Samsung Galaxy

The reason Amazon’s Fire Phone has failed to impress is that it spent so much on the “gimmick” of dynamic perspective that it only had enough cash left to build an otherwise mediocre phone – the conclusion of a component analysis of a teardown of the phone.

Dynamic perspective allows the phone to detect and respond to head movements when viewing the phone’s display, but has been widely seen by reviewers as a novelty or gimmick.

Following iFixit’s earlier teardown of the Fire Phone, re/code has been given sight of a component costing following a separate teardown by research form IHS. This reveals that the total component cost of the Fire Phone is around $205 – more expensive even than Apple’s flagship iPhone 5S. The cost of the dynamic perspective technology left little room for anything but mid-range specs in the rest of the handset, says IHS … 
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I’ve made the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active on AT&T my daily driver for a month now to see how its durability and physical buttons handled the long term punishment without a case or trying to treat it nicely. Here are some observations.
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iFixit has added to the poor reception given to Amazon’s first ever smartphone, the Fire Phone, by rating it 3/10 for repairability. Even Amazon didn’t seem to have great confidence in the technology, its first ad focusing instead on the free 1-year Amazon Prime subscription you get with the phone.

Despite external, non-proprietary screws and no adhesive holding the casing together, iFixit found that simply removing the battery proved challenging, requiring a mix of heating and prying. After that, says the company, things only got worse … 
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Leaker @evleaks this morning posted a tweet featuring some interesting APKs from the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 that reveals information about its hardware and software.

The list includes the usual suspects, such as S Health, S Music, and Samsung Link software, but two of the APKs might pique your interest. “SStudio_WQHD_K.apk” implies the new phablet will sport a highly rumored WQHD display, giving the display a resolution of 2560×1440. Also on the list is an APK titled “FingerprintService.apk”, strongly implying the fingerprint reader currently found on the Galaxy S5 will be expanding over to the Note line as well.

Other features such as “PhotoTable.apk” and “SmartSelfShot.apk” were also leaked, but it’s no surprise Samsung is going to be adding even more photo modes to the already saturated list. 
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According to a new report out of Korean news outlet ETNews, Samsung is preparing to launch an all-metal device as early as next month called the Galaxy Alpha. According to the report, Samsung intends to heavily market the device as a competitor to Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6.

According to industry insiders on July 13, the Galaxy Alpha, which Samsung will launch next month, is a premium smartphone made of a metal. It is forecast to counter the iPhone 6 scheduled to be released in September. It appears that Samsung will rebound from its recent poor performance with a new smartphone lineup, not the Galaxy S or Galaxy Note Series.

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Photo: ibtimes.com

After warning earlier this month that Q2 didn’t “look too good,” Samsung today released its earnings preview for the second quarter of 2014. The South Korean company reported an operating profit of $7.1 billion (7.2 trillion won), missing analyst estimates of $8 billion (8.1 trillion won). This comes out to a 24 percent drop year over year (via Bloomberg).

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Samsung has officially announce its Galaxy S5 mini smartphone. This compact device retains everything you know and love about the original version, but with a slight decrease in specifications. The good news is, this is the best “mini” revision of a device that Samsung has released to date. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to pick one up right away.

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Samsung this afternoon announced a quartet of new budget-focused Galaxy smartphones, that in reality, are pretty forgettable. Firstly, the South Korean company unveiled the Galaxy Core II, which features a 4.5-inch WVGA display. The device is powered by a 1.2GHz processor paired with a 2,000mAh battery. Next up, Samsung announced the Galaxy Ace 4, which is slightly less powerful with a dual-cire 1.2GHz processor. It features a 1,800mAh battery coupled with LTE connectivity. A slightly less powerful 3G model is available with a 1GHz processor and a 1,500mAh battery.

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Samsung has a history of releasing tablets that overlap each other and it looks like the company is extending this practice to its smartphone lineup. For several weeks we’ve been hearing about a handset referred to as the “Galaxy F” and after dark pictures and a case of mistaken identity, the phone that threatens your GS5’s relevance has resurfaced.

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The WSJ reports that Samsung stock fell 1.9 percent as chief financial officer Lee Sang-hoon admitted that the company’s quarter two performance “doesn’t look too good.”

The comments were enough to drive down the stock price.  Samsung Electronics’ stock fell  1.9% to 1,320,000 won (US$1,296.4) as concerns over slowing profit growth reignited. Shares have fallen 8.5% so far this month, hit by a series of downgrades in earnings forecasts for the world’s largest seller of smartphones …

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We recently gave you an early hands-on video look at Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S announced earlier this month and due to go on sale on 27th June from $400. With the reviews now in, we thought we’d give you a round-up of the verdicts …

Engadget loved the screen, the battery-life and portability, but criticized the performance, ‘temperamental’ fingerprint scanner and fiddliness of the optional case connection.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S is good. Really good. With long battery life, a stunning screen and an especially thin and light design, it’s a near-perfect product. My main hang-up is that the performance doesn’t always feel as brisk as it should […]

In addition, the fingerprint scanner, though nice to have, can be temperamental — so much so that I’ve more than once locked myself out of my own tablet. That said, I believe Samsung can address these two minor performance issues via a software update. And even if it doesn’t, this is still an excellent piece of kit …

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Barnes & Noble has announced that its next Nook ebook reader will be a co-branded Galaxy Tab 4.

The co-branded devices will combine popular Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 hardware with customized NOOK software to give customers powerful, full-featured tablets that are designed for reading …

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TechRadar reports that Samsung is closing its Samsung Music Hub service on 1st July, with the company advising users to download all purchased content and use any vouchers before that date. Music Hub was based on a cloud-based system the company acquired when it purchased the Californian company mSpot.

The service was part of Samsung’s attempt to get into content sales, with the company having similar hubs for books, videos and apps. It’s not known whether those will also close. Samsung issued a somewhat confusing statement reading … 
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Last year when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4 Active, some of its primary features included a rugged design and water resistance. With the impending announcement of the Galaxy S5 Active, what will Samsung bring to the table that’s beyond the standard Galaxy S5 which already carries an IP67 dust and water resistance certification? Sure, you’re not getting a redesigned body, but that’s nothing a tough case can’t fix.

In a new video published by TK Tech News, we get a first look at exactly what makes the Galaxy S5 Active so special. Nothing has been confirmed by Samsung, but the videos below showcase what is claimed to be the upcoming smartphone and also happen to be very convincing.

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Update: It turns out Samsung isn’t exactly rebranding the terminal. iMore received clarification from Heathrow that Samsung is actually just renting regular advertising space available to anyone and using the slogan”Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5″ in its ad:

“Heathrow Terminal 5’s signage and passenger wayfinding has not changed,” a Heathrow spokesperson told iMore. “Samsung have rented advertising space in Terminal 5 with a tongue-in-cheek campaign using the line: ‘Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5’.”

But only for the next two weeks. The Verge reports that Samsung has bought saturation advertising for the Galaxy S5 in Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow airport for a fortnight, and is even referring to the terminal as Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5. While the airport says the terminal hasn’t officially been renamed, a Heathrow spokesman said that they are “relaxed” about Samsung pretending it has.

From Samsung’s description of the campaign, it will certainly be impossible to miss: 
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Out of the three smartwatches recently released by Samsung, the Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit seem to be questioned the most. Both of these device are priced at $199 and offer similar features, but which one should you buy? Take a look at our full comparison video between these two wearables to find out.

If you’re looking into the Gear 2, you may be surprised to find that the extra $100 will only get you a camera and a slightly different (metal) build quality on the face of the watch. When compared to the Gear 2 Neo, everything else is identical. With that being said, the best options you should consider are the Gear Fit and Gear 2 Neo.

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