Samsung Galaxy S III vs. Note II: Sizing up

Introduction

The Galaxy S III and the Note II are both cut from the same cloth, but one is XL while the other is XXL. What can we say - someone at Samsung must be busy spinning and weaving.

Size matters as it always has but this isn't a choice between slim fit and loose fit. It's the Android experience and it must be the perfect fit - so another close-up look at both may be well worth it. And mind you, this isn't about which one is better - the phone or the phablet - it's about which one looks good on you.

It's hard not to look at the Note II as an oversized Galaxy S III, but a few minutes with the S Pen might convince you otherwise. The bigger screen (with a new Super AMOLED matrix to boot) and overclocked chipset are pretty sweet too.

On the other hand, 4.8" is plenty for a phone and the S III is a root away from the extra clock speed if you're a power-obsessed geek. Plus, while the screen uses a PenTile Super AMOLED matrix, it does handle sunlight better. And styli went out of fashion years ago, right?

We're about to delve into the details, but if we had 10 seconds to summarize the differences between the S III and Note II, here's what we'd tell you.

Samsung Galaxy S III over Note II

• More compact - 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm vs. 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm
• Lighter - 133g vs. 183g
• Same resolution on smaller screen, so higher pixel density - 306ppi vs. 267ppi
• Better sunlight legibility
• Not as expensive

Samsung Galaxy Note II over S III

• Bigger screen - 5.5" vs. 4.8"
• New display matrix with a full array of subpixels
• Slightly brighter screen
• S Pen and Wacom digitizer
• Faster CPU (1.6GHz vs. 1.4GHz) and faster GPU
• All models have 2GB of RAM, while the international S III has only 1GB (US and LTE versions have 2GB)
• Split-screen interface, other niceties like Page Buddy
• Longer battery life

While mobile devices are typically good at content consumption but not creation, Samsung is trying to break that barrier with the S Pen. The split-screen interface also promises improved productivity.

Still, the Galaxy S III is lighter on the pocket (in both the physical and monetary sense) and is pretty much the same device in terms of software and hardware (sans the S Pen).

Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II

Here's the roadmap for this comparison - we start off with the hardware, including the screen and battery life, then we move on to software and benchmarks, compare the cameras and finish off with the audio quality. Press next to begin.

Huawei Y300 unveiled, is a dual-core JB droid for $250

The Huawei Y300 was showcased at a tech fair in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a couple of days ago. We were able to come across a couple of images and some specs of the upcoming smartphone.

The Huawei Y300 will be running Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1 out of the box on a 4" display of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels). The smartphone will be powered by a dual-core processor, clocked at 1.2 GHz, 512 MB of RAM and will feature a 1730 mAh battery. All that will be packed into a shell weighing only 120 grams.

The device is said to launch in Brazil by the end of December narrowly missing out on the holiday shopping spree and should cost just $250.

Source

Motorola RAZR i comes to UK both on and off contract

The Motorola RAZR i is now available in the UK for free on a contract courtesy of T-Mobile and Orange, while retailers such as Clove, Unlocked Mobiles and at Amazon offer it SIM free for around 340.

Orange is willing to give you the RAZR i for free on a two-year deal starting from 31 a month while T-Mobile is subsidizing its price down to nothing with its 26 a month two-year commitments.

If you want to sidestep the binding contracts you could opt for a SIM-free Motorola RAZR i from Amazon (with very limited stock) for 349.99, Clove for 342 and Unlocked Mobiles for 334.98.

The Motorola RAZR i has a single-core Intel Atom processor on tap, which is clocked at 2 GHz, a 4.3" Super AMOLED Advanced screen of qHD (540 x 960) resolution, an 8 MP snapper and runs on Android 4.0 ICS. There's an eye-catching Kevlar-covered back panel too.

If you haven't done so already, you should totally check out our Motorola RAZR i review.

Via

Samsung Galaxy Nexus US injunction gets reversed

The injunction banning the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the United States has been reversed by US appeals court. According to the decision, Apple could not present sufficient evidence, relating consumer demand for the Android smartphone to its universal search patent.

The injunction, banning the sale of the device was awarded to Apple back in June. The patent case itself was initiated in February.

Here goes Samsung's official statement on the matter:

"We welcome this reversal by the Federal Circuit, finding that the District Court abused its discretion in ordering a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus. Today's decision confirms that the role of patent law is to protect innovation and not to unreasonably stifle competition and restrict consumer choice. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure the availability of our innovative products."

Source | Via

UK carriers start taking Galaxy S III mini pre-orders

The Galaxy S III mini was announced just yesterday, but its already available for pre-order from three of Britain's major carriers.

This means that you can get the Samsung smartphone for free as long as you are willing to sign a two-year contract. The cheapest Vodafone contract that gets you a shinny new Galaxy S III mini for zilch costs 25/month. If Orange or O2 are your carrier of choice, you need 26/month or 27/month contract, respectively, to get a free mini.

There are cheaper plans, too, starting from 15.50/month, but you'll have to pay 199.99 to have the Samsung Galaxy S III mini on them. You can always opt for the SIM-free device, but it will set you back 300.

To sweeten up the deal, Phones 4U is throwing free Pebble MP3 players for the first 350 pre-orders.

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini is expected to start shipping in the beginning of November.

Via

Probable next Nexus phone, LG E960 Mako camera samples leak

LG is pretty lax when it comes to keeping the LG E960, a.k.a. the Optimus G-based Nexus phone, under wraps. Images and details of the smartphone just cant stop leaking all over web. The latest info comes from Onliner (again) and shows two camera samples.

The camera is an 8MP shooter (the Optimus G has two versions, 8MP and 13MP) and according to the EXIF info has a 4.6mm focal length (but that's all the info there is, the aperture data is missing). Note that the software is not finished yet, so we can expect the image quality to improve.

LG E960 Mako camera samples

The LG E960 Nexus has also been confirmed to use the Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 chipset with four Krait cores and Adreno 320 graphics. What this leak didnt confirm is the worrying rumor that the LG-made Nexus will have only 8GB of non-expandable on-board storage. Onliner is promising a review will be available tomorrow, so that will be settled soon.

In the mean time, you can hit the source link to check out a 360-degree spin on the phone.

Source (in Russian)

4.9-inch Sharp Aquos Zeta SH-02E droid headed to NTT DoCoMo

NTT DoCoMo announced its winter lineup, which consists of 16 new (for the carrier, at least) models, including the Samsung Galaxy S III, Note II and the Sony Xperia AX. The real attention grabber is the Sharp Aquos Zeta SH-02E, which promises to give the LG Optimus G a run for its money.

The Aquos Zeta has a 4.9" 720p IGZO TFT display (a world's first, IGZO is supposed to be more power-efficient) and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 chipset with quad-core Krait CPU at 1.5GHz and Adreno 320 graphics. The Sharp SH-02 will launch with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Sharp Aquos Zeta SH-02E

The main camera on the phone is a 16MP shooter with LED flash and there's a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

On the connectivity side there's LTE (100Mbps/37.5Mbps up/down) and NFC with mobile payment support. The Sharp Aquos Zeta will also support both 1seg and NOTTV broadcasting.

The phone will have a large capacity battery (2000+mAh or more, the specs sheet didnt give the exact number) and will be both dust and waterproof (IP57, IP5X).

The Sharp Aquos Zeta SH-02E is expected to launch in November or December.

Source

The best pics of the LG Nexus phone so far show all the details

Beside the high-quality photos there is not much new information about the LG Nexus phone. Still, we get its model name - the LG E960 - and a codename - the Mako.

We'd say that if it really turns out to be this year's Nexus device (something our fellow tech journalists are not quite sure), it makes all the sense in the world to be called the Google Optimus Nexus, right?

The pre-production phone these guys have runs currently the latest Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2.

On the front, there's a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 768x1280px. On the back, there's a 8 megapixel camera.

The LG (Optimus) Nexus phone

The real disappointment is on the inside. Despite the presence of the powerful quad-core Qualcomm chipset with 2GB of RAM, the built-in storage is only 8GB and there's no card slot for expansion.

Judging on the limited storage, LG wouldn't like it for their Optimus Nexus phone to compete with their other flagships. It's much like how Samsung supplied a measly 5 megapixel camera on their Galaxy Nexus.

As things are shaping right now, the Optimus Nexus won't be a customer-oriented multimedia consumption device.

Anyway, check out some more shots at the source link below.

Source

Samsung announces a beefed up Galaxy S III for Japan

Today NTT DoCoMo announced the upcoming availability of a few smartphones including Samsungs Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II.

Youve probably heard all there is to know about those two, but NTT DoCoMos version of the Galaxy S III, called Alpha, will be slightly different. Its chipset is pretty much the same as the international version of the Galaxy Note II - with the quad-core processor has been clocked on 1.6GHz instead of 1.4GHz and 2GB of RAM.

The faster CPU speed should help turn an already impressively fast smartphone into a real beast. What's even better, the Japanese Galaxy S III will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at launch.

Samsung Galaxy S III Alpha will be sold in Titanium Gray and Sapphire Black and will launch in December.

Source | Via

Google releases Android 4.1.2 to the Nexus 7, brings minor updates

Google has silently launched an update to Jelly Bean AOSP bringing Android to version 4.1.2.

The update is currently slowly making its way to the Google Nexus 7 units around the globe, but it shouldn't be long until it reaches the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus S and the Motorola XOOM.

Image credit: EETimes

As with any software update, the Android 4.1.2 release brings its fair share of bug fixes and promises a boost in performance. However, Google Nexus 7 owners will be happy to know it also enables landscape orientation to both the homescreen and lockscreen.

Other than that, Google doesn't say much about the update, which is 31.3MB in size and sports a JZO54K build number.

Source | Via

Samsung to unveil 4-inch Galaxy S III mini tomorrow in Germany

The rumors were true, the Samsung Galaxy S family is about to get a new member. No, not a Galaxy S IV, but a Galaxy S III mini. The news comes straight from JK Shin, Samsung's president, and the phone will be launching as soon as tomorrow.

JK Shin holding the big Galaxy S III

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini is going to have a 4" screen and according to Shin it has been driven by an increased interest in smaller high-end phones in Europe (current high-end droid have 4.5+ inch screens).

The type and resolution of the screen was kept a secret, but it will probably be a 4" WVGA Super AMOLED like the first gen Galaxy S or a 4" WVGA TFT like the Galaxy S Duos.

The Galaxy S III mini will have a model number I8190 according to the rumor mill and German site AllAboutSamsung has found photos on Picasa from a phone with just that model number. The photos are shot at 3MP, but the site suggests the camera will actually have a 5MP sensor. Shin's announcement to the Korean press doesnt mention any camera specs, so we'll have to wait another day to find out.

The resolution of the video captured with the Samsung Galaxy S III mini camera is not known and will probably depend on the chipset in use, which is another unknown. An Exynos 4412 Quad like its big bro and the Note II or a dual-core (this is a mini after all, the battery might not have enough juice for a quad core).

At any rate we won't have to wait long to find out, the official announcement of the S III mini is slated for tomorrow, October 11, in Germany.

Source 1 (in Korean) | Via Source 2 (in German) (thanks Rajkumar for the tip!)

iPhone 5 production slows down due to stricter quality control

Apple is experiencing a slowdown in the iPhone 5 production as the company is trying to enforce a tighter control over the manufacturing process. The company is working with Foxconn to lower down the number of devices shipped with nicks and scratches.

According to an anonymous source who spoke to Bloomberg, the build quality issues and chips of the iPhone 5 are due to the special aluminum Apple has decided to use for the smartphone, which allows the construction of the thinner and lighter body.

That's why senior Apple managers have forced stricter quality control policies on Foxconn's manufacturing locations. The implementation of the new benchmarks has even resulted in idle factories, which in turn should lead to iPhone 5 shortages in the near future.

According to Bloomberg supply concerns have already cost Apple about $60 billion in market cap since the iPhone 5 debut.

This report gives some credibility to the story about Foxconn Zhengzhou workers going on strike. We'll see if Apple manages to take the scratching problems of its premium flagship smartphone under control.

Source | Via

Nokia Lumia 'Atlas' for Verizon leaked

A new Nokia Lumia phone, codenamed 'Atlas', with the Verizon logo has surfaced. The image was posted by @evleaks on their Twitter account.

The phone looks like it could be a variant of the Lumia 820, with similar specifications but meant for Verizon's network. Just a few hours ago, we saw Nokia pull this same trick with the Lumia 810, a variant of the Lumia 820 for T-Mobile.

Not much can be said looking at the solitary photo that was posted, other than the phone has more pronounced rounded corners than the 820 or the 810, a front facing camera and a Verizon logo that looks like it was added at the last moment and pasted on the only place that was available.

If true, Verizon should be making an announcement for it shortly.

Source

Purported images of the LG Nexus phone leak

We have waited months to get a peek at the next Nexus device but other than some random rumors we got nothing concrete. That is, until now. All of a sudden a whole bunch of images have surfaced, allegedly of the next Nexus phone expected to be announced this month and if there's one thing they have in common, it's that they have the LG logo on them.

The first set of images posted on the xda-developers forum look slightly different because the device apparently had some sort of case on the back that hid its actual design, not uncommon for unannounced prototype devices.

We can see from these images that the phone is made by LG and runs Android 4.1.2, which just seems like a slightly newer version of Jelly Bean.

But then these new set of images were sent to Android and Me, first posted on Onliner.by, that show the device in all its glory.

We see that the phone (model number E960, codename 'Mako') has a sleek shape with a completely flat back that has these crystal-like pattern inside that gradually becomes more pronounced as you go down the back of the phone. You can see the camera lens flush against the back with an LED flash (our guess would be an 8 megapixel sensor; anything more would have popped considerably out of the case) and a loudspeaker grille near the bottom. You can see the usual Google and OEM logos, the latter belonging to LG, in this case.

We don't see much of the sides but from what we can tell there is a power button on the right, the volume controls on the left and the headphone jack on the top. On the bottom is the microUSB port with two curious slots, possibly for some sort of a docking device.

On the front the phone looks remarkably like the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung, It has the same buttonless design, with the earpiece near the top edge and a front facing camera. Google has integrated the navigation controls at the bottom of the display once again. This area looks decidedly grayer than the black bezel of the phone, which suggests that it is an LCD, unlike the pitch-black AMOLED on the Galaxy Nexus. This shouldn't come as a surprise considering how deeply LG is invested in LCD technology.

That's all we can gather from these images. We are definitely hoping to see more of this phone in the coming weeks and learn more about it, especially on what's ticking inside that sleek body.

Update: According to the NenaMark2 benchmark score uploaded on the Nena Innovation AB website, the LG device has a display resolution of 1280 x 768 (it shows up as 1196 because of the space taken up by the navigations keys). It also has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with Adreno 320 GPU, which means it is the same APQ8064 found on the Optimus G.

The actual benchmark score is not really relevant here because the framerate is limited by the display v-sync at 60 fps and as such as not a true indication of the level of performance the hardware is capable of.

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Samsung Galaxy Music goes official, has a dual-SIM version too

Samsung has just officially announced the Galaxy Music. The smartphone is aimed at music lovers on a tight budged, who want to get an Android-packing device with superb sound quality and advanced music player features.

Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy Music is built around 3.0-inch QVGA TFT display. Sadly, the processor specs haven't been fully disclosed yet, but we know there's 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage available. Happily, microSD card slot is available to expand the memory by up to 32GB.

There's a 3MP fixed-focus main camera at the back with no flash. Connectivity is covered by Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB port.

The little smartphone also features a 9-lumen WVGA projector. Just like with Samsung's other projector-packing smartphone, the Galaxy Beam, the one on the Galaxy Music is placed at the top of the device.

Update: We were contacted by a Samsung representative, who claimed that the projector part was a mistake in the press materials and the Galaxy Music won't be having such functionality.

Official photos of the Samsung Galaxy Music

Measuring 110.1 x 59.0 x 12.25mm, the Galaxy Music weighs 106.9 grams. It packs a 1,300mAh battery, but ratings haven't been published yet.

As its name suggests, the Samsung Galaxy Music packs some cool music enhancing features such as dual frontal stereo speakers, Sound Alive, SRS and Smart Volume. There's also a dedicated Music key, which provides a quick access to the music player.

Pricing and availability are still a mystery, but Samsung will also launch a dual-SIM version of the device called Galaxy Music Duos.

Source | Via

HTC releases Q3 results, profits continue to slide down

Announcements

Posted Oct 8, 2012

HTC RELEASES UNAUDITED RESULTS FOR 3Q 2012

1.Date of occurrence of the event:2012/10/08

2.Company name:HTC Corporation

3.Relationship to the Company (please enter head office or affiliate company):Head Office

4.Reciprocal shareholding ratios:N/A

5.Cause of occurrence:Taoyuan, TaiwanOctoboer 8, 2012HTC Corporation (TWSE: 2498), a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announces unaudited consolidated results for 3Q 2012. For the third quarter of 2012, total revenues reached NT$70.2 billion. Unaudited operating income was NT$4.9 billion, net income before tax was NT$4.0 billion, net income after tax, excluding minority interest, was NT$3.9 billion, and unaudited earnings per share after tax were NT$4.70 based on 831,227 thousand weighted average number of shares.

6.Countermeasures:None

7.Any other matters that need to be specified:None

Sony Xperia TX goes on sale in Hong Kong in three colors

The Sony Xperia TX has been released in Hong Kong today with a recommended price tag of HK$4,698 or around $606 (or 375, 465). The device comes in three color variants - pink, white and black.

Also the Xperia J has been priced in Hong Kong at HK$2,098 or around $270 but no release date has been specified.

The Xperia TX is an almost exact match to the international Xperia T. The difference is the slightly lower battery capacity (1750 mAh vs 1850 mAh), but on the up side it has a thinner body. Otherwise both feature a Snapdragon S4 chipsets with a dual-core Krait processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, 13 MP snappers, Android ICS 4.0.4, NFC, etc.

You can find our detailed review of the Xperia T here and a hands-on of the Xperia TX from IFA 2012 in Berlin.

Source

Sony Xperia C650X Odin leaks, said to be next flagship

Sony released a good number of smartphones this year but it seems they are already looking forward to next year. Leaked user agent profiles detail three new phones for 2013, one of which is supposed to be the company's next flagship.

It is known under several model numbers - C6502, C6503 and C6506 - with the different last numbers supposedly representing regional variations of the phone. According to the rumors, the phone is codenamed Odin and its user agent string reports it's running Android 4.1.1.

Unfortunately, that's all there is about the alleged next Xperia flagship.

The other two are entry-level devices similar to the current Xperia tipo and Xperia miro models. Their model numbers are C1505 and C1604/C1605 and both have HVGA screens of unknown size and run Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The C160X is powered by a Snapdragon S4 Play chipset, with a single 1GHz Cortex-A5 core and Adreno 200 graphics as revealed by its NenaMark 2 results. The C150X is probably powered by the same platform, though there are no benchmark results for this one (yet).

Sony hasnt made a feature phone in a while and it seems like they'll have low-end droids fill that spot. But what more will the C150X and C160X have to offer than the miro/tipo, besides the 200MHz clock speed bump? And we're eager to see more info on the C650X Odin, a NenaMark result will do (it looks like Sony has kept their taste for Snapdragon chipsets, so which one is in the Odin?).

Source 1 Source 2 (in Japanese) | Via

Galaxy Note II firmware update brings split-screen multitasking

Samsung has released a firmware update for the Galaxy Note II, which enables the much anticipated split-screen multitasking feature.

Multi-View enhances the multitasking capabilities of the Galaxy Note II, allowing you to run two apps on the screen simultaneously. Mind you, not all Android apps are supported, but unlike the Galaxy Note 10.1, where only Samsung apps could be brought up to the screen, Multi-Window supports Google apps as well (Gmail, YouTube, Chrome and Talk).

The update version is XXALIJ1 and comes with a new baseband, as well as an update to Google Chrome.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note II, you can check for the new firmware from About device -> Software update. While waiting to download, you can see Multi-Window in action on the official Samsung Galaxy Note II ad below (around the 2 minute mark).

Make sure to read our in-depth Galaxy Note II review as well,

Source | Via