Samsung Ativ S review: A fresh start

Introduction

Microsoft's campaign is underway across the board with Windows 8, RT and WP 8 and all eyes are now set on Redmond's allies for a demonstration of fire power. Following some early warning shots from Nokia and HTC, Samsung are now free to fire at will.

Samsung Ativ S official pictures

Their Ativ S was the first Windows Phone 8 flagship announced and, respectful of chronology, the first we're about to properly review. The Nokia Lumia 920, the HTC Windows Phone 8X and the Ativ S are often painted as allies - but that's mostly rhetoric. To a certain point, they have little choice but to unite against the Android and iPhone hordes. On the other hand, these fine smartphones will be sworn enemies fighting over every user drawn close enough by Microsoft's upgraded platform.

And by the way, Windows Phone 8's appeal is easy enough to understand. It is now a consistent cross-device platform that will get app developers interested. Multiple-core-chipset and screen resolution support will help Microsoft-powered devices stand next to their Android and iOS counterparts as equals.

OEMs on the other hand are also giving potential users a good enough reason to be excited. Just look at what the Ativ S is offering to those who are willing to go with Samsung.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support


• Quad-band 3G with 42 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA support


• 4.8" 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of 720 x 1280 pixel resolution


• Scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 2 display


• 8 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash, 1080p@30fps video recording


• 1.9MP front camera


• Windows Phone 8 OS (Apollo)


• 1.5GHz dual-core Krait CPU, Adreno 225 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset, 1GB of RAM


• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band


• GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS support


• Digital compass


• 16/32GB of on-board storage


• microSD slot


• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic


• Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor


• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack


• microUSB port


• Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and EDR, file transfers


• Impressively deep and coherent SNS integration throughout the interface


• Xbox Live integration and Xbox management


• Data Sense


• Class-leading JavaScript performance


• NFC support


• Samsung exclusive apps: Music hub, Chat on, Photo editor

Main disadvantages

• App catalog falls short of Android and iOS


• Competition has quad-core Krait CPUs already


• Costs more than the Galaxy S III SIM-free


• No FM radio
  
• No system-wide file manager


• No voice-guided navigation


• No music player equalizers


• No lockscreen shortcuts

So, there we are. The Ativ S is running an OS that has just had its potential unlocked by a major update. The hardware powering has been inspired by no other but Samsung's droid flagship, the Galaxy S III. OK, it's a different chipset, and a couple of CPU cores short, but most of the rest is there - from the HD Super AMOLED screen to the 8MP camera.

Windows Phone 8 has finally caught up with the industry leaders. There's a massive gap between Samsung's last generation of Windows Phone and the Ativ S. Goodbye, Omnia and, sorry to say, you won't be badly missed. They could've done better when naming the new lineup, that's for sure. But the fresh start most certainly called for a brand new name.

Samsung Ativ S live pictures

That's a minor point though - we can live with a name without a ring as long as the engine's got a hearty rumble. So, we're taking the Samsung Ativ S out for a spin and you're most welcome to join. Hit the jump to the design and build.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

It will be a while before Windows Phone 7.8 update is released

Windows Phone 8 might be officially out, but the Windows Phone 7.8 update is nowhere to be found. Microsoft even ignored the matter during the press conference yesterday.

Latest online rumor has it, the Windows Phone 7.8 will be released a few weeks after the first WP8 devices hit the shelves. Then we would have to wait for the first wave of cheap WP7.8 devices that will run the release out of the box and later all old-gen Windows Phone handsets will get the update as an OTA or via Zune.

We guess all of the previous Windows Phone owners would have to wait at least a month to get the goodies brought by the 7.8 update. Let's hope the update will be worth the wait.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Huawei debuts 5-inch Ascend D2, quad-core and Jelly Bean in tow

Huawei is the latest manufacturer to join in the phablet race and it sets its sights on the Galaxy Note II, Oppo Find 5, Optimus Vu and the Pantech Vega R3. The company just unveiled the Ascend D2 and it's been showcased in China and promised to bring it to the (local) market in early 2013.

The highlights of the Huawei Ascend D2's specs sheet include a 5" screen of an unknown resolution, a quad-core processor with four 1.5 GHz cores (probably the home-backed K3V), a 13 MP snapper on the back and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean installed. There's also a 1.3 MP front-facing camera and 3000 mAh battery.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Pokemon Black 2 White 2 a Genuine Sequel?

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2. Yup, I had my doubts. After so many Pokemon games, I really started to feel like most were simple copy and paste games with a few added tweaks here and there to make it seem like a stand alone game. And while not every Pokemon game was like this, I still felt that far too many were. When I first read about Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 I thought, "So, yet another Pokemon game that's more or less the same thing. Figures." But my curiosity peaked when I heard from fellow gamers that they were surprised with what the games have to offer and the sheer amount of new content. For those who know you would like the game already, here are some links to Amazon and Grainger Games. In this review, I'll cover a few reasons why even a worn out Pokemon fan like me has reason to see the franchise in a different way; rejuvenated,  if you will. And there's almost nothing better than welcoming back a dear friend you've known almost your whole life. In this case, perhaps we needed the time apart, because the changes are, for the most part, a much needed, refreshing experience.

Pokemon Black 2 White 2 Trailer Youtube vid by AttemptedHeadshotDS

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Nokia outs Q3 2012 results, reports reduced operating loss

Nokia's financial results for Q3 2012 are out and things are still looking grim for the Finns, which have reported an operating loss of $754 million.

If you recall, for each of the last three quarters Nokia had to report north of a $1 billion loss. That's why the company had to undertake some unpleasant job cuts and we guess the results are starting to show up.

There's more bad news for Nokia, too, as the company only managed to push 76.6 million featurephones, from which the Asha lineup accounted for 6.5 million units. The really bad news is that Lumia sales have dropped to 2.9 million (from a total of 6.3 million smartphones shipped) compared to last quarter's 4 million. The Windows Phone 8 launch just couldn't come soon enough for the Finns, which are now facing a do or die situation.

The report also shows that Nokia Siemens Networks managed to make a profit of $238.5 million, managing to helping the company in these hard times of transition to Windows Phone. Speaking of that, Microsoft also chimed in with their $250 million cheque for the quarter.

Lastly, Nokia reports cash reserves of $4.66 billion, which doesn't compare particularly favorably to the $6.64 billion the company had in its pockets at the same point of last year. In the report, the company issued a warning towards investors that the upcoming Q4 quarter will still be bumpy. The reason, as Stephen Elop puts it is "product transitions and our ramp up plan for our new devices."

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Oppo Find 5 has a FullHD 5-inch screen, pics and specs emerge

The Oppo Find 5 is no stranger to us, we've already heard the rumors. And this time around they seem to be confirmed to the letter.

The Oppo Find 5 has a 5-inch screen of FullHD resolution with a narrow 3mm bezel. It runs on 1.5Ghz Qualcomm's APQ8064 quad-core chipset with 2GB RAM. The aluminum unibody has a thickness of merely 6.9mm and the 12MP camera with a Sony backlit sensor allegedly doesn't bulge at all.

But that's not all, as there is also a nice and hefty 2500mAh battery inside to power the thing. Oh, and there's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean pre-installed.

Oppo Find 5

A 5-inch screen with Full HD resolution, now that does ring some bells, doesn't it? The recently introduced HTC J has similar specs but it's for Japan only.

The Oppo Find 5 will be available in 16GB and 32GB versions, priced at 3000 Chinese yuan (about US$475) and 3300 Chinese yuan (about US$520) respectively. Those are unsubsidized prices, but the Oppo Find 5 is reportedly coming with support for GSM and UMTS (with HSPA) networks, so it's compatible with China Unicom's network. This is also good news if you are planning to get one imported to Europe or America, as there are plenty of carriers to support those standards there.

I bet we'll be seeing even more devices with such monstrous screens come out soon.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Sony Xperia miro review: You too

Introduction

In a world full of phones you wish you could afford, the Sony Xperia miro is one you don't have to wish too hard for. In honesty, Sony didn't work themselves too hard, but when you're putting together a portfolio from scratch, you want it built on solid foundations.

The Xperia miro is another simple package joining the ranks, filling in the blank space between the Xperia tipo and the Xperia go. The miro is a notch above the tipo, and costs an extra few bucks - Sony went about it strictly by the book without taking unnecessary risks.

Sony Xperia miro official pictures

The looks of the Xperia go - minus the rugged treatment - with the Xperia tipo's internals. It's a fairly straightforward mixture that will also fill the price gap between the starter package and the rugged smartphone. Lots of choice for different budgets is the secret to a large and loyal user base.

Let's have a look now at all the features and the possible deal-breakers.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band UMTS support


• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA


• 3.5" 16M-color LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen of HVGA resolution (320 x 480 pixels) at around 165 ppi


• Android OS v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich


• 800 MHz Cortex-A5 CPU, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7225A chipset


• 512 MB of RAM


• 4GB of inbuilt storage (2.2GB user available)


• microSD slot (32GB supported)


• 5 MP autofocus camera, single LED flashlight, geotagging, smile detection, touch focus


• VGA video @ 30fps


• Secondary VGA front camera


• Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot


• GPS with A-GPS


• Accelerometer and proximity sensor


• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack


• Stereo FM radio with RDS


• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1


• 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery

Main disadvantages

• Middling screen quality


• Non-hot-swappable microSD slot


• No hardware shutter key


• No DivX/XviD support


• Occasional lags in the user interface


• Mediocre audio output

The major improvements over the Xperia tipo are the bigger LED-backlit screen, the higher-res camera and the secondary cam for video calls. The screen is the same size and resolution as the Xperia go's but isn't the Bravia-backed Reality display we've seen on a number of Sony and Sony Ericsson handsets.

Sony Xperia miro live pictures

That and the single-core CPU, as well as the non-rugged build, has helped the Xperia miro lower the price considerably. Overall though, it's clearly a bet on the safe side - the Xperia miro is perfectly on par with its main competitors. So let's give this fella a chance and see what it's really made of.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

The Absolutely Great Square Pack

The absolutely great square pack has the number one spot on Amazon's best selling video games list. Here's the deal they're offering: 7 games plus a DLC for $9.99, the original list price being $164.68 - about a 94% savings as you save around $154 bucks. Now, normally I don't post about a deal as my reviews are about the games themselves, but this one seems like a steal. And the reason I write these reviews is to help you determine which games you may want and save you some money. Well, I'd be doing you a disservice by not mentioning any deals I come across that are actually worth it. There's a lot of people reading this blog and I thought I should give you all a heads up just in case you aren't aware. This is one of those weekly deals Amazon promotes. So it should end around October 20th.

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4-inch Samsung Galaxy S III mini officially unveiled

No, we didnt scale the images wrong, it's the new Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini that was just announced in Germany. Brought on by an increasing demand for 4" droids with good specs, the S III mini wants to please people who find the 4.8" screen of its big brother to be just too big.

Bearing the S III title, the mini has the same nature-inspired design as the big S III and the Galaxy Note II. And it will be running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at launch with the same TouchWiz customizations that its bigger siblings enjoy, like S Voice and Smart Stay.

Samsung Galaxy S III mini official photos

Looks aside, the specs of the I8190 Galaxy S III mini doesnt quite live up to its name. It has a 4" Super AMOLED screen of WVGA resolution (and a PenTile matrix). Inside is a ST-Ericsson NovaThor chipset with two Cortex-A9 cores, ticking at 1GHz, 1GB of RAM and a Mali-400 GPU.

The main camera has a 5MP sensor and an LED flash and it's capable of shooting 720p video. There's a VGA front-facing camera too.

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini offers quad-band 2G and tri-band 3G connectivity (with 14.4Mbps HSDPA and 5.76Mbps HSUPA), dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. The internal storage comes in 8GB or 16GB versions and there's a microSD card slot if you need more.

Basically, the whole Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini is a Galaxy S/Galaxy S II hybrid (with almost the exact same specs as the I9070 Galaxy S Advance) that was styled to look like a Galaxy S III.

More Samsung Galaxy S III mini official photos

The dimensions of the phone are 121.6 x 63 x 9.9 mm and it weighs 111.5g and the battery has 1500mAh capacity.

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini is expected to launch in November. If you want to be among the first to get it, Clove UK is already taking pre-orders. The current asking price is 298 (370, $480).

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Lumia 820 and 920 wireless charging accessories pricing revealed

Since the next generation Lumia announcement lots of people have been wondering on the pricing of those shiny wireless charging accessories. Well, the good news is that it has now been revealed, but the bad news is that you probably won’t like it.

Clove UK is already taking pre-orders for the wireless charging shell, plate, stand and pillow. The accessories will be released alongside the Lumia 820 and 920, whenever the two smartphones launch.

Starting off with the Lumia 820 wireless charging shell – that’s a new battery cover that will enable the wireless charging functionality on your smartphone. The cover costs £20 (€25), but you still need to buy the plate, stand or pillow to get wireless charging working. The Lumia 920 back is already equipped to work with the wireless charging accessories, so you won’t have to buy a new shell for it.

The wireless charging plate costs £55 or €68. The stand goes for £70 or €87 and finally the Fatboy pillow can be yours for £80 or €100.

In case you are interested in the official Nokia JBL Playup portable wireless speaker, you can pre-order it for £145 (€180).

Are you ready to pay such prices for those accessories or you have suddenly lost interest in the wireless charging functionality of the Lumia duo?

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

This iPhone has been sleeping with the fishes for 6 months and it still works

Modern day smartphones are great at many tasks, but unfortunately, swimming is not among them. Ken Hovanes learned this the hard way when he accidentally dropped his iPhone in a lake about six months ago. The water in the lake was 2m deep and murky back then so Ken gave up on retrieving the device and bought a new iPhone.

Fast forward to more recent times. After finding the lake waters have slightly receded, Ken went to search for his iPhone again. And he found it, still sitting on the bottom. What surprised him most however, is that it still worked.

The battery is dead (you can see the bulge on the back), there’s no Wi-Fi, and the screen is all messed up. The rusty 30-pin port supplies the phone with power, but won’t transfer data just yet. Yes, the newly found iPhone won’t win a beauty contest and it’s hardly usable, but Ken has high hopes (and high chances) of finding a way to offload the photos from the device.

Water damage does not stop this iPhone from working

So do you have an amazing electronics water damage survival story yourselves? Share it in the comments below.

You can also check out some more photos at the source below.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Samsung Galaxy S III mini preview: First look

Introduction

The Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini is like a nostalgic return to the roots for the highly successful Galaxy S franchise. Quite similar to the original Galaxy S specs-wise, the new SIII mini aims to get as much of the Galaxy S III's personality into a smaller package that's easy on the thumb - and pocket.

The original Samsung Galaxy S III is currently the smartphone to beat, but to many it's too large of a slab to handle. A strong point can be made that a large screen is a must for a great browsing experience or video watching on the go, but not everyone is willing to put up a with the body size such a screen implies.

Samsung Galaxy S III mini official photos

The Galaxy SIII mini is ready to deal a serious blow to the competition in the midrange, by offering a more compact (and cheaper!) way to get the premium smartphone experience. An ambitious goal it is, but Samsung isn't afraid of a challenge.

Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III mini at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps


• Form factor: Touchscreen bar


• Dimensions: 121.55 x 63 x 9.85 mm, 111.5 g


• Display: 4" 16M-color WVGA (480 x 800 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen


• Chipset: 1GHz dual-core processor, Mali-400MP GPU, 1GB RAM


• OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean); TouchWiz UX


• Memory: 16 GB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot (up to 32 GB)


• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus, face and smile detection; 720p (1280 x 720) video recording at 30fps


• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, stereo Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, stereo FM radio with RDS, NFC


• Misc: built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input

Actually, the spec sheet is not even half as exciting as the SIII's. The mini version has the unmistakable styling of the flagship but that's about where it stops. At first glance, it's much closer to the original Galaxy S. In fact, it looks like Samsung is merely publishing a remastered version of their 2010 hit single.

Well, we hate to jump to conclusions. Perhaps, there's more than meets the eye.

The Samsung Galaxy S III mini studio shots

We'll only know whether Samsung managed to get enough bang out of the middling specs when we are done with this preview, so let's waste no more time and get going. The hardware inspection starts right after the break.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Google updates Street View with more than 250,000 miles of new imagery

Google has substantially updated its Google Maps Street View service, updating 250,000 miles of roads around the world.

The Street View coverage is now extended to cover Macau, Singapore, Sweden, the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway and Canada. Google is also launching special collections in South Africa, Japan, Spain, France, Brazil and Mexico, among others.

Google says this is the largest update it has ever released for Street View and I am inclined to believe them. Now, you can view even more attractions all around the world from the comfort of your couch. That is, until you save enough money for this nice trip to Spain you’ve been dreaming of.

You can check out the cool places Google has added to its Street View by following this link.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Motorola DROID RAZR HD duo will hit Verizon on October 18

Verizon Wireless announced that the Motorola DROID RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD duo will land on its shelves on October 18. The DROID RAZR HD will be priced at $199.99, while the 3300mAh sporting RAZR MAXX HD will set potential users back with $299.99.

There is no difference between the specs of the two smartphones, save for the battery and internal memory size. Both handsets feature dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 silicon, 4.7" HD screen, 8MP, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. An update to Jelly Bean is in the pipeline for the duo before the year's end. You can see our first look at the two smartphones over here.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Motorola cancels ICS update for certain devices

Back in February, Motorola released a chart with names and dates that told us when each of its Android devices will be getting upgraded to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. Unfortunately, it seems the company won't be able to keep its promise for all the announced devices.

The updated chart now showws that the Motorola Atrix 4G, Photon 4G and the Electrify do not qualify for the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade and will remain on Gingerbread. Other devices remain unaffected, with perhaps some minor changes in dates at most.

Hopefully, this will be the extent of the changes, with no more devices (and their owners) being forced to suffer on Gingerbread.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

ICS updates for several Sony Xperia devices are now live

After a spring filled with anticipation, the Xperia U, go and sola were among the last remaining devices among the new Xperia line to not be running Android 4.0.

It's unsure whether the update brings with it some of the nifty ICS features we saw on the Xperia T flagship, such as the redone Album and Movies apps, but at the very least these devices will be getting the usual bug fixes, optimizations and peace of mind that come with a higher OS version.

One thing worth mentioning is that the Xperia sola is set to receive a special "glove mode" feature that allows it to utilize the devices floating touch display technology to use the device even with gloves on.

The availability of the update will depend upon market and carrier requirements, so it make take a while for it to come to your particular neck of the woods.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Apple no longer calls its Maps the most beautiful and powerful ever

Hot on the heels of the new alternative Maps apps section in the AppStore, Apple has also toned down the elated iOS6 Maps app copy as keen visitors to its website have spotted.

As the screenshot conveniently points, the previous copy called the new Maps app “the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever”. The new wording turns the attention to another key feature – “the beautiful vector-based interface that scales and zooms with ease” and certainly takes a more modest stance.

I wonder when is Apple going to change the messed up icon as well.

It clearly shows a navigation route making a sharp left off a bridge.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana