Monday, November 12, 2012

Apple iPad mini review: One for the road

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Introduction

Wait, did hell just freeze over? Maybe a couple of degrees cooler? Rumors of a mini version of the iPad had been laughed at, dodged and denied - not necessarily in that order and often all at once. But here it is - the iPad mini is finally a reality. It caused due measures of excitement and perhaps a bit of disappointment. Yet, in typical Apple fashion, it's an excellent piece of hardware. In short, it's a polarizing device that may as well be the next best-selling tablet.

You have to hand it to Apple's R&D team - they know how to design hardware. The iPad mini is super thin and light, with a cool aluminum shell. Sure, they swore they'd never make a 7" tablet and the truth is they still haven't - the 7.9" screen of the mini offers 36% more real estate than the screens of the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.
Less bezel on the left and right of the screen combined with the ~310g of weight make it reasonably comfortable to hold with one hand. Apple did make some compromises, which drew a lot of ire. Here's the summarized list of what's good and what's bad about the Apple iPad mini:

Key features

Compact body: 200 x 134.7 x 7.2 mm
7.9" LED-backlit IPS LCD touchscreen, 768 x 1024 pixels; scratch-resistant, oleophobic coating
Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity, carrier-dependent hotspot support
Optional 2G/3G GSM, CDMA, LTE connectivity (data only, separate models)
Optional GPS with A-GPS support (for the 3G model only)
Apple A5 SoC, dual-core Cortex-A9 @ 1GHz chipset
512MB of RAM
PowerVR SGX543MP2 dual-core GPU
iOS 6 with Siri, iCloud support and activation
16/32/64GB of inbuilt storage
Weight of 308 grams (312 grams for the Wi-Fi + Cellular option)
Bluetooth 4.0
16.3Wh battery
Accelerometer, compass and three-axis gyro-sensor
Compatible with every iPad and iPhone app without any modifications
The base version costs less than a SIM-free iPhone 4, only $30 more than iPod touch
5MP auto-focus camera
1080p video recording at 30fps
1.2MP secondary camera capable of FaceTime calls, 720p recording
Four and five-finger gestures
1080p TV-output with the Apple Digital AV Adapter (purchased separately for $49), 1080p video streaming
Supports magnetic cases
Lightning connector
Stereo loudspeakers
Main disadvantages
More expensive than 7" Android tablets, only $70 cheaper than iPad 2
No Retina display, 162ppi only
Same chipset as iPad 2, now two generations old
iTunes still required for most of the content uploads
Reflective screen struggles outdoors
No standard USB port, Lightning accessories still rare and expensive
No GPS receiver in the Wi-Fi version
No memory card slot
Lack of basic iOS apps - stocks, calculator, voice memos
The disadvantage list may seem longer than usual but most of the items there are general complaints that apply to virtually all Apple products, like the absence of a memory card slot. The way we see it, there are three main problems with the iPad mini - the (relatively) low-res screen, the old chipset and the price.
Apple products have so far effortlessly hit it big with users despite their perceived limitations compared to the competition. The new crop of iPads - the iPad 4 and iPad mini - already sold in the millions.


The software - iOS 6 - should be very familiar to Apple users, but the hardware is new. It's not like the big iPads, which mostly varied in thickness, this one has been designed to comfortably hold in one hand and slip into a coat pocket.
Some analysts have gone as far as to say that the iPad mini will become the iPad - it's highly portable, capable enough and drawing on the vast resources of the Apple eco-system. And if you adjust for the "Apple tax", the mini isn't that expensive.
Jump to the next page to find out just what you're getting with the iPad mini.




Source:http://www.gsmarena.com

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Samsung Galaxy Premier

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Introduction

Spreading the Galaxy S III magic to as many market segments as possible is what Samsung is actively trying to achieve these days. After the power users were treated to the Note II and those looking for a premium experience in a compact shell got the mini, it's now time for the mid-range market to get some attention.

The Samsung Galaxy Premier specs sheet is familiar with the 4.65-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen and the dual-core TI OMAP chipset immediately bringing the Galaxy Nexus to mind. However, calling the Premier a Nexus refresh is wildly inaccurate - the Nature UX adds so much character that you'll hardly be able to tell there's so much in common between the two smartphones.
Let's take a look at what the Galaxy Premier is all about.

Key features

Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support
21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
4.65" 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of HD (720 x 1280 pixels) resolution; Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz launcher
1.5 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, PowerVR SGX544 GPU, TI OMAP 4470 chipset, 1GB of RAM
8 MP wide-angle lens autofocus camera with LED flash, face, smile and blink detection
1080p HD video recording at 30fps
Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n
GPS with A-GPS connectivity; GLONASS support, Digital compass
16/32 internal storage, microSD slot
Accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
microUSB port with USB host and TV-out (1080p) support, MHL, charging
Stereo Bluetooth v4.0
FM radio with RDS
Great audio quality
1.9MP secondary video-call camera
NFC support
Document editor
File manager comes preinstalled
Extremely rich video and audio codec support
Relatively large 2100 mAh battery
Main disadvantages
No dedicated camera key
Dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU usually belongs to a lower market segment
All plastic body
PenTile matrix screen of relatively low brightness
Sure, the Samsung Galaxy Premier doesn't have the most exciting specs sheet around, but it takes a formula that was already proven to work and improves on it in a number of key areas. Building on the most popular Nexus smartphone so far, the Premier addresses just about every complaints users had about it.
The mediocre camera is replaced by a more capable 8MP shooter, the chipset got a speed update and a more powerful GPU, while the uninspiring styling got spiced up with a dash of Galaxy S III. There is also an ampler battery to take care of the relatively short endurance and a microSD card slot for cheap memory expansion.

And yes, the stock Android looks are gone, but they are replaced by the Nature UX, which is not only way more functional, but also the best looking TouchWiz version so far.
Let's see if all those tweaks actually look as promised - the hardware inspection starts right after the break.



Source:http://www.gsmarena.com
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Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro Review

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Earlier this year, we saw the Samsung Rugby Smart come to AT&T, which set it apart from other smartphones with the carrier, as it was designed to be a rugged Android device.
Now eight months later comes the follow-up, the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro – it has a larger 4” display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, and is running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. If that wasn’t enough, 4G LTE is also on-board, so you can get faster data connection while in an AT&T LTE coverage area. Add all of that together, and you have a smartphone that has a nice appeal to it with only a $100 on-contract price.


Included in the retail box is the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro SGH-I547 smartphone, 1850mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.


Design:


The overall design of the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro hasn’t changed too much from the Rugby Smart. It still exhibits all the qualities of a rugged device, with thick rubber gripping on the sides, and a textured locking battery cover. This does make the device feel a bit chunky in the hand, but no more so than a standard smartphone with an add-on case installed.



Since the Galaxy Rugby Pro meets military standard 810F, it is resilient to blowing rain and sand, high humidity, thermal shock, and is waterproof up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. The display and front keys also have an anti-scratch coating on them. We were able to drop the phone several times (on tile) from a height of 5 feet, and there were no visible signs of damage to the device.





Below the display are three physical buttons for menu, home, and back, and around the sides of the device are the volume rocker, power/lock key, and customizable key, all of which are easily found by touch alone, as they have a nice texture on them. Up on top is the 3.5mm headset jack, and on the bottom is the microUSB port, both of which are protected by a plastic cover with water seal.

Display:


Even though the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro is built to withstand the elements, it remains a mid-range smartphone, but we're glad to see that the display size has increased from 3.7” to 4”, though the resolution remains WVGA 480x800 pixels. This means that small text appears slightly jagged at times. But since it is Super AMOLED, it provides eye-grabbing colors and excellent contrast when viewing images or watching videos. One feature missing is any type of automatic backlight brightness setting, which means that you have to manually set the screen brightness yourself. This can be annoying when going from a dark environment to outside in the sun, as you’ll have to keep adjusting the backlight. The only work around is to set it near the middle, so it wouldn’t need readjusting too often.





http://www.phonearena.com




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How do I Beam playlists and songs in Music Hub?Samsung Galaxy NFC

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You can only beam musicthat is located in the Music Hub catalog. If you uploaded your own music to the Music Hub cloud locker, you may only beam music located in the Music Hub catalog.
Note: NFC needs to be turned ON to enable beaming. To access the NFC options for your device open the Notification Panel by swiping your finger from the top of the screen to the bottom and touch Settings > More settings. Touch the Off/On slider to turn it on.
  1. From the Music Hub app, touch My Music to access your playlists.Music Hub Homescreen
  2. Select a playlist or song that you wish to share.If beaming a playlist, go to the My Music folder, and open the playlist. If beaming a song, click on a song and open the player page.
    MusciHub Playlist  Player
  3. When you put the devices together, the playlist image will shrink. Touch teh image to begin the transfer of the playlist.Music Hub Beam
  4. The Playlist will appear in other subscriber’s My Music folder. If beaming an individual song, the song will immediately begin playing on the other subscriber's device.
Note: This feature does not work on the native music player and is limited to Samsung Music Hub.
Samsung, Galaxy S and Media Hub are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Other company names, product names and marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks. Screen images simulated.


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Samsung I930 ATIV Odyssey for Verizon image leaked

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We reported couple of weeks ago about an upcoming Windows Phone 8 device for Verizon's network in the US. Called the Samsung ATIV Odyssey the device seemed like a variant of the ATIV S for Verizon's network.




We now have an image of the device, courtesy of @evleaks on Twitter. The phone looks like the original Samsung Focus from the front and the ATIV S from the back. But somehow, it does not strike us as a high-end device, with the display size seemingly around the 4-inch mark.
Other than the 4G LTE badge on the back and the microSD card slot on the side, we are not sure of any other spec of the device, so we will have to wait till we hear more about this one.


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Sony offers 24K gold-plated Xperia P as contest prize

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We haven't seen any gold phones in a while, but we didn’t expect Sony to be the one to fill that void. Sony ran a contest on its Facebook page over the weekend with the prize being a 24 karat gold-pated Sony Xperia P.
The contest is for Nordic countries only and will be over in a couple of hours. If you want to participate, you have to send an email to fans.se@sonymobile.com answering the question "What is a gold Friday for you?" (this is an automatic translating so it may not be 100% accurate, but we're sure people in Nordic countries don't need Google Translate).



The Xperia P launched early this year and one of its major attractions was the aluminum unibody. The Limited 24K Gold Edition will go to a lucky winner today and they might be the only ones to have it.
Sony's Facebook page makes no mention of this limited edition going on sale. And even if it did, did anyone buy those gold-plated Nokias? Sure, this has the advantage of running Android rather than Symbian - or worse still - S40, which puts it head to head with the Lamborghini TL700 and the Mobiado Grand Touch.
Anyway, the winner of the Sony Xperia P Limited 24K Gold Edition (who is yet to be announced) has our congratulations.



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