Technology Android

[Casey]

So apparently the variant of the Galaxy S3 that's coming out in Japan not only has the Snapdragon S4 processor, but has 2GB of RAM also. Wow.

http://www.mobilenapps.com/articles/2188/20120517/samsung-galaxy-s3-features-docomo-japan-model.htm

The Japanese just got another great reason to buy Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone! According to The Verge, NTT Docomo, the number one Japanese mobile carrier has confirmed them that one variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3, named the SC-06D, will have 2GB of RAM along with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor.

 

[Casey]

If you have an Android tablet, you might want to take a look at this. Definitely worth a $5 pledge IMO.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaborvida/chameleon-a-better-home-screen-for-your-android-ta

 

[masta247]

The Japanese are also getting cooler Sony and Panasonic phones :-(

This one is awesomesauce, like a new Xperia Arc with 13,2mpx camera and S4 Snapdragon. It MIGHT come with an international version:
http://www.gsmarena.com/this_might_be_the_international_sony_xperia_gx_on_video-news-4262.php

 

[dilla]

I haven't paid a cent for an app, no way in shit am I going to drop $5 for something that is cool, but as a novelty.

Maybe it's better suited for someone that uses a tablet and doesn't own a proper computer and does everything on the tablet. If it was free, I still think I would ditch it after a week. Too much work setting up profiles based on GPS or WiFi networks I'm on. All this ragging on custom UIs and "stock Android" circle-jerking, this app would just make it all for naught.

 

[Casey]

The Japanese EASILY have the widest range of choice. Take this for example.

Not only does that form factor completely NOT exist in the Western market (for smartphones)...... but it's a premium device (or was, when it came out) that's COMPLETELY waterproof and has a 16MP camera. And it's been out for over a year in Japan.

Over here we still aren't seeing many cameras higher than 8MP, we aren't getting fully waterproof premium devices (you've got stuff like the Moto Defy but that's only mid-range).

Seems to me like there could be big business importing Japanese phones to Western markets.

They don't fuck around. Japanese carrier NTT Docomo just announced no less than freakin NINETEEN new Android devices.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/16/ntt-docomo-launching-19-new-devices-this-summer/

Now that's what you call having a choice!!!

 

[masta247]

Yeah, the Japanese had amazing, huge display phones like 7 or 8 years ago, when we were rocking ridiculous dumbphones. They have always been on top of the game.
I don't understand why Japanese phone manufacturers come up with crappier phones for the European/American market.

Take Sharp for example. They had this shit back in 2009:



We're talking 4 inch 1024x480 screen, 12mpx camera with Xenon Flash aaaannnddd..

BAZINGA!:

That was back in the Iphone 3g days, when THIS was the most powerful and coolest phone coming from the Japanese, that was available on the European/American market.

 

[Pittsey]

I try to ignore PC World articles. But every day literally, there is a negative blog on android. If it was a fair blog, so be it. But they are poorly researched.

Here is todays. Google came up with Semantic searches after Apple produced Siri... LOL

http://www.pcworld.com/article/255749/google_knowledge_graph_the_birth_of_a_siri_rival.html

Google Knowledge Graph: The Birth of a Siri Rival?

Google's Knowledge Graph seems like just another search feature, but connect the dots and it could become the brains behind a Siri-like virtual assistant.

On the surface, Google's Knowledge Graph seems like just another search feature, but connect the dots and it could become the brains behind a Siri-like virtual assistant.

In a blog post, Google's Amit Singhal dropped a strong hint that there's more to Knowledge Graph than meets the eye:

​

“We’re proud of our first baby step—the Knowledge Graph—which will enable us to make search more intelligent, moving us closer to the 'Star Trek computer' that I've always dreamt of building,” Singhal wrote.

Google has used the Star Trek reference before, when discussing its approach to speech recognition in Android. Here's Matias Duarte, in an interview with Slashgear:

“If [Siri]’s Star Wars, you have these robot personalities like C-3PO who runs around and he tries to do stuff for you, messes up and makes jokes, he’s kind of a comic relief guy. Our approach is more like Star Trek, right, starship Enterprise; every piece of computing surface, everything is voice-aware. It’s not that there’s a personality, it doesn’t have a name, it’s just 'Computer.'”

Add these comments to the rumors that Google is building a virtual assistant codenamed Majel--named after the wife of late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry--and it's easy to speculate where Google is going.

​

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[Pittsey]

Siri vs. Knowledge Graph

Unlike Android's existing voice commands, Apple's Siri understands language. Siri doesn't need to rely on a rigid set of instructions (such as Android's “Navigate to” for directions or “Listen to” for music), because it can pick out keywords from naturally-spoken phrases. That makes Apple's system much more accessible, and Google will have to come up with something similar.

But with Knowledge Graph, Google seems to be thinking one step ahead. With any given set of keywords, Knowledge Graph tries to figure out what users actually want. The engine can figure out the most important facts about a person or place, and bring those details to the surface. When a search term has multiple meanings (such as apple the fruit or Apple the company), Knowledge Graph knows to ask what you meant. As Singal pointed out, the information Google shows for Tom Cruise answers 37 percent of the next queries people ask about him.

Google may have a better system in place for answering questions, if the company can just nail the Siri-like natural language part. Instead of simply showing a page from Yelp or Wolfram Alpha, as Siri does, Google could potentially pull in what it thinks is the most relevant information from around the Web. The company has already developed a version of Knowledge Graph for mobile devices, so the groundwork is already in place.

Of course, this is all just speculation on my part, but given Google's high-minded thoughts on making search smarter, and the ever-increasing importance of mobile, Knowledge Graph seems likely to play a huge role in Android's answer to Siri.

 

[masta247]

This is researched and tested way better here:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/which-virt...r-you-siri-vs-s-voice-vs-speaktoit-assistant/

On the contrary they clearly said that Siri isn't any better than other assistants, and that all suck almost equally.

 

[Flipmo]

Fucking Japan...............

 

[Pittsey]

This is researched and tested way better here:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/which-virt...r-you-siri-vs-s-voice-vs-speaktoit-assistant/

On the contrary they clearly said that Siri isn't any better than other assistants, and that all suck almost equally.

I agree. But Semantic search was in development long before Siri, and although it may be possible for it to develop into a "voice assistant" it's main use isn't for mobile devices, but for any search on any device. It's what google do best. Search engines.

 

[Casey]

Google has far more advanced voice recognition that's been in development for years, compared to Siri. Being as Search is their core function, they've waited to flesh it out. When they do ultimately release it, it'll be far more powerful than anything people could think of, and it'll integrate your web/search history so it's familiar with the kind of terms and language that you use to be better tailored to everyone. This has been something that's been known to have been in development for a long time. Siri is just a joke, and the idea that Google would be influenced by anything Apple do in this field is laughably absurd.

 

[masta247]

Siri and all of those personal assistant apps suck. I could write a similar one myself, though with less functionality using generic engines. Most modern personal assistant apps are basic speech recognition engines mixed with a bunch of "if" conditions and basic methods that these apps run depending on the condition outcome. They usually don't even have any kind of "memory", even temporary. They are really primitive.

I'd love to see a decent "AI" system on a phone though. With customizable voice.
*2pac's voice*"Get up motherfucker ... I said get the fuck up, there's a bitch on the line".

 

[Pittsey]

I'd love to see a decent "AI" system on a phone though. With customizable voice.
*2pac's voice*"Get up motherfucker ... I said get the fuck up, there's a bitch on the line".

I would hate that.

 

[masta247]

I thought this was pretty cool:

The MK802 may look like an ordinary USB stick, but it’s a fully-functional computer.

More info here: http://blog.gsmarena.com/android-pc-available-for-74-about-the-size-of-a-pack-of-gum/

 

[Pittsey]

I thought this was pretty cool:

More info here: http://blog.gsmarena.com/android-pc-available-for-74-about-the-size-of-a-pack-of-gum/

I like the way the small form PCs are going. I am getting a few Raspberry Pis at work to play with. I think it could be good for streaming music and video to every room. Or for Home automation. Or for monitoring information and creating a media centre in the car.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I like the way the small form PCs are going. I am getting a few Raspberry Pis at work to play with. I think it could be good for streaming music and video to every room. Or for Home automation. Or for monitoring information and creating a media centre in the car.

Wasn't the Raspberry Pi the one that taught users how to code?

 

[Pittsey]

Wasn't the Raspberry Pi the one that taught users how to code?

Yes. Except it doesn't. It's cheap enough to get kids interested in Python. But without teachers, no-one will learn. And most of the time all you need to do is upload a few files to an sd card.

 

[Flipmo]

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9300_galaxy_s_iii-review-761.php

Final words

When Samsung announced the Galaxy S III, they saw to it that their top smartphone matched - at the very least - the best on the market. And because no effort was too much in insuring against any surprises, they ended up with something that's nearly impossible to beat. Love it or hate it, the S III is one of the top phones on the market and will stay so for quite a while.
When we say "hate it", we're mostly referring to its size (though it's not much bigger than the S II) and the plastic the outer body is made of - both have their detractors.
Those two aside, the Galaxy S III leaves users with no other options but be impressed - from the light, slender body, the beautiful screen, the improved camera, powerful chipset to all kinds of advanced software features (some of which are truly useful, while others are just for show).
Some of the S III tricks have the potential to be trend-setters (like Smart Stay, Direct call and S Beam), others are me-too kind of add-ons (burst shot, S Voice) and some need quite a lot of work to become useful at all (S Voice springs to mind again).
Still, no matter how you cut it, the Samsung Galaxy S III is a phone that all others will have to measure up to.
The HTC One X is perhaps the S III's bitterest rival. It goes for a polycarbonate unibody that will win more people over than the hyperglazed plastic of the S III, and the screen is a brighter, non-PenTile LCD. It also comes in a version with a dual-core Krait

processor​

and LTE (One XL internationally and One X for AT&T). We already did an article on how the S III stacks up against the international One X, so if you are unsure which one to pick you should definitely check it out.
The HTC One S is also worth a look if 4.8" is too big for you and you prefer AMOLED over LCD. It's stunningly thin (7.8mm) and its metal unibody is quite cool. The dual-core Krait processor inside is enough guts to tackle the Cortex-A9-based quad-cores.

HTC One X • HTC One XL • HTC One S
The HTC One smartphones have the advantage of already being on the market, while the Galaxy S III is yet to hit the shelves. But so are the rest of its direct competitors.
The LG Optimus 4X HD is expected to launch next month and it seems to match the HTC One X almost every step of the way (screen, chipset, thickness, etc.). Which means it will cross paths with the Galaxy S III too. LG also announced the Optimus LTE2 which packs 2GB of RAM to go with the dual-core Krait processor, 4.7" 720p TrueHD screen and, unfortunately, limited availability (South Korea-only for now).
The Meizu MX quad-core is another "coming soon" contender. It uses the same chipset as the Galaxy S III (though it scored a narrow vicotry in early benchmarks) and is more compact with its 4" qHD screen.
Huawei and their Ascend D quad also want a piece of the action - it has a Huawei-made quad-core processor, a slightly smaller 4.5" IPS+ LCD screen and Dolby Mobile 3.0 Plus. The D Quad XL version is thicker (10.9mm), but comes with a huge 2500mAh battery.

LG Optimus 4X HD P880 • Meizu MX quad-core • Huawei Ascend D quad • Huawei Ascend D quad XL
The Galaxy S II (and its many incarnations) is a best-seller for Samsung and the Galaxy S III is a better phone in practically every way. So, there's every reason to expect that the S III will outdo its predecessor. It also has what it takes to lead the Android assault on the iPhone - S Voice is a less than subtle way to let everybody know.
In the end though, it seems the Galaxy S III has such a comfortable lead that Samsung may as well ease off the gas and let others catch up. Once again, the bar's been raised quite high and yet another Galaxy S is setting the standards - not only for Android but smartphones as a whole. Oh wait, we've said that before, haven't we?

 

[masta247]

http://blog.gsmarena.com/htc-one-x-...see-if-it-outperformed-its-quad-core-sibling/

Dual core Snapdragon S4 = A9 Quad core rapist, all-around.