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

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean preview: First look

Introduction

Google used its I/O 2012 conference in San Francisco to unveil the latest release of Android. Carrying the version number 4.1, the new Android Jelly Bean is supposed to come as more of a polish to Ice Cream Sandwich, than a major game changer.

Don't think for a second though, that Jelly Bean doesn't have anything interesting to offer. On the contrary - the latest Android version brings a truckload of new features, and should help noticeably improve the overall user experience. Here goes the full breakdown:

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean changelog:

• Project Butter has brought smoother and faster feeling user interface


• Improved notification center with expandable and actionable notifications


• Updated widget behavior


• Improved camera and gallery apps for easy photo snapping and sharing


• Improved keyboard behavior with with word prediction


• Added Accessibility options with support for external Braille input


• Enhanced Android Beam allowing transfer of photos and video


• Offline Voice recognition and typing


• Google Voice search is more intelligent than ever


• Updated Google Search user interface


• Google Now adds automatic information feeds to your device (weather, traffic, sports, etc)


• Bi-Directional text and additional language support


• Truly high-resolution contact photos


• USB audio output and HDMI multichannel audio output


• App encryption and Smart App updates

The list might not be too long, but Android ICS was arguably the most feature-rich platform already, so major changes were hardly required. With Android easily the most popular mobile OS out there, Jelly Bean's task is to solidify its lead by polishing the user experience.

The Project Butter sounds like a great start, but it's certainly not the only trick up Jelly Bean's sleeve. The revamped notification center, the updated widgets and the new natural language searches should really make a difference to end users, while the improved Android SDK and extended API support should keep developers happy.

The question remains if every feature on the list work as advertised, so let's not waste any more time and start testing them out. User interface awaits you on the next page.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III preview: Second encounter

Introduction

There's no need for us to tell you the importance of the Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III for both its own manufacturer and the Android world in general - our daily interest stats speak for themselves. Its predecessor was really something special and what everyone wants to know now is whether or not the new Samsung flagship has what it takes to fill its boots.

Samsung Galaxy SIII official shots

The Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III seems to bring all the latest and greatest technology in the mobile world under one roof. The quad-core CPU and the HD screen are taking most of the glory here, but the S III has quite a lot more to offer, as you can see from the list below.

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
  
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
  
• Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133 g
  
• Display: 4.8" 16M-color HD (720 x 1280 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Gorilla Glass 2
  
• Chipset: Exynos 4212 Quad
  
• CPU: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 1.4 GHz processor
  
• GPU: Mali-400MP
  
• RAM: 1GB
  
• OS: Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
  Memory: 16/32/64GB storage, microSD card slot
  
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with backlit sensor, face detection, touch focus and image stabilization; Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps, LED flash, 2MP front facing camera, video-calls
  
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 3.0+HS, standard microUSB port,
  GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, TV-out, USB-on-the-go, NFC
  Battery: 2100 mAh
  
• Misc: TouchWiz 4.0 UI, Extremely rich video/audio codec support, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor, RGB sensor, Smart stay eye-tracking, S Voice natural language commands and dictation
  

A lengthy list for sure and pretty great for the most part. In addition to plenty of extra screen estate, resolution and processing power, the Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III brings a new, much larger battery, the futuristic sounding eye-tracking technology, and also hides several cool software tricks up its sleeve.

In fact, of all the rumored goodies, the non-PenTile screen and the 12 megapixel camera are the only ones which didn't make the cut, but we are not even sure you should feel too sorry about that. The subpixel density is still on par with what the S II offered, while the camera got a whole new sensor, thus it might still turn out to be a nice upgrade.

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III in our office

Just looking at the specs sheet should be enough to convince you that the Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III is a good phone. But good is certainly not enough when you are succeeding the most popular Android smartphone to date and competing with the beast that is the HTC One X. The S III needs to be great, but we'll only know if it actually is when we spend some more time with it.

Join us on the next page as we start exploring the hardware of the new Samsung top dog.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam preview: First look

Introduction

You don't see many of those around. Perhaps you're looking in the wrong place. As always, we're glad to be of service but, no, the Samsung i7410 didnt ring any bells. It was the good old Phone Finder again.

Anyway, this is how it started - if you'll excuse our hazy knowledge of the Asian market. The first projector phone was a dumbphone, but the whole thing wasn't such a dumb idea after all.

There was obviously potential waiting to be unleashed and no one could've done that better than Android. Now, wind back to 2010 and the first projector smartphone. And by the way, the Samsung I8520 Galaxy Beam was not just another smartphone - 3.7" AMOLED was quite the business back then. Not to mention the 8MP stills and 720P video.

But enough history. Here's what the new Galaxy Beam is all about.

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam at a glance:

• Built-in 15-lumen nHD projector


• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, 3G with HSPDA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps


• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone


• Dimensions: 124 x 64.2 x 12.5 mm, 145.3g


• Display: 4.0" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen, 480 x 800 pixels


• CPU: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400 GPU


• Memory: 768 MB RAM, 8GB storage, microSD card slot


• OS: Android OS, v2.3.6 Gingerbread with TouchWiz 4.0


• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash; face detection, geo-tagging; 1.3MP front-facing camera


• Video recording: 720p video recording


• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack


• Battery: 2,000 mAh


• Misc: Accelerometer, proximity sensor, Swype text input, Polaris Office document viewer/editor

Now, we dont need to tell you the original Galaxy Beam didnt quite catch on. OK, a projector phone is not something you can expect to make huge money off. But it's not an idea either that you just throw in the bin.

So, Samsung's decision to stick with their plan gives us the I8530 Galaxy Beam. Given the original projector phone barely made an appearance outside the MWC venue, this is not what you'd call a grand return.

The Samsung Galaxy Beam at HQ

It's a measured and cautious second try and we don't think Samsung can be blamed for playing it too safe. The truth is the new Galaxy Beam is actually a step down from what the original offered two years ago. AMOLED has been swapped for LCD, the inbuilt storage cut in half, the 8MP camera relegated to 5MP and the WVGA pico projector reduced to nHD.

Of course, the bump in processing power is welcome. The new Beam has a dual-core engine and double the RAM. The projector makes up for the lost resolution with increased brightness - 15 lumens, up from the original 10.

Ultimately, it wasn't Samsung's goal to upgrade the original. They wanted something doable instead, a sensible projector/smartphone combo and, not least, more affordable. It will take a full review to see if the I8530 Galaxy Beam is up to it. But this quick preview of an early pre-production unit should give us a good idea of what to expect.

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Eliana Adriana Chandra Buana