My Samsung Christmas wish

On my Christmas list this year is definitely a Samsung Smart TV. I saw these TVs for the first time at Eurogamer, and I was blown away. Aside from the fact that they are stunningly beautiful, the features on these TVs are amazing! They are slim, and look great on a stand or mounted on the wall – the design really is a work of art.

I’m not a big fan of 3d TVs; I think they’re a bit gimmicky and play havoc with my eyes. As such, I’d love to have a 2d smart TV, which allowed me to watch films in stunning clarity, browse the net without having to reach for my laptop, and easily update my social networks from the comfort of my sofa.

Of course, if I had a smart TV, a shiny new Samsung blu-ray player would also be a must. Why watch standard dvds when you can watch amazing HD blu-rays? Coupled with the super crisp clarity of the Smart TV, my viewing experience would be perfect!

The only downside I could see of having a smart TV would be that my boyfriend would be fighting to play Xbox on it. So Santa, if you could bring two, that would be fabulous!

Galaxy Nexus

The new Galaxy Nexus is an aesthetically pleasing handset, with a sleek curved design. It’s slightly thicker and larger than the Galaxy S 2, but still feels nice in the hand. The toughened, scratch-proof glass is very resistant to scrapes and knocks, and would definitely manage to survive in pockets with keys and other items which tend to damage phone screens. Just take a look at Dom’s scratch test to prove it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyLC61JxsJQ

With the new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and speedy processor, there is no doubt that the Nexus can perform quickly, but the stock OS seems bland compared to previous handsets which included Samsung Touch wiz. The menu layouts are easy to understand, though, but just seem to lack some of the lustre found on Samsung’s other Galaxy range of handsets. This could be down to the change in OS, or the fact that the device is a beta model.

For a handset like this at the top of the market, it is disappointing to see only a 5mp camera. I have not been able to properly test this feature, due to some unsightly green marks all across the camera, which prevent the taking of pictures – this is undoubtedly due to the fact that my particular device is a beta, pre-release version.

The screen quality is another slightly disappointing feature of this handset. The difference between the Nexus and the Galaxy S 2 is clear, with the S2 having a far crisper, sharper display. The Nexus screen appears dull, even when on full brightness, and pages appear grey instead of white.

The integration with Google+ is great, as this allows not only Gmail to be linked to the handset, but also Google messenger and your G+ account. The task manager also looks great, but after a weekend of use, I still haven’t managed to figure out how to actually close apps!

The integration of a notification light on the Galaxy Nexus is a definite plus, as it was one feature lacking in the flagship Galaxy S and S2. This does come in extremely handy. However, the Nexus does not have a MicroSD slot, which I personally think is a bit of a let-down – the SD slot allows data to be transferred between handsets, and easily removed without having to connect to PCs to back everything up. This is probably down to Google beginning to move into the Cloud, but it may annoy many consumers, who feel that a card slot is necessary on any handset.

All in all, I was expecting great things from the Galaxy Nexus, but it seems like a step backwards from the Galaxy S 2 instead of a step forwards. Hopefully this will change when I have a chance to see a final retail version, but for now, I think I’ll stick to the GS2.

Samsung Galaxy Note - First Look

Upon opening the box of my new Samsung Galaxy Note, my first thought was ‘wow, it’s huge!’ With a 5.3 inch screen, it’s bigger than any handset currently on the market, but is very thin and light in comparison to the screen size - At only 178 grams, the Note is lighter than many other smartphone devices out there. Although many people have noted that it is difficult to use with one hand, this is probably not something to worry about, as many people tend to use one hand to hold the device and the other to enter text – at least that’s the way I always do it!

As soon as the Note is powered on, the effects of the Super AMOLED screen are clear – a crisp, bright display with sharp colours. As usual, Samsung’s Touchwiz interface makes the layout familiar and easy to use – anyone who has ever used a Samsung Android device will be able to pick this up and use it straight away. With Android 2.3, the OS is slick, and, even better, this device will be getting the latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS very soon! As this is not quite the same size as a tablet, applications can run smoothly and look just as good as they do on a smaller screen like the GSII.

The Galaxy Note packs a speedy 1.4GHz processor, which allows for seamless multitasking without compromising on the speed of the device in any way. This also ensures that applications run without lag, helping to improve the overall user experience. The Note also includes Flash support, allowing for a variety of web based games and videos to be played, which look stunning on the large screen.

The 8mp camera (complete with flash) has a similar quality to that of the Galaxy S II. Photos are clear and sharp, with the ability to edit images as desired. Again, the HD video recording is of good quality, and the front facing 2mp camera allows for video calling or mirror type applications.

However, the coolest feature of the Note has got to be the S –Pen. This allows the Note to be used almost like the PDAs of old – typing and tapping with the pen. However, the difference between this and old-style PDAs is that the Note can also be used by tapping with fingers, like a normal phone handset. The S-Memo feature allows the user to capture screen images, and use the pen to make notes on these, highlight important areas or just draw. I’ve spent so much time this weekend since unboxing the handset just doodling – it’s so easy to use, anyone can produce stunning pieces of art. The S-Pen also makes the larger screen easier to manage, removing the need for awkward figure gesturing on the screen, and it tucks away neatly inside the Note when you’re finished, so no annoying dangly attachments or fear of losing it.

Although the Note may not fit perfectly into my pockets (being a small person, I have small pockets!) it certainly fits in my handbag! Yes, it may be large, but for someone like myself who tends to text and browse more than I make calls, this is not a problem. Web pages look more natural on the 5.3 inch screen, compared to a smaller screen like those found in most other smartphone devices, and are much easier to read and navigate. However, if you are someone who is looking for a phone to make calls, I would stick to the Galaxy S II – I will be keeping mine close by for the few calls I make. All in all, the Galaxy Note is a very attractive device, and although the size may put some people off, the benefits are far greater than any other device I have encountered thus far. Personally I think I will keep this device close by for use in meetings, general doodling and internet browsing, but for calling, I think I’ll stick to something that doesn’t look so ostentatious when sat against my ear!

Eurogamer & WCG

I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year's Eurogamer expo, incorporating the Samsung sponsored World Cyber Games. This was a fantastic opportunity to see and preview upcoming games releases, including Battlefield 3, Call of Duty and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I also had the chance to play with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and to see the White S2 in the flesh (I prefer the black one!).My highlight definitely had to be the Alienware 3D gaming chair – I was useless at it, but it was absolutely fantastic, and the 3D graphics were stunning!

 I started the day by visiting the Samsung stand, where the gamers were beginning to gather. As the London Excel filled up with people, the hype at the WCG stand was clearly visible. Serious gamers sat for hours, battling with each other to become the world champion. And while this was going on, hundreds of people were milling around the Excel, trying out the games and generally enjoying the (extremely geeky) atmosphere. As we walked around, we had the chance to meet R2D2, Darth Vader and various other Star Wars characters, all there to enhance the experience at the Star Wars stand.

 I’ve included the link to my Flickr photoset below, so you can get a feel of the Expo, and the kinds of things that were going on.

 The Expo was a really good experience, and I felt very lucky to be able to experience some unreleased consoles and materials, as well as enjoying some retro games, including GameCube, Atari and Nintendo 64! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niktweed/sets/72157627867339889/

Samsung Galaxy S II vs Apple IPhone 4S

You’ve probably seen a few of this type of review floating about, and may be a bit concerned about bias, so I’m going to attempt to do a simple review, detailing the specs and features of each phone.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S II

APPLE IPHONE 4S

SIZE - 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm WEIGHT - 116 g DISPLAY - Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch screen, 16M colours                   480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches (~217 ppi pixel density)                  - Gorilla Glass display                  - TouchWiz UI v4.0                  - Multi-touch input method                  - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate                  - Touch-sensitive controls                  - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off                  - Gyroscope sensor MEMORY - 16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM                     microSD, up to 32GB, 8 GB included CAMERA - 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash                    Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection,  image stabilization                    1080p video recording, 2mp front camera OS - Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)         Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset FEATURES - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic                      - TV-out (via MHL A/V link)                      - SNS integration                      - Digital compass                      -  MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player                      - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player                      - Organizer                      - Image/video editor                      - Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)                      - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration                      - Adobe Flash 10.1 support                      - Voice memo/dial/commands                      - Predictive text input (Swype) BATTERY - Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh TALK - Up to 18 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 8 h 40 min (3G) STANDBY - Up to 710 h (2G) / Up to 610 h (3G)

SIZE - 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm WEIGHT - 140 g DISPLAY - LED-backlit IPS TFT, capacitive touch screen, 16M colours                    640 x 960 pixels, 3.5 inches (~330 ppi pixel density)                  - Scratch-resistant oleophobic surface                  - Multi-touch input method                  - Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate                  - Three-axis gyro sensor                  - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off MEMORY - 16/32/64 GB storage, 512 MB RAM CAMERA - 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash                    Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection                    1080p video recording, VGA front camera OS - iOS 5         1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU, Apple A5 chipset FEATURES - MicroSIM card support only                     - Scratch-resistant glass back panel                     - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic                     - Siri natural language commands and dictation                     - iCloud cloud service                     - Twitter integration                     - Digital compass                     - Google Maps                     - Audio/video player and editor                     - Image editor                     - Voice command/dial                     - TV-out BATTERY - Standard battery, Li-Po 1432 mAh TALK - Up to 14 h (2G) / Up to 8 h (3G) STANDBY - Up to 200 h (2G) / Up to 200 h (3G)

 So, with so many similarities, how are you to decide which handset is the one for you?

 There are those who will remain loyal to Apple, to Samsung, or to the Android platform; those whose opinions will never be changed. However, for those of you who are unsure…

Considering the GS2 was launched over 6 months ago, it does a very good job of running with the IPhone in terms of features and power. Its 1.2GHz processor packs a bigger punch than the 1GHz of the IPhone 4S, and its 1GB ram is superior to Apple’s 512MB.

 The industry preferred Super AMOLED screen quality of the GS2 is sharp, with vivid colours, and the Retina display of the IPhone provides a similarly excellent quality view. With both handsets featuring an 8mp camera, you’re guaranteed excellent picture quality no matter which you choose. However, the front-facing cameras differ, with the IPhone offering a VGA and the S2 packing a 2MP, useful for video calling and various mirror apps.

 Speaking of apps, IOS limits the user to downloading only Apple apps, while the Android market on the S2 is packed with thousands of apps from various developers. However, this can have its downfalls too, as Android apps are not often as rigorously tested as those for Apple devices, but with such an offering, it can be a minor annoyance, as there are often multiple apps which can perform the same function.

 In terms of size, I think this is often a personal choice. Yes, the GS2 is thinner and lighter than the IPhone, but this in no way influences the power and performance of the handsets. There will be those who prefer a larger handset, and those who prefer something a little lighter – these personal preferences will never change.

 On paper, the Samsung Galaxy SII is a superior handset, with greater RAM a faster processor, removable memory, higher quality front facing camera and a longer battery life, but I’ll let you make up your own mind!

 And now, for the vastly opinionated paragraph (just my views people!)!

 Personally, I am an Android lover – always have been. I’ve never owned an Apple device and probably never will, just because I’m not a fan of the OS and don’t particularly like ITunes or the App store (I have used these devices, just never personally owned one). In my opinion, the GS2 is a superior handset, and, as others have said before me, it seems like the IPhone is trying to play catch up in an industry upon which it has lost its grasp. Consumers often resent having to fork out hundreds of pounds for some minor changes to a handset, and want to see a substantial improvement for such a large amount of money. I personally think that Apple are starting to falter, and with such a massive Android dominated industry, with handsets such as the feature-packed GS2, it’s going to be very difficult for them to get back in the game.

Pictures with the Samsung Galaxy S II

This week's mission was to take a series of photos with our Samsung handsets. I decided to take my photos with the Galaxy S II, and base them around the theme of  'a new house'. The photos were taken using the standard camera app, with the features and effects included, without downloading any further applications. Effects used include sepia, greyscale, negative and cartoon.

Mission 3 - A Day in the Life

Mission three involves creating a post or video based on the thing we use our phones for every day. I've created a short video which will go along with this post (see below).

I use my GS2 as an alarm clock every morning. Throughout the day, I also use the home screen as a clock, rather than wearing a watch. I tend to use the news app to keep up to date on current affairs, and will check this several times a day. I keep all my appointments and to-do lists in my calendar to keep me on track for the day. Like most smartphone users, I get my emails to my phone, saving the time and effort of searching for a computer when I'm out and about. I also use my Galaxy S 2 to check my Facebook and Twitter feeds troughout the day. While I'm on the bus, I use the music player on my phone to keep me entertained. Last, but by no means least, I use my phone everyday to make calls and send countless text messages - without it, I wouldn't be able to stay in touch with my friends or family.

Part 2 - Music

There are many music apps available, with my personal favourite being Spotify, which allows easy and fast music streaming. However, the disadvantage of Spotify is that you cannot download songs, and this is where Samsung's Music Hub comes in handy.

The homepage is easily laid out, with top albums and new tracks featured. This app also allows you to search easily for tracks.

After clicking 'Top Tracks' a clear list is available with all the top tracks available to download, with prices clearly displayed beside. To download a track, simply click the shopping trolley icon, and the track will download to your handset.












If you click on the 'My Music' button from the homepage, you will be presented with a list of all tracks that are currently downloaded onto your handset, and these can be played from here.

Similar to the Samsung Music Hub, is the 7digital app. As you can see, this is laid out in a fairly similar manner, and is just as easy to use.

When it comes to music, the top 5 tracks on my phone currently are:

Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Fireflies - Owl City
Low - Flo Rida ft T-Pain
Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus

Just like books, music is super easy to download or listen to on your phone - especially with the help of fantastic apps like these!

Mobiler Mission 2 - apps and games

This mission came in three parts - readers hub, music hub and games.

Part 1 - Readers Hub

Samsung's Readers Hub is soo easy to use and to download loads of great newspapers, books and magazines straight to your phone. And here's how!

Just click on the Reader's Hub icon on the screen, where you'll see this.

Simply click on what you'd like to download - newspapers, books or magazines.

You'll then see the next screen, where you can create your own account.











After this, you just need to fill in an email address and password in the sign in page - and you're ready to start reading!

From here, you can browse by category, most popular, or search for specific titles.














When you find something you want to download, all you have to do is click on it, and in a matter of seconds the full text will be available for you to read on your phone.

There are so many titles available to download in Readers Hub - my top five are:
The Jungle Book - R. Kipling (free download)
The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection - L. F. Baum ($0.71)
The Tales of the Flopsy Bunnies - B. Potter (free)
Oliver Twist - C. Dickens (free)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - S. Larsson ($6.47)


With the Readers Hub being so simple to use, there's no excuse for not reading more!

Galaxy tab 10.1 launch

http://on.fb.me/pjNXKd

Mobilers 2011 - Mission 1 - Samsung Galaxy Pro

Mobilers 2011 kicked off with a bang with a gathering of Mobilers old and new at Samsung HQ. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, and so waited patiently for updates from the others as to the form this year’s program would take.

The first item on the Mobiler list this year is the Samsung Galaxy Pro, and how this compares to a Blackberry. The Blackberry 9780 Bold seems to allow the fairest comparisons.

   

Upon opening the box, first impressions of this handset were not particularly high. I thought it looked fat and stubby (66.7mm wide compared to 9780’s 60mm), however, after using it for a few days, I’ve discovered that this is due to the keyboard, which has keys larger than those of a Blackberry. With a Blackberry, the keys are often very small and tightly packed, and this case rings true with the Bold, however, on the Galaxy Pro, the large keys are well sized and placed for typing. However, one thing that was noticed by the Mobiler group is the absence of a = sign on the physical keyboard. For this symbol, the onscreen keyboard must be used, which is slightly odd.

Unlike the Blackberry’s optical trackpad for navigation, the Galaxy Pro features a touch screen. This makes everything easier to use, as I have found the Blackberry trackpad to be very temperamental when trying to navigate. However, the QVGA screen is rather small, and makes the use of apps difficult, as smaller items can be difficult to read. I have noticed this especially with facebook - the text is very small with no way to enlarge. Also, when using the internet, pinch-to-zoom multi-touch has been sacrificed for tap-to-zoom. I find this annoying, as the text when zoomed out is too small, yet when zoomed in is too large for the screen, creating unnecessary scrolling about web pages. Also, an auto rotate feature has been added to the Galaxy Pro – which seems a fairly pointless feature on a handset with a physical keypad – however, this is easy to turn off with just a touch of a button.

While the Blackberry 9780 boasts a 5mp camera, the Galaxy Pro features a 3.15mp. In my opinion, the pictures could be a lot clearer, but this is due to the fact that I’m used to the8mp camera with pictures viewed on the large screen of a Samsung Galaxy S 2. The QVGA video is also quite poor, however, with handsets like the Blackberry 9780 and Galaxy Pro being used mainly for browsing and email, it is likely that the camera specifications will not be as important as others for many potential purchasers.

The Galaxy Pro runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo), and seems to work well with this. The usual TouchWiz interface is present, ensuring the layout is familiar and simple to use. The 800MHz processor allows the Galaxy Pro to process commands and applications quickly and with ease.  With the Android software comes the usual vast selection of apps, in comparison to the slightly poorer offerings of Blackberry AppWorld. However, the main feature that Blackberry users will report to be missing on the Galaxy Pro is BBM. However, the popularity of WhatsApp (available free from the Android Market) has grown vastly in recent months, allowing free messaging between Android and IPhone users, in a similar manner to BBM.

Compared to other Android powered devices, many of which include a large touch screen, the Galaxy Pro’s battery life is phenomenal. My device has remained on since unboxing three days ago, and still has plenty of battery life left to go. I suspect that with heavier usage, the battery life will remain higher than average for Android handsets. This is a definite bonus for those who need to keep in touch.

In all, the Samsung Galaxy Pro is comparable to the Blackberry 9780 Bold, and would suit social users, interested in the SNS and email capabilities of the handset. The camera quality and low quality screen let the Pro down in terms of app display, but the physical keyboard is perfect for those who enjoy social networking and email. This handset should fare well against Blackberry as a social handset, thanks mainly to the familiar Android software allowing easy transition from any other Android device, as well as WhatsApp messenger, Google integration and a massive apps market.

Galaxy S II advert

Mission two on the Samsing Galaxy S II was to design an advert for the phone, focussing on what the handset means to me and how it has affected my life. I chose to do mine as an image, reflecting upon how, as a student, the Samsung Galaxy S II allows me to read and send emails, open files with the Dropbox application, view and edit documents in picasa, all while keeping me up to date with my social networks, and allowing me to relax by playing some excellent games.

Many thanks to Darren Tweed for the graphic design for this ad - I'm not very good with photoshop!

And here it is..!

Samsung Galaxy S II

After what seemed like ages since receiving my amazing Samsung Galaxy Tab, and thinking it was all over, I received an email into my inbox from Samsung.

“We wondered if you would complete two more missions for us...on the new Galaxy S II!

Yes, that’s right, if you’d like to take part we’ll upgrade your handsets to our latest smartphone, which is not even in-store yet.  So if you would like to get involved, please let us know by Wednesday 20th April, and send us the address you would like us to send your new Galaxy S II to.”

Well, how could anyone say no to such an amazing offer! And believe me, I am SO glad I accepted! As soon as I opened the box and hit the power button of my brand new, as yet unreleased Samsung Galaxy S II all I could say was WOW!!

The Super AMOLED screen is utterly amazing, and is the clearest I have ever seen on any handset (and that comes from someone who works in mobile telephone retail). The handset feels brilliant to hold, the screen is a really good size, and it’s so thin and amazingly light, which I definitely wasn’t expecting. The Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system seems faultless on this handset, and the TouchWiz interface ensures that everything is easy to find and to use. The notifications bar at the top of the screen allows you to easily turn on WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS, as well as adjusting sound profiles quickly and easily without trawling through endless menus. Add all this to the dual core processor onboard and you have a phone that’s super quick, super light and super...well, super!

Since I received delivery of the Galaxy S II while I was visiting Oxford and London, I decided that I’d make use of the sunshine and test the 8mp camera. AMAZING! One particular photo stunned me so much I have to share it...

You’d never tell that this was taken on a mobile phone and not a digital SLR camera. I’ve shown this picture to everyone I’ve spoken to recently and all of them agree.

As well as all the main features, this phone also has some really nice little gimmicks. The tilt to zoom feature is really handy when viewing photos or web pages, and the panning feature allows you to customise your home page extremely easily. All the usual android apps are available, as well as a gaming and music hub from Samsung, allowing you to download games and songs directly to the handset with minimal fuss.

The design of this handset is one of the thinnest I have seen on the market at the minute and is so simple yet elegant and extremely stylish. Also, the battery life stands up to my constant use, lasting longer than previous handsets I’ve used or owned.

I’m definitely proud to be one of the first people to own this handset. The Samsung Galaxy S II is effortless to use, and from reading various other internet blogs it seems that anyone else who has tested this phone agrees. I knew it would be difficult to surpass the success of the Samsung Galaxy S, but the Galaxy S II will definitely be the handset to do it!