Your #1 Resource Page for all things Samsung - with reviews, news, tips, tricks and more!

Is the Samsung Galaxy S4's camera really better than the iPhone 5's?

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Sun, 26 May 2013 04:31:00 +0000

Is the Samsung Galaxy S4's camera really better than the iPhone 5's?

Apple's iPhone range has long been the standard bearer for smartphone cameras, but it has now been bested by its great rival Samsung, according to new tests.

In photo and video tests DxO Labs, the Samsung Galaxy S4 camera performed higher than the Apple iPhone 5 by an overall score of 75 to 72.

The Galaxy S4 ousted Apple as well as the Nokia Lumia 920 in most of the main categories for photos and videos and was especially good in bright light, according to the tests.

Top of the pile is still the Nokia 808 Pureview handset, although the Symbian OS and the limited availability of the device means its not a mainstream contender.

Comfortably ahead

In its report, DxO labs wrote: "Achieving a DxOMark score of 75 overall puts the rear-facing camera module of the Samsung Galaxy S4 comfortably ahead of the pack.

That's no mean feat as the bunch includes the handset maker's own Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S3 as well as Apple's iPhone 4s and latest iPhone 5, all achieving a very respectable 72 in our DxOMark scores.

The S4 makes good use of its fast efficient AF and robust and reliable auto-exposure systems to maximize image detail from the 13-Mpix sensor and deliver images with fully saturated color.

Are you an S4 user? Have you noticed an improvement in the camera tech over the Galaxy S3? Has it really knocked Apple's advanced tech off its perch? Let us know in the comments below.

First Impressions Review Of The Samsung Galaxy S4

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Sun, 26 May 2013 04:26:00 +0000

First Impressions Review Of The Samsung Galaxy S4It might not be moments after the phone is announced, but I finally have a review unit of the Samsung Galaxy S4. I’ll be posting a more considered review in two or three weeks time, so this article will focus on my experiences of the Galaxy S4 as it comes out the box, and in the first day of use.

I think this is an important part of the experience. After the advertising, consumers have a very short time in store to assess a phone, but have the confidence they have the cooling off period that lets them return the handset after a day or so using the device. Delivering a good out the box experience is as important as packing in lots of extra apps and functionality.

The packaging (at least here in the UK) gives the handset a natural feel, looking like a wooden box, with false wood grain. It is, in fact, cardboard. Already the Galaxy S4 is pulling a bit of a switch on you. Inside the wood/natural colouring continues in the internal tray and introductory booklets.

And then there’s the Galaxy S4 itself, sitting on top of the box with its five inch 1080p screen. I think this is the biggest initial selling point. It’s a big screen that takes up most of the device, it has some wonderful viewing angles, and it’s bright with very vivid colours. Assuming that the in store has a working unit, the screen could sell the device on its own.

By reducing the bezel around the screen, I found it possible to comfortably hold the Galaxy S4 in my hand, but the physical size means that one handed operation is pretty much out of the question. I can reach some of the controls with the thumb on my right hand, but to do anything meaningful I needed to use my other hand. This is the trade off that comes from a larger screened device. Ask me again in two weeks if it’s one that works or not.

What doesn’t work for me is the back of the device. It’s a flimsy sheet of injection moulded plastic, held in place by some plastic clips, with a hunk of plastic carved out to make a speaker grilled and a bump of plastic to lift it up off the table.

I think Samsung forgot that this is a £500/$600 device and decided to go for the cheapest possible material at the rear of the device, It feels tacky, it feels wrong, and I know most people will pick up the handset at a subsidised price, but just as I love the screen on the front, I find the quality of materials used for the rear of the S4 to be something that I can easily hate.

Construction materials aside, the Galaxy S4′s weight, and especially its thin profile make it a compelling device to hold in wonder. Knowing what it can do it should be heavier. Knowing what’s inside and it should be thicker. But it’s not. All the components have been placed inside to give it as tight a profile as possible. This is a phone that wants to be shown off.

I’m glad to say that the set-up of the software is just as easy. Pop in a SIM card and all the data settings for texting, answer phones, and data, will be added into the settings app. You’ll also be stepped through adding your accounts from both Google and Samsung to be able to pick up data from the cloud. This does take a bit of time, but it’s never laboured.

I also like that you have the choice to set up a drop box account now as well, and if you do you get a bonus storage package for two years on the cloud based service.

There is a dizzying array of settings in the Galaxy S4 – you can choose from 20 different toggle buttons to run along the top of the settings bar, and you have four tabs to set up almost everyone on the device. I suspect many people will simply leave the defaults in place, because it is overwhelming the options you can play with. That is a strength of Android, but it’s also the weakness.

It also leaves you with a feeling that you’ve missed an option when you can’t find it – I needed to Google to make sure the handset could not be used as a mass storage device over USB for easy connection to any computer.

The apps pre-populated to the home screens and widgets are almost all Samsung apps. The email client is not Gmail (but you can add that later if you wish), the Browser is Samsung’s own Browser and not Chrome,

Countering that, all of these ‘first look’ apps are competent and get the job done. Pick up the Galaxy S4 as a new handset and you’ll feel at home with the apps that are easy to launch. Naturally you can install third party apps, and I headed straight away to pick up the WordPress client, the Amazon Kindle reader, and the MLB’s At Bat application – only then did I start to feel at home with the software. I’m going to explore Samsung’s ‘S’ apps in the later review.

Samsung’s on screen keyboard is a good keyboard. The auto correct function, offering you various word choices will invariably offer the correct choice of word even if you miss the keys a little but, but I still prefer the ‘swype’ like ability to draw a line around the letters and let the phone work out what is being typed. It’s faster than touching each key individually, and it gives you a fast input method that genuinely works.

One thing I do miss is having a dedicated camera button. It means leaving the camera on the home screen or the standby screen as an easily accessible icon – and then you need to tap the on-screen button to take the picture. I’d much rather have a shutter button to launch the app and take the picture.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is certainly one of the nicest Android phones I’ve used, and materials aside, the styling gives it a unique look and feel in the hand. It’s easy on the eye and the first day with it might not stretch its capabilities, but it eases the user into the handset and makes sure they can easily reach the core functions.

Much like a Toyota or a Ford, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a workhorse phone. It has nice lines, it has all the specs you would expect in this price range, and it gets the job done. There are more handsets out there with a bit more flair, operating systems that have a better overall experience in terms of UI or apps, but the Galaxy S4 feels like a Swiss army knife. It’s brutally pretty, it’s going to sell by the crate load as the functional phone that does everything, and it’s going to be regarded as a workhorse handset.

It’s also going to be seen as a bit of a safe bet. The Galaxy brand name is well known, and appreciated. Buying a Galaxy S$ might not be the cutting edge thing to do, but you’ll get something that does the job without being too fancy or ostentatious.

Plastic Samsung Galaxy S4 costs more to make than iPhone 5

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Sun, 12 May 2013 02:47:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy S4 costs more to make than iPhone 5

A teardown of the Samsung Galaxy S4 has found that the latest flagship smartphone from the Korean firm costs more to produce than the iPhone 5.

According to research firm IHS, the 32GB version of the Galaxy S4 sets Samsung back $237 (around £152 / AU$232) per unit, while the 16GB iPhone 5 with its premium metal and glass chassis costs Apple $205 (around £132 / AU$200).

The teardown was performed on a US variant of the Galaxy S4 which sports a quad-core Snapdragon processor, while the cost of the Asian version will be around $8 (around £5 / AU$8) more expensive thanks to the Exynos octa-core chip inside.

Perhaps knowing how much it costs Samsung to produce the Galaxy S4 will soften the blow when you come to part with your hard-earned cash, but clearly there's still a healthy profit to be had

Come fly with me

The Galaxy S4 hasn't been keeping its feet on the teardown operating tablet though, as Romanian site SamsungMobilers has strapped it to a remote control helicopter and taken it for a spin round its local town.

You can check out the full HD video recorded on the handset below and, while it is pretty impressive, we're not sure if we'd risk strapping such an expensive phone to a drone.

Korean and US versions of Samsung Galaxy S4 'as different as kimchee and coleslaw': IHS

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:44:00 +0000

Korean and US versions of Samsung Galaxy S4 'as different as kimchee and coleslaw': IHS

From the outside, the American and Korean versions of Samsung's new Galaxy S IV might seem identical, but peel back the case, and you'll find that they are as different as, in the words of research firm IHS, kimchee and coleslaw.

And we're not talking small differences, either; we're talking major differences that change the fabric of the entire handset, including the processor, the wireless subsystem, and even the user interface.

The differences between the two smartphones mean that they have a very different bill of materials (BOM).

The US Galaxy S4 with 16GB of NAND flash storage has a BOM of $229, rising to $237 when the manufacturing cost is added. The Korean version of the smartphone, with the exact same memory configuration, has a BOM of $244, which rises to $252 when manufacturing is added.

(Image: IHS)

"With at least four different known incarnations of the Galaxy S4, Samsung is demonstrating its strategy of offering a mobile product that has appealing features and pricing — and then adapting the device to suit the tastes of varying markets or regions," said Vincent Leung, senior analyst, teardown services, for IHS.

"This approach is in stark contrast to the one-size-fits-all philosophy used by Apple Inc, Samsung's primary competitor in the wireless space."

The most glaring difference between the two versions is the processor used.

See also: Best Android smartphones (May 2013 edition)

The US Galaxy S4 makes use of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 quad-core system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor, which has a price tag of $20. Compare this to the Korean — and some other international versions — that use Samsung's own Octacore Exynos 5 eight-core processor, which has a price tag of $28. The bigger price tag brings with it a more powerful processor that allows the Octacore Exynos 5-equipped smartphone to carry out unique, processor-intensive functions that are simply not possible with the Snapdragon processor. These features include an innovative eye-movement tracking and recognition system, which allows a user to pause a video by doing nothing more than looking away from the display.

The Octacore Exynos 5 also features ARM's big.little architecture, which consists of four 1.6GHz Cortex-A15 "big" cores and a further four 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 "little" cores. The "big" cores take on the heavier, processor intensive tasks — and therefore consume more power — while the "little" cores, which are more power efficient, are designated the less demanding tasks. The idea behind the "big.little" architecture is to balance out performance and power efficiency.

The wireless is also different, with the US version using the MDM9215M and WTR1605L chips from Qualcomm, while the Korean version uses Samsung's own baseband and radio frequency transceiver and front end, which costs $1.50 more than the Qualcomm part. This difference is down to how Qualcomm has essentially captured the market for long-term evolution (LTE) in the US, and how its silicon is seen as the de facto choice among smartphone makers.

There are a few other minor differences between the two versions, including:

Silicon Motion Mobile TV SoC inside the Korean version, whereas the US version features a separate Fujitsu image processor to take the load off the processor when using the camera.

The Korean S4 has a discrete BCM47521 from Broadcom to support GPS, while this is part of the Snapdragon 600 in the US version.

Another factor that becomes apparent from the teardown is that both versions of the Galaxy S4 handset make extensive use of Samsung components.

"No other company in the world has an internal supply chain like Samsung's," Leung said. "The display, memory, apps processor, baseband, RF transceiver, cameras, power amplifier, and a range of other parts — all these make Samsung unique in its capability to supply key parts and capture so much value in a mobile device."

Will the Galaxy S4 herald in a near where manufacturers make different handset for different markets? rsions of Samsung Galaxy S4 'as different as kimchee and coleslaw': IHS

How to ROOT the Samsung Galaxy S4

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:38:00 +0000

How to ROOT the Samsung Galaxy S4

So, the brand-new Galaxy S4 has just started retailing! And as most early adopters, one of the first things I wanted to do with my new Galaxy S4 was of course to root it. This post shows exactly how I’ve done it. The root exploit I used was released by XDA developer cofface in this thread. It is not a foolproof procedure, and it does involve some trial and error. The exploit itself offers two rooting methods, only one of which actually worked for me. So, caveat emptor! The good news is that I did end up with a rooted phone, and so can you.
Initial Requirements and Caveats

First things first: As I write this, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a very recent arrival. This procedure should be regarded as experimental, and we are in no way responsible if you somehow mess up your phone trying to root it. That said, I did test this on my own Galaxy S4 and can confirm the procedure worked for me. This procedure requires some familiarity with Android and rooting. It’s not as easy as SuperOneClick, but it is possible. If you’re looking for a more general introduction to rooting, check out 3 Cool Things You Can Do With A Rooted Android Phone.

This procedure works with the Galaxy S4 international version (I9500), with a build number that ends with XXUAMDE, Android version 4.2.2. To see if your device qualifies, go to Settings > More > About device:

Note Android version and Build number above. If you see the same thing on your device, you can proceed.
Setting Up USB Debugging Mode

To make this work, you may need to switch on USB Debugging Mode on your Galaxy S4. Note the “may”: It might work if you skip this step. But at any rate, USB debugging is useful for tinkering with the device, so we might as well go ahead and enable it. Samsung made this trickier than necessary. Here’s how:

1. Go to Settings > More > About device (you should already be there if you did the previous step).

2. Scroll down to Build number, and tap it seven times. Yup, just tap-tap-tap, seven times. I know there’s no button there. Keep tapping.

3. You will eventually get a toast (notification) saying “Developer mode has been enabled”.

4. You will now have a Developer options menu (before-last in this screeenshot):

5. Tap into Developer options, and enable USB debugging.
Getting The Files You Need

We’re going to need the Samsung USB driver, Odin (the tool we’ll use to flash the device), and of course, the actual binary we’re going to use to flash the phone.

1. Download the Samsung USB driver from here, and install it. Be sure you have an up-to-date antivirus installed (such as MS Security Essentials) since this is not an official Samsung download.

2. Download the latest cofface root file. Here’s a direct link to the file at the time of this writing (filename is SamsungI9500_cwm_Recovery_by cofface_0503.zip, and yes, the site is in Chinese). Ideally, take a moment to dig through the original thread and get the latest binary (it may well change after this post is published). This zip already contains both the binary we will flash and Odin.
Flashing The File: This Is The Risky Bit

So we now have all of our basic ingredients.

1. Extract the file from Cofface somewhere. The folder should look like this:

2. Turn your phone off.

3. Press and hold the volume down and Home buttons together or a few seconds, then press the Power button. A screen would now show asking if you want to proceed. Press volume up to confirm. Congratulations, you’re in Download Mode.

4. Plug in your phone. This should trigger a driver install:

5. Start Odin:

Note the text under ID:COM above, and the Added message.

4. Click the PDA button on Odin, and browse for cofface_samsungI9500_recovery_en_0503.tar. Note the en in the filename – that stands for English, so you really do want that file and not the one with cn (Chinese) in the filename.

5. Now’s the scary part: Time to flash the file. Click Start, and wait. Do not disconnect the phone, obviously. This will take just a moment, and will then show:

Booting To Recovery and Rooting

You thought we were done, right? Not so. When Odin completed flashing the device, it should have restarted it. Let it finish booting, then shut it off again. Now:

1. Turn the device back on, this time in Recovery mode. To do this, hold volume up + Home, and press the power button.

2. You should find yourself in CWM recovery after a moment. (It does take a moment, don’t worry.)

3. Navigate to “root your phone.”

4. Pick “Root your phone (Old method)”. Yes, we’re using the so-called old method (this is for a phone less than a month old, mind you). The new method didn’t work.

5. CWM will now show “Root Done, Please Reboot.”

6. Reboot the phone.

7. You will get a brief prompt saying “Android is upgrading”. And you should have a new app, SuperSU:

Verifying

To make sure the phone is indeed rooted, install Titanium Backup. Once it starts, it should prompt for root access. When you grant it, you should get this:

(Very) Limited Tech Support

I will finish this post as I’ve started it, with a disclaimer and a warning: This method worked for me. These are my own screenshots, on my own phone. So it did work. But I cannot guarantee it is going to work for you. It’s finicky and tricky. While I welcome any and all comments, I will not be able to provide tech support and help you troubleshoot issues with rooting your Galaxy S4 — there are just too many variables involved.

That said, good luck! Rooting your Galaxy S4 is definitely doable.

Samsung Spent 4 Billion in Marketing to Rival iPhone in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:27:00 +0000

Samsung Spent 4 Billion in Marketing to Rival iPhone in 2012

Last year Samsung became Apple’s biggest rival in the smartphone market, and it spent four times as much on marketing as Apple did to get to that point.

Today the Asymco blog updated a story about how much Samsung spends on its mobile efforts with a chart comparing the company’s marketing budget with that of Apple and other companies. The chart includes advertising budgets from every year from 2009 to 2012, and during that four-year period Samsung outspent Apple every year.

Over the course of four years Apple doubled its advertising budget from about $500 million to about $1 billion. In the same period Samsung increased its marketing from just over $2 billion to more than $4 billion.

Amazingly, by 2012, Samsung was even outspending Coca-Cola, one of the largest advertisers in the world. Apple, meanwhile never spent half as much as Coca-Cola, and consistently spent less than it’s one-time major rival Microsoft.

Samsung also spend $5.3 billion in Sales Promotions in 2012. Apple doesn’t supply those numbers, however, so it’s impossible to compare the two.

Samsung’s marketing budget help put the company’s smartphone everywhere at the London Olympics last summer, and paid for the company’s series of ads such as the recent Unicorn Apocalypse ads and the creepy Santa ad from last year.

Apple is less aggressive with its marketing for the iPhone and iPad. With pressure from Samsung increasing this year, the company may choose to spend more, however. Apple may decide to put a bigger marketing push than usual behind the iPhone 5S which will come out later this year. The latest rumors say it may come sometime this Summer, with a June release possible.

Later this month, or in early May Samsung will release its new Samsung Galaxy S4 in the U.S. The phone will likely come with a big marketing push. Samsung’s huge marketing budget means users will likely be bombarded with ads for the new 5-inch smartphone. Samsung already proved its willing to rent out Radio City Music Hall for a night just to launch the phone, which probably wasn’t cheap.

Massive Samsung smartphone leaked: 6.3-inch “Galaxy Mega”

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:29:00 +0000

Massive Samsung smartphone leaked: 6.3-inch “Galaxy Mega”

If you thought Samsung was ever going to stop attempting to create smart devices with every single different screen size, Galaxy S to Note to Tab, you were wrong! Today some anonymous sources have let it be known that two new Samsung smartphone/phablet devices by the name Samsung Galaxy Mega will be coming forth some time this year. We’d had some previous insight into at least one of the display sizes due to an accessory release made public during the Samsung GALAXY S 4 reveal event, while the other comes as a bit of a surprise!

What the folks at SamMobile have been told by some sources they trust to the end of the world is that not one, but two Galaxy Mega smart devices will be revealed before Summer’s end. The first of these devices comes in at a lovely 5.8-inches while the second – once again bridging the gap between smartphones and tablets – will be bringing on a monstrous 6.3-inches of display real estate.

• Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 GT-I9152
• 5.8-inch display (resolution unknown)
• Release: week of May 27, 2013
• Color: White
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 GT-I9200
• 6.3-inch display (resolution unknown)
• Release: week of June 17, 2013
• Colors: Black, White

Think about how the Samsung release schedule has begun working with naming conventions, cutting off at certain size points. With the Samsung Galaxy S III and 4, we’ve begun to see Samsung ending the growth of the size of the display, with the next level then being the Galaxy Note – but there it ends. Though it would seem to make sense that Samsung would create a scale something like the following, it’s simply not in the cards:

1. Samsung Galaxy S
2. Samsung Galaxy Note
3. Samsung Galaxy Mega
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab

We’ve already got a 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Note – that’s tablet sized – and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0. So there’s cross-overs. So what place does the Samsung Galaxy Mega have in this scale from large to small? We’ll have to consider it to be something more of a presentation oddity. Perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Mega will be made for gamers!

(Slashgear)

A massive 6.3-inch smartphone from Samsung may be in the works

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:25:00 +0000

A massive 6.3-inch smartphone from Samsung may be in the works

Samsung is not done pumping the smartphone form factor with growth hormones—a “Mega” phone with a 6.3-inch screen is reportedly in the works, according to SamMobile. A second phone in the same series would have a 5.8-inch screen, besting Samsung’s current largest smartphone offering, the Galaxy Note II.

The Galaxy Mega 5.8, codenamed GT-I9152, would be a DUO smartphone running Android and would be set for release in week 22 (late May-early June). The Galaxy Mega 6.3 has the same screen size as the rumored follow-up to the Galaxy Note II, and it may be set for release around week 25 (mid-June).

With each new phone release from Samsung, we become more convinced that the smartphone screen size race is less about what consumers want and more about seeing what the company can get away with. Not that the devices don’t sell—both iterations of the Note have sold in the millions—but as the devices become bigger and increasingly unable to fit in a pants pocket, we wonder where to draw the line.

Even 6.3 inches seems too far for a hybrid “phablet”; the size is I’m-not-touching-you close to the accepted tablet size of seven inches. We’ll be interested to see if there are yet larger hands and pockets not already sated by the Galaxy Note phone series. Technically, the Mega phones have already been bested by the Galaxy Note 8.0, which falls more squarely (rectangularly?) in the tablet category, but can also act as a phone. However ridiculous that may ultimately look

Samsung says no to Firefox OS

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:13:00 +0000

Samsung says no to Firefox OS

T

The Firefox OS made its debut this week at Mobile World Congress.

(Credit: Mozilla)

Samsung is passing on Mozilla's Firefox mobile operating system (OS), according to a high-level Samsung executive at Mobile World Congress.

The news isn't entirely a surprise--Samsung is the dominant Android handset manufacturer, and is also working on devices that run Tizen OS. The first Samsung smartphone running Tizen could debut as early as July.

Mozilla's Firefox OS, which made its debut at the ongoing mobile tradeshow this week, is targeted at emerging markets, and has already garnered the support of a number of handset makers, including Alcatel, Huawei, LG, and ZTE. The platform uses Mozilla's Firefox browser engine to run Web apps, analogous to how Chrome OS works on computers. Its grid-based interface will also be familiar-looking to iOS and Android users.

The first phones using this OS are slated to arrive in Q2 2013, and are likely to be low-end models. However, there are more powerful models in the works, such as the Geeksphone Peak, which comes with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor.

Firefox OS, Tizen, and Ubuntu OS are a number of upcoming mobile operating systems that are jostling to provide alternatives to the current iOS and Android duopoly. For telcos and handset makers, the attraction of these new operating systems includes a greater ability to customize the mobile phone experience, and as a hedge against overdependence on any single platform.

Hands on With the Samsung HomeSync

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:11:00 +0000

Hands on With the Samsung HomeSync

BARCELONA - Apple TV is great, but not everyone owns an iProduct. For those of you with a Galaxy device, Samsung has come up with a solution all its own - the Samsung HomeSync.

HomeSync is an Android-powered set-top box that lets you store, share, and stream content from your phone. We tried it out here at Mobile World Congress.

The HomeSync integrates seamlessly with Galaxy phones and tablets. At Samsung's demo booth, the ubiquitous Galaxy S III was the test device of choice, but it should work with all other Galaxys just fine. It was already set up when I tried it, but NFC support should make it easy to get up and running out of the box (if your device supports NFC, that is).

The box itself looks like an external hard drive. That kind of makes sense, since it includes 1TB for storing and sharing digital content on your home network. Even better, the HomeSync comes with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) installed, rather than using Samsung's limited SmartTV interface.

The HomeSync is powered by a 1.7-GHz dual-core processor, with 1GB of RAM and support for 802.11 Wi-Fi on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. There are two USB 3.0 ports on the back of the devices for additional storage or peripherals like a mouse or keyboard - though you can control the box using your Galaxy device and an app from Samsung.

Of course, you can also use the HomeSync to play all of your multimedia content, like music, videos, and Netflix. And the HomeSync's 1TB drive lets you sync multiple devices, with shared or private storage for all your content. It supports eight separate accounts, and allows each user to upload and download content from multiple devices and instantly share with others. There are options for file encryption and user-specific ID and password if you want to keep your content private.

All in all, the Samsung HomeSync looks pretty cool. There's no price yet, but it should be available in April. We're looking forward to testing one out in the PCMag Labs.

Samsung Galaxy Note II Phablet Sells Three Million+ In One Month+ Of Sales, ~3X Faster Sales Rate That Original Galaxy Note

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:57:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy Note II Phablet Sells Three Million+ In One Month+ Of Sales, ~3X Faster Sales Rate That Original Galaxy Note

Turns out there are an awful lot of phablet fans out there. More than three million, in fact, have lined up to cram Samsung’s latest smartphone-cum-tablet, the Galaxy Note II, in theiroversized pockets. It took 37 days for the device to pass three million sales. The Korean mobile maker originally confirmed these figures to AP, and has also now confirmed them to TechCrunch.

The Note II was released initially in South Korea in September, with sales to other markets — including the U.S. and the U.K. — kicking off in October.

The three million figure is a 3x ramping up of early sales of the original Galaxy Note, which shipped around one million units in its first month of sale (albeit, this was prior to its U.S. launch) — underlining how Samsung has not only pioneered the phablet category, but succeeded in building serious momentum for enormo-phones.

For some context, Apple sold more than five million of its latest iPhone 5 in its first weekend of sales. The iPhone 5′s screen size is not in the phablet category but is slightly larger than previous iPhones — 4 inches vs. 3.5 inches — a sign of the big pull Samsung’s big phones are having on the smartphone market.

Yesterday, Apple kicked off sales of its new smaller form factor tablet, the iPad Mini — a device that in no small part also owes its existence to Samsung’s Note devices, being both a counter strategy to mini tablets such as the Google Nexus but also enormo-phones like the Note.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and S3 set the bar high

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 11:56:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and S3 set the bar high

Just about every phone has been compared to the iPhone for years, although it is fair to say that when it comes to Android the Samsung Galaxy S3 set the bar much higher, which has since been followed up with the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 showing a much bigger display can also rejoice in major success. If the time has not already arrived, then at some point we could see new smartphones being compared to the Samsung Galaxy range before the Apple iPhone thanks to amazing sales.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has reportedly moved 3 million units in about 3 weeks, which is really impressive considering the 5.5-inch display and unique market it’s going for. The phablet caught the eye of carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T after some unexpected success with the first Note. If you don’t have the money for a tablet and smartphone, then you couldn’t do much better than the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

It is worth pointing out that the majority of people wanting a Galaxy Note 2 haven’t had a chance to purchase the device, which is thanks to it still needing a launch with AT&T, Verizon, and other carriers although pre-orders have started and are going strong.

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has to be the Android success story that will only be beaten by the Galaxy S4, see some expected specs here, and the Samsung flagship smartphone has seen more than 30 million units land in consumer hands since it launched earlier this year. With Samsung reporting that Galaxy S3 sales are still going strong and the holiday season fast approaching, it seems that there will be millions of users jumping on the Galaxy S3 wagon over the next couple of months. The good news for these latecomers is the fact that they’ll alsoreceive Jelly Bean rather than waiting months like existing owners did.

We’ve also heard that some of the best Samsung Galaxy S3 sales have come after the iPhone 5 release date, so this has had Android users claiming that Apple’s brand is slipping when it comes to the loyalty seen over the years. Some people claim this is due to the openness of Android mixed with the great features seen on the Galaxy S3, although Apple iPhone owners claim that openness of Android creates just as many problems.

The bottom-line: Apple has ruled the smartphone market for a few years with sales still going strong, but it seems that Samsung has taken 2012 by storm and now the worlds carriers are taking notice. Feel free to take a look at how one modder charges their Note 2 without wires, and see this article that touches on our readiness for Note 3.

Will Galaxy Note 2 USA release further affect iPhone 5 sales?

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 11:54:00 +0000

Will Galaxy Note 2 USA release further affect iPhone 5 sales?

Its size may be far too big for a smart-phone but many analysts wonder if Galaxy Note 2 USA release will further affect iPhone 5 sales

Didn’t we see the release of iPhone 5? Wasn’t it supposed to be everything that phones should be? And yet here are the numbers: Galaxy Note 2 which Samsung launched about a month back has already sold 3 million units. We do not know how many units of Galaxy S III have sold in the same period, but they should be a substantial number too.

All these sales then are ones that could have gone to Apple. Indeed given that Apple just launched a new version of its best selling phone, should have gone to Apple, and yet Note II has sold 3 million units in a month.

There is another disturbing news for Apple: Samsung says its sales went up after the iPhone 5 was revealed. So what could have induced so many to go for Samsung rather than Apple?

The Galaxy Note II is a excellent device. It has a huge 5.5 inch screen, and the trend in the industry seems to be moving towards bigger screens. The bigger the better. Apple too succumbed to the pressure to make bigger screens, finally releasing a 4 inch iPhone. Even then the iPhone remains the smallest phone among top line devices. Most today come at 4.3 inch.

The Nokia Lumia 920 is 4.5 inch, the HTC 8X is 4.3 inch, and Samsung Galaxy S III is 4.7 inch. Apple therefore is at a disadvantage when it comes to the screen size.

Apple had earlier put a high pixel density screen, which it calls ‘retina display’ on its lead devices. Now almost every top phone has a high density screen. Apple has lost the advantage not only in screen size but also in screen resolution.

What about software? While the iOS is generally known to be incredibly fast and fluid, Android caught up with iOS in that regard after Jelly Bean. The project Butter component of Jelly Bean makes it as fast and as fluid as iOS.

What about voice inputs, and Siri, another hero feature of iPhone? Google has countered that with its own voice assistant which sounds more natural, is faster in getting results, and adds ambient information through Google Now. This is another game where Apple has been beaten.

The only place that Apple has an advantage vis a vis leading Android phones is in the hardware department. Apple makes beautiful hardware. The iPhone 5 is thin and light. It might be the lightest phone on the market. But its thinness and lightness is achieved with no compromises. It packs a powerful processor below its hood, and everything works great.

But the Galaxy Note 2 has its own killer feature in the form of a stylus, and its note taking app. It is the best stock stylus on the market, and genuinely adds to the functionality of Galaxy Note. Also it has no problem with the maps app, which unlike Apple’s maps works great.

Thus finally, users are turning to more important things than the look and feel of the hardware in their hands. Apple which used to lead through innovation, has stalled, while its rivals have surged ahead.

It would still take a long time to erase Apple’s lead, and make no mistakes about it; when the iPhone 5 numbers come in, they would prove it remains the best selling phone on the market. What Galaxy Note II sales figures prove is that the competition is finally closing the gap. Apple has reasons to be afraid of Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy Note II review

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:34:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy Note II review

When Samsung launched the original Galaxy Note last year, it was the most powerful phone on the market but it was also criticised for being either too big to be a phone or too small to be a tablet, and its ‘S Pen’ stylus wasn’t as easy to use as the standard pen or pencil that it was touted as a replacement for.

It went on, nonetheless, to sell more than 10million units. My own initially negative feelings were soon banished after I spent more time with it and saw others excited about its possibilities. The screen was good, it was fast for web browsing, gaming and watching movies or TV. The Note became a useful travelling companion because it fits easily on even the smallest train or plane table, but is more than big enough for what most people need.

Now, however, the new Note II has been launched. Its screen is extraordinary – the new HD Super Amoled 5.5” display is more compelling than ever, its 1.6MHz quad-core processor is faster than ever, the battery lasts longer and the S Pen has been updated to provide huge improvements over its predecessor. Although it’s just 0.7” larger than the Galaxy S3 mobile phone, the device feels very different. It's totally unlike anything else on the market.

So while the Note II is merely an iterative improvement over its predecessor it feels far more fully formed. This is a device that now recognises my handwriting fast enough to be usable, and allows me to annotate pictures or web pages with the ease that the original Note lacked. While a return to the stylus felt like a retrograde step, now Samsung have added ‘Air View’ a feature that allows you to see previews of, say, emails or calendar appointments if you hover the S Pen over an item, or pop out a video and keep it on screen while you’re doing something else. It makes a real difference and largely works very well. While I struggled to make the S Pen gestures work consistently – often the device interpreted the line that’s supposed to introduce a space as a hyphen – even these too are broadly helpful.

Samsung, too, have made the S Pen more fully integrated – simply pull it out and up pops a new, blank note, for instance. All of these factors combine to make the Note look lovely, and feel even better to use. The Note deserves to sell many more than its popular processor, in part down to Samsung's own decent software.

If there are faults, they feel like very subjective quibbles – it is still too big for most people to want to use it as a phone, but that’s unlikely to surprise prospective purchasers. It’s not a total replacement for pen and paper but it’s good enough for using on the go if you need to, and the new feature that lets you add a note on the ‘back’ of a digital photograph is genius.

It’s also really too big to be used one handed, even in ‘One handed mode’ where the keyboard sits to one side. But how often do you have to use a device such as this one handed? The camera isn’t perfect, but the searing power of the device more than makes up for that with its high speed web browsing. I couldn’t find an app that made it remotely struggle, and it has a battery life that is plenty for most transatlantic flights.

On 4G, it will offer an overall experience as yet unprecedented in the UK. With the added bonus of Android Jelly Bean and Google Now, it’s hard to find any reason not to recommend the Galaxy Note. At around £30 per month, or roughly £500 unlocked, it’s not bad value either – for that money you're getting an extraordinary phone and a stunning tablet.

Specifications:
Screen size: 5.5"
CPU: 1.6GHz, quad core, ARM Cortex A9
Screen resolution: 720 x 1280
Height: 151.1mm
Width: 80.5mm
Depth: 9.4 mm
Weight: 180g
Memory slot: MicroSD up to 32GB
Camera: 8mp
Front facing camera: 1.9mp
Video camera: 1080p
Camera flash: 1 x LED
Bluetooth v4.0; FM Radio; WiFi; GPS; 4G

Galaxy Note 2 User's Digest Download

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:44:00 +0000

Galaxy Note 2 User's Digest Download

Note, this application is designed to work best on the Galaxy Note II. But for using this application, please do not check Force GPU rendering in the Developer Options.

Are you a GALAXY Note II User?

If you want to use the Galaxy Note II more effectively, Download the free interactive “User’s Digest” to learn how to enjoy smart all the amazing features in your Samsung GALAXY Note II. This application aims to provide helpful instructions for a variety of Galaxy Note II functions and features.

Chapter 1. Basic Set Up
Chapter 2. Air View
Chapter 3. Popup Note
Chapter 4. Popup Video
Chapter 5. Multi Window
Chapter 6. Enhanced S Pen
Chapter 7. Easy Clip
Chapter 8. Quick Command
Chapter 9. Handwriting
Chapter 10. Enhanced S Note
Chapter 11. Quick Glance

Samsung, and its directors, employees, agents, representatives, suppliers, partners and content providers do not warrant the following list.

- The service will be secure or available at any particular time or location.
- Any defects or errors will be corrected.
- Any content or software available at or through the service is free of viruses or other harmful components.
- The results of using the service will meet your requirements.
- Your use of the application, service, content and add-to link is solely at your own risk.
- Some regions / countries do not allow limitations on implied warranties, so the above limitations may not apply to you.
Download Here

Jim - October 28, 2012 - Version 1.0.1.1

A NECESSARY TOOL 4 this BEAST!

Whether U upgraded from the Note I or even just coming 2 Sammy & Andy this is BEST TOOL U'll find anywhere regarding this BEAST! There R so many upgrades & updates from Note I that U'll feel like U've picked up a Galaxy Note 4 the 1st time. And those whiners out there, the 80 pixels R'nt even an issue. Grab this PHABLET, U won't B sorry U did.

Samsung Galaxy S4 specs anticipation, Quad 2.0GHz Exynos 5450

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy S4 specs anticipation, Quad 2.0GHz Exynos 5450

It is always good to see what will come in the future, and we are hoping that around March 2013 we will get a new smartphone from Sammy. Yes we are going to talk about the new and hopefully what will be released Samsung Galaxy S4 and what we can expect to see spec wise. There will be many rumours flying around and we would like to see if any of these do come true, we all know that the Galaxy Note 2 and of course the Samsung Galaxy S3 are very popular handsets, but we need something in between but with greater specs than these beasties.

What will we get under the hood of the Samsung Galaxy S4? Well let’s start with what DDaily.kr via Sam Mobile are suggesting, of course powerful specifications are a must and to kick things off it has been suggested the Galaxy S4 will come boasting the Exynos 5450 processor, which will be based on the Cortex A15 architecture, now comes the best bit because it will be clocked at a stunning 2.0GHz.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 boasts the Exynos 4412 quad-core processor, and this clocks in at a cool 1.6GHz, so to have 2.0GHz would be titillating to say the least. The new SGS4 could possibly come boasting 3GB of RAM in 2013 and this is not really going above its potential, this could be what we call realistic in terms of specs.

We here at Phones Review have a wishlist when it comes to new specifications and features, and we would love to see the Samsung Galaxy S4 getting the above, but to be more realistic seeing as the Galaxy S3 has 1GB of RAM so 3GB on the S4 seems a little high so how about the Galaxy S4 coming with 2GB of RAM instead?

A few ideas that could become reality for the Samsung Galaxy S4: 5-inch to 5.2-inch Super AMOLED 1080p display would be a great start as this puts it in between the SGS3 and SG Note 2, as well as a 3MP front camera, 12MP rear-facing camera would be ideal, ok this is stepping it up a little but how about 64GB and 128GB storage options only, hello Flash storage.

Practical wireless charging, 3500mAH battery, we think that Samsung should change up the design, make it more evolutionary to look at and to hold. When it comes to operating system options we know that the Samsung Galaxy S3 in the UK now has Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1 and the Galaxy Note 2 also has Jelly Bean, so the S4 really needs to come with Key Lime Pie upon release. There are many other specs running around in our heads such as edge-to-edge display, scratch and dust proof, two speakers instead of the one, not too sure if the Galaxy S4 should come with a 3D display but it could be an option if requested, maybe LTE, what do you think?

We have had a few readers mention the likes of a holographic display, better WiFi; these are some of the features that would make this the best phone on the market by far. We have been playing around with the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for a few weeks now and will be doing many hands-on reviews, but we do need to think about a new smartphone, and we believe the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the next step in the right direction for Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review (By Pocket-Lint)

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review (By Pocket-Lint)

The Galaxy Note 2 is the successor to the, erm, Galaxy Note, which is predictable. What wasn't predictable was how we would feel about this new handset. The Note, you see, is a bit of an enigma. A massive phone, or really small 3G tablet. It sits in a space that doesn't exist, with an unknown audience.

People who haven't used a Galaxy Note - the original, or this new model - won't get it. This is a phone you have to live with to truly understand. Most people will take one look at the size - it dwarfs the already massive Galaxy S III - and rule it out as being impractical. In our view, that's a mistake, because this phone has a lot to offer besides its size. And the size isn't much of an issue, as we discovered.

Not too big

We've travelled around a fair bit with the Note. We've been asked a lot about the size, and honestly, it's not a problem. It will fit in your jeans pocket, assuming your jeans aren't too tight, and you won't really notice its extra weight.

Strangely, it's not really any harder to use with one hand than a phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S III. As Apple points out, there is a ratio that allows for single-handed use, and most modern Android phones ignore it. So while the Note is hard to use single-handed, it's not any more difficult than any other Android phone.

It's a bit heavier though, which might bother some, but it has a nice weight, and a great overall balance.

In terms of style, there's a power button on the right-hand side, with volume controls on the left. The top has the headphone jack, while the bottom holds the USB socket for charging and data transfer.

Under the battery cover you'll find the, erm, battery, along with the micro-SIM card slot, and the microSD card. Here you can add capacities of up to 64GB - which is quite a lot of storage for a phone.

There is a camera on the back, with an LED flash, and on the front is another, video-conference-type camera.

The pen is mightier than your sausage fingers

The pen on the note is interesting. We have mixed feelings about it, to be honest. The most exciting idea is to use it for handwriting recognition, but there are a few little bugs that prevent it being entirely practical. We've done a lot of tweeting and text messaging using the system, and while it can work brilliantly, there are times when it just gets things wrong.

We noticed that getting the software to detect spaces was difficult at times. The problem was that there was a lack of consistency. If it never got spacing right, you could work around it, but it did get it right about 50 per cent of the time, meaning you'd assume it had done its job, then look over your message and discover it hadn't.

Capital letters were also a problem. The phone doesn't seem to apply any logic to this, so sometimes words would have a random initial cap. This is obviously because of how we wrote the letters on the screen, but it's fairly easy to remove caps through autocorrect, so we're amazed the Samsung doesn't seem to.

Other than that, the recognition itself is pretty brilliant. Its accuracy is very good, as long as you don't write like an idiot and the screen/pen combination works really well. It's arguably a little too small for much writing, but it works for short notes.

Of course, the pen does other things. You can use it as a finger, if you wish, meaning you don't need to get grease all over your phone screen. It can be used to draw too, as you'd expect, and there are some note-taking apps that allow you to record your writing as either

We'll be candid about the camera

The 8-megapixel shooter is a bit weak in reduced light. So indoor snaps are little more than average. Outdoors, in strong light, and things get a lot better. There is enough detail in the images for most use. They won't disgrace themselves when printed out on sensibly sized paper and they'll be fine for sharing via Facebook and the like.

There are also some nice features such as a burst shooting mode, that fires off lots of shots in rapid succession. These are stored in the phone memory, which might lead to some confusion about where to find them later.

You also get a lot of control, and there are plenty of modes which allow you to grab the "best photo" from eight shots, which the phone snaps - as with the burst mode - in rapid succession. In addition to all this, there are the usual settings to tweak, to get the best possible photo. And, to give the Instagram lovers a treat, there are some basic photo filters too.

The camera app is pretty easy to use. The usual touch-to-focus is here, and we didn't have any problems with it failing to focus properly - something that seems to plague cheaper phones. It's also nice and quick to get a lock. We also found face detection worked well, and although we've never made much use of it, it's good to see it included.

Motion and gesture control

Things get very cool when you look at what Samsung has added, both in terms of motion detection and gestures. Like many phones, you can turn the Note over to silence it when it's ringing. Also, rather brilliantly, if you have a contact on-screen, then simply lifting the phone to your ear will call that contact. There's a little buzz of vibration to confirm this is happening.

Our favourite feature though, has to be the gesture to pick up the phone. When you do this, by reaching toward the handset, the screen illuminates telling you if you have missed calls, new text messages and the level of your battery. It's fab, although it uses the camera to pull this trick off, so expect it to destroy the battery life of your Note.

All of these features can be enabled or disabled individually too, so you can pick and choose the ones that suit your needs. We found most of them to be slightly pointless, and we never once managed to get the screen grab gesture to work.

Powerful and fast

With LTE in the UK being a bit of a mess, the whole situation has the potential to confuse. The Note 2 will be available on EE in a 4G variety. There are also other versions of the phone that support 4G on 700MHz and 1200MHz for regions where those frequencies are being used. If you want the Note 2 in a 4G flavour, you should seek help from your mobile network.

Based on the theoretical maximum, the Note 2 can download at 100mbps and upload at 50mbps. That's some serious speed, and while we doubt most people will see anywhere near that, it's a cool thought that your phone could download faster than your home broadband.

The rest of the phone is super-fast though. A quad-core processor means that there's almost no lag at any time. There's 2GB of RAM too, which should help to keep the phone feeling light, powerful and responsive. There are 16 32 and 64GB capacities too, although the one you're likely to be buying is the 16GB.

Entertainment goliath

Perhaps the best thing about the Note is that screen. At over 5-inches, it's a formidable size for all things video, and the Note has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve for this. But best of all, its 720p (720 x 1280) resolution is ideal for lots of media, and you'll get a lot out of video that uses this format, as it's brilliantly matched to one of the most common HD formats. Being an AMOLED panel, there's no shortage of colour here, with bright tones bursting out of the screen. Samsung, perhaps aware of the criticism OLED gets for being quite unrealistic, has also provided modes to tone down the colour, should you want more natural tones.

As usual for Samsung's high-end handsets, there is plenty of video playback support. MKV files - which have MP4 video within them - playback perfectly, and with sound too, which isn't the case on a lot of other phones.

If you use the stock video player, you also get the option to watch video in a pop-up window. This means you can browse the web, send text messages or do any other phone task, while watching your video in a small window. It's a nice feature, that makes use of the Note's impressive processing power.

And then, of course, you've got Netflix, YouTube and countless other video players that will give you access to stacks of content, all on that big, bright, beautiful screen. Video is a real treat on the Note, so if you're looking for a media device with a bigger screen than a phone, this is quite likely to be the device of your dreams.

Picture and sound quality are both brilliant though. We really liked the Note as an entertainment device. Music sounds great, and the music player Samsung includes is pretty good. You get access to Samsung's Hub too, which allows you to store music online, but you will need an account with Sammy to use this - and that won't be for everyone.

Jelly Bean

After much dilly-dallying about getting Jelly Bean on the SGS III - it STILL hasn't arrived, officially - we were very pleased to see the Note 2 ship with Google's flagship OS already installed.

Jelly Bean is crucial, because it brings some of the most exciting features yet to Android. Google Now, for example, is fantastic, and the "cards" which the system uses to keep you updated on weather, traffic and public transport is utterly brilliant.

Voice control is also much improved, and Google's system works as well or better than Siri in most of the tests we've tried. It's not got a sense of humour though, so don't try making jokes or asking random questions to befuddle it.

You also get the new notifications area. This is a huge improvement, with much larger previews. We've found that this has increased how much time we spend in the notifications tray, because it has suddenly become incredibly useful, both for toggles for the likes of Wi-Fi and GPS, but also for getting to the menus and seeing long previews of our email.

On top of Android, there's Samsung's TouchWiz interface. We aren't crazy about it, visually speaking, but in the Note it adds a lot of pretty crucial features. For example, the handwriting recognition, and apps that use the pen in general all make use of the Samsung modifications. So if you hate TouchWiz, this isn't the phone for you, as you're stuck with it if you want to use the phone's features to the fullest.

Usually, we complain about the stock keyboard on phones too. But here, we found ourselves quite liking the system. For one, the extra screen space allows for a dedicated row of numbers above the top row of letters. You'd be surprised how much of a difference this makes to using the device. But also, the Samsung keyboard allows you to switch easily to handwriting recognition, which is another decent feature.

Samsung also includes its "blocking mode", which is like Apple's "do not disturb" function. You can block calls, text messages and so on for set times with this feature. There's also the option to allow through calls from certain people - say, your child's nursery, or your other-half.

Call and text

The only problem with making phone calls on the Note is that it can sometimes be hard to locate the earpiece properly. This means you will sometimes not hear people on the other end all that well. Move the phone around, and you'll eventually hit the sweet spot, but with no distinguishing "feel", it's harder than you might think.

Once you're sorted, the audio quality of calls is brilliant. And while the Note is massive, and you look ridiculous using it, it's a really comfortable phone to use and even though it's both big, and heavy, we never struggled.

Text messaging on the Note is terrific. You can hand-write messages if you want, although it's a bit arduous. But the extra screen size means that the keys, and the gaps between the keys, are larger than on a normal phone. This means typing is easier, and we discovered that we were able to type much more accurately.

Battery

A big phone needs a big battery. The screen alone will drink power in the Note 2, so if you're using it for, say, satellite navigation, where the screen is on constantly, then it's going to run out of juice very quickly indeed. We tested this, and reckon you'll lose power at more than 10 per cent per hour for navigation - and likely video too.

Things look up when you use the phone more "normally". Once you're out of the constant use phase that affects everyone when they first buy a handset, then you start to use it less and overall get more impressive battery life. The Note can easily last the day under normal use, and if you were conservative with it, you'd get one-and-a-half to two days' use. Switch off a few things like push notifications and you'll have no worries.

The battery itself is a 3100mAh cell, so there's a lot of juice in here. To give you an idea, most phone sit about 2000mAh these days - older, or smaller phones from 1600mAh up - and tablets rest around 6000mAh or more (the iPad 3 is nearly 12,000mAh). The life you see though, can be curtailed by some of Samsung's own functionality, like motion detection and some of the gesture-based coolness

Verdict

When you get the Note 2 out of its box, your first reaction will be to its enormous size. Some will find it absurd, but those who want a big screen with loads of beautiful detail, a much better battery and some cool pen features will "get" it within 10 minutes of holding it for the first time.

The Note is a device that shouldn't work. A device that the Koreans dreamt up after too little sleep, and too many energy drinks. But somehow, it's the most captivating phone we've used for a long time. It manages to invalidate the tablet to some extent, because it's big enough to be a powerful media device, but small enough to carry everywhere.

It isn't a phone for everyone, but those who love gadgets will take to it, and it will change their lives.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Release Date

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:32:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy S4 Release Date

This year has been very busy for the Android enthusiasts and the phone manufacturers, a year packed with lots of interesting smartphone releases. We’ve seen the HTC One X released in April, the Samsung Galaxy S3 debuting in late May, and the Galaxy Note 2 hitting the market a few days ago. The LG Optimus G will arrive soon and the Android fans are also expecting the debut of the next-gen Nexus smartphone.

It’s not an easy task to choose the right Android smartphone for you, that’s why some of you may ask about Samsung Galaxy S4 release date. Others may be forced to wait until 2013 to buy a new Android smartphone because they are tied on a contract with a carrier.

Well, it seems that Samsung Galaxy S4 release date will be in July 2013. No, we don’t have any sources close to Samsung, no insiders at the company’s supply chain, nor “little birdies” giving us anonymous tips. This is just an educated guess based on Samsung’s previous launches and the company’s marketing strategy and approach in the battle against Apple.

We all know that the Cupertino-based company is Samsung’s biggest rival on the phone segment. The South Korea-based company have stolen the crown from Apple and is now world’s biggest smartphone vendor. Even so, the Asians will constantly try to stab deeper into iPhone’s market share and a new flagship is always set to do so. In 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3 has set a new sales record for Samsung and the Android-powered smartphone market. In 2013, Samsung Galaxy S4 is supposed to be even more popular. The smartphone market continues to grow, which basically translates into better sales for the big players of the segment.

Since the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S, each new flagship Android smartphone of the South Koreans was sold better than its predecessor. Samsung Galaxy S was outsold by Galaxy S2, Samsung reporting that 10 million GS2 units were shipped 5 months after the official launch. Galaxy S3 is by far the best selling Android-powered smartphone manufactured by Samsung: 30 million units were shipped in the first 100 days after the launch. Now, everyone expects the Samsung Galaxy S4 to be even more popular than its predecessor.

The analysts are estimating that 660 million smartphones will be shipped by the end of 2012, with a growth of 21.4% forecasted for 2013. Of course, both Apple’s and Samsung’s shipments will grow, but the South Koreans are seeking to bite an even larger chunk of iPhone’s market share, with Samsung Galaxy S4 on song.

You are probably aware of the buzz created around the launch of the new iPhone models, thus the best Samsung can do is introduce its flagship smartphones ahead of Apple, in order to push the customers into signing two year contracts with carriers and stop them from buying the newest iOS smartphones.

The first Galaxy was meant to be a competitor for the iPhone 4. It was released in June close to the debut of iPhone 4, with not enough time left to hurt iPhone 4′s sales. Next year the Samsung Galaxy S2 was made available for purchase in April, while Apple launched the iPhone 4S six months later, in October. By that time the Galaxy S2 sales were going down, as the customers already forgot about the smartphone launched by Samsung.

Statistics have indicated that the popular devices reach the sales peak in the first quarter after the launch, therefore the Samsung Galaxy S3 has hit the market at the right time and its saleswere not affected by the iPhone 5 launch. I guess that the South Korean phone maker will have a similar approach for 2013. It will try to give the Samsung Galaxy S4 enough time (three months) to hit at the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, or whatever the guys at Apple decide to call it.

The next iPhone will probably be released in September or October. Apple will not unveil a new smartphone in less than a year interval since the debut of the previous model, as the new iPhone with badly affect the previous’ sales. So, Samsung will have to set the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date three months earlier, in late June or early July. I would go for the latter option.

There were some rumors saying that Samsung Galaxy S4 will be announced at Mobile World Congress 2013 in February, but, personally, I’m taking them with a pinch of salt. If the terminal is announced in February, then the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date would probably be scheduled for March, and, in my opinion, this would be to early to be able to fight against the next iPhone. I don’t believe Samsung will make the same mistake it did with Samsung Galaxy S2, therefore, the next-gen flagship will be unveiled in a special event, sometime mid-June.

So far, Apple used to introduce its iPhones during the summer. The first four generations of iOS smartphones were all announced in the June – July time frame at the WWDC conferences. The pattern was changed by the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 which were both unveiled in the fall, October and September, respectively. Meanwhile, Apple centered the WWDC event on presenting new iOS and Mac OS X versions. Since Samsung is one of Apple’s part suppliers the company’s officials are probably aware when Apple’s products are launched, so they ought to be able to schedule the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date to allow the device start a new war against the next iPhone.

With all these being said, my guess is that the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date will be set for early July 2013, a couple of weeks after a Samsung Unpacked event in mid-June.

The Asians have learned that they must make the smartphone available for purchase soon after the official announcement, as otherwise the hype created by the launch event would fade out.

Even though the sale figures don’t reflect it, the last two Apple smartphones, namely iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, have disappointed some of the Apple’s fans. That’s why Samsung must take advantage of Apple’s slight drop in popularity and show the customers that it is the company that is constantly trying to innovate and bring the best products for them.

Samsung Galaxy S4 is bound to bring a new design language and new features in order to be able to withstand iPhone’s huge popularity. The technical specifications are another weapon against the iOS terminals and against other products on the smartphone market, so let’s have a look at some of the technologies that might be used for the next-generation Galaxy flagship.

Memory

Well, nothing out of ordinary will happen here. We will see the same model with three different internal storage options: 16, 32 and 64 GB of storage. Since the first Samsung Galaxy S hit the market the company have provided support for microSD cards, and the Galaxy S4 will certainly have one of those slots inside it.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with 2 GB of RAM in North America, South Korea, Australia and Japan. On the other hand Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will sport 2 GB of RAM on all the markets, including Europe, so you should expect the Samsung Galaxy S4 to come with 2 GB of RAM, as well.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with an 8 megapixel camera, but so did the SGS2. Of course, even though both devices have an 8 megapixel sensor, the real-life tests have proved that the unit installed on the latest Samsung flagship is way better than the one of the previous generation.

Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with face and smile detection, image stabilization simultaneous HD video and image recording, full HD video support and a BSI sensor.

Apple also brought an 8 megapixel camera on its iPhone 5. Just like Samsung did, the Americans borrowed the 8 megapixel iSight camera from the previous generation smartphone and made it better. The new camera installed on the iPhone 5 is definitely better than the one installed on the iPhone 4S and some real-life tests have indicated that it outmatches Galaxy S3′s unit, too, when it comes to taking photos in low light conditions. Yes, some users complained about the “Purple Halo” effect of the smartphone’s camera, but we are not here to talk about Apple’s problems.

Anyway, since the iPhone 5′s camera outperforms the Galaxy S3′s, then Samsung will have to bring a new and better camera sensor for the Galaxy S4. As I mentioned before, Samsung’s only weapon against the frenzy created around the Apple product launches is to bring newer and better hardware specifications.

Therefore, we might see a 12 or 13 megapixel camera installed on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Maybe the South Koreans will include some awesome features, too, like the 720p @ 120 fps video recording capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy Camera.

Operating System

Even though I want to believe that Samsung Galaxy S4 will come pre-loaded with Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, Kiwi Cheesecake, Kheer, or whatever Google decides to name the next version of their mobile operating system, I don’t think we’ll see it installed out of the box on the next-gen Samsung flagship.

Rumor has it that Android 5.0 will debut sometime mid 2013 meaning it will be close to Samsung Galaxy S4 release date. So, the company’s software engineers will not have enough time to mess around with it and optimize it to bring the best experience for the new smartphone.

Moreover, each new Galaxy flagship brought the Android version released a few months ahead of its debut. So far, we’ve had Samsung Galaxy S running on Android 2.2 Froyo, Galaxy S2 powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread and, now, the Galaxy S3 on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This pattern indicates that Samsung Galaxy S4 will most likely run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as it leaves the factory gates.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie will not come as an update as soon as the South Korean company optimize it for their smartphones.

Everyone expects Samsung Galaxy S4 to come with a new version of the TouchWiz UI, customized with features that are supposed to make the customer’s life easier. Samsung Galaxy S3 introduced features like Direct Call, Smart Alert, Tap to Top, S Voice, Smart Stay, Pop up Play or Palm swipe to capture, while Galaxy Note 2 brought an even more interesting one, dubbed Multi Window. The Multi Window feature allows you to simultaneously open two apps on the same screen being an extension of the already-awesome multitasking system in Jelly Bean.

Therefore I am expecting all these plus many other more coming along with the next-generation Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphone.

Conclusions

So far, especially this year, Samsung have shown us that they have learned how to fight against their biggest rival, Apple. Constantly pushing their limits and attempting to bring the best experience for the users, the South Koreans manged this year to release two awesome smartphones (GS3 and Note 2) and everyone expects the next year’s flagship to be even better.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, I am expecting the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date to be scheduled sometime early July, after the device will be unveiled in a special Samsung Unpacked event mid-June.

Regarding the technical specifications and the design of the Samsung Galaxy S4, we should expect some surprises. All the aforementioned specs are just my view on the next-gen Samsung ubersmartphone, after I looked closely at the South Korean’s previous products and marketing strategies.

Summing up, we might see a Samsung Galaxy S4 with a 5-inch display and a processor based on four Cortex A15 cores arriving in July. Do you think otherwise? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 U.S. Release Date: Another Clue Emerges

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:27:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 U.S. Release Date: Another Clue Emerges

While the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 U.S. launch date is set for October 24th in the United States, its release date on various carriers remains unclear. However, over the last few days, several potential clues have cropped up and today, another Galaxy Note 2 U.S. release date clue emerged.

In a press release, AT&T today announced the LG Optimus G, set for release on November 2nd. Interestingly, in that press release, AT&T refers to the LG Optimus G as its first quad-core smartphone powered by 4G LTE data speeds.

What this means is that the Galaxy Note 2, a device with 4G LTE speeds and a quad-core processor, might be AT&T’s second device to be released with these specifications which means that the carrier may not be launching it until November.

Last week, we told you that the Galaxy Note 2 U.S. release date might happen in October in the U.S. And that remains a possibility considering the Galaxy Note 2 is launching on a grand total of five different carriers in the U.S. including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S Cellular and Verizon. The fact that Canadian carriers are getting the device on October 30th also bodes well for a possible October launch on some carriers.

However, it could be that we’ll see staggered launch dates like we saw with the Galaxy S III and that could mean that some carriers launch in October and some in November.

If this press release for the LG Optimus G is accurate, then it could mean that AT&T, at the very least, won’t be launching the Galaxy Note 2 until the middle of November, a time frame that Samsung originally gave to the device.

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3: Best Bang For The Buck Is…

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 04:24:00 +0000

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3: Best Bang For The Buck Is…

You can get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy S3 cheaper than you can the iPhone 5. But will the cost of the unlocked handset alone be enough to sway people one way or the other?

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs iPhone 5: best bang for the buck (unlocked & with contract)

With the launch of the new iPhone 5, the cost of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is expected to further drop. It already dropped earlier this week when the iPhone 5 was unveiled, as well as when the Galaxy Note 2 was first announced. PopHerald reports that retailers have said that the iPhone 5 16GB unlocked models will be on sale for around $750 to $800, $850 for 3GB and the top end 64GB almost touching $950.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is around $600 to $650 for the 16GB version unlocked while the 32GB costs around $690 to $720. By the end of September it is thought that the price tag for the 16GB S3 will be around $550 to $580 thanks to the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Now that will put an even bigger price difference between the iPhone 5 & Samsung Galaxy S3, with the mid-32GB models for each brand showing an up to $300 gap between each other.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 runs on the quad core processor with 1GB of RAM and it has a superb 4.8 inch display and an 8 megapixel camera. It runs ICS Android 4.0 and it will get the update to Jelly Bean very soon.

The iPhone 5 is run by the A6 processor and has support for LTE around the world. It comes with iOS 6 which is the latest OS from Apple and it has the 4 inch Retina display. The new iPhone 5 has an 8 megapixel camera but it has been improved over the camera on the iPhone 4S. In the US it will be available on all the major networks which support LTE.

Samsung say that the Galaxy S3 will have sold more than 30 million devices by the end of the 2012 and the handset may outsell any other Android device, which also includes the S2.

The iPhone 5 meanwhile has become the most popular iPhone to date when it made more than 2 million pre-orders within just 24 hours. This was double the amount of pre-orders of the iPhone 4S. it is thought that the iPhone 5 will sell around 10 million units before the end of September.

Given that both devices are almost evenly match when it comes to specs, the lower price tag of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is without a doubt the best bang for the buck if you’re shopping around for a top-end smartphone. Furthermore, if you plan on getting the devices on contract, the Samsung Galaxy S3 also has the iPhone 5 beat in this area. Comparing the base models, the cheapest iPhone 5 we’ve seen advertised so far is the $189.99 iPhone 5 16GB via Walmart. As for the Samsung Galaxy S3, last week Amazon dropped the device to just $99 on contract, and from next week T-Mobile will be holding a “no money down” sale whereby you can get the Samsung Galaxy S3 for free with a two-year plan.

Initial Impressions Of The (International) Samsung Galaxy Note II

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:24:00 +0000

Initial Impressions Of The (International) Samsung Galaxy Note II

So, the other day, in New York, Samsung gathered up a bunch of bloggers and showed us the international Galaxy Note 2. They wouldn't tell us anything about their North American plans, only that the international version would be pretty close to the NA version, and that they'd be sending out NA review units soon. So, while we're waiting for the real one to get here, we thought it'd be fun to take a quick look at the international version.

The Note II is a crazy piece of hardware - just holding it is an experience. It has to be the biggest screen ever released on a phone. Pictures just can't do it justice, but here's a lineup of the Note 2,Galaxy Nexus, and Motorola DROID RAZR M, anyway. Remember when the Nexus was considered big?

The Note II's massiveness is due to the 5.5 inch screen. That's a .2 inch increase over the original, but, thanks to a slimmed down bezel, Samsung was actually able to shave a few millimeters off the width. If you want to get specific, the measurements are 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm for the Note II and 146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm for the Note I.

I will forever be fearful of the build quality of the Note series after having reviewed the horribly built Note 10.1, but I'm happy to say the Note II didn't inherit the spongy, creaky exterior of its big brother. I only had a limited time to play with it, but so far the Note II seems to be built like theGalaxy S III: made with cheap-feeling glossy plastic, but solidly built. The plastic is really a shame given the recent unveiling of the Samsung Ativ, a Windows Phone made with all brushed aluminum. Samsung can use higher quality materials, they just don't want to.

While the build quality is about on par with the Galaxy S III, the Note II looks much better. Samsung has kept their lawyers away from this one and actually made it a normal, simple, straight-sided rectangle with corners that aren't so swoopy. I wish the GSIII skipped the goofy "pebble" shape and went with this design, it looks great! Apple is probably adding this to a lawsuit as we speak.

They also dumped the GSIII's seam-filled, silver plastic rim and went with a shiny, chrome-colored plastic rim, which is much nicer looking.

The S Pen feels similar to the pen on the Note 10.1. Samsung had mentioned they changed the tip material for a little more resistance - I didn't really notice in my limited time with the device. It does have a new trick though, if you leave the pen out of the phone and walk away, an alarm will sound to alert you of the missing accessory.

They've also tried to make the S Pen more useful. The touchscreen can track the pen when it is above the screen, so you can use it to hover on web pages for navigation, and they've added some hover functionality to various Touchwiz apps. Hovering on a stack of pictures will fan out the top 6 and give you a preview, and hovering on a video seek bar will give you a thumbnail.

You get a choice of grey or white, and yes, that's grey, not the dark blue color of the Galaxy S III. They had a few Flip Covers on display for the new phone. I believe black and white are also color options for the covers.

Performance on this thing should be pretty awesome. The Note II is running Jelly Bean, and Project Butter is here in full force. If that weren't enough, the Note II has a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos and 2GB of RAM. Everything felt pretty smooth, even with a video floating around. Oh, and if you're worried about a processor change, don't be. Samsung hinted they had finally figured out the quad-core/LTE issues that had been plaguing their North American phones.

The camera software has gotten an upgrade, too. Burst mode isn't a mode anymore, just hold down the camera button and the shots keep coming. There's also a crazy feature that will let you takemultiple shots of a group of people and mix and match the faces from each photo for the best look. It's like automatic Photoshop!

So it's huge, it's fast, it's got Jelly Bean, and Touchwiz has even more crazy stuff to look at. A review of a US variant will happen eventually. Getting a closer look at this thing sounds like fun. You'll know more when we do.

Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

Now Samsung has given in and called the Note 2 a smartphone, we can dub it the most powerful around.

With a wonderfully vivid 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD screen and meaty innards, there's no doubt that the Note 2 is the top dog when it comes to raw grunt and function.

Add to that the S Pen functionality, which has been given a bunch of new fancy tricks, and you can see why there's a lot to coo over with the new device.

The design is still very 'Samsung'... meaning that the power key is well within reach on the right-hand side of the phone, and is well crafted to allow a decent travel.

The headphone jack and the home button are all within reach too, although don't forget the size means a LOT of jiggling in the hand if you're going to attempt to use the Note in only one palm.

Let's get onto the internals, shall we? The quad core Exynos processor has been cranked up to 1.6GHz, and is joined by a distinctly un-shabby 2GB of RAM to power things along.

And it's fast. Really fast. We've tested a number of devices like this on the stands of various companies, and we've rarely seen anything whiz under the finger in the same fashion. It almost ruins the Galaxy S3, simply because there's a noticeable difference between the two.

However, before we start sounding too evangelical, let's highlight the major problem here: the size. For all Samsung's posturing that this is a product category that's been dying to be exploited, we're still not convinced that this isn't too large.

It fits in the pocket just fine, providing you're not sporting those tight trousers all the kids seem to be wearing these days, although it was pretty hairy trying to test that theory out around the thousands of watchful Samsung stand bunnies.

The design is very similar to most of the Samsung Galaxy range, in that it's sturdy, yet slightly lightweight, plastic.

The lock and power button, located on the right hand side, is well placed for easy use, as is the slick S Pen slot. This slot has been imbued with greater powers, such as automatically opening the S Memo application when you're on the phone and remove the stylus.

It's a neat trick, and now has an extra level of functionality through Air View. This slightly convoluted aspect means you can hover the S Pen over the display of the phone and see everything from messages to pictures to scrolling through video without actually touching the display.

Is it anything more than a gimmick? Unless you're scrolling through messages, probably not. The gallery functionality was pointless, and if you're already scrolling through a video to get to another point there's no harm in actually interacting with the movie, seeing as you're not watching it anyway.

While we're talking about movies, we should mention that the large 5.5-inch screen is simply amazing for a movie marathon. Really good, clear and vivid, which we've come to expect from the Super AMOLED HD range.

Sure there are some that say it's oversaturated, not realistic etc, but to them we say: just pull this out in a pub, pop on an HD film and see what other think.

The implementation of Android 4.1 Jellybean is certainly a nice touch, although it's different to the vanilla offering on the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus. There's not card-based notification menu on offer here, although when long-pressing the home key to call up the task manager you've got instant access to Google Now, as well as the ability to check running apps.

There are a number of extra features to play with here as well. For instance, Facebook updates will scroll across the bottom of the screen when in lock mode, which will probably suck both power and data, even with that massive power pack and LTE connectivity included.

Early Verdict

But let's go back to the speed of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 – it's phenomenal. This is, hands down, the best media and internet browsing portable machine we've seen in ages.

It's too big still to be used as a normal phone – people will still think you're more than slightly odd holding it to your face – but for texting, browsing, emailing, watching movies and more, we haven't seen much better than this.

We'll reserve proper judgement obviously until the price emerges – if it's anything like the first Note, we're in for a high-priced shock.

Samsung unveils the Ativ S, the first-ever Windows 8 phone

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 08:25:00 +0000

Samsung unveils the Ativ S, the first-ever Windows 8 phone

Last week wasn't Samsung's best: the company came out on the losing end of one of the highest-profile technology cases ever, saddled with an order to pay Apple more than $1 billion for patent infringement. But the court defeat apparently hasn't blunted the company's momentum in terms of new tech: this week Samsung revealed a handset that's both the first dual-core Windows phone and the first ever to ship with Windows Phone 8. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Ativ S.

The phone looks an awful lot like the Galaxy S III, Samsung's current flagship Android handset. It's got a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and an 8-megapixel rear camera paired with a 1.9-megapixel front-facing one. The phone will come in 16GB and 32GB flavors. It's 8.7mm thick, which is thin enough that Samsung felt comfortable calling it a "chic hairline design" at the unveiling.

The Ativ S also takes full advantage of Windows Phone 8's new features, including support for NFC (near field communication, for close-quarters file sharing and mobile payment) and microSD (a physical card slot on the handset allows for expandable storage). Truth be told, no one actually has much information on what else Windows Phone 8 will bring to the table -- and although Microsoft teased the Ativ S in a blog post, it didn't give many details about the software. (The best Microsoft is offering right now, evidently, is the assurance the Ativ S "performs great.")

Samsung announced the phone at the IFA Berlin event on Wednesday, and in doing so all but thumbed its nose at Nokia. The two companies have had a little bit of a feud going on around Windows Phone 8 -- Nokia's head of sales and marketing specifically called outSamsung earlier this month, warning it to "take note" of the next-generation Lumia phones. Samsung beat Nokia to the punch as far as timing, too: Nokia has a September 5th media event planned, which it'll probably use to talk about its plans for the Windows Phone platform.

Neither Samsung nor Nokia have much choice but to build new handsets: Microsoft announced earlier this year that smartphones running Windows Phone 7.5 or earlier won't be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 because of the hardware requirements of the OS. Since Samsung is apparently trying to capture some of the Windows phone market, that means a new handset from them; and since Nokia is the biggest maker of Windows phones right now, that means it'll likely unveil new hardware at its September 5th event.

Readers, are you excited about the Ativ S? Are you waiting to see what Nokia comes up with? Or are you bored by the prospect of Windows phones? Let us know in the comments section below.

10 Best iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone games this week

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:43:00 +0000

10 Best iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone games this week

What did Infinity Blade's developers do next? Political sausage-boxing...

It's time for our third weekly post rounding up the best new smartphone and tablet games, returning to its Thursday slot. Why Thursday? That's become the biggest day of the week for new mobile releases, as publishers jockey for high positions on the app store charts ahead of the weekend.

Here's this week's selection:

Vote!!!

Easily the best game involving Mitt Romney whacking Barack Obama with a giant sausage you'll play this week. This is a politically-themed beat 'em up for the US presidential election, with the surprise twist being that its developer is Chair Entertainment – best known for the Infinity Blade games.
iPhone / iPad

Eternity Warriors 2

US publisher Glu Mobile has released a polished sequel to its Eternity Warriors dungeon-crawler, set 100 years after the first one. Once again, it involves battling your way through dungeons laying into demons and monsters, while upgrading your items along the way. The freemium game also includes an online co-operative multiplayer mode.
Android / iPhone / iPad

KooZac

Famously described as "between Tetris and Sudoku", this popular web game has been ported to iOS by publisher Square Enix. The gameplay involves positioning falling blocks to make target numbers, with 60 levels to play, and a KooZac Blitz mode to compete against friends.
iPhone / iPad

Monpla Smash

Gree's Monpla Smash is the latest mobile game that's been a big hit in Japan – 5m players, apparently – to be transferred to the West, starting with iPhone. It involves raising monsters and battling opponents, like an online Pokemon with a freemium business model.
iPhone

Lego: Build Your Brain

Lego has launched this smartphone game to be used with its boxed Life of George set. Styled as a game show, you have to build bricks in the real world, then take photos of them using the device's camera to score points, and "build your brain bigger and stronger". A nifty blend of digital and physical play.
Android / iPhone

Shoot 1UP

"Why play shoot 'em ups one ship at a time?" asks the Windows PhoneMarketplace listing for this new game. Why indeed? Microsoft Studios' newie sees you launching a fleet of bullet-laden ships at once to battle your way through vertically-scrolling levels. Converted from an Xbox 360 Indie game, it's fully Xbox Lived up.
Windows Phone

King's Bounty: Legions

A rich feast for hardcore iPad gamers to sink their teeth into, this. It's a fantasy-themed turn-based strategy game that has you raising a monster army and crafting armour and weapons to beat a succession of opponents online.
iPad

One Epic Knight

Where next for Temple Run-style endless runners? Back to medieval times, seemingly, as shown by One Epic Knight. Its star appeared in developer Simutronics' previous game Tiny Heroes as a villain, but now you're controlling him as he smashes his way through a dungeon.
iPhone / iPad

Star Splitter

If you have fond memories of space-based adventure games in your youth, and have an Android device to hand, Star Splitter may be just the thing this weekend. It's an intergalactic 3D shooter, with lots of ship upgrades, space battles and missions to complete.
Android

Lost Cities

Developer TheCodingMonkeys did a grand job with its iOS conversion of board game Carcassonne. Now it's looking to repeat the achievement with Lost Cities, a version of Reiner Knizia's Solitaire-esque board game. Online multiplayer is included.
iPhone

That's our selection, but what new games have you been playing this week on your smartphone or tablet? Make your recommendations (or pass judgement on the games above) with a comment.

Samsung Galaxy Note 800 tablet review

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Astute) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Samsung Galaxy Note 800 tablet review

The tablet-computer market is like guerrilla warfare. One huge army - Apple - dominates the land, while a ragtag group of insurgents keeps raiding and probing, hoping to find some opening it can exploit.

With Samsung's new Galaxy Note 10.1, the rebels have scored a small victory. It's a tablet that does something that the iPad doesn't do, and it does it well. This victory won't win the war, though.

The Rs 39,990 tablet comes with a pen, or more precisely, a stylus. It doesn't leave marks on paper, but the tablet's screen responds to it. I found it a pleasure to use: It's precise and responsive, and it glides easily across the screen.

There are styluses available for the iPad, but they're not very good. The iPad's screen can't sense sharp objects, so any stylus has to be fairly blunt. Many of them have rubber tips, which resist being dragged across the screen.

The Galaxy Note has an additional layer in its screen, tuned to sense special, sharp-pointed pens through magnetism.

The Note is not the first iPad competitor to work with a stylus.

The HTC Flyer came out last year with the same ability, but several missteps limited its appeal. First, it was half the size of the iPad yet cost just as much, and that was without the pen. Second, there was no slot for the pen in the body of the tablet, making it easy to lose. The pen also was expensive, costing $80 to replace.

Samsung then built pen-sensitivity into the first Galaxy Note, a smartphone launched early this year. Though well-received, the tablet had an odd size, with a 5-inch screen. That makes it very big for smartphone but small for a tablet. With the Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung is taking the pen squarely into iPad territory.

So what can you do with the pen? Well, this is where the Samsung offensive starts faltering. There just isn't that much the pen is useful for, because stylus-equipped tablets are so new.

You can jot down notes, or edit photos in an included version of Photoshop. You can scrawl personal notes to people and email them. Instead of using the on-screen keyboard, you can use handwriting and let the tablet interpret it. You can even enter Web addresses this way. Handwriting is slower than typing, and the tablet's interpretation introduces errors, so it's not clear why you'd use it much, though.

The stylus senses how hard you press into the screen. Samsung's S Note app responds by making the line you make thinner or thicker, an essential feature for anyone who wants to use a tablet for serious drawing. The pen also comes with a side button that works much like the left mouse button, giving access to extra features with little effort.

Very few third-party apps are designed with styluses in mind, but some of them work better with a stylus anyway. "Draw Something," a drawing game, is a good example. It's designed for use with fingers, but the stylus makes it much easier to draw intelligible pictures, because it's easier to see what you're drawing. By contrast, a finger is so big and blunt that it obscures the picture. The app would work even better if it sensed the pen pressure.

But even when there are more apps for it, the stylus is going to have limited appeal. It's a must-have for only a small group of people, who like to doodle or need to do so for their jobs. For the rest of us, it will be a fun thing we use once in a while. It can and should tip a purchase decision now and then, but not for everyone.

You can contrast that with the signature feature of the latest iPad: the ultra-high resolution screen. That's not a must-have feature for everyone either, but it's immediately useful to everyone.

The Galaxy Note does chip at the iPad's defences with other features the Apple tablet lacks. One is a slot for microSD memory cards, which means you can expand the memory of the Galaxy Note inexpensively. That's very welcome.

The other feature is an infra-red light, which can be used in place of a remote at the home entertainment centre. This is a feature Sony pioneered in its Android tablets. It's welcome, too - some people spend hundreds of dollars on universal remotes, which the Galaxy Note effectively replaces with this feature. However, the included software didn't work well with my TV and stereo, so this will take some tinkering to get right.

Compared with other tablets that run Google's Android software, you're not giving much up by getting a Galaxy Note. Samsung's quoted battery life of nine hours is somewhat shorter than equivalent models, possibly because of the pen-sensing layer or the new processor.

The Note runs Ice Cream Sandwich, the next-to-latest version of Android, and can be upgraded to Jelly Bean, the latest. It has a fast processor and a big screen. At $499, it costs $100 more than the pen-less Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, which has the same size screen but a slower processor.

The Asus Transformer series of tablets takes another tack: They're built to work with an accessory keyboard, which also contains an extra battery and more connection ports. That's another way a competitor tries to take advantage of a blind spot for Apple and the iPad, for which physical keyboards seem like an afterthought.

Together, Asus and Samsung's strategies could add up to a very attractive tablet indeed. For now, and for most people, the iPad is still the better buy. The main reason is that there's much more, and better, third-party software available for it.

But the Galaxy Note shows that the pressure is building on the iPad, and Apple will have to work if it wants to maintain its lead.