Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on February 8, 2011
Sprint 3G Smartphone Data Plans Go Up $10, Same as 4G
Bad news for all of you Sprint-subscribing, bandwidth-hogging data gluttons out there: the company will soon be implementing a new $10 monthly data-plan fee for smartphones activated after January 30th. And it applies to all Sprint smartphones, including those only capable of using Sprint’s 3G network.
Sprint announced the upcoming change in a press release Tuesday. But in a leaked memo sent to third-party retailers, the company more narrowly defined the types of phones and customers affected by the new fee. It includes “all smartphones operating on the CDMA, iDEN and 4G networks,” where a smartphone is defined as “a device that supports a robust operating system including: Android, BlackBerry, Instinct, Palm and Windows Mobile.” Read More…
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on January 19, 2011
Sprint 3G Smartphones Get $10 Data Plan Price Hike, Same as 4G
Bad news for all of you Sprint-subscribing, bandwidth-hogging data gluttons out there: the company will soon be implementing a new $10 monthly data plan fee for smartphones activated after January 30th. And it applies to all Sprint smartphones, including those only capable of using Sprint’s 3G network.
Sprint announced the upcoming change in a press release Tuesday. But in a leaked memo sent to third-party retailers, the company more narrowly defined the types of phones and customers affected by the new fee. It includes “all smartphones operating on the CDMA, iDEN and 4G networks,” where a smartphone is defined as “a device that supports a robust operating system including: Android, BlackBerry, Instinct, Palm and Windows Mobile.” Read More…
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on January 19, 2011
First Look: Samsung Vibrant Rips Off iPhone 3G Design
Samsung’s latest phone, the Vibrant, has the body of an iPhone and the brains of an Android.
The Vibrant’s industrial design is shockingly similar to the iPhone 3G: The rounded curves at the corners, the candybar shape, the glossy, black finish and the chrome-colored metallic border around the display. The Vibrant even has its volume and ringer buttons in almost the same spot as the iPhone 3G.
But if you are willing to get past the derivative design, the Vibrant has some sweet tech specs. The Vibrant is part of Samsung’s new portfolio of Android devices collectively called ‘Galaxy S.’
The Vibrant has a 4-inch AMOLED screen that’s bright and vivid and the 1-GHz Hummingbird processor makes the device pretty zippy. There’s GPS, Wi-Fi and a 5-megapixel camera. Overall, the phone (weighing 4.16 ounces) feels remarkably light. By comparison, the iPhone 3G weighs around 4.7 ounces.
There’s one disturbing thing about the phone. The device comes packed with apps you probably don’t need: MobiTV, GoGo Inflight internet and Electronic Arts’ The Sims 3 game. Sure, you can always delete these apps if you don’t use them, but why bundle them into the phone instead of giving users the option to download the apps if they want them? We’d hate to see bloatware start to overwhelm brand-new phones with junk the way it does with most new PCs.
The Vibrant runs version 2.1 of the Android operating system. That means access to all the standard Google apps such as maps, YouTube and e-mail. Setup, as with most Android phones, is easy — just enter your Google e-mail address and the device unlocks access to your Google account and to the Android Market.
Samsung’s skin for the Android is clean and easy to use. But the square icons are, again, very similar in their looks to the iPhone 3G’s.
Samsung has created a Social Hub widget for the device that integrates Facebook, Twitter and MySpace feeds into a single window. That has its limitations, though. For instance, it’s easy to reply and retweet messages, but you can’t see @replies or direct messages from Twitter through the widget.
Samsung’s Vibrant will cost $200 (with a two-year contract) on T-Mobile when it comes out July 21. But there’s little to make the phone notable, apart from its striking similarity to the iPhone. Without that, the Vibrant is then just another Android phone, albeit one with a pretty good screen and surprisingly light weight.
Check out the photo of the Samsung Vibrant next to the iPhone 3G below.
Photos: Stefan Armijo/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 15, 2010
Samsung Launches 4G Phone on Sprint
The HTC Evo has competition. Samsung has introduced its first 4G handset, called the Samsung Epic, on Sprint’s network. The Epic will be the second 4G smartphone on Sprint, following the Evo 4G’s debut earlier this month.
The Epic 4G will have a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard. Inside, the device packs a 1GHz ‘Hummingbird’ processor from Samsung, and two cameras: a five megapixel camera to shoot movies and photos and a front-facing VGA camera (0.3 megapixels) for video chat. The phone will run Google’s Android 2.1 operating system.
Samsung’s 4G phone is up against some strong rivals. The HTC Evo 4G has become the best-selling device on Sprint’s network. Meanwhile, Apple launched its latest iPhone, the iPhone 4, last week. Though the iPhone 4 runs on AT&T’s 3G overloaded network, the device has some features such as video chat and a luminous, high-resolution display that is drawing in customers. Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the three days since the device’s launch.
The Epic is part of a new family of Android smartphones called Galaxy S from Samsung. The Galaxy S phones feature 4-inch screens, run Android and integrate social networking feeds from Twitter and Facebook, plus e-mail messages, calendars and contacts, into a single screen.
Sprint did not reveal pricing or availability for the Epic 4G.
When it comes to 4G services, Sprint is ahead of other wireless service providers in the U.S. Sprint’s 4G network is currently available in 36 cities. Sprint claims its 4G service can deliver up to 10 times higher speeds than existing 3G networks. Major areas such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. will get 4G connectivity later this year, says Sprint.
Verizon is testing its 4G ‘LTE’ network this year and expects to start rolling it out next year. AT&T is likely to start trials of its 4G service next year.
Not surprisingly, Sprint is pressing its advantage with 4G handsets.
Samsung’s Epic is largely comparable to the HTC Evo in its hardware, but it lags behind in a few areas. The Evo has a 8-megapixel camera, compared to the Epic’s 5-megapixel. The Evo can provide wireless access for up to eight devices as part of its hotspot capability, while the Epic an support only up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously.
But Samsung hopes to offer content that will put the Epic ahead. For instance, over the next few months, Epic users will have access to the Samsung Media Hub, a video store with movies and TV available for purchase or rental, says Samsung. A 4G network should help make downloads much faster, says the company.
The phone will also have a service called ‘AllShare’ to wirelessly exchange music, pictures and video with other devices. For business users, the phone supports push email, integrated calendar and Exchange ActiveSync.
Samsung and Sprint say the Epic will be upgraded to the latest flavor of Android, Android 2.2 ‘Froyo.’
As for other cellphone service providers, Samsung isn’t neglecting them. In the next few weeks, Samsung plans to offer Fascinate, a 3G phone running Android 2.1 OS on Verizon and Vibrant, an Android smartphone on T-Mobile’s network.
Top Photo: Samsung Epic 4G/Samsung
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on June 29, 2010
