Amazon is reportedly working on two smartphones, including one that would have 3D capability.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Amazon is developing a device that features a 3D screen that can be used without special glasses. Citing "people familiar with the company's plans," the Journal wrote that the phone would use retina-tracking technology that would make the images seem to be floating "like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles." What's more, users might be able to navigate through content using just their eyes...
It’s been a long winter, but, with trees and flowers in full bloom, spring is finally here. With any luck we have a long, hot summer in prospect, and that means camping season. You can head off into the wild at the drop of a hat, if the weather looks right. More people go camping every year than jet off to foreign climes. It’s an affordable way to escape your daily grind and find a little adventure. For the tech-obsessed, the idea of being without your Android could be enough to put you off, but fear not, you can take it with you and enhance your trip with the right camping gadgets and apps...
Virgin Media doles out many minutes and data to mobile users with its Premiere plan, but it hasn't had a truly unlimited option for those who don't want to even think about their calling habits. It's assuaging those minds today with new VIP tiers that offer unlimited domestic voice, data and text messaging. The exact perks depend on the level of commitment, however. Traditional customers can pay £26 per month (£31 if they're not already Virgin customers) with promises of unlimited calls to frequently costly 08 numbers. For SIM-only customers, it's all about the price -- while they don't get the 08 number exception, the £15 they pay per month for otherwise unlimited access is comparatively cheap. The new rates may not always make sense depending on local coverage and a desire for LTE, but we'd at least keep them in mind.
As you are probably aware, I started my coverage of the Samsung Galaxy S4 a few days back on my channel. Whilst I am still working on my Full Review, which will take the form of a video, now is a good opportunity to share my early impressions of some of the features.
Form & Size Before handling the device I thought it would be too big, but to my surprise, even though it sports a 4.99-inch screen it feels good in the hand. Samsung have done a superb job here, concentrating on a design that was not broken in the previous version and making the bezel around the screen super thin. One of my earlier dislikes of the Galaxy S3 was the very thin battery cover. I am happy to say that has been addressed to and the cover on the S4 is thicker and feels more robust. The materials used seem to have changed too. Yes, this is primarily plastic, but it feels more rigid. The silver band around the edges looks nicer and the overall quality seems to have improved. Maybe it is just the type of plastic used, but whatever Samsung have done, they upped their game. The large screen really does impress too, with its 1920x1080 resolution. This gives plenty of screen real estate for browsing the internet and emails. Where it really does shine is watching videos… the Galaxy S4 is certainly a smartphone that I could watch a full length video on.
S Health I love my Fitbit, which is a small device that I use to track my daily activity. It keeps a tab on my steps, sleep and food consumption (via an app). Samsung have developed their own app that uses the internal sensors of the Galaxy S4 to do more or less the same. It does not offer constant monitoring, instead you stop & start the app when you go for a walk or run. In addition you can also track food or calorie intake. The interface looks nice and from my early tests it seems pretty accurate, more or less mirroring what my Fitbit does.
Smart Pause & Air Gestures These two features may seem like a gimmick, but they are quite useful. Smart Pause is great for watching videos. The most basic way of describing it, is you watch a video, look away to talk to someone in the room and the video pauses. Look back at your Galaxy S4 screen and it instantly resumes. OK, I know you could tap the pause icon on the screen, but the feature actually works very well. Air Gestures is another great feature, but one that I will probably use a lot less. It allows you to wave your hand across the sensor on the device and have it move between photos (for example). If I am doing an action with my hand, in my opinion I may as well swipe my finger on the screen.
Accessories Whenever a new smartphone is released many third party manufacturers release cases and accessories in the following weeks. What amazes me with the Galaxy S4 is just how many were available prior to and on launch day. Cases, chargers & screen covers, all made to enhance your experience. My favourite so far is the Official S View cover (see video below), because not only does it protect the phone, but also changes the display when closed to show just the clock, date & notifications. In addition, when you open the front cover, the Galaxy S4 wakes up and springs into action.
Battery Life Although a little early for me to pass judgement (I will do that in my full review), things seem pretty good. With my iPhone 5 I just about manage a full days use between charges. In my first couple of days with the Galaxy S4 I had no problem getting through the whole day on a single charge. That is pretty impressive, considering the screen is brighter & pushing a lot more pixels, plus there is a quad core processor in this beauty of a smartphone. Add to that the fact that you could always carry a spare battery if you really need to. All this equates to a very good proposition, if you rely on your phone for long periods of time between charges.
All in all my early impressions are very positive. I test smartphones pretty much every day and can honestly say that the Samsung Galaxy S4 has caught my attention. It really could be the best smartphone of 2013.
Time to put the 'key' in 'Nokia'. The Finnish company has revealed a glimpse of a new phone with a Qwerty keyboard, but it's unlikely to be a Lumia smart phone.
In a mysterious teaser image, Nokia shows what appears to be a phone with bright Lumia-style colours but Asha-style keys.
The teaser reveals rounded corners for the prospective device, showing a Z key and contoured Shift key.
The phone is apparently decked out in the vibrant primary colours that are the signature of Nokia's Windows Phone-powered Lumia smart phone range. But a Qwerty Lumia is unlikely, and with Nokia's mobile devices making the announcement it appears this will be a feature phone, perhaps an Asha phone.
Asha phones are Nokia's wallet-friendly feature phones, which now feature basic apps but lack the power and features of a smart phone. They're aimed largely at developing markets low-cost pay as you go customers.
Qwerty keyboards have disappeared from smart phones as touchscreens become ubiquitous in a post-iPhone world. Even BlackBerry is drifting away from its signature clicky keyboard, promoting the all-touchshcreen BlackBerry Z10 ahead of the forthcoming, keyboard-packingBlackBerry Q10.
LG recently asked us to save the date on May 1 for an event, although we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. Now we know.
The company issued invites on Monday to an event in New York City that will be entirely focused around its new LG Optimus G Prosmartphone. We imagine that LG will name U.S.carrier partners and pricing either at the event, or before it, so we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop as that news unfolds.
Right now we’re just being told that we’re going to “share in the genius” of the Optimus G Pro with the band Altlas Genius.
It's rumour time, so pinch of salt at the ready. Google was previously rumoured to be launching the Nexus 5 handset at its I/O conference next month, but now come whispers it'll announce a revamped Nexus 4 instead, SidhTech reports.
On the cards: 4G for a superfast Internet connection, 32GB of storage, and the debut of theAndroid Key Lime Pie operating system.
Nexus 5 rumours have been ramping up of late. But then the Nexus 4 only launched just before Christmas, so if Google announced its successor mere months later it would annoy all those who snapped up the original (especially if they had to wait weeks for it to be in stock.) Instead, it might bring out a slightly spruced-up version of the Nexus 4 to entice new customers without leaving existing ones royally peeved. That's the thinking behind the rumour, anyway.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 on superfast 4GEE http://ee.co.uk/s4, featuring the world's first Full HD Super AMOLED display, Smart Pause, Group Play, Story Album, S Health, and Air Gesture.
We're EE and we've brought you the UK's first superfast 4G mobile network, together with Fibre Broadband. Whether you're streaming HD TV, live multiplayer gaming, or watching a film, it'll be superfast, at home or on the go. Check out full details here.
The race has been going on for years … which smartphone would be the thinnest? the fastest? or perhaps highest resolution camera? And for 2013 it seems to be all about the screen resolution. With many smartphones all launching with 1920x1080 full HD resolution screens, what could be next?
At the end of April 2013 we will see the Samsung Galaxy S4. Yes, it is fast, has a a nice camera and a full HD screen to top it off. I personally remember when Samsung announced it. With their tongue on cheek presentation they showed us Smart Pause, where the video you are watching pauses when you look away. Next up is Air View & Gesture, where you greasy fingers do not even need to touch the screen to navigate your way around. And then we have S Health which tracks your activity, daily food intake and weight … promising a fitter you.
These features are just a few of the many new enhancements which I termed gimmicks when I first saw them. However, we all need to take a step back and think, what else could Samsung do to move this type of technology forward? And I think they are brave in trying to give us some really unique features. OK, so everyone will use S Translator every day, but if you find yourself in a foreign country, perhaps on holiday, you will be glad to have it at your disposal. I strongly believe that all manufacturers are beginning to realise that things like a high megapixel camera on a tiny phone sensor is not a cutting edge feature. Rest assured, when they react to the Galaxy S4 you will see them all squashing in tonnes of new features to their 2014 products. By then, Samsung may well have the lead that they need to take the top spot in this sector.
As with every new smartphone launch, a good selection of accessories always follow and one that caught my eye is official View Cover. Without even opening the cover you can see the current time & useful notifications, the contrasting colour of the display peeping through is awesome and… it looks very sexy too.
By now you should now that I try new smartphones out practically every day. I am an avid iPhone user, but have been tempted away with the likes of the Lumia 920 and a couple of years back, the Blackberry Bold 9900. I feel very strongly that Apple need to react to their competitors smartphones, with their lovely high res large screens. The App argument is no longer an issue either (at least where Google Android is concerned). With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4… of course I will be testing & reviewing it. Who knows, if it delivers on performance, as I am sure it will, the SGS4 might find its way into my pocket and if it does the View Cover is mine too.
Brits accustomed to catching up on their shows with Sky Go likely don't want that seamless viewing experience broken just because they bought that latest 1080p-capable Android flagship. Thankfully, they won't have to. An update to the Android app now supports the HTC One, Xperia Z and the upcoming Galaxy S 4: while none of them will stream in 1080p, the software will at last do more than take up space. Those on the "merely" 720p-native RAZR HD can also tune in with the upgrade. Swing by Google Play for the update if you're a Sky subscriber with a shiny new device.
Samsung seems a little jealous of the HTC One. That's according to a source who's told SamMobile the Korean company has seen its rival's design and build quality, and is "worried" the Galaxy S4 doesn't measure up.
It's the HTC One's aluminium body that's got Samsung green with envy, not its Sense 5 user interface. Samsung even produced an all-metal Galaxy S4 which was very popular within the company, the source says, but didn't launch it to avoid any delays.
It's worth taking all this with a pinch of salt, of course. But it could indicate a design change for the Galaxy Note 3, according to the source. There's no word on which material Samsung will use, just that it "will not use the design guidelines of the Galaxy S4".
Now, specs. The source reckons the Note 3 will have a 6-inch 1,920x1,080-pixel AMOLED display, Exynos 5 Octa CPU with LTE for 4G browsing, and a 13-megapixel snapper. It'll also run the latest version of Android, which could be Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie by the time the Note 3 launches.
The Galaxy S4 will go on sale in the UK on 26 April, and demand is already off the chart. It's just a shame the version us Brits will get is completely underpowered compared to the octa-core beast released overseas, according to leaked benchmarks. Of course we can't be sure of that until we get the final review unit in our hands, so another pinch of salt is required.
Despite Samsung’s love affair with plastic build materials, the company may finally opt to take another approach later this year. According to SamMobile, the company is reportedly “worried” about the design and quality of its current devices, especially when compared to the lovely engineering of the HTC One. To remedy this, the company is planning to “switch the build quality for its next flagship.”
Samsung has built a reputation for creating some of the most popular devices on the market. But one criticism repeatedly flung at the company is how “cheap” its handsets feel, and the design language is consistent in its cheapest smartphone on up to its most expensive tablet. The Galaxy S4 remedied this slightly, but the build still doesn’t hold a candle to the One.SamMobile’s source claims the Galaxy Note III will change that.
Samsung allegedly hoped to implement a metal design with the S4, but production issues meant the handset, in its planned configuration, couldn’t be built en masse on time. Instead, the Galaxy Note III will debut with a more premium look, though SamMobile’s source couldn’t confirm Samsung’s final material choice. The source did say, however, that the Korean company will introduce even more features, while the device itself will come with a 6-inch Full HD AMOLED display, Exynos 5 Octa CPU with LTE and 13-megapixel camera.
If Samsung manages to inject a more premium design into its next flagship handset, the company could potentially grab even more marketshare around the world. If that does happen, the Galaxy S4 may very well be the last of its kind, at least as far as build goes. We’ll have to wait and see.
