Galaxy Note 5 Case: 2013

2013年12月15日星期日

Samsung to allegedly use Intel processors for its Galaxy Tab 3 10

Samsung to allegedly use Intel processors for its Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 tablet

Samsung is no stranger to working with a wide range of chip makers for its devices, even though the company fabricates its own chips. The reason for this have often been Samsung’s inability to produce enough chips on its own and thus had to look at other OEMs to supply the processors.

Although Samsung and Intel have worked together in the past on several products, we are yet to see a Samsung Android device running one of Intel’s processors. It seems, though, that it won’t be long before we do. According to the sources at Reuters, Samsung is working with Intel to get the latter’s Clover Trail+ series of x86 mobile processors in at least one variant of its upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 tablet.

According to Korea Times, the reason once again is related to supplies, as Samsung is seemingly unable to produce enough of its own Exynos range of processors. Although it’s hard to tell just how Intel’s processors stack up against Samsung’s in terms of performance, the former have done well so far on their own and should offer respectable performance on Samsung’s tablet.

Source 1 ? Source 2

MIUI v5 is now available for the HTC One as a custom ROM

MIUI is one of the most famous Android launchers out there and now it’s available for HTC One users as an easy to flash ROM.

Based on AOSP version of Android 4.2.2 via a fork of the CyanogenMod ROM, the MIUI v5 for HTC One is reported as a pretty stable replacement of the Sense UI experience that the stock HTC One provides. Many owners say it’s much prettier, too.

As with any custom ROM out there, there are some bugs to be expected. NFC might not be working, as it isn’t properly tested, while mobile signal strength isn’t in perfect shape. Bluetooth is also reported to be a bit wonky, but that’s due to the CyanogenMod foundation of the ROM.

Anyway, the overall performance of the custom ROM is reported to be great. You can follow the source link for more information on any glitches the ROM might have and to download it for your ROM flashing pleasure.

Source

2013年12月13日星期五

Angry Birds Star Wars gets updated with 20 new Hoth levels

Angry Birds Star Wars has been updated today with the final 20 levels of the Hoth episode.

You’ll get 20 new addictive levels, two bonus ones you’ll need to unlock, and a boss fight.

The update is available now on Android and iOS, while the other platforms that have the game is available on should be getting it too very soon (if not already).

Source

2013年12月6日星期五

LG announces Optimus Pad LTE with 8

LG announces Optimus Pad LTE with 8.9-inch display and Honeycomb, launching initially in Korea

LG has announced a new tablet for its homeland called the Optimus Pad LTE. Compared to the regular Optimus Pad, there are quite a few differences, other than the inclusion of LTE.

For starters, the design is new. The Optimus Pad LTE is thinner at just 9.34mm compared to the 12.7mm thickness of the non-LTE version. It’s also lighter at just 497g compared to the 621g of the Optimus Pad. Other changes include a larger 6,800mAh battery, which is up by 400mAh over the standard version despite the reduced thickness and weight, dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor that replaces the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor on the non-LTE model and a simpler 8 megapixel camera instead of the dual 5 megapixel 3D camera on the back.

The Optimus Pad LTE retains the 8.9-inch, 1280×768 resolution IPS display, HDMI out, DLNA and Android 3.2 Honeycomb. It also has 32GB internal memory and is the first tablet in the world to have a full-size SD card slot. This way, you can, for example, simply take out the card from your digital camera and plug it into the tablet to view your images and videos on it.

The tablet will initially be launching only in Korea but you can expect it in other markets later. No price has been mentioned so far.

Source (PDF)

2013年12月3日星期二

A Samsung and Visa partnership will provide NFC payments during 2012 London Olympics

The NFC movement is picking up steam, guys. Samsung and Visa, already two of the largest sponsors of the Olympic Games, will team up to provide NFC (Near Field Communications) payments during the 2012 London Olympics.

Mobile payments will be accepted through Visa’s contactless payment technology at more than 60,000 locations in London. Samsung will provide NFC enabled handsets to Visa and its own sponsored athletes. The company will also release a contactless enabled device for consumers.

Source

2013年11月28日星期四

LG 55-inch OLED TV pre-orders begin in South Korea for $10

LG 55-inch OLED TV pre-orders begin in South Korea for $10,000

It’s been a year since we first saw LG’s massive 55-inch OLED TV. The television was then showcased to a wider audience at CES, where it dazzled onlookers with its picture quality and amazingly thin design and even managed to nab the Best of Show at CES 2012 award.

Now, a year later, the design has gone through a bit of a change and more importantly LG is finally ready to start shipping out this TV to eager customers, starting with its home country – South Korea.

The LG OLED TV (Model 55EM9700) will hit South Korean stores this month, with deliveries beginning next month. It will be priced at KRW 11 million, which is approximately US$10,000, not too expensive for such a large OLED display (early LCDs and plasmas were way more expensive and nowhere as good).

The OLED panel has one of the thinnest bezels I’ve seen and the entire thing is just 4mm deep. This is possible because OLEDs don’t need space consuming backlight assemblies the way LCDs do and are self illuminating. The panel has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and has a WRGB sub-pixel layout, with an extra white sub-pixel. If you’re worried about over-saturated colors, LG claims that their panel produces images that are vibrant yet natural looking.

Of course, it would be wise to wait for CES as you are likely to find way more alternatives this year in the OLED segment, along with some more 4K panels.

Source

2013年11月27日星期三

Samsung announces 20MP WB110 with 26x optical zoom

Samsung has extended its collection of superzoom cameras with the addition of WB110. Samsung’s latest camera boasts a 26x optical zoom and has a 20.2 megapixel sensor.

Samsung WB110 measures 114.48 x 79.26 x 86.45mm and weighs about 385g. The WB110 lens starts from the ultra wide 22.3mm and its LCD screen measures 3-inch in diagonal. The WB110 can capture 720p AVC/H.264 videos and has a maximum ISO level of 3,200.

The camera packs features like smart auto, which analyses key elements in photographer’s compositions and also adjusts photo and movie settings automatically to capture the best possible shot. The WB110 has the ability to shoot panoramic shots and preview them live on the screen.

Unfortunately, there is no official word on the availability and the pricing details of the camera for now.

Via

Sony Xperia S gets in front of our camera

We met it at CES this year, but now the Sony Xperia S is on our home turf. It’s a huge leap forward compared to Sony Ericsson phones – it’s all dual-core processors, 12MP still shots and FullHD videos.

We had a bit of free time, so dragged the Xperia S right in our studio for a quick hands-on video.

The Sony Xperia S (along with the US-centric Ion) is the most powerful Sony Mobile phone (formerly Sony Ericsson) to date, with two 1.5GHz Scorpion cores, Adreno 220 GPU and 1GB of RAM.

Okay, that won’t wow anyone nowadays but the screen might – a 4.3″ LCD with 720p resolution and BRAVIA engine. The pixel density is 342ppi, well over the requirement for the “Retina” label. The image on the screen is tack sharp with great looking colors and contrast.

Sony Xperia S at HQ

The other point that should leave geeks drooling is the camera – it’s one of only few 12+ MP cameras on the market right now. The Symbian-laden Satio has almost faded from memory, but the Xperia S puts Sony at the front of the imaging race yet again.

The Sony Xperia S held in hand • Retail box

The camera can record 1080p video too, thanks to the extra oomph from the dual-core processor. FullHD video capture is very rare among such high-res cameras (unless you’re in China) and the Xperia S is one of the few lucky phones to have this highlight in their resume.

The software is currently Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread with updated customizations courtesy of Sony, but they are hard at work porting Ice Cream Sandwich. There are some other additions that we don’t have the time to cover now.

The Sony Xperia S has a microHDMI port you can use to hook it up to HDTVs, but you’ll need to get your own cable for that, there wasn��t one in the box.

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will start in a few days, so the review might take a little longer than usual. But in the mean time, we’ll get another hands-on opportunity during the Congress.

2013年11月20日星期三

Samsung Galaxy S II T989 and Skyrocket suffering from display issues

Do you have a T-Mobile Galaxy S II (SGH-T989) or an AT&T Skyrocket? Then you might want to check if your display is having any issues.

According to a thread on xda-developers forum, a lot of T989 and Skyrocket users are complaining about vertical lines, blobs, circles and pixellation on their displays. The defect is especially pronounced at lower brightness levels, where you can see strange vertical lines as shown above depending upon what background you have.

Not all Galaxy S II devices are having this problem, though. None of the international I9100 and Sprint Galaxy S II owners have reported any display-related issues with their phones.

If you have this problem your best bet is to get it replaced and hope the new one does not have the same problem.

Source 1 • Source 2

2013年10月19日星期六

'Paper Monsters' for iOS and Android game review

Some of you may be familiar with Paper Monsters, which was released on iOS back in January this year. While it took its time, the Android version of the game has finally been released and is now available on Google Play.

For those who don’t know, Paper Monsters is a side scrolling ‘2.5D‘ game involving characters and environment made out of paper. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Title	Paper Monsters
Developer	Crescent Moon Games
Platform	iOS	Android
Release Date	January 2012	November 2012
Content rating	4+	Everyone
Size	108MB	84MB
Price	$0.99

Gameplay

Paper Monsters is a 3D side-scrolling game, which is why I referred to it as 2.5D. Basically, the game is rendered in 3D but the action mostly is in just two planes.

In this game, your objective is to avoid the enemies and collect buttons and paper clips as you move towards the end of the level. There are several silver buttons scattered throughout the level and if you collect 50 you get one gold button. There are also a handful of gold buttons throughout the levels. These buttons can later be used as currency to purchase items to customize the look of your character.

Along with the buttons, there are precisely three paper clips in each level but these are usually hidden or out of reach and requires a bit of exploration to find.

Throughout the game you will face many enemies. To take them out, you just have to jump over them. There are some which cannot be killed this way, or in any way, so you just have to avoid them.

Along with the land levels there are also some underwater levels where you take the form of a submarine. There, along with the sea creatures, you also have mines to avoid. Thankfully, you get an unlimited supply of torpedoes to fire at them.

The gameplay in Paper Monsters will remind you of Cordy or Pandemonium (if you are old enough). The side scrolling action is similar to most 2D games but the 3D visuals makes things more interesting. At times you enter special levels within levels, which are actually placed behind the main level, so the camera just focuses in the background so you can see yourself in the back. Once you exit that area, the camera focuses back to the main level. It’s a neat trick and only possible because the game is in 3D.

The gameplay is fun. It is easy to dismiss the game due to its visual style as something childish and boring but go past the initial levels and you’ll find that the Paper Monsters is challenging enough to keep you on its toes. The difficulty ramps up nicely and offers a fair amount of challenge to keep you interested without being too easy or too difficult. Most of the fun comes from the platforming, where timing your jumps correctly is everything. The presence of enemies and collectibles only makes it more fun.

There are four modes in the game. There is the main story mode and two other modes called Punkin’ Time and Heartbreak Shakedown, which offer similar gameplay to the main campaign but are seasonal packages that were released during Valentine’s Day and Halloween.

There is also a mini game called Drag ‘N Dash, where the character moves forward on its own and you just have to press jump at the right time to collect the buttons and avoid the enemies. Unfortunately, this mode is broken on Android because after a while the game world abruptly ends and your character goes into an infinite fall.

Graphics and Sound

As mentioned before, Paper Monsters is a 3D game and a decent looking one at that. The characters in the game have a boxy, low polygon look to them but that’s fine considering they are supposedly made from paper.

The background score in the game is also pretty good and worth putting on headphones for. Unfortunately, the sound effects aren’t that great and lack the polish of titles from big game studios.

Verdict

If you haven’t played Paper Monsters already, you’re missing out on a lot of fun. For $0.99, Paper Monsters offers plenty of enjoyable gameplay with a lot of replay value. Only major problem with the Android release is the broken Drag ‘N Dash mode, which hopefully would be fixed soon.

Rating: 4/5
Pros: Challenging, enjoyable gameplay, good soundtrack, plenty of replay value
Cons: Broken Drag ‘N Dash mode on the Android version, sounds effects are bit cheesy

Download: iOS | Android

2013年10月16日星期三

Facebook Messenger finds its true calling

Facebook Messenger finds its true calling, wants to be the all-in-one messenger hub

Facebook brought a major update for its Messenger client, which helped expand its reach. Until today the app had only one use – chats between online Facebook friends. Now it no longer requires you to have a Facebook account.

Basically the new Messenger wants a piece from the WhatsApp and the native SMS clients’ share. It allows users to send messages to whoever is in their phonebooks and does not require any social log-in.

Of course, if you have a Facebook account and you use it for log-in, you will be able to do Facebook chats as well, but if you don’t the Messenger will work as a standalone service, using your phone number as an ID.

As it seems Facebook wants to make its otherwise useless app a universal messenger hub. There are lots of already similar services around, starting the BBM, WhatsApp, Viber, Samsung ChatOn, iMessage, etc. but Facebook thinks it still has a shot no matter how crowded the market is.

Well, whatever happens with the new Messenger, it will be better than what we used to have. Let’s face it – no one actually uses this thing. The chat service is available within the native Android and iOS apps, so the Messenger one is pretty much obsolete.

The new capable Messenger app will roll out initially on Android and will become available gradually around the globe. The first countries to get it are Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela, with the rest of the world to follow shortly after. Facebook claims these countries are of no particular significance, but it’s no secret the BBM service is quite popular there.

An iOS compatible app will be launched after the Android premiere is over, but there is no information on when exactly.

Source

2013年10月15日星期二

Wi-Fi-only Samsung Tab in the works

Cheaper, Wi-Fi-only Samsung Tab in the works

It’s been a couple of weeks since Samsung introduced its first Android-running 3G and Wi-Fi capable Galaxy Tab and now rumor is the company is about to release a more affordable Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet.

While there is still no word on the exact launch date and price tag of the upcoming tablet, it is said to cost way less than its 3G capable bro.

As for the Galaxy Tab with 3G on board, it became clear last night that it’s going to arrive at the stores of all major US network carriers (including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) where it should be selling for around 200 to 300 US dollars (150 to 230 euro) on a contract.

And that is way more reasonable than the 680 GBP (over 800 euro) that Amazon UK expects to get for the thing. However, keep in mind that unlike its European twin, the US-bound 3G-capable Galaxy Tab won’t sport telephony features which, apparently, will be cut by the mobile operators.

2013年10月13日星期日

You can now play StarCraft and Caesar III on Android

What if I told you there is a way to play StarCraft and Caesar III classics on your Android device? And that they will run as hassle-free as they would on your computer?

There is no magic involved here. Just Winulator.

The Winulator doesn’t work like an emulator. It just converts an x86 game executable to an ARM-friendly one. Here is what you need to do.

You’ll need three things – a computer with installed Winulator Converter Helper, the original DRM-free game installed on that computer and the Winulator Android app installed on your phone. The process of converting, uploading and running the game on your phone is easy and is described in six steps right here.

The Winulator app won��t limit itself to just running those two games. More game profiles should appear soon allowing you to play even more classics.

The app is available in two variants – a free (beta) one and a paid (final) app. There is no difference between those two but the beta logo and the final app is basically a donation one.

Now, excuse me, but I have to go get that Caesar III up and running on my phone.

Source | Via

2013年10月10日星期四

Plants vs

Plants vs. Zombies and Chuzzle to hit Android this month, to be free for 24h at the Amazon app store

The popular developer PopCap Games has just announced that it will be bringing a couple of titles to the Android world this month. We are talking about the puzzle game Chuzzle, which is already available and the extremely successful Plants vs Zombies lane tower defense game, which should come in two weeks’ time.

Both titles will be exclusively available on the Amazon App Store for the first two weeks of their Android existence and will be offered for free in the first 24 hours. So if you want to get the Chuzzle you’ve got to hurry up – at the time of writing you only have 20 hours left to go. You can follow this link to the Amazon Android appstore.

After the promotion ends both Chuzzle and Plants vs Zombies will cost $2.99.

Source

Beta of iOS 4

Beta of iOS 4.2 for iPad shows off multitasking, unified inbox, folders and more

The iPad was skipped when the iOS 4.1 update came – but it will be getting v4.2 in a few months. This new version will unlock the potential of the iPad that is currently locked down – multitasking, combined email inbox, folders and other goodies well-known from the iPhone. The sftware beta was published yesterday by Apple and initial reports are very positive…

iOS 4.2 will bring much needed improvements to the iPad

The biggest change that iOS 4.2 will bring to the iPad is obviously multitasking. It’s the feature everyone’s clamoring about since day one. The way iOS handles multitasking creates a bit of a problem though – the app has to support it for multitasking to work.

And a lot of iPad apps don’t right now – hopefully, the beta will allow developers to fix that by the time iOS 4.2 comes out in November. The iPad has less RAM than the iPhone 4 (256MB vs. 512MB), which could potentially cause headaches for devs.

The task manager has the same swipe-left-for-iPod-controls feature as on the iPhone. On the iPad, brightness controls and a screen rotation lock have been added to that interface. The current hardware rotation lock on the iPad will morph into a mute button (like the iPhone one).

The unified inbox will make juggling several accounts easy – all messages go into that one inbox. The Safari browser has grown a neat Search-on-page feature and the iPad is getting support for wireless printing. Game Center is arriving too, once the iOS 4.2 update hits. We’re looking forward to it.

Source

Galaxy Note 5 Case

2013年12月15日星期日

Samsung to allegedly use Intel processors for its Galaxy Tab 3 10

MIUI v5 is now available for the HTC One as a custom ROM

2013年12月13日星期五

Angry Birds Star Wars gets updated with 20 new Hoth levels

2013年12月6日星期五

LG announces Optimus Pad LTE with 8

2013年12月3日星期二

A Samsung and Visa partnership will provide NFC payments during 2012 London Olympics

2013年11月28日星期四

LG 55-inch OLED TV pre-orders begin in South Korea for $10

2013年11月27日星期三

Samsung announces 20MP WB110 with 26x optical zoom

Sony Xperia S gets in front of our camera

2013年11月20日星期三

Samsung Galaxy S II T989 and Skyrocket suffering from display issues

2013年10月19日星期六