-
by Michael Fisher | April 25, 2013 7:04 AMRead OnThe Galaxy S 4 comes packing a wide array of features. Some, like its flip-to-mute functionality, are minor but useful. Others, like the Smart Pause function that promises to interrupt playback when you look away from a playing video, are great ideas sullied by lackluster execution. And between those two extremes lies a dense field of additional functions. We tried to squeeze as much feature coverage as we could into our full review of the Galaxy S 4, but there's only so much room in even the densest Pocketnow review articles. Here, then, is a video walkthrough of the Galaxy S 4's unique ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 24, 2013 5:13 PMRead OnSince the iPhone 4, iPhones in general are regarded as having some of the best, if not the best, smartphone cameras around. Sure, the Lumia 920 from Nokia has optical image stabilization, so it performs better in low-light. And some newer phones have 13-megapixel sensors, meaning they produce larger images. But the iPhone has a way of almost always capturing great, balanced photos. But some photos simply need some touching-up, some post-processing to turn an okay photo into something much more dramatic or moving. The built-in Photos application has some lightweight tools for editing ...
-
by Michael Fisher | April 24, 2013 8:11 AMRead OnThe Galaxy S 4 might be the talk of the town today, but it didn't get to its lofty position just by borrowing from older Samsung smartphones. The world's largest handset vendor borrowed heavily from its pioneering phablet line as well when crafting the Galaxy S 4, stealing gesture-based interactions from the Galaxy Note II, and even tweaking a few S Pen-powered features to serve the new pen-less king of the Samsung smartphone pile. How did all this feature-porting work out? Should someone in the market for a Note II pause for a second to consider going Galaxy S 4 instead? How much ...
-
by Michael Fisher | April 24, 2013 8:03 AMRead OnLong before these smartphones ever emerged from their respective drafting rooms, the world knew that the showdown between them would be fierce. One device is a product of an Android juggernaut, a fourth-generation powerhouse from a take-no-prisoners Goliath that essentially owns the Google-powered smartphone space. The other is a last-ditch effort to save its creator from certain destruction, a product forged from that peculiar mixture of desperation and determination that sometimes begets pure art. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 and the HTC One are smartphones physically, historically, and ...
-
by Michael Fisher | April 24, 2013 8:02 AMRead OnIt seems like ages ago that we reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S III, first in its international garb, then in its various U.S. carrier variants. Back then, we said we'd "confidently recommend the Galaxy S III to someone looking for the best smartphone experience possible," and our sentiments were, for the most part, echoed across the internet's various tech news outlets. The public, it seemed, took the recommendation to heart: Samsung sold untold millions of Galaxy S III devices, furthering the legacy of what was already a legendary line of Android smartphones. Today's nostalgia for 2012 is ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 24, 2013 7:00 AMRead OnJust two or three years ago, smartphone cameras were laughable, at best. Sure, there were a few out there worth mentioning, like the iPhone 4 or Nokia N8. But the majority of smartphones just had cameras as a technicality, not because they were terribly impressive or groundbreaking. Fast forward to today, and many manufacturers have fitted their flagships with image sensors that rival most point and shoot cameras – if not entirely in quality, in portability and convenience. The 8- and 13-megapixel cameras of 2012 and 2013 have sparked a revolution in mobile image sensing, and we're bound ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 23, 2013 7:00 AMRead OnThe Samsung Galaxy S III is shaping up to be one of the most iconic Android smartphones ever. Even approaching one-year-old and with its successor, the Galaxy S 4, nearing release, it's still very relevant and successful. At the time of its launch, it featured some the best specifications around, a horde of unique software features and offered tons of value. HTC's latest smartphone, the HTC First, known for being the first smartphone to come with Facebook Home pre-installed, is an unlikely competitor or the Galaxy S III. After all, the HTC First is a lowly mid-range smartphone, ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 18, 2013 3:08 PMRead OnIt's always fun to discover new music, and one of the best ways to do that is through the people you know, either online or in real life. And since many of us spend a great deal of our online time on social media, various networks have become hotbeds for music discovery. Facebook, for example, teamed-up with Spotify to stream what you're listening to on Spotify to your Facebook News Feed in real time. Today, Twitter officially launched its social music discovery app, #music. (Yes, the name has a hashtag in it.) The service is only currently available on iOS and via desktop browser at ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 18, 2013 7:00 AMRead OnStock Android phones are pretty rare, at least through major carriers worldwide. Most Android smartphones come with a customized OEM interface, such as TouchWiz or Sense. Today, Google's Nexus 4 by LG and custom ROMs on popular flagships are generally the easiest way to get your hands on the latest versions of Android without manufacturer skins. But a recent device also comes with a mostly stock version of Android on board – the HTC First. Officially, it comes with Facebook Home pre-installed. So, technically, it's not pure Android. But that's mostly semantics. You can disable Facebook ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 17, 2013 7:00 AMRead OnApple has largely dominated the tablet space since the launch of the original iPad. But more competitive pricing, faster evolution, better specifications and improving software have turned Android tablets into true competitors. And Android OEMs are finally making a dent in Apple's major tablet market share lead. Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 is the latest Android tablet to hit the market, competing directly with the iPad mini. Spec-wise, the Note 8.0 has a clear advantage. It has a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB or 32GB built-in storage with a microSD card slot, 5-megapixel ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 16, 2013 7:00 AMRead OnIt's pretty clear that Facebook Home is the defining feature of the HTC First. After all, that's why the device exists in the first place – to be marketed as a Facebook phone of sorts and offer a slightly more integrated Facebook Home experience than you can get on other devices. But Facebook Home is hardly the only trick up the First's sleeve. Beneath Facebook Home, it sports the one feature we hear requested more than just about any other: stock Android. Sure, the First may come with Facebook Home pre-installed, but Home is nothing more than a launcher replacement. And disabling it is ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 15, 2013 3:53 PMRead OnFacebook made waves when it announced its new mobile service, Facebook Home, which replaces the native launcher on Android devices with a beautiful, full-screen News Feed for a home screen. For avid Facebook users, Facebook Home has tons of value proposition, and it solves one of Facebook's most outstanding problems – monetizing mobile. The company teamed up with HTC to bring the first smartphone pre-packaged with Facebook Home, the First. With a 4.3-inch Super LCD 720p display, 1GB RAM, 16GB fixed storage with no expansion, a 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 chip ...
-
by Joe Levi | April 15, 2013 12:35 PMRead OnEverybody likes to customize their home screen to fit their style and personality. It's one of the things that makes Android so great! Your ability to customize your home screen is almost limitless! CodeG: Google Doodle Widget, for instance, lets you put the latest Google doodle on your home screen. Doing so adds some whimsy to your smartphone or tablet, and keeps your device looking fresh with content that changes daily. But CodeG doesn't stop there. In addition to being able to pick which geography you'd like your doodle to be pulled from, tapping on the widget opens Google Now. Some ...
-
by Adam Z. Lein | April 15, 2013 4:20 AMRead OnT-Mobile has already announced that the Nokia Lumia 521 would be coming to their network twice. It should be showing up within a month or so, but we got to play with an early version at the Pepcom Digital Focus event the other night in New York City. It's certainly smaller than the popular larger phones out there, and definitely smaller than T-Mobile's Nokia Lumia 810. It really feels great in the hand, but it's not quite as ergonomically designed as the Lumia 710 was. The thickness and weight feel just about perfect, as does the smaller screen size, but then again I'm the type who prefers ...
-
by Taylor Martin | April 12, 2013 11:19 AMRead OnHTC and Facebook teamed up last week at 1 Hacker Way in Menlo Park, California to (hopefully) lay to rest the remaining rumors of any official Facebook phone. Facebook unveiled its latest product, Home, and HTC announced its newest device, the First, the first phone to run Facebook Home out of the box. On the outside, the HTC First is an extremely minimal device. Its all matte-finished exterior and lack of major branding make it very subtle, and its specifications are extremely modest. It features a 4.3-inch 720p display, 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 chip, 1GB RAM, 16GB fixed storage, a ...
Posts tagged with: Video