Pre-orders for Samsung Galaxy S3 phone shoot up to nine million – meaning phone will sell as many on first day as predecessor sold in six months
By Eddie Wrenn
|
The Samsung Galaxy S3 looks set to follow its predecessor as one of the biggest-selling phones of the year.
More than nine million people have already pre-ordered the Android-powered smartphone, with the phone due out at the end of the month,
The amount is extraordinary, considering the S2 – which battled with the iPhone to be the world’s biggest-selling phone last year – took about six months to sell 10million phones, and 11 months to sell 20million.
Blue and white: The Samsung S3 launches at the end of May, available in ‘pebble blue’ and ‘marble white’
Samsung toppled Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone maker earlier this year, helped by its line-up of ‘Galaxy’ devices running on Google’s rival operating system.
The S3 is Samsung’s latest flagship phone, and was unveiled earlier this month. It will face substantial competition from HTC’s One series of phones, and the always strong-selling iPhone range.
The Samsung’s most innovative feature is built-in face-tracking and voice control – allowing, Samsung claims, for a more ‘natural’ control system.
It will also pay tribute to Samsung’s expertise in screens, with a large 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen running a resolution of 1280 x 720p – far bigger than Apple’s iPhone, and close in size to the smaller end of the tablet market.
Other innovations include what Samsung claims is a ‘more intelligent’ lock system, that keeps the screen ‘awake’ when the phone’s camera senses eyes watching it, rather than turning it off.
The best phones of the moment:
Samsung Galaxy S3
Screen size:
4.8 inch
Processor:
1.4 Ghz quad-core
Memory size:
Up to 64gb (+64gb with card)
Operating system:
Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Camera:
Eight megapixel
Weight:
133grams
Dimensions:
Height – 136mm
Width – 70mm
Depth – 8.5mm
Battery:
2100mAh
HTC One X
Screen size:
4.7 inch
Processor:
1.5Ghz quad-core
Memory size:
32GB (non-expandable)
Operating system:
Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Camera:
Eight megapixel
Weight:
130grams
Dimensions:
Height – 134mm
Width – 69mm
Depth – 8.9mm
Battery:
1800mAh
iPhone 4s
Screen size:
3.5 inch
Processor:
800 MHz dual-core
Memory size:
Up to 64gb (non-expandable)
Operating system:
iOS
Camera:
Eight megapixel
Weight:
140grams
Dimensions:
Height – 115mm
Width – 58mm
Depth – 9mm
Battery:
1432mAh
The next iPhone is not due before the Autumn, traditionally launching around October. It is rumoured to come with a four-inch screen, and may be joined by a new addition to the iRange – an iPad Mini.
The S3 will arrive in the UK and Germany on May 29, before rolling out in other countries in the following months.
The newspaper cited an unidentified Samsung official, who also said the company’s smartphone factory in South Korea was running at its full capacity of 5 million units per month.
Samsung declined to comment.
However it said late last month that the new Galaxy smartphone would ‘substantially contribute’ to its second-quarter earnings.
‘THE BEST PHONE IN THE WORLD? VERY PROBABLY’
Mail Online science editor Rob Waugh had a hands-on with the S3:
The screen isn’t quite the match of some Android rivals such as Sony’s new Xperia S, but on every other count, this is a uniquely desirable device – and likely to set the pace for Apple’s next iPhone.
The speed of the quad-core processor is detectable in every app, with the new version of Android giving everything a satisfyingly sci-fi ‘Tron’-like feel, and the screen is absolutely huge – with the extra space particularly useful when panning through photos with a fingertip.
It is also not massively bigger than its predecessor the S2, despite the vast screen – although anyone switching from an iPhone will definitely notice the difference.
This blurs the line between phones and tablets – and pulls off the feat with verve.
It’s also packed with hidden treats – tapping two phones to trade videos between them at 300mbps is probably no more than a novelty, but it’s a good one.
Burst shoot outperforms a lot of dedicated digital cameras, with a held-down finger rattling out a machine-gun sequence of 20 pictures per second, then instantly picking the best using face detection.
The auto-call function’s another ‘why hasn’t anyone done this’ winner – if you’re looking at a text, for instance, then pick up the phone and put it to your face, it automatically calls the person who texted you.
It’s smart – and it works.
Voice control, as ever, is a bit more take-it-or-leave-it – although it’s unfair to judge S Voice from a crowded and noisy convention centre.
It did at least bring up a weather forecast – but trying to persuade it to take a photo was far more difficult.
Overall, this is a gorgeous handset that’s likely to put more momentum behind Google’s Android.
Samsung has raised the stakes here – and Apple will have to do something truly special to beat this.
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: First, Galaxy, Many, Meaning, Million, Month's, Nine, Phone, predecessor, PreOrders, Samsung, Sell, Shoot, Sold
It’s coming! Apple registers iPhone5.com as sources reveal next phone will be the last model designed by Steve Jobs
By Damien Gayle
|
Final work: Apple founder Steve Jobs is rumoured to have overseen the design of the iPhone5 prior to his death
Apple has registered iPhone5.com domain name, amid rumours that the next model of the mould-breaking smartphone will be the final model designed by late founder Steve Jobs.
The tech giant filed a case with the World Intellectual Property Organisation to wrest control of the internet address, which had been used by a Apple fan forum site.
The move comes ahead of rumours that Apple is gearing up to release the next incarnation of the iPhone this autumn, with a major overhaul of its design over seen by Mr Jobs prior to his death.
Bloomberg cited a source ‘with knowledge of the plans’ surrounding the new iPhone who claimed that Mr Jobs played a key role in the development of the device, even while on medical leave from his company.
The company has since placed orders for bigger screens that the 3.5in size the phone currently boasts as it tries to catch up with rivals like Samsung.
In the first quarter of this year Samsung overtook Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, with a range of products using screens of various sizes.
The new iPhone screens will measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source said. That would represent a roughly 30 per cent increase in viewing area, assuming Apple kept other dimensions proportional.
Apple has used a 3.5-inch screen since introducing the iPhone in 2007.
Early production of the new screens has begun at three suppliers: Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd, Sharp Corp and Japan Display Inc, a Japanese government-brokered merger combining the screen production of three companies.
It is likely all three of the screen suppliers will get production orders from Apple, which could begin as soon as June.
That would allow the new iPhone to go into production as soon as August, if the company follows its own precedent in moving from orders for prototypes for key components to launch.
Apple’s decision to equip the next iPhone with a larger screen represents part of a competitive response to Samsung, which unveiled its top-of-the line Galaxy smartphone with a 4.8-inch touch-screen and a faster processor earlier this month.
With consumers becoming more and more comfortable using smartphones for tasks they once performed on laptops, like watching video, other smartphone manufacturers have also moved toward bigger displays.
A likely shakeup in the design of a larger-screen iPhone could go a long way in boosting its ‘wow’ factor, convincing fans to trade in their old iPhones for new ones, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee.
‘Not only do users pay for features, but they also pay for aesthetics and design. That’s as important, or more important, than features,’ Mr Wu said.
‘People love the current design — but it’s 18 months old.’
Stiff competition: Apple’s iPhone 4S, left, is likely to soon be eclipsed by Samsung’s newest smartphone, the Galaxy S3, right
The latest iPhone 4S was introduced in October of last year and essentially has the same form factor as the iPhone 4, launched in 2010.
Samsung, which this year became the world’s largest mobile phone maker, sold 45million smartphones in the first quarter, and sales of the Galaxy phones outstripped the iPhone.
In addition to being Apple’s rival, Samsung is also a major components supplier to the U.S. computer, tablet and phone manufacturer.
The share of the production of new screens that go to each of the three manufacturers working with Apple has not been determined, one source said.
Sales of the touchscreen iPhone now account for about one-half of Apple’s total sales, and the phone has been a key source of growth for the company in Asia.
A report in March by a South Korea business newspaper said Apple would use a ‘retina’ display on the next iPhone, the same technology in its latest iPad that enhance image quality.
With the hotly expected iPhone release winding the internet rumour mill up to full speed, one of the more unusual pieces of Apple related gossip claims that Mr Jobs was very interested in designing a car towards the end of his life.
Mickey Drexler, the CEO of J.Crew and a member of Apple’s board, told Business Insider this week that Mr Jobs’s ‘dream’ shortly prior to his death was to design an ‘iCar’.
Mr Drexler goes on to claim that if Mr Jobs had got around to designing such an automobile, it would have been likely to take 50 per cent of the market.
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: Apple, Coming, Designed, iPhone5.com, It's, Jobs, Last, Model, Next, Phone, registers, Reveal, Sources, Steve
Hello? I CAN talk now…. Mobile phone use on planes cleared for take-off on Virgin Atlantic planes
- Noise is a trigger for stress says anti-noise campaigner
- Facility to be offered throughout cabin at 35,000ft
- Plan to have 20 aircraft for mobile phones by end of year
- Calls to cost £1 a minute and text messages 20p a text
- Also to feature on Boeing 747s
- System offers the equivalent of having a telecomms base station on aircraft
By Phil Vinter
|
Dozing air passengers face the prospect of being rudely awakened by someone talking loudly on their mobile phone after Virgin Atlantic became the first British airline to permit calls on board flights today.
While the news may be warmly welcomed by businessmen and others for whom it is important to keep connected at all times, anti-noise campaigners claim the decision is ‘crazy’.
From today passengers flying between London and New York on Virgin’s new A330 Airbus will be able to not only make calls, but also to send and receive text messages, emails and have web access via GPRS.
Taking off? From today passengers flying between London and New York on Virgin’s new A330 airbus will be able to not only make calls, but also to send and receive text messages, emails and have web access via GPRS
The facility will be offered throughout the cabin and there will be no restrictions on when the facility can be used – although Virgin say that at the moment limited bandwidth means only ten people can make calls simultaneously.
The service is not permitted during take-off or landing, and American laws mean that it has to be turned off around 250 miles from US airspace.
Val Weedon of the anti-noise action group Noisedirect said the organisation receives a steady stream of complaints from people annoyed by mobile phone users on trains and coaches and was against the decision to expand permitted usage to aeroplane flights.
She said: ‘Noise is noise and the impact is no different in any situation. Noise is a trigger for stress. The heart rate increases and it can cause to all sorts of health problems. There have been lots of studies finding links between noise and stress.
‘In such a confined space as an aircraft it could be very annoying. While we are not totally against it in principle, during certain parts of the trip, such as overnight when people want to rest, it should definitely not be allowed.’
Not in favour: ‘In such a confined space as an aircraft while we are not totally against it in principle, during certain parts of the trip, such as overnight when people want to rest, it should not be allowed
It will cost £1 per minute to call aboard the flight and 20p to send a text. Virgin Atlantic said the system was aimed at business travelers needing to make an urgent call to the office or for people wanting to get a message home.
Steve Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Atlantic said: ‘Many people will have experienced that moment when you’re about to take off on a 10-hour flight and you need to send an important message to the office, or even reminding a family member to feed the cat!
‘It’s also quite fun to call home and say ‘Guess where I am’ – not many people would think you’re travelling at 35,000ft above the Atlantic Ocean.’
It will also feature on the airline’s Boeing 747 planes, which are currently going through a £50 million refurbishment. By the end of 2012, nearly 20 aircraft will provide the service.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The system works using a small telecommunications base station called a piccell.
A picocell is low cost and typically the size of a ream of A4 paper.
It acts as a miniature mobile telephone tower communicating with mobile phones within the aircraft and relaying the signals to either satellites or a land-based system.
Communication between the picocell and the rest of the telephone network is on separate frequencies.
There is no interference with the aircraft’s equipment as is the case with on–board phone systems already on many commercial aircraft.
Interference is reduced because both the picocell’s and the phones’ output power can be reduced to very low levels.
The announcement comes as Virgin Atlantic officially unveils its new aircraft – the Airbus A330-300, which is part of a £100m investment and features a redesigned First Class cabin with a ‘technology hub’ to connect a smart phone, USB or tablet device.
AeroMobile, which is part-owned by Panasonic are partners with Virgin Atlantic on the project. Passengers will be billed for the international roaming charges and the service is currently offered to customers with 02 or Vodafone networks.
The system offers the equivalent of having a telecomms base station on the aircraft – called picocell. It’s new British designed technology that doesn’t interfere with the avionics
A spokesperson for AeroMobile said: ‘Increasingly people want to stay in touch wherever they are – on land, sea or air.
‘We’re offering British designed technology around the world to keep people connected.’
Incoming search terms:
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: Atlantic, Cleared, Hello, Mobile, Now..., Phone, Plane's, takeoff, Talk, Virgin
Virgin Mobile Unveils First 4G Phone
Sprint has announced that its no-contract subsidiary Virgin Mobile will be launching its first 4G phone. Customers would be able to grab their very own HTC Evo V 4G from VM’s website beginning May 31, with a wider release expected in June.
This WiMax-equipped smartphone has a similar spec list (albeit revamped) to the Evo 3D: a 4.3-inch qHD screen, 1GB of RAM, and a 5-megapixel camera with “3D HD imaging” capability. It also comes preloaded with an 8GB microSD card, HDMI out, Sense 3.6 user interface, and mobile hotspot functionality for up to five devices.
While this is arguably the best smartphone Virgin Mobile has ever offered, TechCrunch advises not to expect too much.
Chris Velazco writes: “Even though Virgin’s ‘unlimited data’ rate plans start off at $ 35/month, you’ll soon find that 4G connection running much slower once you tiptoe over the 2.5GB mark.”
Source: Sprint, via TechCrunch
Windows Phone 7 In Depth: A Fresh Start [Windows Phone 7]
“What’s this?” a girl at a party asked, as I handed her my phone. She touched a square, and everything flipped away. “It’s Microsoft’s brand new phone. Kind of like a fresh start,” I explained. “Oh. It’s… neat.” More »
View full post on Gizmodo
