http://monthlyyouth.com/?ref=635701
Saturday, 8 November 2014
Sunday, 27 July 2014
apple iphone 6
If you’re an iPhone 5 owner who has yet to snap up the new iPhone 5sor 5c, chances are you’re holding out for the next iteration of the iPhone, like a sensible gadgeteer.
The iPhone 6 remains a complete mystery so far - but that hasn't stopped the rumour mill from grinding away, and some even have a ring of truth about them.
So then, what are the web's commentators saying about the iPhone 6? Well…
It’s very likely that the iPhone 6’s design will be different enough from the iPhone 5s to earn it its all-new number.
Traditionally, ‘s’ devices have kept the same design as their predecessors, with major differences appearing on the insides.
Apple will get a lot of flak if the iPhone 6 turns out to be a 5s with faster innards, so we’re expecting an all-new aluminium design.
There’s currently no indication as to what the iPhone 6 will look like, but that hasn’t stopped artist Frederico Ciccarese from creating an iPad-inspired iPhone 6 render, which borrows the curved metal back and shiny chamfered edges from the iPad Airand iPad Mini.
Update 09/01/14: A reportedly genuine metal iPhone 6 casing has been posted to Weibo by Chinese site CTech.
Apart from appearing to be ludicrously thin, it's also wider and taller, supporting rumours of a larger screen.
If true, it means the iPhone 6 will have the largest screen of any iPhone to date, letting it finally compete with its Android phablet rivals.
Designer Martin Hajek has also created some beautiful renders based on schematics leaked by previously reliable Japanese site Macotakara.
Update 17/04/14: French site Nowehereelse.fr has posted spy shots of reportedly genuine iPhone 6 batteries. Interestingly, the connector pins have shifted from the side to the top, suggesting that an internal redesign has occurred to help make way for a larger screen.
Update 07/05/14: Italian site Macitynet has posted images of what purports to be an iPhone 6 dummy unit alongside the iPhone 5s and a Samsung Galaxy S5. The pics seem to back up the rumours of a taller, wider iPhone 6, with rounded edges and an all-black anodised aluminium finish. Also notable is the protruding camera array, similar to the design of the current iPod Touch.
Update 16/04/14: A reportedly genuine leak of an iPhone 6 manufacturing mould once again points to at least one larger iPhone in the works. French site Nowhereelse.fr has scaled up the image using the iPhone 4s for comparison, and it believes that we could be looking at around a 4.7in screen size, which fits in with all the rumours we've heard so far.
Update 27/05/14: Foxconn is reportedly building the bulk of the iPhone 6 production run, according to a report from Taiwanese tech titleDigiTimes [via AppleInsider]. The report reaffirms Apple's plans to launch a a 4.7in version and a 5.5in version of the iPhone 6; Apple supplier Pegatron will produce around 30 per cent of the 4.7in model, and none of the 5.5in version. Foxconn is expected to begin supplying the 4.7in iPhone in July, with the 5.5in version following in August.For those with smaller fingers (or pocketbooks), an "existing" model of the 4in iPhone will continue to be produced by Wistron – likely the iPhone 5s. Interestingly, the report suggests that the 4.7in and 4in models will be the "main sales force for Apple in 2014," suggesting that the 5.5in variant is aimed at a niche market.
Samsung Galaxy S5 review
Pros
- Fantastic screen
- Versatile, high-quality camera
- Feature-packed
- Excellent battery life
Key Features: 16-megapixel camera; 5.1-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen; Android 4.4 with TouchWiz
Manufacturer: Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S5: Water Resistance
The Galaxy S5's water resistance works just as it does on other recent water resistant phones. There are rubber seals on the plastic cover and on the flap that sits over the USB port on the bottom. This is one of the few phones to use an oversized micro USB 3.0 socket, also seen in a few other Samsung phones including the Galaxy Note 3, and it makes the bottom flap fairly large.
Crucial to the convenience of the water resistant design, the headphone jack doesn't need a flap as it's coated internally to avoid letting any water in,
Samsung has managed to add water resistance without any obvious increase in the bulk of phone, and after charging the phone throws up a reminder to close the flap – which is handy (but not dismissable as far as we can tell, and therefore sure to become annoying).
However, there are some slight concerns about the longevity of these ultra-slimline waterproofing systems. The waterproof rubber border is less than a millimeter thick, and feels very slight. It may not last for ever. We like to think of these phones' waterpoofing as a form of insurance, not an excuse to drop your phone in your pint at every opportunity.
The actual specification of the Galaxy S5's water resistance is IP67. This means the phone is impervious to dust and can be submerged in water for up to half an hour. This is not quite as good as the IP55 and IP58 ratings of the waterproof Xperia Z2. That phone is certified to stay underwater for longer and withstand water jets. The difference won't matter for most people, but the key point is that the Galaxy S5 is 'water resistant' while the Z2 is genuinely waterproof. Our feature, 'Waterproof Phones: IP Ratings Explained', goes into a great deal more detail on the topic.
Crucial to the convenience of the water resistant design, the headphone jack doesn't need a flap as it's coated internally to avoid letting any water in,
Samsung has managed to add water resistance without any obvious increase in the bulk of phone, and after charging the phone throws up a reminder to close the flap – which is handy (but not dismissable as far as we can tell, and therefore sure to become annoying).
However, there are some slight concerns about the longevity of these ultra-slimline waterproofing systems. The waterproof rubber border is less than a millimeter thick, and feels very slight. It may not last for ever. We like to think of these phones' waterpoofing as a form of insurance, not an excuse to drop your phone in your pint at every opportunity.
The actual specification of the Galaxy S5's water resistance is IP67. This means the phone is impervious to dust and can be submerged in water for up to half an hour. This is not quite as good as the IP55 and IP58 ratings of the waterproof Xperia Z2. That phone is certified to stay underwater for longer and withstand water jets. The difference won't matter for most people, but the key point is that the Galaxy S5 is 'water resistant' while the Z2 is genuinely waterproof. Our feature, 'Waterproof Phones: IP Ratings Explained', goes into a great deal more detail on the topic.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Fingerprint Scanner
Samsung's new fingerprint scanner is more interesting. We've seen a few different fingerprint scanners in mobiles over the last 12 months. The iPhone 5S's TouchID is a great success, the HTC One Max's rear scanner a flop.
The Galaxy S5 sits in a similar position to the iPhone scanner, but in use feels a little more like the HTC One Max one.
Rather than resting your finger over the button, as with an iPhone 5S, you swipe a finger over it. The sensor sits under the central select button, but you need to swipe over the very bottom of the touchscreen too as there's an element under the screen that activates the scanner.
You can teach the Galaxy S5 up to three fingers, letting multiple people get on-board.
The Trusted team has had mixed experiences with the fingerprint sensor, but I didn't find it particularly easy to use. A swipe-based mechanism like this requires quite an exact, smooth movement, and this is at odds with the casual, care-free way most of us use our phones. Compared with the iPhone 5S TouchID sensor, it's a bit of a pain.
To call upon a metaphor, where the TouchID sensor asks you to stand still, the S5 scanner demands you walk in a dead straight line. And that's fine at times, but not when you're in a rush, have just woken up or are inebriated and desperate to find out when the last train home leaves.
After the Galaxy S5 has failed to recognise your fingerprint three times, you're booted out to a more traditional password. And I had to use this password more often than not for the first few days. The performance boosted a little after the scanner was recalibrated a few times, but at best the hit rate was about 50 per cent.
If you want to do more research on the fingerprint sensor, it's based on Synaptics Natural ID technology. For more detail, read our Galaxy S5 Fingerprint Scanner vs iPhone 5S Touch ID comparison.
The Galaxy S5 sits in a similar position to the iPhone scanner, but in use feels a little more like the HTC One Max one.
Rather than resting your finger over the button, as with an iPhone 5S, you swipe a finger over it. The sensor sits under the central select button, but you need to swipe over the very bottom of the touchscreen too as there's an element under the screen that activates the scanner.
You can teach the Galaxy S5 up to three fingers, letting multiple people get on-board.
The Trusted team has had mixed experiences with the fingerprint sensor, but I didn't find it particularly easy to use. A swipe-based mechanism like this requires quite an exact, smooth movement, and this is at odds with the casual, care-free way most of us use our phones. Compared with the iPhone 5S TouchID sensor, it's a bit of a pain.
To call upon a metaphor, where the TouchID sensor asks you to stand still, the S5 scanner demands you walk in a dead straight line. And that's fine at times, but not when you're in a rush, have just woken up or are inebriated and desperate to find out when the last train home leaves.
After the Galaxy S5 has failed to recognise your fingerprint three times, you're booted out to a more traditional password. And I had to use this password more often than not for the first few days. The performance boosted a little after the scanner was recalibrated a few times, but at best the hit rate was about 50 per cent.
If you want to do more research on the fingerprint sensor, it's based on Synaptics Natural ID technology. For more detail, read our Galaxy S5 Fingerprint Scanner vs iPhone 5S Touch ID comparison.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Heart Rate Sensor
Perhaps the most conspicuous of the new hardware elements is the dedicated heart rate sensor, because it adds new sensors to the LED flash area on the back of the phone. The camera area on the pack looks positively gadget-packed now.
This is the first phone to use a dedicated heart rate sensor, but it uses fairly familiar technology. It lights-up your finger with a red/IR light, and monitors the visual changes caused by the circulation of your blood.
It works well, and takes about eight seconds, but there are two obvious questions – is it actually useful, and can you get this functionality elsewhere? At present, you can only use the Galaxy S5's heart rate sensor in the S Health app (although itappears to be part of the Samsung Bluetooth LE SDK, so should be able to be used in third-party apps), where it makes a graph of your previous results.
It will come in handy for measuring your resting heart rate, which is a reasonable indicator of general fitness levels. But it's not much cop for mid-exercise readings, where it would be of more use. Quite simply, holding your finger on the back of the Galaxy S5 while running is not a good idea. For that you really want a wrist-worm device like the Galaxy Fit.
In truth, you can already get a very similar experience with most other Android phones (and iPhones) too. Apps like Runtastic Heart Rate use your phone's LED flash and camera sensor in much the same way. And with the HTC One M8, our tests showed they provide similar results in a similar time frame.
The Galaxy S5 heart rate sensor is less interesting than it initially appears.
This is the first phone to use a dedicated heart rate sensor, but it uses fairly familiar technology. It lights-up your finger with a red/IR light, and monitors the visual changes caused by the circulation of your blood.
It works well, and takes about eight seconds, but there are two obvious questions – is it actually useful, and can you get this functionality elsewhere? At present, you can only use the Galaxy S5's heart rate sensor in the S Health app (although itappears to be part of the Samsung Bluetooth LE SDK, so should be able to be used in third-party apps), where it makes a graph of your previous results.
It will come in handy for measuring your resting heart rate, which is a reasonable indicator of general fitness levels. But it's not much cop for mid-exercise readings, where it would be of more use. Quite simply, holding your finger on the back of the Galaxy S5 while running is not a good idea. For that you really want a wrist-worm device like the Galaxy Fit.
In truth, you can already get a very similar experience with most other Android phones (and iPhones) too. Apps like Runtastic Heart Rate use your phone's LED flash and camera sensor in much the same way. And with the HTC One M8, our tests showed they provide similar results in a similar time frame.
The Galaxy S5 heart rate sensor is less interesting than it initially appears.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Why all the extras?
We're not huge fans of the heart rate sensor or the fingerprint scanner. The waterproofing deserves a nod, but why has Samsung put such a focus on these hardware 'extras' this year?
It becomes obvious when you look at the phone's other specs. Smartphones have plateau'd technologically – it might be temporary, but it affects all the early 2014 flagships. Samsung can't fit in a much larger screen without affecting how it feels to use, the screen is still at 1080p resolution and the Snapdragon 801 processor used here isn't that much more powerful or advanced than the Snapdragon 800 used in some of last year's phones.
Samsung clearly felt the need to put conspicuously 'new' hardware in the Galaxy S5. And some of it is not that good. Yet. This need to separate the Galaxy S5 from the Galaxy S4 in obvious ways also helps to explain slightly odd pitted finish.
It becomes obvious when you look at the phone's other specs. Smartphones have plateau'd technologically – it might be temporary, but it affects all the early 2014 flagships. Samsung can't fit in a much larger screen without affecting how it feels to use, the screen is still at 1080p resolution and the Snapdragon 801 processor used here isn't that much more powerful or advanced than the Snapdragon 800 used in some of last year's phones.
Samsung clearly felt the need to put conspicuously 'new' hardware in the Galaxy S5. And some of it is not that good. Yet. This need to separate the Galaxy S5 from the Galaxy S4 in obvious ways also helps to explain slightly odd pitted finish.
Samsung Galaxy S5: Internal Speaker
We would gladly trade away most of these supposed hardware innovations for a better internal speaker. But this is something that – once more – has been relatively neglected by Samsung.
Sound pipes out of a single grille under the backplate, and uses the limited internal area between the outer parts of the cover and the zone blocked off by the rubber seals to somewhat reinforce the sound (to act as a speaker enclosure of sorts).
We have heard worse speakers, and the Galaxy S5 can handle its own top volume without distorting significantly. But the sound is pretty tinny and bass-free. Coming from reviewing the HTC One M8 – which has relatively chunky-sounding stereo speakers – it's a depressing step down. And we'd wager only those with health-themed OCD would prefer a very limited-use heart rate sensor to a decent set of speakers.
The speaker also causes fairly severe vibration in the lower part of the phone's rear. It's the result of essentially using the outer casing as a speaker enclosure, and it is a bit annoying.
Sound pipes out of a single grille under the backplate, and uses the limited internal area between the outer parts of the cover and the zone blocked off by the rubber seals to somewhat reinforce the sound (to act as a speaker enclosure of sorts).
We have heard worse speakers, and the Galaxy S5 can handle its own top volume without distorting significantly. But the sound is pretty tinny and bass-free. Coming from reviewing the HTC One M8 – which has relatively chunky-sounding stereo speakers – it's a depressing step down. And we'd wager only those with health-themed OCD would prefer a very limited-use heart rate sensor to a decent set of speakers.
The speaker also causes fairly severe vibration in the lower part of the phone's rear. It's the result of essentially using the outer casing as a speaker enclosure, and it is a bit annoying.
Cons
- Not the prettiest of 2014phones
- Finicky fingerprint sensor
Samsung Galaxy S5 review .Samsung goes for evolution
The Samsung Galaxy S5 can be defined by one word: evolution.
The camera has evolved to give clearer, faster snaps. The fitness-tracking abilities of the S5 are enhanced over theGalaxy S4 by packing in a more powerful S Health app and a dedicated heart rate monitor on the rear. A fingerprint scanner adds to the most secure Galaxy phone ever made.
The battery is larger, the screen bigger and brighter, the processor quicker and the design altered.
The spec sheet certainly doesn't let it down: a 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 2800mAh (removable) battery, 16 / 32GB of memory (with up to 128GB extra through microSD), one of the world's most vibrant screens that's been extended to 5.1-inches and added biometrics.
Ratings in depth
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Top 5 makers of tablets
On Thursday, Samsung Electronics Co. will start selling the Galaxy Note 10.1 in the U.S. in its latest effort to compete with Apple's dominant iPad. The Note will have a digital pen and a faster processor at the same price tag as the iPad.
Apple
had extended its dominance in tablet computers in the second quarter,
shipping nearly seven out of every 10 tablets, according to research
firm IHS iSuppli.
A new model came out a few weeks before the April-June quarter began.
Google's challenger, the Nexus 7, didn't start shipping until the third
quarter. Sales of the Note will also be reflected in the third quarter.
Apple's
69.6 percent share in the April-June quarter is up from about 58
percent in the first quarter. It's the highest since the first quarter
of last year, when Apple had 70 percent in a market with fewer
competitors then.
Here are the top five manufacturers of tablets in the second quarter, as released by IHS iSuppli on Tuesday:
Apple Inc., maker of the iPad, 17 million shipped worldwide, 69.6 percent share
Samsung Electronics Co., maker of Galaxy line, 2.3 million, 9.2 percent.
Amazon.com Inc., maker of Kindle Fire, 1 million, 4.2 percent
AsusTek Computer Inc., maker of Transformer line, 688,000, 2.8 percent
Barnes & Noble Inc., maker of Nook Tablet, 459,000, 1.9 percent
Other, 3 million, 12.3 percent
Source: IHS iSuppli
Samsung starts sales of Galaxy Note 10.1
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. is taking another shot at the dominance of Apple's iPad with a tablet equipped with a digital pen and a faster processor at the same price tag.
The Wi-Fi only version of the Galaxy Note 10.1 will go on sale in the
U.S. on Thursday. The price starts at $499 for the basic model with 16
gigabytes of storage and $549 for the 32-gigabyte model, expandable with
an external memory card.
Apple's latest iPad starts at the same price but the Note 10.1 offers some features that the iPad doesn't have, while its screen resolution is lower than the iPad's. It is Samsung's first Android tablet equipped with a digital pen and can run two applications side-by-side on a screen divided in half.
The split screen, made possible
by the quad-core processor and 2 gigabytes of RAM, can be useful when
taking notes while watching a video or surfing the Internet.
Analysts said this capability of the Note tablet is intended to
attract business and education customers, a strategy that could be more
effective than going all out against the iPad, which already dominates
nearly 70 percent of the worldwide tablet market.
Samsung released about a half
dozen Android tablets in the last two years under the Galaxy Tab series
but none of them has been as popular as the iPad. Analysts say Android
tablets are less successful because of a dearth of applications and
higher prices.
But with the Note 10.1, the South
Korean company believes it has a product that will find favor with
corporations and schools despite the iPad's rich pool of applications
and sharper screen.
While Apple makes one new model
for the iPhone and iPad every year to meet demand from all around the
world, Samsung releases multiple mobile products with variations in
prices, screen sizes, hardware and operating systems.
This strategy helped Samsung edge
pass Apple in smartphone sales but hasn't paid off in the tablet area,
probably because Samsung's previous tablets were not differentiated
enough from the iPad. Samsung's second-quarter market share in the
global tablet market fell to 9 percent, while nearly seven out of 10
tablets in the market were emblazoned with Apple logo, according to IHS
iSuppli.
Analysts say they see how
multitasking, the note-taking feature and other tasks that can be done
with the digital pen can help differentiate the Galaxy Note 10.1 from
the iPad, something that may grab the attention of professional artists,
educators and businesses if these features are executed smoothly.
"I think the video on the left
and note-taking on the right half of the screen can be widely used for
educational purposes," said Lee Sei-cheol, a technology analyst at
Meritz Securities.
Samsung has improved the
pressure-sensitive pen to make it feel more natural and accurate since
the "S Pen" digital pen was first introduced with the Galaxy Note last
year. The unexpected success of the 5.3-inch hybrid of a smartphone and a
tablet emboldened Samsung to further explore the digital pen features.
There are also some 30
applications for sketching and note taking as well as Adobe Photoshop
Touch and games where S Pen comes in handier than touching the screen.
Samsung plans to expand the list of applications that support
multitasking, which is currently limited to six, an official said.
Other features indicate that Samsung developed the products with the
education and corporate markets in sight. The updated S Note app can
recognize handwritten math formula, geometric shapes, English alphabets
and Chinese characters, allowing the digital pen to function as an input
device in the absence of a physical keyboard.
"The S Pen offers both active
content creation as well as passive content consumption," President of
Samsung Electronics America Tim Baxter said in a statement.
In South Korea, Samsung has
already started going after enterprise clients and schools with the
Galaxy Note 10.1 and the company has not released the product for
consumers.
Samsung Life Insurance and its
affiliated insurance company Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance began
handing out the Note 10.1 for sales people who are ditching large stacks
of paper for the tablet.
Samsung also said it will donate
nearly 600 Note tablets to eight South Korean schools for educational
use. South Korea is rolling out a $2 billion project to replace paper
books with digital texts.
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Mac OS X 10.8: Mountain Lion
The good: Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion's new iCloud integration and syncing features give you the same experience on all your devices. Upgrades to several core apps bring new and useful features for sharing and social connectivity.
The bad: Game Center, while finally available for Mac, still only has basic features. Dictation sends your voice to be translated at Apple servers, so you can't use it while offline. Gatekeeper keeps you from downloading unsafe programs, but it seems mostly unnecessary.
The bottom line: Though it's not a complete system or interface overhaul, Mountain Lion's improved core apps and new features make it well worth the $19.99 price.
In
the tale of two operating systems, Apple's Mountain Lion is a less
ambitious endeavor. Rather than completely rewriting the book as
Microsoft is attempting with Windows 8, Apple's latest operating system
simply cleans house, clearing clutter, while bringing more cloud and
sharing features into the fold -- specifically to make the desktop play
nice with iOS devices. Some of the new features come directly from iOS,
and many are welcome, but some seem unnecessary. Ultimately, what you
get is the familiar layout of Apple's operating system and much less of a
learning curve than with what we've seen so far of Windows 8's
completely new touch-screen-focused interface.
The Mountain Lion
release marks the second time Apple has offered an incremental upgrade,
rather than releasing a new cat entirely (previously Leopard upgraded to
Snow Leopard, for example). But don't let the modest feature or name
upgrades deter you from seriously considering Mountain Lion: Apple
doesn't change the game with the update, but improves everything from
Safari to Messaging and adds new iCloud and sharing capabilities that
make moving between devices easier.
Where Windows 8 dives head
first into the touch-screen tablet market with a completely revamped
user interface, Apple has improved upon what was already available, and
-- in my opinion, based on using both Mountain Lion and early versions
of Windows 8 -- Apple has made the wiser decision. By keeping the mobile
and desktop operating systems separate, Apple can still deliver the
best experience on each of its devices.
Installation
Installation for Mac OS X Mountain Lion requires a couple of steps. Start by running Software Update and check for Mac App Store updates -- this is always a good practice before a major upgrade, to make sure you have the latest versions of Apple's core apps.
From there, simply
navigate to the Mac App Store, purchase the upgrade, and begin
downloading. You'll need to have an account with Apple via the Mac or
iTunes Store in order to purchase Mountain Lion. The OS is about 4GB
(approximately the size of a full-length film download), so depending on
your connection, you may want to start the download before going to bed
or leaving for work. When the download is finished, the Mountain Lion
installer appears in the Dock and launches automatically.
Mac OS X
Mountain Lion installs in place, so you won't need to create a separate
disk or run the installation off an external drive. All of your photos,
documents, applications, and other saved files will be there when
you're finished with the upgrade. Once the installation is complete,
your Mac will automatically restart and you'll be ready to start
exploring.
iCloud integration makes getting started easy
As the first major operating system release since iCloud, Mountain Lion was built with several new cloud features integrated into many of the apps.
One great new feature for those with a brand-new Mac is the
ability to sign in through the Setup Assistant with your Apple ID and
sync all your settings along with your apps. Your e-mail, contacts,
calendars, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and more will automatically be
synced up with other devices and made ready for use on your Mac by
entering your Apple ID. This will be a welcome feature for iOS users
setting up a new Mac for the first time because right off the bat you'll
immediately be able to take advantage of all the new sharing features
in Mountain Lion. One important thing to note, however, is that Apple says that Facebook integration will come in a later free update this fall.
With Apple's latest version of Mac OS X, upon
launch of any app that lets you create documents, you'll now have all of
your cloud-synced projects available whether you created them on your
Mac or on an iOS device.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Documents in the Cloud should make it easier for those who
work on multiple Macs and iOS devices. Now, when you launch a program
that produces documents (such as Pages, for example), you'll be
presented with what Apple calls the Open Panel. Here you'll see that
specific app's iCloud Document Library with all of the documents you
have saved to iCloud with the most recent at the top. Using a button at
the top, you can also choose to launch documents currently on your Mac.
The window supports document folders, letting you drag one document on
top of another to create a folder, just as you would arrange apps into
folders on an iOS device. As I talk about more of the new features in
Mountain Lion, you'll see many that are clearly ideas brought over from
iOS devices.
As I mentioned, Documents in the Cloud will work
with any Apple app that produces documents currently (like TextEdit and
Preview) along with all three iWork apps. Apple is also making it
available as an API for third-party developers, so expect other apps
that produce documents to come out with an update soon after Mountain
Lion is released.
Messages on the Mac
Those with iPhones or iPads running iOS 5 or later will appreciate the
update for Messages (and iMessage) in Mountain Lion. Now, whether on a
Mac or iOS device, you'll be able to take advantage of Apple's no-cost
texting features with iMessage, and the ability to send a text to an
iPhone from your Mac is certainly convenient. Messages (as opposed to
iMessage) will also let you communicate with the same services you did
with iChat, including AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and Jabber. The way Apple
differentiates between the services is by making iMessage chats blue
and chats with other services green (similar to iOS devices).
The Messages app lets you chat with both Mac
users and people with iOS devices. You can add a picture by dragging and
dropping one in, but I wish there were a button for uploading an image.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
The Messages window is set up with all your recent
conversations on the left and the actual conversation window on the
right. Just like iOS, you'll get typing indicators to show your friend
is responding and delivery receipts that show your message has been
delivered to the device. But in Mountain Lion, you'll also be notified
when the recipient has read the message (only if the iOS user has
allowed for it in settings) -- a feature that will be added to Apple's
mobile devices in iOS 6.
Just like the iOS version of Messages,
you'll be able to start a group chat simply by adding more names at the
top. When you send your message it will be seen by all recipients and
their replies will be shown to everyone as well. In the Mountain Lion
version, you'll also have the ability to quickly switch to FaceTime
video chats using a button in the upper right of the chat window.
One
issue I noticed in the preview that remains in Mountain Lion is the
absence of a camera button to quickly add a picture to a message
(something that comes standard in iOS messages). Messages in Mountain
Lion lets you drag and drop an image, but in the case when you don't
have the image handy, it requires a few steps to go find one and drag it
into the interface. This is a feature where we prefer the iOS method,
so hopefully it will be added in a future update.
Safari
Apple's Web browser isn't the fastest Web browser overall, but
improvements in Mountain Lion have added more reasons to stick with it
on the Mac. With the Smart Search Field, Apple is taking a page from
other popular Web browsers like Google Chrome, making the address bar
serve double duty as your place to enter addresses and search the Web.
When you enter a search term, Safari displays Top Hits right below the
field based on your browsing history.
Across all the core apps, you now can click the
Sharing Button to send items through e-mail, via Messages, to social
sites, and other options based on the current app and content you are
sharing.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
iCloud integration in Safari also adds more features,
including a couple of new interface additions. With iCloud Tabs, Safari
now has a new cloud-shaped button next to the forward and back buttons
in the upper left. Once you sign in during initial setup with your Apple
ID, you'll now be able to view open tabs on all your Apple devices,
making it possible to pick up where you left off on another device
without missing a beat. Apple has added a sharing button to Safari as
well, where you'll find the options to add a page to your Reading List
or create a bookmark, but it also lists out ways to share a site via
e-mail, Message, Twitter, or Facebook. If you pick Message, Twitter, or
Facebook, Mountain Lion brings up a Share Sheet without ever leaving the
Web page you're currently on; sending via e-mail populates the e-mail
body with an image you're sharing, for example, and lets you fill in the
rest.
One major new interface enhancement for Safari is a joy to
use when running Mountain Lion with a trackpad. When you have a lot of
browser tabs open, the new Tab View lets you use a pinch gesture, then
use a two-finger swipe to browse your open tabs. A reverse-pinch returns
you to normal browsing. While mostly a cosmetic upgrade, once I got
used to pinching and swiping to browse tabs, it became second nature. In
my years reviewing Apple products, this is yet another example of how
Apple can make a small tweak to the interface that vastly improves the
experience. It may not be totally necessary (you could easily click to
look at each tab), but it's intuitive and saves time.
To round
out the updates to Safari, a few added features will make your surfing
smoother. Apple says it tested Safari (admittedly in-house) using the
SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, and says that it's faster than Internet
Explorer 9, Firefox 13, and Chrome 20 (in that order). Check back for our official benchmark testing later this week.
Safari also uses your GPU for improved hardware acceleration for
noticeably smoother scrolling and faster loading of pages. A new Offline
Reading List lets you save Web pages for offline viewing -- great for
when you're going to be on a plane or in a no-service area. The browser
also supports Do Not Track (think of Google Chrome's Incognito mode) and
Password AutoFill for sites you return to frequently.
Safari is
arguably the most important software on your computer as your window to
the Internet, and in Mountain Lion, Apple has succeeded in bringing it
up to speed with competing browsers, and offers a few extras (like Tab
View, Sharing, and Cloud Tabs) that make common tasks much easier.
Game Center now on Mac, but it's not perfect
Mountain Lion leans a lot on the up-to-the-instant, multidevice syncing
capabilities of iCloud across several of the core apps, but you wouldn't
know it from the Mac OS X debut of Game Center. The perennially
underpowered social gaming hub of iOS has always been disappointing for
iOS gamers, and its arrival on Mac desktops won't do much to change
that.
edit YouTube captions
How did one Google intern spend his summer? Cooking up a new feature for YouTube users.
In a "Diary of a Summer Intern" blog posted yesterday, Rio Akasaka described the feature for editing video captions. Instead of creating a brand new caption for your YouTube videos, you can now simply change the existing caption online.
As an intern, Akasaka had help from a mentor, but he apparently played a leading role in designing the new feature. And as an associate product manager, he was responsible in large part for the project's outcome.
"My project required me to work with user experience designers to craft an intuitive workflow, coordinate efforts to ensure that engineering goes smoothly, and test the end features to make sure they work for users," explained Akasaka, who worked in Google's Tokyo offices. "To me, it felt like trying to be a concert conductor in a noisy field."
And with the summer not yet over, the work continues. Akasaka said that he still has to monitor feedback from users and check logs to make sure people are using the new caption-editing feature.
"A week ago, I traveled to YouTube's San Bruno headquarters to meet with the team -- including those who work on YouTube player and the folks that help video creators manage their library," he added. "When you handle 72 hours of video uploaded every minute and 4 billion hours of video watched by users per month, there's a significant impact that a single improvement can have, and lots of priorities to juggle."
In a June 28 blog post, Akasaka described how he was already diving into the YouTube caption feature just three weeks into his assignment.
The intern also participated in the company's GoogleServe, an initiative that allows Google workers to take time off for volunteer work. Akasaka said he traveled to northern Japan to help people still struggling to recover from last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
In a "Diary of a Summer Intern" blog posted yesterday, Rio Akasaka described the feature for editing video captions. Instead of creating a brand new caption for your YouTube videos, you can now simply change the existing caption online.
As an intern, Akasaka had help from a mentor, but he apparently played a leading role in designing the new feature. And as an associate product manager, he was responsible in large part for the project's outcome.
"My project required me to work with user experience designers to craft an intuitive workflow, coordinate efforts to ensure that engineering goes smoothly, and test the end features to make sure they work for users," explained Akasaka, who worked in Google's Tokyo offices. "To me, it felt like trying to be a concert conductor in a noisy field."
And with the summer not yet over, the work continues. Akasaka said that he still has to monitor feedback from users and check logs to make sure people are using the new caption-editing feature.
"A week ago, I traveled to YouTube's San Bruno headquarters to meet with the team -- including those who work on YouTube player and the folks that help video creators manage their library," he added. "When you handle 72 hours of video uploaded every minute and 4 billion hours of video watched by users per month, there's a significant impact that a single improvement can have, and lots of priorities to juggle."
In a June 28 blog post, Akasaka described how he was already diving into the YouTube caption feature just three weeks into his assignment.
The intern also participated in the company's GoogleServe, an initiative that allows Google workers to take time off for volunteer work. Akasaka said he traveled to northern Japan to help people still struggling to recover from last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The iPad (Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET) Apple's iPad is proving extremely difficult to catch. According to data released today by research firm IHS iSuppli, Apple nabbed 69.6 percent of the tablet market in the second quarter on 17 million shipments worldwide. Samsung, its arch-nemesis, came in second place with 9.2 percent share on 2.3 million tablet shipments. Amazon and Asus took the third and fourth spots with 4.2 percent and 2.8 percent share, respectively. "Apple is making all the right moves to rebuild its dominant position in the tablet space," Rhoda Alexander, director for tablet and monitor research for IHS, said today in a statement. "The company is pushing visual performance boundaries with the new iPad, while providing value customers with a lower-priced alternative, the iPad 2. With the expected entrance of the 7-inch version of the iPad in September, Apple is sending a clear message that it plans to dominate this market over the long term." Related stories iPhone users can find movies and TV shows via Verizon's Viewdini iPhone owned 63 percent of smartphone marketshare at AT&T The ABCs of Apple v. Samsung Beware the allure of Apple's Retina Displays Google working on Gmail issues for Apple users iSuppli's figures don't include the latest major tablet launch, Google's Nexus 7. After its recent launch, the Nexus 7 took off in a big way. The 16GB option, which costs just $249, quickly sold out on Google's Play Store. The device is now back in stock. Despite its early success, Alexander doesn't necessarily believe that the Nexus 7 could hurt the iPad. He also indicated in a statement today that Microsoft's Surface tablet, which is slated to hit store shelves this fall, is another device that, while promising, won't be able to keep up. "Apple's major media tablet rivals, Google and Microsoft, hope to challenge Apple in the second half of the year, but will be facing formidable headwinds with no sign that the market leader is backing off of its aggressive strategy in the market," Alexander says. IHS iSuppli isn't alone in thinking that the iPad will continue to dominate the tablet market. Back in June, in fact, research firm IDC revealed that it believes Apple will own 62.5 percent of the tablet market by the end of this year, up from 58.2 percent last year. "The addition of the Retina Display and 4G capabilities to the third-generation products clearly enticed many current owners to upgrade," Tom Mainelli, an IDC analyst, said in June. "And Apple's decision to keep two iPad 2s in the market at lower prices--moving the entry-level price down to $399--seems to be paying off as well." Overall, the tablet market had a strong second quarter, with 24.4 million units shipping worldwide during the period. In the first quarter of 2012, 20.3 million tablets shipped worldwide.
t's that time of year again when the rumors are flying about a new Apple
iPhone.
Eager iPhone fans are already plotting their upgrade to the new
iPhone, which is expected to be announced and launched in September.
Many people who already own iPhones sell them in order to get cash to
buy their next iPhones. But as the rumor mill heats up, prices typically
drop. So when is the best time for an iPhone fanboy or fangirl to sell
their used iPhone? I offer some advice.
Also in this Ask Maggie, I empathize with a reader who is frustrated and confused by the data plans offered by wireless operators for different devices.
The best time to sell your old iPhone is now
Dear Maggie,
I have and iPhone 4S, but I really want the iPhone 5 when it comes out next month. The only problem is that I am not yet ready for an upgrade on AT&T. Anyway, I was hoping to resell my existing iPhone 4S to help pay for the full price of the iPhone 5.
Because I am using the money to pay for the new iPhone 5, I need to get top dollar for my iPhone 4S. I know the value will likely go down after the new iPhone is announced. But do you have any idea when the best time would be to sell my old iPhone? And how much value do you think I'll lose on my phone if I wait until it's announced?
Thanks,]
TJ Dear TJ,
You are wise to start thinking about this now. I talked to Jeff Trachsel, chief marketing officer for Nextworth, a site where people can trade in their used smartphones. And he said that as the rumor mill starts churning prior to the launch of a new iPhone trade-in prices start declining. He said it's best to sell your old iPhone as soon as you can.
I checked Nextworth today and the price for a used iPhone 4S 16GB on AT&T in good condition is $263. Of course the problem is that if you trade in your phone now, you'll be without a phone until September 21, when the new iPhone is expected to go on sale.
If you have an old phone that you can use in the meantime, it could fill the void until you can get the new iPhone. If that's not an option, Nextworth offers a 21-day price guarantee. So you could lock-in a price starting on August 31, and then send your old iPhone to Nextworth when you get the new phone.
But keep in mind that the September 12 launch date and the September 21 sale date for the new iPhone are just rumors. Apple hasn't officially announced anything yet, so it's unclear if the new iPhone will really be announced on the first date and available September 21.
"If you can, the best scenario is to trade in your old iPhone
sooner rather than later," Trachsel said. "But if you don't have a
back-up phone you can use, then lock-in a price as close to the 21-days
before the new one comes out."
Trachsel said that prices on older iPhones have already started to fall, but he said that there hasn't been a steep decline yet.
Nextworth put together a chart tracking trade-in pricing from eBay during the last iPhone launch. And what the company discovered is that in the two months leading up to the launch, as the rumor mill spun nearly out of control, the previous generations of iPhones lost about 25 percent of their value.
The iPhone 4S was launched in October 2011, and the eBay data suggests prices started declining significantly starting in August.
The same trend is likely playing out now. But Trachsel said he hasn't yet seen a big dip in pricing. Still, he said he expects that from now until the new iPhone goes on sale, there will likely be a 3 to 4 percent drop in trade-in value each week. That means there's likely to be about a 12 percent drop per month until the launch, which will result in a similar 25 percent decline in value over just a couple of months before the new iPhone is released.
Even though the prices are dropping and they will continue to drop for the next few weeks, the good news is that iPhones still hold their value better than any other smartphone on the market. Even an older iPhone 3GS in the 8GB configuration will still fetch you $80 today.
Trachsel also says to keep in mind that some retail stores will let you trade-in your old devices in person and you get paid on the spot. Nextworth powers Target's trade-in program. In fact, starting Sunday August 12, 2012 until Saturday August 18, 2012 you can bring your old iPhone to a Target and automatically get $150 for any iPhone 4, $100 for any 3GS, $50 for any 3G device. The guaranteed price on the buy-back is available only in the stores.
While it's true that you might be able to get a better price via the website, Trachsel said the benefit of the in-store trade in is that you get your cash right away. You also will get exactly the price you've been quoted. He said that sometimes when people send in phones to the Website, the prices may be revised down when it is evaluated by a Nextworth employee.
"Sometimes there is a discrepancy in the condition of the phone and what someone thinks it's worth, and what we think it's worth once we see it," he said.
I hope this advice was helpful. And good luck!
More data plan confusion
Dear Maggie,
My question is a simple one. I have been shopping for a mobile broadband plan, so I can access the cellular network from my laptop. Why is it that a plan for a tablet is offered at a fraction of the cost of a laptop plan?
Thanks,
Chedrcheez Dear Chedrcheez,
I wouldn't say that the tablet plans are priced much less than the other data plans on a carrier such as Verizon Wireless. In fact, you often get less data for a tablet than you do for a laptop. But when I looked up the pricing, what I noticed was just how confusing and inconsistent the prices are.
If you are looking for a data plan for just a single device without a smartphone sharing the data on the account, the price per gigabyte depends on which device you plan on using with your service. Verizon seems to price data for USB modems for laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots that allow multiple devices to share one cellular data connection via Wi-Fi, and tablets differently for each product.
When you compare the different plans for the different products, it's quite confusing. And honestly, I don't think it makes a lot of sense. For example, tablet owners aren't even offered blocks of data in the same configuration as people using mobile hotspots and laptop computers.
I can't really explain why Verizon prices its plans this way. But my guess is that the company thinks that people use these devices in different ways and therefore the company justifies offering tablet owners with cellular connectivity built into their devices, 2GB less of data per month than it charges people, who could use a less-expensive Wi-Fi only tablet to connect to a Verizon Mi-Fi over the same 4G LTE network.
The tablet service with 2GB of data is $30 a month. And the Wi-Fi hotspot/Mi-Fi data plan is $30 for 4GB of data.
My guess is that over time, we will see these prices normalize and align. I don't expect that it will mean that prices will go down. That's unlikely in my opinion. I think Verizon at least sees its share plans as a step in this direction. With those plans you pay for a bucket of data each month and then you pay extra to connect certain devices.
But I still think these plans are too confusing. For example, you pay
$40 extra to use a smartphone, $20 to include a USB modem for a laptop,
and $10 to attach a cellular enabled tablet to the single data plan.
Meanwhile, if your tablet and laptop have Wi-Fi, you can attach each of
these devices via the mobile hotspot feature on a smartphone without
paying any additional connectivity fee.
At the end of the day, I think even the share plans are too confusing. I can't give you a good justification for why Verizon has designed them this way. But I am pretty certain that if Verizon wants subscribers using more tablets, laptops and other Internet-enabled devices on its network, it has a lot more work to do in simplifying its data plans.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help. But hopefully, Verizon and others will revise their data plans so they make more sense to people.
Also in this Ask Maggie, I empathize with a reader who is frustrated and confused by the data plans offered by wireless operators for different devices.
The best time to sell your old iPhone is now
Dear Maggie,
I have and iPhone 4S, but I really want the iPhone 5 when it comes out next month. The only problem is that I am not yet ready for an upgrade on AT&T. Anyway, I was hoping to resell my existing iPhone 4S to help pay for the full price of the iPhone 5.
Because I am using the money to pay for the new iPhone 5, I need to get top dollar for my iPhone 4S. I know the value will likely go down after the new iPhone is announced. But do you have any idea when the best time would be to sell my old iPhone? And how much value do you think I'll lose on my phone if I wait until it's announced?
Thanks,]
TJ Dear TJ,
You are wise to start thinking about this now. I talked to Jeff Trachsel, chief marketing officer for Nextworth, a site where people can trade in their used smartphones. And he said that as the rumor mill starts churning prior to the launch of a new iPhone trade-in prices start declining. He said it's best to sell your old iPhone as soon as you can.
I checked Nextworth today and the price for a used iPhone 4S 16GB on AT&T in good condition is $263. Of course the problem is that if you trade in your phone now, you'll be without a phone until September 21, when the new iPhone is expected to go on sale.
If you have an old phone that you can use in the meantime, it could fill the void until you can get the new iPhone. If that's not an option, Nextworth offers a 21-day price guarantee. So you could lock-in a price starting on August 31, and then send your old iPhone to Nextworth when you get the new phone.
But keep in mind that the September 12 launch date and the September 21 sale date for the new iPhone are just rumors. Apple hasn't officially announced anything yet, so it's unclear if the new iPhone will really be announced on the first date and available September 21.
average selling price for iphone
Nextworth looked at reseller data for previous
iPhone launches and found the sooner you sell your old iPhone, the more
money you'll get for it.
(Credit:
Nextworth)
Trachsel said that prices on older iPhones have already started to fall, but he said that there hasn't been a steep decline yet.
Nextworth put together a chart tracking trade-in pricing from eBay during the last iPhone launch. And what the company discovered is that in the two months leading up to the launch, as the rumor mill spun nearly out of control, the previous generations of iPhones lost about 25 percent of their value.
The iPhone 4S was launched in October 2011, and the eBay data suggests prices started declining significantly starting in August.
The same trend is likely playing out now. But Trachsel said he hasn't yet seen a big dip in pricing. Still, he said he expects that from now until the new iPhone goes on sale, there will likely be a 3 to 4 percent drop in trade-in value each week. That means there's likely to be about a 12 percent drop per month until the launch, which will result in a similar 25 percent decline in value over just a couple of months before the new iPhone is released.
Even though the prices are dropping and they will continue to drop for the next few weeks, the good news is that iPhones still hold their value better than any other smartphone on the market. Even an older iPhone 3GS in the 8GB configuration will still fetch you $80 today.
Trachsel also says to keep in mind that some retail stores will let you trade-in your old devices in person and you get paid on the spot. Nextworth powers Target's trade-in program. In fact, starting Sunday August 12, 2012 until Saturday August 18, 2012 you can bring your old iPhone to a Target and automatically get $150 for any iPhone 4, $100 for any 3GS, $50 for any 3G device. The guaranteed price on the buy-back is available only in the stores.
While it's true that you might be able to get a better price via the website, Trachsel said the benefit of the in-store trade in is that you get your cash right away. You also will get exactly the price you've been quoted. He said that sometimes when people send in phones to the Website, the prices may be revised down when it is evaluated by a Nextworth employee.
"Sometimes there is a discrepancy in the condition of the phone and what someone thinks it's worth, and what we think it's worth once we see it," he said.
I hope this advice was helpful. And good luck!
More data plan confusion
Dear Maggie,
My question is a simple one. I have been shopping for a mobile broadband plan, so I can access the cellular network from my laptop. Why is it that a plan for a tablet is offered at a fraction of the cost of a laptop plan?
Thanks,
Chedrcheez Dear Chedrcheez,
I wouldn't say that the tablet plans are priced much less than the other data plans on a carrier such as Verizon Wireless. In fact, you often get less data for a tablet than you do for a laptop. But when I looked up the pricing, what I noticed was just how confusing and inconsistent the prices are.
If you are looking for a data plan for just a single device without a smartphone sharing the data on the account, the price per gigabyte depends on which device you plan on using with your service. Verizon seems to price data for USB modems for laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots that allow multiple devices to share one cellular data connection via Wi-Fi, and tablets differently for each product.
When you compare the different plans for the different products, it's quite confusing. And honestly, I don't think it makes a lot of sense. For example, tablet owners aren't even offered blocks of data in the same configuration as people using mobile hotspots and laptop computers.
I can't really explain why Verizon prices its plans this way. But my guess is that the company thinks that people use these devices in different ways and therefore the company justifies offering tablet owners with cellular connectivity built into their devices, 2GB less of data per month than it charges people, who could use a less-expensive Wi-Fi only tablet to connect to a Verizon Mi-Fi over the same 4G LTE network.
The tablet service with 2GB of data is $30 a month. And the Wi-Fi hotspot/Mi-Fi data plan is $30 for 4GB of data.
My guess is that over time, we will see these prices normalize and align. I don't expect that it will mean that prices will go down. That's unlikely in my opinion. I think Verizon at least sees its share plans as a step in this direction. With those plans you pay for a bucket of data each month and then you pay extra to connect certain devices.
At the end of the day, I think even the share plans are too confusing. I can't give you a good justification for why Verizon has designed them this way. But I am pretty certain that if Verizon wants subscribers using more tablets, laptops and other Internet-enabled devices on its network, it has a lot more work to do in simplifying its data plans.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help. But hopefully, Verizon and others will revise their data plans so they make more sense to people.
Apple dominates tablet market in Q2 with 70 percent share
According to data released today by research firm IHS iSuppli, Apple nabbed 69.6 percent of the tablet market in the second quarter on 17 million shipments worldwide. Samsung, its arch-nemesis, came in second place with 9.2 percent share on 2.3 million tablet shipments. Amazon and Asus took the third and fourth spots with 4.2 percent and 2.8 percent share, respectively.
"Apple is making all the right moves to rebuild its dominant position in the tablet space," Rhoda Alexander, director for tablet and monitor research for IHS, said today in a statement. "The company is pushing visual performance boundaries with the new iPad, while providing value customers with a lower-priced alternative, the iPad 2. With the expected entrance of the 7-inch version of the iPad in September, Apple is sending a clear message that it plans to dominate this market over the long term."
Despite its early success, Alexander doesn't necessarily believe that the Nexus 7 could hurt the iPad. He also indicated in a statement today that Microsoft's Surface tablet, which is slated to hit store shelves this fall, is another device that, while promising, won't be able to keep up.
"Apple's major media tablet rivals, Google and Microsoft, hope to challenge Apple in the second half of the year, but will be facing formidable headwinds with no sign that the market leader is backing off of its aggressive strategy in the market," Alexander says.
IHS iSuppli isn't alone in thinking that the iPad will continue to dominate the tablet market. Back in June, in fact, research firm IDC revealed that it believes Apple will own 62.5 percent of the tablet market by the end of this year, up from 58.2 percent last year.
"The addition of the Retina Display and 4G capabilities to the third-generation products clearly enticed many current owners to upgrade," Tom Mainelli, an IDC analyst, said in June. "And Apple's decision to keep two iPad 2s in the market at lower prices--moving the entry-level price down to $399--seems to be paying off as well."
Overall, the tablet market had a strong second quarter, with 24.4 million units shipping worldwide during the period. In the first quarter of 2012, 20.3 million tablets shipped worldwide.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 REVIEW
The quadcore processor-powered
Samsung Galaxy S3 is big on screen and innovative features, but is it
enough to beat Apple's iPhone 4S into submission?
Update: Our Samsung Galaxy S3 review has grown to accomodate several new videos, which you can watch below.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 follows on from the runaway success that was the Samsung Galaxy S2,
which won great praise and sold in huge numbers, helping Samsung snag
the crown of the biggest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. So the
new Galaxy had a lot to live up to. It had to be fast, powerful and
feature-packed. Oh, and it had to look classy. So, how does it fare?
The S3 has gone big on innovation, with lots of new features the speculation hadn’t dreamed of. But the first thing you notice is the size. Samsung has shown it can make a success of big screens with the 5.3in display on the Samsung Galaxy Note.
But that’s not a phone, it’s a new breed of device somewhere between a phone and a tablet. Rivals like HTC had been stretching our mitts with 4.7in display blowers such as the HTC One X. Can the S3 take on HTC's flagship model and is it better than than the Sony Xperia S? And will it have iPhone 4S fans defecting to Android? Here's what we thought...
Though some will feel that the glossy coat looks a bit, well, plasticky. But it feels appealingly shiny and reassuringly solid despite a removable battery. Where rivals like the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC One X have maximised battery life by sealing it inside, and thus created a flex-free handset, the S3 is pleasingly non-creaky, no matter how you hold it.
Sometimes a new phone is only a gentle upgrade over the last model, but the S3 is streets ahead of the S2. It’s not quite as slim, though at 8.6mm it’s just a tenth of a millimetre fatter and it lacks the earlier phone’s bulge.
And it’s still thinner than the HTC One X, Motorola RAZR Maxx, iPhone 4S and many others. In terms of other important stats - it's 70.6mm across, 136.6mm long and weighs 133g
Back to the size. If your hands can, er, handle it, the positive
consequence is a superbly viewable screen. Video playback on a mobile is
always a questionable priority – if you can’t watch on a TV, a tablet
makes much more sense – but with 4.8ins of high-resolution Super AMOLED
screen with its vivid colours and contrasty blacks, this makes it more
of a possibility than before.
The screen resolution is identical to the HTC One X, so the pixels per inch aren’t quite as high on this slightly bigger screen, but both displays look lush and inviting, with this one winning in terms of bright, rich colours.
Although it’s competent, it lacks Siri’s wit and whimsy, so you’re best sticking to straightforward commands. Like Siri, it’s not invariably accurate and it is server-driven so won’t work at all without a decent data connection. Even so, it’s good fun and there’s something slightly magical about it.
Samsung Galaxy S3 review
Love
- Great screen
- Decent battery life
- Chock-full of features
Hate
- It’s just so big
- Gloss plastic looks low-end
- Some extras seem gimmicky
The Samsung Galaxy S3 follows on from the runaway success that was the Samsung Galaxy S2,
which won great praise and sold in huge numbers, helping Samsung snag
the crown of the biggest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. So the
new Galaxy had a lot to live up to. It had to be fast, powerful and
feature-packed. Oh, and it had to look classy. So, how does it fare?The S3 has gone big on innovation, with lots of new features the speculation hadn’t dreamed of. But the first thing you notice is the size. Samsung has shown it can make a success of big screens with the 5.3in display on the Samsung Galaxy Note.
But that’s not a phone, it’s a new breed of device somewhere between a phone and a tablet. Rivals like HTC had been stretching our mitts with 4.7in display blowers such as the HTC One X. Can the S3 take on HTC's flagship model and is it better than than the Sony Xperia S? And will it have iPhone 4S fans defecting to Android? Here's what we thought...
Samsung Galaxy S3: Build
The S3 has a 4.8in display and it's certainly big. It’s a slim phone from front to back so it’s more manageable than you might think, but even so. Actually, what helps more in terms of comfort is the gloss finish. It’s like a smooth, flat worry stone that you can roll seamlessly through your fingers. A matte finish wouldn’t have felt as good.Though some will feel that the glossy coat looks a bit, well, plasticky. But it feels appealingly shiny and reassuringly solid despite a removable battery. Where rivals like the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC One X have maximised battery life by sealing it inside, and thus created a flex-free handset, the S3 is pleasingly non-creaky, no matter how you hold it.
Sometimes a new phone is only a gentle upgrade over the last model, but the S3 is streets ahead of the S2. It’s not quite as slim, though at 8.6mm it’s just a tenth of a millimetre fatter and it lacks the earlier phone’s bulge.
And it’s still thinner than the HTC One X, Motorola RAZR Maxx, iPhone 4S and many others. In terms of other important stats - it's 70.6mm across, 136.6mm long and weighs 133g
Samsung Galaxy S3: Screen
Back to the size. If your hands can, er, handle it, the positive
consequence is a superbly viewable screen. Video playback on a mobile is
always a questionable priority – if you can’t watch on a TV, a tablet
makes much more sense – but with 4.8ins of high-resolution Super AMOLED
screen with its vivid colours and contrasty blacks, this makes it more
of a possibility than before.The screen resolution is identical to the HTC One X, so the pixels per inch aren’t quite as high on this slightly bigger screen, but both displays look lush and inviting, with this one winning in terms of bright, rich colours.
Samsung Galaxy S3: Ice Cream Sandwich
The Galaxy S III uses the very latest version of Android, 4.0.3,
codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. This is far and away the best version of
Google’s operating system, with a cleaner look than before.
Ice Cream Sandwich lets you put these buttons as virtual icons onscreen, like on the Galaxy Nexus. Here there’s a physical home button, an elongated strip in the centre of the phone’s face at the bottom. Either side are two virtual capacitive buttons. Samsung has rejected the Recent Apps button in favour of Back and Menu options. Much better. And if you need it, a long press on the home button brings up the Recent Apps screen.
The latest OS doesn’t just offer yet another tempting-sounding treat to get our mouths watering. It’s a whole new interface which is redesigned throughout in contrast to previous iterations which have felt like layer after layer glued on top of the previous code. It includes nifty features like face unlock which matches you to a previously taken photo to launch the phone from idle.
Ice Cream Sandwich lets you put these buttons as virtual icons onscreen, like on the Galaxy Nexus. Here there’s a physical home button, an elongated strip in the centre of the phone’s face at the bottom. Either side are two virtual capacitive buttons. Samsung has rejected the Recent Apps button in favour of Back and Menu options. Much better. And if you need it, a long press on the home button brings up the Recent Apps screen.
The latest OS doesn’t just offer yet another tempting-sounding treat to get our mouths watering. It’s a whole new interface which is redesigned throughout in contrast to previous iterations which have felt like layer after layer glued on top of the previous code. It includes nifty features like face unlock which matches you to a previously taken photo to launch the phone from idle.
ICS brought Recent Apps front and centre – though the S3 has
de-emphasised it again. Samsung adds its own refinements, like the
capability to take a screen shot by wiping your hand across the screen.
Samsung Galaxy S3: Features
It's the new features on the Galaxy S3 which really stand out. There’s S Voice, which is a voice recognition service after Siri’s heart, designed by Vlingo (a company which is now being bought by Nuance, who contributed to Apple products and, presumably, Siri).Although it’s competent, it lacks Siri’s wit and whimsy, so you’re best sticking to straightforward commands. Like Siri, it’s not invariably accurate and it is server-driven so won’t work at all without a decent data connection. Even so, it’s good fun and there’s something slightly magical about it.
Microsoft Surface RT
Four days after Microsoft invited the press to Los Angeles (and after four days of Web-wide speculation as to why), on Monday, June 19, 2012, the company finally unveiled Surface.
Surface is a line of tablet devices running the company's next-generation Windows operating system and marks Microsoft's first foray into the ever-expanding tablet market. Yes, you read that correctly: Microsoft will be building and branding its own tablets, effectively competing with its own hardware partners such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo.
Family Surface
The Surface tablets will be available in two distinct versions. The first, running Windows RT
-- effectively the "light" version of Windows 8 -- will launch in the
fall, around the same time as Windows 8 does, and run on an
as-yet-unnamed ARM CPU. While it won't have the full desktop version of
Windows 8, running only the Metro apps available through the Windows app
store, it will include a version of Microsoft Office at no additional
charge.
Approximately three months later, a Windows 8 Pro version
of the tablet will follow. The Pro will offer the full Windows 8 OS
running on an Intel Ivy Bridge CPU (the same chips found in ultrabooks
and other laptops). The Pro version will also be slightly thicker, offer
a more robust battery, and boast better peripheral support (USB 3.0
versus 2.0, DisplayPort, and an SDXC expansion slot) and twice the
storage capacity of the RT version. 
Surface tablets will be available in Windows RT and Windows 8 versions.
(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
The surface of Surface
Surface uses a 10.6-inch optically bonded ClearType display. The
screen's 16:9 aspect ratio (AR) is identical to that of an HDTV, so many
of your favorite movies and all newer TV shows will run in full-screen
on the tablet, with no stretching or letterboxing. The vast majority of
Android tablets feature a 16:10 aspect ratio, while the iPad uses the
same squarish 4:3 aspect ratio you may remember from pre-HD TVs.
Microsoft
hasn't yet confirmed the resolution of the Surface tablets, except to
say that the RT version is "HD" and the Pro version runs at a "full HD"
resolution. Reading between the lines, that seems to indicate that the
RT tablet will run at least 1,280x720 pixels (720p HD), while the
Surface Pro will boast at least 1,920x1,080 pixels (1080p).Surface for Windows 8 Pro will support digital inking, and during a demo at the conference the company demoed this by writing on the screen using a stylus and then zooming in on the writing, which still looks smooth without any of the "jaggies" you'd expect. According to Microsoft, this is thanks to the 600dpi sampling rate the screen records your writing at. Ostensibly, this allows digital inking to be much more precise.
Thanks to the optical bonding process, there are no layers between the Gorilla Glass 2.0 and the display. Microsoft demonstrated that when you use the Stylus, it feels like you're writing directly on the page, not the glass on top of it and it touts optical bonding as the reason behind this level of pen-to-page intimacy. According to Microsoft, there's only a 0.7-millimeter distance between the Stylus and where you see the ink.
Optical bonding allows the screen to sit very close to the Gorilla Glass 2.0 cover.
(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
During our brief hands-on, the screen didn't feel as responsive as we expected. We swiped the screen briefly to rotate around a panoramic picture Microsoft had on the device, but the feedback of the animation felt rough and didn't seem to respond as quickly to our swipes as we would have liked. That said, this was early preproduction hardware, so we'll have to see how the final version behaves when it's released commercially.
(Microsoft's) The stand
During the conference the Microsoft reps were keen to continually
mention the VaporMg (pronounced "Vapor Mag") process it used to build
Surface. According to the company, the process allows Microsoft to melt
metal and then mold it down to a 0.65mm thickness for any given part.
The layering of components is apparently so efficient that even sticking
a piece of tape in between them would cause the tablet to bulge.
The
full magnesium case is both scratch- and wear-resistant and weighs
about 1.5 pounds. We only got to hold the tablet briefly, but it felt
substantial -- fairly light but not airy.Microsoft also credits VaporMg as the reason it was able to seamlessly include the Surface's built-in kickstand. We've seen kickstands on tablets before and being able to easily prop up your tablet is something we definitely appreciate.
The integrated kickstand makes for easy media viewing.
(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
However, Microsoft may want to point out the stand mechanism a bit more obviously. There were a few journalists during demos (us included) that couldn't figure out how to enable the kickstand without being shown. Still, the kickstand feels very well-integrated into the design and is actually useful, so thumbs-up here.
Two tablets, two covers
If you took the keyboard attachment used by the Asus Transformer
family of tablets and melded it with Apple's Smart Cover, you'd get the
basic idea behind Microsoft's cover implementation for Surface.
There
will be two types of cover and keyboard attachments: Touch Cover and
Type Cover. Like Apple's Smart Cover, the covers are magnetically
attached to the edge of the tablet. Both types of cover can act as
either a cover for the screen or as a full keyboard, with a two-button
touch pad and buttons for navigating Windows' Metro UI. When flipped
back, the keyboard automatically shuts off.Let's face it: no one likes typing on a tablet screen for long periods of time, and Microsoft certainly made it clear that typing on its cover-keyboards was just as accurate and enjoyable (and in the case of Type Cover, possible more enjoyable) as typing on a normal keyboard. At least according to the Microsoft reps.
The Touch Cover is one of 2 magnetically attachable keyboard covers that will be available.
(Credit:
Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
Still, without personally having that experience, it's difficult to say how successful Microsoft has been with the design until we actually use it with the tablet. It's definitely the thinnest (3mm) physical keyboard we've ever used, though.
As the conference went on, we started to notice how much thought and detail Microsoft has added to the experience it wants you to have with Surface. One of the coolest little details was that depending on which color Touch Cover (five colors were shown) is connected to the tablet, the color of the screen background in the Metro UI would change to reflect it.
We didn't get to play with the thicker and much more traditional Type Cover keyboard, but Microsoft gave a pretty detailed demo of it in action. Unlike the stationary buttons on the Touch Cover, Type Cover keys have a 1.5mm travel, while still being packed into what seemed to be a relatively thin (5mm) enclosure.
Also, the keys sense the grams of pressure you're applying to them. Unlike a touch screen, this allows you to place your fingers on your home keys without them interpreting that placement as keystrokes.
Other specs
Aside from confirming that the Surface boasts front and rear "HD" cameras, Microsoft was mum on imaging details. That implies at least 720p image capture capability (which is merely 0.9 megapixels), but we're hoping for something at least closer to the multimegapixel resolution you find on middle-of-the-road tablets and smartphones these days.
Here's a rundown of the official specs as we know them:
Surface (Windows RT) tablet key specs
- Windows RT operating system
- Nvidia ARM CPU
- 9.3mm thick
- 676 grams/23.85 ounces
- 10.6-inch ClearType HD Display
- 31.5 watt hour battery
- Ports: microSD, USB 2.0, Micro-HD video, 2x2 MIMO antennas
- Storage options: 32GB and 64GB for Windows RT
- Front- and rear-facing "HD" cameras
- Windows 8 operating system
- Intel third-generation Core i CPU
- 13.5mm thick
- 903 grams/31.85 ounces
- 10.6-inch ClearType "Full HD" Display
- 42 watt hour battery
- Ports: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort video
- Storage options: 64GB and 128GB
- Front- and rear-facing "HD" cameras
(And speaking of) Unanswered questions
Overall, we like what we've seen so far, we just felt we were left hanging in terms of information. Of course, that was probably Microsoft's goal with this early announcement: to intrigue people and leave them wanting more.
We were also left wanting from a software perspective. A tablet is useless without apps and we were disappointed we didn't get more information on types of apps to expect and how (or if) apps would be handled differently from iOS or Android apps.
And, of course, we were left without the biggest detail of all: price. Saying Surface will be "competitively priced" is basically telling me, "Expect to pay about $500 for this thing." And that's the RT version, of course; expect the Windows 8 tablet to be priced more like a full-on laptop.
Luckily, Surface doesn't go on sale today. If it did, we would not be in line to buy one (or even purchasing one online). That's not to say we aren't intrigued, nor that we won't buy one in the future; it's just too early to tell. We need more information on apps, Xbox integration (there was no SmartGlass mention at all), pricing, and the expected battery life in order to make a clear decision. That said, we can't help but walk away looking forward to seeing more.
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