Cult of Android - page 23

Why Samsung’s design sucks, in a single image

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Want to sum up the difference between Apple and Samsung in a single image?

Don’t look at the logos. Don’t look at the operating systems. Don’t even look at what their respective gadgets look like.

Look at the lines. Look at the symmetry. Because Samsung can’t even get these basic things right.

Once you start looking closely, even Samsung’s best phones look like they were designed by a kindergartner.

Galaxy S6 blows away iPhone (and everything else) in pro camera tests

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Every smartphone maker promises us great photos from its latest devices, but few Android handsets are actually capable of taking them consistently. That’s not the case with the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, which are just as impressive as Samsung said they would be.

In the latest DxOMark tests, the trusted industry standard for camera and lens quality ratings, the Galaxy S6 edge’s 16-megapixel camera beats out the iPhone 6, the Galaxy Note 4, and all other competitors with top marks.

Google’s dirt-cheap cellphone network breaks all the rules

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Google took the wraps off its new wireless network called Project Fi today, revealing that it will sell basic plans with talk, text, Wi-Fi, tethering and international coverage for just $20 a month.

Rather than building out its own infrastructure for the wireless network, Google is partnering with both Sprint and T-Mobile, and will allow customers to seamlessly switch between the two networks for the fastest connection available at your current location.

Check out the Project Fi video below:

Google gets a surprise in search for Loch Ness Monster

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If anyone can find the Loch Ness Monster, it’s Google; nothing can escape its sophisticated Street View cameras.

When the search giant visited the Scottish loch to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the legend of Loch Ness with the help of divers and local experts, then, it’s perhaps unsurprising that it managed to capture something mysterious in the water.

Galaxy S6 cracks walnuts without picking up a scratch

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Should an Android app instructing people how to chop walnuts ever get developed, don’t be surprised if the first order of business is this: Place walnuts on surface of Galaxy S6. Then begin smashing nuts with another S6.

A pair of YouTube videos showing people using their S6 to crack walnuts may be a commentary on the durability of the Samsung phone versus say a certain smartphone that some say bends over time in a tight pocket.

Both videos end with the hands of the nut smasher flipping the phones screen up and turning them on to show they still work. Before you halt your search for your misplaced nutcracker, it is not known whether the videos are the products of pranksters using some sort of visual trickery.

Battle between iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 comes to a boil

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With strong reviews and positive word of mouth behind both the iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6, the battle between the two flagship devices is what the smartphone-watching world deserves.

But there’s one more question that precisely nobody’s been asking up until now: Which one would survive longer in a tub of boiling water?

Yep, as wacky stress tests go, you can forget about accusations of bending — this one takes the cake.

Google’s Snapseed app got much worse in version 2.0

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Available for both iOS and Android, Google’s Snapseed has long been one of my favorite on-the-go photo retouching apps. After a year without updates, then, I was excited to see Google update Snapseed to version 2.0, with several new features, including the ability to copy edits from one image to another, five new filters, adjustable lens blur, and brush tools.

Unfortunately, the Snapseed 2.0 update wasn’t all for the better. In fact, it stripped the app of one of its best features: the grunge filter.

Apple copycat Xiaomi complains others are copying its copies

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You know Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker which copied Apple designs en route to becoming the world’s most valuable startup?

Well, depending on who you are, get ready to bust out a tune on the world’s smallest violin, because Xiaomi’s quest to conquer the smartphone-owning world has apparently hit a bit of a snag: people keep copying its designs.

Yes, seriously.

Samsung follows Apple into luxury department store marketing

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It’s well known that Samsung is happy to take a bit of inspiration from Apple when it comes to the look and feel of its mobile devices, but it’s also willing to splash the cash to try and match Apple’s strategy of establishing itself as an upmarket designer brand.

At a time when Apple is focusing on getting its Apple Watch sold alongside luxury fashion brands in department stores, Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones have popped up in full-window displays as the chic Harrods store in London, where they will be displayed until April 26.

This wacky Samsung smartwatch looks like something He-Man would wear

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Samsung’s not had too much luck with smartwatches, but a newly-published patent application shows that it’s not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

The patent describes what is less a traditional watch than a wristband or He-Man-style manacle. It features a wraparound widescreen display, able to function in both bent and flat states, and describes its possible applications as multimedia viewing and communication.

After all, you never know when you’ll need to summon Battle Cat to help in your ongoing war with Skeletor and his cronies!

LG mocks Samsung for its BendGate problems

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The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a giant iPhone 6 ripoff. And like Apple’s bigger-than-big devices, it also comes with some bending problems.

Tests have found that the Galaxy S6 Edge is just as easy to bend as the iPhone 6 Plus, only its display is even more likely to crack. Samsung finally responded today, claiming the 110 lbs of pressure used in SquareTrade’s tests were way more than would be exerted in real-world use. LG isn’t letting Samsung’s bendgate problems go unnoticed though.

Take a look at this tweet they sent mocking Samsung:

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge’s bending problem is worse than iPhone’s

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Following the “Bendgate” rumors which dogged the iPhone 6 Plus last year, it was inevitable that Samsung’s next flagship phone was going to come under scrutiny the moment it landed in the hands of customers.

Samsung all but invited the comparison; putting out ads which boldly claimed its handsets could survive even the biggest butts. Well, the long-awaited Galaxy S6 Edge is finally out, and there’s good news and bad news for fans.

The good news? The phone’s as easy (or as difficult) to bend as the iPhone 6 Plus. The bad news? Its glass display is far more likely to crack under pressure.

Check out the video comparison below.

Samsung booted 15% of its management team after poor mobile sales

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15 percent of Samsung’s management left the company late last year following its dismal smartphone sales, according to a new report from Korea-based news outlet Yonhap News.

The tech giant had 1,219 management staff on its books as of 2014’s Q3 — only for this number to fall by 177 people by the end of the year. 44 of the 177 people who resigned or were fired were from Samsung’s IT & Mobile Communications department.

Ouch!