Samsung’s Galaxy Note just grew to 8 inches. It’s actually really nice. It combines a bunch of the stuff that Samsung’s been building in the Galaxy S and Note series and puts them into a nearly perfectly sized tablet. Two things, though. One, we don’t know how much it costs, and price is a huge deal for 7- and 8-inch tablets. Two, the international version is a freaking 8-inch phone. More »
I know that the moment the word “Quattro” crossed my mind, I would think of Audi and their delectable range of high-powered, precision German engineering rides that are tantalizing to the eyes and make the heart skip more than just a beat. Well, BLU Products must surely have figured out that there is a possibility of folks thinking about Audi when they decided to name their new range of smartphones under the “Quattro” banner. Ah well, different strokes for different folks. What can we say about the new Quattro Series of smartphone devices? All of them will be powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, which comes with a fifth battery saver core. Expect the Quattro Series to deliver flagship smartphone performance alongside console-quality gaming, amazing graphics, speedy applications and fast multitasking capabilities.
Unfortunately, you will not find the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system accompany the new range of Quattro smartphones, but rather, you will be “stuck” with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Fret not though, as BLU Products has released word that they do plan to offer an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in due time. All the new Quattro Series devices will feature quad-band GSM and penta-band 21Mbps HSPA+, including 1700MHz AWS for the US.
First of all, the Quattro 4.5 HD will sport a stunning aluminum and glass unibody, and your eyes will be more than pleased with the vivid Advanced Super View 4.5-inch HD 326ppi display that delivers unparalleled viewing angles and contrast ratio, which are protected by the marvelously curved scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. Other than that, there is an 8-megapixel camera featuring an f/2.4 large aperture lens, HD video recording capability, 16GB of internal memory, and 1GB RAM.
As for the Quattro 4.5 , it will offer plenty of bang for your buck with a 4.5-inch qHD display, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera, HD video recording capability, 4GB of internal memory, and 1GB RAM.
Last but not least, the Quattro 5.7 HD will deliver phablet-class performance with its 5.7 inch, 1280 x 720 HD display, an 8-megapixel shooter with HD video recording capability, 4GB of internal memory, and 1GB RAM.
The Quattro 4.5 HD, Quattro 4.5, and Quattro 5.7 HD will retail for $349.99, $249.99, and $299.99 in the US from this month onwards.
Press Release
[ BLU Products announce new Quattro range of smartphones copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Smartphones. The more you think about it, the more the term just seems antiquated. A relic that just stuck around, sort of like the word “rewind.” With hulking phablets coming out more frequently and in larger sizes, it seems like the phone part of a phone is increasingly incidental. More »
Smartphones with very large displays are set to take a much bigger chunk of the market this year, according to analyst IHS iSuppli which is predicting so-called phablets will more than double their share this year. iSuppli is forecasting that 60.4 million units will ship in 2013, up “a notable” 136 per cent from 2012′s 25.6 million. The prediction comes from the latest IHS iSuppli Mobile Handset Displays market tracker report.
iSuppli defines a phablet as a smartphone with a display of 5 inches or more. Recent additions to the phablet family include a 6.1 inch whopper made by Huawei and a 5-incher unboxed by Sony – both of which broke cover at CES. iSuppli notes that Chinese mobile makers are taking a lead in launching phablets, with Lenovo and ZTE also showing off huge phones at the tradeshow.
The analyst believes the phablet market will continue to swell after 2013 — with “vigorous double-digit-rate expansion” predicted for the next few years, as availability of large LCD displays ramps up and helps to bring screen prices down. By 2016 the analyst’s forecast indicates annual phablet shipments could exceed 140 million.
As I argued in a recent opinion piece, the phablet form factor may be a bit awkward in the hand but it’s easier on the eye when it comes to reading text, watching video and interacting with rich multimedia content — and iSuppli also flags up the increase in rich smartphone content as a factor fuelling phablets’ growth. Device makers seeking to differentiate their handsets by standing out from the average-sized smartphone crowd is another.
“The move to offer larger-display smartphones reflects the efforts of both device and panel makers to differentiate their products,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, director of small and medium displays at IHS iSuppli, in a statement. “With consumers demanding more lifelike viewing experiences, the trend to offer such devices makes perfect sense, especially considering the increase in rich content that is being made available on smartphones.”
Oh man, here we go. Phablets are no longer no longer constrained to limits of being under half a foot. Huawei’s new Ascend Mate is an unprecedented 6.1-inches. It’s been around before, but now it’s official, and has the largest screen of any smartphone in the world. To date anyway. Cower in fear beneath its all-encompassing shadow. More »
Oh man, here we go. Phablets are no longer no longer constrained to limits of being under half a foot. Huawei’s new Ascend Mate is an unprecedented 6.1-inches. It’s been around before, but now it’s official, and has the largest screen of any smartphone in the world. To date anyway. Cower in fear beneath its all-encompassing shadow. More »
Like most in the Android world, I’ve been steadily increasing my comfort zone on how big a screen I want. Back in the day, I was obsessed with getting my phone as small as possible, like Zoolander. Then I got my first smartphone in the Windows Mobile 6 days, and ever since then every device I get has a bigger screen than the last, and I end up being happy about it. More »
If you thought the Galaxy Note II was pushing the envelope on size, you’ve got another thing coming. A executive from Huawei has been caught on camera showing off the company’s upcoming 6.1-inch 1080p Ascend Mate, a truly mammoth phablet. More »
Turns out there are an awful lot of phablet fans out there. More than three million, in fact, have lined up to cram Samsung’s latest smartphone-cum-tablet, the Galaxy Note II, in their oversized pockets. It took 37 days for the device to pass three million sales. The Korean mobile maker originally confirmed these figures to AP, and has also now confirmed them to TechCrunch.
The Note II was released initially in South Korea in September, with sales to other markets — including the U.S. and the U.K. — kicking off in October.
The three million figure is a 3x ramping up of early sales of the original Galaxy Note, which shipped around one million units in its first month of sale (albeit, this was prior to its U.S. launch) — underlining how Samsung has not only pioneered the phablet category, but succeeded in building serious momentum for enormo-phones.
For some context, Apple sold more than five million of its latest iPhone 5 in its first weekend of sales. The iPhone 5′s screen size is not in the phablet category but is slightly larger than previous iPhones — 4 inches vs. 3.5 inches — a sign of the big pull Samsung’s big phones are having on the smartphone market.
Yesterday, Apple kicked off sales of its new smaller form factor tablet, the iPad Mini — a device that in no small part also owes its existence to Samsung’s Note devices, being both a counter strategy to mini tablets such as the Google Nexus but also enormo-phones like the Note.
We may not be the biggest fans of Samsung’s giant phone movement, but apparently consumers have decided otherwise because Sammy is trotting out the Galaxy Note II: a 5.5-inch brute of a phablet running Android Jelly Bean. And with a screen so big, it promises to be fully compatible with the pressure sensitive S-Pen. More »
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