 |
| Curved edge screen |
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| full screen smartphone |
Source Via/ Gizchina
Tuesday 12 February 2019
XIAOMI SMARTPHONE MEET CURVED EDGES PATENT DISPLAY APPROVED
According to gizchina and letsgoDigital, Xiaomi has been granted a new patent approval by the WIPO (World International Property Office). The patent is titled full-screen smartphone with 4 sided edges, and it is full of illustration similar to Samsungs dual curved screen, but this time, Xiaomi is aiming to take the curvature to the rear, so the final device could come with glass design on the rear side.
The left and right-hand view look bare, but there is room for a USB connector on the bottom next to the edge of the curved screen. The top view is also bare, so that removes the option of a pop-up selfie camera.
While bezel-free display has almost become a reality, a smartphone with 4 curved sides with no plans for selfie camera would be something we wish to behold someday, but like some other patents, this might never become a reality, but then, we’re eagerly awaiting what becomes of this latest design.
Source Via/ Gizchina
Source Via/ Gizchina
Wednesday 11 July 2012
Samsung Galaxy S III 2012
Human nature is that we tend to get attached with others who understand us, fulfil our needs and desires and generally take care of us. But when a human and a smartphone develop a similar bond, it should seem to be out of the ordinary. But it is not, when the gadget in question is the Samsung Galaxy S III - the smartphone right on top of the Samsung lineup.The Samsung Galaxy S III is said to be the best phone Samsung have produced so far.
Before delivering further into the review, let me put the verdict upfront - If you can afford it, go and get it. It will in all probability start a new love story between you and your Samsung Galaxy S III.
However, the phone comes in two colours - marble white and pebble blue.
Hardware and styling
The Samsung Galaxy S III is quite light in weight. The smooth curves and rounded edges make it comfortable to hold. Even though the phone has elegant looks, the phone’s looks are not exactly stunning. But it is definitely an improvement over its predecessors.
The rear of the phone is simple and wears a blank look. The flash, camera and the rear speaker are all in a line. It might not look ugly, but the back cover failed to impress me. I wish Samsung used a metallic back cover.
The rear cover has a ceramic finish that is also scratch-prone. Maybe you should consider investing in a cover for your phone.
The S III has a big glass on the front, two capacitive buttons - back and options, and a physical home button in the middle. The hard button could’ve been dispensed with.
It has a front camera and an LED notification light on the front. The sides house a volume rocker and the power key. The micro USB port is at the bottom. Weighing just 133 g, the Galaxy S III is 8.6 mm thin, which makes it one of the slimmest phones available in the market today.
Unlike its rival from Cupertino, Samsung is not exactly known for its design finesse and the Samsung Galaxy S III falls short on the design front.
Display
The display is a stunner. The phone features a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. The display on the Galaxy S III produces vivid colours and has excellent viewing angles. If you look at the display, you will be impressed with its detailed results. Besides, the screen is scratch-resistant. So you don’t need to be worried about scratches on the screen.
The screen size is actually perfect. It lies between the elephantine Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S III predecessor - the Galaxy S II. The touch is highly responsive. It call it ‘butter touch’.
Playing games on this powerful phone is an amazing experience. I was simply hooked to Temple Run. Reading books on the Kindle app and watching videos on this phone is also a treat.
Operating System, UI and Performance
The phone has some interesting features on offer. It will act as your personal assistant and will remind you but won’t interrupt if you are busy. Quite like an efficient assistant it would’ve performed a lot of tasks even before you issued instructions.
The phone runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, the phone offers excellent speed, and multitasking on this device is a breeze. The user interface is intuitive and the navigation is fluid.
The lock screen offers direct access to the camera. So, you can have access to the camera app without unlocking the device.
The smart stay feature is quite useful when reading documents or emails. This feature disables the screen time out if the phone detects that your face is watching the screen. So you don’t have to turn on the display over and over again to finish reading a document. You just need to hold the phone at a comfortable angle so that the front camera can detect your face.
I found the LED indicator on this phone quite useful. It not only indicates when the battery is connected to the charger, but also tells you when the battery level is low and when you have missed events, messages or application events.
Another interesting feature is that if you want to talk to someone, you don’t have to dial the number, just lift your phone to your ear and direct call will dial the number automatically for you. The Samsung Galaxy S III is smart - it understands when you want to talk. It reduces the number of steps between two functions. For instance, when you are messaging someone but decide to call instead, simply lift the phone to your ear and you will be connected.
I also quite liked the Pop up play feature, which lets you do your work - sending emails, surfing web, texting and chatting - while watching any video. At one click, the video is resized, which you can drag to anywhere on the screen.
Usually we don’t bother to check missed calls or messages until the phone rings again. But the Samsung Galaxy S III does not let you miss anything. With the Smart alert feature activated, you will be alerted if you have missed calls and messages. It vibrates as you pick the phone up if there are any missed events.
The phone lets you take screenshots by just simply swiping from left to right or vice versa with the side of your hand.
To protect the data on your phone from miscreants, the phone has some interesting options to lock/unlock your phone. Apart from the usual PIN, password and pattern unlock options, the phone also offers face unlock, face and voice unlock options. Though both of them are low security options, but nevertheless are interesting. You can also set multiple unlock options at a time.
Other interesting features on this phone include palm touch to mute or pause sounds while playing media, tilt to zoom in or zoom out images and pan to browse images.
In terms of storage, the phone offers ample storage space. It has an internal storage space of 16GB (the user accessible is 11.35GB), which is expandable up to 64GB using a microSD card.
The phone has a Siri like personal assistant app - S Voice. I, however, did not use it much, only used it to check its effectiveness. The S Voice app could not comprehend my accent all the time. Also its response speed depends on your data connection. I would rate this app 7 out of 10.
The phone has a 2100 mAh interchangeable battery, which gives good backup. The battery takes around 4 hours to get fully charged. On a full charge, the Galaxy S III can easily last for a day when put to normal use. I used the phone to surf the Internet, play games and watch videos. And, most of the time, I only had to charge this phone after reaching home from work. But for heavy users, the battery may not last for the length of an entire day.
Connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi Direct, S Beam and Android Beam.
Camera
The phone sports an excellent camera. It has an 8 megapixel rear auto-focus camera with flash and zero shutter lag that captures sharp images, and produces detailed and clear results in both bright light and low light conditions. Even in dark surroundings, the camera produced satisfactory results. In the burst shooting mode, the S III is capable of capturing 20 shots in a row.
The camera offers a lot of options to customise images, including shooting modes, ISO settings, scene mode, exposure value, focus mode, auto contrast and effects.
Not only the rear camera, the quality of the 1.9 megapixel front camera is quite good and snaps quality images.
In the video mode also, the camera again performed brilliantly. The camera captures 1080p HD videos at 30fps.
The only flaw here is that zoom in and zoom out are a little jerky, but smoother than its predecessors.
Miscellaneous
The phone’s signal reception is strong and the calling experience on this phone is good. The speaker is loud but not jarring and produces a clear sound that is audible even in noisy areas.
The phone comes bundled with a pair of good-quality in-ear headphones which is not only comfortable but also offers excellent sound output..
Verdict
In a word, it is wonderful. If the price tag doesn’t seem too high to you, don’t think twice. Only if Samsung could equally wow me with its design. If I were to buy this phone, the design would not be a hindrance.
Pros
+ Great performance
+ Excellent camera quality
+ Stunning display
+ Rich features
Cons
- Average looks
- Jerky zoom
- Marginally overpriced
Before delivering further into the review, let me put the verdict upfront - If you can afford it, go and get it. It will in all probability start a new love story between you and your Samsung Galaxy S III.
However, the phone comes in two colours - marble white and pebble blue.
Hardware and styling
The Samsung Galaxy S III is quite light in weight. The smooth curves and rounded edges make it comfortable to hold. Even though the phone has elegant looks, the phone’s looks are not exactly stunning. But it is definitely an improvement over its predecessors.
The rear of the phone is simple and wears a blank look. The flash, camera and the rear speaker are all in a line. It might not look ugly, but the back cover failed to impress me. I wish Samsung used a metallic back cover.
The rear cover has a ceramic finish that is also scratch-prone. Maybe you should consider investing in a cover for your phone.
The S III has a big glass on the front, two capacitive buttons - back and options, and a physical home button in the middle. The hard button could’ve been dispensed with.
It has a front camera and an LED notification light on the front. The sides house a volume rocker and the power key. The micro USB port is at the bottom. Weighing just 133 g, the Galaxy S III is 8.6 mm thin, which makes it one of the slimmest phones available in the market today.
Unlike its rival from Cupertino, Samsung is not exactly known for its design finesse and the Samsung Galaxy S III falls short on the design front.
Display
The display is a stunner. The phone features a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. The display on the Galaxy S III produces vivid colours and has excellent viewing angles. If you look at the display, you will be impressed with its detailed results. Besides, the screen is scratch-resistant. So you don’t need to be worried about scratches on the screen.
The screen size is actually perfect. It lies between the elephantine Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S III predecessor - the Galaxy S II. The touch is highly responsive. It call it ‘butter touch’.
Playing games on this powerful phone is an amazing experience. I was simply hooked to Temple Run. Reading books on the Kindle app and watching videos on this phone is also a treat.
Operating System, UI and Performance
The phone has some interesting features on offer. It will act as your personal assistant and will remind you but won’t interrupt if you are busy. Quite like an efficient assistant it would’ve performed a lot of tasks even before you issued instructions.
The phone runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, the phone offers excellent speed, and multitasking on this device is a breeze. The user interface is intuitive and the navigation is fluid.
The lock screen offers direct access to the camera. So, you can have access to the camera app without unlocking the device.
The smart stay feature is quite useful when reading documents or emails. This feature disables the screen time out if the phone detects that your face is watching the screen. So you don’t have to turn on the display over and over again to finish reading a document. You just need to hold the phone at a comfortable angle so that the front camera can detect your face.
I found the LED indicator on this phone quite useful. It not only indicates when the battery is connected to the charger, but also tells you when the battery level is low and when you have missed events, messages or application events.
Another interesting feature is that if you want to talk to someone, you don’t have to dial the number, just lift your phone to your ear and direct call will dial the number automatically for you. The Samsung Galaxy S III is smart - it understands when you want to talk. It reduces the number of steps between two functions. For instance, when you are messaging someone but decide to call instead, simply lift the phone to your ear and you will be connected.
I also quite liked the Pop up play feature, which lets you do your work - sending emails, surfing web, texting and chatting - while watching any video. At one click, the video is resized, which you can drag to anywhere on the screen.
Usually we don’t bother to check missed calls or messages until the phone rings again. But the Samsung Galaxy S III does not let you miss anything. With the Smart alert feature activated, you will be alerted if you have missed calls and messages. It vibrates as you pick the phone up if there are any missed events.
The phone lets you take screenshots by just simply swiping from left to right or vice versa with the side of your hand.
To protect the data on your phone from miscreants, the phone has some interesting options to lock/unlock your phone. Apart from the usual PIN, password and pattern unlock options, the phone also offers face unlock, face and voice unlock options. Though both of them are low security options, but nevertheless are interesting. You can also set multiple unlock options at a time.
Other interesting features on this phone include palm touch to mute or pause sounds while playing media, tilt to zoom in or zoom out images and pan to browse images.
In terms of storage, the phone offers ample storage space. It has an internal storage space of 16GB (the user accessible is 11.35GB), which is expandable up to 64GB using a microSD card.
The phone has a Siri like personal assistant app - S Voice. I, however, did not use it much, only used it to check its effectiveness. The S Voice app could not comprehend my accent all the time. Also its response speed depends on your data connection. I would rate this app 7 out of 10.
The phone has a 2100 mAh interchangeable battery, which gives good backup. The battery takes around 4 hours to get fully charged. On a full charge, the Galaxy S III can easily last for a day when put to normal use. I used the phone to surf the Internet, play games and watch videos. And, most of the time, I only had to charge this phone after reaching home from work. But for heavy users, the battery may not last for the length of an entire day.
Connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi Direct, S Beam and Android Beam.
Camera
The phone sports an excellent camera. It has an 8 megapixel rear auto-focus camera with flash and zero shutter lag that captures sharp images, and produces detailed and clear results in both bright light and low light conditions. Even in dark surroundings, the camera produced satisfactory results. In the burst shooting mode, the S III is capable of capturing 20 shots in a row.
The camera offers a lot of options to customise images, including shooting modes, ISO settings, scene mode, exposure value, focus mode, auto contrast and effects.
Not only the rear camera, the quality of the 1.9 megapixel front camera is quite good and snaps quality images.
In the video mode also, the camera again performed brilliantly. The camera captures 1080p HD videos at 30fps.
The only flaw here is that zoom in and zoom out are a little jerky, but smoother than its predecessors.
Miscellaneous
The phone’s signal reception is strong and the calling experience on this phone is good. The speaker is loud but not jarring and produces a clear sound that is audible even in noisy areas.
The phone comes bundled with a pair of good-quality in-ear headphones which is not only comfortable but also offers excellent sound output..
Verdict
In a word, it is wonderful. If the price tag doesn’t seem too high to you, don’t think twice. Only if Samsung could equally wow me with its design. If I were to buy this phone, the design would not be a hindrance.
Pros
+ Great performance
+ Excellent camera quality
+ Stunning display
+ Rich features
Cons
- Average looks
- Jerky zoom
- Marginally overpriced
Saturday 25 September 2010
WP7-powered LG E900 breaks loose again, called Optimus 7
Here's another appearance of the LG E900. This time there are proper photos and even a 20-minute-long video. The Czech guys behind it call the device Optimus 7 but we've heard LG call another phone like that so we're taking the petname with a pinch of salt.
As we previously wrote, LG E900 or as suggested now - Optimus 7 - will pack a 1GHz or 1.3GHz Qualcomm processor, a 3.7-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and HD video recording, full connectivity package and, of course, it will run Windows Phone 7.
MobilMania.cz managed to get their hands on a pre-release unit of the Windows Phone 7-running LG Optimus 7. There isn't much to say, you'd better see it.
The LG E900, be it Optimus 7 or not, should be announced in several weeks when Microsoft finally pops the champagne on Windows Phone 7.
As we previously wrote, LG E900 or as suggested now - Optimus 7 - will pack a 1GHz or 1.3GHz Qualcomm processor, a 3.7-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and HD video recording, full connectivity package and, of course, it will run Windows Phone 7.
MobilMania.cz managed to get their hands on a pre-release unit of the Windows Phone 7-running LG Optimus 7. There isn't much to say, you'd better see it.
The LG E900, be it Optimus 7 or not, should be announced in several weeks when Microsoft finally pops the champagne on Windows Phone 7.
Friday 25 June 2010
You are holding your iPhone 4 the wrong way!
Yesterday's iPhone 4 launch was full of surprises - dead on arrival, yellow spots or white dots on the screen, lost reception signal and a bunch of happy users. It seems the yellow spots will disappear in a few days, what about the spotty reception?
There are numerous iPhone 4 users reports of the phone losing signal when you hold it covering the bottom left corner where the GSM and Wi-Fi antennas meet.
Apple states they know of the issue and their official statement is amazingly instructional:
"Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases."
Reportedly, Steve Jobs was even kind enough to reply to some user emails - briefly, but straight to the point:
"Just avoid holding it that way."
Ok, we understand how clever it was of Apple to design the iPhone antennas in that way and we can accept new technology comes with its own quirks. But stating a right and wrong way of holding your phone with the latter able to leave you totally signal-less - well that's plain wrong. Not to mention even THEY hold it the wrong way on their ads.
In this particular case what we don't like is Apple's attitude. Pretending such thing is not a big issue, saying it's a normal thing for a cellphone to lose signal, and not admitting a design flaw - that's arrogant. Fans will probably be willing to avoid holding the iPhone 4 that way. Being polite and confessing a wrong goes a long way. So does giving a bonus Bumper case to all affected. Just sayin'.
There are numerous iPhone 4 users reports of the phone losing signal when you hold it covering the bottom left corner where the GSM and Wi-Fi antennas meet.
Apple states they know of the issue and their official statement is amazingly instructional:
"Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases."
Reportedly, Steve Jobs was even kind enough to reply to some user emails - briefly, but straight to the point:
"Just avoid holding it that way."
Ok, we understand how clever it was of Apple to design the iPhone antennas in that way and we can accept new technology comes with its own quirks. But stating a right and wrong way of holding your phone with the latter able to leave you totally signal-less - well that's plain wrong. Not to mention even THEY hold it the wrong way on their ads.
In this particular case what we don't like is Apple's attitude. Pretending such thing is not a big issue, saying it's a normal thing for a cellphone to lose signal, and not admitting a design flaw - that's arrogant. Fans will probably be willing to avoid holding the iPhone 4 that way. Being polite and confessing a wrong goes a long way. So does giving a bonus Bumper case to all affected. Just sayin'.
Thursday 24 June 2010
Flash 10.1 final available for smartphones with Android 2.2
Adobe today announced the release of Flash Player 10.1 to mobile platforms. Already available on the Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 will be available in its final production release for all Android smartphones running ver. 2.2 "Froyo."
Some of the devices that Adobe lists as bound to get Froyo include Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC Evo, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible, Motorola DROID and Motorola Milestone, and Samsung Galaxy S.
Too bad there's not even one device to feature Android 2.2 officially yet (except perhaps developers' Nexus One's).
Besides up on the Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 is also released to Adobe's partners for them to incorporate and preinstall in their products - BlackBerry, Palm's webOS, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo and Symbian OS are all expected to start chewing Flash content online like only desktop machines could before.
Flash Player makes use of virtually every mobile CPU currently available on the market so it will be compatible with many smartphones. Additional features would allow it to integrate even better offering a seamless experience.
- For instance, support for on-board accelerometers will allws automation switching between portrait and landscape screen orientation.
- Flash Player will also pause automatically upon incoming calls or when switching from the browser to another application. Once users switch back to the browser, Flash Player will resumes where it paused.
- The Smart Zooming feature will allow Flash content to run fullscreen on any of the supported devices.
- The Smart Rendering feature makes sure Flash content embedded on webpages runs only when it's visible on screen reducing CPU toll and extra battery consumption.
- With the available Sleep Mode, the Flash Player will automatically throttle down when the device enters screen saver mode.
Some of the devices that Adobe lists as bound to get Froyo include Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC Evo, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible, Motorola DROID and Motorola Milestone, and Samsung Galaxy S.
Too bad there's not even one device to feature Android 2.2 officially yet (except perhaps developers' Nexus One's).
Besides up on the Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 is also released to Adobe's partners for them to incorporate and preinstall in their products - BlackBerry, Palm's webOS, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo and Symbian OS are all expected to start chewing Flash content online like only desktop machines could before.
Flash Player makes use of virtually every mobile CPU currently available on the market so it will be compatible with many smartphones. Additional features would allow it to integrate even better offering a seamless experience.
- For instance, support for on-board accelerometers will allws automation switching between portrait and landscape screen orientation.
- Flash Player will also pause automatically upon incoming calls or when switching from the browser to another application. Once users switch back to the browser, Flash Player will resumes where it paused.
- The Smart Zooming feature will allow Flash content to run fullscreen on any of the supported devices.
- The Smart Rendering feature makes sure Flash content embedded on webpages runs only when it's visible on screen reducing CPU toll and extra battery consumption.
- With the available Sleep Mode, the Flash Player will automatically throttle down when the device enters screen saver mode.
Friday 11 June 2010
Dual-SIM touch Samsung B7722 officially announced
The previously leaked Samsung B7722 was officially announced today in Sweden. It packs 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio and microSD card slot.
B7722 most important feature is the dual-SIM capability. Both SIM beds support quad-band GSM, but only one of them is capable of 3G connectivity (single band - 2100MHz).
Samsung B7722 will run on TouchWiz UI, but its screen type and internal memory are still unknown.
The phone will launch this month with a hefty price of 420 euro price giving a new meaning to "overpriced". For that kind of cash, you can easily get two phones of this caliber.
Thursday 10 June 2010
Three UK gets the iPhone 4 too, O2 offers early upgrades
Three is the latest major UK carrier to announce that it will get the iPhone 4 at launch. Launching its pre-order campaign on 15 June and starting actual sales on 24 June, Three becomes the fifth UK operator to offer Apple's latest mobile phone.
Meanwhile O2 announced that it will offer its subscribes an early upgrade if they go for the iPhone 4. You will be able to pay off the reminder of your contract and get an iPhone 4 on a new 18 or 24-month one (AT&T style).
O2 will charge you with 20 pounds for each of the remaining months of your contract, no matter how much you are really paying. That's about 30% off the cheapest iPhone tariff. This way it will still be cheaper to pay off your contract and get a new one, instead of buying a SIM-free iPhone.
There is a catch of course - you will lose the change-of-mind period option. So once you've decided to go the iPhone 4 way, there is no turning back.
With five carriers throwing tempting iPhone 4 offers your way it has to feel good to be British these days.
Meanwhile O2 announced that it will offer its subscribes an early upgrade if they go for the iPhone 4. You will be able to pay off the reminder of your contract and get an iPhone 4 on a new 18 or 24-month one (AT&T style).
O2 will charge you with 20 pounds for each of the remaining months of your contract, no matter how much you are really paying. That's about 30% off the cheapest iPhone tariff. This way it will still be cheaper to pay off your contract and get a new one, instead of buying a SIM-free iPhone.
There is a catch of course - you will lose the change-of-mind period option. So once you've decided to go the iPhone 4 way, there is no turning back.
With five carriers throwing tempting iPhone 4 offers your way it has to feel good to be British these days.
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