The written musings of a long-time Apple //e and Macintosh tech nerd. Opinions are my own.
Earlier this week, Apple released Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3. This maintenance upgrade is recommended for all Apple customers running Mountain Lion on their Macintosh.
You can upgrade your Mac by clicking on the Mac App Store icon in the Dock and then clicking the Updates icon on the top right of the App Store toolbar. If you are running the upgrade on a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air, it is strongly recommended that you plug in your power adapter before starting the upgrade.
I was watching the Introducing Samsung Galaxy S4 video yesterday and I was wondering how a phone with a plastic body can have a ‘premium’ finish. I didn’t have to wonder long or look too far to find my answer.
From BGR.com:
“The first time you pick up an iPhone, HTC (2498) One or even a Nokia (NOK) Lumia smartphone you will be impressed with the build quality. These are devices that actually feel like they’re worth the $600+ price tags.
The Galaxy S 4, on the other hand, feels more like a toy than a high-end smartphone.
The device is incredibly light, weighing a mere 130 grams, but unlike the iPhone 5, which weighs in at 112 grams, Samsung’s latest smartphone feels as if it can be snapped in half, even more so than the Galaxy S III. Over the course of a two-year contract you better not let this smartphone fall out of your hand or else you will be in trouble.”
I’ll be sticking with my iPhone, thanks. If you are planning on getting a Galaxy S4, you also better consider getting a protective case from Cygnett.
Recently I started looking around at ways to upgrade my mid-2009 MacBook Pro 17-inch to extend it’s life another 12-18 months before I have to “upgrade” to a smaller 15-inch model. Last year I upgraded my MacBook to 8GB of RAM and this year it was time to do something about the pokey 5400-RPM stock disk drive.
Samsung has posted a pair of videos for your viewing pleasure to go along with yesterday’s unveiling of the new Galaxy S4 Life Companion smartphone.
Samsung Unpacked 2013 Product Announcement Video
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaw6CSaPnfk]
Introducing Samsung Galaxy S4 Video
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LHv1FPd1Ec]
New York, USA, March 14, 2013 – Samsung Electronics announced today the fourth generation GALAXY S, the GALAXY S 4, designed to get you closer to what matters in life and bring your world together.
Understanding what matters most to us in our lives, the Samsung GALAXY S 4 was developed to redefine the way we live and to maximize our fulfillment of life. This sleek and innovative smartphone makes every moment of life very meaningful; it understands the value of relationships, enabling true connections with friends and family. It believes in the importance of an effortless user experience, making your life easy and hassle-free; and, it empowers your life, helping take care of your well-being.
The beauty of the phone is the highly crafted design encompassing a larger screen size and battery, minimized bezel; all housed in a light (130g) and slim (7.9mm) shape. The Samsung GALAXY S 4 is slimmer yet stronger, with less to hold yet more to see. It has come up with simply unreal beauty. At launch, two color options will be available – Black Mist and White Frost; with a variety of additional color options to follow later this year.
“With the GALAXY S 4, Samsung is again going to enhance the way we live,” said JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung. “All the innovative features of GALAXY S 4 were developed based on the insights and needs we found from our consumers all around the world. Following the successful GALAXY S series, this phone is yet another great proof point of people-inspired innovation. At Samsung we’ll never stop pursuing innovation conceived by people, so we can inspire them in return.”
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Network
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2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
3G (HSPA＋ 42Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
4G (LTE Cat 3 100/50Mbps) : up to 6 different band sets(Dependent on market)
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Display
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5 inch Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080) display, 441 ppi
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AP
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1.9 GHz Quad-Core Processor / 1.6 GHz Octa-Core Processor
The selection of AP will be differed by markets.
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OS
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Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
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Camera
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Main(Rear): 13 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag, BIS
Sub (Front): 2 Mega pixel camera, Full HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag, BIS
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Video
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Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, DivX, DivX3.11, VC-1, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark, HEVC
Recording & Playback: Full HD (1080p)
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Audio
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Codec: MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/AAC＋/eAAC＋, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AC-3, apt-X
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Camera
Features
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Dual Camera: Dual Shot / Dual Recording/ Dual Video Call
Drama Shot, Sound & Shot, 360 Photo, Cinema Photo, Eraser, Night, Best Photo, Best Face
Beauty Face, HDR (High Dynamic Range), Panorama, Sports
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Additional
Features
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Group Play: Share Music, Share Picture, Share Document, Play Games
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Story Album, S Translator, Optical Reader
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Samsung Smart Scroll, Samsung Smart Pause, Air Gesture, Air View,
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Samsung Hub, ChatON (Voice/Video Call, Share screen, 3-way calling)
Samsung WatchON
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S Travel (Trip Advisor), S Voice™ Drive, S Health
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Samsung Adapt Display, Samsung Adapt Sound
Auto adjust touch sensitivity (Glove friendly)
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Safety Assistance, Samsung Link, Screen Mirroring
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Samsung KNOX (B2B only)
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Google Mobile Services
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Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Latitude
Google Play Store, Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk,
Google Places, Google Navigation, Google Downloads, Voice Search
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Connectivity
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WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (HT80)
GPS / GLONASS
NFC, Bluetooth® 4.0 (LE)
IR LED (Remote Control), MHL 2.0
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Sensor
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Accelerometer, RGB light, Geomagnetic, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
Temperature & Humidity, Gesture
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Memory
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16/ 32/ 64 GB User memory ＋ microSD slot (up to 64GB)
2GB RAM
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Dimension
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136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm, 130g
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Battery
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2,600 mAh
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Read the full press release on the Samsung website.
Take this with a grain of salt, because I’m putting this in the ‘rumor’ category, but…if a supposedly ‘leaked’ video is real, Google’s next assault on the iOS ecosystem will be the up until now Android exclusive Google Now digital assistant.
“Google Now, an Android-only app that aims to provide users with “the right information, at just the right time”, is coming to iOS, if a leaked video is to be believed. Google reportedly posted this promotional video to YouTube accidentally.”
As you might imagine, the Google video was quickly pulled from YouTube, but you can watch the video below.
[Via MacRumors.com…]
Ok, when I upgrade to my next iPhone, be it the “iPhone 5S,” or whatever Apple decides to call it, Twelve South, will be on my short list for a new case.
[Via iDownloadBlog.com…]
With Apple’s hardware design relatively unchanged since 2010, do people see the iPhone as “boring?”
In a piece on iMore.com, Rene Ritchie, seems to think that Apple is facing a challenge of keeping the iPhone fresh – and by extension – interested in the fruit themed smartphone.
“Thanks to Apple’s tick-tock product cycle, where a new design is introduced one year, and that design is iteratively updated with new internals the next year, both of those problems — consumer presumption and competitive counter-programming — become amplified.
When the impression is that Apple will “only” release an S-class phone in any given year, consumers might be more interested in seeing what else is out there. They might be interested in seeing something different.”
I happen to like the iPhone 4/4S/5 form factor to that of the iPhone 3G/3GS. (The original iPhone is sort of a compromise design that I could live with, but I’m not excited about.) I’ve also said that if you read technology blogs like Smartphone Fanatics, we’re not the target market for Apple. Or Samsung for that matter.
I have a lot of respect for Rene’s work and I recommend that you read his ‘The “iPhone 5S” Problem’ article on iMore.
“It can be the biggest operating system in the world.”
Nokia CEO Steven Elop speaking with Bloomberg at Mobile World Congress. (Link)
Stop and think about that for a second. The 6-year-old Windows Vista operating system, arguably the worst Window releases of all time, has more Internet traffic than Microsoft’s latest ‘flagship’ operating system, Windows 8 according to Net Applications, an analytics firm.
Sounds like raising the price from $39.99 to $199.99 for Windows Professional was exactly the boost Windows 8 needed.
[Via BGR.com…]