Acer’s DA241HL AIO machine was introduced earlier this week as the first Android 4.2 all-in-one system to support multitasking, gaming, Web browsing and video with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. This Acer system was shown off here at IFA 2013, and we got some one-on-one time with the system, giving it a run through to […]
In the Acer Iconia A3 sits a combination of specifications that make for a rather solid 10.1-inch tablet for basic entertainment. It’s not the biggest and the best, but it’s certainly not sitting on the low end – this is Acer’s newest venture into the tablet universe, complete with their own software suite sitting on […]
At IFA 2013 this week, we got our hands on the Acer Liquid S2, a powerhouse of a smartphone that brings 4K video recording to your mobile. With the Liquid S2, Acer has built upon the foundation it laid with the Liquid S1 handset from earlier this summer, bringing with it a variety of spec […]
First introduced in the middle of last month, Wacom has shown off its Intuos Creative Stylus for the iPad, a pen offering that aims to make drawing on the Apple slate feel more authentic and variable. The stylus is being offered in black and a blue/black design and is supported by a variety of known […]
Jabra introduced its original Solemate wireless speaker late last year, and as we noted in our hands-on, it was about the weight and size of your average water bottle. For those who need something with more portability, the company is back with a new offering, the Jabra Solemate Mini, which it hails as an ultra-portable […]
Lenovo has built upon its original Yoga foundation with the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, a so-called multi-mode notebook that will be familiar to anyone who got their hands on the original model. We got some hands-on time with the laptop here at IFA 2013 and have returned with a gallery and our impressions of the […]
At the last CES event, we got our hands on Lenovo’s K900 handset, a powerful smartphone that has been eclipsed by the company’s latest offering, the Lenovo Vibe X. With the Vibe X comes some of the features we liked most about the K900 wrapped in a modern makeover for the 2013 consumer sphere. We […]
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.
Samsung’s Galaxy Camera stars in… Galaxy Camera sample shots is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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.
Samsung Dual-Display Notebook concept hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This week we got a quick hands-on with the Vodafone Samsung Galaxy S III LTE at IFA 2012 running the next generation of Google software: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. This operating system upgrade has not yet been released for the Samsung Galaxy S III anywhere else in the world, but Samsung has promised that it will be out “very soon.” We also got a Speed Test result for those of you wanting to see how fast the Vodafone LTE network can be in Germany.
This device is a lovely Plum color, too, a color that’s certainly rare if not completely exclusive at the moment to Vodafone. This device otherwise has the same specifications as the Galaxy S III throughout Europe with a quad-core Exynos processor from Samsung – the difference between this and the USA being a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor. Have a peek first at the LTE result from inside the IFA building:
Next have a peek at a single Quadrant benchmark result, and note that the I/O and CPU are quite high. Compare them to the HTC One X with NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor if you wish, and see how they’re both handling four CPU cores in hardcore action. The HTC One X with Tegra 3 got CPU 6670, Memory 3305, I/O 4832, 2D 946, 3D 1244. Also compare if you will to the Galaxy S III we’ve reviewed in full – the International Version, that is.
Finally hear this: the Jelly Bean upgrade appears here on the Vodafone version of the device to have made the device just a bit quicker, but certainly within a margin of error. There’s going to be some changes done to the Samsung TouchWiz interface that we’re not really seeing here yet as this is a bit of a pre-release build, so to speak. Stay tuned for the final build as it hits the USA soon.
Samsung Galaxy S III at IFA offers Jelly Bean and hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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