If you picked up an HTC One, a Samsung Galaxy S 4, an LG Optimus G, or a Motorola DROID RAZR HD device over the past few months, you’re now working with Qualcomm hardware. That’s exactly as this company intended for this year’s smart device push – and exactly what Qualcomm’s earnings report this week shows. Qualcomm’s fiscal Q3 2013 starts with a cool $6.24 billion in revenues, up 35% compared to the same quarter last year.
Up there at the top end of the smartphone spectrum, Qualcomm made a killing in sales this quarter. They also sat in the entire range of Windows Phone 8 devices released this year (and throughout the OS’s history, for that matter), and have been part of quite a few of each of the top manufacturer’s midrange phones as well.
It was more common over the past several months to hear of a smartphone being released with a Qualcomm processor than it was to hear of a smartphone being released with a processor made by any other company. Qualcomm let it be known that for the three months in this third quarter of their fiscal 2013, they had MSM chip shipments at 172 million units. That represents a 22% growth over this same quarter one year ago.
Qualcomm currently has $30.4 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities (as of June 30, 2013), and has announced a return of capital to stockholders in the form of $1.64 billion – that’s including $604 million, or $0.35 per share, of cash dividends paid as well as $1.04 billion through repurchases of 16.7 million shares of common stock.
That’s not half bad for what’s easily on of the most visible mobile chipmakers on the planet – Qualcomm also notes that they’ve now got an operating cash flow at $2.08 billion, up 125% year-over-year. The Snapdragon-toting group of processor makers reports operating income at $1.68 billion as well – that’s up 21% compared to this same quarter one year ago.
When you’re talking about solid aircraft grade aluminum, there’s not a whole lot to be had out there in the world of smartphone accessories – unless you’re talking about Rokform, of course. This company makes a series of covers that lock into mounts, those mounts then sticking to essentially any surface so long as its flat – and they make bike mounts as well, so flatness doesn’t always impede. Here with the Rokform RokDock, you’ve got a place to rest your phone that cannot be busted.
This dock is not made to amplify your smartphone’s speakers. It does not have NFC embedded within. It’s not made to connect to your machine with a keyboard, nor does it make your smartphone smell better.
Instead, this is the dock you want if you want your dock to stay put. It’s the heaviest dock you’ll have ever picked up – and you probably won’t be picking it up often. Instead you’ll open it up once, and then only to insert and adjust the cord that connects to your smartphone. Your microUSB (or whatever other kind of cord you’ve got) sits at the base for docking, the other end going down and out the back where it can head out to a wall port or to your PC, whatever you may need.
There’s a screw-tight adjustment inside to keep the cord tight, then a rubber bit that can be placed in any of a series of notches up above to keep your smartphone in place. The whole unit is made up of of two larger interlocking pieces of solid aluminum and a few bits of rubber all held together with several screws. WHere applicable, this unit is CNC machined and hand-assembled.
While we’ve got the gray/orange model here, you can also pick up red/black, blue, or straight up all-black. There’s also an iPhone 5 iteration of this dock that’s essentially the same, that iteration coming with a series of machined holes to redirect your speaker sound. Here you’ll be relying on good ol’ sound bouncing off metal.
Every smartphone we’ve docked in this machine has fit like a charm, that including devices up to the LG Optimus G Pro in size. This dock is made specifically to hold “Galaxy” devices including the SII, SIII, and Galaxy S 4, but as you may have guessed, all you really need to be able to do is fit. This dock agrees with the full lot of RokForm v3 cases as well – it’s big enough to hold the big phones and formed in such a way that it’ll hold the small ones, too!
The dock itself is not cheap – ringing in at $99 USD right this minute, you’ll certainly want to think about how important it is for you to be working with precision-machined metal to hold your smartphone that you likely dropped just over twice the cash on to own in the first place (on contract, even). That said, you’ll never have to deal with people saying you bought a super-expensive smartphone only to put it in a shotty, low-grade dock – this the RokDock Stand certainly isn’t!
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is a smartphone with a rather sizable camera on its back. While you’ll find this machine appearing to want o take the place of the Samsung Galaxy Camera, we’ve found it to be attempting to carve out a different category entirely. Here Samsung aims to cross-breed a smartphone with a high-powered pocketable camera. Can it stand the test of the average, everyday user, or better yet, the common hobby-level photographer?
Hardware
This machine comes in at 125.3 x 63.3 x 15.25mm (4.93 x 2.45 x 0.6 inches), quite a bit thicker than any smartphone or tablet from this generation of Samsung devices. It’s not especially wide, nor tall, coming much closer to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini than it does to the full-sized Samsung Galaxy S 4 if you’re not considering its thickness. It’s certainly not heavy at 208g (7.34 oz), either.
This device is made of the same materials as the Galaxy S 4, made mostly of the same light, hard, and rather crackable plastic across the bulk of its body. As a result, this device does not feel like it’s ready to hit the field the way the Samsung Galaxy Camera did at CES 2013. This device is ready for basic hobby photographers instead, as a sort of stepping stone between smartphone and what most would consider your average mid-to-high-level pocketable camera.
The Galaxy S4 Zoom works with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display at 960 x 540, that is: 256 PPI. Inside you’ve got 8GB of storage and a microSD card slot allows for MicroSDXC cards up to 64GB for storage expansion.
This device’s processor is a 1.5GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos 4 (4212) (the same as appears in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0) paired with 1.5 GB of RAM that’s certainly not meant to bust the charts out with benchmark greatness, tuned instead, it would seem, to the camera UI alone. It’ll still be able to be your general smartphone engine as well, but don’t expect to be playing the highest-powered games any time soon – not without lag.
This device can connect to the rest of the device universe with DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, infra-red with its IR blaster, and a variety of Wi-fi and Wi-fi direct-based Samsung-specific apps. Also included is an NFC reader and Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, GLONASS, an accelerometer, digital compass, proximity sensor, gyroscope, and light sensor – essentially everything on the market.
Wi-fi on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom kicks in at 802.11a/b/g/n. Depending on your region you’ll be able to pick this device up with 3G HSPA+ or LTE connectivity – the same goes for the processor, apparently, but we’ve yet to see another processor version in the wild – we’ll see what it comes with when it hits the states, if it does!
Software
This device brings Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz on top in an amalgamation that’s essentially the same as you’ll find on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, limited only slightly in its abilities below the build you’ll find on the Galaxy S 4. This is one of a series of devices based on the hero of this generation of Samsung devices in the Galaxy S 4, each of them with their own little odd additions or exclusions therein.
Inside you’ve got WatchON for connecting to your television with your IR-Blaster, Group Play for connecting to other Samsung smartphones and tables live inside a local area network, and a full collection of Samsung-specific apps like ChatON to remind you that you’re part of the Galaxy S 4 team. As expected, Galaxy S 4 specific apps like Air View and Smart Scroll/Pause/ etc are absent, these being reserved for the hero – until the Galaxy Note III arrives, of course.
This device is not meant to be a competitor for the likes of full-fledged connected cameras, even those edging in on the smart space with Wi-fi connectivity. This device is half smartphone / half camera, and it’s not really dominating in either category by any means. Have a peek at a collection of benchmark results below and see how this device does in a mathematically measured way.
Can the Galaxy S4 Zoom go to war with the closest thing on the market today – or soon, depending on when you’re reading – in the Nokia Lumia 1020? Have a peek at the Galaxy S4 Zoom vs Nokia Lumia 1020 camera war we’ve got set up and check back when we’ve got the full 1020 review, too.
Camera / Battery
This device’s camera interface takes the abilities delivered – rather inspiringly, at the time – in the original Samsung Galaxy Camera – and brings them to a new level. While if this interface were brought to the Samsung Galaxy Camera itself, we’d give it a full thumbs up. Instead there’s just one thing holding this device back from being a next-level Galaxy Camera: its smartphone side.
As described a bit in the hardware section above, this device feels exceedingly fragile. Its hard plastic body on all sides save the display side feel as though they’d crack at the lowest drop, while the reinforced glass is just as hard as it’s ever been from Corning. The Galaxy Camera did not attempt to be the baby clone of the Samsung Galaxy S III – so too should the Galaxy S4 Zoom have skipped such a set of similarities. Once you’re past your fear of dropping this device, its camera features are actually pretty neat.
The Zoom Ring up front doesn’t just access this camera’s 10x optical zoom, it brings up a feature selection screen unique to this device. This “ring” shows a collection of shooting modes for the camera which are highlighted with the ring itself, selected then with a tap of the device’s shutter button. If only because we’ve literally never seen this combination of selection modes with a physical contraption such as this before, it stands out as one of the most interesting bits on the Galaxy S4 Zoom.
As you’ll see above in brief, this device works with the full collection of Samsung Galaxy S 4 camera modes, coming clean with – if it worked a bit smoother – the best of the bunch with “Smart mode suggest.” This mode detects what the scene might be in your camera’s viewfinder, giving you a choice of three possible best modes for your selection.
In the end though, it was the simplest Auto Mode that we ended up using most given the intended audience of this machine. Have a peek at a collection of shots and video below to see what you’ll be rolling with internationally. We’ll see if the quality of this machine’s shooter changes if it ever hits the USA in a carrier iteration when it happens!
Up front you’ve got a 1.9 megapixel camera that works surprisingly well – or is at least tuned to look superior even when shooting something so terrifying as the users’ face (as shown above).
The back-facing camera amalgamation brings on a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor paired with a 24-240mm 10x optical zoom and ISO 100-3200. This all works through a F3.1-F6.3 Samsung lens. You’ll have the ability to kick out ISO 100-3200 and up to 4fps burst photography – and the results are, on the whole, generally excellent enough for top-notch non-professional hobby photography.
Battery life is just about the worst we’ve seen in this generation of Galaxy devices, if you’d like to consider everything in the Galaxy Tab 3 and Galaxy S 4 lineup. If you’re planning on this being your daily driver as a smartphone, you’ll certainly need to charge it up halfway through the day if you intend on getting to the end. If you’re using it as a camera, you’ll want to bring another battery to help you make your way through a full workday if you’re at an event.
Above you’re seeing the device working it’s relatively decent stand-by abilities for the most part. And just supposing you are using this device and need more up-time than it’ll delivery on the regular, there’s always a replaceable battery or two you could be picking up. One size only: 2,330 mAh in the side alongside the microSIM card slot.
Wrap-up
While we’ve found this device to be taking one of several awards home for most unique device in Samsung’s most recent collection of smart devices, it’s not necessarily the best device for any one use-case. While we expected the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom to take the place of the Samsung Galaxy Camera, instead we’ve found it to be another entry point for new users to get in on the smart device universe through Samsung’s flavor of Android.
The Galaxy S4 Zoom connects well with the rest of the most recent collection of Samsung Galaxy S 4 devices, it’ll be interesting to see how it fares in the market with little to no direct competition. Stay tuned as we see what US mobile carriers think of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom in coming weeks, and if they’ll give it as much faith as they did the Galaxy Camera.
The government has called on handset makers to implement technology that will potentially reduce the instances of smartphone thefts, which are increasingly on the rise. Several makers were sent an open letter months ago by New York Attorney General Schneiderman, as well as District Attorney George Gascón of San Francisco, criticizing them for not taking a more proactive approach to the issue.
Now two of those companies – Apple and Samsung – are having their anti-theft technology put to the test at a meeting under the Secure Our Smartphones (S.O.S) Initiative. The devices being tested are Apple’s iPhone 5 and its Activation Lock, and Samsung’s GALAXY S 4 and its Lojack for Android. The meeting was underway today in San Francisco.
Said the two in a statement: “While we are appreciative of the efforts made by Apple and Samsung to improve security of the devices they sell, we are not going to take them at their word. Today we will assess the solutions they are proposing and see if they stand up to the tactics commonly employed by thieves. Together, we are working to ensure that the industry embeds persistent technology that is effective, ubiquitous and free to consumers in every smartphone introduced to the market by next year.”
The meeting includes reps from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, more commonly known as NCRIC, according to the statement. Under the test, the smartphones in question will be “treated” like they were stolen, presumably with the security features being utilized to demonstrate what the result would be. There’s no word yet on whether either of them satisfied the state and federal ambitions for the technology.
Although California and New York are being most vocal about the move, the S.O.S Initiative is a national coalition that is enjoying participation from public safety activists, various DAs and AGs, city comptrollers, law enforcement, and consumer advocates. All of this follows the launch of a stolen cell phone database that went live in the US in October 2012.
Jay-Z’s Magna Carta album release with a Samsung-centric app has lit the flame for some rather simple privacy invasion concerns. While many apps request the data this media-touting title does, the scale of this release found itself the subject of chatter from officials at U.S. civil liberties group the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC). This week Samsung fires back.
Samsung has made clear that they’ve had no intention of selling the information the app collects, nor do they use said information for malicious – or unwarranted – purposes. What information, you might ask? According to EPIC, no less than “massive amounts of personal information… including location data” which they’d then use for “hidden spam techniques.”
This app, they say, promotes itself with these hidden spam techniques to users the initial user is connected to without the knowledge of the user. Of course if you’ve used the app yourself, you’ll know what they’re talking about: sharing through Facebook and Twitter.
“We are aware of the complaint… and believe it is baseless. Samsung takes customer privacy and the protection of personal information very seriously.
Any information obtained through the application download process was purely for customer verification purposes, app functionality purposes and for marketing communications, but only if the customer requests to receive those marketing communications.
Samsung is in no way inappropriately using or selling any information obtained from users through the download process.” – Samsung Representative
If you wanted to see a set of lyrics from one of the Magna Carta Holy Grail songs before the launch of the album, the app required you to share the fact that you were doing so with Facebook or Twitter. At this point in time, sharing is not only still voluntary – it’s relatively hard to do. You can read the full app Privacy Policy for more information if you do so wish.
For those deciding on a tablet that’ll get them through the day at the same time as it’s able to fit in their satchel, Samsung hasn’t made things easy. With the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, you’ve got two machines with exceedingly similar specifications to decide between. What we’ve got to check this afternoon is how the two make their mark in the world – and if it really is all about the S-Pen in the end.
Hardware
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 works with an 8-inch display with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, while the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 carries the same size and pixel density – they’re effective the same in day-to-day use, while the subtle differences in software will make the tiniest of differences up-close. You’ll find the font and the shadows to be ever-so-slightly different from one another: but you’ll never notice unless you hold them up RIGHT next to one another, so no worries.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 works with 16GB internal storage with a microSD card slot for memory expansion. The Note 8.0 works with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and works with a Samsung Exynos quad-core processor internationally and in its Wi-fi iteration and a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor as carried by AT&T with 4G LTE. Meanwhile the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 works with a dual-core Samsung Exynos 4 processor.
Have a peek at how these machines fare in the benchmark scores listed below. They’re all knocked out with Quadrant Standard benchmark tests with the newest software available, Jelly Bean and TouchWiz included.
External speaker performance on both of these machines are essentially the same – they’re both mediocre if only because the speakers themselves are blowing out the sides the devices rather than the front. We must again assume it’s because thinness is more important than speaker performance as both of these devices are so extremely thin, it’d be difficult to toss a front-facing speaker anywhere. *cough* HTC One *cough*
Battery performance on both devices are essentially the same – it’s only 4G LTE on the Galaxy Note (that’ll eventually find its way to the Galaxy Tab, of course) that has any push on the battery life involved here – and it’s marginal unless you’re doing non-stop video streaming all day long.
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 Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 comes in at 8.26 x 4.87 x 0.275 inches with a weight at 10.9 ounces. The Galaxy Note 8.0 comes in at 8.29 x 5.35 x 0.31 inches and 12 ounces. The difference is almost solely in the amount of bezel required with the Samsung Galaxy Note – likely mostly because of the grip area it provides for holding the device whilst writing with the S-Pen and to give the device room to hold the S-Pen in its back.
Cameras
While the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 is essentially a non-performer when it comes to capturing video and photos, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 brings some low-level heat. Though you’re still just working with a 5-megapixel camera at this device’s back, you’ve got autofocus and auto adjustment to lighting conditions, backed up by Samsung’s most basic edition of its new camera UI. Included here are Auto, Beauty Face, Night, Sports Shot, Panorama, and “Sound & Shot”. Have a peek at a panorama here for an example of what this device is capable of, followed by several indoor and outdoor shots.
Click panorama photo for full-sized image.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 brings on an exceedingly similar setup, bringing on photo and video abilities with its back-facing 5-megapixel camera (the same as the Galaxy Tab 8.0 here) also without an LED flash. While the Galaxy Note 8.0 has the same previous-generation camera interface as the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 at the moment, we’re expecting an update to the current generation imminently.
Software – a non-issue
When you’re deciding between the Note 8.0 and the Tab 3 8.0 based on software, you’re really going to have to focus to find the differences. Both devices are part of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 era of smart devices, so both are able to connect with essentially the same software suite of wireless sharing apps from Samsung. Group Play specifically shows how these devices are able to interact with one-another in a variety of ways that non-Samsung devices currently can’t – or at least can’t with the same finesse.
NOTE: While the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 does not feature the app “Samsung Link”, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 does. This is a situation rather similar to that of the devices’ camera interfaces – where the 10.1 uses the same camera UI and abilities as the previous generation model, the 8.0 works with a Galaxy S 4 interface, derived from the Samsung Galaxy Camera.
Both devices bring on a free 50GB for 2 years through Dropbox for cloud storage while each different release of these devices has its own perks on the side. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 has a free three months of Hulu Plus as part of its benefits package, so to speak, along with a $10 card from the Google Play store through Samsung’s “Galaxy Perks” program.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 works with a variety of S-Pen specific apps as outlined in our original Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 hands-on and later our full review (as linked above). This device’s attachment to said apps is rather crucial in proving a set of selling points for this device while the Tab appears in quite a few places – though not everywhere – to be winning the race on hardware aesthetics.
Both machines work with a new enough version of Android Jelly Bean that you’ll have access to Google Now, and both machines have Samsung’s S-Voice for voice commands as well.
Cost
While the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0′s current wi-fi-only price range at $299 seems enticing compared to the last several years of $400 or more on tablets of all sizes as a standard, it’s the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0′s $399.99 (or it’s current sale price of $379.99) we’re doing battle with. If on the other hand you’ll be wanting to access mobile data with AT&T here in the USA, you’ve also got a $399.99 price tag with a 2-year contract to agree to to boot!
Of course there’s also an AT&T bundle price available at $199.99 for the Note 8.0, but then you’re still attached to a 2-year contract and you’ll have to also purchase a Samsung Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S 4 Active, or Galaxy Note II along with it. Good news is they all look rather nice next to one another.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is far more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 with a processor that’s made to handle this device as a real hero product. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 works with a dual-core Samsung Exynos 4 processor which we’ve found to be ever-so-slightly lacking in the high-level processing department – there the Tab is better suited for everyday web browsing and the occasional media consumption in the form of streaming video.
While the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 may have a slightly larger bezel and therefor appear – at first – to be the lesser of the two tablets, in every other category this machine excels. If you’re looking for the tablet that can do more, last longer, and will likely find its way into the hearts of developers longer, you’ll want to stick with the Galaxy Note 8.0 in this case. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 should only be chosen where price or availability are especially major factors.
With the wide spread of the Samsung device family resulting from the sustained success of the Samsung Galaxy smartphone line comes devices like the Galaxy Prevail II. This device is being offered for under $200 in the United States without a contract with the mobile data carrier Boost Mobile, and it’s doing so with specifications that aren’t half bad. While the LG-made Google Nexus 4 brought on the sub-$300 off-contract smartphone to the masses with decent hardware, here Samsung does something extremely similar.
Though this machine isn’t bringing the same value that the Google Nexus 4 brought as LG made the effort with Qualcomm’s first quad-core processor and a fine combination of display and camera power, Samsung’s efforts with the Prevail II do bring a scaled-down collection of features that make such an off-contract offering one to watch.
On the other hand, because this machine is being offered with Boost Mobile, it’ll have difficulty finding footing in the public space the same way as Google’s Nexus 4. Google has one massive amount of advertising power, and Samsung does too, but the big S isn’t about to spend a mint on this release the same as they have with their hero line, or even their second or third-tier releases in the Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab lines.
The Samsung Galaxy Prevail II, with its modest display (4-inch WVGA, that is) running with Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean alongside a 5 megapixel camera on its back will be long forgotten unless Boost Mobile does an unforeseen amount of public push for its release. Inside we’ll find a host of Samsung’s family connections – wireless, cloud-based, and otherwise, and the company would do well to make it clear that this machine – this small release – will be the least expensive way for the average consumer to get in on the fun.
This week SlashGear has had the opportunity to have an up-close-and-personal look at the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, taking photos and a bit of video as we did so. What you’ll see here is the machine’s ability to capture high-quality media in several different situations both light and dark, indoors and out. We’ll also be getting to a full-on comparison run-down of this machine with the abilities of the Samsung Galaxy Camera as well – but for now, the smaller and newer of the two.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom takes the body of what’s essentially the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and applies one big fat camera to its back. That’s not to say that this machine is fat – not by a long shot. It’s a bit thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Camera and feels like a whole different ball game in practice.
This device boasts a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display on its back with a lovely piece of Gorilla Glass 3 to keep it all safe. While the touchscreen interface can control the majority of the bits and pieces you’ll be working with on this machine, you’ve also got a physical home button, back and menu buttons below the display (or to the right, depending on the orientation of the device when you’re holding it.)
Up front of this machine you’ve also got a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor with optical image stabilization working with 24-240mm 10x optical zoom, this paired with a F3.1-F6.3 lens with a Samsung Zoom Ring. We’ll get into the abilities of this ring as we move along into the full review – for now you’ll be glad to know that this ring’s abilities are not just limited to zooming in and out.
As it was with the Samsung Galaxy Camera, so too do you get a physical camera shutter button here. This device is made on one hand to be a phone – and it certainly looks the part from one side – and on the other a camera.
While you’ll get another healthy set of hands-on photos of this machine via Chris Davies from earlier this year in London, we’re kicking out the photo examples here and now. We’ll begin with a lovely macro photo of some wood.
The above image is 1 of 3 images linked to their original file. Click and see!
As with the majority of the photos taken in this article, the above is snapped with the Galaxy S4 Zoom’s back-facing camera. As the above was taken with Macro mode, below you’ll see a shot taken from afar using the device’s Landscape mode.
While we’re in the graveyard, it makes sense to get outdoorsy with several shots both close and far away with a near “magic hour” timing. These photos were taken mostly with the camera’s smart auto mode, selecting the modes based on the suggestions of the software.
Next you’ll see two shots, one from afar, one up close. Closer, that is. These shots are taken from the same location in a department store, one of them with the lens working with no zoom whatsoever, the other at 100% zoom – 10x zoom, that is.
The above image is 2 of 3 images linked to their original file. Click and see!
You’ll see a photo taken with the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom’s flash on full blast next, taken of a wheel of a cart with a bit of dirt on it.
Finally you’ll see a collection of odd shots – both up close and afar, with the photos showing the Galaxy S4 Zoom taken in mirrors. The photo of my face (me, Chris Burns, that is), was taken with this machine’s front-facing camera. It’s surprisingly good, don’t be alarmed.
Let us know what other subject matter and situations you’d like us to dive in on and we’ll deliver! This is only the first step in a full review process for this machine that’ll take the previous king Samsung Galaxy Camera to the cleaners!
The above image is 3 of 3 images linked to their original file. Click and see!
This week there’s been no lack of interest for the next generation of Samsung Galaxy Note devices, specifically with the handheld smartphone going by the name Galaxy Note III. This device will take the place of the previous entry in the size category, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, and will be coming in a variety of carrier versions right out of the gate. Like the previous releases of Samsung’s last year of smartphone hero devices, this machine will likely hit most carriers around the world in the span of a few weeks.
What we’ve got eyes on this afternoon is a series of machine codes that suggest carrier editions for international and United States-bound versions of the machine. Starting with stateside, we’ve got iterations for each of the top four mobile brands inside our borders:
• Verizon version SM-N900V • AT&T version SM-N900A • Sprint version SM-N900S • T-Mobile version SM-N900T
These machines will be joined by one common international edition SM-N900 as well as a set of three currently less-known model numbers Beta SM-N900R4, SM-N900P, SM-N900J. The international version of the machine will be coming with a quad-core Exynos processor (likely Exynos OCTA, two sets of four cores, that is), while the stateside editions will be working with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core SoC.
This model is exceedingly similar to the push for the Samsung Galaxy S 4, though here we’re seeing the Qualcomm processor upgraded from 600 to 800 in kind. There’s also a Samsung Galaxy S 4 LTE-Advanced version of the smaller smartphone out on the market with a Snapdragon 800, but said release is extremely limited and meant mainly to test the waters in the LTE-A parts of the world.
The Samsung Galaxy Note III has been suggested to be working with a 5.9-inch display with 1080p resolution and an S-Pen with abilities ever-so-slightly advanced beyond those of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, revealed earlier this year. Tips on model numbers, in this case, come from noted leakster C Technology in all his mousy goodness.
Though Samsung’s financial quarter announcements this week showed the company to be kicking up a storm (metaphorically, of course), with the Galaxy S 4 family of devices on the market today, shares fell internationally at word that analysis projections were not met. This sort of thing isn’t unheard of, but to the lay person, it’s not the easiest thing to make simple sense of. Why, if Samsung’s quarterly profits are up 47% compared to this quarter last year, are investors spooked enough to kick down shares 4% in the Seoul stock market?
You’ll find The Guardian quoting analyst CW Chung from Nomura Financial Investment in Seoul speaking on how “because of the marketing costs, the telecommunications business was probably weaker than expected.” Meanwhile Bloomberg quotes analyst Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics saying “Apple is suffering from iPhone fatigue, while Samsung is suffering from Galaxy fatigue.”
The latter quote was issued before earnings were sent out publicly by Samsung while the same source has Byun Han Joon, a Seoul-based analyst at KB Investment & Securities Co., speaking after the fact:
“It sharply missed the market expectation, and that worries me. The market was initially concerned about the third- and fourth-quarter results, but today’s news raises questions if the earnings are already in bad shape.” – Byun Han Joon
This analyst speaks on the idea that what Bloomberg quotes as a “58.6 trillion-won average of 38 estimates” as concerning when compared to Samsung’s actual sales at 57 trillion won in this most recent quarterly results report. Estimates appear more important right this minute than the fact that sales ramped up from 47.6 trillion won this same quarter a year earlier – that’s no bump to scoff at.
And know this – final results haven’t even been announced yet in full. Today’s report from Samsung is only a preliminary report on their full financial Q2 2013 results which will be announced on July 26th. It would seem instead that the company is only preparing the world for their full report which will appear on July 26th.
You’ll find more information on what Samsung spent is money on this newest quarter in SlashGear’s first story on the company’s day, there speaking more on the stock drop when it was just 3% where here final numbers for the day set stock at 4% lower than at the beginning of the day.
There is indeed a supposed “slow down” that could be attributed to smartphone fatigue. Samsung’s mobile business continues to grow, but down to 4-percent above the quarter before this one rather than the 8-percent of that quarter compared to the one before it.
Samsung will be kicking out somewhere around 20 million Galaxy S 4 unit sales with 100 million units being eyed for the all-time unit sales record – eventually, that is. And it’s Jung Sang-jin, a fund manager at Dongbu Asset Management, (owner of Samsung shares) quoted by Reuters, that puts the situation in a rather clear light:
“Is Samsung’s smartphone story now over? Not quite yet. It’s growth is indeed slowing due largely to disappointing sales of the S4. Yet I think Samsung has some exciting stuff up its sleeves. The problem is no one is sure whether these products can really wow investors and consumers.” – Jung Sang-jin
Encouraging enough for you? We’ll see how the market reacts when Samsung actually truly does announce their real final numbers later this month.
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