IRL: Securifi Almond, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the LG Optimus G

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

This is the one place where it’s okay for us Engadget editors to be slightly behind the times. Back at CES a couple weeks ago, for instance, we got hands-on with the Securifi Almond+, a touchscreen router with a fancy all-white design and even fancier support for Zigbee / W-Wave home automation. Here in “IRL,” though, we’re just fine to talk about the OG Almond, which doesn’t offer quite so many add-ons. Rounding things out, we’ve also got some anecdotes about the Galaxy Note II and Optimus G, neither of which need an introduction at this point.

Securifi Almond

IRL Securifi Almond, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the LG Optimus GLook, I moonlight as the IT guy at the White House, okay? Now that we’re having such an honest conversation, I will say that I’ve been on the hunt for an ideal WiFi range extender for some time now. Western Digital’s My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender does a fine job, but a) it’s pretty large and b) it lacks bells and whistles. If you’re looking for an alternative that addresses both of those issues, let me introduce you to the other product I’d trust to stretch WiFi waves from the Situation Room to the Rose Garden: the Securifi Almond.

While this is a bona fide WLAN access point / router at heart, I was focused primarily on testing its range extension abilities. I plugged the unit in some 90 feet away from a Netgear N900, watched the colorful touchscreen dance to life, and then tapped on a few screens in the Wizard Guide to set it all up. We’ve all heard it before — “easy to set up!” — but this one’s truly capable of doing as advertised. Within four minutes, the unit had found my local 2.4GHz network, accepted my password and created a new network using that same password for areas that were previously out of reach.

In practice, it adds another 150-odd feet of range to my N900, and I saw no degradation in performance while streaming video. The touchscreen also continues to be useful after you’ve pecked in your information. You can have it display the local weather or the time, making it a pretty awesome glanceable piece of technology while it’s broadcasting in the background. Two quirks, though: one, the weather forecast (apparently) doesn’t update on its own, and two, the clock reversed AM and PM in my testing. Granted, both of these are in “Beta,” and I’m hoping the company adds even more functionality through OTA software updates — which the unit is fully capable of receiving.

The other bits you should know about: it won’t rebroadcast 5GHz signals (boo!), and it actually creates a new SSID (network name) instead of just amplifying your existing one. This means that once you walk out of range of your existing router, you need to disconnect and reconnect to a new network name, which is a slight hassle. Those things aside, it’s a solid performer at $80, and hopefully it’ll get even better once the updates begin to roll in.

Darren Murph

Samsung Galaxy Note II

IRL Securifi Almond, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the LG Optimus GI was among the naysayers when Samsung released the Galaxy Note. Maybe it was my memories of the Streak 5 or perhaps it was just dread at the idea of carrying around a gargantuan handset. The Note’s massive success did little to change my perception, but it did make me look at its successor with respect. Spec bump aside, the Galaxy Note II is certainly a more mature product compared to the OG Note, what with its bag of software tricks and that improved S Pen. I can see the S Pen‘s usefulness for not only the creative types, but also obsessive note takers and for general tomfoolery. Add smooth performance and impressive battery life, and it makes the Note II quite a compelling proposition indeed.

Attempting to occupy that middle ground between smartphone and tablet, the Note II’s size is its chief strength as well as its weakness, depending on how you look at it. Despite the new one-handed mode that shrinks the keyboard and dialing pad and docks them to the side, I still think the large size is tough to handle with a single hand. Heck, even using the lockscreen slider to accept or reject calls might be an issue if you try doing it one-handed, making the pebble-smooth handset prone to slipping. Ditto when you stretch your thumb across the glass to pull down the notification bar or to reach any app controls placed on the top.

On the flip side, watching movies is lots of fun thanks to that big display, as is playing games. Apps like Flipboard also shine with some extra screen real estate. Features such as multi-window and pop-up video make great use of the extra screen real estate and add to the device’s pull factor, much more than having the same functionality on its smaller sibling, the Galaxy S III.

Basically, when it comes to smartphones, size does matter. It’s really up to you what you prefer — a large slab that can possibly help avoid the hassle of lugging both a phone and a tablet, or a conventional-sized blower that’s more pocket-friendly but leaves something to be desired when it comes to the media and app experience. Personally, I think of these high-end phablets as SUVs of the smartphone world — hardly easy to parallel park or squeeze into tight spaces — but big, powerful and spacious. Love ’em or leave ’em, they’re here to stay.

Deepak Dhingra

LG Optimus G on Rogers

IRL Securifi Almond, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the LG Optimus GThe Optimus G feels like the Nexus 4’s neglected cousin. Both LG phones are capable, but the Nexus 4’s status as the official Google phone — and the accompanying $350 unlocked price — tend to overshadow the Optimus G’s more traditional approach. I felt compelled to try the Optimus G on Rogers for a few weeks for just that reason. Is it worth it to give up stock Android and pay more, all so that you can score a few hardware advantages?

The Cliff’s Notes answer: yes. In some cases, anyway. The battery life could certainly clinch a few sales. Where the Nexus 4’s runtime is fairly average, the Optimus G has no problem lasting through a photo- and Twitter-heavy day. The 32GB of storage space is naturally useful for a hefty music collection like mine, too. LTE is indeed appreciated versus the Nexus 4’s dual-carrier HSPA+ 3G, although I’ll readily acknowledge that the 3G in my area is often fast enough. I’m even sanguine about the interface, despite my preference for pure Android. LG’s custom interface feels relatively unintrusive and light, at least next to Samsung’s TouchWiz. It mostly stays out of the way, and it doesn’t lean on gestures that might only be useful once in a blue moon (see: Samsung’s tilt-to-zoom).

If an unfettered Google experience isn’t a factor, about the only potential dealbreaker is that oh-so-frustrating camera focus system. The Optimus G’s camera (eight megapixels on the Rogers model) is fine in much of the time, but it’s tough to compose some macro or close-up portrait shots when the continuous autofocusing offers just a split second of sharpness before it readjusts; I’ve taken a few photos that looked fine in the preview but were blurred by the time I hit the capture button. If LG ever embraces traditional autofocus for the Optimus G’s camera, though, it’ll be easier to recommend it, regardless of whether the Nexus 4 is on the shopping list.

— Jon Fingas

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Samsung flaunts amber brown, ruby wine Galaxy Note IIs to pair with your drapes

Samsung flaunts amber brown, wine Galaxy Note IIs to match your dinette set

Were you hoping to get that Galaxy Note II in a cooler color than marble or titanium gray, like maybe hotrod red? Would you settle for “amber brown” or “ruby wine,” to perhaps match that chaise lounge? That’s good, because Samsung has decided to out the 5.5-inch phablet in those trendily specific colors on January 17th, in Korea at least — though given the five million plus units sold so far, it’s earned the right to tint the Note II however it wants. The new hues will blanket the front, back and S-Pen of the device, but we’re not sure if we’re fashion-forward enough to rock “ruby wine” — especially on a loud & proud handset like that.

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Source: Samsung (translated)

T-Mobile: LTE launching in Las Vegas within ‘weeks,’ Galaxy Note II might upgrade to use it

TMobile LTE launching in Las Vegas within 'weeks,' Galaxy Note II will get LTE switched on

Want to know just when T-Mobile’s LTE network goes live? Not long, if you ask CTO Neville Ray. On stage at CES, he declared that the faster access should go live in Las Vegas within “weeks.” That includes a full-on LTE-Advanced network, and the deployment should be fast with 100 million customers reached in the first half of 2013. Devices? Nothing was immediately confirmed on stage, but Ray and other executives told us and others that the Galaxy Note II’s known latent LTE could be switched on through a firmware update — although we weren’t told when. Magenta customers still have good reason to be happy, however, knowing that their days of being HSPA-only pariahs should soon be over.

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Fitbit Flex hands-on at CES 2013 (video)

Fitbit Flex handson at CES 2013

Fitbit’s been in the fitness-tracking game for a while now, but today marks its first official entry into the wearable band space. Shown off here at CES 2013, the Flex is a wireless band much in the vein of Nike’s Fuelband and Jawbone’s rebooted Up. But while it shares many similarities with those existing products, there are a few very notable areas where it breaks apart from the pack– namely, the inclusion of Bluetooth 4.0. Now, health nuts can wirelessly update their stats to an iPhone or limited selection of Android (!) devices via that standard without having to manually sync.

While it doesn’t boast the Yves Behar design that Jawbone fancies, the Flex should prove to be a welcome accessory for fashion conscious consumers. To that end, it comes in five different colors — navy, black, tangerine, slate and teal — and features a thin strip of LEDs that can be activated by a simple tap. Those lights, five in total, each represent 20-percent towards a user’s assigned goal, so current progress can be easily monitored. And, as you might expect, there’s a vibration motor within the band to alert users based on settings made from the companion app.

The Flex is indeed a waterproof product and can be worn in the shower or even the swimming pool, though we wouldn’t advise you take it diving. Despite this H20 resistance, the Flex won’t track your butterfly strokes (or doggie paddles), but it will keep count of your steps, calories burned, sleep and distance walked.

Perhaps one of the most welcome innovations of this particular wearable is its ability to play friendly with Android — specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III. Users who purchase this band will be able to download that app from Google Play at the end of January. Further, there’s one additional perk for Android users: the ability to tap-to-pair with NFC. In theory, this functionality should provide users with easy access to their stats, but we (in addition to the company’s many reps) had significant trouble triggering the action on repeated occasions.

If you’ve been monitoring the fitness-tracking space, but have been holding out for a band that offers just a little extra, then it’s worth considering the Flex. You can look for it to hit this spring for $100. Stay tuned for a video demo of the Flex in action.

Sarah Silbert contributed to this report.

Continue reading Fitbit Flex hands-on at CES 2013 (video)

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Refresh Roundup: week of December 31st, 2012

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of December 31st, 2012

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Samsung Galaxy Note II purportedly reaching South Korea in brown and red

Samsung Galaxy Note II purportedly reaching South Korea in brown and red

Yes, the black Galaxy Note II may have been more wishful thinking than reality, but that doesn’t mean Samsung is sticking to a narrow palette for its extra-large flagship. A supposed magazine page in South Korea shows both a brown Note II (already available in Japan) and a previously unseen red model headed to the country at an unspecified point in the future. The claim sounds promising for those who’ve wanted more options than gray and white. All the same, we’ll remain skeptical unless the new colors are made official — Samsung hasn’t commented on the authenticity of the page, and the original Korean forum post has disappeared without a trace. We can’t help but hope it’s real, though, if just for the chance of another smartphone designed for vampires.

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Via: Unwired View

Source: Blog of Mobile (translated)

Samsung Galaxy Note II sales exceed one million in Korea, may hit 10M globally in Q1

By all accounts, Samsung’s Galaxy Note II has been a massive success. The oversized smartphone has now made its way into the hands of more than one million consumers in South Korea, just a month after Samsung announced that global sales had exceeded five million units. At that pace, the smartphone maker is reportedly on track to move 10 million Note IIs within four to five months of its late-September launch, compared to the nearly 10 months that it took to meet that milestone with the device’s predecessor. LG is also reporting similar domestic sales for its aging 5-inch Optimus Vu, so if you’ve taken the plunge on either 5+ inch behemoth, it looks like you’re in good company.

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Via: Unwired View

Source: MK News

Refresh Roundup: week of December 24th, 2012

Refresh Roundup week of December 24th, 2012

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of December 24th, 2012

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Samsung offers free flip covers and TecTiles for GS III and Note II device registrations

DNP Samsung doles out free flip covers and Tectiles if you register your device, only S III and Note II owners may apply

If you just received a Galaxy S III or a Note II this holiday season, you could do yourself a favor and register it on Samsung’s Facebook page to get even more goodies from Santa Sammy. What do you get in exchange for handing over some personal details and giving the Korean company access to your timeline? Why, a free flip cover and six TecTiles, which usually go for about $15 for a pack of five. We haven’t heard much about wide adoption of these programmable NFC tags, but maybe it’ll gain some traction after a recent 3.0 app update and this promotional giveaway. We’re not sure why the offer doesn’t extend to other Samsung phones, but maybe they just don’t have enough of those pastel covers to go around.

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Via: Android Central

Source: Facebook (Samsung)

Samsung Galaxy Note II reportedly coming in black, triggers monolithic memories (update: fake!)

Samsung Galaxy Note II reportedly coming in black, still won't be stealthy

Samsung gave Galaxy S III buyers a small rainbow of color choices in the summer, and there’s signs that the Galaxy Note II might receive a similarly resplendent treatment. A supposed press image obtained by AndroidSlash shows the giant smartphone draped in a previously unavailable black that’s potentially very striking — and more than a little reminiscent of 2001‘s species-changing monoliths. There’s no official word from Samsung on its authenticity, although we wouldn’t be surprised knowing the company’s history and the Note II’s strong track record. When a theoretically niche device is selling like gangbusters, some added diversity could be in order. Just don’t expect any Starchildren as a result.

Update: Alas, this is indeed a fake. The source has updated to confirm that this was just a quick darkening job with an image editor — you can tell by the darkened LED flash, camera and logo. But still, we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung does release its phablet in other colors to keep milking it.

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Via: SamMobile

Source: AndroidSlash (translated)