by Adam L Stanley | Jul 16, 2013 | Technology
I made the switch … again.
Samsung Galaxy S4
I have only had the device for a couple of days and must say that I’m already falling in love with it. I’m not going to do a full review but I will post some of the things I really like about the device.
Now I do realize that many of you read my blog when I reviewed the BlackBerry z10 and was so excited about that device. It is possibly true that in my desire to finally move on from the iPhone I did in fact latch on to whatever option was available. So in reviewing the samsung galaxy s4 I will both compare it to the iPhone as well as to the BlackBerry z10. I will say that the reason I have not given the blackberry further consideration is that the application store is still incredibly lacking in options. Availability of apps, movies, and music is still too limited for me to give the phone serious consideration. I will also add that this is purely a personal review and is not necessarily imply I would support deploying the S4 in a corporate setting.
Voice recognition
One of the things that I immediately like about the Samsung is the ease with which you can speak to type. I am currently using this functionality and I am amazed at the ease with which it captures my words. I type them immediately and it does not need to have all of the user interaction that is needed with Siri.
Applications
As I mentioned before the apps available for the BlackBerry were pretty sad. I had heard that the Android pad even more apps than the iPhone and I am pleased to say that so far that does seem the case. With one relatively minor exceptions all of the applications that I used on my iPhone 4s I have been able to download the exact same application or quite comparable substitute on the s4. Even better certain applications are easier to use of a better interface on the Android OS for device then on the iPhone 4s. The large screen also makes viewing several of the apps a better experience.
Apps that are better on the Samsung Galaxy S4:
1) Whatsapp – great communication app that works whether your friends have blackberry, Android, or iOS. The interface looks better and the options are broader on the Android.
2) Photos and folders. Transferring pics from PC to phone is so much easier.
3) Creating folders of similar apps is better. on iOS, there is a limit in the number of apps you can group.
4) Google maps of course comes native.
***Updated 22 July 2013. stay tuned for more.
Power and charging
In the grand scheme of things this is a very minor and petty item however I am happy that I can use the same charger that I use for blackberry when I charge my S4. The battery life is said to be better on the nee device but I have yet to actually notice a major difference.
Controlling television and DVR
Oh em gee! of all of the features on the phone, this one has to be one of the coolest. Someone out there will have had a Samsung for quite a while and think that this is old news. However the ability to set up the phone to serve as a remote control for any television in your house is absolutely astounding. I tried it with one of mine televisions and I am not exaggerating when I say that it took 20 seconds. It is easy, fast, clear and does not require purchasing or installing a side application. In fact, I had previously installed the Xfinity application from Comcast and will keep that but it is absolutely secondary. If you just want to flip channels and control remote like we did in the old days, all you need is the Samsung.
Notifications
The last time I tried Android I hated the notifications and I still do. They are too hard to customize to turn off or to minimize. Unlike with the iPhone there is no central place where I can go to turn off notifications by application. I also have no way to specify what type of things I want to be notified about for applications.
Making the switch
Understandably, one of the biggest challenges in making the move from one mobile platform to another is the switching. This was certainly the case with me and perhaps one of the reasons that I stayed with iPhone for so long. In fact, my partner made the upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5 and within hours was up and running as if no change had been made. Even if simply going from a non smartphone to an iPhone 5 the transition will be so much easier and one of the benefits of the iPhone remains its tremendous ease of use.
For me, making the switch turned out to be relatively easy although three or four days later I continue to tweak my new phone. For syncing my contacts I chose to use music application cost approximately 3 bucks and make the transition quite easy. For anyone who is not completely sold on Android that would still like to stick with the iCloud environment smoothsync is probably the best option. This is also a good option for those who have, like me, multiple devices across both platforms including, for instance, an iPad.
I also signed up for a Samsung sync and transfer application called kies. However, I am not sure how much I will actually use it as I would prefer not to move from one data hostage taker to another . While I do like the Samsung device the question for me is more about platform and applications and I might move from Samsung to something else at any point.
Things I do not like
1)On the iPhone, you can receive an email with a date and contact information in it and automatically convert that into a calendar entry. You cannot do that on the galaxy unless I’m completely missing something.
2)Storage absolutely sucks on the phone. You buy a device that allegedly had 16 GB of memory. You quickly realize it really only has half of that because of the bloatware you can’t remove.
Overall, I must say that I really like the device and I think that it will last beyond the 14 day trial offered by AT&T. I do have to get use to some of the new quirks, for instance, the cut and paste functionality. I am also somewhat frustrated by the navigation between apps and the notification system. However, I suspect that the majority of my problems with the phone are more related to a learning curve and the fact that I have had an iPhone since the very first one was issued several years ago.
If you have tried it out, I would love to hear what you think! And I am sure there are lots of iPhone fans out there that would tell me that I have lost my mind and perhaps I have. I also have one friend who was told me that the iOS 7 will change everything. But, of course, I’ve heard that before. Post your comments below.
Be Well. Lead On. And may the consumer be the ultimate victor of these fantastic #techwars.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Adam
Adam Stanley
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by Adam L Stanley | Oct 14, 2011 | Social Media, Technology, Vendors and Partners
IMPORTANT UPDATE: No features, no matter how great and wonderful, can make up for a crappy battery life on mobile devices. I am now contemplating rolling back to an older backup. This stinks! I RECOMMEND WAITING FOR APPLE TO FIX.
200 new features? Should I care?
Update 10/16/2011 POST UPGRADE OF IPHONE
Honeymoon is winding down and I am finding the pet peeves and some confirmations of love.
Syncing Joy
I just added a record to my iPhone via Card munch, yet another LinkedIn app made for iPhone but not iPad. The entry was updated in iPhone then immediately synced to iPad vi the iCloud. Awesome. Of course blackberry did that five years ago and Microsoft windows mobile does it as well but …. Better late than never.
Syncing issues
roh!!! iCloud resulting in duplicate everything. I am now paying for the workarounds I had to do while unable to sync to the cloud. iCloud is not smart enough to see that the calendar on my iPhone is exactly the same as the one on my PC and thus exactly the same as the one on myiPad. Thus, most entries appear in my calendar THREE TIMES!
Splitting Keyboard is obnoxious
Annoying and strange. The device is till way too big to hold in your hands like an iPhone so the split keyboard functionality makes no sense to me. I also keep accidentally splitting the keyboard which is VERY ANNOYING!!! I cannot overstate how much I DETEST the slitting keyboard. In the midst of this update, my keyboard has split three times.
Update 10/16/2011
I still like the update a lot and am now ready to take the risk with my iPhone. I am more excited than before about the syncing. It is great to buy an app on either device and it magically appears on the other devices and on my PC. I am becoming less of a fan of the notifications. I think Apple should have made the default NO notifications and allowed you to add as you wish. It starts out REALLY annoying and you have to go app by app to customize and turn things off. And there are so many options, you think you have turned everything off and then up pops another notification.
I also have found several apps have made pretty cool updates for the new iOS, a nice touch. I thought I would like the “When I leave” functionality more but now think it will be a novelty more than anything else and I will use Wunderlist for reminders and tasks. I need to experiment with the Reader a bit more. Still seems cool but I have yet to fully test it out.
Day by day I get more annoyed by Newstand and the fact that it is so hard to get rid of the darn app and icon. I DO NOT WANT YOU Newstand!
Original Post 10/14/2011:
As I tweeted earlier this week, I am testing the new iOS 5. Testing on iPad first. While I can do without my iPad, my iPhone is indispensable so i will try to test it for a few days before upgrading the phone. I will update this blog post as I discover new features I like (or do not like) as well as when I finally test it on my iPhone.
Things that I like thus far:
The CORD DISAPPEARS!
Nothing annoyed me more than having to leave my iPad attached to my PC patiently waiting for the newest iOS upgrade to download and install or to sync my contacts, apps, and music. Sync via WiFi will allow me to get rid of some cords attached to my PC. (yes, I have a Win7 PC…)
Also, I can finally sync my calendars. Up until now, I would have to accept an invitation on one device, sync that to my PC via USB, then sync my other device to the PC. I opted to use gmail calendar but did not want to have to use that generic email address instead of alswharton.com
“When I leave” reminders
AWESOME!!! I typically try to add todo items to my calendar at times I expect to leave the office. I HATE having to put “pick up eggs, go to drycleaner, stop by H&M for boxer briefs” in the calendar my assistant and many team members see! Until now, however, the reminder function was weak in prior versions of the iOS.
Safari Reader along with twitter integration
Safari Reader
Yes!!! The ability to find, read, and share content both between devices and with connections on Twitter is greatly enhanced by the new Safari Reader (sorry Google) and native Twitter support in the new iOS. I love that they connected Twitter to my contact book and I was able to search my contact book, and add twitter handles and photos automatically.
A helpful guide I found online for using the new Reader is here >> Safari Reader
Notifications in iOS5
Notifications and Banners
I like the new notifications center. This was a function on my Droid 2 that I actually liked. It was great to be able to see at a glance all that was going on without having to open each application. The iPhone version, better than Android if I recall, allows you to customize which apps are shown, how much, and in what manner. In the prior iOS, it was annoying that some banners would pop up and you had to act on them to close the message. With the new version, you can choose to have a banner appear at the top and simply disappear with no action required. If I leave my iPad laying in the kitchen locked, its nice to have Facebook and Twitter notices show up but it was really unnecessary to have them stay there until EVERYONE that enters my kitchen can read them or I close it. It’s also nice to decide which notifications can be seen when you are away from the iPad and it is locked and which only show up when you are active.
Moderately useful …
Photo Editing
When I take a photo and want to share it on Facebook or Instagram, I often have to paste without cropping, and often the photos have redeye. When I get home, I then edit the photo and reupload it from my PC. The fairly basic editing functionality built in to the new iOS helps reduce the bad photo posts. But, it is VERY BASIC. You can crop, you can remove redeye, and they have an autofix that as far as I can tell makes your photos worse everytime.
Now, what I will likely NOT use…
Messages
This feature has been touted for so long that I almost forgot it was coming. It was promised to be what ends all text messaging and loses millions in revenue for AT&T and other iPhone partners. Not so sure. With AT&T I pay a flat fee every month for unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling and unlimited texting to anyone on any network. I do not have to know whether my friend has an iPhone, Droid, or Windows phone when I want to send them a text or photo. I just do it. I have zero interest in using this new tool if it only works if the person on the other end has also set up the service on their iphone. I can also do the exact same things with Facebook, whose app already works fairly well with the iPhone and iPad.
Newsstand
Like iBooks, an also ran to Kindle, completely unnecessary with Kindle or even Safari access and individual apps for the newspapers I want to read. I am annoyed they make it so hard to delete the icon or put it into groups with other icons.
Siri
Sounds ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC but is only available with 4s phone. I will not be buying the new iPhone until my iPhone 4 is end of contract with AT&T so will miss this smart voice recognition feature. Interesting that in this case, Apple is stealing thunder from Microsoft’s mango software on the Windows Mobile device.
Find My Friends
If I want you to know where I am, I will let you know. This new feature creeps me out and I imagine it will be featured on episodes of “Cheaters” or “Spies like us” as people take advantage of people who neglect to appropriately filter this feature. Not everyone in my Contact book is a “friend”.
Must wait for iPhone to test…
Custom vibrations and ringtones
One of the few things I miss about my BlackBerry is the ability to create VIP contacts thT ring differently AND can have different vibrations (for example:1 vibration for annoying people, 2 for my team, 3 for my boss and family). The LED blinker and this custom vibration will be great for me and other former BB users. The ability to customize text message ringtones ROCKS so I’m excited.
Still missing …
Photo Sorting and Folders
I hate that I still cannot move photos to different folders on the device, and that the only photos I can delete are those that are in the camera roll. I have created folders of favorite photos on my PC. They are synced to the device. When I take a photo on my iPhone or iPad, I would like to be able to move them to these special folders. Instead, I have to RETURN TO THE CORD. I have to connect to my PC, copy the photos from the device, then paste them into the folders for another sync. Annoying.
More to come….
Best,
Adam
Adam L. Stanley
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