iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II Drop Test

Folks at squaretrade.com tested the new iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S2. It seems it's not about the looks, because one of these smartphones is more durable than the other.

Verizon phones starting at a penny

Verizon Phones price dropped at a penny via Amazon

We are living hard times. You are holding back on making banging purchases and calculating your pennies for the moment. It seems that Amazon understand this, and for a limited time, they have made all Verizon Wireless phones almost ... free by dropping the price to merely a penny.

• Ultra-fast, 4G-enabled smartphone running Android 2.2 with 4.3-inch multi-touch Super LCD display
• GPS for navigation and location services
• 8-MP camera; 1.3-MP front-facing camera for video calls; HD 720p camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music;
• 1400 mAh rechargeable battery with long lasting life
• microSD expansion; HTML web browser; corporate and personal e-mail

• 480 x 800 4" WVGA capacitive touch screen
• rear camera - 8 megapixel
• Android 2.2 operating system
• Full HTML Browser with support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1
• the smartphone comes with a Pre-Installed SIM card that are both CDMA and GSM Capable.

 

• 1 GHz single-core processor, 1 GB internal memory,
• 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus, capture video in HD 720p resolution, front-facing VGA camera for video chats.
  
• Android 2.3 OS

• Android 2.2 operating system (Froyo) with over-the-air upgrade capability for future OS releases
• 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and auto focus, HD 720p video capture capabilities (1280 x 720 pixels)
• 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, 32 GB pre-loaded microSD memory card with support for other optional cards up to 32 GB, 2 GB internal memory
• 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with capacitive multi-touch capabilities, proximity sensor, and light sensor (480 x 800 pixels)

image and information sources: Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S II cost $ 2 in Australia

The smallest continent in the world is also the site of a real war between Apple and Samsung. Galaxy Tab 10.1 has just been banned from sale in Australia. Samsung retaliate in his own way.

They opened a store near an Apple Store and sold Samsung Galaxy S II at minuscule price: $2. Altough the offer is valid only for the first 10 people entering the Samsung store, the price is unbeatable. No wonder why a queue was formed. Folks moved out of the Apple Store and the iPhone 4S draftps to the South Korean company's shop.

Personally, I find the strategy desperate and I have long-term concerns regarding Samsung.

By the way, Samsung Galaxy S II will soon receive a software update that will change the way the menu shows the applications and will feature desktop multi-customizable screens. There seems to be a movement to get rid of some accusations brought by Apple.

LG Optimus 3D – review

LG Optimus 3D is a smartphone that wants to stand out from the crowd with its 3D display and two 5-megapixel cameras on the back that are capable of full HD movies in 3D and 2D HD.

Design, screen and sound

LG Optimus 3D is an amazing phone. You can see that just looking at it: quality materials are used and the metal case gives the impression of solidity.

On the left side are masked the microUSB port for HDMI. On the right side you'll find the buttons for adjusting volume and small buttons that activate the 3D function.


LG Optimus features a 4.3 inch 3D LCD screen with 480x800 resolution and 16 million colors. It seems good, but the sunlight brings a mirror effect that is disturbing, but that is not new for most smartphones. 3D menu, applications or content created in 3D can be seen with the naked eye, but could become annoyng after some time. The three-dimensional effect is really impressive, although the display is not that big.

The sound is strong and clear. No problems there

Harware

LG Optimus 3D has a dual-core processor clocked at 1 GHz, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, 512 MB ​​RAM, 8 GB of storage and supports microSD up to 32GB. Graphics accelerator is one of the most powerful in the market. The maximum storage reaches 40 GB but the original 8 GB can be enough at times.



Operating system interface, applications

The phone runs Android 2.2 Froyo and LG promised an upgrade to 2.3 Gingerbread. 3D is available only in landscape mode and you have a few shortcuts to 3D games, 3D content (photos and movies), etc..

You can make simple screenshots by pressing the power button and concomitant to the menu. The browsing is pretty fast! The preinstalled games could be played in 3D, but the effect is not that good. It's a new technology, so don't expect much.

Connectivity

Compared to competition, LG Optimus 3D has an HDMI connector in addition to 3G speeds, Wi-Fi b / g / n, DLNA, microUSB, 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi hotspot. Voice call quality is amazing and there are no signal problems of any kind. Touch QWERTY keyboard allows writing messages in portrait mode without accidentally typed more letters.



Camera / video

The phone features two 5-megapixels camera that can be switched between 2D or 3D. 2D video recording is not that good, and 3D video recording has no competition for the moment.

Space 3 – Smartphone of the future

I wrote about many future concept smartphones, but when I look at these pictures I realize that Space 3 is the cleanest and most interesting future smartphone I've ever seen.

Created by Wenhing Chu and Kok Keong Wong, the phone is a transparent smartphone made by 2 detachable screens interconnected by bluetooth named the mother and the lens. The screens are always connected and this means that you can use them as two areas of a bigger map, one displaying your current location and the other displaying the destination.

I was disappointed that no pictures with other functions of this concept future smartphone are available. I'm interested to see the menus and other cool apps that might be available for Space 3.

iPhone 5 launch date

iPhone 5 launch date - October 4

Last night Apple sent invitations to various journalists worldwide for the iPhone 5 launch, iCloud and iOS 5 presentation.

The image above could be found in the invitation, making space for a lot of speculation. Experts are already analyzing every detail of the symbolism behind the icons and their placement. Of course nobody knows exactly what Apple wanted to say but some things are certain: IOS 5, iCloud and at least a new iPhone model will be presented at the conference. Now let's talk about what we can expect fro iPhone 5 launch presentation.

The highlight of the conference on 4 October will be the launch of iPhone 5. It is rumored that the device will have a 4 inch screen, A5 processor just like iPad 2, 1 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM and graphics capabilites 9 times more powerful than the iPhone 4, 8 megapixel camera capable of shooting HD 1080p format, a new design and perhaps a younger brother named iPhone 4S. I've posted rumors about the internal components and I think that iPhone 5 will contain everything I have presented above, except of course the 4 inch screen. Regarding the price of the new device, you can expect to pull out of pockets around $ 700 / 800 for 16 GB version.

ps. Enjoy an interpretation of the image found in the invitation for the iPhone 5 launch presentation:

The Clock icon — “The hands of the clock are pointing at both the number 10 and the number 12. Actually, the second hand is also pointing at the number 12. Add those numbers up — 12 + 12 + 10 — and you get the number 34. This is very telling … Steve Jobs’ birth mother Joanne Simpson was remarried to George Simpson when she was 34 years old, which proves that the government is covering up everything that happened at Area 51 in 1966. But I digress. There’s a progression there. 3 … 4 … 5! Yes! The iPhone 5 will be announced!”


The Maps icon — “280 in the shield on this icon is an obvious indication that iOS 5 will be released and has 280 new or improved features. The meaning of the intersection of the yellow and orange lines is also obvious to anyone with half a brain — it means that Apple’s new products will come in two colors, orange and yellow. The red pin signifies that this icon might fall off of the web page and someone stuck a pin into it to keep that from happening.”


The Phone icon — “Ah, yes, the number 1. It can mean many things. One is the loneliest number, and its location on the upper right-hand corner of the icon has special meaning. That points to the northeast, and in the olden days of America, that’s where witches were burned — in the northeast part of the country. It is obvious to anyone that there is magic and witchcraft involved in the design of the new phones. The green pinstripes on the background portend an event where all of the Apple executives will be wearing suits. The white phone icon even has deep meaning. Note that it looks exactly like a silhouette of a fetus, which points to the birth of a new era of technology, cheap beer, and world peace.”

Retro iPhone Handset

Uh-huh, we acknowledge all those fancy bluetooth headsets for smartphones, but forget that stuff! I will reveal just for you guys the latest breakthrough in mobile phone technology and it's a big red hunk of plastic. The perfect accessory for your iPhone that money can buy. And guess what, it's not that expensive.
Features (via Amazon):

• Compatible with all 3.5mm jack mobile phones and computers, including iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad and latest MacBooks


• Noise-reducing technology for a crisp and polished sound


• Luxurious soft-touch finish for ultimate comfort and feel


• Eliminates up to 99 percentage of the radiation absorbed compared to a direct use of mobile phones


• One touch button for convenient pick-up/hang-up directly from the handset (not all mobile phone support function)

This is the bluetooth version of the retro headset. It comes in many colours and it's ready to be shipped.

Nokia Kinetic concept design

Concept designer Jeremy Innes-Hopkins has a fascinating concept smartphone named the Nokia Kinetic. The smartphone answers to notifications and calls through movement. An electromagnet in the base of the smartphone admits weight to be changed which induces the phone to rise when experiencing a call, for example.

This phone features a pioneer design. The slick and unique curves brings a fresh design that Nokia was lacking for years.

Samsung Galaxy S2 vs HTC Sensation

Here are some insights and general opinions:

HTC Sensation pros:
- Sense 3.0
- Higher screen resolutions(540×960)

HTC Sensation cons:
- Poor battery life
- Small internal memory
- Screen angle/in direct sunlight
- Size and weight

Samsung Galaxy S2 pros:
- Better battery life
- Amazing screen
- Nice size and weight
- Faster than HTC Sensation

Samsung Galaxy S2 cons:
- Touchwiz overlay
- Poor build quality compared to Sensation.



After reading several reviews, it's still hard to pick the winner in this one. Although Samsung Galaxy S2 is a faster phone, HTC Sensation is pretty good competitor. Pick your winner!

Nokia N9 Hands On Review

Click here for Nokia N9 Specs

Cell Phone Safety Infographic

Did you knew that cell phones are the number one distraction in any vehicle? While under 20 year old age group has the highest percentage of distracted drivers, the 30 to 39 year-old-age group has the highest percentage of cell phone use in fatal crashes.

via

Reasons iPhone 4 is the best business smartphone

Whenever you consider the iPhone 4 is just a glossy toy for Apple fan base, I have some arguments that business users should consider when buying a new smartphone.

Astonishingly, it is not better for business organization due to its fast performance, ultra-high resolution screen, folders, improved call quality or even multitasking. Its transcendence arrives from features and from functions that were under-reported and under-appreciated.

Here are some reasons I truly believe Apple's iPhone 4 is the best business phone ever created so far:


Cloud Sync for Notes
Almost every iPhone possessors up to now have not used Notes app on the old iPhones. But the iPhone 4 allows you to save Notes documents instantly to an IMAP-capable e-mail system, such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail.

iPhone 4 is really optimized for acquiring notes in business meetings and can really be used instead of laptops or tablets.

Apple FaceTime
Although Apple FaceTime does not support conference calling, the video calling through Wi-Fi really comes handy in the business world. And let's not forget that there are few applications that allows video conference.

Battery
Before iPhone 4, one of the biggest complaints about the iPhone was lousy battery life. That changed with the new iPhone, because it provides 7h of talk time. This means you can use our phone heavily and still get enough juice for few hours of internet browsing and gps/music listening per day.

Applications
iPhone platform has 225.000 applications that are likely to provide every business user with general business applications and narrowly focused options for every particular business. While we are on the subject, you  should check one of the best email solution for iPhone email sync

Droid Bionic Vs. Galaxy S II

Nokia N9 Specs - It's official!

Nokia N9 Specs: no buttons (except from the "Lock Screen" and "Volume Up / Down" buttons located on one side) MeeGo OS new internet browser based on WebKit 2 technology new version of Ovi Maps 3.9-inch AMOLED, with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels is protected by Gorilla Glass and curved towards inside 8MP camera, with Carl Zeiss lens and autofocus and HD stereo recording 1GHz processor, 1GB of Ram 16GB or 64GB of integrated internal memory Read more on Nokia Website

LG Android Smartphone With Dual-Touchscreen Pics Leaked

Pocket-Lint have released recently some interesting images with what seems to be that the dual screen LG comes with Android. At first look it's just a normal phone. All this change when you open the QWERTY keyboard. You'll find a second touchscreen flanked by keys.

There are other dual-screen phones on the market, but I think this one has the coolest design. LG knows how to pack their stuff.

There is no official name for this dual-touch-screen phone but I'm sure we'll hear more about it in a near future. I'm sure the phone will come at a reasonable price.

Nokia E6 review and video

This is Nokia E6 review, the new high-resolution touchscreen phone from the Finnish cell phone company. At 10.5 mm thin, 59 mm wide, the Nokia E6 is very compact and has battery up to a month's stand-by time. Yes, you heard me. Up to a month's stand-by time.

Oher features includes 8 Megapixel camera with fixed focus and dual LED flash, 640 x 480 pixels resolution, ARM CPU processor and the new Symbian ‘Anna’ Operating System.

Nokia E6 has 8GB of internal memory and support for MicroSD cards up to 32GB.

Nokia N8 walkthrough: Dolby Digital 5.1 and HDMI video output

This video demonstrates the amazing multimedia power of the Nokia N8. If you connect the Nokia N8 to a TV using the HDMI cable, you'll be able to watch HD movies with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound system.

In addition to this, the Nokia N8 features the best smartphone camera on the market right now (12 mpx camera).

More info on amazon:

iPhone security broken in 6 minutes, all passwords exposed...

You may sleep better because you feel if you will lose your iPhone everything is OK because it's secured. Think again. The Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology in Germany has created an iPhone app that can reveal all stored passwords in its keychain in about 6 minutes.

via TekGoblin

Check iPhone 4 vs HTC Desire

Cell Phone Usage InfoGraphic

It seems that the first two usage of cellphones are checking the time and texting. 42% of teens say that can text messages blindfolded.

The Best Smartphone Camera

After reading more than hours and hours of reviews, watching different video comparisons, I finally got some finalists:

HTC Desire HD vs Iphone 4 video comparison


Don't get me wrong, HTC Desire HD is a great smartphone. It takes amazing pictures, but when it comes to video, it seems that the audio is pretty lame. I thought it was a local problem on that particular device, but it's not. So, the iPhone 4 wins this battle, so far. There were no real competitors until I found this amazing phone:

Nokia N8 vs iPhone 4 video test


The difference is so obvious, there is nothing more to be said. Nokia N8 wins this one without any problems. Sure, if we talk about smartphone capability, iPhone 4 is a much better phone. Lots of apps, support, great design and a huge fan base. No argue about that. But when it comes to picture and video recording quality , the Nokia N8 is the winner. See 8 untouched pics taken with Nokia N8. So, I really it deserves the best spartphone camera trophy.