Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 rated by iFixit, James Franco stars in new ad
The fine folks at iFixit have ripped apart the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in an effort to find out how repair-friendly it is. The results were pretty good too, with iFixit giving the tablet a repairability rating of 8/10. It’s not perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than the third-gen iPad, which only managed to take home a 2/10 rating.
Opening the device up, iFixit found that it housed a total of 16 connectors, which they say is a “huge boon” for repairability. The device is sealed up with a handful of Phillips screws and clips, which means that it’s relatively easy to get into while still keeping out those tiny humans some affectionately call “children.” The Galaxy Note 10.1 also gets bonus points for having an easy-to-remove battery, despite the fact that a fair amount of cables have to be disconnected before you can take the battery out.
The screen also scored some major points, as the glass and the LCD are easy to separate. Worth mentioning are the EMI shields, with iFixit saying that they’re screwed in, which is a pretty rare thing. In all, the Galaxy Note 10.1 managed to take home a pretty great repairability score, so if you like taking your devices apart and fixing them yourself, you have a repair-friendly tablet with the Galaxy Note 10.1.
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Elsewhere on the Internet, James Franco can be seen starring in a brand new ad for the Galaxy Note 10.1. The 2:45 ad focuses once more on the multitaksing capabilities of the Galaxy Note 10.1, with Franco using the the tablet to record video and voice memos relating to skateboards and take a picture of a model’s strep throat before sending it off to her doctor. It’s a strange little ad, but definitely one that’s worth watching (especially if you happen to like James Franco). Check it out above, and be sure to peruse our story timeline below for more posts on the Galaxy Note 10.1!
The newest slide-out hardware QWERTY keyboard rocking smartphone has finally hit the market. That being the brand new Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE with the Now Network. Motorola calls this a “triple threat phone” with a great screen, PC-like keyboard, and dual-core processor. Stay tuned to find out how much of a threat it really is.
This represents the second device from Motorola to come out of the box with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and on-screen navigation keys here in the US. The device rocks some of the better hardware available (screen aside) but sadly the network is quite slow and their “4G LTE” is still nowhere to be seen. Lets take a look shall we? Hardware
To start with the hardware we’ll run down the specs, then go into more details after our hands-on video. The Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE comes with near top of the line specs, but falls short in a few places. The screen is 4.3-inches and rocks Moto’s Colorboost technology but sadly is only 960 x 540 qHD resolution, no 720p here. Other than that the rest of the specs are top-tier. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual-core processor (Just like the Galaxy S III) has 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (and micro-SD slot), an 8 megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video, 1.3 front for video chatting. Take a peek below:
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Then obviously we have that spacious and comfy 5-row QWERTY keyboard that also manages to be edge-lit for dark situations. The DROID 4′s was also edge-lit but they lights only came on as needed. With the PHOTON Q the key lights are always lit up. The keyboard is extremely easy to work with, and get use to — I just wish there was an Android home button on it. In comparison to the previous PHOTON, the new Q didn’t get much thinner, didn’t get a quad-core processor, and lost its kickstand in favor for a non-removable back and battery. Those last two are serious cons if you ask us — just saying! To round off the specs we get a dedicated camera button, HDMI-out for accessories, and a mediocre 1785 mAh battery. Motorola has always had better than average build quality with their hardware. It looks good, feels good, has a durable construction and more. That also means it’s quite heavy though. The vibration haptic feedback seems to rattle the keyboard area giving it a cheap feeling, but it’s no where near a cheap device. The combined soft and hard plastic design is odd and feels rather different, but we liked the overall feel during usage. The last thing we wanted to mention of the hardware is Motorola added a LED for notifications. It doesn’t light up while charging oddly, but does notify users of pending notifications and is rather bright. Green is the only color we’ve seen. Software
Running on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich you have nearly the latest and greatest Android OS, and surely it will receive Jelly Bean sometime in the future. Motorola’s been bringing some uniqueness to Android with smart actions, and now we have their clock/weather Circle Widget that I love, as well as a new way to set up homescreens. You won’t have 5-7 out of the box, and instead when you swipe to the side you’ll be greeted with options to set up additional screens. It’s a different approach, but we like the thought.
As usual Motorola’s webtop software is present, as well as the micro-USB/HDMI ports for their multiple accessories. The PHOTON Q 4G LTE will work with their desk dock, HD dock, and Lapdock computer accessories all with ease. Their HD dock we’ve seen before but as usual it is also available and compatible with the PHOTON Q 4G LTE, and we suggest those in need check it out. It’s made to be universal with future purchases too.
Motorola has continued to improve on their OS now that they’ve ditched their BLUR UI, and Android 4.0 ICS looks rather simple and pretty. Instead of changing everything it’s more of a skin than a complete overhaul. Hopefully Google continues to rub off on Motorola. Performance
Performance was stellar as expected. Running on the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor as the Galaxy S III, HTC One X (AT&T) and others yet having the smallest screen of them all we knew it would perform well. Quadrant results were impressive passing the 5,000 mark with memory and IO results scoring quite well. This mirrored daily usage of fast speeds, quick navigation, and a smooth experience. AnTuTu wasn’t as nice giving it a lower score than even the old Galaxy S II. Speedtest and 4G LTE
Sadly we must mention this because such a big selling part is the 4G LTE — which by the way is basically non existent for most of the US. Once the carrier gets up and running with their LTE this will be different, but for now their 3G is still dead slow. The Now Network 3G is still amazingly slow and until 4G LTE arrives this phone will crawl with browsing the web, app updates and more. I was constantly searching for WiFi all week. Once 4G LTE launches in more cities we’ll revisit these tests. a
Even 3G was hard to come by in terms of a good, stable, and fast connection. With Verizon and AT&T both far ahead with 4G LTE the light is starting to dim here — but hopefully they pull it together. T-Mobile is catching up and launching their LTE next year too. Camera and Battery Life
The camera is one area I can say Motorola has made significant improvement. Their previous phones like the dreadful DROID Bionic had some rather terrible cameras. While this still doesn’t compete with the Galaxy S III or HTC One X the 8 megapixel sensor is decent. Shutter speed has always been a problem but not anymore. The PHOTON Q 4G LTE was quite fast, and pictures were decent during daily usage. You’ll have no problems getting a good shot. Here’s a few samples:
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Next up is battery life. Sadly Motorola pulled a bad move and discarded the popular kickstand while also making the rear of the device non-removable. You can’t take off the back to access the battery, and it’s only 1785 mAh. Having the efficient S4 dual-core and a smaller non HD screen made battery life better than the average device these days, and we averaged well over 13 hours of solid usage. Enough for a days work. Wrap-Up
In the end the Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE is a great piece of hardware. The keyboard isn’t quite “PC-like” as they call it, but certainly one of the best keyboards on a phone we’ve used in a while. The screen isn’t HD but has great colors and brightness so that’s a plus. We wouldn’t really call this a triple threat but for those on the Now Network this is certainly one to consider — especially if you like the hardware keyboard.
Sadly the network is still no where near being up to par, especially with 2012 standards. Call quality was great, but data is another story. As a phone calls were clear, crisp, and rarely dropped and the speaker phone is amazingly loud on this device. Once the 4G LTE becomes a reality this phone will be a good option for the many who love a keyboard. As an added bonus this is the first smartphone from Motorola that can officially be unlocked. You can unlock its bootloader with their Unlock My Device website. The new Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE is available today starting at $199 with a new 2-year contract. If you love a keyboard and are willing to wait
for 4G LTE go pick one up today!
AOKP and MIUI both unleash Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ROMs
Who’s ready for the latest and greatest from both Google and some of the best developers in the world of Android? The popular folks from the AOKP (Android open kang project) have just issued their firstofficial ROM’s running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for multiple devices like the Nexus S, Nexus 7, andGalaxy Nexus. That isn’t all either because MIUI is doing the same today too.
This is great news as MIUI and AOKP are problaby two of the biggest ROM developers for Android other than CyanogenMod. First off the awesome image credit goes to ThaPHLASH from XDA Developers — and now lets talk about these ROM’s. Since the folks from Verizon are slowing down the update to Jelly Bean for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus (toro) MIUI and AOKP have you covered. Their first official 4.1 builds are available starting today.
MIUI has launched for the Nexus S, Nexus 7, and Galaxy Nexus and all the details for those are available in the MIUI Forums. For those wanting to see the full list of changes, tweaks, improvements and all that is new here is the MIUI changelog.
Then for the more adventurous we have AOKP. Where MIUI is more polished and completely overhauled AOKP is stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right from source. Which is then modded to have as many possibilities, features, improvements, and performance enhancements as physically possible. For those that want to customize everything under the sun you’ll want to start with the AOKP Jelly Bean 1 thread. As usual you guys know the drill. Do a quick Nandroid backup and start flashing. Enjoy!
Rumors of Nikon making an Android-powered smart camera have been popping up lately, but today we might have our first look at what to expect. That isn’t all either because according to some newly leaked pictures from Nikon Rumors, the popular photography company could have two Android cameras coming soon.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about an Android-powered camera, and earlier this month we got what appeared to be the first solid confirmation that Nikon had something coming. Between previous rumors and today’s new details we can expect Nikon to announce at least one Android camera later this month, set for August 22nd.
As you can see from the image above the “smart camera” will be running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Unfortunately we can’t gather much else from the images. We see a 12 megapixel shooter with a 3-inch touchscreen for the Android controls and interface, and if you look closely you’ll see a back, home, and menu button from top to bottom for the Android controls.
The leaks show two different cameras so the chance that Nikon actually announces two cameras with Android is certainly a possibility. The Verge was quick to dismiss the possibility, but I could see it happening. Taking a jump to Android we’re expecting Nikon to unveil a cheaper entry-level aimed device, then maybe a more advanced model for those interested. Either way stick around because we should be hearing more on or around August 22nd from Nikon themselves.
Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G for T-Mobile hardware leaks
Samsung and T-Mobile have partnered yet again to release another budget friendly handset to the market. Previously known as the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze Q, the new and upcoming Galaxy S Relay 4G (gasps for air) is the official name and we have a full 360 degrees view of the phone now. Head down past the break for more info.
This little slide-out QWERTY keyboard rocking dual-core phone is set to arrive on T-Mobile soon, although we don’t have all the details quite yet. Paired with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and decent hardware similar to a mini Galaxy S III with a keyboard this should be a nice phone.
The Galaxy S Relay 4G comes with a 4-inch display (not 720p HD) and the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor as the Galaxy S III and many other smartphones as of late. This ‘faux’ 4G device from T-Mobile was originally rumored to launch around the 15th of this month, but sadly that date has passed by without a peep from either side.
Unfortunately we still don’t have a full 100% list of specs, but have basically confirmed all the details outlined above, not to mention the picture shows us plenty. The new Galaxy S Relay 4G might still have a terrible name, but the phone isn’t half bad. Stay tuned as we wait for an official announcement from T-Mobile or Samsung.
Who is ready for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean CyanogenMod style? I’ve been rocking CM10 for a few weeks myself, and today the team at CyanogenMod has unveiled their brand new CM10 boot animation. This go around they’ve changed the tune and are all about simplicity. That and the 8-bit arcade music is just outright awesome.
So I’m sure a few are asking what the big deal about boot animations is, and there isn’t one really. Just like everything else in this awesome world of Android we can customize it — so we do. CyanogenMod has always had some of the best boot animations around and they’ve been showing off their next generation each time on YouTube, so here’s the latest:
So what do you guys think? Not quite as crazy as the last few. No more skateboards, no more CID, instead just a simple little logo. I actually dig it and will be tossing it on my own phone later today to give it a shot. Looks great on the Nexus 7 tablet though right? The simple design and 8-bit arcade style music is rather awesome if you ask me.
There are many quality ROM’s in the world of Android. Just yesterday we saw Jelly Bean builds arrive for AOKP and MIUI, but CyanogenMod is still one of the biggest around. This new boot animation mirrors their Android builds — and that is simplicity. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for multiple devices have already hit beta so be sure and hit your favorite developer site to get the latest and greatest. Who likes the new animation? rtechinsane,icodesource,SEO,SEO Tips,SEO Backlinks,SEO content,SEO tricks,SEO Engine,codes,gadgets,iphones,ipad,4G phones,geeks,reviews,database,DBMS, warehouse,datamining,datawarehouse
Samsung building a new Nexus according to leaked spec sheet
Samsung is back in the news again today, only this time we are talking about the next Nexus smartphone from Google. Yup, it’s time to start up those rumor mills again seeing that the Galaxy Nexushas been available for a while already. Google must be getting ready for their next release. What we see below is a spreadsheet claiming to show the new Nexus.
Samsung has made the last two “Nexus” devices, and so far they’ve done rather well but I just don’t see Google choosing them again, but anything is possible. If they go the Motorola route everyone will call them out since they now own Moto, and no other manufacturers seem to fit the bill. This leaves either Samsung again, or maybe an upcoming phone from ASUS.
What we have above is a supposedly “leaked” spreadsheet showing what Samsung’s been working on from the folks at SamMobile. One that claims to confirm more of a slight upgrade and bump in specs for the next Google flagship device than a complete overhaul. As you can see from the picture above the current Galaxy Nexus is also known as the GT-I9250, and the new “Nexus” is listed as GT-I9260, which shows an obvious increase to the next generation. Could this be real? Absolutely. Is it real? Probably not.
First off they list Samsung’s “Super AMOLED HD” screen wrong. As the HD actually comes first, not at the end. Not only that but the current Galaxy Nexus was an HD Super AMOLED, which this sheet got wrong. Second they also list the new Nexus as coming with a micro-SD card. I know everyone in the world of Android would like to see that, us included, but Google hasn’t offered it with their past few Nexi — why start now. The Nexus 7 didn’t even get one and it’s safe to say Google won’t be starting now.
Then in closing back in May the Wall Street Journal confidentially said the next round of Nexus devices would be from multiple manufacturers and Google would release a Nexus program to sell devices in their Play Store. That still hasn’t been confirmed, but if that turns out to be accurate this device we see today could be a great fit for Sammy. Better than what they have now but not topping their own flagship Galaxy S III. For now there’s no telling if this is real or fake, as much as we’d like to believe it. I personally think this is just a troll attempt, but we’ll be sure and update when we hear or see anything else. rtechinsane,icodesource,SEO,SEO Tips,SEO Backlinks,SEO content,SEO tricks,SEO Engine,codes,gadgets,iphones,ipad,4G phones,geeks,reviews,database,DBMS, warehouse,datamining,datawarehouse
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