Windows Report yesterday posted exclusive images of the yet-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy Fit 3, and it looks a whole lot like a smooshed-up Apple Watch.
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A new report has detailed the depreciation across Apple, Samsung, and Google’s flagship smartphones. Like in the past, the current iPhone lineup retained the most value with Samsung’s new S23 lineup averaging 40% lower resale prices and Google Pixel 7 devices 48% weaker than the iPhone 14 average prices. Follow along for all the details including which iPhone, Samsung, and Pixel models retained the most value and more.
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Since Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra arrived we’ve seen PhoneBuff put it up against the iPhone 14 Pro Max in a speed test. Now he’s back with a drop test to see if the latest Gorilla Glass holds up better than the iPhone’s Ceramic Shield.
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Reviews of Samsung’s newest Galaxy S21 Ultra flagship have hit today, with reviewers pitting the new 6.8-inch device against Apple’s current iPhone 12 lineup. Reviewers say that while the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra features a more ergonomic finish, the iPhone 12 lineup still has a leg up in certain areas.
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Samsung debuted its newest flagship smartphones and more today at its Unpacked 2021 event. The major launches include three new iPhone 12 competitors with the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra as well as AirPods Pro and AirTags competitors.
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Samsung is expected to launch its next-gen smartphone in January – a bit ahead of its traditional schedule – and the first review of the unreleased Galaxy S21+ flagship smartphone has landed. A big part of the review is a camera comparison of the Galaxy S21+ vs. iPhone 12 Pro Max vs. And from this early look, the iPhone 12 produces much better results while the S21+ struggles with exposure and washed-out images.
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Shortly after Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program, Forbes reports that Samsung is planning to launch a similar finance plan for its Galaxy smartphones.
Samsung may be launching this leasing program in the next several months, although that timeline may accelerate, the executive said.
Carriers have been moving away from so-called subsidized contracts, where the cost of a new smartphone is hidden in the monthly service plan fee and the cost of a new device appeared to be anything from free to $200. With true purchase costs now much more visible, manufacturers have a strong incentive to offer attractive financing in order to encourage regular upgrades.
Samsung, though, has a stronger motivation than Apple. While Apple has been enjoying record iPhone sales, Samsung has been struggling to compete with both Apple and Chinese Android handsets – its smartphone business seeing a 37.5% drop in operating income in Q2 and the company reportedly planning to lay off 10% of its workforce.
While the terms of Samsung’s financing are not known, it’s likely the company will adopt a similar approach to Apple, where you pay off the cost of the phone over two years but can upgrade to a new model every year. Apple’s plans start at $32/month.
Samsung has upped the ante on its ‘ultimate test drive‘ program, intended to persuade iPhone owners to switch by offering them a free one-month trial of an Android-powered Galaxy smartphone. For those who end up purchasing the phone, Samsung will give them $100 of Google Play credit which can be used to buy apps and other content.
If you end up trading in your iPhone, Samsung will additionally send you a check for $100 – on top of whatever trade-in deal you were offered by the retailer.
Of course, switching to Android is not without its health risks …
Via Android Central
Samsung’s existing Galaxy Note 4
Samsung is planning to bring forward the launch of the Galaxy Note 5 from September to August, according to the WSJ. It’s believed the change in schedule is designed to get the device on sale ahead of Apple’s anticipated September launch of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which is likely to dominate tech media coverage that month.
Samsung has always previously launched its Note models on the eve of the IFA conference, which takes place in Berlin in September. The WSJ cites only a single source for the claim, but it’s not the first time we’ve heard suggestions that the company may bring forward the launch this year.
A Korean report back in May suggested that the Note 5 would be launched in late July, also citing a desire to get ahead of Apple’s launch. A second reason was said to be to align with the anticipated launch of the company’s mobile payment platform, named (yep) Samsung Pay – but this is now expected to be be pushed back to September.
Samsung was hit hard by Apple’s move into larger-screened phones, the iPhone 6 Plus in particular providing the first Cupertino competition for its Galaxy Note phablet. Apple is reportedly expecting big things of its launch of the iPhone 6S this September, aiming to produce 90M units by the end of the year.
Apple has applied for a patent for a method of waterproofing the internal components of ‘computing devices.’ The application, filed last year but only published today (via AppleInsider), does not name any specific devices, but the iPhone would be the most logical candidate …
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As Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona, Samsung and HTC have both unveiled their respective 2015 flagship devices. First off, HTC this morning unveiled the One M9. The device features a Snapdragon 810 processor under-the-hood with a 2,840mAh battery to go with it. HTC infamously ditched Megapixels with its One M8 flagship, but this time around, the company is touting that the One M9 feature a 20MP rear-facing shooter with a f/2.2, 27.8mm sapphire lens and 4k video recording.
Visually, the One M9 looks almost identical to its predecessor…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCrcm_CHM3g]
Samsung’s series of attack ads on Apple continue with a video of supposed voxpops in which New Yorkers are shown both the iPad Air and Galaxy Tab S and asked to compare them. Would you believe it, everyone prefers the Samsung, even the guy with limited room in his purse …
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Earlier this month Samsung announced yet another Android handset dubbed the Galaxy Alpha that many observers noted borrows design cues from the iPhone 5 first introduced by Apple nearly 2 years ago. The Galaxy Alpha does feature a metal frame with chamfered edges, but does it really favor the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s or is it more Samsung than anything else?
Designer Martin Hajek has created a new collection of 3D renderings to help visualize that comparison and answer that question showing Samsung’s Galaxy Alpha handset side-by-side with Apple’s iPhone 5s.
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Samsung’s latest ad entitled “Every Day is Day One” is really, really nice. The cinematography is top notch and the soundtrack makes it even richer (a cover of David Bowie’s “Absolute Beginners”). It features Samsung’s Galaxy phone and Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smart watch without being embarrassingly tacky, and it was done in partnership with the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) as Samsung Mobile is a global partner.
The only issue is competitive professional surfer Kelly Slater cameos in the ad with his Samsung sponsorship clear in the shot seen above, and Kelly Slater is a proud iPhone owner just like you and me. 😎🌊📱
Despite the mixed affiliation, the ad really is a great one. More of this and less focusing on Apple might go a long way… you never know. Anyway, be sure to check out the full ad over at 9to5Google.
Samsung is continuing its approach of pushing anti-iPhone ads on its YouTube channel. Today’s ad showcases two friends, an iPhone user and a Galaxy S5 user, speaking to each other about the upcoming iPhone 6’s larger screen. “Dude, iPhone might be getting a bigger screen” excitedly states the iPhone user “That hasn’t happened yet?” slyly responds the Galaxy S5 user. Check out the full advertisement for yourself below:
Sales channel data from 35 countries compiled by Counterpoint shows that the iPhone 5s remained the world’s best-selling phone as of May, some eight months after its launch. This backs up a report from ABI Research that the phone had retained the number one slot through Q1.
Apple’s iPhone 5s continues to be the bestselling phone in the world, a spot that many expected to be taken by Samsung’s Galaxy S 5. The highly anticipated Galaxy S5 comes in at second place but still a quite distant number two in terms of (sell through) unit sales.
The news wasn’t quite so good for the iPhone 5c, which came in at number 5, behind both the Samsung S5 and last year’s S4 – as well as the company’s Note 3 phablet.
The iPhone 4S keeps on trucking: two-and-a-half years after its release, Counterpoint shows it at number 6 – one notch down from ABI’s Q1 data.
Overall, Samsung has roughly twice Apple’s market share thanks to a huge range of handsets at all price levels, a statistic that is unlikely to keep Tim Cook awake at night even if market share doesn’t increase, as Apple takes home the lion’s share of the profits – something you can watch in real-time thanks to an interactive graphic.
It’s widely expected that the iPhone 6 will boost Apple’s share of the market as it taps into demand for larger displays, with Cook saying last month that there is more growth to come from Android migration.
(via Business Insider)
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).
Morgan Stanley is estimating that iPhone sales for Q3 (Apple’s fiscal Q4) will hit 34.5M, 28 percent higher than the 26.9M sold in the same quarter last year, reports Fortune.
Apple had only just begun taking iPhone 5C pre-orders Sunday when Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise Smartphone Tracker closed the books on Q3 2013, but the survey had already registered a bump in buyer interest in the company’s line of smartphones …
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According to a report from Reuters, Nokia has this week become the first company to submit an amicus brief in support of Apple’s attempt to secure injunctions on several Samsung products. While the full contents of the brief have not yet been revealed, Reuters reports Nokia argued its position in a summary of the brief that was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington on Monday.
In an accompanying summary, however, Nokia argued that a trial court judge got it wrong when she denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction.
In the filing on Monday, Nokia attorney Keith Broyles from Alston & Bird argued that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, erred by ruling that Apple must establish a “causal nexus” between its patented feature and the demand for its phones in order to secure a permanent injunction.
Nokia argued that the rule “could cause wide-ranging damage to the United States patent protection landscape.”
Companies and advocacy groups will still be able to submit briefs on behalf of Samsung after the company’s written arguments in the coming weeks. Nokia said its decision to submit the brief is to “advocate for patent rights as a means of fostering innovation.”
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Samsung wants you.
The South Korea-based Company is making it easier than ever to jump ship from iOS to its Galaxy line with the Easy Phone Sync app. The software is free to anyone purchasing a Samsung Galaxy device, and it quickly installs on any Galaxy product, PC, or Mac.
In the most straightforward manner, it transfers media, contacts, content—and all that other stuff packed into handhelds—from iTunes to an Android-powered tablet or phone by Samsung. Users can also manage their content through iTunes to maintain preferences during the sync process.
For more information on Samsung’s plan to pilfer iPhone users from Apple, check out its newest marketing strategy that 9to5Google detailed earlier this week.
The press release is below.
iFixit is hardcore when it comes to breaking open our favorite electronics to see what’s inside, and the website did it again today with the refreshed MacBook Air that unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday.
The updated 13-inch MacBook Air, equipped with USB 3.0 and MagSafe 2, sports a few new sizes for those pentalobe screws on the back. It also houses the same battery found in the preceding MacBook Air. Moreover, at first sight, its 128 GB SSD looks strikingly similar to the mid-2011 module:
“But upon closer inspection, the connector for this model’s flash memory module is slightly different than last year!”
The adjusted SSD form factor also shifted to a fresh flash controller. The current unit is SandForce SATA-III controller chip-based, but displays Toshiba marks. The tweaked notebook further boasts Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 128 GB flash memory, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L RAM, and Broadcom BCM 943224. iFixit said, again, that the wireless board is identical to the mid-2011 flavor, but this one carries rotated stickers (sarcasm intended).
Lastly, the RAM is still not upgradeable. Oh, and that MagSafe 2 connector is thinner and wider, and it is not compatible with Apple’s current Cinema displays unless paired with its $10 adapter.
Go to iFixit for the entire teardown.
ChipWorks and iFixit are hardcore when it comes to breaking open our favorite devices to see what is inside. The two websites decided to take it up a notch today by joining forces to publish a live teardown of the non-LTE Samsung Galaxy SIII. ChipWorks looked at the—you guessed—chips, while iFixit focused on repair aspects.
This is what the ChipWorks dissection unearthed:
Yep, that is Samsung’s Exynos 4412, 32 nm CMOS, 1.4 GHz quad core ARM processor.
“The Exynos is in a standard PoP (Package-on-Package) assembly with a Samsung LP DDR2 Green Memory K3PE7E700M-XGC2,” explained ChipWorks. “It is notable that this is the same process generation as we documented in the Apple A5 rev 2, APL2498, also fabricated by Samsung and for which you can see the general structure.”
The device also features the Sony IMX145 is an 8-megapixel, 1.4 um pixel pitch, back illuminated CMOS image sensor. Sony designs and manufactures this image sensor, which the Apple iPhone 4S also boasts. Samsung provides its own storage, however, with the KMVTU000LM. According to ChipWorks, it is a multi-chip Samsung MOVI N and memory module.
Go to 9to5Google for more information.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X9YbwtVN8Sk]
The Verge recently went hands on with Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy S III launched earlier this month and during its review put the device’s new Vlingo-powered “S-Voice” feature up against Siri on the iPhone 4S. Other than the striking resemblance to Siri’s UI and canned responses, the first thing we notice is Siri appears to be much quicker than S-Voice running on the Galaxy S III.
When asked “Who is the president of France”, Siri quickly asks to search the web, while S-Voice takes a little longer but comes up with the correct answer. However, in most scenarios, both Siri and S-Voice request to search the web for the majority of the same queries. You’ll also notice S-Voice has no problem keeping up with Siri when scheduling appointments, but both have some of the same issues understanding The Verge’s commands.
S Voice consistently chews up my words when I try asking it questions, although it works better when instructed to schedule an appointment or set an alarm. It can also be used as an unlocking mechanism once you pre-record a pass phrase. That adds to the face unlocking option that’s native to Android 4.0 in being frustratingly unwieldy and planted firmly within gimmick territory — more than once I was stuck repeating “hello” without any recognition from the phone.
While we don’t have all of the info on S-Voice, we know it is using voice recognition technology from Vlingo, the same as the previous Voice Commander feature for the Galaxy S II. Last December Nuance acquired Vlingo. It’s no secret Apple is currently using Nuance to power speech in Siri, and Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky told us in October that Siri originally used Vlingo, but that Nuance has by far the most “IP in speech synthesis technologies”. However, he also noted Apple could likely easily replace Nuance if something better was available.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6h5JSojJN3Y]
Additional variations of the concept are available on Samsung’s YouTube channel. The version included right below challenges a notion that only iPhone has the best apps. A third clip is right after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO5Il_rvZj8]
