Apple iphone 5 --Vs-- samsung galaxy S3

The iPhone 5 is here, and selling by the million. As expected, it features a larger screen, a faster processor and a slightly-improved camera. But the real question is - which one should you buy, the iPhone 5 or the Samsung Galaxy S3?

We’ve taken a look at the features of both phones, put them in the ring and told them only one is coming out alive. Here's how they fared…

Design

iPhone 5 - 7.6mm thick, metal casing, non-removable battery
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 8.6mm thick, plastic casing, removable battery

Apple has taken aggressive measures to make the iPhone 5 as thin as possible. The rear layer of glass has gone, the phone uses a teeny nano-SIM and the screen technology merges its constituent layers to squish everything down as far as possible. As a result it's just 7.6mm thick, a full millimetre less than the Samsung Galaxy S3 - which is 8.6mm thick.

It's extremely impressive, and Apple has also tweaked the design of the phone to make it feel a bit less severe in the hand, despite being mega-thin. Its edges are slightly bevelled, rather than stepped, so it feels little more… hand-friendly. You still might want to grab a case for the utmost in hand comfort though. Crucially, the new etched aluminium back is much less slippy than previous versions and build quality is exceptional.

There is one slight issue, though, that's a bit of a problem if you opt for the black version of the iPhone 5. As its rear is aluminium, it is quite scratch-prone. In the black edition, any scratches are clearly visible as they reveal the bright silver of the aluminium underneath.

It's not such a problem with the white version, but has already left many new iPhone owners a little annoyed. Apple has admitted this issue, but says it's normal for an aluminium device.


Samsung's great white (well, pebble blue and white) hope for 2012 has an all-plastic finish that uses a flimsy, ultra-thin back cover.  This is the one part of the phone that has caused the most criticism, as it doesn't make it feel all that much like a device you should be spending £500 on, even if in practical terms it's just as tough.


The Samsung Galaxy S3 is also significantly larger than the iPhone 5, thanks to its ginormous 4.8in screen. It's 71mm wide, while the iPhone 5 is around 58mm wide. Our top recommendation is to get hold of a Galaxy S3 before buying if it's on your hit list. Some will find it a bit too big for comfort.

Accessories
iPhone 5 - new-design Earpod headphones, new Lightning power connector
Samsung Galaxy S3 - microUSB charge cable, Samsung noise isolating IEM earphones, adapter

We don't normally compare the accessories of phones when we give them the head-to-head treatment, but Apple's accessories this time around are of note. The iPhone 5's headphones have been given a completely new design, one you just don't see elsewhere.



The headphones are called Earpods, and they're not the typical iPhone buds of old, or the common noise isolating IEM type either. They're small, made of plastic and are designed to nestle into your ear canals, offering a bit more noise isolation than the earbuds of old.

They're incredibly comfortable and fit securely too, and crucially for fellow train/coach/car/plane passengers, the Earpods leak much less sound to the outside world. They also sound pretty good too. Apple has completely redesigned the sound ports to boost bass and even out mid-range. The result is a surprisingly good listen, with good bass response and a notably wide sound stage. That said, they still don't block out external noise enough for our liking and we're only talking good for a £25 set of earphones - don't ditch your custom IEMs just yet.

The power cable of the iPhone 5 is also different, using the new 8-pin socket rather than the 30-pin type that has been in use for years. Apple calls it Lightning, which linguistically fits-in rather nicely with its Thunderbolt computer port. You also get a power adapter for the cable and a SIM removal tool.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is more ordinary in its approach, though no less useful. It features a microUSB charge cable, a power adapter to plug this cable into and a standard pair of Samsung-branded IEM noise isolating earphones. The latter offer some external noise isolation but aren't actually that great when it comes to sound quality.

Screen
iPhone 5 - 4in IPS, 1,136 x 640 resolution
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 4.8in Super AMOLED, 1,280 x 720 resolution

Every generation of iPhone since the original of the species back in 2007 has uses the same size screen - 3.5in. That has all changed with the iPhone 5. It now has a widescreen 4in display of 1,136 x 640 pixels.

It's this change of screen style that will make the iPhone 5 able to offer a larger screen without making the phone any wider. Pixel density is the same as the iPhone 4S too, although the new aspect will make it much better to watch movies on.

Many apps have already been tweaked to support the new longer screen while older ones will just leave bars where the extra pixels now live.


The Samsung Galaxy S3 cares a lot less about how wide it is than the iPhone 5. With a gigantic 4.8in display, the Galaxy will be too wide for some hands - it's a whopping 7.6cm across. Screen pixel density will be comparable to the new iPhone, though, with 720 x 1,280 spread across the display.


Each phone uses quite a different screen tech type. The Samsung Galaxy S3 features a Super AMOLED panel, while the iPhone 5 uses a new take on the IPS technology that has been used in iPads and iPhones for years.

Super AMOLEDs offer superb black response and vivid colours, but IPS screens tend to look a little more natural. In our recent comparison of the Samsung and the HTC One X, we found in favour of the HTC's IPS type.

In bright sunlight, the iPhone 5 is the clear winner of the two. It's less reflective, offers greater maximum brightness, supplying much better visibility in this sort of challenging situation. In a dark room, though, AMOLED comes into its own.



Software
iPhone 5 - iOS 6
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (4.1 incoming), TouchWiz UI

The battle of iOS versus Android is one we've been watching ever since 2008, when Android was born. Android has changed a good deal more than iOS in that time, and is finally getting close to becoming as slick and quick as iOS. Apple's OS has always been pretty nippy.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 isn't quite there yet, as in most territories it still uses Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich rather than the latest Jelly Bean version. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean sees the start of an initiative called Project Butter. This is designed to take full use of the processor power available, with the aim of running Android at a solid 60fps.

Android offers more integrated features an flexibility than iOS too. You can even change the way your phone responds to basic functions, such as replacing the SMS app with a third-party one. Apple doesn't let you do anything like this. And, of course, the home screens of Android give you much more control over how your phone looks than the rigid app menu layout of iOS.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 also benefits from a blunder made by Apple. iOS got rid of the Google mapping solution that had been in use since the early days of iPhones, replacing it with Apple's own stab. At present, Apple's new Maps app doesn't work too well though. Its maps are out of date, with towns mis-named and many roads simply missing.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses good old Google Maps, which works a treat. And actually features maps from this decade.

Samsung's phone also benefits from a few tweaks added-in with the TouchWiz UI. Most notably, it brings features that were only introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. These include monitoring for eye movement before switching off the backlight and integrated NFC pairing.

Power
iPhone 5 - 1GB RAM, A6 processor, power TBC
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 1GB RAM, Exynos 4412, Quad-core 1.4GHz

One area where the Samsung Galaxy S3 might beat the next iPhone is its processor's figures. The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses the impressive Exynos 4412 chip, which has four cores and runs at 1.4GHz.


Annoyingly, Apple hasn't revealed in-depth technical information about the CPU. At present, we only know that it is two times faster than the iPhone 4S's chip, which has a dual-core 1GHz CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics. Will it be quad-core? Will it offer face-melting speed? You'll have to come back in a while to find out. We'll update this feature as soon as we have the full details.

Connectivity
iPhone 5 - new proprietary 8-pin connector, no microSD, microSIM
Samsung Galaxy S3 - microUSB, microSD, microSIM

Perhaps the most earth-shattering change in the iPhone 5 is that it rejects the 30-pin connector used across iPods, iPads and iPhones in favour of a much-smaller 8-pin model. This is comparable in size to the microUSB standard, although it's not exactly the same as microUSB. Apple is never keen on going with the bog-standard option when it can make its own version.



The problem with changing connector is that the new iPhone will be incompatible with current iPhone docking accessories - not good news if you own something like a B&W Zeppelin. However, Apple does offer a connector that acts as a bridge between the old 30-pin socket and the new 8-pin one.

It's all change, but the iPhone 5 doesn't bring expandable memory to the series - no iPhone to date has offered a memory card slot. You're also mostly tied to iTunes when transferring content like music and pictures to the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is pretty much the polar opposite in its approach. It lets you use microSD cards and uses the microUSB standard. Handily, it's MHL compliant, too, able to output HD video with surround sound audio to an HDMI port when used with the right cable. Unlike the iPhone, the Samsung doesn't rely on sync software to transfer files directly either - you can drag and drop files when plugged into a computer over USB.

Cameras
iPhone 5 - 8MP, LED flash
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 8MP, LED flash

Although many elements of the iPhone 5 have been improved hugely over its predecessor, the camera has only been given a slight upgrade. It's still an 8-megapixel sensor, and it still uses a pretty standard LED flash. Its aperture is f/2.4 and it uses a five-element lens. Like the iPhone 4S, the sensor offers backside illumination.


The Samsung Galaxy S3 has an 8-megapixel sensor and reams of features including image stabilisation, touch focus, 1080p video capture and an LED flash. However, its image quality is at best on-par with the iPhone 4S's camera (and outperformed by it in some conditions) and we hope that the iPhone 5 will offer some significant improvements.

The iPhone 5 also offers an impressive looking panorama mode - just tap and pan to automatically create an image. Unlike other similar panorama modes we've seen this one keeps the full size image, giving you up to 28 megapixel images - nice.

Battery
iPhone 5 - 1440mAh
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 2100mAh

The iPhone 5 hasn't gotten a huge battery increase over its predecessor.  The iPhone 4S has a 1430mAh unit, and the iPhone 5 a 1440mAh unit. It'll last for 40 hours of audio playback, or up to eight hours of talk time, with 3G enabled.

Also, like previous iPhones you can't swap out the battery on the iPhone 5, so if you're caught short without power you're done for... well, your phone is anyway.

Samsung made a particularly strong effort with the latest Galaxy's battery, outstripping most of its rivals by around 20 per cent. For example, the HTC One X uses an 1800mAh unit and the Sony Xperia S a 1750mAh battery.

In spite of the larger screen and only slight capacity increase, the iPhone 5 betters the stamina offered by the iPhone 4S. Apple must have put some real effort into this.

Verdict
More than is often the case, the battle between the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 is the very definition of the case between iOS and Android, between Apple and Google. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is more flexible, with expandable memory and a more malleable OS. However, the metal body of Apple's phone feels a lot more premium, and is a much friendlier design for those with less than giant hands. And with the larger 4in screen, it won't feel quite so tiny next to the Samsung Galaxy S3, either.

Samsung Galaxy Note 800 (GT-N8000) Review

Looking past all the drama surrounding the Galaxy Tablets and the Apple iPad, what we’re essentially here to tell you is whether you should or shouldn’t spend your hard earned money on a tablet that could be an iPad threat. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 800 aka Note 10.1 (GT-N8000) is the latest in the high end segment and has all the makings of a fully functional, versatile, easy to manage device—but does it prove to be all that the advertisements claim? Read on to find out.

Design and Build
To set the record straight, the Galaxy Note 800 looks nothing like the iPad. While each has its own fundamental USPs and design forms, we’re not here to compare just yet. The Note 800 is a sleek, polished, professional looking device that, in spite of its large size, is quite lightweight at 600g and easy to manage. It’s one of the thinnest devices yet, at just 8.9mm in depth. The 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen features a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution that doesn’t even begin to compare to the New iPad’s Retina Display. It still is, nevertheless, quite a vibrant display with 16 million colours squeezing out their best.

Excellent look and feel

The stereo speakers placed on either side of the display focus the audio directly at you, making for a better experience if you’re watching a video without headphones. At the bottom of the device is Samsung’s proprietary USB/Charging port, which we have to admit, still looks similar to Apple’s 30-pin connector. A microphone is also located here at the bottom in case you need to make those absolutely urgent calls and can’t quite reach your headset. Speaking of calls, the Note 800  has a microSIM card slot along with a microSD card slot on the top to supplement the onboard storage of either 8GB, 16GB or 32GD with up to 32GB more. The flaps for the card slots have a really good feel to them, which shows just how much attention to detail the company has taken. The Power/screen lock, volume rocker 3.5 mm handsfree socket are also placed here.

What sets the Galaxy Note 800  apart from its peers is the little IR sensor at the top. This coupled with a preloaded app called Smart Remote will let you connect to most HDTVs for remote access, making your tablet a fully functional remote control. A 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash is placed at the rear with a secondary 1.9 megapixel front facing camera placed just above the display.

5MP shooter along with a LED flash

Samsung’s pudgy little S Pen is neatly tucked away in to the bottom right hand corner of the tablet. The company has also graciously provided plenty of extra stylus pins should you be a little too rough with the one that comes out of the box. It’s lightweight and easy to maneuver even if it is a little on the thicker side.

If you’ve seen the ads, yes, the Galaxy Note 800 looks and feels just as slick as it does on TV.

Features and Perfromnce
Interface
Samsung has gone with itsTouchWiz Nature UI for the Note 800, so if you’ve used the Galaxy S III, then you’ll be very familiar with the interface. With Android 4.0.4 under the hood, the interface is quick and painless. There’s very little visible lag when switching between home screens or apps; everything is extremely responsive. We also really liked the sensitivity of the touchscreen, which responds to even the slightest touch, so you’ll barely have to press your finger on the screen. The smooth UI is possible thanks to the generous 2GB RAM and quad-core Exynos 4412 running at 1.4GHz.

Interface is quick and fluid

The two main highlights of the Note 800 are, of course, the new S Pen technology and the ability to view two apps simultaneously side-by-side. Starting with the S Pen, Samsung has incorporated Wacom’s pen input technology and the Note 800 now has 1024 points of sensitivity, so the stylus feels a lot more like a real pen. For instance, the width of lines drawn in the S Memo app will actually expand depending on how much pressure you apply on the tip. This does make drawing and sketching a lot more accurate. Pulling the S pen out of its dock brings up a list of apps designed for it on the right. You can either have this shortcuts toolbar open up or choose to launch an app automatically. The choice of optimised apps include S Note, S Planner, Crayon Physics, Photoshop Touch and Polaris Office.

Multiscren works well but only for a limitd number of apps

The split-screen function works well, but sadly, only let’s you split a handful of apps side by side. Your choice of apps for split screen mode include Polaris Office, S Note, Video Player, Gallery and Email. Sadly, you can’t watch a YouTube video through the app and browse the web at the same time. This feature should have been applicable to all apps or at least all of Google’s apps.

 price qround 38000 rrupees

Toshiba u840

The Toshiba Satellite U840 is the latest consumer Ultrabook from the company and the first to offer a 14-inch display, which was nice and vibrant when we got the chance to see it in action.
The hardware load-out is fairly typical for the latest generation of Ultrabooks, with a third-gen Intel Core processor and up 8GB RAM. There is a 32GB SSD to keep things speedy and 500GB of hard drive on offer.
With launch prices starting at £599, this Ultrabook isn't hugely expensive, but at the same time lacks some of the striking looks of something like the Asus Zenbook. That said, the brushed-metal finish has a nice premium sheen to it.
Unlike some Ultrabooks, the Satellite U840 doesn't taper down to a fine point at the leading edge, aping the style of the MacBook Air, which makes the 19.9mm thickness look a little fatter than it perhaps is.

It weighs 1.59kg, light enough to port around, with a claimed battery life of nine hours, something we can't verify from the short time we've spent with the U840 so far.

In terms of connectivity you're well catered for, with 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, HDMI, a card reader and Ethernet port. You get stereo speakers which feature SRS audio enhancement.
We like the feel of the keyboard, although there is a little more flex than we'd like on the chiclet-style keys. The backlighting is a nice touch, perfect for those wanting to work in dim conditions.
Overall the Toshiba Satellite U840 looks like a solid offering. Although it swings in with Ultrabook specs, it perhaps lacks the drama of some of the rival models with want to stake their claim of being the slimmest or the lightest: Toshiba's offering looks and feels practical, with plenty of space on offer for daily computing tasks.
The Toshiba Satellite U840 will be available from Q3, from £599.