Mar 18
Apple is the only company in the smartphone space that Samsung hasn’t beaten at the moment. But that could change if Samsung can make leaps in three areas.
Mar 18
Back in February earlier this year, it was rumored that a Samsung feature called the Samsung Orb could be announced for the Galaxy S4. For those who don’t know what the Samsung Orb is, it is a rumored feature that is supposed to be Samsung’s answer to Photosphere, a camera tool that allows for taking 360 degree panoramic photos. However when the Galaxy S4 was announced, there was no mention of said feature, leading us to believe that perhaps the Samsung Orb was just a mere rumor and nothing more.
However according to SamMobile, they are claiming that the Orb camera feature will arrive for the Galaxy S4, although it is expected to be included in the Android 5.0 update. If that is the case and if previous manufacturer updates are anything to go by, Samsung users could be in for a wait. In any case we’ll take this with a grain of salt for now, but since the Orb feature feels more like a novelty if anything, we don’t think many of you guys will miss it that much, right?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ASUS Rumored To Launch Intel Smartphone In June, List Of Samsung Devices Rumored To Receive Android 4.2.2 And Android 5.0 Updates,
Mar 18
Samsung Believes The Future Is In The Soul Of the Device, Not The Form Factor
Posted in: Today's Chili
The Samsung Galaxy S4 was recently announced and yes, for those who missed it, the design is reminiscent of the Galaxy S3 and it comes with a plastic body. There are valid reasons as to why a plastic body was chosen by Samsung, namely because unlike glass that shatters when it drops, plastic is a bit more flexible, not to mention cheaper to produce as well. However with phones like the iPhone 5, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z all feature more “premium” materials, many questioned Samsung’s choice and during Engadget’s Expand conference, Samsung Design America head, Dennis Miloseski, claimed that material of choice was not as important as the “soul” of the device itself.
Miloseski was quoted as saying, “Actually, the global design process has been raised […] We’re making devices thinner and lighter, screens more beautiful. With Samsung, it’s less about that but more about building a meaningful relationship with technology.” He then went on to say, “As these devices become smarter, letting them sense where you are and adjusting to that, it’s known that design will improve over time […] But now, we’re thinking about: how do you create a soul for a device.” Samsung’s design philosophy is indeed interesting, especially with the Galaxy S3 whose design they claim was inspired by nature, and with the Galaxy S4, they are marketing it as a “life companion”. What do you guys think?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: T-Mobile 4G LTE Service Rolling Out This Month, Apple Educates Potential Galaxy S4 Adopters Why People Love The iPhone,
Mar 15
Unlike iOS, Android comes with a host of keyboards to choose from should you not like the stock Android keyboard. SwiftKey is one of them and if you have been enjoying the keyboard on your previous Android devices, you might be pleased to learn that SwiftKey will be the default keyboard of choice on Samsung’s recently announced Galaxy S4! This was confirmed by SwiftKey’s co-founder and CTO, Ben Medlock who said in a statement, “Following our great success with the SwiftKey 4 launch last month, we are excited to confirm that Samsung has chosen SwiftKey’s innovative keyboard technology to be at the heart of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4. This is fantastic progress for our vision of bringing the best touchscreen typing experience to as many people as possible.”
This is great news for those who are used to the way SwiftKey works, meaning that if you were to get the Samsung Galaxy S4, you will be able to start firing off text messages and email right off the bat without having to relearn the keyboard, or wait to download and install it. Those with multiple Android devices will also be able to get a feel of SwiftKey before deciding if dropping $4 on the keyboard app will be worth it. So, anyone else chuffed that SwiftKey will be the keyboard of choice for the Samsung Galaxy S4?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: More Nokia Lumia 928 Samples Leaked?, Sony Xperia ZL Gets New Firmware,
Mar 15
Yesterday was definitely a big day for Samsung as they took the wraps off their brand new Galaxy S4. At the same time this meant that Samsung’s competitors had a ton of fodder to use in trying to convince the world that their products were better. In this case, a bunch of Nokia Lumia fans made a parody video in which Jeremy, the little kid from the official Samsung teaser videos, received a call during filming and lo and behold, what phone was he caught with? A Nokia Lumia device, of course! The all-too-family Nokia ringtone went off and Jeremy was shocked and quickly grabbed his phone and hid it behind his back.
Of course this isn’t the same actor as Jeremy from the commercials, but he was dressed in the same way and even had the same Samsung Galaxy Unpacked box. Anyway it’s pretty funny and if you’ve got a minute to spare, be sure to check it out in the video above.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: More Nokia Lumia 928 Samples Leaked?, Sony Xperia ZL Gets New Firmware,
Mar 15
When you’re getting to know the 8 CPU cores of the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa SoC, you’ll first want to understand that they absolutely do not work the same way as multi-core mobile processors have in the past. While the Exynos 5 Octa does have 8 CPU cores, they’re never being used all at once. Instead you’ve got 2 distinct pairs of 4 CPU cores, four of them “big”, the other four “LITTLE”. The Exynos 5 Octa SoC works with what’s called big.LITTLE architecture, this term coming from the British processor company ARM.
Inside the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processor you’ll find two sets of CPU cores, both of them made with ARM technology. There are four Cortex-A15 CPU cores as well as four Cortex-A7 processor. The Cortex-A15 processors take care of processing-intense (read: “big”) tasks while the Cortex-A7 cores take care of lighter (LITTLE) workloads. That’s two sets of four cores that are never all being used on the same task at once.
What you’re about to see is a chart showing in a very basic way how big.LITTLE technology works with the Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 CPU units working together.
According to Samsung, the Exynos 5 Octa will be enhancing the 3D graphics processing capabilities by a factor of two – or more – over that of the Exynos 4 Quad processor. That processor was found in devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy S III (international edition), and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.
The company has also noted that the Exynos 5 Octa is able to drive devices with displays as large as WQXGA (2560×1600) pixels sharp. Devices with this dense a display have not yet hit the market at the time of this article’s publication – but we may see beasts like this inside the next year. Perhaps on the Samsung Galaxy S 5. The Exynos 5 Octa works with e-MMC (embedded multimedia card) 5.0 as well, and works with a USB 3.0 interface for the “first time in the industry” according to Samsung.
With the Exynos 5 Octa you’ve got incorporation of a full HD 60fps (frame per second) video hardware codec engine made powerful enough for 1080p video recording and playback. Also included is a 13 mega-pixel 30fps image signal processor interface as well as a 12.8GB/s memory bandwidth interface that enables use of a Full HD Wifi display.
Samsung has today let the world know that the Exynos 5 Octa application processor will be going into mass-production in Q2 of 2013. They’ve made it clear that this processor architecture will be made specifically for high-end mobile devices and – at the time of the publication of this article – the first release of the Exynos 5 Octa will be inside the Samsung GALAXY S 4.
Have a peek at our hands-on with the Samsung GALAXY S 4 now and stick around the Samsung GALAXY S 4 tag portal for more information leading up to (and through) the final market release of this smartphone.
SlashGear 101: The Samsung Exynos 5 Octa Processor is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 15
If you didn’t watch last night’s Samsung Galaxy S4 unveiling in New York City, we can tell you the entire experience was rather…. interesting. Much of the event was spent highlighting a number of fictional scenarios where a specific S4 feature would be perfect in said scenario, and less about the actual device itself. While the entire experience was meant to entertain, it made HTC President Jason MacKenzie feeling pretty good, though actually feeling bad for Samsung.
“I went from laughing to actually feeling embarrassed at some of the acting,” said MacKenzie to CNET. “Watching the presentation, it looks like they invested a lot in marketing instead of innovation.” (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: More Nokia Lumia 928 Samples Leaked?, Sony Xperia ZL Gets New Firmware,
Mar 15
Printing a document from your mobile device could be more of a hassle than its worth as the majority of us don’t even know what the first step would be in order to make such a magical operation occur. 3rd-party applications may work, but they often require dedicated applications to be used, which certainly doesn’t make the process seamless by any means. HP is looking to make the process as painless as possible now that it’s partnering up with Samsung’s Galaxy S4.
HP has teamed up with Samsung in order to deliver an easier and more efficient way of printing documents from your mobile device with a built-in mobile print technology inside of the Galaxy S4 that will make it possible to print documents to most HP inkjet and LaserJet network printers. Best of all, there won’t be any need for any dedicated applications to be downloaded. Galaxy S4 users will be able to print directly from the device’s email client, photo gallery and brewer applications as those applications will have the HP printing function built into them.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: XOLO X1000 Comes With 2GHz Intel Processor , Motorola Electrify 2 Gets Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean,
Mar 15
We’re still slowly trying to wrap our heads around last night’s Samsung Galaxy S4 reveal as there was just an insane amount of information dumped onto the public all at once. But Samsung did not only unveil the Galaxy S4 as they also showed off a number of accessories that will work with their newly announced smartphone, as well as some other Galaxy S devices. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy S4 Hands-On Review, LG Optimus G Pro Review,
Mar 15
It would appear that right on top of the launch of the GALAXY S 4, an accessory detail, of all things, may have outed the prospective screen size for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III. With the launch of the Samsung GALAXY S 4 we’ve seen Samsung’s willingness to stick with the nature-themed hardware body of their device lineup. With the Samsung Game Pad detail list released today, we’re to understand that the screen size for the Galaxy Note III may very well be a monstrous 6.3-inches.
This lovely little oddity was revealed under the radar by Samsung this week for use with the Samsung GALAXY S 4, it being a push for the device to work with gaming controls not unlike that of the Xbox 360, right down to the XYBA configuration and color scheme. If you take a peek at NVIDIA’s Project SHIELD, you’ll also see XYBA and the colors blue, orangy/yellow, red, and green showing up in the same spot. A real standardization is happening right this minute.
But the interesting bit we’d like you to pay attention to here and now is the compatibility this device has with screen sizes between 4-inches and 6.3-inches. While this covers every Galaxy S device on the market today, it may very well be telling what the Galaxy Note’s next generation is toting as well. With the Samsung GALAXY S 4 hitting the market soon, it wont be long before the big S starts hinting at the again-larger Galaxy Note handset as it has for the past two years.
Have a peak at the timeline below for more information on the Samsung GALAXY S 4 complete with hands-on action and details on its innards. See the four pillars of user experience excellence as well to see how the Galaxy Note III might be shaping up soon, complete with features that’ll have you wanting a Samsung device quicker than you can say S-Want!
Galaxy Note III screen size inadvertently outed by Samsung accessory is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.