Saturday, November 17, 2012

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Sprint and AT&T LG Optimus G review and hands on: Did LG finally get a flagship?

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:09 PM PST

Whenever people talk about Android phones, LG generally doesn’t come up in the conversation. Companies like Samsung, HTC, and Motorola seem to get the most press, but there’s no question LG has a big following. Even so, they never came out with a phone that put them over the top. The Optimus G just might be that phone, and so far things are looking pretty good as they impressed Google enough to morph the phone into the Nexus 4. Assuming you’re not going to buy a Nexus 4, is the Optimus G the phone for you? Hit the break to get started

Design

The Sprint version of the Optimus G is the more truer design when comparing it to the international version so I will start with that. I think I am going to be in the minority on this, but I am not all that impressed with the design of the Optimus G. I think the quality is up there, but I am not a fan of the glass back. The crystallized pattern underneath is cool, and the glass back might look cool, but it only creates problems. It only makes the phone more delicate and covering it with a case only hides the so called beauty of it. I can safely say that if you rest either one of these phones on something that is slightly off level, it could drop to the floor because it’s so slippery. I have had this happen to me on more than one occasion. I personally prefer the Kevlar coating on Motorola’s devices or even the newer texture that HTC is using in the DROID DNA. I am also not a fan of the very thin silver band that is visible around the display. Depending on how the light hits and/or the angle, it makes it look like an older phone with worn edges. All in all it does feel comfortable to hold and feels rock solid. I will say that this is probably the finest phone LG has ever made.

Now the AT&T version is a another story. The body is different in that it’s actually wider by 0.11 inches and the right and left sides are rounded. It actually resembles the body of the Samsung Galaxy S II. It has the same glass backing, but overall the phone doesn’t feel as comfortable in the hand. Not sure why AT&T would go this route, but it’s definitely a downgrade.

Both phones have a non-removable battery just like the Nexus 4 and comes in at 8.38mm thick. As far as buttons and ports go, both phones are identical except the AT&T version has a cover on the left side that holds the SIM and microSD card. The Sprint version doesn’t have a microSD slot and the SIM is embedded in the phone. You will find the microphone jack at the top left. Along the right side is the power button at the top. On the left side is the volume rocker towards the top (SIM and microSD slot below that on AT&T version). The bottom has the microUSB port.

 

Hardware

Both devices feature a 4.7-inch (1280 x 768) IPS LCD display at 318ppi, 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (Sprint) /16GB of storage (AT&T), microSD slot (AT&T), 13MP rear camera (Sprint) / 8MP rear camera (AT&T), 1.3MP front camera, 2100mAh battery, and Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Performance

The speed and snappiness is a delight thanks to the Snapdragon S4 Pro. Even with LG’s UI, it cuts through everything you can throw at it. I did run the AnTuTu benchmark, which came in at 11,213 for the Sprint version and 11,095 for the AT&T. It’s considerably lower than the Samsung Galaxy Note II, but you have to look really hard to notice any kind of a difference. The bottomline is that transitions between homescreens and apps is as fast as any phone available today.

The display is also one of the best. I still think the HTC One X (and soon to be the DROID DNA) is the king of the throne, but the Optimus G is knocking on the door. The viewing angles are more than adequate and the colors are vibrant. It truly is one of the best displays out there.

Battery

For my battery tests I always run continuous video while connected to LTE. In the case of the Sprint version, I am only able to get 3G so my test reflects that. I was able to get  about 7 hours and 30 minutes out of it. For the AT&T version I was able to test it while connected to LTE and I got just under 8 hours. As a side note, for all my tests, I set the display to 2/3′s brightness, turn on GPS, WiFi (not connected), and Bluetooth (not connected). Both results aren’t too bad and should get you through most of the day of moderate use without any issues

Software

The area where LG has suffered in the past is in their UI. I haven’t met too many people who liked it. Now that they have refined their hardware, the question is if they have refined their UI?  For the most part the look and feel isn’t too bad, and it appears LG went the route of adding a lot of customization. That can be cool, but unfortunately most people will never know these options exist. What’s also interesting is the AT&T version differs from the Sprint and international version, which is bizarre. It’s mind boggling why AT&T or LG would want to change the UI, and this is something I have never seen before.

Lets start with what’s the same. Both phones have Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is already feeling a bit dated. You can have up to seven homescreens with the ability to choose the transition between them with options like basic, accordion, carousel, and more. If you would like a different wallpaper for each homescreen you can do that as well. For icons, you can change the image easily or even add your own photo. Folders are created the same way as stock Ice Cream Sandwich, but you also get a manilla folder look to it. You can change the color of it as well as change the folder name. You can even expand folders to make it widget like, and you can also create folders in the app drawer. The drop down notification has a quick settings menu that you can customize as far as what settings you want in it and what order.

Samsung introduced Popup Video with the Galaxy S III, and LG came up with their own version called the Q Slide. It’s limited to only videos that are physically on the device. While watching a video you can tap the Q Slide button to overlay the video over any app you would like. There is a bar to slide that will make it more transparent if you need to read something. You can’t move the video around, but the transparent feature is pretty slick.

Another feature is Quick Memo which is much like Samsung’s S Memo without all the bells and whistles. By hitting both the volume up and down or hitting the icon in the quick settings, a new memo will open for taking notes. You can change the colors or pen style as well as easily erase. You can then save it in the Quick Memo notebook or save it in the gallery. It’s also useful if you use the Quick Memo to write a phone number down. You can make any memo overlay the dialer so you will see the number you wrote down, which makes it easy for you to dial the number you needed to remember.

As I mentioned the AT&T version has some differences. First, the main settings screen is set up with tabs rather than the traditional ICS feel. The lockscreen has a completely different look, and out of the box, you only have three homescreens. Unfortunately it’s not so easy to find out how to add homescreens as you have to make a pinch like gesture on one of your homescreens. The apps tray is also different in that the app launcher is in the center as opposed to the right side. This is the one change that actually made sense. I still can’t understand why LG and Samsung continue to put the app launcher to the right.

All in all you will find a lot of customizations, but you will need to spend some time to find them all. I put together a hands on video on both of these devices showing you how some of these things work.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Camera

This is yet another area where both phones do not agree. The Sprint version has the same 13MP lens that you will find in the international version. For whatever reason, AT&T opted for an 8MP shooter. The 13MP shooter is obviously better, but I was not all that impressed with either camera. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t awful, I was just expecting more. LG did add a unique feature called Time Catch Shot. After taking a picture, you will be presented with a few images just before you pressed the shutter button. It’s in a sense another form of burst shooting. It’s cool, but I found it useless. Speaking of burst shooting, LG has an Epic fail in this area. In burst shooting (or consecutive shots), it will take six consecutive shots, but unfortunately those shots are not at the full resolution. They are at 1MP. After getting my review unit, I spent the weekend with family, and it wasn’t until I came home that I realized all my burst shots were at 1280 x 768 as opposed to the 4208 x 3120 that single shots were. This is an absolute embarrassment and neither Samsung or HTC implement this. I rely on burst shooting a lot since I have a 4 year old that doesn’t sit still, and this was a huge disappointment. As to basic picture taking, I have included some images from both cameras for you to judge for yourself. The Sprint versions are first followed by AT&T’s, and the last photo of each set required flash.

 


Closing

LG has come a long way with the Optimus G, and even though it’s a fantastic phone in terms of specs and performance, it just didn’t do it for me. If you’re on Sprint, it’s probably the best phone on the network, but if you really don’t think you need a quad-c0re, the HTC EVO 4G LTE might be your better option. As to AT&T, the HTC One X+ or even the Samsung Galaxy S III is the better bet in my opinion. I don’t see how anyone could want the AT&T version after seeing the Sprint version. It just feels cheap as compared to the Sprint version. The other thing to consider is LG has a lousy track record when it comes to updates. I think it’s a really nice phone that’s super smooth and fast, but I personally feel that both HTC and Samsung are making better quad-core phones right now.

 

AT&T’s massive LTE expansion continues with 14 new cities

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 11:48 AM PST

Good news for AT&T subscribers today. The nation’s second largest carrier has announced that it has expanded its LTE network to 14 new cities. Happy day if you live in:

  • Mobile, Ala.
  • Jonesboro, Ark.
  • Pensacola, Fla.
  • South Bend and  Mishawaka, Ind.
  • Saratoga/Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Toledo, Ohio
  • Eugene, Ore.
  • Corvallis, Ore.
  • Portland, Ore.
  • Greenville, S.C.
  • Columbia, S.C.
  • Charleston, S.C.
  • El Paso, Texas

AT&T also expanded LTE coverage in Fairfield County, Conneticut and several areas surrounding Detroit, Michigan. This doesn’t even include the cities that the company added a few days ago.  Earlier in the month AT&T let us in on its aggressive $14 Billion plan to expand its network and it seems to be making haste on its promise. Today’s roll-out brings AT&T’s total LTE coverage to 103 cities, nearly doubling its coverage since the beginning of the year. And AT&T is not slowing down; they have plans to roll out more LTE networks before the end of the year. Now is a great time to be an AT&T subscriber.

Any of you out there get some new coverage today? What are your data speeds looking like? Let us know in the comments!

Apple and Samsung both allowed to add products to patent lawsuit

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 11:32 AM PST

Our two favorite legal teams from Samsung and Apple have both been given the green light on adding more products to their newest patent lawsuit. This is the lawsuit that includes the iPhone 5′s LTE and Apple’s addition of the Galaxy Note 10.1, US Galaxy S III, and Jelly Bean, in case you lost track. According to this ruling Samsung and Apple will both be allowed to add those new devices to the patent suit. To clarify, when Apple added Jelly Bean to the lawsuit, that’s limited exclusively to the software on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. Although since that is still technically Google software and not Samsung software, I’m just as confused as you are.

This lawsuit is set to take place in 2014 and targets the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, as well as 19 Samsung products. Realistically, neither of these companies will be promoting these same products come 2014, assuming no more products are added over time, but it’s always disappointing to see this constant litigation.

source: Bloomberg

Samsung To Bring 5-Inch Full HD AMOLED Display To CES

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 10:31 AM PST

Asiae is reporting Samsung will bring a 4.99-inch Full HD AMOLED Display to CES in January 2013. The rumored device is said to have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and massive pixel density around 441 PPI (pixels per inch).  Contrast that with the iPhone’s retina display which boasts a PPI of 326. It’s not the flexible display we’ve been hearing about but I’d be pretty happy with this on the Galaxy S IV or Note III.

Source: Asiae
Via:  Sammy Hub

 

O2 UK Nexus 4 Variant Seems To Be SIM-Unlocked After All, Despite O2 Reps Claiming Device Is SIM-Locked

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 07:44 AM PST

 

It’s no secret that the Nexus 4 launch was a little botched and caused some major angst among Android fanatics, but those in the UK may be able to get some sort of satisfaction— sort of. You may recall that we casually mentioned that O2 UK would be the only carrier to sell the Nexus 4 for a limited time, but it was assumed that the devices sold would be SIM-locked and thus, operate on O2 networks only. However, it appears that at least a few of you who paid a premium pound by buying the device in O2 stores may actually have an unlocked device. Reports are coming in that O2 customers have been able to purchase the supposed SIM-locked devices and actually insert other SIMs from carriers like Vodafone instead. How do we know you ask? Well, customers are reporting they were able to buy the O2 Nexus 4, take the pre-installed SIM card out, swap it with a SIM card of a different carrier and still have full functionality of the device.

Of course O2 UK hasn’t come out with an official statement regarding this find, but if you’re a prospective customer and willing to take a gamble and grab a device before your friends do (albeit at a much higher price), do let us know if this recent find works out for you.

source: XDA Forums

Sharp to capitalize on own large screen with Sharp Aquos SH930W, but early review not so great

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 07:00 AM PST

This week’s official announcement regarding the release of the DROID DNA from HTC continued a trend we have seen of manufacturers pushing the limits of screen size and resolution. The DROID DNA’s 5-inch 1080p display produced by Sharp is certainly an eye-catching feature of the new handset. Sharp appears to want to be able to get in the market with its own device sporting the top of the line LCD they produce, which is why they are working on a Sharp Aquos SH930W smartphone.

Rather than creating a top of the line device, Sharp is trying to create a mid-level market smartphone by scaling back on some other features. The two biggest changes include dropping back to a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor and removing the LTE bits. Along with the big screen, Sharp is stuffing in 32GB of memory to offset the other changes. According to sources, much of this work to control costs and bring the Aquos out of the top tier is to make it attractive in the Russian market where it is scheduled to launch in late November. By reducing costs, Sharp expects the Aquos will sell in the 22,000 ruble range ($694 USD), making the 1080p capable device cheaper than many 720p competitors that tend to sell at 25,000 rubles ($789 USD) or more.

Will this strategy pay off for Sharp? Russian web site Mobile-review wanted to know and got their hands on a pre-release version of the Aquos for a closer look. Their results showed the Snapdragon S3 tended to get bogged down when playing 1080p video or some games as the processor could not keep up in supporting such a large display. However, the device did seem to perform at an acceptable level when completing routine tasks. It may have been helped by the fact that it was running a plain Android version without Sharp’s Feel UX on top. Sharp seems to think buyers will be focusing more on battery life, camera capabilities, and pricing and will not be bothered by concessions made.

source: Engadget

Sony CVP Of Sales Asserts A New Flagship Phone Designed To Compete With The iPhone 5 And Galaxy S III Is On The Way

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 06:30 AM PST

 

Sony appears to have some big time ambitions for 2013. According to a Financial Times Deutschland interview, Dennis van Schie who is the CVP of Sales & Marketing asserts that Sony clearly intends on having a flagship that will outdo the likes of both the iPhone 5 and even the Galaxy S III. He asserts Sony “will create in the near future a flagship model that can compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S III“. This device will likely have current flagship models like the Xperia Ion variant and Xperia TL pale in comparison to this new and upcoming device. Rumor has it that the device will remain on the cutting edge side of things by featuring a Snapdragon quad-core processor, a 5-inch 1080p screen and perhaps a 12MP camera.

Naturally it sucks that owners who purchased a variant of the Xperia Ion and Xperia TL will have to cope with the fact their device is going to be all but forgotten take a backseat to another flagship device instead. On the other hand, it sure is exciting to see yet another 1080p phone on the horizon, isn’t it? Expect to see more details leak out as we possibly see the introduction of the device at the start of 2013.

 

source: Phone Arena

Facebook Gets Updated To Give Users Ability To Share News Stories And Improved Photo Sharing

Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:43 AM PST

 

Facebook has gotten a much needed update recently. While the update version will vary with each device, Facebookers can look forward to some much-welcomed features such as the ability to share a news story right from your timeline to your friends and family, an enhanced status update feature and an even better means of photo tagging. All in all, the latest update just makes sharing your life with your family and friends even easier than ever before.

Of course the world is anxiously awaiting the arrival of that native app just around the corner, but every little update helps, right? Hit the Play Store link or scan the QR code to grab the latest update today.

 

Samsung Galaxy S II 4G now available from Boost Mobile in Titanium for $369.99

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 08:27 PM PST

Leaked earlier this month, the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G in Titanium is Boost Mobile’s newest prepaid handset. The device is essentially a re-purposed Galaxy S II, sporting the same specifications of Samsung’s 2011 flagship smartphone. The “4G” branding stems from the included WiiMax radios, which Boost Mobile is now borrowing from its parent network, Sprint.

The revamped Galaxy S II is available today from Boost Mobile for $369.99 off contract which, in all fairness, seems a bit outrageous for what you’re getting. If you don’t have your heart set on Boost, there are plenty of other options at more appealing price points. In fact, you could purchase the Nexus 4 off-contract and take it to T-Mobile for as low as $30 per month, so long as you can wait three weeks for Google to restock the pure Android smartphone.

Fall Into the Hottest Color of the Season with theSamsung Galaxy S II 4G Titanium Available Today

Available now, consumers can purchase the award-winning Samsung Galaxy S® II 4G in Titanium for $369.99 at Boost Mobile's exclusive retail stores, select independent wireless dealer locations nationwide and at www.boostmobile.com with free shipping.

The Galaxy S II 4G, now available in Titanium and white, is loaded with a brilliant, oversized 4.52-inch Super AMOLED™ Plus touchscreen, dual cameras and the Samsung Exynos™ processor, one of the fastest dual-core processors in the industry. The phone's rich color display makes it enjoyable for Boost customers to snap bright photos, record full HD video on the go, and browse the Web at blazing fast 4G (WiMAX) speeds in 71 markets nationwide. For an additional $10 a month customers can take advantage of the phone's mobile hotspot capability, which can create a personal Wi-Fi network on the go.

Payments Shrink to as low as $40 a Month
The Galaxy S II 4G is paired with Boost Mobile's no-contract $55 Android Monthly Unlimited plan with Shrinking Payments. For every six on-time payments, the cost of Boost Mobile's Monthly Unlimited plan shrinks by $5, eventually getting down to as low as $40 a month for unlimited nationwide talk, text and picture messaging, Web, email and calls to 411. Payments do not need to be consecutive to qualify for the next savings milestone.

Features of the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G include:
·         Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system

·         Dual-mode 3G/4G

·         8MP camera (2MP front facing)  with 1080P full HD video

·         Dual-core 1.2GHz processor

·         16GB internal memory

·         8 hours talk time

 

Related Links
http://newsroom.boostmobile.com/press-release/products-offers/high-end-speed-and-performance-without-contract-boost-mobile-strengthe

Samsung, Galaxy, AMOLED and Exynos are all trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.  Other company names, product names and marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks.

Chameleon Launcher price dropped to $3.99

Posted: 15 Nov 2012 08:20 PM PST

Not too long ago we told you about a application for tablets called Chameleon Launcher that started as a Kickstarter project. It was a pretty cool success story, and the UI was, and still is, a refreshing take on how a tablet should work. The not-so-cool part? That $10 price tag.

Well, if you had been putting off buying the launcher because of that high price point, now’s your chance to give it a shot. The price has dropped significantly down to $3.99, which is about in line with several other premium launchers for Android. There’s no word on if this is a sale or the new, permanent price for the app, so you may want to check it out in the next day or two, just in case your tablet needs a little more customization. Anyone going to be trying out this app at its new price?

QR Code generator

Play Store Download Link
Posted by at 6:49 AM

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