After the rumors about the processor and the huge battery, cameras that might be coming in the Galaxy S5, we are now hearing that Samsung is considering to place a Quad HD screen with the screen resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 and along with that, there would be a fingerprint scanner as well as an Iris scanner. Imagine, having such a beautiful display, would really be good for the users, or would it drain power unnecessarily? Because, this is the resolution that you see on a 27-inch iMac from Apple.

According to BGR, contrary to the earlier rumors, Samsung will be launching two versions of the Galaxy S5, where the difference would be in the material used for the exterior – Plastic and Metal.

Earlier:
The Galaxy S5 with a metal body is quite certain, as suggested by a report as Samsung is seriously looking to move ahead of the plastic construction they have used in several Galaxy devices, and the S5 being the next best flagship device, the company would be looking to make the best that remains the best choice for the entire year.

There are several concept photos and videos being sent by the designers and fans but Samsung hasn’t said anything officially about the next Galaxy. Taiwanese company Catcher was one of the first to get a deal for the metal casings for an upcoming smartphone from Samsung, and there are expectations that it could be the S5 for which Catcher is going to start the production soon.

Earlier:
A video showing the concept of the Galaxy S5 showed quite a lot of high-end stuff and if this is all true, we are going to see a beast. That includes a 64-bit octa-core chipset, 3GB of RAM and a 5-inch (yes again a 5-inch one) with a better resolution, i.e. 2560 x 1440 pixels. The latest Snapdragon 805 processor was launched with the 16-megapixel camera support, and thus we are going to see a 16MP camera in this, and it would record 4k videos. The Android 4.4 KitKat OS is obvious, and we expecting to see a 4000 mAh battery packed in.

But, this is just a fan-made video. And still, we would be pretty happy to see if all this comes to reality.

Samsung has never kept the Galaxy series dull, but in that too, we get to see some specific devices getting their sucessor models in quick succession, and one of such is the Samsung Galaxy Core which was launched earlier this year, and we are seeing two new Core devices being announced already – Galaxy Core Plus and Galaxy Core Advance. There are no huge changes between these different smartphones, but Samsung knows how to make the most out of the successful mid-range devices and gain the market share.

Let us compare all the three with all the different aspects taken into consideration.

Design, screen and display

There is no much difference in the three in terms of design, as Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones are almost the same at looks. But still, the Core Advance at least has got some difference on the front side where below the screen, there are three physical buttons instead of the single home button seen in the other two. The display is the same in all the three, except that the Galaxy Core Advance has a bigger 4.7-inch display, but the resolution is the same – WVGA.

Smartphone	Screen and Display
Samsung Galaxy Core	4.3-inch, TFT, 480 x 800 pixels
Samsung Galaxy Core Plus	4.3-inch, TFT, 480 x 800 pixels
Samsung Galaxy Core Advance	4.7-inch, TFT, 480 x 800 pixels

Processor, RAM and Storage

Again here, Samsung has done nothing much with the processor though we aren’t sure about the chipsets used in the Galaxy Core Plus and Advance devices, but the clocking speed is the same in all the three devices. The RAM is of 768MB in the Core Plus, while the other two have got 1GB RAM. The Galaxy Core Plus has an internal storage of 4GB, of which again some space might be used up by the system files and the OS, while the Galaxy Core and the Advance have got an internal storage of 8GB.

Processor

Smartphone	Processor – Chipset
Samsung Galaxy Core	Snapdragon MSM8225 S4 Play, Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A5, Adreno 203 GPU
Samsung Galaxy Core Plus	Dual-core 1.2 GHz
Samsung Galaxy Core Advance	Dual-core 1.2 GHz

RAM & Storage

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Smartphone	RAM, Storage
Samsung Galaxy Core	1GB RAM, 8GB Internal (4.5GB user available), Expandable to 64GB
Samsung Galaxy Core Plus	1GB RAM, 4GB Internal, Expandable to 64GB
Samsung Galaxy Core Advance	1GB RAM, 8GB Internal, Expandable to 64GB

Camera – Rear and Front

The 5-megapixel camera on the rear side of the Samsung Galaxy Core was quite good, and thus Samsung hasn’t made any changes to that as we see the same configuration in all the three smartphones, but the video recording was improved from 480p to HD 720p video recording in the Galaxy Core Plus, while we expect the same HD recording in the Advance, although there is no confirmation from the company for now.

Smartphone	Camera – Rear and Front
Samsung Galaxy Core	5-megapixel, 2592 x 1944 pixels, Autofocus, LED Flash, 480p video recording, VGA front camera
Samsung Galaxy Core Plus	5-megapixel, 2592 x 1944 pixels, Autofocus, LED Flash, 720p video recording, VGA front camera
Samsung Galaxy Core Advance	5-megapixel, Autofocus, LED Flash, VGA front camera

Operating System, Battery & Connectivity

Both the later versions of the Galaxy Core, i.e. the Plus and Advance versions come with the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS, and they have a 2000 mAh battery in them, but the Galaxy Core was launched with the OS version that was latest during the launch, i.e. Android 4.1.2, although one can easily update it to 4.2 version. The battery in the Galaxy core has a capacity of 1800 mAh. The connectivity options are quite the same in all the three smartphones, though the Core Plus comes with the Wi-Fi direct feature.

Smartphone	OS, Battery, Connectivity
Samsung Galaxy Core	Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS 1800 mAh battery Optional Dual-SIM, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, MicroUSB 2.0
Samsung Galaxy Core Plus	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS 2000 mAh battery Optional Dual-SIM, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n,Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, MicroUSB 2.0
Samsung Galaxy Core Advance	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS 2000 mAh battery Optional Dual-SIM, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, MicroUSB 2.0

Overall Comparison

Samsung definitely knows how to attract buyers to choose the Galaxy smartphones, because although the Galaxy Core was one of the very well sold devices earlier this year, the company came up with the Plus and Advance versions of it, with no big differences. There are some areas where the Advance or Plus could be better than the first gen Galaxy Core, but that is not enough for someone to upgrade to the later ones. But of course, if you are thinking to buy a new mid-range smartphone, better wait until the Galaxy Core Advance is officially launched – especially for the improved battery life, better RAM than the Galaxy Core Plus and a little bigger screen (only if that matters to you).

The Samsung Galaxy Core was one of the very neat mid-range Galaxy series smartphone from Samsung, and it had gained some popularity against the competitor Sony Xperia M for the camera and the screen. Now, the company has announced the successor of it, with the Samsung Galaxy Core Advance with a 4.7-inch display being announced. The new smartphone comes with three physical buttons on the front bottom unlike the one home button that is seen in most of the other Galaxy devices.

The 4.7-inch display of the Galaxy Core Advance has a WVGA display with the screen resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. Internally, the device is powered by a Dual-core processor clocking at 1.2 GHz, and thus except for the screen size, everything else looks quite the same because the Galaxy Core had the same display resolution as well as the processor. There is 1GB of RAM and an internal storage of 8GB with the storage expansion possible to 64GB with the MicroSD card. It runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS.

Camera wise too there is no difference as the Galaxy Core Advance has a 5-megapixel rear auto-focus camera with the LED flash and a 0.3-megapixel VGA front facing camera. Samsung has done a little improvement to the battery capacity, where the Advance has a 2000 mAh battery (the Core had an 1800 mAh one). This is a single-SIM variant with the 3G connectivity with a plethora of other options to connect to the Internet and other devices around.

Now, the actual good things start here. The Galaxy Core Advance has got a few good features which would be helpful in the accessibility and usability. These include:

• Optical scan: This technology would scan the image and read out the text by recognizing it
• Light sensor: The light sensing technology uses the phone’s camera to sense the light direction and brightness
• Instant voice recorder: Very easy and simplified access to make quick voice notes
• TTS (Text to speech) functionality as well as Voice guided camera functions to take the pictures by speaking out the number of faces to be recognized and their standing location
• Screen curtain: Operate commands on blank screen to ensure privacy and saving battery life

Apart from these, Samsung is including the standard Samsung smart features such as S Voice, S Translator, Sound & Shot, Group Play and Easy Mode in the device interface to enhance the user experience. The color options available are Deep Blue and Pearl White, but the details about the pricing and availability of the Galaxy Core Advance are not available for now. The expected time is early 2014.

Samsung Galaxy Core Advance Specifications

• 4.7-inch capacitive touchscreen
• WVGA display, 480 x 800 pixels screen resolution
• 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM
• 8GB internal storage, expandable to 64GB with MicroSD card
• 5-megapixel Autofocus rear camera, LED flash
• VGA front camera
• 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS with Glonass
• Battery: 2000 mAh
• Dimensions – 133.3 x 70.5 x 9.7 mm
• Weight: 145g

Micromax has launched the new Canvas series smartphone, the Micromax Canvas 2.2 A114 with a 5-inchcapacitive touchscreen having a qHD display with the screen resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, and a quad-core processor added to that, and the pricing is set somewhere in between the mid-range devices such as the Canvas Doodle, and the high-end ones like Canvas Turbo from the same company.

Although the not-so-good display, the Canvas 2.2 has got a quad-core processor from Mediatek, which clocks at 1.3 GHz, and it is the MT6582M processor. Running the Android 4.2 Jelly Vean OS, the device would carry an internal storage of 4GB and that can be expanded to 32GB with the MicroSD card support. There is a RAM of 1GB for the multitasking support, and the Canvas A114 has two cameras – 8-megapixel rear auto focus camera with the LED flash, having a 1080p Full HD video recording, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

There is a dual-SIM support with the Dual standby, and it’s GSM + WCDMA support in this, with the 3G HSPA+ connectivity along with the other options such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS with aGPS and the battery has a capacity of 2000 mAh.

Similar to the other Canvas smartphones from Micromax, the Canvas 2.2 has the support for both Hindi and English languages. The smartphone comes with various pre-loaded applications, including Spuul, Hike, Misecurity, Bubble X Slice, Game Hub, SMS Chat, Dancing Bubbles, MI Life.

The Micromax Canvas 2.2 A114 is priced at Rs. 12,999 and it would be available in Black color option. Micromax has launched even the Micromax Canvas Blaze MT500 for the price of Rs. 11999 this week.

Micromax Canvas 2.2 A114 Specifications

• 5.5-inch capacitive touchscreen
• qHD display, 540 x 960 pixels screen resolution
• 1.3 GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6582M processor, 1GB RAM
• 4GB internal storage, expandable to 32GB with MicroSD card
• 8-megapixel rear camera, LED flash, 1080p video recording
• 2-megapixel front facing camera
• Dual-SIM – GSM + WCDMA with Dual standby
• 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with aGPS
• 2000 mAh battery

Sony confirms Android 4.3 rolling for Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra

Sony has announced that the Android 4.3 firmware update is now rolling to the Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra. New features include improvements to Sony’s native app portfolio such as Messaging, My Xperia, Smart Connect, Small apps, Track ID and Sony Select. It also includes “Xperia Themes”, a custom user interface with downloadable UI packs from Sony Select.

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra also gets the Smart Social Camera allowing users to download “Xperia camera apps” directly from within the viewfinder. This is on top of the native benefits of Android 4.3 including a smoother performance from Project Butter. The rollout for the other Sony Xperia handsets are “right around the corner” according to the company.

As expected, Android 4.3 is hitting the Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra in the form of build version 14.2.A.0.290. It comes with the same 3.4 kernel.

Many Xperia users around the world will be very excited about this update and hoping to get the update soon. All the Users of Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra, have a look for the update on your phone which will be received according to your carrier and region any time.