As with all Note devices the S-pen is included creating a device that feels aimed more towards the business market than the home user. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is fast with 2 gig of ram and a quad core Exynos processor games and apps fly along nicely.

Their are still some issues with Internal storage from the 16 gig quoted only 9.6 is available for your apps and files which is a bit disappointing.

With the Galaxy Note 8.0 we had a blast it really is one of the best tablets on the market today although it may not be for everyone some users will find the S-pen the perfect way to interact with a tablet.

The post Galaxy Note 8.0 Review appeared first on Androidizen.

The included hand strap allows you to place the Galaxy Note 8 in your hand whilst keeping it secure with an elastic strap, perfect for sales people and the business environment and anyone who just wants a bit of security carrying their Note 8.0 around with them.

The case is from the well known manufacturer TabletWare SD and we found the build quality to be excellent.

You can buy this case over at GearZap for £17.99 making the Galaxy Note 8.0 Stand & Type an affordable case for this size of device.

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One of the most impressive things about android is its ability to extend its use in new ways including game controllers, so you no longer have to sit their touching the screen but you can use a game controller. Just like an Xbox or PlayStation console but interacting with your Android device.

The Moga Pro easily has the best game support and in this new incarnation is much more comfortable in the hand than the previous model.

However the pop-up stand is not the most comfortable thing to use with your Android device, it requires some tilting of your hands in a slightly unnatural way to view comfortably.

The Green Throttle on the other hand has really good feel in the hand, it’s comfortable to use over long periods of time even though it’s slightly heavier than the Moga Pro. Unfortunately the Green Throttle is let down by its selection of games which is paltry in comparison to the Moga Pro.

The Moga Pro has over 50 games already enabled that allow it to work seamlessly. The Green Throttle on the other hand only has around 10 to 15 titles it’s a bit of a disappointment and realistically right now the Moga Pro is the better device to go for

Check out our video below to see the full walk-through and a visual guide of how you can use the Moga Pro to interface with Crazy Taxi a new release from Sega.

The post Moga Pro vs Green Throttle Android Game Controller Shoot-out appeared first on Androidizen.

In spite of all these apparent discrepancies, car manufacturers have started to spot all sorts of similarities between these two, and they’re investing huge amounts of money into wireless features in an effort to make them proficient mobile devices that can also move at an incredible speed. Over the past few years, the term ‘Android cars’ has managed to revolutionize the market; car makers have started to integrate iOS systems into their vehicles in order to make the smarter and a lot more practical.

Android cars – the smart car of 2014

At the CES 2013, in January, over one hundred famous technology corporations have presented their services allied with futuristic “smart cars”. Plus, several renowned carmakers, such as General Motors, Ford and Hyundai, have introduced their technological works of art. Among the most impressive trends that they’ve recently embraced we should point out: parking guidance, self-driving technology, improved entertainment facilities, and more.

Consequently, a popular application known as Waze, includes modern GPS navigation services right on your personal Smartphone, and car manufacturers are constantly struggling to integrate their own, unique, software services and overcome their competitors.

These types of services generally use operating systems to function and connect to web protocols. Yet, the main question is: what’s the name of the operating system? Well, that’s one secret manufacturers haven’t revealed thus far.

Several exquisite carmakers, like Audi and BMW, use their own software platforms, such as Audi’s MMI, which incorporates Google Earth imagery, as well as Google Maps data, both incorporated in its A3 model. Other manufacturers like Ford, use special in-car system that utilizes Microsoft’s “Windows Embedded Automotive” OS. However, there are some that have been experimenting open-source platforms, such as GENIVI, Linux, and even the popular Android.

Are all manufacturers using the Android OS?

Thomas Stuermer, from the Accenture’s high-tech and electronics group, claims that some of these corporations have been utilizing the kernel of Android to strengthen their infotainment systems, and power their in-vehicle systems, such as the audio, video, navigation, and the controller operating system. However, he refused to name any of the car manufacturers that were doing it.

However, these were several car producers that were honest, and admitted that they employed the Android operating system. For instance Renault’s latest Clio model comes with an infotainment system that features the Android-based R-link, as well as the famous Saab model. Intel subsidiary Wind River collaborated in 2011 with the stereo maker Clarion to produce various types of Android-based infotainment systems. Also, the selection of operating systems for vehicles has become extremely significant for both producers and consumers; hence, these are a lot more knowledgeable and capricious.

In most cases, the winning infotainment system for most customers should have a safe, robust, and flexible operating system. Surely, an Android automobile might have some similarities with Android for smartphones, but there will also be significant differences.

Considering that the platform is open-source, vehicle manufacturers will most probably customize it, just like Amazon personalized Android to go with its Kindle operating system. Likewise, car producers seem to be extremely vigilant about aligning themselves with less widespread mobile ecosystems, such as Android, as they fear to put people off.

All in all, in spite of all technological innovations that invaded the market lately, it seems that for most clients an operating system for cars is of the utmost importance. People are interested in the functionality and the features of a certain vehicle, but they also want to know how car can it be.

Android cars – a dream car for every driver

There’s no doubt that Android cars will be revolutionary. At this point, car makers are preparing the people for the unexpected, and although some secrets have been revealed, more innovations will follow up. Today’s modern driver is looking for a lot more than just functionality. While Bluetooth integration’s and Google Maps data are being a high demand, several other ground-breaking features will soon be revealed.

Author Bio: The article is written by Michael Clark. He is a professional blogger and content writer. He always tries to keep his articles interesting and useful for readers. He also works as a writer at the site design911.co.uk, which is for Porsche spare parts and accessories.

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Just coming on to the market and retailing around £350 on pay-as-you-go, the Mini is small enough to pop into your pocket or to use one handed. It comes in just two colours, black or white. It’s a teeny 61.3mm wide, 124.6mm height and 8.94mm deep and weighs just 107g.

Under the bonnet there’s a 4.3in qHD sAMOLED display at 540×960 qHD resolution and a powerful Dual Core 1.7GHz processor. There’s 1.5GB RAM and either 8GB or 16GB ROM. The camera at the rear is an 8megapixel shooter plus a 1.9megapixel HD on the front. The phone runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2.

The Mini Galaxy S4

The 1900mAH battery will give you nine hours of 3G internet or 11 hours on wifi. On standby you can get 300 hours. It has an accelerometer, geomagnetic, gyro, light and proximity sensor.

Hot on the heels of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Mini has a lot of the same features, including Group Play where you can link your phone to those of your friends to use the handsets as a speaker system. You can also create a photo collage or play a game together.

One of the things that we love here at Androidizen is the S Health app on the full sized Galaxy S4 and we’re pleased to see it’s been ported over to the Mini. All you do is download the application from Samsung Apps and you can keep tabs on how many steps you’ve done in a day, how much you’ve consumed in calories. If you download the S Band which is sold separately then it’s like having your own personal trainer.

If you travel a lot, or even go outside your own locality, then the S Travel app is a fantastic way to get tourist guides, find out the best places to eat, things to see and how to get there. It really is a fantastic map in your pocket with so many added extras.

The Samsung Link means you can share all your content with friends or family and you can also upload pictures or video to a Samsung TV set. HomeSync, which is sold separately, means that all your media can be stored and shared and you don’t need to worry about losing it or about capacity or security loss because it’s stored remotely.

You can download a user manual from the internet or there’s a nifty tutorial on www.samsung.com which will get you started with some easy to follow tips.

If you shop around you should be able to get the handset much more cheaply on a two-year contract. Three have been offering it for £26 a month on a two-year deal.

Watch out for reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active and the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom which promise some additional features, in particular for the camera on the S4 zoom.

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In most cases it’s due to a bit of protective plastic that was placed on the camera surround at manufacture to remove it takes seconds and can improve your Galaxy S4 camera images considerably.

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I’ve installed the latest ROM so you can get an idea of what to expect if you go for Pure Android. What you lose is everything Samsung added including their interface and apps, what you gain is a clean Android device with no bloat and that you can customize as you choose.

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Let us take a look at all the new entrants:

ATIV TAB 3

ATIV TAB 3 is claimed to be the world’s thinnest tablet that uses Windows Operating System. Its design elements are on par with the Samsung Galaxy series, Smartphones series and tablets. Its thickness is only 8.2 mm with 540 grams weight. It has a screen display of 10.1cm which is ideal for high definition video to ensure brown photos.  Battery life of 10 hours is claimed by Samsung. The specifications are identical to Android. The 10.1 inch display‘s resolution is 1366 X 768. Its on-board flash has the capacity of 64 GB. This device has a RAM of 2GB in size and a slot which is of microSD and microHDMI. Since it runs Windows 8, it can run all Windows Applications. For creative and official work, as it uses, S Pen, it is compatible with Microsoft Office also.

ATIV Q

ATIV Q is yet another device from Samsung in the ATIV line of Windows PCs and tablets. It is a hybrid electronic device which runs both of the Operating System, the Windows and the Android. Moreover it acts as an Ultrabook in addition to a normal tablet. It has four different operating modes like a Notebook with a full keyboard access, a standard Tablet, a raised Tablet and a standing Tablet. This flexibility of the device will help the customer to convert the device to use for any type of situation as the time demands. This certainly reduces the burden of carrying additional paraphernalia on the part of the consumer.

Using this tablet you can access all types of apps from Google Play Android apps. Additionally files and folders can also be interchanged between them. As mentioned above, by changing the display modes, typing, watching the movies, comfortable viewing angles, everything is possible by adjusting all with a comfortable weight of just 1.2 kg and a width of only 13.9 mm, which is amazing.

The ATIV Q‘s resolution is one of the highest, QHD + (3200×1800) display. The 13.3 inches touch screen of this device offer 2.8 times higher ppi than full High definition displays for seeing the finest of details. Its design also gives the same viewing experience in all conditions of environment. It runs on Central Processing Unit of Intel’s new Haswell CPU. Moreover, the battery life of 9 hours has been assured for this model of tablet. Apart from all this the device is featured with a RAM of 4 GB, a 128GB SSD and is included with a SD card slot, a USB 3.0 port and a micro HDMI out.

AT IV BOOK 9 PLUS

ATIV Book 9 plus is a laptop that is based on the Series 9 PC. This is the new Ultrabook Champion which has arrived at the U.S. market. It has a 13.3 inch screen with 3200 X 1800 resolution. The battery life of this laptop is expected to be 12hours full. The aluminium whole body and the shining exterior of the laptops give it a robust and tough look. The opening of the laptop is of a full width nature. Book 9 weighs 3 pounds and has a quad-core CPU (AMA). The displays can bend back by 180 degrees to lie flat, which is to facilitate the friends also to watch what is going on in screen.

Processors available in the Plus are Intel’s fourth generation Core 15 and 17 offerings and shared HD 4400 graphics, which is backed up by up to 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Samsung claims Book 9 can boot up from cold in under 60 seconds.

Author Bio:

 This guest article has been composed by Christy Root who works for Prepaymania and, who writes Guest Articles, Press Releases for Mobile Phones. She loves to update herself with different mobile technologies.

The post A Unique WINDOWS-ANDROID HYBRID Launched By Samsung appeared first on Androidizen.

This case isn’t for everyone but if your into a minimalist life it may be just the ticket.

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In comparison, the Galaxy S4, running on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, outshines its main rival in the $253 billion smartphone market with a performance that is almost twice as fast.

Which? says that the Samsung S4 scored 3,188 on the Geekbench speed test, an industry standard, while the iPhone trailed along on 1,664, behind six other handsets.

The tests measure processing and memory speed and Which put seven handsets through their paces including those from Google, Sony, HTC and BlackBerry. They looked at their performance for playing games, multi-tasking, using apps and editing pictures.

Some of the results are likely to be down to the speed of the processor. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 1.9GHz quad-core processor while the Apple has a 1.2GHz dual-core.

The Android HTC One was second in the ratings on 2798 followed by the Sony Xperia Z third on 2173 and the Google Nexus 4 fourth with 2134.

In fifth place was the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on 1950 and the BlackBerry Z10 on 1698 was sixth.

Samsung has loaded its new S4 with masses of features including the ability to call a friend, answer the phone, preview emails and control videos without even touching the phone. It can also be used as a controller for your home entertainment system.

Androidizen put both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One through a comparison, see how they did.

It has some innovative features including S Health which lets you monitor your fitness levels during workouts and tracks your diet. You can also ask it to keep an eye on your comfort level with temperature and humidity info.

If you buy a compatible body scale it checks your weight and uploads it to the S4 via Bluetooth. The S Band, a simple clip on wrist band, can measure your sleep efficiency with a 3D sensor and report back to your phone.

One of its new features is S Translator which will be a boon to anyone who has to travel abroad for business or on holiday and wants a quick way of making themselves understood.

Which? testers found the S4 good to use for editing pictures. It has a rear 13 megapixel shooter on the back and a 2 megapixel camera on the front with full HD recording at 30 frames per second. There are lots of features including dual shot, drama shot, sound and shot, 360 degree photo, animated photo, eraser, night, best photo, best face, beauty face, high dynamic range, panorama and sports mode.

Meanwhile, the iPhone has an 8 megapixel iSight camera with video recording HD at 1080p up to 30 frames a second with audio. The Face Time HD camera has 1.2 megapixel photos and 720p HD video up to 30 frames a second. It has improved video stabilisation and photo and video geotagging.

In other news the little Android games console we all hope can OUYA has been released to retail so those that skipped it during it’s Kickstarter can now pick one up for $99 or £99 we have them now in our Store.

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 outshines Apple’s iPhone5 where it counts. appeared first on Androidizen.

With both devices being so powerful but speaking to different types of smartphone users it’s easy to see some differences in these smartphones. HTC One has the ultrapixel camera and Samsung the the better cpu and screen.

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• 5-inch Super LCD 3  1920 x 1080 HD resolution,
• Snapdragon 600 processor at 1.9GHz
• 2GB of RAM
• 16GB of internal storage.
• MicroSD card slot
• UltraPixel Camera
• 3200 mha Battery

Where things differ for the Butterfly S is in the use of LCD rather than SuperAMOled displays as found on Samsung’s Phones and that HTC has included the Ultrapixel camera from the One as well.

So really it’s the best of both devices, It’s an S4 spec device with a great camera of the One and by the looks of it front facing speakers.

The HTC Butterfly S could be one of the more interesting devices this year it really is like they put together an S4 of their very own. The S must stand for Samsung

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The post HTC Launch Butterfly S – The S Stands for Samsung! appeared first on Androidizen.

Turning your Android Smartphone into a PC of sorts is really easy and a fun weekend project, combined with a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse or a Joystick and you can extend the power of your Smartphone in new ways.

With the Galaxy S4 you have more than enough power to play the best Android games and 60 fps on a big TV.

Use an MHL Dock with your Galaxy S4 or S3

Using a Smartphone like the Galaxy S4 as a PC is easy all you need to do is plug in the KiDiGi  MHL Dock to your TV or Monitor using an HDMI cable and then plug-in the Micro-usb adapter so it has power.

The benefit of this is the dock will also charge your Galaxy S4 while it’s sending a picture to your TV or Monitor.

One you have the dock wired up to your display device plug-in the galaxy S4 or S3 by placing it into the dock.

Check out this video that shows the process in action on our YouTube Channel

You may need to push it down firmly but try not to move it too much as you do this as it can cause the Micro-usb adapter in the dock to flex.

Due to the way Samsung’s Auto-rotate option works you will be stuck in Portrait on your Display to solve this download an application called Rotation Locker it’s free and it will allow you to force Landscape for your output.

Once you have that done you can hook up a Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse or a Joystick via Bluetooth.

Android makes for a great Gaming system when hooked up to a large TV or monitor and if you want to get some work done using an app like Multi-window allows you to have a desktop like experience.

You may want to avoid running your Galaxy S4 display all the time as it lowers it’s life span so either turn the brightness right down to save the back-light or use an app that shuts down the display until you want to power it back on.

Alternative to MHL Docks

You can also use a simple cable like an MHL Adapter that will allow you to do all of the above but with a more cable management, in my opinion using an MHL dock with your Android device is so much easier and not a lot more expensive.

The post How to turn your Galaxy S4 into a PC with an MHL Dock appeared first on Androidizen.

Tom’s Guide: How To Root the Samsung Galaxy S4 (via Tom’s Hardware)

The Galaxy S4 has an extremely impressive spec sheet, which means developers and enthusiasts were particularly keen to gain root access to the device. This task has already been achieved and instructions are available on how to do it yourself, should you feel so inclined. There are many benefits to…

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So far spotted are in this Galaxy S4 update

• Apps2SD support – although it wont move data only the main app files which is a pity
• HDR Video Camera – Too make your videos look even better
• Lag Fixes – Lets see how that works out
• Statusbar hidden – Looks nice
• Secure Boot – In settings you can now see the secure boot status gee thanks Samsung!
• Camera Firmware – The camera has been given an update as well, lets hope improved low light!

There maybe more to discover some are saying the purple smear issue is fixed others that its not.

See the full thread over at XDA-Developers or download the update and install via ODIN

Firmware details:
Model: GT-I9505
Country: Germany
Version: Android 4.2.2
Changelist: 768421
Build date: Wed, 29 May 2013 16:05:23 +0000
Product Code: DBT
PDA: I9505XXUBMEA
CSC: I9505OXABMEA
MODEM: I9505XXUBMEA

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More Cohesion Among Devices

Something that is both a strength and a weakness for Android is the lack of a uniform experience across the mass of devices out there. This is largely in part because of manufacturer’s tendencies to modify Android to their liking. In an interview at D11, Android chief Sundar Pichai said himself that the Android network is bigger than he expected.

He says that in the future the intention will be to create more common ground among devices, while still giving manufacturers room to innovate. As for a practical step forward on this front, Pichai said that the HTC One and the Google S4 will be available on Google Play with the Nexus interface.

Motorola’s New Phone

Motorola’s Dennis Woodside confirmed the existence of the Moto X. Its name suggests that it is the long rumored Google X phone. While he stated the phone was in his pocket, he did not reveal it to the audience. The information is still vague, but Woodside said that the phone will have sensors that enable it to be ‘contextually aware’.

It seems reasonable to think that this feature will integrate with Google Now. In addition to this feature, Woodside said 70% of the product will be assembled in a Fort Worth, Texas plant. He described it as the first smartphone to be built in the U.S. Beyond these concrete aspects of the phone, ideas were tossed around for the future. Electric tattoos and a pill you can swallow were suggested as potential forms of verification.

Unlike YouTube, Motorola’s identity still seems to retain an air of independence after their acquisition by Google. It has to be remembered that if Motorola’s new phone is a success, it is a success for Google. It could be a game changer capable of taking on the Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5S, but we will have to wait to find that out.

Samsung: Will They Stay On Top?

Overall, we didn’t see any big reveals or huge hints at Android’s future. The coming year seems to be more about refinement than anything else. We may see the market shares evening out between manufacturers. Google’s Nexus phones along with the Moto X may help them to expand their reputation as hardware developers.

On the other hand, with Samsung’s new Design 3.0 paradigm on the way, a more uniform design may establish them as an even bigger presence in the Android market. While Pichai denies any sense of competition with Samsung, suggesting greater collaboration between the companies in the coming year, it is hard to deny that Google wouldn’t mind seeing more of their phones moving off the shelves.

Guest post from Paul Williams. Paul is a part-time tech blogger, and full-time copywriter with internetserviceproviders.com. Please feel free to ask him questions in the comment section below.  You can also connect directly with Paul for questions or guest post requests via email.

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For everything from business use to watching movies, TV shows and checking email at home, the tablet seems to be the delivery device people are gravitating to.

While certain devices like the iPad and Samsung Galaxy seem to be all over the place, there are a whole slew of other tablets that offer excellent usability and unique features. One such tablet is the Prestigio Multipad 9.7.

If you’re considering buying a tablet or looking for a gift for somebody special in your life, this particular tablet is one you should definitely put on your shortlist.

The iPad isn’t the only tablet in town anymore. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Who Is Prestigio?

Before we go into the specifics of the tablet, we should probably get the elephant in the room out of the way. Prestigio may not be a name brand that you’re familiar with (like Apple or Samsung), but it’s been around for quite a while, and they have products selling in over 60 countries worldwide. They’re not a fly-by-night company and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

As far as the quality of Prestigio products, you should know that their products are designed with the specific purpose of competing with high-end tablets, like the iPad. Quality control is good and Prestigio stands by their product.

Prestigio Multipad 9.7 Specifications

The Prestigio Multipad runs on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich platform, a platform that’s very user-friendly and designed to be quick and speedy, reducing the time a user has to wait to load large and feature-rich files. The tablet comes with a wide variety of apps, but you can download more than 300,000 apps designed specifically for the platform using Google Market.

The Prestigio Multipad 9.7 runs on an ARM Cortex A8 Rockchip RK218 CPU @1GHz. It also comes with a 9.7” backlit screen with 1024 x 768 resolution. The Multipad comes with Mini HDMI, micro-SD support, Wi-Fi, Mini USB and a standard mini jack for making audio connections or utilizing headphones.

The tablet offers about 4 hours of HD video playback on a single charge, 36-hours of audio playback and an impressive 120 hours in standby mode. So, if you’re looking to run your business dashboard, this may be the tablet you want to highly consider.

Comparing the Prestigio Multipad to Other Tablets

If you’ve been in the market for a tablet for a while, you probably noticed how the specifications of the Prestigio tablet are very similar to those of the iPad 2. That’s because they are.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab may be popular, but the Prestigio Multipad 9.7 offers users more. Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The iPad 2 offers the same exact screen size, resolution quality and connection types. While many people like Apple’s iOS platform because it’s one they’re familiar with, new tablet users will likely find the Prestigio’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich platform easier to navigate and customize to their liking.

The Prestigio Multipad 9.7 also compares favorably to the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which is actually the world’s most popular tablet. The Prestigio offers the same operating specs, but it comes with a considerably larger screen than the Samsung, which only offers 7-inches of real estate. The Samsung tablet also has a slightly lower resolution quality.

When the tablet first appeared, the iPad was pretty much the only game in town. Soon after, the Samsung Galaxy Tab was introduced and became more popular in terms of sales volume.

However, fast forward to 2013, and there are a lot of tablets on the market that perform every bit as well as the iPad and Samsung for a fraction of the price. The Prestigio Multipad 9.7 is one of those tablets, and if you’re in the market, you owe it to yourself (and your pocketbook) to check one out.

Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer and online marketing professional from Southern California. She specializes in a variety of tech as well as search marketing and web analytics. She currently works with PlanetTelex jquery web designers.

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So first off spec wise, this is by far the most powerful smartphone ever created. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor is backed up with great GPU, a 1080p 5in display, 2 gig of system ram… it flies. Let’s face it, this is the fastest smartphone ever created.

But it’s let down in a few areas which we’ll come on to later in the review. Now, first off, the style of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is striking, but maybe not the most progressive of designs we’ve ever seen.

Certainly when placed against something like an HTC ONE this does look a little bit out of date, let’s say, a little bit too close to the Galaxy S3 and the Note 2 with only really minor updates to the general look and feel of the hardware.

However, one massive change that Samsung have made is the in-the-hand feel. Now, the Galaxy S4 feels great in the hand.

With the Note 2 and the S3 at times you could feel your finger starting to strain a little bit because of the kind of curved back wasn’t quite as curved as it could be.

Now, though, the feel certainly in my hands is very very good. The weighting as well has been distributed much better so at no point do you quite feel the device is tipping.

Galaxy S4 Build Quality

The continued use of polycarbonates in the Galaxy S4 does make you feel that the device is little bit cheap.

The S4 does feel shiny and plasticky and a little bit nasty which is a shame because the weight is brilliant, the hand feel is perfect, it’s comfortable to use but it just feels a little bit plasticky and cheap which is such a shame.

We can argue all day long which is better – aluminium or polycarbonate but again this is one of those personal choice moments.

If you’re someone who wants aluminium, you feel that gives you more durability then the S4 is not going to be for you. If you’re someone who’s willing to trade off the polycarbonate for the replaceable battery and more spec for your money then the S4 may very well be a good choice.

And these are really the choices we have to make, It’s aluminium and less spec for our money, no removable battery or polycarbonate plastics, removable battery and a higher clock and higher spec overall. So, we have our trade off. My personal feeling is I like removable batteries and that probably answers the question.

Software on the Galaxy S4

So, on the software side of things. Samsung have thrown everything and the kitchen sink into the Galaxy S4.

You’ve got everything from an optical character recognition system which can also do translations so you can point it at an object which has text on it and it will translate that text in real time for you either into English or into other languages.

S Voice which I still wish Samsung would dump! It’s not a patch on Google Now, S Translator, S Planner and S Memo round out the software offerings from Samsung.

S Translator being one of the new items which allows for near real-time translation between two languages so if you’re travelling into a foreign country or something or you meet somebody from a foreign country and you’re having trouble having that conversation you can use S Translator to assist you. For the most part it works well. It does require you to speak fairly slowly and quite deliberately but it gets there in the end.

S Health though, is by far the shining example on the S4 and it makes you wonder why all of Samsung’s apps can’t be of this quality. With the S Health app it tracks your day-to-day life. It monitors how many calories you’ve burned how much weight you’ve gained and helps you stay fit and healthy. And as you can see the app is beautifully designed.

In comparison to some of the other Samsung apps it’s like they’ve got somebody else to build this for them.

The S Health app it’s phenomenal, maybe not the reason to buy the S4 in its own right but if you’re a fitness fanatic or if you’re someone who’s looking to get fit, the S Health app might be a tipping point compared to other handsets on the market.

S Memo and S Planner are unchanged from the previous editions, they’ve been given a few tweaks here and there but the basic functionality is still the same.

If you use them on the S3 or on the Note 2 effectively these are Samsung’s versions of a note taking app and a calendar app. I’m afraid to say Google does it better.

Samsung Link is the new name for the Allcast and Share application I believe. This allows you to link up multiple different devices including PCs and other phones and share information wirelessly between them. They work quite well in practice.

We were able to pull graphics and video footage from a local PC over wifi and display them on the S4 with very little time delay and it all felt very fluid and easy to use. However it was quite a chore setting up the Samsung software on the PC. It took several attempts, a few reboots and a bit of magic.

It was strange, we couldn’t work out exactly why it wasn’t working it just seemed to be a bit glitchy.

Watch On is a very interesting and useful app it will allow you to pick what types of shows you enjoy watching. It will then make suggestions to you about what shows you might like to watch and if you want to watch the show you simply tap the show’s name and the infrared port on the Galaxy S4 will automatically change the channel for you.

Likewise, you can set up all of your audio video equipment in the WatchOn app and by doing so you can then control your television your audio video equipment Blu-ray player, all from your smartphone.

For me, that is a bit of a killer feature and it kinds of puts the S4 heads and shoulders above any of the other smartphones out there. It’s a very nice implementation, I would have preferred an application built solely by Samsung because this one is a bit ugly in places.

Samsung have also seen fit to put their own app store on there which is not as good as the Play Store but it has a reasonable attempt.

The standard Google apps are all included as well, so you’ll find Gmail, Google Chrome, Google Maps, Play music ,Play movies, Play books all of the usual things you would expect on any Android device is here.

Samsung have also seen fit to include their video app and a few other little bits and pieces. What Samsung have done really is improve the sensors in the Galaxy S4.

There’s a lot more sensors, including things like barometers, temperature gauges, tilt control, gyroscopes it’s all available on the S4 and also things like Smart Scroll, Smart Stay Air Gestures and Air View.

One cool feature of Air Gestures is to be able to pick up an icon and then instead of having to try and move the icon to the edges of the screen you can simply wave your hand over one of the sensors and then drop the icon where you’d like.

Multi window allows you to have two applications on screen at the same time which is cool we like that idea but it would be nice if it could be two different applications at the same time just picked from your app tray.

So overall we really like the Samsung Galaxy S4.

While we’ve had quite a lot of teething troubles with it, the overheating issue, the headphone jack issue and the general manufacturing, and as we’ve got used to the S4 and we’ve found a few workarounds to some of the problems, we found it to be a very competent device, one of the better smartphones on the market.

We will be taking a look at the HTC ONE and we’ll also be comparing it to the S3 and the Note 2 but overall I think if you’re in the market for a new phone now, the S4 is the one to go for.

If you already have an S3 or a Note 2 I would say there’s not quite enough here to justify it. Not unless you need the bigger 1080p screen or the faster processor.

If you don’t need either of those two things really what Samsung have offered here is not enough to justify selling your S3 or Note 2 or trading in and buying an S4.

It’s a great device it’s got a lot of rough edges. And the extra stuff that we’re getting here is mostly software.
There is not really enough to justify dumping a device like the S3 or Note 2 that’s barely a year old.

Those are great devices, so is the S4 and for me, this device sits in between the S3 and the Note 2 and it’s kind of like the S3 now becomes the mid range model the Galaxy S4 becomes the high end smartphone and the Note 2 is still the king. I would also suggest checking out some Galaxy S4 cases as well to help protect your investment.

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 review Best Smartphone of the year? appeared first on Androidizen.

Consumer Reports names Samsung’s Galaxy S4 the world’s best smartphone (via The Inquirer)

PRODUCT TESTING OUTFIT Consumer Reports has named Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone the top smartphone in the world, dethroning LG’s Optimus G. Consumer Reports is an independent, non-profit organisation that tells subscribers what are the best products on the market, and the Samsung Galaxy S4…

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It’s great to see the Galaxy S3 get 4.2.2 we have been waiting what feels like a lifetime to see some sign of it.

We can expect the Note 2 to also get these features in due course as well.

It’s interesting to see the gap close a bit between the S3 and S4.

The post Galaxy S3 4.2.2 sneak peak Lock Screen Widgets and new Settings area appeared first on Androidizen.

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I’ve been playing with loads of Galaxy S4 updates and roms to see if things improve and for the most part they do.. though I now have some interface lag meh!

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One of the RAZR i’s main claims to distinction is its Intel Atom Medfield processor – at 2,000 GHz, it pushes ahead of rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5 in terms of power, and uses single core technology and multi threading to produce a slick user experience. With 1 GB of RAM, you won’t lack for power, and the RAZR i can easily run the latest version of Android without significant lag.

Enhanced with Project Butter updates, Android’s Jelly Bean OS has refined many of the features that were included with previous version Ice Cream Sandwich. As well as getting the usual Android app display, interface, and extras like facial recognition and phone vibration, the RAZR i has Motorola specific widgets like Circles for basic weather and time keeping.

Motorola RAZR i specs

The RAZR i’s 4.3 inch touchscreen is made to seem even larger than it is by being stretched right to the edges of the phone, with the result being an engrossing user experience when you’re browsing the Internet and watching videos. The Super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 960 x 540, which puts it slightly short of full HD, but into a category where you can enjoy high quality colour and sharpness. Motorola have also included Gorilla Glass protection, Kevlar backing, and a splash guard for water – SIM and a microSD slot capable of providing an extra 8 GB of storage enhance the RAZR i’s appeal.

Users wanting a premium camera with the RAZR i should probably look elsewhere, though – the 8 MP camera is fine for daytime shots, and comes with HDR and multi shot features, but is definitely in the mid range when it comes to current phones. Still, you can get some good shots in the right light, while GPS geo-tagging, a VGA rear camera, and video playback at 30 fps does make the RAZR i superior to other phones in its class.

What most users will be attracted to with the RAZR i will be its durability – the Intel processor is combined with a 2,000 mAH battery, which is capable of allowing for a day or so of basic usage if you avoid using WiFi, Mobile Data, and Bluetooth. Motorola have put a lot of work into the phone, with Jelly Bean and the Intel partnership meaning that its rare to find a smartphone with so much power at the mid range of the market. Competitive contracts consequently make the RAZR i a solid recommendation at the moment.

About the Author:

Rosette is a mobile fanatic,she is currently working to raise awareness of the Motorola RAZR i. She likes to check out the latest mobiles phones and apps. Rosette can be found blogging about updates in the market, and new releases.

The post Motorola RAZR i Review appeared first on Androidizen.

To me it appears Samsung has rushed to market, failed to QA their product sufficiently and entered a race to have the biggest product spec at the expense of usability and quality.

The post Galaxy S4 buyer beware problems and failures appeared first on Androidizen.

We found the app to be a bit of a gem on the S4 compared to many of the stock apps S Health is very well designed, easy to use and very functional.

If only all Samsung apps were this good.

The post Galaxy S4 S Health review get fit with Samsung appeared first on Androidizen.

The plastic cover does mean that the chance of taking a nasty knock increases quite considerably. So, with something like the FlexiShield Galaxy S4 cases the idea is it’s flexible but hard-wearing.

So when you pop this on your device and if you happen to drop it or it takes a knock it’s the FlexiShield that is going to take the brunt of the force and not your back cover or the sides of the S4.

It does work quite nicely, more importantly when they’ve milled the ports out they have left plenty of room around all of these various port holes so if you’re using either non-standard cables or if it’s your camera or your speaker grille the case isn’t interfering. With the camera especially it’s not blocking any light around the outside and it’s not obscuring the LED flash either.

On the bottom you can see that it’s leaving plenty of space for your micro usb so if you happen to be using a third party usb cable maybe it’s got a slightly bulkier end to it, it’s not going to interfere and it will still go in quite neatly.

On the front of the case, and one of the reasons I like these gel cases so much is this lip. If the device happens to fall on its face, the actual screen isn’t going to take the hit on the desk, or on the floor.

The covering around the outside, the lip, will take the brunt of the force.

Obviously, if you take a trauma directly onto this screen something that’s slightly raised up, then I’m afraid this case is not going to protect you but to protect the back of your case and the sides, to prevent that face plant from occurring then the gel case is absolutely fantastic and one thing I really like about the FlexiShield is how hard-wearing it actually is.

Having that additional skin on there really makes a big difference.

The post Galaxy S4 FlexiShield case review your flexible Android friend appeared first on Androidizen.

This includes setting up lock screen widgets, changing the welcome text and setting up your security.

The post Galaxy S4 lock screen options and customisation appeared first on Androidizen.

The addition of a small magnet triggers a sensor in the S4 to lock and unlock the Galaxy S4 just by opening and closing the cover.

The Galaxy S View cover. Now what’s quite special about this S View cover. Like the previous covers it replaces your battery compartment cover as well, the back cover but it also has the front cover with a cutout. And that’s actually got a piece of plastic there.

Now this plastic is actually conductive as it were, so when we place it on the smartphone on the Samsung Galaxy S4 what will happen is we can use this window here to quickly check for alerts or notifications or if the phone rings we’ll be able to answer a call.

So, first of all, how do we actually attach this to the device.

So what we first have to do is remove the old back cover and it can be reasonably tight to remove so you’ll have to get your finger in and just pries it away.

The great thing with the S View case is there’s a small magnet inside here so as you can see there notifications popped up and I’ve got my notification there, I can quickly see the information but it’s still leaving you with my clock nicely there.

Now when you open the case because of the magnet that’s been attached into the inside of the case the device actually knows that you want to look at it so it will immediately drop into homescreen view.

Likewise, when I close the case it knows the case has been closed and it switches over to this S View mode which allows you to see the information.

One of the things I found slightly awkward  with this case as you can see in the video it has an absolute love of just popping open on its own.

One thing Samsung really should have done here if they were putting a magnet in to detect when the cover was over the screen or not is maybe put a stronger magnet that would keep the actual cover attached to the front of the S4.

It does seem to be a little bit of a design flaw that really.

A lot of people found that the best thing you can do is just try and flex the spine in a few different directions just to remove some of the kind of starchiness from it.

After a couple of weeks worth of use you will find that it sits much more comfortably on the top of the phone.

But, from a functionality point-of-view the S View cover is an absolute dream.  It’s a great idea having this cutout.

The fact that this is a touch sensitive cutout as well using Samsung’s glove tech effectively means that you can use  this to interact with  the S4 if you  get a phone call or to check what actually going on with your latest alerts without even having to open the cover.

The idea of being able to reject a call really quickly and easily is just fantastic. Like I say, the only drawback is this slightly springiness coming from the Galaxy S4 S View cover when you first get it but that can be solved with a little bit of work.

The post Galaxy S4 S View Cover case review appeared first on Androidizen.

In past Galaxy models a lot of complaint has been leveled at Samsung for basically trying to shove every single setting possible into just a single page and the problem with that is you just couldn’t work out where settings were going to be.

You would find some things were in the security section which were lock screen related, it was just a complete mess.

So with the Galaxy S4 they’ve obviously taken that criticism to heart and they’ve split things down so you now have these tabs on the bottom previously everything was just in one long scrolling list which made life difficult so now you have a connections tab your my device, your accounts and a more option.

Connections as the name suggests deals with anything connection related so you’ll find your wifi, your Bluetooth your data usage and your ability to change your 3G networks etcetera available in there as well as things like your roaming if you go into more networks.

So also flight mode tethering and your VPN is available in there.

NFC and S Beam which are one and the same thing really they both use the near field communication with the S Beam it also uses the wifi and you can quickly flick those on or off as you need to, you can also access those through the quick short cuts up at the top here as well if you need to but the option is there within the primary settings. You also have a screen mirroring device nearby and Kies via wifi.

Again all of this is connection related, related to you connected to the device, or having other devices connecting to it.In my device it’s very much about personalization creating your custom lock screen tweaking your display settings if you’d like to notification panels, multiple windows, brightness and your auto rotation, fonts and everything like that.

That’s not to say that Samsung haven’t still crammed in an awful lot of settings but at least things are now a little bit better laid out and a bit more logical. Your LED indicator can be changed there or turned off completely if you’d like to.

Home screen and sound mode.

The home screen mode is if you want to switch it into easy mode.Why would you want to do that? And sound is where you can set up your ring tone, vibration patterns, dial pads and more importantly if it’s annoying you, turn off that touch sound, so you know, that weird water droplets sound that you get every time you touch anything. There is where you can turn it off.

If you want rid of that, that’s where you get rid of it I would strongly urge you to turn it off if you value your sanity! You can also change your call settings as well, your call settings in here including how you reject whether you should automatically answer calls, your alarms and everything like that. And the ringtones that will appear in there as well.

A lot of options here to look at but you know, it’s what we expect from Samsung. You’ve got the blocking mode which will allow you to simply block calls or notifications and a new feature which I don’t recall seeing on the previous Galaxy S models is Safety Assistant.

Effectively in an emergency the device can automatically do some stuff for you So for instance it can display your emergency contacts, send an emergency picture send messages etcetera.

Very useful if you happen to be out and about if you’re a walker or anything like that you have an extra safety feature there that can keep you safe and alert people should there be a problem.

The power saving mode is obviously very useful in any smartphone. It allows you to drop down various settings on the phone to a lower power mode so for instance restrict the amount of cpu you’d be using put the screen into low power and turn off the Haptic feedback.

Which, you know, all of these things drain the power. If you drop those into lower mode you may get a couple more hours worth of use out of your device.

Accessibility and accessories. those are there, if you’ve got accessories things like your dock those options are available in there and for accessibility you have all of those accessibility features to make it easy if you have a particular problem using a device.

So things like magnification is available in there, adjusting the colours everything you could possibly need if you need the accessibility features in that particular section.

Your keyboard controls are in language and input. Now I’ve installed Swiftkey. I remember the announcement initially they were saying that Swiftkey or Swipe was actually going to be coming with the Samsung phones. I can’t find it anywhere so I’ve installed mine off the Play Store.

And in there you’ve also got your text to speech options as well, voice typing and everything like that. Motion and gestures, this is where we get into more of Samsung’s kind of added extra features.

These allow you to interact with the device without actually physically having to touch the screen necessarily. You can make a gesture, for instance flicking the wrist, swiping across the screen with your hand will allow the device to recognize those actions and do whatever it’s been designed to do.

Normally moving between panels and things like that and you can just flick those on very very easily.

With the Air gestures you’ve then got even more options there for which Air gestures you would like to use bearing in mind that all of these features do run your battery down because it’s constantly having to use things like the camera to judge whether your hand has moved across the screen or not.

You have your Voice control down at the bottom here.This is very much the S Voice kind of stuff I have mine turned off because it just annoys the heck out of me.

If you come into accounts now at very least accounts aren’t buried under another submenu as such.You can come into the accounts section and see all of your accounts listed, add a new account or trigger back-up and reset. In here is where your factory data reset is. If you need to wipe everything on your device and start again this is where you can do it.

And you can also set your back-ups as well in there if you need to.

The private options allow you to save various features of the phone so your settings and so on and that all goes straight up to Samsung’s cloud and then obviously restore them again later if you need to, say for instance if you’ve done a wipe or a reset.

The accounts section is very much a muchness, there’s nothing really new here as such other than what a particular application might install for you But you’ve got your Samsung account as standard, Chat On, Dropbox and Google.

Email, LDAP if you’re network orientated and the Microsoft Exchange and custom serve is there as well. If you’ve installed Facebook you’ll also get the Facebook accounts there.

In More, finally in More we just get down to the stuff they couldn’t think of anywhere else that it could kind of go.So you’ve got your location services in here.

So do you want your gps or wifi location being reported, and available for applications. In security you’ve got encrypting your device, encrypting your external SD card, really nice to see those encryption options Remote control, SIM change alerts there. you can SIM card lock in there as well.

Verifying your apps. Now this is an interesting one. Google in Android 4.2 I think introduced a new feature which would analyse applications you were installing and make sure that they weren’t dodgy in any way, stealing data or anything like that.

Turning that on and using the unknown sources allows you to sideload an application but still check it against Google’s good list as it were to make sure there’s nothing bad going on.

Very useful if you’re like me and you take a lot of apps in from developers for reviewing and so on that aren’t actually available through Play Store yet.Just helps us keep our devices safe.

Trusted credentials again that tends to come into play with things like exchange server if you’re a business user and have to talk to exchange.

The application manager is very similar to the application manager of old. Shows you everything you’ve got installed on the device and let’s you uninstall it as long as it’s not one of these stock applications or preloaded applications as it were. So if you want to uninstall something go into there, hit your uninstall button.

You can also clear down your data, clear your cache data, or force the application into a stop, Those sort of things can come in handy as my wife discovered the other day with Facebook playing up clearing the cache on the Facebook app solved her problems.

You can also see what applications you currently have running and using up processes, again this will list absolutely everything that’s available including the stuff that is stock and running in the background that’s required to actually run the phone itself.

So, you know, don’t be surprised if you do see quite a lot of odd things in there like filter, and store and factory mode. These are all part of the Android operating system. Don’t turn them off now.
And then if you go all the way to all you can see absolutely everything for those people that love to scroll.

So if we come back out of there and go into battery again this battery app is very much as we’ve seen many times previously. It allows us to see what the current charge is, how long the device has currently been running on battery and which applications are currently drawing down on the battery.

So you can see I’ve been playing Carmageddon there, my screen has been burning through 70% and my maps has been flicking on a little bit.

In storage we can see what is using what space and where broken down by application types. Pictures video audio downloads miscellaneous data and then at the bottom what is available.

So here we can see applications are currently taking up 5gig of my storage space. I can click on applications and I come into the application management just so.

Likewise I can come into pictures and video and I can make changes there as well all nice and easy.

It does also show you your SD card down at the bottom as well if you have that installed, but it doesn’t give you the breakdowns.

In date and time surprise surprise it allows you to change the date and time as well as things like the automatic time zone formatting and when your daylight savings is likely to kick in as well.

Developer options is only available if you’ve done a particular action on your handset which brings you into the developer mode. To do that you come into about device you come down to your build number and you tap many many times until you see a message pop up that says type one more time, two more times, three more times or what have you and the developer mode will be active.

Once you have your developer mode you’ve then got some things you can do. Usually this is pretty much just for developers but there are a couple of interesting things in here.

Checkout the windows animation scale and transition animation and animator. If you drop these down to 0.5 or put them on off completely you can actually find your device runs a little bit quicker. It’s not actually running quicker but you’ve actually reduced the amount of animation time for when you transition between various screens.

By reducing that transition time it makes things feel a little bit more fluid and snappy.

I’ve never encountered an Android device yet that doesn’t work just as well when you put it off or 0.5 as having it on 1.It just adds to a little bit of snappiness of the device. Which, you know, hey, we like snappiness don’t we.
Those are core Samsung Galaxy S4 settings.

The post Galaxy S4 settings options and customization guide appeared first on Androidizen.

If you take a picture all the text can be converted to text and edited, shared or translated. It really is a very clever app and in most cases the Optical Reader app works very well.

The post Galaxy S4 Optical Reader demonstration appeared first on Androidizen.

How about the Galaxy S4 on Orange 400 Minutes, Unlimited texts and 750mb of data for £31 a month.

Three are offering 500 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited internet for £35 a month.

O2′s deal is looking sharp with Unlimited mins, Unlimited texts 1GB of internet for £37 a month.

EE however are a bit out of the running offering Unlimited minutes, Unlimited texts and 3GB of internet for a whopping £46 a month.

Vodafone meanwhile have Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 1GB of internet for £37 a month

All these are on 24 month contracts minimum and the handset is free.

That’s just some of the deals available for the Galaxy S4, if you have seen a Galaxy S4 deal let us know.

The post Free Samsung Galaxy S4 UK Deals appeared first on Androidizen.

Now if you have Root access to your Galaxy S4 with the help of an app called Folder Mount it’s easy to trick Android into thinking your data is still on the S4 internal memory even though it’s been easily copied to your SD card.

This one needs Root to function but it will save you loads of internal memory space and stop you having to delete your favorite games or apps to make room for new stuff.

The post Solve Galaxy S4 Storage problem Folder Mount root only appeared first on Androidizen.

Really it’s a case of new material has been used to create the look and feel of the Samsung Galaxy S4  and replicate it on the cover.

Now, as you’ll know from the previous covers the idea behind Flip Cover is to protect the front of the screen from taking any substantial knocks and it does a very good job at that. It’s quite hard wearing although a little bit flexible as you can see and it has a nice inside lining which stops the screen from getting any scratches or smudges and what I’ve actually found it can actually help to take off some of those smudges over time.

It’s made of that lovely material that you get, like a chamoix or something like that, you know, lint free cloths that have become very popular for cleaning up screens.

Overall, it’s a nice case, it does the job well. Because realistically all it’s doing is replacing your back cover, you’re not gaining any extra protection for the back or sides of the device particularly.

It’s stylish and it certainly will stop those knocks from occurring that could potentially damage the lovely 5in display that comes on the Galaxy S4 but it is a fairly limited cover in the sense that is not providing any additional protection here.

One of the things that’s always worth noting with any of these flip covers is that the case  itself does not stay attached to the screen the whole time, as you can see in the video it’s actually raising up of its own volition which is a little bit of a problem.

One thing that people have found is if you give this a bit of a flex in a few locations on the spine it will eventually sit much more neatly but it’s one thing to keep in mind that while it is protecting the front of the device it’s not staying absolutely flush at all times so it does allow the potential that if you drop the device it could just flap open and you could still end up taking that knock.

With that said, it certainly is a very stylish case and protecting that screen is a massive bonus.

It would be nice though to see a bit more protection for some of the other areas of the Galaxy S4 and also maybe they could do something just to make the spine on the flip cover just a little bit better at staying flush but overall yet another reasonably good case from Samsung.

The post Galaxy S4 Flip Cover case review appeared first on Androidizen.

Also in this overview we take a look at port and button placement and discuss where things have changed from the previous generation Galaxy phones.

The post Galaxy S4 Hardware overview appeared first on Androidizen.

The symptom is your S4 draining battery whilst using the Google Maps Service that handles location updates for other android apps.

To fix the issue on my Galaxy S4 I did a factory reset which wipes all the data from your handset and restores the default software as it came from the factory.

This resolved the battery drain issue I was having with Google Maps service.

The post Galaxy S4 Battery Drain Fix Google Maps service appeared first on Androidizen.

We will have a full review and a deep dive into every bit of the Galaxy S4 over the next week stay tuned and subscribe for more.

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 unboxing and startup appeared first on Androidizen.

Review Grandstream GXP-2200: VoIP Android Phone (via http://clearcloudvoice.com)

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To help you choose the best protection for your Samsung Galaxy S4 check out our round-up of some of the best Galaxy S4 cases on the market today.

Galaxy S4 Flip Cover

If you owned the Galaxy S3, or the Note 2, you will be familiar with Samsung’s standard Flip Cover. This clever case replaces your battery cover and offers a hard front face that flips across your screen to protect it from bumps and knocks.

Consider this the gold standard in cover safety. Available in black or white.

Galaxy S4 S View Cover

New to the Galaxy S4 is a case that you will wonder why they aren’t all like this. It features a cutout on the front of the case and a small magnet.

The S View Cover allows you to see notifications and answer calls, all without having to open up the case to look at the full screen. The magnet wakes or sleeps the S4 automatically when the cover is used.

There’s something very cool about receiving a phone call with the S View Cover. Reject or answer with just a swipe on the touch sensitive S View panel without ever opening the cover. Awesome! Available in black or white.

Galaxy S4 FlexiShield

The FlexiShield Galaxy S4 case is a great third party case for users who don’t want their screen covered at all with a flip cover.

The meta-material of this case is like a hard gel, flexible yet tough, encasing the rear of the device and offering a small lip around the front of the screen.

The FlexiShield will help protect against knocks and drops, although a direct hit to the screen will still be a possibility with this case. Maybe invest in a toughed screen protector when using a FlexiShield. Available in many different colours.

There you have three awesome cases for the Galaxy S4 have you spotted a great case? Let us know in the comments.

The post Protect your Galaxy S4 investment with the best cases appeared first on Androidizen.

As you might expect the Acer Iconia A210 is great for gaming due to the Tegra 3 GPU and surprisingly their is little or no interface lag with the Acer Iconia A210.

We think if you are in the market for a 10 inch tablet you should take a look at the Iconia A210 it’s well worth a look.

The post Acer Iconia A210 Tegra 3 10 inch Tablet Review appeared first on Androidizen.

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On first impressions the S View Cover is a thing of beauty made of a hard plastic polymer it wraps around the entire S4 by replacing the back cover.

The inclusion of the S View window as part of the cover design should make it quick and easy to check basic information or answer calls without having to open the cover first.

We can now get a better idea of the case design for the Galaxy S4 including the pattern that is very reminiscent of the Galaxy S2.

Those prone to dropping their phones will be please to hear the back cover isn’t as shiny as the S3 cover although it’s still not as grippy as it could be.

We will have to see how the overall design and weight of the S4 plays into it’s in the hand feel.

We will be bringing you a full review of the Galaxy S4 S View Cover in a few days time.

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First published on ProductReviewShow

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Brilliant S4 hardware

Yes of course, there’s a faster processor, more ram (2 gig) and a bigger 5 inch screen running at 1080p, but that’s just for starters.

There are some other big extras which make the Samsung Galaxy S4 the must-have phone.

Infrared Blaster port

What’s really exciting is the inclusion of an Infrared Blaster port that will allow you to control any device with an infrared receiver, like a TV, blu-ray player or another S4.

It turns your Galaxy S4 into a central control device for a range of products, no matter if it’s NFC, Bluetooth, wifi or now infrared. To my mind that’s exciting stuff.

One device to control them all, no more fumbling around to locate the remote in the dark.

The Camera

Another area we are looking forward to with the hardware is the camera that has been given a worthy bump to 13mpx, promising much better low light performance than the Galaxy S3.

Weight Reduction

The weight reduction should be welcome to some although we are a little concerned it will be too light, could be a good idea to invest in a Galaxy S4 case to help add some bulk and protect it just in case of a drop or knock.

Glove touch

At last, is all I can say! No more cold fingers on winter days. The Galaxy S4 will allow you to interact with gloves on. A simple feature but one that is going to be of huge use to most S4 owners.

We love these Galaxy S4 software features

Dual Camera

The ability to add the front and rear cameras to record simultaneously and overlay one on the other in the final render is brilliant and you have to wonder why no one thought of that earlier. You can also do it with pictures allowing the photographer to be included in the picture.

S Translator

This is possibly the best idea ever and while others have had a go at it, Samsung’s implementation in the Galaxy S4 appears to be very well executed. We can’t wait to try out on-the-fly translations… if we can find someone who speaks a language other than English anyway. Still, for anyone who holidays or travels abroad a lot for work, this app could save some embarrassment if you think you’re asking where the toilet is but instead find you’ve accidentally insulted your host!

Story Album

Taking lots of picture is great, organising all those pictures later not so much fun. Story Albums takes the hard work out of it by intelligently grouping images as they are taken, based on your location and other information.

Group Play

Do you have friends who own Samsung Galaxy smartphones? Well, now you can get eight devices together and all play the same track, creating a surround sound system to rival a nightclub. Now what song to play first, Hey Macarena!

Air Gesture

Incredibly, you don’t even have to touch the Galaxy S4 to interact with it. Air Gesture will allow you to complete basic operations or peek at files just by hovering your finger over the screen. This is a by-product of the Gloved interaction but a welcome and time saving addition.

S Health App

Get fit and let your Galaxy S4 help you by tracking your progress and providing updates in real time. Combined with the S Health band I can see I will be shedding a few pounds and putting my S4 to more productive use than sitting on the couch playing Real Racing 3.

What are you looking forward to with the Galaxy S4? Let us know in the comments.

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 on the launch pad appeared first on Androidizen.

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The post Samsung Galaxy S® 4 Redefines the Smartphone Again with More Leading-Edge Innovations and Government-Grade Security* appeared first on Androidizen.

We came away impressed that the Prestigio MultiPad 9.7 Ultra Duo makes a great tablet at this price point. The package comes with everything you could need including a case and USB2GO cable.

The separate charger may disappoint some as you can’t charge via USB, the Prestigio MultiPad 9.7 Ultra Duo has a plastic IPS display running at 1024×768 but it’s one of the better displays we have used at this resolution.

We tested Need for Speed Most wanted, Modern Combat 4 and the brand new release Dungeon Hunters 4. The PMP5597D MultiPad 9.7 Ultra Duo handled them all without a hitch.

All in all a great tablet for the price.

The post Prestigio MultiPad 9.7 Ultra Duo Android Tablet PMP5597D review appeared first on Androidizen.

This 9.7 inch tablet comes with loads of accessories in the box including a case and USB2GO cable.

The screen features a Backlit LED display and it’s in the mid range for weight. The Prestigio MultiPad 9.7 Ultra Duo out of the box looks great and has a solid feel in the hands.

The post Let’s unbox the Prestigio MultiPad 9.7 Ultra Duo appeared first on Androidizen.

The FlexiShield is a gel type material that is very hard wearing and tough to boot. It snaps around the Galaxy S4 rear and with a slight over lip for the screen will prevent face plants and knocks doing any damage.

This is very similar to the Galaxy Note 2 case we reviewed a few months ago and came away impressed.

We will have a full review of the case along with a Galaxy S4 just after launch.. hope you enjoy this early look.

The post First look video Samsung Galaxy S4 FlexiShield Gel Case appeared first on Androidizen.

For now, let this image of the Galaxy S4 White and Black Flip Cover whet your appetite. They look to be of the same high quality construction as Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and Note 2 flip cases.

 Key features of the Galaxy S4 Flip Cover

The Galaxy S4 Flip Cover has the following stand out features:

• Replaces the back cover of the Samsung Galaxy S4
• Provides full screen protection without additional bulk
• Durable construction offers premium protection for your screen
• Official Samsung accessory made for the Galaxy S

Available in white or black to match the Galaxy S4 launch colours, these stylish Flip Covers are going to fly off the shelves.

Look out for a full Video Review coming in the next few days!

The post Exclusive – Official Samsung Galaxy S4 Flip Cover cases first look appeared first on Androidizen.

Dubbed Facebook Home, it has a novel lock screen which has been named “cover feed” and notifications, images and messages will appear on this screen instead of a downloadable app. Swiping up from this screen launches the rest of the phone apps.

Notifications are sorted by friend, not app, so you get an alert when a friend is doing something, rather than when an app has something new.

Users no longer have to fiddle about to unlock the HTC First phone, they can leave a Facebook comment, double tap to like something or browse pictures.

Zuckerberg, who unveiled the Android HTC smartphone at a fairly low key event in San Francisco, said it was designed around people, not apps. Facebook’s research shows that users spend 25% of their time looking at their feeds and chatting to friends.

Among the useful innovations is the “chat heads” feature in which people can take part in conversations in their messaging windows without having to access apps and navigate through menus.

Facebook Home, which behaves more like a newsfeed, will be in the Google Play Store on April 12 and you can try it out before deciding if you really want it as the default. There’s no tablet version yet but Facebook are planning to launch a version shortly.

Zuckerberg is adamant that Facebook is not creating an operating system and to begin with only five devices will be catered for, all running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. They are:

• HTC One
• HTC One X/X+
• Samsung Galaxy S3
• Samsung Galaxy S4
• Samsung Galaxy Note 2

The HTC First will be the first phone to come with the Facebook Home as the interface. You’ll be able to get it in black, white, blue and red at $99.99 for a two-year contract in the US where the only carrier will be AT &T.

There won’t be any on the app for the time being but it’s expected they will eventually be placed on the cover feed.

The post Facebook Home for Android detailed at event appeared first on Androidizen.

With the first two months at half price the effective cost starts at £36 a month and the handset free.

At the moment some of the tariffs look a little strange offering the same minutes, texts and contract length but costing more per month.

We have pre-ordered our Galaxy S4 and will be bringing you our review just after launch at the end of April.

The post Galaxy S4 Pre-orders at Mobiles.co.uk appeared first on Androidizen.

If you’re thinking of pre-ordering maybe these will take your fancy:

• Orange (24 months) 900 minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB data, £36 a month (handset £49.99);
• Vodafone (24 months) unlimited minutes and texts, 1GB data, £37 a month (handset £49.99);

We expect more pre-order tariffs and maybe a deal or two over the next few days.

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 pre-orders are live appeared first on Androidizen.

JK Shin introduced the Samsung Galaxy S4 to a packed Radio City Music Hall, saying Samsung had listened to users to find out what they wanted from a smartphone.

It’s expected to launch at the end of April with  3G and LTE 4G, FDLTE and TLTD, all frequencies and standards worldwide.

Featuring a slimline case in black or white polycarbonate, it weighs in at 130g and 7.9mm thick. It has 2GB RAM and a hefty 16GB ROM storage as well as a micro SD expansion slot and 2,600 MAh battery.

New software Features:

Touchwiz interface improvements will better integrate indicators like the battery. There’s a new rendering engine to bring it all to life.

Hardware features

• 5 Inch AMOLED 441dpi display, full 1080p HD
• Two different CPUs depending on region Exynos 5 Octa 1.6GHz or 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon
• 130 grams
• 13 megapixel camera and 2 megapixel front facing camera.
• 100/50Mbps hexa band LTE Cat 3
• 2GB DDR3, 16/32/64GB microSD upto 64GB
• a/b/g/n/ac WiFi
• MHL 2.0
• Bluetooth 4.0
• IIR blaster
• Black and White polycarbonate
• Galaxy S4 looks very similar to the Note 2 in aesthetics

This smartphone, which will run on Android 4.2.2, with it’s snazzy new hands-off features and 1080p HD display, will fly off the shelves and is a real game-changer. Korean electronics giant Samsung are expecting pre-orders to be massive, particularly as they’ve already spent a mega $4 billion on advertising.

Dual Camera

The Dual Camera allows the front and rear camera to record at the same time, overlaying one over the other allows everyone to be in the video. It allows you to add the extra camera at will. You can also add images to the captured image for a unique and cool finish.

You can add sound to your images, before or after taking the image, when you look at the image later you can hear the sound recorded. Erazer allows you to remove people or objects from an image.

You’ll be able to take really stunning pictures with the 13 mega-pixel camera on the back and 2 megapixel on the front. The 8-mega pixel shooter on the Galaxy S3 was one of the best features for day-to-day use and the S4 goes one better. It not only has a Micro SD slot but also infrared gesture and temperature and humidity controls.

The photographer can also be in the video or photo! You can shoot with both cameras at the same time. There are loads of options like fisheye or heartshape, or even cubism. It will take 100 shots in a few seconds.

Eye tracking, Smart Scroll and Smart Pause:

This is an expected development from the Samsung Galaxy S3 where the display stays on as long as the user is looking at it, no matter what time had been set for the screen to turn off.

The Smart Scroll means that you’ll never have to touch the screen again to scroll down, a touchless hover when you’ve reached the bottom of an internet page or email will move you to the next page automatically.

It’s joined by Smart Pause, a clever tweak, which means that the Galaxy S4 will stop playing a video if it senses you have looked away from the screen.

S Translator:

You’ll be able to communicate in different languages. You can ask the phone a question and it will translate it into another language, ideal for tourists needing directions abroad. The response from the person you’re asking will also be translated back into the language of your choice.

You can also use it if you don’t have a network connection as it comes pre-loaded with useful phrases.

Adapt display

The screen automatically adjusts to your surroundings.

This takes over from the previous setting-based functionality and automates the process to create the best viewing experience in any situation.

Story Album

You can create an album with pictures so you can record where you’ve been. The system is smart. It knows if you are on a trip or an event and it will ask if you want to create a Story Album. You can add text like notes about the weather.

You can send a copy of the album to people at home so they can enjoy your pictures as you are taking them, along with sound.

Home Sync

This fab development allows you to share pictures and video to your connected devices like the TV. Home Sync has a terabyte of storage capacity. You can have eight users with their own personal storage and you can connect your S4 via NFC to tap and connect to the Home Sync device. It works with any NFC device or smartphone.  It’s a hub for all your content stored at home.

S Voice Drive

The simpler S drive interface has been designed for hands-free car use, with bigger text display with Bluetooth to provide an optimised experience. This will make the S4 safer and easier while on the move.

The Galaxy S4 responds to voice commands and allows you to reply to and respond with voice commands to your emails. The launch had a very impressive demonstration. S Voice Drive allows the S4 to act like a personal assistant, taking over many areas of your communication needs with voice commands..

It makes transferring your old content to your new Samsung Galaxy S4, simple fast and easy. All you need is the Smart Switch software, plug in in your old device and back it up then plug in your S4 and it will copy all your old personal data onto your new S4.

Glove touch

As a major feature, the S4 works with gloved hands so no more chilly days. Just glove-up and game on.

Samsung Knox

Knox is designed for business and enterprise users, built on top of government standard security. You can use it for business and home. Your personal space is private and your work space is secure.

Group Play

You can play music through as many as eight devices, turning the phone into surround sound. It also allows you to share pictures.

Chat On

Chat On Includes video calling for up to three people with you on the front facing camera and your friends on the back camera.

Air Gesture:

Samsung  Galaxy S4 will be using Air Gesture, already in use to preview on the Galaxy Note 2. You just hover your hand over something like a date on the calendar so you don’t need to touch the screen with your finger.

Battery:

2,600 milliamp battery. We’ll have to see how that fares with the new CPU and display technology that the Galaxy S4 is packing.

S Health App

Also included on the S4 is Samsung’s Health App so that if you have a separate pad you can monitor blood pressure, heart rate, weight, BMI and blood sugar. It can tell you how many calories you’ve burned up and calculate your sleep pattern. You can print out the results..

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 launch & specification detailed appeared first on Androidizen.

But what about the CPU and GPU will Samsung go for a Exynos processor or a Qualcomm as been rumored? All will be revealed on March the 14th at the Samsung Galaxy S4 Unpacked event. An image on Twitter and accompanying tweet reveal the date  “Come and meet the next Galaxy”.

We can##Q##t wait to see what they have planned for the S4, throwing money at my monitor isn##Q##t making the 14th come any faster. Let us know in the comments if you are interested in the Galaxy S4.

The post Galaxy S4 unpacked Event March 14th appeared first on Androidizen.

It’s a leather style folio case to begin with so this particular type of unit completely encases the device keeping it nice and safe.

So all you need to do is open it up and you then slide the tablet in and that keeps the tablet nice and secure, it can’t slip out.

This is a top notch Nexus 7 cover and offers great protection at an affordable price.

The post Nexus 7 TabletWear Stand and Type Case Review appeared first on Androidizen.

This tablet handles the latest games with relative ease, while it may only have 512 of ram you can barely tell as it munches graphics of Temple Run 2, NFS:MW and Dead Trigger without breaking a sweat.

Acer Iconia B1 Specs that wow at £99

OS:Android (4.1.2)
Dimensions:7.77 x 5.06 x 0.44 inches
Weight: 11.29 oz
Display 7 inches
Resolution:1024 x 600 pixels
Pixel density: 170 ppi
Touchscreen: Capacitive, Multi-touch
Battery Capacity: 2710 mAh

Hardware
Processor: Dual core, 1200 MHz, MediaTek 8317
Graphics processor: PowerVR SGX 531
System memory: 512 MB RAM
Built-in storage: 8 GB
Storage expansion: microSD, microSDHC up to 32 GB

The Iconia B1 is running Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and with the 7 inch screen it looks great, while direct sunlight is going to be a problem due to the plastic screen in normal indoor conditions colors pop on the screen. The display PPI is a little on the low side at just 170 but really what can you expect at this price point.

The real surprise in the Iconia B1 is the MediaTek 8317 & PowerVR SGX 531 they really push this tablet along at a fair old speed. Gaming on the Acer Iconia B1 is incredible with only the latest games like Vice City having any real problems we were able to play Need for speed and it felt as good as playing on higher end devices twice the price.

The storage space is limited at 8gig but with the MicroSD card slot you can expand that to 32gig with ease offering bags of space, it’s nice to see Acer ensuring that expansion is an option on the B1.

Battery life is what you may expect it will get you 6 – 7 hours of general use but play a few games and you will soon see the battery fall away in less than 2 hours.

512 of ram is at the minimum of acceptable but here it works just about ok, it would of been nice to see 1 gig but that would of pushed costs up. This will limit some games and cause larger applications to stutter so bear that in mind when you choose your downloads.

The over all feel of the tablet is solid although there is a bit of give in the screen when you press on it. The Acer Iconia B1 is well made and relatively light compared to other tablets in this class. You wont mind giving this tablet to your kids or taking it out in your backpack it will take a few light knocks and be fine.

Jelly Bean Android 4.1 provides a complete set of applications to get you started. Including the all important Gmail and Google Maps you also get the new Play store complete with Music, Movies and books. Google Currents  is also included and it’s really nice to see that Acer hasn’t put loads of bloatware on this tablet. Just the essentials the rest is up-to you!

We really hope you enjoy our Acer Iconia B1 Review we will be taking a look at how it stacks up against the competition soon.

The post Acer Iconia B1 Review The £99 Gaming Android Tablet appeared first on Androidizen.

The race to the bottom has begun with Acer a tier 1 Hardware provider releasing it’s £99 Tablet offering in the Iconia B1.

First impressions are the Acer Iconia B1 is a cut above other £99 tablets, with a plastic yet sold enough feeling housing and a fetching if a but colourful design.

Acer Iconia B1 Impressive Specs

The Specs are encouraging with a 1.2Ghz Dual Core CPU and 512 of ram backed up by 8gig of storage space this £99 Tablet has some guts.

The 1024x 600 Capacitive Touch screen looks ok for a tablet of this spec but still underwhelms when compared to higher PPI screens.

Other than that the Acer Iconia B1 sports 3G, 80211n Wireless networking and 0.3mpx front facing camera for skype of Hangouts.

The post Acer Iconia B1 Unboxing Video £99 Tablet appeared first on Androidizen.

Contre Jour Android killer feature is deforming the land around your creature to make it move, you have to push and pull on terrain causing your little guy to roll and bounce where you want him to go.

This makes for a new dimension in strategic thinking unlink any game I##Q##ve played to-date, Contre Jour is a wonderful puzzle game that will keep you think and playing for hours at a time.

Contre Jour Android can be downloaded from the Google Play store for a few pounds and is well worth every penny in my opinion.

We checked out this game on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

The post Contre Jour Android Review appeared first on Androidizen.

You play Max a young and gifted programmer who falls on hard times and has to fight every step of the way in a crazy and sometimes bonkers world of 2022. The sound, music and graphics are among the best we have ever seen in terms of mobile games. Easily making use of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 huge screen size this game looks fantastic.

The Great Fusion Android gets so much right theirs not a lot here you won##Q##t love, It##Q##s always nice to see a classic game style given a up to date make over rather than yet another port of an old title (badly ported) The Great Fusion is perfection.

You can download on the Google Play store now

The post The Great Fusion Android Review appeared first on Androidizen.

This side ways scrolling shoot-em up never lets up with fast paced on screen action, over the top weapons and a kick ass sound track that will have you kicking ass all day long.

The on screen controls for Metal Slug are responsive on the Note 2 although on some larger devices get ready to deal with black bars on the sides on the screen, a hold over from this being an old arcade title ported across.

Metal Slug Android is not just a strait port of the NEOGEO classic but updated to include Arcade and Mission Mode to add even more challenge.

Metal Slug Android Multiplayer

Bluetooth multiplayer also make an appearance in Metal Slug Android adding even more replay and general boom boom action to your gaming with friends.

Metal Slug in on the Play Store now for under $4.99

The post Metal Slug Android Review Galaxy Note 2 appeared first on Androidizen.

Free on the Play Store with In app Purchases Dueling Blades has everything from leveling up your character to buying new items so much fun to be had here.

Each turn you move your character and select an arc of attack, then your move and your opponents move are played out in real time. If you predict correctly you attack fail and you will be on the receiving end.

Enemies in the game include pirates and the undead and you can even fight other players with PVP matches, sounds like a chance to challenge a friend to a Dueling Blades Android match.

We tried this game out on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2

The post Dueling Blades Android Review Galaxy Note 2, S3 appeared first on Androidizen.

The post Sonic 4 Episode 2 Android Review appeared first on Androidizen.

Currently free on the Android Play Store, Pudding Monsters need to save their friends from the fridge owner by turning themselves into a Mega Monster, really makes the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 look fantastic.

Suitable for all ages, and easy to play, the colourful game, from the makers of Cut The Rope, has all sorts of monster shapes and personalities and you can use cloning machines and other wacky ideas.

This is an addictive puzzle adventure using innovative game play mechanics and entertaining graphics which should keep you busy for hours. There are no timers or points, you just need to collect three stars at each level. If ZeptoLab can make it a bit more challenging it will be even more appealing.

If you want the HD version of Pudding Monsters, you can download it for just 62p.

The post Pudding Monsters Android appeared first on Androidizen.

It really is true that the old ones are the best and this Android revival of the 1982 classic has all of the appeal of the original.

From the Activision stable, Pitfall Android has a series of challenges while escaping a dangerous volcano.

The gameplay is set in a jungle and the free running Temple Run-style antics include racing through villages and caves while avoiding being roasted by the volcano or falling off a cliff.

You can slide and jump using easy swipe and tilt motions and use your whip to overcome enemies like crocodiles and snakes.

The scenery is quite interesting, using things like waterfalls and dark caverns to make the Galaxy Note 2 shudder.

As you level up you can swap your loot for power-ups for a better experience. It##Q##s one for friendly rivalry as well as you can post your score on Twitter and Facebook to out do your friends.

Free on the Playstore and guaranteed to give you hours of entertainment.

The post Pitfall Android Review Played on Nexus 7 appeared first on Androidizen.

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This year we mostly used the Galaxy Note 2 and S3 for our reviews.

If your interested in 3D android Games then check our this video for our top 5, hit the comments and let us know what you would of picked. In 2013 we will be reviewing even more games so stay tuned for more Top 5 and individual Android Game Reviews.

Our Top 5 3D Android Games for 2012

Jet Set Radio

M.U.S.E
Real Racing 2
ZombieWood
Samurai Vs Zombies

The post 3D Android Games Top 5 2012 appeared first on Androidizen.

Security firm Lookout has found a new Android spam botnet trying to fool people into sending spam messages by smartphone. Now is the time to keep your Galaxy Note 2 safe and install some AV apps.

The botnet, dubbed SpamSoldier by Lookout, infects phones and then sends out thousands of SMS messages unknown to the phone##Q##s owner.

So far, the spam campaign has been detected by US carriers but it is spreading fast.It has a number of different ways to try to hook you in.

One is to tell people that they##Q##ve won a $1,000 target gift card and it gives an address for you to enter a code to receive it. Another is to persuade people to download Grand Theft Auto 3.

If you tap on a link from one of the SMS messages, you download an app that says it will install the game on your phone. It doesn##Q##t. Instead, the program removes its icon from the launcher in a secrecy bid and then starts firing off Android spam attack messages.

It##Q##s quite a clever ruse and installs a free version of the game to try to fool users into believing it is a genuine offer. Outgoing spam SMS messages are deleted after sending and replies are intercepted so even if friends are complaining to you about the spam, you may not realise it.

Not only is this an extremely annoying spam attack, it could also be costly if you##Q##re charged for SMS messages rather than getting them free with your phone provider package.

Lookout suggests that you only download apps from mainstream app stores and don##Q##t click on any links in SMS messages. It##Q##s good advice because hopefully those apps will have been checked to make sure they are genuine before being made available.

Don##Q##t get caught by the Android spam attack!

The post Android spam attack ‘SpamSoldier’ SMS attack in the wild appeared first on Androidizen.

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The post European War 3 Android on Galaxy Note 2 appeared first on Androidizen.

Every day check the app of wait for a notification the app will show you which games and apps have dropped in price and by how much.

With App Sales Android you can also set a watch list up so you get an alert if a game on your list drops in price and you can snap it up.

App Sales is a well designed application and I##Q##ve had no problems running it on the Galaxy Note 2  or Galaxy S3.

A rock solid app that is free on the play store now and helps to save you money on your favorite applications and games.

What more could you ask for really? Not a lot more than App Sales already provides!

The post App Sales Android appeared first on Androidizen.

The gameplay is epic with military strategy helping you through the warzones.

Outstanding 3D visuals make for a very attractive game on the Galaxy Note 2 and the various missions will hold your attention while you get to grips with the enemy.

The fast-paced Android gameplay, which is a little bit reminiscent of Cannon Fodder, is touch controlled and easy to get to grips with.

The idea is that you control tiny troopers while they detonate buildings to save civilians. You##Q##re taking part in the troopers##Q## three-chapter story as you complete the missions.

As you complete more levels and upgrade your weapons, your troops improve their skills and earn big rewards.

Chillingo have done a great job with this Android game, it##Q##s free so every reason to download it from the Play Store and give it a go. Just make sure you have plenty of time because it is quite addictive!

The post Tiny Troopers Android appeared first on Androidizen.

The bendy screen has been codenamed Project J and could be on sale as early as next April.

Samsung is in a selling war with Apple##Q##s rival iPhones for the biggest share of the $200 billion market, so a revolutionary new screen could see a significant sales boost.

The technology could include LEDs on a plastic surface instead of a glass one, making the smartphone lighter and possibly cheaper to manufacture.

Samsung Galaxy S4 features

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is also expected to have a 13-megapixel camera, with a 441ppi 1080p screen, one up from the Samsung Galaxy S3##Q##s 306ppi 720p display and the iPhone##Q##s 326ppi.

It will also feature a larger and better display as well as a more powerful processor.

In an early Christmas present, Samsung is predicted to ship 22.5million of the Galaxy S3 and Note II smartphones in the quarter to the end of the year, and the total Galaxy S3 sales will top 40 million by the end of this month.

The ongoing legal spat with Apple has made potential customers realise that Samsung phones have plenty to offer and the firm is trousering plenty of cash on the back of it.

The Galaxy Note 2 is doing very well for it##Q##s self sales wise as well reaching 5 million sales in just over a month.

The post Unbreakable screen for new Samsung Galaxy S4? appeared first on Androidizen.

The post FlexiShield Wave Nexus 7 Case Review appeared first on Androidizen.

Think Instragram but with more control and one of the nicest interfaces I##Q##ve seen for this sort of feature set, Snapseed Android  is excellent.

With Snapseed Android you have complete control over editing your photos, you can even edit images taken with other cameras.

If you Google Plus then you will love the ability to share your final creation to your Google Plus account with just a tap.

Snapseed Android Review

Pinch to crop is a cool feature and theirs so many filters you will be busy for hours trying to tweak your images to perfection.

Snapseed Android is on the Play Store Now and is completely free, now their really is no excuse for turning in bad looking photos from your Android device.

It##Q##s about time Google got around to bringing Snapseed to the android platform, we are really pleased to see it and must say the new price of free makes this a must have.

The post Snapseed Android Review on Galaxy Note 2 appeared first on Androidizen.

It##Q##s those dastardly zombies again! This time in Zombie Evil, a free to play game from FT Games.

The post Zombie Evil Android Review on Galaxy Note 2 appeared first on Androidizen.

As the title advertises, this is an action packed game with free stunts galore and 300 free permits. It operates on tilt control.

Given the popularity of the BBC TV show this is one that##Q##s going to run and run!

There are lots of souped-up cars to choose from and the action moves from locations like the Grand Canyon to escaping Alcatraz. Or you can choose New York, London, Moscow and China, for a truly international experience.

There##Q##s a bit of animal magic as well as you zoom about with a cow on your pickup truck.

You can boast about your high score on Facebook and Twitter and challenge your m8s to outdo you.

There are in-app purchases for Top Gear: Stunt School Revolution Pro! Android for things like extra Stig Dollars, Gold Nuts and Permits and some people might find that annoying in a paid for game, although at 69p the original outlay won##Q##t break the bank.

It is quite challenging so you will get your money##Q##s worth out of it.

The post Top Gear Stunt School Revolution Android Review played on Galaxy Note 2 appeared first on Androidizen.

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Best of all, this monster mayhem is free to play so while you##Q##re trying to save the land of Clay Jam you might be able to get by without any in-app purchases, although you can buy extra clay if you want to.

The idea, with Clay Jam, is to outwit the Bully Beasts with Fat Pebble, who rolls down clay hills steamrollering monsters as he gets bigger and bigger. Some of the challenges are quite hard but it##Q##s great fun.

This game would be OK for younger members of the family but it will have universal appeal. Who doesn##Q##t like squishing monsters??!!

There are five bosses or Bully Beasts and 20 monsters as well as entertaining sound effects and great music.

It##Q##s a bit addictive, to be honest. Here at Androidizen we##Q##ve been spending a lot of time on it. You might find that you##Q##ve got so much into the game that you##Q##ve killed your battery!

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Zombie Gunner has a storyline as well as action. Dad Andrew is taking on the zombies who are taking over the streets, and they##Q##re dangerous and hungry.

You can help him find his lost daughter Lisa at the same time as unravelling the story of the zombies who are out to get him.

A top new title from Gamevil, this free to download thriller has classic side scrolling action and attention grabbing graphics with easy controls so you don##Q##t find your attempts to wipe out zombies end in epic fail.

There are lots of different high tech weapons so you can scorch the zombies with a flame thrower or give them a little bazookering to show them who##Q##s boss.

Quite a few new challenges come up along the way as you level up. You##Q##ll be working against the clock and trying to outwit the zombies who become more cunning and difficult to dispose of.

As with most free games, there are in-app purchases of coins and some players have reported glitches in the money tally they have as they level up, but overall, worth a download.
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Joystick Center 6 apps

This uses USB BT Joystick Center 6 which will set you back a few $##Q##s, You also need the Joy2Touch Server as well, once you have those installed you need to turn on Bluetooth and both bits of software, pair up your keyboard and follow the video above, it will take you through configuring the software and mapping the touch regions to your keyboard buttons.

Ideally for this to work you need to be Rooted so use all the usual precautions as far as warranty is concerned, if you aren##Q##t rooted not all of this is going to work for you.

This method also works on Samsung Galaxy S3 devices as well with out any problems you can use the same video guide above to do this on your Galaxy S3.

Not every game will work well with this method but it##Q##s what we have right now!

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Easy to play, there are just three buttons and three actions, left, right and jump in your quest to save humans.

You can ride on Boosters to give your zombie total powers and as an added attraction, there are a number of different modes so that you can either play the game as fast as you can or go in for some gravestone destruction.

But there are some obstacles which will prove fatal if you collide with them. The idea is to crush stones and gain hearts but some of the stones are booby trapped with spikes so you need to take care.

If you find the going a bit hard you can add special powers in the form of new gears.

This is one to challenge your friends with, you can see their record score and they can see yours.

Zombie Runaway Android is free, from the Com2us stable, the makers of Tower Defense and Tiny Farm, so you know there##Q##s been some good investment in this game.

It##Q##s had an impressive 4,574 ratings at five stars in the Google Play Store and it##Q##s a great time killer!

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Samsung has just released a video showing the measures they take to check the devices##Q## durability so that when it hits your pocket, or the ground, or does a few spin cycles in the washing machine, it is as near indestructible as they can make it.

And Samsung really are on the button, with the smartphone buttons pressed thousands of times, the devices sprayed with water, and vicious attempts made to scratch the screens. The Gorilla Glass 2 screen on the S3 came out of the trial with flying colours.

We particularly liked the test where a model of someone##Q##s large rear was pretending to sit on the phone, in our experience that##Q##s a bruising encounter and something you only do once. The polycarbonate chassis on both devices barely flexed.

If you##Q##re really worried you might damage your phone then check out your household contents insurance to see if you are covered there before you opt for more expensive specialist insurance. These days most insurers do cover phones and laptops.

Samsung Galaxy 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 stress test

The reality is that if you##Q##re sensible and buy a good quality case for either device, then even if you drop your smartphone on the corner, the case should be a reasonable shock absorber. These are large devices for smaller hands so it##Q##s not so easy to keep a good grip but the right case will make a difference. The reality is you##Q##re probably more likely to misplace the Note 2 SPen than you are to damage the phone. Here##Q##s a review of a case we checked out recently.

As for pressing all the keys thousands of times, here at Androidizen I think we must be carrying out our own tests, such are the number of phone calls we make!

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