back to article Samsung shows 'designed for humans' handset

Samsung has unwrapped the Galaxy S III, a handset it boasted is "best smartphone in the world" thanks to its "nature-inspired" design, voice recognition and eye-tracking. The handset is based around a 4.8in, 1280 x 720 OLED display and Samsung's quad-core Exynos processor. It'll provide LTE and 3G HSPA+ connectivity. It will …

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  1. John Riddoch
    Thumb Up

    Depending on battery life...

    this just might be my next phone - contract on the HTC Desire is just about up and this is looking like a new standard.

    1. ThomH

      Re: Depending on battery life...

      I was just about to post a message to the effect that going back to battery life as a boasting feature is the main advancement I'm looking for in mobile phones... but then I realised that eye tracking while the screen is on in order to make a value judgment as to whether you're still looking is a feature I'd actually really like. Especially when it's late at night and I've set my phone brightness to the absolute minimum (such that the about to go to sleep screen dimming isn't visible), I'm forever being annoyed by the phone just suddenly going to standby. Even with the small amount of light it's shining out at me in those circumstances it could probably still spot my eyes if it were trying.

      1. Steve Evans

        Re: Depending on battery life...

        Battery life is a major consideration for me too.

        For Samsung I'd also have to add "has a message/missed call notification LED?"... I'm almost too scared to check this one out... They couldn't have missed out that basic feature for the 3rd generation running could they?

        NFC is a complete "meh". I've had an NFC credit card for ages. It looks like it will be expiring before it ever gets waved.

        Very similar reaction to the contact-less charging feature too. Will be nice once everything has got it, but right now I have a cable which will fit it almost anywhere I sit.

        1. Bassey

          Re: Depending on battery life...

          > I'd also have to add "has a message/missed call notification LED?"

          It has an OLED screen so these are redundant. Just install NOLED on it and you can have all the notifications you want with all the information you wish. Simples. Of course, lacking physical LEDs, it should come with the software already installed!

        2. KjetilS

          Re: Depending on battery life...

          There is this handy free app called NoLED that does the job of a notification LED quite nicely. I recommed checking it out.

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Gimp

      re: Depending on battery life...

      It's a chuffing huge battery. And the new ARM cores are more efficient than the old ones. Obviously running full-screen videos on it will still drain it. As that's not something I do a lot it should suit me fine.

      It's my new precious.

    3. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Depending on battery life...

      I was about to agree with you. Then I thought, well, why ponce around? So I've just ordered one.

      Worst case, there will be extended batteries for it all over eBay before the first charge in the standard battery has run down.

      GJC

    4. g e
      Thumb Up

      Re: Depending on battery life...

      Well I did read something recently (on El Reg?) that the Exynos 4 is almost 2x as powerful for 20% less juice which is a fine feat of engineering, so dependant upon how much juice the eye tracking and voice commanding takes up combined with that screen it could be like an S2 or maybe a bit better on battery...

      Will have to wait for the hands on reviews, natch.

  2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Joke

    So who did they design for previously? Orangutans?

    OOK

    1. Anonymous Coward 101
      Trollface

      Re: So who did they design for previously? Orangutans?

      This is Android we are talking about - it's more likely pond life.

      1. h4rm0ny

        Re: So who did they design for previously? Orangutans?

        "This is Android we are talking about - it's more likely pond life."

        So basically you?

    2. Ilgaz

      Re: So who did they design for previously? Orangutans?

      Based on gigantic size, this one is designed for orangutans..

      People should really check it physically in hand and actually use it before buying.

      1. Anonymous Coward 101
        Happy

        Re: So who did they design for previously? Orangutans?

        17 down votes and counting - well trolled. Typed that last night on my Galaxy Note.

        1. Andy Fletcher

          Re: So who did they design for previously? Orangutans?

          You did it wrong. If you wanted max downvotes you'd have mentioned another brand.

          TIP: "You're holding it wrong"

  3. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OH NOES

    Looks like rounded corners to me... won't be able to sell that in Germany.

    /sarcasm

    1. Anonymous C0ward

      Re: OH NOES

      Make a sausage-shaped one instead.

  5. Lewa
    Happy

    Quite excited myself.

    I like the idea of wireless charging, NFC, and eye tracking. It's not much physically bigger than the S2 which is an excellent thing for me and my tiny girly hands.

    It's gadgety, but that's awesome. Bring it on. 'Designed by humans' is a rubbish slogan, it's true. Is any worse than the average marketing spin put out by any Apple or HTC, for instance?

  6. Gordon 10

    Bloody hell!

    So it watches you, and it listens to you? Presumably with a red dot in the middle of the screen at all times?

    Can see it now:

    "phone unlock"

    "I'm sorry Dave I can't allow you to do that"

    Bzzzttt!

    As the massive battery is discharged into your soon to be twitching corpse.

    1. MrT

      Hey, there's an idea...

      ... a defibrillator app.

    2. MrXavia
      Go

      Re: Bloody hell!

      Oh HAL has to be my desktop screen when I get it, and assuming you can get it to speak back at you (I am sure that there must be a way if its not default) a hal sounding voice is a must!

  7. Seb123

    We're going to need bigger pockets the way things are going.

    1. Ilgaz

      My htc Evo 3d barely fits and it is smaller than this.

      Here comes the belt clipping cases. That was the only thing missing from backwards moving cell industry :)

  8. Bob Vistakin
    Happy

    "Best smartphone in the world"

    Yes, it actually is. So why didn't they just use that as the slogan? Never mind, count me in, that's if they can hear me above the din of photocopiers from Cupertino and crying from Redmond.

    1. g e

      Re: "Best smartphone in the world"

      Cos it's subjective which is always a bit murky when you have playground bullies like Apple around who'd happily tie you up in court for a decade nit-picking over that.

      Mind you, they had the good sense to also not call it '4G', too.

      1. DrXym

        Re: "Best smartphone in the world"

        "Cos it's subjective which is always a bit murky when you have playground bullies like Apple around who'd happily tie you up in court for a decade nit-picking over that."

        Apple has no compunction of flat out lying or embellishing the truth when it suits them, e.g. most recently with its 4G claims, but has a record of doing it going back years.

        It doesn't mean others should lie too but at the same time I don't see how Apple could object if they did since they're as bad.

  9. g.marconi

    So who was the jerk who thought "including British English" was funny ( or perhaps simply ignorant) ? You just need to say "English" since, by definition, that is what is spoken in Britain.

    Of course if somebody wants to distinguish between variants from standard English such as South African, Australian or American then the country would need to be specified.

    1. Neil Greatorex

      It's an oblique reference

      to Siri not understanding real English.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sa whoa wor t' jerk whoa thowt "includin British English" wor funny ( or 'appen simply ignorant) ? theur just need ta seh "English" sin, by definition, 'a' is wha' is spoken i' Briteeam.

      Of course if somebody wants ta distinguish atwixt variants fra standard English such as Sahth African, Australian or American then t' country 'ood need ta be specified.

      Soh whoh was the jerk whoh thought "including British English" was hilaaaarrious ( or perhaps simply ignorant) wot wot? you, one's old bean, fie need to seay "English" since, by definitiohn, that is what is spoken in Britain.

      Of course if somebody fancies to distinguish between vaaariants mwah mwah sweetie standaaard English such as South African, Australian or American then the country would need to be specified.

      So oo wuz de jerk oo thought "includ'n British English" wuz laughin' ( er perhaps simply ignorant) ? yous juss need ter say "English" since, by definition, dat is wa' is spokun in Britain.

      Of cose if somebody wants ter distinguish betweun variants from standard English such as South African, Australian er Yank dun de country would need ter be specified.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        So the voice app will work for people from "The North" like Manchester......or the "Real" north Newcastle.......doubt if it will work with an Essex accent either ;-) may be they should have said works with BBC English and even that was regional accents these days.

        1. Return To Sender
          Meh

          Actually, during the presentation the guy on the stand used his fairly heavily French accented English successfully. Personally not convinced about voice control in general, though - difficult not to feel a bit of a knob yelling at a piece of kit in public.

          On the bright side, it's one more thing to get maudlin drunk about; "My [car | phone | fridge | tv | house...] doesn't understand me..."

    3. Lyle Dietz
      Happy

      Calm down

      You're thinking too literally. Think of it instead as The Queen's Own English.

    4. bill 36

      watch it on yootoob

      eleven

      hilarious

    5. g e

      Yeah

      Options:

      French

      German

      Japanese

      Suomi

      English

      American

    6. Bassey

      What?

      "You just need to say "English" since, by definition, that is what is spoken in Britain"

      Do you want to explain that phrase? Even as an Englishman I'm aware (reminded on a regular basis) that there is a fairly huge difference between England and Britain. And that is before we even get into the whole hornets nest that is the UK, the Crown Dependencies etc.

  10. Unlimited
    Thumb Down

    Too big

    I know I'm in the minority, but I'll never buy a phone bigger than 3.7in

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Too big

      Wow that's precise! Not 3.8 and definitely not 3.9 eh?

      Have you had lots of pairs of trousers custom made with the pockets exactly 3.7 inches long?

    3. Anonymous C0ward
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Too big

      It's all about more inches, baby.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Actually...

      I got a htc Evo smaller than this and its size started to bug me enough that I plan to keep my Huawei u8650 and thanks to several Android features and twin sim card, use them both in sync.

      Samsung fans: we aren't attacking your brand, just the size (htc,lg and others do similar) and lack of comfort outdoors, sport etc. There is no conspiracy. We're not Apple agents.

    5. garbo
      Facepalm

      Re: Too big

      Do I detect a hint of penis envy?

      1. Tapeador
        Stop

        Re: Re: Too big

        Well I FOR ONE certainly don't employ a smartphone as a prosthetic. How would you clean the thing??!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    With all the hype before the launch...

    What with all the hype before the launche I was half expecting a phone that could tell you the specifications of the iPhone 5 before it had even been announched.

    Still for me a smartphone is one which is when your on a phone call it is able to recognise that somebody is giving you a number you asked for and having already noted the name of the person and the number - automaticly note it all down into a contact that it offers to save for you after the conversation and also has a recording of the conversation were you are told the phone number incase you need to check it. THAT is what I would call a smart phone, anything else is a phone with a PDA attached :p.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Childcatcher

    also automation is worrying

    It's worrying as it might automaticaly send the latest picture you accidently take to all youre friends, heck your mate might take a picture of his privates on your phone for a laugh for your phone to not know it was your mate or have any form of facial identification and as such automaticly upload to your flicker accounts on natrual surroundings which is PG rated. This is automation.

    You could be sending a text to somebody, have to scratch your ear half way thru sending it or even just afterwards and find that now as your abroad instead of iuncuring the cost of a siomple text your now engaged into a international phonecall, all becasue of a itch behind the ear from were you had your bluetooth headset on all day.

    You talk in your sleep, wake up next day and your phone has told your boss he is a cambridge university national trust member and uploaded video's of you doing nightime torrets to your facebook friends.

    Automation is fine, but it works on mistakes as well as what you intend. In that it needs some level of control, like time of day a simple feature like that. I'd like my phone to be able to go look its past 9pm, only these people are allowed to call you and stop syncing email until the morning. That would be a smart feature, that said old blackberry I had could do that so there is progress for you.

    It also can be used as a security breach in that if somebody sends you 5 sms in a hour say the phone automatical assumes there your new best buddy and that then enables them to request contact details form yoru phone via sms like "can you give me banks number please mate" and your phone then tells them what bank you are with as you have that number in your phone under "bank" like nobody ever does that, ever.

    So for me automation is a very mixed blessing and a whole new ballgame when it comes to security and social engineering. Socialy engineering AI systems isn't new either, its just not that common and as abused publicly, yet. But thats how most people beat chess computers, thru AI social engineering, thats food for thought right there on this new wonderous subject that will eventualy be the new headline in the papers in a year or two, once it's become old news :).

    1. Degenerate Scumbag
      Paris Hilton

      Re: also automation is worrying

      "It's worrying as it might automaticaly send the latest picture you accidently take to all youre friends, heck your mate might take a picture of his privates on your phone for a laugh for your phone to not know it was your mate or have any form of facial identification and as such automaticly upload to your flicker accounts on natrual surroundings which is PG rated. This is automation."

      Clearly such automation needs appropriate safeguards built in. Perhaps some sort of penile recognition technology to ensure that it only automatically uploads pictures of it's rightful owner's privates to Flickr and Facebook.

    2. Anonymous C0ward
      Headmaster

      Re: also automation is worrying

      Dos it corect dogey speeling?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Re: also automation is worrying

        Dos it corect dogey speeling? That would be nice, though it is still one simple area were we are unable to force upon users still. I know a land were if you can't even get the people to spell things correctly then what hop have you of them being even unable to understand laws and following them.

        As I'm not a polatician I appologise for any percieved spelling mistake but to me they are mearly digital signatures cleaverly embebed within the text without distracting too much from what the word was actualy meant to be.

    3. g e
      Paris Hilton

      Re: also automation is worrying

      Facial unlock.

      Unless you're using a picture of your nob to unlock your phone...

      (And no. Not THAT kind of facial)

      Paris. Facial.

  13. JDX Gold badge

    complete with a ping after it has sampled your voice

    I'd not be at all surprised if there's a patent violation there... a mechanism which lets you press a button, speak a request and be notified by a sound that processing of your request is begun.

    1. ChrisC Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Re: complete with a ping after it has sampled your voice

      Forget about the patent implications, forget about all the other functionality - this is the killer feature that will have them queueing around the block to buy the phone...

      ...because, at long last, we can now own our very own machine that goes ping...

      1. Billious48
        Coat

        Re: complete with a ping after it has sampled your voice

        "... amplify the ping machine ..."

  14. pip25
    Thumb Up

    Yes, yes, YES!

    Finally, an innovative Android smartphone! I'm not sure how good the eye-tracking or the "mind-reading" will be during actual use, and I would prefer it having a keyboard, but this is nonetheless the first phone in a while which has me truly interested. Even if it'll prove a complete disaster for some reason, I have to applaud Samsung for the effort in itself.

  15. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

    Looks good

    I like the case design (reminds me a little of Nokia 603 or 701, but both of those are good designs), but I wonder about the material quality, which has always been Samsung's downfall - previous Galaxy phones have been classy tech, but let down badly by how they felt in the hand.

    Very nice display, and MirrorLink is also good to see - there's no point in having a standard unless big players join in. The other interaction stuff (voice, eye-tracking) strikes me as gimmickry, but the rest of the device is so good, you can just not use it, no big deal.

    Deal-breaker for me is Android, which has always left me cold, but lots of people love it, so good luck to them. With the one proviso of build and material quality, this probably will be the best smartphone on the market when it gets here.

    Well done all round.

    1. g e

      Re: Looks good

      Awww Android is top stuff. At least you can change your preference of manufacturer and pretty much keep all your shizzle.

    2. Lallabalalla

      Re: Looks good

      "this probably will be the best smartphone on the market when it gets here."

      For about a month.

      And it's not cheap, and is very big. Brings new meaning to the phrase "You'll need deep pockets".

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Price......

    gouging ideas?

    1. Andrew James

      Re: Price......

      Mobile.co.uk spammed me about it this morning, they have it free from £36 or so per month ... fairly typical for a high end new smartphone launch. Sim free probably in line with everything else at the top of the range on release, £450-£500 ish i guess.

  17. Robert Armstrong
    Thumb Down

    Poor build quality is a Samsun tradition

    Looking forward to getting rid of my Galaxy S. After 18 months it is a broken down mess. Won't buy Samsung phones again - shiny and nice when new but when the touchscreen stops working you are SOL.

    1. gb030104

      Re: Poor build quality is a Samsun tradition

      Are you in the UK? If so the Sale of Goods act is your friend for this. The item must be fit for purpose - so if you buy a touchscreen 'phone on a 2 year contract it must work properly, with reasonable care on your part, for at least those 2 years (I also believe that it is also up to the manufacturer to prove you didn't take that reasonable care).

  18. cs94njw
    Thumb Up

    Saw the size of the battery. Wet myself.

    Where's the Three pre-order webpage?

  19. cs94njw

    Vodafone Your Plan 36 MI Promo

    24 Months

    600 minutes

    Unlimited text

    Includes 1GB Data Allowance

    £36.00

    1. Alex C

      Interestingly it's still cheaper to be off contract

      Even at £500 (which'll be more like £400 in a few months) + 24 lots of a tenner on giffgaff (or other similar sim -only deal) it doesn't justify the 24 month lock in. Check how many minutes you *actually* use before doing the calculation. I'd be well over £100 better off by paying up front on this deal.

  20. Mage Silver badge

    I hope, I really do

    That it will open the pod bay doors for me

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re. S problems

    To be fair the problem with the S and S2 is that touchscreen is prone to impact damage.

    Based on my analysis the issue is that the internal cable gets stretched during assembly and the strain of constant vibration and flexing eventually causes it to break.

    The other annoyance is that to replace the touchscreen the underlying OLED has to be changed as well due to it being fused to the screen in order to reduce reflections.

    There are ways to detach the two but obviously its not feasible for a repair shop, so it ends up going in the dustbin along with the customary S task bar screen burn.

    @Robert Armstrong if you want to be rid of that S wipe it over USB and then sell it on Ebay, someone can probably make use of the parts at least.

    Don't just chuck it, as there's a nice magnetic sensor IC which can be used for inertial navigation etc.

  22. Paul Burke
    FAIL

    You're*

    Might want to check the spelling / grammar in the article... :)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Facepalm

      Does anyone proof-read any more?

      "...The 1.9Mp front camera scans the user's eyes to ensure the screen stays lit when your watching..."

      Stopped reading at that point. Yes, Reg. I know semi-literate journalism is part of your charm –a bit like 'The Grauniad' of old. But when your contributors sink to the primary school level of; not being able to differentiate between your and you're and there, they're and their, or of not being arsed enough to proof-read their work to pick up such schoolboy errors, then why should your readership bother either?

      Much easier to head straight to 'Commentard Corner', where at least such illiteracy is expected.

      1. Jason Togneri
        FAIL

        @madra / Re: Does anyone proof-read any more?

        "But when your contributors sink to the primary school level of; not being able to"

        Eh? You're complaining about the quality of this article and demonstrating how superior you are at grammar and you use a construction like "of; not"? You totally displayed your utter lack of grammar skill, showing yourself to be an arrogant hypocrite who can't even use a simple semi-colon properly! Go and learn proper grammar yourself, before being so presumptuous as to try and correct others.

        1. philbo

          Re: @madra / Does anyone proof-read any more?

          It's compulsory when complaining about a lack of proof-reading in an article to include at least one typo - and a typo is surely what it is: the sentence reads perfectly well without the semicolon, so it's more reasonable to assume that it's typographical rather than a hypocritical "lack of grammar skill".

          ..and shame on El Reg for its misuse of "your" - it is rather poor.

  23. Arctic fox
    Happy

    Did they say...........

    ............it takes an SD card as well as up to 64Gb on board? Blimey! Plus an enooormous battery? The power users are going to be overjoyed. It does look as if Sammy has really pushed the boat out this time. The Galaxy series has been very impressive with each new iteration.

  24. AlexS
    Holmes

    To the guy who might accidently upload his privates to facebook

    If it can track your eyes I suspect it might track a persons privates as well. By deduction we can assume that if the privates stop moving, then it will upload the photo automatically.

  25. Silverburn

    Note vs S3? Hmmm

    Now it gets tricky.

    1280x720 vs 1280x800

    4.8 vs 5.3 (re: physical size)

    2100mwh vs 2500mwh

    Quad core (latest gen) vs dual core (last gen)

    64gb vs 16gb

    I think the clincher will be (unlocked) price, if the HTC one X is anything to go by. I recon the S3 will command a price premuim, and my gut says the Note will still have the edge when it comes to battery life.

    Ultimately this is all good stuff...for once I am considering a phone without an i at the beginning.

    1. g e

      Re: Note vs S3? Hmmm

      I tried a Note for a weekend and it was great.

      You feel like a cock talking on a phone that huge though... but if you're a bluetoother or micphones user then no prob. The S3 has more grunt though.

    2. D@v3

      Re: Note vs S3? Hmmm

      as a former iphone 3g, and 4 and current 4s owner, i am surprised that this actually looks quite tempting. it's gonna be a while before i'm in the market for something new, but when I am, i might give this a look.

  26. Hooksie
    FAIL

    I hate to say it but.....

    Pretty much every phone out there leaves me cold. They're all just the same with tiny variations in screen size, battery life, camera etc to give the illusion of choice. When I say that the launch event eas yesterday I was actually pretty interested because my HTC Sensation is nearing renewal but seeing the form factor of it just brings one word to mind and that word is "meh".

    I hate the fact that the iPhone has such a small screen but at least it looks quality. This is the equavalent of a 6.2 V8 engined car with rear facing reversing cameras, sat nav, heated seats and all the touchscreen toys you could want but it's packed into a Ford Focus. If the Ford Focus and an Aston Martin DB9 cost the same money for the same spec's which one would you go for?

    Nice features, nice tech, boring ass phone. Give us back our shiny!!! I mean this is Samsung, the same people who make the best looking TV in the world IMO (the 8000 series with the nearly there bezel) why is the design team for the Galaxy populated by unimaginative gimps??

    1. Silverburn

      Re: I hate to say it but.....

      On thar Interwebs there were photos of "supposedly" S3 prototypes...one that caught my eye was one that had a nearly edge-to-edge screen, and iphone-ish profile, including the metal band. It looks bloody good, so there's no lack of design skills in S.

      The official roundy corners version was a bit of a let-down though. Maybe it'll look/feel better in the real.

    2. Giles Jones Gold badge

      Re: I hate to say it but.....

      The OSes have stood still for some time. There's small improvements, but Microsoft is the only one making huge leaps. Obviously if you make a huge leap you can end up leaping off a cliff, but they're at least trying. It seems to me like Android and iOS are just copying each other.

      1. Silverburn
        Windows

        Re: I hate to say it but.....@ GIles

        Microsoft is the only one making huge leaps.

        ...backwards.

  27. cs94njw
    FAIL

    Three got a small problem

    Just rang Three twice today to pre-order. Both times got through to Bangalore, and they claim they're not taking pre-orders yet. Even though the website says to call.

    Although the My 3 site is down, so perhaps it's In Progress.

    1. Andrew James

      Re: Three got a small problem

      Who was it that you spoke to in Bangalore? Bob, John or David? Its usually one of those three whenever i speak to a call centre out there.

  28. Giles Jones Gold badge

    Better screen, better processor, better camera, yaaaaawn. (Just like most phone releases in the past 5 years).

  29. cs94njw
    Thumb Up

    Bangalore just rang. Apparently they've had an email from management saying they can take pre-orders now. Blue one pre-ordered ;)

    All-you-can-eat-data

    2,000 minutes

    5,000 Three-to-Three minutes

    5,000 texts

    £34 a month.

    £0 upfront

  30. hexx

    fugly - that's all

  31. spegru

    Rounded Corners

    I notice something different about the styling. Rounded corners yes but *gently* rounded and the back is also bevelled.

    Looks like Samsung have been avoiding the iphone-look to me

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The S III monitors what you're doing to make guesses about what you'll do next.

    now He's picked up his toolbox... now He's going through the contents... He's in a hurry... now He's grabbed something... now He's looking at me... now He's smiling, He is very happy [auto-post the image to His FB profile, de-skewed]... now He's coming back... now He wants to... now he's taking a sw

  33. Sir Smokesalot

    Free Tab on pre-order @ CPW

    Bullet bitten, Desire on last legs.....Nice bonus via Carphone warehouse, Free Galaxy tab when pre-ordered....gotta be worth a punt @ ~£40 a month.

  34. DrXym

    I like that it has a micro SD slot. Too many phones including some Android ones are omitting this feature in a cynical attempt to push consumers to "buy up" to more expensive models to get the storage they need.

    The other specs look great too but I don't think much of the design which just resembles any other Samsung phone, just bigger.

  35. ABee
    Happy

    Nice to see...

    ... a tech product launch where the 50+ year old CEO / "chief technical bloke" looks smart rather than looking scruffy in dodgy jeans and an un-tucked shirt / polo neck...

    1. Andrew James

      Re: Nice to see...

      I agree. I wear a suit for most of my awake time. Nice to see the phone wont make my suit look silly. Shame i will have to buy a white or blue suit to match the phone though.

  36. Neil Charles

    Abandoning oversized phones

    My HTC Desire HD has been great, but I won't be getting another huge phone next time around as there's a better way to go.

    4.8" is an awkward lump to stick in your pocket and then you've got to worry about protecting that screen from your keys etc. Screen protectors are ok but it seems a shame to stick a (quickly scuffed) bit of plastic over your lovely crisp screen. Proper cases make it even bigger! If you're carrying a bag - which you probably will be if you're using it for work - then you might as well take a tablet.

    I picked up a wireless only HTC Flyer for £200 on Amazon not long ago and just use the phone as a wifi hotspot when I need to. Would much rather carry a sensible sized phone with good battery life and share the connection now.

    I can see there being a market for big phones but when you can get a decent tablet for £200, long term I think it will be a niche within the niche of people who want a high-end Android gadget.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: keys vs sceens problem

      i found the easy way round this is to have my phone in one pocket, and my keys in another......

  37. jason 7
    Devil

    Inductive charging.

    My other half asked if her Galaxy Note she ordered would have a super inductive magnetic docking station like my Palm Pre 2.

    I just laughed at her for an hour.

    That told her.

  38. Waspy
    Meh

    Battery not as big as Moto's Razor Maxx though...

    ...2100 mAh compared to 3300. And as usual, a lot of hype over features that have been available for a few years now. Yeah I know, these features are probably more polished and easy to use than hacked on and third party apps, but people are always amazed when I tell them that their crappy 2 year old HTC can also do Siri-like tricks by simply going to the Market and downloading one of the many voice-control apps, not to mention the fact that most-people don't realise that since FroYo Google has had built-in voice-funtionality.

    Got to admit, the eye tracking thing is clever, but TouchWiz looks garish as always. Basically, it is probably really nice but not as amazing as Samsung likes to think...so not too different from an iPhone launch really

  39. Andrew James

    Why hasn't anyone created a gadget yet to plug into an iPod dock that then connects to microUSB for playback & control of audio through an iPod compatible hifi?

    Yes i know i can use the headphone jack. But that wont let me use the remote to skip tracks etc.

    I like my Android, but my house, and those of friends and family are increasingly becoming populated with iPod docks and being able to plug my music into them would be a big advantage.

    1. KjetilS

      In order to make gear that utilizes the iPod-connector, you have to get a lisence from Apple. I don't see Apple approving an adapter like that any day soon.

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