Google Android discussion - Page 69

Now you have the opportunity to get the current flagship with a sweet gift. If you buy Samsung Galaxy S7 or Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge until Feburary 14, and you are based in the United States, you will get a 256GB microSD card. The Korean company promises that it’s not just a storage card, but comes with improved read and write speeds when recording UHD videos.

If you buy the phone from a retailer or carrier’s office, you have time until February 21 to request the gift and to provide all the documents needed. If you prefer to go through Samsung’s Online Store, when adding a device in the basket, you’ll already see the card added for free. The company expects to give out around 75,000 microSD cards.

Samsung Galaxy S7 costs $669 and the Galaxy S7 Edge is $769, while the 256GB microSD EVO+ memory card is $249.99, if bought separately.

Samsung will have a lot going on at Mobile World Congress. We’ve got tablets, perhaps some cool accessories, and even a tease of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on the way.

But they have even more than that, apparently. ETNews reports Samsung will be toting some prototypes of their foldable phone concept at the show.

Unfortunately, they aren’t bringing these along to share with the public. Their intent is to do private, confidential screenings to select business partners in order to gauge market interest. It’s a common practice in the industry, with some companies privately attending these trade shows without having any public presence.

It’s not clear if the prototypes they’ll have on hand are working models or if they’re simply dummy units ala Lenovo’s non-working phone-watch-tablet-thingy we saw way back when.

In any case, this is the first time we’ve heard of the phone existing in a real way instead of through thoughts and patents. We still don’t know when, exactly, these things will be ready for the world to enjoy (rumors say later this year), but Samsung has confirmed they have the capabilities to produce the components needed for these phones, and so all they need at this point is to craft the perfect product.

Back at Google I/O 2016, we got a first look at Google Assistant. It was designed to be a conversational assistant, as opposed to the search-based Google Now. Then when Allo was released in September, it shipped with a beta version of Assistant. Finally when the Google Pixel phones were released in October, Assistant was a major selling point.

Google has a tendency to rush products out the door without fully finishing them, and Assistant was no exception. So now that about four months has passed since the official introduction of Google Assistant (roughly five months if you count the Allo beta), has anything changed?

Before Assistant, Google Search served as both a native app for web searches and as a basic voice assistant. Search only has basic assistant functionality, most of which has been ported to Google Assistant. Features like changing device settings (turning Wi-Fi on/off, toggling flashlight, etc), sending SMS and Hangouts messages, setting reminders, and managing your calendar are present on both products. Most people would expect all of Search's existing functionality to be included in Assistant, but that isn't the case.

A bizarre number of Search features are still absent from Assistant, even four months after launch. One of my favorite features is the ability to identify music, but Assistant responds with "I can't identify songs yet." Assistant also can't read recent texts (only send them), or add items to specific lists in Google Keep - both of which have been in Google Search for some time now.

It makes sense, especially for a Google product, that some functionality would be missing on release. So what has changed in the past four months? At first, Assistant couldn't control Nest thermostats like Google Search, but this was fixed in December. Some of the functionality from Google Now on Tap, like taking a screenshot, wasn't added back until January.

Assistant should have included all of Google Search's functionality at launch, but Google has a tendency to push products out the door before they are fully-baked. Four months later, little progress has been made to close the feature gap with Google Search.

We leaked an exclusive on the Galaxy Tab S3 some 4 months ago, providing model numbers for WiFi and LTE models along with a Q1 2017 launch date but little else. Since then, the Tab S3 LTE has received WiFi certification and Bluetooth certification, and the WiFi model just received its Bluetooth certification weeks ago. Just two weeks ago, the tablet’s specs and pricing were revealed, showing a 9.7-inch display, 2048 x 1536p screen resolution, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB of RAM, a 5MP front camera, and 12MP back camera. Now, a Galaxy Tab S3 photo has leaked, along with confirming much of what we know and adding some details in a new report.

The new report, supplied by Roland Quandt, says that Samsung will not release an 8-inch model this year — so there’ll be no “Galaxy Tab S3 9.7″ moniker, as has been the case with the Galaxy Tab S2, for example. There is an S Pen aboard, confirming the report we received a week ago, though it can’t be stored in the tablet itself (no Note tablet experience here, folks). Additionally, the Tab S3 will have a new Silver version that will replace the former white model (the tablet will retain its black color option) and come with 32GB of storage. Rounding out the specs is LTE Cat. 6 support, Gigabit WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.2. The pricing for the device comes in at around $600 USD. We’ve seen from Samsung’s MWC 2017 press invite that the Galaxy Tab S3 will feature a front-facing fingerprint sensor as well.

We’re sure that the news of an S Pen with the Tab S3 will appeal to a number of Samsung fans who’ve been wanting a Galaxy Note Tab upgrade. If you want to make it yours, however, you’ll have to wait just a little longer to get your hands on it.

On February 17 2017 08:32 andyrau wrote:
i highly doubt it will 'annihilate' next gen pixels when the older pixels were just as fast as s7s

On February 18 2017 02:03 LightSpectra wrote:


But that's the point, they're at the same price point and have comparable performance this generation. But the GS7 has a superior display (smaller bezel, better colors), water/dust resistance, Samsung-exclusive software (Samsung Pay, KNOX, Samsung Member, Cloud backup, etc.). The Pixel's advantages are simply a faster/longer update track (not a huge advantage IMO), and the built-in Google Assistant (don't really care about that personally).

Right now the GS8/Note 8 are projected to have even more exclusive features, whereas the Pixel 2 is expected to just be maybe a spec bump, and the addition of water/dust resistance. So the Pixel 2 is going to close the gap a bit, but it still looks vastly inferior at the same price point.

The one thing I'll say is that Samsung dropping the non-edge screens for the next gen is a huge mistake IMO. I hate those damn things.

Everyone needs a helping hand sometimes. Enter the Google Assistant, which is conversational, personal and helps you get things done—from telling you about your day to taking a selfie. The Assistant is already available on Pixel, Google Home, Google Allo and Android Wear. Now we're bringing it to even more people. Starting this week, the Google Assistant is coming to smartphones running Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Whether you need to know how to say “nice to meet you” in Korean or just a simple reminder to do laundry when you get home, your Assistant can help. With the Google Assistant on Android phones, you have your own personal, helpful Google right in your pocket.

And here are a few other things to try out—just long press on the Home button or say “Ok Google” to get started:

• What’s my confirmation number for my London flight?
  
• Take me to Museu Picasso.
  
• Show my photos of sunsets in Tahoe.
  
• Do I need an umbrella today?
  
• Turn on the living room lights.
  

The Google Assistant will begin rolling out this week to English users in the U.S., followed by English in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as German speakers in Germany. We’ll continue to add more languages over the coming year.

The Google Assistant will automatically come to eligible Android phones running Nougat and Marshmallow with Google Play Services. You'll also see the Google Assistant on some newly announced partner devices, including the LG G6.

If you happen to be in Barcelona, Spain at the mobile industry’s largest trade show Mobile World Congress this week, stop by the Android Global Village to try out the Google Assistant across a number of Android partner phones, including HTC, Huawei, Samsung and Sony.

Our goal is to make the Assistant available anywhere you need it. It came to Android Wear 2.0—via new smartwatches—just a few weeks ago and, as we previewed in January, the Assistant is also coming to TVs and cars. With this update, hundreds of millions of Android users will now be able to try out the Google Assistant. What will you ask first?

On March 02 2017 00:39 LightSpectra wrote:
Am I the last person on earth that hates those curved-edge screens?

Easily breakable, awkward to hold (with a case, it looks awkward as well), distorts whatever image/video you're looking at.