The Samsung Galaxy S8 Is Finally "Unboxed."

Samsung Galaxy S8

NEW YORK -- Samsung Mobile President DJ Koh lead Samsung's press conference to announce the first smartphones after the Galaxy Note 7 disaster, the Galaxy S8 and S8+.  Samsung's flagship smartphone is usually revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but was delayed this year due to the Galaxy Note 7 battery issues.  The Galaxy S8 and S8+ was highly rumored and pictures were highly leaked of the new device.  A lot of the rumors such as the design and Samsung's new AI called Bixby proved to be accurate.  As rumored, the new S8 and S8+ no longer has a physical home button or a Samsung logo on the front of the device, and the fingerprint sensor has moved to the back of the device.  Both the S8 and S8+ feature "Infinity display"  with a size of 5'8" and 6.2" for the Galaxy S8+.  The Galaxy S8 and S8+ will come in five colors:  Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue and Maple Gold.  The new smartphones will come with Google's Android 7.0 and powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or Samsung Exynos 64 bit, 10 nm processor depending on market with a water and dust resistance of IP68.  Samsung says that each phone will come with earphones by AKG that will also be sold separately for $99.  An interesting new feature of the S8 and S8+ is what Samsung is calling "Dual Audio."  The new S8 smartphones can pair to two Bluetooth audio devices instead of just one.  It's a neat feature for people who have Bluetooth speakers that can't chain more than one together.  Also announced was the DeX station or Desktop eXperience which when the S8 or S8+ is docked in will give a desktop experience.  The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will go on sale on April 21st.  

Samsung Galaxy S8+

DeX Station

Highly Rumored Samsung Galaxy S6 Officially Debuts

BARCELONA -- The highly rumored metal Galaxy S 6 finally debuts at Mobile World Congress.  As was rumored, there is two versions of the Galaxy S6 as there was with the Note 4 and Note Edge.  The S6 edge however does not operate in the same way as the Note Edge.  Despite being made in metal and glass instead of plastic, the design is pretty much evolutionary.  It's not as dramatic as the transition between HTC's EVO line and the original HTC One.  One thing that diehard Galaxy S fans will miss is that the S6 and S6 edge has a sealed battery and there is no microSD expansion slot.  This is disappointing considering even HTC saw fit to add the MicroSD slot on the One M8 and M9.  Both the S6 and S6 edge have a 5.1" Super AMOLED display with Corning's latest Gorilla Glass 4.  Both will come in 32, 64, or 128GB capacities.  You'll have to think carefully before you make your decision because unlike the S5 and Note 4/EDGE, the Galaxy S6 doesn't have a microSD slot.  Unlike with the S5 where the emphasis was on the loads of features, the S6's emphasis seems to be on its new metal and glass build and how powerful and fast it is.  We'll see how consumers and diehard Galaxy S fans respond to the new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge when its available globally starting from April 10, 2015.   

The Day That iPhone Grew

CUPERTINO, Calif --  The moment that Apple fans around the world and the competition has been anxiously waiting for has arrived.  They have grown larger and now come in two sizes.  Tim Cook called the new iPhones "the biggest advancements in iPhone history."  The new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have larger displays and a smoother and rounder appearance.  The iPhone 6 is 4.7-inches and the larger iPhone 6 Plus is 5.5-inches.  This is smaller than Samsung's Galaxy S5 at 5.1-inches and Galaxy Note 4 at 5.7-inches respectively.  Although in order to win consumer's hearts, Apple doesn't need to exceed Samsung's display sizes.  They just need to demonstrate that their display is more usable.  We'll see how this plays out when both Apple and Samsung finally start selling their phones at retail.  The iPhone 6's 4.7-inch display has a resolution of 1134 x 750, and the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has a resolution of 1920 x 1080.  Powering the new iPhones is the A8 processor that Apple touts is so powerful, it will allow "console-class 3D games to iPhone."  The new iPhones will be available through Apple, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.  Prices with a two year contract with AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon are $199 USD for the 16 GB model, $299 USD for the 64 GB model, and $399 USD for the 128 GB model.  We suspect that Apple debuted the new 128 GB model to combat Samsung's hounding on lack of expandability.  The larger iPhone6 Plus with a two year contract will cost $299 USD for the 16 GB model, $399 USD for the 64 GB model, and $499 USD for the 128 GB model.  T-Mobile will be selling both iPhone 6 models at around full retail price since they no longer sell phones at subsidized contract prices.   Both models will go on sale starting September 19th in gold, silver, or space gray.  Also debuting alongside the new iPhones was the much rumored iWatch.  The Apple Watch comes in three models and start at $349 USD.

Samsung's Note To The Competition

BERLIN -- Samsung has finally taken the wraps off the much anticipated Galaxy Note 4.  The surprise Samsung had in store was that there were two models they were revealing.  In addition to the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung also revealed the Galaxy Note Edge.  The Edge has a unique curved screen on the edge that was first seen on Samsung's Youm prototype.  The Galaxy Note 4 has a 5.7-inch QuadHD SuperAMOLED display and is powered by the latest version of Android, Kitkat 4.4.   Cameras on the Galaxy Note 4 has also been improved with a 3.7-megapixel front camera and a 16-megapixel rear camera with image stabilizer.  Like the Galaxy S5, the Note 4 features a heart rate sensor and a fingerprint sensor.  What's new is that the Note 4 also features a UV sensor.   Samsung realizes that a lot is riding on the success of their Galaxy Note series, but will it be enough to keep it the king in the phablet category that Samsung created when it first debuted the Note series?  We'll see when Apple debuts its much rumored larger iPhones on September 9th.  Sales of the Galaxy Note 4 will begin in October, and the Note Edge will begin sales later in the year.  

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge

Samsung Reveals The Galaxy S Of Smartwatches

SEOUL -- If the Samsung Gear 2 doesn't have enough features to suit your fancy, then Samsung has the answer for you with its latest smartwatch, the Gear S.  The Gear S is Samsung's latest foray into the smartwatch market.  The difference between the Gear, Gear 2, Gear Live and the new Gear S is that this one has the much rumored sim slot.  Yes, it actually has cellular connectivity.  Unfortunately, it's only up to 3G speeds, and not LTE, but remember it has limited space because its a watch.  The Gear S is powered by a dual-core 1.0 Ghz processor and like the Gear 2 is running Tizen OS.  It features a 2-inch curved SuperAMOLED display.  Like the Galaxy S5, the Gear S also features Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi connectivity, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, heart rate, ambient light, and barometer sensors.  However, it also features a UV sensor that's not on the Galaxy S5, but doesn't feature a camera like the Gear and Gear 2.  The Gear 2 is also rated IP67 for dust and water resistance.  Samsung says the Gear S will be released to the global market in phases beginning in October.  Samsung did not mention the price for the new smartwatch.  

Samsung Launches Long Rumored Metal Smartphone

Rumors have been swirling on the Internet for awhile now that Samsung was creating a metal smartphone to compete with the upcoming Apple iPhone 6. Well, Samsung did officially announce a metal smartphone, metal frame anyways, but it's not exactly the iPhone killer that was heavily rumored. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha has a 4.7” HD Super AMOLED display and is powered by Android 4.4.4. (Which is currently the latest version of Android.)  There's a 2.1 megapixel camera on the front for taking "selfies" and on the back
is a 12 megapixel camera.  Like the Galaxy S5, there's also the flash and the heart-rate sensor, but it is on the left instead of on the bottom like the S5.  There is plenty of storage space as there is 32 GB, but there is no microSD card slot.  Battery pales compared to the Galaxy S5 at only 1,850 mAh.  So, this phone really isn't the new super flagship or Apple iPhone 6 killer that was rumored on the Internet.  Samsung didn't release any further information such as price or exactly what markets, but they did say that "the Galaxy Alpha will be available at the beginning of September. At launch, it will be available in Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue, with available colors to be determined by market."

"Morpheus" Returns To A Smaller Screen

IRVINE, Calif. (CarPressions)-- Kia's most memorable commercials are the ones with the cute dancing mice, but they didn't make an appearance for this year's Superbowl commercial.  This year saw "Morpheus" from The Matrix trilogy back on the screen in a 60-second spot to convince people that Kia's new K900 luxury sedan is what luxury really is like.  However "Morpheus" didn't mention that the MSRP for "true" luxury starts at almost $60,000.  See Kia's Superbowl Ad on Youtube.