VIDEO: Sony Xperia S anti-stain coating tested
The Sony Xperia S body comes with a nice matte finish that doesn’t leave any fingerprint smudges all over. In addition, the Xperia S also comes with a special dirt repellent coating to keep its surface clean. So what happens if you scribble a pen on that nice white Xperia S back cover? Watch the video to find out.
Jump right into 0:30 to see it in action. The hands-on video was recorded by Mobile Review and it’s in Russian.
[ SOURCE ]
Siri vs Google Voice Actions
The Woz says his favourite Android phone at the moment is not the Galaxy Nexus but the Motorola DROID RAZR. That was probably what inspired Motorola to do this video comparing Siri with Google Voice Actions.
Biased, maybe, but sill worth a look.
What’s also worth a look is this article from The Daily Beast about what Steve (Wozniak) thinks about Android. Here’s an excerpt about what he thinks about Siri.
Then there’s Siri, Apple’s new voice-recognition software. Woz says he’s been using Siri for a long time and used to love it when it was an independent application created for the iPhone.
But ever since Apple bought Siri and built the software into the iPhone 4S, it doesn’t work as well as it used to.
“I used to ask Siri, ‘What are the five biggest lakes in California?’ and it would come back with the answer. Now it just misses. It gives me real estate listings. I used to ask, ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ and it would answer. Now instead of getting prime numbers, I get listings for prime rib, or prime real estate,” Woz says.
Worse, a lot of the time Siri says it can’t make a connection to the back-end servers that power the system. “With the iPhone 4 I could press a button and call my wife. Now on the 4S I can only do that when Siri can connect over the Internet. But many times it can’t connect. I’ve never had Android come back and say, ‘I can’t connect over the Internet.’”
The Android system also delivers better results, he says. “I have a lower success rate with Siri than I do with the voice built into the Android, and that bothers me,” Woz says. “I’ll be saying, over and over again in my car, ‘Call the Lark Creek Steak House,’ and I can’t get it done. Then I pick up my Android, say the same thing, and it’s done. Plus I get navigation. Android is way ahead on that.”
Full article here.
A couple of days back, rumours claim that Samsung is looking to delay the debut of the Galaxy S III. Many anticipated that Samsung’s new flagship smartphone will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress this year just as the Galaxy S II made its debut at the 2011 MWC.
Speculators speculate that the reason behind the delay is that Samsung didn’t want such a long lead time between the unveiling of the device and it’s slated US launch which is said to happen sometime in June. This sounds legit as Samsung sees the US as a key market where it hopes to break Apple’s stranglehold in the smartphone segment but as far as the delay is concerned, it’s still very much a rumour.
Seeking clarification on the matter, Samsung was asked in a conference call earlier today on whether its next flagship device will be revealed at MWC. Officially, Samsung says that they’re “still reviewing several options when to launch” the Galaxy S III. You can listen to the audio clipping of the official answer from Samsung right after the jump.
While the response is vague, it does open up the possibility of a Galaxy S III debut at MWC and the possible availability of the device in Malaysia before June.
So are the delay rumours just rumours? We have a feeling that they are. In any case we’ll see a lot more information about the Galaxy S III presenting itself in the coming weeks. That should give a better picture on what Samsung is up to.
Sony Tablet S pre-orders start now. Available before Valentine’s Day
Sony has revealed more details of its Tablet S Android tablet with pre-order package details. The pre-ordering info on their website is still quite sketchy at this point but the Tablet S models and pricing are revealed as follows:
- Sony Tablet S (16GB WiFi) – RM1,499
- Sony Tablet S (32GB WiFi) – RM1,799
For those that pre-order, they will get an exclusive ST Slip Case worth RM139. At the bottom, it is stated that estimated shipping time for Sony Tablet S pre-order package will begin tomorrow 28th January 2012 but no ideas what does that mean right now.
According to a tip from Fizie, My Sony & Sony Store members are being notified that they can get a Tablet S at Sony Store KLCC and at The Curve on 12-13 February 2012 with their exclusive booking numbers. That’s just couple of days before Valentine’s Day which falls on the 14th February.
Just a little recap on the Tablet S, the 9.4″ tablet runs on dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, comes with 1GB of RAM and weighs 598g. In terms of thickness, it is between 10.1mm at the thinnest point to 20.6mm at the thickest. When announced, it was running on Android 3.1 but it is upgradable to Android 3.2. For imaging, it comes with a 5MP camera at the back and a 0.3MP VGA camera in the front.
For more information, head over to the Sony Tablet S page.
Thanks to @fizie76 for the alert!
Redux: Sample Shots: Sony Xperia S
We’re bringing this topic back because we felt there’s something not quite right with the sample shots we took from the Xperia S at the APAC launch in Shanghai earlier this month.
In our previous post we commented:
With the 12MP Exmor R camera, you’d expect the Xperia S to decimate the competition but once again pixel count is by no means a measurement of how good a camera is. Truth be told, we’re kind of disappointed with the picture quality coming from Xperia S, even in conditions where there’s ample light to produce a good shot you can see a large amount of noise and loss of detail.
We’re perplexed. This is not like the Xperias that we know. The arc, arc S and ray all have decent shooters and naturally we’d assume that the Xperia S will continue where the older Xperias left off. Turns out, this is not the case. Having said that, we only had limited time with the Xperia S at the launch, we’ll test the camera again once we get a review unit.
While we await the availability of a retail unit for review, we scoured the web for other sample shots taken using the Xperia S. We found a few both from CES and Shanghai and have compiled a selection here for you to view for yourselves.
We found that there seems to be a telling pattern with the test shots. Pictures taken using Xperia S units at Shanghai seem to display much more noise and detail loss than pictures taken using Xperia S units at CES. The CES units displayed much better picture quality and detail, something more consistent of what we expect from a Sony (Ericsson) device.
Our theory behind this is that there were possibly not enough production Xperia S units available to go around and the best examples where sent to CES while the units that we tested in Shanghai could very likely be pre-production prototypes or perhaps even earlier versions. This explains the major disparity in picture quality between the two samples.
So what conclusion can we draw from this? Judging by the samples taken from the CES units, the 12MP camera on the Xperia S holds promise but we’re not going to conclude anything until we have a final production unit to thoroughly test. What is apparent is that the units we got our hands on are very likely not the final units that will go to store shelves.
Texting While Walking – The Right Etiquette
Texting while walking can be very dangerous to you and to others. You can also be a nuisance to other pedestrians while you text and walk. So what is the right etiquette to texting and walking?
This video suggests a simple technique on how to send text messages the proper and polite way while you’re strolling along.
[via]
Making a Comeback: Nokia back at Mobile World Congress, Has Something Significant to Show
After a three-year absence, Nokia has confirmed that it will take part in this year’s Mobile World Congress.
The Mobile World Congress is the world’s largest mobile industry exhibition and conference featuring prominent Chief Executives representing mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors and content owners from all over the world. The annual even takes place in Barcelona. This year’s edition begins February 27 all through March 1.
Nokia withdrew from the 2010 World Congress, stating it would use its resources and funds to drive other marketing activities.
In 2011, Nokia decided to focus its attention and efforts at its own Nokia World event instead. It was at the 2011 Nokia World in October that Nokia unveiled the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710.
Nokia said that it will participate in this year’s congress in a big way with “a lot to interest people.”
The exact nature of what Nokia will reveal at the congress is still a closely guarded secret for now but an unveiling of a GSM version of the Lumia 900 or perhaps even the rumoured spiritual successor to the Nokia N8 – the 12MP Lumia 910 – doesn’t look so far-fetched at the moment.
By the Numbers: Apple’s Earnings, Sales and Revenue Figures. What does it all mean?
Apple concluded its Q4 financial report earlier this morning and as usual, the numbers are phenomenal. What makes the figures even more amazing is that they surpass even the most optimistic of estimates affirming Apple’s position as the largest technology company by market value in the world.
Apple sold 15.4 million iPads and a staggering 37 million iPhones, making the last quarter its best ever. These are certainly impressive numbers but what does it all mean? Let’s put these figures into perspective.
Market value of almost $400 billion
Apple is hovering just a whisker off its record high. Many on Wall Street target $550 to $600 per share as an achievable milestone: assuming no change in existing shares, that would accord the Silicon Valley titan a value of as much as $560 billion, equivalent to the annual Gross Domestic Product of Switzerland.
Exxon has a market value of $420 billion, annual revenue about four times Apple’s and twice the tech company’s roughly 46,000 employees.
Revenue grew 65% from US$43 billion to US$108.25 billion in fiscal year 2011
That is akin to creating a Fortune 500 company from scratch. For instance, a revenue of precisely $43 billion would place the company below Intel Corp and Sears Holdings Corp – 56th and 57th, respectively, on the 2011 U.S. Fortune 500.
Near $100 billion cash reserve
One of the reasons Apple’s shares trade at a relatively low multiple is because it has huge amounts of cash that investors say can be put to better use. Its cash balance stood at $97.6 billion at the end of December, roughly equivalent to California’s 2012/13 state budget
Apple’s $13 billion profits surpassed Google’s entire revenue of $10.6 billion. Apple’s profits for 2011 exceed Google’s revenue in the same period.
iPad
Apple sold more iPads than HP sold personal computers – 15.4 million iPads versus by Gartner’s estimates of 14.7 million HP computers sold
iPhone
iPhone sales double with every new model:
In 2009, Apple sold more iPhones than it did in 2007 and 2008 combined
In 2010, Apple sold more iPhones than it did in 2007, 2008, and 2009 combined
In 2011, Apple sold 93.1 million iPhones, slightly more than it did in in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 combined
It is estimated that Apple has surpassed Samsung’s smartphone sales figures, with 37 million iPhones sold versus an estimated 35 million Samsung smartphones sold in the same period. This puts Apple back in top spot as the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world.
Apple sold 92.94 million iPhones and 40.43 million tablets in the 2011 calendar year. If you laid these devices end-to-end, they would just about stretch halfway around the Earth’s circumference that’s over 20 million thousand kilometres.
Just think about that for a moment.
[source: Reuters, PhoneArena]
Samsung’s At It Again. Releases New Series of Poke Fun at Apple Ads
Sometime in November last year, Samsung made headlines by doing something that can be likened to sitting naked in a Kancil with a hornet’s nest next to you and poking said nest vigorously with a big fat stick. Samsung made fun of Apple, and by extension, Samsung made fun of Apple users.
Now, taking that sitting naked in a Kancil with a hornet’s nest analogy, you’d think Samsung would’ve been stung to death by millions disgruntled Apple loyalist by the time the first 30-second ad finished playing. Oddly enough, that didn’t happen. While Apple fans were up in arms, outraged at what Samsung had done, the rest of the world smiled.
And the rest of the world had a good reason to smile. Samsung’s ballsy tongue-in-cheek ad campaign was funny, witty and entertaining. More importantly, it was effective.
Not meddling much with a successful formula, Samsung’s at it again with a new series of commercials that continues poking fun at Apple and Apple fans, specifically iPhone users.
In all honesty, we like what Samsung has produced. The ads are genuinely funny. They deliver a crystal clear message and they compel you to share them on your social media stream. By these definitions, these Samsung ads are the perfect textbook examples of TV commercials. And so we’ve compiled the whole series so far for you in this post so that you can enjoy them as well.
Now, we’re expecting a lot of discourse about these ads particularly from the Apple purists. They’ve called what Samsung have done as below the belt or undignified or downright nasty even, and that’s ok, we like discourses, the exchanging of opinions.
We’d like to think that at SoyaCincau.com we have a level head when it comes to tech. Android fans have called us Apple fanboys and we’ve been called vice-versa by Apple fans. We’ve been called everything in between by BlackBerry and Nokia users as well. Ironically, being called fanboys of all sorts can only mean that we’re actually playing favourite to none and we will continue to be that way.
The point we’re trying to make here is that before any Apple fans come and say “oh what Samsung did is classless” we’d like to you to view a video we got from YouTube after the jump. It’s a compilation of the “Get a Mac” or better known as “Mac vs PC” ad campaign that aired in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK from 2006 to 2009. So tit for tat then. In any case, we thought those were funny too.
Enjoy.
A GSM version of the Nokia Lumia 900 is Possible
There’s been a lot of curiosity and interest surrounding the Nokia Lumia 900. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas earlier this month, Nokia’s first LTE device features a larger 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black Display (compared to the smaller 3.7-inch AMOLED CBD on the Lumia 800) and a 1.3MP front-facing camera (the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 do not have forward-facing cameras). Aside from that, the other vital specs of the Lumia 900 are almost identical to that of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 including the single-core 1.4Ghz processor, the 512MB and the same 8MP camera as the Lumia 800.
Still, many of you asked if the Lumia 900 will be available here in Malaysia. Initially, we dismissed the possibility due to the fact that the Lumia 900 is an LTE device. There are currently no commercially available LTE networks in Malaysia and none will be available until sometime in 2013.
However, Nokia have been dropping clues of the possibility of a GSM version of the Lumia 900. We didn’t post anything about these clues because they didn’t carry enough credence for a vaguely readable let alone interesting article, that is, until now…
A prominent UK online retailer has put up – and promptly taken down – a pre-registration page for the Nokia Lumia 900. The site indicated that the device will be available in stores at the UK sometime in June. Considering that there are no LTE networks in the UK as well and considering that it is virtually impossible for one to be available commercially in June, it’s very likely that UK will be getting a GSM version of the Nokia Lumia 900.
Why is this a big deal? Well closer to closer to home, sources close to the matter have revealed that a GSM version of Nokia Lumia 900 is indeed possible. This is because the Lumia 900 was developed from the ground up to work on either LTE or GSM networks. All that is required is some minor changes to the antenna array and tweaks to the software for the Lumia 900 to work on GSM networks.
Naturally, Nokia has declined to comment officially on this. This reaction is expected considering the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 are not yet available in all of the markets that Nokia has presence and intends to sell the two devices in. Nokia will want to maximise the sales of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. The prospect of a slightly better Nokia device being available in the immediate future will be detrimental to potential sale of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. Nokia will not risk potential buyers taking the wait and see approach hoping for a better-specced Nokia to be available soon.
Does this mean the Lumia 900 is coming to Malaysia? From what we’ve gathered, it’s definitely possible but we can’t say for sure right now. Should you wait for the Lumia 900? We wouldn’t hold our breath if we were you. Performance-wise there’s very little separating the Lumia 900 and the Lumia 800 or the Lumia 710 for that matter. In fact, there’s really nothing differentiating them as all have the same processing capabilities and RAM. Whether the 0.6-inch increase in screen real-estate is appreciable is up to debate, if you ask us, it’s not going to be much of a difference. And although the addition of a front camera is nice, it’s not something critical or of much use, honestly speaking.
So, the Lumia 900 coming to Malaysia, we’ll notch that up as a possibility but in all honesty, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.
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