Samsung UNPACKED 2013 Full Summary

Didn't watch the UNPACKED event? No worries we've got you covered. This article will summarize everything that happened during the conference and some of the key items about the S4.

The show started off following "Jeremy Maxwell's" story, and with JK Shin taking the reins for the announcement. Of course he goes on with the usual innovation speech, and how the new S4 changes lives. And this time it wasn't all just gimmicks. Samsung has been trying really hard now to change their image of a copy cat to an image of an innovator. Something Apple has had for a long time.

The S4

So lets get to the main attraction of the show, the S4 came with all the usual spec bumps you would expect, yet squeezing it all in to 7.9mm frame, only .3mm away from the iPhone 5. This is something that Samsung is sure to be proud of. But let's not get carried away, the S4 is dominated by a 5" 1080p AMOLED display. Remember this isn't an AMOLED Plus panel meaning that the screen still uses the PenTile matrix. But at 441 ppi it shouldn't be an issue.

Connectivity

On the connectivity side, this phone is loaded, with WiFi in the a, b, g, n, and ac flavors, and Bluetooth of the 4.0 variety, this is certainly an updated handset. This phone also has support for 3G and a handful of 4G bands and is expected to roll out on to 327 mobile operators world wide. An IR blaster is also integrated into the device. And the occasional MHL 2.0 in the Micro USB.

Performance

Though the CPU was never officially announced, the International variant is expected to have an Exynos 5440 with eight cores, four A15 cores and four A7 cores. While the U.S. variant is expected to have a Snapdragon 600. This time both variants will ship with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The S4 comes with either 16/32/64GB included all of which are expandable with the help of a MicroSD slot. The optics on this polycarbonate slate feature a rear facing 13MP camera and a 2MP front facing. The battery has been bumped up to a 2,600 mAh capacity, which is only 500 mAh away from the Note 2. The S4 comes loaded with all the usual sensors, yet it also has some odd ones as well, featuring a temperature and humidity sensor.

Colors and Accessories 

The phone only comes in two colors right now; Black Mist and White Frost. It will also launch with a variety of accessories, including a pouch, flip cover, protective case, and S View Cover. The S View Cover has an integrated transparent cut out, the cut out is used to show notifications and other information when the cover is on.

Software

Samsung has put a lot of effort in to their software trying to make TouchWiz helpful instead of a nuisance. Below is a list of software features highlighted in the announcement.

1. Smart Scroll - Tracks your eye so you can scroll without touching the display
2. Air View - Allows you to hover your finger over the display to open up previews 
3. Sound and Shot - Essentially attaches a audio clip to an image
4. S Translator - Spoken and written translation in nine languages
5. Group Play - A feature from the Nexus Q taken further, allows you to create a group playlist and let certain people gain access to certain speakers
6. Samsung Knox - Splits your phone in to two partitions, one for work and one for personal use
7. Dual Camera - Takes videos and pictures using both cameras and inserting both streams into one video or picture
8. Drama Shot - Takes 100 pictures in four seconds and stitches them together
9. Eraser - Speeds up the camera's shutter and allows you to remover subjects from the background
10. Dual Video Call - Streams a feed from both cameras to a person in a video call
11. Air Gesture - Allows you to use the phone without touching the display

Wrap - Up

Obviously Samsung is trying hard now to wriggle in to Apple's market share. The S3 gained iPhone owners' interest and now the S4 is supposed to gain their attention and hopefully their two-year contracts. But Samsung is creating an ecosystem of their own. By branding everything with a "S" it's reminiscent of branding that Apple does. Instead of a "S" there's an "i", this may cause a problem for Google, since Samsung already holds a large amount of influence on Android, they essentially control most of Google's paying market share. If Samsung decides to create their own app store and media marketplace like Amazon has now, it may spell trouble for Google. But for now the S4 seems to show that Samsung will keep on innovating and hopefully convert some iPhone users to Android.

Google launches Chrome beta for Android users for access to new features early

Google has launched the new Chrome beta app for the people that want to test Google's new features before they implement them into the actual app. You can't find this app with a search in the Play Store, so you are required to get the link. Another minor note is that this won't actually replace your current Chrome app.

You will find CSS Filters (HTML 5 feature), and up to 20 to 30 percent better benchmarks on Octane benchmark. Android 4.0 or later is required to download and install this application, so if you are okay with a lot of bugs but fast performance you should definitely give Chrome beta a try. 

Sources: The Verge, Droid Life, Google Play 

Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and 10 Get Jelly Bean Update

It seemed that Samsung's budget tablets would never officially get Jelly Bean and all of its goodies. Though some unofficial builds of Jelly Bean did make it to these tablets most of them weren't stable. Luckily Galaxy Tab owners can now get buttery goodness on their tablets starting today.

Of course the operating system is still layered with Touch Wiz, and has all of the standard bloatware included and the update is only rolling out to tabs in the U.S and Canada and is only rolling out to the wifi variants right now. You can get the update via Kies (Samsung's companion software) or OTA.

Your only 381MB from 4.1.1 goodness...

Pantech Discover: Get SIII Specs for a SII Price

Ever since the original Kindle Fire, electronics have made a shift towards a lower price. This trend has continued with the Nexus 7. And with the help of Android, Pantech was able to make a name for itself again. This time in the form of the Pantech Discover. This device provides a 4.8 inch 720p display, running only Android 4.0, has stereo speakers, and a 12.6 megapixel camera. Plus it has the obligatory Snapdragon S4, the dual core variant.

The phone still has the Pantech skin, which even contains a "beginner mode" for people that aren't experienced with smart phones. The phone will be released on January 11th and you can look forward to custom ROMs for this device in the future.

Source: The Verge

Amazon Releases the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire 2

It's about time that Amazon has cleared all the rumors that have followed about the Kindle Fire "2". Apparently this would not be the case as Amazon has released their newest e-readers, the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD. (Amazon always releases more than 1 product!)

The Jury Has Spoken! A Look at Tech's Largest Trial

The inevitable end has occurred. To the trial that got on the Judge's nerves and confused the jury, after a 21hr and 37min discussion, the jury has decided that Samsung should be the one to pay. 1 billion dollars. Still less than what Apple had asked for, but still in the end Samsung has lost. No devices have been banned yet, but the injunction still is to be determined. Now there are two sides to the tale. Samsung lost over the pinch to zoom patent that Apple owns. In Samsung's defense you can't copy what has already been stolen. Saying that Mitsubishi already had developed the technology a while back, but never patented it. Yet Apple was first to implement and patent it on a mobile device making it a totally new type of patent.

Seoul Court Rules On Apple and Samsung

We may not know what's going on in the Jury's mind in California, but we might see something along the lines of what's happening here. Recently a Seoul court has ruled that both companies have infringed on each others patents and both get a small financial slap, plus with some of their toys take away as well. Most of the products lost were previous gen products and don't apply too their latest handsets. For Apple, the lost $35,000 and the iPhone 4, plus the iPad 2. On Samsung's side they lost a smaller $22,000, losing the Galaxy Nexus, S, and SII. The patents Apple infringed were some based off of communications, and Samsung infringed Apple's patents on an animation where a user scrolls past a webpage. The money lost isn't the large factor. In fact the banning of the devices will hurt the companies the most. This won't affect us here in the U.S, but it may be a warning to what might happen in the future, and what might happen here as well. My advice: Go out and buy a Nexus or iPhone which ever you prefer, because you may not see it at your local store ever again.

Source: Pyrito

Microsoft Unveils New Logo

Seems like the Windows 8 logo takes another victim, this time the Windows Logo. Bringing a simplistic look which is sure to represent Widows 8. And this logo change has been long overdue, 25 years to be exact. Of course there is going to be some resistance before everyone jumps on to the bandwagon. But this is a change that's more dear to our hearts. Some of us aren't even as old as the original logo. But here's what we can expect. A whole knew look for the next wave of Microsoft products. Conspiracy thoughts aside, this is a new step for Microsoft, and it seems freakish Microsoft might as well win some customers over from Mac.

T-Mobile Adds Unlimited with No Throttling Data

Following in the footsteps of Sprint (and hopefully away from the limited data era) T-Mobile has released their own unlimited no throttling data service. All for the low cost of $20 per month, that is, with you paying for a non subsidized phone. But if you don't want to pay full for the phone the total cost would be $30 a month. Stil with no hotspot capability, which means you'll have to go back to the regular 5GB and 10GB plans T-Mobile offers. T-Mobile hasn't commented on whether it will offer the service on LTE. But you do save $20 compared to the other carriers, but you still will be paying for the device. If it does make its way to prepaid it will be a surefire hit, but we can dream.

Jetpack Joyride now Available on Amazon App Store

The year old popular game of avoiding lasers and rockets has finally made its way to Android. At least on the Amazon App Store. All for the low price of nothing. The one downside being that it will only work while you still have the Amazon App Store. There's no word on when it will be released on the Play Store. Be advised this is still new, meaning there are a load of optimizations to be done on the app before it becomes playable an all devices. Still there is no tablet optimized version, but it still runs with "blocky" graphics.

This is the first step for Halfbrick, since it still has to port the app on to the Playbook and other BB10 devices. Now we wait for Infinity Blade.

Xiaomi Phone 2 Now Announced

The iPhone from China or the Xiaomi Phone was a phone that brought power, build quality, and MIUI at an affordable price. It was so popular it almost beat the sales record of the iPhone it self! This time bringing specs no Android enthusiast could ever resist. A quad core snapdragon S4, the same one that scored well above 7,000 in Quadrant. Plus 2GB of RAM and a 28mm 2 Megapixel camera on the front with a 27mm F2.0 eight-megapixel BSI camera on the back. And an incredibly high ppi panel, a 720p 4.3" IPS screen that has a ppi of 341, that beats any other display on the market today.  Plus with great power comes horrible battery life, so the phone is packed with 2,000MAh of power, and you can opt for 3,000MAh at the cost of 2mm. Plus shipping with Jelly Bean, something other manufacturers have struggled to do. Plus featuring all the features of the previous Xiaomi. Such as dual partition, which allows you to have 2 versions of MIUI on the device. Plus security enhancements, and a Siri alternative, except it's in Chinese. All for the low price of $310, that's cheaper than the Nexus it self. But the company loses $60 producing each one. And for people on an incredibly low budget, there's the 1.7GHz Xiaomi Phone 1S which has all of these features except a dual core CPU and a lower resolution screen. 

Source: Engadget

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Adobe Kills Flash for Mobile

It seems Jobs was right, at least from now on. The once main marketing feature of Android and another non Apple devices was Flash. But now that its been killed off, many of us will look towards HTML 5. And that's the reason Adobe killed Flash off. No worries though, they're just killing development, meaning if you have flash on your Android you will still be able to use it, just don't expect any updates. Though many of that have used Flash on mobile it is a pain due to the lack of mouse input. But it did make web browsing sluggish on older hardware, yet made the web complete. But on the bright side it will push development for HTML 5 and make the web a better place (just check out our site). Still its long before Adobe kills of Flash for desktop, but Apple still doesn't like it, even on Mac. So it brings up a final question. When will Flash for desktop be killed off? Leave your answers down in the comments below, now if you'll excuse me I have to go to a mourning.

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Judge Orders Samsung and Apple to Meet

Just like siblings, there are times for the parent to come in. There are different stories on each side and who believe them, but sometimes its good to make up and be friends again. But just like an awkward couple, both companies would reply "it's complicated". Since Samsung has been providing parts for a lot of Apple products, yet are taking each other down in court. And just like a responsible parent they would be disappointed. That's what Judge Koh says at least. Since both companies have been accused for impending the jury process and both have blamed each other on many accounts. Apple says that it " has tried diligently to advance the process, Samsung has stymied those efforts". Where as Samsung "agreed to more than twenty revised instructions proposed by Apple and is continuing to review Apple's remaining disputed instructions for any common ground,". For now the jury hasn't been told about Steve Jobs' comments on Android and the destroyed evidence, and Apple went as far as preventing the Samsung logo being shown on equipment so it wouldn't seem the court has a favor on Samsung. As far as I can tell this looks like a forced settlement to me, since this argument could go on for decades (ahem, fanboys), now if we could just get them to hug it out.   

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Google's Latest Voice Search Revision Now on iOS

A dumbed down version of Google Now has finally arrived on iOS, an alternative to getting Siri illegally or if your device just doesn't support it. Bringing accurate voice to text and a more realistic AI to the table. Plus giving the exact look of Google Now. Plus giving access to Google's new Knowledge Graph. And the release date is pretty near, or at least "in a few days" according to Google.  And it's just an update, meaning no new app required, just get Google application for your iDevice. Of course it won't be tracking your everyday movements like Google Now does, but expect it to do something like Siri.

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Reuters Hacked, Fake Posts Published

The extremely popular news website was just hacked today, the result? A very sensitive article about Syria was posted. Reuters had first posted through Twitter about the hack. No major damage was done to the website overall. The only damage done was a fake post about an interview with leader of the Free Syrian Army, Riad al-Assad. Reuters claims no such interview had been done, and for now the blogging platform on Reuters has been taken down to address the problem. No word on when it will come back online, but this may be a warning to all the other news sites as well. Possibly CNN may be next or another news source but we doubt it will occur due to the fact that this hack only occurred on the blogging platform, which is more user accessible and hackable.

Final Edition of Windows 8 Leaked

Just after a day of completing the development cycle of Windows 8, an Enterprise version of this operating system has been leaked (could give you an idea where this came from). Though this isn't the full version, instead this is the "N" version meaning it doesn't have Windows Media Player pre-installed. Already this OS is available on certain torrent sites. As far as we know this is a legitimate leak. Still we wouldn't want to replace Windows 7 anytime soon. And really the Metro interface isn't worth it. But if you ever do download it, please use it in Virtual Box.

Facebook Stock Drops Below $20

Going public may have been they're biggest mistake, just after realizing the the popular social network had 83 million fake users their stock has dipped nearly half their offering price of $38. They hit an all time low of $19.91, but they closed at $20.84. This of course isn't good news at all for stock holders or Mark. The stock has been declining since their second quarter loss.

Republic Wireless Now Open To All

After waiting nearly a year, Republic Wireless has finally opened up for everyone. The "WiFi People" service ingeniously used Wi-Fi for using calls, texts, and of course data over Wi-Fi whenever available. Essentially  switching from VOIP and back. Now the extremely low price per month is achieved through Sprints 3G network unlike the WiMax network every other carrier is getting. Using Sprint's 3G is extremely slow, but the utilization of Wi-Fi is sure to combat that. The only phone that is currently available is the Motorola Defy XT which is definitively a step up from the previously available Optimus One, or the Optimus S. This phone is CDMA meaning you can't swap out SIM cards. But it still is a step up from the previous Optimus. The first time fee is a hefty $278, that includes the phone, start up fee, and the first month of service. After that it's a low fee of $19 per month. Hopefully more and more devices make their way to Republic's line up, but for now you're stuck with a relatively budget smartphone.

Via: Pyrito
Source: Republic Wireless

Freedom Pop's WiMax Case Now Taking $99 Pre-Orders

Cheap Smartphone buyers rejoice! Not necessarily, for those of you that are new to Freedom Pop, here's a quick run down. First of they give you free 500MB of data and every extra gigabyte costing $10. This is all data only so you'll be doing your calls through Skype or another VOIP app. For now the case is up for pre-order for $99 which is cheap compared to buying a comparable iPhone 4 unlocked. The case does add some considerable weight to your device, but it is worth the trade off of free internet. Freedom Pop has said there are plans of this case for Android device, but it will take some time.

Google Fiber Goes Live!

Finally after almost a year of waiting Google Fiber has finally touched American Soil, specifically Kansas City. And what you get is pretty impressive. Reaching 1GB/s internet speeds. You heard right 1 Gigabit, That's where Ethernet Maxes out. Plus something unexpected from Google as well, TV. You heard right, Google wasn't going to just stop with TV Shows, they've moved on to live TV as well. 

Included with $120 per month is a pretty satisfying offer. You get 1 TB of Google Drive storage, Full gigabit upload & download, TV Box, network box, and something interesting which will help Google stand out from the market as well aside from the huge download speeds, a free Nexus 7. Yup, that's your remote from now on. Of course you can opt out of TV and for $70 a month you get Gigabit Internet only, and if you're a cheapskate you can get internet for free with speeds of 5Mb/s download and 1Mb/s download, that's Google's "average". Of course this isn't rolling out to all of America only starting with Kansas City, but I'm pretty sure Google has plans to expand in the future. Your move Apple.