Samsung cannot be ignored, and the importance of the Galaxy S5 cannot be overlooked. New bearer of the crown of “best-known Android smartphone” it’s a chance not only for Samsung … Continue reading
The Samsung Galaxy S5, an upcoming flagship that has yet to be released but has been officially announced last month, looks set to usher in a new era of flagship devices as well. However, we are pleased to take note that a more and more active developer community would allow users to experience some of the features from the handset before the device itself is actually released officially. Apparently, some of the main apps that will be found in the upcoming flagship is readily available for download on older Samsung devices including its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S4 as well as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
TouchWiz Apps From Samsung Galaxy S5 Spotted original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The original HTC One works with HTC’s own “Sense” user interface, while the Google Play edition works with Googles’ – MoDaCo.SWITCH allows you to choose which of the two you like better at any given time. This system is a hack, at heart, requiring that you root your device before you allow yourself the freedom to choose either the HTC Sense or Android Jelly Bean Vanilla iteration at the tap of a button (and a few seconds’ wait). What you get, though, is a completely unique set of controls.
This system is not just coming to the HTC One – currently in Public Beta, at this point, mind you – but the Galaxy S 4 as well. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is one of two devices – the other being the HTC One – to earn itself the right to be a Google Play edition in addition to being its own Samsung-made self.
What the folks at MoDaCo – just one fellow, that is, ROM developer Paul O’Brien – will be doing is adding an on/off switch to the full ROM of all the little bits and pieces that make up Google’s edition of the software right next to HTC’s version of the software. Whenever you’d like to switch from one to the other, you’ll have to hit the reboot button, but all of your data will be safe and sound flipping back and forth.
Now we’ve only to wait for this same sort of system to appear for any and all smartphones on the market with their own custom UI over Android. Could such a toggle switch be added to Android as a requirement from Google in order to be Google Certified?
Such a thought is quite intriguing, to say the least.
VIA: MoDaCo
HTC One’s MoDaCo.SWITCH coming to Galaxy S 4 as well: change-up! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The clues continue to appear for the summer 2013 generation of Samsung devices, each of them riding in on the herald that was the smartphone GALAXY S 4. As this hero device brings in this generation’s aesthetic style and software features, each of the following will come up: Samsung Galaxy Note III, Galaxy Camera II,
This week the folks at Samsung delivered news of two new Galaxy Tab 3 devices, each of them bringing with them the next generation of GALAXY S 4 aesthetics and wireless abilities. The 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 was delivered with a note that it’d be bringing a dual-core Intel processor inside, but only in a
Back in August 2011, CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik was hired by Samsung due to the man’s expertise of the Android platform and its customization powers. However, after only a year-and-a-half on the job, Kondik has decided to leave the company, but not before sharing some thoughts on Samsung’s new GALAXY S 4. His words were mostly praises, but he created a little thunder when talking about the company’s TouchWiz user interface.
Kondik posted his thoughts of the GALAXY S 4 on his Google+ page, and he mostly praised the device, saying that while there was “no refresh of the industrial design other than a few minor things such as the edging…the device actually feels quite a bit more solid than the [Galaxy S III].” Kondik also noted that the new device “blows the competition out of the water” as far as specs are concerned.
However, his thoughts on Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface weren’t as praising. Kondik said that TouchWiz has become more polished with the latest version on the GALAXY S 4, but he says that “it feels like it has been sent a few years back in time to the Froyo days.” As for the UI’s performance, Kondik says “it’s better and worse at the same time, depending on your viewpoint I suppose.”
Kondik’s Google+ post was merely just a quick review of the new device from his viewpoint, ending with the recommendation that most Galaxy S III users don’t really need to bother updating to the GALAXY S 4 right away, but it is a substantial upgrade from the Galaxy S II. Kondik left Samsung on good terms, however, and says that he has plans lined up for the foreseeable future.
[via Android Police]
CyanogenMod founder leaves Samsung, bashes TouchWiz UI is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Less than two years after the CyanogenMod founder was scooped up by Samsung to improve Android’s veneer, Steve Kondik has decided to depart for greener pastures. In a Google Plus posting, the software engineer shared his mostly positive impressions for Samsung’s Galaxy S 4, casually mentioning that he’d departed the Korean behemoth’s embrace. The one thing that came in for a bashing was TouchWiz’s updated UI, that he says “feels like it has been sent back a few years in time to the Froyo days.” Responding to a comment, Mr. Kondik said that nothing in particular had prompted his departure beyond a desire to “do something new,” but given the man’s pedigree, we can only assume it’ll be somehow related to the little green droid that could.
[Image credit: Erica Joy]
Via: Android Police
Source: Steve Kondik (Google Plus)
Since lockscreen bypass methods are apparently what’s hot in the streets, it’s no surprise that yet another one has surfaced, this time targeting Samsung’s Android phones. A variant of another, earlier uncovered method, this one does not fully unlock the phone by itself, but does provide access to apps and settings for a brief period. Given that, as demonstrated in the video by Terence Eden, it’s possible to use Google Play to download an app to disable the locked screen and fully access the phone.
According to Terence, this problem is confirmed on the Galaxy Note II, possibly the Galaxy S III and potentially on other TouchWiz UI Samsung Android phones. Disabling screen animations under developer options should reduce the vulnerability, but doesn’t eliminate it without switching to another ROM. He also mentions Samsung is aware of the issue and is working on a fix, but that leaves phones accessible right now. We’ve certainly seen enough of these recently (Apple’s latest version of iOS has also been victimized again in the last day) to know leaving our phones out, locked or unlocked, is foolish. At the same time, if a manufacturer insists on adding customized software to the existing platform, it could at least have the courtesy to do so without causing security leaks — check after the break for a “bonus” vid sent in by another tipster that shows a way to activate voice commands on a locked Galaxy S II.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung
Via: Rootzwiki
Source: Terence Eden Has A Blog
Now that the Samsung GALAXY S 4 has been revealed officially and the HTC One is out in reviewers’ hands, it’s time to do the first big battle royal between the two. With the GALAXY S 4 you’ve got Samsung’s continuation of a legacy with a device that looks rather similar to the Samsung Galaxy S III, not to mention the Galaxy Note devices that’ve been revealed in the time since the smartphone’s last iteration’s reveal. With the HTC One we’ve got what appears to be more of an utter re-vamp of the company’s wares from top to bottom – which approach suits you best?
Both devices work with Android Jelly Bean, though the HTC One’s update to 4.2 is coming soon (perhaps by launch time) while the GALAXY S 4 has its 4.2 version of the software ready on the device right here this week as it’s revealed. The HTC device has a user interface that’s extremely different from what they’ve offered before with a whole new app drawer for Android and a feature called BlinkFeed – learn more about HTC’s approach in our full HTC One review.
The Samsung GALAXY S 4, on the other hand, adds a collection of apps and features to its user interface with TouchWiz, leaving the UI in a more grand way pretty much the same as it’s been on the newest updates to both the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II. Have a peek at some specification comparisons here to see how the hardware differs, too:
Samsung GALAXY S 4
Display: 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED 1920 x 1080 pixel display at 441 PPI
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.9 GHz Quad-Core Processor / Samsung Exynos 1.6 GHz Octa-Core Processor – depending on market
Cameras: 2 megapixel front-facing, 13 megapixel back-facing
Dimensions: 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm, 130g
Storage: 16 / 32 / 64 GB internal storage, 64GB expansion microSD slot
Battery: 2600 mAh
HTC One
Display: 4.7-inch Full HD Super LCD3 1920 x 1080 pixel display at 469 PPI
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cameras: 2.1 megapixel front-facing, 4 megapixel back-facing (Ultrapixels in both cases)
Dimensions: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm, 143g
Storage: 32 / 64 GB internal storage
Battery: 2300 mAh
The Samsung GALAXY S 4 has been pushed with a set of four pillars of user experience excellence while the HTC One was given a similar push with more feature upgrades than you can shake a stick at. In the timeline below you’ll be given a tour of our hands-on experiences with the HTC One and its features as well as a tour of the GALAXY S 4′s four pillars. You’ll find both approaches to be rather interesting if not utterly confusing until you actually have the hardware in your hands.
And here’s one of the biggest key differentiators between the two of these devices: the Samsung GALAXY S 4 has a removable, replaceable battery as well as a microSD expansion slot. The HTC One has neither.
If one thing is true about both of these devices, its that their makers aren’t holding back when it comes to putting features in full-force. Now we’ve got to see if the public will accept a whirlwind of software and hardware upgrades at once, or if they’ll opt to stick with the simpler approaches on the market that are already available.
Samsung GALAXY S 4 vs HTC One is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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