Samsung Galaxy S4

[stevo01]

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has just been released in New York and CNET also have their first review up at http://reviews.cnet.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/.

There are some new photography/camera related features such as dual shot where you can take a photo at the same time with the front and rear facing cameras and then combine them into one "image", and drama shot that will combine all the actions from a burst shot (e.g. someone jumping) into a single shot.

Personally I am an iPhone fan and feel that a lot of the features, including the camera features, are a little gimmicky and wouldn't actually be all that useful but is interesting to see some of things Samsung are doing with their phones. It also looks rather large too with the 5" screen, it is funny to see how things have gone full circle and now phones are getting larger again!

Will be interesting to see how some of these new features actually work in practice as more reviews etc. start coming out.

[ricktas]

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has just been released in New York and CNET also have their first review up at http://reviews.cnet.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/.

There are some new photography/camera related features such as dual shot where you can take a photo at the same time with the front and rear facing cameras and then combine them into one "image", and drama shot that will combine all the actions from a burst shot (e.g. someone jumping) into a single shot.

Personally I am an iPhone fan and feel that a lot of the features, including the camera features, are a little gimmicky and wouldn't actually be all that useful but is interesting to see some of things Samsung are doing with their phones. It also looks rather large too with the 5" screen, it is funny to see how things have gone full circle and now phones are getting larger again!

Will be interesting to see how some of these new features actually work in practice as more reviews etc. start coming out.

I went from an iPhone4 to a Galaxy S3 and would not consider going back to an iPhone. Android offers much more user-customisation, and most of the apps are way cheaper than via iTunes. One of my friends with a iPhone4S sent me a text today offering me $$ to buy my S3 if I going to upgrade to the S4.

[Epoc]

I'm the opposite. I went from an S2 to an iPhone 4, now have the 5. I like the fact that everything just works with the iPhone and its nice and simple. It integrates great with my iPad now they have the cloud, buy something on one and it automatically goes to the other. Especially my diary, put an entry on my phone and its in my iPad almost instantly. Never had an Galaxy Tab, so not sure of this is possible with Android. One of the biggest pluses for me is iTunes. Anytime I feel like buying a song or album, BAM I have it. Great when having a few beers with friends and have the music pumping. Both my teenage kids have S3's and would swap for my 5 in a heartbeat. Reckon that says something :)

[ricktas]

I'm the opposite. I went from an S2 to an iPhone 4, now have the 5. I like the fact that everything just works with the iPhone and its nice and simple. It integrates great with my iPad now they have the cloud, buy something on one and it automatically goes to the other. Especially my diary, put an entry on my phone and its in my iPad almost instantly. Never had an Galaxy Tab, so not sure of this is possible with Android. One of the biggest pluses for me is iTunes. Anytime I feel like buying a song or album, BAM I have it. Great when having a few beers with friends and have the music pumping. Both my teenage kids have S3's and would swap for my 5 in a heartbeat. Reckon that says something :)

Yes it is quite possible with Android, my tablet and phone are synced. I can buy songs on iTunes and have them on my phone and tablet as well. Easy to setup iTunes sync to Android devices, though I don't cause I can buy the same song from other sources (cheaper). Have your kids used the 'bump' feature on their S3's to share a song? Where one is playing a song, the other wants the song, so you bump the 2 phones together and the song is transferred to the other phone? I use that with friends S3's all the time.

[Epoc]

Yes it is quite possible with Android, my tablet and phone are synced. I can buy songs on iTunes and have them on my phone and tablet as well. Easy to setup iTunes sync to Android devices, though I don't cause I can buy the same song from other sources (cheaper).

Thanks for that info Rick. One thing, don't you need a PC for the iTunes sync to Andriod? What I was saying was I can be at a party and download a song to my phone and play in immediately with no PC needed. Would you share what "other sources" you use? Are they legit? Do you need a credit card to pay or maybe use Paypal? My kids would be very interested in that. PM me if you don't want to go to much O/T thanks.

Yes, they use bump all the time :) Very cool app :)

[ricktas]

I use the samsung music hub, which lets me download music anywhere (at a party etc). Yes to sync to iTunes I need to either plug it into my computer or do it via wifi using Kies Air as it converts (on the fly) the Apple AAC format so they can play on other devices . My phone and tablet are also sync'd to my tv (Panasonic) so I can say record a video on my phone, turn on the tv and watch it on the tv straight away, or play music from my phone through my tv systems 7.1 surround sound system.

I think it is about learning how to use a device, no different to learning how to use a camera well.

[Epoc]

I'll pass that info on to my rugs. Cheers.

[ricktas]

I'll pass that info on to my rugs. Cheers.

If they turn on NFC (near field communication) in Settings > wireless and networks > more settings, that sets them up so they can bump phones together to transfer a playing song, playlist, photo, video from one phone to the other.

show them this about transferring stuff from one s3 to another : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbTkXdL6L_A

[Epoc]

Cheers Rick, will pass the info on. I guess the whole phone thing is a bit like Nikon vs Canon. You tend to go with what suits you and your needs, and there is always that friendly rivalry. Either way they are both great platforms and we live in an age of great technology ;)

[arthurking83]

...... I guess the whole phone thing is a bit like Nikon vs Canon. You tend to go with what suits you and your needs, and there is always that friendly rivalry. Either way they are both great platforms and we live in an age of great technology ;)

Definitely!

I don't do .... "iTunes" but do other things, like spreadsheets updated from my PC, and other system configs, and tweaks on my network and PCs. My iPhone colleagues have yet to convince me that an iPhone just works

I was considering updating to a S3 myself .. the bigger screen is so much nicer to use(in my situation).

Different folks have different requirements for their devices, and listening to music has never been on my list of performance requirements from my phone.

Last Christmas I almost got myself a NoteII and passed my S2 onto my son .. but the cost was ridiculous!

This thing looks good as long as battery life is the same or better than previous models .. and my provider will probably owe me a phone update by now too. :th3:

[scpleta]

i was wanting to wait for the samsung s4 but have read a lot of reviews / feedback from s3 users about a problem they call as "sudden death". this is about the phone just turning itself off and there's no way it can be turned on again. am not a techie person so i just got the iphone instead. :)

[Rattus79]

I'm the same as Rick, I went from the iPhone 4 to the Galaxy 3, and I will never look back.

IF only for the fact that I can copy any file from any computer onto my phone without having to use iTunes, or installing 3rd party software to do it!

That said, When the guys at work asked me about Ios vs Android, I told them to get iPhones. For the older generation, the "out of the box experience" is the way to go. I hardly had to teach them to use their phones, where as, I know I would have had 1000 questions with Android.

[GTV6FLETCH]

Just bought a galaxy note 2 and am loving it,
coming from a galaxy S1 which i was running custom roms on (now my son is using that and loves it).
The Note 2 is large when you 1st pick it up, but after 1 hour of playing with it and you go back to a normal sized phone they seem tiny and like a toy.
The battery life appears really good as well .
The stylus will be handy for jotting down notes here and there aswell.
So much better for web sites with this 1280×720 panel on a 5.5 inch screen.
Bought it outright for $550 delivered .

[ricktas]

The 'officially' released S4 that has hit the shops now is the quad core version. Samsung are not officially distributing the octo-core verson into Australia. I am awaiting some reviews and might see if I can upgrade eventually to an international version with the octo-core processor. Buying outright and not through Telstra etc means no telco bloatware is added either.

[Rattus79]

well, no Octo core counts me out for an upgrade until they come in!

One of the first things I did to my s3 was to flash the ROM with a version of Cyanogen mod 10. It's a bit quicker then the touchwiz, but Samsungs' skin is a bit more user friendly and has a better camera application.

[Don1970]

Has anyone got their hands on the S4 yet ? My S2 has had it (I think its fallen out of my pocket once too many times!) but its been very good over the last couple of years. I now know the S4 has an rf port I can plug a patch lead/ external aerial in to like the S2, so I am going to change over shortly. Does anyone know if the hand held range is any better than the S2? (which out here is poor compared with iphone 4, motorola atrix and htc)
cheers
John

[ricktas]

well, no Octo core counts me out for an upgrade until they come in!

One of the first things I did to my s3 was to flash the ROM with a version of Cyanogen mod 10. It's a bit quicker then the touchwiz, but Samsungs' skin is a bit more user friendly and has a better camera application.

Be careful. In the US, people who have flashed with custom ROMs are finding their new phone cannot access the networks. Apparently there is something in the S4 that checks the ROM status across the network, and if the ROM has been flashed they lose access. Only early days with reports of this being experienced. They might get a 'work around' on it sometime soon.

[Rattus79]

Be careful. In the US, people who have flashed with custom ROMs are finding their new phone cannot access the networks. Apparently there is something in the S4 that checks the ROM status across the network, and if the ROM has been flashed they lose access. Only early days with reports of this being experienced. They might get a 'work around' on it sometime soon.

I read something like that the other week too.
It's not just the S4 that has that experience. My s3 got an older version of the modem firmware for Telstra with the update. I've had some difficulty with the network since then. Calls not being connected through properly. I answer, but it doesn't connect.

Flash new modem firmware, and job's done.

Now I can modify my homescreen, including the icons on the lockscreen dock! (this was the major reason I flashed)

[ricktas]

I read something like that the other week too.
It's not just the S4 that has that experience. My s3 got an older version of the modem firmware for Telstra with the update. I've had some difficulty with the network since then. Calls not being connected through properly. I answer, but it doesn't connect.

Flash new modem firmware, and job's done.

Now I can modify my homescreen, including the icons on the lockscreen dock! (this was the major reason I flashed)

I just installed a launcher that allowed it. SPB Shell. Got me round that issue cause I don't use the standard SMS system, I use GoSMS, and wanted the Go icon in my dock

[Rattus79]

I tried an SMS system, I think it was GoSMS actually, and it didn't like touchwiz, they both kept fighting for superemecy. I now use the vanilla Android SMS.

I am yet to even try using a launcher.

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excuse me while I go google SPB Shell