Articles about Samsung

It is well known that Samsung has often been criticized for giving its premium smartphones a not-so-premium look and feel. But, in spite of all this, in the land of upscale Galaxy handsets, an all-plastic body, with a bland design, has always prevailed. Until now.

Today, Samsung finally shows us that a premium Galaxy smartphone can break away from the norm, as it reveals the new Galaxy Alpha boasting a metal frame and an attractive design. The device's main rival is likely to be Apple's upcoming iPhone 6, which is expected to ship with a similarly-sized display.

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Smartphone makers would do well to take into account the results of a new poll from price comparison and switching service uSwitch.com which found that just 3 percent of Smartphone users are interested in quirky or unique features, such as Amazon’s Fire phone’s face tracking.

While gimmicks like that might help differentiate one device from another, what most smartphone users want is a phone that is easy to use and doesn’t require constant charging -- and preferably with built-in fingerprint scanning security.

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The first Unpacked event of the year sees Samsung unveiling a new installment in the Galaxy S flagship series, while the second Unpacked event of the year is where the South Korean maker takes the wraps off its latest Galaxy Note premium phablet. Since, in 2014, Episode 1 brought us Galaxy S5, it does not take long to figure out that Galaxy Note 4 is coming at Episode 2.

Unpacked 2014 Episode 2 will be held simultaneously in Berlin, Beijing and New York, on September 3. And, even though Samsung only describes it as "the event to see 'the next big thing'", the press invite hints at the unveiling of Galaxy Note 4.

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Apple and Samsung have been waging a global patent war since 2011. Apple famously won $1.05 billion in damages in an American court two years ago (a verdict still being challenged by Samsung), but the two companies have been continuing to sue each other since, including fighting a range of infringement cases in nine other countries.

Finally, though, it seems as if peace has broken out between the two smartphone giants, with news today that Apple and Samsung have agreed to end all patent litigation outside the United States.

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Xiaomi's name may mean close to nothing in western markets, but the smartphone maker is well-known in Asia for its powerful yet affordable handsets. Take the new Mi 4 flagship, for instance. It rivals HTC's One (M8) in the specs department, but can be had for less than what Google asks for its Nexus 5. There's a similar story with other Xiaomi-made devices, that are proving to be extremely popular with consumers in China.

Xiaomi's smartphones are so popular in China that, in the second quarter of the year, they allowed the manufacturer to overtake worldwide leader Samsung in the local Asian market, according to a new report from analyst firm Canalys. Xiaomi, which is a Chinese vendor, was responsible for 14 percent of smartphone shipments in the country, surpassing Samsung, Lenovo, Yulong and Huawei. The combined market share of top worldwide vendors Samsung and Apple was just 18 percent in China in Q2 2014, as the two were able to ship just 20 million units put together.

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The competition is heating up in the smartphone space, as, in Q3 2014, a dozen vendors have what it takes to shake up the top five smartphone makers list, according to a new report from research firm IDC. Judging by the standing from Q2 2014, the likely players in danger of losing their spots are Huawei, Lenovo and LG.

Samsung and Apple continue to be in a position of strength, with the two being responsible for 25.2 percent (74.3 million) and 11.9 percent (35.1 million), respectively, of the 295.3 million smartphones shipped in the quarter that ended June 30. That said, both lost market share compared to Q2 2013, when they claimed 32.3 percent and 13 percent, respectively, thanks to shipments of 77.3 million and 31.2 million units, respectively.

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A few years ago it would have been unthinkable, but whispers that Apple and Samsung are losing their stranglehold on the market are growing louder.

It all stems from the fact that customers are becoming increasingly frustrated at the mobile market mono-culture. In the West especially, we've developed a sort of smartphone East Anglia: hedgeless, featureless and planted as far as the eye can see. This is the Samsung strimmer, the Apple Inc. lawnmower, cutting all other competition out of the market.

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There was a time when Apple was the undisputed king of mobile. Since the release of the first iPhone in a barnstorming speech by Steve Jobs, the company went from strength to strength, dropping better models every year, and absolutely dominating the high-end mobile market.

Apple sold out of the launch shipments of the brand-new iPhone 5s in under two days, and sales of the iPhone have maintained Apple's profits despite a recent drop in iPad sales. But since Steve Jobs' death, Apple's competitors have been getting bolder. With the launch of the upcoming iPhone 6 coming in September, a number of high profile rivals have been snapping at Apple's heels with aggressive marketing, attack ads and a general lack of respect for the venerable giant of mobile technology. Here are a couple of hints that Apple's competitors are sensing a weakening of the giant.

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Let me tell you a secret -- I am gaga for optical drives and discs. I know, it's a weird thing to be enamored with. If you listen to pundits and "experts", the world is transitioning to the cloud and flash drives. Optical media such as CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays are relegated to spend the rest of eternity in the graveyard with floppy and zip disks, right? Wrong.

Say what you will, but I am not ready to give up on those shiny round discs. Yes, when backing up photos, I do use the cloud, but I also back up to Blu-Ray (BD-RE). Why? Redundancy is the key to smart backup. Maybe your files will forever be safe in the cloud, but why not store them locally too? Today, Samsung announces two new USB DVD drives aimed at consumers with Ultrabooks and tablets that do not have integrated drives. Surface Pro 3 users, take notice.

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When it comes to productivity, no tablet is as good as the Surface Pro 3. Of course, that tablet also comes at a very high price. While the price is justified for a laptop or desktop replacement, it wouldn't make financial sense to purchase it as a companion to an existing Windows computer. Sure, you could go with a small-screen Windows tablet, but currently, app selection isn't too great (it is getting better though). In the mean time, an Apple or Android tablet would serve as a better companion.

In my testing, I have found the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 to be the current king of companion tablets, beating out the iPad Air. However, Samsung's tablet is very capable of creation too. In theory, you may be able to use it as your main computer. Logitech wants to help with that -- its Type-S keyboard cover turns the Galaxy Tab S into a mini laptop. But is it good?

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Android is a very capable operating system. With it, Google accomplished the unthinkable -- widespread Linux use by average home users. Linus Torvalds popularized his kernel with nerds and the enterprise, but the search giant made it accessible for all. Here's the thing though -- the fact that Android is powered by Linux doesn't matter. No, to the average consumer, all that matters is the experience. What lies beneath is inconsequential.

Samsung recently released the Galaxy Tab S 10.5, its newest flagship tablet. The device's closest competitor is the iPad Air -- which is a tablet I love. Besides Apple's tablet, there is really no other product to consider at the $500 price point. So, if you are considering a $500 general-use tablet, the only question that must be asked is -- is it better than the iPad Air?

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For a tech nerd, there is nothing more fun than getting a new smartphone. When you get that little box home and carefully open it, it is like reliving Christmas as a child. For some, the contents of the box is just a smartphone, but to others like me and you, it is pure magic.

Sadly, smartphones can be a bit fragile -- dropping it on the concrete or other surface can crack the screen or make the device inoperable. This would be like a child witnessing Santa Claus' sleigh crashing into a tree and turning into a fireball on Christmas Eve -- a nightmare. Of course, you can get a case to protect it, but many of them are bulky and ugly. If you have a beautiful iPhone 5s or Galaxy S5, the last thing you want to do is make it unattractive. No worries, Logitech is once again here to save the day with the beautiful protection+ case for both of those phones.

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There have been many rumors coming out of Asia with accusations of child labor violations. It's one of those things that pulls at western heart strings -- none of us wants to think that young children are being forced to work in factories, perhaps building the devices we buy.

Now Samsung has announced that it has taken the step of suspending its agreement with Dongguan Shinyang Electronics after conducting an investigation into the latest allegations. "Following the investigation, Samsung decided to temporarily suspend business with the factory in question as it found evidences of suspected child labor at the worksite. The decision was made in accordance with Samsung's zero tolerance policy on child labor", the companys says in an official statement.

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At first glance, the untrained eye may see very little difference between Samsung's newest SSD, the 850 Pro, and its predecessor, the widely lauded 840 Pro. A black shell that clings on to the same dimensions of the previous model, the 850's only obvious distinguishing feature is an understated red square occupying the space where the 840's orange one once sat.

The differences between the two, however, are colossal. Under the hood, Samsung has spent the last year prepping its revolutionary 3D V-NAND technology that aims to alleviate the frustrating constraints associated with shrinking NAND lithography down to ever-smaller process nodes. Until now, most manufacturers would shrink the die, thus increasing bit densities, in a bid to reduce cost and offer higher capacity. However this was limited by 2D planar architecture, and Samsung with its 3D V-NAND technology has come up with a new approach of stacking cells instead of shrinking them.

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Let's face it: there are only two major app stores in the mobile space. One is Apple App Store and the other is Google Play. That is due to their huge app selection, which was long passed the one billion apps mark in each case, and the quality of the available offerings, which often tops that of other app stores.

On the iOS side of things, there is virtually no competition due to the platform's closed nature. On Android, however, Google Play's success stems from the popularity of Google-vetted devices, which tops that of handsets running forked versions of the operating system (that are not approved by Google). Still, one vendor had the potential to give Google Play a run for its money -- Samsung.

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