Samsung patent apps reveal possible smartphone UI changes

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Samsung’s cooking-up a new look for its smartphone user interface; we’ve already seen the new Magazine UX debut on the company’s tablet at CES, and leaks have been teasing us with a similar new look for Samsung’s phones. As we look forward to the day when we might be able to give the latter a spin for ourselves, we’ve been made aware of some patent applications Samsung filed in South Korea, which just might provide some ...

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New Samsung tablets, Pebble Steel, US Sony Xperias & more CES – Pocketnow Daily

Posted on by Jaime Rivera

Watch today’s Pocketnow Daily as we talk about Sony’s recent annoucement of the new SmartBand, along with a new Xperia Z1 Compact and Z1S for the US market. We then talk about Samsung’s new family of tablets, which include some interesting enhancements when compared to previous years. We keep talking about Samsung as we cover the company’s new tablet UI, aside from the fact that it’s also planned for Galaxy smartphones. Motorola is next as we talk about the company’s press event in Europe for January 14th. We end today’s show talking about the new ...

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Leak teases new direction for TouchWiz on Samsung phones

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

All these new Samsung tablets (and no, we’re not done talking about them quite yet) may offer some top-shelf hardware, but even those sky-high specs are only part of the appeal; we’ve also got to consider the software. This time, Samsung’s trying out something a little different, implementing what it calls its Magazine UX – and as we noted when giving these models some hands-on coverage, that really is what it feels to use the interface – like a news browser app. But Magazine UX, as Samsung ...

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Are we too hard on TouchWiz? (Poll)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

There are few issues as contentious among Android users as the value of user interface “enhancements” baked-in by various OEMs. TouchWiz, Sense, Motoblur: most of the big players have released devices running their own skins at one point or another. The intentions behind these software packages are usually honorable – OEMs want to make Android more accessible, more pleasant to use, or just want to help distinguish their offerings from the rest of the pack and really stand out. Problem is, plenty of us see these ...

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 unboxing (Video)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

Fun fact: it’s almost a year to the day that we unboxed the smartphone that would capture our hearts and forever change our collective opinion on the phablet category. And despite the intervening three hundred and fifty seven days, two important factors remain the same for today’s unboxing video: the daily dollop of hair gel didn’t make it onto our host’s head before filming, and the branding on the box once again reads “Galaxy Note.” That’s right: ...

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Samsung may have finally nailed a decent Galaxy Note tablet

Posted on by Jaime Rivera

Samsung may be the king of smartphones, but every single time they’ve launched a tablet in the past, I cringe. You can bet they’ve made me cringe continuously as well, since I’ve lost count of the amount of Galaxy tablets in the market. Some people argue that the only reason why Samsung sells so many smartphones is because of their marketing, and even though there’s a high level of accuracy to that remark, that’s not as easy as you think. If the product is not good, customers have a window of return, and we do know a ton of cases of people that have returned ...

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Galaxy Note 8.0 – After The Buzz, Episode 023 (Video)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

Most new device launches go the same way: usually the press gets review units before they’re widely available, and we get to use them for a few days -or a week if we’re lucky- as we work on our review. Then press day arrives. The embargo on media coverage lifts, and everyone posts their reviews and videos at the same time. It’s a huge frenzy, commenters go nuts, and it’s a giant explosion of frantic opinion-

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Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 unboxing (Video)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

We can’t all be like Taylor Martin, living it up with a 10-inch Galaxy Tab 3. Some of us need to hang out closer to the midrange, walking the line between the teensy tablets of the world and their supersized siblings. And you know what? That’s fine with me. Join me as I take the wraps off the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, the device smack-dab in the middle of Samsung’s new generation of Android tablets. These aren’t high-end Galaxy Note devices (though a

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Galaxy S 4 Active vs Galaxy S 4 (Video)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

We’ve handled it at its official London debut, even dropping it into a tank of water. We’ve unboxed our very own demo unit, graciously provided to us by the exclusive launch partner, AT&T. And we’ve given that demo unit the

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Stock Android devices remind us why Sense and TouchWiz are so important

Posted on by admin

I have always valued the stock Android experience over the various customized strains from OEMs, even before Android itself looked anything like it does today – back in the Donut, Eclair, Froyo and Gingerbread days. It’s more rustic, rough around the edges … raw. I like to use devices as they were intended to be used, how they were supposed to look and feel from the factory. This is exactly why I don’t use cases. They mask the true beauty, engineering mastery, the design, and all the hard work that went into making a phone. It’s like saying you want to protect a ...

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Walkthrough of Leaked Galaxy S III 4.2 Firmware With S 4 Features (Video)

Posted on by admin

When Samsung announced the Galaxy S 4, it unveiled a horde of new software features, features that many existing Galaxy device owners hoped would someday trickle down to their older devices. Quickly, Samsung confirmed many of the features would, in fact, find their way to other Galaxy-branded devices. But it was still unclear which would make the cut. Today, we got our hands on some ...

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HTC’s Next Hurdle: Long-Term Support

Posted on by admin

Depending on your perspective, the HTC One is either the biggest Android success story of 2013, or the most overhyped piece of mobile tech since the iPhone. Debate continues to rage between the two camps across our various comment sections, and fanboys being what they are, a resolution seems unlikely anytime soon. One thing is clear, though: a timely HTC One update is critical to the ...

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Pocketnow Weekly, Galaxy S 4 Edition: Overhyped Gimmick, or Underrated Overachiever? (Podcast)

Posted on by admin

There are devices that deserve a modicum of coverage, and then there are devices that call for a maelstrom of coverage. Samsung’s Galaxy S 4, the most hotly anticipated Android smartphone of 2013 so far, easily falls into the latter category, and we have no qualms about devoting an entire podcast to discussing the latest Google-powered beast out of Seoul. Tune in as Master Chief Stephen Schenck, Figurine Boatswain Taylor Martin, and Captain 2 Phones take you for an auditory tour of the high and low points of the Galaxy S 4, calling on the kind of strung-out expertise that only nine ...

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Galaxy S 4 Guided Tour: Features, Gimmicks, and Everything in Between (Video)

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The Galaxy S 4 comes packing a wide array of features. Some, like its flip-to-mute functionality, are minor but useful. Others, like the Smart Pause function that promises to interrupt playback when you look away from a playing video, are great ideas sullied by lackluster execution. And between those two extremes lies a dense field of additional functions. We tried to squeeze as much feature coverage as we could into our full review of the Galaxy S 4, but there’s only so much room in even the ...

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Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review

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There are a lot of things the fourth smartphone in Samsung’s halo Galaxy S series is not.  It’s not a reinvention, or a revolution. If it were a movie, the Galaxy S 4 wouldn’t be the blockbuster revival of a flagging film franchise: the reboot that kicks a sagging series back into high gear. That’s because the Galaxy S line has never been a disappointing one. For years, Samsung’s flagship smartphone series has dominated the Android landscape, making the word “Galaxy” synonymous with Google’s platform in much of the public vernacular. Last ...

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