Category Archives: Android

Introducing the new Samsung Galaxy K Zoom – Video and Specifications

Android, Tech News

Samsung has just taken the wraps off the new Samsung K Zoom, the replacement for the S4 Zoom. The device features a 20.7 MP 1/2.3 BSI CMOS camera sensor with 10x optical zoom, Xenon flash and OIS. The K Zoom offers a total of 28 shooting modes and comes with a redesigned camera UI that looks similar to what is offered in the Galaxy S5. The device include a 4.8-inch 720p screen, hexa-core Exynos 5 Hexa 5260 processor with two 1.7GHz Cortex-A15 cores and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores, 2 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, 2.1 MP front shooter and a 2430 mAh battery. As far as connectivity goes, the K Zoom comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0LE, GPS, NFC and HSPA+ (42 Mbps).

Updated – it appears the K Zoom does not have 4K video recording and as its a lot slimmer now does not include a built in tripod mount like the S4 Zoom. The optics are identical to the S4 Zoom except now 20.7mp instead of 16mp. The battery is removable but at 2430 mAH should have been larger for a camera centric phone.

Samsung launches the Galaxy S5 in 16gb & 32gb – is 16gb enough?

Android, Reviews, Tech News, ,

Samsung announced the S5 would be available in 16gb and 32gb.  In some countries the 32gb has surfaced.  But not the UK and in fact it’s not available in most places.

This is due to Samsung and the networks choosing the cheaper 16gb model as there is a memory card slot.  And the less storage you have the more you need to stream and the more expensive your contact will need to be. Now if Samsung only made a 32gb with micro sd card support that would be ideal.

But can you manage with 16gb? Yes if you use a memory card and don’t play many large games.  And your phone is a Samsung and the developer builds in some support for memory cards.

Let’s have a look at my two week old S5.

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Out of 16gb, 4gb was already used up by Samsung. By the time I installed all Samsung’s apps, extras and my apps and games I had a total of 118 apps of which 40 were games. I have a 64gb memory card installed.

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Plenty of space left on the card but remember video recording will swallow that fast.

Now the S5 has a limited support for moving part of an app to the memory card if supported by the developer. 

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Above you can see that NFS Most Wanted installed 2gb on the memory card leaving about 15mb for the app in main memory.  But not all games support this.  Ah but not so fast. Look again. The apps that have the right box ticked do have part installed on the micro sd card. Those that don’t have been still installed into the internal memory but under a section called sd card. Confusing.

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AVP and Shadowgun only installed to main memory even when using the option shown below where you can force the app to use the memory card. 

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Prince of Persia allowed me to move most of the app to the memory card but not all of it. New blockbuster games are busting above the 2gb mark and it’s time for phones to have 32gb as standard especially as most phones don’t support this move to memory card and Google doesn’t like it either.

In new versions of android the memory card is only meant for music and photos mainly,  not for installing apps and games.

However,  so far I have managed with some careful management.

HTC One M8 or Samsung Galaxy S5 – which has the most popular camera?

Android, Tech News, ,

I have a collection of photo albums from many smartphones on my Flickr site, including those from the HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5. Click here to view – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/sets/

They both have near equal numbers, 36 photos for the HTC One M8 and 33 photos for the Samsung Galaxy S5. But which phone has the most popular camera based on viewing stats ?

The viewing stats are as follows –

Samsung Galaxy S5 total views – 13,702

HTC One M8 total views – 72,741

Therefore, and rather surprisingly the HTC One M8 with just its 4mp rear camera was over 5 times more popular than the S5.

Amazon Prime Data

Android, Tech News

A few days ago BGR reported that Amazon is looking to introduce a new data plan called Amazon Prime Data when it launches it new smartphone. The concept is that Amazon will offer free streaming of its services eg music, films with corporates paying for the usage not the end user.

Whilst this is all a rumour at present, it does pose and interesting idea. My only concern would be for how long could Amazon entertain this data service plan, since in reality there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Normally, a service is offered free to hook you into using it, to a point you become dependent enough that when a monthly or annual charge is introduced a large percentage of people end up paying for it.

Samsung S5 – Group Camcorder app

Android, Tech News

Group Play has been an option on Samsung Galaxy S4 and upwards.

Group Play lets users pair up multiple devices and share pictures, documents and music among them in real time. So you could have 8 Samsung S5 phones all acting as one loudspeaker. I’m trying to imagine how good that would sound!

Anyway, my S5 received an update to the Group Play app to v3. But v3 also added Group Camcorder. Group Camcorder lets you pair up to 4 devices and capture videos from each device’s camera, then lets the host device edit and merge the best shot sequences, basically incorporating the camera output from all connected devices.

Now if I can find anyone with a S5 I will try this and let you know how I get on.

Samsung’s War at Home

Android, Tech News

“Just inside his single-story home, built of concrete blocks and coated in turquoise paint, Hwang Sang-ki, a 58-year-old Korean taxi driver, sits on a floor mat. He’s clasping a small handbag, once bright white and now dull after years on a shelf. He pulls out a snapshot of 13 smiling young women, all co-workers at Samsung Electronics (005930:KS), off-duty and posing in three rows, each embracing or leaning into the other. The leaves of a tree behind them are turning golden in the autumn chill.

“Here,” says Hwang, pointing to two women in the center of the group. Both had the same job at the same semiconductor factory, on the same line, standing side by side at the same workstation, dipping computer chips into the same vat of chemicals. Both got a particularly aggressive form of the blood cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia. One was his daughter, Yu-mi. In South Korea, only about 3 out of every 100,000 people die of leukemia. “They worked together, and they died,” says Hwang. The snapshot is among a few private memories Hwang keeps of his late daughter.

The story of the two women, and dozens of Samsung workers with leukemia and other rare cancers, is now a very public one in South Korea. ”

Read the rest of this article at http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-10/deaths-at-samsung-alter-south-koreas-corporate-is-king-mindset

I really sad side to the technology we all use today.

Free Samsung S5 Galaxy Gifts – update on more gift claiming issues and via Samsung

Android, Tech News

Yesterday I wrote about being unable to claim your free gift from Samsung’s website and not being able to claim the advertised free 50gb Dropbox for 2 years.

Links https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/a-huge-con-free-50gb-dropbox-bonus-space-on-samsung-galaxy-s5-no-chance/

And

https://gavinsgadgets.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/samsung-galaxy-gifts-con-number-2/

Well it gets worse. The Wall Street Journal offer is free subscription for 6 months. Except I am being asked for $22.99 a month. Box storage is 10gb free. Except nothing is being allocated.

So Samsung’s first response by Customer Services Supervisor. “They can’t help, it’s the app that is at fault “. Luckily the Customer Service Agent didn’t agree with his boss.

So next round was the escalations team. I spoke to a lovely person who took note of all the issues, even checked their website re the free gift and gasped in horror. This person also admitted the updated Samsung website was a desired taste. All my concerns would be raised at head office level.

So next week, I will updated you again.

David Rich from ukmobiletech.com added in a conversation, that you would never got this level of service by Apple. And I would have to agree.

Let’s see if Samsung are able to redeem themselves next week.

OnePlus One – a High Spec Phone at a Price you won’t believe

Android, Tech News

oneplusop

OnePlus is a new company formed from ex directors of Oppo. Their first phone is the OnePlus One. It is a 5.5-inch 1080p Full HD display with LTPS and TOL (Touch on Lens) technology, Gorilla Glass 3 screen, 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB of LP-DDR3 RAM, 4G LTE support, 16/64GB storage, 13-megapixel 6-lens Sony Exmor camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual LED flash and 4K video capture support, 5-megapixel front-facing camera with 80-degree capture angle, dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, GPS, GLONASS and embedded 3100mAh battery that should offer “more than a full day of use”. The phone measures 152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9mm and weights 162g.

And the pricing. £229 for 16gb or £269 for the 64gb storage model!

In addition, the phone will feature always on voice commands, gestures and Cyanogenmod 11S rom running on android kitkat 4.4. Software features include advanced album and camera app, privacy guard, theming built in and the option to switch on the fly between on screen or capacitive buttons.

Question is, who isn’t buying one!

But a word of caution. This is a new company and a new product and with that are associated risks.

Samsung Wireless Charging Pad review

Android, Reviews, Tech News,

2014-04-23 17.32.16

The new Samsung QI wireless charging pad arrived a few days ago. Unlike other QI pads I have owned this one is small in size, insanely small and very unobtrusive. It is half the size of the Samsung S5. In fact it has the same depth too. In the small box you get the pad and a manual. Nothing else. Not even the Samsung 2 Amp Mains charger that you will need to use this product. If you use a lower than 2 amp charger it will flash its light. So that means having to use the 2 amp charger that came with the S5. So if you want another pad you will need to buy the official Samsung 2 Amp mains charger as well. At £34.99 I was not impressed it did not come with a charger.

It has a indicator light. When you connect a power source it goes from red to green to orange. The light flashes orange when not charging properly. It flashes green when using a charger under 2 amps.

The advantage of this method of charging is the intelligent electronics that stop the phone being charged once fully charged. It is also simpler just to place phone on top and you therefore won’t need to use the USB port on the phone and in turn open the flap that covers this port. But you will need the Samsung Wireless back cover for this to work. I am still waiting for mine to arrive in the post.

If you want one of these Clove Technology have them in stock. http://www.clove.co.uk/samsung-s-charger-pad