Galaxy S3 vs. iPhone4s

The Galaxy S3 is Samsung’s latest line-up in the smartphone biz and dubbed as an iPhone killer, but is it worth the name iPhone killer? Let’s find out. The Galaxy S3’s hardware specs are way beyond the iPhone 4s, in a layman’s point of view it will automatically make the S3 as the winner, but technology doesn’t work that way. The Operating System (OS) has everything to do with the device overall function, that is where the iOS shines , but having a strong hardware is a factor too, for years the iOs and android are going toe to toe in getting the title the “BEST” OS. When Apple release their iOS 4 it solidifies the iPhone's stand as the “BEST” among the rest, but android won’t back down without an answer upon the release of the gingerbread a sudden change of tides happen and according to some analyst the gingerbread is better than the iOS4 in some ways, while gingerbread is doing well in the smartphone world, Apple unleashed their iOS 5, and it has left the gingerbread out in the dust, but android being resilient as ever has again found an answer in the form of the Ice Cream Sandwich, to date ICS is the best android outing yet, but up until now the clash between the iOS and Android still remains undecided who the best OS is. Below are comparisons between the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 4s, and as readers you will decide who’s better among the two.

STORAGE & MEMORY: The base 16GB models will probably do the most business, but the S3 can scale up to 128GB. The maximum internal storage is 64GB, but the microSDXC slot means that the storage complement in Samsung's flagship handset can be augmented by a further 64GB. The Galaxy S3 also comes with 50GB worth of Dropbox storage, free for two years! The iPhone 4S, by comparison, also tops out at 64GB of internal storage, but thanks to Apple's need to keep its devices locked down, you won't be able to increase that. You do also get Apple's iCloud service thrown in, which allows you to keep your iPhone backed up to the cloud, making it easy to recover your data if you ever lose the phone. As far as system memory goes, the iPhone 4S has 512MB while the Galaxy S3 doubles-down to 1GB.

DISPLAY: The S3's larger 4.8in screen sports an impressive resolution of 1,280 x 720. While the iPhone's screen is smaller, it also results in a more manageable handset. Also, despite the iPhone's lower screen resolution - 960 x 640 - it's 3.5in size results in a higher pixel density of 330ppi, compared to 306ppi on the Galaxy S3. Both displays are protected by Corning's Gorilla glass but use different technology. The iPhone 4S uses an IPS LCD while the S3 incorporates a PenTile HD Super AMOLED.

PROCESSOR: On paper, the iPhone 4S is no match for the raw processing power of the Galaxy S3. Both phones' chips are based on ARM's Cortex A9 but Samsung's Exynos 4412 has twice the number of cores, which run nearly twice as fast - four 1.4GHz cores vs. two 800MHz cores in the A5. When it comes to the GPU, the S3 uses the Mali-400/MP4, which thoroughly outclasses the PowerVR SGX543MP2 in the A5. Anandtech provided some preliminary results that show how wide the graphics gap is on some benchmarks. SIZE: The iPhone 4S is significantly smaller but heavier than the Galaxy S3. The Galaxy S3 has a volume of 83 cubic centimetres (136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm) while the more diminutive iPhone 4S is shorter and narrower, though slightly thicker at 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm (almost 63 cubic centimetres). Despite the more compact outer dimensions, the iPhone 4S weighs 140g compared to 133g for the larger Galaxy S3. Far from a drawback, many users have found the iPhone 4S' denser mass to be reassuring, giving the phone a more robust feel. In contrast, some rival handsets boasting of lighter weight risk feeling flimsy by comparison - there seems to be an unspoken relationship between physical size and expected weight in relation to perceived quality.

CAMERA: Both can record full HD footage, both have eight megapixel sensors and both have front facing cameras (VGA for the iPhone 4S and two megapixel for the S3). In theory, both handsets have similar photographic capabilities, but we'll be testing them side-by-side soon to evaluate which makes the better pocket camera. SOFTWARE: The S3 runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich while the iPhone 4S runs iOS 5.1.1, two distinct and different mobile platforms altogether. While Ice Cream Sandwich is the best Android outing yet, the Galaxy S3 runs a customised version of the OS, just like every Android phone without a Nexus moniker. The problem with customised versions of Android is that updates can take an age to appear - the Galaxy S2 has only recently seen an upgrade to ICS.

BATTERY: The iPhone 4S sports a 1432mAh battery with an estimated talk time of 480 minutes on 3G. The S3 has a far larger battery capacity at 2100mAh, which translates to a slightly higher talk time of 620 minutes. Samsung needed to equip the S3 with as large a battery as possible, with the large screen and quad-core processor likely to put a real strain on battery life.

CONNECTIVITY: Both phones have Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI out (both via adaptors), GPS and Wi-Fi. However, the S3 comes with NFC, GLONASS, Wi-Fi Direct, HDMI out and a microUSB port. An easy win for the S3, assuming, of course, that you actually need or want the extra features.

Specs comparison made possible BY: ITProPortal

Blackberry Curve 8520 review

The Blackberry Curve 8520 is one of the cheapest smartphone Research In Motion (RIM) has to offer at 10,999 pesos it’s no where near cheap, but it’s as low as Research In Motion could get, that is why they always get the notion of being an overpriced and under supported handhelds. Research In Motion (RIM) has announced recently that the company is suffering huge losses, the reason? Well iOS and Android of course, it seems like the two are joining forces to put Research In Motion out of its misery and now Nokia’s Windows Phone is rising up to join the two super powers, and maybe a large portion of their losses comes from their pricing strategy, selling expensive handhelds in times of recession is a dumb move considering the tight competition in the smartphone market, but RIM is a tough nut to crack, they won’t give up without a fight, they did everything possible to cope up with the smartphone competition, like total restructuring of the company and they are always in constant motion to develop more powerful handhelds and Os, my advice a web-based support is a good idea, that’s one thing Blackberry lacks.

The Blackberry Curve 8520 Sells at around 10,999 pesos in the Philippine market, at that price tag it’s almost a guaranty from RIM that nothing could go wrong with the BB Curve 8520, but that is not the case, the phone hangs and lags a lot, and some applications will stop working unless rebooted, lags and crashes are end products of fragmentation, and fragmentation could only mean one thing OS optimization is not 100% or not even close, a simple firmware update “if there is” for the 8520 could resolve these problems, and one thing I hate about the BB Curve 8520 is the built quality, it is made entirely of plastic, once you get hold of it, you won’t be impress by its cheap feel, the Nokia C3 looks more elegant than the 8520, but the price tags are worlds apart.

To every bad story there’s always a good one, that could very well define the BB Curve 8520, it’s not all bad for this phone, the BB Curve 8520 also has an arsenal of good features, like its traditional Blackberry QWERTY keyboard, it still remains unbeaten in the QWERTY phone line-up, and its 512Mhz processor performs well in browsing the web using its proprietary Blackberry internet browser, the BB Appworld also works well, but it lacks serious and useful free apps. Its 2.4 inch screen is sharp, giving your eyes less strain in reading long messages and e-mails. The integrated 3.0 megapixel camera takes good pictures but only in a well lit area, though, video quality is substandard for its price, the music player however, is a bonus it actually sounds good for a business phone and it uses a 3.5 mm jack, now try using Dr.Dre headphones! It also has a dedicated music buttons on top giving you instant access to your music, MP3 player anyone! Overall the BB Curve 8520 is not a bad phone the only thing that’s bringing it down is the price, if only Research In Motion could lower its price, then the 8520 will surely make its way up to the hearts of the qwerty phone lovers.

BLACKBERRY CURVE 8520 SPECS:

NETWORK: 2G GSM 850/900/1800/1900
DIMENSIONS: 109x60x13.9mm
WEIGHT: 106 g
KEYBOARD: QWERTY, Touch sensitive optical trackpad
DISPLAY: TFT 65k colors, 320 x 240 pixels, 2.46 inches (163ppi pixel density)
SOUND: vibration, polyphonic(32), MP3 ringtones, loudspeaker, 3.5 mm jack.
MEMORY: expandable upto 32 gig sd card, Internal 256 MB
DATA: GPRS class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps, EDGE class 10, 236.8 kbps
WLAN wi-fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, Micro USB
CAMERA: Rear - 2megapixels 1600 x1200 pixel, Video QVGA
OS: Blackberry OS 5.0
CPU: 512mhz
MESSAGING: SMS( threaded view), MMS, E-mail, IM... BROWSER: HTML
OTHERS: Java, MP3/eAAc+/WMA/WMV player, MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player, Organizer, voice memo dial, predictive text input
BATTERY: Standby: up to 408 hrs, Talk time: 4 hrs 30 mins.