Samsung Galaxy S4

[Sledgstone 8,672]

http://www.dvice.com/2013-3-14/hands-galaxy-s4-samsungs-next-big-thing

 

Smart Scroll: As predicted, the Galaxy S4 will know when you're ready to scroll up or down on a website by tracking where your eyes are looking. If your eyes are pointed at the top of the display, the page will scroll up and if they're looking at the bottom, it'll scroll down.

Smart Pause: Again, using eye-tracking, the Galaxy S4 will pause a playing video when it detects your eyes are no longer looking at the screen.

S Translator: One of the biggest problems when it comes to traveling to foreign locales is the language barrier. The Galaxy S4 breaks that all down with S Translator. It understands nine different languages (10 if you count British English as a different kind of English) and can translate languages via speech-to-text or text-to-voice on the fly. At Samsung's event, we saw a guy translate English text to Chinese (Mandarin) speech instantly and vice versa. There's also over 3,000 embedded local phrases in different languages to assist tourists, which work offline. If it works as well as advertised, it'll be awesome.

Air View / Gesture: On the Galaxy Note/Note II, you can use a stylus to hover over the screen and toggle gestures, and now, on the Galaxy S4, the same feature works with your finger — no stylus necessary. Another cool feature Samsung showed off was Air Gesture. For instance, you can wave your hand forward and backwards Kinect-style to navigate backwards and forwards in the Web browser. Air View and Gesture sound gimmicky at first, but it'll be useful when your hands are dirty or wet. And speaking of hands, the Galaxy S4's display works with gloves — any gloves!

 

It will track your eye movement!

 

Anyone planning on upgrading?

[Kite 3,263]

I think the eye tracking thing sounds terrible,

 

I imagine it being more irritating then practical.

 

Also i see the plus of being able to use gloves, however it must be a double edge sword,

current smartphones rarely go off in your pocket due to the screen responds to skin,

 

I really liked the Air view, from the Note 2, the tracking tech is very responsive and those with clumsy fingers will benefit knowing what they will press before touching the screen and mis-dialling 

 

I wouldnt mind the handset, but I imagine it being pretty expensive.

UK price will probably be free handset from £40 ($60) per month on a 2 year deal 

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I was thinking of going to the S3 from my Bionic in June when my upgrade comes due so I might go to the S4. All depends on price, if it's too expensive I'll probably just go to the Droid DNA. Don't know if I like that eye tracking thing, might be more of a hassle then it's worth.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

They eye tracking sounds a bit creepy.. If its always watching you then maybe a bad app could tap into that feed and get video? An app wouldn't need permission to turn that part on considering it would be running all the time if its enabled. Ehhh....

 

Have you guys seen the HTC One? The camera and audio is good, but do you think it will hold up to the new Galaxy?

 

http://gizmodo.com/5990716/htc-one-review-the-beauty-is-a-beast

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I'll probably pick it up. either that or the HTC One, but I like that one because its looks sexy. I'll probably go with the S4.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I won't be eligible for my full phone upgrade until a year from now. By then the S5 will probably be out.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

http://gizmodo.com/5990716/htc-one-review-the-beauty-is-a-beast?tag=Galaxy-S-IV

 

I'm due in April. I was thinking about the S3, but I knew the S4 wasn't far off... the One is looking more appealing the more I read about it.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

The HTC One looks good, but I like having a brick in my pocket. That aluminum looks good, but it might not offer much grip or friction. I'd be concerned about the One sliding right out of my pocket while I'm sitting down somewhere.

[Pchan 5,162]

All that eye tracking and other iffy features are optional, you can turn em off worse comes to worse. In terms of tech being new, I'd go with the 4 just on that principal. On the other hand the S3 has been tried and tested, selling over 50 million globally. I'm super happy with my S2 but my next phone will be a Windows phone just for kicks.

[Eppy 3,446]

Yeah my upgrade is in December so the S4 is sounding great for me to upgrade from my S2

[Sledgstone 8,672]

All that eye tracking and other iffy features are optional, you can turn em off worse comes to worse. In terms of tech being new, I'd go with the 4 just on that principal. On the other hand the S3 has been tried and tested, selling over 50 million globally. I'm super happy with my S2 but my next phone will be a Windows phone just for kicks.

 

Are there any major benefits to using a windows phone? In terms of apps, battery life, etc.? I don't know anyone that owns one that I could ask.

[Pchan 5,162]

Apps are picking up but it's more to do with the overall feel/ interface of the phone. I know a few Windows phone users who prefer the interface over Android, the latter being a bit overwhelming for them because of the level of customization you could do on the Android system like rooting, etc. That's one reason why people stick with iOS because you can't change much of the look/ feel and people are content with that. Battery life will depend on the phone's resources or capability. Nokia Lumia 920 was a pretty good phone when it was introduced a few months ago. HTC One LOOKS fantastic and apart from a few mixed reviews of battery life, it holds up pretty well in terms of everything else, except maybe the build of the phone which is a variable, changing of preference from person to person. Samsung has pretty much taken the formula that worked and improved on it. It's not looking to get people who own the S3 to switch, rather people with the S2 or other phones from different manufacturers. That's where I think this will work. Apple's buyers usually switch phones with every upgrade, which contributes to their high sales numbers, their brand is immensely popular among hipsters, old people and people who want to get laid at a bar. Goddamnit. 

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I hate iOS for its restrictive nature. Thats one thing I was taken back by when I got my iPhone, I couldn't just set anything I wanted as a ringtone or alert without needless hassle. I didn't mind giving it up at the time because of all the apps, and stuff I couldn't do before... As for Windows. I'm treating it like I did Android. I'll stay back and watch it progress and see where it goes.

I love customization, and I love tinkering with every little setting on a phone. I'm ready for the android jump.

[Kite 3,263]

I left iOS for that reason DX, running widgets are awesome, customisation is awesome, larger screen awesome, drag n drop music / file transfer, awesome

getting apps late (if at all) sucks

 

to me Android wins

 

hardware, with the iPhone though, you know what you are getting, it is reliable, The camera is great and the signal strength is decent. 

 

also iPhone insurance costs way more then any other phone

 

I would take Samsung over HTC, I have a HTC sensation XE, nothing wrong with it, Just Samsung Amoled screen is the best on the market, followed by the latest apple retina display, everything else is left in the dust by comparison

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

The Samsung GS3 screen looks pretty dim to me... and I have seen it on full brightness. It looks good, but to me it just doesnt seem to be the "best ever" like ive read. I don't see the One's 1080p LCD screen being far off from either.

[Pchan 5,162]

Galaxy S4 vs HTC One vs Xperia Z = Galaxy S4 being the victor. 

[Kite 3,263]

Galaxy S4 vs HTC One vs Xperia Z = Galaxy S4 being the victor. 

 

how so?

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

All Hype. http://gizmodo.com/5995291/samsung-galaxy-s4-review-better-not-best

 

You Should Buy the S4 Over the HTC One IF...

• 1. You're on Verizon. Unfortunately, Verizon is the only major carrier who won't be carrying the HTC One. If you're a subscriber, you can and probably should yell at them about that.
• 2. You absolutely must have expandable storage and/or a removable battery.
• 3. You really need that extra hour of battery life.

And that's about it.

 

The S4 is far from a bad phone. In fact, were it not for the HTC One, it would be the best Android phone you can buy. And one can't help but think that had Samsung poured all of its innovation into maximizing the practical user experience—instead of highly ignorable gimmicks—it might have taken the crown.

 

HTC One > All. The review doesn't even go into the sound aspect in which the HTC One rules supreme. The speakers are amazing.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

When I go to upgrade I'll probably be stuck with a Galaxy S4.. I'm on Sprint now, but I will be upgrading to Verizon. I say upgrading instead of switching, because Verizon has almost a complete monopoly on my area. I'm sick of paying for Sprint and having no access to their network while at work. AT&T is supposed to have good coverage in my area, but I can't take the chance and sign up with them and then find out I have no service at work. I don't know anyone at my work that has anything other than Verizon because its apparently the only provider that actually has service inside my office.

 

Maybe when I upgrade in about a year, Verizon will have the HTC one by then.. or maybe the next years newest phones.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I've heard they will have the One but its going to be called the Droid DNA Plus

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Ah.. Verizon and all their Droid named phones. I hope they have a good selection when I go to upgrade because I'm definitely not going to own another Motorola phone.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Yeah they make the manufacturers rebrand their phones for them... i remember how jealous I was when they got the Blackberry Storm back in the day with the "click-able touchscreen"

[Sledgstone 8,672]

lol. Speaking of Blackberry, do you think the new Blackberry Z10 is going to be any good? Or is blackberry only a novelty phone now?

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I dunno. I enjoyed my time with blackberry, but I'm done with them... the Z10 looks pretty neat, but I really haven't heard much hype for them as the HTC One and S4. If its still running their archaic style OS, then thats probably the reason. I dunno what types of upgrades they have applied to their OS. The customization of android right now offers the best personalized experience. 

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I figure Blackberry is probably too late into the app market. The amount of apps available for iphones and android phones is huge. It makes me wonder how many developers will bother making their apps to now work on 4 different OS platforms. Even now some developers are only making apps for iphone and ipad. But with apple's profits falling, I wouldn't be surprised if more development is put into android apps now. Blackberry will probably be the nintendo of cell phones, possibly getting new apps but most likely having them cancelled because of low profit margins or compatibility issues.