Samsung and the Galaxy S4??

It's unofficially-official, that Samsung is expected to unveil the next in it's line of Galaxy phones in February 2013.  Is this Samsung's way of trying to sucker punch Apple.  Within recent weeks Samsung has gotten into heaps of hurt with Apple of their intentional copying of the iPhone design (which they admitted too by the way).  And only mere days after Apple releases the iPhone 5, Samsung basically teases us with their new phone.

I know these manufacturers like to stay ahead of the game and they are all in direct competition with each other, but common Samsung.  People are just now learning the in's and out's of the Galaxy S3.  And some of us are still loving out S2's (me included).  But here is the kicker, what changes will be made to the S4 that still make it great.  Or even can changes be added to make it greater than the iPhone itself?

And it gets even better, not only is Samsung no doubt trying to put the bug in people's ear who may be looking to upgrade their phone with their provider.  But also those who may be coming due for an upgrade between the end of 2012 and February.  Because buzz on the interwebs is that even though they are unveiling the phone in February, the phone is expected to hit the wild no more than a month later.  Making it available sometime in March.

As always, I'll be keeping watch on future developments.  Even though I am not due for another phone for a year still, at this rate by the time I am due for an upgrade maybe the S6 will be out. lol

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Apple vs Samsung = $1 Billion Bruise for Samsung

Before jumping into this, let me first and foremost say that I love my Samsung Galaxy S2.  It is an amazing device, and probably the best phone I have ever owned (and yes, I have used Apple products before).  If you have read any of my posts, you'll know that I am a proponent for Android (mostly because it will built ontop of Linux).  And yes, I will admit that there are striking resemblances between my Galaxy S2 and my wife's Apple iPhone 4S (mostly in terms of interface design).

If you have kept up with any of the news surrounding the Apple/Samsung patent lawsuits you'll know that Apple was recently awarded $1 billion big one's for basically admitting that they copied the iPhone design.  So, I'll have to say I kind of saw this one coming.  And knowing that Samsung is getting hit in the pocketbook for their admitted plagiarism of Apple's hardware, it was no surprise that the patents will be upheld and we will probably be seeing some big changes to some of the basics of even how Android works across the board.

So what is affected by the results of this lawsuit?  For starters, this lawsuit will not just affect Samsung products, but in the end will affect Android at the OS level as well.  As obviously, Google will try to steer clear of Apple patented design traits.  No more dedicated home buttons on Samsung hardware (they were notorious on some of their phones to have a rectangular home button).  Things like app icon design will more than likely change as well just for beginners.  But things like the "swipe to unlock" bars, various multitouch gestures, etc.  This is a big deal people.

So it sounds pretty bad doesn't it?  Let's look at it from a different angle.  Maybe this is a good thing.  Maybe this lawsuit is what it took to get some innovation back into our mobile devices.  Let's admit it, for the last several years the world has laid in wait to see what latest gimmicks Apple's latest phone gives us.  And then you start to see similar things show up in other places.  So we have let Apple be the innovation leader in the mobile device market.  Maybe now is when our mobile devices meet a "theoretical" fork-in-the-road where new interface designs, new product features, and new phone designs in general could pop-up and even succeed.  Let's face it.  A lot of Android user's like and use Android because it is different than Apple.  And because it isn't an Apple product, point blank.  Yet, our devices are starting to look more and more like Apple devices anyways.  Maybe it is a well warranted time for a change.

Personally, I feel the growing pains and changes may suck initially.  Hopefully, Samsung won't outright nerf many features; simply reworking them with Google's assistance in a Jelly Bean update would be nice. Being realistic and knowing how the whole Android development/release cycle works, I think I may be living in a dream.  But eventually, we may be seeing the start of an Android rebirth that can once again make us stand back and say "That phone can do that! Amazing!" instead of the now common "Cool Phone!" posts we see on forums today.

Either way, it looks to be an exciting time for Android users.  Whether that exciting is positive or negative remains to be seen.

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Guildies, Daleks, Labor Day Weekend, Oh My!

I know, I know...It's been quite a while. I hope everyone has been doing fine. It is by no chance that I am making my first post after somewhat of a hiatus on this very evening. After all with this past week being a huge week in tech, gaming, and nerdism alike; how could I possibly stay away?  Since my last post we have seen all sorts of craziness pop up on the interwebs. Aside from all the political jargon us Americans are having to put up with on Facebook and the general media, we have the "he said, she said" lawsuits between Apple and Samsung (for which it looks link Samsung is in deep bantha fodder over), new iPhone buzz and talk of an iPad Mini?! When does it stop? I always considered my iPod Touch to be a mini iPod... I guess Apple has proved me wrong once again.  Well played Apple... Well played.

In other quick news, my Samsung Galaxy Epic Touch 4G (from here on called the "S2") received it's Ice Cream Sandwhich OTA update a few weeks ago...Yay! Nope, no joy could be expressed.  As it appears my perfectly good S2 with great battery life (would go almost a full day of moderate use on a single charge cycle) is now a fancy phone which lags, screen animations hang up, buttons quit responding, and am lucky to pull a 4 hour life from a full charge... Thanks for breaking my phone!! If anybody knows of a good custom ROM, please leave comment with suggestions.

In better news, this week marked the release of "Guild Wars 2". If you don't know what Guild Wars 2 is.... Then you should be fed to the Char. Just kidding. Guild Wars 2 is a sequel to the much celebrated MMO title "Guild Wars". The original GW managed to survive the development cycle of it's sequel during a time when other MMO titles were being closed down or forced to switch to a "freemium" free-to-play business model.  The appeal to the Guild Wars games for me has to be the fact that there is no monthly charge to play the game; unlike other MMO titles. You purchase the game once and access to play is free from that point forward.  See Blizzard, it can be done!

I certainly hope GW2 is able to garner the same success that it's predecessor has let us long time fans enjoy for years now. The original Guild Wars brought us a total of 3 stand alone campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall) and one expansion that was not a standalone expansion but helped shape the mold for GW2 (Eye of the North).  The original game still has some players left running through it (I have spent some time in-game over the last several days) so don't hesitate to pay us a visit sometime. I do plan on picking up Guild Wars 2. But it may be a few weeks before I get around to it.

Lastly and most importantly, tonight was the premiere of Season 7 of Doctor Who! It aired 9:00pm EST here in America on BBC-America and will be reairing at midnight tonight. It was a fantastic episode with more clever lines from the Doctor, a special cameo that leaves more questions than it answers, and a wild start to the new season.  Even though we now only have four more episodes till we have to wait for the Christmas Special (and a new companion); this season will definitely be a big one with the season premiere focusing on the Doctor's oldest and most feared enemy: The Daleks!

Wow, all of that was a keyboard full. But there you have it. And on that note, I will bid you all a good night. And for those of us in the USA, I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!  Allons-y, Geronimo, or maybe even a good old fashioned "Goodnight!" will do.

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