Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. Sony Xperia Z: When worlds collide

GSMArena team, 31 March 2013.

Introduction

If you've been paying attention - and we know you have - there's no way you couldn't have noticed that for a good ten days or so we've all been on and on about two phones. Now, we're about to make it three but don't expect anything radically different.

No sharp turns ahead, at least for another while. Android is where all the worthwhile action is these days. Just out of a clash with the HTC One, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is about to fight it out with another spotlight-stealer. To be fair, and respectful of chronology, it's the Sony Xperia Z that has been waiting to finally meet its match.

OK, occasions like this are an invitation to dwell on the inevitable. When two impressive smartphones in the Sony Xperia Z and the Samsung Galaxy S4 are about to cross paths, it's not just a sequence of events - it's fate.

But will the Xperia Z meet its nemesis, or is Sony's headstart to the market too much for Samsung to handle? Well, that would be the question on the minds of Samsung and Sony shareholders. We users, on the other hand, should be interested in what each of them has in there "for me"?

Sony Xperia Z over Samsung Galaxy S4

• IP57 dust and water protection


• Glass-covered body looks way superior


• FM radio


• HDR video


• Already available, slightly cheaper


• TV-out via MHL link works with most of the available MHL HDMI cables

Samsung Galaxy S4 over Sony Xperia Z

• Screen has superior color reproduction, contrast and viewing angles, works with gloves and air gestures


• Newer chipset with higher clock speed


• Dual-video recording, can shoot 9.6MP stills while recording video, 60MP panoramas


• Infra-red blaster


• Android 4.2.1 out of the box


• Multi-window multitasking


• Additional sensors (barometer, thermometer, hygroscope)


• Air gestures; Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll


• Free 50GB of Dropbox cloud storage for two-years

The Xperia Z is clearly a smartphone made to not just compete, but to win. The Galaxy S4 builds on a generations known for amazing screen quality, standard-setting performance, the latest version of the OS available and features unseen before.

Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z live photos

Completely different ideas stand behind the Sony Xperia Z and the Samsung Galaxy S4, but what they have in common is equally important. These two are definitely in the running for best smartphone of the year, and we'll start with what makes them stand apart in terms of design and build.

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Camera samples from WP8-powered Nokia Lumia 520 surface

Camera samples of the upcoming Nokia Lumia 520 have leaked on Flickr. By the time it hits the market, the Nokia Lumia 520 will be the most affordable Windows Phone 8 handset from the Finnish company (it’s expected in April). It will be cheaper than the already quite affordable Lumia 620 and, from the looks of it, will offer just about the same camera.

Thanks to Flickr user thai_qv, we have our first look at the image quality. Here are a few camera samples (note they appear full res but may have been downscaled by Flickr or before uploading):

Nokia Lumia 520 camera samples

For more, you can hit up the Flickr account with the rest of them.

Also, you can check out our thoughts on the Lumia 520 for more info on the new baby brother of the WP8 Lumia family.

The photos look very good for the 520 camera with F/2.4 aperture and 1/4” sensor, but then again the Lumia 620 had a pretty good camera too. Keep in mind these shots are coming from an unofficial source and may not have been taken with final hardware.

Source | Via

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Did HTC DROID DNA get quietly retired by Verizon Wireless?

It appears that Verizon Wireless has quietly ceased offering the HTC DROID DNA - the wireless provider's current Android top dog. The smartphone is no longer available for purchase from the carrier's online store and has been dubbed as retired by Verizon's sales reps.

According to a statement from Verizon "HTC halted production in efforts to push out an upcoming project on the horizon". The "upcoming project" part probably refers to a smartphone which will be closely related to the HTC One.

If the reports turn out to be the case, the HTC DROID DNA will go down in the record books as one of the company’s shortest-lived Android flagships. The HTC Butterfly's US relative was launched less than five months ago.

Via

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JB ROM in testing for Xperia P, flash at your own risk

If you own an Xperia P and are eager to flash it to Jelly Bean, now is the time. An Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean ROM with Firmware 6.2.A.0.399 has leaked. It's meant for internal testing on developer Xperia P units but has been found to work on production units.

Sony Xperia P on Jelly Bean

The ROM isn't final yet and there are things missing or not working on it. Therefore, we advise you to flash at your own risk and MAKE A BACKUP. Also a prerequisite is that you need to either be running a stock ICS ROM or a ROM based on stock AOSP one in order to flash this one. Your bootloader will also need to be unlocked.

Other than that - copy the ROM into your memory, reboot into recovery and flash away.

There's no information yet on when an official release will hit the Xperia P.

Thanks, Ben Ling for sending this in!

Source

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US Cellular and Verizon to also offer the Samsung Galaxy S4

US Cellular and Verizon will be the joining AT&T in carrying the upcoming Galaxy S4. The former has even put up a preorder page for the smartphone, so that those who are interested can sign-up for instant updates on its availability.

Samsung's flagship is also going to land on Verizon's LTE network, as FCC's kindly informs, utilizing the 700MHz and AWS frequencies. Additionally, the Galaxy S4 for Verizon will also sport a 3G radio, meaning it's going to be usable outside US borders, too.

As you know, the US is getting the Snapdragon 600 variant of the Galaxy S4, so don't get your hopes up on an Exynos 5 Octa version being offered by any of the aforementioned carriers.

The CDMA version of the Galaxy S4 isn't yet clear on neither availability, nor pricing for the carrier duo, but we suspect it should be some time at the end of April. That's when the international version of Samsung's latest and greatest is bound to become available.

Source, Source (2) | Via, Via (2)

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Galaxy S4 mini confirmed by Samsung SVP

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has leaked a few times before but this slip comes from Lee Keon Hyok, Senior Vice President at Samsung Electronics who talked to BusinessWeek.

Apparently, “the Galaxy S 4 doesn’t come out until late April. It’s fast, has a big, bright screen, and will probably be another huge hit for Samsung, as will the S4 mini that will go on sale soon after”.

That’s not a lot to go on, but at least it confirms the Galaxy S4 mini exists and we’re not looking at a random Galaxy model (most look quite similar).

KnowYourMobile has gotten hold of some unconfirmed info on the upcoming diminutive smartphone. The main camera will have an 8MP sensor that will capture HD video (possibly 1080p) and there will be a front-facing camera of unknown resolution.

According to the site the Galaxy S4 mini’s chipset (the Exynos 5210?) will pack just 1GB of RAM. The internal storage options are 8GB, 16GB and 32G with a microSD card slot. The estimated price for the Galaxy S4 mini is £300 / $450.

Keep in mind that KnowYourMobile’s data should be taken with a pinch of salt. Even Lee Keon Hyok’s comments should not be taken for granted.

Source 1 • Source 2 | Via

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Sony working on 5-inch midrange device with qua-core MT chip

According to industry sources Sony is looking to expand its portfolio by bringing an affordable quad-core 5-incher to market. Details on specs are scarce but the device may be powered by the MediaTek MT6589 SoC, which offers four Cortex-A7 cores.

According to said sources the device production will be outsourced to Arima.

Arima is working with Sony on the budget-friendly Xperia E. Sony is also reportedly working with Compal Communications and Foxconn and plans for them to produce between 8 and 10 million devices this year.

Source | Via

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Mystery Snapdragon 800 LG device tops GLBenchmark charts

An as yet unidentified device from LG has on the popular GLBenchmark GPU benchmarking site. This is hardly important on its own, but the results posted by its Snapdragon 800 beat out the competition by a significant margin.

The device is set to feature the new Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor alongside Adreno 330 GPU with a screen resolution of 1794 x 1080 (which is 1080p with virtual buttons). The new GPU managed to easily outdo even the iPad 4, let alone the current smartphone top dogs.

Not much else is known about the device beyond the Android 4.2.2 OS, although with such a specs sheet it will be quite a high-end offering when LG decide to put it on the market.

Source | Via

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Updated Nexus 4 design adds nubs around the rear edge

Google has quietly released an updated version of the Nexus 4 smartphone that feature some physically small but practically significant additions.

The updated Nexus 4 now features tiny nubs around the back edge of the device, which gently lift the phone off the glass back. The glass back of the phone may look very nice but it also made the phone very slippery when placed on a flat surface. The nubs raise the phone off the glass, thus making it less prone to sliding around and also protecting the glass from scratches.

Another advantage of these nubs is that they improve the performance of the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker on the Nexus 4 is placed on the back and gets blocked when you place it on a flat surface but this redesign lets it breathe better, which improves its performance a bit.

Another change is that the lens surround on the back is now smaller but it's inconsequential and doesn't affect the camera performance in any way.

The updated device is now shipping to customers. If you buy the phone now you are likely to get one of these instead of the old ones. Unfortunately, there is no way to check without opening the package.

Source

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JB ROM in testing for Xperia P, flash at your own risk

If you own an Xperia P and are eager to flash it to Jelly Bean, now is the time. An Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean ROM with Firmware 6.2.A.0.399 has leaked. It's meant for internal testing on developer Xperia P units but has been found to work on production units.

Sony Xperia P on Jelly Bean

The ROM isn't final yet and there are things missing or not working on it. Therefore, we advise you to flash at your own risk and MAKE A BACKUP. Also a prerequisite is that you need to either be running a stock ICS ROM or a ROM based on stock AOSP one in order to flash this one. Your bootloader will also need to be unlocked.

Other than that - copy the ROM into your memory, reboot into recovery and flash away.

There's no information yet on when an official release will hit the Xperia P.

Thanks, Ben Ling for sending this in!

Source

}

US Cellular and Verizon to also offer the Samsung Galaxy S4

US Cellular and Verizon will be the joining AT&T in carrying the upcoming Galaxy S4. The former has even put up a preorder page for the smartphone, so that those who are interested can sign-up for instant updates on its availability.

Samsung's flagship is also going to land on Verizon's LTE network, as FCC's kindly informs, utilizing the 700MHz and AWS frequencies. Additionally, the Galaxy S4 for Verizon will also sport a 3G radio, meaning it's going to be usable outside US borders, too.

As you know, the US is getting the Snapdragon 600 variant of the Galaxy S4, so don't get your hopes up on an Exynos 5 Octa version being offered by any of the aforementioned carriers.

The CDMA version of the Galaxy S4 isn't yet clear on neither availability, nor pricing for the carrier duo, but we suspect it should be some time at the end of April. That's when the international version of Samsung's latest and greatest is bound to become available.

Source, Source (2) | Via, Via (2)

}

Galaxy S4 mini confirmed by Samsung SVP

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has leaked a few times before but this slip comes from Lee Keon Hyok, Senior Vice President at Samsung Electronics who talked to BusinessWeek.

Apparently, “the Galaxy S 4 doesn’t come out until late April. It’s fast, has a big, bright screen, and will probably be another huge hit for Samsung, as will the S4 mini that will go on sale soon after”.

That’s not a lot to go on, but at least it confirms the Galaxy S4 mini exists and we’re not looking at a random Galaxy model (most look quite similar).

KnowYourMobile has gotten hold of some unconfirmed info on the upcoming diminutive smartphone. The main camera will have an 8MP sensor that will capture HD video (possibly 1080p) and there will be a front-facing camera of unknown resolution.

According to the site the Galaxy S4 mini’s chipset (the Exynos 5210?) will pack just 1GB of RAM. The internal storage options are 8GB, 16GB and 32G with a microSD card slot. The estimated price for the Galaxy S4 mini is £300 / $450.

Keep in mind that KnowYourMobile’s data should be taken with a pinch of salt. Even Lee Keon Hyok’s comments should not be taken for granted.

Source 1 • Source 2 | Via

}

Sony working on 5-inch midrange device with qua-core MT chip

According to industry sources Sony is looking to expand its portfolio by bringing an affordable quad-core 5-incher to market. Details on specs are scarce but the device may be powered by the MediaTek MT6589 SoC, which offers four Cortex-A7 cores.

According to said sources the device production will be outsourced to Arima.

Arima is working with Sony on the budget-friendly Xperia E. Sony is also reportedly working with Compal Communications and Foxconn and plans for them to produce between 8 and 10 million devices this year.

Source | Via

}

Mystery Snapdragon 800 LG device tops GLBenchmark charts

An as yet unidentified device from LG has on the popular GLBenchmark GPU benchmarking site. This is hardly important on its own, but the results posted by its Snapdragon 800 beat out the competition by a significant margin.

The device is set to feature the new Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor alongside Adreno 330 GPU with a screen resolution of 1794 x 1080 (which is 1080p with virtual buttons). The new GPU managed to easily outdo even the iPad 4, let alone the current smartphone top dogs.

Not much else is known about the device beyond the Android 4.2.2 OS, although with such a specs sheet it will be quite a high-end offering when LG decide to put it on the market.

Source | Via

}

Updated Nexus 4 design adds nubs around the rear edge

Google has quietly released an updated version of the Nexus 4 smartphone that feature some physically small but practically significant additions.

The updated Nexus 4 now features tiny nubs around the back edge of the device, which gently lift the phone off the glass back. The glass back of the phone may look very nice but it also made the phone very slippery when placed on a flat surface. The nubs raise the phone off the glass, thus making it less prone to sliding around and also protecting the glass from scratches.

Another advantage of these nubs is that they improve the performance of the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker on the Nexus 4 is placed on the back and gets blocked when you place it on a flat surface but this redesign lets it breathe better, which improves its performance a bit.

Another change is that the lens surround on the back is now smaller but it's inconsequential and doesn't affect the camera performance in any way.

The updated device is now shipping to customers. If you buy the phone now you are likely to get one of these instead of the old ones. Unfortunately, there is no way to check without opening the package.

Source

}

Facebook will hold and Android related event on April 4

Facebook sent out invitations for an announcement next week, on April 4. Carrying the slogan "Come see our new home on Android", the press invite gives more than a subtle hint that Google's mobile OS will play a leading role.

A likely product to be revealed at the San Francisco Bay Area event is a previously rumored, Facebook phone running Android. HTC is the social networking giant's likely partner in the venture, as the companies have already worked closely together in the past.

The event will take place on April 4 at 1PM ET. We will be covering it as it unfolds, so be sure to tune in to find out all about Facebook's announcement.

Via

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Samsung confirms LTE support on the Exynos 5 Octa processor

Through its Twitter account, Samsung confirmed that the Exynos 5 Octa processor is indeed fully capable of connecting to an LTE network. The Korean giant's latest silicon supports all LTE bands.

This announcement essentially confirms that LTE connectivity was not a factor in Samsung's decision to offer the its Galaxy S4 flasghip with Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 and Exynos 5 Octa processor options. Instead, it is the latter's short supply, which leads to the current arrangement.

The LTE capability of the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa doesn't guarantee that every Samsung Galaxy S4 sporting the chipset will be capable of 4G connectivity. Samsung is yet to comment further on this matter.

Source | Via

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BlackBerry posts profit last quarter, shipped 1 million Z10s

This is the first financial report from BlackBerry – before the company used to be known as RIM and the BlackBerry OS 10 devices were still “coming soon”. So, how did the revamped company do?

The previous quarter saw BlackBerry returning to profitability and this quarter solidifies the result with even more net income. Revenue for the quarter was $2.7 billion, 2% down from the previous quarter and 36% down from the year ago quarter.

Net income was $98 million, though, up from $9 million for the previous quarter and a $125 million loss for the same period of last year.

BlackBerry is reporting 6 million phones shipped over the last three months, with the new BlackBerry Z10 accounting for 1 million of them. CEO Thorsten Heins says that between two thirds and three quarters of that million were already sold to consumers.

The number of subscribers worldwide dropped from 79 million to 76 million, but Heins pointed out that “most” of the 3 million that dropped BlackBerry were using pre-paid devices.

Meanwhile, co-founder and former co-CEO Mike Lazaridis will be stepping down from his current position as Vice Chair and Director of the company effective May 1.

Thorsten and his team did an excellent job in completing BlackBerry 10. We have a great deal of which to be proud. I believe I am leaving the company in good hands. I remain a huge fan of BlackBerry and, of course, wish the company and its people well.

For the full fiscal year that ends March 2, BlackBerry's revenue was $11.1 billion, down 40% from the $18.4 billion of the previous fiscal year. The company reports a net loss of $628 million for the year compared to a net profit of $1.2 billion during the previous year.

You can get more numbers on BlackBerry's financial performance for the last quarter and the full fiscal year from the press release.

Source | Via

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Samsung Galaxy S4 review: Supernova

GSMArena team, 28 March 2013.

Introduction

As the Galaxy S series counter flips another digit, Samsung has hopes of getting an even tighter grasp on the smartphone market, and expand its Android dominance in the process. With two of its main rivals enjoying a head-start to the market, the Samsung Galaxy S4 would need to be something special to become the dominant force its predecessor was. But from what our first impressions showed, that might be not be as tall an order as it sounds.

Samsung Galaxy S4 official photos

The new Samsung flagship improves on just about every aspect of its predecessor, coupling more powerful hardware with a ton of new software features. The Galaxy S4 aims to be your best life companion and has even got itself a few new sensors that should make it even more useful in your daily routine.

Here's the full cheat sheet for our Samsung Galaxy S4 review:

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE; quad-band 3G with HSPA; LTE


• 5" 16M-color 1080p Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass 3


• Android OS v4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI


• Quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300 CPU, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset/ Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7, PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU; Exynos 5410 chipset


• 2GB of RAM


• 13 MP autofocus camera with LED flash,1080p video recording @ 30fps, continuous autofocus and stereo sound


• 2 MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording


• Dual shot and dual video recording, Drama shot, Shot and sound


• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA


• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS


• 16GB/32/64GB of built-in storage


• microSD card slot


• microUSB port with USB host and MHL 2.0


• Bluetooth v4.0


• NFC


• IR port for remote control functionality


• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack


• Accelerometer and proximity sensor


• Barometer, thermometer, hygroscope


• IR gesture sensor for Air gestures


• Smart gestures: Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll


• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic


• Ample 2600 mAh battery with great endurance


• 7.9mm thickness


• Smart volume and Adapt Sound features for the music player

Main disadvantage

• Design is a bit played out by now


• Hyperglaze finish doesn't feel as premium as aluminum on HTC One or glass on Xperia Z


• No FM radio


• Video recording is slightly worse than on the Galaxy S III; FOV in video is pretty narrow


• Shared camera interface makes framing tricky

So, there are several major wows, many minor ohs and just a few oh wells - not a bad achievement when you are succeeding the most popular droid of all time. The Samsung Galaxy S4 was always expected to aim for the top, but its announcement still got many by surprise. The fact that the Koreans squeezed a larger screen, bigger battery and more power in a chassis smaller than the Galaxy S III is impressive enough in its own right, but the novelties certainly don't end there.

Samsung Galaxy S4 at ours

We got the chance to familiarize ourselves with only a few of the Samsung Galaxy S4 exclusive software tricks when we did our preview, but we'll be testing the full set this time around. The new camera also showed promise and we'll put it through all the motions to find out if it can really live up to its potential.

The hardware inspection starts right after the break, with the battery and display test following right after that.

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