Xperia Blog revealed full render photos of the new Sony Xperia Z1. This will feature great sound and a 20.7mp G Sensor camera and the next upgrade to the Sony Xperia Z. So water and dust resistant. It will also have the latest snapdragon 800 chip.
Should be a great phone.
Samsung are releasing another screen size , this time at 12.2 inch screen
Is it me, but that is just too big to use comfortable as a tablet?
Image – Talk android
Acer announced the 6-inch Liquid S2 with 4K recording capability, a full HD IPS display and a Snapdragon 800 processor.The device sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED ring flash along with a 2MP front shooter capable of 1080p video, 2gb ram, 2,300 man battery and 4G. Acer also loaded up the S2 with several software enhancements on the camera side :quick first shot, favorite mode which lets you create up to five profiles with customized settings and effects.
Just who has a 4K TV to replay back those photos! And a 6 inch phone is just too big to use as a phone.
The other day the postman delivered a plain brown box, inside of which was the new Nexus 7 that I had ordered from Google less than 24 hours ago. That was the first surprise. The second was a Nexus 4. Google had reduced the pricing of this phone to £199 for the 16gb and £159 for the 8gb model. That represents great value. Also good timing, as I was due to be returning my Nokia Lumia 925 back to Nokia in a few days.
I recall when Google launched the original Nexus 7. That brought back bad memories. Poor build quality and equally bad customer service experience when trying to return the faulty tablet. It also had a poor screen and audio quality. So the first positive was a 24 hours from order to delivery. The second was the size of the box. It was a lot smaller than I thought. Opening the box and holding the new Nexus 7 immediately felt like a good experience. It was a solid well built tablet. Size wise, it is narrower than the iPad Mini, and as wide as the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. The N7 is the same thickness as the iPad Mini with a Smart Cover fitted.
Above is a photo comparison between the Nexus 4, new Nexus 7 and iPad Mini. Below is the from top to bottom, Nexus 4, Samsung Galaxy Note, new Nexus 7 and iPad Mini.
So what does the new Nexus 7 represent? The best of Google in an unbloated format in a pocketable 7 inch tablet. The screen is fantastic with 323ppi and makes viewing the iPad Mini rather unpleasant. The N7 speakers are a dual stereo setup with surround sound powered by Fraunhofer (the MP3 inventors). They sound average and I wish they went louder. With several headphones I have tried, the N7 has plenty of guts to power some of my more demanding cans, and sounds above average in quality. I would use the N7 as my primary MP3 device.
Now, the biggest complaint is android on a tablet doesn’t work properly because of the lack of android optimised tablet apps. That statement is true if you have a larger screened tablet, like say the Sony 10.1 inch Xperia Z tablet. But to my surprise, I have not come across any apps that don’t look fine on the N7. I think its balance of width and height just work really well. Only one app does not work, and that is BBC iPlayer, although I am sure that will get updated soon. So in use I am really enjoying the N7. I also have not changed the default launcher. It just works fine on the N7.
Interaction with the N7 is excellent too. It is a breeze to hold it and type with two fingers. If it is purchased on a table, I have found it not so easy to type in landscape at the moment as the keys are too close together. The iPad Mini, with the Smart Cover is keyboard mode, is considerably easier to type using both hands and all fingers, therefore faster. I would also add, that if you do a lot of data input, I would suggest using a full size iPad. The on screen keyboard is so fantastic, I can approach 80 words per minute.
I have installed 80 apps, 32 of which were games, half a dozen 30 seconds videos, 200 photos and still have 21gb free.
The new Nexus 7 is £199 for the 16gb and £239 for the 32gb, and currently Google are offering free shipping. Would I recommend the new Nexus 7. Yes, but I would also recommend waiting a few weeks to see what other companies competing for the same space also release.
But I will leave you with one thought. My iPad Mini 64gb (which I have now sold) cost £439 new. For the same money you can buy a Google N4 smartphone and the new Nexus 7. And this is a problem Apple need to combat.
Update – Qi wireless charging is built into the N7 just like the N4 phone. I received a Zens charging pad and it works a treat with the N7. Also using Google’s full resolution auto photo upload service is fantastic. Take shots on the N4, view them after Google has auto awesomed them on my N7. Photospheres are incredible.
As mentioned in my First Impressions of the new Nexus 7, I also received the Nexus 4 smartphone.
Above, the N4 is shown on top, with the Samsung Note, N7 and iPad Mini at the bottom. The N4 is approaching one year old, and consequently has now been updated to the very latest android 4.3 software. This has improved the phone over its first release a year ago. Google is likely to release a replacement for the N4, the N5 which will offer potentially better specs but the cost will be higher than the reduced N4 pricing. Many reviews have been written about this phone, but I thought I would add my insight.
I have installed 100 apps/games. With this number of apps/games I needed a better launcher than Google’s to manage the ease of access of all these apps. The above screenshot shows Apex Launcher with more rows and columns and the icons reduced to 85% of size to fit more on one screen.
The phone fits nicely in the hand and is a pleasure to use. It is fast and nippy and not full of bloatware. Everything works very well. The loudspeaker is adequate just about. Headphone quality is good and has ample volume. The camera is 8mp and so far the photos I have taken are reasonable. I had heard the camera was below par, but for most people it will do nicely. However, compared to the Nokia Lumia 925, it is about 30% behind. Features like Photosphere are great fun, and now Google does full quality uploads to Google+ and then notifies you when it has auto awesomed your photos.
But the key message is sim free and unlocked you can buy the 8gb for £159 or 16gb for £199. Terrific value and I am happy with my new phone. For now that is 🙂
Update – Qi wireless charging is built into the N4 just like the Nexus 7. I received a Zens charging pad and it works a treat with the N4. Also using Google’s full resolution auto photo upload service is fantastic. Take shots on the N4, view them after Google has auto awesomed them on my N7. Photospheres are incredible.
Don’t be surprised if you kids ask about NFC. McDonalds is now using NFC technology in some of its restaurants to create racing games on its tables with the aid of your NFC enabled smartphone.
LG G Pad is a full HD screen on an eight-inch form factor, similar to the iPad Mini screen size. It is equipped with a 1.7GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, has an 8.3-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) display with a PPI rating of 273 PPI, and has 16GB of internal storage in addition to 2GB of RAM. There’s a five-megapixel main camera paired with a 1.3MP webcam, and everything is powered by a 4,600mAh battery. The G Pad 8.3 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, measures 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm and 338g, while being available in black and white.
The new Nexus 7 still seems a better option though.
Hot on the heels of Vodafone and O2 turning on their LTE networks to compete against EE in 4G services in the UK, Three has confirmed its roadmap and pricing for 4G services. The UK’s fourth-largest carrier, owned by Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa, will start offering LTE beginning December 2013, starting first in London, Birmingham and Manchester; then going to 50 cities in 2014; and finally extending to 98 percent of the population by the end of 2015.
Three is offering 4G internet speeds in style to lure more people to its network by offering services at the same rates as it currently sells 3G — effectively a sizeable discount on what its competitors are doing.
Well done to Three UK!
Hang on, Samsung only a few months ago released the S4 Zoom.
Now its just announced the Zoom again but with LTE across Europe, and has named Deutsche Telekom, Tele2, Telia Sonera and Orange as some of the networks that’ll carry it.
Just wonder how owners of the non LTE version will feel having only just bought it!
The introduction of Nintendo 2DS, an entry-level dedicated portable gaming system that plays all Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS games in 2D, has been announced
Nintendo 2DS launches Oct. 12, the same day as Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, at a suggested retail price of $129.99.
The 2DS does not fold like the 3DS. Looking at the 2DS my first thoughts were how ugly it looked and disbelief that it did not fold like previous models. I am somewhat worried this will be a poor seller and another disaster like the Wii U. Maybe, it is time Nintendo started releasing their games as software on android, Windows Mobile and iOS.
So my question is, would you buy this?
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