Mozilla’s mobile operating system appears as though it’s almost ready to meet the public. ZTE, a Chinese phone manufacturer, would like to escort the new OS along the way. The first stop is Europe, where ZTE and Mozilla hope to have phones available this year.
2012 saw the continued success of Apple and the significant rise of Android. 2013, it appears, looks will be the year of the Davids as they come to take down the goliaths. One of the leaders of the alternative operating system movement is Mozilla, and its new mobile OS will have a happy home in the European zone. ZTE, the second-biggest phone equipment maker in China, has agreed to introduce a smartphone based around Mozilla’s software before the end of the year.
ZTE is looking to European wireless carriers to strike up a deal that will bring a Mozilla-powered phone to market in part of an effort to shrink the market share currently held by Android. While starting in Europe, expansion isn’t out of the question before year’s end. ZTE’s CEO Cheng Lixin stated, “If that is ready and if consumer studies support that data, then we may launch one in U.S. also this year,” during an interview at CES this week.
Deutsche Telekom, along with Sprint and Telephonica, has been working with Mozilla to start a line of cheaper smartphones built on the open OS. While part of a bigger movement, including a possible Linux-powered mobile OS and Samsung’s home-built Tizen OS, it looks as though Mozilla will have the jump and could claim the early share of the alternative market. According to a Strategy Analytics report cited by Bloomberg, Mozilla and ZTE could snag one percent of the mobile market in 2013.
The Alcatel One Touch Idol is one of a trio of new smartphones from the French firm which are pushing towards the top end of the mobile market.
A less powerful understudy to the One Touch Idol Ultra, the Idol slides in with a 4.7-inch IPS LCD display, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 8MP camera and Android Jelly Bean.
This is all squeezed into a slender 7.9mm chassis and Alcatel is claiming the One Touch Idol is the lightest smartphone in the world in its category tipping the scales at 110g.
We're not too sure what category Alcatel is referring to, but we can confirm that the handset does feel very light – shocker.
It also feels pretty cheap thanks to the low quality plastic which has been used to keep the weight down, and that detracts from the experience as it's like having a toy in your hand.
On the right side there's a volume rocker switch and a microSIM port, while on the flip side there's a slot for a microSD card to build on the lack lustre 4GB inside the One Touch Idol.
Up top you'll find a headphone jack and the power/lock key which required quite a bit of pressure to register our prod, meaning we had to tightly grip the One Touch Idol to stop it popping out of our hand.
Android 4.1.1 looks good on the 4.7-inch, 540x900 display and while it's not HD it is bright and colourful – although Alcatel has tweaked the icons to its own design which we're not big fans of.
The Alcatel One Touch Idol couldn't make up its mind if it wanted to offer a fluid or laggy user experience with Android running smoothly most of the time, but broken up by short periods of unexplained slow down - making it all a bit jarring.
Thankfully Alcatel hasn't stuck its own keyboard on the One Touch Idol opting to stick with the default Android offering which is a decent input method, especially with the responsive touch screen on the phone.
Round the back of the Idol you'll find the raised 8MP camera with single LED flash which will allow you to record full HD video.
The One Touch Idol sports the stock Android Jelly Bean camera app complete with panorama and photo sphere modes allowing you to have some fun.
Shutter speed is good and we were able to snap photos in quick succession without issue. Image quality is acceptable, but the results won't blow you away.
There's a non-removable 1,820mAh battery inside the One Touch Idol which should offer a reasonable amount of life, but we reckon heavy users will still be reaching for the charger before the day is out – we'll find out in our full review.
Alcatel was not forthcoming on the One Touch Idol release date or price, but we were told that it would be available worldwide when it does finally launch sometime this year.
Early Verdict
It's difficult to tell how much exposure the Alcatel One Touch Idol will get in various regions and it could well fall under many people's radar.
The One Touch Idol doesn't blow us away, nor does it completely disappoint – it's a middle of the road smartphone which will struggle to stand out in the crowded mobile market, even with its array of nine colour options.
Mauz brings gesture control technology to the mobile arena with its app and dongle accessory. The duo combine to turn your smartphone into a versatile way to interact with your PC, mouse, keyboard, and even hands-free.
Gesture control technology continues to gain traction thanks to our increasing comfort going without the mouse and keyboard. Touchscreens have taught us to do without and we’re getting more and more familiar with eschewing these accessories.
Technology like The Leap and Kinect (and the many apps leveraging it) continue to push our progress here by giving us motion-based interactions with our PCs and TVs – and now, a new product called Mauz we spotted at CES will transform your smartphone into a gesture-friendly tool.
Mauz is a dongle that plugs into your iPhone, and then launches its own app to make your smartphone an incredibly versatile device. You can connect it to your PC and use it as a trackpad, dragging your finger across the phone’s screen to control your PC. You can right click and left click – all from your smartphone. The idea is to evolve how we control our electronics, allowing users new, intuitive, natural ways to use applications like PhotoShop or Google Earth.
Replacing your traditional mouse with what essentially becomes a multi-function trackpad isn’t all Mauz does. Within the app, you can also decide to enable gesture control, so the dongle and app partner to work as a sensor and you can wave your hand over the smartphone to navigate and control your device. Creator Gilad Meiri says this is intended to “simulate a Kinect-like experience.”
There’s also its Wii-like functionality, where you can pick it up and use it to remote control your device by waving it around as need be.
Meiri says the team just launched a KickStarter campaign to gauge interest – which might be a good goal, given the fact that they’re trying to raise $150,000 toward Mauz’s development. Regardless of the crowdsourcing campaign, Meiri says he expects to offer a beta version of Mauz (which he currently calls a “production-ready prototype”) in March or April and release the first iteration in June. He tells us this is a consumer-facing product – it’s not exclusively being shopped around to OEMs.
“Cost is an issue that still needs to be resolved,” Meiri says, although he figures it will cost “between $60 and $70.”
This market continues to grow while simultaneously becoming more and more accessible to the average user – and the simplicity of Mauz is both ambitious and exciting. We’ll have to wait until spring and summer to see if Mauz breaks onto store shelves.
Last night, I had my first introduction to T-Mobile’s new CEO John Legere. He’s crazy, hilarious, and may just have the vision to help T-Mobile take on Verizon and AT&T.
I wrote T-Mobile off a long time ago. In my mind, it was a last-place carrier going nowhere fast. Last night, I changed my mind. I hobbled to T-Mobile’s CES press conference with a groan and a grumble, but I left with a smile and sense of loyalty. In less than an hour, T-Mobile’s new CEO John Legere made me laugh repeatedly, stunned me with his honesty, and convinced me that T-Mobile might just have what it takes to become the kind of wireless carrier we need in the United States … really badly.
Last night, Legere trashed AT&T’s network repeatedly, said Sprint botched its LTE rollout, blatantly admitted that Verizon’s network is amazing, and said that shared data plans won’t work because porn takes too much data to stream. He was so blunt and so honest that he completely took the crowd of 70 or so journalists by surprise. And his jokes had the crowd of mobile nerds (and me) laughing so much a stand up comic would get jealous. Several times, he even repeated how little he cared about us. Baseball legend Joe Torre, who was in attendance, was the real reason he was there.
“I just wanted to meet Joe Torre. I could give a damn about all of you, but they said I had to say something if I wanted to come up,” he said to a laugh as his Q&A session began, informing the crowd that he would be around about two hours to take questions because, well … there’s free alcohol.
“Anybody want to taunt me into saying something inappropriate so you can put it in the media tomorrow?” he challenged with a smile.
And that’s all it took. What followed was something I haven’t seen anywhere else at CES. A real person answering real questions, unafraid of anything or anyone. Legere told us exactly where T-Mobile is and where he wants to see it go in detail, all while prodding his competitors with jokes and jabs – especially AT&T.
“We didn’t even get started on our network, and right now, proven, our network is faster than AT&T and Verizon in New York City,” said Legere. “Anybody here from New York? Any of you use AT&T? Any of you who use them, are you happy? Of course not. Their network’s crap. We’re faster than they are in Chicago, and Minneapolis. We’re faster than them in, you know, I could go down seven or eight cities.”
The jokes didn’t stop as Legere described a bunch of ads he wished T-Mobile would run.
“This is not an ad …. but [imagine a] picture of a 7-year-old boy holding a little toy and he’s pouting and the caption says ‘Do AT&T executives make their children wait two years to open their presents?’ So, you know this is not where we’re headed, but we’re going to go into, well … how about ‘If there’s that many strings attached, how can it be called wireless?’”
In between the zingers, he also laid out an amazing vision for T-Mobile. Admitting that his carrier lost its mojo since its failed merger with AT&T, he explained what he meant by T-Mobile’s new branding as an “uncarrier.”
“It’s going to be about solving customers’ pain points. Customers who can’t stand opaque billing, lack of transparency, surprises, being locked in, lack of flexibility, lack of ability to control their own destiny, and being treated like second-class citizens because of the length of their terms of service.”
To do that, T-Mobile is turning its back on a number of the money-grubbing practices that have, sadly, become standard in the wireless industry. They will no longer require two-year contracts, people can bring devices from any carrier, and he’s going to end hidden charges. Instead of secretly building the cost of phones into a two-year contract, T-Mobile will sell phones for their full (expensive) prices. He unveiled a $70-a-month unlimited talk, text, and data plan with no throttling – a price and option we haven’t seen for years – promised the iPhone, and said that this is just the beginning. You know what? I believe him.
U.S. carriers like Verizon and AT&T are ripping us off and finally someone has smartened up to the business opportunity. By becoming everything that Verizon and AT&T aren’t (honest), but matching their network speeds and reliability with a rapid LTE rollout in 2013, T-Mobile could become the carrier I’ve dreamed of.
I’m a Verizon user. I have been for two years. Before that, I had AT&T. But after attending T-Mobile’s press conference last night, I may soon take my number purple. Last night, John Legere joked that T-Mobile improved how the public perceived its network quality by 10 percent “because we ran 25,000 ads saying that our network was really great.” He might be full of crap, but after an hour of listening to the new CEO, I can’t talk enough about T-Mobile.
Huawei is releasing tons of products at CES, and while a lot of attention is on its huge phones, the company has also released the smallest data card yet.
Huawei is really taking us to town this week at CES, and while it’s gotten a lot of attention for its massive phablet, The Ascend Mate, it’s also taken the time to announce the smallest data card yet, the UltraStick E3331.
The UltraStick E3331 is a USB-powered stick you can plug into any compatible laptop for easy and fast connectivity to HSPA+ networks similar to AT&T and T-Mobile. The system claims to peak with speeds up to 21Mbps and utilize something Huawei calls Hi-Link, allowing customers to connect to the network in as little as 15 seconds. Director of Huawei’s Data Card Product Group, Wang Yeh Biao, has stated “Huawei is investing resources to develop advanced and innovative, yet light and thin mobile broadband products,” and we’re expecting to see more of these types of products roll out as Huawei begins to kick into high gear.
Like the Ascend D2, the UltraStick E3331 has no announcement yet of American availability either. The card will be available next month in the Phillipines, and “with other markets to follow.” We’re not exactly sure which markets will come next, but knowing trends we expect the UltraStick to reach China and other parts of the world before maybe stopping by in the U.S. on either T-Mobile or AT&T. We hope it arrives sooner rather than later.
ZTE is another Chinese manufacturer looking to tackle the high-end smartphone market with its latest flagship device, the ZTE Grand S.
Due to launch in China at the end of the first quarter the Grand S is set for a global release but an exact date and regions are yet to be revealed.
The Grand S joins the Grand Era and Grand X in ZTE's premium handset range, with the latest handset being the stand out offering.
On paper the Grand S is an intriguing proposition packing a full HD 5-inch display, 1.7GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 13MP camera, 4G connectivity and Android Jelly Bean into a chassis which is just 6.9mm thick.
Design wise ZTE has stepped things up with the Grand S wrapping it in a classy polycarbonate unibody which makes the phone feel premium in the hand and thanks to that 6.9mm depth it's pretty easy to hold, however we'd have liked a slightly more curved rear to make it sit in the palm a little better.
On the front ZTE had opted to stick the Android menu buttons below the screen instead of having them on the display like the Xperia Z and Ascend D2, which adds a bit of extra length to the Grand S, but it's nothing to worry about and we were able to hit the keys easily.
One the right hand side there's a metallic volume switch and a port for a microSIM covered by an easy to remove, yet sturdy flap.
The port set up is mirrored on the left side, this time servicing you with a microSD card slot allowing you to expand on the 16GB of internal storage, while on the top there's a power/lock key and headphone jack.
With all that power we were expecting to be blown away by the user experience – instead we ended up being rather disappointed.
The whole Jelly Bean OS seemed slow and unresponsive compared to the Sony and Huawei devices we played with, leading us to question what on earth the quad-core chip and sizeable chunk of RAM was up to in the Grand S.
Transitions between home screens, of which you can have up to nine, lacked the zip we expect from high-end smartphones and apps took a second or two to load up, which is acceptable for a lower end device, but not a flagship handset.
ZTE's Android overlay is pretty subtle allowing you to enjoy the full flexibility of the Jelly Bean platform, and everything appears crisp and clear on the full HD display.
The Grand S sports a slightly tweaked Android keyboard powered by TouchPal providing you with a mediocre typing experience.
It's not a bad effort as far as Android keyboards go, but we still prefer downloading SwiftKey from Google Play as it's far more accurate and efficient.
The 13MP camera is housed in its own glass bubble on the rear of the Grand S along with the single LED flash and speaker grill.
It's capable of recording video in full HD, which you can the enjoy on the 5-inch display and the camera app comes with the standard array of Android features.
The shutter speed isn't overly quick so taking photos in rapid succession is out of the question, but at least the app to simple to use and you can easily switch to the 2MP front facing camera if you desire a self portrait.
Video playback on the 1080p display on the Grand S should have been top notch, but we found it to be pretty lack-lustre with faded colours and a lack of detail which puts it well below the other two full HD handsets we've seen.
This is a real shame as it looks like ZTE has failed to capitalise on the key feature of the Grand S which leaves you wondering why someone would plump for this over the Xperia Z or Ascend D2.
Possibly the only thing which could salvage the Grand S is a super-cheap price tag, but that's probably going to be unlikely given the tech stuffed inside.
ZTE is promising excellent battery life with the Grand S thanks to the power efficient Snapdragon S4 Pro chip running the show – although you'll have to wait for our full ZTE Grand S review to see if it can deliver.
Early Verdict
Taking a look at the specs the ZTE Grand S looks to be a blockbuster of a phone and one which could easily trump the big boys of the mobile market.
The reality however is not so great, with a sluggish interface and disappointing screen quality seriously wounding the Grand S, which is then pushed further down the pecking order by the superior Sony Xperia Z and Huawei Ascend D2.
Perhaps ZTE will be able to iron out the kinks before the handset hit shelves, but we're not holding out breaths and the Grand S will need a pretty special price tag if it's going to succeed.
Samsung isn't done with CES 2013. We just got the company's latest and without a doubt most exiting announcement yet - the Exynos 5 Octa chipset.
It brings 8 processor cores, which distribute the work load among each other. Four Cortex-A15 cores ensure incredible performance while the other four are low-power Cortex-A7s that kick in for the less demanding tasks and save battery power.
The chipset is based on ARM's big.LITTLE tech, which ensures that you will always get enough performance without having to deal with terrible battery life.
Samsung promises up to 70% lower power consumption compared to the Exynos 5 Dual, which is powering the Google Nexus 10 tablet and the latest Chromebook by Samsung.
The Exynos 5 Octa could posses as much as twice the 3D rendering prowess of the Exynos 4 Quad, which is found in the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III.
There's no official word yet on which devices are going to use the new Exynos 5 Octa or when but we suppose the next Galaxy S and Note devices are a safe guess.
No, we didn't get the Galaxy SIV, but the company had plenty of mobile news to share during its Wednesday keynote at CES.
Samsung President Stephen Woo introduced its next offering in mobile processors, the Exynos 5 Octa.
This is Samsung's (and apparently the world's) first mobile application processor to implement the ARM big.LITTLE processing technology based on Cortex A15 CPU.
Made of eight cores in all - four hefty A15s and four Cortex A7s for lighter work - the company claimed the chip is 70 percent more efficient compared to the previous quad-core Exynos. Though it saves on power, it's actually more than capable to take on demanding tasks like game play and high maintenance applications.
Phone times ahead
Samsung used its time on stage to tout not just the new processor but its flexible screen tech, what it's dubbed Youm.
In two different demos, the Sammy team showed how content could run along the edges of a bent over screen, while a member of the Softie team later joined to show off a Windows Phone prototype phone that bowed and bended.
Could we see a combo Youm display phone with the Exynos 5 Octa powering its insides sometime down the road? One can only hope.
Panasonic’s new 20-inch, 4K tablet may seem like total overkill… until you actually see it. This is the ultimate in Windows 8 tablet awesomeness. Sadly, we may have to wait a long time before it’s priced for the consumer market.
The trend toward 4K resolution is in full swing in the HDTV world, so it’s not surprising that this display technology is already starting to infiltrate computing. What is surprising is Panasonic’s bold move to not only create a 4K PC, but to make it into one of the biggest tablets we’ve ever seen. And yes, the 4K Windows 8 all-in-one is indeed a tablet, because it has a battery and can operate away from the A/C adapter. Is this something anyone needs? Well, why not?
To start, the 20-inch 4K panel is absolutely gorgeous. If you’re impressed with 4K on big HDTVs, this is even better. It reminded us of the first time we saw the Retina display on the iPad, except even more awesome. Of course colors really pop, and the viewing angles are very wide. At the very least, this would make an amazing multimedia machine. However, Panasonic has loftier goals.
All of the use cases on display at the company’s CES booth are high-end professional ones. We got to see Photoshop running on it, wireless photo control and capture with a Panasonic Lumix DSLR, and real time collaboration in software made for architects. Since the 20-inch surface is so large, it’s perfect for big imaging or drafting projects. There’s an accelerometer inside, giving users the option to work in portrait or landscape. In the demos we also saw a Bluetooth digitized pen, an optional accessory, for working in photo editors and other pro software.
This tablet is clearly destined for professional and business use, which makes sense given the level of detail offered by the 4K resolution. We’re sure plenty of consumers will still drool over it, though.
The tablet weighs around 5 pounds (that may change with the final release), around the same weight as a mainstream laptop. So it’s quite easy to move around the office or a studio, freeing you up to work wherever you want without having to worry about wires or outlets. The battery lasts two hours. Panasonic might have been able to shove more longevity into the tablet except it seems that the company wanted to keep it slim and svelte. Accordingly, there are few ports, which might be an issue with business users.
Intel Core i5 processors ran the units on display in Panasonic’s booth. When the final product comes out, there may also be a Core i7 option. The demo units are pre-production, so they weren’t at their absolute best. Still, we got an inkling of how powerful the 4K tablet will be. It runs full Windows 8 at the moment, and we suspect it will be offered with Win8 Pro. The only issue with running Windows and other programs is that they aren’t made for such high-resolution displays. Thus icons are very tiny. When this product comes out, software makers will have to update their wares to deal with the huge jump in pixels.
Overall, the Panasonic 4K Windows 8 tablet is really impressive. The gorgeous 20-inch screen is only the beginning of the story of how awesome it is. And while it’s likely to be so expensive at first that many consumers won’t be able to afford it, we look forward to a time (that may not be so far in the future) when giant 4K tablets take the place of all-in-ones as go-to multimedia PCs for families and college students.
Panasonic isn’t releasing any pricing or availability details yet, they’ll only say the tablet is coming out in 2013. We can’t wait.
Bendable and 'virtually unbreakable' (credit: Engadget)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton may have stolen the spotlight during Samsung's keynote address at CES 2013, but the South Korean company didn't skimp on offering up some innovation in the form of a flexible OLED smartphone display prototype.
Stephen Woo, president of Samsung, was joined by Brian Berkeley, senior vice president of Samsung Display, to show off the new screen.
Called "Youm," the bendable OLED lineup uses thin plastic instead of glass, turning it into pliable and almost unbreakable screen.
Berkeley showed off a prototype Windows Phone with the Youm tech. The display curved around the edges, showing contiguous content along the sides of the device.
Polaroid has announced a pair of Android tablets at CES 2013. The M7 and M10 have a 7-inch and a 10-inch screen respectively and considering their specifications, are very reasonably priced.
Polaroid is going all-out to reinvent itself at CES this year, with the introduction of a tablet aimed primarily at kids and an Android-based mirrorless camera, but also keeping hold of its traditional photographic roots with the Fotobar. It’s not stopping there either, as it has unveiled a pair of new Android tablets wearing the Polaroid name at the show.
It has called them the M7 and M10, and they’re described as having “Mighty performance” at a “Minimal price.” Bold claims both, so do they live up to expectations? We’ll start with the M7, which as the name suggests has a 7-inch screen size, however instead of using a basic 1024 x 600 panel, Polaroid has given it a 1280 x 800 resolution IPS display. This sets it apart from some of the other cheap Android tablets we’ve seen at CES, such as the offering from Coby.
Inside is an unnamed dual-core processor, 8GB of internal storage memory and a microSD card slot too. The M7 also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel video call camera. It uses Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and there is access to the Google Play store, however the pictures do show a flashy user interface over the top of the OS. We’re pleasantly surprised by the price of the M7, as it’s $130, which sounds reasonable when you consider the specs.
The M7 is joined by the M10, which gets a quad-core processor – again, of unknown heritage – 16GB of memory, an HDMI-out port, a microSD card slot, the same 2-megapixel video call camera as it’s smaller sister, plus a 5-megapixel primary shooter on the back. The price for the M10 is $230, which is considerably less than bigger screen slates such as the Nexus 10, should you not be bothered about its high-resolution screen.
Both the M7 and M10 are due for release in the spring, although an exact date isn’t known. Depending on the user experience provided by that Polaroid skin, they could be worth a closer look.
CES has been an absolute whirlwind, giving us a thorough and at times mind boggling look at all the hottest tech on the market and coming soon.
We got to tinker with a new Sony phone, a 20-inch 4K tablet that was only overshadowed (size wise) by a 27-inch "table PC," and a host of other products we can't wait to see on the market.
As part of our presence at the show, TechRadar is honoring certain attendees with a Best of CES Awards 2013 presented by DTS.
We were floored by the innovation at the show and though it was hard, we were able to narrow down our selections to a group of winners that demonstrated the most innovative gadgets and electronics that showed groundbreaking design, technology and user experience.
RIM will have BlackBerry 10 devices to fit every budget - eventually
The long awaited debut of handsets running BlackBerry 10 OS is just three weeks away, and Research in Motion claims they'll be leaving no stone unturned when it comes to pricing.
PhoneArena reported Tuesday that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion plans to cover the entire spectrum of consumers' wallets with its latest wave of devices - including low, middle and high price tags.
RIM Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben was on hand at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week talking up the company's new BlackBerry 10 devices, which RIM will introduce on January 30.
BlackBerry lovers may have to be patient, however: Out of the gate, RIM is expected to only debut two new models, with others to come in the months ahead.
No exclusives
The new models are rumored to be the previously leaked BlackBerry Z10, a full touchscreen handset, and BlackBerry X10, which features RIM's popular - and more traditional - QWERTY keyboard.
"We intend over time as we transition the portfolio to have a full range of devices," the RIM CMO told PhoneArena at CES 2013.
Boulben claims RIM will introduce at least six BlackBerry 10 models in 2013 which are currently being tested around the world by 150 carriers, none of whom will have an exclusive on the handsets in any region.
Rumors that Apple is hard at work on a cheap iPhone model continue to spread, this time with news the device will be priced at $99 or $149. But is such a price point feasible?
We can blame DigiTimes and the Wall Street Journal, plus its anonymous sources, for the sudden surge in rumors concerning a cheap Apple iPhone, potentially named the iPhone Mini, which have done their best to distract us from all the CES 2013 related news this week. Now it’s Bloomberg’s turn, as its sources – unnamed, of course – say Apple is eying a $99 or $149 price point for the unannounced phone.
The report states Apple has been working on an affordable alternative to the iPhone for two years, and it hopes to have a model ready for release later this year. It also says Apple has been chatting to at least one U.S. network about the phone, however it may primarily be aimed at attracting buyers in emerging markets where the iPhone is too expensive for the majority of potential buyers.
It continues to say the phone would use cheaper parts, be smaller than current models and work on, “Multiple wireless networks.” As existing iPhone devices work on just about every major network in the world already, we’re not sure what else Apple could have in mind. The Journal perviously indicated Apple would switch to polycarbonate for the phone’s construction, and reuse components it had produced for discontinued iPhone handsets.
What about the iPhone 4?
Let’s go back to the price. Neither Bloomberg nor its anonymous source states whether the $99/$149 price includes the subsidies provided by the carrier after signing up for a contract. It’s an important distinction, as right now, an 8GB iPhone 4 is yours for $0.99 with a two-year contract through AT&T, making it the perfect iPhone Mini. It has a smaller screen and lesser specs than the current phone, yet it’s still superior to many other budget smartphones. It’s the same argument which has always made a dedicated low-cost iPhone sound like a strange project, as Apple always has the ideal budget iPhone when it brings out a new, full price one.
So, does that mean Apple is planning a SIM-free or Pay As You Go iPhone for $99 or $149? Such a drastic drop in price, a 16GB iPhone 5 costs $649 from Apple remember, would inevitably mean a drastic drop in quality and performance – a sacrifice Apple doesn’t seem likely to make, particularly when you take the iPad Mini, it’s recent attempt to attract the budget crowd into account.
The competition should be worried
For the sake of argument, let’s say it has got a $149 phone ready for launch; which device is it supposed to be countering? It’s not the Galaxy S3, that’s what the iPhone 5 is for, and it’s not even the Galaxy S3 Mini, Samsung’s sub par cash in on the S3’s success, as it costs at least £250 on Pay As You Go in the UK, or $400. At AT&T, $150 on PAYG buys you the Samsung Galaxy Appeal, with its 3.2-inch screen, dual-core 800MHz chip, 3-megapixel camera and all its associated unattractiveness.
Of course, if an iPhone was available for the same price in that company, almost everyone would buy it over any other device, and the specs wouldn’t matter in the slightest. It would just look out of place alongside Apple’s other products. All this aside, the prospect of Apple producing the iPad Mini appeared similarly out-of-character, then the thing turned up to prove us all wrong. Perhaps Apple will do the same again with an incredibly cheap iPhone?
It certainly feels like Samsung is taking over the world right now – at least, the Android world. There's no doubt that last year's Galaxy S2 was arguably the phone of the year.
And not in recent times, discounting Apple of course, can we remember the anticipation and expectation of a phone as much as the Galaxy S3.
If you needed a barometer of this, just look at how it was unveiled. Not at MWC like lots of others, but its own event, proving the Galaxy line has reached the level where it can guarantee hoards will come just for an unveiling.
The name was even 'confirmed' at a recent event by a researcher, which means it's coming closer and closer to reality.
But that's last season's device, and we're looking forward to the next level of what to expect in the Galaxy SIV. The trickle of 'sources' talking about this new device is starting to build to a steady stream, so we're on hand to help let you know which whispers have a notion of truth about them - as well as providing our wishlist of what we want Samsung to improve on the new handset.
Samsung Galaxy S4 screen
The Galaxy S2 had an amazing Super AMOLED Plus display – and boy, was it vibrant. The S3 upped the screen size from 4.3-inches to 4.8-inches and the pixel density went from 217 to 306 to take a run at the iPhone's Retina Display.
But, Samsung also opted for a PenTile approach, to the chagrin of geeks. What does that mean for the end user?
Well, the screen looks great but you can make out pixels if you really, really strain. And some of the vivacity and colour saturation is lost. On the plus side, Samsung reckons the screen will last longer – but we'd rather see a much more S2-like screen with a sharper resolution - and given that's now appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, we're pretty hopeful we'll get it on the Samsung Galaxy S4 too.
There seems a much more likely option in the shape of the 5-inch 1080p screen that could offer up an eye-splitting 441ppi, making it easily the highest res out there. It would probably need to be shrunk down a smidge to fit into the palm, or Samsung could actually just make the phone even closer to the edges of the screen. Dare we dream of an edge-to-edge display like on the 9000 series TVs?
However, the bad news is that due to reported manufacturing issues these may have been delayed... does that mean the phone will have to be pushed back as well?
It seems more than likely that Samsung will eschew MWC 2013 once more for the release of its top handset, instead focusing on the launch in May 2013, which we'd really like to see. A recent teaser by Samsung promised something at CES in January, but this is really rather unlikely - although apparently the brand showed off prototypes to key execs from networks and supply chain-ers.
This is for a number of reasons: time to allow the current customers to buy the S3, being able to scoop up all the customers about to come out of contract from the S2 and also not making its fans feel like its throwing out a new flagship phone every three seconds.
However, that didn't stop the rumour mill deciding that the Galaxy S4 launch was set for March 2013, based on something a Samsung 'representative' said to the media. The brand quickly took to Twitter to discredit the rumours, so it looks like the middle of the year launch is still firmly on the cards.
Since then another rumour, of a phone dubbed 'Project J', has emerged, and that's set for an April unveil... so it seems we're looking at a Q2 2013 Samsung Galaxy S4 launch as it stands, which means you'll probably be able to actually hold one in your hands come May, and it will likely be given the model number of GT-I9500, which is leap from GT-I9300 but has been confirmed as likely legit when showing up in firmware versions, as well as on Samsung's official software page.
Another source has written off the chance of the Galaxy S4 appearing at CES 2013 and MWC 2013 - giving the suggestion that an April event is on the cards more weight.
Update:New sources, apparently Samsung's Korean execs themselves, are touting an April Samsung Galaxy S4 release... and it will even come with an S Pen accessory too! However, this seems unlikely given it's only currently used on the Note range, so a boring C Pen upgrade could be all that's on the cards.
Samsung Lebanon has weighed in too, revealing that it's not coming in the next three months: "The Galaxy SIV won't be released before May 2013," the brand said, rather emphatically - despite some sites carrying news that an anonymous exec was claiming March as the release date and the venue for launch was going to be in the US, UK or South Korea.
Samsung Galaxy S4 specs
There's not a lot around about specs at the moment, but the rumours emanating from the good ol' internet rumour mill are certainly enough to make us excited.
The first is that the S4 will have a quad-core chip, which might sound a little 'last gen' to many. However, it will be based on ARM's A15 architecture, bringing with it a big boost in power for all those resource-intensive tasks we love to do all the time.
But then again, that's not Samsung's way really, is it? We want to see bigger, bangier and faster, so doubling it again to an OCTO-core would be the way to go.
Rather than just making it super powerful though, the eight core innards would split into two groups: A15-spec chips for the big stuff, and A7 when things need to get a little lower power, bringing with it the best of both worlds.
The other big news that we think should be on our wish list is the fact that Samsung's internal storage bods have been hard at work bringing the flash memory down in size and up in speed... so think even thinner phones with higher capacity that can be written to up to 10x faster. We're now looking forward to the S4 even more now.
Update: A quad-core processor looks more likely than an eight core offering after the new Exynos 5440 quad-core chip appeared on Samsung's site, making it a strong contender to feature in the Galaxy S4.
Samsung Galaxy S4 operating system
What's the good word here? Well, given the time scales involved, we'd fully expect to see the Galaxy S4 running a more mature version of Android 4.2, better known as Android Jelly Bean, as well as the next generation of TouchWiz skin on top.
There are some more daft rumours floating around, namely that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will run off a different operating system called Tizen, simply because Samsung is using it on other phones.
Don't worry, this won't happen...although a variant of the phone could be used as a blueprint for a decent alternative handset.
More likely is Samsung bringing out the Galaxy S4 to coincide with the next version of Android from Google, called Key Lime Pie.
April would be roughly the time we'd start seeing rumours of such things, so it's not unbelievable that you could buy an S4 with a cutting edge OS.
In truth, we've never really seen this happen from the Koreans, so chances are it will be boring old Jelly Bean when your S4 appears in your hands.
Samsung Galaxy S4 battery
Ok, we admit we always want more. The S2's 1,650mAh was manageable and the S3's 2,100mAh blows that out of the water. But it's still only OK.
You can get by on a day of moderate use but if you use this phone heavily (and we're talking watching TV shows on the morning and evening commute alongside your normal tinkering), this handset will still want a plug in at some point.
Motorola has proven it can be done by whacking a 3,300mAh power pack into the RAZR Maxx which can still be considered a skinny Minnie. Something of that size – along with ICS and Samsung's power management abilities – would really be the icing on the Ice Cream Sandwich.
Samsung Galaxy S4 design
We've lost count of the amount of people we've shown our device off to who've replied with the words: "Yeah, it's great but looks like a bit of a toy." It's a double-edged sword: the plastic is used to keep this handset nice and light, but does detract from what should be a premium device.
A bit of glass wouldn't go amiss. Android users, say what you like about the iPhone 4/4S (and we know you won't be short of words), but aside from being smash-tastic, the glass really adds that premium and expensive feel that the S3 just doesn't have.
Forget what your mum told you – it's what's on the outside that counts too, so the Samsung Galaxy S4 needs to step it up in the design stakes.
We've now had the first in what we expect to be many leaked shots claiming to be the Samsung Galaxy S4 - and it isn't filling us with a huge amount of confidence as it could quite easily be a mash up between the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
Better S-Voice
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much.
Sure, it can tell you what the weather is like if you really can't be bothered to look out the window. And it'll save you 10 seconds by setting an alarm.
But it's just not powerful enough - and is, frankly, awful for something that's supposed to be a headline feature on one of the world's best smartphones.
We've actually been using Speak To It Assistant far more often because it's superior. Samsung could do worse than buy a company like this to give the Galaxy S4 a real chance of being the best voice-controlled mobile out there.
Better Mac support
Yep, we know many consumers believe Mac users account for only 0.000001% of Android owners (why wouldn't they just buy an iPhone, right?)
But there are lots who like Apple computers as well as Android devices. And up until the S3, they got on famously.
But Android has changed the rules and how storage works so that it follows the MTP Protocol which plays along brilliantly with Windows but can't stand Macs.
Yes, we know this is a Google issue and not something that Samsung can be blamed for. But having said that, the HTC One X also runs Ice Cream Sandwich and it has managed to tweak the code enough for there to not be a problem.
Please Samsung – don't shut them out. Ice Cream Sandwich may be frozen – but we shouldn't be, so when you bring out the Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie-powered Galaxy S4, let's get some support.
Samsung Galaxy S4 accessories
Samsung unveiled the SIII alongside a raft of accessories – the usual things like cases were complimented by the C-Pen (like the Note 2's S-Pen but smaller) and the dongle for connecting to your TV to stream stuff.
The problem is, they're all so expensive: £20 for the C-Pen and the best part of £70 for the AllShare Dongle. They're not mainstream accessories – and little wonder.
If Samsung made these cheaper – or even threw them into the box for the Galaxy S4 (highly unlikely, but we can dream) then it would make for a much happier customer.
Perhaps a premium package where you spend a little more but get the accessories at the same time would work... people like to get the most out of things when they get their shiny new device.
Better charging
Plug it in and charge until it's full. That's always been the way. But we'd love to see a more advanced version of charging - ditching the wires should be more prevalent.
Maybe something similar to the conductive methods used by Palm in the Pre which never really caught on. The idea being that you don't have to plug the phone in to charge, just place it on a particular mat or place and it does it automatically.The S3 has that functionality, but it's hardly been well-publicised since launch.
The likes of Nokia with the Lumia 920 have been banging on about the amazing world of wireless charging for ages now, with a range of accessories too. Given that it will all be based on the Qi wireless charging standard, we'll soon see reams of coffee shops and airports with these charging stations littered around - just don't forget to watch your phone.
Or how about something really radical – like a battery that can also charge kinetically on the S4. Sure, it would be slow but wouldn't it be great if you could go for a run and manage to gain an extra 10 or 20% just by doing so to get you through the day? Radical – yes. But Samsung is known for its innovation.
Improved speakers
As beautiful and wonderful as the S3 is, the speaker still sounds tinny. Ringtones sound cheap and when it is on its back, they're also muffled. At least the iPhone has a bit of bass.
But what about going a bit further? Have three or four powerful but small speakers around the rim so when you play music, it comes out loud and with a bit of bass.
Hell, even make it so strong that it negates the need for a travel dock so you can play music at a decent volume when you nip away for the weekend or are sitting on the beach. That'd be a real selling point.
As AT&T, Verizon has yet to release a full financial report for the final quarter of 2012 but an SEC filing gives a few interesting details. The carrier sold 9.8 million smartphones in the holiday quarter, a big jump from Q3's 6.8 million.
The filing hints at a "higher mix" of iPhones but gives no exact numbers. For Q3 the numbers were 3.4 million Androids and 3.1 million iPhones, of which 21% (around 650K) were iPhone 5's.
Since the iPhone 5 was announced at the end of Q3, we can expect to see it make up a much bigger portion of the iPhone mix for Q4. The carrier is expecting to record lower margins compared to Q4 2011 though.
There is just over a month until Valentine's Day and Verizon has already started preparing for it. Two phones will get new paintjobs and maybe some ladies will receive them as Valentine's gifts.
Nokia Lumia 822 will be released in red, while the Motorola Droid RAZR M will get a new pink version. Both smartphones should be released in the upcoming weeks.
Once again, those are Verizon-bound phones. Their new color version should cost the same as usual - the Lumia 822 is $50 with a two-year contract (or $450 regular price) and the RAZR M is $100 (or $550 regular price).
Panasonic has released two more tablets into their Toughpad line, and completes a trio comprising of Windows 8 and Android alike.
CES may get its reputation for being all about the common man, hence the consumer part of the Consumer Electronic Show name, but that doesn’t stop companies like Panasonic from using the opportunity to showcase their latest corporate and enterprise products. On Tuesday, Panasonic unleashed two more tablets into their Toughpad line of immortal electronics, one of which is a 10-inch device featuring Windows 8, and the other is a 7-inch featuring Android. The two compliment their recent launch of a 10-inch Android Toughbook late last year.
The first one, above and on the left, is the Toughpad JT-B1, a 7-inch Android tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0.) With a 1.5Ghz dual-core TI OMAP processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 16GB of space, you certainly get plenty of backend hardware for the WSVGA, daylight-readable display. Some interesting hardware also includes an impressive 13-megapixel camera with flash on the back, 1.3-megapixel camera on the front, 5,720mAh user-serviceable battery with 8 hours of life, and optional LTE. The unit comes with a 5-foot drop rating, IP65 rating for dust and water, and operates anywhere from 14 to 122 degrees. Where you choose to read books with this tablet is up to you, but there’s a good chance that it will have a better chance of surviving than you will.
The second new model, int he picture above on the right, is the first Windows 8 tablet by Panasonic, and is the 10.1-inch Toughpad FZ-G1. Featuring a 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processor, up to 256GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM, you’re sure to have plenty of computing power wherever you may go with this Toughpad. It also features a 10.1-inch sunlight-readable display with active digitizer (really just a stylus,) 8 hour battery life, USB 3.0, HDMI, GPS, and also LTE. The FZ-G1 in particular can withstand 4-foot drops, has an IP65 rating for rain and dust, and can operate anywhere from 14 to 122 degrees. As you have probably guessed, it’ll survive anything from construction sites to your three-year-old nephew.
Panasonic has introduced some impressive devices, and these two complete the trinity of Toughpads for those looking for Windows 8 or Android. Sadly there has yet to be any announced pricing, but Panasonic says they’re now available for order, so feel free to drop them a line. You can also watch the video below that they sent us showcasing the tablet trio. No word on Jelly Bean updates for either of the Android tablets.
February is always the most exciting month of the year for mobile phone fans, as it's when the entire phone industry has a big, boozy party somewhere in Europe and shows off the new phones and tablets it'll be launching over the spring and summer.
The show has been dominated in recent years by the vast number of new Android models that continuously swamp the market, with the big players like HTC, Samsung and Sony using the event to thrill punters with their newest ranges.
Last year saw HTC unleash its impressive One series, LG debuted the Optimus 4X HD and even Nokia decided to go large at the tech event for once, showing off its bonkers 808 PureView model complete with 41MP camera.
In short, if you care about the mobile arms race, MWC is the most exciting time of the year.
Previously held in Barcelona's palatial Fira Montjuic halls, this year's MWC is switching venue to a less glamorous (but more convenient for stressed journalists and marketing managers) spot a little nearer the city's airport. And in a building twice the size. Imagine how many cheap Android tablets it'll be able to contain this year.
MWC 2013 kicks off on 25 February. We'll be there, sobbing into a laptop in an unlit corner somewhere. Here's what we're expecting to see from the big names of mobile.
LG
Back at MWC 2012, LG wowed attendees with the Optimus 4X HD, a powerful 4.7-inch phone that helped signal the start of the race to stick quad-core processors in mobiles.
It also showed off the Optimus 3D Max and the oddball Optimus Vu, but the less said about those the better, as with 2011's reveal of the original Optimus 3D.
As for 2013, LG's already carried out a bit of teasing, with an updated Optimus G expected to be shown at some point, and the maker using the recent CES event to announce plans to show off a "tier one" smartphone at MWC 2012.
Given that the original Optimus G was a quad-core monster that LG soon rebranded as the Nexus 4, any sequel arriving so soon is unlikely to be much of a leap above the first phone, as even in 2013 we'd still be impressed by a quad-core phone with a 4.7-inch display.
But has the Nexus 4 done enough to make LG a respected brand name and a major player?
Yet more generic black slabs on the way from LG.
Sony
Sony's just announced a new flagship model at this year's CES tech show, so it's unlikely to have anything hugely new and exciting at MWC. But it will give the media a chance to play with its new Xperia Z, the exciting, quad-core, 5-inch monster the hardware maker is set to launch this March.
In fact, it looks like Sony's following the same hardware launch plan as last year. In 2012, the Xperia S was announced at January's CES event prior to MWC, with Sony using MWC to launch the Xperia P and U, a couple of smaller models based on the same design.
So pick a couple of letters of the alphabet Sony hasn't used yet (F and R are free), take an inch off the Xperia Z's screen size, and that's a good bet as to what Sony will have at MWC 2013.
HTC
HTC unleashed the One series of phones at last year's MWC, showing off the One V, One S and the glorious One X as it tried to reinvigorate its line up.
But in 2011 it disappointed us a little, showing minor upgrades of its old HTC Desire range, the awful Wildfire S and the niche Salsa and ChaCha models to a very, very quiet fanfare. In fact, it wasn't even a fanfare, just a mouse playing Three Blind Mice on the recorder.
2013, however, looks like being another good year for HTC, as we've already seen fairly concrete details of one of its new models leak.
We expect HTC to bring along its HTC M7 mobile, which, as we've previously seen, is believed to be a quad-core device with a 5-inch 1080p display and 13MP camera.
Loads of companies will be showing phones of a similar size and power level, but we'll always have a soft spot for HTC's lovely old Sense interface.
The star of MWC 2012 for most, HTC's stonking One X.
Samsung
Samsung disappointed the nerds of the world last year, when it opted to announce its flagship Galaxy S3 model a couple of months later at its own private event. But even if it repeats that trick this year and doesn't show off the Galaxy S4, it's guaranteed to be bringing along plenty of other Android phones.
Last year Samsung underwhelmed us all by using MWC to announce the Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi, a Galaxy S2-styled media player, plus the rather odd and niche Galaxy Beam, complete with integrated media projector.
So either we see the Galaxy S4 and Samsung has a stormer, or it brings along song cheaper models and we write it off.
However, there's a small chance we may see something really exciting. Samsung's working on hardware powered by the new Tizen OS, a supposed Android rival that Samsung claims it'll be bringing to market some time in 2013. Good luck with that.
One of the low key oddities from Samsung's 2012 MWC showing, the Galaxy Beam
Nokia
Nokia's had a wide selection of phones at last year's MWC, showing off the bonkers Nokia 808 PureView and its 41MP sensor, alongside the rather less exciting budget Windows Phone powered Lumia 610 and the high-end Lumia 900.
One Nokia-based rumour claims it's working on a slimmer update of the Lumia 920, which would use an aluminium body to reduce the weight of its hefty flagship phone. Nokia's traditionally preferred to show phones off at its own events, so it's hard to guesstimate whether it'll have new stuff at MWC or not. It's a maverick. It makes its own rules.
Huawei
Huawei's really made a name for itself in the UK over the last year, thanks to its winning budget Ascend G300 and the recent Ascend G330 update, plus the powerful Ascend P1.
At last year's MWC it announced the impressive looking Ascend D Quad, a 4.5-inch model in a slim 8.9mm case, alongside a 10.1-inch version of its MediaPad tablet. Neither of which made it to the UK officially, so we were left a bit disappointed by its commitment levels.
Huawei's also just announced a tasty pair of smartphones at CES in the form of the Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate, so it's likely to elaborate more on these at MWC 2013 rather than announce many new phones.
Huawei's Ascend D2. Already announced, bound to be popular in February
RIM
MWC 2013 is going to be absolutely critical for RIM. The troubled BlackBerry maker is revealing its BB10 hardware and software at a standalone event at the end of January, so MWC will be a chance for the masses to properly fiddle with the new OS and the two phones it'll initially be running on.
Last year's MWC was a bit of a disaster for RIM. All it managed to show was the BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 OS update for the super-flop tablet. This year it ought to have significantly more buzz surrounding its presence, although it should have already announced the phones that will be running BB10 by the time we stumble off the plane onto Spanish tarmac.
ZTE
MWC 2013 should be another good year for the budget makers, as we're expecting to see bigger screens and more powerful processors hitting the cheaper end of the market.
Last year ZTE announced the ZTE PF112, a 4.5-inch device said to be running on the dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset, but that pretty much sunk without trace and is yet to go on sale.
And the ZTE Era, a promising 4.3-inch quad-core model, is also missing presumed never to hit the UK.
One MWC 2012 phone that did arrive was the Mimosa X, which ZTE renamed the Grand X for the UK. It was a bit of a disappointing mid-range model that undid much of the maker's hype.
So don't get too excited by what the ZTE man is waving around, it might just be a balsa wood model that'll never see the light of day.
In fact, ZTE's started making its pledges for 2013 already, with the promising ZTE Grand S just announced at CES. It's another member of the 5-inch / 1080p / quad-core club, which ought to be a big winner... if it ever appears on the shelves.
Acer
Niche smartphone maker Acer always has a packed show stand, with the company using MWC 2012 to announce its Liquid Glow models, which were a vast improvement on the Liquid E and Liquid MT it took to MWC 2011.
Since then, Acer's launched a few decent mid-range Android models, like the CloudMobile and Liquid Gallant, although we'd expect to see it make more of a deal about its tablet ranges at MWC this year, seeing as that's where the Android hot money is going these days.
Asus
Last year's MWC was a big winner for Asus, which updated its winning Transformer tablet range with a couple of impressive quad-core models.
But now, in 2013, flush from its success making the Nexus 7 for Google, we expect Asus to reveal something a little cheaper. Plenty of rumours have suggested it's planning a "$99" Android tablet, which may or may not end up on sale in Europe.
Asus also made a big deal of its PadFone hybrid at MWC 2012, which teamed a 4.3-inch phone with a bizarre 10-inch docking tablet display. Given the lukewarm reception that oddity received, we'll eat this crusty Dell keyboard if any more phone/tablet hybrids appear this year.
The K900 phablet might be hogging the spotlight, but Lenovo has four more Android handsets to show at CES. Details are a bit scarce, but they are all dual-SIM devices and range from an entry-level Gingerbread droid to a 5" Jelly Bean upper mid-ranger.
That upper mid-ranger would be the Lenovo IdeaPhone S890 - it has a 5" qHD (540 x 960) screen with 220ppi pixel density and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It packs an 8MP camera with flash inside a 9.3mm thick body that weighs 176g.
The IdeaPhone S720 has a smaller 4.5" IPS LCD screen of qHD resolution (245ppi). The phone runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, powered by a dual-core MTK processor. There's an 8MP camera on the back and a 1MP snapper at the front. The S720 has a 2000mAh battery and is 9.9mm thick.
Lenovo IdeaPhone S890 • IdeaPhone S720
The final two phones are from the entry-level A series - the A800 and A690. The Lenovo IdeaPhone A800 has a 4.5" FWVGA screen (480 x 854, 218ppi) and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It runs Android 4.0 ICS and has a 2000mAh battery.
The IdeaPhone A690 sticks to Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a single-core 1GHz processor. Its screen is a 4" WVGA unit.
Lenovo IdeaPhone A800 • IdeaPhone A690
The five Lenovo IdeaPhone handsets are launching this month in China and will be expanding to other regions soon. Lenovo is mum on when that will be and there's no pricing info yet.
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much. 
