Samsung’s new full-fat smartphone has hinted at appearances on both Verizon and AT&T, and now an update spotted at SAM Mobile suggests that — just under two months since the original appeared — there will be a Magenta-branded version of the Galaxy Note II… too. Going under the SGH-T889 model number, firmware from September 15th is now available to try — if you have a phone that’s not yet out on any official channels. The site’s sources have said that the device runs closer to a global iteration, lacking any true LTE capabilities, but it’s more than happy to substitute that for HSPA+ support. If you’re part of Samsung’s secretive cabal of handset testers you can seek out the new build at the source below.
If you thought LG’s Optimus G and Nokia’s Lumia 920 had future touchscreen tech all sewn up, then be ready to welcome Sony’s own contribution. Its sensor-on-lens touchscreen will debut on the Xperia V, combining the sensor and lens component of a standard capacitive display, reducing the number of layers, glare and other interference. This improves both image quality and the screen’s responsiveness — Sony reckons the experience brings it in line with the aforementioned on- and in-cell touch display technology. During our brief hands-on at IFA, we found the Xperia V was certainly responsive enough, but perhaps some of that sensation can be attributed to the new screen, rather than the dual-core Snapdragon processor powering it. We’ll be sure to give it a thorough testing when our review model appears.
Last week, the tech world focused on Berlin for IFA 2012. Those few days were jam packed full of 84-inch 4K televisions, super-sized smartphones and both Windows 8 slates and hybrids. In the latest edition of our weekly tablet mag, we take a look at the best of what IFA had to offer this time around — including all of the devices that made a lasting impression. In case you’ve been napping, the last few days have been all about phones. In “Hands-on” we take a closer look at what Nokia and Motorola revealed in recent press events. On the review front, we put the Canon EOS-1D X and the Sony Reader PRS-T2 through the wringer and offer our detailed analysis. “Eyes-on” catches a glimpse of the Jambox Remix, “Weekly Stat” compiles smartphone screen sizes, “IRL” has even more of our daily gadgetry and meme maker Mr. Weebl admits in the Q&A that all he really wants is a keytar. This week’s issue is bursting at its e-seams, so grab it via your download method of choice to get the weekend reading started.
Did you like the Xperiance Sony was selling at IFA 2012? If you answered yes, are in need of a new Android tablet and happen to live across the pond, the time has come to place your orders. Available now on the Japanese electronics giant’s UK site (sorry, statesiders), the newly outed Tablet S is ready to ship in three configurations: 16GB / 32GB WiFi-only models that’ll set you back £329 and £379 (about $523 and $602), respectively and a lone 16GB 3G variant that goes for £429 (about $682). For the money, you’re getting a quad-core Tegra 3 slate clocked at 1.3GHz, a 1280 x 800 WXGA display, Ice Cream Sandwich and the company’s signature hardware styling. Of course, if you’re outside of the Euro zone and can’t wait for pre-orders to be fulfilled, there’s no harm in making this your next import. Hit up the source below to check out the goods for yourself.
Whether it be Google’s penchant for collecting search and browsing histories or Street View WiFi information, the company is no stranger to concerns about its healthy appetite for user data. Apparently, Russia also shares those worries as the country has produced its own take on the Android operating system minus Google’s data collection. Unveiled at IFA in Berlin, the Russian Mobile Operating System or RoMOS reportedly mimics the look and feel of Android and works with Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System. The OS is scheduled to debut in tablet form by the end of the year, though RoMOS’ project manager says it can serve as a smartphone operating system, too. The main customers for RoMOS will reportedly be the country’s military, which has always had concerns about data collected by Google from Russian devices falling into US government hands. In addition to a military version of the RoMOS tablet, a consumer version will be launched as well. Just don’t expect the variant for the hoi polloi to have the same bells and whistles. The military version, for example, not only will be waterproof — it’ll be shock proof, too.
Prepare to get that meta feeling: when we caught up with Samsung for some post-unveil Galaxy Camera play, we thought what better to make the subject of our sample shot gallery than the Android camera itself. So, two Galaxy Cameras in hand (and with a couple of Galaxy Note II units along for the ride) we set out to put the Android snapper through its paces. Read on for sample photos and video of the Galaxy Camera in action.
We’ve not modified or edited the shots, bar the watermark, to give you an idea of what the Galaxy Camera alone is capable of. Still, it’s worth noting that there’s a reasonably comprehensive photo-editing suite onboard by default; you can make basic brightness/contrast style tweaks, crop shots, or fix redeye, or make more noticeable changes such as adding clipart, text and Instagram-style frames, as shown in our hands-on video (also shot using the Galaxy Camera):
As you can see, there’s some focus-hunting when filming close-up, with the Galaxy Camera struggling at times to keep a lock on the subject. In terms of functionality, mind, being able to instantly upload to services like Instagram, all from the camera itself, or indeed send the shot to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or via email, is a real benefit. Moreover, you can set the Galaxy Camera to automatically upload all new shots to the cloud as you take them, perfect for instant sharing.
Samsung has pushed the camera option to the forefront of the TouchWiz interface – by default the icon is first in the homescreen quicklaunch bar – but it might be nice to have a dedicated hardware button to launch it. Otherwise, the 4.77-inch Super LCD touchscreen makes navigation incredibly straightforward, with enough space for clear previews of shooting modes and effects, not to mention easy text entry on the onscreen keyboard. It’s worth noting that some Android apps prefer portrait orientation, whereas the Galaxy Camera is most comfortable in landscape: Instagram is a notable offender, refusing to rotate.
Stills look solid though not outstanding; this is, after all, a point and shoot. Touch-focus makes framing easy, and there’s little lag when you hit the shutter button; we did find that we initially kept tapping the silver onscreen button on the right, thinking more of camera apps on Android phones, but which on the Galaxy Camera actually pulls out the mode menu. Samsung is quick to point out that the camera isn’t running final software yet, so both photo and video output – not to mention things like focus hunting – may be changed by the time it reaches shelves. We’ve more hands-on impressions with the Galaxy Camera here.
Just to reiterate, all of the photos in the gallery are unedited and as they came from the Galaxy Camera itself; the watermarks are the only thing we’ve added. Let us know whether you’re convinced by Samsung’s newest model in the comments.
“No form-factor left untested” may well be Samsung’s unofficial motto for Windows 8, with the company bringing a raft of prototype notebooks and tablets to IFA, Alongside the Dual-Display Notebook were four alternative concepts that played with sliding, swiveling, slate and other designs, as Samsung took a suck-it-and-see approach to Windows tableteering.
The Swivel model, shown above, follows the convertible notebook approach we’ve seen in Windows tablets before, with a touchscreen that can be rotated and then folded flat down onto the keyboard so as to make a ruggedized slate. That would deliver the same functionality as the Dual-Display concept, but with less weight thanks to only having a single screen.
The Binder concept is more unusual, with a touchscreen slate sliding into the docking slot of a removable keyboard. It’s hard to tell how it differs from the docking systems of the Samsung ATIV line-up – all four of the concepts were behind glass – but it presumably has low-profile connections in the docking “gutter” so as to allow the slate to glide into place.
Samsung’s Slider concept took a slightly different angle to the Sliding PC Series 7 the company showed off back at CES in January, with a form-factor more akin to Sony’s VAIO Duo 11. The fixed viewing angle is a compromise, but the mechanism may well be more sturdy than a single swiveling hinge as on the first prototype.
Finally, there was the Samsung Memo PC, a smaller form-factor slate (somewhere between 7- and 8.9-inches, we’d say) with S Pen support, intended for those that don’t need a physical keyboard. The asymmetric profile would be more suited to right-handed users, but it could be an interesting alternative to Samsung’s Android-based Note series.
Of course, that’s assuming any of the designs actually make it to production. Samsung is pushing ahead with more conventional docking-tablet designs right now, but was polling IFA attendees to see if they were swayed by any of the concepts it had on show. Let us know which you prefer in the comments.
We’re still recovering from the onslaught of goodies shown off at IFA 2012, but there’s one thing we didn’t notice while perusing Samsung’s gadgetry. The team at German site BestBoyZ discovered S Cloud in the settings menu of the Note II, which included the option to sync user data with Dropbox. Apparently, Samsung reps didn’t have much to say on the matter, and BestBoyZ believe that’s because it’s not quite working yet (we’re willing to agree, given the variousdelays). It’s looking like the feature might be ready in time for the Note II’s launch, which ties in nicely with the 50GB of free Dropbox storage you’ll snag if you pick one up. Owners of other Samsung gear needn’t be disappointed though, as it’s suggested that S Cloud integration will be part of the Jelly Bean upgrades expected soon. We’ve embedded the reveal vid below, and don’t worry if you can’t speak German — you’ll still get the gist.
Samsung’s Windows 8 line-up at IFA wasn’t limited to just the ATIV range; the company also had some interesting concepts to show, of which the most usable was a Dual-Display Notebook. Resembling one of Samsung’s slick Windows ultrabooks from face-on, close the notebook’s lid and there was a second display to be found, turning the machine into a slate-format tablet.
That arguably gives the best of both worlds: you get the convenience of a slate form-factor when you’re more interested in content consumption, and then a full keyboard when you’re looking to get some words down on (virtual) paper. It’s a similar concept as we saw Toshiba and Sony follow with their Windows 8 tablets, though those companies opted for a slider mechanism rather than a second display. Samsung also throws in its S Pen digital stylus, for notetaking and sketching.
The downside to Sony’s strategy is weight. The base section of the notebook is as slim as a regular Samsung ultrabook, but the lid is considerably thicker than the norm; it has to be, to fit back-to-back displays. Although it didn’t tip back under its own heft, or prove too much for the hinge mechanism to keep the screen stable, you did notice it when lifting the concept notebook up.
Samsung isn’t saying whether the Dual-Display Notebook will ever get a commercial release, though the company was running IFA attendees through questionnaires about form-factors and expectations around battery life. Our guess is that the collective response to that will decide whether the concept makes it out of the labs or gets relegated to the back-burner.
4K TV, Windows tableteering, segment straddling smartphones, and cross-company sniping: another year, another IFA. We’ve seen the show coalesce around a few key themes before, and 2012 proved no different, as manufacturers took a suck-it-and-see strategy to try to cash in on holiday hardware sales. As always, the specter of Apple loomed heavy, despite the Cupertino firm’s resolute absence. Read on for the highlights of IFA 2012.
Windows tablets have been the weeds of IFA, springing up just about everywhere you looked. Samsung, Dell, Sony, and others each brought along their interpretation of an iPad-rivaling, usually keyboard-toting slate, with sometimes multiple models – often split between Windows 8 and Windows RT – from individual firms.
It’s a strong showing of support out of the gate for Microsoft, certainly, though with just about all of the hardware left unpriced (and with release dates generally vague) there’s really no telling whether any of the models will be competitive. That’s even before you get to quite how practical some of the hardware itself is; just because a tablet has a keyboard, it doesn’t make it the perfect hybrid of notebook and slate.
In contrast there was only one “phablet” at IFA, but Samsung’s Galaxy Note II is arguably more compelling than any of the Windows touchscreen models shown. If the original Note, announced a year ago at IFA 2011, was a tentative step into a new market, then the Note II is an altogether more confident product. Samsung, buoyed by widespread popular response to the idea of a sizable, pen-enabled smartphone and rewarded by surprisingly strong sales, has come up with a more refined product that doesn’t stint where it’s most important: software.
“Too often we’ve seen great hardware let down by sloppy software”
Too often we’ve seen great hardware ideas let down by sloppy or simply absent software support, but that’s not a fate destined for the Note II. Samsung has continued to polish its stylus experience, signing up compelling names like Moleskine in the process, and giving Galaxy Note II buyers not only a good reason to pick up the phablet on day one, but to keep using it in the months after.
Big screens weren’t limited to phones. 4K TVs, promising resolution four times that of regular HD, made themselves known at IFA this year, and while they’re still targeting the richest living rooms, basking in their extra detail is enough to convince where 3D might still leave you cold. Where Samsung could flesh out the Note II with its own suite of functionality, however, the TV industry is stuck waiting for 4K content to proliferate. Right now, it’s a case of resolution oneupmanship; more boastful than truly beneficial.
It’s also been a show of jostling and sniping, as companies in an increasingly litigious and competitive marketplace jostle for position. Samsung CEO JK Shin got the ball rolling, obliquely describing courtroom rival Apple as a “hindrance” that the company would be sure to overcome. (Apple snapped back by adding the Galaxy S III and other recent devices to the list of devices it hopes to eject from stores.) Lenovo’s EMEA chief Gianfranco Lanci was somewhat more sanguine about Microsoft’s Surface and its potential for undermining the company’s own ThinkPad Tablet 2, suggesting the own-brand slate was “very welcome” and acted as “a good advert for us.”
Welcoming competition is all IFA’s starlets can really do. With several weeks of high-profile launches ahead – including Nokia’s new Windows Phone 8 range, Amazon’s Kindle refresh, and of course the inescapable iPhone 5 – the Berlin show was an opportunity to get in early with headlines, if not actual sales. How many of the products of the past week will be remembered when the dust settles at the end of September remains to be seen.
You can find all our IFA 2012 coverage in the show hub!
Messe Berlin subsidized SlashGear’s trip to IFA, contributing to airfare and accommodation costs. No requirements, guidelines or expectations were placed on coverage or content, and Messe Berlin had no involvement in our editorial processes.
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