Let's Talk Tech
The Active uses a lower res camera sensor than the regular GS4, and it’s one we’re very familiar with. First making an appearance on the GS3 and Note 2, this sensor doesn’t hold any surprises, though Samsung’s camera app has improved over the successive phones utilizing this hardware.
It does come with one really neat trick though. How waterproof is your current smartphone?
Let’s take a look.
No seriously folks. I don’t get it, and I need your help to understand.
Why do we need 64-bit processors in our phones?
First Apple announces 64-bit will be included in the iPhone 5s, and now Samsung says they’ll be getting in on the trick in 2014. As best as I could understand, one of the primary reasons we moved to 64-bit on desktops and laptops was to allow us to use more than 4GB of RAM.
Are there other advantages I’m not aware of? Might this be a preemptive move for some future technology? I’m nonplussed…
Drop me a comment. School me folks!
Man. HTC just can’t catch a break here.
Last week, shares fell almost 5% on the news that HTC only pulled in $443 million this August, which is down 45% from a year ago. It seems that the critically acclaimed One and One Mini handsets aren’t quite motivating consumers to part with their cash. Investor confidence is also a little shaken by news of high level executives leaving the company. Some of those execs under investigation for allegedly leaking company secrets. In all, not a great position for the phone maker to be in given how competitive the phone landscape is.
The one resource HTC most likely needs to turn around its market image is likely the one most difficult to come by: Time. HTC’s recent moves have largely been celebrated by tech pundits. The HTC One marks the first handset by the company which isn’t hamstrung by carrier branding. Even the older One X was billed as the “Evo 4G LTE” on Sprint, diluting HTC’s presence. Future HTC phones will likely not be plagued by this consumer confusion.
Also, we recently saw the first fruits from HTC’s $1 billion ad campaign featuring Robert Downey Jr. and “Hipster Troll Carwashes”. This is a long term brand identity move, which should net positive results, but HTC is also in need of some short term sales to help boost confidence internally and with potential customers. They need evangelists and fans who will tout the company line, and be a grassroots first line of attack when new handsets are released.
Recent moves have been smart, HTC is trying to build a presence on sites like Reddit, and they’ve been more active on social media sites. It’s a tough road to build that kind of loyalty however. Their 716,000 Twitter followers are nothing to sneeze at, but pale in comparison to Samsung’s 4.4 million, and comparing recent tweets, actual engagement with likes and retweet action mirrors those follower numbers.
So while their long term strategies look sound, this isn’t a market known for patience, and that magical recipe for pairing good products and actual sales has been eluding numerous companies of late.
See my hands on reviews for the HTC One and the HTC One Mini.
(via WSJ)
So the radio in your phone is often one of the worst offenders in draining your battery. For all of our criticism surrounding powerful quad-cores, throw your phone into airplane mode, and it’s shocking how long that quad can run. We can only pack in SO much battery density, and the rest of your phone can be surprisingly frugal, which is why developments in radio management are so crucial to improving the smartphone experience.
Qualcomm has been working on Envelope Tracking for their LTE radio technology. To over-simplify, LTE is a little different in how it communicates with cell towers than 3G, which in the past has made it more difficult to adjust the power of the radio in your phone while maintaining a stable connection to a tower. Essentially, your phone’s radio tries to find an average signal to broadcast at, but often just runs at max on LTE, which is pretty terrible for battery life, and can sometimes result in a poor connection.
Envelope Tracking for LTE allows the radio to better scale with the quality of the tower’s signal. As the radio is working a brute force style signal, it should greatly reduce the amount of power needed to run, which should also cut back on wasted heat. Qualcomm is estimating a 20% reduction in power and a 30% reduction in heat generated by the radio. This should also provide a more stable link to the tower, hopefully resulting in faster throughput.
Now normally when we write up new tech like this it’s usually an article about researchers in a lab, and we’ll all have to wait for the breakthrough to eventually filter down into our actual consumer devices. The nice thing about Qualcomm’s ET gear is it’s already going to be included in the Galaxy Note 3. Likely one of the reasons Samsung went with Qualcomm’s 800 series chipset for its LTE variants of the note.
Hit the Qualcomm blog for better explanations of all the science-y details.
Yeah. Some hot, sweet, S-Pen action!
Sammy’s Youtube channel just posted this six and a half minute long video introducing the Galaxy Note 3, and spending some time walking around all the new features.
The video details the new design, the updated hardware, and then showcases some of the new quick control actions like Air Command and Action Memo. If you’ve been curious about what the Note 3 has to offer, this video should answer a lot of questions.
Click here for our full coverage of Samsung Unpacked from Berlin!
***UPDATE***
Wow Samsung! Get a room for those two!
Not to be outdone by themselves, or anyone else on the internet reviewing tech, they just dropped this EIGHTEEN minute video showing of the combo of Galaxy Gear + Galaxy Note 3. Geez… I guess I don’t even need to bother reviewing this stuff anymore…
As AT&T was the first carrier to support phablets, launching the original Galaxy Note, it should come as no surprise that they’re already on board announcing their plans to carry the Note 3. There’s no pricing or availability info just yet, but if you’re interested in going large with Big Blue and a Sammy Phablet, you can sign up for an email notification when more info drops.
Also interesting, is their announcement to carry the Galaxy Gear, expanding their line up of smartphone accessories in AT&T retail channels.
We’ll know more as we get closer to Samsung’s target release date of September 25.
Well Qualcomm. The one piece of advice I might give is to not announce your new smartwatch at the EXACT same time as a Samsung press event. That said, with Toq they are launching an interesting alternative to the other smartwatches we’ve seen so far.
First off the display uses Qualcomm’s Mirasol tech which reflects light around it to enhance view-ability. Not using a traditional backlight should also reduce power consumption, a nice side effect for a gadget which should last all day and all night with you.
Unlike the Galaxy Gear, Toq will be compatible with every Android handset using 4.0.3 or higher through their Toq app in the Play store. The idea here is for sleek simplicity and at a glance functionality instead of Samsung’s approach which is almost a proper phone replacement. Toq will have simple controls for interacting with notifications and controlling apps like music playback. Plus you’ll have the ability to see caller ID to accept or reject in coming calls. No other buttons or controls. Qualcomm is keeping this set up simple.
As an optional accessory, Toq can pair with a set of truly wireless bluetooth headsets. No cable or band connecting right ear and left ear any more, these are truly wireless. They link up and are controlled through Toq for all your audio needs.
A wireless charging base comes with Toq which can also juice up the bluetooth headsets. Again, simple and clean presentation, Toq looks like any other watch in a nice stand or case even when charging. No “geeky” cables or flaps hiding USB ports. Hopefully his should mean decent water resistance.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this is one of Qualcomm’s first forays into the consumer space as its own brand. The techiest of folks might know which phones use Qualcomm internals, but few consumers probably have Qualcomm on their radar. This is a big step for a company which formerly operated in a somewhat “behind the scenes” fashion, and will likely be the beginning, the first product in a chain of future releases as they try to form relationships with consumers directly.
More info on the official Toq site, and intro video below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzTrqifCOhs&w=640&h=480]
Thankfully this follow up Unpacked event was far more mature than what we saw for the Galaxy S4. None of that musical theatre train wreck, this time around Samsung largely let their new devices speak for themselves. Simple and straight forward.
As expected, we saw the official unveiling of the Galaxy Note 3, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and I was surprised to see a main stage announcement for the updated Note 10.1 2014 edition.
Galaxy Note 3
The Note 3 looks like it’s going to be another powerhouse phablet. A 5.7″ full HD (1080p) screen backed up by 3GB of RAM. CPU’s will change based on region a quad core in LTE areas (likely the Qualcomm 800) and Samsung’s Octa-Core in 3G zones. A new camera module is on board featuring improvements to lighting and image stabilization, but no mentions of proper hardware optical image stabilization were to be found. Video is going to get a huge shot in the arm however as the Note 3 will support 60FPS 1080p video recording -OR- 4K video for Ultra HD playback on supported 4K TV’s and monitors.
The Note 3 will be sporting a Category 4 LTE radio giving it access to most LTE networks around the world. A nice touch for people who travel a lot (watch those roaming data rates).
S-Pen is getting spruced up, now with even more ability to control actions and shortcuts on the phone. Smart Command can pop up almost anywhere on the screen to provide quick access to shortcuts. S-note is getting a face lift with more gesture support and a cleaner interface plus support for Evernote. Almost any content can be “Circled” to save in personal Scrapbooks, later to be retrieved via S-Finder universal search. Drawing a box allows users to customize the size of widgets which float on top of the app currently being used. For example, you need a calculator on screen, you draw how big that calculator should be so you can still see info on the rest of the screen.
Multi-Window support is improved for better multi-tasking, and users can even open multiple instances of the same app, say for instance you’d like to have two chat windows open at the same time.
Note 3 will come in three different leather clad back pates, black, white, and pink, and designers are working on numerous color and texture options for further customization. The Window Flip Cover accessory from the GS4 returns with an even larger window to support alerts on the screen when the screen is technically off.
Those of you worried about corporate solutions, Samsung Knox security software will now be rolling out worldwide.
Samsung is shooting for worldwide availability by September 25th. An ambitious release schedule. Pricing info to come shortly as carriers jump on the press circuit.
Galaxy Gear
Sammy proudly showed off their smartwatch, ending all the rumors on what kind of tech we might see on board. a 1.6″ touchscreen AMOLED display will be paired with an 800MHz CPU and a host of sensors, gyros, mics, speakers, and a camera. Movement tracking will allow Gear to help you sort work out and fitness info, and gestures can be utilized. Answering a phone call happens by holding your hand up to the side of your head. That seems funny, until you see that the mic and speaker are built into the watchband. Not exactly handsfree, but easier to support than holding a Note 3 up to the side of your face, and less “crazy person talking to no one” looking than some of the smaller bluetooth headsets.
A 13MP camera is built into the strap as well, allowing Gear owners to snap pics and vids directly from the wrist. Lining up shots might be tricky holding your arm out sideways, but it’s nice to have an easily accessible camera which can shoot quickly from simple gestures. Custom apps are already available. to take advantage of the smaller screen, and it interacts with Samsung handsets, specifically the Note 2 & 3, the Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy S4. Smart relay will auto transfer what you see on the Gear screen simply by picking up a paired device. Plus Sammy is claiming 25 hour run time on the watch for all day and all night activity.
Expect a price of $299 when it’s released to the world, also shooting for a September 25th release.
Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition
Less time was spent on the Note 10 during the press event. Most of the new tech included in Note 10.1 was detailed during the presentation of the Note 3. Happily we are seeing a refresh on the screen. Now sporting a 2560×1600 resolution display, similar to the one found on the Nexus 10, this absolutely shames the 1280×800 screen on the last generation Note. The new Note 10.1 will have an 8MP rear camera (no word on 4K video so that’s probably not included), and the same CPU split will happen with LTE variants likely receiving Qualcomm’s 800 series CPU. I would expect WiFi and 3G variants to sport Sammy’ s Octa-core Exynos.
Huge news from Sammy today, and if you were holding off buying a new premier phone or tablet, Samsung totally justified your cautious shopping decision.