Category Archives: Phones

Samsung Galaxy SIII – Our Top 10 Features

Arguably one of the best Android smartphones to ever be produced, the Samsung Galaxy SIII is certainly our favourite amongst the many Androids we have owned and tried.

Rather than write just another review piece, we present to you our Top 10 Features:

1. Speed

Equipped with Samsung’s Quad-Core Exynos 1.4 GHz CPU, and 1GB of RAM, the Galaxy SIII is always ready to keep up with you. Paired with Samsung’s nature inspired Touchwiz UX interface the whole experience is very fluid and fast. Further proof is the 6000+ high Quadrant scores that are easily achievable with this handset. For extra performance, and if you are a little game, there are ways to overclock the handset up to a staggering 1.8Ghz.

2. Weight

At 8.6mm thin, and weighing in at only 133 grams, you can at times be excused for forgetting you are even holding anything, let alone one of the best phones in the world. With Samsung’s new “pebble” design, the Galaxy SIII fits anywhere, even in the tightest jeans and is really a beautiful thing to hold.

3. Display

Samsung’s expertise with LED displays is very evident in the Samsung Galaxy SIII, being adorned with a gorgeous 4.8″ 1280×720 Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a pixel density of 306ppi. The display is razor sharp and displays games, movies and pictures in wonderful clarity and dimension. The auto brightness is more than sufficient and is able to be used even in the brightest of day light.

4. Touchwiz 5 User Interface

Samsung’s overall desire with the Galaxy SIII was a “nature experience” and it is evident right through the phone. From the second you swipe the unlock screen and get a lovely watery, ripply effect; to the faint watery and natural sounds that occur with everything from messages received to switching screens, etc..  The whole experience as noted above, is very fluid and natural feeling; and for want of a better word is a very “nice” feeling. Built on top of Android 4.04 Ice Cream Sandwich the Galaxy SIII can take advantage of the latest and greatest that Android has to offer and has done so in a very complimentary fashion.

5. S Software Suite

Carrying over largely from the Galaxy Note, the built in applications S Memo and S Planner are two indespensible applications for a heavy business user of the phone. When synched with your Microsoft Exchange server you can receive in all of your appointments in real time and have them displayed in the familiar “Outlook” style grid and can choose from Daily, Weekly or Monthly patterns with the familiar “pinch and zoom” we are now used to with many software applications. Add and change appointments in real time, even drag appointments through the screens to reschedule to another day or change appointment times. Another great feature is that by adding in the email address of your next client, they will be emailed a confirmation of your meeting time, as well as any follow changes or cancellations!

One of my favourite feature of the Galaxy Note and no doubt what gave the Phablet its namesake as S Memo. Whilst the Galaxy SIII doesn’t ship with the S Pen stylus, we have found that widely available stylus’ will still work just the same with S Memo, however you can purchase an S Pen especially designed for the SIII by Samsung. Take notes in real time just by handwriting them, drop in some pics, cut and paste and take notes all over them, then save the notes, or share to your favourite application. You don’t have to handwrite though as you can simply change over to text entry. Never lose that thought again!

6. 8MP Camera with Best Shot

If Samsung’s expertise in displays is evident in this powerhouse of a phone, their skill with cameras and images in general is every bit as evident in the camera. Producing stunning photos with brilliant colour depth and clarity, the camera features a burst setting with Best Shot. This works by the camera bursting off 8 shots within a couple of seconds then automatically selecting the best picture for you, or allowing you to do that yourself. Never miss that perfect shot again because someone’s eyes were closed or didn’t have that “perfect” smile ready just yet. The camera also features a raft of options from Scene Modes, Speed, Exposure and other fun settings to make sure you never miss out on a moment of the action. Videos are shot in full 1080P for maximum clarity.

7. Accessibility Options

Whilst the large display on the Galaxy SIII comes with a very well sized font set, there will be times that we need to increase font size or enlarge an image. In most applications such as web sites or the like, simply swiping out horizontally on the screen will enlarge the font and pics to suit your needs, however for text messages and other items in general, there is an option to set the Font size under Display settings and further again under the Messaging options simply enable “Use Volume Key” to change text sizes with the volume rocker. Don’t like the way messages are displayed? These can be changed as well with everything from the background, to the message or conversation bubbles having many options to increase contrast, colour or readability to suit the user.

8. Gesturing

Samsung have built some very smart features into the Galaxy SIII, such as “Palm touch to mute/pause”  which simply does what it says, by covering the screen with the palm of your hand, whilst media is playing with the screen on, perfect if you don’t want to be interrupted or un-naturally grab for your phones volume or power button! Also Tilt To Zoom you can zoom in our out on the screen simply by tilting the phone; Turn Over To Mute is handy during a meeting if you don’t want to be interrupted and my favourite Palm Swipe, just swipe your hand over the screen from left to right to take a screen capture! By the use of another feature “Smart Stay”, the Galaxy SIII is even able to detect when your eyes are no longer on the screen (if you’ve fallen asleep through a movie for example) and switch itself off! Now that’s clever Samsung.

9. S Beam

S Beam works by transferring data such as pictures, music or videos between two Galaxy SIII’s just by gentling tapping the backs of the two phones together. This is faster and easier than email, dropbox or Bluetooth and is a direct transfer of information between the two devices.

10. All Share

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a standard for home media sharing the all major media and home entertainment makers abide by to ensure device compatibility. The Galaxy SIII is very well equipped with DLNA functionality, picking up all of your home media servers and DLNA devices to share media to and from. Allshare works by allowing to you to send your videos, music or pictures out to your DLNA compatible large screen TV for example. At home, my Sony Bravia 55HX820, LG 47LM8600, LG BD660, Xbox 360 and PC’s, laptops and tablets are all able to receive data from my Galaxy SIII with the touch of a button. This is particularly handy if we have just taken a funny video and wish to share it with everyone on the big screen. By the inclusion of the just announced Sugarsync partership, Samsung are about to expand on Allshare’s capabilities, to be able to beam out to litterally any Allshare device around the globe! Samsung are also building Smartshare and Sugarsync into all new TV’s and Bluray players to even further enhance the experience.

Whilst there are just too many features to list them all (such as S Voice, NFC, Pop Up Play and more), we have tried to capture our Top 10 Features of the Galaxy SIII from a real life users’s perspective.

Everyone has different tastes and these are the features that after some two months of every day use, really catch us as outstanding.

I was just this morning asked to comment on what I like so much about the Galaxy SIII from a prospecitve buyer, my reply was “Light, fast, powerful, beautiful screen, excellent battery life and zero lag”.

That about sums it up. Let me know what your favourite features are below.

Android Laser Tag Anyone?

Get off your phone and be sociable! How many times have you heard that before?

Well how does a little game of Android Laser Tag grab you? Well now you can get off the couch and into an action packed game of lasertag with your mates, all powered by your favourite Android, or other smartphone.

What a classic match of Android Vs Apple!

Powered by most popular smartphones including Android, the Smartphone Laser Tag (AppTag) system from HEX3 works by securely strapping your phone into the laser gun where it connects via a high frequency sound (not Wifi or Bluetooth so it’s very adaptable). No microphone or speakers are required either as the HEX3 system uses your mobile phone for those tasks, although a headset might be warranted for addition volume or for a more stealthy approach.

All the action then takes place in and around you and on your mobile phone screen. There are various levels to choose from, and single and multi-player modes; you can even pick up ammo and health packs around the place!

So what are you waiting for? Get off the couch and get sociable now!

Wear Your Android On Your Wrist – Sony Smartwatch Out Now

We’ve all been there right? You’re in the middle of a Uni Tute or Client Meeting and you can feel your phone vibrating away in your pocket, you’re ever so keen to have a quick look and see who rang or if that was a life changing text message that just arrived. There’s nothing worse and you can’t wait to get out to a break and check in with the World.

Well now thanks to Sony, you don’t have to wait. Just casually glance down at your wrist and in James Bond style, read your messages or view your missed calls live from your phone screen. Yes really.

Wearable technology has been creeping in to our lives for some time now, but getting the mix right has always been a bit tricky for the hardware makers and fashion houses to get right.

The Sony Smartwatch is discreet enough that it might just work. For one, you won’t have that Secret Agent look of the 90′s wearing your Bluetooth headset flashing away in the local night spot for one.  Although recharging might be a challenge, you might look a little odd having a micro USB cable going from your wrist to a wall socket or PC hub! Just saying.

Available right now from Kogan in black for the great price of only $129.

Many features are available right out of the  box, however Sony advise the Smartwatch is customisable with a range of Apps from the Play Store.

Galaxy Note II Due In August?

One thing is certain, Samsung are the World’s #1 Phone Maker for a reason. Constantly innovating and keeping the market exciting and alive with a constant array of updated models is just what we love and need.

We just received word from MK News in Korea that the Note II (successor to the popular 5.3″ Note), is due to be released by the Korean company at IFA 2012.

Some details have also been announced by a Samsung official, mentioning a 5.5″ screen, Quad Core cpu (Exynos we would assume), a 12MP camera and Jelly Bean as standard.

Unfortunately the Note II will not ship with the UPB Unbreakable Plane Display as rumoured, with Samsung advising this has been reserved for a future unspecified model.

None the less, it appears Samsung are well on track for an October release with Note II, just in time to match Apple blow for blow with the iPhone 5.

Have you owned a Galaxy Note? How excited would you be for Note II? I know I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

 

 

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Leaked Prior to I/O 2012

Well there you have it, straight from the, err, Android’s mouth! As snapped by an avid Android fan on Google’s very own hardware site is a Galaxy Nexus soon to be sporting Jelly Bean.

In typical Android fashion, the Galaxy Nexus will be the very first to don the latest clothes from Google (still makes us want a Nexus dammit!).

One thing that is a little odd though, is that Google have not made an entire version jump with Jelly Bean. One would have expected Jelly Bean to be Android 4.0, as in previous iterations of the popular mobile OS.

Although, Eclair was 2.0 and Froyo 2.1 and Gingerbread 2.3. It wasn’t until Honeycomb (tablet only) that Android made the jump to 3.0 then  Ice Cream Sandwich saw the leap to 4.0.

Details are not yet clear of what to expect from Jelly Bean as leaks have been pretty well contained this time round, however we don’t have long to go as we would anticipate Jelly Bean to be released at Google I/O 2012, this time next week!

There have also been suggestions that Google I/O could also see the launch of the Android/ Google Vanilla tablet codenamed Nexus Tablet. Nexus is widely rumoured to be a Vanilla Jelly Bean 7″ Tablet, manufactured by Asus.

And don’t forget, the only way to follow all the very latest news from Google I/O 2012 is with its very own app, available from the Play Store, or scan below.

Source: Ausdroid, Redmond Pie, Google I/O

Ballistic Protection For Your Droid

If you are like us and love your Android like it’s your best friend, then you will certainly be after the very best in protection for it.

Look no further than Ballistic Cases. Offering a large range and near bullet proof protection for your techno pride and joy is what the Ballistic team are all about.

Stocking a large range sold directly from their website at 
http://www.goballisticcase.com.au
 you will find a range of heavy duty yet stylish cases for HTC, Motorola and of course Samsung.

The Galaxy SIII range is even coming on line now, as advised by Sales and Operations Manager, Craig Scott. Customers can place a pre-order on the web site now, with shipping following very soon there after.

With the precision engineering that goes into every device, not to mention the large HD screens and super light weight bodies that now adorn our Droids, it just makes sense to give them some adequate protection.

From Ballistic’s own words, “Our designs include many unique features, such as rubber on the inside to prevent scratches, absorb shock and promote cooling airflow. “

Here’s a look at some of the Galaxy SIII range:

The sleek, modern and colourful Lifestyle Smooth case

Then we have the tougher SG Maxx with belt clip and the ShellGel range

So whatchya waiting for?

Head on over to 
http://www.goballisticcase.com.au
 and make your choice. Your Droid will thank you for it.

Look for a full product review in the near future with the Ballistic team!

Ballistic cases are Designed to Survive Life!™

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