Samsung launches new oversized smartphone

 SEOUL: Samsung launched the newest version of its oversized smartphone Galaxy Note on Wednesday, just a week after Apple’s iPhone 5 hit shelves, in an apparent bid to outpace its rival with a wider range of gadgets.

The South Korean electronics giant said the Galaxy Note II, first unveiled at a trade fair in Berlin last month, will eventually hit stores in 128 nations including the United States, where the firm’s recently lost a $1.05 billion patent case to Apple.
The gadget is slightly bigger than the firm’s flagship smartphone Galaxy S series and comes with a stylus “S pen” to write notes or draw on the screen.
“We believe global sales of Galaxy Note II for the first three months will be more than three times those of the previous version,” J.K. Shin, the head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile unit, told reporters.
The world’s top smartphone maker has sold more than 10 million units of the first Galaxy Note since its debut in November and more than 20 million of the latest Galaxy S III, which was launched in late May.
“It took us some time to establish this new product category in the global market… but now we get far better response than the past,” Shin said.
The launch comes after a flurry of new devices from major phone makers including Apple, whose iPhone 5 just days ago enjoyed a record launch weekend with sales topping five million.
Samsung’s smaller rival LG Electronics last week put on sale the new version of its headline Optimus G, hopes it will help the world’s number five phonemaker meet its goal to sell 80 million mobile phones this year.
Galaxy Note II, powered by Google’s Android software – is equipped with a new 1.6 GHz quad-core processor that helps run multiple applications faster than the dual-core processor of the previous version.
About 15.1 centimetres long, 8 centimetres wide, 9.4 millimetres thin and featuring a 5.5-inch touchscreen, it allows users to split the screen in half to view two programmes at once.
“You can exchange chat messages or take part in a video conference while checking e-mails, or take notes while watching a video speech by famous speakers,” said Shin.
Samsung has been embroiled in a long-running patent battle with Apple in 10 countries, including the United States and Germany, with the two rivals accusing each other of stealing design and technology.
Last month the South Korean firm was ordered to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features for its Galaxy S smartphones. - AFP

Read More

S. Korea’s LG Electronics launches new smartphone

SEOUL: LG Electronics launched on Tuesday its new flagship smartphone which will have to compete against a flurry of new products from rivals Apple and Samsung who currently dominate the global market.

The South Korean electronics giant said the new gadget — called Optimus G — would hit domestic stores next week before sales begin in Japan in October and other regions including North America in November.
The launch comes days after Apple unveiled the much-anticipated iPhone 5 which garnered more than two million orders in just 24 hours.
Samsung Electronics, which has sold more than 20 million of its Galaxy S III smartphone launched in late May, is set to introduce the newest version of its popular oversized Galaxy Note smartphone in the market soon.
“It’s inevitable for these flagship products to compete head-to-head …but we are expecting very significant and surprising figures for this product,” Park Jong-Seok, head of LG’s mobile unit, told reporters.
He refused to elaborate on the sales target.
The Optimus G Powerhouse is built around Qualcomm’s  Fusion 3 Chipset which pairs a 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC (APQ8064) with a 2G / 3G / LTE radio (MDM9615).
The Optimus G houses a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 True HD IPS PLUS display, 2GB of RAM, 32 GB of built-in storage, a 13-Megapixel autofocus camera with illuminated sensor with 1.1µm pixels, an f/2.4 autofocus lens and a single LED flash, a sealed 2100mAh Li-polymer battery rated for 800 charge cycles, NFC and runs Ice Cream Sandwich.
The overall simplicity and elegance in design is similar to their previous Chocolate and Prada models – it’s thin (8.45mm/ 0.33-inch) and relatively light for its size (145g/ 5.11 oz).
The Face of the Optimus G has a glass surface with three capacitive buttons and the back showcases LG’s Crystal Reflection process: an attractive patterned glass-like finish which gives the handset the ability to display different patterns depending on the viewing angle and lighting.
The folks at LG are placing a lot of emphasis on how the user experience benefits from the Optimus G’s quad-core Krait CPU and Adreno 320 GPU – something it calls “cross-tasking”.
This includes capabilties like QSlide Function, Live Zooming, Dual Screen Dual Play, QuickMemo, Screen Zooming, Application Link and Icon Personalizer, plus camera funtionality such as Time Catch Shot, Cheese Shutter, Smart Shutter and Low Light Shot and Noise Reduction.
The build quality and materials used are superb (superior to the Galaxy S III) and the Optimus G feels great to hold.
There is a Volume Rocker and a micro-SIM card slot on the left edge and the power/ lock key on the right. A standard headphone jack sits on the top side, with the micro-USB/ MHL connector on the bottom.
There is a front-facing 1.3 MP camera with a notification light next to it. The Display is definitely high quality but not mind blowing (the One X display is better), although it was expected that LG’s True HD IPS PLUS display together with Zerogap Touch Technology would trump most in the market. - DAWN

Read More