) TFT-LCD touchscreen, Wi-Fi capability, a 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Samsung Exynos 3110 (code-named "Hummingbird") processor, the Swype input system,^[4] a 3.2 MP rear-facing camera and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera for video calls. It runs the Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system,^[5] and supports telephone functionality as speaker phone, via provided wired ear piece or Bluetooth earpieces (except models sold in the US). It can download videoconferencing apps such as Tango as alternative to telephone functionality.^[6]

Hardware

The tablet is enclosed in a plastic frame^[7] that makes it lighter than other metal-bodied tablets, weighing 380 g (0.84 lb).^[8]
The GT-P1000 model carries a 7" Super TFT instead of the AMOLED which is used by Samsung in its Galaxy S phones.^[9] The screen has a 1024×600 resolution With mDNIE (Mobile Digital Natural Images Engine). Internal flash storage of 2 GB (North America CDMA models), 16 GB or 32 GB can be supplemented with a microSD flash card with up to 32 GB. CPU is a Exynos 3110 Applications Processor (Also known as Hummingbird) features 1.0 GHz ARM architecture Cortex A8 application and has 512 MB of RAM paired with a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processor.
The WIFI only model has a different graphics chip that doesn't support TV out and Samsung has not provided (or promised to provide) an update to gingerbread.

The tablet has two cameras: a 3.2 rear MP camera with a LED flash and a 1.3 MP front camera for video calling (the Verizon model has a 3 megapixel rear camera).^[10] The front camera has auto focus capability. The camera also has auto image stitching, combining 8 pictures. Modes include single shot, continuous, panorama, and self-shot. It can automatically trigger on detecting that the subject smiles. Autogeotagging uses the internal GPS receiver.
The tablet has GPS, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and handsfree/bluetooth/headphone telephony. Cellular protocols include GSM CDMA, HSPA (HSUPA).^{[citation needed]}
It also has a proprietary 30-pin docking and charging connector not shared with other manufacturers.^[11] This connector appears very similar to the standard PDMI connector (a non-proprietary alternative to Apple's docking connector). It appears so similar to the PDMI connector that it is widely mistaken for it, but it is non-standard and all accessories, including charging cables, are incompatible with other equipment and only available from Samsung.^{[citation needed]}
Samsung says that its 4000 mAh battery will give it 7 hours of video playback or 10 hours of talk time.^[12]^[13]
The GSM variants of the Galaxy Tab have an externally-accessible SIM card slot. If the SIM card is removed while the system is on, the system automatically reboots. The AT&T and T-Mobile variants of the Galaxy Tab ship with a micro SIM in a micro SIM adapter. For non-US Galaxy Tabs, with phone function, this slot can also accommodate a 3G data-only SIM card if the user does not need telephone functionality.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab also has an optional RCA plug connector through which the screen image is shown on a TV or other display (the Tab's own screen cannot be turned off; it can be dimmed with a backlight dimming app).^[14]

Software

This tablet comes with a version of the Android 2.3 (originally 2.2) operating system with some custom skins and applications.^[15] Most Android 2.2 apps developed using Google's guidelines for Android should scale properly when displayed on larger-screen devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, according to Samsung.^[16] Adobe Flash 10.1, DivX,^[17] MPEG-4, WMV and Xvid, H.263, H.264^[18] support has also been announced. The Tab uses Atmel's maXTouch multi touch capacitive touchscreen,^[19]^[20] and supports multi-tasking.^[21]^[22]
The Tab supports calendar, email and instant messaging applications. It has a launcher for e-reading applications which starts PressDisplay when reading newspapers, Kobo when reading e-books, and Zinio when reading magazines.^[23] For viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents, the Galaxy Tab also comes bundled with the Android version of ThinkFree Office Mobile.^[24]
The Tab can also provide tethering, acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 5 devices. Stored addresses can be displayed in Google maps with one click. It also allows linkage with a contact's Facebook profile if the phone address is linked with the contact's Facebook address.
Several HD video content multimedia formats, including DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264, are supported.^[25] It can play video content either stored on the device itself or streamed from YouTube, and can output 720p video to a TV either as composite video or via HDMI when using the optional dock.^[26]
Text can be entered using Swype, by tracing a path over letters on a virtual keyboard, and standard XT9 predictive typing is also supported.^[27]
TouchWiz Samsung Galaxy Tabs allow the screen display to be saved.^[28] Honeycomb tablets without TouchWiz, including the 10.1 in Galaxy Tab, must either be rooted or have the SDK installed in order to capture screenshots ^[29]
As of November 2011, the apps market for Android tablets remains tiny with only a couple hundreds of apps dedicated to Android tablets, compared with some 90,000+ apps on the iPad's Apps Store.^[30]

Upgrades

In May 2011 it was reported that Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 was being made available in Italy, with other regions expected to follow.^[31]
Several updates have been made throughout the world and in February, 2012, android version Gingerbread 2.3.6 is available. Samsung has announced that the tablet will not receive Ice Cream Sandwich, although a value package is in the works. This package will not include a full Ice Cream Sandwich build, but instead a Gingerbread build with a few Ice Cream Sandwich features.^[32]

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Samsung Galaxy S3 Now Available in Europe

2012-05-30T13:34:00.000-06:00

May 04, 2012 by Peter Pachal 17

In what might be the most inadvertently silly tagline in smartphone history, Samsung says the Galaxy S III is “designed for humans.” No one’s designing phones for cats, so Samsung is obviously being more figurative here, meaning that the user interface and features on the phone better meet what people really want to do.
Until we get a our hands on the thing, we won’t know that for sure, but Samsung detailed many of the features meant to make the Galaxy S III more human-friendly. Several of them have a social component as well, since one of the main things we do with smartphones is make and maintain connections with others.
The phone’s high-performing Exynos 4 Quad processor, six separate sensors, and wireless tech such as near-field communication (NFC) all enable its abilities. But “humans” don’t care about any of that. Do the new features on the Samsung Galaxy S III address the needs and desires of today’s smartphone customers? Let’s take look:

S Voice: This is Samsung’s Siri clone, letting you control the phone with your voice. It’s unclear what the limits of S Voice are (Siri has been infamously criticized for not working as advertised), but Samsung has chosen to emphasize just a few simple tasks users can peform with voice: unlocking the phone, hitting snooze on an alarm, playing songs, sending texts and scheduling events.
Smart Stay: Tapping your screen to stop it from timing out before you’re done reading will never happen on the Galaxy S III, according to Samsung. Smart Stay uses the phone’s front-facing camera to monitor your eyes, so it knows when you’re reading, watching video or doing anything where your attention is on the screen but not actively doing anything with it.
Face Recognition With Auto Tagging: If your cellphone camera can recognize faces, why not let it assign names to them and automatically tag your photos? The Galaxy S III does this, letting you quickly share (via email or picture message) to all the people in the photo with just a couple of taps — assuming their faces are already associated with your contacts. It’s not clear how this would translate to tagging on Facebook, but it seems like a no-brainer.
S Beam: No need for the cloud if you want to share files on the Galaxy S III. You can transfer files up to 1GB to another person’s phone just by tapping them together. The connection is made via short-range near-field communication (NFC) and the files are delivered over Wi-Fi Direct. The feature is limited, though: Both phones have to be Samsung Galaxy S IIIs.
Direct Call: This is a simple change, but probably a welcome one for many. If you’re texting someone and decide you want to call them instead, just hold the phone up to your ear. The phone automatically places a call to the person with whom you were just texting.
AllShare Cast: The link between phones and TVs is getting stronger with features like AllShare Cast. With just a few screen swipes, the phone easily lets you mirror what’s on your device (photos, videos and the web) to the bigger screen. It’s a great idea — and where the world is going — but like S Beam, it has a similar limitation of needing Samsung equipment to work — either a TV or a special dongle.

The Samsung Galaxy S III has many welcome features, following in some areas (like voice control) and leading in others (social tagging). We can’t wait to see the U.S. model, which Samsung says will be able to connect to LTE networks. While the timing of the launch hasn’t been announced, Samsung says it’ll be available this summer.
What do you think of the “human” features of the Samsung Galaxy S III? Is it what you’ve been waiting for in a smartphone, or are you not impressed? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) Review by John V.

2012-05-23T15:29:00.001-06:00

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Introduction:

Samsung made it blatantly obvious last year that they would not be upstaged by the competition, as they seemingly redesigned the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be thinner than the iPad 2. Well folks, fast forward one year later to the present, and Sammy is back for round two with its successor in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1). Strangely, rather than concocting something bigger and more immense, they’ve decided to go towards the affordability route, as the tablet launches with a specs sheet similar to its predecessor – while boasting a $50 decrease in price to $450 for the base 16GB version. Will this new approach expand its reach?

Design:

By now, we’re all too familiar with Samsung’s strategy of not being upstaged by the competition. However, with this successor model, its design is a wee bit uninspiring and underwhelming. Overall, it exhibits all of the characteristics of being a Samsung made device, as it sports a sturdy all-plastic build – while still regarded as being streamlined at 0.38” thick. No doubt, we applaud its slick and comfortable feel in the hand, but still, its design is not as aggressive when compared to other recent things like the Asus Transformer Prime.


The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) sports a sturdy all-plastic build

This time around, Samsung has repositioned its speakers onto its left and right edges, which are also raised higher to not interfere with our hands while holding onto it. And of course, there’s a front-facing VGA camera perched above the display ready for all our video chatting needs.


	Speaker on the left edge	Front-facing camera

Looking around its sides, most of its buttons and ports are located on the top side of the tablet – these include the springy power button, volume control, microSD card slot, 3.5mm headset jack, and an IR blaster. With the latter, we’ve been seeing it incorporated with many of Samsung’s recent tablets, and we continue to enjoy seeing the tablet doubling as a universal remote. On the bottom edge, the only thing we find is the proprietary charging/data port and the microphone.


Top side	Right	Bottom	Left
The sides of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1)

In the rear, Samsung has opted to keep the same sized 3.2-megapixel camera, but it’s sadly lacking auto-focus and an LED flash.


Back	Rear camera

Motorola Xoom review

2012-05-22T09:18:00.000-06:00

Motorola Xoom review

The first Android 3.0 tablet arrives to challenge the iPad 2

By John BrandonMarch 3rd 2011

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Page 1 of 10Motorola Xoom: Overview

The Motorola Xoom is the first Android 3.0 tablet to hit the market. That makes it the first Android tablet to ship with an OS that's designed especially for big screens, and that's why it's so exciting.
Every tech gadget must be judged solely on what it provides, its purpose in life, and whether it will help you accomplish tasks and enjoy your media.
With the Motorola Xoom, it's too easy to make constant iPad (and iPad 2) comparisons. Can you purchase movies as easily? Does the screen get as grimy? Does it cost more?

Read: Android 3.0 review

Yet, the Xoom is the first Android 3.0 tablet, the first really powerful tablet with a dual-core processor, and a sleek, 10.1-inch slate that is easy on the eyes.

You can check out our Android Tablet round-up to see how this slate measures up against three of its rivals below:

There's no question the Xoom is a brilliant tablet, one that is incredibly flexible in terms of media you can put on the device.

With a 5-megapixel front camera and a 2-megapixel rear-facing camera, 32GB of local storage (plus a potential for more SD storage after the next software update), 1GB of RAM, 4G support once the LTE roll-out starts and after a software upgrade, and 10-hours of battery life, the Xoom has the hardware specifications to make you sit up and take notice.

Plus, the new Android 3.0 tablet interface lives and breathes in the open source world.
Frankly, the Motorola Xoom blows the Samsung Galaxy Tab out of the water, and that is saying something. We'll keep our iPad comparisons to a minimum (hey, if you wanted one of those you would have bought one by now, right?) and ratchet down our comparisons to the iPad 2 which ships in the UK on 25 March.
The Xoom is the best Android tablet around and a device that is well worth serious consideration.
However, before we go any further, we need to address pricing - the Motorola Xoom is currently available for pre-order for £499. The 3G version is set to cost £100 more at £599.
The next-best Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, costs £399.00 without a contract, which is quite a bit lower than the Xoom. And, the Apple iPad 2 will start at £429.00 for the Wi-Fi-only version, so the Xoom is expensive.

Yet, our overall impression testing the device is that it is a notable upgrade from every other Android model, including the Dell Streak series. The heart and soul of this tablet is the new Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) OS, which ran lightning fast in our tests on the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor.
And we mean fast: finger swipes registered quickly and accurately, and the few games available ran smoothly.

Android 3.0 is a brilliant interface for tablets – much more flexible than iOS in that you can drop widgets all over your homescreens, and more responsive and even better suited for reading books and playing games.

The Xoom even touts this fact in the Google Books app: there's a cool page flipping animation.
The Xoom has a decidedly PC-like UI in that you can press a button to see all open apps (unfortunately, you can't selectively close them from here but you can close apps through a memory manager under the settings screen), click the clock to see notifications and access settings, and move objects around the screen easier.

Motorola Xoom Review: The latest tablet computer to hit the market, is fast and well built, but a little bit of a bugger to play with and way too overpriced

2012-05-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

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Motorola Xoom review

Love

Blazing fast
PC-like functionality
Sturdy build, good battery

Hate

Software needs improvement
Just a handful of tablet apps
Poor media performance

Update: We now have a Motorola Xoom 2 and Apple iPad 2 video which you can watch (above).
Since it was first announced at CES, we’ve been eagerly waiting for the Motorola Xoom – the first tablet with Google’s brand new Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) operating system. This is truly the first real competitor to the Apple iPad, and Xoom actually manages to outperform Apple’s tablet in quite a few areas. It has just launched in the US, where T3’s US correspondent Jeppe Christensen has been checking it out.

Motorola Xoom: Screen
The hardware is sturdy and impressive. The Xoom weighs in at 730 grams and is 12.9 millimeters thick –almost identical to the iPad, but the roomy 10.1-inch screen is wider, with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. That gives the Xoom an edge when watching movies and browsing larger websites, but it also makes it feel a tad long and narrow while one is holding it vertically. No doubt, this beast was made for landscape mode, where the Honeycomb software is able to make great use of all that screen real estate.
Sunny weather is a problem though, the screen looks great when inside but there’s just too much glare to use the XOOM comfortably outside in direct sunlight. Turning the screen brightness all the way up helps but it’s nowhere near good enough.
The Xoom has better specs all-around than the current iPad. The processor is faster with two cores, there are four times as much memory, better speakers, and a bigger and higher resolution screen. Currently, it’s equipped with EVDO 3G for use on the Verizon cellular network in the US, but later in the year a free upgrade will be available for the company’s faster 4G network. When it arrives in the UK/Europe, the built-in Broadcom 3G chip will be configured to enable HSDPA performance of up to 10.1 megabits per second.
There is 32GB storage for apps, movies, music and photos. The Xoom actually does have a slot for MicroSD memory cards, but unfortunately, it’s not working right out of the box. Motorola reports it is waiting for a software update from Google to enable support for memory cards in Honeycomb.
Motorola Xoom: Camera and Google Talk
Finally, there’s a 2.0 megapixel front-facing camera for video chat or narcissistic self-portraits and a five-megapixel shooter on the back that also produces 720p video with 30 frames per second. The five meg shooter on the back actually produces decent well-balanced pictures, and 720p video looks pretty decent. although it’s really awkward holding the XOOM when shooting pictures or video for more than a few minutes at a time. The Google Talk app is a joy to use, so instant messaging on the XOOM feels natural when you’re sitting lazily on your couch.
The two-megapixel camera on the front enables you to make video calls, and while not crystal clear HD quality, the quality is good enough, especially over Wi-Fi and a decent broadband connection, with video and audio being mostly fluid and in sync. Tying to make the same call via Verizon’s 3G EVDO network produced a choppy and much less enjoyable experience, hopefully in the UK with HSDPA things will improve.
Motorola Xoom: Android 3.0
So, the Xoom is quite a well-equipped package, but does that really translate into a fast, functional and accessible user experience? In most instances, the answer is a resounding “yes!” Having used quite a few Android phones over the last couple of years, we quickly felt at home in the Honeycomb user interface. You have five home screens for apps and widgets and a permanent navigation and notification bar at the bottom of the screen. In the past, Android has been criticized for being a bit nerdy and complicated, and while Honeycomb does have kind of a cold and digital look (TRON, anyone?), most actions are easy and intuitive.
Composing e-mails, checking your calendar, browsing the Web, using Google Maps, or simply playing with the settings are allsimple tasks, and it’s a joy working with apps built and optimized for the larger screen. The user experience is definitely much closer to that of a PC than that of a smartphone.
Surfing the Web is a breeze thanks to tabbed browsing, the ability to open and render new Web pages in the background, and the sheer speed of the device.This thing is fast, and now it’s actually preferable to look up something or check a link on your tablet than it is on your laptop. We’re a bit bummed to discover there’s no support for Flash straight away, but Adobe is assuring us that their software for Honeycomb will arrive in just a few weeks. We hope that this won’t impact the speed too much.
Most Android apps for phones work fine and fill out the entire screen, but occasionally, you’ll run into apps that won’t work properly or simply crash, and this is something we’d like Google to fix immediately. As of writing this, there are only 16 tablet apps in the Android Market, and this puts the Xoom at a huge disadvantage compared to iPad and Apple’s booming app store that carry more than 60,000 apps for the iPad. The few apps that are in there are generally of a high quality, and we enjoyed checking the latest news with the Pulse News Reader, checking out movie listings and reviews with the Movies app from Flixster, and just killing time with the tablet-optimized version of Angry Birds Seasons.
The built-in keyboard is easy to use and just as good (or bad) as that on Apple’s iPad, so it’s fine for short messages and e-mails and you can actually type pretty fast enabling correction suggestions.
Motorola Xoom: Video and music
The Xoom’s 10.1-inch screen just begs for Hi-Def video, but currently there are no compatible video rental or download services available. Google states this will change soon enough, but right now, you have to make do with converting your DVD or Blu-ray collection. Unfortunately, the built-in movie player is very picky and won’t play even the most popular file formats. Forget about DivX and MKV files, and nothing with DTS or AC3 sound will play either. The “easiest” solution is to fire up a program like Handbrake and convert or re-encode your movies into MP4 files with AAC or MP3 audio.
The lack of support for a variety of movie and audio formats is seriously disappointing, especially considering that a device like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will play nearly everything you throw at it.
Handling your music collection is easy, and the built-in player looks beautiful with its fancy 3D-effects and album graphics. Unfortunately, Honeycomb has trouble recognizing embedded album artwork, which is a shame. Also, if you stuff the tablet with gigabytes and gigabytes of music, the music player tends to become overwhelmed and then takes quite a while to change between different views. You can’t help but feel that the software needs time to mature.
Motorola Xoom: Battery

Battery life seems to be comparable to that of the iPad, with better or worse performance depending on your usage scenario. We got a whopping 10 hours of heaving Web browsing over 3G before the battery finally ran out of juice. That is, in all respects, pretty impressive. It doesn’t handle video quite as well, but still managed to squeeze out eight hours with brightness at 65 percent and Wi-Fi and 3G turned on. In a mixed-use scenario, you can probably squeeze out between 10-14 hours of use.
The Xoom is an enticing device with a very promising operating system, but we must note that despite the long wait, Honeycomb feels a bit rushed-to-market and somewhat rough around the edges. We love the user-interface, the Web browser, and all the Google-oriented apps, but the poor media handling is seriously disappointing, and we desperately need more tablet-apps in Android Market. We will update this review when we get a UK review sample, so we'll see if this improves.
We could overlook all this were the Xoom priced competitively, but Motorola is asking for a whopping $800 dollars without a contract or $600 with a two-year Verizon contract. In the UK pricing has just been announced at £499, which seems respectable. Considering we’ll see iPad 2.0 in just a few days, with expected availability within a few weeks, and with the Honeycomb running Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and LG Optimus Pad coming soon, we'd suggest waiting before investing.

Samsung Galaxy Note in pink is in bound for the UK sometime in June

2012-05-18T13:22:00.000-06:00

The last time we heard about the elusive “berry pink” version of the Samsung Galaxy Note, was back last month when it officially made its debut in Samsung’s home country of Korea. Of course, the new color added a little bit of flavor to the white and typical black versions of the larger than life smartphone, but word has it that it’s in bound for the UK as well.

From the looks of it all, Carphone Warehouse is expected to take hold of the pink-a-fied version of the Samsung Galaxy Note sometime next month in June – albeit, no official date has been attached to it just yet. However, they’ve opened up a pre-registration page for those individuals itching on the opportunity to learn more about its inevitable arrival.

As much as our friends from over the pond can rejoice about its pending arrival, there’s no word whether or not it’ll be making an appearance stateside. Therefore, if you’re really desperate for this new color variant, you’ll probably want to look into importing an unlocked version of it. Color scheme aside, there’s nothing else different about this handset, as it sports the some old lovable specs as before – like a that ginormous 5.3” WXGA Super AMOLED display.

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Samsung Galaxy mini 2 Review - Samsung USB OTG

2012-05-17T10:30:00.000-06:00

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Samsung Galaxy mini 2 Review

Review index

Posted: yesterday, 03:50 , by Nick T.

Introduction:

Android smartphones come in all shapes and sizes, including cute and cuddly, as the case is with the Samsung Galaxy mini 2. This petite-sized entry-level device is the successor to last year's Galaxy mini, and as such, it comes with improvements both on the inside and on the outside. To start, the screen is not only slightly bigger, but also sports HVGA resolution whereas the previous model had a modest QVGA display. Furthermore, the 600MHz processor has been ditched in favor of an 800MHz single core chip. But is its $270 launch price tag justified by what you get in exchange? Let's check the smartphone out and see...

The box contains:

Wall charger
Data cable
Quick start guide

Design:

As you might expect out of an entry-level smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy mini 2 is made out of plain old plastic. There is a chrome-like shiny bezel around its side, while the back cover sports a fine texture that adds a little bit of extra grip and keeps fingerprints at bay. So yeah, no fancy materials anywhere in sight, but thankfully, the handset looks presentable and feels properly built.


The Samsung Galaxy mini 2 looks presentable and feels properly built

You can compare the Samsung Galaxy mini 2 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

What we are quite happy with is the way the Galaxy mini 2 fits in the palm. It feels like a pebble and rests naturally without being too small to use comfortably. All you need to operate the device is a single thumb. Additionally, the lock key and the 2-button volume rocker are very easy to find and respond with a nice click when pressed. As it is on any recent Samsung Galaxy device, underneath the handset's display we have a physical home key and two capacitive buttons for the home and back functions – properly spaced out and not prone to accidental presses.


Volume key and microSD slot (left)	Power key (right)	3.5mm jack (top)	microUSB port (bottom)
The sides of the Samsung Galaxy mini 2


Back	Camera	Battery compartment

Display:

Occupying the front of the Galaxy mini 2 is a 3.27-inch TFT LCD display with a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels (176ppi), which is okay for a low-level smartphone. In terms of quality, we are treated to a fairly accurate color reproduction. Only shades of red appear slightly undersaturated, but we don't consider that a dealbreaker in any way. Be aware, however, that the screen's surface reflects a lot of sunlight, which greatly reduces outdoor visibility. It is also inconvenient that an ambient light sensor is missing, meaning that users have to adjust the display's brightness the old-fashioned way – manually.

Samsung GALAXY mini 2 360-degrees View:

‹left right›

Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out

Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-I9100) Review by tracyandmatt.co.uk

2012-05-16T09:26:00.000-06:00

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Samsung rocked the Android world last year with the original Galaxy S, which quickly became one of the biggest selling phones of 2010. But now the Korean giant has come out with a successor under the originally named moniker, the Galaxy S II. Samsung's 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3" Super AMOLED Plus screen, a 8MP camera with 1080p video recording and 1GB of RAM are just some of the amazing features packed into the sequel to Samsung's most successful Android handset to date.

Arguably the most anticipated phone of 2011 but it it is truly worthy of that title? Is this handset a worthy successor to last years model? And can it compete with other dual-core smartphones such as the HTC Sensation?

Well, you'd better read on to find out!

The 10 second review:

Device: Samsung Galaxy S II
Price: £528.00 including VAT for 16GB version - £708 including VAT for 32GB version. Also available from carriers on contact with subsidised prices.
Summary: An incredibly fast Android 2.3 phone with features such as the camera, speed and screen that mixes with a great Android skin to make the best smartphone that I have ever used.
Best of: Speed, screen, camera, browser, thinness, Gingerbread
Worst of: battery life needs to be better, screen might be too big for some people
Buy it now from Clove Technology

What is in the box?

Samsung Galaxy S II handset
Battery
UK 3-Pin Micro-USB Charger
USB to Micro USB sync/charge cable
Earphones
Replacement ear buds
Quick start guide
Warranty card

Samsung Galaxy S2 specification:

2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Dimensions: 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm
Weight: 116 g
Display: Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches, Gorilla Glass display
Multi-touch input method
Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
Proximity sensor
Gyroscope sensor
3.5mm jack
Internal Memory: 8GB/16GB/32GB
RAM: 1GB
microSD, up to 32GB
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth v3.0+HS
USB v2.0 microUSB (MHL), USB On-the-go
Camera: 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Video Recording: 1080p@30fps
Secondary Camera: 2 MP
OS: Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
CPU: Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP GPU, Orion chipset
Stereo FM radio with RDS
GPS with A-GPS support
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
Digital compass
Adobe Flash 10.1 support
Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh

General:
Only the headphone jack is on the top of the Galaxy S II

Just the microUSB slot and the microphone are on the bottom

The left hand side houses the volume rocker

The power button is located on the right of the handset

On the back of the handset is the 8 MP camera, LED Flash and the Samsung logo

The front is dominated by the 4.3" Super AMOLED Plus screen, the front-facing camera, the earpiece, sensors, and the 3 required buttons for Android: Menu, Home and Back.

Highlights:

Speed
Screen
Thinness & Weight
Web Browsing
Camera
2.3 Gingerbread

Lowlights:

Screen might be too big for some people
Battery life should be better

Review:
The Samsung Galaxy S II is the second dual-core smartphone that I have had the privilege to offer my opinion on. Immediately after turning the device on, I was sold on which of the two was better. Put bluntly: the Galaxy S II is better in every single way imaginable.
Normally we start our reviews with hardware, and I'm somewhat of a stickler for tradition. Saying that the hardware on the Galaxy S II is "good" is probably the understatement of the year/decade/century/millennium. Every part is mind blowing great.

Chances are that the screen is the place where you will be spending most of your time so that is what I will cover first. Last year, Samsung blew us away when it debuted it's Super AMOLED screen technology on the original Galaxy S, but they have gone over and above expectations with the Super AMOLED Plus screen technology seen on the Galaxy S II. Just like on the technology's predecessor, all the colours in the spectrum are fantastically vivid while colours such as green, blue and red really jump out at you. And because it is AMOLED, it means that the blacks are really black. When the screen is showing black it is almost impossible to tell when the screen stops and the bezel starts. It is really that impressive.
It is really hard to describe how good the screen actually is. If you get the chance, I HIGHLY recommend that you go to a shop and see it for yourself, it is really worth it.
The Galaxy S II screen is made out of Gorilla Glass and for those who don't know, Gorilla Glass is a screen technology that makes the screen almost indestructible sans taking a hammer to it. Don't do that by the way! Scratches, nicks and cracks are a thing of the past; It is great for the device and for your nerves if you are prone to dropping handsets.
Beneath the screen are the compulsory keys for Android; Menu, Home and Back. The Menu and Back buttons are touch sensitive while the Home button is of the hardware variety.
On the right hand side of the handset there is the unlock/power button which is an unusual placement for this particular button. As far as I am aware this trend began with the original Galaxy S whereas nearly every other Android phone that I can think of, the power button is located on top of the device, on either the left or the right hand sight. The original Galaxy S is 4". While large, it is not as large as it's successor where the placement of the power button makes sense as smaller handed users may not be able to reach all the way up to the top of the device and it is much easier for our smaller extremity friends to reach the power button if it is placed on the side.
Zooming out from the screen, lets take a look at the device as a whole and what a device it is. The Galaxy S II is an absolutely beautiful device. Everything about the facade is pretty. There is no escaping it and you cannot deny it. It really is that good looking. Is it wrong to love a phone?

One of the things that makes the Galaxy S II such a pretty device is it's thinness. 8.49mm is the measurement at the thinnest point which if you use that number, it makes the Galaxy S II the thinnest smartphone in the world. But as you go towards the bottom of the device and around the camera, the Galaxy S II balloons out and it no longer holds this title. Matt has moaned about this issue several times in podcasts and videos, and he is totally right. Samsung cannot go around claiming that their latest smartphone is the thinnest in the world if the handset is is thicker in places that the Optimus Black, which is the rightful owner of the title as it measures 9.2mm at all points along the handset. - bad Samsung.
Despite the false claims, the Galaxy S II feels great in the hand mainly because of the thinness. Those with smaller hands will be able to stretch across the handset and be able to take full advantage of the fantastic screen that I was talking about earlier.
Samsung has been criticised in the past because they used plastic in the construction of their handsets and other products, creating a low-quality feel. The Galaxy S II does not break with tradition but I feel that it was a good move by Samsung to make the back of the handset plastic. At 4.3", the Galaxy S II is one of the largest handsets available on the market and if it was made out of metal, it would be very heavy, perhaps too heavy for some people, whereas the Galaxy S II's weight feels just right for its size. Not too light to make it feel cheap and not too heavy to make your hand tired; It is the Goldilocks of weight.
When first announced, the Galaxy S II had a 1 GHz chipset inside of it but in a wise move by Samsung, they have overclocked the CPU to 1.2 GHz. It might seem slight on paper, but the increase really shows when using the device. If you could only describe the Samsung Galaxy S II with one word, it would be "fast". It is so fast, you cannot describe how fast everything is done. It really sets the speed bar for smartphones in 2011 - perhaps even into the beginning of 2012! Every app opens up as soon as you press the icon, everything is so responsive and smooth that it is an absolute joy to use.
The benchmarks are blown out of the water when the Galaxy S II has a go at them. The scores put down by the handset are the highest I have ever seen; That includes stock and rooted phones. The handset scored 3700 in quadrant and if you have used this benchmarking app before, you will know that a score of 3328 is definitely impressive!
There isn't much to fault with the Galaxy S II's hardware but one minor flaw that I have noticed is that the headphone jack really likes to hold on to your headphones. You can hold your phone upside down and pull on it and the headphones still don't unplug. I'm not sure whether it is just our review unit or if it is a universal issue but it is something that I noticed.
TouchWiz 4.0 is the version of Samsung's custom Android skin placed over Android 2.3 Gingerbread that is seen on the the Galaxy S II. Straight off the bat I instantly knew that this update to the skin was much better than the version seen on the original Galaxy S, TouchWiz 3.0. There are no annoying colourful squares behind the app icons, there are much better widgets and it is much smoother but I'm not sure if this is down to the hardware.
You unlock the device by touching any part of image on the lockscreen and dragging it to the edge of the screen.

Different to most other Android skins, the home screen is the panel furthest to the left (similar to iOS I might add).

Alike iOS again, there are 4 buttons at the bottom of the screen which stay in place as you navigate through the 7 home screens and when you open up the app drawer.
While we're on the subject, the app drawer is the location where all your installed apps lie. You can either view the apps in a horizontal sliding grid or in a vertical scrolling list.

Different from nearly every other app drawer that I can think of, the one that Samsung has included enables users to make folders inside the app draw itself. They're not the usual folders which can only reside on the home screens.
That is not the only weird thing linked with both app views. Sometimes when you are in the list view and you go to place an app from the app drawer to the home screen, it changes the app to a different one. For example when I installed BeyondPod from the app market and tried to drag it to the home screen it changed it into the app icon to the clock app. Weird! The only remedy is not inconvenient, but it is annoying. You have to change into the grid view and do it from there. Like I said, not a huge problem but still very annoying.
Before we continue with the rest of the review, we must remember that the Galaxy S II is first and foremost a phone. The phone app seems to be just a slightly altered version of the standard Android one except this one has a predictive number feature and is slightly more colourful than it's vanilla counterpart.

When you access the notification bar, you are greeted by not just the notifications as seen on vanilla Android, but 5 system toggles: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sound and auto-rotation.

But there is one flaw with the notification bar - Samsung has coloured the text to blend in to the background. Weirdly however, it only seems to be for certain types of notification. Email notifications are white and you can read them easily whereas nearly everything else displays text in black or grey. I have no idea what persuaded Samsung to make this aesthetic choice.
The widgets included in TouchWiz 4.0 are varied, useful and good looking, with verything you need for a quick delivery of information. There are the standard clock, weather and calendar but there are some cool news, social networking and bookmark widgets included as well.
One of my initial grippes with TouchWiz 4.0 was about the 4 buttons at the bottom of the screen. When I reviewed the LG Optimus 2x I was frustrated that I couldn't change the Phone, Contacts and messaging apps to how I wanted to use the device. So when I first booted up the device, the frustration returned as I tried to no avail to change them. But then Google comes to the rescue and here is how you do it - if you were wondering. 1) Go into the app drawer, 2) change into Grid view 3) Press the menu button and go into the edit view 4) Drag and drop the apps that you want where you want. This is nice of Samsung to allow users to change these icons compared to other manufactures, although it's quite awkward to do.
Samsung has included a leap feature that enables users to see all of the homescreens at a glance. HTC started this trend but I have never seen the need for it myself. It is not that hard to swipe across a few pages and get to what you want. However it is there if you are someone who wants such a feature.

But the TouchWiz skin placed over Android 2.3 is one of the better ones. It is a much needed improvement from the previous version. There are some things that I don't think are needed such as the hubs (read on to find out about those) but TouchWiz is a very easy, attractive and practical Android skin; Perhaps one of the best.

Text Entry Methods
There are more ways of entering text into the Galaxy S II than most Android handsets. The first is the portrait QWERTY Samsung keyboard that will most likely be the way that most people, me included will enter text. Typing on this keyboard is okay but something just seems wrong. I cannot put my finger on it (no pun intended) but when typing fast I always seem to hit the wrong key. I am sure that this is because I am used to typing on the standard Gingerbread keyboard and with continued use, I could get used to Samsung's own keyboard. However one of the worst things about the standard keyboard, which could make you change to an alternative keyboard, is that there is no text prediction! None whatsoever. You could argue that it is not necessary to have the feature but it is most welcome when you make 'stuipd speling mistkes'.

The landscape version is much better for this keyboard as in this orientation the keys seem to be placed in the right place and I can literally fly over this keyboard. But everything is the same as it's portrait counterpart.

I have always said that voice input is probably the coolest text entry method on Android phones and I have not changed my opinion. Voice entry seems to be very good on the Galaxy S II. Although I'm not sure why the increase in reliability and accuracy; Could be down to the microphone or my voice magically got more understandable. It understood what I said around 98% of the time and was very fast to process it.
Unlike most other Android handsets, the Galaxy S II also comes pre-installed with the Swype keyboard. For those unfamiliar with it, this keyboard is supposed to be one of the fastest text entry methods around because you enter words by swiping your finger around the screen, passing quickly over the letters in the word you are trying to spell. For some people this makes complete sense but my brain just gets confused by it as after you finish spelling the word, you have to lift your finger off the screen and press the space bar to continue with the sentence. However in my mind, it's like patting your head while rubbing your stomach, though that could just be me. If you are a fan of this keyboard, you don't have to download it from the Android market, which will save around 30 seconds of your life.

Internet
Samsung has made one of the most important features on any smartphone work extremely well. Web pages load really fast (probably down to the dual-core processor) but the browser is the same as those on most other Android handsets and it is easy to use. It supports multi touch, text re flow, pinch-to-zoom and Samsung has included a zooming motion method by tilting the phone towards and away from your body to zoom either in or out respectively. This looks to me like a textbook gimmick, designed to show off the phone but it does not really have a real world use. Motion also works in the gallery as well as in the browser.

Text, images and graphics all look great on the Galaxy S II's Super AMOLED screen but that is the norm with this device. At 480 x 800, text is easily readable from all zoom levels but when you zoom in, it looks even better.
As you would expect, the browser on the Galaxy S II takes advantage of the built-in accelerometer which means you can view the web page that you have loaded in any orientation that you want.
The latest version of Flash 10.3 is supported in the browser (just like every other phone running Android 2.2 or above) and it works as well as it can on a phone/touch screen but I still think that Flash doesn't have a place on phones.

Pre-Installed Apps
Samsung has pre-loaded certain apps and hubs onto the Galaxy S II such as Allshare, BBC iPlayer and the Samsung hubs (Games, reader, social and music)
Allshare is an app that allows you to share content wirelessly to your TV. From what I can tell you can send movies that you have filmed on your phone, pictures and audio as well. Unfortunately, I do not have a DLNA TV so I haven't been able to test the app to assess how well it performs.

BBC iPlayer is another app that's pre-installed on the Galaxy S II but you can also download it for no charge from the Android Market. You may be already familiar with the app but if you're not it's basically an app that allows you to watch BBC content on your phone. Over Wi-Fi, video quality is excellent, especially as you are watching it through the amazing screen on the Galaxy S II. As you might expect, watching video over 3G is a different story. Depending on your signal strength and your coverage, quality can range from crystal clear to unrecognisable blobs of colour.

Hubs
Samsung has included 4 different hubs for 4 different functions; Games, reader, social and music.
Games, as you might imagine, is a hub dedicated to mobile gaming. There are some free games available such as Touch Hockey and We Rule but these are freely available from the Android Market and I don't really see the point in going into an app to launch a game that is only housed in the hub. It is much easier and faster to download the free app from the Android Market and launch it from the App Drawer, rather than waiting for the hub to load (takes between 5 & 10 seconds) initiating it from the hub.

Readers is Samsung's way for users to consume daily news, books and magazines but I haven't found this particularly useful or seen any attraction to use this over apps such as Google Reader and Amazon Kindle.

The Social hub is Samsung's attempt to consolidate all of your social feeds. There are the usual suspects; Facebook and Twitter, but there are some also some unexpected ones as well such as Myspace, LinkedIn and MSN Messenger. For some people, having all of their social networks in one place, means easy access but I prefer to have them segmented into different apps. What ever floats your boat...

The Music Hub is the only pre-installed way to buy music on your Galaxy S II. Availiability seems decent but the prices seem a little expensive as all the songs are priced at 99p. Whereas on Amazon MP3 you can get the same songs for around 0.89p or 0.79p and there is no DRM if you get your music from Amazon; but you might be paying the extra few pennies for the convenience.

Kies
Kies, for the unfamiliar is the PC software that is basically Samsung's version of iTunes. You use this software to sync, backup and update your phone. Syncing and backing up worked perfectly but the latter didn't. Whilst reviewing this handset, Samsung came out with a software update so I plugged in the device to my computer (because OTA update do not work) but the update kept timing out and not updating. I'm not sure if it is my computer or an overloaded server but I tried everything and it would not work. :-(
In an overview of Kies itself, I really do not see why Samsung insists of tethering the phone to the computer. Independence from another device is one of the things I like best about Android compared with iOS and as for backing up your data, most of it is synced with Google's servers if you use their services (I expect that you do/will if you use an Android handset). Therefore to me, it doesn't make any sense at all to force users to connect the device every time there is an update, especially when most of the time the updating process does not work as advertised.

Media
Samsung really has hit the mark when it comes to music. Android has been traditionally quite bad when it comes to music compared with iOS, but Samsung has made some welcome modifications to the music player.

The Samsung Galaxy S II comes with the YouTube app that is exactly the same as any other Android device. You can browse through videos in a number of different categories such as most popular, discussed and most featured. You can also navigate to specific YouTube channels or videos by using the search bar. In terms of video quality, you can either choose between HQ (which is the default when viewing videos on Wi-Fi) and standard quality (which is the default when viewing videos on 3G) but they do playback smoothly most of the time on both of the internet connection types.

You can either view the videos in portrait or landscape. In portrait, the video is at the top and the video information such as the description; comments and related videos are at the bottom of the screen. But landscape is focused on just watching the video. In this orientation, the video fills the entire screen with no disturbances or distractions. You can go between these modes by either turning the handset in the desired orientation or by double tapping the video itself.
Another welcome addition to the Galaxy S II is the FM radio. It is a fairly simple one but has all the features that you would need for a radio and you can bookmark your favourite radio stations. But like every mobile device with a FM radio in it, you have to plug in headphones to listen as the wire is used as the aerial.

Google Services
One of the best things about Android in my opinion, is it's integration with Google services . Everything from email to calendar through to contacts is all natively built into the Samsung Galaxy S II and work great.
Like most Android handsets, the Galaxy S II comes with two email clients. The first is Samsung's own that works with services such as Microsoft Exchange or any other IMAP or POP email service as long as you have all the required details like the port number and the incoming and outgoing server addresses. So if for some reason you are still using Yahoo! mail or Hotmail, you are covered. This client is actually quite good which is a change from other handsets but I still prefer the other client installed on the Galaxy S II; the Gmail client from Google. This has always been my favourite and it works really well. I would personally recommend Gmail but the Samsung client comes really close, so if you get the privilege to own this handset, try both out and make your own decision.

The calendar on the Galaxy S II is also a very good experience. You can either view appointments in an agenda, day, week or month view. This can sync with your Gmail account for ease of use and just in case the worst happens, all of your appointments are stored in the cloud so you will not lose them. There are in total 4 calendar widgets available: two agenda (big and small), today and month.

Contact syncing is one of the all time great things to have come out of Google. Those who have read my other reviews, will know that I have lost/broken/smashed many phones and I have lost all of my contacts way too many times. So with Google to the rescue, it doesn't matter if you drop this off a cliff, you will still have your contacts saved with Google.

Camera & Video Recording
Just like everything else on the Galaxy S II, the camera app has gone under the knife and changed from the vanilla Android camera UI to Samsung's own.

There are many options for taking pictures, more than I can talk about but I will cover the basics. As you would expect a white balance slider, flash options and image size options. But this is really a feature packed camera and camera UI so there are focus settings, scene modes, ISO settings, colour effects, stabilisation and more. It really is filled to the brim with everything you need to take a great photo and the results are great.
The camera on the Galaxy S II is of the 8MP variety and the results are fantastic. It works well in every environment and condition. I tried it on fast moving objects, low lighting conditions and close up. All subjects were captured beautifully by the lens in the Galaxy S II.

Pictures:

The Galaxy S II records video in full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) and the results are good but I am still on the fence about whether it could replace a handheld video recorder. The colours are off and there is quite a lot of camera shake which is to be expected when filming video with phones. However the image is quite detailed and frame rate is smooth so take it as you will. While the video recording is nowhere near perfect, it does the job - just..

Battery
1650 mAh would be enough to get you through a day on most handsets but not on the Galaxy S II. With normal use (phone calls, listening to podcasts and music, browsing the web, text messaging etc) I struggled to get past 6 hours. This is without a doubt the most disappointing things about the Galaxy S II and could be a major deterrent for normal users. You have all this power and capability but you can only use it for 6 hours a day. That really is disappointing. I carry a HyperMac Micro battery in my pocket where ever I go so bad battery life isn't really an issue for me but I am far from normal. Samsung really should have put a larger capacity battery inside this hungry handset, or alternatively optimised the OS to use less battery.

I have heard reports that taking control of the display brightness will fix these battery life issues. I tried it but it. It didn't work for me. I still get poor battery life with the Galaxy S II.

Voice Control
Controlling your phone (or any device for that matter) by speaking to it has never really appealed to me. Most of the time when I use the technology it doesn't understand my voice, twisting my voice to some barely understandable string of words. The rest of the time I forget that there even is a voice control option available to me and enter the text, driving directions or mobile phone number without thinking about using my voice.
It seems that Samsung disagrees with me as they have included numerous voice control options.
The first is Voice Commands which is an app that, you guessed it, lets you speak to your phone to launch apps and do different actions on the device. You press the big blue "Tap and Speak" Button and speak a whole load of commands such as text messaging, dialing, launching apps, sending email and even writing memos.

The second is Voice Talk. From what I can tell, it does nearly all of the things that the previous app did, sans that fact that you can say "Hey Galaxy" to initiate the voice control. You can also quickly get into this app by double tapping the home button as well as accessing it through the app drawer.

The third and final option is voice search. This one is pretty self-explanatory (you search Google with your voice if you haven't figured it out yet) but it works as well as the others do.

Signal & Call Quality
I have previously moaned and complained about my house being in a dark spot when it comes to mobile reception but the Galaxy S II is rather good at picking up the cell towers. I have never had a dropped call in my time reviewing the Galaxy S II whether iI'm n London or at home.
Wi-Fi signal seems to follow a similar trend, keeping connected to my router in every part of my house.
As for call quality, I am pleased to report that voice quality seems as good as any other device that I have used. If you are in a good signal area, you will not drop the call and will maintain good call quality.

Conclusion
The Android space was dominated by the Galaxy S last year and I expect that this year the entire mobile space will be dominated by it's successor. The hardware on the Galaxy S II won't be beaten for quite some time (perhaps until this time next year) only to be matched by the HTC Sensation and maybe by the as yet unannounced new iPhone.
TouchWiz 4.0 really has matured and become much more useful and better to use than last year's version and with Google's recent announcement that Android handsets will be updated for 18 months after release, you will stay current if you purchase this handset. Especially, when Google releases Ice Cream Sandwich and Samsung updates the Galaxy S II to this tasty treat.
It is truly the best smartphone that I have ever used. The hardware and software comes together in harmony and produces a fast, easy and productive handset that is an absolute joy to use. If you have any doubts whatsoever about buying this handset, forget them. You will not be disappointed.
We don't have a rating system here but if we did, it would get a 10/10 with no questions asked. It really is that good!

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Details

2012-05-14T14:14:00.000-06:00

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Samsung Galaxy S2 Overview

2012-05-11T09:18:00.000-06:00

Samsung Galaxy S2 Overview

The Galaxy S2 (sometimes known as the Galaxy S II) is the follow up to Samsung's widely successful Galaxy S lineup. This time, the Galaxy S2 raises all the stakes and Samsung has found a way to double almost every spec in a true, one of a kind sequel.
With a 4.3-inch SAMOLED Plus screen (no more Pentile Matrix display), 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos processor, 8MP rear camera/ 2MP front-facing camera, both 1080p recording and playback, NFC capabilities, great battery life and one of the thinnest phones on the globe, the Galaxy S2 is a welcome update to the Galaxy family. Superphones don't get much better than this.
Many have heralded the S II as being the best smartphone to come out yet, with some reviewers saying that even the iPhone 4 can't beat it. It has Samsung's overlay, TouchWiz 4.0, which is said to be leaps and bounds better than 3.0.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone unveiled by BBC News

2012-05-08T14:42:00.002-06:00

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Samsung has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone - the Galaxy S3.

The handset has a 4.8 inch (12.2cm) screen, an increase on the 4.3 inch screen of its predecessor.
The device is perceived to be critical to how people view both Samsung's brand and the Android system it runs.
Analysts say the popularity of the previous Galaxy - the S2 - was a major factor in the firm overtaking Nokia to become the world's best-selling mobile phone maker.
Samsung said that the new Super Amoled (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) display was 22% larger than its predecessor, but the actual device was not much wider since it had shrunk the size of the bezel.
The development allows Samsung to boast it has a slightly larger screen than the 4.7 inch dimensions of the HTC One X, the top of the range model from its Taiwanese rival.

Rory Cellan-Jones and CCS Insight's Ben Wood assess the new Galaxy phone

It is also significantly bigger than the 3.5 inch display of Apple's iPhone 4S and the 4.3 inch screen of Nokia's Lumia 900.
Samsung may have been influenced by the popularity of its phone/tablet hybrid, the Galaxy Note, which has an even bigger screen and has proved to be more popular than many industry watchers had forecast.
Eye recognition The South Korean firm said that a mix of "intelligent camera features" and face recognition technology should also offer owners a more natural experience.
For example, it said that the front camera would identify the user's eyes and would not go dark or lock so long as they were looking at it.
Other features on the S3 include an 8 megapixel camera on the rear, and a 1.9 megapixel front camera for video calls.
The phone also uses what is described as a "natural language user interface" dubbed S Voice. The South Korean company said it was a major improvement on the voice control features it included on earlier models.

The phone offers up to 64GB of internal memory and an SD slot to add more
See how mobile phones evolved

"It is more like a good friend and listens intently and responds effectively to you," a spokesman said at the launch event in London.

The facility can be used to command the phone to play songs, adjust the volume, send texts or emails and take photographs.
The function is likely to be compared to Apple's Siri software.
Europe first One expert attending the launch event said that the advances Samsung had made should help Google's Android continue to be the most used smartphone operating system.
"The importance of the Galaxy S3 to Samsung cannot be underestimated," said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum.
"The company has built its reputation on producing the 'must-have' Android smartphone and in the process has become the poster child for the Android platform.
"However, Samsung's Galaxy S3 not only needs to stand out amongst a plethora of other Android-based smartphones, it will also go head-to-head with the next iteration of Apple's flagship smartphone, the iPhone."
Mr Leach added that Apple was not expected to release its new handset until much closer to the end of the year.
The S3 will be available in two colours, pebble blue and marble white, and the firm says that other options will be available at a later date.

The Galaxy S3 can wirelessly connect to Samsung television screens

Not everyone at the launch was convinced by the design.
"It is not an eye-catching device that will overwhelm consumers," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager for IDC.
"It is a bit of a facelift of the Galaxy Nexus. It feels less 'plasticky' though."
The new handsets will be available from the end of May in Europe. Launches in Asia, the Middle East and Africa will follow.
A 4G version will go on sale in the US and South Korea in the summer.

Samsung Galaxy S2 by phones4u.co.uk

2012-05-07T13:20:00.002-06:00

Samsung Galaxy S2

4.3” Super AMOLED Plus Display: The Samsung Galaxy S II boasts an extra special touchscreen; the ‘special’ bit being the Super AMOLED Plus technology that lies within. This clever tech far surpasses anything else on the market and provides strikingly clear images and deep, rich colours.

1.2GHz Dual Core Application Processor The Galaxy S II’s dual-core processor is one of the fastest on the market. The muscular 1.2GHz CPU works to create a snappy user interface, stutter free multimedia playback and speedy downloads.

Android 2.3 Operating System: The Samsung Galaxy S II is the latest Android piece to run on the Gingerbread OS (Android 2.3), and with the help of that super-fast processor makes navigation painless. Naturally there’s access to the Android app store, from which you can download interesting and intuitive apps.

8 Megapixel Camera with Flash: The 8 Megapixel camera comes loaded with extras to help you take amazing pictures. The LED flash makes happy snapping possible, even in low-light, while autofocus keeps pics blur-free. There’s HD video recording tacked on, a 2 Megapixel front camera for video calls and 16GB of memory to hold your snaps. Can’t say better than that, can you?

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Samsung Galaxy S3 release date, news and rumours

2012-05-02T15:34:00.001-06:00

Samsung Galaxy S3 release date, news and rumours

Updated Everything you need to know about the next Galaxy

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By Gary Cutlack & John McCann April 26th

All the information on the Samsung Galaxy S3

Samsung's flagship 2011 Android phone received a glowing 5/5 score when we reviewed the Galaxy S2 earlier this year.
And it was no surprise - Samsung packed a very powerful and capable processor plus a very nice camera into an unbelievably slim case.

Review

Samsung Galaxy Nexus review

Samsung published endless press releases about its ever growing global sales figures, which can only mean one thing. A sequel is guaranteed for 2012.
Samsung has confirmed that the new Galaxy S3 will be launched on May 3 at Earls Court, London - will it be your next Galaxy smartphone though?.
The Galaxy S 3 (which we've also seen referred to as the Galaxy SIII) will be powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, after Samsung confirmed the Exynos 4 Quad chip would be used in its next Galaxy device.
Check out our Samsung Galaxy S3 photo evolution gallery - do you believe any of them?
Update: A video claiming to show off the Samsung Galaxy S3 has appeared online. It claims the Galaxy S3 will pack a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, 4.6-inch HD display, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, 8MP camera and NFC technology.

Samsung Galaxy S3 video teaser

Update: Samsung has been messing with our minds, as it firstly put up the tgeltaayehxnx.com website complete with mysterious countdown after a cryptic tweet from its mobile Twitter account - which was followed by a video teaser for the upcoming event on May 3 in London, once the countdown had ended.
The video gives little away when it comes to the Galaxy S3, however Samsung manage to get a dig in at the competition, calling them all sheep. Take a look for youself…

Samsung Galaxy S3 Unpacked 2012 app

Update: A new app has appeared in Google Play revealing the Galaxy S3 name and confirming a new handset is on its way on May 3, physical home button and all.
Samsung has listed a range of keywords, including "Galaxy", "S3" and "GalaxyS3", in the app description and an icon within the app itself, titled "New Product", depicts a handset with a physical home button on the front, and a camera on the back.

Samsung Galaxy S3 UK release date

The Samsung Galaxy S3 launch date has been annouced as May 3. An invite sent to TechRadar confirmed the event will take place at Earls Court in London.

The official invite to the May 3 event in London

It's great to finally have the May 3 date in the diary. Over the past months we've seen more rumoured dates than you could shake a stick at, from the original expectation of a Mobile World Congress launch in February, to various reports from around the world including March 15, March 22, March 30, April and May 22.
What this shows is that Samsung has done a darn good job at keeping its plans under-wraps and we're still none the wiser on when the Galaxy S3 will actually hit stores.

In Depth

10 gadgets to look forward to in 2012

Update: Vodafone has put a page on its website giving customers the option to register for updates on the next Samsung Galaxy device.
A TechRadar source close to the manufacturer has said that it's "highly anticipate the current page on the Vodafone website will change over to a Samsung Galaxy S3 holding page in the near future".
We expect the Samsung Galaxy S3 to land in your hands soon after the launch event, in an Apple-style assault on the market, which sees a super-quick turn around from announcement to handsets getting shipped.

Samsung Galaxy S3 US release date

The Samsung Galaxy S3 launch date has been annouced as May 3. An invite sent to TechRadar confirmed the event will take place at Earls Court in London.
It's been suggested the reason Samsung has delayed the Galaxy S3 until after MWC 2012 is so it can be launched simultaneously in the US and rest of the world.
The Galaxy S2 suffered a US release delay, which saw it arrive several months after the rest of the world and Samsung is keen to avoid the same situation this year.

In Depth

15 best Android tablets in the world

The US market may see different variants of the Galaxy S3 handset which is set to be revealed on May 3, as Samsung could opt to only launch 4G enabled Galaxy S3's in regions which currently support the high-speed network – thus leaving parts of Europe with a 3G version.

Samsung Galaxy S3 price

Obviously we don't have pricing details for an unannounced phone, so all we can do is speculate. Given the recent launch of the Galaxy Nexus, which sold for an enormous £520 around its launch and for the following few weeks and was available on contracts starting at £36, that's the high-end level we expect of the S 3.
The Galaxy S2 was put on sale for £500 at launch, and contracts for a whopping £46 per month weren't hard to find either. However, that price dropped very quickly, so we expect the same to happen again.
In fact, given the success of the S2 (pictured below), we could even see it set new highs for Android phone prices, as Samsung fans clamour for what will surely be one of 2012's must-have mobiles.

Samsung Galaxy S3 processor

Update: Samsung has officially announced its Exynos 4 Quad processor and has confirmed that the 1.4Ghz quad-core chip will appear in its next Galaxy device – that's the Galaxy S3 to you and me.
Back in November, details of the Samsung Exynos 4412 chipset were uncovered, describing it as a quad-core unit clocked at 1.5GHz. We also saw Samsung reveal the dual-core Exynos 4212, that it claimed to be 30% more efficient and substantially faster than the unit inside the Galaxy S2.
Then there were reports of the Exynos 5250, an up-to-2GHz dual-core model that would support an incredible maximum resolution of 2560x1600.
Numerous rumours followed regarding the Galaxy S3's processor inlcuding; leaked info on a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, a report suggesting the Galaxy S3 would pack the "quad-core Exynos 4412" processor, the Korea Times saying a Samsung executive revealed details of the 1.5GHz quad-core Exynox 4412 processor, a video claiming the Samsung Galaxy S3 will pack a 1.4GHz quad-core chip and benchmarks results claiming to show the Galaxy S3 to wiping the floor with the competition.
Most recently, a set of benchmark results showed the Galaxy S3 topping the charts, but only packing a dual-core processor – not the quad-core chip that has now been confirmed.

Samsung Galaxy S3 operating system

Review

Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich review

Nothing is confirmed yet, of course, but given the Q2 2012 launch date and the fact that Samsung is already releasing test versions of an Android 4.0 update for the Galaxy S 2, the S 3 is all but guaranteed to arrive with a version of the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich release.
Google has recently published the 4.0.3 code which it says should be considered the baseline of the Ice Cream Sandwich code, so expect that version to launch on the S 3 at the very least.
We would also expect the Galaxy S 3 to feature a version of Samsung's TouchWiz user interface skin layered over the top of Android as well, which will help differentiate the phone from the "vanilla" Android 4.0 as found in the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus.
Update: Leaked information suggests the Galaxy S3 will run Ice Cream Sandwich - no surprise here, but if the report is legit it contains other specs about Samsung's hotly anticipated handset.
Update: An image below claims to show the Samsung GT-i9300, running Android Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz overlay, and touts itself as "the real deal" - could this be the Samsung Galaxy S3?

Credit:PhoneArena

Update: It seems pretty certain that the Galaxy S3 will run Ice Cream Sandwich, however it appears Samsung are going to stay faithful to the physical home button.

Samsung Galaxy S3 memory

Not much to go on here at the moment, but 1GB of RAM seems to be emerging as the new benchmark for comfortably running Android while maintaining solid performance, so that's our best guess for the S 3.
In terms of onboard storage, the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus did away with the SD card storage slot, only letting users have the 16GB the phone came with. If that's the way Samsung and Google see the future going, perhaps the S3 will bin SD card support as well.
Update: A report suggests the Galaxy S3 will be available in several varieties, giving customers the choice between 16GB and 32GB versions.
Update: A video claiming to show off the Samsung Galaxy S3 has appeared online showing a handset packing 16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM.

Samsung Galaxy S3 display

The Galaxy S2 seemed enormous with its 4.3" screen, but since then we've had the even bigger 4.7" HTC Sensation XL, the 4.65-inch Galaxy Nexus (below) and the insanely huge 5.3" Galaxy Note. The most recent mention of Galaxy S 3 screen size came in a rather dodgy-looking Samsung presentation slide, which claimed the S3 would feature a 4.6" screen.

Update: During its CES press conference Samsung popped out a promotional video with a very large-looking device appearing for a fleeting second, with an edge-to-edge display and much larger chassis. Although it could be a revamped Galaxy Note, we're still hoping it was a great S3 leak.
A very dodgy-looking picture has also appeared that supposedly shows the new Galaxy S3 with a flexible screen, although we're taking that with so many pinches of salt our cholesterol levels are dangerously high.
We wouldn't be surprised to see the S3 feature a bigger display than that of the Galaxy Nexus, though, offering something nearer the 5-inch end of the scale – as Samsung will surely want to have something considered both biggest and best as its new 2012 Android flagship.
Update: BGR has reported an information leak which confirms the Samsung Galaxy S3 will pack a 4.8-inch screen with a Full HD 1080p resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.
Update: A report leaked on Reddit suggests the Samsung Galaxy S3 will come with a 4.7-inch SuperAMOLED+ HD display.
Update: According to DDaily the Galaxy S3 will feature a physical home button, instead of the on-screen Ice Cream Sandwich navigation options.
Update: A video claiming to show off the Samsung Galaxy S3 has appeared online revealing it will sport a 4.6-inch HD (720x1184) display with 320dpi.

Samsung Galaxy S3 camera

All we have to go on here is more news from Samsung's imaging development teams, which announced the 16 megapixel mobile sensor back in October.
The tech spec of the S5K2P1 state it can capture 60fps HD video, while the still system can take 30 8.3 megapixel shots a second, eliminating shutter lag. If that sensor makes it into the Galaxy S3, every smartphone user in the country will be blagging an upgrade on launch day.
A picture was taken apparently using the camera on Boxing Day, with the EXIF data confirming not much more than it has a flash and it was used at Samsung HQ - is this picture of a plant really the future of Samsung photography?

Update: A report leaked on Reddit suggests the Samsung Galaxy S3 will have a 12MP camera, built flat into the back of the handset, meaning there will be no bump as found on the Galaxy S2.
Update: Leaked images of the Samsung Galaxy S3 claim that the handset will come with a 12MP camera.
Update: A video claiming to show off the Samsung Galaxy S3 has appeared online suggesting it could pack a poxy 8MP snapper - where's the fun in that Samsung?

Other Features

Update: Reports from Korea suggest the Samsung Galaxy S3 may come with wireless charging capabilities allowing you to say goodbye to that fiddly night-time plug in ritual.

Samsung Galaxy Gets an incredible Storage and Transfer Device

2012-05-01T09:40:00.002-06:00

Many Smartphone Users have used their phones, basically as a main communication device. Smartphones are one of the biggest communication devices for those on the go. People have found out that when they produce videos, take pictures or sharing documents, their storage space on their smartphone depletes fast. Beyond USB has devised a solution to alleviate this being a concern.

Beyond USB provides 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB solutions for Samsung Galaxy users and is compatible with many other Smartphones and Tablets as well. People may now simply plug the Micro USB plug into their Smartphone and it is easily recognized by the Phone and allows people to easily transfer videos, photos, movies, documents and more, right onto the Beyond USB. This is a simple drag and drop functionality and the transfer speed is incredible. This will allow phone to free up that much needed space immediately on their Smartphones or Tablets. The device can then be removed and the USB plug can be plugged into any computer to view or pull over and save those files.

Anyone can set up different folders on the Beyond USB and organize Photos, Videos, Documents and more, for easily finding and viewing files. When the information is stored on this Beyond USB Device, it takes much less battery life to view any application. Computers can also recognize the USB device and you can open and view the files in the folders without having to download them to your computer. You do have the option of transferring and storing the files on your Smartphone or Computer as well. This works as an incredible external storage device as well.

Any Tablet or Smartphone that is OTG Compatible and has an SD Card, with be able to recognize and be able to use the Beyond USB. TO WATCH THE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO CLICK HERE . This device is a must for all those constantly on the go. Never be concerned with running out of space or organizing your Videos, Movies, Photos , Documents and more, for easy viewing and locating. Samsung Galaxy and other Smartphone users do now have the all in one simple solution for their needs. Please visit www.BeyondUSB.com for more details and to order yours today!

" LIKE" Beyond USB on Facebook

What is USB OTG

2012-04-30T09:12:00.001-06:00

USB OTG

Short for USB On-The-Go, an extension of the USB 2.0 specification for connecting peripheral devices to each other. USB OTG products can communicate with each other without the need to be connected to a PC. For example, a digital camera can connect to a PDA, or a mobile phone can connect to a printer or a scanner, as long as all the devices are USB OTG-compatible. USB OTG grew from the increasing need for portable devices to be able to communicate with each other as the culture of technology moves away from a PC-centric world.
One of the important features of USB OTG is that the standard does not require a host PC in order for the devices to communicate. USB OTG devices, known as dual-role peripherals, can act as limited hosts or peripherals themselves depending on how the cables are connected to the devices, and they also can connect to a host PC.

Transfer Your Photos, Videos, Music, Documents and more in a flash, by simply plugging in your Beyond USB into your Smartphone or Computer. Very simple and easy for all to use. Get Yours Today!

Visit http://www.BeyondUSB.com for more details!

USB OTG Supported Phones?

2012-04-26T13:28:00.002-06:00

The hardware on the Nexus 1 (like many other phones) supports USB host mode even though the vanilla drivers that comes with it do not.

However, there's a driver available on the net that allows you to turn the support on.See here: http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb_host/ and since it's a Google dev phone "rooting" is a supported feature, not a hack.

Transfer Your Photos, Videos, Music, Documents and more in a flash, by simply plugging in your Beyond USB into your Smartphone or Computer. Very simple and easy for all to use. Get Yours Today! Visit http://www.BeyondUSB.com for more details.

Beyond USB - USB OTG - Smartphone USB to Computer USB Interface. Changing the way your store data!: Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. iPhone 4S: Worthy winner is?...

2012-04-24T12:50:00.001-06:00

Beyond USB - USB OTG - Smartphone USB to Computer USB Interface. Changing the way your store data!: Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. iPhone 4S: Worthy winner is?...: Transfer Your Photos , Videos , Music , ...

Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. iPhone 4S: Worthy winner is? by phonesreview.co.uk

2012-04-24T12:47:00.002-06:00

Under: Apple iPhone, Samsung
Date: November 16th, 2011

For several months the Samsung Galaxy S2 has been known as the best smartphone leading most of the lists of top smartphones. Many other manufacturers tried to create devices able to compete with it, but none succeeded – even Apples iPhone 4, according to most geeks I know, yielded to it in many aspects. Perhaps Samsung thought its Galaxy S2 was unreachable, but not so long ago Apple released the new iPhone 4S with a number of updated specs and features… and we all understood that the Galaxy S2’s position is now shaken.
So which phone is cooler – the Samsung Galaxy S2 or the Apple iPhone 4S? Which has better features? Which is worthy of your money? I’ll try to find this out in my comparison of these two smartphones.

Design
I think we all understand that design is a matter of taste. Some like huge, heavy and rugged devices; others prefer light and tiny ones. So in this case we can’t say which phone is better – the Samsung Galaxy S2 or the new iPhone 4S – we can only note the obvious: you can’t say the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a tiny phone (it has a 4.3-inch display, after all), but it’s slim (only 8.49mm – much less than all the phones I can think of) and light – it’s plastic body together with the battery weighs only 116g. The iPhone 4S, on the other hand, isn’t much different from its predecessor in term of size and design (same cases can go for both); it’s smaller than the Galaxy S2, since its display is smaller (3.5 inches), but it’s not as thin as it.
Display
There was a time when many people believed that the Samsung Galaxy S2 had the best screen ever, but now its 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution doesn’t sound that cool any longer… The resolution of the iPhone 4S’s screen is higher – 960 x 640. Of course, it doesn’t mean the Galaxy S2 is outdated now or not that good any more – its screen is very bright, all the colors are eye-popping and very beautiful, and they don’t darkle or fade when you look at the screen at an angle. It’s great for watching movies and even for playing HD games (there are plenty of them in Android Market).
However, the display of the iPhone 4S due to its higher resolution is even brighter and isn’t afraid of sunlight, too (though it actually fades a bit under direct sunlight). The only bad thing is – old icons and apps look grainy on such a clear display, so unless the developers update them and adjust for high-res screens, you won’t enjoy using them on the iPhone 4S… at all.
So… here the winner is the iPhone 4S with its super screen, though I personally like the display of the Samsung Galaxy S2, too.
Processor
The Samsung Galaxy S2 boasts a 1.2GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor that provides really fast performance without any delay. Web browsing is very quick even via Wi-Fi networks, and you won’t face any problem with loading and playing even the most “heavy” games on Samsung’s flagship.
The iPhone 4S has a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, which is also very fast (much faster than the single-core processor of the original iPhone 4 at least), but, though it provides great graphical acceleration, it yields to the CPU of the Galaxy S2 in terms of performance, so here the winner is Samsung’s smartphone.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S2 has a cool 8MP camera with auto-focus and LED flash that takes 3264 x 2448 photos and 1080p videos at 30fps. If you remember, the original iPhone 4S had a 5MP sensor, and many geeks thought it was a big shortcoming, even though the number of megapixels doesn’t really matter. Anyway, now those geeks have received what they wanted – the new iPhone 4S has an 8MP camera able to take 3264 x 2448 pictures just like the Galaxy S2 and many other modern smartphones. Plus it has a CMOS illuminated sensor, which is 73 percent more effective and about 30 percent faster than before. And of course, it shoots 1080p HD videos, too.
However, the secondary 2MP camera of the Samsung Galaxy S2 is better than the VGA camera of the new iPhone 4S. But anyway, secondary cameras don’t play a big role here, and as for the rear-facing ones, they’re both equally good, so we have a draw here.
Platform
Just like in case of design, I don’t think it’s a good idea to compare two operating systems, especially if they’re both good – each in its own way. Android the Samsung Galaxy S2 runs is the most popular platform at the moment, famous for being easy to customize and for having a huge number of apps in Android Market, too. However, the Gingerbread it runs isn’t the newest version of Google’s OS any longer, since the Ice Cream Sandwich update is already on its way, so we can’t say the Galaxy S2 runs the best software ever.
On the other hand, Apple’s iOS is really easy to use (even if the iPhone is your first smartphone ever, you won’t face any problem dealing with it – the user interface of iOS is intuitively understandable for everybody), but of course it’s not what makes the new iPhone 4S special. You’ve probably already heard about Siri – the special program designed to help the user give commands to the phone, ask questions and even send text messages. Siri is new, smart and funny, too (it came out that the developers had hidden many interesting Easter eggs, funny jokes and witty responses to strange questions in it), and I guess many people will buy the iPhone 4S especially for Siri.
Since you can’t surprise anyone with Android now, especially with its Gingerbread version, so in this case I think the prize should go to the iPhone 4S and its Siri.
Price
The unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S2 costs £397.99 on Amazon, while the 16GB iPhone 4S is more expensive – £593.15. However, we shouldn’t forget that the Galaxy S2 was released several months ago, and the 4S is only about a month old, so it will most likely be discounted after a while. Anyway, you can find much better deals at RightMobilePhone offering both smartphones for free with contracts, so perhaps it’s better to choose one of them instead of paying much more for a SIM-free device.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Apple iPhone 4S are both very good smartphones, no doubt, and both have their stronger and weaker sides. The Galaxy S2 is a bit faster thanks to its processor, while the iPhone 4S has a better display and Siri that has caught so much attention.
I think the Galaxy S2 has been the best smartphone for too long, and now a new device should come to replace it. Apple’s latest “child” can be this new device, so… the iPhone 4S is my choice.
The comparison article above has been written by a guest author, thank you.

Beyond USB - USB OTG - Smartphone USB to Computer USB Interface. Changing the way your store data!: Samsung Galaxy Note by Wikipedia

2012-04-23T09:46:00.001-06:00

Beyond USB - USB OTG - Smartphone USB to Computer USB Interface. Changing the way your store data!: Samsung Galaxy Note by Wikipedia: Transfer Your Photos , Videos , Music , ...