Galaxy Note 5 Case

2013年10月6日星期日

Mysterious device running Intel's Bay Trail crushes the competition in AnTuTu

Last week we reported on an alleged AnTuTu benchmark score of the brand new Sony Xperia Z Ultra running on the new Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait 400 cores wiping out the competition, including the upcoming (alleged) Galaxy S4 Advanced.

Today, a mystery Android 4.2.2 device running Intel’s next generation of mobile processors – Bay Trail – has surfaced, which blows those chart-topping numbers clean out of the water. The smartphone or tablet posted an unheard so far score score of over 43,000.

Not only that, but the unknown device codenamed byt_t_ffrd10 was clocked at just 1.1 GHz. With a maximum clock speed of 2.1 GHz, we don’t have to tell you the implications of what kind of performance a Bay Trail-powered device could bring running at maximum power. We’ll update our chart to illustrate the difference:

AnTuTu

Mystery Intel Bay Trail device
43416
Sony Xperia Z Ultra (alleged)
34758
Samsung Galaxy S4 Advanced (alleged)
31491
Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
26275
Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
24716
HTC One
22678
Sony Xperia Z
20794
LG Optimus G Pro
20056
HTC Butterfly
19513
Huawei Ascend Mate
15714
Samsung Galaxy S III
15547
Oppo Find 5
15167
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
13621

That being said, that’s a lot of hype riding on a unidentified device that may not even turn out to be the real deal. Either way, this undoubtedly has raised a red flag or two in the ARM camp.

Source (Japanese) | Via

2013年10月5日星期六

Got a new Google Settings icon on your Android smartphone

Got a new Google Settings icon on your Android smartphone? It's fine

You may have been surprised today to see a new app icon in your drawer, the Google Settings, getting you access to previously unseen dashboard of settings.

While the more tech savvy among us might suspect some hidden malware is at work, what’s actually at play is a silent update to the Google Play Services app.

As far as its functionality, however, it’s basically just a shortcut to your Settings > Accounts > Google options, giving you the exact same options you’d find there, with the addition of some Google+ sign-in settings as well.

Likely, Google will fill this space with some unique settings at some point in the future, but for now it’ll be just another (pretty) icon in your app drawer.

Source

Lead designer of Nokia C7 talks about design and influences

We’re getting ready to review the Nokia C7, so this caught our interest – the lead designer of the C7 talking about the process he went through. It’s interesting to see what goes on on the other side – how those phones that we’re reviewing get to be the way they are?

The design process of the Nokia C7 started with choosing its measurements – the weight and most importantly, the size of the display. Once Tomas Iva?kevi?ius, the lead designer for the C7, had picked a screen size that fits well in the hand, he designed everything else around it.

It wasn’t easy – he describes it as a complex balancing act between adding and taking things away and filtering through a lot of input from his boss and colleagues. Tomas begins the video by saying that he spent entire days at school drawing cars – I wonder if that’s the inspiration behind the curves of the Nokia C7?

Anyway, with this video in mind, we’re going back to the C7 review. Stay tuned.

Source

2013年10月4日星期五

Microsoft launches Xbox 360 wireless steering wheel

Microsoft launches Xbox 360 wireless steering wheel, emphasizes form over function

Some of you may know that Microsoft makes their own wired steering wheel set for the Xbox 360. Today they announced the new wireless version of that controller.

Now while it looks kinda cool, it fails on several levels for a steering wheel set. For starters, there are no pedals so you accelerate and brake using the controls on the front and back of the wheel. Same goes for the gear shifts. This takes half the fun out of owning a steering wheel set. Also, there is no proper force feedback available here, simply haptic feedback and rumble like on the controller.

Lastly, I don’t see how it could attach to my desk. On the back of the wheel you can see a suction cup to attach it to flat surfaces but the last time I checked desks were horizontal. This means the steering would be lying flat, which would be fine if you are into truck simulators. I hope there is some accessory that Microsoft isn’t showing here that lets you attach it to regular desks while keeping it at an angle.

The wheel will be sold for $60, which is pretty cheap and will be out in October. It would be fine for those who want improved steering control over a keyboard or regular controller but hardcore racing fans should look into investing into a proper set.

Source

New details revealed on Microsoft Courier tablet

New details revealed on Microsoft Courier tablet, don't sign up for an iPad just yet

Remember the awesome Microsoft tablet concept that leaked last September? Granted, there’s nothing official yet, but meanwhile some new details leaked online through a “reliable source”.

The Microsoft Courier will act as a digital journal – means to organize your life and put down notes, drawings, pictures, videos or audio messages.

Microsoft Courier tablet user interface

As we mentioned before the pen you see on those shots won��t be just a stylus. It will pack two buttons – an eraser and twists to alternate different drawing modes. There��s also an undo button on top of it.

The Courier is designed to be portable as much as possible and would be only an inch thick (about 25mm). The weight won��t be a problem too �C it��s expected to be less than half a kilo (one pound).

Microsoft Courier won’t run on Windows Phone 7 but instead will have its own proprietary OS and its own application eco system. It should also feature a full web browser and a file manager. Apple might want to think on that last one.

The fancy tablet is rumored to be powered by the Tegra 2 hardware platform.

We should expect the Microsoft Courier Q3 or Q4 this year. There is nothing official yet, though.

Source

The Samsung Focus S completed our battery trial

The Samsung Focus S completed our battery trial, see the results [TEST]

As the current Windows Phone flagship for Samsung, we were more than curious to put the battery of the Focus S through its paces. The fact that the device has quite a lot in common with the I9100 Galaxy S II made us twice as curious.

The Samsung Focus S is powered by the same 1650 mAh battery as the original Galaxy S II. In the case of the Windows Phone device, there is one CPU core less to be dealt with, along with half the amount RAM. The rest of the hardware of the two Koreans comes from the same parts bin.

As always, we kick things off with the 3G talk time test. Here, the Samsung Focus S managed the unimpressive 7 hours and 25 minutes of talk time. Its android sibling managed a whole hour extra in comparison.

The web browsing test was where the Focus S made us its biggest impression. The device managed 6 hours and 15 minutes of our specially prepared script – a result which is the third best. Given the fact that the best result so far belongs to a Windows Phone device as well (HTC Radar), we believe that Microsoft deserves credit for putting together a battery friendly web browser.

The video playback performance of the Focus S was also commendable. With 7 hours and 55 minutes of video playback, the smartphone finished neck to neck with its Galaxy S II sibling. However, we must point out that the video which we use for the test was converted by Zune before it landed on the device, thus making it better suited for it.

And now it is time for the most important part of our test – the overall score. Here, the Samsung Focus S managed to achieve 38 hours between charges, when we put the above tasks into play – only two hours less than the Galaxy S II.

The full review of the Samsung Focus S is already in the oven. While you are waiting for it, feel free to check out our hands-on of the device here.

2013年10月3日星期四

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs. LG G Pro vs. Acer Liquid S2: Phablets unleashed

When it first came out a couple of years ago, the original Samsung Galaxy Note was welcomed with mixed feeling and reactions. Back then nobody would have thought that today we would be cheering the third installment in the lineup with an even bigger screen. Well times change, and in this industry, times literally flee.

But this time around, the Note 3 is not the only option. You see, Samsung may have opened people’s minds to the phablet realm, but it also inspired a lot of companies to launch rival products. Nothing wrong in that of course, as it leads us to this post where we pit the Galaxy Note 3 versus the LG G Pro and the Acer Liquid S2, with the latter being another fresh announcement off the IFA 2013 floor as well.

The Acer Liquied S2 as if jumped out of nowhere and wasn’t really expected. Acer rushed the opportunity prior to IFA 2013 to announce their 6″ Liquid S2 with a killer feature – its 13MP camera, which records 4k video. It’s not a slouch either with a Snapdragon 800 chipset ticking inside it, the phone runs Android 4.2.2 seamlessly.

Phablets require large hands and even then, they can be a bit unwieldy at times. That’s why specifications such as weight and width are crucial. Sadly, Acer hasn’t yet provided the weight of the Liquid S2, making the Galaxy Note 3 the lightest of the bunch as things stand now.

Samsung has really gone the extra mile to make the Galaxy Note 3 a true successor to the wildly popular Galaxy Note II. It has an updated innards (a Snapdragon 800) as well as an updated screen. It’s a 5.7″ Super AMOLED display of 1080p resolution, which catches up to the Full HD trend. Not to mention the updated S Pen and it’s plethora of new software tricks. You can read all about them in our IFA 2013 Galaxy Note 3 hands-on.

We put the LG G Pro here for a reason – it’s LG’s deliberate attempt to rival the Galaxy Note II and it outpaces it in almost every technical respect, except for the fact that there is no stylus included with it. Still, it’s interesting to see how it would fare against the latest Note 3 just as a reality-check whether it’s still relevant. Well, it’s time to find out – head over to the comparison table below.

	Samsung Galaxy Note 3	LG G Pro	Acer Liquid S2
OS	Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)	Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)	Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
Display	5.7-inch Super AMOLED	5.5" IPS Plus LCD	6" IPS LCD
Resolution	1920 x 1080 pixels (386 ppi)	1920 x 1080 pixels (401 ppi)	1920 x 1080 pixels (367 ppi)
Height Width Thickness	151.2 mm 79.2 mm 8.3 mm	150.2 mm 76.1 mm 9.4 mm	166 mm 86 mm 9 mm
Weight	168 grams	172 grams	N/A
Processor	Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400?	Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300	Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400
GPU	Adreno 330	Adreno 320	Adreno 330
RAM	3GB	2GB	2GB
Storage	32GB / 64GB	16GB / 32GB	16GB
microSD card slot	Yes, up to 64GB	Yes, up to 64GB	Yes, up to 128GB
Primary camera	13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash	13 MP, 4208 x 3120 pixels, autofocus, LED flash	13 MP, 4208 x 3120 pixels, autofocus, LED ring flash
Primary camera features	Touch focus, simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, image stabilization, panorama, Video: 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps	Touch focus, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, panorama, HDR, Video: 1080p@30fps, dual-video recording	Touch focus, geo-tagging, panorama, HDR; Video: 2160p@24fps, 1080p@60fps
Front camera	2 MP 1080p@30fps	2 MP 1080p@30fps	2.1MP 1080p@30fps
Wi-Fi	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Network	Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad-band UMTS/HSPA LTE support	Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Dual-band UMTS/HSPA Dual-band LTE support	Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Dual-band UMTS/HSPA Tri-band LTE support
Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 LE with A2DP	Yes, v4.0 LE with A2DP	Yes, v4.0 LE with A2DP
NFC	Yes	Yes	Yes
Distinctive features	S Pen with pressure sensitive touchscreen	N/A	N/A
Availability	September	Available	October

What we have here is failure to communicate. These are three devices that didn’t heed the warnings that the world has had enough of giant phones. They’ve even forced the Oxford dictionary to add the word “phablet” to its database – that’s the length of their insolence.

It’s go big or go home and Samsung leads the pack with its pen-enabled Galaxy Note 3, which saw the light of day yesterday in front of a hyped up crowd both beyond the Samsung-made stage and in front of thousands upon thousands of PC and handheld screens. The Note 3 was a bigger affair than its predecessor (and we’re not just talking figuratively here) and one of the biggest to hit the stage (again, we’re dead serious).

Back in the day when LG officially unveiled the G Pro it was the Galaxy Note II killer it never thought would face. Interestingly, the G Pro still manages to be a worthy rival to the Galaxy Note III even if it doesn’t have the most powerful chipset under the hood, nor the fancy S Pen stylus. And since it’s been around for a while now, the G Pro should be cheaper to buy as well. Yes, it doesn’t pack 2160p video recording, but most people would be alright without it.

Make no mistake about it, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a fantastic tablet that shows the company’s burning desire to continue dominating the very market it built up. As a result, there’s no denying the fact that it’s the very best one in the market that’s available.

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