The Fall Smartphone Frenzy!

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This fall has been a crazy one so far because of all those product announcements we're getting. It's like they're trying to drain our wallets even before we acquired the money! I wanna know what you, the readers, are planning to get for the Christmas season. Participate in the polls below and argue in the comments! Haha.

What smartphone are you planning to get?
	Moto X
	Xperia Z1
	Xperia Z Ultra
	Galaxy Note 3
	iPhone 5S
	iPhone 5C
	Lumia 1020
	LG G2
pollcode.com free polls

The Galaxy S4: Samsung's iPhone 4S.

I've been particularly known by my friends as an Apple fanboy (which I wholeheartedly admit) but that doesn't mean I ignore the rest of the products that are churning out of everyone else's factories. Samsung in particular has come from just another no-name phone manufacturer to the No. 1 phone maker in the world. From their low-end Galaxy Pocket to the Dual SIM Galaxy Grand to the flagship device last year that is the Galaxy S III, Samsung has proven to be synonymous to Android last year.

Riding on the success of the S III, Samsung has launched the Galaxy S4 a while ago (March 14 in the US). At a glance, it looks like the S III but it's actually larger, thinner, and lighter. It has a 5" Full HD Super AMOLED screen, which is what's a trend in recent Android phones like the Sony Xperia Z and the HTC Butterfly (Droid DNA in the US). Depending on where you live, it either has a Samsung Exynos 5 (which has 8 CORES!) or a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera. It runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean but with Samsung's TouchWiz on top. Samsung has also put a lot of new features including Air View and Air Gesture, Dual Shot, Drama Shot, and S Health.

Specs aside, this marks a change in Samsung's strategy for their flagship device. Design looks the same while updating the specs? This sounds like what Apple would do! They would do something that the industry calls a "tick-tock" strategy in the annual refresh cycles of the phones. The major redesigns, such as the iPhone 3G, 4 and 5, are the ticks while the incremental updates, such as the 3GS and the 4S, are the tocks. It may sound like it wouldn't work but Apple was able to gain mindshare large enough that they could get away from sticking to one design for 2 years.

The S4 looking like the S III means that Samsung is adopting that same strategy. They are confident enough that sales won't be affected despite the same design. They want to prove to us that they're just as popular as Apple is. They have proven their worth in marketing, so they're here to prove that the strategy works for them. I personally think that since they copied Apple's strategy, I think it will work. Too bad I still hate the design and the specs wowed me but aren't gonna woo me over to them. Yep, still want the iPhone.

Knock Samsung Out: Apple's Best Shot

Samsung has just launched their flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III. This is the phone that should try to take more chunks out of the plethora of current and new smartphone users, particularly ones from Apple with the hugely successful iPhone line.

The thing is though, putting the biases aside, I was disappointed with the Galaxy S III. The design looks cheap, despite having that quad-core processor and a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display. I actually thought that I would say, "Apple should wow us with the next iPhone or they'd get screwed". Instead, I thought of this:

"Apple, now's your chance."

The next iPhone should stand out, despite the fact that it will. The chances that it will not stand out are getting a bit higher, but I believe that if anyone can shock the world with an innovative device, it's Apple. Good luck.

The Galaxy S III is Not That Otherworldly

Photo from Samsung

Last week, Samsung has launched the phone that is said to be the main competitor to the iPhone, the Galaxy S III. 

Unleashed from the Mobile Unpacked event in May 3, the Galaxy S III was one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2012. Rumors were floating around the internet for the specs and features of this thing. It ranged from a dual-core to a quad-core processor, screen size of 4.6 to 4.8 inches.

Well, most of them came true. It will come with a quad-core Exynos processor, although it may come with a different processor when it reaches the United States. It has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1280x720 resolution. It comes with Android 4.0, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, out of the box, with TouchWiz Nature UX on top of it. Software features of the newest version of TouchWiz includes Smart Stay, which keeps the screen on when you look at the phone, even though you set the auto-off, and S Voice, which has advanced voice controls like being able to access the camera.

I honestly think that this phone has great specs, which is what the Galaxy S line has been known for. They really went all-out on this one, going so far as to "mimic" Apple with an exclusive launch event just for this, so I expected more, despite being an Apple fan.

Putting all biases aside, this is just a GOOD smartphone. And that means a lot. The specs were great, but I feel as if they've stepped back on the design. C'mon! This is a flagship phone, not some random phone release! I wanted to say that this is a true iPhone competitor, but it feels lacking at some point. Although I was surprised with the software they have shown, it really doesn't make up for the design.

Although the screen's very tempting, it still does not serve well for me as a phone, although it boils down to personal preference on this one.

Overall, I'm standing on my decision that this is a GOOD smartphone. This puts me in high hopes that Apple's next big thing will certainly compete well against the plethora of Android smartphones this year.