Hasta La Gadget!

Even Samsung thinks its Galaxy Gear is anachronistic – at least if the commercials are to be believed. New ads for the new Samsung Galaxy Gear that popped up on the company’s official YouTube page this weekend are supposed to be an exercise in wish-fulfillment, but they end up showing off a company and design mentality that’s been stuck in the same gear for 20 or 30 years.

As you can see, Samsung is pulling out nostalgia strings in these new ads, counting down the best sci-fi wrist-mounted communication tech from Star Trek, Knight Rider, The Jetsons and Might Morphin’ Power Rangers to remind us that we’ve always secretly wanted to talk into our wrists and be heard and understood by others. Except that what comes across isn’t how Samsung has finally been able to deliver this space-aged tech to a populace that’s been waiting for it for ages; instead, we see how dated this concept is, and how hilarious and awkward it looks with cheesy sets, bad special effects and costumes that definitely don’t scream ‘modern’ or ‘contemporary.’

By all accounts, the Galaxy Gear is a first attempt that pretty clearly misses the mark for what a smartwatch ultimately should be, and consumers don’t seem all that energized by the concept, at least not based on local evidence here in London. Per CNET UK editor Jason Jenkins:

Samsung Galaxy Gear & Note 3 stand at Waterloo not exactly overwhelmed with people http://t.co/CYmb0gzWds—
Jason Jenkins (@jenkojenkins) October 03, 2013

And again later:

Still no love for the Galaxy Note 3/ Gear stand at Waterloo this morning http://t.co/tiVqBon9Tj—
Jason Jenkins (@jenkojenkins) October 04, 2013

These ads do a good job of taking those of us old enough to remember the shows in them on a trip through memory lane, but in no way does that make me want to strap something to my wrist and start talking to it. And call me crazy, but I can pretty much guarantee that each of those devices depicted in these fictional TV shows got more than a day’s worth of use on a full battery charge, too.

Three is the magic number. Three is lucky. Three’s a crowd. Okay, ignore that last one, but the number 3 does also apply to the latest Galaxy Note, and we’re curious to know which of those maxims might apply. What are the marquee features this time around? Well, there’s the usual bevy of specification improvements (a 5.7-inch display, quad-core Snapdragon 800 and 3GB of RAM), Android 4.3, some new S Pen features and the small matter of the Gear, that optional, polarizing companion watch.

Samsung makes a great many products, even if you just consider the mobile ones. However, since it burst into existence in 2011, the Note has been up there with the Galaxy S series on the flagship pedestal. So, it’d be fair to say that we’re expecting big things from this big phone, but with a SIM-free price in the UK of £620, it requires even deeper pockets than its predecessor did at launch (that one cost around £530). That said, if you want one, you’ll need big pockets anyway. While you check their size, we’ve scribbled, doodled and gestured the Note 3 with abandon to see if it’s worth the bounty. Read on to find out if it is.%Gallery-slideshow99481%

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Samsung’s offering up spoilers at what we can expect from future Galaxy smartphones — already. They will likely feature ISOCELL, the company’s new CMOS imaging sensor. It adds “advanced pixel technology” that polices the absorption of electrons for improved color fidelity, even when lighting isn’t ideal. The new sensor will head to new “premium” smartphones and tablets, with mass production scheduled to start in Q4 2013. Samsung’s ISOCELL tech improves on current BSI (back-side illuminated) sensors by adding a “physical barrier between neighboring pixel”. The science behind it means that more photons can be collected and that’s what will improve image quality. This between-pixel crosstalk is apparently reduced by 30 percent, and increases the dynamic range of photos by up to 30 percent — as you’ll note from the washed-out petal tips in the sample above.

Samsung explains that “market pressure” has meant it had to increase camera resolution and image quality, without increasing the size of the camera unit. This meant that pixels had to shrink, “while improving their performance at the same time”. Interestingly, this sensor is specifically for 8-megapixel units, which could mean a drop down from the 13-megapixel camera seen in the Galaxy S 4. A full camera unit housing ISOCELL would also take up less space inside devices compared to previous imaging sensors, with a reduced height that sounds like it could be ideal for the company’s future high-powered, even thinner smartphones.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: Samsung Tomorrow

Galaxy hits back with their new graphics card, the GeForce GTX 760 Mini (overall length of 193mm board). Powered by a 28nm GK104 GPU, the card sports 1152 CUDA Cores, a 256-bit memory interface, a core clock of 1019MHz (1084MHz Boost Clock) and a 2GB of GDDR5 memory set @ 6008MHz, and features DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. The GeForce GTX 760 Mini is expected to retail for 28,980 Yen (about $290). [Product Page]

The Big Four (that’d be Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T) have all confirmed that they’ll be stocking Samsung’s newly-introduced Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3, but none of ’em have been bold enough as to give us two precious details: pricing and availability. We’re still waiting for the damage, but VZW has come forward and alerted its customers that pre-orders will open up on September 6th. Given that the Note 3 just sailed through the FCC (and that the Gear is due to land in October), we’re guessing that you’ll have to wait anywhere from one to eight weeks for shipment. We’ll keep you posted if we hear anything more concrete.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon

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Via: Droid-Life

Source: Verizon Wireless