
Apple lawsuit in...
Five....Four....Three....Two...
Samsung has confirmed that it’ll launch a 4in version of its Android-based popular Galaxy S III smartphone in Germany tomorrow. The scaled down device is being pitched at Europeans unhappy with the existing, 4.8in S III and would prefer something a little easier to hold and use in one hand and fits in pockets better. Something …
The galaxy s2 name had many variants. The SGH-I927 galaxy s2 variant had a 4" screen. Samsung are no strangers to releasing many variants of their products for different markets (and carriers)
but it's not like fact have an relevance in these discussions, right?
"Why the need to compare it to the iPhone 5? Like the iPhone 5 was the first 4" device. Apple have only just realised the trend and like for larger screens. Samsung's already been and done 4".
Let me try a new headline for you. "Samsung says 'yes' to Galaxy S II sized Galaxy S III.""
How else would the Reg Hacks stir up the pot?
I wouldn't worry, iPhone and its hype is as old as its followers beliefs
I haven't noticed "it's(sic) ludicrous size", I actually find mine a lot more handy to use than my old first gen HTC desire. There is an "OMG enormous phone" meme going, but the first person I know who got one is tiny, female and Japanese, and it was her thorough recommendation that persuaded me, oddly.
However, choice is good- so I am glad that they are making a smaller one for people who like that sort of thing.
Which pocket? Unless you sport builder's bum with the crotch of the trousers somewhere around your knees or the legs festooned with fake map pockets, I assume not a trouser pocket, or do you mean your handbag? More active people, e.g. walkers, runners, cyclists and even those wearing clothes that fit tend not to have such large pockets and want to be able to move without the risk of bending their mobile phones every time they sit down or take a stride.. Of course, you could be a permanent jacket wearer or perhaps so addicted it's always in your vast hand. People used to grin at the size of a blackberry telephone for non-business users..
Do n't confuse your sartorial tastes or large hands with those of others. As for the tiny woman mentione above, no doubt she carries a handbag, so she could use an iPad all the time.
Well thank fucking god someone has come to their senses here. All this bigger and bigger screen nonsense was for one reason. When you're all running the same OS (Android) the only way to differentiate is size, and unfortunately all the manufacturers went all Texan on us. Sure there are some poor people out there with fat fingers, or descended from german blacksmiths, or just have penchant for clothes with large pockets and the oddly resulting bulges. But surely once all those people are satisfied the rest of humanity will realise what a twat they look with a phablet up against their face. For those about to suggest a bluetooth headset to avoid that, you've already failed - sorry. And don't get me started on holsters :rolleyes: lest I take the mick out of all the wannabe cowboys out there and their desire to have something locked and loaded on their hip. Or their arse and gut are just too big to actually get _anything_ in their pockets bigger than a dime.
So lets see some REAL innovation. Go small - cram all your goodness into something smaller and lighter and longer lasting. Going big is just too easy. Sorry.
Meh. Trends. They go one way, then another.
Remeber in the early noughties, when there was a race to make smaller and smaller handsets? At one point they became difficult to use unless you had spindly fingers (the Nokia 8210 was about 40mm wide I think), and the call quality deteriorated because the mic was closer to your earlobe than your mouth.
The trend for Dom Jolly devices will peak (having gone too far) and will settle at a more sensible level, IMHO.
It's called innovation, something that appears to have been lost recently.
Okay, it was the wrong sort of idea but at least they tried.
Lets not forget that Nokia's attempts were some of the first smartphones around in popular use (IBM was the first, but I don't remember ever seeing one).
Released in 1996. It would play wav ringtones and notifications. Plus you could send/receive faxes on the move, which was pretty useful at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_9000_Communicator
"And while we are on the topic of Nokia: what the f*ck were they thinking when they did this."
They were Thinking Different I should imagine. Like, creating Magical and Revolutionary..... ummmmm, things.
Saw a hipster using one on a shuttle bus in city once. Actually looked like a lot of fun.
So, a lot of craaazy looking phones, once upon a time.
You know film of all the insane things people did when trying to build a plane, the one with the bed with a bouncing umbrella, and the creation with 10 stacked wings that collapses while taxiing? This is like that, but with phones.
wife has an xperia mini pro, I have a galaxy S2. I like the keyboard on the pro (she had a GW610 before that which had an even better keyboard but shit performance). I find the screen a little too small (on the pro) for my liking and it could do with being a little more spritely - she wont let me root/mod it to put a proper firmware on there. The S2 screen is perfect for me but too large for her.
I agree though, a 4" S3 with a keyboard would be mint.
You do realise that some people actually prefer the big phones? I'm not one of them, but the sales of the Note would indicate there are quite a few.
Personally they've gone too far the other way with this new handset, 4.3 in (ie the same as the S2) would have been my preference, size wise I find the S2 just about spot on.
Exactly right, there's no innovation in just producing a bigger phone. The increased size makes fitting loads of stuff (including bigger battery) inside really easy.
The biggest joke is how the Galaxy Note doesn't even bother to increase the screen resolution even though it is bigger than every other phone around.
why should it need to increase the resolution? 1280x720 is more than enough for a screen of that size. Whilst 1920x1080 screens are available it wouldn't actually add any benefits. It wouldn't be any noticeably sharper and would need a much more powerful graphics processor to cope with the increased resolution. This whole drive to ever-increasing resolutions is pointless once you go past a certain point.
Why compare to the iPhone 5 screen size? Oh wait, do they now have a patent for 4" screens??? I guess Apple invented 4" screens, right?
I have to be honest, I think the S3 (I have one) is a little too big. Having owned it I now think that I should have made one of 2 choices; 1 - either get a Galaxy Note (if large size is important) and do it properly or 2; chosen something a little smaller (Obviously didn't know about a 4" S3 coming out).
As long as the device is identical then a 4" would be my preferred choice.
Samsung s phone, was everything which Apple was not, Apple did not build the massive screen for a reason, this action just confirms that our fruit company understands its customers. Samsung understands its competition, before Apple it was Rim.
So nothing new here.
Utter drivel. If Apple understood the customer so well then please explain why
a) The iPhone 5 has a screen size increase now, and
b) The millions of 4+ inch Androids that have been sold the world over.
Samsung is clearly hedging their bets by negating the "I don't want a big screen" punter argument, but don't for one second think there is no market for larger phones. That would imbecilic.
My kid just got a Samsung Galaxy Y: 3'' QVGA screen, Android 2.3. Of course, it's too small for big hands, but for occasional SMS-ing, music and photos, and call the Mum when he gets home, it's the obvious choice.
Why the heck didn't Apple do with the iPhone what they did with the iPod: do a mini-iPhone (3''), an iPhone (4'') and an iNewton (5'' with stylus).
"this action just confirms that our fruit company understands its customers"
Except for those that were complaining the iPhone 5's screen is in fact too small? Samsung are offering a choice to it's customers, that's is a good thing. Who knows, with Apple bringing an iPad Mini to the table, they may be realising this too and might say 'yes' to an SIII sized iPhone 5.
Yey, hope it comes out in the UK, i have been looking for a top end 4" Android phone to replace my SGS i9000. the 4" form is perfect for me. Only thing that lets my phone down is that it is getting a little slow.
I was even considering Iphone. Now I can potentially have an amazing 4" phone without breaking the bank.
Is it because the manufacturers realise that your hand is not the only one that will use their phones?
It must be quite tricky for them when one maker gets slammed for only having one size of phone and another gets slammed for having a choice? Samsung must be gutted that they lost a sale because the S2 screen is 0.07" too small for you. Its all beginning to sound like Goldilocks...
Ooh this phone is just a bit too big.... now this phone is a bit too small... oh this phone is just about right. So Goldilocks then rings her Grandma but because she is in a bear's cottage out in the country, there's no bloody signal anyway.
Paris because she needs a lot more than 4 inches.
Xperia P is 4". Fits in the pocket fine. A touch too small to want to watch a movie on it, but fine for getting your latest fix of The Thick Of It on iPlayer. Even very small text is readable (minimising zoom/pan web browsing) though long-sighted people might want to look elsewhere. Thumb easily reaches most of the screen. ICS update has improved the battery life considerably the RegHardware review. Micro HDMI cable included in the box (but has now disappeared, presumably shacked up in the snakes' nest of other cables). Very bright screen (though do put a one-touch toggle short-cut on your home-screen, because it canes the battery). Doesn't have a quad-core processor, but I haven't found it slow (I don't know what these quad-cores and tegras are used for...)
I'm a geek and I can't think of anything else I might want it to do. Anything more ambitious would be better done on a 7" tablet or small notebook. Would appreciate a Reg Review of (small) Bluetooth keyboards though, ta.
I would prefer it to have real 'clicky' buttons than capacitive ones (too easy to accidentally press, but really only an issue in games), and the anodised aluminium case can be a bit slippery in the hand (easily fixed with some self-adhesive nylon textile I had kicking around).
Included earphones sound decent enough and are comfy (if you don't mind 'in the ear' types) but are fragile- one cable pulled right out of the microphone.
No annoying cover to the microUSB port (a plus, in my book).
Whilst a bigger screen is all fine and dandy, I'm a clumsy bugger and a bigger screen is easier to break if dropped (it presents a larger target for some bit of grit to act as a stress-riser).
> I've measured my hand and 4.37" is the best size of phone. Why, oh why, oh why won't manufacturers realise this?
As mass-produced smartphones move from being status symbols to mere commodities, and as British politicians bemoan the lack of high-tech innovation in this country, surely the time has come for Savile Row to branch out from bespoke tailoring and begin producing bespoke mobiles specifically crafted to the shape and size of individual customers' hands?
"4.37 inch visual aperture, sir? Centre charging vent? Notched stereophonic acoustic interface? Volume rocker dressed to the right? Oooh, suit you, sir!"
Admittedly the fabrication costs might be a little high, but hey...
The obvious comparison for a 4" Samsung would be the Nexus S rather than the iP5. But 4" is just the new budget-to-midrange size right now: HTC started selling the 4" Desire X this week, for example, though sounds like Sammy are claiming this one will be higher spec (not yet checked that Engadget link).
"but the first person I know who got one is tiny, female and Japanese".
Yup, exactly the target audience for these huge phones, women who carry them around in handbags rather than in their pockets. Sorry but any man who carrys an S3 is looking for folk to ask him if thats a phone in his pocket.....
This is exactly why I ripped the headline, pure nonsense for people who think Samsung copy Apple on everything.
Neglecting that Apple only just caught up with the larger screen idea they only make one version of the iPhone so they can't go any larger, instead they try to make everyone believe 4" is perfect, because of course everyone's hands are the same size. Of course 3.5" used to be perfect, Gizmodo has two articles, one on why 3.5" was perfect and one on why Apple would never put a 16:9 ratio on the thing. Both now forgotten of course.
No, just the only serial killer. Although I don't think the reader-base of El'Reg make for a very unbiased group. We're mostly nerds.
Personally I much prefer IM over voice because I don't have to drop what I'm doing and react immediately when someone says something. I can finish the function I'm writing and then respond etc.