What's hot: Good quality materials, very good optional keyboard dock with extended battery, Wacom digitizer.
What's not: High price, driver support has been weak, Asus tech support seems unaware of product.
The Asus VivoTab TF810C is yet another Windows 8 Atom tablet with transformer styling. But it's a classy, high end model with an 11.6" IPS+ display, Wacom digitizer with full size pen and less ubiquitous features like GPS and NFC. It has a mostly metal back, a very nice optional keyboard dock with battery and a price tag that will likely put it out of reach for many US shoppers. The tablet sells for $799 and the keyboard dock is an optional accessory priced at $199. For that $1,000 you could get a Microsoft Surface Pro or Asus' own excellent Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch Ultrabook, but then you wouldn't get the extreme battery life of the VivoTab 810C.
There are of course, long battery life 11.6" Intel Atom Windows 8 competitors like the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T and the HP Envy x2with the same 1366 x 768 high quality touch screens and transformer designs, but only the Samsung also offers the Wacom digitizer and pen. For those who don't need the digital pen, the more affordable and high quality metal-clad Envy x2 (keyboard dock included) is probably the better buy at an average current selling price of $699 to $749. If you do need the pen, the Samsung ATIV 500T is cheaper, but plastickier and lacks a secondary battery in the keyboard dock.
The tablet has single band WiFi (why, oh why when competitors have dual band WiFi?), Bluetooth 4.0, Broadcom GPS chip, NFC and a very decent 8MP rear camera with fast f/2.2 lens plus LED flash, and a competent 2 megapixel front video chat camera.
Performance and Horsepower
All Windows 8 Intel Atom tablets have the same basic specs and similar performance, and the Asus VivoTab TF810C is no exception. The tablet has a 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760 dual core Clovertrail CPU with 2 gigs of DDR2 RAM and 64 gigs of internal storage (eMMC like all Atom tablets). It also uses the same PowerVR SGX545 graphics licensed from Imagination Technologies by Intel. The tablet can handle MS Office, light to moderate Adobe Photoshop CS6 and streaming HD video fine. Application launch times are longer compared to current Ultrabooks and Intel Core i5 tablets, but the apps are usable once launched. Office 2013 is responsive while Photoshop takes longer to apply filters (negligible with an 8 meg JPG file, but 2x longer with a 20 meg RAW file compared to an Intel Core i5 machine like Surface Pro or the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T). What isn't a good fit? 3D gaming with Windows 7 games (Metro games are fine) and forget HD video editing. iTunes runs decently (even HD video playback) but ripping media takes 5x longer than the Core i5. Handbrake takes between 5x and 9x longer to rip video from one format to another.
Application launch times are longer than laptop and Ultrabook counterparts due to the slower CPU and eMMC rather than SATA storage interface (the Clovertrail doesn't support SATA or mSATA), but once Windows 7 programs like Office and Photoshop are up and running, they're surprisingly tolerable. OneNote 2013 starts to lag once you've filled a page with handwritten notes, though it's useable with a tiny bit of patience. This isn't the VivoTab's fault, we've seen the same small slowdown on all Windows 8 Intel Atom Clovertrail tablets so far.
The VivoTab is a pleasant looking machine, and not in the least bit flashy. It's finished in subdued silvers and warm tones. The back is mostly metal and there's a broad strip along the top back area because plastic interferes with wireless radios much less than metal. When combined with the optional keyboard dock, the look is less holistic and pleasing, though both the dock and the tablet look good by themselves.
The tablet weighs 1.49 lbs. and the optional dock is 1.5 lbs., making them relatively well balanced. When docked in laptop mode, the display doesn't tilt very far back, but the bright IPS+ display with 178 degree viewing angles doesn't require a wide berth. Balance is reasonably good for a transformer model, and we greatly appreciate the additional 25WHr battery in the keyboard dock that nearly doubles runtimes. The dock has two USB 2.0 ports and a small but usable island style keyboard and passable Synaptics trackpad. Unlike the HP Envy x2, there's no full size SD card slot or other ports on the dock. The latching mechanism is much better than on the Samsung ATIV tablets (it stays connected!) but the side release switch is fiddly and more awkward than the very solid HP Envy x2's docking mechanism. The tablet also wobbles back and forth a bit in the dock, which is disconcerting.
Asus includes a small adapter that connects to the dock port on the bottom to provide a single USB 2.0 port, so you don't have to buy the $199 keyboard dock just to get a USB port for peripherals. The tablet has a micro HDMI port under a very stubborn plastic door and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.
The tablet has rounded sides that are comfortable to hold, and weight is very manageable though it's not as light as the smaller Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 or the Asus MeMO Pad 10 Android tablet. Intel Atom tablets have a silent fanless design and get warm but never hot to the touch.
Display
Yes, everyone wants a super-duper high res display on their tablet thanks to the iPad with Retina Display and upstart Android tablets like the Nexus 10. And yes, the Core i5 Windows 8 tablets have full HD 1080p displays more often than not. That said, Windows 8 Intel Atom tablets have 1366 x 768 displays, and we're not complaining too much since Windows 8 has very crisp typography and these tablets have high quality IPS or PLS displays with wide viewing angles and high contrast. The Asus VivoTab TF810C is no exception, and the IPS+ display has excellent contrast, good colors, very wide viewing angles and better than 350 nits of brightness that put average laptop displays running at the same resolution to shame. It's a very nice display. And the resolution makes for readable text and normal size icons in Windows 8's desktop mode with no scaling required. Still, if super-sharp text and magazine reading with Zinio are your thing, you might wish for that full HD resolution. Zinio's small type in magazine layout mode is hard to read on a 1366 x 768 tablet but readably sharp on a full HD tablet. And yes, if you look close, you can see some staircasing and jaggy text, but you do have to look close.
Wacom Inside
The Asus VivoTAB TF810C, like Samsung ATIV tablets and the ThinkPad Tablet 2, have Wacom digitizers that work with a digital pen for precise input. Writing notes is easy and natural (other than the slippery feel of glass vs. paper) and you can do sophisticated artwork. This is much, much better than a capacitive stylus that feels little better than writing with a finger! You'll get pressure sensitivity in programs that use the newer Windows Ink APIs (ArtRage, Fresh Paint, Autodesk Sketchbook and OneNote 2013) but not older apps that require WinTab drivers like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter and PaintTool SAI. So far, Windows 8 Atom tablets all lack WinTab drivers, but we've heard that Adobe is working on creating them. Still, I wouldn't spend $1,000 hoping that the drivers I need will someday appear. If you're a digital artist who needs WinTab now, look elsewhere (the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T and the last gen Samsung Series 7 Slate both have Wacom with WinTab drivers).
On another note, we love the included pen. It's a full size pen with a rounded eraser on the end and a button for commands. Folks complain when there's no silo to hold the pen, but if you want a full size pen that's comfortable for extended use, you won't find one that fits in today's super-thin tablets.
Driver Torture
Asus actually released this tablet in early January 2013 in a limited fashion through mostly online retailers with a few bricks and mortar stores like Microcenter thrown in. While even quiet releases from Asus see great driver support via their website and their Live Update app on the device, driver updates were MIA until just a few weeks ago. Given that the Intel Clovertrail Windows 8 tablets had significant early driver issues largely relating to the new Intel chipset and thus plaguing all brands and models, that's a horrid problem. Manufacturers who released models in late fall 2012 pushed out driver updates fairly quickly, while models that came out more recently had newer drives pre-loaded plus downloadable driver updates. These drivers addressed problematic issues like the device not waking from sleep (requiring a forced shutdown and reboot) and sporadic WiFi. Ouch.
Now Asus has drivers available, but only via their Live Update program on the tablet. That might not be so bad were it not for a Live Update app that frequently fails updating itself, let alone other drivers on the device. We had to try several times over the course of two days to get Live Update working. Unfortunately, Asus hasn't published the drivers on their support website to offer an alternative download method as they do for their other tablets and notebooks. This isn't the Asus driver support we know and love, and we do wonder why the VivoTab seems to be the read-headed stepchild.
The Competition and Battery Life
Why choose an Intel Atom Windows 8 tablet when the price verges on Core i5 prices? Battery life, plain and simple. Bonus: a silent and cool running machine. The Asus VivoTab TF810C can run 8 hours on a charge alone and 14 to 15 hours when mated to the optional keyboard dock. In comparison, Microsoft Surface Pro runs 4-5 hours on a charge. Even the Asus Zenbook UX31A Touch Ultrabook, the current Energizer bunny of touchscreen Windows 8 Ultrabooks, only runs 6 hours on a charge.
The VivoTab ships with a small black wall wart charger. The charger output is just 2 amps (same as the iPad and some other tablets). That's not very high output compared to notebook style chargers, so the tablet and dock take up to 6 hours to charge.
Conclusion
The Asus VivoTab TF810C is a lovely Atom Windows 8 transformer whose launch has been hampered by spotty retail presence, a lack of drivers for the first two months and an enormous price tag in the US. Now that Asus has the drivers mostly sorted out, we're more bullish on the tablet, but given its small retail distribution and absent review program, we're not sure how strongly Asus is behind this product. Throw in the high price tag that makes this by far the most expensive Windows 8 Atom tablet, and it's hard to look past these issues and fall in love with the tablet. And that's a shame because the hardware is lovely, the keyboard dock offers a solid typing experience while greatly extending battery life, and it's one of the few with a Wacom digitizer and pen. Top that off with a few less common features like GPS, NFC and a truly decent 8MP rear camera and the VivoTab TF810C has what it takes to stand out.
Price: $799 for the 64 gig tablet, $199 for the keyboard dock
Sony finally revealed its plans for the PlayStation 4 next-generation console at New York’s Manhattan Centre in February. While we’ve yet to see the actually console itself, we are now privy to a host of spec details, launch titles, and some info on the new controller.
Sony PS4 – specs
On stage at the launch event, Sony group CEO Andrew House described the PS4 as the “foundation of our next generation platform” – claiming that the console will give players “experiences that surpass [their] wildest expectations. It’s also been described as “like a PC, only supercharged”.
That all sounds lovely – but what about some cold hard specs?
Built-in hard disk drive (Sony didn't specify how big the hard drive will be)
6X Blu-Ray Drive, 8X DVD
USB 3 and Auxiliary ports (Sony didn't specify how many ports)
Gigabit Ethernet port, 802.11 B/G/N built-in WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1
HDMI, Analog-AV, and digital optical outputs
Industry analysts say that they don’t expect to see one until the E3 gaming expo this June.
Doom creator and PC gaming wizard John Carmack said: "I can't speak freely about PS4, but now that some specs have been made public, I can say that Sony made wise engineering choices.” So there you go.
Sony PS4 – controller
The only piece of kit that was on show was the new PS4 controller – which features a touchpad interface where the Start and Select buttons previously appeared and a 3D tracking light panel.
The main addition to the controller is the ‘Share’ button, which lets you record, edit and upload gaming footage and share it online with their friends.
‘Second screen’ is a term getting banded about gaming types a lot at the moment. The PS4’s answer: The PS Vita will double as an extra interface for the console, as will your iOS or Android-powered smartphone.
Sony PS4 – social gaming
A lot of the PS4’s ethos is around the ‘connected generation’ – those that are rarely off Facebook, Twitter and the like.
The PS4 wants to give you social media through a gaming filter – by letting you watch friends games in progress, offer tips and recommendations and even take control of their game, like an IT guy remotely fixing your PC.
The new look PSN page even looks a bit Facebook.
The now Sony owned cloud gaming operation Gaikai also ties into this, offering streaming demos.
You’ll also be able to play each PS4 title through digital download or cloud streaming. How much strain that would put on Gaikai’s server firms – let alone how good the service would be on the UK’s less that world class internet connections, remains to be seen.
Sony PS4 – release date
The PS4 is slated for release this December. We expect to see more info, and a glimpse at the console itself, at E3 in June.
Sony PS4 – games
There are ten games so far confirmed for the PS4.
DriveClub
Stunning looking tem-based racer which will tap into the PS4’s huge social gaming push – in teams you can have a go at challenges and reap rewards.
Watch dogs
Ambitious, open world futuristic hack-em-up type affair – make security cameras work for you and tap into other people’s bank account for cash. We’re sure they’ll be some shooting too, mind.
Deep Down
This looks a bit like Resident Evil, but with medieval knights and dragons instead of badly translated dialogue and ghouls. Deep Down is a working title, we expect something more fantasy genre friendly to make the final cut.
Destiny
This ‘shared-world shooter’ will be heavy on the co-op – sort of a cross between Halo and Elder Scrolls. It’s got an ambitious sci-fi setting and eye-rubbing levels of gorgeous graphics.
Killzone: Shadow Fall
Lots of futuristic gun battles and a cold-war type setting – probably not dissimilar to Gears of War when it comes to gameplay.
The Witness
One for the more cerebral gamer – this is a sort of puzzle game set in in a Myst type island setting. 25 hours of gameplay promised.
Knack
Robot tank things smash up the world in what is being held up a good vehicle for the PS4’s graphics – with independently mioving particles, etc.
Infamous: Second Son
Super heroes in an ordinary world affair – expect more 1984-esque ‘Big Brother is watching you’ sentiments when it comes to the plot.
Diablo 3
Blizzard returns to consoles with an optimised version of the PC dungeon-crawler. Four-player co-op mode on full screen, if you so fancy.
Final Fantasy
All we know really is that there will be a PS4 title to show. Expect a big reveal of the long running RPG series in June.
PS4 - Backwards compatibility
When the PS3 was first released it allowed you to ditch that PS2, but keep playing classics like Gran Turismo 3 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on your new console. However as the PS3 slimmed down, it lost that feature.
There will be backwards compatibility with the PS4, but not in the way you might expect. Old PlayStation games will be available to download digitally – but you’ll presumably have to pay for them again.
PS4 - 4K resolution
The Playstation 3 was one of the devices which brought Blu-Ray to prominence and its successor could again be the pioneer, this time being the first console to offer 4K resolution capabilities. 4K refers to the resolution of 3840 × 2160, a massive step up from the current console which outputs at 1920 × 1080. While 4K TV’s are rare (Probably because of their outstanding price tags) inclusion in the PS4 could definitely bring it into the public eye
Samsung's stock just keeps rising, so the fervour associated with the new Galaxy S4 is already outstripping that of the Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S3, both of which nabbed 'phone of the year' titles in recent times.
If you needed a barometer of this, just look at how the Galaxy S3 was unveiled. Not at MWC like lots of others, but its own event, proving the Galaxy line has reached the level where it can guarantee hoards will come just for an unveiling - and come 14 March in New York, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is going to land at its own event too.
The Galaxy S4 name was even 'confirmed' at a recent event by a researcher, and now we even have this lovely video that sets the scene for the launch in New York:
The trickle of 'sources' talking about the Galaxy SIV (if you're being all Roman numeral about it) is building to a roaring crescendo, so we're on hand to help let you know which whispers have a notion of truth about them - as well as providing our wishlist of what we want Samsung to improve on the new handset.
Samsung Galaxy S4 release date
The Unpacked event, which is expected to bring the announcement of the S4, has been set for March 14 2013, in New York and for 7pm EST (sadly for the UK, this means it will be 11PM before you can see what's going on). And if you're in New York then, head on down to Times Square, as Samsung will be live streaming the event and may even have some stuff to play with as well.
However, possibly in retaliation to the HTC One buzz that Samsung predicted might pop up, the launch is earlier than last year, which means some S3 owners might feel aggrieved that Samsung is already making their handset outdated.
But it does catch the old Galaxy S2 owners nicely as they come to the end of their contract cycles, so Samsung could be playing an ace (no, not that one) by launching now.
Since then another rumour, of a phone dubbed 'Project J', has emerged, and that's set for an April unveil... will this be something different? An S4 mini?
Some sources believe the phone won't actually go on sale until May due to component shortages, and itwill likely be given the model number of GT-I9500, which is leap from GT-I9300 but has been confirmed as likely legit when showing up in firmware versions, as well as on Samsung's official software page.
Other sources, apparently Samsung's Korean execs themselves, have stated the S4 will even come with an S Pen accessory, but this seems unlikely given it's only currently used on the Note range, so a boring C Pen upgrade could be all that's on the cards - then again, Samsung has just whacked $58.9 million (UK£37 million, AU$56.4 million) in Wacom, the digital pen people's, pocket as it invests in the tech, so it could come to the S4 quite feasibly.
An all-new screen
The Galaxy S2 had an amazing Super AMOLED Plus display – and boy, was it vibrant. The S3 upped the screen size from 4.3-inches to 4.8-inches and the pixel density went from 217 to 306 to take a run at the iPhone's Retina Display.
But, Samsung also opted for a PenTile approach, to the chagrin of geeks. What does that mean for the end user?
Well, the screen looks great but you can make out pixels if you really, really strain. And some of the vivacity and colour saturation is lost. On the plus side, Samsung reckons the screen will last longer – but we'd rather see a much more S2-like screen with a sharper resolution - and given that's now appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, we're pretty hopeful we'll get it on the Samsung Galaxy S4 too.
On top of that, we're now hearing that a new technology will be employed by Samsung in the shape of green-PHOLED materials, using a newer technology that improves the efficiency of the screen by managing to turn more of the energy into light at the display level. It wouldn't be used for every colour of the screen, so there's still room for more energy efficient screens in the future.
There were rumours that Samsung is going to bring a flexible screen to the Galaxy S4 - but given the Korean brand is already pushing the delivery of such tech back into 2013 for its customers, we'll be in Galaxy S5 territory before that happens.
There seems a much more likely option in the shape of the 5-inch 1080p screen that could offer up an eye-splitting 441ppi, making it easily the highest res out there. It would probably need to be shrunk down a smidge to fit into the palm, or Samsung could actually just make the phone even closer to the edges of the screen. Dare we dream of an edge-to-edge display like on the 9000 series TVs? Image credit: Anandtech
That dream could be closer to reality after the pretty likely screen for the Samsung Galaxy S4 was shown off by Samsung Display at CES 2013, featuring a 4.99-inch screen with a Full HD pixel count and a dizzying 440PPI resolution, which is set to ship in Q1 2013... also known as the perfect time frame for manufacturing the S4.
Another report has suggested the Galaxy S4 will sport a full HD display with a leaked PDF document suggesting the handset will have a 5-inch screen with a 1920x1080 resolution.
And on top of that, here's the good stuff: whatever the resolution or size of the screen on the Galaxy S4, rumours suggest that you'll be able to control it with your eyes. Yes you read that correctly, your eyes!
Screenshots apparently showing the various settings for the eye tracking tech have also popped up online - but we fear battery life may take a hit. This was later proven to be the Samsung Galaxy S3; new screenshots then appeared, but thanks to an eagle-eyed TechRadar reader, these could also be faked, as a display with 1080 x 1920 pixels would need to be 4.6 inches across to achieve the claimed PPI.
This would mean that not only would the S4 not have the expected 4.99-inch display, it would have to be smaller than the Galaxy S3... and come on, that's not likely at all. Are these the real deal? Credit: SamMobile
What is interesting is Samsung looks like it might be using its Air View, currently a technology employed for previewing things on the Galaxy Note 2 by hovering the S Pen over a date in the calendar or picture album, and offer it using your finger instead on the Galaxy S4.
It would be another new innovation and Samsung is really keen to make its phone stand out from the rest given there's nothing new about a full HD 5-inch screen in a smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S4 specs
As expected, the rumour mill is now in overdrive about possible Galaxy S4 specifications, and while we've got nothing concrete, often the repeated claims hold the most water.
The first is that the S4 will have a quad-core chip, which might sound a little 'last gen' to many. However, it will be based on ARM's A15 architecture, bringing with it a big boost in power for all those resource-intensive tasks we love to do all the time.
A quad-core processor looks likely after the new Exynos 5440 quad-core chip appeared on Samsung's site, making it a strong contender to feature in the Galaxy S4 - and according to a benchmark result claiming to be for the American varient of the Galaxy S4 (the SCH-I545) the quad-core processor will be clocked at a beefy 1.9GHz.
But then again, that's not Samsung's way really, is it? We want to see bigger, bangier and faster, so doubling it again to an OCTO-core would be the way to go, with the Exynos Octa was announced at CES 2013 complete with four big cores and four smaller ones, as part of ARM's big.LITTLE architecture. Eight cores. Mental.
Rather than just making it super powerful though, the eight core innards would split into two groups: A15-spec chips for the big stuff, and A7 when things need to get a little lower power, bringing with it the best of both worlds. This theory has been backed up by a recent Antutu profile for a phone claiming to be the Galaxy S4, with a 1.8GHz octo-core atop 2GB of RAM and up to 32GB of onboard memory. More support for the eight-core model materialised in the form on benchmark results claiming to be for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4, saying it will sport a 1.8GHz Octa processor which will run Android 4.2.1.
The other big news that we think should be on our wish list is the fact that Samsung's internal storage bods have been hard at work bringing the flash memory down in size and up in speed... so think even thinner phones with higher capacity that can be written to up to 10x faster. We're now looking forward to the S4 even more now.
Other benchmarks have since surfaced that show, that show it whizzing past the original S3 and Nokia Lumia 920... although intriguingly it didn't manage to usurp the Google Nexus 4. New benchmarks have changed that theory though, and while they can be very easily faked, it could very well be Samsung optimising the power of the Galaxy S4 ahead of time.
The Galaxy SIV could follow in the footsteps of the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 as it brings wireless charging to the table. The Galaxy S3 also apparently has this, but it's never been properly realised - and further 'insiders' have stated that the Galaxy S4 is deffo coming with some Qi - the wireless charging standard, not Asian manifestations of life force.
Also Samsung's S Health app could well make its way onto the Galaxy S4, allowing you to monitor things such as blood pressure, blood sugar, BMI and weight with the aid of a separate pad.
It's already made an appearance on the Galaxy S3, but Samsung didn't make a big deal about it last year - expect the hype to be bigger this time round.
And let's not forget about NFC - this is key to the Korean firm's plans in the future, so will definitely be embedded within the S4. A recent global deal between Samsung and Visa also hints at payWave, the contactless payment app from the financial superpower, being installed on the Galaxy S4, making it an even more powerful handset.
Combine that with the new Samsung Wallet application for cards, loyalty, plane tickets and such and you can see that Samsung is looking to take even more things from your pocket (as in your wallet as well as your cash. To buy the phone. Was that joke not clear? Dammit).
Will it run Jelly Bean 4.1 or 4.2?
What's the good word here? Well, given the time scales involved, we'd fully expect to see the Galaxy S4 running a more mature version of Android 4.2, better known as Android Jelly Bean, as well as the next generation of TouchWiz skin on top.
There are some more daft rumours floating around, namely that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will run off a different operating system called Tizen, simply because Samsung is using it on other phones.
Don't worry, this won't happen...although a variant of the phone could be used as a blueprint for a decent alternative handset.
More likely is Samsung bringing out the Galaxy S4 to coincide with the next version of Android from Google, called Key Lime Pie.
April would be roughly the time we'd start seeing rumours of such things, so it's not unbelievable that you could buy an S4 with a cutting edge OS.
In truth, we've never really seen this happen from the Koreans, so chances are it will be boring old Jelly Bean when your S4 appears in your hands.
Rumours that the Galaxy S4 will ship with Android 4.2 have been further reinforced after a benchmark result claiming to be for the flagship handset showed the device running version 4.2.
Battery life is key - obviously
Ok, we admit we always want more. The S2's 1,650mAh was manageable and the S3's 2,100mAh blows that out of the water. But it's still only OK.
You can get by on a day of moderate use but if you use this phone heavily (and we're talking watching TV shows on the morning and evening commute alongside your normal tinkering), this handset will still want a plug in at some point.
Motorola has proven it can be done by whacking a 3,300mAh power pack into the RAZR Maxx which can still be considered a skinny Minnie. Something of that size – along with ICS and Samsung's power management abilities – would really be the icing on the Ice Cream Sandwich.
Samsung Galaxy S4 camera
What's that? You're bored of an 8MP camera on the Samsung Galaxy S3 since you've seen the likes of the Sony Xperia Z popping up with a 13MP snapper attached?
Well, good news everyone: a picture supposedly captured from the S4 hints at an at least 10MP camera, according a snap shown on Picasa. Remember, EXIF data can be faked though, so there's every chance this amazingly well-framed photo is just the work of a chancer hoping to jump on the S4 bandwagon: Cred: Picasa
In a separate report, a couple more images popped up on Picasa claiming that they were taken on a Samsung GT-I9505, thought to be the international version of the Galaxy S4.
The blurry shots showing the rear of a computer tower are hardly awe-inspiring, plus the EXIF data attached to the snaps revealing the device they were taken on can be easily forged.
Both images sport a 2322 x 4128 resolution which would suggest the Samsung Galaxy S4 is packing a 13MP camera, although we're not pinning much hope on the authenticity of these pictures.
And apparently it's not just the sensor size that Samsung is working on, with the Korean firm also developing its own version of Photo Sphere called Samsung Orb, allowing you to take 360 degree snaps with the Galaxy S4 camera.
Samsung Orb will supposedly come with some fancy Facebook integration too, allowing you to share your snaps easily on the social network.
Will polycarbonate make a return?
We've lost count of the amount of people we've shown our device off to who've replied with the words: "Yeah, it's great but looks like a bit of a toy." It's a double-edged sword: the plastic is used to keep this handset nice and light, but does detract from what should be a premium device.
A bit of glass wouldn't go amiss. Android users, say what you like about the iPhone 4/4S (and we know you won't be short of words), but aside from being smash-tastic, the glass really adds that premium and expensive feel that the S3 just doesn't have.
Forget what your mum told you – it's what's on the outside that counts too, so the Samsung Galaxy S4 needs to step it up in the design stakes. The latest predictions also state that the 'Pebble Blue' colour that caused so much consternation with the S3 is on its way out - black and white are the only way to go these days, apparently.
The latest rumours state that the phone has been in production since late last year, and thankfully (or sadly, depending on your stance on front furniture) there will be a physical home button. There won't be any room for an S-Pen though, which makes sense as this won't be part of the Note range.
And hopes for a brushed aluminium Samsung Galaxy S4 may have been dashed after a Samsung executive talked up the use of plastic in the firm's flagship devices.
We've also seen many, many leaked shots claiming to be the Samsung Galaxy S4 - some better than others - and it isn't filling us with a huge amount of confidence as it could quite easily be a mash up between the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
The most recent shows a Samsung Galaxy S4 that looks like nothing more than just that - here's hoping it's another one of those fakes Samsung threw out to the market prior to the S3 launch to confuse us pretend journalists.
It seems like this is an evolution of what's gone before - is the fact it's not too dissimilar proof that this is the final design, or all part of Samsung's clever ploy?
Credit: SamMobile
Again 'confirmed' is the possibility that famous home button may be here to stay if the latest image claiming to show the Samsung Galaxy S4 next to the Galaxy S3 is to be believed - although it could well be another Photoshop job.
Credit: BGR
We've also seen another half-cocked effort from a Photoshop enthusiast - as we've said, it's a lot more like a 'would like to see' rather than any proper press shot.
Looks pretty though, right?
Credit: @tamerallyy
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and smartwatch
Here's something interesting from the rumour mill: Samsung's Project J, which was what we all assumed was the codename for the new S4, will actually yield a Galaxy S4 mini and a Galaxy Smartwatch.
The Galaxy S4 Mini would be an odd choice to launch at the same time as the S4 'proper', simply because the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has only recently gone on sale in the last few months - surely the brand wouldn't cannibalise sales that quickly?
And as for the other device: In the last few month the smartwatch, a device that connects your phone to a small screen on your wrist, has gained massive traction, with the likes of Apple even having a 100-strong design team working on the concept.
Word is that the Project J Active (or Fortius, if you prefer) which appears to be a slightly different device with accessories such as an arm band, bike mount and pouch listed, so could easily be a transferable piece of technology - and smartwatches are what everyone is talking about, despite the fact it sounds more like another tough phone to follow on from the Galaxy XCover 2,
Reports state Project J Active is yet to be finalised, unlike the others, which have already been given the green light.
But it's not all about what's rumoured... we're still allowed to dream about a perfect phone. So here are the things we hope get improved when the Galaxy S4 finally launches:
Better S-Voice
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much.
Sure, it can tell you what the weather is like if you really can't be bothered to look out the window. And it'll save you 10 seconds by setting an alarm.
But it's just not powerful enough - and is, frankly, awful for something that's supposed to be a headline feature on one of the world's best smartphones.
We've actually been using Speak To It Assistant far more often because it's superior. Samsung could do worse than buy a company like this to give the Galaxy S4 a real chance of being the best voice-controlled mobile out there.
Better Mac support
Yep, we know many consumers believe Mac users account for only 0.000001% of Android owners (why wouldn't they just buy an iPhone, right?)
But there are lots who like Apple computers as well as Android devices. And up until the S3, they got on famously.
But Android has changed the rules and how storage works so that it follows the MTP Protocol which plays along brilliantly with Windows but can't stand Macs.
Yes, we know this is a Google issue and not something that Samsung can be blamed for. But having said that, the HTC One X also runs Ice Cream Sandwich and it has managed to tweak the code enough for there to not be a problem.
Please Samsung – don't shut them out. Ice Cream Sandwich may be frozen – but we shouldn't be, so when you bring out the Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie-powered Galaxy S4, let's get some support.
Samsung Galaxy S4 accessories
Samsung unveiled the SIII alongside a raft of accessories – the usual things like cases were complimented by the C-Pen (like the Note 2's S-Pen but smaller) and the dongle for connecting to your TV to stream stuff.
The problem is, they're all so expensive: £20 for the C-Pen and the best part of £70 for the AllShare Dongle. They're not mainstream accessories – and little wonder.
If Samsung made these cheaper – or even threw them into the box for the Galaxy S4 (highly unlikely, but we can dream) then it would make for a much happier customer.
Perhaps a premium package where you spend a little more but get the accessories at the same time would work... people like to get the most out of things when they get their shiny new device.
Better charging
Plug it in and charge until it's full. That's always been the way. But we'd love to see a more advanced version of charging - ditching the wires should be more prevalent.
Maybe something similar to the conductive methods used by Palm in the Pre which never really caught on. The idea being that you don't have to plug the phone in to charge, just place it on a particular mat or place and it does it automatically.The S3 has that functionality, but it's hardly been well-publicised since launch.
The likes of Nokia with the Lumia 920 have been banging on about the amazing world of wireless charging for ages now, with a range of accessories too. Given that it will all be based on the Qi wireless charging standard, we'll soon see reams of coffee shops and airports with these charging stations littered around - just don't forget to watch your phone.
Or how about something really radical – like a battery that can also charge kinetically on the S4. Sure, it would be slow but wouldn't it be great if you could go for a run and manage to gain an extra 10 or 20% just by doing so to get you through the day? Radical – yes. But Samsung is known for its innovation.
Improved speakers
As beautiful and wonderful as the S3 is, the speaker still sounds tinny. Ringtones sound cheap and when it is on its back, they're also muffled. At least the iPhone has a bit of bass.
But what about going a bit further? Have three or four powerful but small speakers around the rim so when you play music, it comes out loud and with a bit of bass.
Hell, even make it so strong that it negates the need for a travel dock so you can play music at a decent volume when you nip away for the weekend or are sitting on the beach. That'd be a real selling point.
Look out Samsung Galaxy Note II, there's a new kid on the block, at least if you're a Verizon Wireless customer, and that's the HTC Droid DNA. Variously rumored as the HTC DLX and Butterfly J overseas, the HTC Droid DNA is one of our top smartphones for 2012. It has a slim and elegant design and it's relatively narrow, which makes holding this 5" Android smartphone easier than you might think. It trounces the Note II and every other smartphone on the market with its 1920 x 1080 Super LCD 3 display. That's 440ppi pixel density; significantly higher than the iPhone 5's Retina display and the lovely Nokia Lumia 920 332ppi display. Colors are more balanced and natural compared to Samsung's Super AMOLED HD display and letters and images look painted on the screen, much like the HTC One X and iPhone 5. Gorilla Glass protects the curved glass display.
Performance and Horsepower
But it doesn't stop there; this 5 ounce phone runs on a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU. The "Pro" is important, it indicates that this is the quad core variant of the S4 previously found on the speedy LG Optimus G and Nexus 4. The HTC DNA, running Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with the HTC Sense UI absolutely flies. It feels noticeably faster than other high end Android phones, despite pushing all those extra pixels. It has 2 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of storage. That's a sore point for us: we'd really like to see more than 16 gigs of storage since there's no microSD card slot. Of that 16 gigs, our phone had 11 gigs available after installing a few apps (none of which were particularly large).
The HTC DNA has no trouble playing 1080p MPEG4 high quality video or playing today's cutting edge 3D games. Since this isn't a Tegra CPU, you won't get the special effects like water reflections and splashes in TegraZone games, but we can live with that.
More Specs at a Glance
The phone has a 2020 mAh battery, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a GPS and NFC that's not compatible with Google Wallet. As you'd expect from HTC, it has Beats audio that kicks in when you plug in headphones and there's a 2.5v audio preamp inside. The DNA has 3G EV-DO Rev. A and 4G LTE on Verizon and it's a world phone than can handle GSM/HSPA roaming abroad. The Droid DNA has a wide angle front 2.1MP camera and an excellent rear 8MP camera with BSI, fast f/2.0 lens and 28mm wide angle lens.
The Droid DNA has a sealed unibody design with a soft touch charcoal black back. It’s a stunner and feels great in hand, though it doesn’t look quite as interesting as the polycarbonate unibody design of the One X. At 0.38” it’s extremely slim for a big phone and we love the metallic red stripes on the side along with the red rear camera lens ring and top power button. The DNA makes the shiny plastic Note II and Galaxy S III look a little cheap: HTC has always been good at premium materials. Where does the Note II pull ahead? For those of you who enjoy the Wacom digital pen, you won’t find that here. You also won’t get the Note II’s neato side-by-side app view or the ability to play video in a floating window on top of any app.
Unlike the HTC One X and One X+, the camera lens is flush so the phone doesn’t wobble when resting on its back on a desk or table. The perforated red metal side strips might look like incredibly thin speaker grilles, but the speaker is actually located on the back near the bottom where you’ll find it on most phones.
The red metal power button sits on the top edge, and while it looks very nice, it’s also hard to press because it’s nearly flush with the casing and has little travel. The same is true of the volume controls on the upper right side. The 3.5mm audio jack, micro SIM card slot (requires the included tool or a paperclip to open) and two mic holes live up top. The micro USB port and another mic hole live on the bottom edge.
HTC Droid DNA Video Review
Voice and Data
Call quality is excellent for incoming calls with full audio and good volume, but we found outgoing volume to be average with some occasional digitization of voice. It’s nothing to worry about, but the DNA doesn’t stand out above the crowd of solid smartphones on the market for outgoing voice quality.
Data speeds on Verizon’s LTE 4G network are par for the course, which is to say very good, though Verizon trails AT&T for LTE speeds at the moment in our area. The HTC Droid DNA manages the same speeds as the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX HD and Galaxy S III according to the Speedtest.net app (13Mbps down and 5.7Mbps up).
This is a world phone that also works on GSM and HSPA+ networks for you world travelers. Our review unit actually worked with an AT&T SIM card (Verizon usually turns off compatibility with US GSM carriers). This may be because we have a pre-release phone, so no promises it will work for you. We suspect it’s a pre-release issue because after using an AT&T SIM card and enjoying HSPA+ data on AT&T’s network, we had to hard reset the phone (wipe it out and start fresh) to get it to register on Verizon’s network again.
Display and Sound
This is undeniably one of the best mobile displays on the planet. At a mind-boggling 440 ppi, you won’t find anything sharper than this, not even the 264ppi iPad with Retina Display. The full 1080p means you can watch full HD movies without scaling—on a phone. Wow. The fused glass on the Super LCD3 display makes images look painted on, much like the HTC One X and iPhone 5. Viewing angles are very wide and colors are rich and more natural than on Super AMOLED displays. The display’s sides have a subtle curve (again like the One X and also like the Nokia Lumia 920) and it looks cool. We haven’t had any problems with dust getting stuck in the crevices where the glass meets the phone’s body. The display has good brightness, but it’s not particularly gifted at fighting bright sunlight (the Nokia Lumia 920 and iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 get that honor). Glare and reflections are relatively well controlled on the gloss Gorilla Glass 2 display.
The Droid DNA has a 2.5v audio pre-amp and Beats audio, but that magic shines through headphones rather than the rear speaker. That’s not to say the speaker isn’t fairly loud and full for a phone, but it doesn’t raise the bar either. Sound through the headset jack is top notch with a decent set of headphones: audio is not only crazy loud (be nice to your ears and avoid max volume), but it’s rich and full. This isn’t the mindlessly heavy Beats audio of old, but something more balanced and pleasing for a wide variety of music. Yes, bass is still more than ample, but the clarity of trebles and the faint whispers of background tracks like a brush on cymbals suddenly become clear and present.
Camera
HTC puts excellent cameras into their high end smartphones, and their Android camera app is top notch for offering myriad shooting options, including HDR and the ability to capture photos while simultaneously shooting video. The rear camera can shoot 1080p video at 30fps, though in low light the frame rate may drop. The rear camera has a BSI sensor and a fast f/2.0 lens to further improve low light photography. Indeed, the 8 megapixel camera with LED flash can take some compelling night shots of street scenes and moody bars, though we noted more noise than with the supremely impressive Lumia 920. That said, the DNA’s night sky blacks look black rather than noisy gray, and that makes for a very striking evening capture.
As with other recent HTC unibody phones, the battery is sealed inside, so you can’t swap in a spare as needed on the road. As a consolation, the 2020 mAh Lithium Ion Polymer battery has good stamina despite the big high res display and 4G LTE. Chalk that up to excellent power management and the Qualcomm S4 Pro’s power frugalness. Like most powerful, big screen smartphones, you’ll likely have to charge the phone nightly with moderate use (some calling, web, push email, music and 30 minutes of video playback), but we routinely ran the phone from 8am to 10pm without running out of power.
Conclusion
After two weeks using the HTC Droid DNA, I can safely say it’s one of my top smartphone picks for 2012 and early 2013. This is not only a fast phone with the latest quad core Qualcomm S4 CPU, but it has a class-leading 1080p display that’s a feast for the eyes. At 5”, you might think this is an unwieldy phone, but it’s much more hand-friendly than the Samsung Galaxy Note II, and not that much bigger than 4.7 and 4.8” Android smartphones like the HTC One X+ and Samsung Galaxy SIII. The design is elegant, the build quality is excellent and it’s a pleasure to hold and use. As long as you can live with the 16 gigs of storage, I highly recommend the DNA.
The Good:
The first thing you'll notice is the big, glorious screen on the Galaxy S2. This phone is clearly bigger than the iPhone's 3.5" screen by almost an inch, but its curved back and slim design feels fantastic and inviting in the hand. The Galaxy really impressed me with its power and punch, and I found surfing the web to be equal to best phones on the market.
The Bad:
This thing is HUGE!, The S2 will fit in your pocket, but you will feel it there. Also talking on the phone (who does that anymore?) feels very strange, although a blue tooth device will help.
The Verdict:
For the waaaay advanced user like a programmer or IT guy, this machine of a phone is almost dangerous. But for the average-to-advanced user; I must say (as good as the features are and some are even out-performing the leading phones on the market) the size and lack of battery life will eventually be the cause of frustration and end for this phone.
The good:
It’s fast, the antenna is rock solid, both cameras with technology are amazingly good for picture or video, and Siri just might be the next big leap forward computer interfaces.
The Bad:
It’s the same design as last year, including the glass backing, which may upset buyers who’d hoped for a change. especially if they already have the iPhone 4
Verdict:
Make no mistake the iPhone is still the best phone/operating system (OS) on the market, but the internal upgrades may not be enough. So if you have the iPhone 4 and money is an issue, your not going to miss to much by sitting this one out. However if you are new to iPhone or have a 3GS or earlier model then by all means is worth the upgrade.
For the full specs, head over to Apples site and check out the iPhone 4s
Hello, my name is William, I have owned just about every smart phone on the planet. I have worked for Apple, AT&T, and Best Buy. Basically, I know a little more than the average user. Over the years I have noticed that when explaining the pros and cons about a phone, I spend more time "UN-confusing" the customer on the reviews they read before they got to me. So I have created this blog to show the reviews on the latest and greatest smart phones and hopefully provide some simplified input as to if it is a worthy product or not.
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much. 
