Apple iPhone 5 review

The legend(iPhone) is back but this time it has simply gone more powerful than ever. The all new iPhone 5 is the 6th generation iPhone which is powered by 1.2 Ghz quad core Apple A6 processor. iPhone 5's quad processor is what makes this device seriously fast. It runs an iOS 6.x.x (with updates coming regularly). One great feature of this device a new feature Shared Photo Streams. You can share a series of photos with friends and family to share and comment along with 1.3 MP front facing camera.  We has never seen any thing like this before .Also, iPhone 5 has a 8mp camera capable of 1080p HD video recording just like that on iPhone 4s. Also, panorama is finally official.Even the camera is very fast .It takes the fraction of seconds to take a snap shot.With is its single LED flash , users don't have to worry about clicking photos in dark places. There are 3 microphones in iPhone 5. One of front, one on back and one on bottom. Finally, the days for 32 pin dock connector is gone and now we have a new connector which is 80% smaller. iPhone 5 has worldwide 4G and LTE connectivity feature in a single chip!

So, here is the specification of the iPhone 5.
Name                     : iPhone 5
Operating System: iOS 6 (6.x.x)
Camera                 : Primary - 8MP with 1080p Video Recording
                                 Front- 1.3 with 720p Video Recording
Processor              : Dual Core 1 GHz A6 Processor 

Memory(RAM)    : 1GB

GPU                      : 2x faster than that of iPhone 4s with 3Cores
Storage                 :  Internal 16GB, 32GB and 64GB
                         
Display                  : 4 inch IPS (1136*640) with Retina Display
                                 Pixel Density : 330ppi                             

Body                      : Dimension-  115.2 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
Weight                   :112grams

Colour                    : White and Black

Battery                   :Standard battery, Li-Po 1432 mAh
Design

The iPhone 5's design is very beautiful & attractive .Having a glass in its back makes it even more attractive .The phone  is  thin(7.6mm) just like its rivals .In the front , we have a 4 inch retina display having a resolution of 1136x640.On the top front, there is a 1.3 MP camera capable of 720p hd video recording . On the bottom of the screen, we have a physical back bottom. The left side of the device has a button which is use to toggle device to silent mode from general mode and vice versa. On the right, there is a physical volume rocker key.There is no dedicated camera shutter button. On the top, we have lock/power off button & we have dual speaker placed below along with the unknown pin USB connector which is 80% smaller than 32 pin connector which can be used for charging & data transfer.

On the back of phone, we have a 8mp camera with the LED flash. There is also Apple logo on the back of the device. That's all about the design of this beast. It may not be the best of the best but it surely is good enough to catch one's eyes.

Display

As mention earlier , iPhone 5 has 4 inch display with pixel density of 330ppi. It has resolution of  1136*640. Text is very good viewing the angles aren't bad either. Color saturation is 44% better than that of iPhone 4s. The iPhone 5 may be of 4 inch while most of the other smart phone has screen size larger than 4 inch. The iPhone 5 have capacitive touch screen with multi-touch.The amazing thing is that the phone can read all your five finger at a time. It may not really be usable but it sure is fun. Touches are very responsive and are almost always accurate. But if you have a big hand, you may have difficulty in typing in portrait mode. Apart from that, we had no problem with the display. We hopefully will get bigger screen in next generation of iPhone.
Operating System ( iOS )

iOS is the operating system only used by Apple products. So, it sure is different from the other operating system but iOS gives you certain limitations. Your iPhone 5 runon iOS 6.0.01 (which is the latest until now). It is the successor of the iOS 5.x.x. There are no major changes apart from that it has notification window and "Siri" and some other software updates. Applications are customized to exactly fit in the screen.( I will be talking about it after a while in this post). You will notice that it still is the same. Scrolling through the menu hasn't changed since years. There are no homescreens yet which also mean that you don't have accessibility to the Widgets. iPhone 5 will have it's own Maps navigation and leave back Google Maps. Apart from the applications, you won't find anything interesting in the iOS 6.
The iOS 6.x.x may not have homescreens and may not be as customizable as Android devices but the OS sure is fast and very responsive. We rarely get freezes or phone restarts. It is also not a power hungry operating system. The dual core processor for this phone is just more than enough. Application run smoothly on this device. 
Camera     
PHOTO
The iPhone 5's camera is one of the best 8MP camera seen in a smartphone. The back facing 8MP is said to take truly amazing photos.It has a f/2.4 aperture with 5 element lens. iPhone 5's camera is 40 % faster than that of iPhone 4s. Also, beside the camera, there is a LED flash light for capuring photos in dark areas. It is packed will all camera goodies like Touch focus, geo-tagging,Face detection, HDR ,etc. Although, you don't get a dedicated camera shutter button, the on-screen shutter button isn't that bad either. The camera also autofocus when required. The Camera takes snapshots very quickly. You won't miss the moments that you want to capture. The camera talkes 1.1 second to take a photo initially and 0.5 seconds.The camera interface is pretty much the same as before with a few options added on the viewfinder - a viewfinder grid, an HDR setting, pinching gesture for digital zoom and swipe gesture for quick gallery access.
VIDEO (CAMCORDER)

The back facing camera shoots 1080p HD Videos. HD Videos looks stunning both on the phone and your HD TV. The videos are very impressive. 10 second HD(almost 31MB)showed us that the details are very good and the sound quality is good (not best) as well. The iPhone 5 records 1080p videos and the clips are stored in .MOV format with a 23Mbps bitrate. Videos are shot at a smooth 30fps most of the time but he framerate drops to 26fps when the lighting isn't good. Still, the videos turned out to be good.  The drawback is that you can't change the recording resolution from 1080p to 720p with the default application. If you record a 1080p HD video for 10 minutes, it takes upto 1.8GB! Apart from that I claim that the iPhone 5 camcorder is the best out there in Smarphone industry.
FRONT FACING CAMERA

The  iPhone 5's front facing camera is a 1.3 camera which can record 720p videos at 30 frames per second. The front facing camera is where iPhone 5 won't disapoint you. Although Samsung Galaxy S3 has 1.9MP front facing camera, this one is good too.  The good thing is that,you can video chat via 3G/4G Lte network. The video chatting is enabled over Wi-Fi as well without any surprise. 
Processor
The iPhone 5 uses the a quad core processor 1.0GHz Apple's A6 processor which pumps power to this beast. Unlike the earlier versions of the iPhone, the iPhone 5's processor is very efficient and consumes very little battery except while playing games or using heavy applications. The quad core  processor is what makes this device very fast. You won't face any lags.The boot times have improved as well. Applications load up much faster. None of the games are choppy. All the Gameloft's HD games could be played without any glitches. Even the camera is a lot faster just because if this powerful processor.As iOS doesn't need much processing power, the quad-core processor is what we are very much satisfied with.
Battery
The iPhone 5 may not have largest of the battery like the Motorola Razr Maxx. It is packed with Li-Po 1432 mAh battery. Although it may sound a bit little to you all, iOS itself doesn't consume a lot of battery, so we can say that this device gives us decent battery back up. Not too good nor too disappointing when it comes to battery life. If you are a hardcore gamer, the battery is going to be drained very quickly else it will last for a day under normal usage. We hear some bugs about the battery life of iPhone 5 but they are being patched by Apple itself. We had expected a larger battery but this isn't too disappointing either. The battery is quite good with 9.4 days of standby time and 40 hours of music playback.

Here are the Pros and Cons of the iPhone 5:

ADVANTAGES

• iOS 6 with iCloud integration
• Scratch-resistant glass front and rear, with fingerprint-resistant coating
• Voice recognition, Siri virtual assistant
• 1080p video recording at 30fps 
• 16GB/32GB/64GB Storage options
• 8MP High Quality Still Camera
• 1GHz Quad Core processor with great graphics processing chip
• Excellent Sound Quality
• 3.5mm Standard Audio Jack
• New Antenna with improved Signal Reception
• Great Application Library 
• Retina Display
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and a three-axis gyro sensor

DISADVANTAGES

• Nano SIM Card Support only
• No Memory Card Slot
• No true HD Display
• 4 inch Display only (comparing with rivals)
• No FM Radio
• Data(Music,Pictures,Videos) can't be exchanged via Bluetooth
• No Stereo Speakers
• Siri only fully functional in U.S
• iTunes required for data/content transfer

Conclusion

The iPhone 5 surely is a great phone and may be the best. If you already have a iPhone 4's, then I wouldn't recommend you to purchase iPhone 5. But, in the other hand iPhone 5 is very user friendly and has got all you would want out of a phone. It's a  all in one gadget. It's up to you to decide if you want this phone or not. If you like a user-friendly and easy to use mobile, you should obviously go for iPhone 5 but if you like to customize you phone and like cool party tricks, I would recommend you to go for Android Smartphones. Overall, it is a pretty good phone. It delivers all you would want out of a phone. I would rate it 9 out of 10 if I really had to! 

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Apple iPhone 4 Review

 

I’ve been using the Apple iPhone 4 since the day it was released. I ended up buying one without a contract since mine isn’t up for renewal till March of 2011. It was a pricey gadget purchase at over $500. Of course that never stopped me before   But let’s see if I’m still happy with my purchase after 45 days of living with this smartphone.

Hardware Specifications

Operating System: iOS 4 Memory: 16GB or 32GB versions available
Display: 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch retina display, 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi, 800:1 contrast ratio (typical) Wireless: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only) Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology Digital Camera: 5.0MP, Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion, Talk time: up to 7 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G, standby time: up to 300 hours Internet use: up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi Video playback: Up to 10 hours Audio playback: Up to 40 hours Size: 4.5 x 2.31 x 0.37 in (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm) Weight: 4.8 ounces (137 grams)

Package Contents

iPhone 4 Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic Dock Connector to USB Cable USB Power Adapter Documentation

Hardware

I really like the updated physical design of the iPhone 4. It’s thinner and sexier in my opinion. I really like the way the display and back surface go from edge to edge without a bezel for dirt and dust to collect. This phone feels like it has been carved out of a solid block of glass. I love the feel of it in my hand. It’s really solid and easily passes the gadgeteer squeeze test. This baby doesn’t flex, creak or crack when I squeeze it and there are no rattles when I shake it.

Here it is next to my iPhone 3GS. You can’t tell much of a size difference looking at them from above…

But from the side, the difference is very noticeable. The iPhone 4 now has a stainless steel band around the sides. This band is the antenna of the phone. I’m not going to go into the whole deal with the antenna problems with this phone. I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing about this issue by now anyway. I’ll just say that I’ve been using my phone without a case and have not had one dropped call in the 45 days that I’ve been using the phone. That’s not to say that everything is peaches and cream with my call quality though. I’ve been an AT&T customer for years and my call quality has pretty much sucked for all of those years. It’s not unusual to have clicks and the occasional outside call that bleeds in.  The number of bars go up and down for no apparent reason. I’ve had this with any and all GSM phones that I’ve ever used. Phones will go back and forth from 1 bar, to full bars and all bars in between, while sitting in the exact same spot. So go figure.

On the left side of the phone, you’ll find the mute switch and volume buttons. I like the individual volume buttons and find them easier to operate than the rocker switch that the previous iPhone versions used. The buttons are raised and have good tactile feedback, making them very easy to find and press with your thumb while in a call.

The right side is the new location for the SIM card slot. Good old Apple decided to go with a micro SIM card, which means that you’ll (I’ll) need an adapter if I wish to use the same SIM in a different GSM phone. Grrrrr. I still haven’t ordered an adapter.

Along the top edge, you’ll find the on/off wake/sleep button, 2nd microphone and headphone jack.

The bottom edge has the main microphone along with the dock connector and speaker.

The front of the phone has the familiar home button, speaker and a front facing VGA camera that can be used for the built in FaceTime application, as well as for self-portraits.
The previous iPhone had a great display, but the new iPhone 4′s retina display is just plain gorgeous. It’s true, you can’t see the individual pixels at all. Screen sensitivity remains the same. It’s still easy to scroll, pinch and zoom using your fingers. The iPhone remains my favorite finger friendly display.
FYI: the display is still difficult to see in direct sunlight…

One the back you’ll see the 5MP camera lens and the new LED flash next to it.

Here are a couple sample pictures taken with the iPhone 4. You can click them to see the original sized image. I’m pretty happy with the image quality of this phone. The colors are vivid and the images are sharp. I’ve always been pretty impressed with the cameras in iPhones, so I don’t notice much difference except for more pixels.

The iPhone still does great with macro shots. That’s one of my main criteria for a mobile phone camera and the iPhone passes the test.
It also does a pretty decent job of capturing video. My Flip UltraHD video camera doesn’t get used anymore because the iPhone 4 does such a good job. The only thing to keep in mind though is that even though the specs say that it will record at 720p, if you upload to Youtube via your iPhone or email the video file to yourself, it will compresses it first. The resulting 568 x 320 resolution video looks pretty bad (see first video sample below). If you want the uncompressed video off your iPhone, you can import the video into iPhoto (on a Mac), or use a free iPhone app like Pixelpipe to transfer the files. Check out the samples below.
Video exported from iPhone directly to YouTube

Video imported into iPhoto on Mac from iPhone, then uploaded to YouTube

Video imported into iPhoto on Mac from iPhone, then uploaded to YouTube

So, we have a new form factor / case style, a better display and a better camera (actually dual cameras). You might be wondering how the phone performs as an actual phone and how well the battery lasts.
Call-wise, I don’t really notice anything different than my iPhone 3GS. I can make calls and receive calls. Call volume is fine. Call quality will depend entirely on how good AT&T is in your area. Although the coverage is good here in Columbus, Indiana. Call quality isn’t the best. I don’t blame the iPhone for this though. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve had the same issues with all GSM phones I’ve used with this carrier. I thought things might improve when we recently received 3G coverage, but nope… it’s still the same. In other words, it’s crappy. Although I don’t experience dropped calls, I often problems with clicking and bad audio quality.
Another thing that annoys me is that I can have full bars and not be able to check the temperature with the weather app or my stocks with the stock app. It will just sit there and spin and spin and spin. It’s pretty embarrassing when I’m out to lunch with someone new and want to show them something cool with my phone and the data connection just doesn’t work.
As far as system performance, the iPhone 4 is very snappy. Apps load almost instantly. I have no complaints at all as far as that is concerned. I also have no real complaints about battery life. I tend to charge the phone every other day and that works fine for me. My typical daily usage ranges from 10 or so text messages a day, 1-2 calls, 1hr of ebook reading with Stanza, a few minutes of app store browsing and / or app updating and a few minutes use here and there of various apps.
So I pretty much love the hardware minus AT&T’s special sauce. Now let’s talk a little bit about software.

Software

The two main new software features on the iPhone 4, which are also included in the iOS 4 update that you can also put on your iPhone 3G and 3GS (not all new features are available on the 3G), are folders and multitasking.

Organizing your apps into folders is really easy to do. Just hold your finger down on an icon and then drag it on top of another icon to create a new folder with those two icons inside it. Each folder can have a maximum of 12 icons. The folder will be named automatically depending on the category of the programs, but you can rename it to whatever you wish.
I like this new feature, but I do wish that there was the ability to change the folder icon. As it is, it shows a teeny tiny icon view of several of the apps that it holds.
I should also mention that you can’t drag a folder into a folder…

Multitasking is a feature that iPhone users have been begging for since the original iPhone was first released 3 years ago. Apple has finally given it to us – sorta. It should really be called task switching. And it’s important to realize that not all apps are multitaskable (yes, I just made up a new word). Check the App Store or the developer’s webpage to verify the application supports multitasking.
To switch between apps, you just double press the Home button. When you do, you’ll see your recently opened apps at the bottom. This strip of icons scrolls left to right. If you scroll all the way to the left, you may see some special options depending on the app you have open. For example, if Pandora or the iPod app is running, you’ll see play controls.

If you want to close an app, you just hold your finger down on the icon till you see the minus symbol. From there, you can just tap the icons to close them. Unfortunately, there isn’t a Close All open apps feature.
Other new OS features include:
Unified inbox – Allows you to see messages from all your accounts in a unified inbox, organize messages by threads, open attachments in third-party apps, and more.
ibooks – eBook reader and book store app.
Home screen wallpaper – Change the background wallpaper on your Home screen.

Conclusion

It’s probably not going to be a surprise that I have a love / hate relationship with the iPhone 4. I’ve enjoyed using the iPhone since I purchased the original one. I love the display, the camera and of course, the wide variety of quality applications. That said, I am not a fan of AT&T’s call quality and data quality issues in my area. It really annoys me that for the last year,  I paid extra for 3G capability when it wasn’t even available in my town. Then when we finally did get it, the experience has been pretty blah. I am not going to blame the iPhone for these problems though because I think it’s more of a local carrier issue. But at the same time, it has introduced frustration into the equation and in some ways I regret that I spent so much for this phone.
At the end of the day, I will happily recommend iPhone 4 as a capable and fun to use phone – IF the AT&T coverage in your area is good. If it’s not so great, you’ll have to put up with the same issues I’ve dealt with for years. I guess it says something positive about the iPhone that I have lived with the problems because I’ve enjoyed the phone so much.
Now it’s your turn. For those of you that purchased the iPhone 4 for the first time, or as an upgrade, are you still happy with your purchase after 45+ days?

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iPhone 5 vs iPhone 4S - the Review

With the launch of the new iPhone 5, many smartphone users, especially those who bought the iPhone 4S recently, have been left wondering whether it would be worth it to buy Apple’s latest device. To find out which of the two phones is better, we need to compare some of the similar features.

 

The iPhone 4S next to the larger iPhone 5

 

 For starters, the difference between the size of the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 is minimal-a 1/2inch vertically and over 1 inch in depth. Apple’s newest addition, the iPhone 5, is longer, thinner and has a longer widescreen display (16:9) as compared to the iPhone 4S. 

 

360 degree view of the iPhone 5

 With regard to design, both of these devices look amazing. The iPhone 4/4S has one of the best designs on any phone so far though it is rather easy to break due to the glass panels placed at the front and back. The iPhone 5’s design has somewhat remedied this problem as it has an aluminum panel at the back. In addition, its appearance is much better than that of the iPhone 4S because the finer points of the device and its overall shape have been devised with accuracy giving it a more stunning look.

 

 The iPhone 5’s A6 ARM chip processor has the same design as that of the iPhone 4S though it has numerous modifications. These modifications make the phone’s processor better giving it an edge over the previous models. As for its camera, the iPhone 5 has disappointed many of its customers because the update on it is very slight. It still has the same lens speed and megapixel rating as that of the iPhone 4S. The only difference is the lens glass, which is important though not what was expected. And of course there is still the the issue of Purple Flares on the iPhone 5! However, here is a comparison that does show that there is some improvement from the previous model:

 

 

 

 Another disappointing feature on the iPhone 5 is the flash memory storage. The cost to install flash storage on the phone is still very expensive and it hasn’t changed much since the previous models, going as far back as the iPhone 3GS. Therefore, for those who require faster data speeds and are on the Verizon network, it would be advisable to purchase the new iPhone 5. For users on AT&T and Sprint, it is recommended that you stick to the iPhone 4S until the next iPhone launch as it is not that different from the iPhone 5 as far as most users are concerned and educated. 

- See more at: http://metroplexbbq.blogspot.com/2012/10/iphone-5-vs-iphone-4s-review.html#sthash.JXQZLtbV.dpuf

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Samsung Galaxy S4 review

 The Samsung Galaxy S4 release date, price and specs has officially been unveiled - the phone will hit shelves by the end of April in the UK.

It's official and it's now here, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has been revealed in New York. Although many of the features had been leaked in the weeks leading up to the event, the launch was still a time for Samsung to show-off its latest handset, while no doubt making sure that Apple's got its work cut-out with the iPhone 5S.
Here we'll take a look at the phone's new features and outline its key specifications, as well as rounding up the current UK prices. For a more in-depth look, check out our Samsung Galaxy Specsarticle.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 DESIGN

With the Galaxy S3 proving to be such a success, Samsung hasn't strayed too far from that design with the Galaxy S4. The rounded edges and lozenge-shaped home button at the bottom of the phone are all instantly recognisable.


The Samsung Galaxy S4 is thinner and lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S3
While the S3 looked and felt, well, quite plastic, the Samsung S4 looks that much nicer and more like the high-end phone that it should be. It has a polycarbonate case, but it's now slimmer (7.9mm) and lighter (130g) than its predecessor.
Two versions of the phone will be available: Black Mist and White Frost. It's hard to pass judgement on the phone until we've seen it in the flesh, but in the shots we've seen it certainly looks like a step up from the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Available in black or white, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is instantly recognisable

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 SCREEN

As expected, the Galaxy S4 has a 5in Full HD (1,920x1,080) Super AMOLED screen. That's a stunning 441ppi, making this one of the highest-density phones that we've seen. The HTC One manages slightly more at 468ppi, thanks to its slightly-smaller 4.7in Full HD screen. On balance, though, you're going to find it hard to tell the difference or spot individual pixels on either screen.
There was no mention of the Green PHOLED technology, which was rumoured to be making its first appearance here. However, we've been impressed with Samsung's Super AMOLED technology before and it's always been power efficient, helping to save battery life.
As expected, the screen can be operated just by hovering your finger over it, giving rise to two new features. Air View lets you hover over content, such as an email or photo, to preview it without having to open it. Air Gesture, lets you change tracks, scroll through a web page or answer a call with the wave of your hand. We haven't had chance to try the system out yet, but this should make fine-control of the touch screen operating system that little bit easier.

Air View and Air Gesture let you operate the touch screen without touching it
Gorilla Glass 3 helps make the phone durable, although we'd still recommend a screen protector or case if you're going to keep your phone in a pocket with sharp items, such as keys.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 CAMERAS

Cameras are an important part of any Smartphone, with many people preferring them to compact cameras. From the specifications, Samsung hasn't let us down with the Galaxy S4 camera, with a 13-megapixel rear camera, complete with Flash and a high-speed shutter mode. At the front is a 2-megapixel camera.

The 13-megapixel rear camera certainly has impressive specifications, but the front camera can be used to control the phone
Now, two cameras on a Smartphone is hardly something new, but with Dual Camera you can operate both of them at the same time. It feels a little gimmicky to us, but the idea is that you can film yourself with the front camera and then superimpose yourself on the footage from the rear camera. The examples we've seen look a little twee and we're not sure that most people want their faces to appear surrounded by a postage stamp border over the footage they're recording.

You can superimpose yourself as a floating stamp in videos, if you like that kind of thing
The front camera also serves a purpose in controlling the phone with Smart Pause. This technology knows when you're looking at the screen so it can, for example, pause a video when you turn your head and look away. As soon as you look back, the video continues. It's a neat way of using the cameras for more than just still images and video.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 PROCESSOR

We were expecting the Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 5 processor in the phone and that's an option, with a 1.6GHz model. However, a 1.9GHz Quad-Core version of the phone will also be sold, depending on where you live in the world. Samsung hasn't specified yet which version we'll get in the UK, although we would expect to get the Octa-Core model.
The company tweeted a rendering of the new chip, which is also rumoured to power the new Galaxy Note 3 phone/tablet, from its @SamsungExynos Twitter account, so whetting the appetites of Samsung fans everywhere.
The new chip's eight-core design is based on ARM's big.LITTLE architecture. This means that there are four powerful Cortex-A15 cores for the phone's most power-hungry functions, and four lower-power Cortex-A7 models to take care of simpler tasks. When the phone isn't needed to do anything fancy, the more powerful cores shut down, extending battery life.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 BATTERY

Speaking of battery life, the new handset will use a 2,600mAh battery. That's 500mAh bigger than the one in the S3 and should be big enough to cope with the slightly-enlarged screen, and the greater demands of 4G, while still running all day.
The battery is also removable, so you can carry a charged spare if you're going to be out for a long time. It also means that a failing battery can easily be replaced.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 4G AND WIRELESS

You can't make a modern phone and not support the latest wireless standards, so the Samsung Galaxy S4 has full support for 4G LTE networks. Global 4G support has been promised, supporting download speeds of 100Mbit/s and uploads of 50Mbit/s. Full 3G and 2.5G support is, of course, also present.
For use at home there's also better Wi-Fi support, with the new 802.11ac standard supported. We've seen this networking standard deliver speeds well over 200Mbit/s, so using super-fast broadband speeds on your phone at home is going to easy.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 NFC

NFC makes an appearance, so the phone will be compatible with Google Wallet, so you can pay for goods in compatible shops using just your phone. It will also support Visa's pay Wave, widening the choice and range of places that you can shop in.
In addition, Samsung showed some other ways that NFC can be used. One of the most different was Group Play. By tapping your Samsung Galaxy S4 to another one, you can share music and pictures. Samsung has also promised that the technology will support multi-player gaming and it's opening up the SDK to encourage other companies to develop for it.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 STORAGE

No great surprises on the storage front, with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models announced. However, it's good to see that there's still a microSD card slot, so you can add up to 64GB of storage. Depending on the prices, it may even work out cheaper to buy a lower-capacity model and then upgrade it when you need to with a memory card.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 S HEALTH

With fitness accessories apps being big business, Samsung clearly doesn't want to miss out and has launched S Health with the Galaxy S4. Using your phone a variety of accessories, you'll be able to measure your weight and health.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 OTHER FEATURES

If all of that wasn't enough, the Galaxy S4 also has an IR transmitter, which you can use to control your home entertainment kit via the Watch On app. There's also S Voice Drive, which puts up a simpler interface for when you're driving and recognises voice prompts. Finally, when you're abroad the translation services let you type in a message and have the phone read it out in a different language; the spoken reply is then converted back into your language on the screen.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 RELEASE DATE

Samsung has promised to have the phone out by the end of April. Exact launch dates will depend on the country, but we expect the UK to be one of the first on the list. We'll bring you updated information as and when it becomes available.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 PRICE AND UK NETWORKS

The good news is that you won't be short of choice when it comes to buying the Samsung Galaxy S4. Two of the major UK networks have confirmed that they will be carrying the new phone - no great surprise, when you consider the huge success of the Galaxy S3 and the amount of hype that has been building up to the launch of the S4.
As you'd hope considering the Galaxy S4's LTE capability, it will be available on the UK's only 4G network - EE - and Three has also thrown its hat into the ring.
Vodafone and O2 have yet to say either way, but we find it hard to believe that they will pass up the chance to stock this year's potential biggest seller.
Pricing hasn't yet been announced, but we can take a fair stab at expected prices. We'd imagine that launch prices will be the same as for the S3 when it launched back in May - a wallet-busting £499. Once again though the tough competition from Google's own Nexus 4 device may force Samsung to lower its price in order to compete - unless of course the hardware specification is a big step forward.
On contract you're likely to be looking at £30-40 a month minimum, and considerably more with a 4G service such as EE. This will be an expensive handset, though probably still a little less than the iPhone 5 costs.

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Galaxy S4 Mini Specs and Features

A lot of people didn't like many things associated with the Galaxy S4 and it seems like the Galaxy S4 Mini is a perfect answer to the problems a lot of us had with the main flagship. The main problems of course focus on the size and cost of the original device. However, will this Mini device really stand up to its name? The S3 Mini model was quite a failure when compared to its bigger brother, so let us see if this new device will be any better.

Press photo of the new device. Click to zoom.

 The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini looks rather good and it is obviously a lot more compact and portable than the bigger flagship. The display is 4.3 inches and in spite of the bad resolution settings the display quality is quite sharp and impressive. So, without further to do, let us just dive right in to the Galaxy S4 Mini's specs!

General Specs and Design of the S4 Mini

• Smartphone dimensions: 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.9 mm (4.91 x 2.41 x 0.35 in).
• The original model had the following body dimensions: 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm (5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 in).
• Weight: 107 g (3.77 oz); this 23g lighter than the larger device.
• Display: 540 x 960 pixels, 4.3 inches (~256 ppi pixel density); Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.
• 16 million colors and multitouch support.
• Internal memory: 8 GB, but 5 GB is actually user-available.
• RAM: 1.5 GB for the standard 3G model and 2GB for the advanced LTE device.
• Extra storage: Both models have microSD card support with up to 64 GB expansion.
• Operating system: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
• Colors: White Frost and Black Mist (same as the original).

The White Frost model.

Advanced Specs and Hardware details

• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8930 Snapdragon 400
• CPU: Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait
• GPU: Adreno 305
• Primary camera: 8 MP
• Max format: 3264 x 2448 pixels; autofocus and LED flash.
• Secondary camera: 1.9 MP
• Video quality: 1080p at 30 frames per second.
• Data connectivity: USB v2.0, WLAN, Bluetooth, Infrared, NFC, EDGE and GPRS.
• Networking: 2G and 3G is available, however for 4G you need the advanced LTE model (LTE - GT-I9195).
• Battery: Li-Ion 1900 mAh battery, but stand-by time has not yet been tested by any reviewer.

Price and Release Date

 The details regarding the price and the release date of the Galaxy S4 Mini have not yet been revealed to the general public although we do have some general idea when it comes to the numbers. The Galaxy S4 Mini release date is expected to come somewhere in the first half of July, while the price is expected to be around $400, although most experts and tech savvy users can't really agree with each other when it comes to this.

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Galaxy S4 Release Ruined by Device Shortage

The Samsung Galaxy S3 was the primary phone to outsell the Iphone five.  The successor to the Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4, are going to be undraped on March ordinal, 2013.  Recent info has explained that the Galaxy S4 won't have as powerful specs as recently speculated.

It will not use the EXYNOS processor, however the flower 600 instead.  This method is .2 gigacycle than the HTC processor, and clocks in at one.9 gigacycle overall. the rationale of this fulminant call in quality is thanks to warming problems and issues at the Samsung factories many of us have rumored.

Rumors are current relating to the RAM of this unit.  It aforesaid to come back equipped with 2GB of Ram. it'll provide the choices of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of space for storing.

It will conjointly associate with a small South Dakota slot and a thirteen megapixel Camera.

Of course, the new options that set the Samsung Galaxy S4 excluding the competition is what we have a tendency to square measure anxious for.  One feature is touch-less gestures. as an example, if there's a incoming decision and you create a motion to tug the phone to your ear, the Galaxy S4 can mechanically settle for the decision.

Another showcased and reported feature is that the Eye technology.  This technology is implicit  thanks to Samsung registering the patents Eye Scroll and Eye Pause technology.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 can come back equipped with the robot four.2 Jellybean.  Samsung is holding an incident on March ordinal wherever they're going to unveil the new and revolutionary phone.  The speculated unharness date in U.S.A. and Europe is

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Samsung Galaxy S3 Review

samsung galaxy S3

We have barely recovered from the amazing addition of the Samsung Galaxy S2 and Samsung has sprung the Galaxy S3 upon us, the surprises just don't seem to stop. With a beautiful 4.8 inch screen that is super amoled HD and its amazing features that are designed to beat anything in the current market, make this another good competitor in the already strong range of smartphones by Samsung.

The phone packs features that will make as sit up and take notice. The phone is 2G,3G, and 4G (LTE) enabled, it weighs 133g, even though is heavier than the S2, still continues with the initial idea of not feeling the weight of a heavy smartphone dragging your pockets down. With the super large screen that has 720p X 1280p resolution and around 306 ppi density, the picture quality is bound to be superb.

The phone continues with the plastic feel and is available with the choice of marble white and pebble blue looks in the brushed polycarbonate; the battery has improved support with a more robust battery cover. The screen is protected with corning gorilla glass-2 and the phone has a rounder look to it as compared to the earlier versions.

samsung galaxy S3

The memory stays the same but for the additions of extending it up to 64 GB instead of the earlier provision of 32GB. The camera specs remain the same but the S3 comes with the option to simultaneously record HD video and images. The secondary camera is at 1.9 MP with 720p at 30 frames per second. Packed with the latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS, the CPU has also been made more powerful with the Quad-core 1.4 GHz cortex-A9.

Other internal features include natural language commands and the option for dictation, smart stay eye tracking, and pre-installed Drop box with 50 GB storage. The battery life is also something to look out for; with the standby capacity of up to 590 hours and talk time of 21 hours on 2G and a standby of up to 790 with a talk time up to 11 hours on 3G, the batteries on the S3 rate 43 on endurance for battery life.

On the outside, apart from the much changed look, the home button is longer and the lock button has moved to the right side, keeping in mind the size of the phone. There is an addition of back and menu soft key buttons that make it easier to navigate.

The phone feels great in the hand and the features just make it mouth-watering, and with many networks already offering it at very affordable monthly plans, it is soon to become another rage by Samsung.

The writer is a freelancer who likes to write on a variety of topics, she has been a life skills trainer and is deeply involved with sharing knowledge with others to help them make informed decisions and also writes for a variety of online clients.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

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