Hasta La Gadget!

Each new release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab proves the company’s willingness to stick with the brand name – and power. Samsung has the power to release a new wave of tablets each year without specific specification boosts bit-by-bit. Keep that in mind when you have a peek at this machine’s top-to-bottom, especially when it comes to the final product.

Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 works with a 10.1-inch TFT LCD display with 800 x 1280 pixel resolution. That’s 149.45 PPI and certainly not the sharpest display on the market, well under the current-gen iPad‘s 263.92 PPI and especially the Google Nexus 10 with its 300.24 PPI, but it’s up at the point at which you’re no longer going to be seeing a whole lot of difference.

This machine’s display is the same resolution as the previous generation Samsung Galaxy Tab but here works with IPS TFT LCD technology instead of PLS TFT. In short this means the Galaxy Tab 3 line matches the Samsung Galaxy S 4 for brightness – not sharpness, of course, as the GS4 works with a much, much sharper panel, but for brightness without a doubt.

Samsung has also done a good job of matching the Samsung Galaxy Tab line to the Galaxy Note line from this generation – you’re seeing the Galaxy Note 8.0 – and we’re expecting the Galaxy Note III to look as vivid later this year as well.

With the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 you’re not going to find a tablet aimed at being a one-stop-shop for excellence in all things media capturing as well as display. Instead, this device acts as one of several control ports for the whole Samsung device environment. You’ll find out more about the app connections this tablet has with the rest of the Samsung devices of this Galaxy S 4 era – here in hardware, this means you’re not going to be competing with standalone devices like the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity for raw output and power – not by a long shot.

Inside the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 you’ll find a Z2560 Intel Atom 1.6GHz dual-core processor – Clover Trail+, that is – with the built-in ability to use 4G LTE (in future iterations of this hardware with a microSIM card slot, of course). This hardware will not work with said connectivity as it’s got no SIM card slot to speak of, but we’ll almost certainly be seeing this tablet working with AT&T and Verizon – and maybe even T-Mobile – inside the next half-year with 4G LTE connectivity.

While it may seem like a bold move for Samsung to move from well-known processors like their own Exynos line and NVIDIA’s Tegra SoCs in past Tab lines to Intel here in 2013, it’s worth noting that they don’t do so with their flag flying high. As mentioned in the Intel Scores column from Chris Davies earlier this year, both the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and the ASUS MeMo Pad FHD 10 work with Clover Trail+, but neither of them have “leapt to Atom wholeheartedly.”

As it was with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 lineup, here again the company is making very little of the creators of the processors under their device lineup’s hoods. With the Galaxy Tab 2 line it was Texas Instruments OMAP line, here it’s Intel’s Atom, and the results make for a well-balanced tablet collection in either case, but not a set of machines made for breaking any barriers.

Have a peek at a set of benchmark tests here to see how the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 fares and keep heart – the end result is solid for everyday media display, web browsing, and basic gaming needs.

Software

The software suite included with this machine matches that of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 era of devices. The smartphone acts as Samsung’s hero for the rest of their smart mobile devices, and with each new era the collection becomes – at once – more diverse and more aesthetically similar. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 looks like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 looks like the Samsung Galaxy S 4 – looks like the Samsung Galaxy Note III, eventually.

And inside they all look essentially the same.

You’ll find Google’s family of apps to be resting inside this machine – Chrome for web browsing, Gmail, Google+, Google Play, and Google search. You’ll get Google Now as well with a long press on this device’s physical home button and a tap of the G on the screen.

From Samsung you’ve got S-Voice and voice-controlled commands the likes of which are more precise than any previous version of Samsung’s own voice commander. More important than this is the common appearance of the apps ChatON – for Samsung-centric media-friendly chat, Group Play – for Samsung-centric media sharing and entertainment inside a Wi-Fi network, and Samsung Apps.

Samsung Apps connects the user with a Samsung account that’ll allow the user access to apps and (and with Samsung Hub, also downloadable) media from whatever Samsung device the user is using. Oddly we’re not getting Samsung Link right out of the box, this an experience rather similar to Group Play in its aim at connecting your Samsung devices together, here sharing to the cloud and pulling from tablets, smartphones, notebooks, and Samsung TVs.

Even beyond benchmarks, this machine isn’t exactly aiming to destroy its key competitors. Instead you’ll find a well-balanced tablet aiming to be an everyday driver, not exactly the one you’ll be picking up in hopes of being gaming machine of the year. It’s not longer about being number one in the ranks for each individual device for Samsung, it’s about creating a device ecosystem.

Camera / Battery

The camera on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 delivers media that leaves a bit to be desired. While we’ve seen top-notch results from the company’s hero smartphone line in the Samsung Galaxy S 4 for photos and video, and machines like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom bringing on a best-in-class bit of performance in the photo and video phones realms, here the Galaxy Tab line once again brings a “good enough” experience to the table.

It’s almost as if Samsung is suggesting we stop obsessing over taking photos with every single machine which could potentially work with a camera and just leave the media collection to the cameras and the smartphones.

That said, you’ll still want to check the results of this device’s abilities with its 3-megapixel back-facing camera. You’ve got a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front of this machine as well, but you’ll not be wanting to use it for anything other than basic video chat on the regular.

The battery on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 sits at a cool 6800 mAh, meaning you’ll be kicking out more uptime than essentially any other smart device you own unless you’re doing nothing but non-stop video streaming and high-powered gaming at the same time. We’ve found standby time to be excellent as well, hitting at a rather low drain while most systems are deactivated.

Once the battery is actually out all the way, we’ll let you know. For now we’re running on several days’ steam without an issue – most of that is, indeed, time spent with the display off, and we’re expecting far larger dents in the device’s up time once this device sees a 4G LTE iteration.

Wrap-up

This device is ready to be a lovely addition to your Samsung Galaxy S 4 family of smart devices. If you’ve got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, there’s little reason to upgrade – and you might just want to skip this generation if you really enjoy your front-facing speakers which do not appear here in 2013 – unless you’ve got the Galaxy Note 10.1, of course. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 instead is the topmost hero tablet for the Samsung universe at the moment, running a quad-core Samsung Exynos processor and rolling with an S-Pen to boot.

While the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 also brings some heat to the party, it’s with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 that this smaller form-factor does battle with. It’s also missing the front-facing speakers, while we’re on the subject. Where did they go, and why did they disappear?

Above: Samsung Galaxy S 4, Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, and Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 (from top to bottom).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 brings on the full aesthetic and software abilities of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 to the market. If you’ve already got a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 or Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, make with the skipping of this generation. If you want to connect to your Samsung Galaxy S 4-era family of devices with a variety of entertaining and powerful apps and features and have no recent-generation 10.1-inch tablet to speak of, feel free to select the $399 USD Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 – it’s slick.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In a bit of a leak of information this weekend, Google’s next-generation software spilled on the heels of the upcoming Motorola smartphone Moto X. This device will be working with Google’s next iteration of their mobile software and will act as a bit of a centerpiece for said software, showing off abilities like voice commands with a system that’s able to listen all the time.

While this sort of constant listening ability isn’t new, it’ll certainly stoke the flames with users fearful of the privacy-invading abilities of miniature monitors of all kinds. If you take Google Glass for example, you see so much fear of the unknown that it’s striking – just because the device allows a camera to be mounted to a person’s face, the public loses its collective mind over Big Brother-esque possibilities.

Here with Google’s next version of Android – at least as it rests in the Moto X, you’ll have sound being drawn upon at any given moment. Google Glass also has abilities similar to this with its own always-on voice recognition system.

Starting at 0:23 – “Your Moto X is ready to listen and respond. Talk to it, and it learns your voice. With the power of Google Now, it tells you what you need to know, even when you’re not touching the screen.”

But how different is that from the Wi-Fi detecting abilities of smartphones, tablets, and notebooks we’ve been using for years? The difference is that we humans cannot transmit the signals these devices have ben seeking with their wireless data radios – with the “always” button tapped in a device’s voice recognition engine, all will be heard.

See more on the Social Implications of Google Glass – “Staring” and all.

Consider the idea that any smartphone right this minute could have its voice recorder activated. How different is this from Google’s next-generation software, save its intended purpose?

Head to 3:09 into this video to see what’ll happen if you use Open Mic incorrectly. Make sure you’re not calling Mom on accident.

NOTE: Back when Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was first introduced, there was a feature – and there continues to be a feature – tagged as “open microphone”. This is an experience that currently works with Android devices allowing voice dictation and streaming voice recognition – at the moment it does not work with voice commands.

“Android 4.0 introduces a powerful new voice input engine that offers a continuous “open microphone” experience and streaming voice recognition. The new voice input engine lets you dictate the text you want, for as long as you want, using the language you want. You can speak continuously for a prolonged time, even pausing for intervals if needed, and dictate punctuation to create correct sentences. ” – Google for Ice Cream Sandwich About

This system is translated, therefor, to the next version of Android with streaming voice commands, aka “Open Mic”. This update allows you to work with everything introduced with the newest version of Google’s online search engine and allows it to listen in at all times. That’s Conversational Search in Chrome if you’d like to try it right now.

You will still have to press or tap a button to make it all work, of course. In the future you’ll only have to press a button once and you’ll have your Android smartphone there listening to you whenever you like – easy and fun, right?

Open Mic: New Android phones will always be listening is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Motorola will soon (as early as tomorrow) announce the availability of the Moto X, a smartphone whose outward appearance will be able to be custom-ordered through the web. The device’s built-in storage will also have options attached, though not beyond the standard 16, 32, or 64GB options offered with many major smartphone releases in past years. This device will come in a variety of colors – at least 12 of them – as well as a standard set of tones available in-store.

What you’re seeing above and below are visualizations mocked up by SlashGear based on the color ring surrounding the Motorola logo reboot shown this week for the very first time. This new logo comes attached with the note “a Google company”, the first time said logo had a modification since well before the group was acquired by the creators of the mobile operating system Android.

The Moto X will also feature Android inside, working with at least version 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with a yet-unseen level of customizations from Motorola. As this is the first device to have been developed entirely under the umbrella of time that is the company’s tie-in with Google, it’s likely we’ll see a bit more “pure” version of Android with each new phone, the Moto X included.

That said, the head of Motorola put in place by Google at their acquisition, Dennis Woodside, made it clear once again that they’d be sticking to their New Motorola plan, in so many words, laid out back in September of 2012 at the launch of the DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR M. Though one of the three pillars spoken of back then wasn’t mentioned here (that being high battery life), the other two are a lock: 4G LTE data speed and Android.

“If you want the best Android device, you should be looking at a Motorola device.” – Dennis Woodside for Motorola

In a chat here in 2013 at the 2013 D11 conference, Woodside described a collection of abilities the Moto X has in store for the public, outlining features such as the device’s camera “firing up” when the smartphone is removed from a user’s pocket, and top-notch management of “ultra-low power sensors” such as a device’s gyroscope and accelerometer.

“Imagine when in the car, the device will know it is going 60mph and it is going to act differently so you can interact with it safely. Those are the kinds of things we’re doing with fundamental technology.

Motorola has always been good at managing ultra-low power sensors, such as the gyroscope and the accelerometer, and keeping those on all the time so the device knows different use states. The [Moto X] knows when it is in my pocket, it knows when I take it out of my pocket. ” – Dennis Woodside for Motorola

Just this afternoon, two Verizon-bound Motorola smartphones appeared at the FCC, this quite often a good sign that said devices will be launching soon. It’s been suggested that while one of these machines will be the Moto X indeed, the other will be a larger machine called DROID Ultra.

Three of the colors you’re seeing here above and below appeared in a factory floor photo leaked earlier today, each of the units looking to be rather smooth, likely made of a soft (yet undoubtedly strong, per Motorola’s rugged recent history) plastic made to feel comfortable in the palm.

The rather patriotic full-page advertisement you’re seeing below came on the 2nd of this month, appearing in newspapers across the nation today (one day before the 4th of July). This message suggests that while the USA celebrates its Independence Day, Motorola will be joining in on the fun with independence from the fairly limited choices available with the competition.

Click for full-sized JPG image

According to sources speaking with ABC News’ Joanna Stern, customization of Moto X will include more than just a choice of backside covers. This machine is also suggested to be working with a custom engraving of said colorful phone back, a second custom color for the trim of the phone, and a built-in wallpaper as uploaded by the future owner of the device.

It’s been tipped – and all but confirmed by the size of the leaked images from this and previous weeks – that this device will be delivered with the following:

• 4.7-inch 720p display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Processor (dual-core)
• 2GB RAM
• 16, 32, 64GB RAM
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with lightly skinned Motorola UI

Though it’s not been confirmed by Google (certainly not until the device itself is out on the market, at least), it wouldn’t be a massive surprise to find this machine appearing on the Google Play store sooner than later. As devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and the HTC One find themselves being delivered by Google with a pure Vanilla (no manufacturer customizations) version of Android aboard, it’d be a shame if the OEM owned by the software creator weren’t to bring on another “Google Play edition”, as it were – complete with customization abilities, of course.

As for the date of the actual reveal – if not entirely on July 4th (there more likely another teaser) – It’s been suggested by “This Week in Google” publisher Leo Laporte that a July 10th event will be held by Motorola for the Moto X – see #204 at 40:40 – stay tuned for more! Thanks for the tip, Garmon!

This device will be a bit of a rebirth of efforts for Motorola, and perhaps one rather necessary, as the smartphone creator hasn’t done exceedingly well in the market over the past several cycles. Watch this week and into the summer as Google brings on a colorful, customizable future for the company with the the big M, signed for quality with an X.

Moto X and the colorful customization of Motorola, a Google company is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Huawei PRISM II is coming to T-Mobile, this a smartphone that succeeds a relatively unknown original with the same carrier from months past. This device is not aiming to break the bank, nor is it headed to the top of the “must have” lists of any top-tier hero phone collects lists. Instead it’s another

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Enter the Samsung Galaxy NX: a full-sized mirrorless interchangeable lens camera running Android. This is Samsung’s biggest effort in bringing Android – their flavor of Android, that is – to the full-on high-powered camera environment. This device works with a “DSLR-class” 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS image sensor aside a quad-core 1.6GHz Pega-Q processor behind a system

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