Samsung Mobiler

Samsung Mobiler
Samsung Mobiler

Saturday, 26 November 2011

Charactures - Drawings on the Galaxy Note

With the new Samsung Galaxy Note, drawing has been made really easy with its wonderful pen tool. Here's a few caricatures and paintings my friends made whilst playing around on the Galaxy Note. Enjoy!




Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Could Google wallet bring more cash for Samsung?

Its partnership with Google Android has already proven fruitful as Samsung grows to be one of the market leaders in the smartphone market. With Google's constant new innovations, this has consistently brought benefits to all those providing the android system. So will its latest product, the google wallet, prove to be more of the same for Samsung - which is one of the only providers of the service - or is one step to far for risk averse shoppers?


Google Wallet to Pay Customers to Spur Growth




Google Wallet to Pay Customers to Spur Growth

BY KENDRA SRIVASTAVA | TUE NOV 01, 2011 10:41 AM
Google Wallet plans to give customers $10 to try its new NFC service, as the company aims to spur growth following initially slow adoption.

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"We're excited to give you a chance to try out Google Wallet and experience paying with a mobile phone," the search giant blogged.

Google intends to offer this deal at select stores in five U.S. cities before the holidays. Google employees will travel to New York, Chicago, San Francisco, L.A. and Washington, D.C. to host demonstrations and help customers make trial payments from Samsung Nexus S demo devices.

Among participating merchants are Jamba Juice, Walgreens, Peet's Coffee & Tea, and many others. Sprint and Samsung are also set to participate in the demos, scheduled for various weeks between now and January 12.

Google's move to showcase Wallet follows the service's weak adoption, which likely results from its limited reach on few handsets, but may grow as NFC becomes more popular.

For now Wallet is only available on the Samsung's Nexus S, one of the few NFC-equipped handsets on the market. In addition, just a handful of merchants possess the often-expensive NFC-enabled payment terminals necessary for customers to use the service.

Wallet may expand to other smartphones and merchants soon, now that industry group NFC Forum has gained support from Isis. The coalition of credit card companies, carriers and smartphone makers may help the Forum standardize wireless mobile payment technology enough that manufacturers and stores become eager to invest in NFC chips and terminals.
Wallet is also limited in that it supports just two payment methods, Citi MasterCard and Google pre-paid cards. Rival mobile payment companies Square and PayPal, which don't use NFC technology in their systems, allow all major credit cards, putting Wallet at a possible disadvantage.

But the search giant reported licensing Visa's PayWave, which would let Wallet work at thousands of payment terminals already equipped with Visa technology. Google also says it has plans to bring Visa, Discover and American Express on board in the future.

In the meantime, Google may spur enthusiasm for its Wallet service with a $10 promotion during the holiday shopping season. The company will need more than justfeatured offers in the long term, however, if it desires to make a sizeable dent in the mobile payment industry.

Samsung + Juniper = Positive Synergies!!

So Samsung has teamed up with Juniper - the mobile security and networking specifalist. This should make for an interesting jump in the Business market following Blackberry's crash in its network just last month. The partnership will provide greater control for businesses over their phones and security and allow for better remote access to content. Lets wait and see how this pans out!

----------------------------------------------

Samsung teams up with Juniper to secure content on the Galaxy Note, Galaxy Tab


Juniper Networks' Junos Pulse is already available on the iPad
Samsung has signed a deal with networking specialists Juniper Networks to provide business customers with advanced VPN and security features for their mobile Android devices.

The companies have extended their existing relationship to take Juniper’s Junos Pulse, a mobile security and management platform, to the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II smartphone and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.


The software integration provides a secure Layer 3 SSL VPN connection, so that the mobile users can interact securely with their enterprise networks, while also allowing IT administrators to remotely scan systems for malware, and manage and remove software. Applications can also be removed without the user’s consent.


Although this announcement is unlikely to be of any significance to most consumers, the news is more crucial for business IT departments, who have so far been slow to test and deploy Android smartphones and tablets.


"Juniper and Samsung are committed to a partnership wherein the two companies will continue to deliver secure, business-ready solutions enhancing security posture for enterprises and enabling new differentiated offerings for service providers”, said Sanjay Beri, vice president and general manager of the Junos Pulse business unit at Juniper Networks.


"We are delighted to partner with Juniper Networks using their Junos Pulse technology as they understand the needs of consumers and enterprise IT leaders in an increasingly mobile world that requires mobile security and device management”, added Jongshin Kim, vice president of the media solution center at Samsung Electronics.


In addition to Android, Junos Pulse is offered for iOS, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices.
International Editor of TabTimes

What the future holds...

Its always tough to think where the future of mobile phones will be especially when you consider how far along we have come along in just the last 10 years. I recently saw a Tedx video on a gadget which will truly revolutionise communication and technology. This technology combined a camera, a phone, a projector and the internet in a way that has never been done before to produce something really quire remarkable:

(Tedx link here)


So the question is, what does the future hold? Obviously thats pretty much impossible to answer.. Theres a pretty cool website (http://www.concept-phones.com/samsung/) which looks into some concept phones of what may be coming out in the coming years. Also, there is the now infamous video of the iPhone 5 concept phone which seems to be pushing the boundries of what is possible:


A far more interesting question for now is what can we hope for the future? This opens scope for our own thoughts and perspectives of what we wish to see in the coming years. Heres my thoughts over the time periods:


Short Term Future:

Tablet:
  • My hope for the near future is to see a real synergy between the computer and the tablet. At the moment, the Tablet seems to be quite a standalone product in terms of what it can do and how it runs. Much of the flexibility we know and love about PCs doesn't exist on a tablet with programmes restricted to apps available on a market. 
  • I want a Tablet which can play any video without the worry of converting it to the right format. 
  • I want a tablet which has the freedom to fully multitask. 
  • I want a tablet which can run advanced programmes for editing, designing and gaming.
  • I want the Tablet to develop a self-contained mouse and keyboard system which is as comfortable as a PC without the need to carry extra equipment. 
Mobile Phones
  • Touch screen mobiles have come a long way, but I still think there is a lot to develop. Typing is still an issue for many people as the touch screen just doesn't have the same feel or speed as buttons. I saw a piece of technology on BBC's Click which mentioned an introduction of 'button feel' to touch screens - will be interesting to see how that develops. 
  • I think 3D technology is beginning to gain popularity when the glasses idea is removed. Perhaps we can see that better integrated to phones to see how that develops
  • Multi-player functionality is still scarce for many phones. Perhaps we will see some development in the app market to allow for more of this
  • The Galaxy Note reintroduces a concept which previously never worked but is a common problem - writing on the phone. I would like to see a better way of typing on the phone other than the 3.5inch screen we currently have to work with!
  • Typing is a thing of the past as voice technology is developed properly and works! 


Distant Future
  • Why should we restrict phone technology to the screen? Maybe in the future we'll see a better use of Holograms or video imagery to allow the screen to come out to us. Or maybe we can find a way of seeing the image directly before us rather than it appearing through the 3.5inch screen?
  • Phones should be a thing of the past. Everyone will be able to teleport to the person they want to talk to so there is no need to call them!
  • A movie isn't a movie but a real life story which pans out in front of you. Through your phone/tablet, you actually become part of the movie as you sit there and watch what goes on around you!
  • We can make inter-galactic calls to other planets where people now live - I wonder what the call charge would be!

Those are just some of my ideas and thoughts! Let me know what you think and any suggestions you may have!

Ergonomics

Being a massive fan of technology, appreciating the finer dimensions that come with each new piece of kit is vital. Its often the things that you don't notice or think of explicitly that make you satisfied with a new piece of kit, things like how it feels in your hand when your using it, how easy it is to call/text someone, how light it is to carry around and so on. These dimensions have come to be recognised by all the major companies as key and gave birth to a science which costs millions to firms in R&D - Ergonomics.


Ergonomics is the study of efficiency in working environments - or more simply put; how easy something is to use and how nice it feels. Over the years, so many people have got it right and so many got it wrong. Here's a look at some of the things which really stood out and some of the not so good ideas:


Perfection
The iPhone


The launch of the iPhone triggered a catalyst of touch screen phones from every company. The touch screen concept had existed for many years but had never really taken off. It was too impractical and inaccurate with the stylus just making its too impractical to use. Steve Job's ingenious invention revolutionised the idea of a touchscreen. It made it simple, easy and efficient - the definition of ergonomics. Nowadays it seems rarer to find a phone with keys than without; a testimony to the success of the ergonomic masterpiece!


The Xbox 360 Controller

Learning from their previous mistakes, Microsoft went back to the drawing board and produced what I think is the masterpiece of all controllers. Its elegant, smooth and light feel combine to just make the perfect gaming experience... AND, the joystick is in the natural place where the thumb is rather than down below.
- I'll leave it at that before I spark a turf war between PS3 and Xbox fans! 


Mouse


For me, the idea of the mouse is exceptional. It offers complete control of your computer with pinpoint accuracy and is easily configured for left or right hand use. Even as new technology has developed, the place for the mouse has never gone as its use is just indispensable. So simple yet so brilliant


Got it wrong


The N64 Controller

Don't get me wrong, im an N64 fanboy all the way... but you have to admit, the controller was odd. The D-pad was basically unusable when playing and the L-button was a stretch. I remember trying to play Turok and the controls were just a nightmare because you needed the D-pad and the joystick! Then theres the combination of the C-buttons and the A&B buttons.. 6 buttons for one thumb was too many! Overall - not a good controller!

The Joystick

Another controller which for me never took off was the joystick. Good as a concept/gimmick when you want to feel like some spaceship commander, the novelty quickly wears off when you realise you have to sit at a table to use it properly and playing FIFA is a constant disadvantage.. We would always fight to use the keyboard as kids!

Clamshell Phones

For me, you see the clamshell on a movie and it looks cool, but it never really works as a phone. For starters it makes it twice as think to carry around and its constantly susceptible to breaking in the middle. Then there's the whole fact that if you ever wanted to use it you had to open it up... That makes the "texting whilst not looking" a whole lot harder as you always had to open it up! Not good when your in school trying to text your mate without being caught.

Monday, 31 October 2011

Galaxy Tab 10.1 Poster - Something for Everyone


ChatOn - Samsung's New BBM

Samsung's recent launch of ChatOn is welcome news to the growing market rival in the Smartphone world. Moreover, blackberry's nightmare crash of all its neworks could only be good news for Samsung fans! Perhaps that will now aide the success of this new chat service - something which relies on other people using the software for it to be a success. Perhaps Samsung could learn from the success of Whatsapp and other similar apps which have developed a cross phone functionality to really make this useful! We'll have to wait and see how it fares!


Ice Cream Sandwich Anyone?

So, its now official - samsung will be producing the next Nexus phone and it will come with the all new Android 4.0 OS - aka. Ice Cream Sandwich... 


Now, I bet I know what your thinking - who doesnt like ice cream sandwiches! And I also know that other thought - WOW!


Well.. your just about to be wow'd even further as Engadget have managed to get their hands on the phone and demonstrate what it can do! Pretty amazing!





Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on (video)

Remember the Droid RAZR? That's so yesterday. Or, earlier today. Whatever. The point is, Samsung's just busted out the planet's first Ice Cream Sandwich-based smartphone here in Hong Kong, a few days late but hardly worse for the wear. The Galaxy Nexus (formerly referred to as the Nexus Prime) carries on the Nexus torch in spectacular fashion, and we've just spent a few quality moments with one here at the launch event. Design-wise, it's clear that the Nexus S DNA is here, though the rear reminds us most of the Galaxy S II. Those who abhor physical buttons will also be delighted, and while we'd gotten used to the whole Power + Home for a screenshot on the GSII, Power + Volume Down works just fine on this fellow.

The 1.2GHz dual-core processor was startlingly fast. It actually felt a wee bit quicker than our Galaxy S II, and given that Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus were apparently built for one another, we're assuming there's some deeply ingrained optimizations to thank. Swiping from pane to pane was faster than its ever been on Android, and the new Roboto font actually is super eye-pleasing. The touch response of the capacitive buttons -- much like those on the original Nexus One -- take a bit of getting used to, and we had to mash 'em just a touch harder than we anticipated to elicit a response. [Update: turns out our demo phone was a bit of an early build; we touched another model later in the day, and our response gripes were gone. Perfectly responsive. Hopefully that's the one that'll ship out.] Not necessarily a bad thing, just a thing worth noting. We've built our impressions after the break, replete with a video. Enjoy!


The overall phone feels adequately thin, and while the 4.65-inch display sounds gargantuan, the handset itself doesn't feel so massive to hold. Until, of course, you grab the comparatively minuscule Nexus One. Still, we've been clamoring for a 1,280 x 720 display on a smartphone for what feels like forever, and now that it's here on the Galaxy Nexus, we aren't about to kvetch. Indeed, the panel looks downright gorgeous, with unbeatable viewing angles, remarkably crisp text and graphics and a beautiful feel as one swipes across it. The fingerprint magnet that is a glossy overcoat is still here, but it's the only feel niggle we've found on the screen as a whole.

Having the 3.5mm headphone jack on the rear seems like a necessary design choice given the tapering at the top, and unlike that other phone, there's no mute switch here -- you'll just have to hold the Volume Down button for a few seconds. The rear cover pops off in similar fashion to the Galaxy S II, but the ridged plastic cover has a far softer touch than the aforesaid contemporary. The camera is also situated right in the center, with branding kept to a minimum. Oddly enough, we're being told by Samsung that two models will be available in terms of capacity -- a 16 gigger and a 32GB sibling -- but neither will have a microSD slot for adding your own expansion.

The lack of a physical Home button may be disorienting for Galaxy S II loyalists, but the Galaxy Nexus is truly the first smartphone that expresses Google's desire to make "one Android for all" -- a mantra we heard about at Google I/O, but haven't seen birthed into anything until today. Digging into theparticulars of Ice Cream Sandwich a bit, it's clear that folks who aren't elevated to Android 4.0 (we're still waiting on word of what phones will and won't make the leap) will be missing out on a fair bit. Face Unlock isn't particularly special in our estimation -- typical laptops have been using this forever, and we've never found 'em to be entirely intuitive. However, the bump-to-share functionality that was lost when webOS croaked will undoubtedly be cause for celebration. Also, just so it's known, the Galaxy Nexus we played with here was running Android 4.0.1.

The data usage manager is a total godsend in this nasty, depressing world of tiers, and while apps have done similar things for quite some time, tight integration like this is hugely appreciated. We found in our play time that ICS was amazingly responsive in every aspect. Swiping was a breeze. Gestures worked beautifully. The entire experience just felt polished. In a way, it's as if Android's growing a bit and maturing before our eyes, and it's obvious that Goog's focused on making its mobile OS as "enchanting" (Google's word, not ours) as iOS seems to be.

Overall, we're thrilled with how the first ICS handset has turned out. It's understated, sleek, beautiful and packs a display that's destined to drop jaws. Now, if only we knew how much, and what carriers...

Check out the rest of our Galaxy Nexus coverage right here!

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - Apps & Features

The Samsung Galaxy Tab can do so much.. Heres a wonderful video illustrating just some of those features

Thin, Fast & Powerful eh?

Three qualities we often quote for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, but what do we really mean? Well, let's compare it to some real life example:


Thin:
So the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is thin:


Now, that may not be as thin as this:


..but then again, few things are!
But when you compare it to an apple:


..you can clearly see who the market leader is!


Fast:
Next, its fast! Just watch how quickly this swipe works on the Tab!:


This speed is exactly what is needed when travelling through any galaxy. To travel to the sun at the speed of light takes 8mins - by a normal space shuttle takes several years! 
Now, I dont want to bore you, but there some more details here if you want to find out more:




Powerful
Finally, the Tab is Powerful. It can handle so much at the same time - the sign of real strength.

When you combine this power with its speed, thinness and lots of trial and error, you can cut straight through any Apple product. Just have a look:




Samsung Galaxy Note vs iPhone 4S

So the next wave of smartphone battles awaits us. Each of the big flagships are releasing highly anticipated new products. In the red corner, current heavyweight champion 'Apple's iPhone 4s' weighing in with the largest share of the market. And in the blue corner, the rising Korean superstar 'Samsung Galaxy Note' heavily tipped to be the next big player. Lets get ready to Rummbleeeeeeeeeeee!!


THE SPECS


Specs:


Samsung Galaxy Note

Apple I Phone 4S
Screen Size
5.3 Inches
3.5 Inches
Resolution
1280 x 800
960 x 640
Rear Camera
8 MP with Auto Focus & LED Flash
8 MP with Auto Focus & LED Flash
Front Camera
2 MP
VGA
Processor
1.4 GHz Dual Core
A5 Dual Core ( 1 GHz )
Battery
2,500 mAh
1420 mAh
Weight
178 grams
140 grams
Thinness
9.7 mm
9.3 mm
Memory
16GB w/ micro SD support
16GB/32GB/64GB
RAM
1 GB
512 MB
Operating System
Android 2.3 w/TouchWiz UX
iOS 5
Flash
Yes
No
Availability
November
October



THE ANALYSIS BEHIND THE DETAIL


Screen
The biggest points (quite literally) go to Samsung for their spectacular screen which offers stunning clarity and beauty through its Super-Amoled 5.3inch HD Screen, a whole 2inches bigger than the iPhone 4S! To me, thats a big bonus as it means more comfortable viewing and easier all round use of the Phone


Whilst the Samsung does get the points on the screen, the iPhone does manage to get a few counters in when struck down! Its smaller screen makes it far more portable than the Galaxy Note and its lower resolution is sure to preserve battery life during usage. 
POINTS TO THE GALAXY NOTE
Eco-System
A personal bias perhaps, but to me the android operating system just tips the iOS5 of the iPhone. I far prefer a system with widgets and customisation than just a homescreen full of apps! 


But for every downside is a positive! The more simplistic nature of the iPhone 4S makes it much smoother and easier to use! For that reason (and this being a 'practical blog' after all!), many people will prefer the iPhone OS


POINTS TO iPHONE 4S
Camera
Both cameras have taken a step forward in comparison to their predecessors. Now each have integrated 1080P video capabilities into their phones. iPhone 4s continues to wow with its picture quality and lens speed, whilst samsungs additional features like panoramic picture is a wonderful addition to the phone


Heres a video taken from each of the phones (plus the Galaxy SII) to see for yourself:




Overall, its a Tie on this one 


OVERALL
Each phone has its strengths and weaknesses and both are highly impressive pieces of technology. If your looking for a technological powerhouse, the Note definately comes out on top with its superior screen, note taking abilities and software system. But if you want a smaller phone which does everything well and easy to use, an iPhone 4S will do nicely!