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Samsung Galaxy Nexus benchmarked, shows much improved browser performance in Ice Cream Sandwich

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We got our hands on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus yesterday and we fiddled with its camera. Today, we decided to run a few benchmarks to see what would happen. The phone is running a buggy developer version of Ice Cream Sandwich, but managed to show some impressive scores.

We pulled a few numbers from benchmarks we’ve ran before, so we can compare the Galaxy Nexus against some of the high-end droids on the market. Read more »

Camera comparison: iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 4S [VIDEO]

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The iPhone 4S is already sweating through our tests – and it has impressed us quite a bit so far. We’re busy shooting photo and video samples, running benchmarks and otherwise examining Apple’s newest superphone.

One part of the camera testing is done – a side-by-side comparison of the FullHD videos that the iPhone 4S shoots and a 720p HD video from the iPhone 4. Consider this a teaser of what’s to come. Read more »

Is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus the new Android heavyweight champion? [TABLE]

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Usually, when Google releases a new Nexus phone it’s the new King Droid and sets a benchmark for the future smartphones to beat. But is this new Samsung Galaxy Nexus worthy of being the new Android heavyweight champion?

Sure it’s groundbreaking world-first 4.65-inch HD super AMOLED is more than impressive but how does it stack up against it’s main rivals – the HTC Sensation XE (which comes with the excellent Beats Audio technology) and it’s cousin, the Samsung Galaxy S II? Check out our specs table to find out. Read more »

Battle of the year: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Apple iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II [TABLE]

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At long last! After it was initially delayed because of the sad loss of Steve Jobs, the Unpacked event finally took place in Hong Kong where the eagerly awaited Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the latest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich were revealed to the world.

As we usually do here on the GSMArena blog, we like to put the hottest pieces of hardware in a dogfight against one another and that’s exactly what we’ll do now. The main star today is the Galaxy Nexus and it will stand up against the refreshed iPhone 4S, which now packs an A5 chip with a 1GHz dual-core processor and the Android-superstar the Galaxy S II. Let’s begin. Read more »

HTC Amaze 4G is here. As always, we shoot a video first.

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The HTC Amaze 4G was just launched on T-Mobile’s network in the United States. The smartphone shares the Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset with the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II, which we recently reviewed.

In addition to the latest and greatest Snapdragon S3 chipset, the HTC Amaze 4G packs a seriously capable 8MP camera unit. The snapper has plenty of shooting modes, and two dedicated buttons. All in all, the device has more than enough on board to spark our geeky interest.

Like we mentioned above, Read more »

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman plays some tunes in our office [VIDEO]

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The Walkman brand is making a comeback in the Sony Ericsson lineup – if the W8 seemed unconvincing, the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman should dispel any remaining doubt.

The specs sheet quotes the Xperia mini most of the time, but there are some changes exclusive to Live – like the stereo speakers on the back, the dedicated Walkman button and accompanying light. The screen has grown to 3.2″, but has kept the HVGA resolution. Read more »

Siri would let anyone bypass your iPhone lockscreen passcode unless you tweak the settings

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The iPhone’s Voice Control feature is present for quite some time in the iOS. If you’ve ever used a passcode on your lockscreen for protection, you should be already familiar you should disable the Voice Dial from the settings otherwise everyone can call anyone he likes.

Well, enter the much more capable iPhone 4S Siri. Guess what, it would still work from your lockscreen by default even if you’ve set a passcode for your iPhone 4S. You can already imagine how someone who gets access to your locked phone can perform all these clever tasks you’ve seen on the demos like extract all sorts of info about you, your regime and they can even call whoever they like. Ouch! Read more »

Quick camera comparison: Nokia N9 vs. Nokia N8 [FEATURED]

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We’re continuing our work on the Nokia N9 review and we have another bit to share with you – a quick look at the new camera. It’s a clever system that Damian Dinning (Nokia’s camera guru) explained at length, but we decided to do a quick test ourselves.

We took two shots with the N9 and the Nokia N8, check out the camera samples after the break. We also prepared 100% crops to highlight the differences between the two phones. Read more »

Nokia N9 does 8 hours and 40 minutes of video playback on a single charge [TEST]

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As we continue the hard work on the Nokia N9 review we are able to bring you yet another interesting tidbit about the smartphone in advance. We just completed the video playback endurance test of the MeeGo flagship and we were pretty impressed by its performance.

The Nokia N9 managed good 8 hours and 40 minutes of video playback before its battery went from full to 10%. That’s a pretty great achievement, which compares favorably to every other smartphone we’ve put to the same test, but the iPhone 4. Check out the complete rankings Read more »

Nokia N9 FWVGA AMOLED uses PenTile Matrix, here’s the proof

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As you probably know, we’ve had the Nokia N9 in our office for a few days and we are hard at work to unveil every secret it has. And one of the first findings we had was that the FWVGA AMOLED of the MeeGo flagship is using a PenTile matrix, instead of a regular RGB one.

It’s the same kind of matrix that we saw with Samsung’s first-gen Super AMOLEDs, where each pixel is composed of two subpixels rather than three. This gives less room for sub-pixel rendering and reduces the effective resolution, when displaying super fine detail. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S II for T-Mobile came over. We had the camera waiting [VIDEO]

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The last member of the Samsung Galaxy S II trio of droids is here, people. The T-Mobile version of the smartphone was the last to get its availability announced. It will be available online on October 10, and in T-Mobile stores on October 12.

The T-Mobile Galaxy S II does sport quite a few changes, compared to its GSM siblings, starting with its bigger 4.52 Super AMOLED Plus screen and a different CPU under its cover. Its battery is beefier as well. Now on with our initial impressions.

The Galaxy S II for T-Mobile Read more »

Nokia N9 arrives at the office – promises to stay longer this time [VIDEO]

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A most welcome guest came by our office today. The MeeGo powered Nokia N9 arrived with its shiny in-depth colored body and gorgeous AMOLED and this time it will stay with us for a full review.

You can bet that one of the most interesting smartphones of the season is receiving the attention it deserves in our lab, but we know the waiting until the review is complete is killing you. That’s why we did what we usually do and prepared a quick hands-on video for you to give you an idea of what to expect. Read more »

Reactions from public figures on Steve Jobs’ death [Update: Added Steve Wozniak's video interview]

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“The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.” - Bill Gates

“Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.” - Mark Zuckerberg Read more »

The iPhone 4S faces its Android rivals – iPhone 4S vs. HTC Sensation XE vs. Samsung Galaxy S II [TABLE]

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Well, with the new iPhone 4S finally revealed it’s time to take a look at how it manages to fight the mighty Droids. We chose to put it against the two most notable beasts in the Android world – the HTC Sensation XE and the Samsung Galaxy S II.

They are mighty indeed, but how do they stack up against the newly announced iPhone 4S? Let’s dive right in.

Read more »

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S come by for a review, we start with a hands-on video

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The Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S just arrived in our office and it promised to stay around for a full review. What’s even better is that we got the latest and greatest Xperia smartphone in two different flavors – white and black.

The arc S is actually pretty similar to its predecessor, but for a couple of key differences. On the hardware side of things you get the higher processor clock – 1.4GHz, which should improve performance even further, while on the software side the Xperia arc S offers Android 2.3.4 out of the box. Read more »