Samsung speaks out against allegations of benchmark-rigging

Less than a day after Samsung was said to be using tweaks to make the Galaxy S4 score higher in benchmarks (by increasing the clock speed of the GPU when a benchmark app is launched), the company has officially responded to the allegations, saying that they are not doing anything suspicious to make the device stand out in benchmarks.

Here’s the statement they provided:

Under ordinary conditions, the Galaxy S4 has been designed to allow a maximum GPU frequency of 533MHz. However, the maximum GPU frequency is lowered to 480MHz for certain gaming apps that may cause an overload, when they are used for a prolonged period of time in full-screen mode. Meanwhile, a maximum GPU frequency of 533MHz is applicable for running apps that are usually used in full-screen mode, such as the S Browser, Gallery, Camera, Video Player, and certain benchmarking apps, which also demand substantial performance.

The maximum GPU frequencies for the Galaxy S4 have been varied to provide optimal user experience for our customers, and were not intended to improve certain benchmark results.

We remain committed to providing our customers with the best possible user experience.

Well, it does make sense to allow full screen apps to take as much power from the GPU as possible. However, code was found specifically mentioning certain benchmark apps that get the higher GPU clock, something which Samsung didn’t address in its response, so we’re not sure we believe the company in this case.

But anyway, if you enjoy using your device, then these benchmarks don’t ultimately matter, though it would be great if Samsung could come clean and let their devices be known on their real-life merits, instead of going around tweaking stuff to just get better scores in reviews.

Samsung trademarks Samsung Micro, Samsung Go, and 5 more names

Well, Samsung is at it again: working on multiple new products that will be probably launched and forgotten by everyone. At least, that’s what we can gather from the fact that Samsung has filed with the US patent office (USPTO) to trademark seven new names: Mobile Samsung 5G, Samsung Fit, Samsung Micro, Samsung Expo, Samsung Go, Samsung Pro and the S MUSICIAN.

Mobile Samsung 5G seems to be the easiest to guess on what it could be – a phone the company is making to test its 5G technology. 5G isn’t expected to be ready for commercial use till 2020, but Samsung could be looking to get a name registered early on in the process. The S Musician could be a music app for creating and editing music, and could join the plethora of S apps that the company has on TouchWiz, like S Health, S Voice, and more.

The Samsung Fit can’t be a phone as the company already has the Galaxy Fit, so we wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be something health-related, like an accessory or S Health-like app. Samsung Expo, Go, and Pro could be anything – phones, accessories (like the smartwatch Samsung is making), apps, or something else altogether.

However, just because Samsung has patented these names doesn’t mean we’ll see all of them actually being used on products, so until more details come out in the future, there’s nothing to do but keep the guessing game going.

Well, talking about guessing games, what do you think these new names could represent?

Water damage not covered in Galaxy S4 Active warranty

One of the biggest selling points of the Galaxy S4 Active, the ruggedized version of the Galaxy S4, is its ability to take pictures underwater, helped by its IP67 water-resistance certification. Samsung was keen to show off this ability in demos by actually showing the phone being used underwater, but it seems owners of the device would be better off not trying off that stunt, due to multiple reasons.

First, the warranty. Here’s what Samsung mentions in the Galaxy S4 Active’s warranty:

This Limited Warranty does not cover: (a) defects or damage resulting from accident, misuse, abnormal use, abnormal conditions, improper storage, exposure to liquid, moisture, dampness, sand or dirt, neglect, or unusual physical, electrical or electromechanical stress [...].

Basically, while the ability to take pictures is one of the touted features, Samsung will not replace your S4 Active if any damage should occur because of its exposure to liquids or moisture. Now, that’s pretty much normal as the device is only water-resistant and not water-proof, so any water damage would be grounds for a voided warranty. However, this is where it gets more interesting.

An anonymous AT&T employee, who had gotten lessons on how to use the S4 Active underwater to show off to prospective customers, has posted on XDA that despite taking all precautions, like closing all flaps and ports on the phone before submerging it in water, some of the water was still able to make its way inside. The “flimsy, rubber USB door” was to blame, which caused all manner of improper behaviour to show up, like Google Now opening on its own and the buttons stopping working completely.

That’s a pretty bad thing to happen on a phone that includes an Aqua Camera mode, and while people will rightly point out that these cases are rare and won’t happen to everyone, it is odd that Samsung is not willing to take any responsibility and will not help in any way if you manage to get some water inside the device.

So, while snapping pictures underwater might sound really cool, do try to refrain from submerging your Galaxy S4 Active in any liquid, lest it meet the same fate as that AT&T employee and leave you with an expensive (and wet) paperweight.

Hit the source link for the full scoop on the mishap, and read our full review of the devicehere.

Too many Pixels?

A smartphone’s display is the portal through which we interface with all our precious content and data.You can talk about gigahertz and FPS all you like, but at the end of the day… processing power and performance are redundant if the quality of the screen substandard. It is evident that smartphone manufacturers are aware of this, with screen technology evolution coming on leaps and bounds ahead of everything else. But has it gone too far? Are new devices being over-manufactured with components we don’t really need any more?

We’re now seeing 1080p screen resolutions with 400+ pixels per inch (ppi) for 2013 releases. That sounds impressive, and yes, there is no doubt that it is impressive, but is it necessary? 3 years ago, 1080p was reserved for high end 50’’ televisions – now we are seeing them in 5’’ mobile displays! That’s an amazing leap forwards, but is there a point where it is all getting a bit silly? I mean… 1080p is pretty crisp even when I’m close up to my TV, isn’t it overkill to put that in my phone?

If we put arguments about pentile and RGB stripe, AMOLED and LCD technologies to one side, let’s just ask ourselves if there is a problem with the current state of screen resolutions and pixel densities on current flagship devices. The Galaxy S3 has a 720p resolution with a ppi of 306, and the Galaxy Note 2 has a ppi density of 267 and they look pretty perfect to most of us. Why do we need a higher pixel density?

Well… it seems that some people like to look at their devices with magnifying glasses! Someone with perfect 20/20 vision would theoretically be able to see individual pixels at a density of 2190ppi on a screen just 4” (~100mm) from their eyes, and for the average person with 20/20 vision, it’s about 876ppi. The majority of us would get a bit cross-eyed with a screen that close! At a 1 foot distance (probably a bit closer than most of us actually use our phones) the majority of people with 20/20 vision can only differentiate individual pixels with a density below 300ppi.

Any pixel density over 300ppi, therefore, is only going to benefit a small minority of people with exceptionally good vision, or those who have their phones glued to their noses. All of these extra pixels are going to go largely unnoticed, and do very little other than waste battery life – something which is frustratingly poor in all smart phones.

I don’t mean this to discredit the amazing advances in technology, but now that most high end device manufacturers have reached the happy 300ppi, I would much rather they held back with this sort of thing and invested some time in better battery technology rather than wasting voltage on invisible pixels. Until we are walking around with smart phones strapped to our faces (Project Glass), I just can’t see[!] how these additional pixels are going to improve my over all user experience.

Perhaps I will change my mind after some proper hands-on time with devices launched later this year, I guess time will tell – or maybe I need to get my eyes tested – but for now I remain very sceptical about the need for higher resolution and higher pixel density smart phone screens. It just seems like a waste of resources to me…

What do you think?

Smartphone growth to slow down in Q3 due to intensified competition, says Samsung

Despite seeing sales of smartphones at an all time high of72 million units, Samsung believes that the company’s smartphone growth will slow down in the third quarter, owing to increased competition and the addition of more low to mid-range models to the portfolio.

The latter will also be responsible for a lower average selling price for the smartphones Samsung sells in the current quarter, something it has warned investors against, though margins are down even at the high-end thanks to the increased spend on marketing the Galaxy S4.

“The smartphone market will likely continue to grow in the third quarter, but there’s a chance that the pace of growth may slow as competition intensifies with new model releases.”

-Kim Hyun-joon, vice president, Samsung Mobile

The competition Hyun-joon mentions is going to be the hardest in the phablet category, as Sony is bringing the Xperia Z Ultra to compete with Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note III, so even if the latter is expected to be sold in the millions, it isn’t going to be as easy as it has been in the past. Even HTC is supposedly working on a phablet (the HTC One Max), and the HTC One has already given a slow yet noticeable fight to the Galaxy S4, so it is surely going to be a tough ride leading into the end of this extremely eventful year.

Of course, the fact that overall smartphone growth is also expected to slow down isn’t going to help the case for Samsung, so let’s just keep hoping the company continues to improve on what they’ve already put on the market, and makes their “next big thing” a force to reckon with.

Snapdragon 600-powered Galaxy Note II officially announced by China Mobile

Well, that didn’t take long. After peeking out in a benchmark listing less than a week ago, the Galaxy Note II powered by a Snapdragon 600 processor has been made official in China, with the model number GT-N7108.

The new variant will be exclusive to China Mobile, the country’s and the world’s largest carrier, and the only reason they’re switching to a Snapdragon processor this late is to add support for the operator’s TD-SCDMA, W-CDMA, TDD-LTE, and FDD-LTE-enabled network, which offers increased 4G speeds.

With the N7108D, the Galaxy Note II has become even faster, while keeping its other high-end specs intact, including 2GB of RAM, 5.5-inch 720p HD Super AMOLED display, 8-megapixel rear and 1.9-megapixel front camera, 16GB internal memory and a microSD slot, a 3,100mAh battery, and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with features such as Multi-Window multitasking and stylus support.

Sorry folks, this one is going to be China-only, so the best you can do is wait for theGalaxy Note III, which will be powered by an even faster Snapdragon 800 processor.

Deal: Buy one Sprint Galaxy S4 on two-year contract, get another S4 absolutely free

In what is perhaps one of the best deals you’re ever going to find on a flagship device, those who purchase a Galaxy S4 from Sprint on a two-year contract for $199.99 will get another Galaxy S4 absolutely free(after a $50 mail-in rebate).

The offer is part of Sprint’s Back to School promotion, and will be available till August 15th, which gives you a lot of time to jump in on the deal. Giving away two Galaxy S4s for the price of one is the best promotion Samsung could have for its 2013 flagship, as flagships from other manufacturers look on in jealousy as even more Galaxy S4s fly off the shelves.

The Galaxy S4 sports a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, beastly Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, 16GB of inbuilt storage and a microSD slot, Wi-Fi, HSPA+, LTE, and NFC connectivity, a 2,600mAh battery, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which includes features such as Air View, Smart Pause, and Multi-Window split-screen multitasking.

Hit the source link to take advantage of this awesome deal.

P.S: You will have to enter a 2-year agreement on the free Galaxy S4 as well, either a new one or as an upgrade over your previous device.

Samsung’s next processor to have customized ARM-based architecture

According to the Korean publication ET News, Samsung is in the process of designing their own processor, which will use a customized version of the standard ARM architecture, similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors.

You’re probably thinking, “but Samsung already makes its own processors,” and you’re not wrong. Here’s the thing. All the ARM-based processors use the ARM architecture provided by ARM (a British company), but companies like Apple and Qualcomm obtain an “architecture license” and take the default ARM design and tweak it to create versions of their own (users of dedicated GPUs on PCs can relate this to how companies like ASUS and XFX make custom versions of NVIDIA’s GeForce cards, increasing clock speeds, component arrangement, and the like).

This has advantages, such as being able to get higher performance, better power efficiency, and basically improve on the reference design. As a company that has been making processors that have constantly beaten other processors in performance, Samsung is no doubt looking to take it one step further by going with a customized ARM architecture, as powerful competition like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 and (to some extent) the NVIDIA Tegra 4 emerges in the coming months.

We’ll be waiting with bated breath to see what Samsung is able to do, though we’ll have to wait till the first/second half of 2014 to see products using the new processor (the Galaxy S5 will likely use it), according to an anonymous employee quoted by ET News.

US patent office rejects Apple’s ‘pinch to zoom’ patent claims

Of all the patents that Apple has sued Samsung over in the past couple of years, the pinch to zoom patent was perhaps the one that always came to the fore in every discussion related to the legal tussles, and in a move that will not make Apple happy, the US patent office (USPTO) has rejected claims of the Cupertino company to the pinch to zoom functionality.

The rejection of the patent’s 21 claims are deemed to be a “final office action” by the USPTO, after passing a preliminary ruling in December 2012 that the patent claims were invalid, but is open to appeal by Apple to the Patent Trial Appeal Board, similar to the “overscroll bounce” patent that was rejected in April and is currently under review. Claim eight is the most important here, as it was the one that got the courts to make Samsung pay $1 billion in damages, but with the claim now nullified, it seems things could get a bit uneven for Apple.

Whatever may happen in the coming months, this ruling is enormously in Samsung’s favor (and a big win in the fight against silly software patents), and it’s great to see the USPTO actually acting sensibly for a change (even if they did pass the patent initially). The war is far from over, but hey, Samsung is no doubt very happy to have a cause for celebration, and here’s hoping there’s many more to come.

Samsung could buy Novaled for more than $200 million

As per Bloomberg’s sources, Samsung is in talks to acquire German-based OLED display company, Novaled. Samsung Group could buy the company for more than $200 million with the announcement from the Korean company to be official later this week.

Gerd Guenther, chief marketing officer for Novaled said they’re in talks with Samsung while Cheil Industries’ spokesperson confirmed to be reviewing plans to acquire Novaled.

Samsung in 2011, invested in the company for a 10 percent market share and accounted sales of up to 53 percent in 2011.

Pink Twilight and Purple Mirage Galaxy S4 now available in Taiwan

Samsung has already got Blue Arctic, Red Aurora, and Brown Autumn color variants of the Galaxy S4, and now the list is getting bigger and more diverse with the addition of the Pink Twilight and Purple Mirage (which leaked less than a week ago) colors for the flagship, which Samsung has now launched in Taiwan. Both variants look to be aimed at the ladies, though even if you’re a guy, no one is going to stop you from getting either if you so desire.

The Galaxy S4 sports a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, octa-core Exynos processor with 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, 16GB of inbuilt storage and a microSD slot, Wi-Fi, HSPA+, LTE, and NFC connectivity, a 2,600mAh battery, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which includes features such as Air View, Smart Pause, and Multi-Window split-screen multitasking. An update to Android 4.3/5.0 is planned.

Samsung Galaxy S4 explodes and sets apartment on fire

Apparently, a Hong Kong resident, known as Mr. Du, was playing a game of Love Machine on his Galaxy S4 when the device exploded. As soon as the device exploded Mr. Du threw the device at his couch which caused the sofa to set on fire, which then burnt down his apartment. The blazing flames spread to his mercedes too, claims Mr. Du.

During this incident, Mr. Du and his wife safely managed to escape from their apartment with only minor injuries. According to Mr.Du, the Galaxy S4 was equipped with a genuine Samsung battery pack and he always used a legitimate Samsung Charger to charge his device.

Firefighters rushed towards the location as soon as they received the report. It took them 30 minutes to stop the fire. Fire investigation concluded that the cause of the fire was not due to suspicious circumstances, but the unit has been severely damaged and almost all house valuables have been destroyed with the house itself.

There have been quite a few cases of exploding Samsung devices in the past and all have been caused due to the customer’s use of fake parts (batteries, chargers etc..) in their smartphones. We believe that this case will have the same outcome in the end, but we may be wrong.

Review: ZENS wireless charging products

Earlier this month, we have received several products regarding wireless charging from a company called ZENS. ZENS claims that their wireless charging products are even more efficient than the original Samsung products. Today we will give you a glimpse of our findings about their products we have received. We will walk you through every product we received from them, one by one.

ZENS sent us the following products: a black ZENS charger, a white ZENS charger, a Black Galaxy S4 battery cover, a Galaxy S4 flipcase and a Galaxy Note II flipcase. The first impression we get from these products is good. The packaging looks very neat and we are very much hoping that the products will be just as good and good-looking as the packaging does.

Black ZENS charger
After unpacking the black ZENS docking station (charger), we notice that the design is finished very well and that the docking station itself is pretty thin. While Samsung is usually going for a rectangular design, ZENS is clearly going their own direction with the design of their docking station. For example, ZENS has chosen to carve some extra lines into the docking station, so it is extra clear for the users what the perfect charging area of the dock is. ZENS also added a notification light so that you can see the current charging status of the phone on the dock. The notification light is turned off when there is no device placed on the dock. The reason ZENS is claiming to have a more powerful and efficient docking station than Samsung itself, is due to the fact that ZENS uses multiple (wireless charging) coils, while Samsung (most likely) uses only one coil fort his. Below we will show you some photo’s of the black ZENS charger.

White ZENS charger
As Samsung is making more and more white devices these days, it almost looks like white has become the new black. ZENS seems to know this very well, which is why they chose to also offer a white variant of their ZENS charger device reviewed above. All specifications and materials are the same, except for the color. This dock will match your White Galaxy S3, S4 or Galaxy Note II perfectly! Below we will show you some photo’s of the white ZENS charger.

Black Galaxy S4 battery cover
While opening the Galaxy S4 battery cover we only notice one thing , and that is the thickness of the cover. ZENS is using the so-called “freedom of placement” technology; a patented technology of the company itself that makes sure that the device can be charged wirelessly at any point of the device. As mentioned before, ZENS also uses multiple coils at the same time (also known as multi-coil). This accelerates the charging process, which is something we also noticed when we tested this device. However, the (stock) charger with Micro USB cable still wins from this (and probably any) wireless charging device when it comes to charging speed. This however doesn’t seem like a problem, as most people probably buy a wireless charging device as an add-on device for their regular charger, rather than as a replacement. The Galaxy S4 battery cover is also available in white.
Below we will show you some photo’s of the black Galaxy S4 battery cover.

Galaxy S4 & Galaxy Note II Flipcases
Since the introduction of the Galaxy S3, Samsung is producing these so-called flip covers. Flip covers give the device a pretty appearance, while protecting (mainly the screen) from sharp materials and scratches. ZENS has developed their own flip covers for the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II devices. While unpacking the flip covers we noticed that the cover itself looks a bit raw and large. So the appearance of these flip covers can’t be compared to Samsung’s flip covers. Naturally, the ZENS flip covers need more space for their multiple charging points. However, we personally do not think this design is the best solution to create more space. We would prefer a thicker version of the original (Samsung) flip cover. We also think it is unnecessary to use the Micro USB connection, something the ZENS flip cover also does. And as a final note, the flip cover renders the notification LED invisible and thus unusable. When we add these feedback together, we think the ZENS flip cover is a nice concept but the realisation is not as good as the idea. We sincerely hope that these feedback points will be improved in the next version of the product.
Below we will show you some photo’s of the flipcases.

Summary
ZENS wireless charging products are actually good products. Our devices did charge pretty fast. However, we personally didn’t like the design of the flip cover, which could have been inspired more by the official (Samsung) one. We would also like it if the Micro USB connector wouldn’t be used by the cover in the future. They might figure out another way to handle the additional thickness from adding multiple charging coils into their product(s). On the other hand, this multiple charging coils make the charging faster while the price of the device is lower than the original Samsung wireless charger.

Wireless charging is an upcoming trend on the (mobile) device market and while the technique is pretty stable, our main point of concern is the design of the chargers and cases. Using a wireless charger is easier (just put the phone down on the dock) and it makes your desk look less messy. To buy or not to buy, that question is up to yourself. If you’re thinking about buying it just for the charging speed, it probably just won’t fulfill your expectations. If you’re going for the comfort of wireless charging, then the ZENS products are definitely the way to go!

Our expectation is that ZENS will keep investing in these techniques and will keep on improving their product range. With their “freedom of placement”-patent, we absolutely think we will get faster and more elegant solutions to wirelessly charge your mobile devices from ZENS.

If you want to get your hands on one or more of these products from ZENS, you can head over to ZENS!

Stand-Alone Charger
Qi Wireless Charger Black ZENS € 49,99
Qi Wireless Charger White ZENS € 49,99
Qi Dual Wireless Charger Black ZENS € 79,99

Bundle
Kit Single White Charger with Charging Cover Galaxy S3 White ZENS € 69,99
Kit Single White Charger with Charging Cover Galaxy S4 White ZENS € 69,99
Kit Single Black Charger with Charging Cover Galaxy S4 Black ZENS € 69,99

Battery Cover / Shield
Wireless Charging Battery Cover Samsung Galaxy S3 white ZENS € 29,99
Wireless Charging Cover Shield Samsung Galaxy S3 blue ZENS € 34,99
Wireless Charging Battery Cover Samsung Galaxy S4 White ZENS € 29,99
Wireless Charging Battery Cover Samsung Galaxy S4 Black ZENS € 29,99

Flip Case
Flip Case Galaxy S4 Fast Wireless Charging 1Amp White ZENS € 44,99
Flip Case Galaxy S4 Fast Wireless Charging 1Amp Black ZENS € 44,99
Flip Case Galaxy Note 2 Wireless Charging Black ZENS € 39,99