Nash Tee Tech Vlog: Galaxy Note 2

Showing posts with label Galaxy Note 2. Show all posts

A recent leak stated that current Samsung flagship devices, namely the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note 3, will be the first to get Android 4.4 KitKat from the roster of smart devices the Korean giant manufactures. Both are reported to get the update as early as January 2014. Owners of former flagships, such as the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II, need not fret as they will also get it in March or April 2014.

Image by GSMArena

Android 4.4 KitKat improves on the UI performance of the devices running it through Project Svelte. Once updated, the Samsung flagship are expected to run smoother, with better multi-tasking, and improved RAM management.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

Early this month, Samsung has rolled out the Jelly Bean 4.3 update for the Galaxy S III. Now, it is the Galaxy Note II's turn. The update is rolling out in stages and is compatible with both the LTE and the non-LTE version of the Samsung phablet. The bugs that plagued the Jelly Bean 4.3 update for the Galaxy S III are nowhere to be seen on this firmware upgrade for the Galaxy Note II. Updating can be done via Samsung Kies or OTA from the phablet's settings menu.

Image by GSMArena

Here's the changelog for the Galaxy Note II with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean:

TRIM support
OpenGL 3.0 Support
ANT+ Support
Samsung KNOX Implementation (KNOX bootloader and dedicated application)
Samsung Wallet comes pre-loaded
New GPU drivers
Improved RAM management
Improved Display colour reproduction (Display looks much sharper than before)
Improved TouchWiz Launcher (Much less launcher redraws and less lag)
New Samsung Keyboard
New Samsung Browser (Full screen by default, new tab interface and more) and other apps
New Reading Mode (Optimises display for reading, used by only a few specific applications)
New Camera firmware, Sound & shot
Minor UI tweaks (Contacts app, Flashlight Widget, dialog boxes etc)
Android 4.3 features – widget lockscreen, daydream
Support for Samsung Galaxy Gear

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

Sony has finally launched the much anticipated Xperia Z Ultra, which packs a 6.4-inch display that makes the device very much a phablet. It is waterproof like the Xperia Z and the Xperia Tablet Z and it is billed by Sony as the world's largest Full HD smartphone. The Xperia Z Ultra is also the first mobile device to feature Sony’s TRILUMINOS technology for more accurate colors and contrast.

Image by SlashGear

There’s also X-Reality for mobile for optimizing photos and video to look their best on the panel, including upscaling lower resolution content to suit the 1080p the Xperia Z Ultra offers. As mentioned, the Xperia Z Ultra is waterproof with an even higher IP58 certification. The phablet measures 179 mm x 92 mm x 6.5 mm and 212 grams, which also makes it the slimmest Full HD smartphone to date.

Image by SlashGear

Software-wise, Sony has revamped its application suite, with a new WALKMAN app, Movies app, and Album app. They get updated sharing functionality, as well as better integration with the cloud. Underneath it all is Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Inside, there’s 4G LTE connectivity along with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 quad-core processor running at a whopping 2.2GHz. That’s paired with an 8-MP Exmor RS camera and a battery good for up to 14 hrs talk time or 790 hrs standby. NFC, WiFi, and Bluetooth are all on-board.

Image by SlashGear

Another interesting thing about this phablet is that its touchscreen will recognize any stylus with a conductive tip, including a regular pencil, allowing Xperia Z Ultra users to sketch or make notes with whatever comes to hand. The Sony Xperia Z Ultra will come in three colors – black, white, and purple – and sold alongside a new accessory, a water-resistant Bluetooth “mini handset” presumably for those times when holding a 6.4-inch phablet to the side of your head feels somewhat ridiculous.

Image by SlashGear

Xperia Z Ultra will be launched globally in Q3 of 2013 and will cost around €719 in Europe. Watch the promo video below to know more about the Xperia Z Ultra:

Will you be buying this wonderful Sony creation? I believe this is Sony's best Xperia model to date.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

The ASUS Fonepad is back and now super-sized. Fresh from Computex 2013 is the ASUS Fonepad Note, a 6″ phablet set to compete with Samsung's range of phablets, the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2. Like the Fonepad, the FonePad Note is an Intel-powered Android device but with high-end specifications.

Image by GSMArena.com

To begin, it packs a 6″ Super IPS+ screen, which has a 1080p Full HD resolution and a pixel density of 367 ppi. The screen is rated at 450nits of brightness and works with an S Pen-like stylus and dedicated ASUS apps. It is powered by an Intel Atom Z2560 (Clover Trail+), which has two Atom Saltwell cores clocked at 1.6GHz with HyperThreading and 2GB of RAM, plus a PowerVR SGX544 MP2 GPU clocked at 400MHz.

Image by GSMArena.com

The ASUS Fonepad Note packs an 8-MP main camera and 1.2-MP front-facing camera. There are front-facing stereo-speakers, similar to those of the HTC One. The speakers use ASUS’s proprietary SonicMaster tech for high-quality sound. On the connectivity side, there’s full 3G voice and data with fast DC-HSPA for up to 42Mbps downlink speeds.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

With a slew of phablets being released here and there, Chinese maker Vivo makes sure it gets to join the bandwagon. Vivo announced the Vivo Play phablet with a 5.7″ 1080p display and a quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset. Unlike most unknown Chinese markers, Vivo isn’t trying to sell its device for a low price – it’s asking 2,998 yuan ($490) for it.

Image by GSMArena

The Vivo Play certainly has an impressive set of specifications – a 5.7″ 1080p Full HD (386 ppi) screen, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean running on Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1.7GHz with 2GB RAM. It is not a pure Android experience though as Vivo added its “Fun-touch” UI to it that has an iOS-like flat structure. The camera on the back uses a 13-MP 1/3.06″ Exmor RS sensor from Sony with an F/2.2 aperture lens. The front-facing camera has a 5-MP BSI sensor and 88° FoV. The Vivo Play measures 153.8 mm x 79.68 mm x 7.99 mm and weighs 187 grams with a 3,400 mAh battery inside.

Image by GSMArena

The Play reportedly packs “a number of sensing capabilities similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4″ though the exact details of that are unclear. It also uses a TI OPA2604 audio chip with built in support for “BBE, SRS and Hi-Fi mode” and features USB On-The-Go. The Vivo Play will go on sale this May 2013 in Black or White with 16GB or 32GB of built-in memory. While Vivo will be selling in China only, it was reported to be able on eBay as well.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

Samsung's galaxy is getting bigger and bigger. The Korean company has just announced 2 new Android phablets. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 and Galaxy Mega 5.8. Of course, the numbers indicate the size of the screen. Both phablets borrow the design of the Galaxy S 4 flagship but offer a much larger screen with mid-range specifications. They are actually a more affordable alternative to the Galaxy Note 2 phablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 sports a 6.3" LCD of 720p HD resolution and is powered by a an Exynos 5250 chipset with a dual-core Cortex-A15 CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and 1.5GB of RAM. It runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2 with Samsung’s TouchWiz modifications like Multi-window (split-screen multitasking) and Air View (detecting your finger an inch from the screen). Unlike the Galaxy Note and Note 2, it has no S Pen input.

Image by GSMArena

The Galaxy Mega 6.3 packs an 8-MP rear camera and a 1.9-MP front-facing camera. For connectivity, it has built-in LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC receivers and packs an IR emitter so it can work as a remote control. It can also connect to Galaxy S 4's and Grand's with Group Play. The phablet measures 167.6 x 88 x 8.0 mm and weighs 199g. The battery has 3,200mAh capacity. Internal storage is 8GB/16GB and there’s a microSD card slot if you need space.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 has a smaller screen and a more modest specs sheet. The display resolution is just qHD and the CPU clock speed has been reduced to 1.4GHz. The high-speed connectivity (LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac) is also gone as well as the NFC and the IR emitter. It measures 162.6 x 82.4 x 9.0 mm and weighs 182g and is equipped with a 2,600 mAh battery.

Image by GSMArena

The Samsung Galaxy Mega phablets will be available worldwide and will roll out starting May 2013.

Do you think Samsung has gone too far with the size of its phablets? I do.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

According to a Samsung insider, the following Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets will surely get Android 5.0 Lollipop:

GT-I9300 – Galaxy S III
GT-I9305 – Galaxy S III LTE
GT-I9500 – Galaxy S 4
GT-I9505 – Galaxy S 4 LTE
GT-N5100 – Galaxy Note 8.0
GT-N5105 – Galaxy Note 8.0 LTE
GT-N5110 – Galaxy Note 8.0 Wi-Fi
GT-N7100 – Galaxy Note II
GT-N7105 – Galaxy Note II LTE
GT-N8000 – Galaxy Note 10.1
GT-N8005 – Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE
GT-N8010 – Galaxy Note 10.1 Wi-Fi

Image by Gizmodo

However, not all Samsung Galaxy owners will be happy with the news as some previous Galaxy models will end with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. These include:

GT-I9080 – Galaxy Grand
GT-I9082 – Galaxy Grand DUOS
GT-I8160 – Galaxy Ace 2
GT-I8190 – Galaxy S III mini
GT-I8530 – Galaxy Beam
GT-I8730 – Galaxy Express
GT-I9070 – Galaxy S Advance
GT-I9100 – Galaxy S II
GT-I9105 – Galaxy S II Plus
GT-I9260 – Galaxy Premier
GT-N7000 – Galaxy Note
GT-S6310 – Galaxy Young
GT-S6312 – Galaxy Young DUOS
GT-S6810 – Galaxy Fame
GT-S7710 – Galaxy X Cover 2

Image by AndroidAuthority.com

To be fair with Samsung, some of these models have gotten several Android updates already. Other smartphone manufacturers out there do not even update their phones with the latest version of the OS. So let's see how true this inside information will be in the coming months.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

According to IDC, smart connected device shipments went up 29.1% in 2012. Smart connected devices include smartphones, tablets, desktop PC, notebooks, netbooks, and ultrabooks. Unsurprisingly, 60% of the 1.2 billion units shipped last year were smartphones.

Image by Engadget

As mentioned, over 1.2 billion units of smart connected devices were shipped last year, marking a 29.1% increase from 2011. Tablets and smartphones drove the boost by carving out 70% percent of the total market share, while PCs and notebook/netbook/ultrabook shipments sank by 4.1 and 3.4 percent, respectively. Sammy came out on top with smart connected devices in 2012 as a whole with a 20.8% market share, beating Apple by 2.6 percent. That would be a total of 250 million units shipped for Samsung and 218.7 million units shipped for Apple. Samsung managed to ship the most number of smartphones while Apple was the leader in tablet shipments.

Image by Engadget

Lenovo finished in third place with a 6.5% marketshare, thanks to its notebook sales, while HP and Dell ranked 4th and 5th with 4.8% and 3.2%, respectively. According to IDC, Apple could have been a distant runner-up to Samsung but thanks to the high demand for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini that the Cupertino company managed to lessen the gap.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

We all know that Samsung paved the way for Android's success. Almost every high-end Samsung mobile phone became a hit. It's no surprise that of the Top 10 Android devices, 8 of those were from Samsung.

Samsung's outgoing flagship smartphone Galaxy S3 topped the list, closely followed by its predecessor, the Galaxy S2. Rounding out the Top 3 is the midrange smartphone, Galaxy Ace. Other Android devices that made it to the Top 10 are Samsung's very own phablets, the Galaxy Note and its successor, the Galaxy Note 2. Entry-level smartphone Galaxy Y made it to the Top 6. Only two other Android smartphone makers entered the list. One was Amazon's best-selling tablet, the Kindle Fire and Motorola's DROID RAZR. According to the report, Samsung controls a whopping 47% of the total Android market share.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

So after the launching of Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean OS on Galaxy S III almost 2 months ago, Samsung has once again shown its love for its flagship smartphone. Here comes the Galaxy S III Premium Suite - which features new cool stuff borrowed from the Galaxy Note II.

Now we have here the Part 2! Some of the new features include Paper Artist, which offers a variety of tools to decorate pictures. There is also the Low Light Shot for the camera, which seems to be better than Night Mode in suppressing noise. Then there is the Best Face mode, which takes multiple shots of people and then lets you choose the perfect facial expression of each person and combine them into one photo. Other new features include the Easy Mode and tons of accessibility features.

To the Galaxy S III owners out there, are you excited for this? You should...as users from Poland have already received this update. It won't take that long before it rolls out to your country as well.

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash

Most Samsung Galaxy S III users just received their Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean update just last month but Samsung is not yet finished with its streak of updates for its beloved flagship smartphone. The Galaxy S III is yet again to receive another firmware upgrade this coming December 2012. Samsung may be thinking of giving it as a Christmas gift to Galaxy S III users. No less than the killer features of Samsung's next-generation phablet, the Galaxy Note 2, will be added to the roster of features of the Galaxy S III.

Image by IBTimes

This includes the following:

Multi-Window View
Smart Rotation
Page Buddy
Customizable Notification Panel
Continuous Input in Samsung Keyboard (Similar to Swipe)
Paper Artist App
New Gallery App

Image by GSMArena.com

All I can say is that I can't wait for this any longer. The quad-core processor of the Galaxy S III will definitely be able to showcase its power again and will make it way ahead of its competition. I just hope that Samsung will also give its flagship smartphone the Android 4.2 update so that the Galaxy S III will have other cool features that the Nexus 4 has.

Image by SamMobile

Til then...

xoxo Nash

The original Galaxy Note is one of the best mobile devices that money can buy and until now, it remains to be one of the most capable Android devices out there (though it's already showing signs of aging). With the Galaxy Note, Samsung has successfully created a new category of mobile devices, which fits somewhere between smartphones and tablets, which tech geeks fondly call a phablet. Admit it, Dell did not succeed in creating this new category of mobile devices with its Streak phablets. And to give the original Galaxy Note more credit, it also has successfully brought back to life the "stylus," which was supposedly killed by Apple when the first iPhone was launched. And the only way that Samsung could pay homage to its highly successful phablet is by giving it a successor, the Galaxy Note II.

Image by Samsung

The Galaxy Note II looks very much like the Galaxy S III but on steroids. It's also available in two colors, at least for now: Marble White and Titanium Gray. While its length has increased a bit, it has gotten sexier at only 9.4mm thin. And because it is on steroids, it has become a tad heavier at 183 grams. Like the Galaxy S III, it is made of hyperglazed plastic, which is arguably a cheap material for a high-end phone. But hey, plastic means lightness...and that means portability. On front of the device, you will see the 5.5-inch screen, capacitive touch control buttons, the home button, the earpiece, the HD front-facing camera, and the proximity and ambient light sensors. At the back of it, you'll see the loudspeaker, the 8-MP camera, and the LED flash. On top, you'll find the 3.5mm jack for your headset and a microphone. Below, you'll find the S-Pen, the microUSB port, and another microphone. On the left side are the volume rockers, and on the right side is the power/sleep button. Sadly, like the Galaxy S III, it does not have a dedicated shutter key for the camera.

Image by Samsung

Let's move on the screen. The Galaxy Note II has a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD capacitive touchscreen with good viewing angles and sunlight legibility, which is a tad bigger than that of its predecessor. Like most recent high-end Samsung mobile devices, the multi-touch screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2, which makes it resistant to scratches. The screen resolution is 720 x 1280 pixels, which results in a pixel density of 267 pixels per inch (which is a bit less than that of its predecessor). Luckily, it does not make use of a PenTile matrix (like the Galaxy S III) and uses a full RGB matrix, which makes the screen look fine, crisp, and vivid.

Image by Samsung

Now we have the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS! The Galaxy Note II is the first Samsung mobile device to ship with Google's latest OS, Jelly Bean (topped by Samsung's own TouchWiz UI of course). While there's not much difference between Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, you will notice that the Galaxy Note II has one of the smoothest transitions among all Android devices. You will seldom (or not at all) experience lag when flicking through panes, windows, or pages. As for the CPU that powers the Galaxy Note II's software, it is equipped with a 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 quad-core Exynos 4412 by Samsung. This is basically the same as the one used on the Galaxy S III but it has been overclocked. Like the Galaxy S III, it also uses a Mali-400MP GPU. It is now available in 16GB/32GB/64GB configurations with a whopping 2 GB of RAM. That's a lot of memory, storage, and processing power indeed, making the Galaxy Note II a force to be reckoned with. The phablet is also equipped with a lot of sensors: proximity, gyro, ambient light, accelerometer, compass, barometer. It also has GPS and Stereo FM Radio with RDS.

Image by Engadget

What about the Galaxy Note II's camera? Yes, it is equipped with basically the same camera module used in the Galaxy S III. The main camera is capable of shooting 8-MP stills and 1080p FullHD videos. The camera is also accompanied by a very powerful (sometimes blinding) LED flash that can be used in low-light conditions. It also has auto-focus, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, panorama, burst shot, etc. This camera module used by Samsung is one of the best camera modules by the company to date. Photos are super clear and videos are breath-taking. It is good to note that the Galaxy Note II's built-in video player also supports every major video format out there so there is no need for conversion. Meanwhile, the front-facing camera of the Note II has been downgraded from 2-MP to 1.9-MP but it's nothing to worry about as you'll only use it for video calls and vanity snapshots.

Image by Engadget

When it comes to its telephony and messaging features. It supports regular calls, video calls, SMS, EMS, MMS...basically every mode of communication you can think of. You can also change the font face and font size for a customized look. For file transfers, you can do it via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC (Android Beam), and USB. It also supports Wi-Fi Hotspot and Tethering. For data connection, it is compatible with almost every data network from GPRS to 3G to LTE. It also has deep Facebook and Twitter integration as well. Did I mention that it has a lot of accessibility features as well?

Image by Engadget

As far as applications are concerned, virtually any application made for Android can be installed in the Galaxy Note II. With its 2 GB RAM and expandable memory (up to 64GB), it can accommodate all your applications, music files, videos, documents, and whatnots. The Google Play Store has a lot of apps for you, with many of them free! Sadly, you cannot transfer apps from phone memory to SD card without rooting the smartphone. Oh you can also create and edit MS Office documents right out-of-the-box. When it comes to Internet browsing, the Galaxy Note II has got everything covered. You can bookmark sites. You can save pages for later use. You can side-load Flash Player and play Flash videos (which iOS devices cannot do). You can basically do anything you want when it comes to browsing. The zooming and panning also work well. You can also play Flash-based games on your browser!

Image by Samsung

The Galaxy Note II also has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. Let's start with the S Pen, which is a modified and glorified stylus. The S Pen can do what Samsung calls as Air View. It is basically a convenient and quick way to browse your pictures without having to open any folders. Then we have the Popup Note, which take directions, phone numbers, and other information conveniently while on a call with a double-click of the S Pen. It also features Quick Command, which enables sending an email, calling or sending a text message to your friend, sharing the meeting location and so many other things easily. Then there is the Easy Clip: click, trace, clip, and send. That’s all it takes to include what you want in email, messenger, S Note, and Scrapbook. Like the Galaxy S III, some of these new features are useful and others are plain gimmicky. The Galaxy Note II also has the S-Voice, which is a Siri-like assistant but sadly it's not as useful as one would want it to be. It also features Popup Play, which enables you to watch videos and do other tasks at the same time. Other cool features are the Smart Stay and Direct Call. The former enables your phone to detect your eyes so that the screen won't turn off while you are still looking at it. The latter enables you to call directly anyone from your phone by just putting it on your ears. It also has a lot of motion and gesture-based tricks.

Image by Samsung

To wrap up, I believe that the Samsung Galaxy Note II is in a league of its own...and its very few competitors have no match against it. Having an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at launch basically puts it ahead of the competition, which may include flagship smartphones. The only cons that I could think of is its bulk. Let's face it. Not everyone wants a smartphone as big as this or a tablet as small as this. But other than that I think it's a great device. If you can afford it, go ahead and buy it. You will not regret it. Until the competition comes up with a product that poses a real threat against the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy Note II will continue to be the best-selling phablet in the whole universe.

Image by Samsung

My rating for the Samsung Galaxy Note II is 9.5 out of 10.

For the complete specs of this phablet, please visit this link.

For a review of the Samsung Galaxy S III, please click here.

Note: Samsung did not pay me for this review.

Til then...

xoxo Nash

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Samsung Flagships to Get Android 4.4 on January 2014

Nash Frias

Android 4.3 Update for Galaxy Note II Now Seeding

Nash Frias

Meet the Sony Xperia Z Ultra w/ 6.4" FullHD Display

Nash Frias

ASUS Fonepad Note to Compete w/ Samsung's Galaxy Note

Nash Frias

Vivo Play to Compete w/ Galaxy Note II and Optimus G Pro

Nash Frias

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and 5.8 Phablets

Nash Frias

Galaxy S3 and Note 2 Will Get Android 5.0+

Nash Frias

Samsung, Apple Topped Connected Devices Shipments

Nash Frias

Samsung: 8 of the Top 10 Android Devices

Nash Frias

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Premium Suite Update (Part 2)

Nash Frias

Samsung Galaxy S III To Get Galaxy Note 2 Features

Nash Frias

Samsung Takes Over the Universe with the Galaxy Note II

Nash Frias

Subscribe to My Vlog!

Popular Posts

Total Page Views

Buy 'Liberation' Here

YES PLATE by Chef Jam M.

K-TIME Early Intervention

Nash Tee Tech Vlog

Like NASH TEE on Facebook

Follow NASH TEE on Twitter

About NASH TEE