Your once daily stop for tech news! If it's important we've got it covered!
Our focus is on mobile devices such as phones and tablets, but anything goes!
Everyone expected Samsung's latest flagship, the Galaxy S4, to be a runaway success. For whatever reason Samsung's devices are still insanely hot property and people just can't get enough of them and the S4 is no exception. Samsung's J K Shin is famous for being one of Samsung's three co-CEO's and he's also the head of Samsung's Mobile division and today he broke the news that the Galaxy S4 will have had 10 million sales at some point next week!
"We are confident that we will pass more than 10 million sales of the S4 next week. It is selling much faster than the previous model S3... Samsung spent 50 days to pass the 10 million sales mark for the S3. The S4 will be Samsung’s first '10 million seller' device less than a month after its official debut."
The publication also quotes an analyst called Woody Oh as saying that Samsung have:
"An efficient supply chain, sleek products and crisp marketing [and these] have been among the main drivers of Samsung’s impressive profitability."
We know Apple sell this many device in the first couple of weeks of launch, but it just goes to show just how much Samsung have managed to gain in terms of appeal that they can sell this many super expensive phones this fast and don't forget that Samsung sell phones as so many different price points so their image is perhaps even more impressive given the consistency over a huge range of prices! Via AndroidBeat.
Samsung have been steadily growing in popularity and last year attention peaked with the insanely popular duo of the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note II! When the Samsung Galaxy S4 was announced it was widely tipped to be a big seller, but we weren't too sure because HTC's new flagship, the One, offers a much more premium feeling device and that has been supposedly selling pretty well.
Well it seems that the HTC One hasn't made too much of a difference because some Korean news outlets are reporting that unnamed Samsung execs are saying that the company shipped as many as 4 million Galaxy S4's in the four days after the devices launch! Since then sales have supposedly slowed a little, but the report says that the South Koreans should have sold as many as 10 million devices by the end of the month!
So you have a little idea of how impressive this rumour is, Samsung's Galaxy S3 took 60 days to shift 10 million devices, the Galaxy S2 took 150 days to reach the milestone and this device threatens to do it in less than 40!
If this rumour is correct then that sort of sales figure is slowly, but surely catching up with the launches of Apple's new iPhones and even if it never catches up, it's remarkably good sales nonetheless! Via UnwiredView.
The latest company to launch their own virtual currency is Amazon! The guys have announced Amazon Coins which allows customers to pay for apps on the companies app store and you can make some in app purchases with the currency too! If you're a Kindle Fire owner in the US then you're one of the lucky few to first get the currency and you'll be given $5 worth which is 500 coins. We expect this currency will be a bit more stable than BitCoin! Full details are available on Amazon's site here! Via TheVerge.
EVLeaks have done it again, supposedly showing of the Nokia Lumia 925, which is widely expected to be announced tomorrow! Take a look at the image in the tweet below and then head over to our post which shows off the teaser video and some leaked images which Nokia posted yesterday for more information! If you want to watch Nokia's reveal tomorrow in London then it starts at 10AM BST and you can watch it here! There's also details for people in other time zones on Nokia's conversations website here!
EE have taken steps to defend their policy which sells some 'anonymous' user data to anyone who's willing to pay for it. There's been a lot of heated debate over the issue over the weekend, but check out this article on the BBC to see full coverage!
Some research has been posted which suggests that 4.5" is the ideal screen size for mobile phones you can read the full article here! Via Mobile-ent.biz
Samsung are reportedly the first company to be working on 5G mobile data and they're trialing speeds of 1 gbps with the ultimate aim of the technology arriving in 2020! The final aim is for speeds of 10 gbps! Via Engadget.
PhoneArena are speculating that the white version of the Nexus 4 will arrive at Google I/O this year. It's possible that they could just be lining this phone up as a unique freebie for people in attendance, but you never know there might be one for public release!
The UK government is trying encourage the use of tech in fashion and there is now a competition which offers £30,000 to four companies for the best innovations they come up with, a competition which is backed by the government! Full details can be found at the sourcelink below! Via Pocketlint.
O2 are investing €70 million into their Irish network which will bump data speeds up acorss their network. In Ireland the upgrades will affect 250 locations in 14 counties and amongst the lucky few are Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Sligo and Wicklow! Via IrishTimes.
And finally, according to the Japanese mobile carrier DoCoMo there will be an 'Arctic Blue' version of the Galaxy S4 on the way in the future!
Google's Eric Schmidt said that Google's Glass project is probably a 'year-ish' away from being ready for general release in an interview with BBC Radio 4! Via TheVerge.
Sony Mobile today tweeted that they are in the final stages of prep-ing updates for the list of device which you see in the tweet below!
Just a quick update to say we hear you re: JB 4.1 for Xperia P & Go, (S, SL, acro S and ion). Work's in v. final stage - more news next week
— Sony Xperia News (@SonyMobileNews) April 19, 2013
Twitter have signed a deal with Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) to bump up advertising on the social platform. As part of the deal Twitter will display ads from people like Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Microsoft and Coca-Cola, something which analysts believe could see Twitter's profits double! FT Via Twitter.
T-Mobile and LG have announced that a 350MB update will be arriving on your Optimus L9 OTA soon which brings an update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. There's a few more details on T-Mobile's support page, but not too many! Via AndroidCentral.
Daft Punk have smashed Spotify's streaming records in both the UK and USA with the launch of their new song 'Get Lucky' which crushed previous streaming figures for the first 24 hours of a songs availability! Via Slashgear.
Tumblr have announced that they have rolled out mobile ads to their iOS and Android apps and you can see up to four ads per day from ABC Entertainment and ABC Family, GE, Pepsi and Warner Bros. You can read full details of the move on Tumblr's blog here! Via TheVerge.
Google had been fined 145,000 Euros for collecting data for Wifi hotspots in Germany and subsequently violating data protection laws. Apparently the largest fine available for this offence is 150,000 Euros but the judge wanted to fine them considerably higher for what is regarded as a serious violation. Via PhoneArena.
The update to Android's Play Store which has quite a redesign is currently rolling out to users and if you're particularly impatient you can get it at the source link below! Via AndroidPolice.
Samsung have released the source code for three variants of their Galaxy S4! Again you can find them at the source link embedded below! Via PhoneArena.
Digitimes is reporting that Intel is encouraging people to make All-In-One PCs with batteries built in! There's a lot more details too so check out Digitimes here for all the goodies!
There's a new one-click tool which lets you root your HTC One available on XDA Developers! If you're interested head to XDA here, but remember we can't be responsible if your lovely new phone becomes an expensive paperweight! Via PhoneArena.
And finally, if you were wondering if Gorilla Glass 3 on the Samsung Galaxy S4 would protect your phone well enough without a screen protector, then check out the video below! It's a little crazy, but this should be a good example of how it'll perform!
Google has finally told developers that from today they're, "now able to upload screenshots of your app running on 7″ and 10″ tablets to the Google Play Developer Console," something which gives people with tablets these pictures instead of the phone screenshots. It seems that Google is finally turning to their Android eyes towards tablets as Google I/O approaches! Check out the AndroidDeveloperBlog here for more information. Via AndroidBeat.
Samsung appear to have delayed the UK launch of the Galaxy S4, unless you pre-ordered the device! The delay is only a day, so you can pick it up on Saturday instead of Friday! The Inquirer spoke to the Samsung store in Stratford and we're not sure if the issue is wider than that at the moment. Via TheInquirer.
T-Mobile UK are in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority for their use of 'unlimited' to define the internet on their Full Monty tariff. The ASA took issue with the way the company insisted on peer-to-peer limits during 8am and 2am each day. At the moment T-Mobile are excluding tethering from the plan for new customers! Via PCPro.
Amazon have announced that they will be extending the availability of their app store from the seven countries they currently operate it in to nearly 200 in the coming months! Now where's that Amazon phone got to? Via TheVerge.
Calling all Sony Xperia Tablet S owners! Get yourself ready if you live in America, Canada or South America because tomorrow morning Sony will unleash an OTA for your device which will give you Android 4.1.1 Jelly bean at long last! Via AndroidPolice.
Microsoft and Hon Hia, the parent company of Foxconn have penned a new licensing deal for Android and Chrome OS devices! There can't be too many more people who Microsoft needs to sign up any more! Via PhoneArena.
Sony Mobile have announced that the latest software update for the Xperia V has fixed all of the past 'sleep of death' issues which owners have experienced in the past. Via XperiaBlog.
FunnyOrDie have posted a new mockumentary about Steve Jobs. The show is aptly named iSteve and there's not much to it other than the desire to make you laugh. If you're interested in the show you can check it out here! Via IntoMobile.
Nintendo have confirmed the spring update for the Wii U which was promised wil arrive next week! Via Engadget.
HTC's new flagship, the One, has been getting fantastic reviews from around the web, but it seems as though one person won't be giving it full marks! The review device for one person has developed the strange issue which we see below. It's not known whether the issue affects more than just this single device, but for the moment we'll assume it's an isolated incident! Via LandofTechnology.
And finally, what can you do if you have 10,000 iPhones and a fair bit of free time? Dominos! The video below is a pretty cool stunt!
Samsung's Galaxy S4 might not be ready for prime time until the 26th of this month, but Samsung is busy behind the scenes getting everything ready for the big launch day.
Today we've got to see the first fruits of their labours as there have been four adverts found on the internet which show off the new flagship device! Check each of them out below, but before you do we'll run you through what all of them are about:
The first is the longest at 60 seconds long and it mainly shows off the hardware in the S4.
The second is 'sound shot' which sends a photo with a voice message with it.
The first demos the Group Play feature.
And finally, the fourth ad shows how useful S Translator can be!
We must say the way Samsung portrays these features they do appear useful to every day consumers and we think these adverts will be a great way to convince people that they must have the Galaxy S4!
"Attacking competitors, pointing to their weaknesses, and trumpeting one’s achievements is better done by hired media assassins. A company, directly or through a PR firm, engages oft-quoted consultants who provide the required third-party stats, barbs, and encomiums. This isn’t theorizing, I once was a director at a company, one of many, that used such an arrangement to good effect."
"In the two trading days bracketing the Samsung S4 launch Schiller clumsily attempted to trash, Apple shares respectively gained 1%, followed by a 2.58% jump the day after the intro. Schiller could have said nothing before the launch and, today, let others point to early criticism of the S4′s apparent featuritis."
HTC are probably the most interesting of the bunch because they desperately need their HTC One to fight back the expected wave of Galaxy S4 sales to ensure the future of the company! With that in mind then it's unsurprising that the guys from Taiwan had so much to say about the South Korean's flagship yesterday evening!
HTC's Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Ho took the opportunity to talk about Samsung's infamous plastic backings!
“With a continuation of a plastic body and a larger screen being the most obvious physical change, Samsung's new Galaxy pales in comparison to the all-aluminium unibody HTC One. This is more of the same."
He may well have a point in that regard, but we're not necessarily sure Samsung and their brand new octa-core processor would agree with all of this next statement, although it's hard to deny that their aluminium is a lot nicer than the plastic!
“HTC remains the best option for those people looking for the best technology wrapped in premium design. Our customers want something different from the mainstream, who appear to be the target for the Galaxy. Our customers want original cutting-edge technology, mouth-watering design and a premium feel from their mobiles, which is why we created the HTC One.”
HTC's UK Twitter account is still reinforcing the point, they're currently saying things like:
The guys may have a point in that regard, but naturally it's all very subjective and not every agrees, but one things which HTC's President Jason MacKenzie, said seems a little bit harsh. He said that, "I went from laughing to actually feeling embarrassed at some of the acting," obviously he's referring to the unique way Samsung announced the new features. They used a series of Broadway-esque short stories to give examples of when each of the features is useful and how these are genuinely practical additions to a smartphone, so we think it's a little harsh that he decided that, "Watching the presentation, it looks like they invested a lot in marketing instead of innovation."
What's your take on the war of words, or much more importantly which of the two phones are you picking up? Let us know in the comments below! Via DroidLife, CNet and AndroidCentral.
Today Samsung have introduced their brand new Galaxy S4! The brand new flagship smartphone basically brings exactly what we were expecting!
There's the full HD amoled screen, a much improved camera, a good mix of storage and SD expandability and pretty much everything else we wanted! Lets jump straight into the specs so we know what we're dealing with here!
The Specs:
There is a full spec sheet embedded below, but the highlights are quite impressive. There's a
1.9 GHz Quad-Core Processor, which we expect to be on the American variants of the phone, alternatively there's a 1.6 GHz Octa-Core processor which we expect to arrive in Europe!
On the camera front there's a 2MP option on the front , but it's the rear one which has got the massive speed bump. There will be a 13MP HDR camera on the back which is capable of 1080p video and naturally there's zero shutter lag!
Lets not forget the is one small device, despite this phone having a 5" screen, it actually has a smaller footprint than the Galaxy S3! The Galaxy S3 measured: 136.6mm x 70.6mm and the new Galaxy S4: 136.6mm x 69.8mm and this time it's only 7.9mm thick! All of that despite the fact that there's a 2600 mAh removable battery in the back and a Gorilla Glass 3 screen on the front!
Other than that the full spec sheet is embedded below:
Software Features:
Samsung has introduced a flood of new software features to the Galaxy S4 on top of what Android 4.2.2 brings already! Lets take a look at them:
S-Translator knows 9 different languages. Really knows. Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and English are all understood in both a text-to-speech capacity as well as a speech-to-text capacity.
‘Samsung Smart Pause’ means you can control the screen using your eyes. When you are watching a video, the video pauses when you look away, then it starts right up again when you are back. ‘Samsung Smart Scroll’ allows you to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen. It detects your eyes and recognises the movement of your wrist, and then scroll the pages up or down accordingly.
‘Air View’ allows you to hover with your fingers to preview the content of an email, S Planner, image gallery or video without having to open it. You can even see a magnified view on the internet browser, or a phone number saved in the speed dial on the keypad. With ‘Air Gesture’, you can change a music track, scroll up and down a web page, or accept a call with a wave of your hand.
With ‘S Voice Drive’ you can activate commands via voice control for optimisation when driving. Once connected with a car Bluetooth, the phone automatically turns into driving mode converting text to speech so you can easily and safely check messages with no need to look at the screen.
‘Optical Reader’ makes life yet more effortless, by automatically recognising text, a business card or QR code information, and providing useful functions such as translation, call, text message and search.
‘Samsung WatchON’ allows the Galaxy S 4 will transform into an IR remote to control your home entertainment system including TV, set-top box, DVD player and even air conditioner. In addition, you can enjoy various content including live TV, cable TV and VOD based on the rich information provided by EPG (Electronic Programme Guide).
Empowered Living lets the Galaxy S 4 assist you with keeping up-to-date with health and wellbeing information using the new ‘S Health’ software. The combination of sensors built within the device systematically and automatically monitors your health, surroundings, and so much more to help improve your quality of life. Also, you can easily check your health conditions using food diary, exercise diary and sleep monitor to stay fit and healthy. (Certain functions are enabled by specific accessories.)
‘Samsung Adapt Display’ provides an optimal viewing experience, customised for each type of application, and ‘Samsung Adapt Sound’ offers an optimal level and type of sound, personalised for each person, to make the most out of life.
Carrier Availability:
Without offering any specifics Samsung have said that the device is coming to 155 different countries and a total of 327 wireless carries. There will also be support for 3G and 4G LTE across multiple frequency bands. JK Shin, the president of Samsung has said that the Galaxy S4 will support all frequencies and standards, including global LTE roaming. The device is set to be launched around the world in April!
GALAXY S 4 gets you closer to what matters in life, bringing your world together.
New York, USA, March 14, 2013 - Samsung Electronics announced today the fourth generation GALAXY S, the GALAXY S 4, designed to get you closer to what matters in life and bring your world together.
Understanding what matters most to us in our lives, the Samsung GALAXY S 4 was developed to redefine the way we live and to maximize our fulfillment of life. This sleek and innovative smartphone makes every moment of life very meaningful; it understands the value of relationships, enabling true connections with friends and family. It believes in the importance of an effortless user experience, making your life easy and hassle-free; and, it empowers your life, helping take care of your well-being.
The beauty of the phone is the highly crafted design encompassing a larger screen size and battery, minimized bezel; all housed in a light (130g) and slim (7.9mm) shape. The Samsung GALAXY S 4 is slimmer yet stronger, with less to hold yet more to see. It has come up with simply unreal beauty. At launch, two color options will be available - Black Mist and White Frost; with a variety of additional color options to follow later this year.
“With the GALAXY S 4, Samsung is again going to enhance the way we live,” said JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung. “All the innovative features of GALAXY S 4 were developed based on the insights and needs we found from our consumers all around the world. Following the successful GALAXY S series, this phone is yet another great proof point of people-inspired innovation. At Samsung we’ll never stop pursuing innovation conceived by people, so we can inspire them in return.”
Meaningful Moments - Gives Greater Enjoyment
A rich life is one that’s filled with meaningful moments and the GALAXY S 4 captures and shares those special moments. The GALAXY S 4 has the world’s first Full HD Super AMOLED display to showcase images at their very best. Its 5-inch large screen has 441ppi for stunning viewing quality. The Samsung GALAXY S 4 also utilizes Corning’s new Gorilla® Glass 3＊, making it a durable travel companion for all of life’s adventures.
Equipped with a 13 megapixel rear camera, the GALAXY S 4 also boasts a ‘Dual Camera’function that allows simultaneous use of both front and rear cameras. When capturing moments, users can choose from a variety of frame effects which blend the two pictures naturally and also adjust the size of the small picture inside the big one. Users can select 8 different ways to combine the two photos taken by the front camera and the rear camera. At the same time, the ‘Dual Video Call’ function enables you to make and receive a video call with friends and family while showing what you are looking at during the call.
The camera functionality extends beyond Dual Camera, as the device is also equipped with 12 outstanding shooting modes including ‘Drama Shot’, which allows you to see all the action in one continuous time-lapse, and ‘Sound & Shot’, which uniquely stores sound and voice together as the picture is taken so those special moments are captured in the truest form imaginable, exactly as they happened.
These meaningful moments can also now automatically be stored in a photo album, with the new ‘Story Album’ function. Photos taken by the GALAXY S 4 are automatically gathered and sorted out according to your timeline, geo-tagging information, or a specific event to create a photo album. These unique story albums can be ordered and delivered as an offline photo album through a new partnership with Blurb＊, so you can keep those precious moments safe to look at and share time and time again.
True Connections – Brings People Together
Samsung GALAXY S 4 enables true connections with the people in our lives. It is more than a personal device that can be enjoyed by one user - it makes the most of our relationships allowing us to easily share and experience many of life’s pleasures together with family and friends, wherever you are.
With its ‘Group Play’ function, users can enjoy music, photos, documents and games with those around them without even requiring a Wi-Fi AP or cellular signal. This innovative feature enables users to connect directly with others to share, play and co-create content and entertainment instantly. Its ‘Share Music’ option allows users to have the same song playing on multiple phones in sync to create the best party atmosphere.
The GALAXY S 4 brings all people closer together by breaking down language barriers. It makes international travel a joy, with ‘S Translator’ which provides instant translation, using text or voice translation on applications including email, text message and ChatON. This instant translation is possible both from speech to text and text to speech and ensures that you can rely on the correct information whilst abroad.
The GALAXY S 4 supports HSPA＋42 Mbps and 4G LTE which means wherever you are in the world, you can rely on perfect connectivity. Especially, the LTE version supports up to 6 different band sets which allows it to function in most LTE coverage areas as well as enabling global LTE roaming. Furthermore, TDD/FDD LTE Dual Mode version will be introduced later this year.
Effortless Experience - Makes Things More Convenient
In today’s world, we are all looking for smart ways to make life easier and less stressful. The GALAXY S 4 ensures that tasks are effortless with innovative features that detect your face, voice and motions to enable screen control with no need for finger touch activation.
‘Samsung Smart Pause’ enables you to control the screen by where you look. When you are watching a video, the video pauses when you look away then it starts right up again when you are back. ‘Samsung Smart Scroll’ allows you to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen. It recognizes your face looking at the screen and movement of your wrist and then scroll the pages up or down accordingly.
‘Air View’ allows users to hover with their fingers to preview the content of an email, S Planner, image gallery or video without having to open it. You can even see a magnified view on the internet browser, or a phone number saved in the speed dial on the keypad. With ‘Air Gesture’, you can change the music track, scroll up and down a web page, or accept a call with a wave of your hand.
With ‘S Voice™ Drive’ you can activate commands via voice control for optimization when driving. Once connected with a car Bluetooth, the phone automatically turns into driving mode converting text to speech so you can easily and safely check messages with no need to look at the screen.
‘Samsung Optical Reader’ makes life yet more effortless, by automatically recognizing text, a business card or QR code information, and providing useful functions such as translation, call, text message and search.
At home, using ‘Samsung WatchON’, the GALAXY S 4 will transform into an IR remote to control your home entertainment system including TV, set-top box, DVD player and even air conditioner. In addition, you can enjoy various content including live TV, cable TV and VOD based on the rich information provided by EPG (Electronic Program Guide).
Empowered Living - Takes Care Of Your Health and Quality of Life
The GALAXY S 4 empowers your life by keeping you up-to-date with health and wellbeing information using the new ‘S Health’ software. The combination of sensors built within the device systematically and automatically monitors your health, surroundings and so much more to help improve your quality of life. Also, users can easily check their health conditions using food diary, exercise diary and sleep monitor to stay fit and healthy. (Certain functions are enabled by specific accessories.)
To further protect your wellbeing, ‘Samsung Adapt Display’ provides an optimal viewing experience, customized for each type of application, and ‘Samsung Adapt Sound’ offers an optimal level and type of sound, personalized for each user, to make the most out of life.
Samsung GALAXY S 4 will be available from Q2 globally including US, partnering with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, as well as US Cellular and Cricket. In Europe, Samsung GALAXY S 4 is partnering with global mobile operators such as Deutsche Telecom, EE, H3G, Orange, Telenor, Telia Sonera, Telefonica, and Vodafone.
Note to Editors:
Endorsement by Mobile Operators:
Heikki Makijarvi, SVP of Deutsche Telekom
"The new Samsung GALAXY S 4 is impressive. After the extremely successful launch of GALAXY S III, Deutsche Telekom is very proud to launch its successor in Europe. We are happy to work with Samsung to bring a new level of smartphone experience to our customers."
Yves Maitre, SVP Mobile Multimedia & Devices, France Telecom - Orange
“Orange is delighted to be working with Samsung again to deliver a new evolution of smartphones to our customers. We have already rolled out new superfast LTE networks in seven countries in Europe to date, and are committed to launching LTE services across Europe by 2015. This partnership will deliver a rich suite of services to our customers, thanks to its 4G and NFC capabilities, ensuring our customers benefit from great looking products that provide fast and easy access to all of their favorite content wherever they are.”
Marieta Rivero, Group Devices Director in Telefonica
“The Samsung GALAXY S 4 is a great device that will help to make a big step forward in the Premium Smartphone category. We are delighted to be partnering to bring this device to market across a number of our global channels” commented Marieta Rivero, Group Devices Director in Telefonica
Patrick Chomet, Group Director of Terminals at Vodafone
“Samsung continues to bring devices to market that push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of design, performance and functionality and the GALAXY S 4 will be a valuable addition to Vodafone’s portfolio. Vodafone will be offering the Samsung GALAXY S4 on a range of plans, including Vodafone RED, which will enable customers to make the most of their GALAXY S4 on our fast and reliable network.”
So what do you do if you know that one of your biggest competitors is about to launch their new flagship in Times Square? Well if your name is LG then you basically troll Samsung's adverts!
That's probably the best way to describe the picture above, LG are just reiterating the fact that their flagship is on sale now and it's a gentle reminder that they're still in the smartphone game! We think everyone can appreciate what LG have done here and if it manages to get them a few more sales good on them because we can't see the Galaxy S4 being anything but a runaway hit!
If that wasn't enough though it seems LG beat Samsung to the mark with some features too! LG have announced a 'value pack' for the LG Optimus G Pro! This update will be landing in April and will include:
• Magic Remote Pad and Text Keypad via the QRemote function. These new options for QRemote work specifically with LG Smart TVs to enhance convenience when using Optimus G Pro as a remote control for LG Smart TVs. • The Smart LED Lighting outlining the home button of the Optimus G Pro will be upgraded so users can customize the colors to correspond to their favorite contacts. The flashing of the LED in different colors will allow users to identify the source of incoming calls, missed calls, unread messages and emails. • Video Pause/Resume allows the user to stop and start in record mode for one continuous video file. • The first Color Emoticons in an Android smartphone for more personalized text messages.
Samsung's big Galaxy S4 announcement might not be taking place until 11pm GMT or 7PM Eastern time, but that doesn't mean that we're starting to get a very good idea of what the Galaxy S4 will look like!
There's four videos embedded below and each of them, they're all about a minute long, show off some of the new features which have been so widely rumoured for the Galaxy S4! The first video shows off 'Floating touch', which gives you a preview of the content which your finger is hovering over, then comes the internet experience, the new lock screen and finally there's 'Smart Pause' and that definitely looks like a cool feature!
With every one of these leaks it looks more and more likely that this is the Galaxy S4, so if that's the case what do you think? Are you disappointed there's no radical new design or is that a good thing in your mind? Let us know in the comments below!
Via SammyHub.
It all started when SamMobile confirmed that they had screenshots of the 'eye scrolling' coming to the Galaxy S4. Well now most things are said and done it turns out that what they actually had were screenshots of the Galaxy S3 firmware and more specifically the Android 4.2.1 update and so that means that eye scrolling is coming to the Galaxy S3!
Yesterday we were also pondering over what 'smart pause' could be. It turns out that that feature will automatically pause video when the phone detects you're no longer looking at the screen! Both of these are fantastic features and will be great additions to the Galaxy S3 when the update eventually rolls out.
There's no official time scale for an Android 4.2 roll out, but we would expect it to be soon after the Galaxy S4 launch next week! We also hope that it will fix the newly discovered lockscreen bypass! With regard to the S4 we expect to see all of these features on that phone from the start, especially seeing as Samsung is preparing them for this current generation of phones.
Via SamMobile.
With nine days to go until we 'meet the next Galaxy' the rumours and excitement are building, but today we've got wind of a rumour which could seems very plausible. We know Samsung advertised the Galaxy S3 as a phone 'designed for humans' with things such as smart alert which silences a phone call when you flip the phone over and direct call when you bring the phone to your ear if you're in a text message from someone.
But there's one feature in particular which is called 'smart stay', essentially this activates the front camera to see if you're still staring at the screen, if you are then the device will keep the screen on, if not then your screen will turn off! Today's rumour could see Samsung building on 'smart stay'; and taking it a step further so that you can automatically scroll with your eyes!
An anonymous Samsung employee reportedly told The New York Times that the Galaxy S4 will feature 'Eye Scrolling'. The phone will be able to tell where you are by monitoring your eyes and will scroll up or down the page so you don't have to lift a finger! The paper said:
"when users read articles and their eyes reach the bottom of the page, the software will automatically scroll down to reveal the next paragraphs of text."
This whole rumour is made a lot more conceivable by the patents/trademarks that Samsung filed for in Europe this January. The first of which is called “Eye Scroll” or patent No. 011510674 and it seems the American counterpart for this patent is called “Samsung Eye Scroll” and was applied for in February! The US filing describes the idea as a “Computer application software having a feature of sensing eye movements and scrolling displays of mobile devices, namely, mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers according to eye movements; digital cameras; mobile telephones; smartphones; tablet computers.” Samsung also trademarked “Eye Pause”, but there weren't any details on that one available.
Other than that we don't know all that much about Samsung's upcoming flagship, but one thing we have all but confirmed is that Samsung will be rocking that plastic backing that is a somewhat unpopular trait of their Galaxy series. Samsung's Vice President of the Mobile Division, Y. H. Lee, did say however that:
“I think the next product has a nice balance between this, We listen to the market and try to accommodate.”
In Samsung's defence the plastic backing does allow them to offer a removable battery, better drop resistance and it also makes the devices easier to mass produce and potentially means reduced costs for consumers!
What do you think would a plastic backing put you off or do you just love the option of a removable battery? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
You have to love big tech launch events, they only happen a couple of times a year but the rumour mill goes into total overdrive. This year it's no different and today Samsung have shown off their first video teaser of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and a supposed benchmark has popped up showing off some rumoured specifications.
Now we all know that benchmarks are notoriously easy to fake, so take this one with a pinch of salt, but it seems that this particular benchmark popped up with a 1.8 GHz octa-core Samsung Exynos 5410 driving the phone. Conceivably this could be the fruits of Samsung's labour on ARM’s new big.LITTLE architecture. That doesn't, however, rule out the possibility of two variants of the S4, one with a Snapdragon 600 processor destined for North America and another with the Exynos chipset which could land in Europe, just as it was last year with the S3!
As you can see with the benchmark below, there's also meant to be a PowerVR SGX544MP GPU, 2 GB of RAM, a 4.99-inch Full 1080p HD screen (there's no mention of whether it is amoled or LCD), a 2.1MP front and a 13 MP rear camera, the latter has an LED flash. The set up is rounded out with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, 16 or 32 GB of internal storage and all of the other connections you would expect like GPS. If that isn't enough it will supposedly be the first flagship to launch with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean too! The benchmark print screens are embedded below:
But, because we can't confirm anything until the 14th of March we can only speculate at this point. In case Samsung's upcoming announcement hasn't already stolen your attention then the first teaser video has come out of South Korea today, in which an adorable little kid has to keep something secret... He's done a pretty good job so far!
SamMobiles believes that there will again be six different versions of the next Galaxy S device, the S4. There will supposedly be both black and white versions of the 16, 32 and 64GB Galaxy S4's and they believe all of these will also have MicroSD card slots too. According to SamMobile's insider the Korean giants might opt for Qualcomm processors this time instead of Sammy's own brand Exynos processors, but nothing is confirmed on either front. We'll have full details for you on the 14th of this month! Via SamMobiles.
Sony's European CEO, Jim Ryan, has told the PlayStation Blog that the company has grander plans for Playstation Plus. Ryan said: "We’re not yet in a position to disclose our plans for the future of PlayStation Plus, but there will definitely be a prominent role to play for it in the PlayStation 4 landscape." We're not sure what this will entail but it'll be interesting to see where Sony take it from here! Via TheVerge.
Acer are supposedly working on a quad-core phablet to address their current lack of a flagship device. The Acer Liquid S as it is set to be called, will have a screen bigger than 4.7", it'll have to be bigger than that to earn its phablet name tag though! For more details click here! Via GSMArena.
Blackberry have announced that all of their BB10 devices will include front-facing cameras from here one out! Check out the tweet below for more!
You asked for it & we listened: all #BlackBerry10 phones will feature the front-facing camera. Selfies just got way easier.
— BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) March 1, 2013
An update to Android 4.1.2 is currently rolling out to owners of Sony's Xperia TL on AT&T in the United States. It seems like you need to use Sony's PC companion to get the update at the moment, but we expect an OTA update to arrive at some point soon! XDA Via GSMArena.
Some of you out there might have heard of DreamWorks new movie 'The Croods' well it turns out that Rovio will be making a game of the film for mobile devices! You can check out the video teaser below or Rovio's website for more details! Via Twitter.
Another day another child has spent an absolute fortune through in app purchases. Today a child in England managed to wrack up a bill of £1,710.43 in ten minutes by purchasing add ons in game on the free Zombies vs Ninja app! Naturally Apple refunded the family and hopefully some of this exposure will make people more mindful! Via CNet.
O2 UK have launched a new service for O2 pay monthly customers called 'TU Go'. Basically this is a version of Airdroid that only lets you send text messages from your computer. It's somewhat akin to what Nokia's old OviSuite would do to your Symbian phone and everyone used to love that! Via CNet.
And finally, what better way to welcome in the weekend than with a cheeky new advert from UK phone company Three. Embedded below is a video of a moon walking pony called Socks. We don't understand it either, but it's quite amusing! Have a good weekend guys!
So it seems Samsung are busy little bees at the moment, what with their presence at MWC where they've already shown off their Homesync and announced that they're merging Bada and Tizen. Now though is we've got details on what you've really been waiting for!
Samsung have confirmed that their 'Unpacked' announcement will happen on March the 14th this year over in New York!
As you can see from the invite above Samsung will be introducing 'the next Galaxy' and for those of you who missed it there is the number 4 posted up in plain sight, so that should help alleviate the debate about what the Galaxy S4 will be called!
Earlier this year Motorola's super thin Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx got HD buddies, an according to one of PhoneArena's anonymous sources the Razr M will soon have a HD brother too! It would seem fitting that the Razr M's refresh would maintain a mid-range price and so the suggested spec sheet does seem to fit in with that.
Apparently the device will launch with Android 4.1, which will be updatable to Android 4.2 at some point after launch and on the spec front there will supposedly be a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor running the show on a 720p 4.5" screen, at that resolution the screen will have a Retina display matching 326ppi. To round the device off there will also supposedly be 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage which is MicroSD expandable and a 3300MaH battery, although there was no mention of any camera specifications.
Would you be interested in a device like this? If it could come in at a reasonable price point it could prove to be a very popular device, especially with the very good battery size! If you would like to see the full spec sheet given to PhoneArena then hit up the source link below!
More Galaxy S4 rumours arrive suggesting an April launch date!
Hot on the heels of the best render of the Galaxy S4, which we published yesterday and that is embedded above, we got wind today that there is another set of juicy rumours from Korea regarding Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S4.
Today's rumours suggest that the device will be launching in April, which is to be expected given Samsung had to delay the launch of the S3 because of the discolouration of their blue cases last year. But, that's the mundane part of this rumour. The juicy bit is that the rumours suggest that the Galaxy S4 will come with an S-Pen and a 5" 1080p AMOLED display. The S-Pen rumour is the intriguing part because it suggests that this could be a merger of the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S series. We find this hard to believe because the separation of sizes in the different ranges gives users exactly what they want depending on their preferences and a 'happy medium' might be enough to discourage both camps.
Other than that it's expected that there will be Android Jelly Bean on board which will be powered by a quad-core Exynos 5440 chip which will be made using a 28nm process which uses high-K metal gate technology. There's mumblings of a using ARM's big.LITTLE process, but because that's very much still in it's infancy we don't think that one is very likely either. Just to conclude the rumours there is also mean to be a 13-megapixel rear auto-focus camera and the body of the phone is expected to be 9.2mm thick to house that S-Pen!
We think the screen size and quality are quite likely as is the camera spec, but other than that we find it hard to believe Samsung would merge the Note and S series and we're not convinced the S-Pen is ready for the big time either! What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
Via PhoneArena.
In other news:
There's been some controversy on YouTube view numbers on music videos being cut today. At the moment there's some ambiguity whether the drop in numbers is down to Google cutting the figures because they were artificially inflated by record labels or because songs have been transferred between accounts. We'll let you know what's going on when everything becomes clearer in the next few days! Via TheVerge.
There's also suggestions that Instagram lost a quarter of their users after last weeks Terms of Service scandal. We're not sure exactly whether this is true or whether data has been affected by the Christmas holidays, but again The Verge have offered some insight on the matter.
Sony has announced that they are discontinuing the Playstation 2 in Japan, but don't worry Sony isn't going to cut off your PS3 yet, as they pledged they would support it through to 2015. The PS3 launched in Japan in November of 2006 so that would mean the device would have been supported for nine years, which given Sony's record with updates for their Android devices looks positively stellar! Via Slashgear.
According to Reuters China has unveiled tighter Internet controls which now make it legal to delete posts or pages "which are deemed to contain "illegal" information and requiring service providers to hand over such information to the authorities for punishment." Given China's reputation for the 'Great Firewall of China' it's not surprising that the country is cracking down on this and the use of VPN's to bypass their extensive censorship programme! Reuters via Slashgear.
Sprint is currently offering you a $100 off a new tablet from them if you take a phone contract. You can redeem your voucher on an iPad Mini, standard iPad, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 or a Motorola Xoom! You can check out the full details here! Via IntoMobile.
RIM's upcoming BB10 features seem to be leaking left, right and centre at the moment. We've heard about Blackberry Remember which will act as a task app, BBM video for face to face video calls and that would go very nicely with BBM Voice which is already out in the wild! Are you excited for BB10? We certainly can't wait to see what Canada's finest come up with! Via IntoMobile.
Fijitsu CEO, Masami Yamamoto, confirmed that the company would be bringing the Raku-Raku Smartphone, an easy to use device targeted at the older population, to the U.S. and Europe in the near future. Although at the moment there's no word on how much it'll cost, but the device is available in Japan at the moment with a 4-inch 800x480 display, 1.4GHz Snapdragon S2 processor and a modified version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Via PhoneDog.
It turns out that RIM's undisclosed first payment to Nokia came in at a whopping $65 million or 50 million Euros! We're not currently sure what the ongoing payments will be but analysts expect it to be somewhere between $2 and $5! Via AllThingsD.
Apple has received a slap on the wrists from China which ran to the tune of $165,000 because they allegedly published books from Chinese authors without their copyright permissions! We're not sure of the details of this case because it was in China and it is all rather hush-hush, but if there's any more details we will let you know! Via Slashgear.
And finally, it seems HTC's eternal HD2 now has the ability to run Windows RT! A post on Twitter from CotullaCode shows the software up and running! The image and tweet are embedded below for your viewing pleasure!
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