You’ve been warned: the Galaxy Note II was probably my favorite smartphone of 2012, and it looks like its successor, the Note 3, is stealing my heart all over again. With big hardware improvements across the board, as well as substantial additions to software, the Note 3 feels like a true next-generation sort of phone. Samsung has rather effectively ruined every other large-screen device for me, and frankly, probably every other phone released this year. The thing I’ve come to like about the Note phones is their no-compromise approach to the big phone concept. Some large devices will sacrifice on the camera, the quality of the display, the processor, or practical ergonomics (*cough* Z Ultra *cough*) in order to meet a price or size target. Samsung, however, seems dead set on making the Note 3 the very best phone it can possibly be, period. And it’s not just about specifications – anyone can have those. It’s about putting them to good use. While I will be among the first in line to call out some of Samsung’s superfluous software gimmicks, there’s little denying they’ve developed features that have legitimate uses, and that their phones have a degree of functional versatility that remains unmatched by any of their competitors. With the Note 3, Samsung does add a little to the pile of toggles and overflow menus, but it has also refined and honed many parts of TouchWiz NatureUX 2.0 (yep, that’s the name), including some Note-specific features that may be worth a second look. And while NUX still won’t be winning any beauty contests, it still does focus on providing in-built functionality stock Android lacks. wm_IMG_6894 The Note 3 is, to me, is Samsung’s way of saying “here’s what we can do.” It’s the phone that, in my opinion, every […]
Tag: samsung
Why the iOS 7 Activation Lock Is a Disaster Waiting to Happen
There’s no question that the iPhone 5S and iOS 7 together make for the best phone ever made. The din of offhand, dismissive criticism from the Android fan base that Apple never innovates should be silenced, at least for awhile, given that Apple now sells the only dual-tone LED flash; the only 64-bit mobile CPU; the only 64-bit OS; the fastest touch-screen performance phones by far; the only wide-scale deployment of Multipath TCP; and the only useful, usable and widely used fingerprint scanner ever placed on any consumer electronics device. Yes, there’s plenty of petty grousing . And who knows what competitors will ship tomorrow? But today, it’s clear that Apple rules the smartphone market. The Android fan critics now also have to contend with a razor sharp, concise rebuttal to the cacophony of general criticism of Apple by Apple VP Craig Federighi: “ New is easy. Right is hard. ” He said that after referring to Samsung by saying that Apple “didn’t start opportunistically with 10 bits of technology that we could try to find a use for to add to our features list.” Ouch! Unfortunately, iOS 7 is going to cause some huge problems that nobody is talking about yet, but will do when the unwanted bricking epidemic starts. The Looming Activation Lock Crisis Everybody’s praising iOS 7’s new Activation Lock. And, yes, it’s a great feature. Activation Lock bricks your iPhone or iPad when you report it lost or stolen with Find My iPhone. Once bricked, the device cannot be used by whomever is in possession of it. This is a great deterrent for “Apple Picking” crimes where thieves deliberately look for white earbuds to jack Apple devices based on their high re-sale value. Activation Lock is great, but also introduces new problems. In addition to […]
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Apple's Patent Case Against Samsung = Stymieing Phone Design
As a user of an Android phone with curved edges and a very intuitive GUI I am very happy I do not have an I-Phone. I believe this patent suit is going to develop into a black eye for Apple’s…
