Best Android phones to get this spring

LG Optimus G Pro

Nexus 4

Sony Xperia Z

Samsung Galaxy S4

HTC ONE

Spring is in full bloom and as everything starts to get green and cheerful, you may look at your old phone and think it’s about time to bring change into your life. Luckily, this is one of the best times to get a new device.

Some of the biggest phone manufacturer have just released their brand new 2013 flagship devices, and it just so happens that all of them run on Android. Apple’s iPhone traditionally gets a refresh much later in the year, and the same goes for Windows Phone.

And while previously picking between say iOS or Android was a choice between style and geekery, Google’s ecosystem has evolved so much in the past 12 months that it’s perfectly safe to say that you can get gorgeous devices on it.

We have listed our top five picks for new devices that are already available or coming in just a couple of days. Take a look at them, and let us know - which one would you get?

1. HTC One
HTC wanted a comeback and it brought its best with the HTC One. It is a brilliant device in virtually every aspect. Coming with a beautiful aluminum body that fits almost organically in the hand, it has a great and vivid, extremely sharp 4.7-inch screen. The stereo front speaker bring a small revolution in smartphone sound that you’ll appreciate instantly when you hear it. Performance is flawless on the new Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip.

2. Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung didn't exactly catch us by surprise with the Galaxy S4. However, it's the flawless implementation of all the features that makes the Galaxy S4 the superb smartphone that it is. Design-wise, the latest Samsung flagship is nothing special. It looks OK and is comfortable to hold. We're more than happy to see that Samsung has managed to make the smartphone even smaller than the GS III, which is a remarkable achievement, considering the bigger screen.

3. LG Optimus G Pro
The LG Optimus G Pro is a brilliantly timed device. Coming nearly half a year after the Note II, it manages to take advantage and stuff in an extremely crisp 1080p 5.5-inch screen that is very vivid and impressive. The G Pro is not for everyone, but for those who enjoy the big screens it would offer a flawless performance and a great camera. Phablet lovers, this should be your choice this spring.

4. Nexus 4
The Nexus 4 might have launched a few months ago but it only recently started shipping in volume on the Google Play store. Most importantly, though, it has remained extremely competitive in price. Its a compact and practical decision. It has a 4.7-inch 720p screen and realistically looking it is almost impossible to justify a 1080p display on a phone, so that’s definitely not a flaw. What’s more the Nexus 4 is the first to get the latest Android updates, and the most affordable of all devices in this list.

5. Sony Xperia Z
The Sony Xperia Z was the first 2013 flagship. It was the first of many more with a 5-inch 1080p display, but while we were disappointed with the quality of that screen, the device had one more ace up its sleeve - it was water and dust resistant. With the thought of summer, beaches and swimming, and the possibility to take the Xperia Z with you wherever you go (you can also shoot videos and images underwater), we are very tempted to get it. The handset also has a decent 13-megapixel Exmor RS camera that performs well in low light.

source:phonearena.com,17 april 2013

When is a big screen TOO big? Samsung unveils the aptly named Mega-phone with 6.3inch screen

It is the biggest smartphone on sale, with a giant 6.3inch screen.Samsung's new Mega Galaxy handset look more like a tablet than a phone - and has already been slammed as 'just too big'.

Samsung hopes the big design will appeal to commuters and others who regularly watch films on their gadgets.

'The newest addition to the Galaxy family balances an optimal viewing experience on a 6.3-inch HD screen, yet is ultra-thin and portable enough to put into a pocket or hold in one hand,' the firm said.

'The GALAXY Mega offers a mix of popular smartphone and tablet features such as an effortless user experience, a split screen, multitasking between video and other apps and more.'

It claims video and web browsing will be the main uses for the Mega.'We are aware of a great potential in the bigger screen for extensive viewing multimedia, web browsing, and more,' said JK Shin of Samsung.'We are excited to provide another choice to meet our consumers’ varying lifestyles, all while maintaining the high-quality features of the award-winning GALAXY series.'

However, experts are less impressed.Rik Henderson of Pocket Lint said 'The screen size of the Galaxy Note works as you take notes - but the Mega is just a massive phone, it's just too big.

'However, I think we'll see an arms race to get to that size, there's a real blurring of the lines between phones and tablets now.

'But for consumers, I think its a fad - it's just too big.'Samsung helped popularise the so-called 'phablet' category - in which phones approach tablet dimensions - with its original 5.3in Galaxy Note, which was released in 2011.

Analysts have deemed a 'phablet' is a mobile gadget with a screen more than 5inches diagonally.

The word comes from blending phone and tablet.Samsung's Galaxy Note was the first popular 'phablet', but others are expected to follow this year.Experts have predicted that 2013 could be the year of the 'phablet'.

Analysts claim the emergence of so-called 'giant mobile' which blend tablets and mobile phones, will lead to a whole new category of gadgets.

The upshot is a market for phablets that will quadruple in value to $135 billion in three years, according to analysts at Barclays.

Shipments of gadgets that are 5 inches or bigger in screen size will surge by nearly nine-fold to 228 million during the same period, though estimates vary because no one can agree on where smartphones stop and phablets start.

But that's the point, some say.'I think phone size was a preconceived notion based on voice usage,' said John Berns, a Singapore-based executive who works in the information technology industry.

source: Dailymail.co.uk

Facebook unveils its 'home' on Android phone

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
SAN FRANCISCO, April 4: Facebook unveils its "home" on the Android smartphone Thursday, a move expected to tie the leading social network´s services tightly into mobile software.

Invitations to a press event at Facebook´s main campus in the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park rekindled talk of a "Facebook phone," but analysts say the social network wants to spread roots across the Android platform.

Facebook´s invitation says only: "Come See Our New Home On Android."

Technology news site TechCrunch predicted the announcement would be a modified version of Android with "deep native Facebook functionality" on a phone made by Taiwan´s HTC.

Android, the free mobile operating system from Google, accounted for 51.2 percent of US smartphone sales in the three-month period ending in February, according to freshly-released survey results from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Android added 5.9 percentage points from a year earlier, while Apple´s share fell 3.5 points to 43.5 percent.

Windows Phone, boosted by the new operating system introduced last year from Microsoft, increased its share to 4.1 percent.

Facebook has made a priority of following its more than one billion members onto smartphones and tablet computers, tailoring services and money-making ads for mobile devices.

"It is really clear from the stats and my own personal intuition that a lot of energy in the ecosystem is going to mobile, not desktop (computers)," Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said in September.

"That is the future."

Zuckerberg rejected suggestions that Facebook would make its own smartphone, adamant that the company had no intention of stepping into the fiercely competitive handset hardware arena.

"Apple, Google, everyone builds phones -- we are going in the opposite direction," Zuckerberg said at the time.

"We want to build a system deeply integrated in every device people want to use."

HTC forming an alliance with Facebook makes sense since the handset maker could capitalize on the social network´s marketing power in an Android arena dominated by Samsung, according to Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

"It is not so much a Facebook phone as imagined by Zuckerberg as it is a lifeline for HTC, which needs a champion device and got Facebook to back it," Enderle said.

"The market has been gravitating toward Samsung," the analyst continued. "This device is to take the emphasis back to HTC and provide them with a flagship phone that users can get excited about."

If Facebook had been eager to build its own phone, it could have reached out to close partner Microsoft, which owns a small stake in the social network, Enderle reasoned.

A feature of Windows mobile software is integration with Facebook. HTC is among the electronics companies that make Windows-powered smartphones, increasing likelihood that a Facebook-centric handset features a tie into the software titan´s Bing Internet search engine.

A Facebook-focused phone´s goal would be to make it intuitive to shop, search, post or do other tasks using the social network´s services.

"You will see a phone laid out to address the many ways that you can get into Facebook," Enderle said."A main page with a Facebook feel and your news feed nicely displayed, and optimized to allow you to live in Facebook much like you live in iTunes when you are on the iPhone."

If reports are correct, the device will help Facebook more easily connect with mobile users, and -- importantly -- deliver more ads in the fast-growing segment.

The research firm eMarketer said US mobile advertising spending grew 178 percent last year to $4.11 billion, a market that nearly tripled last year.

Google took more than half of those revenues, but Facebook´s share in growing: eMarketer said the social network accounted for 9.5 percent of mobile ad revenues in 2012 and is expected to take 13.2 percent this year.

In the mobile display market, however, Facebook is on top, projected to grab nearly $3 in $10 this year, the research firm said.

Galaxy S4 to hit store shelves after a month

The wait for Samsung Galaxy S4 will be over soon. International Marketing Services is introducing the flagship phone from the South Korean electronics giant by April-end.

Samsung announced the phone amid a colorful function in New York on March 14. It is expected to go on sale in the last week of April.

“We will offer the latest Samsung phone, the Galaxy S4, to Nepali customers in the last week of April. We have already opened Letter of Credit (LC) for Galaxy S4,” said Deepak Malhotra, chairman of IMS - the authorized distributor for Samsung mobile in Nepal.

The Galaxy S4 boasts a 5-inch HD super AMOLED display with improved resolution at 1080p which is slightly larger than Galaxy S3 that has 4.8-inch display. The phone runs on Android 4.2.2 operating system -- the latest version of Jelly Bean - and is powered by a 1.6 GHz octa core or 1.9 GHz quad core processor with Exynos 5 Octa 5410 chipset. It has power VR SGX 544 MP3 graphics processing unit, 1 GB RAM and internal memory of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB which can be expanded by another 64 GB.

The phone sports 13 mega pixels auto focus primary camera with a resolution of 4128x3096 pixels. According to the company, the camera with LED flash allows dual shot, simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization and high dynamic range (HDR) photography. It also has a 2 mega pixels front camera for video calling.

The phone, which uses 2600 mAh battery, has new features such as eye tracking, gesture capabilities, S Health and S Voice Drive, among others.

According to the company, ´Smart Stay´ or ´Smart Pause´ is a new feature in the S4 that uses the front camera to detect whether the users are looking at the screen while watching a video. If the users look away from the screen the video will pause automatically, said the company.

Similarly, another feature ´Smart Scroll´ can tell if the users are looking at the screen while reading an article on a webpage. When looking at the phone, users can tilt the phone up or down to scroll through the new feature.

S Health, a calorie-counter or a pedometer, is another new feature in the phone. It uses sensors like accelerometer and barometer to track the steps, jogs, hops, jolts, snacks, and perspiration.

Likewise, the S Voice Drive app is specially designed for cars and allows the drivers to use built-in navigation system as well as make calls, send messages, and check the weather.

In addition to the usual toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, the phone also has toggles for call-blocking mode and eye-tracking gestures. It has integrated optical reader that can scan Quick Response (QR) codes, turn business cards into text, and translate with S Translator.

According to Malhotra, Galaxy S4 (16 GB model) will be available at around Rs 72,000.

source: republica,26 march 2013

No more passwords! Smartphones could soon be unlocked by face and fingerprint recognition

It's a bane of modern life remembering the myriad of passwords vital for everything from smartphones to bank accounts and online shopping.

This tedious task, however, is set to be a thing of the past as other methods are developed.

These include using fingerprint, voice and facial recognition instead of passwords seen as an outdated security risk.

Apple is among several companies preparing to turn to fingerprint recognition.

It is said to be releasing a new iPhone allowing owners to identify themselves by pressing a finger onto the handset.

The technology could eventually spread to allow access to bank accounts and email accounts.

Google, maker of Android phones, is examining voice recognition, iris scanners, behavioural biometrics and heartbeat reading.

Michael Barratt, head of security at PayPal, said: ‘It’s a case of looking beyond passwords and the best alternatives are provided by smartphones.

‘The general view is that Apple will launch a fingerprint-enabled iPhone before the end of the year.

‘The Android handset market intends to stay competitive so it’s highly likely there will be fingerprint and voice identification- enabled devices from them too in the near future.’

Apple has bought a firm forging ahead in fingerprint identification technology and has submitted a patent for a biometric sensor.

Some smartphones already have voice recognition software and around a fifth have facial ID capabilities, including the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Research into passwords by Microsoft in 2007 suggested that the average person used 6.5 passwords for 25 sites. The number will have increased massively since the study.’

Mr Barrett, whose firm handled £95billion of transactions last year, claims this year is the beginning of a new ‘experimentation phase’ for the next generation of smartphones.

Apple has already bought a company which is a market leader in fingerprint identification technology. Shortly afterwards, it submitted a patent for a biometric sensor.

The company is expected to release the iPhone 5S this summer followed by the iPhone 6 later in the year.

An iWatch device is also rumoured to be in production.

A number of smartphones have already introduced voice recognition software and around a fifth have facial recognition capabilities, including the Samsung Galaxy S III which allows the user to unlock the phone by looking at it.

But critics point out that the rumoured methods may not work in certain situations.

They say that voice recognition may not work in a bar or otherwise with background noise and fingerprint technology may not always work.

Philip Hoyer, director of strategic solutions at HID Global which manufactures secure identity technology, said the only way round the problem was to combine methods.

‘If you’re trying to access your account in a noisy bar, instead of using voice recognition, you could switch to facial recognition using the phone’s video camera.’

source: dailymail.co.uk

Samsung Galaxy Note III to come with LCD display: Report

As the world awaits the launch of Samsung Galaxy S IV, the Korean smartphone maker is busy working on the sequel of its Galaxy Note II smartphone.

As per the information received by SamMobile, it is likely that Samsung will be deploying LCD screens made by Sharp for the Galaxy Note III. It is noteworthy, that Samsung Galaxy Note II sports a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD display. According to SamMobile, the reason as to why Samsung is now switching to LCD display for its Note series is that the company believes that the S-Pen experience is better on this type of display as opposed to AMOLED or PHOLED display.

Samsung had launched the Galaxy Note II phablet at the IFA 2012. The smartphone is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. It has a 3100mAh battery and has 16GB internal storage expandable up to 64 GB via microSD card.

Samsung Galaxy Note II comes with 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front camera. In terms of connectivity, Samsung Galaxy Note II offers 4G, 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, NFC, USB 2.0 and Bluetooth 4.0. Just like the other devices in the Note series, this phablet too comes with the famed S-Pen.

The phablet has received a good response from the consumers. The company had shared that the device topped 5 million units in just first two months since Galaxy Note II started shipping.

Samsung had recently showcased another member of the Note family - Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013. Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 comes with an 8-inch screen, which too has a LCD screen, perhaps for the same reason. The screen resolution of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is 1280x800 pixels, which translates to 189 ppi. The other specs of the tablet include 1.6GHz processor with 2GB of RAM.

As per insiders at SamMobile, the Korean smartphone maker will be using OLED displays for bigger devices such as tablets, flexible display and some of the high-end smartphones.

source:http://gadgets.ndtv.com/

Samsung Galaxy S IV: Everything we know so far

Samsung is set to release its fourth Galaxy S device tomorrow in Times Square, New York. The madness and hype for this phone has definitely made it one of the most eagerly awaited devices this year. Of course there have been numerous leaks about this smartphone — so much so that the launch will probably just confirm a lot of what we already know.

A day ahead of the launch we take a look at everything that we know about the Galaxy S IV so far:

Specifications: Eight-core or quad-core processor? This seems to have caught everyone’s attention. Samsung showed off the Exynos Octa CPU at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which has sparked off rumours that the new phone will also have one of these. According to an Antutu bench-mark test of the S IV which was leaked, it was confirmed that the S IV has an Exynos Octa 5410 CPU clocked at 1.8GHz and a PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU chip for graphics.

Now there have been also been leaks with a quad-core version and dual-SIM version of the device. This could be the US version of the smartphone or it could be that Samsung will launch two variants of the smartphone.

In terms of processing speed Samsung’s device looks like it is going to knock the competition out of the park. Other specifications include a 5-inch screen with a Full HD (1920×1080) screen , 2 GB RAM and a 13 megapixel camera. The phone will run Android 4.2 with a new TouchWiz user interface from Samsung.

Sammobile has also reported that the screen will use a new kind of Display. The new AMOLED material called “green PHOLED” uses color GREEN-YELLOW makes these AMOLED display’s 25% more efficient.  This sounds good news for battery life.

‘Smart Features’: Samsung knows that for users, new and interesting features matter more than mere specs. Some of  the features that have been leaked include Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, and Smart Rotation to name a few.

The Smart Scroll feature, which was first reported by the New York Times, allows the phone to track the user’s eyes via the front camera. Once you reach the end of a page, the phone will automatically scroll down to the remaining paragraphs.

The Smart pause feature which was reported by an Israeli blog, will allow the phone to pause a video if the phone detects that the user is no longer looking at the screen. Smart rotation feature ensures that the screen rotates only if the phone is held at an angle.

Clearly we’re going to hear the word, ‘Smart’  a lot in the Galaxy S IV launch. But will these features be enough to woo users?

Floating touch screen: According to Sammobile, the S IV will have floating touch technology similar to Samsung’s Air View. The Air View option allows users to simply hover the SPen over their devices to get a sneak peek view of say pictures inside an album.

Floating Touch technology was in fact first used by Sony in the Xperia Sola. The technology allows users to interact with phone by just hovering their fingers over the screen.

There were also reports that the Galaxy S IV could have an SPen but these were dismissed later. The e Korean DDaily, said there will be no S-Pen although the home button with other touch keys will still be on the phone. The report quotes industry sources, and adds that while the smartphone will have a “Non-contact Gesture” feature. This is likely to be to the floating touch technology.

As far as specs go Samsung’s new phone will definitely be the top end of the market.  But will its features live up to the hype that has been created around the smartphone? We’ll have to wait and watch that one. Samsung will launch the smartphone at 7.00 pm Eastern Standard Time in New York which is around 3.45 am, 15 March in India.

For now you can watch another of Samsung’s super cheesy promotions videos for the Galaxy  S IV. Is it right to call it a flash mob? You decide:

source: firstpost.com

Must-have apps on your smartphone

It’s annoying when you have to pay for the apps that you want to use. It’s more annoying when you can afford to buy the app but still can’t because you don’t have a credit card. Nonetheless, there are plenty of free apps that can fulfill the need of yours. Browse through the list below and install what’s needed.

1. Viber: Viber allows you to call, text, and send photos worldwide for free to over 140 million users. This app is available for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone and many more devices. If you use an iPhone and hating the fact that you can’t purchase Whatsapp, Viber is made just for you and you can even call! It’s an easy way to connect to your loved one, provided you have internet access.

2. Facebook: Many phones these days come with the Facebook app but you have to download it, it’s free of cost! The fastest growing social network site keeps you up-to-date with your friends and even play games, like Words with Friends etc. Share pictures, check-in and have a fun time with this free app available for all kinds of devices.

3. Skype: Skype is basically a free voice and video call service to anyone else on Skype. Whether they’re on an Android, iPhone, Mac or PC, as well as IMs, this app has made it easier to connect to friends and family, no matter where they are. If you can, you can also purchase credits and make cheap international calls.

4. Nepal Loadshedding Schedule: The land of the loadshedding got what it really needed on a Smartphone. Nepal Load Shedding Schedule is a free app and serves all users with smart way to view the loadshedding schedule. You can view, create widget, send sms schedule, receive notification before/after the loadshedding. Sadly, it doesn’t come with a flashlight widget!

5. Tiny Flashlight+LED: Flashlight app for your device! Easy to use and very useful, especially when you don’t have electricity and don’t know where you kept those set of matches to light the candle. Tiny Flashlight is currently the best led flashlight app on the Android Market.

6. Opera Mini Web Browser: If you’re using 3G service and paying a lot for the datas you’ve drawn, Opera Mini Web Browser might help bring that bill down. With the speed and efficient controls, Opera Mini Web Brower is ahead of all other browsers and it reduces data costs with the help of the unique compression technology. The best thing is, however, is that it’s free of cost to download and use.

7. Whatsapp Messenger: WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone and Nokia phones. The app uses 3G or WiFi (when available) to message with friends and family. The app is free of cost for upto a year on Anroid but on iPhones, you have to purchase it.

8. iDownloader: It’s annoying when you buy an iPhone and it doesn’t let you download any songs or videos. iDownloader will put a stop to just that. Once you download and install this free app on your iPhone, it’ll download just about any kind of file and save it on its own folder and you can even password protect it!

9. Instagram: With over 100 million users who love Instagram, this is got to be the hottest app around. It’s free, fun and a simple way to make and share photos on your device. Pick a preset from the several filtered effects or tilt-shift blur to breathe a new life into your pictures. Transform the everyday mundane moments into a piece of art and show off to the world!

10. Wordweb: If you’re the kind of person who wants to know the meaning of something as soon as you hear it and use it in your future conversations, Wordweb is the app for you. This free offline English dictionary and thesaurus with synonyms, related words and great search, also pronounces the words for you and there are absolutely no adverts. Keep you dictionary updated, and you’re life will be much easier. Who uses the bulky dictionaries anymore?

source: republica