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Old 03-08-2013, 01:16 AM   #1
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Galaxy S4 Event 3.14

One week from now (March 14th, pi day), Samsung is set to unveil their new Galaxy S4 and hopefully some related devices. I've used my phone as my primary reader for more than 3 years, and before that, my Palm PDAs pulled reader duty. I'm ready to upgrade, and as a frequent night reader, AMOLED's black=off feature is very attractive to me.

My very first reader, the Palm m500, had a monochrome lcd that wasn't backlit in normal lighting, but had a greenish backlight for night that only glowed on active pixels. I loved that backlight. I've been chasing that experience for a long time, mostly with color schemes and masks, but amoled seems like the real deal, but now with tolerable pixel densities!

What I'm most looking forward to is actually the Galaxy S4 mini, the 4.3" little brother of the S4. It hasn't received as much attention, especially in US press, but euro outlets seem to have the impression that Samsung is going to treat the S4 mini more seriously than the S3 mini, which was really light on specs and wasn't distributed very widely or very early.

I don't care about the fastest possible chipset, anything vaguely modern is fine. But I do care about the screen. I'm not a fan of pentile, which is kind of a cheat to inflate the resolution spec. I'm rooting for an RGB subpixel layout with a density of 250+ ppi (qhd or higher), but if they do go pentile, 300ppi or higher will probably do. I'd love to see the SPen included, as I've been using a stylus since '03, and normal capacitive stylii leave a lot to be desired. SPen has been reserved for the Note series of larger devices so far, but I can hope.

If nothing comes of the event, I'm actually pretty well set on getting the Note 2. It's bigger than what I want, truth be told, but it nails everything else.

Anyone else looking forward to the event? What are you hoping for?
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Old 03-08-2013, 11:58 AM   #2
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There are plenty of rumours abounding, but some of them point to a non-Amoled screen, due to the complexity of developing a full HD (1080) Amoled screen, so you might have to live with an LCD panel. But we won't know for sure until next week.

And regarding pentile, it's obviously subjective, but current pentile screens are (in my opinion) indistinguishable from non-pentile - at 300+ ppi, it's a moot point as I can't see the pixels on my S3 or any artifacts caused by the non-RGB layout.
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Old 03-08-2013, 12:36 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by afv011 View Post
There are plenty of rumours abounding, but some of them point to a non-Amoled screen, due to the complexity of developing a full HD (1080) Amoled screen, so you might have to live with an LCD panel.
I certainly won't. Note 2 is my backup plan. I also expect that even if they do go LCD3 for big bubba, other devices/variants, including my favored GS4 mini, might retain samoled.

Back in January there were also rumors Samsung had cracked the full hd problem with diamond or hexagon subpixel layouts that were a sort of pentile alternative. I have no idea how the shapes made it work (nor did the rumorers as I recall), but that was in the mix.

Quote:
And regarding pentile, it's obviously subjective, but current pentile screens are (in my opinion) indistinguishable from non-pentile - at 300+ ppi, it's a moot point as I can't see the pixels on my S3 or any artifacts caused by the non-RGB layout.
It is subjective, but it sounds like we see things similarly.
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Old 03-11-2013, 10:52 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by David Marseilles View Post
One week from now (March 14th, pi day), -

Anyone else looking forward to the event? What are you hoping for?
Yes, Yes, YES!

A lot of people are waiting for Samsung to update its screens on it's Players also.

It is almost as exciting as the coming "Man of Steel" movie.
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Old 03-11-2013, 12:12 PM   #5
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Some leaks today here, but could be a ruse by Samsung to get people on the wrong track.
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Old 03-11-2013, 02:02 PM   #6
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Indeed. They've definitely managed to muddy the waters on internal specs. And not just because of the potential divide between LTE markets and int'l markets. There are credible and very specific leaks on AMOLED (with yellow green pholed) and on LCD versions at sammobile. I think they decided locking things down completely would be impossible, so they're putting prototypes to use to keep us all guessing as long as possible.

If the real thing leaked right under our noses, it'd be tough to take it too seriously right now. Clever Samsung.
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Old 03-11-2013, 04:04 PM   #7
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I too know about lying damnably in the interests of the naxxxx -> enterprise!
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Old 03-11-2013, 10:21 PM   #8
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Here's a little more support (or more disinformation?) for the notion that design hasn't changed much , from samsung's twitter account: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-575...new-galaxy-s4/
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Old 03-12-2013, 08:42 AM   #9
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Ugly white shiny plasticy device with chrome trim...

...I'll pass
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Old 03-12-2013, 08:43 AM   #10
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A lot of people are waiting for Samsung to update its screens on it's Players also.
My next Galaxy Player will be an unlocked Nexus phone
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Old 03-12-2013, 02:47 PM   #11
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My next Galaxy Player will be an unlocked Nexus phone
I am excited. I am ready to move on from my Archos 43 which at the time was the only way I could get a Apple type screen for a reasonable price on a WiFi player.

It's been like 2 years since the Galaxy Players 3.6, 4.0, 4.2, 5.0 have come out.

oops also the 5.8 inch

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Old 03-12-2013, 03:12 PM   #12
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I am excited. I am ready to move on from my Archos 43 which at the time was the only way I could get a Apple type screen for a reasonable price on a WiFi player.

It's been like 2 years since the Galaxy Players 3.6, 4.0, 4.2, 5.0 have come out.
I'll give Samsung credit for producing the players, even though they cripple them.

There really isn't much to choose from in these small wifi devices, which is why I now have my sights set on an unlocked Nexus phone. I'm hoping the next one has double the storage at the same or lower price. Without a card slot, I require a minimum of 32GB in a 7" or smaller device.
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Old 03-12-2013, 10:52 PM   #13
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There really isn't much to choose from in these small wifi devices, which is why I now have my sights set on an unlocked Nexus phone. I'm hoping the next one has double the storage at the same or lower price. Without a card slot, I require a minimum of 32GB in a 7" or smaller device.
Nexus phones are released before the Xmas holidays, so you have a long wait ahead.
The Nexus 7 replacement may be announced in May, at Google IO.
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Old 03-12-2013, 11:51 PM   #14
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American press remains fairly standoffish, and sometimes downright hostile to the S4 mini. The most recent headline to catch my eye: Galaxy S3 refresh coming soon, what’s the point of a Galaxy S4 mini? The point of said editorial is not to explain the point of the s4 mini, naturally, but to rhetorically say that there is no point.

Because why would anyone prefer a 4.3" (I wouldn't complain if it were smaller myself) device to a 4.8" device? I get that my preferences aren't universal, but sometimes I wonder why so few bloggers understand the same about their preferences. The android platform thrives on tailor fits over one-size-fits-all, so you'd think at least an android blogger would get it.

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Nexus phones are released before the Xmas holidays, so you have a long wait ahead.
The Nexus 7 replacement may be announced in May, at Google IO.
There were substantial and credible rumors starting last summer that November would yield 5 Nexus devices (running Android 5 on Android's 5th birthday) maybe from 5 different manufacturers. Maybe the rumor was outright wrong, maybe it was very preliminary and got completely scuttled, or maybe plans were simply delayed. Indeed, I think Key Lime Pie was originally slotted to release then, but they split off a few features and released a second Jelly Bean instead. If plans for a fuller nexus lineup was merely delayed, they might not wait until winter to roll out the next nexus phone (phablet?).

But then, I'm a tech news romantic. I give no quarter to reality. I still secretly hope for a Nexus Mini Pro (sub 4" landscape qwerty slider with tilt!) even though I know such a device would give whoever is in control of Nexus aesthetics multiple coronaries. "Buttons...on a phone?! So many buttons!" fade to black and the distant sound of a heart monitor
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Old 03-14-2013, 02:48 PM   #15
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The android platform thrives on tailor fits over one-size-fits-all, so you'd think at least an android blogger would get it.
Ad Revenue traffic from people wanting to call them nimrods.
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