A new display mode, extra controls, and sleep tracking: Here's what's suddenly new and improved about the Gear Fit.
It's a common truth in new tech: a company releases a firmware update, and suddenly there are all-new features to discover.
The newest firmware update to Gear Fit, which will be what anyone buying one will have available to them, introduces a bunch of new features. Some of them really do change the Fit quite a bit.
SAMSUNG GEAR FIT, UP CLOSE (PHOTOS)
Portrait mode: Yes, finally, you can flip the Gear Fit's display to stretch out vertically, so you don't have to twist your wrist. It seems to work with every feature, even notifications. Some work better than others.
Sleep tracking: A new mode will track sleep data, much like other fitness bands such as the Jawbone Up and Misfit Shine do.
More watch faces: Additional watch faces have been added, including some cool ones that take better advantage of vertical-display mode.
Customize your Fit via Manager app: Now you can swap the layout of icons, and even change the home screen and add your own photo to the Gear Fit's background.
Extra coaching options: I found some new ways to control the coaching mode while running, setting the heart-rate coaching awareness to "auto," or setting the device to coach around your own maximum heart rate.
Better syncing with S Health: Samsung promises that a lot of the weirdness I found before has been fixed.
Credit goes to Samsung for making these changes so quickly. Sometimes it takes a while for wearables to get much-needed updates, or they never get them at all.
Whether you bought your Android device last year -- or last month -- you can benefit from a little spring cleaning.
Files you've downloaded, photos you've taken, as well as data stored by apps, are major contributors to unnecessary clutter on your Android device. By cleaning out a few things, you gain space for new apps, system updates, or maybe a larger portion of your music collection. Here are a few suggestions for taking back your internal and SD card storage:
Downloaded files
Your Android device contains a lot of personal information about you -- maybe even more than anything else you own. How about those work documents that you grabbed from an email, or the photos you saved from that text? These types of files should be relocated to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox.
If you're not sure what's lurking in your storage areas -- internal or SD -- a file manager app can be used to explore your data. Some Android devices, like the Samsung Galaxy series, have a file manager app built-in. It's nothing fancy, but it can get the job done.
Not a fan of your stock file manager? Then try ES File Explorer. This app can integrate with cloud solutions such as: Google Drive, Dropbox, SkyDrive, and many others. Files can even be sent directly to your Windows desktop, if you like.
Photos
This is an easy area to regain some storage. Each image, depending on your camera specs, can take approximately 3 MB of space. Several of the cloud services will back up your entire Gallery as you add photos. Unless you need the originals at your disposal, it's time to delete some of them. If you don't have an automatic backup in place, you can also just connect your USB cable and move photos to your computer, or you can send the ones you want to keep to a cloud service individually.
App data clutter
When you install an app, it usually creates a folder that stores information like preference settings, images, or activity logs. However, that's not all that gets stored on your device from apps. For instance, each time you watch a video on Instagram the data is cached (stored) on your device, which allows the video to load quickly if you try to view it again. But how many times are you going to watch the same video (unless it's ridiculously funny or cute)? Bottom line: you can clean out this space and even schedule it to be cleaned up regularly on your device.
1Tap Cleaner offers a widget to clear all cached files at once. With this app, you can see how much each app is storing in the cache, and you can clear your call and text logs. Additionally, you can uninstall apps without needing to use the Google Play Store.
Clean Master helps you delete cached files, along with miscellaneous files that are larger than 10 MB. The Memory Boost option closes apps you're not using that are still running in the background.
Which area will you tackle first to create more space on your Android device?
The GoodPushbullet transmits items from desktop PC to Android device, or Android to PC, quickly and reliably.
The Bad You can push links, notes, and more to friends, but there's no way to control who can or can't send items to you.
The Bottom Line Pushbullet is the easiest way to transfer files, links, notes, lists, and
Pushbullet is one of the fastest and easiest way to get links, notes, lists, files, and addresses both from your desktop computer to your mobile device and vice versa. All of this is done from the Pushbullet Android app, the service's Web site, or one of the browser extensions for Chrome or Firefox.
Thanks to a recent update in March 2014, you can now also view new notifications from your phone on your desktop. After having used it for several months, I can confidently say it has changed the way I interact with my phone for the better. Perhaps it will do the same for you.
Getting started
To get started with Pushbullet, simply install the app and pick the Google account that you prefer to use. Next, go to Pushbullet.com on your desktop and use the same Google account to log in there.
It's important to note that you can set up Pushbullet on as many Android devices as you need, and from your desktop, you'll be able to easily choose to which device you want to push data.
Push it
Once you're all set up with Pushbullet via the app and site, you can start pushing text notes, addresses, lists, links, and files (up to 25MB) immediately. From the Pushbullet Web site, just pick which device you want to push to and choose what you want to send. You can drag and drop files from your computer to push them, and there are simple text fields where you can add notes, lists, and addresses. For now, Pushbullet can send notes, links, checklists, addresses, photos, and file attachments.
You can send links, notes, images, and other files from your phone to your computer You can also use the Android app to push files, notes, and other items to other Android devices or your computer. Just tap the tiny bullet icon at the top-right of the app and select what kind of item you want to push and where. Just like on the Web site, you can type in (or copy and paste) notes, lists, and links. For files and photos, the app will ask you to grab a file from an app, such as the photo gallery or your file manager, you want to grab the attachment.
When Pushbullet pushes an item to a mobile device, it generates a notification in the notification bar. If you tap a note or list notification, those items will open in the app, while pushed links open in your phone's default browser and addresses open in a map app. Finally, files that are pushed to your phone open up in the appropriate app for that particular file type. For instance, an image opens in the Gallery app, while PDFs might open in Adobe Reader, if you have it installed.
It's important to note that files are, once pushed from your desktop, automatically downloaded onto your mobile device. This makes Pushbullet a more convenient option for transferring files than sending an email attachment or using Dropbox. That's because neither of those options automatically saves the file. For now, file size is limited to 25MB, a step up from the earlier 10MB limit.
Share with friends
You can even push items to the Android devices of your friends (so long as the you have the email address they signed up with) and vice versa. You can add friends from either the Web site or app, but it's easier to do in the app. Just pick something you want to send, and in the field where you choose where to push your item, select "Add a friend." The app pulls in all of your contacts that are synced with your phone. If they do not already have Pushbullet, they'll get an email inviting them to join.
Keep tabs on your notifications
The most recent Pushbullet update makes the app even more useful because you can now see every notification from your phone on your desktop. That means when your phone goes off, you can see if it's an important notification or something you can ignore simply by glancing at the top-right of your computer screen.
Notifications from your phone can show up on your desktop. You can control which apps trigger desktop notifications in the Pushbullet app, and dismiss the notification on your phone if you're done with it, which to me, is a great feature.
To set up desktop notifications, head to the settings menu in the Android app and tap the Notification Mirroring option to let the app access your notifications. Then you'll need to install the Pushbullet Chrome extension or Firefox add-on and sign in to your account when prompted. That's all there is to it, and you'll begin to get small pop-up messages when you get a new notification on your Android device.
Add-ons
Pushbullet is even more useful when you connect it to IFTTT. If you're not familiar, If This Then That, or IFTTT, is a service that connects almost any two apps or services that never communicated in the past, such as Facebook and Dropbox. You set triggers, or actions that spark another action, and then an outcome. A great example is if I share a new photo on Facebook, then save it to my Dropbox account.
Pushbullet was added to IFTTT in March 2014 and can turn hundreds of triggers into items that can be pushed to your devices. One way I use Pushbullet and IFTTT is to send a link to my phone when my favorite blog publishes a new article, but there are many more ways to use it, including sending a weather report to your phone, being notified when a sports team scores, or getting a link when there's a new Instagram photo from your favorite user.
How well it works
When it comes to performance, Pushbullet is reliable and fast. In my tests, transmissions from desktop to mobile device (and mobile to desktop) occurred immediately, so long as the device had an active data connection. And every pushed item also successfully made its way into my Android's notification bar. This is perhaps Pushbullet's most important capability. Having pushed items fed into my notification bar keeps them at the front of my mind.
You can, of course, clear any of Pushbullet's items from your notification bar as needed, and just as easily, you can add them to the bar again directly from the Pushbullet app. This means you can actually use your notification bar as a handy reminder tool.
Final thoughts
Pushbullet is a simple app that's far more useful than it appears. You can quickly send almost anything between your phone and computer, and it's more convenient than using email or a cloud storage service like Dropbox.
The recently added notification mirroring feature that pushes all of your phone's notifications to your desktop means you don't need to constantly check your phone every time it buzzes or beeps. It's a very convenient addition that makes the app even more useful than before.
If you ever need to send links, notes, and files between your Android device and your computer, or to another Android device, you can't beat the speed and ease of Pushbullet.
Google could soon introduce additional groups, pinning, and snoozing to the Gmail experience.
New Gmail features reportedly being tested The Gmail mobile experience may soon become much cleaner and more user-friendly, according to a new Geek report.
Details obtained by the tech site suggest Google may introduce a host of handy, fresh features. Leaked screen shots apparently show a more refined user interface along with other new abilities plus support for more kinds of groups.
Should the rumors prove accurate, Gmail will add three extra categories (Travel, Purchases, and Finance) to the existing four of Social, Promotions, Forums, and Updates. Likely user-defined and customized, these could go a long way to making Google Now even smarter.
Additional features Google is possibly testing include pinning an email to the top of your inbox and snoozing (marking read) for a determinate amount of time.
The look and feel of Gmail may change as well; the leaked images show round contact icons, more white space, and a more Google-y overall appearance.
As Geek writer Russell Holly points out, not all of these features may arrive at the same time. Some could be delivered piecemeal while others maybe shelved altogether. And, if we're to expect a new mobile experience, a refreshed desktop UI might not be far behind either.
Rogue retailers are defying the Samsung Galaxy S5's release date, while the Gear Fit and Gear 2 Neo are on sale in Europe.
The Samsung Gear 2 Neo smartwatch. It begins... After a South Korean phone network defied Samsung and started selling the Galaxy S5 early, rogue retailers in the US are risking the wrath of Samsung and following suit. Meanwhile, the Samsung Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit have hit shops in the UK.
The S5 is due out on 11 April, but South Korea's SK Telecom has flouted Samsung's official release dateto dodge a government punishment preventing the network from signing up new customers in April. We were wondering if any other foolhardy retailers or carriers would risk Samsung's wrath by jumping the gun -- and at least five retailers reckon it's a chance worth taking, advertising unlocked S5 phones on Amazon to be delivered in one or two business days.
You'd have to be very keen indeed to be the first person on your block with an S5, as the rogue retailers asking around $825 (around £495, plus tax) for the privilege.
Meanwhile in the UK the S5 is available to play with in selected shops, or pre-order from various networks, although it won't actually land in your hands until the official release date.
In the meantime you can get your hands on -- or rather, wrists in -- the new Samsung Gear Fit fitness band and Gear 2 Neo smart watch. The wrist-worn smart devices are on sale from online shop Unlocked Mobiles right now for next day delivery, albeit in limited numbers.
Both the dual-core Gear 2 Neo smartwatch and the AMOLED screen-sporting Gear Fit come in black and cost £180.
More colours will be available around the time of the S5 launch.
While Intel has backtracked on its "Edison" chip size claims, another Android Wearpartner is claiming that its system-on-chip is the size of the proverbial SD card. Imagination Technologies (MIPS) has just revealed the Newton platform based on its MIPS architecture, built by chip-making partner Ingenic. It uses Ingenic's power-sipping, Android-compatible 1GHz JZ4775 CPU (similar to that in the GEAK watch), to help it give smartwatches and other wearables 30 hours or more of battery life. A laundry list of other features is also baked in, like support for up to 3GB RAM, 720p video, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, MEMS sensors, health care sensors and USB support. Device makers can pick and choose those options thanks to the modular design, which also allows for rapid prototyping. In theory, that will help Android Wear hardware makers turn their designs into products more quickly -- and fulfill Google's ambitious product launch timetable.
Google's getting into smartwatches in a rather large way. As previously reported, the search giant is extending its Android platform to more wearables than just Glass. In a blog post, Google announced Android Wear, which is essentially a way for the company to extend its mobile OS to a new category of devices while offering a lower cost for developers and users -- think Nexus for smartwatches. Of course, smartwatches are just the beginning, Google acknowledged that there's plenty more to come, but it was " starting with the most familiar wearable."
One of the most eye-catching features we've seen so far is the same always-listening experience that we've enjoyed on the Moto X. Anytime you need to do something with your watch, just say "OK Google" and everything from pulling up nearby gas stations, to restaurant reservations are just a quick voice command away.
But there's more to Wear than just putting voice search on your wrist. As the rumors have suggested, it pulls in contextual updates as well, just like Now -- putting the power of its preemptive search a quick glance away. Obviously it also pulls in notifications from messaging apps like Hangouts or your social networks. But the real power lies in the ability for developers to extend their applications to your Android-powered smartwatch. For example, Google is already promising that "favorite fitness apps" will offer real time speed and distance tracking. (Get on that RunKeeper!)
We're still waiting to get details on specific watches, but features like these (and many more) have to be incredibly power efficient to ensure your new fancy piece of digital jewelry actually lasts longer than a day. Expect to start seeing devices working on the new platform sometime next quarter (as luck would have it, Google I/O will be held at the very end of that quarter). And, fingers crossed, maybe Google will announce that Now is opening up to third parties as part of its wearable push. Developers can go sign up for a preview of the Wear SDK here.
LG is joining an industry effort to infuse the humdrum lighting market with the excitement -- and profits, and complexity -- of the computing and electronics business.
LG's OLED Table Lamp LG ElectronicsSeveral companies offer smartphone-controlled LED light bulbs these days, but LG Electronics is trying to advance the state of lighting with another approach, too: an OLED table lamp.
The Korean company, which already has a strong home-appliances business, unveiled its OLED Table Lamp on Monday at the Light+Building 2014 trade show in Frankfurt. Instead of using conventional light-emitting diodes (LEDs), its light source is the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that can be formed into a sheet.
The table lamp, like the company's new LED bulb, the Smart Lamp, has an LG app for iOS and Android that lets you control the bulb over Bluetooth. The app can adjust the lights to set modes for movies or reading, or dim gradually at night and turn on with an alarm.
There's nothing that prevents companies from equipping old-style incandescent or fluorescent lights from wireless control systems, but people generally see those products as commodities to be purchased at the lowest cost available. As the electronics and computing industry tries to expand into the previously humdrum lighting market, though, remote-control apps offer a reason to charge significantly more.
LG Electronics' Smart LampLG Electronics Wirelessly linked lighting eventually could ease integration with home-control systems that can help people save power and money, communicate with home theater and security systems, and maybe even coordinate with power companies and other homes for smoother operation of the electricity grid.
Newer electronic lighting technologies also offer consumers some novelties such as variable-color lights that can be tuned for different moods. And some believe that with OLED lighting, homeowners eventually can move to sheets of illuminated wallpaper. That'll require a bigger shift in lighting habits away from traditional bulbs, though.
Even consumers excited about the new lighting prospects will have to tread carefully, though. Some of these systems, such as Philips' and Belkin's, require a separate control hub that costs extra, often bundled in a starter kit.
That may sound like a pain, but don't be surprised if, in a few years, wiring new houses for light switches starts becoming a relic of the pre-wireless era.
Samsung Galaxy Tab4 is a new line of quad-core Android tablets in a range of sizes.
The new Samsung Galaxy Tab4 10.1 tablet.Samsung
Just what the world needs: more Samsung tablets. Samsung has officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab4, a new line of mid-range Android tablets in 7, 8 and 10-inch sizes.
All three are powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and Android 4.4 KitKat software. They connect to the Web via 4G, with 3G versions for the 10 and 7-inch models that will probably save you a few pennies. Prices and release dates are yet to be confirmed.
Each Tab4 has 16GB of storage on board, or you can opt for an 8GB version of the 7-inch model.
The trio all include a 3-megapixel snapper coupled with a low-resolution camera for video chat. The tablets come decked out in a choice of black or white cases.
All three models boast a 1,280x800 screen, which means the smallest 7-inch model has the best pixel density: 215 pixels per inch, compared to the 8-incher's 188ppi or the 10-incher's 149ppi.
Replacing the Galaxy Tab 3, the Tab4 slates join Samsung's current line-up of variously-sized Galaxy Tab devices, not to mention the assorted entries in the NotePro and TabPro ranges. Well, you can't say we're not spoiled for choice...
The Good Its processor is searingly powerful and copes well with games. It has a bright, vivid display and its razor-thin body can be taken in the shower without worry.
The Bad It loses its battery far too quickly in standby mode. Huge bezels around the display don't look good and make the body needlessly big, and its slim design has resulted in the whole thing being a little flexible.
The Bottom Line While the battery is a concern, the Xperia Z2 tablet is still a good-looking slate that's loaded with more than enough power for anything you're likely to throw at it. It's a good choice if you're looking for a more affordable iPad alternative with 4G LTE -- particularly if you've ever lost a gadget through water damage.
The Apple iPad Air might be a slick piece of design, but dunk it in the bath and it'll quickly turn into a lifeless slab. Enter the Sony Xperia Z2 tablet -- a 10.1-inch slate that is completely waterproof. It replaces Sony's existing Xperia Tablet Z, but packs in a new quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, adds the latest Android KitKat software and slims the design down to only 6.4mm thick.
The Xperia Z2 tablet is available to buy now online in the UK starting at £399 or throughout wider Europe for €499. Sony is yet to announce wider availability. The iPad Air also starts at £399 (both with 16GB of storage) but Sony's comes with 4G LTE connectivity, something which will cost you an extra £100 on the iPad. The Z2 tablet's waterproof skills may mean you're less likely to have to shell out on a new one if you're clumsy enough to drop it in the sink.
Design and build quality
When you first pick the Z2 tablet up, the first thing you'll almost certainly notice is just how incredibly slim it is. It measures only 6.4mm thick, knocking 0.5mm off its already razor-thin predecessor. It feels like you're holding a skinny pamphlet, which is compounded by its light 426g weight. By comparison, Apple's iPad is both slightly thicker and heavier, at 7.5mm and 469g.
That extreme skinniness has come at a slight cost however. While the iPad Air's metal body is incredibly sturdy, with little flex anywhere, the Z2 feels much less secure. It's not difficult to give the entire tablet a slight bend in your hands -- I don't imagine it would come off too well if it was accidentally sat or leant on.
Design-wise, not much has changed since the previous model. The front is a button-free, all glass design, while the back panel is a wide expanse of matte white or black plastic, with the minimal Sony branding in the middle. It maintains the 16:9 aspect ratio, which, while helping show movies without black bars, does mean it's quite wide in landscape mode making it cumbersome to use with one hand.
That's not helped by the enormous black bezels which surround the screen -- 22mm on either side, to be exact. That's a hell of a lot of wasted space. Apart from making the tablet look like a less premium device (cheap slates often use wide bezels) it means the body is needlessly wide for the screen. Sure, it allows you to easily grip it without activating the touchscreen, but I'm sure there's a happy medium.
At only 6.4mm, it's incredibly skinny. Like its predecessor, the Z2 Tablet is completely waterproof, allowing it to shrug off an errant spilled drink or even let you happily take it into the bath to watch 'Breaking Bad'. Personally, I like being able to prop it up in my kitchen to watch shows while cooking, safe in the knowledge that when it gets splattered with sauces, I can simply chuck it in the sink with the other pots and give it a rinse.
It keeps the water out by covering the main ports -- including the microSD card slot -- with rubberised flaps. Mercifully, the 3.5mm headphone jack doesn't require a flap, meaning you don't have to unhook a cover every time you pop your headphones in. You'll also find an infrared blaster on the top, allowing you to use it as a remote control for your TV. Setting up the remote app is a simple process -- select your TV manufacturer and the app will do the rest. It took less than a minute for me to set it up with my Toshiba telly and gives access to all the essential controls you'd normally find on your remote.
Display
The 10.1-inch display boasts a Full HD resolution, giving it a pixel density of 224 pixels per inch, making it well equipped to tackle glossy, high-definition video. It doesn't quite match the iPad Air's whopping 2,048x1,536-pixel resolution (264ppi), although side-by-side, I doubt you'd notice a massive difference.
The display is extremely crisp, with sharp edges on text and icons throughout the Android interface and on Web pages. High definition photos look sharp and well defined too, which is helped by the high brightness of the screen and the excellent handling of colour.
The Full HD display is bright and has great colours. Sony states that the tablet uses some of the same 'Triluminous' display technology from its line of TVs, which promise brighter, bolder colours. Whatever Sony has done, it works well. Colours are rich and deep, without looking bold to the point of being unnatural. If you're not keen on the colour balance, you can pop into the settings and tweak the hues to get something more to your taste.
Software and processor
The Z2 tablet comes running the latest version of Android known as 4.4.2 KitKat. Sony isn't brilliant when it comes to updating its products with Android updates -- we're still waiting for KitKat on last year's Z1 -- so it's good to see the latest version on board at launch.
Sony has made many of the same tweaks to Android as you'll see on the rest of its recent mobile range. The five homescreens are littered with icons for Sony's music and movies services and there's a tool to the left of the app tray that lets you easily change the order of the app icons. Although the Sony photo and video galleries are a little clunky, the interface is generally easy to use and won't take long to get used to.
Stuffed into that skinny frame is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, clocked at an impressive 2.3GHz, backed up by 3GB of RAM. That's a burly lineup of specs so it wasn't much of a surprise that it has a some serious power behind it. It achieved an impressive score of 3,787 on the Geekbench 2 benchmark test, putting it alongside its superbly powerful Xperia Z1 smartphone sibling. Navigating around the Android interface was extremely swift, with zero lag when flicking between homescreens, opening menus or pulling down the notification bars.
The latest version of Android, known as 4.4 KitKat, comes as standard on the Z2 tablet.
It turns its hand to more demanding gaming tasks very well too. It scored a whopping 18,971 overall on the Ice Storm Unlimited 3D Mark graphics benchmark test, casually besting the 14,605 achieved by the iPad Air and the 13,677 Samsung's 2014 Galaxy Note 10.1 managed to rack up.
Gameplay was very smooth in Riptide GP 2, and I saw the same high frame-rates in zombie shooter Dead Trigger 2 and GT Racing 2. There was generally very little I could find that the slate wasn't able to handle well. Whether you want a tablet to tackle the latest high definition games from the Google Play store, or just want to watch Netflix or browse the Web on the sofa, the Z2 tablet will cope admirably.
Battery
The Z2 tablet's battery life is definitely something of a mixed bag. On the plus side, it put in a more than acceptable performance on a video drain test, managing to keep going on battery (at half brightness) for 13 hours and 20 minutes -- that's exactly the same time as the iPad Air achieved.
It's not all good though. With more intense use (gaming, for example) the processor seems to go into overdrive, draining the battery incredibly quickly. It also seems to take much longer to charge up than I would normally expect to see. Those two points together meant that I regularly found the tablet lost power even when it was plugged in to the mains. That's very worrying if you're down to your last few percent of life and desperately want to keep racing in Asphalt 8 as the tablet isn't drawing in enough power to make up for the amount it's using. Inevitably, the slate will just run out of juice and shut down.
It also doesn't seem to hold its power well in standby mode. When the screen was off, I found the tablet to have lost around 10 percent of its charge over a period of about four hours. Even if you only plan on using it for moderate use, you'll still need to pack a charger if you're going away for a few days.
The battery drain test showed that the slate is capable of managing its power well, so it could be that its power loss in standby mode is more of a software issue -- background processes not being properly turned off, for example. Fingers crossed Sony takes a look soon and issues a patch to sort it out.
Camera
Tucked into the top-right corner on the back of the tablet is an 8-megapixel camera. Having a camera on a tablet this size is arguably a little unnecessary -- you're not likely to be carrying it around all day using it as your main camera -- but it's handy for those quick snaps in the home that you'd miss if you were to spend time fishing your phone from your jeans.
The Xperia Z2 tablet's camera achieved an even overall exposure in this scene.
Thankfully then, the camera is at least good enough for those quick shots of your kids. On my first test shot in the CNET offices, the camera achieved a satisfying overall exposure, with a very natural colour balance. Clarity isn't brilliant -- particularly when you view the image full-screen -- but I've certainly seen worse.
There's a bit of image noise in the darker parts of this shot, but it's not a bad effort at all.
It coped well on my second shot too, managing not to blow out the bright highlights or under-expose the shadowy areas too much. There's quite a bit of image noise in the darker portions of the picture, suggesting that it won't do as well if you're trying to grab pictures of your dinner by candlelight -- particularly as there's no LED flash. Keep to well-lit areas and the Z2 tablet's camera should be more than adequate for Facebook snaps.
Conclusion
The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet isn't a massive overhaul from its predecessor, but that's no bad thing. Its skinny frame looks and feels great, while its waterproof design will keep it safe from spilled drinks or accidental dunks in the bathtub. Its quad-core processor provides heaps of power for gaming and the Android KitKat software is easy to navigate. Although the battery put in a good effort in our drain test, its inability to hold charge causes me some concern. Sony needs to address this if it wants the Z2 tablet to really give its rivals a run for their money.
The Good As connected cameras go, the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 is an example of one done well. Having Android 4.3, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi with NFC, powerful processing, and a big, beautiful touch screen makes for a very good shoot-and-share experience.
The Bad At $450, the photo quality and shooting performance might disappoint those looking for significantly better results than a high-end smartphone.
The Bottom Line The Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 delivers the app and connectivity options of your smartphone, but with the shooting flexibility of a long zoom lens.
Who doesn't like a good sequel?
Of course, what makes a good sequel is open for argument. For the Galaxy Camera 2, Samsung went with basically the same main characters -- a 21x-zoom wide-angle lens, 16-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, and a giant 4.8-inch HD touch screen -- put in a new wireless sidekick (NFC) to add some interest, and updated the storyline to almost modern day (Android 4.3 Jelly Bean).
If you thought the original formula was cool, but lacked substance (e.g., a faster lens or larger image sensor), the Galaxy Camera 2 (GC2) is probably something you'll want to skip or maybe catch when the price comes down.
After all, $450 isn't exactly inexpensive for what's essentially a point-and-shoot camera, and there are a lot of cameras available between $400 and $500 including bridge cameras with much more zoom range, high-end bright-lens compacts, and even entry-level dSLRs and mirrorless compact system cameras.
Not everyone needs the absolute best image quality, though, and while the camera specs are easy to come by at lower prices, this is basically a really good media player or gaming device as well as a camera. Well, it's a little awkward for the latter, but you get my point: it's more than just a camera you're buying.
Back to the camera bit for a moment, though. Photo quality is very good for what you're getting, as it was with the original. Outside in daylight, it'll turn out some very nice photos that you probably won't hesitate to share with friends and family on the Web or for viewing on mobile devices.
While the image processing might be a little better than its predecessor, you probably still won't want to enlarge pictures and heavily crop them. Viewed at full size, you'll see noise and artifacts even at lower ISO settings, and subjects look soft and and are lacking in clean fine details. This really isn't a camera for pixel peepers.
Low-light photos are better than what you'd get from a smartphone, but it's best to stay away from the high ISO settings regardless. Instead, take advantage of the camera's Night mode, which reduces noise and improves detail and color by combining several shots into one photo.
Video quality is good and the optical image stabilization is certainly nice to have if you're tired of the shaky clips from your smartphone. However, like its photos, video does get softer and noisier the less light you have. The zoom does work while recording movies, but it was a bit jerky when moving in and out.
Also, the mic is right next to the shutter release, so it picks up any finger movement or snapping of the zoom lever. The lens motor makes a faint noise when moving, too; there's a Quiet Zoom setting that dampens audio when zooming to help. One thing that's cool, though, is that there's a headphone jack on the right side that can also be used with a microphone.
The GC2 looks slightly different than the original, but the overall design remains pretty much the same. It has a new pop-up flash that can be angled back slightly to bounce its light. There are now silver accents along the top and bottom and a leather-grain look to the front making it look more like a camera and less like a smartphone. At least from the front.
The back, on the other hand, is very much that of a smartphone. There's nothing but the 1,280x720-pixel-resolution 4.8-inch display. As was the case with the first version, it's a pleasure to shoot with as well as to view and edit pictures and movies on. As long as you're not in full sun anyway, which is a problem for most screens really.
Much like the photo quality, for $450 you might expect shooting performance to be faster than an average point-and-shoot with a CMOS sensor. It is not. Assuming you did an initial startup of the camera, it sits in standby until you're ready to use it. From standby to first capture takes about 2.7 seconds, mostly because of the lens unfolding and the touch screen kicking in.
From shot to shot it takes on average 1.1 seconds, but that time jumps to 2.5 seconds when using the flash (a definite improvement over the first-gen model). Shutter lag -- the time it takes from pressing the shutter release to capture without prefocusing -- is 0.4 second in bright lighting and 0.5 second in dim.
The camera does have a continuous shooting option that can shoot at up to 4.3 frames per second. That's pretty good, and you can start shooting another burst almost as soon as you release the shutter button. Focus and exposure are set with the first shot, though, so if you're shooting a fast-moving subject, chances are good that not all of your shots will be in focus.
As for the device's overall performance, it's nice and fast. The 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM kept everything relatively zippy. Apps run smoothly, and again with the large touch screen editing photos and video right on the camera is really nice.
Of course, since it's running on Android 4.3 Jellybean you can load up more than just photo- and video-related apps. With the headphone jack on the right side, you can plug in and stream music and movies, play games, read and answer e-mail, or whatever else you'd be able to do on a modern Android device. (And thanks to a larger removable battery you can do more without worrying as much about killing your battery life.)
Unlike the Galaxy Camera, the GC2 currently comes in just a Wi-Fi-only version. This means you'll have to connect to a wireless network for Web access, whether that's at home or work, a mobile hotspot, or turning your smartphone or tablet into a mobile hotspot.
You can also create a Wi-Fi connection directly between the camera and your smartphone or tablet. The GC2 has NFC built in, so if you've got an Android device with that feature, you can simply tap the two together to start the connection between them. You can also use the NFC to quickly send photos taken with the camera straight to your phone.
With the Wi-Fi connection established, Samsung's MobileLink feature lets you transfer files from a smartphone or send files from the camera to one or more smartphones and its AutoShare feature gives you the option to automatically send photos to a smartphone as you shoot them with the camera.
You can also use your smartphone or tablet as a remote viewfinder and control the camera's zoom; set a self-timer; turn on the flash (if it's popped up); change picture resolution, and release the shutter. Unfortunately, you can't use it for recording movies or shooting in any mode other than Auto.
That's a shame considering how many shooting options are available. Its Smart Modes -- a mix of standard scene modes such as Macro, Landscape, and Sunset, and some automatic ways to do things like freeze action or create light trails without messing with shutter speeds on your own -- have grown to 28 options. This includes the new Selfie Alarm that lets you position a box on screen for where your face will be so that when you turn the camera around, it can lock on and give you an audible warning before it fires.
If you like more control, the GC2 does have manual and semimanual modes with an interesting interface for changing shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, and ISO. Tap the mode you want and a lens barrel pops out; you just slide the rings till you get what you want. Unfortunately, it's not exactly fast if your initial settings weren't quite right and you need to adjust again.
At the wide end, there are 10 available apertures from f2.8 to f8.0; at the telephoto end there are four from f5.9 to f8.5. Shutter speeds go from 1/2,000 second to 16 seconds.
For movies, you can shoot at 1,920x1,080 pixels at 30 frames per second; 1,280x720 pixels at 30 or 60fps; 768x512 pixels at 120fps (slow motion); 640x480 pixels at 30 or 60fps; and 320x240 pixels at 30fps. You can also pause movies in the middle of shooting, so you don't end up with a bunch of small clips.
In the auto, program, manual, and semi-manual shooting modes there is a row of 12 filter effects you can call up from the bottom of the screen. These can be used when shooting movies and applied to photos after you shoot as well. If you want to read about all that this camera can do, I recommended downloading the product manual from Samsung.
Conclusion Despite its core components remaining the same as its predecessor, the power and flexibility of Android keeps the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 from being an ordinary above average point-and-shoot.
Compared with iPhones, today's Android devices never looked so good or so exciting.
I've written about and reviewed mobile phones for almost a decade and a half. Everything from flip phones, to BlackBerrys, to today's hottest Android models, and yes, Apple iPhones, have passed through my hands. That experience is why, more than anything, I've ultimately settled on Google Android as my smartphone platform of choice.
Sure,I've been tempted to make the switch to iOS products, especially early on in Android's development, but I've always had quite a few reasons for emphatically resisting the iPhone's siren call. Right now, though, it comes down to this: Android has surpassed iOS to become the most powerful, advanced, flexible, and frankly, exciting mobile technology on the planet.
What other OS could you say is the driving force behind an array of amazing devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8, and the Sony Xperia Z2? All of which make Apple's iPhone 5S superphone look positively prehistoric. Android's momentum is just gathering speed, too. This summer, Google will make its presence felt in the futuristic field of wearable technology in a big way, when the first Android Wear gadgets will arrive. This includes the scintillating Moto 360 and the intriguing LG G Watch, both of which leverage the freakishly intelligent Google Now notification engine.
Chances are slim the next iPhone will sport a massive OLED screen like the Note 3.
More devices for the taking
Say what ever you want about Android fragmentation, or whether it even exists, but there's an upside here I think people often overlook. That is having a huge selection of products to choose from, at least compared with only one iPhone (the 5S, since the watered-down 5C isn't even worth considering).
It's true that the sheer multitude of Android devices on the market, many with wildly different components, specs, and screen sizes, is a big headache for app and hardware makers in terms of meeting compatibility requirements. That said, more devices from competing phone manufacturers equates to a big win for consumers. Right now people can choose from a myriad of Android smartphone options, each offering distinctive attributes that they personally resonate with.
For example, if ridiculously long battery life is what you crave, there's the Motorola Droid Maxx. Looking for an excellent unlocked bargain? Well then, consider the Moto G, Moto X, or Nexus 5. Additionally, phablet lovers have the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and LG G Pro 2 to tickle their fancy, while design aficionados will certainly enjoy the oohs and aahs they'll receive from the lovely HTC One M8. There's simply no contest here, since the singular iPhone can't hope to stand against a legion of very impressive (or more impressive, I'll wager) handsets from numerous companies.
Smoother, faster, stronger, better
The majority of early Android phones were plagued by shaky performance, stutters, glitches, and a plain butt-ugly graphical interface. I mean, I loved my HTC G1 but, boy, was it clunky -- especially stacked up against the silky-smooth operation of the first iPhones. Of course, I was coming straight from a T-Mobile HTC Wing running Windows Mobile 6.1, truly a dog like no other, and that made any device an improvement.
No, those glitches haven't disappeared ,but with each Android iteration, flagship phone launch, and even custom skin built by one of its hardware makers, Google's mobile OS has evolved for the better. HTC's Sense UI on the company's Hero, Legend, and Desire class handsets (aka Droid Eris, Evo 4G, and Google-variant Nexus One) helped greatly.
Serious progression happened, though, with the next two Nexus devices, specifically the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and current LG Nexus 5. The Galaxy Nexus running Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich ushered in a huge boost for Android usability and clean software aesthetics. And the Nexus 5, which now features Android 4.4 KitKat, represents the current pinnacle of mobile computing power melded with elegant presentation.
More importantly, modern Android gives users the freedom to tweak the look and feel of their phones to their hearts' content. I'm not simply talking about shoving app shortcuts onto folders, either. You have resizable widgets to drop wherever you want, plus a separate application tray you can sort numerous ways. Notice I didn't even mention custom skins, or software ROMs that hardcore modders love so much. It's a level of customization iOS can't touch, and I find I just can't live without.
iPhones have become boring
When I look at an iPhone -- even the best Apple has to offer (iPhone 5S) -- I can't help but stifle a yawn, and here's why: Android phone makers, and Samsung in particular, tend to throw every trendy piece of hardware and software feature into their products. Apple, on the other hand, typically takes longer to jump onto the latest technology trends (if ever), which certainly doesn't get my blood pumping.
I realize that both philosophies have their admirers, but ultimately it's harder for me to get as excited about the iPhone as I do about, say, gadgets with big and colorful OLED screens (the Galaxy Note 3, GS5) or stylish metal chassis (the HTC One M8). Nor does the iPhone posses a handy water- and dust-resistant chassis like the Sony Xperia Z2 or Galaxy S5.
Heck, the iPhone doesn't even have NFC circuitry for fast Bluetooth pairing with accessories such as headsets and portable speakers. The list of the iPhone's shortcomings goes on and on -- just add wireless charging, removable batteries, SD card slots, and you get the picture. Honestly, the only real positive aspect of the iPhone is its camera, which continues to trounce top Android phones year after year. Even so, Android handsets are catching up, making this more of a moot point than ever before.
The Moto 360 will be one of the first devices to run Android Wear.Motorola
The future belongs to Android not Apple
Google is making inroads into virtually every area of modern life where technology plays a significant role, and I think that bodes well for Android's future. If we're soon to enter a brave new world of self-driving cars and smart home appliances, not to mention gadgets we will strap to our bodies that will track our movements, chances are good Android will be there in force.
Where is Apple in all of this? Since the iPhone 4S, the company has gotten into a rhythm of yearly phone launches set in the fall. While this business model certainly works well for Apple, the iPhone 6 no doubt will get lots of attention -- it's very predictable. By contrast, Android innovations occur all year and often with unexpected device announcements.
This continual movement, coupled with Android's superior customization options plus its ability to power a growing number of gadgets, is what makes Android extremely exciting for me. The iPhone, well, not nearly as much.
