Apple prepping 5.7-inch iPhone Galaxy Note rival!

 

The times, they are a-changing. Apple founder Steve Jobs once dismissed phones with large screens out of hand, but just days after the launch of Apple’s redesigned – and beautiful – iOS 7, a new report says the company is looking at a giant phablet iPhone running the software. Is this a Galaxy Note contender?

According to Reuters, Apple will be launching new iPhone models with bigger screens and different colours within the next year according to no fewer than four sources. Two screen sizes are currently being floated for release next year – a 4.7-inch iPhone with a screen roughly the same size as HTC’s One and Samsung’s Galaxy S4, and a massive 5.7-inch model that could dwarf even the epic Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Apple famously stuck with a 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone for years, even while its rivals ramped theirs up, making them better for watching video, browsing the web and even writing with a stylus, and only bumped the iPhone 5 display up to a modest four-inches diagonally late last year.

But this report suggests that Apple under CEO Tim Cook is having a change of heart after seeing Samsung’s gigantic Galaxy Note phones sell tens of millions, and rival efforts from Asus and Huawei follow in its wake. Clearly, there are enough shoppers out there who want a portable tablet that can act as a phone in worst case scenarios, even if it makes them look like a Dom Joly sketch in the process – and Apple want in.

Would you buy an iPhone phablet? Too much like an iPad mini? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Giant budget phone on the way!

 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is unquestionably one of the finest gadgets we’ve tested this year. Its gigantic screen, software and stylus make for a winning combination, and according to a new report, it’s one that’s about to get much more affordable: a budget edition of the epic phablet is in the works.

Sam Mobile’s source says that a cheaper version of the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android phone-cum-tablet is in the pipeline: the plan is to get as many people as possible using its enormous displays, likely in the hopes that it’ll stop them from ever going back to a tiny iPhone. This Note 2 may not come with a stylus, and may use an inferior LCD display, but should still be just as effective as the original at Getting Things Done on the go.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 aside, the source also had some other interesting titbits to share: Samsung is reportedly working on a giant 13.3-inch tablet with a keyboard dock, though it’s not clear if this will run Windows 8 or Android. And the Samsung Galaxy S4, likely the Korean company’s flagship phone for 2013, is being prepared under the name “Project J”.

Stay tuned: if you’re an Android fan, it sounds like there’s lot to look forward to soon, whatever your budget.

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Samsung Galaxy S4: Next gen Android will pack unbreakable screen!

 

The Samsung Galaxy S4, already? Yup. Samsung’s latest flagship phone has only been around for six months, but the South Korean giant is already pushing the pedal down on the accelerator to get the phone’s successor developed and released, which may come as early as April – and it may come with an unbreakable screen.

According to analysts, the new phone, likely to be known as the Samsung Galaxy S4, is expected to sport a blazing fast quad-core processor, a 13-megapixel camera, and an even bigger and better full HD display that packs a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch (ppi) – which is even sharper than the iPhone 5’s Retina Display.

Samsung is also reported to be developing an “unbreakable” screen, which is sure to be a feature in the next-generation Galaxy S4. Samsung has shown flexible and foldable display prototypes in the past, so it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to see them start popping up in the company’s next must have handset – and good luck shattering something you can bend to fit in your pocket.

So, that’s good news for those who drop their phones often, but is this really an essential feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below

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Samsung Galaxy Note 2 rivals: Five phablet rivals to watch out for

 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and its predecessor have all but invented a new genre: the phablet. Short for phone-tablet, they can make calls, and they’re just small enough to hold to your ear for a chinwag, but they’re big enough to browse the full size web, watch videos and much much more.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 is the undisputed king of the category right now – it’s already sold more than three million worldwide – but it’s got some fierce competition coming up. Read on to meet the contenders.

HTC Droid DNA

HTC says it’s not a phablet, but with a huge five inch screen, it’s hard to argue that point. The HTC Droid DNA is an absolute beast of a phablet, with 4G and a full HD resolution screen, making it the sharpest phone on the planet right now. One thing it lacks compared to the 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2 however is a stylus for handwriting and doodling memos and pictures: it’s fingers all the way here. It’s out later this month in the US, though it’s not clear when we’ll see it in the UK just yet.

 

LG Optimus Vu 2

The LG Optimus Vu 2 will be the Samsung Galaxy Note 2’s biggest rival when it arrives in the UK: what makes this five-inch beast stand out isn’t the blazing fast 1.5GHz processor (they’ve all got one), but its unusual aspect ratio. Like an iPad, it’s got a much wider 4:3 aspect ratio than the widescreen you’re used to on smartphones, which LG hopes will make web browsing easier and more productive. Time will tell – we’ll bring you a review of the LG Optimus Vu 2 as soon as it hits our shores.

Huawei’s giant secret

If you thought the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 was big, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Chinese giant Huawei is reportedly gearing up to crash the phablet party, with an epic 6.1-inch Android device to call its own. Huawei’s still a relative unknown in the UK, but if it can partner with a big mobile network, it could take the market by storm.

ZTE’s epic Windows Phone

Much of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2’s competition will run Android, but not all, it seems. Last week, images leaked out of a 5.9-inch Windows Phone device from ZTE, Huawei’s arch-rival. Curiously, it’s supposed to be a full HD number like the HTC Droid DNA, but this isn’t a resolution that Windows Phone 8 officially supports – yet.

Pantech Vega R3

This bad boy may never see the light of day outside of South Korea, but the Pantech Vega R3 certainly packs the specs to kick it with the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. As well as a 5.3-inch screen, it boasts a beefy 2GB of memory, as well as a monster 13 megapixel camera sensor.

What do you make of the new trend for phablets? Daft or desirable? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments

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Samsung Galaxy Note 2 tipped for October release, iPhone in its sights

 

The Samsung Galaxy S3 may have already hit the stores as competition to the iPhone, but don’t think Samsung is stopping there. Another stab at the iPhone will see Samsung launch a second Galaxy Note, with a flexible display, thinner design, quad-core processor, and a 12-megapixel camera to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 5, says a report.



And forget Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The new Samsung Galaxy Note successor will instead run the new Android Jelly Bean operating system, says an MK Business News report. 
 Samsung is already enjoying huge success with its Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone – the most -pre-ordered phone so far this year is being tipped as many peoples phone of the year.

Wanting to build on that, it appears Samsung is hoping to spoil Apple’s party by launching the new Galaxy Note in October – around the same Apple is believed to be launching its new iPhone.

So what can we expect from a Samsung Galaxy Note 2? Rumoured specs include an ‘unbreakable plane display,’ said to be a flexible display, thinner in design to make room for a better processor inside.

The report also mentions a display said to exceed the 5.3-inches of the current Galaxy Note, burring the line between tablet and smartphone, a longer battery life, and a quad-core processor just like the Samsung Galaxy S3. And of course that new Jelly Bean operating system from launch.

Samsung has yet to confirm the above, but would it be fair to call a device exceeding 5.3-inches competition to an iPhone 5? It sounds more like a mini tablet to us.

A (rumoured) leaked iPhone 5 blueprint recently hinted that Apple will go with a 4-inch display for its new smartphone. That’s still over an inch less than the Samsung Galaxy Note, and nearly an inch smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S3’s 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen.

Isn’t 5.3-inches plus just too big for a smartphone? What do you think?

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