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After a quick name change and some nips and tucks, Samsung has made the Galaxy R official and will start rolling it out, beginning with Sweden, followed by North & Eastern Europe, South East & West Asia, Middle East Asia, and China. The pricing for India is not set since it’s not actually launched here, just announed. My guess would be around 25K, which puts it just below the Galaxy S II and in line with theLG Optimus 2X, which it will undoubtedly destroy. The Galaxy R hasn’t changed much in appearance from the last time we spotted it in a leaked video. Think of it as a scaled down version of the Galaxy S II. Samsung hasn’t completely neutered it though; the only changes include a Tegra 2 CPU and a smaller screen size with a different panel and lower in-built memory and RAM.
Let the games begin!
To avoid eating into the sales of the S II, the video recording capabilities are capped at 720p. To bring the price down further, we have to bid adieu to the Super AMOLED Plus screen and make way for SuperClear LCD. The phone will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread along with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI (possibly 4.0). I wouldn’t be surprised if HTC is quietly prepping something to retaliate. It’s a known fact that their flagship phone is anything but ‘Sensational’, so they really need to bring their A Game if they have to stand a chance. Here are some of the highlights for the Samsung Galaxy R once more -
4.19-inch SC-LCD, capacitive touchscreen
3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Hotspot, GPS with A-GPS support
According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday, released an announcement saying that they will stop reporting sales data for their mobile phones and tablet computers. According to Samsung, competition in this segment has intensified and this step has been taken to potentially reduce the risks attached to divulging figures, which could eventually affect Samsung’s own businesses. In their earnings release, Samsung have simply noted that, ‘shipments of mobile handsets increased in the high-single-digit range quarter-on-quarter’. When asked for a further explanation, Samsung declined the request.
Samsung stops reporting phone sales data
Samsung was recently entangled in a legal battle with Apple; with the latter accusing Samsung of copying the iPhone’s hardware, software, design, packaging and marketing. There could be a chance that this might have influenced Samsung's plans of hiding their sales data. Because the rate at which Samsung’s smartphone sales are increasing, they will be stiff competition for Apple. Samsung’s phone sales may not have reached the number they were expecting to, this quarter, which might have led them to believe that it would be best to cease reporting phone and tablet sales data.
The rumor mill is abuzz with news of Samsung busy prepping a ‘Dell Streak’ like device for IFA in September. The news comes from a Chinese site, eTomato, who’ve brought this to our attention but there isn’t any leaked image or presentation slide to go by so take this with some salt.
What is Samsung up to?
Apparently the new device will be called the Galaxy Q and will sport a massive 5.3-inch display, most likely Super AMOLED Plus and that’s about it, we don’t have any other information about this mystery device. If we are to speculate then it will most likely have a dual-core processor either Exynos or Tegra 2. It should run Ice Cream Sandwich given IFA is two months away -Google should have a stable build for Samsung by then.
What remains to be seen is how will Samsung market this product? If they dare to call it a phone then would it suffer the same fate as Dell’ Streak? How does one walk around with a 5.3-inch slab in his pocket. As a tablet, the screen size seems a bit too small and if you’re going to lug around another device then it might as well be at least seven inches or more, else you might as well use your phone. Let’s wait and watch if it actually materializes or if it's just vaporware.
There were rumors back in early July about Samsung prepping a new Windows Phone 7 (WP7) based on the Galaxy SII. Today, we have a first glimpse of what could potentially turn out to be the i973, which runs on WP7. At the Microsoft Partner Conference in Los Angeles, Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President - OEM Division, showed off an upcoming WP7, which he described as being ‘thin and light', the same being SII's forte.
We only get a quick glimpse of the phone as he quickly puts it back in his pocket. How come it wasn’t on display along with the rest of the products? It seems like Microsoft didn’t want anyone to get a good look at the device. From the picture, it appears to be a 4.3-inch screen, however there’s no way to tell if it’s Super AMOLED or SLCD. The three touch sensitive buttons are placed at the bottom like in every Windows Phone device. Hit this link to watch Steve’s portion of the keynote.
Since tablets are light and compact, their primary purpose is mobile computing. This means that they must have sufficient battery life, despite the large display screens and touch interface. Here’s the hardware that helps manufacturers make that happen. Processors The brain of any tablet is the processor that powers its core working. Since most devices are touch sensitive, and need to connect to the Internet and offer a long battery life, the processor should be light on the system. Most tablets today are powered by the processors from ARM or those based on Intel’s x86 architecture. A typical chipset based on the simple ARM architecture can handle 4 million instructions per second at 8 MHz (ARM1) to a maximum of 220 million instructions per second at 200 MHz (ARM9E). The architecture is licensed to a host of companies to develop their own processors, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon, the Samsung Hummingbird, Nintendo, Nvidia Tegra and the Apple A4. Intel has developed the Atom processor based on its x86 architecture. The Atom Z6xx codenamed Lincroft, offers GPU speeds of 1.6 GHz.
Operating Systems The heart of the tablet is its operating system. There are several OSs that are device and vendor specific, while others are multi-platform. The most prominent OSs for tablets include iOS (a proprietary OS for Apple devices), Microsoft Windows 7 and Google's Android OS and now the more recent Blackberry Tablet OS or the Playbook tablet. More OS' are expected to come up in the future, which will include the Maemo operating system based on Linux, which is being developed by Nokia, and the webOS, originally developed by Palm, which would now power tablets and smartphones from HP. There are also talks of Chrome OS for Google tablets being developed by Google and HTC. The two mobile opertaing systems that have yet to be spoken of in terms of tablet technology is Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 and the on-its-way-out Symbian opertaing system, butyou never know.
The Apple iPad's innards
Storage Space Tablets come with varying memory capacities, starting from 2GB (Wespro Epad) to, as much as 64GB (Apple iPad) built-in storage space. Tablets usually come with an SD card slot to increase storage space, but that is of limited use if the device is powered by Android 2.1 or lower, as those don’t let you install apps on external storage. Moreover, if your tablet offers USB ports, you can attach an external hard drive to get extra storage space for your data.
Touch Screen UI A touch screen user interface is a bit different from the graphical user interface primarily due to touch-based inputs. While this kind of interface is useful to make the command selection via text more accurate, they offer extended features like adding widgets and live wallpaper to make your device more interactive. The iPad features a proprietary UI developed by Apple, there is the TouchWiz UI from Samsung, and the Sense UI by HTC.
Sensors The touch screen in a tablet is not pressure-based, and relies on several sensors. The high-end tablets include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor and temperature sensor. The accelerometer or the gravity sensor helps to change the orientation of the screen in terms of how it is held. The ambient light sensor adjusts brightness and contrast of your tablet screen with respect to lighting conditions. The temperature sensor intimates you of your battery heat levels.
The Galaxy Tab exposed
Connectors Most of the tablets offer several ports like the USB and HDMI, plus audio connectors and SD card and SIM card slots. However, the iPad is one of the few tablets that sports only one outlet that doubles as a charging port for the device.
Camera Tablets usually feature a front camera for video calls on-the-go. The camera quality ranges from VGA quality right up to 8 megapixels. With the introduction of the Android 3.0 OS, which supports 3D, tablets are likely to sport dual cameras to help capture 3D pictures and video.
We were left thrilled with the Galaxy SII from Samsung, so much so that we believe it’s the best Android handset out there. Probably building up on this fact, Samsung is trying their luck on running the same hardware, on a different platform. The latest about the Galaxy SII is that the company is possibly prepping a Windows Phone 7 version of it.
Look! The Galaxy SII running on WP7!
The rumours are based on the suspicion that sources have spotted a Bluetooth profile of the Samsung SGH-i937. They feel that the profile that this handset boasts of is exactly the same as the Mango Windows Phone 7 stack. Also the handset was seen on an Occasional Gamers list of Windows Phone 7 handsets running its games.
From what we can make out, Samsung is possibly preparing a WP7 smartphone. Another thing is that the Galaxy SII possibly has the most favourable hardware for running Windows Phone 7 and thus the rumours. What do you think? A Galaxy SII running WP7, or a completely different device doing the same? You can give us your opinions in the comments section below.
While its arrival date in India is still uncertain, we at least know now what the hold up was all along. Samsung posted on their site about an upcoming update for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that’s supposed to bring some big improvements to the tablet including the addition of their TouchWiz UI to Honeycomb. The new features include Live Panel, a magazine-like widget that gives you instant access to weather, social updates and news right from the home screen. There’s also a Mini Apps tray, Clipboard and Indicator Quick Panel for toggling Wi-Fi, notifications, etc.
Expected very soon
Some enterprise features include on-device encryption and Cisco VPN capabilities. Samsung will also implement Hubs giving you a one stop shop for all your movies, music, social networking and e-books. You’ll finally be able to connect USB drives, SD cards and HDMI, but all through optional accessories. Whenever Samsung decides to launch the Tab 10.1 in India, they have to nail the pricing or else it won’t work. The Motorola Xoom and Acer’s ICONIA A500 will be its biggest competition and I feel 32-35K would be a very aggressive end user price for the 3G version, what do you think?
Yet another twist has been added to the Apple – Samsung saga. Just a couple of days ago, it was learned that the South Korea based consumer electronics manufacturer, Samsung had approached the U.S. International Trade Commission to propose the ban of Apple products in U.S., in the form of sales, imports, among others.
& the battle continues...
CNET, now reports that the iPad manufacturer has retorted back with a similar proposal – that of having some of Samsung’s premier products banned in the U.S. As per the request forwarded to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple seeks that Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge smartphones, as also the Galaxy Tab 10.1 be banned in the U.S.
Additionally, Apple also stated that it has let off Samsung’s other products like the yet-to-be-released Galaxy S II smartphone and Galaxy Tab 8.9, and decided to put the axe down on only four products, mentioned above.
We are currently testing the Galaxy Pro and so far it seems like a great option for Rs.10,000. But what if we said you can now buy it for as little as Rs.8,700? Well, head over to Saholic.com where you’ll find the Samsung Galaxy Pro for this reduced price. Not only that, ‘Liking’ their Facebook page will avail you a further Rs.400 discount. Thanks to AndroidOS.in for the heads-up. We are not sure if this is a limited time offer, so you better act fast if you were planning on picking one up.
A sweet deal!
The Galaxy Pro (B7510) is powered by Android 2.2 and features a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with 3G, Wi-Fi ‘n’ and Bluetooth 3.0. There’s an 800MHz processor running under the hood, which should easily run all your applications smoothly. The best part about this phone is that it sports a physical QWERTY keypad for easier typing. Other features include a 3.0MP camera, A-GPS and Samsung's TouchWiz UI. Stay tuned for our detailed take on the Samsung Galaxy Pro.
ust as the Galaxy S got a sibling with slightly lower specifications i.e. the Galaxy S-LCD, it looks like the Galaxy SII willl also follow suit with Samsung's soon to be officially announced Galaxy Z (aka I9103). The Galaxy Z also has specifications that are a little lower than the original. The smartphone surprisingly has not been unveiled by Samsung but by Swedish carrier Three.
It's ze Galaxy Z
The Galaxy Z boasts of a slightly smaller screen and this one’s not SuperAMOLED Plus but an SC-LCD (Super Clear LCD) capacitive touchscreen, instead. The smartphone is powered by a Tegra 2 1 GHz Dual Core processor. It'll run on Android 2.3 aka Gingerbread and here are the rest of the specifications:
4.2-inch SC-LCD capacitive touchscreen
3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Hotspot, GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash Stereo FM Radio with RDS
Secondary front facing camera
8GB Internal storage
Memory expandable to 32GB via MicroSD card
3.5 mm audio jack
Unlike the Galaxy SII’s camera, this one can only record videos at 720p and has features like video-calling and geo-tagging. There’s support for DivX, XviD and MP4 video formats and the usual MP3 and WAV for audio. It has all the Google applications like YouTube and Picasa plus it also has support for Adobe Flash.
The smartphone’s priced at $630 (approx Rs. 28,100), which is a tad lower than the Galaxy SII as well. The Galaxy Z’s specifications don’t look that bad, but then we’ll have to wait and see how the handset fares in our reviews, once it makes its way to Indian shores, that is.
The mobile phone segment is bursting at the seams with sophisticated, smarter and faster handsets, at this very moment. Choices are getting harder and harder to make as the competition is heating up. But, even with all of the Android goodies making their way out from the likes of LG, Samsung and HTC, Apple’s good old iPhone is still somewhere at the top of the list. With that in mind, we recently reviewed Samsung’s latest and possibly greatest offering, i.e. the Galaxy S II and while it definitely impressed us, the “big” Apple still manages to loom over the little Green robot to quite an extent and queries have been flowing in with regards to making choices. So those of you with deep pockets looking for the ultimate powerhouse smartphone and tossing between the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S II, we pitted them against each other and here are our findings.
Samsung Galaxy S II – Rs. 30,500 (16GB) Let’s forget about the fact that, as of now, the Galaxy S II is the slimmest Android phone in the market with a large display sporting the all new Super AMOLED Plus visual enhancement. Let’s also leave aside the fact that the S II is super light weight at just 116 grams. The Galaxy S II is designed and built for ease of use with high end components packed into this sleek body and that includes a Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a GPU to boot.
Super slim and sleek
Samsung’s TouchWiz UI version 4.0 has also undergone a few UI changes adding kinetic scrolling, tilt zoom etc. With support for full HD i.e. 1080 video playback with files sporting DivX and Xvid codecs there’s never the need to convert and then transfer data between your PC and handset. The S II even sports 1080p video capture via the 8 Megapixel camera and TV Out in HD via MHL (Media Hi-Def Linking). Speaking of the camera, the S II also offers face and smile detection, as well as an auto-stitch panorama mode amongst its array of features. There’s also support for Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA compliance for hooking the S II up to HDTVs that support the same tech, for media streaming. Another important feature to take into account is USB-on-the-go that was previously limited to just a few Nokia N-series devices.
So all of this in a very decently priced, sleek and comfortable looking device makes the Samsung Galaxy S II, a rather difficult device to avoid when choosing a high-end smartphone. It’s loaded with features and packs in 16 Gigs of internal storage plus support for 32GB more via micro SD cards.
Apple iPhone 4 – Rs. – 34,500 (16GB) When one looks at the Apple iPhone 4 for the first time, one is easily impressed by its looks alone. The iPhone 4 sports a 3.5-inch Retina Display, the highest resolution in mobiledom today and is housed inside an elegant shell with brushed stainless steel bands at the sides. The phone is basically made up of two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass. This glass is the same type used in helicopter and train windshields, so we’re talking about serious durability.
However, Apple shows that the iPhone 4’s looks are not just skin deep with it packing a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor and an Apple A4 chipset which simply translates into performance and speed that few handsets can equal. The iPhone operates on iOS 4.3 and like all previous versions the operating system is really simple to use. One can get easily immersed in the wide range of apps available in the App Store from games to handy mobile tools. While there may be almost an app for all conceiveable mobile purposes, it's the sheer elegance of the UI that leaves you salivating. Though the iPhone has just a 5 MP camera, it is capable of capturing stunning high quality images and also has 720p HD video recording capabilities with touch focus extending into video capture, as well.
Elegant, refined and what a User Experience
While the cost of the iPhone 4 is somewhat on the pricier side, Apple has seemingly always targeted their phones at a selective audience. With all Apple products, it is more of a way of life than a handset and provides one hell of a mobile phone experience even if it does tend to empty your pockets.
Click to enlarge
Verdict So based on the simple scores and our own in-house testing, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Galaxy S II is definitely the handset you should be investing in. Of course, it also depends largely on personal preference as both these handsets are very capable, but the differences in their user experiences are also big factors and we’ve taken that into account, as well.
As far as smartphones go, the S II offers the best possible mobile phone experience for the price tag it’s attached to. From functionality to ease of use and a plethora of features that are both built-in or downloadable off of the Android Market Place, rest assured, buyers remorse is not a feeling you’ll have to worry about. Sure the iPhone did provide us with the better overall user experience and with apps also looking and feeling more refined the fact is, as it is, the iPhone is still lacking in features. It’s undoubtedly a worthy contender but when it comes to absolute value for money the S II is the handset that wins hands down.
We’d also like to invite all you readers out there to send in your comments and user experiences for either of these handsets. It’ll help those looking to buy either one to make an even more calculated decision. Feel free to leave your thoughts below in our comments section or your can follow the same thread in our discussion board.
Next week we put the HTC Sensation and Galaxy S II through the ringer so stay tuned to this space for another tech2 Mobile Grudge Match.
Not only has the Samsung Galaxy S II created a name for itself, it has also helped bring down the price of some really good phones that have now fallen into very attractive price brackets. Samsung’s very own previous flagship Android phone, the Galaxy S dropped from 25K to its current street price of 22K long before the S II launched. Today we see the Nexus S, a phone created by Samsung for Google as their reference phone get a major price drop to INR 22K from its previous street price of 26K.
A great phone at a great price
Very similar to the Galaxy S, the Nexus S packs in a 4.0 inch display, Android 2.3.4, 1GHz Hummingbird CPU, 512MB RAM, 16GB built-in memory and a 5MP camera. The advantage of buying this over the Galaxy S is that whenever Google dishes out an update for Android, you’ll be the first to get it since it’s the reference phone and runs stock Android without any skin. Flipkart and Letsbuy, both have the new updated price online or you could just pop into your local mobile store but make sure you don’t pay a rupee over 22K.
The Galaxy S II has been one of those handsets that the mobile community has been craving for. Sure we have the iPhone 4, but S II was, as far as I was concerned, to be the next best thing or the alternative for those with lower budgets. A few weeks ago we did manage to get our hands on preview, but here’s a more in depth look at what the Galaxy S II has to offer. But to get the ball rolling here's a quick unboxing -
Form Factor Let’s forget about it’s predecessor. It’s, to put it mildly, as good a phone as it is, but it’s a bit outdated as the world of Dual Core devices is here. The Galaxy S II is factually, the thinnest Android mobile phone in the market. It’s remarkably just 8.5mm in depth, which is just about a shade thinner than Apple’s iPhone. The 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass display manages to keep even smudges away, which makes viewing a real treat. If the colours are little too ‘in-your-face’, for lack of a better term, you can tone them down via the display settings for Background Effects. There’s even an option to activate an Outdoor mode that boosts both brightness and contrast to a seriously high level that makes it easier to view in bright sunlit conditions. However, even with default settings, you’ll have no real problem with viewing angles. The resolution on this, the first ever Super AMOLED Plus display is 480 x 800 pixels which is, of course not nearly as refined as the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 that has it beat hands down, even if the colours are brighter on the Galaxy S II.
The iPhone 4 should be a little worried
A couple of touch sensitive keys (return and menu) are placed on either side of the rectangular ‘Home’ button. The micro USB connector for charging, USB 2.0 for PC supported connectivity, MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) support and USB-on-the-go (no adapter cables provided) is located at the bottom while a 3.5mm handsfree socket is placed on top. Volume/zoom keys are located on the right side while a screen lock/Power button is on the left. Pity Samsung didn’t incorporate a small shutter release for the camera but it’s not really missed. What is a bit of a disappointment is the lack of a hot swap memory card slot. However with 16GB of internal storage it’s not really something I was too concerned about.
The thinnest one yet!
While it ranks high with me on the design front, being so light weight (116g), so thin and yet so large, I did notice that those with slender or long fingers usually ended up gripping the phone in one hand and activating apps that were a little too close to the edge with the tips of their fingers. While sensitivity is a good thing, in this particular case it’s not a good thing. The S II also feels a bit plastic-y and delicate being as light as it as, however I did drop it (unintentionally) a couple of times and although a couple of locks on the rear popped up, the handset remained unscathed. Impressive!
Features and Performance Interface Samsung’s all new TouchWiz UI 4.0, although much better looking than past offerings, is a wee bit sluggish. Their new option of adding widgets is by opening up a small sliding section at the bottom of the display so you can click and drag whatever you want onto the multiple screens (than can be added or removed). What I don’t like about this UI is that once you’ve reached the last page it doesn’t return to the first page like Launcher Pro, which, by the way, worked out much better than the Stock UI.
TouchWiz UI 4.0, better than before, for sure!
TouchWiz’s overall functionality is quite well laid out. It allows you to arrange apps in the menus with an edit option and unlike the desktop, rotates back to the first page from the last. You can also create folders if you wish to be a little more organized. Like the LG Optimus 2X, the S II also has gesture-based features like holding down on an app and tilting the handset to move between screens. You can also flip the handset to silence it, hold your thumbs on either side of an image and tilt the handset forward or back to zoom in and out. The Double Tap for voice commands options was a complete bust as it worked in the trial simulation but never after.
Interface Contd. Swype input is by far the speediest way of typing once you get the hang of it. If you’e not used to it, I suggest using the tutorial, but it’s really not that hard. The phone book has a Merge with FB or Google set up that didn’t seem to do anything. I ultimately had to manually join contacts with FB and Google or Twitter. It was a bit unusual that I found no option to show my SIM card contacts though it was easy enough to copy them from the card to the phone and vice versa. So far, HTC’s sense UI phone book still has the best integration system. The swipe left/right to call and message respectively, was one of TouchWiz’s better ideas.
Customize the menus to your preference
The Samsung Galaxy S II, on the whole worked like a charm, pushing the Dual Core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and Android Ginger bread (2.3.3) platform very steadily. Accessing data, opening apps, multi-tasking and creating or playing HD videos was almost fluid and lag-free.
Media The Galaxy S II truly excels in this regard. The music player, although lacking a jazzy gyro using, Cover-Flow style view, is simple and easy to use with EQ presets and an 8 band customizable setting, my personal favorite. It even has sound effect settings which include Bass enhancement for some seriously hard hitting low frequencies. A 5.1 Channel Surround sound option adds a little more to the value of audio output on the Galaxy S II. An in-ear styled handsfree kit is bundled and is quite comfortable to use and also manages to handle the output quite well even at peaked volume. It’s loud and clear enough for calls and music to be heard over the loud din emitting within a Mumbai local, needless to say, it passed my acid test.
Plenty of audio settings for personalisation
When it comes to video playback, the S II fully supports any and all files formats in a variety of resolution including full HD i.e. 1080p. There was no delay or lag while accessing or playing files. Visually, thanks to the brilliant display, playback was a pleasure. Watching videos in any lighting condition was just plain simple and comfortable. The S II also comes with a preloaded video editor that’s easy to use and makes things quite simplistic when it comes to creating videos from your image gallery or editing videos you’ve recorder via the camera. A photo editor is also provided.
Full HD playback
Than handset's FM radio in contrast was a bit average. Reception was just about adequate while commuting, with unfortunately quite a bit of disturbance. But when stationary in places where I usually get good reception it performed well enough.
Connectivity Of course the Galaxy S II is a 3G capable phone capable of handling HSDPA with speeds of 21 Mbps and HSUP up to 5.76 Mbps. EDGE/GPRS functions quite well too but get yourself a 3G connection and you’ll seriously burn web space! With Bluetooth 3.0 + HS and USB-on-the-go capability the Galaxy S is well equipped for connectivity. Let’s not forget Wi-Fi with tethering and Wi-Fi Hot spot creation as well. Samsung also offers DLNA support for the Galaxy S II with their All Share app and Samsung Kies functions like iTunes for syncing and setting up an account for downloading apps etc. wirelessly. Another great feature regarding Wi-Fi is Wi-Fi Direct that pretty much works like Bluetooth for wireless transfer of data through Wi-Fi. Of course, it's only compatible with other devices featuring the same technology and rest assured there will be plenty of those real soon.
Connectivity Contd. The various Hubs that include Samsung’s Music Hub (that was inaccessible), Readers Hub for getting eBooks, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, Game Hub and Social Hub (showcases all SN accounts into one space – LinkedIn, FB, Twitter, Email, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Chat, Gtalk etc.) are part of the new TouchWiz UI 4.0’s make up. Samsung even has their own App market for downloading apps and another link to an online store called Samsung Suggests that offers apps that work well with the S II. Push services for email and FB are no different from other Android powered device.
Plenty of connectivity options
What was a big disappointment was the absence of a preloaded GPS software app. Usually Samsung offers a Route 66 based app but with a High-end device like the Galaxy II, not having it made a big difference. All of Google’s services were however present and accounted for from Maps to Navigation and Places etc.
Misc. Features Some of the ‘extras’ that Samsung has thrown in with the phone as preloaded content include Mini Diary – that lets you capture images with geotags and add a little information about the picture to it. It’s similar to Sense UI’s Footprints. Polaris Office is provided for reading and accessing documents and of course all the standard Android apps like Google’s Voice Search, Voice Commands (The voice command settings worked quite well provided you speak loudly and slowly), Task’s, Voice Recorder, Calendar with Google Sync, World Clock, Stopwatch, Timer and another extra - a File Manager are also provided. Widgets like an Agenda, Ap Mobile, a Sticky Notes type app called Mini paper etc. are also thrown in.
GIngerbread all the way
Camera With an 8 megapixel auto/touch focus camera with an LED flash loaded onto the S II that’s capable of recording videos in 1080p @30fps, the handset was even more impressive. Although, I do wish Android handset manufacturers could devise a simpler camera like the iPhone’s, the S II does manage to offer quite a range of very digicam like features. Those include a wide range of scene modes, Geotagging, face/smile and blink detection, White balance, Beauty shot, auto stitch Panorama mode, Cartoonize, and action shots, a timer and a few color effects amongst others. The touch focus isn’t nearly as good as any of HTC’s new devices but on the whole, image quality was great. Details were clear and quite crisp for a mobile camera. Colour reproduction was also quite vivid.
Outdoor looks pretty good too
Video capture was just a little bit framed but not enough for anyone who’s not overly particular to find a reason to complain. On the whole the camera proved to be quite an asset for the S II with almost instantaneous activation when selected. Processing was also quite speedy so most of the time you won’t really miss those spontaneous moments.
Auto stitch Panorama
The S II also features a 2 megapixel fixed focus camera up front near the proximity sensor, just above the display. This camera could be used for taking pictures of yourself or for video calls. The quality of pictures from this camera is also quite decent for both video and images.
Great for macro
Battery The 1650 mAh battery works out just fine for the Galaxy S II clocking in at 6 hours of standalone talk time which is quite impressive as mobile handsets go. I was also able to watch 2 full length movies back to back without the handset dying on me. The task manager and device’s pre-loaded Power Saving mode does help optimize the battery life of the handset as well. You’ll get about a day and a half of usage which will easily include a little bit of video, music, web browsing and at least 2 hours worth of calls.
The Bottom Line The Galaxy S II, although officially available for Rs. 32,490 (16GB), is also available, in some locations, for about Rs. 30,000. The fact that the device performs quite seamlessly and is priced rather reasonably, impressed me. When compared to similar products like the LG Optimus 2X or the Incredible S, the S II stands out. If ever the iPhone 4 had to seriously be worried, the Galaxy S II would be the handset that would make it sweat. The one thing Samsung should do for the S II in terms of packaging is - include a more cables to fill out the empty space in the premium pack. An adapter for USB (like Nokia's) and a MHL cable would have been great!
While it may not have the elegance of the simplistic yet, classy user experience as the iPhone 4, it makes up for it with speed and just tad more functionality. Of course that will all change come iOS 5, but for now, if the iPhone 4 is too heavy for your wallet, the Galaxy S II the next best thing and well worth the price tag.
Samsung Galaxy S II just got smarter! If you own the latest heartthrob, and a Samsung Smart TV, then you can now enrich your TV viewing experience.
Now, access to content wherever you go..
The latest app to have hit the Android market from Samsung, called Smart View App can make the Samsung Galaxy S II exhibit the properties of a remote control beginning with controlling your TV. The app also lets you stream content into your phone. Users can use the Smart View App from the Android market and view photos from their TV on their smartphones. The app, by this way, lets you catch every bit of your favorite show or that crucial match right on the comforts of your Samsung Galaxy S II. This free app offers something for the gamers, too. The app can be used as a game controller, owing to the inbuilt gyroscope.
However, both the smartphone and the TV will have to be connected to the same Wi-Fi router to be able to utilize the app.
Out in the market for a high-end smartphone? We believe Samsung Galaxy S2 and Apple iPhone 4 must be on your radar. Both have a fan following bordering on cult, both are products of some cutting-edge technology and both are priced above Rs 30,000. But the similarities end here.
At TOI, we don’t believe iPhone 4 - now almost a year old - is a competitor to Galaxy S2, a device that packs all the latest technology. The natural competitor to Galaxy S2 - iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S - from Apple is still a few months away.
Yet, given their similar price points, we put S2 and iPhone 4 in a showdown to find which one is the right buy at the movement.
Galaxy S2 feels cheap and iPhone 4 stylish. Both feel fragile. Though, in reality, the plastic on S2 is likely to deal better with falls and bumps due to its flexibility. iPhone 4 is all glass and doesn’t take very well to falls.
In terms of usage, iPhone 4 fits well in hand and is comfortable to use. S2 may feel too big for people with smaller palms.
Galaxy S2 runs on Android, customized with TouchWiz 4.0. The iPhone 4 uses iOS 4.3. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. While it’s difficult to cover the Android vs iOS debate in a few lines, here is a summary: iOS is very simple to use. It is simple, effective and efficient. There are no hidden options, few ‘long press’ options and mostly you get what you see.
But this same simplicity may not appeal to everyone. Android, in comparison, is highly customizable. And it's not as complex as many would like you to believe. Most of the settings are easy to access, and if you are familiar with computers, you will not have much trouble. For power users, Android opens up a host of opportunities that can make a smartphone truly a ‘magical experience’.
The performance, especially the speed of navigating between apps and scrolling through web pages is great on both iPhone 4 and Galaxy S2. Earlier, Android had issues with browsing performance. They are not there anymore. As a bonus you also get Flash content on Android. The iOS doesn’t allow any Flash content. S2 sports an 8MP primary camera. iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera. In still photography, the S2 camera slightly edges out the one in iPhone 4. In video capture, there is no comparison as S2 can record some decent quality full HD videos while iPhone 4 can only manage 720P recording. This one is easy. Galaxy S2 is hands down the best smartphone when it comes to playing videos. On iPhone 4, you can play only 720P videos. This too depends on the kind of codec used and quality of encoding. The S2, on the other hand, can handle all popular video formats and codecs in 1080P.
Ecosystem and apps Apple claims that it has better ecosystem (read number of apps and their quality) than its competitors. And we agree. On iPhone 4, you will have access to better quality of apps. On Android, even though all popular apps are available, there could be a time when you do not find the app you want. Also, many apps - especially games - on Android may lack quality and optimization similar to what is found on the iOS side.
Worth the money As far as I see it, Galaxy S2 is rightly priced (Rs 32,890 MRP) and iPhone 4 (Rs 34,500) overpriced for what the devices do. As I said earlier, it will be iPhone 5 that will be the natural competitor to S2. iPhone 4 is too old now. Galaxy S2 is simply a better device.
Of course, if you prefer Apple (as many do, supposedly because of better brand image, better aftersales service and the ‘premium’ tag attached to it), all this doesn’t matter. Still, my two cents: wait for iPhone 5. Once it arrives, go for it. Through a friend or relative who lives abroad. Or, maybe, by some other means. Or, maybe, it will come to India within weeks of its global launch. But iPhone 4 is too costly for what it does.
Samsung's latest ultra high-end Android Smartphone the Galaxy S II recently made it to India and found its way into our Tech2 Labs. Ok so it wasn't really a test piece, but when you've got a serious tech lover for a boss, one does tend to get products a little earlier than most others. So a brand new purchase was made by one of Tech2's own and we unboxed it. Here's a closer look at what the Samsung Galaxy S II comes packed with.
We compare two diminutive handsets with the HTC Wildfire S taking on the Samsung Galaxy Ace. Form: Samsung Galaxy Ace - 112.4 x 59.9 x 11.5 mm, 113 g HTC Wildfire S - 101.3 x 59.4 x 12.4 mm, 105 g The Wildfire S doesn’t look very different from the original Wildfire, and that was never a particularly attractive handset in the first place – it’s stocky and a bit dull to look at really.
The Ace looks like a shrunken version of the Galaxy S but it’s been scaled down nicely keeping some fairly flattering proportions. It has a much more pleasing look and a sleeker profile than the Wildfire S, which makes it look much more premium even if the spec is more humble. Winner – Samsung Galaxy Ace Display: The Samsung Galaxy Ace’s display setup isn’t exactly going to get your pulse racing, it has a 3.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen at 320 x 480 pixels and 164 dots-per-inch (dpi). The TouchWiz 3.0 user interface (UI) is pre-loaded on the handset and other features include a reinforced Gorilla Glass screen, multi-touch input and an accelerometer sensor. The Wildfire S’ TFT capacitive touchscreen is smaller still at 3.2-inches and has the same resolution as the Samsung but at a higher 180 dpi. It features the same toughened Gorilla Glass and an accelerometer sensor and comes with the HTC Sense UI. The Wildfire’s screen may be smaller but the picture quality should be noticeably better thanks to the higher dpi. Winner – HTC Wildfire S Storage: HTC’s Wildfire S packs internal storage and RAM in equal measures with 512MB of each and has card support for Micro SD up to 32GB. The Ace has only 158MB of RAM internally, storage is entirely on cards with up to 32GB Micro SD supported and a 2 GB card supplied. Not exactly spectacular from either candidate but the Wildfire S does better here. Winner – HTC Wildfire S
Processor: While the Wildfire S’ processor is an upgrade from the original Wildfire, clocking in at 600MHz, but the Samsung is better provided for with a faster 800 MHz ARM 11 processor on the Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset, while graphics get a boost from an Adreno 200 graphics processing unit (GPU). Neither is exactly earth-shattering compared to all the 1 GHz plus and dual core models saturating the market, but both use quality tech and are optimised well enough to give decent performance for what they are. Between these two though, the Samsung comes out as the preferable handset. Winner – Samsung Galaxy Ace Camera: The Samsung Ace sports a 5-megapixel primary camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging and dace and smile detection. The resolution is 2592x1944 pixels and the handset supports video calling with video quality being QVGA. There’s no secondary camera though. Not a bad little setup at all and one of the handsets more standout features. HTC’s offering has a 5-megapixel primary. It’s got LED flash, autofocus and geo-tagging, again there’s no secondary camera and video capture is VGA. The Samsung offers more camera features, including the attractive prospect of video-call support, so it wins this round. Winner – Samsung Galaxy Ace Operating System: The HTC runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread while the Samsung Ace comes with 2.2 Froyo, though it can be quickly upgraded to Gingerbread too. There’s nothing between the two handsets here being on the same platform, they’ll both benefit from the enhanced multi-tasking as well as a faster user interface, smoother touch-keyboard. Generally, Gingerbread is a big improvement over Froyo, so we’re glad the Ace is upgradable otherwise it would’ve fared badly this round, the only area we hope to see improving on Android smartphone builds in the future is the browsing which is still a bit clunky but the tablet version has shown Google know how to fix this. In the meantime there are a lot of positives to Gingerbread and it’s a very useable and satisfying operating system. Winner - Draw Final Thoughts: We’re not hugely enamoured by these ‘mini-phones’ and their lower specs certainly leave you wanting. In a couple of key areas the Wildfire S fares much better with its superior storage and display but it falls down on processing power, an important aspect in which the Samsung is quite adept. The Samsung is more interesting with its faster clock speed, better camera and sharper looks but it might be frustrating relying on cards for storage, the screen is passable though even if the Wildfire’s is technically better. The Wildfire does better overall in this contest but you may find yourself looking longingly at faster processors on other devices.
The smartphone market is booming right now with plenty of new handsets oozing out of the woodwork. We’ve got them all, almost as soon as they make it to the global shelf. Ok maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration but we get them soon enough. The problem is we’re spoilt for choice. So here’s what I’m going to do, I’ve listed a few of the smartphones that are priced at under Rs. 20,000. These are just a few that I believe have potential to make users feel comfortable and offer the best value they can for your wallet. Take a closer look.
Please keep in mind that all prices mentioned are Market Operating prices (MOP). They may vary depending on your location.
Motorola Defy – Rs. 18,500 At the very top of my list is the Motorola Defy, that ruggedized handset that’s designed to keep the elements at bay. It offers quite a bit of overall functionality and equipped with an 800MHz processor and protected by Gorilla glass this Android (Eclair) device is very capable of handling almost all of your mobile needs and more. It’s even loaded with a secondary microphone to help make your voice calls as clear as possible with active noise cancellation.
Defy-nitely worth a buy..??
Here’s a quick look at the Defy’s specs –
3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and a 480 x 854 pixel resolution
3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA compliance
GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
5MP AF camera with an LED flash and Geotagging
FM Radio
3.5mm handsfree socket
2GB internal storage plus MicroSD card support
Active noise cancellation via secondary mic
Nokia C7 - Rs. 17,300 The C7 is noted as Nokia’s slimmest smartphone ever. At just 10.5mm in depth, it is easily one of the world's slimmest as well. It’s loaded up with Nokia’s Symbian ^3 OS (running on the 680 MHz ARM 11 processor) that showcases multiple desktops and quite a few other handy features that Nokia loyalists will welcome with open arms. With DivX and XviD codec support you can simply drag and drop your videos onto the 8GB of internal storage for instant playback. If that’s not good enough the handset also supports USB-on-the-go that allows you to plug in a thumb drive (adapter provided) that can be accessed on the phone. All data on the drive can easily be viewed or played on the device. The display is encased in Gorilla glass that should keep the scratches at bay.
Well waddya know, there's a Nokia here!
The C7 also features -
3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and a 360 x 640 pixel resolution
3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (USB-on-the-go)
8MP fixed focus camera with dual LED flash and Geotagging plus 720p video recording
Secondary VGA camera in front
FM Radio + Transmitter
3.5mm handsfree socket supports TV out via same port
8GB internal storage plus MicroSD card support
TV Out
Active noise cancellation via secondary mic
Acer Liquid Metal – Rs. 20,000 Next up is the Liquid Metal which Acer has launched this in India this year. The Liquid metal comes out of the box with FroYo aka Android 2.2.1 and runs that on an 800 MHz Scorpion processor and Adreno 205 GPU on a Qualcomm chipset. The built in 5 megapixel camera is equipped to handle HD video recording (720p @30fps). It supports XviD and DviX codecs so you can copy paste AVI files onto your microSD cards for playback without the need of downloading an additional player.
A good option?
The Liquid Metal comes with -
3.6-inch capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
5MP fixed focus camera with LED flash and Geotagging plus 720p video recording
3.5mm handsfree socket
MicroSD card support
Active noise cancellation via secondary dedicated mic
Samsung Wave II – Rs.16,950 One of Samsung’s pretty loved smartphones – the Wave’s successor is out in India and the specifications do see a lot of improvement over the Wave. Samsung has stuck to its guns regarding the OS and has gone with Bada. However, this one has the latest Bada 1.2 with the TouchWiz UI 3.0 running on top. The Wave II is powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with graphics getting a boost from the PowerVR SGX540 GPU. The handset has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash with capability to record videos at 720p.
Bada OS love
The Wave II will be equipped with -
3.6-inch capacitive Super Clear LCD touchscreen with 16 million colors and a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
5MP fixed focus camera with LED flash and Geotagging plus 720p video recording
Secondary front facing camera
FM radio + FM recording
3.5mm handsfree socket, can also be used for TV
2GB internal storage + MicroSD card support
Curve 3G - Rs. 15,000 BlackBerry’s smartphones also find a place in the list and although a good BlackBerry handset at a low price is still to be seen, the Curve 3G seems to be fit the bill quite well and it does have some neat specifications as well. The Curve 3G – as the name suggests, is 3G-enabled and has Wi-Fi and A-GPS as well. The smartphone has a 2 Megapixel camera with a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels.
BlackBerry also joins the ranks
The Curve 3G also has the following specifications:
2.4-inch TFT display with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution
