A follow-up to the Galaxy Note is rumoured to be landing in October, to compete with Apple's new iPhone, reports from MK Business News suggest.
Industry sources allegedly disclosed details of the smart phone sequel, with the Galaxy Note 2 tipped to launch running Android Jelly Bean and touting an even larger screen.
Yes, you read that right -- the already-ludicrous 5.3-inch display is pegged for expansion, which means it'll double as a sledge when the winter comes, and a tray to carry the turkey on come Christmas Day.
That larger screen could use a new display tech too. The report makes mention of an 'unbreakable plane' (UBP) display, which is supposedly a precursor to the flexible display we're all dreaming of, and will make for a skinnier device overall.
Longer battery life and a more robust frame are among other purported new goodies, along with a quad-core processor.
The Galaxy Note has been a surprise hit, with Samsung recently boasting that it had shipped 7 million of the monolithic mobiles -- an increase of 2 million since the end of March.
Plenty of people are keen on massive phones, it seems. I've seen some people complaining about the design of the rounded Galaxy S3, but hardly any grumpiness regarding its palm-filling 4.8-inch display.
As for the Galaxy Note 2, it's best to take any speculative specs with a handful of salt. But I'd be flabbergasted if Samsung didn't release a follow-up to the Note -- after all, the company loves sequels, and it likes making lots and lots and lots of different phones.
Would you be interested in a Galaxy Note sequel? What's the largest screen size you'd consider pocketing? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
Samsung Galaxy S III review shootout: AT&T vs. Sprint - engadget
The above table shows how AT&T's version of the Galaxy S III fares against the likes of its global counterpart as well as the AT&T-branded HTC One X. Judging by the scores, you should get a general feel for how the Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor performs, since AT&T's GS III and One X deliver comparable results (with the exception of SunSpider, though even then, you'll get different numbers simply by using other browsers). Also, the GS III's extra gigabyte of RAM doesn't get equated into the overall scores -- in fact, the One X actually notches slightly higher marks in everything but Quadrant.
In the same light, however, the EVO 4G LTE -- which also has a single gig of memory -- comes reasonably close to Sprint's and AT&T's Galaxy S III handsets. In fact, the only other test in which Samsung's model comes out on top was CF-Bench, and even then, it only pulls ahead by a five-point margin. All things considered, that difference is negligible -- so much so that if we ran the tests again, the phones could easily flip positions in the rankings.
So what about that extra gigabyte of RAM? The main advantage this gives the Galaxy S III is in multitasking. With heavy use, we noticed some minor pauses when switching back and forth between multiple apps. Overall, though, both AT&T's and Sprint's versions handle multitasking like champs.
| Sprint Galaxy S III (SPH-L710) | HTC EVO 4G LTE | |
|---|---|---|
| Quadrant | 5,130 | 5,036 |
| Vellamo | 2,117 | 2,347 |
| AnTuTu | 6,536 | 6,942 |
| SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms) | 1,882 | 1,649 |
| GLBenchmark Egypt Offscreen (fps) | 54 | 56 |
| CF-Bench | 9,567 | 9,562 |
| Battery life | 9:20 (EVDO) | 8:55 (EVDO) |
| SunSpider: lower scores are better. |
As for network speed, both the AT&T GS3 and HTC One X are fully capable of delivering fast LTE throughput. The best score we've recorded on the One X, however, was considerably better than what we saw on AT&T's version of the Galaxy S III. As a disclaimer, these record speeds were not recorded at the same time (we've been using the One X for a much longer period of time) so it's possible we'll see faster speeds as we continue using it on a longer-term basis. And here's something else to keep in mind: when we ran tests together at the same time from the same location, we noted eerily similar speeds -- for instance, with four bars of service, the two phones were both able to push out 13Mbps side-by-side.
What's more concerning, however, is the performance of Sprint's network. Given that its LTE service isn't live anywhere in the country, flagships like the GS3 and EVO 4G LTE are going to top out at 3G (EVDO) speeds for the time being. In the heart of San Francisco, at least, this means rates under 1Mbps. Consistently. We hope to put these two phones to the test on a proper LTE network in the very near future, but this is a sacrifice you'll have to make if you want either of these two devices now.
As for battery life, we've had the opportunity to take the pair through our usual exhaustive rundown tests, which consists of running video on a continuous loop with the screen at 50 percent brightness, audio on, WiFi on (but not connected) and push notifications enabled. From our initial tests, it appears that the 2,100mAh juicepack on both phones just barely best the unlocked model. Sprint's was just a wee bit better, but this likely was due to the fact it was running on EVDO rather than LTE. What this means is that power users will be able to get through a standard eight-hour workday with no problems and everyone else should easily make it to the end of the day without needing a charge. Moderate users should enjoy roughly a day and a half of regular use before heading for the nearest outlet.
Moving onto call quality, we had a blast using the Galaxy S III on both AT&T and Sprint. Our calls always came in crystal-clear, and we could even listen in on conference calls using the external speakerphone without straining to understand what was being said. We didn't notice any signal degradation, nor did these two networks ever cut out on us.
Both models lock onto GPS very quickly -- AT&T's is slightly faster at about three seconds, while Sprint's grabs your position within six to seven -- but we find Sprint's version offers up more precise coordinates. Sure, AT&T's will get you within the blue circle of life and told us we were within 60 meters of the dot, but it would waffle for a good 30 seconds or so trying to pinpoint our exact location (we were in the seventh story of a hotel with large windows). Sprint's positioning was more accurate and did a better job of figuring out our precise location.
The audio quality on both phones is terrific. The external speakers (when placing calls and listening to multimedia) were more than sufficiently loud, and we were impressed by the fact that we could hear many of the music's little nuances -- bass and treble tones came out quite clear. Plugging in the headphones offers a very similar and equally pleasant experience, giving us wonderful clarity in our favorite tunes.
Software
In case you're concerned, hardware isn't the only arena in which the US-centric versions of the Galaxy S III have remained close to Sammy's roots. Indeed, you'll find the same heavily skinned TouchWiz user interface on board, each model blessed with bloatware from its respective carrier.
This can't come as much of a shocker to anyone who has used a Samsung device in the past few years -- if it's an Android handset and the manufacturer's logo is stamped somewhere on the exterior, then you've come to expect the TouchWiz experience (Galaxy Nexus and rooted devices excepted). We're not going to go into a rant on how it's been applied to Ice Cream Sandwich (we did our fair share of venting in our original GS3 review), but let's just say that you won't notice very many commonalities in user experience between this and stock ICS.
One thing that did surprise us was the scarcity of bloatware on the AT&T model. Of the 43 apps already hanging out on the GS3 when you first fire it up, only five are there specifically to further the AT&T agenda. Amazed? There's more: of those five, four can be disabled. Yes, Virginia, if you don't find Mother Bell's contributions helpful, you can free yourself from the pain of having to look at most of it.
What about the Now Network? The pre-installed software load has been reined in here, too, though Sprint decided to exert a little more influence. With a grand total of 47 preloaded icons in the app tray, Sprint is responsible for nine. Two of these cannot be disabled. Curious to know what's on each device? Check the handy list below to get an idea of what to expect.
| Both | Sprint | AT&T |
| AllShare Play | Dropbox | AT&T Navigator |
| ChatON | Game Hub | Device Help |
| More Services | AT&T Messages | |
| Kies Air | Sprint Hotspot | YP Mobile |
| Media Hub | SprintZone | myAT&T |
| My Files | Voicemail | |
| S Memo | Google Wallet | |
| S Suggest | Music Hub | |
| S Voice | ||
| Voice Recorder | ||
| YouTube |
As you may notice, Google Wallet is indeed listed amongst Sprint's apps. From what we can tell, this will be the only Galaxy S III model with any sort of NFC-related mobile payment service built in. This may change as soon as ISIS is ready to kick off, but we won't hold our breath just yet. If NFC is on every version of the GS3, however, how in the world is it going to be used? Fortunately, mobile payments will just scratch the surface of NFC functionality; there's plenty more to take advantage of, such as S-Beam and as TecTiles (more on that later).
Starting with S-Beam, this feature uses NFC in conjunction with the phone's built-in WiFi Direct feature, giving you the ability to share movies, music, web pages and plenty of other information from one phone to another. It works nearly the same way as Android Beam, but the main difference is that you don't have to leave the two devices touching as you finish transferring a file -- you touch to initiate the process, and then you can set the two down. Samsung claims that it only takes three minutes to push a 1GB file from one phone to another; in our tests, a 400MB movie made the journey in roughly five. Still, this concept is worthy of a nod; emphasis on the word concept. In other words, it's a great idea, but the feature has essentially taken two open source standards and combined them into one proprietary piece of programming that won't do you much good if your entourage of friends and associates don't use Galaxy S IIIs. Despite the fact that HTC's One X has both features, you won't be able to use it to do S-Beam's bidding.
Another key point when deciding between these two devices could well be the amount of gratis Dropbox storage. On AT&T, not only are you deprived of a 32GB internal storage option, you also will not be able to take advantage of the additional 48GB of space that the global counterpart promises. (For reference, Verizon has also opted out of this.) Sprint and T-Mobile, on the other hand, are sticking to a more generous policy. This may be a factor to consider when comparing the AT&T Galaxy S III with the HTC One X -- which offers 25GB memory -- or the Sprint version versus the HTC EVO 4G LTE (Sammy's 50GB versus HTC's 25).
Camera
Samsung fans definitely aren't strangers to the company's reputation for pushing out camera sensors with a high amount of quality. We loved the 8-megapixel rear camera on the Galaxy S II, and we're treated to even a better deal with its successor -- not when it comes to quality, per se, but certainly when it comes to speed. Shutter lag is completely negligible and equals, if not barely edges out, what we've seen on the One X. As we mentioned in our original review, this means what you see on the screen as you take the picture is what you'll get in the end result.
As we have already covered the camera's performance ad nauseam, we won't take much extra time to focus on the ins and outs here. We can say, however, that in comparing the two devices with the international iteration, we couldn't find any disparities in UI or performance. We've compiled a gauntlet of sample images for you below to take a look at and compare, in order to offer some assistance in the difficult purchasing decision (GS3 vs One X) that lies ahead. Feel free to peruse our pictures and videos taken by both Galaxy S III units as well as the HTC One X from AT&T.
While we didn't see any changes in still image turnout between the pair of Galaxy S III units, there was one curious observation we made in the camcorder arena. In comparing between the two, we noticed that the Sprint version has a difficult time staying continually focused indoors and in areas with a high dynamic range; it seems to require more adjustments to the autofocus in these situations. Aside from this, we found the level of clarity and smoothness of motion to be top-notch. Check out a sample video from each device below.
TecTiles
Samsung pulled out a full suite of accessories on stage in early May as it announced the original Galaxy S III: the AllShare Media Player, a wireless charging station, flipcase, HDMI adapter and S-Pebble MP3 player all got their time in the limelight. One particular accessory that didn't get announced until this past week, however, should be given its own proper time in the sun. If it's done right, it may actually bring more purpose to the Galaxy S III's built-in NFC functionality aside from S-Beam, Android Beam and the promise of mobile payments in the future (Sprint excepted).
We're talking about TecTiles, which are essentially NFC tags that can be programmed to perform certain functions with your phone. They can be used to change settings, send messages, update your Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn status and even check-in on Foursquare. We welcome the idea of having one of these small stickers on our nightstand to automatically put our phone in silent mode, one in our car to turn Bluetooth and Car Mode on, and even one to quick dial significant others or important colleagues. While it may sound blasé, it can certainly add convenience and efficiency to your life by shedding precious seconds off an otherwise menial task. Granted, Samsung isn't the first to think of such a thing -- Sony and LG have both cranked out their own versions, and rewritable NFC tags have been around since the tech showed up -- but the company is hoping to have the strongest presence.
We took a few tags for a test drive and we had mixed feelings. While we loved the convenience, the programming process is honestly the most cumbersome part. Fortunately it's only confusing the first few times you use it (but isn't it that way for just about everything we use?) Head to the Play Store and download the free "Samsung TecTile" app. Once you're in, you're greeted by a menu with four options: Settings and Apps, Phone and Text, Location and Web, and Social. Each one does exactly what you'd expect, and picking one of the four selections grants you access to another few screens where you decide which specific actions you want your tag to trigger. After this, it's just a matter of scanning the TecTile, and it's all ready to go. Then, when it's time to actually use it in real life, you see another screen after it gets scanned, telling you exactly which actions it's initiating.
You can pick up a pack of five tags for $15, which we hope is just an introductory price that goes down in the near future. We love the idea of using TecTiles in everyday situations, but shelling out three bucks a pop will simply be too steep for most users. To play devil's advocate, each tag is said to be reprogrammable up to 100,000 times, so you can't really complain you aren't getting your money's worth out of it. To put it in perspective, if you reprogrammed a single tag once every hour, it would take 11.5 years before the tag finally gave up and quit -- in theory, at least.
Even better, TecTiles can be used by more devices than just the Galaxy S III. We gave it a try on our AT&T HTC One X... and it works without incident. We reached out to Samsung to make sure this wasn't just a weird fluke, and were told that indeed any NFC-enabled device should be able to take advantage of the tags.
Wrap-up
We don't envy the decision you have ahead. Taking a look at the first two Galaxy S III units to grace our US offices, the differentiating factors (not counting color options and internal storage options) are network performance, monthly billing and miscellaneous carrier-specific perks. And that's exactly how it should be. At least in the case of the GS III, we no longer need to fret about choosing the carrier that currently offers the strongest smartphone lineup. It should always be the other way around, and we're happy to see this trend slowly change in favor of the manufacturers (and consumers, too).
If you're already sold on AT&T or Sprint, the decision may be a little more difficult because you have a top-notch Samsung handset contending with a best-in-class HTC device, the One X. Sammy and HTC each have an amazing flagship to offer at the moment, and we suspect you'll be happy with either. What's more, we don't see any far-reaching differences in performance, so your purchasing decision is mainly going to come down to your preference in hardware and software design. We're staying true to the conclusion we reached in our original review: we prefer HTC's Sense UI over Samsung's Gingerbread-like TouchWiz and we have a sweet spot for the One X's inventive design, as well. If you enjoy the tried-and-true aesthetics put forth by Samsung and crave that external storage slot, then the Galaxy S III is the way to go. And as tricky as these mental acrobatics can be, we can't think of a happier dilemma.
Samsung, LG bet big on OLED TV screens - Times of India
Undeterred by the 3D and internet-connected TV flops, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are hoping "OLED'' technology will keep them ahead in an intensely competitive business that has caused losses in the TV division of Japan's Sony for the past eight years.
The arrival of flat screen televisions 15 years ago was an advance in TV technology that tantalized consumers nearly as much as color televisions in the late 1960s. The first generation of flat screens now look positively obese next to the most recent ultra thin TVs. Picture quality has also made giant strides.
But for most consumers, such incremental changes matter less and less. Why pay for great picture clarity when good quality will do. And why pay a premium for a TV when smartphones and tablet computers can offer a similar function and much more.
When South Korean Lee Sang-hyun decided to get his first television, his priority was to find a reasonably priced TV with a screen big enough to play games. The 30-year-old had a tight budget after splurging on pricey gadgets: an iPhone, an iPad and a laptop computer.
To slim down, the 30-year-old South Korean picked a 42-inch plasma TV without fancy features. He paid 640,000 won ($550)--less than half of the highest-end television of the same size.
Consumers like Lee epitomize the tough challenges facing makers of high-end displays. As TVs no longer enjoy a monopoly over broadcasting moving images, consumers' viewing habits are changing. People are spending less time to watch live TV shows in the living room. Smartphones and tablet computers can stream live shows and videos on demand.
But Samsung and LG are giddy about a technological leap that they are comparing to the invention of the first color TV in the early 1950s. Short for organic light-emitting diode, the wafer-thin OLED TVs boast vivid, saturated colors and deeper contrast than the TV displays now available.
They hope the technology will help them command premium prices in the face of quickly eroding TV profit margins and heightened competition from Chinese makers.
There is at least one catch in the near term though. As Samsung and LG are not yet prepared for mass production, the premium for this new technology will not be just a couple of hundred dollars. It will be several thousands.
Set to hit shelves in selected European, Asian and North American markets in time for the Christmas shopping season, the 55-inch OLED TVs by Samsung and LG will cost at least $9,000. That's more than twice as expensive as the top 55-inch model currently available.
OLED "is the closest to the display of dreams," said Lee Kyungshik, vice president of Samsung's TV business.
Samsung's visual display division, which makes TVs and home entertainment systems, accounted for about 17 percent of the company's 45.3 trillion won ($39 billion) of revenue in the first quarter. LG's home electronics division contributed more than 40 percent of its 12.2 trillion won of quarterly revenue.
Samsung and LG have reason to be proud of their latest achievement in display technology. Even though Sony showed off the first OLED TV in 2007 with an 11-inch screen, a bigger display never followed.
"Until the end of next year, only two companies in the world will have a capacity to make (large screen) OLED TVs: Samsung and LG," said Jang Moon-ik, director of LG's TV business.
The last year was tough for the entire TV industry as the European debt crisis and a slow turnaround in the US economy sapped demand for consumer electronics. The notable exceptions were smartphones and tablet computers.
Sales growth in LCD, or liquid crystal display, TVs slowed and plasma TV sales dropped. In 2011, worldwide annual TV shipments fell for the first time since 2004, according to NPD DisplaySearch.
The feeble global demand hit Sony Corp. especially hard. It lost a record $5.7 billion in 2011. It was the eighth straight year that once-trend-setting Japanese firm lost money in its mainstay TV business.
Samsung and LG weathered the downturn in the TV industry well enough to keep cash to invest in production lines for the new display technology. They think its profitability will not fall as quickly as LCD TVs because the technological gap is wide enough to keep late-coming rivals at bay.
Others disagree
"The problem with the current business model is that it has a lot of imitators," said Paul Gray, a director TV Electronics & Europe TV Research at DisplaySearch, in an email.
"The fact that Sony and Panasonic and AU Optronics Corp. are already trying to break into OLED for large screens suggests that future margins will be severely damaged by companies trying to enter the market,'' he said.
News reports last month said Sony and Panasonic are in talks to form an alliance for the OLED TV business.
For Samsung and LG, a bigger challenge may not be coming from Japanese, Chinese or Taiwanese rivals but from a shift in viewing habits.
"I just needed a TV to play games and to me the screen quality didn't make a big difference," said Lee, the 30-year-old South Korean office worker. "I would have cared more about its thinness if I were buying a computer monitor."
He said he might consider upgrading to a new television for a better screen after one or two years. By then, OLED TVs will be more affordable but less profitable for the makers.
DisplaySearch forecasts the price of a 55-inch OLED TV to decline to around $4,000 by the end of 2013 and to continue falling to about $1,500 by the end of 2015.
That price forecast is good news for consumers. For Samsung and LG, however, it means they will still be grappling with keeping their TV businesses on a sustainable footing.
"There are no single quick fixes," said DisplaySearch's Gray. "Success in the TV industry will also depend on understanding what the TV is used for in all the new interactive possibilities."
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