Tomorrow could reveal more than the replacement to the S3.
In fact the Galaxy S III might also get a refresh and feature a better display, wireless charging, and 2,400 mAh battery.
If this did occur this would leave Samsung with a very strong line up.
Samsung has lost its High Court battle against Apple in the United Kingdom after a judge deemed that the patents the Korean company was using in its case should have never been granted.
Apple has now fended off 24 patent-infringement claims from Samsung, and Samsung’s bid to secure a 2.4% royalty on every 3G-equipped device the Cupertino company sells is looking increasingly unlikely.
Judge Christopher Floyd ruled that Apple’s products do not infringe Samsung’s patents that cover the ability to send and receive information over a 3G data network. Furthermore, Floyd found the uses existed in prior art, meaning Samsung’s patents are invalid.
What the world need is the UK Judges to sit on every patent lawsuit and use its common sense approach to bringing these nonsense cases from both sides to swift conclusions. All that is happening is that the lawyers are dreaming of their next luxury holiday whilst innovation potentially gets stifled.
The Korean Times published recently that Samsung global spend on marketing and advertising totals $11bn annually.
That’s right $11bn. No wonder everybody wants a Samsung phone.
With only a few days left before the launch of the S4, it is Samsung themselves who have revealed the photo of the S4. I have edited the photo by increasing the light to make it clearer, as Samsung’s original was darker. From the photo it clearly looks like they have retained the shape of the current S3.
There are two differentiators with iPhones and android devices. Price. The iPhone 5 costs a lot of money and yet android is significantly less and therefore more people will buy one based on price.
But what if the iPhone 6 went free. Apple could adopt the Google or Amazon model and make money from the software sales. Would this kill off android?
I doubt will we ever know, since I cannot see Apple moving along this business model. Not unless water freezes in hell first.
Starting earlier this year, Samsung has been running a series of commercials that follow a mythical company developing a Unicorn Apocalypse game. Samsung has released the Unicorn Apocalypse on the Google Play Store. In the game, you play as the lone unicorn that wreaks havoc on humanity. Samsung has provided the unicorn with magic dash powers and rainbow lasers to help in the battle against the Anti Unicorn Force. Link here.
Leaked via a Chinese website these well may be the S4. Then again it may not.
If these photos are the real deal would you spend £500 on it or opt for the HTC One or Sony Xperia Z?
These may not be real, but it could be fairly close to the actual S4. Only 4 days left to find out.
On Thursday I left rural Dartmoor, and travelled to London. It was the first time I was away from my mains power or car charger.
One thing shocked me about the iPhone 5 was its poor battery life that day. It went flat at 8pm coming off charge at 6.30am and spending over 6 hours on airplane mode to save battery. I did some investigation and realised the jail break was impacting the battery, but I also looked at the official specs and compared it to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and S3.
The iPhone 5 states it can browse the Internet for 8 hours on 3G and 10 hours on wifi. Since I used wifi most of the time, that might explain why I felt the loss of battery. It has a standby time of only 225 hours. The Samsung S3 is similar but has a standby time 3 times that of the iPhone 5. That seems odd.
But we all know the Note 2 is famed for its size and battery life. And here’s why. The Note 2 can browse the Internet over 3G for 16 hours and has a standby time of nearly 950 hours.
This clearly shows all phones of smartphone capabilities need to have the Note 2 stamina.
Yesterday I attempted to buy a Samsung Note 2 to replace my iPhone 5. It didn’t happen due to Three UK’s local store insisting on only offering it on contract only not pay as you go, which is clearly advertised. Most annoying at the time as scandalous service by 3.
And then I got home and Letterpress notified me on my iPhone that it was my turn. This is an online word game that you play against your friends or an unknown person. I normally have 3-4 games on the go. That got me thinking. If I moved to android I would lose this as android doesn’t have a Game Center system. The gaming experience and selection of games on iOS is currently unbeatable.
I was also considering the Xperia Z and maybe the HTC One both of which are meant to have better cameras that the iPhone 5. From early testing this is not the case and the iPhone 5 is still able to hold its own.
Then I thought about the size of the Note 2. No more one handed use. And I would have to make sure I wore clothing with large pockets to accommodate it.
And then I thought of all the iOS apps I have and how well they work on the iPhone. 120 apps (not games) that I can flick open with one hand on the home page. Trying do that with the Note 2.
Don’t get me wrong, android and the phones are very good but also very different. It then got me thinking that what if Apple did release a phablet. Would that destroy that market segment?
So here I am pondering my next move. Well I’m going to see if there is anything special about the Samsung Galaxy S4 when it’s announced on the 14th March. Part of me reckons that following the S4, both the Note 2 and S3 will reduce in price due to everyone upgrading and an over saturation of phones for sale. In turn this will put pressure on Sony and HTC, again reducing their phones.
Of course, the unknown is what Apple will do for certain!
Lots of noise in the press regarding Samsung and its use of plastic. Well the latest rumour is the S4 is not made of plastic but some futuristic material that similar to rubber in feel.
It will have a slight cushion feel to it making it less likely to get damage if dropped, run over or sat on.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 