Samsung, Apple agonise over smartphone profit margins

As the smartphone action shifts to the mass market, leaders Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc are under pressure to make their high-end phones more affordable to revive sales. And that may spell trouble for already-softening margins.

Samsung, which said on Tuesday it would likely post a second straight quarterly profit decline, has knocked around a tenth off the price of its Galaxy S5 in South Korea, in the first such move for a marquee smartphone launch - the S5 rolls out globally on Friday. And it's throwing in a free gift pack of media subscriptions and web apps worth 600,000 won.

The mass market - where a smartphone can be had for as little as $25 - is the new mobile device battleground, as high-end growth eases off with sales slowing in mature markets. Japan, for example, may see smartphone shipments shrink this year, according to researcher IDC.

Samsung's flagship S5 price cut suggests the South Korean firm wants to encourage users to trade up to a fancier phone - at a potential cost to its margins. Samsung's mobile business operating margin dipped to 16 percent in October-December from 18 percent over the whole of 2013.

'It reflects how much Samsung is agonizing to secure margins. They're now offering premium models at lower prices as the demand outlook for high-end phones remains uncertain,' said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at IBK Securities.

Premium smartphones tend to be priced at above $300 and pack in more features, such as more powerful processing power, high resolution display, better cameras and fingerprint reading. With the S5, which has few hardware improvements from its S4 predecessor, industry watchers reckon Samsung is aiming more at a broad mass market than tech savvy users.

To be sure, Samsung has a far broader product line-up than rival Apple, and it has some leeway to trim prices given that manufacturing costs have fallen. Lee Min-hee, an analyst at IM Investment, reckons the total cost of production materials for the S5 - from the battery and screen to the processor and sensors - will be 10-15 percent lower than for the S4.

While this allows vendors to make quality phones for less, it makes it tougher for them to maintain a premium brand image.

'Samsung needs to be very clear about the market segment it's pursuing,' said Clement Teo, analyst at Forrester Research in Singapore. 'Take Apple - it didn't drop prices on its iPhones, even with the new models. This helps it maintain a margin premium and attracts a certain loyal user base.'

But Cupertino, California-based Apple is also taking note of the growing potential of the mass market. Internal documents revealed during an ongoing U.S. patent trial against Samsung indicates some at Apple felt the company priced itself too high.

Graphic: Samsung earnings - http://ift.tt/Q2Cb9J

VIDEO: 2014 ushers in age of austerity at Samsung - http://ift.tt/1ehDeOD

Less pricing change at Apple

According to an April 2013 presentation filed to a U.S. court, executives had debated plans for Apple's 2014 fiscal year and concluded that consumers wanted what it wasn't offering: cheaper phones - for less than $300 - and bigger screens.

It's unclear how representative that presentation is of Apple's mindset. Nor are there signs that Apple, which thrives on its premium positioning and plays down suggestions that it go mass-market, intends to deviate from its path.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

An 'economy' model may wedge Apple more firmly in emerging markets - a segment still seeing strong growth. Apple now relies on discounted older generation phones to reach cost-conscious buyers, but buyers in markets like Brazil and China increasingly want the latest gadget.

IPhone shipments grew just 8 percent in Apple's 2013 fiscal third quarter, a far cry from five years ago when shipments more than doubled.

'They are foregoing incremental revenue opportunities by not having a product that addresses that market,' said BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, adding that the main hope of investors now is that Apple produce a new product - a wearable device, say - to galvanize revenue growth.

The iPhone 5C, a colorful plastic model priced just $100 cheaper than its premium cousin, was aimed at emerging markets and marked a departure from Apple's focus on premium phones last year. But it's not been a spectacular success. Some analysts theorize that an unwillingness to sacrifice profitability meant the device wasn't priced cheaply enough.

A thinner slice

Apple's iPhone margins have crept south as the company packs more features into its gadgets, trying to stand out in an increasingly crowded field. As its market share dwindles, the company enjoys less leverage to squeeze suppliers. And margins may fall further if Apple introduces bigger screens as expected.

Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimates that making the screen just 30 percent larger could wipe 4-5 percentage points off gross margins. IPhone margins are now in the mid-40 percent range, down from 50-60 percent a few years ago, analysts estimate.

'With the iPhone 6, Apple is likely to stick to premium pricing as it's widely expected to come with a bigger screen and some innovative design tweaks,' said Doh Hyun-woo, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities. 'They are unlikely to make as much change in pricing policy as Samsung does.'

The average selling price of a smartphone globally is seen dropping by more than a fifth by 2018, to $260, according to IDC, as more buyers, especially in emerging markets, opt for price over brand, and as manufacturing costs continue to drop.

The iPhone remains the most expensive smartphone, with an estimated average selling price this year of $649, more than double the average price of $247 for Android phones, Samsung's mainstay products, according to IDC. Average selling prices of iPhones will drop only 6 percent to $610 by 2018, while Android prices will decline 18 percent to $202, according to those IDC forecasts.

'Apple has a clear strategy - to be the best in the market segment it competes in, and it has performed well,' said Forrester's Teo. 'Regardless of 5C sales, the bigger picture is that Apple is relevant to users in their moment of need - through an iPhone, iPad, iPod or its App store.'

China chips away

All the while, competition from cheaper smartphone brands is getting fiercer. The share of smartphone shipments by vendors outside the top five - Samsung, Apple, Huawei, LG Electronics Inc and Lenovo Group - rose to 39.3 percent last year from 27.4 percent in 2011.

From Nokia to BlackBerry Ltd and a host of Chinese vendors, manufacturers are bringing out cheaper, stripped-down smartphones aimed at hundreds of millions of potential users in emerging markets such as China, India and Indonesia.

Chinese manufacturers - from global names such as Huawei and Lenovo to the less well known Gionee, Oppo and CorePad - are picking up market share as they acquire technical and design expertise to add to their low production costs.

'The winners in the current market conditions will be those who show the best cost-efficiency, and in that sense Chinese players will be in a better position,' said IBK's Lee.

© Thomson Reuters 2014

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review

The Samsung Galaxy Camera was amongst the first Android-powered point and shoot cameras, however, in the age of smartphones that take good quality pictures, it didn’t gain much popularity, primarily because the user still had to carry an additional device to make calls, though it did address the issue of connectivity and sharing, at least partially, by offering support for 3G and Wi-Fi.

This year, after launching its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, Samsung has tried to leverage the same umbrella brand with variants, some with much inferior hardware specifications, to address different niche market segments. With the Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung has tried to merge its point and shoot camera with a full featured Android smartphone.

Is the Galaxy S4 Zoom as good a smartphone as it’s a camera or vice-versa? We attempt to answer this question in our review.

Build/ Design

The Galaxy S4 Zoom looks just like any other touchscreen phone from the front, but the big 10x zoom lens and a grip that protrudes out give it the appearance of a point and shoot camera at the rear.

We won’t hesitate in saying that the Galaxy S4 Zoom is a bulky device and we felt that it’s difficult to carry it around and use it as one’s primary phone. The biggest reason for this is the same bulky lens and grip that make it difficult for users to keep the phone in their pockets. The phone’s increased thickness at 154mm and weight (208 grams) make it a bulky device.

Also, anyone using the device as a phone would look really odd, as the device looks like a camera from the back. So, you should be aware that it’s essentially a point and shoot camera with telephony and data features and not really a camera phone, if you’re thinking of buying the Galaxy S4 Zoom.

The S4 Zoom’s front panel is surrounded by a chrome frame that runs across the entire body and takes the shape of the grip towards the bottom, where you’ll also spot a big camera shutter key. The front of the phone is clearly based on the same design that we’ve seen on other Galaxy smartphones. The phone’s front panel sports a 4.3-inch display and features a physical Home button and two capacitive touch buttons for Menu and Back controls. The different sensors, front camera, and earpiece grille sit above the display.

Unlike other Galaxy phones, the S4 Zoom’s Power/ Screen-lock button and the volume rocker are both located on the right hand side. The left side of the phone features a hole for mounting a tripod which is plugged by a small round piece of plastic. The same side also features a slot for the microSD card, protected by a plastic flap.

The 3.5mm headset jack and the InfraRed Blaster sit at the top edge of the S4 Zoom, while the micro-USB port is located at the bottom. The port is surrounded by a big plastic flap which hides the battery compartment and the micro-SIM slot. The battery is removed through a mechanism mostly seen in point and shoot cameras, involving an open and close slider.

The back of the Galaxy S4 Zoom is made of high quality plastic that sports a glazed finish. A major part of the back is occupied by Samsung’s 24mm lens that’s placed inside a movable ring. The back curves out towards the bottom to become the grip for one hand operation. You’ll also see a big Xenon flash and an autofocus assist light reassuring you that it’s a complete point and shoot setup integrated with a smartphone.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen that features a resolution of 540×960 pixels and a pixel density of 256ppi. Samsung has cut corners when it comes to the phone’s display, and it clearly shows. While the low resolution of the display is somewhat offset by its smaller size, we still feel that Samsung should have included at least a 720p display on this imaging-focused phone. Images and videos don’t look as sharp as they do on some phones in the same price range that offer a 720p display.

However, the S4 Zoom’s display was not very reflective and under sun visibility was good. The viewing angles on the phone are also decent.

AMOLED displays are known to offer oversaturated colours and the images taken on the phone at times look different when you transfer them to another device, due to this reason. Samsung has tried to mitigate the issue by offering an Adapt display setting that optimises the S4 Zoom’s display for different situations.

Camera

The Galaxy S4 Zoom is primarily a point and shoot camera. The device sports a 16-megapixel BSI sensor with a 10x optical zoom, great for taking pictures in low light conditions. It also has optical image stabilisation for preventing blur caused by shaky hands.

As we mentioned earlier in the review, the S4 Zoom features a zoom-ring control that surrounds the lens and it allows users to share a photo even during phone calls, control the optical zoom, and launch the camera. Rotating the ring triggers a menu that allows you to quickly select a photo mode across auto, ‘Beauty Face’, landscape, macro, ‘Animated Photo’ and night modes in addition to quickly launch the photo gallery app. You still need to use the screen to select a mode.

Rotating the same ring during an ongoing phone call also offers an In-call photo share option through which you can shoot a photo and send it to the same person you’re talking to via multimedia messaging. In our use, this feature worked as promised on the S4 Zoom.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom offers a plethora of camera features including a choice of a number of shooting modes such as ‘Beauty face’ for portraits, ‘Best photo’ to take a series of photos and select the best one, ‘Continuous shot’ to shoot four pictures per second, ‘Best face’ selects the best picture of each person from five consecutive group photos, ‘Kids shot’ that plays a sound to attract the kid’s attention, in addition to take pictures in Landscape mode, Macro mode, at Dawn, in Snow conditions, in Night conditions, a mode for shooting food, parties, and even Waterfalls, among others.

It also features the new tricks we first noticed in the Galaxy S4 including a Cinemagram-like ‘Animated photo’ mode, an ‘Eraser’ mode to delete moving objects from five consecutive photos, and ‘Drama shot’ that takes multiple photos of a moving object and merges them all to denote action. Besides these, there’s a Smart mode suggest option that chooses the best shooting mode for you.

For pro users, the Galaxy S4 Zoom’s camera also offers a manual shooting mode, a program shooting mode and a custom mode, in which they can choose manual settings for EV (brightness), ISO, white balance, metering, shutter speed, and aperture.

The S4 Zoom’s camera can also record 1080p video at 30 frames per second and 720p video at 60 frames per second.

As expected, the camera on the Galaxy S4 Zoom doesn’t disappoint. The benefits of optical zoom over digital zoom are clearly visible with photos taken from a distance also coming out clear and crisp. Colour reproduction was pretty accurate and pictures did not miss out any details.

Even images captured with the S4 Zoom in low-light conditions came out well, without the use of a flash, although we did notice some noise.

The S4 Zoom’s Xenon flash is not very bright but makes objects appear more natural compared to the LED flash.

Videos shot with the S4 Zoom were also good in quality, and can be compared to the ones shot with the Galaxy S4 except that you can zoom-in much closer to the subject. Videos shot in 720p at 60fps offered some really fluid motion. The S4 Zoom is one of the very few devices that offer this video setting.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom’s 1.9-megapixel camera does a decent job when it comes to self-clicks or for video chats on Skype and other similar apps.

Software/ User Interface

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the latest iteration of the OS and TouchWiz Nature UX, Samsung’s own UI that includes custom apps in addition to a skinned interface.

Some people prefer stock Android to any kind of skinning, and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI has been panned for employing big, glossy and cartoon-like icons and menus. The intent might be to make the UI more user-friendly, but it ends up looking anything but pleasant.

With Android 4.2, the S Zoom gets lockscreen widgets. Although these are not enabled by default, users can place select third party widgets, in addition to a choice between access to their favourite apps and camera. Users can also enable lock screen shortcuts that allow them to unlock directly into their respective apps. The phone offers a choice between the familiar Ripple effect and the new Light effect for the unlock animation.

The S4 Zoom offers up to seven home screens that can be populated with widgets and app shortcuts or folders. The pinch-in gesture lets you add or remove home screens. The app plus widgets drawer lets you arrange app shortcuts as per your own preference or alphabetically.

The drop down notification tray on the S4 Zoom features a settings shortcut and a clear all notifications button, along with expandable notifications (expanded with the two-finger pull gesture). Toggles for 10 settings are also located on the tray and you can choose to scroll through them horizontally or expand to get a grid of all the settings on one screen.

One can navigate the S4 Zoom through the Back and Menu capacitive touch buttons and the Home physical key. The Home button on long press takes you to the app switcher and you can fire up the task manager, kill all apps or access Google Now through the shortcuts offered with the task switcher. Double pressing the Home key launches S Voice, Samsung’s voice assistant. Long pressing the Menu key also launches Search.

Samsung also offers some of its pre-loaded apps on the S4 Zoom, including S Planner, Voice Recorder, ChatOn messaging app, Paper Artist, Samsung Apps app store, Samsung Hub content store, Samsung Link for transferring and syncing content to other devices via cloud services like Dropbox, WatchON – a universal remote control software that also offers program guide functionality, S Translator, S Memo, Story Album, Video editor and Group Play.

The S Translator supports speech to text and text-to-text translation for English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Korean.

In our usage we found that Samsung’s voice assistant app on the S4 Zoom, S Voice, works well with Indian accents and offers good functionality.

The Group Play feature allows you to create groups and share and instantly view or play documents, music files, photos, and other content to other compatible handsets through Wi-Fi Direct. All phones need to be connected to a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot which is created on the device where the group is created. The service also works with NFC.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom brings a large number of software features seen on the Samsung Galaxy S4. However, it misses on some ‘smart’ (and gimmicky) features including motion and hand gesture driven controls such as Air gestures that allow users to browse content and control the phone without touching it. It only offers the Smart Stay smart screen feature which keeps the screen on as long as you’re looking at it, dropping Smart Pause and Smart Scroll. It does include Motion gestures including the one that allows you to tilt your phone to zoom in while looking at an image or turn over the phone to mute while receiving a call.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom does include voice commands which were also present in the Galaxy S4. You can trigger the camera shutter, answer or reject calls or control alarms and music through these voice commands.

The S4 Zoom doesn’t offer multi-window and pop-up play modes for switching between apps and using more than one app at the same time, perhaps due to the smaller screen size.

Performance/ Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Exynos processor. It has 1.5GB RAM, and a Mali 400 chip for processing graphics. Our review unit had 8GB of built-in storage (expandable 64GB) out of which 5.4GB was available for our use.

With Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the overall experience of navigation through the S4 Zoom’s interface was decent. However, we did experience occasional lag. For instance, launching the camera app and getting back to the home screen was a bit jerky. Similarly, if you’re using some graphics heavy widgets, you’ll find that they’ll reload once you exit an app. At times, we also noticed minor lag in the form of dropped frames while playing some graphics heavy games like Asphalt 7, when we were running a few apps in the background. However, most casual games including Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers run fine.

Other than that, we did not face issues while scrolling web pages or switching between apps. The Galaxy S4 Zoom offers Chrome in addition to the default browser. The default browser does not offer Adobe flash. It also offers a reader mode for reading text heavy web pages.

We were able to play full-HD clips, though some formats including .MOV, were not supported natively (this was easily fixed by the use of third party apps). The native video player also supports sub-title files and even lets you set a timer to turn off video, in case you like to fall asleep while watching a movie.

The speaker outlet on the S4 Zoom delivers good quality sound at average volume levels. Call quality was great and the phone is able to latch on to cellular networks even in weak signal areas.

Just like the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S4 Zoom also doesn’t offer FM radio functionality, which is a downer.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom comes with a 2330mAh battery, and in our usage, it lasted us a full workday. We charged the phone in the morning (at around 9am), and with medium to heavy usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two email accounts with push notifications, playing some music, taking some photographs, Twitter notifications and WhatsApp chats, the phone lasted a good 9-10 hours.

It’s worth mentioning that the use of the Xenon flash also impacts the battery and using the camera for taking pictures at night with the flash on drains the battery faster. For testing, we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern.

Verdict

The Galaxy S4 Zoom is anything but a mainstream device. It’s clearly targeted at the shutterbugs, people who like taking pictures all the time and want their pictures to stand out above the rest and don’t mind the extra bulk that comes with the device.

Having said that, if you just click and share pictures casually, we will not recommend this device. Most flagship phones and even mid-rangers take decent quality pictures, without the awkward form factor being involved. Priced at nearly Rs. 29,000, the Galaxy S4 Zoom offers average performance and a low-resolution display.

The only reason for buying the S4 Zoom is its camera, which offers optical zoom which is not seen on smartphones. But then, a number of point and shoot cameras also offer Wi-Fi connectivity, including the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Camera. So, we’d advise you to take a look at them, as well.

In the same price range, you could perhaps also look at the Nokia Lumia 925, which is great camera phone, with none of the form factor and performance drawbacks.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom in pictures

Price: Rs.29,000

Pros

• Great camera with optical zoom


• Decent battery backup

Cons

• Chunky


• Underwhelming performance


• Low resolution screen

Ratings (Out of 5)

• Design: 2.5


• Display: 3


• Performance: 3


• Software: 3.5


• Battery Life: 3


• Value for Money: 3


• Camera: 4


• Overall: 3

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHo1QtSLbUucXSM_BsbM8ZJmgqkqg&url=http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/reviews/samsung-galaxy-s4-zoom-review-419469

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Acer Liquid 2 specs lineup

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Acer Liquid 2 are both recently announced Android smartphones of the phablet variety. Both will release soon and both have a lot to offer. We thought we’d take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs. Acer Liquid 2 in a specs comparison to help out readers who may be about to purchase a new smartphone.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 release rolls out from September 25 while the Acer Liquid S2 is due to release in Europe. Looking at some of the key specs for each will give a general overview of the two phones.

Processor

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is powered by a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor or 1.9GHz Exynos Octa-core processor (models vary) and Adreno 330 graphics. The Acer Liquid S2 has a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and also has an Adreno 330 GPU.

Display

There’s a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 386 ppi for the Galaxy Note 3. Meanwhile the Acer Liquid S2 has a 6-inch IPS LCD display with resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 367 ppi.

RAM and Storage

The Note 3 has 3GB of RAM and 32 or 64GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD to 64GB). The Liquid S2 has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD to 128GB).

Camera Set-up

On the Galaxy Note 3 there’s a 13-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, simultaneous HD video and image recording, image stabilization, panorama, HDR and Dual Shot. Video capture is 2160p@30fps or 1080p@60fps for the LTE model or 1080p for the 3G model. It also has a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Liquid S2 has a 13-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED ring flash, 27-megapixel panorama photos and video recording capability of 2160@24fps or 1080p@60fps. Like the Galaxy Note 3 the front-facing camera is 2-megapixels.

Battery

The Galaxy Note 3 has a 3200 mAh battery while the Liquid 2 totes a 3300 mAh battery.

Operating Systems

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean skinned with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI runs the Galaxy Note 3. The Liquid S2 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Float UI.

Measurements and Colors

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has dimensions of 151.2m x 79.2mm x 8.3mm and weighs 168g. It will come in black, white or pink color options. Acer’s Liquid S2 has dimensions of 166mm x 86mm x 9mm and comes in black or red (weight is unspecified at this point).

We cannot give you every single specification and feature of both phones here, but hopefully those provided will give you a good idea of how they stand up against each other. Another thing to point out is that the Galaxy Note 3 also has the popular S Pen stylus.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available in regions worldwide on various carriers. The Acer Liquid S2 will initially launch in Europe. Both are notable smartphones with some top-end specs and features, so it will be interesting to see how they contend with each other.

The Galaxy Note 3 has the mighty marketing power of Samsung behind it and previous versions of the phone have been hugely successful, so it will undoubtedly win in sales. Personal preference of design will also have a part to play though, so we should not dismiss the Acer Liquid S2.

Looking at the major specs of these two smartphones there’s a lot to impress. In the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs. Acer Liquid S2 contest, have you a clear favorite? Send your comments to let us know.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFWAtTDLaC40qPnGi-GqjAY0IxV5A&url=http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/09/16/samsung-galaxy-note-3-vs-acer-liquid-2-specs-lineup/

Samsung Galaxy S5 without Android not impossible

The Galaxy S5 will be another in the popular flagship lineup from Samsung and is due to release next year. If anybody were to suggest that the phone would use something other than the Android operating system, it would be easy to brush this off. However, a new report suggests it’s not impossible that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be without Android and will instead use Tizen.

Tizen is a new mobile operating system and is an extension of the open source Linux system. Companies such as Samsung, Intel and others are supporting the development of Tizen, and some of its key features are similar to Android.

There are hopes that Tizen could become the ‘third OS’ after the dominating Android and iOS platforms, but this will very much depend on continued manufacturer support. There has been talk about whether there is room for another mobile operating system, and in July we told how Samsung was reported to have delayed its first smartphone that would launch on the new OS.

This has led to some questioning Samsung’s involvement with the new OS as the company is so deeply associated with Android. However, it has already been speculated that at some point Google may retain Android for its own use, with Motorola being favored. Although Google has denied this many times, it might be the case that Samsung wants an alternative to using Android in case things change.

There has also been conjecture that the Tizen OS would only be used for Samsung budget devices, and that seems plausible as many of us could not even contemplate Samsung devices totally moving away from Android. The thought of a Galaxy S or Galaxy Note device without Android almost seems laughable.

However, this may not be as far-fetched as it once seemed. On discussing the probable operating system for the Samsung Galaxy S5, T3 makes the point that Samsung didn’t mention Android once at the recent launch event for the Galaxy S4 smartphone, and this followed earlier tensions between the two companies.

Also Samsung co-CEO Boo-Keun Yoon recently spoke about the company’s plans for Tizen to be connected with all of its devices, including mobile phones. This is a pretty provocative statement and while he didn’t actually state that Samsung will no longer use Google Android, it definitely seems that Samsung is making some attempt to distance itself. This could certainly rub Google up the wrong way.

It’s certainly not impossible then that the Samsung Galaxy S5 could be a Tizen device rather than Android, although we still find the proposition highly unlikely. However, T3 suggests it could be the case that there might be Android AND Tizen versions of the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 looks likely to release around March or April next year, and although we still feel that this might be too early for a mainstream Samsung Tizen device, anything is possible. Please note that the image used here is a concept design of the Galaxy S5 (SV).

Can you imagine a scenario where Samsung might release a non-Android Galaxy S5? Maybe you think Samsung might one day drop the platform altogether? If you’re a fan of the Samsung Galaxy flagship device, would you consider using a Tizen version, or switch to another handset altogether if Android was dropped? We’re really interested to hear what readers have to say about this, so do send us your comments.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGls88Z-ERX2rwXauRORb_QznG_8w&url=http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/09/14/samsung-galaxy-s5-without-android-not-impossible/

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 possible India price and launch

It has been over a week now since the wraps were taken off the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at the Unpacked 2 event, and while pricing has been revealed for some regions it is not known everywhere. Today we have news about the possible Galaxy Note 3 price in India and the launch date for the device.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is set to become one of the most successful new smartphones of 2013, but there have been some fears about the price of the handset being higher than usual in the country due to the weakness of the currency.

It seems though that the Galaxy Note 3 will be costing consumers in India Rs. 47,990 when it is released later this month, and this figure comes after Tech2 did some digging through some HTML source code for online retail store Saholic.

The code shows that as soon as the handset is launched in the country which will be this coming week on September 17th, it will change to display the price, but it has to be remembered that this is not an official price yet so could change a little either way.

Once released consumers will be able to pick up a device with a 5.7-inch Full HD display powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 5 Octa processor clocked at 1.9GHz, which later in the year will have the ability to operate all 8 cores at once depending on the load.

The company made a big thing at the unveiling of the device of the more premium feel to the handset due to the build materials, along with the new and improved S Pen that has always been popular among Galaxy Note owners.

Are you going to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 3?

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEYGZ2eSzrozKAqoUxb0XP5weQVOA&url=http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/09/14/samsung-galaxy-note-3-possible-india-price-and-launch/

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 demand following iPhone 5S

The latest Samsung and Apple flagships have now both been officially introduced. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Apple iPhone 5S were both unveiled in a blaze of glory. The Galaxy Note 3 event was first, and this smartphone has attracted a lot of attention, but it will be interesting to see Galaxy Note 3 demand following full details of the iPhone 5S now being confirmed.

To a certain extent these are very different smartphones with the Note 3 being a phablet size against the much smaller iPhone 5S. The different operating platforms are also significant as the Note 3 is an Android device white the iPhone 5S runs Apple’s iOS. That aside though and concentrating solely on the quality of the phones, it will be interesting to see which device people find most desirable.

Huge sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 already seem assured, given the popularity of previous Galaxy Notes, but of course this also applies to the iPhone 5S. It’s intriguing to ponder over whether the announcement of the iPhone 5S will now threaten sales of the Galaxy Note 3.

If you’re firmly in either the Android or iOS stable then you probably wont’ be persuaded to switch operating platforms so your decision is already made. However for those who are open to the idea of either operating platform you might want to compare the key specs.

The Galaxy Note 3 has either a 1.9GHz Exynos Octa processor or a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor (regions vary), a 5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display with 386 ppi , 3GB of RAM, and 32 or 64GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD. It also totes a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 3200 mAh battery, NFC and will launch on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system. It comes in black, white or pink color options.

On the other hand the iPhone 5S has a 1.7GHz 64-bit Apple A7 dual-core processor, a 4-inch display with resolution of 1136 x 649 and 326 ppi, unspecified RAM, and 16, 32 or 64GB of internal storage (non-expandable). It has an 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, 1570 mAh battery, and runs iOS 7, but doesn’t have NFC. It comes in gray, silver or gold colors.

We must point out that this is not intended to be a full comparison of specs and features. Both phones have a proliferation of varying features and both have a immense amount to offer to smartphone users. For example the cameras on the iPhone 5S and Galaxy Note 3 both have a vast amount of features and we cannot list them all here. We should note though that the Galaxy Note 3 also offers the use of the S Pen stylus.

On the surface we can see that these are very notable smartphones. The Galaxy Note 3 will release from September 25 worldwide, although in Japan and the US the phone won’t launch until October. The iPhone 5S beats the Note 3 to the starting line though, with a release set for September 20 in various countries including the UK and US.

It would be really good to hear from readers about these two impressive devices. Have you already got a preference for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 over the Apple iPhone 5S or vice versa? Were the operating systems a major factor in your decision or something else entirely, such as the display sizes? Do you think that demand for the Note 3 will be affected by the arrival of the iPhone 5S? We’re interested to have your comments on this.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEkNmctV7iSNYEtqHAtjSkw6U2RLA&url=http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/09/12/samsung-galaxy-note-3-demand-following-iphone-5s/

Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite

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The super-slim chassis of the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite is exceptionally pretty, and given our enthusiasm for the hugely impressive and award-winning Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus, we were keen to see whether this cut-price version could set a new standard for £500 laptops.

The Lite’s slightly thicker and heavier than the Ativ Book 9 Plus, but even its slender height of 17mm and featherweight 1.4kg are still very competitive by ultraportable laptop standards. It even has the same exceptional build quality from its more expensive counterpart, although its entire chassis is made of plastic rather than brushed aluminium. We found hardly any flex in the main body and its tapered sides made it look anything but budget.

With such a thin chassis, there’s little space for connection ports, but the Lite makes good use of the available space. There are two USB ports, one of which is USB3, a micro HDMI output, an SD card reader, a combined headphone and microphone jack and two ports for its mini VGA and Gigabit Ethernet adaptors. Its speakers are surpsingly good for its size, and output more bass than we expected.

ONLY SKIN DEEP

In terms of components, the Ativ Book 9 Lite bears little resemblance to the Ativ Book 9 Plus. This is to be expected with a cut-price laptop, but it’s a shame the Lite has lost so much of what made the Plus so special. Its standard 1,366×768 resolution is a far cry from the Plus’s gorgeous 3,200×1,800 touchscreen display.

The Lite’s image quality was also disappointing. Our solid reds, greens and blues all looked a little washed out and they lacked the depth and vibrancy we’d normally expect to see from a glossy screen. Whites were also a little grey and our blacks revealed that the bottom half of the screen was much lighter than the top. We were able to get a uniform colour depending on how we angled the screen, but it was disappointing nonetheless.

Luckily, its contrast levels were a little better. Colours still lacked warmth, but we were able to see a good level of detail in all our high contrast test photos. This was highly dependent on where we angled the screen, though, and its narrow viewing angles meant there was only a very small sweet spot where images looked satisfactory.

LITE ON POWER

The Lite’s underlying hardware also left a lot to be desired, even for a budget laptop. Samsung’s been vague on the exact type of processor the Ativ Book 9 Lite uses, but we suspect it’s an AMD A6-1450. However, it scored just 20 in our multimedia benchmarks despite having four cores and a clock speed that can dynamically rise to 1.4GHz. This is roughly 10 points behind a dual-core Intel Core i3-based ultraportable such as the Asus Vivobook S200E. This is fine for web browsing and writing MS Word documents, but it’ll struggle with anything more demanding like encoding images or video files.

Unsurprisingly, 3D games are another weak point, as the A6-1450’s built-in AMD Radeon HD 8250 graphics processor failed to produce 15fps in our Dirt Showdown test with High quality graphics at a resolution of 1,280×720. It managed a slightly steadier 19.4fps when we set the quality to Low and disabled anti-aliasing at a resolution of 1,280×720, but this frame rate still isn’t fast enough to play modern 3D titles. You should be fine with 2D Flash games from the Windows 8 Store, though, as we could play games such as Jetpack Joyride without issue.

This is a shame, as we found the Lite to be an absolute joy during everyday use. Its springy keyboard gave plenty of tactile feedback while we were typing and its keys had a lot more travel than other ultraportable laptops we’ve tested. The all-in-one touchpad was also very accurate and responsive, and we could execute multitouch gestures and use Windows 8 shortcuts easily.

ALL-DAY COMPUTING

Its battery life was outstanding. With the screen set to half brightness, we managed a huge 7 hours and 20 minutes in our light use test, so you should just be able to get a full day’s work out of it if you’re on the move. This would be a great score for any ultraportable, but it’s easily the best battery life we’ve seen on a laptop of this price.

The Ativ Book 9 Lite also supports Samsung’s SideSync and HomeSync Lite applications. You’ll need a compatible Samsung smartphone or tablet to make use of them, but HomeSync Lite lets you share media with a Samsung mobile device as long as you’re connected to the internet and have the Samsung Link app, while SideSync lets you use your keyboard and mouse to control your phone or mirror your phone’s display on your laptop screen.

The Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite is certainly one of the best-looking ultraportables around regardless of price, but even its brilliant battery life can’t offset its sluggish processing power and average display. If all you need is a cheap touchscreen laptop, the faster award-winning Asus VivoBook S200 is a much better buy.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGdDSkIjJd-OTFtV68_eNcD6K8YuQ&url=http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/laptops/1301998/samsung-ativ-book-9-lite

Let’s Call the Samsung Galaxy Mega “Phablet” What It Should Be: A Tablet

The new Samsung Galaxy Mega smartphone isn’t just a phone. It also doubles as a Frisbee, a George Foreman grill, a car battery and a flying saucer.

I kid, I kid. But really: The Mega is big. It measures 6.6 inches by 3.5 inches by 0.3 inch, weighs just over seven ounces, and has a 6.3-inch display. For comparison’s sake, the iPhone 5 is 4.87 inches by 2.31 inches by .30-inch, and weighs just under four ounces.

The Mega is currently available in the U.S. for $150 with a two-year contract through AT&T. While Sprint and U.S. Cellular are confirmed carrier partners, they’re not offering the phone just yet. The Mega is also being rolled out in other countries, including Europe and Russia.

I’ve been using the Android-based, LTE-compatible Galaxy Mega for the past week, carrying the mostly plastic phone with me everywhere. I will be somewhat relieved when the flatbed truck arrives next week to pick it up and transport it back to Samsung.

In all seriousness, it’s just too large for a phone. It is nearly the size of my face. It felt awkward in the hand. I couldn’t carry it with me while walking, jogging, or bike riding, without bringing a purse or backpack.

People I interacted with in passing — a woman at a coffee shop, a man at a mattress store — couldn’t help but comment on how big it is. (It can also be used as a mattress pad.) A few colleagues joked that anyone holding it immediately appears as though they’ve lost weight.

It could be said large phones are coming into vogue. They are sleeker and better overall than they were in the days of the Dell Streak, which AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg likened to holding a piece of toast up to the face. Ever since Samsung effectively launched the “phablet” category — a style of phone so large it’s like a small tablet — with the release of its first, 5.8-inch Galaxy Note smartphone in 2011, others have hopped on board.

There are the LG G2, the Huawei Ascend Mate and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, to name a few other giants. Apple has been reported to be working on a larger iPhone.

Samsung has even introduced phablets of varying sizes: The good-looking Note II measures a solid six inches by three inches, and the just-announced Note III will have an even larger display.

So, why the 6.6-inch Mega? Samsung says it is meant to be an “ideal hybrid handset for those who want to experience smartphone portability with the immersive experience of a tablet.”

I liked the Mega when I was using as just that: A tablet. In those instances, it didn’t seem so cumbersome. I read books and watched videos on it before bed, while getting a haircut and while sitting at a cafe. I checked email on it, and browsed through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds. Basically, I liked it when I used it as I would my iPad mini or Kindle Fire tablet, which measure 7.9 inches and 7.0 inches, respectively.

Let’s say the Mega hybrid does appeal to you as a smartphone. It’s still pretty midrange, lacking some of the key features of its Note sibling.

I’ll focus on its good features first.

To start, at $150 with a two-year plan, it is half the price of the Note II through the same carrier. The LG G2 is $200 down with a two-year contract. So the Mega could be considered a bargain phablet.

Its battery life is very good, as you might expect with a device of this size. It got me through nearly two full days of use, with the phone’s power saver turned off and the display set to about 75 percent of full brightness.

It offers some of the same software features as its Samsung sibs, such as S Voice voice commands, S Translator and Air View, which lets you hover your finger over emails to read the text without actually opening it.

It also has a TV-controlling app called WatchOn that utilizes the phone’s built-in infrared blaster (the Samsung Galaxy S4 has this, too). I was able to change the channels on the TV in my hotel room using the Mega.

Also, the Mega gives great sound, which was especially useful when I was using it as a portable navigation device in the car. And call quality was good. At least people on the other end of the call can’t see how ridiculous you look with the phone against your face.

The large screen, for me, meant fewer fat-finger incidents when I was writing emails and sending text messages.

Now for the parts that make this a midrange phone: Its 1280 by 720p HD LCD display isn’t quite as brilliant as other premium smartphones out there. For many people this won’t be noticeable, but when you hold it up next to a really nice display you can see the difference.

The phone’s 1.7GHz quad-core processor feels sluggish at times. It’s running on Google Android 4.2.2, which is fine, but it’s not the newest version of the operating system.

While it has some cool software, it doesn’t have all of Samsung’s bewildering array of add-on apps, and it doesn’t work with a stylus the way the Note smartphones do.

Its camera specs are essentially the same as in earlier Samsung models — an eight-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-MP front camera — though it does have a variety of shooting modes, geo-tagging and face-tag options in photos, as well as “album view” in the phone’s photo gallery.

Lastly, and most importantly, there’s just the feel of it. It’s difficult to operate with just one hand. It certainly didn’t fit in my pockets, and when I asked two men with regular-fitting jeans to try it out, it stuck out the top of their pockets, too.

It’s hard not to feel, as you’re holding it up to your ear, like you’ve somehow been transported back to the early days of cellular phones, when the phones dwarfed people’s faces.

Samsung is throwing a variety of shapes and sizes out there right now to attempt to satisfy every consumer. The Mega feels like an experiment. As a smartphone, it’s hard to see where it fits — literally and otherwise.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGTqA-4ZrSMZ1FI9J5W15eFH0Z0Eg&url=http://allthingsd.com/20130909/lets-call-the-samsung-galaxy-mega-phablet-what-it-should-be-a-tablet/

Let’s Call the Samsung Galaxy Mega “Phablet” What It Should Be: A Tablet

The new Samsung Galaxy Mega smartphone isn’t just a phone. It also doubles as a Frisbee, a George Foreman grill, a car battery and a flying saucer.

I kid, I kid. But really: The Mega is big. It measures 6.6 inches by 3.5 inches by 0.3 inch, weighs just over seven ounces, and has a 6.3-inch display. For comparison’s sake, the iPhone 5 is 4.87 inches by 2.31 inches by .30-inch, and weighs just under four ounces.

The Mega is currently available in the U.S. for $150 with a two-year contract through AT&T. While Sprint and U.S. Cellular are confirmed carrier partners, they’re not offering the phone just yet. The Mega is also being rolled out in other countries, including Europe and Russia.

I’ve been using the Android-based, LTE-compatible Galaxy Mega for the past week, carrying the mostly plastic phone with me everywhere. I will be somewhat relieved when the flatbed truck arrives next week to pick it up and transport it back to Samsung.

In all seriousness, it’s just too large for a phone. It is nearly the size of my face. It felt awkward in the hand. I couldn’t carry it with me while walking, jogging, or bike riding, without bringing a purse or backpack.

People I interacted with in passing — a woman at a coffee shop, a man at a mattress store — couldn’t help but comment on how big it is. (It can also be used as a mattress pad.) A few colleagues joked that anyone holding it immediately appears as though they’ve lost weight.

It could be said large phones are coming into vogue. They are sleeker and better overall than they were in the days of the Dell Streak, which AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg likened to holding a piece of toast up to the face. Ever since Samsung effectively launched the “phablet” category — a style of phone so large it’s like a small tablet — with the release of its first, 5.8-inch Galaxy Note smartphone in 2011, others have hopped on board.

There are the LG G2, the Huawei Ascend Mate and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, to name a few other giants. Apple has been reported to be working on a larger iPhone.

Samsung has even introduced phablets of varying sizes: The good-looking Note II measures a solid six inches by three inches, and the just-announced Note III will have an even larger display.

So, why the 6.6-inch Mega? Samsung says it is meant to be an “ideal hybrid handset for those who want to experience smartphone portability with the immersive experience of a tablet.”

I liked the Mega when I was using as just that: A tablet. In those instances, it didn’t seem so cumbersome. I read books and watched videos on it before bed, while getting a haircut and while sitting at a cafe. I checked email on it, and browsed through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds. Basically, I liked it when I used it as I would my iPad mini or Kindle Fire tablet, which measure 7.9 inches and 7.0 inches, respectively.

Let’s say the Mega hybrid does appeal to you as a smartphone. It’s still pretty midrange, lacking some of the key features of its Note sibling.

I’ll focus on its good features first.

To start, at $150 with a two-year plan, it is half the price of the Note II through the same carrier. The LG G2 is $200 down with a two-year contract. So the Mega could be considered a bargain phablet.

Its battery life is very good, as you might expect with a device of this size. It got me through nearly two full days of use, with the phone’s power saver turned off and the display set to about 75 percent of full brightness.

It offers some of the same software features as its Samsung sibs, such as S Voice voice commands, S Translator and Air View, which lets you hover your finger over emails to read the text without actually opening it.

It also has a TV-controlling app called WatchOn that utilizes the phone’s built-in infrared blaster (the Samsung Galaxy S4 has this, too). I was able to change the channels on the TV in my hotel room using the Mega.

Also, the Mega gives great sound, which was especially useful when I was using it as a portable navigation device in the car. And call quality was good. At least people on the other end of the call can’t see how ridiculous you look with the phone against your face.

The large screen, for me, meant fewer fat-finger incidents when I was writing emails and sending text messages.

Now for the parts that make this a midrange phone: Its 1280 by 720p HD LCD display isn’t quite as brilliant as other premium smartphones out there. For many people this won’t be noticeable, but when you hold it up next to a really nice display you can see the difference.

The phone’s 1.7GHz quad-core processor feels sluggish at times. It’s running on Google Android 4.2.2, which is fine, but it’s not the newest version of the operating system.

While it has some cool software, it doesn’t have all of Samsung’s bewildering array of add-on apps, and it doesn’t work with a stylus the way the Note smartphones do.

Its camera specs are essentially the same as in earlier Samsung models — an eight-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-MP front camera — though it does have a variety of shooting modes, geo-tagging and face-tag options in photos, as well as “album view” in the phone’s photo gallery.

Lastly, and most importantly, there’s just the feel of it. It’s difficult to operate with just one hand. It certainly didn’t fit in my pockets, and when I asked two men with regular-fitting jeans to try it out, it stuck out the top of their pockets, too.

It’s hard not to feel, as you’re holding it up to your ear, like you’ve somehow been transported back to the early days of cellular phones, when the phones dwarfed people’s faces.

Samsung is throwing a variety of shapes and sizes out there right now to attempt to satisfy every consumer. The Mega feels like an experiment. As a smartphone, it’s hard to see where it fits — literally and otherwise.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGTqA-4ZrSMZ1FI9J5W15eFH0Z0Eg&url=http://allthingsd.com/20130909/lets-call-the-samsung-galaxy-mega-phablet-what-it-should-be-a-tablet/

Let’s Call the Samsung Galaxy Mega “Phablet” What It Should Be: A Tablet

The new Samsung Galaxy Mega smartphone isn’t just a phone. It also doubles as a Frisbee, a George Foreman grill, a car battery and a flying saucer.

I kid, I kid. But really: The Mega is big. It measures 6.6 inches by 3.5 inches by 0.3 inch, weighs just over seven ounces, and has a 6.3-inch display. For comparison’s sake, the iPhone 5 is 4.87 inches by 2.31 inches by .30-inch, and weighs just under four ounces.

The Mega is currently available in the U.S. for $150 with a two-year contract through AT&T. While Sprint and U.S. Cellular are confirmed carrier partners, they’re not offering the phone just yet. The Mega is also being rolled out in other countries, including Europe and Russia.

I’ve been using the Android-based, LTE-compatible Galaxy Mega for the past week, carrying the mostly plastic phone with me everywhere. I will be somewhat relieved when the flatbed truck arrives next week to pick it up and transport it back to Samsung.

In all seriousness, it’s just too large for a phone. It is nearly the size of my face. It felt awkward in the hand. I couldn’t carry it with me while walking, jogging, or bike riding, without bringing a purse or backpack.

People I interacted with in passing — a woman at a coffee shop, a man at a mattress store — couldn’t help but comment on how big it is. (It can also be used as a mattress pad.) A few colleagues joked that anyone holding it immediately appears as though they’ve lost weight.

It could be said large phones are coming into vogue. They are sleeker and better overall than they were in the days of the Dell Streak, which AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg likened to holding a piece of toast up to the face. Ever since Samsung effectively launched the “phablet” category — a style of phone so large it’s like a small tablet — with the release of its first, 5.8-inch Galaxy Note smartphone in 2011, others have hopped on board.

There are the LG G2, the Huawei Ascend Mate and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, to name a few other giants. Apple has been reported to be working on a larger iPhone.

Samsung has even introduced phablets of varying sizes: The good-looking Note II measures a solid six inches by three inches, and the just-announced Note III will have an even larger display.

So, why the 6.6-inch Mega? Samsung says it is meant to be an “ideal hybrid handset for those who want to experience smartphone portability with the immersive experience of a tablet.”

I liked the Mega when I was using as just that: A tablet. In those instances, it didn’t seem so cumbersome. I read books and watched videos on it before bed, while getting a haircut and while sitting at a cafe. I checked email on it, and browsed through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds. Basically, I liked it when I used it as I would my iPad mini or Kindle Fire tablet, which measure 7.9 inches and 7.0 inches, respectively.

Let’s say the Mega hybrid does appeal to you as a smartphone. It’s still pretty midrange, lacking some of the key features of its Note sibling.

I’ll focus on its good features first.

To start, at $150 with a two-year plan, it is half the price of the Note II through the same carrier. The LG G2 is $200 down with a two-year contract. So the Mega could be considered a bargain phablet.

Its battery life is very good, as you might expect with a device of this size. It got me through nearly two full days of use, with the phone’s power saver turned off and the display set to about 75 percent of full brightness.

It offers some of the same software features as its Samsung sibs, such as S Voice voice commands, S Translator and Air View, which lets you hover your finger over emails to read the text without actually opening it.

It also has a TV-controlling app called WatchOn that utilizes the phone’s built-in infrared blaster (the Samsung Galaxy S4 has this, too). I was able to change the channels on the TV in my hotel room using the Mega.

Also, the Mega gives great sound, which was especially useful when I was using it as a portable navigation device in the car. And call quality was good. At least people on the other end of the call can’t see how ridiculous you look with the phone against your face.

The large screen, for me, meant fewer fat-finger incidents when I was writing emails and sending text messages.

Now for the parts that make this a midrange phone: Its 1280 by 720p HD LCD display isn’t quite as brilliant as other premium smartphones out there. For many people this won’t be noticeable, but when you hold it up next to a really nice display you can see the difference.

The phone’s 1.7GHz quad-core processor feels sluggish at times. It’s running on Google Android 4.2.2, which is fine, but it’s not the newest version of the operating system.

While it has some cool software, it doesn’t have all of Samsung’s bewildering array of add-on apps, and it doesn’t work with a stylus the way the Note smartphones do.

Its camera specs are essentially the same as in earlier Samsung models — an eight-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-MP front camera — though it does have a variety of shooting modes, geo-tagging and face-tag options in photos, as well as “album view” in the phone’s photo gallery.

Lastly, and most importantly, there’s just the feel of it. It’s difficult to operate with just one hand. It certainly didn’t fit in my pockets, and when I asked two men with regular-fitting jeans to try it out, it stuck out the top of their pockets, too.

It’s hard not to feel, as you’re holding it up to your ear, like you’ve somehow been transported back to the early days of cellular phones, when the phones dwarfed people’s faces.

Samsung is throwing a variety of shapes and sizes out there right now to attempt to satisfy every consumer. The Mega feels like an experiment. As a smartphone, it’s hard to see where it fits — literally and otherwise.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGTqA-4ZrSMZ1FI9J5W15eFH0Z0Eg&url=http://allthingsd.com/20130909/lets-call-the-samsung-galaxy-mega-phablet-what-it-should-be-a-tablet/

Review: Samsung’s Galaxy Mega is a lumbering giant

The most common reaction to Samsung’s new Galaxy Mega smartphone may be: You’ve got to be kidding.

The Mega is a phone in only the loosest sense of the word. True, it runs Google’s Android operating system, has a built-in microphone and speaker and connects to AT&T’s voice network as well as its high-speed LTE data service.

But it’s huge. Enormous. It’s impossible to operate comfortably with one hand, and trying to use it the way most people use a smartphone is akin to holding a picture frame up to your ear.

Samsung has been expanding — in a literal sense — the definition of a smartphone. Its flagship Galaxy S4 has a five- inch screen, while the original Galaxy Note helped invent the “phablet” category with its even larger 5.3-inch display, plus a stylus for scrawling quick notes. The newest version, the just-announced Galaxy Note 3, measures 5.7 inches.

The Mega dwarfs them all. It has a 6.3-inch display, measures 6.6 inches tall by 3.46 inches wide, and weighs 7.02 ounces. That’s not bad for a tablet, but it’s a lot for a phone. By way of comparison, the S4 is 4.6 ounces, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is 3.95 ounces.

The idea behind the Mega is that you can replace two devices — phone and tablet — with one. But let’s face it: You look ridiculous holding it up to your ear. The Mega should only be used with a headset, yet it comes without so much as a pair of cheap earbuds.

More Drawbacks

There are other drawbacks as well. You might think Samsung would want to match the phone’s mega-size with mega-performance. Instead, it’s gone in the other direction.

While the company is capable of making stunning displays, the Mega’s isn’t among them. Its resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, or 233 pixels per inch, compared to the S4′s 1920 by 1280, or 441 per inch.

Movies looked OK on the Mega except for a faint bluish tinge in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and a couple of other flicks. E-books looked fine on it, but I found the text on some websites to be less crisp than I prefer.

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 microprocessor, a less powerful version of the one used in the S4. It makes the Mega feel a bit sluggish when you’re doing things like scrolling between home screens or launching apps.

The phone, which AT&T is selling for $150 on a two-year contract, comes with 16 gigabytes of onboard storage, but the removable plastic back does include a slot for a microSD card if you want to expand its capacity. Sprint and US Cellular have also said they’ll offer the Mega.

Big Battery

One of the main advantages of a phone this large is its enormous battery. It easily got through a full day of normal to heavy use, and with a little smart management I bet I could get through close to two.

There’s a decent if uninspiring 8-megapixel camera. It’s accompanied by the same camera app Samsung uses on the Galaxy S4, minus a few functions. Other features and apps have also come over from the S4, such as Air View, which allows you to preview a message or calendar item by hovering your finger above the screen.

As on its smaller sibling, several of these are neat in theory but don’t always work well. The same is true for S Voice, Samsung’s less-effective version of Apple’s Siri.

The Mega also comes with software for playing Samsung- purchased videos and music that compete with Android’s built-in players and Google Play store, and a half-dozen proprietary apps larded on by AT&T.

The move toward ever-larger smartphones isn’t exclusive to Samsung. Sony, for instance, recently announced a 6.4-inch model called the Xperia Z Ultra. But at least its leviathan boasts a high-end screen, powerful processor and waterproofing.

The Galaxy Mega, though, is a clumsy, lumbering giant.

(Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHZsFtExZsP0G2bMd36UrjBR-v7gg&url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130907/business/709079970/

Review: Samsung’s Galaxy Mega is a lumbering giant

The most common reaction to Samsung’s new Galaxy Mega smartphone may be: You’ve got to be kidding.

The Mega is a phone in only the loosest sense of the word. True, it runs Google’s Android operating system, has a built-in microphone and speaker and connects to AT&T’s voice network as well as its high-speed LTE data service.

But it’s huge. Enormous. It’s impossible to operate comfortably with one hand, and trying to use it the way most people use a smartphone is akin to holding a picture frame up to your ear.

Samsung has been expanding — in a literal sense — the definition of a smartphone. Its flagship Galaxy S4 has a five- inch screen, while the original Galaxy Note helped invent the “phablet” category with its even larger 5.3-inch display, plus a stylus for scrawling quick notes. The newest version, the just-announced Galaxy Note 3, measures 5.7 inches.

The Mega dwarfs them all. It has a 6.3-inch display, measures 6.6 inches tall by 3.46 inches wide, and weighs 7.02 ounces. That’s not bad for a tablet, but it’s a lot for a phone. By way of comparison, the S4 is 4.6 ounces, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is 3.95 ounces.

The idea behind the Mega is that you can replace two devices — phone and tablet — with one. But let’s face it: You look ridiculous holding it up to your ear. The Mega should only be used with a headset, yet it comes without so much as a pair of cheap earbuds.

More Drawbacks

There are other drawbacks as well. You might think Samsung would want to match the phone’s mega-size with mega-performance. Instead, it’s gone in the other direction.

While the company is capable of making stunning displays, the Mega’s isn’t among them. Its resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, or 233 pixels per inch, compared to the S4′s 1920 by 1280, or 441 per inch.

Movies looked OK on the Mega except for a faint bluish tinge in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and a couple of other flicks. E-books looked fine on it, but I found the text on some websites to be less crisp than I prefer.

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 microprocessor, a less powerful version of the one used in the S4. It makes the Mega feel a bit sluggish when you’re doing things like scrolling between home screens or launching apps.

The phone, which AT&T is selling for $150 on a two-year contract, comes with 16 gigabytes of onboard storage, but the removable plastic back does include a slot for a microSD card if you want to expand its capacity. Sprint and US Cellular have also said they’ll offer the Mega.

Big Battery

One of the main advantages of a phone this large is its enormous battery. It easily got through a full day of normal to heavy use, and with a little smart management I bet I could get through close to two.

There’s a decent if uninspiring 8-megapixel camera. It’s accompanied by the same camera app Samsung uses on the Galaxy S4, minus a few functions. Other features and apps have also come over from the S4, such as Air View, which allows you to preview a message or calendar item by hovering your finger above the screen.

As on its smaller sibling, several of these are neat in theory but don’t always work well. The same is true for S Voice, Samsung’s less-effective version of Apple’s Siri.

The Mega also comes with software for playing Samsung- purchased videos and music that compete with Android’s built-in players and Google Play store, and a half-dozen proprietary apps larded on by AT&T.

The move toward ever-larger smartphones isn’t exclusive to Samsung. Sony, for instance, recently announced a 6.4-inch model called the Xperia Z Ultra. But at least its leviathan boasts a high-end screen, powerful processor and waterproofing.

The Galaxy Mega, though, is a clumsy, lumbering giant.

(Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHZsFtExZsP0G2bMd36UrjBR-v7gg&url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130907/business/709079970/

Review: Samsung’s Galaxy Mega is a lumbering giant

The most common reaction to Samsung’s new Galaxy Mega smartphone may be: You’ve got to be kidding.

The Mega is a phone in only the loosest sense of the word. True, it runs Google’s Android operating system, has a built-in microphone and speaker and connects to AT&T’s voice network as well as its high-speed LTE data service.

But it’s huge. Enormous. It’s impossible to operate comfortably with one hand, and trying to use it the way most people use a smartphone is akin to holding a picture frame up to your ear.

Samsung has been expanding — in a literal sense — the definition of a smartphone. Its flagship Galaxy S4 has a five- inch screen, while the original Galaxy Note helped invent the “phablet” category with its even larger 5.3-inch display, plus a stylus for scrawling quick notes. The newest version, the just-announced Galaxy Note 3, measures 5.7 inches.

The Mega dwarfs them all. It has a 6.3-inch display, measures 6.6 inches tall by 3.46 inches wide, and weighs 7.02 ounces. That’s not bad for a tablet, but it’s a lot for a phone. By way of comparison, the S4 is 4.6 ounces, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is 3.95 ounces.

The idea behind the Mega is that you can replace two devices — phone and tablet — with one. But let’s face it: You look ridiculous holding it up to your ear. The Mega should only be used with a headset, yet it comes without so much as a pair of cheap earbuds.

More Drawbacks

There are other drawbacks as well. You might think Samsung would want to match the phone’s mega-size with mega-performance. Instead, it’s gone in the other direction.

While the company is capable of making stunning displays, the Mega’s isn’t among them. Its resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, or 233 pixels per inch, compared to the S4′s 1920 by 1280, or 441 per inch.

Movies looked OK on the Mega except for a faint bluish tinge in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and a couple of other flicks. E-books looked fine on it, but I found the text on some websites to be less crisp than I prefer.

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 microprocessor, a less powerful version of the one used in the S4. It makes the Mega feel a bit sluggish when you’re doing things like scrolling between home screens or launching apps.

The phone, which AT&T is selling for $150 on a two-year contract, comes with 16 gigabytes of onboard storage, but the removable plastic back does include a slot for a microSD card if you want to expand its capacity. Sprint and US Cellular have also said they’ll offer the Mega.

Big Battery

One of the main advantages of a phone this large is its enormous battery. It easily got through a full day of normal to heavy use, and with a little smart management I bet I could get through close to two.

There’s a decent if uninspiring 8-megapixel camera. It’s accompanied by the same camera app Samsung uses on the Galaxy S4, minus a few functions. Other features and apps have also come over from the S4, such as Air View, which allows you to preview a message or calendar item by hovering your finger above the screen.

As on its smaller sibling, several of these are neat in theory but don’t always work well. The same is true for S Voice, Samsung’s less-effective version of Apple’s Siri.

The Mega also comes with software for playing Samsung- purchased videos and music that compete with Android’s built-in players and Google Play store, and a half-dozen proprietary apps larded on by AT&T.

The move toward ever-larger smartphones isn’t exclusive to Samsung. Sony, for instance, recently announced a 6.4-inch model called the Xperia Z Ultra. But at least its leviathan boasts a high-end screen, powerful processor and waterproofing.

The Galaxy Mega, though, is a clumsy, lumbering giant.

(Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHZsFtExZsP0G2bMd36UrjBR-v7gg&url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130907/business/709079970/

Review: Samsung’s Galaxy Mega is a lumbering giant

The most common reaction to Samsung’s new Galaxy Mega smartphone may be: You’ve got to be kidding.

The Mega is a phone in only the loosest sense of the word. True, it runs Google’s Android operating system, has a built-in microphone and speaker and connects to AT&T’s voice network as well as its high-speed LTE data service.

But it’s huge. Enormous. It’s impossible to operate comfortably with one hand, and trying to use it the way most people use a smartphone is akin to holding a picture frame up to your ear.

Samsung has been expanding — in a literal sense — the definition of a smartphone. Its flagship Galaxy S4 has a five- inch screen, while the original Galaxy Note helped invent the “phablet” category with its even larger 5.3-inch display, plus a stylus for scrawling quick notes. The newest version, the just-announced Galaxy Note 3, measures 5.7 inches.

The Mega dwarfs them all. It has a 6.3-inch display, measures 6.6 inches tall by 3.46 inches wide, and weighs 7.02 ounces. That’s not bad for a tablet, but it’s a lot for a phone. By way of comparison, the S4 is 4.6 ounces, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is 3.95 ounces.

The idea behind the Mega is that you can replace two devices — phone and tablet — with one. But let’s face it: You look ridiculous holding it up to your ear. The Mega should only be used with a headset, yet it comes without so much as a pair of cheap earbuds.

More Drawbacks

There are other drawbacks as well. You might think Samsung would want to match the phone’s mega-size with mega-performance. Instead, it’s gone in the other direction.

While the company is capable of making stunning displays, the Mega’s isn’t among them. Its resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, or 233 pixels per inch, compared to the S4′s 1920 by 1280, or 441 per inch.

Movies looked OK on the Mega except for a faint bluish tinge in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and a couple of other flicks. E-books looked fine on it, but I found the text on some websites to be less crisp than I prefer.

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 microprocessor, a less powerful version of the one used in the S4. It makes the Mega feel a bit sluggish when you’re doing things like scrolling between home screens or launching apps.

The phone, which AT&T is selling for $150 on a two-year contract, comes with 16 gigabytes of onboard storage, but the removable plastic back does include a slot for a microSD card if you want to expand its capacity. Sprint and US Cellular have also said they’ll offer the Mega.

Big Battery

One of the main advantages of a phone this large is its enormous battery. It easily got through a full day of normal to heavy use, and with a little smart management I bet I could get through close to two.

There’s a decent if uninspiring 8-megapixel camera. It’s accompanied by the same camera app Samsung uses on the Galaxy S4, minus a few functions. Other features and apps have also come over from the S4, such as Air View, which allows you to preview a message or calendar item by hovering your finger above the screen.

As on its smaller sibling, several of these are neat in theory but don’t always work well. The same is true for S Voice, Samsung’s less-effective version of Apple’s Siri.

The Mega also comes with software for playing Samsung- purchased videos and music that compete with Android’s built-in players and Google Play store, and a half-dozen proprietary apps larded on by AT&T.

The move toward ever-larger smartphones isn’t exclusive to Samsung. Sony, for instance, recently announced a 6.4-inch model called the Xperia Z Ultra. But at least its leviathan boasts a high-end screen, powerful processor and waterproofing.

The Galaxy Mega, though, is a clumsy, lumbering giant.

(Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHZsFtExZsP0G2bMd36UrjBR-v7gg&url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130907/business/709079970/

Review: Samsung’s Galaxy Mega is a lumbering giant

The most common reaction to Samsung’s new Galaxy Mega smartphone may be: You’ve got to be kidding.

The Mega is a phone in only the loosest sense of the word. True, it runs Google’s Android operating system, has a built-in microphone and speaker and connects to AT&T’s voice network as well as its high-speed LTE data service.

But it’s huge. Enormous. It’s impossible to operate comfortably with one hand, and trying to use it the way most people use a smartphone is akin to holding a picture frame up to your ear.

Samsung has been expanding — in a literal sense — the definition of a smartphone. Its flagship Galaxy S4 has a five- inch screen, while the original Galaxy Note helped invent the “phablet” category with its even larger 5.3-inch display, plus a stylus for scrawling quick notes. The newest version, the just-announced Galaxy Note 3, measures 5.7 inches.

The Mega dwarfs them all. It has a 6.3-inch display, measures 6.6 inches tall by 3.46 inches wide, and weighs 7.02 ounces. That’s not bad for a tablet, but it’s a lot for a phone. By way of comparison, the S4 is 4.6 ounces, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is 3.95 ounces.

The idea behind the Mega is that you can replace two devices — phone and tablet — with one. But let’s face it: You look ridiculous holding it up to your ear. The Mega should only be used with a headset, yet it comes without so much as a pair of cheap earbuds.

More Drawbacks

There are other drawbacks as well. You might think Samsung would want to match the phone’s mega-size with mega-performance. Instead, it’s gone in the other direction.

While the company is capable of making stunning displays, the Mega’s isn’t among them. Its resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels, or 233 pixels per inch, compared to the S4′s 1920 by 1280, or 441 per inch.

Movies looked OK on the Mega except for a faint bluish tinge in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and a couple of other flicks. E-books looked fine on it, but I found the text on some websites to be less crisp than I prefer.

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 microprocessor, a less powerful version of the one used in the S4. It makes the Mega feel a bit sluggish when you’re doing things like scrolling between home screens or launching apps.

The phone, which AT&T is selling for $150 on a two-year contract, comes with 16 gigabytes of onboard storage, but the removable plastic back does include a slot for a microSD card if you want to expand its capacity. Sprint and US Cellular have also said they’ll offer the Mega.

Big Battery

One of the main advantages of a phone this large is its enormous battery. It easily got through a full day of normal to heavy use, and with a little smart management I bet I could get through close to two.

There’s a decent if uninspiring 8-megapixel camera. It’s accompanied by the same camera app Samsung uses on the Galaxy S4, minus a few functions. Other features and apps have also come over from the S4, such as Air View, which allows you to preview a message or calendar item by hovering your finger above the screen.

As on its smaller sibling, several of these are neat in theory but don’t always work well. The same is true for S Voice, Samsung’s less-effective version of Apple’s Siri.

The Mega also comes with software for playing Samsung- purchased videos and music that compete with Android’s built-in players and Google Play store, and a half-dozen proprietary apps larded on by AT&T.

The move toward ever-larger smartphones isn’t exclusive to Samsung. Sony, for instance, recently announced a 6.4-inch model called the Xperia Z Ultra. But at least its leviathan boasts a high-end screen, powerful processor and waterproofing.

The Galaxy Mega, though, is a clumsy, lumbering giant.

(Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHZsFtExZsP0G2bMd36UrjBR-v7gg&url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130907/business/709079970/

Sony SmartWatch vs. Samsung Galaxy Gear: The first big battle in the wearable …

Is the new Samsung Galaxy Gear the best smartwatch ever?

(Credit:

Josh Miller/CNET)

Sony’s latest wearable tech creation, the SmartWatch 2 (SW2) is attractively styled, water-resistant, and sports plenty of apps and watch faces. The Samsung Galaxy Gear is a strong contender too, running a specially tweaked version of Android powered by an 800MHz processor, and flaunting a big color OLED screen. Heck, it even has a mic and speaker plus a camera.

But just how useful are these watches really, and how do they stack up against each other? Read on as we break down Samsung’s and Sony’s tempting wearable tech entries.

Design

Sony SmartWatch 2

If you’re familiar with Sony’s first foray into the smartwatch space, you won’t be too shocked by the SmartWatch 2′s look and feel. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Sony’s initial gadget was one of the sexiest-looking smart timepieces I ever laid my hands on. It was small, light, and attractively styled.

The Sony SmartWatch 2 has style galore.

(Credit:

Aloysius Low/CNET)

It also used a flexible silicone wristband that was pliable enough to feel extremely comfortable, yet springy enough to grip wrists tightly. At the moment Sony hasn’t announced different color options for the SW2, but if history is any indicator, you can expect the watch to ship with multiple wrist strap options just like its predecessor.

The SmartWatch 2 can be charged with any Micro-USB cable.

(Credit:

Aloysius Low/CNET)

Sony has taken the same approach here, using a similar silicone strap and premium aluminum body. Measuring a mere 1.65 inches tall by 1.61 inches wide and 0.35 inch thick, the SW2 is also extremely svelte. Tipping the scales at just 0.8 ounce, Sony’s device extremely light as well.

Samsung

Galaxy Gear

Compared with the SmartWatch 2, the Galaxy Gear is physically more imposing — at least on paper. Measuring 1.45 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide and 0.44 inch thick, there’s no arguing that the Gear is larger. Additionally at 2.6 ounces, Samsung’s watch is a lot heavier than the SW2.

The Gear has a camera inside its strap.

(Credit:

Josh Miller/CNET)

Surprisingly though, when I got the chance to strap the Galaxy Gear to my wrist I found it felt much lighter than expected. Also, even though the Gear’s rubbery strap isn’t as pliable as Sony’s previous smartwatch band, it is comfortable to wear. The watch is crafted with luxurious silver metallic flair so will hopefully draw the right sort of attention when noticed.

At the outset Samsung said it plans to offer the Gear in myriad band colors; six, to be exact. These include jet black, mocha gray, wild orange, oatmeal beige, rose gold, and lime green.

Advantage: Sony SmartWatch 2

Display

Sony SmartWatch 2

One trade-off with the SW2′s smaller size is its display. While it technically measures 1.6 inches across, the SmartWatch 2′s screen isn’t quite as expansive as the Galaxy Gear’s 1.63-inch viewer. It also packs fewer pixels than Sammy’s gadget; 220×176 pixels as opposed to 320×320 pixels.

Sony, however, worked to address its first smartwatch’s major failing, namely that its OLED screen was practically impossible to read under strong sunlight outdoors. Indeed, the SW2 is equipped with a transflective LCD designed not to become washed out in daylight.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

In terms of sheer size and pixel count, the Gear trumps the Sony SmartWatch 2. Its bigger 1.63-inch OLED screen serves up a sharper resolution (320×320 pixels). When I saw the Gear in person, the watch’s display also produced images and text with vivid colors and high contrast. The Gear’s screen also was extremely bright — so much so that it gave my point-and-shoot camera trouble capturing its image.

The Gear felt lighter than expected in person.

(Credit:

Brian Bennett/CNET)

Of course, I didn’t get a chance to observe the device outside under the blazing sun so we can only take Samsung’s word that it’s bright enough for pleasing outdoor use. OLED screens typically don’t offer as many lumens as their LCD counterparts, transflective or otherwise.

Advantage: Samsung Galaxy Gear

Features and UI

Sony SmartWatch 2

Speaking of basic capabilities and user interface, the second incarnation of Sony’s smartwatch doesn’t depart much from the original. You get the same touch-screen UI, sliding widgets for viewing weather, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and other phone alerts that the first Sony timepiece sported. Also important is that the SmartWatch 2 is compatible with many

Android handsets, not just Sony phones.

Pinching the screen pulls up the application tray, which shows all the mini applications that the SW2 has installed. You can also change the various watch faces for the device by selecting them via the Sony SmartWatch companion app on your smartphone. It is annoying, though, that you can’t do this through the watch itself.

Besides pushing phone alerts to your wrist, the SW2 includes a dialpad for initiating calls right from the watch. Be advised that since the SW2 lacks a microphone and speaker, you’ll have to chat using a simultaneously paired Bluetooth headset or dig your phone out of your pocket or bag. The SmartWatch 2 does show caller ID for screening and it’ll even provide a way to text the caller back with canned messages.

The Sony SmartWatch up close (pictures)

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Samsung Galaxy Gear

As a physically more imposing device, you’d expect the Galaxy Gear to do quite a bit — and you’d be right. It can perform all the same push notification duties as the SW2, but be advised that the Gear is not merely locked tightly into Samsung ecosystem; at launch it will only be compatible with one phone, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which is a huge letdown for many of its potential Android buyers.

Even so, the Gear’s skills are impressive. With its built-in microphone and speaker, the watch lets users conduct phone calls right from their wrists. It’s a similar feature competitors such as the Martian Passport and Hot Watch boast and it’s a useful if not particularly polite ability to have in your mobile arsenal. Sometimes you just need to get a few words across quickly, not engage in a total gabfest.

Change watch faces on the Gear through its companion Note 3 app.

(Credit:

Josh Miller/CNET)

Oddly enough, the Gear has a 1.9-megapixel camera sitting in the device’s wristband, facing forward when the watch’s screen is front and center for viewing. In addition to taking pictures, the camera can record 720p HD video. It’s not entirely clear, though, what sorts of uses Samsung or Galaxy Gear users will dream up for this imaging system, outside of creepy stealth picture-taking. Still, it’s an interesting tool to have.

I tried the feature out myself in person and found that the Gear snaps photos pretty quickly — just tap the screen, though they looked washed out even on the watch’s vibrant display. Also, unless you hold your wrist up high at an uncomfortable level, you’ll be taking images of people at an unflattering upward angle.

One area where the Galaxy Gear shines, though, is in its user interface. With big tiles and clean fonts reminiscent of — dare I say — Windows Phone 8′s Metro UI, information is extremely glanceable, quick to digest, and simple to navigate through. Compared with the SW2′s rather plain, even dated graphics, the Gear definitely operates like a piece of tech from some elegant sci-fi future.

Advantage: Samsung Galaxy Gear

Samsung announces Galaxy Gear smartwatch at IFA 2013 (pictures)

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Battery

Sony SmartWatch 2

The original Sony SmartWatch had a battery rated to last for 3 to 4 days, or 14 hours of continual use. In my experience it really lasted shy of half or maybe most of a full work day. You’d definitely have to charge the sucker daily or risk being caught in a lurch. Sony makes the same 3-to-4-day longevity claim for the SW2, so I’m expecting to see about the same unsatisfying run time from the gadget. Perhaps its LCD screen will be more efficient, but I’m not optimistic.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

Samsung makes a similar assertion, pinning the Galaxy Gear’s battery life at about 24 hours. It’s unclear whether that’s what users can expect out of the product through heavy or light operation. The Gear does rely on the latest form of Bluetooth wireless, version 4.0, which brings with it the promise of enhanced electrical efficiency. That said, like the Sony SW2, it’s a good idea to charge the gadget daily.

Advantage: Samsung Galaxy Gear

Some slick extras

Sony SmartWatch 2

True to Sony’s dedication to NFC (near-field technology), the SmartWatch 2 features an NFC chip for fast Bluetooth pairing with similarly equipped phones. Supposedly linking compatible devices with the SW2 is merely a matter of tapping them together (with their NFC and Bluetooth radios engaged, of course).

As its predecessor before it, the SmartWatch 2 has an app devoted to finding your phone if you’ve misplaced it. The device will also alert you when your phone and watch move out of range from each other. The SW2 gives you the ability to control music playback on your handset and displays album art on its screen as well.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

Though Samsung integrates NFC widely across is Galaxy smartphone line, the technology doesn’t make an appearance in the Gear. The watch does offer other impressive abilities besides making hands-free calls and shooting pictures and video.

The Gear runs a host of tiny apps.

(Credit:

Josh Miller/CNET)

Like the Hot Watch and SW2, the Gear can cause your phone to ring if you can’t locate it. You can have your Samsung phone command the Gear’s speaker to chirp too if you’re in the reverse situation. Keep in mind both devices still need to be in Bluetooth range (30 feet) for this to work.

Outfitted with its own 4GB of onboard storage, the Gear can run tiny versions of apps locally. At launch the watch will have plenty of software preloaded, including a healthy selection of Samsung-branded apps such as S Voice (for making voice commands, dialing, and search), Voice Memo, and the Chat On communicator. A Music Controller application gives the Gear dominion over your phone’s music player as well.

You’ll find some third-party titles here too like the Tripit travel app, RunKeeper, and MyFitnessPal, plus Evernote. Interestingly, the Vivino Wine Scanner uses the Gear’s camera to read bar codes on wine bottles for look up and future reference.

Advantage: Samsung Galaxy Gear

Durability

Sony SmartWatch 2

Sony has been designing rugged portable devices for very decades, and has expertise in this area harkening way back to its Sony Sport line of Walkman products. The company’s Xperia Z and followup Z1 smartphones are dust and water resistant too so it’s no surprise that the SmartWatch 2 continues this legacy.

Rated to meet the IP57 international standard for ruggedness, the SW2 can not only withstand exposure to fine particles of grime, it can handle being dunked in 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes without issue.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

The Gear is a scrappy number, too, and Samsung says the watch is designed to adhere to the IP55 protocol. Less stringent than IP57, the Gear is only rated to survive brief sprays of water not total immersion like the SW2. Basically, don’t shower or swim laps in the pool with your Gear strapped on. The odd drink spill or raindrop shouldn’t be a problem, though.

Advantage: Sony SmartWatch 2

The take-away

Even with with all the features and abilities of both Sony’s and Samsung’s smartwatches laid out on the table, the choice before you isn’t immediately clear. In a nutshell, the Galaxy Gear is a typical Samsung product. Its $299 sticker price is definitely steep and will put off all but the most eager early technology adopter. Of course in true Samsung fashion, the Gear boasts a lovely OLED screen and all the bells and whistles it could cram into it.

On the other hand, no pun intended, the Sony SmartWatch 2 represents a handsome evolution of an interesting but underwhelming device. It has a sleeker, more compact design than Samsung’s whiz-bang creation and is more durable too. Still the SW2′s software and UI apparently hasn’t changed all that much from that of its older predecessor. This leaves the Galaxy Gear slightly more compelling in terms sheer power and usability.

One massive stumbling block I simply can’t get over is the Gear’s support for a single device, the Samsung Note 3. That’s a tough pill to swallow especially given the SmartWatch 2′s universal Android functionality. I also expect that the SW2′s price will be lower, at about $199.99, since that’s about what the first Sony SmartWatch cost. All this puts the SW2 ahead by a nose. Of course I can’t ultimately make the call until I get both watches side-by-side and I’ll have to wait until October until these gizmos hit the market in force.

*http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF32KCfWOWvHrQlkgfulOWej_gV-A&url=http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-34900_7-57601585/sony-smartwatch-vs-samsung-galaxy-gear-the-first-big-battle-in-the-wearable-tech-war/