Samung galaxy S6 Review

The Galaxy S6 leaves much of its Galaxy S5 DNA behind. Perhaps even more shocking than this materials about-face are the decisions to seal in the battery and leave out a microSD card slot, both choices made in service to staying slim. These are commonplace omissions in the smartphone sphere, but Samsung has been a die-hard defendant of both the removable battery and the extra storage option, until now. It's a move that makes a difference, too, at least on the power front. The S6's ticker ran down faster than last year's S5 did on a single charge.

In many ways, Samsung had no choice but to adopt this svelte, metal chassis and a pared-down, less "bloated" variation of Android 5.0 Lollipop. These moves silence customer complaints about the Galaxy S5's (and S4 and S3's) plasticky build, while also girding Samsung against staggering iPhone profits and an army of decent low-cost rivals from Lenovo, Xiaomi and Huawei.

Luckily for Samsung, the S6 is good enough to win back straying fans while also surpassing the all-metal HTC One M9 in extra features, battery life and camera quality.

On top of that, Samsung's S6 follows Apple's mobile payments lead with Samsung Pay, and takes a chance on its sturdy and home-made Exynos processor (versus the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 that will be found in most of its high-end Android rivals). The S6 also bakes in wireless charging support and compatibility with a new version of the Gear VR virtual reality accessory -- two features you won't find on any iPhone.

Does the new phone have enough in the way of looks and specs to reverse Samsung's sagging smartphone sales? Without a doubt. Samsung continues to build on its camera strengths while also offering interesting extras its Android rivals don't have. The only real danger is in longtime fans of microSD cards and removable batteries punishing Samsung by finding vendors that do. Samsung's hardware has long stood up to the iPhone; at long last, its physical design does, too.

Design: Metal and glass; plastic be damned

With a matte aluminum alloy frame and Gorilla Glass 4 on the front and back, the S6 lives worlds apart from the plastic construction of five generations of Galaxy flagships. It's obvious that this is a different beast, and one for which fans have been crying out for years.

Samsung didn't get here overnight. It built on the metal-framed Note 4 and more midrange Galaxy Alpha, before experimenting with all-metal chassis in the youth-focused Galaxy A5 and A3.

So, let's talk about this silhouette. The S6 has Samsung's familiar pill shape, with rounded tops and bottoms and straighter sides. The power button and nano-SIM card slot sit on the right spine. A micro-USB charging port and headset jack live on the bottom, and the left spine houses separate up-and-down volume buttons, just like the iPhone 6.

A central, metal-ringed home button joins two capacitive keys for calling up recent apps and paging back. A terrific new feature lets you double-tap the home button to launch the camera at any time, even when the phone is locked (though that takes a little longer). Samsung has also improved the fingerprint scanner, which you can use to securely unlock the phone; instead of dragging your digit down across a sensor, you now just rest it on the home button. It's fast and reliable on the whole.

On the back, you'll find the 16-megapixel camera (same as the Note 4), and a sensor array that includes the camera's LED flash and heart-rate monitor. Up top, the IR blaster beams out infrared for folks who want to use their phones as a TV remote.

A few niggly negatives: the camera protrudes a bit from the back, which some may not like, and the phone's glass surfaces become a smudge gallery for your finest fingerprints. And unlike the S5, the S6 isn't waterproof.

In-hand feel

The Galaxy S6 feels far more fluid and thin than it looks in photos, especially compared with the slightly chunkier Galaxy S5. Next to its designer cousin, it's the S6 Edge that feels much slimmer than the S6, despite its being a hair thicker at its chubbiest point.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S6, S6 EDGE DIMENSIONS

	Galaxy S6	Galaxy S6 Edge
Dimensions (inches)	5.6 x 2.8 x 0.27	5.6 x 2.8 x 0.28
Dimensions (millimeters)	143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8	142.1 x 70.1 x 7.0
Weight (ounces)	4.9	4.6
Weight (grams)	138	132

Because of its straight edges, the S6 isn't as smooth or seamless as the iPhone 6 with its rounded sides, but without a case, the S6 is easier of the two to grip. Keep in mind that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is also smaller all-around than the 5.1-inch S6.

While we're on the topic, the S6 looks too much like the iPhone 6 to ignore. Its footprint may be larger and it sides might be straighter, but the shape and placement of things like the headset jack, speaker grille and volume buttons are shockingly similar when you see two devices side by side. Even the color of the white phones is matchy-matchy, with nearly indistinguishable shades of matte silver trim.

Notably, the S6 packaging includes tear drop-shaped in-ear headphones that look like the next evolution in the iPhone's Apple EarPods.

Display so crisp it hurts

Even though Samsung hasn't bumped up the screen's 5.1-inch size, it has spiked the resolution of its AMOLED display to 2,560x1,440 pixels, a density of 577 pixels per inch (ppi), currently the best on the market. Now come the inevitable questions: can the human eye really appreciate detail that fine, and is the higher resolution worth the likely impact on battery life?

The answer -- predictably, unsatisfyingly -- is yes and no. I grabbed an extra pair of eyeballs and placed the S6 side-by-side with the iPhone 6 (326ppi), Note Edge (525ppi) and Sony Xperia Z3 (424ppi). After staring at streaming videos, zoomed-in text and HD wallpaper, the S6 edged the rest only when we squinted really, really, really hard.

The S6's screen quality prowess was most apparent against the (poorer) Xperia Z3 in streaming video clarity and saturation, and less so against the iPhone 6. The Note Edge, which shares a 1440p resolution on a larger screen, came the closest to the S6 in terms of flawlessness.

Ironically, some of the revamped icons on the S6 home page look less focused, though every other graphic is razor-sharp.

If you plan on using the S6 in its Gear VR accessory -- which turns it into an Oculus Rift-style virtual reality helmet -- the extra resolution should really pay off because the S6 will be only a couple of inches from your eyes.

But in normal everyday use, the S6's nosebleed-high screen pixel density is probably too exact for most eyes to notice; it's an imposing feature on paper, but less critical in real life.

Preloaded apps

A few folders prepopulated by vendor apps buttresses the simplified look. There's a bucket of Google apps and services, and one for new partner Microsoft (this folder has Skype and OneDrive, for instance). Bonus: you can edit the folder color.

As for preloaded apps, a few Samsung programs remain, like Milk music and video and S Health, which are Samsung's answers to the iTunes Store and Apple Health, respectively. S Voice is another constant. To get more Samsung apps and partner apps, you'll need to open a shortcut and select them from the buckets marked Galaxy Essentials and Galaxy Gifts. One such Gift is Fleksy, a keyboard alternative that will come free with all S6 phones.

Extras: Fingernail sensitivity, parallax built-in

Samsung doesn't crow about it, but it looks like high screen sensitivity, an option on previous Galaxies, is built into the S6's display. Although the option has disappeared from the Settings menu, I was able to navigate the screen (but not the soft keys) using only my nail. Not so for my fuzzy chenille glove, though it should work with a more fitted leather variety.

Some of the preloaded S6 wallpaper gives you a small parallax effect when you rotate the screen from side to side; the background shifts slightly while icons remain in place. I noticed the effect on two wallpapers. It offers a tiny bit of extra dimension. You can obtain the same visuals with wallpapers on other phones.

Mobile payments up ahead

That improved fingerprint reader we talked about above isn't only for unlocking the phone. It also sets the S6 up for making mobile payments using Samsung Pay, which launches this summer in the US and South Korea. Although we're not sure which markets it'll work in next, we do know how it'll work -- here's our hands-on with Samsung Pay.

In the meantime, you can use Google Pay (with the S6's built-in NFC, or near-field communication, technology), or a variety of other payment apps. (Install Google Wallet, turn on NFC, and presto: Google Wallet appears in the NFC and Payment submenu under "Tap and Pay.")

Camera action

A 16-megapixel camera juts out slightly from the phones' back, sporting the same resolution we see on its big brother, 2014's Galaxy Note 4. The lens itself gets an upgrade over the Galaxy S5, to f/1.9, from the S5's f/2.2 rear camera.

The S6 and S6 Edge become the second wave of Samsung phones to include optical image stabilization (after the Note 4 and Note Edge), which should help smooth out shaky hand shots. A new auto-HDR (high dynamic range) feature means you won't have to stop to improve certain scenes, like landscapes. It'll automatically adjust white balance, too.

On the front, Samsung installs a 5-megapixel shooter for wide-angle selfies, promising improved low-light photos. As with the Note 4, you can shoot a selfie by tapping the sensor on the back of the phone, and you can download a separate Samsung shooting mode that'll take a self-portrait from the phone's rear camera.

Lay of the land, extra modes

The native camera app looks clean and simple (and similar to that of the HTC One M9, probably because of the common Android 5.0 denominator).

On-screen controls on the left and right edges include effects and the timer, plus settings that dig deep into options like tracking auto-focus and voice control. Meanwhile, the Mode button on the right pulls up six alterna-modes for effects like panorama and slow-motion (hilarious on a 2-year-old!). Pro mode lets you more granularly adjust settings for macro and white balance, and Virtual Shot gives you a sort of weird GIF effect that I'm not sure anyone really needs.

iphone 6 review, price and availability

Just as we expected, Apple announced the next versions of its best-selling smartphones, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, at its annual launch event in San Francisco. Also as we expected, the iPhone 6S looks identical to last year's 4.7-inchiPhone 6, reserving its most important alterations for the hardware interior.

The biggest, and most noticeable change to this year's set of phones is "3D Touch," a pressure-sensitive display technology that lets you push in to do new things on your phone. After getting a chance to check out the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus briefly at Apple's San Francisco event, these were our impressions.

Design: Feels the same

No surprise, but the new iPhones have nearly identical hand feel and design. Put one in someone's hand, and there's no way they'd know if it was an "S" model or not.

True, there is a new color now, called rose gold (it basically looks like a blush pink, same as the new Apple Watch color option that the company announced). But as far as looks go, this extra shade is the extent of the changes you'll be able to visually detect between this year's and last year's phones.

Apple's emphasis on hardware upgrades over design development follows the pattern that the Cupertino-based company has long established: significant changes come in the even years and incremental updates in the odd. It's a move that could alienate buyers as much cheaper "premium" handsets compete with titans like Apple for market share.

However, significant updates to the iPhone 6S' camera technology, a new form of pressure-sensitive navigation called 3D Touch, and a faster processor all combine to keep the next-generation phone looking competitive enough to counter other top-tier handsets as we approach the year-end holiday rush.

Aerospace-grade aluminum and sturdier glass

Apple says that its phone may look the same as last year's model, but its iPhone 6S duo has achieved more inner strength. This time it uses a different grade of aluminum for its chassis, one that also has applications in the aerospace industry. They call it Series 7,000, and it's the same aluminum alloy Apple puts into its Apple Watch Sport. The company clearly hopes this reinforced material will help deflect against future "Bendgate" backlashes, where some customers complained that their 5.5-inch iPhone 6S phones "bent" after being sat on.

Apparently, a new type of chemically strengthened glass also tops the iPhone 6S, though the company hasn't confirmed if this is cover material from Corning's Gorilla Glass line or not.

Brand new 'force' touch: Subtle but effective

Apple has included a variation of Force Touch, which you find in different capacities on the Apple Watch and on some Mac trackpads. Called 3D Touch here, the iPhone 6S phones will adopt the same pressure-sensitive capability that calls up secondary menus and actions when you press and hold the screen.

Press down and you can pull up context-sensitive menus, switch apps or examine photos. Sound impressive? In this instance, it's really just a subtle riff on what already exists on iPhones: tapping and holding.

Another use is to access shortcuts from the home screen for your most frequent actions, say messaging a friend. And if you're in your email inbox, applying fingertip pressure to an element in the message will surface more information, like maybe the flight number on an emailed travel itinerary, for instance. (Apple called this concept "peeking in" during the live demo.)

Pressing harder on an app will likewise generate more options, like viewing all the photos of a contact's Instagram photo stream. In the context of a game, pressing harder could zoom you in to get closer to the action.

We're not sure why Force Touch was rebranded as 3D Touch, and it's not necessarily a clearer term for what it does. After using it for a bit, though, it's undoubtedly something you'd want on every smartphone, all things being equal. In a couple of years, it seems like it would become as standard as multitouch is today.

But the way it feels ends up coming across as pretty subtle. Menus gently pop up, photos slowly come alive. Like on the Apple Watch, the Taptic Engine haptics, which control the phone's buzzes and vibrations, emits more of a gentle pulse than a jarring vibration. Pressing in didn't cause a realistic, hard mechanical "click" in the same way that the new MacBook trackpads do. Instead, the implementation seems designed to feel invisible and comfortable, not weirdly magical.

New hardware inside

The biggest news here is the hugely upgraded front and rear cameras and video capability, but there are a few other tidbits here and there as well.

Cameras and video with more megapixels

A 12-megapixel camera is a huge jump for Apple, which has been holding onto its 8-megapixel sensors in its iPhone for years. Autofocus will pick up the pace, according to Apple, and color accuracy is a point of pride.

The 5-megapixel front-facing camera now brings the iPhone 6S on par with a lot of today's competing handsets. Of course, it includes the company's proprietary voice chat feature, FaceTime video. Here's something wildly different, though. Instead of including a dedicated flash for the front-facing camera, which only a few phones do, Apple is using the home screen to light up instead. This is meant to increase the brightness of those selfies even in low-light situations.

A few test selfies taken in the demo rooms looked really good, with crisper, richer color and details than previous iPhones.

A new feature you'll see in the camera, Live Photos is a default mode that turns stills into a video or GIF, basically, images that move. It's an automatic thing; all you have to do is take the picture like normal. When we took some shots in the crowded demo room, the iPhone seamlessly added Live Photo motion and sound. The Live Photo motion came out more like stop-motion or time lapse, however, than true video. It's also important to note that one Live Photo is about twice the file size as a regular photo. Couple that with the 4K video capabilities (more on that later), and you'll definitely need more storage space to accommodate.

Apple also joins rival phone makers in including 4K video recording, at 3,840x2,160-pixel resolution. You'll be able to take 8-megapixel camera photos while recording at this ultrahigh resolution. (The immediate benefit of shooting 4K video would be watching them later on a 4K TV.)

Just like last year's phones, the iPhone 6S Plus is the only model here with optical image stabilization, which helps correct blur from shaking hands.

Touch ID

The second-generation sensor promises to snap open the phone faster than before. Hopefully fingerprint authentication will also speed up.

Processor

Under the hood, we have an upgraded, proprietary A9 processor that continues Apple's theme of mystery when it comes to exactly what's going on in there. Though it's impossible to appreciate during our quick demo, what we do know is that this is Apple's third-generation 64-bit chip. Apple claims that the A9 is 70 percent faster than last year's A8 when it comes to the usual computing tasks (like opening an app, for example), and 90 percent faster at graphical tasks, like gaming.

Faster 4G LTE, Wi-Fi connections

Apple says it'll have the fastest forms of LTE Advanced, if that's supported where you live, and will also include support for the latest, greatest Wi-Fi networks.

iOS 9 all the way

The two new iPhones will run on iOS 9, mining all of those software enhancements, like a smarter Siri and up to three hours longer battery life, plus a new Low Power Mode. The updated operating system, which is currently in public beta, will arrive for phones on September 16. Meanwhile, read our full rundown of iOS 9 here.

Pricing and availability

The iPhone 6S and its 5.5-inch twin, the 6S Plus, will be open for preorder on September 12, with phones arriving in stores around the globe on September 25.

In the US, the 16GB version costs $650 outright and $100 on contract (see monthly installment pricing below). The 64GB version goes for $750 outright, and $200 on contract, and the 128GB model costs $850 all-in and the same $200 on contract (carrier contract rates may vary, so check yours for the final word).

In the UK, the iPhone 6S costs £539 (16GB), £619 (64GB) and £699 (128GB). In contrast, the 6S Plus will go for £619, £699 and £789, respectively.

In Australia, the iPhone 6S costs AU$1,079 (16GB), AU$1,229 (64GB) and AU$1,379 (128GB). The 6S Plus will go for AU$1,229, AU$1,379 and AU$1,529, respectively.

iPhone Upgrade Program

Apple has also introduced a new pricing plan, for the US only for now, that starts at $32 per month (for the 16GB version iPhone 6S) for 24 months, with the option to upgrade to a new iPhone each year, say from the 6S to next year's 7, to the 7S, and so on. (Apple sales numbers are healthier when you don't hold onto your phone for two years or longer.)

By way of example, US pricing breaks down like this. You'll need to check local retailers for support where you live.

	iPhone 6S	iPhone 6S Plus
16GB	$32.45/month	$36.58/month
64GB	$37.45/month	$40.75/month
128GB	$42.45/month	$44.91/month

Big enough changes?

Every year we ask ourselves if the enhancements to the S-series of iPhone are worth the purchase. This year, like every year, the answer is that it depends which phone you currently have. For a lot of people, the "S" versions are the ones to get: more polished, greater under-the-hood speed bumps. But they're also the less exciting-looking phones.

The 5S added Touch ID as its new big feature. On the 6S and 6S Plus, it's 3D Touch. 3D Touch could end up being a far more influential change to the iPhone, but it depends on which apps will use it. Odds are, until all iPhones have 3D Touch, it won't be heavily leaned on. But there's no way to know what 3D Touch really feels like until we use it for more than 10 minutes in a demo room.

Really, if you bought an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus last year, the most truly compelling upgrade is to the camera, which certainly sounds like a huge jump on paper. The iPhone 6 already takes terrific photos, so there's a lot of promise there for mobile photographers and avid selfie-shooters who can benefit from that front-facing flash. But again, how much better is this camera? Stay tuned.

If you have an older iPhone, such as iPhone 5S or earlier, the iPhone 6S is going to feel fast, fresh and powerful by comparison, and a pretty huge leap up. And for the extra $100 over the 6 models, it'll probably be worth the cost. The new processor speeds are impossible to vet out now, but on paper they're another serious boost...even if existing phones already are plenty fast enough.

But if you use a premium Android phone, will the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus feel exciting enough? Last year's 6 models certainly were. 3D Touch is new, but most of the other features on these new iPhones feel pretty familiar. Google's voice assistant already outperforms the current version of Siri on search accuracy and breadth of things it can do, and that will only expand with the next version of Google's Android software. We'll see how Siri in iOS 9, and always-on Siri in these new phones, stacks up.

As always, we won't know the full story until we review these phones. But there's a reason these iPhones shared the stage with new iPads, the Apple Watch and the Apple TV: on their own, they're not really surprising and exciting. But for those who have been waiting a while to get a new iPhone, these seem like excellent opportunities to upgrade.

what is new in IOS 8

iOS 8, announced by Apple at WWDC, will feature major improvements to Messages and inter-app communication, a new Health app and predictive keyboard, and changes to several system apps and features.

Among big additions and redesigns, however, there are always smaller features and hidden tweaks that the company only briefly mentioned during the keynote or described with a short paragraph on their preview website. In this post, I collected 15 other iOS 8 features that are worth noting and waiting for.

Emergency card. In the Medical ID section of the Health app, you’ll be able to set up personal information for medical conditions, allergies/reactions, and other medical notes to be displayed in an Emergency card available on the Lock screen. In some cases (such as severe allergies and reactions), immediate access to this information can be a lifesaver.

iBooks will be pre-installed. Gone are the days when you needed to open the App Store to download iBooks like any other third-party app. In iOS 8, Apple’s eBook and PDF reader will be pre-installed and ready to sync your items over iCloud. It’s unclear whether making iBooks a system app will also result in slower, less frequent updates (right now, Apple is free to update iBooks on the App Store without issuing a full iOS update), but bundling the app with iOS should certainly help more users get accustomed to its capabilities.

Automatic night mode in iBooks. A popular feature in read-later apps like Instapaper, iBooks for iOS 8 will offer an automatic night mode to facilitate reading in low-light. Apple hasn’t shared further details on the feature, but it will likely be based on the user’s time zone and switch the iBooks app to a dark design after a specific time of the day.

Pano photos on iPad. If you don’t mind taking pictures with your iPad, you’ll be glad to know that iOS 8 will bring panoramic mode – previously exclusive to the iPhone – to the larger screen.

Battery usage by app. One of my iOS 8 wishes, battery consumption details for individual apps will be available in iOS 8’s Battery Usage screen in the Settings, which will show a proportion of battery used by each app when a device isn’t charging. These statistics will be useful to understand which apps are consuming your device’s battery life, allowing you to take action if necessary (either by deleting an app or figuring out why it’s consuming so much battery).

DuckDuckGo search option built-in. If you don’t want to use Google or Bing and prefer a search engine that doesn’t track you, iOS 8’s Safari will come with a DuckDuckGo option in the Settings. DuckDuckGo has recently undergone a major redesign that added cleaner layouts for mobile searches and more flexibility with smart results and recognized queries, which will certainly come in handy with quick searches on iOS.

Here’s how Apple describes DuckDuckGo (from the Yosemite page, as the engine will also be added to OS X):

Safari now gives you more control over your privacy on the web. You can open one Safari window in Private Browsing mode — which doesn’t save your browsing history — while keeping others in regular browsing mode. So while you do your online banking privately in one window, your browsing history is still being saved while you surf in another. You can also now search the web using DuckDuckGo, a search engine that doesn’t track you.

And from the DuckDuckGo blog:

DuckDuckGo is thrilled to be included in Safari and it’s great that Apple is making it easy for people to access our anonymous search option. This makes DuckDuckGo the first privacy-focused search engine to be added to one of the top four browsers and is a huge milestone for both us and privacy supporters.

For more on the new DuckDuckGo, check out our overview.

Travel time notifications. Travel time was previously exclusive to OS X Mavericks, and it’ll come to iOS 8 through (optional) notifications that’ll suggest you the best time to leave for your next calendar event. It’s not clear whether iOS 8 users will also be able to turn on travel time and get inline Maps previews when creating new events in Calendar, but notifications are a good start.

A “Tips” app. We don’t know much about this, except for a brief mention on Apple’s slide for additional iOS 8 features. Considering the popularity of “Getting Started” guides on the App Store and the fact that OS X comes with a built-in electronic manual, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple offering an app with a collection of tips and videos to learn the basics of iOS as well as its more advanced features.

Camera timer. Need to take timed shots with the Camera app? iOS 8 will feature a timer icon in the camera view, so you’ll always be able to take the perfect group photo with your friends – or perhaps time a selfie just right.

Shazam in Siri. Apple’s assistant didn’t get much stage time yesterday, but it’ll receive a big addition for music lovers thanks to Shazam integration. Simply long-press the Home button to bring up Siri as usual, don’t speak, and let Siri listen to music that’s playing on a speaker. Siri will understand that you’re waiting for song recognition, and it’ll return the top Shazam result with artist and song name as well as a button to buy the song on the iTunes Store. Shazam integration inside Siri will be a terrific addition to iOS as it’ll allow for faster song-tagging and users won’t be forced to find the Shazam app, launch it, and tap the music ID button.

Purchase iTunes content with Siri. And speaking of the iTunes Store, iOS 8 will let you purchase iTunes content that has been presented by Siri. Again, more details aren’t available right now, but it’s safe to assume that the system will be integrated with the existing Touch ID authorization for purchases.

Private Browsing per tab. iOS 7 made Safari’s Private Browsing mode easier to activate, but it’s an all-or-nothing deal: you can either keep all your current tabs when switching back and forth between normal and private browsing, or you can close all of them. In iOS 8, Private Browsing will be updated with granular controls, so you’ll be able to keep separate sets of private and normal tabs without having to decide what to do with all of your current tabs. It’s a small change, but a welcome one.

RSS in Safari. When Apple unceremoniously cut native RSS support from Mountain Lion’s Safari, many wondered whether the company was done with RSS or if the standard could eventually return in some other form. The RSS comeback will happen with iOS 8, albeit with no user-facing “RSS” nature: Safari will be able to subscribe to individual sites in Shared Links by using RSS feeds under the hood, but users won’t have to deal with traditional RSS aspects like feed URLs. Instead, Safari will abstract subscription management from sites to make reading new articles as simple as possible. While power users will still prefer dedicated RSS services and clients, the inclusion of site subscriptions in Safari will offer a good basic solution for users who just want to see what’s new on their favorite blogs.

Rich text editing in Notes. In iOS 7, Apple’s Notes app could only edit plain text content with no formatting options; in iOS 8, you’ll be able to add bold, italic, and underlined fonts to style your notes like you want to – and you’ll also be able to insert images like you can on OS X.

Streaming voice recognition in Siri. In my iOS 8 wish list, I also noted how Siri’s input mechanism was inferior to Google and Microsoft’s voice-based solutions, which display transcribed text as you speak and dictate commands. In iOS 8, Apple is going to improve Siri with streaming voice recognition – essentially, the ability to see recognized words appear on screen as you talk to Siri. The feature is long overdue, and it will allow users to easily see if Siri interpreted their commands correctly, providing corrections without having to wait for results to return from Siri’s network connection.

samsung galaxy s5 camera reviews

The snapper on the S5

The camera on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of the more powerful on the market, featuring an Isocell unit that offers up 16MP snaps.

There are a whole host of other features here as well that a lot of people will like: real time HDR mode lets you see how your photo can be enhanced before shooting, for instance.

But the big thing that Samsung's touting is the speedy autofocus, which can manage to work out the image sharpness in up to 0.3seconds.

It's fast, and there's no doubt that it can indeed focus that quickly. However, I've got a couple of gripes before we get into that.

I've mentioned it already, but for some reason it can take a few seconds to boot up the camera, which is way longer than the competition. If you're trying to use the 'quick swipe' from the lock screen, it can take even longer as it's very easy to think you've hit this icon when in fact you haven't swiped far enough.

The camera then takes around 3 seconds to even be ready to start firing, which means if you trying to capture a moment that has come upon you suddenly, you'll likely have missed it.

The autofocus, as I mentioned, is indeed fast and will often get what you're trying to shoot - especially if it's on a well-framed scene. However there were a few occasions when I was waiting to capture something and the autofocus went green, despite the subject clearly still being blurry.

It's an odd situation - I kept finding myself cleaning the lens or flicking through the settings to see if there was something amiss, but there was nothing to be seen.

At least the HDR mode works well, and it's nice to have it alongside Selective Focus as one of the main options. You really do get some better snaps with real time HDR, and it doesn't take very long to process at all, which is a plus.

Selective focus is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it can work in macro mode, which means you can take some close up shots and have the background blur out, which is what you'd want (and can't be done on some competitors).

On the other hand, too often it would tell me that it couldn't work out what I was taking a picture of, so the picture couldn't be altered after the snap.

The output wasn't blurry enough for me either - if you compare it to the HTC One M8, which has a weaker sensor but faster shutter speed, better defocus and all round better chops in the low light scenarios, you'll realise that this is something of an afterthought for Samsung... or at least that's how it feels.

But if it sounds like I'm railing against the camera in the Samsung Galaxy S5, then apologies – I'm certainly not. It's a competent and powerful sensor, but one that needs more effort to unlock the stunning pictures than the rivals.

The larger sensor needs a little longer to process pictures (we're talking nanoseconds for the main pictures in automatic mode) and the autofocus isn't as sharp as I'd like, but line up your shot and you'll definitely get a better image.

If you're trying to take a picture of something in candlelight, the S5 is the better option. If you've got a glorious landscape, you'll get better colour reproduction with the S5.

However, the modes are a little redundant as before – GIF-creating animated shot aside, I can't see ever wanting to use any of the modes.

Samsung has dialled these down massively since the over-complicated S4, and it really helps. Touch Up beauty mode will never cease to scare me, and as much as a like Virtual Tour, I can't ever envisage a time when I'll ever want to share a walk-through of my house.

It's one of only a few devices on the market to offer 4K video recording as well - however, I think we're at least a year or two off needing such a capability, and it will certainly require more storage to shoot in this high-res format for now, regardless of how it looks.

The camera in the Galaxy S5 is as competent as it is powerful – it's nowhere near as good as the Nokia Lumia Pureview sensor, but then again, it's more adept than the HTC One M8 if you're willing to put the time in.

However, the One M8 is the better option for day to day point and shooting – the sharpness is actually comparable as too many S5 pictures didn't quite come out as pleasant as I thought they had when viewing on the screen.

Samsung Galaxy NX brings Android to interchangeable lens cameras

The recently announced Samsung Galaxy NX is the world's first interchangeable lens mirrorless camera to run on Android. Unlike previous Android-powered shooters, the NX boasts some serious photographic credentials, including a 20.3-megapixel APS-C format sensor and a hybrid autofocus system. It also features 3G/4G LTE and Wi-Fi technology for instant sharing.

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The arrival of an Android-totting mirrorless camera or DSLR has been almost inevitable since the release of point-and-shoots running Google's mobile OS, like the Nikon Coolpix S800c. Indeed, given how impressed we were with the Samsung Galaxy Camera (despite it not having the best photographic capabilities), it's no surprise that a Samsung is first to take this title.

From the front, the Samsung Galaxy NX looks like any other SLR-styled mirrorless camera. However, its rear is almost entirely taken up by a massive 4.8 inch HD LCD screen and the striking absence of buttons makes it clear that this isn't your typical shooter. The camera is built around Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and its giant touchscreen is integral to its operation.

As with the Samsung Galaxy Camera, the Galaxy NX runs Android just like a very capable smartphone, though again without the ability to actually make phone calls. It has everything needed to make sure apps run as smoothly as you'd expect, including a 1.6 GHz Pega-Q quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and sensors such as an accelerometer, geomagnetic, proximity and gyro. There's 16 GB of internal memory and a microSD slot that supports capacities up to 64 GB.

In camera mode, the gigantic touchscreen is used to navigate general settings and its Smart Mode, which makes it easy to get the right set-up without knowing what you're doing. Manual controls can be accessed by either the same virtual lens barrel interface as the Galaxy Camera, or using the iFunction button on Samsung lenses and the dial on the top of the camera. A built-in SVGA electronic viewfinder means users don't have to compose shots using the rear LCD screen.

Once photographs are taken, they can be edited in-camera by any number of apps, though it's worth remembering that many output images in much lower resolutions than the camera is capable of. The wireless options of the NX also mean images can be shared instantly via Wi-Fi or 3G/4G LTE connections. Yes, that means you could post direct to Instagram, if you are so inclined. GPS is also included for geo-tagging images.

The new device should be capable of producing better images than any other Android-powered camera thanks to the photographic pedigree of theNX series. This is not just because the Galaxy NX is compatible with the growing arsenal of Samsung lenses, but also because it features a large 20.3 megapixel APS-C format (23.5 x 15.7 mm) CMOS sensor.

Capable of shooting RAW and JPEG images, a DRIMe IV image signal processor means the camera has a continuous burst shooting speed of 8.6 fps and an ISO range of 100 to 25,600. An advanced hybrid autofocus system uses contrast and phase detection to provide fast and reliable focusing. The Galaxy NX is no slouch when it comes to shutter speed either, it's capable of shooting at an impressive 1/6000 sec. Full HD video recording is also present at 1080p 30 fps.

Measuring 136 x 101 x 56 mm (5.4 x 4 x 2.2 in) and weighing 495 g (17.5 oz) the camera is one of the larger mirrorless offerings and, because of that massive screen, it is bigger than other NX cameras like the NX300.

It's not clear when you'll be able to get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy NX as no release date or price have been revealed.

samsung developing contact lens computer to compete google glass

Multiple research organizations, including two Samsung departments, have reportedly been developing a new nano-material which could be used to create smart contact-lenses.

Project leader Jang-Ung Park, a chemical engineer at the Ulsan National Institute, said “Our goal is to make a wearable contact-lens display that can do all the things Google Glass can do.”

The team successfully fixed a light-emitting diode onto a soft contact lens that can be purchased right off the shelf. They then attached the diode using a combination of graphene and silver nanoware. The technology was tested on rabbits, who have eyes similar to that of humans. No negative reactions were recorded.

The technology is still a long, long way from hitting the market, as only one pixel was attached to each lens— Google need not worry about any competitors in the near future, but in time, it will definitely be something they need to prepare for.