The Tough Samsung Convoy 2 Reviewed

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AppId is over the quota

The Samsung Convoy 2 comes with an average set of connective options, and an unusable EVDO rev.A. Apart from the two 2G CDMA network frequencies of 800 and 1900, you get Bluetooth 2.1 and a microUSB port. The EVDO is for PTT calls, no 3G here people.

Or Wi-Fi, but no one was really expecting there to be any Wi-Fi. The phone's internal memory is a paltry 96 MB, but with a microSD card slot that can accommodate up to 32 GBs of extra memory, so 96 MB shouldn't be an issue.

The phone's 3.2 MP camera is pretty good, easily on par with the Samsung Monte's 3.2 MP shooter. You can shoot in four resolutions, from 3.2 MP all the way down to VGA. You get five preset balances, four flash settings and a zoom feature. There is no auto focus, and the camera needs to be held very still for a shot to turn out well. But pictures do come out brightly and with good color representation, details are sharp, except on fuzzy objects. Nighttime shots are also pretty good, thanks to the powerful flash.

The camcorder, on the other hand, seems to be another story. The 15 FPS (Frames per second) VGA shooter produces barely discernible videos. At best, use the pre-set 56 seconds recording limit to send a video MMS.

The music player is excellent, sound wise. The 2.5 mm headphone jack is a real pain to find earphones for, at least where I live. But on loudspeaker or through a Bluetooth headset, sounds filter through perfectly loud and crisp, with a slightly screechy effect on full volume. You can only play MP3s unfortunately, so not much in the way of format support it seems.

Playing videos, on the other hand, is a pretty much average experience. Make sure your videos are encoded in either MP4 or 3GP formats at a maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, and everything should work out fine.

The phone has a good selection of additional features. The Verizon based apps are as follows -- VZ Navigator, VCast Video and Storefront for purchasing various JAVA apps, though you can get tons of free JAVA apps as well. Otherwise you get proprietary features such as Samsung's back up feature and emergency numbers, Bing and Uno. The staples of a calendar, calculator, alarm clock, stop watch, world clock and memo pad are available as well.

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Samsung Galaxy S Takes on Motorola Droid X

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AppId is over the quota

With the smartphone wars heating up, users now have a lot of options when they set out to buy a new smartphone. Android has taken over as the OS of choice for most independent phone manufacturers like Motorola, HTC and Samsung, and all of them are continually rolling out new devices. All of them have released excellent phones in the past and are now competing for the title of the ultimate Android smartphone. Both the Galaxy S and the Droid X feature prominently in our list of the Best Android Smartphones, but how to they stack up against each other?

Let's compare Samsung Galaxy S vs. Motorola Droid X: the two favorites in the race for Android dominance.

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Samsung Solstice vs Samsung Impression

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AppId is over the quota

There is one very major difference between the Samsung Impression and it's younger cousin the Solstice; the Impression has a slide out physical QWERTY keyboard, the Solstice is a good old fashioned plain candybar touch phone.

Samsung Impression: The Impression at first glance looks like a slightly thicker than average touchscreen phone, it weighs a presence-worthy 150g, but with dimensions of 114 x 58 x 15 mm it sits with perfect comfort within the palm.

The Impression has a very beautiful AMOLED screen, one of the first phones to debut with AMOLED technology. That was, and is, one of its biggest selling points, the screen is resistive but you'll hardly notice, sensitivity is on par with the Samsung Jet's legendary responsive resistive screen, so don't let it turn you off the phone. The screen has a standard resolution of 240 x 400 pixels, supports 265,000 colors and stands exactly 3.3 inches tall.

The phone's front facing buttons are the physical Call, Back/Clear and End call buttons, the left side hold the volume rocker and a task manager which opens up all active apps, while the right side holds the dedicated camera key and lock/power button. Other peripheries include proximity and light sensors and the propriety charging/USB/ earphone port, yeah... the Impression has a shared port from the dark days of mobile technology. The back has the square 3.2 MP camera lens and clover like loudspeaker grill, nothing more. Popping off the back reveals the microSD card slot, while taking out the battery shows the SIM card slot.

Now for the true showpiece... the keyboard. And it is one of the finest keyboards on a mobile phone, almost regardless of year. The keys are flat and wide, sort of like an island-style QWERTY for phones, they are slightly raised, have Back lighting and come with excellent travel -- even the number buttons are colored blue for easy recognition.

Samsung Solstice: The Solstice is another palm friendly phone in terms of both weight and dimensions, as it weighs 94g, pretty light back in 2009, and the dimensions of 109 x 53 x 12.7 mm are not going to stretch your palm in any way.

The screen is a LCD screen, very bright and with deep colors, but no real match for an AMOLED screen. Otherwise the screen's resolution, color support and size is exactly the same as the Impression's. But the sensitivity is not, this is a resistive touchscreen and you can feel it resisting you -- not as bad as other resistive screens, but certainly not among the best either.

Physical buttons are the same old Call, Back and End call buttons upfront, left side has the volume rocker and oddly placed lock button as it rests directly on the left corner. The right side is home to the dedicated camera button, quick menu key and proprietary charging/USB port/earphone port. The back has the round 2 MP camera lens and two thin stripes that serve as the loudspeaker grill. I'd rather dig for oil with a teaspoon than try to unearth the Solstice's microSD card; it's behind the back cover, behind the battery, underneath the charging teeth, the SIM card is easier to access than the microSD card, absolutely horrific placement. Peripheries include a proximity sensor but no ambient light sensor.

Two things to note about both phones, they are not built for abuse, be gentle and careful, lastly both have pretty awful sunlight eligibility; they become mirrors in direct sunlight.

Winner: Samsung Impression

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Samsung Galaxy Note: Smartphone, Tablet, Notepad

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AppId is over the quota

 The Note has a dual-core 1.4 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and it comes in 16 GB or 32 GB internal storage varieties. There’s also a microSD card slot so you can expand that by up to 32 GB.

It supports HSPA+, LTE, EDGE and GPRS networks so you are well-placed to get the best speeds possible wherever you happen to be. You’ve also got A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b,g,n.

The main camera is an 8 megapixel shooter and it is capable of recording 1080p video at 30 FPS. There’s also a front facing 2 megapixel camera for video calls. There’s a LED flash, but the camera app is pretty basic in terms of features and the autofocus can take a while to find the right level. Shots mostly turn out well but, as is so often the case, the camera doesn’t perform so well in low light conditions. The video recording is good quality, but the audio doesn’t match up.

If you’re buying a phone like this then chances are you want to enjoy some entertainment on it and take advantage of that display. For video it supports the MP4, M4V, Xvid, DivX, AVI, and 3GP formats. For best results you can stream the audio to a Bluetooth headset. This is a great device for watching movies. It is also good for listening to music on, although everything sounds better through a headset. You’ve got DLNA support for streaming content.

The Note is also fantastic for web addicts and browsing is an absolute pleasure. Speeds depend on your connection but it generally loads pages fast and you can enjoy full version websites with Flash.

The S Pen is another special feature on the Note and there are a few dedicated Samsung apps to help you get the best from it. S Memo allows you to sketch or write with ease and you can share your notes. The S Pen also offers some gesture shortcuts. You have the ability to hold the stylus button and double tap the screen to bring up a notepad – this ties into the S Memo app. You can also tap and hold the screen to capture a screenshot and it immediately opens in an image editor so you can add notes or diagrams if you want to. It does work really well as a notepad for capturing thoughts on the go and everything you create is easy to share through the usual social networking and messaging options.

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Guide to Rooting the Samsung Captivate Mobile Phone

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AppId is over the quota
As mentioned before, using Kies is a bit of a gamble, as it is possible that Kies may not even work with your Samsung Captivate. To download and install Kies, navigate to the official Samsung Kies download page and download and install the software to your computer.

After you have downloaded and installed Kies to your computer, take the USB cord that came with your Captivate and plug one end into your phone's USB port and the other into your computer’s USB port. This should automatically cause Kies to open and begin recognition of your phone. If it does recognize your phone, then you are all set. If not, there are a few steps you can take to see if you can get Kies to work.

Obtain an unlock code for your Captivate through, either your carrier (most likely AT&T), or a third party website. Once you have the code, remove the current SIM card from your phone and insert a SIM card from a different network (such as T-Mobile). When the phone asks for the unlock code, enter in the code you obtained to unlock it. With the phone unlocked, press the “Menu” button and select “Settings.” Select the “Applications” option and choose “USB.” Select the “Samsung Kies” option (if it appears) and connect your phone to your computer with the USB cable. If Kies recognizes the phone, you are good to go. If not, there is still another option.

The other option is to unmount the Captivate’s internal SD card, though you should be aware that this will delete photos, videos, contacts and other information stored on the card. To begin the process, press the “Menu” button and select “SD Card and Phone Storage.” Choose the “Unmount SD Card” option and wait until a message appears stating that the card is unmounted. Select the “Format SD Card” option and, when the message appears stating the phone is done formatting, select the “Mount SD Card” option. Connect the phone to the computer with the USB card and see if Kies recognizes your Captivate. If it does not, you will need to try another option rather than Kies.

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The Battle Against the Galaxy S2

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AppId is over the quota

The Google Nexus series was a new concept for the U.S. carriers, a smartphone that was directly available to the consumer, unlocked, with stock Android. The original Nexus One was a silent hit among the high tech smartphone lovers, offering a speedy operating system and immediate upgrades to Android. The Nexus S was the second Nexus smartphone to be released, and was offered on three of the major U.S. carriers, unlike the original Nexus One, which was only available through T-Mobile. The Nexus Prime or the Nexus 3, is the rumored successor to the Nexus throne.

There aren't any solid leads on the Nexus Prime/Nexus 3 and even the name is still up in the air. There haven't been any rumored specs released, but the rumored manufacturer is ironically Samsung. In effect, the Nexus Prime/Nexus 3 is shaping up to be a Galaxy S2-like smartphone with one major difference, no manufacturer overlay, which means it will be extremely fast. Overlays have been known to cause lag on even the most powerful of smartphones. In addition, the Nexus Prime/Nexus 3 will be fully supported by Google, and therefore will receive Android updates sooner than other smartphones. Like the Nexus S was a competitor to the Galaxy S 4G, the newest Nexus will no doubt be a competitor to the Galaxy S2.

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