Samsung Galaxy S4 Review : Supernova

As the Galaxy S counter flips another digit, Samsung has hopes of getting an even tighter grip on the smartphone market, and reasserting its Android dominance. With two of the main rivals enjoying a head-start to the market, the Samsung Galaxy S4 would need to be something special to quickly erase their lead. Not to mention, it's looked upon to match, and outdo, its predecessor. And by the first impressions of the smartphone, that might be not be as tall an order as it sounds.

Full Specs Samsung Galaxy S4

The new Samsung flagship improves on just about every aspect of the previous generation, coupling more powerful hardware with another handful of new software features. With a bunch of new sensors too, the Galaxy S4 aims to be your must-have all-in-one tool.

Here's the full cheat sheet for our Samsung Galaxy S4 review:

Key features
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE; quad-band 3G with HSPA; LTE
5" 16M-color 1080p Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass 3
Android OS v4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
Quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300 CPU, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset/ Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7, PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU; Exynos 5410 chipset
2GB of RAM
13 MP autofocus camera with LED flash,1080p video recording @ 30fps, continuous autofocus and stereo sound
2 MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
Dual shot and dual video recording, Drama shot, Shot and sound
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
16GB/32/64GB of built-in storage
microSD card slot
microUSB port with USB host and MHL 2.0
Bluetooth v4.0
NFC
IR port for remote control functionality
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Barometer, thermometer, hygroscope
IR gesture sensor for Air gestures
Smart gestures: Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
Ample 2600 mAh battery with great endurance
7.9mm thickness
Smart volume and Adapt Sound features for the music player

Main disadvantages
Design is a bit played out by now
Hyperglaze finish doesn't feel as premium as aluminum on HTC One or glass on Xperia Z
No FM radio
Video recording is slightly worse than on the Galaxy S III; FOV in video is pretty narrow
Shared camera interface makes framing tricky

So, there are enough major wows, some minor ohs and just a few oh wells - not a bad achievement when you are succeeding the most popular droid of all time. The Samsung Galaxy S4 was always expected to aim for the top, but its announcement still managed to surprise a few. The fact that the Koreans squeezed a larger screen, a bigger battery and more power into something smaller than the Galaxy S III is impressive enough in its own right, but the novelties certainly don't end there.

We only got the chance to get to know a few of the Samsung Galaxy S4 exclusive software tricks in our preview, but we'll be testing the full set this time around. The new camera also showed promise and we'll put it through all the motions to find out if it can really live up to its potential. The hardware inspection starts right after the break, with the battery and display test following right after...[keep reading...]

HTC One Preview : Take Two

The name is quite a statement, but one that befits a smartphone that has the makings of a masterpiece. The HTC One builds on a time-honored tradition of unibody design and packs all the very latest tech available - some of which exclusive - to make what is perhaps one of the best all-rounded packages to see the light of day in the first half of 2013.

The HTC One is like a supercar - it's the best that current technology has to offer and while not everything is completely practical, it looks and handles great and is ready to wow its owner. And much like a car dealership, HTC is ready to offer you money if you trade in your old HTC phone - it's $100 or the value of the old phone, whichever is greater.

HTC One Full Specs

The biggest bullet point in the features list is the camera - a 4MP "ultra-pixel" camera. Yes, the resolution sounds too low, but this camera marks a first in the mobile phone imaging world, which puts it next to the Nokia 808 PureView and Lumia 920.

Speaking of a feature list, here it is. The One (camera aside) is basically a Butterfly with bumped up specs and a cool aluminum unibody.

HTC One at a glance :

• General: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, quad-band UMTS/HSPA, optional LTE Cat 3 (100Mbps downlink, 50Mbps uplink)
• Form factor: Aluminum unibody touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm, 143 g
• Display: 4.7" 16M-color 1080p (1080 x 1920 pixels) Super LCD 3 capacitive touchscreen, 469ppi pixel density; Corning Gorilla Glass 2
• Chipset: Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600
• CPU: Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300
• GPU: Adreno 320
• RAM: 2GB
• OS: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sense 5
• Memory: 32GB/64GB storage
• Camera: 4 megapixel auto-focus camera with ultra-pixels and Optical Image Stabilization; LED flash
• Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps with HDR; 720p @ 60fps
• Front camera: 2.1MP front-facing camera, 88°; 1080p@30fps video with HDR
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, IR port
• Battery: 2,300mAh Li-Po
• Misc: Beats Audio, BoomSound stereo speakers on the front, HDR microphone, HTC Zoe photo gallery

The camera is backed by ImageChip 2, which enables some advanced functionality. It takes the Scalado tech we first saw on the HTC One X and puts them into overdrive.

HTC is trying to move away from Android slightly. Yes, it's still a full-blown Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, but the new Sense UI version 5 transforms the interface into something that isn't instantly recognizable as Android, including a brand new homescreen and a gesture-based replacement for the menu button.

The company is also playing to its audio strengths - the usual Beats Audio is on board, but there's also BoomSound for the front-facing stereo speakers, which are said to blast out up to 93dB. Then there are the HDR microphones to ensure good call sound quality...continue reading

Sony Xperia Z : The Precision Engineered Full HD Smatrphone

The Precision Engineered Full HD Smartphone - YouTube