A phone these days can't properly make it to customers without an iFixit teardown, and the industrious folks at the site wasted no time breaking into the Galaxy S4.
Let's just say, it got a big thumbs up from the iFixit crew.
When all was said and done, the S4 walked away with a high-five worthy eight out of 10 on the reparability scale.
That compares to the one out of 10 bestowed on the brilliant yet unfixable HTC One and one more point than the iPhone 5. The whole reverse-repair was so straightforward, the entire S4 iFixit guide is one perusable page long.
'I passed!'
The S4 needed no tools to take of the back panel, while the battery was a quick snap away from exiting and entering the device, meaning consumers shouldn't have to slap it against their palms or do whatever other methods they employ to extract the 2,600mAh juicer.
Peeling off the layers of the S4 was relatively effortless, and as many components are modular in nature, users need just replace something like a kaput microSD card instead of swapping out their phone entirely.
There were parts stuck together with adhesive, so iFixit knocked it's reparability score for those. The screen's glass is fused to the display and display frame, which while not a big surprise would lead to more charges in a fix-it job.
However, the relative straightforwardness of the phone's components make this Galaxy easy to navigate and, at the end of the day, easy to repair.
Now, happy smashing! No, wait, please don't do that.
Will brand loyalty decide the battle between iOS and Android?
Android toppled iOS last year in terms of raw users, but Apple may soon take back its throne.
A new survey of 16,000 U.S. smartphone users found that almost one quarter of Android users had no plans to upgrade to another Android phone.
The survey was conducted over the past 12 months by research firm Yankee Group, which determined that "Apple's 'black hole' ecosystem captures subscribers who never leave" and that "at the checkout counter, Apple continues to eat Samsung's lunch."
The group said that one out of every six Android customers will eventually switch to other systems, which should allow Apple phone ownership to leapfrog past Android by 2015.
Drops in a bucket
The survey found that over the last year 50 percent of the smartphone owners used Android, while 30 percent were on Apple's iOS.
The numbers are evenly split for those thinking about getting any kind of new phone in the next six months, with 42 percent saying they intend to get an Android device and another 42 percent planning to pick up an iPhone.
It's not the biggest drop, but it's worth pointing out that more phone owners plan on purchasing an iPhone than currently own one, while the exact opposite is true for Android.
Even more telling is that fact that 91 percent of iPhone users surveyed planned to buy another iPhone when the time came to upgrade, while 6 percent intended to switch to Android. When the same question was asked of Android users, only 76 percent planned to stay loyal to Android, while 18 percent expressed a desire to switch to iOS.
Yankee Group Vice President Carl Howe compared the two mobile operating systems to leaky buckets with customers dripping in and draining out; in his analogy, Android's is leaking just a tad faster than Apple's.
It's clear that Apple inspires (or demands, depending how you look at it) a significant amount of loyalty from users, something that so far, Google's Android has been unable to match.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 proper hasn't even arrived everywhere globally yet, but rumors of Samsung readying a newer, more durable version of its flagship are already making the rounds.
Those initial reports gained a little more traction on Friday, when sources revealed to the Wall Street Journal Samsung was indeed working on a tougher Galaxy S4.
The brawnier Galaxy S4 is believed to be aimed at business and government clients looking for a bit more ruggedness from their phones.
However, the news doesn't end there, as those same sources claimed Samsung was also readying a new 8-inch Galaxy tablet for June, as well as a smaller Galaxy S4 mini for July.
According to the WSJ's sources, that's due to the Galaxy S4 receiving an overwhelming four-times the amount of pre-orders as the Galaxy S3.
By the time the Galaxy S4's actually arrive, the tentatively-titled Galaxy S4 Active may be closer to release, which could ease the burden of supply and demand around the world.
Also, the addition of the smaller (4.3-inches according to the sources) Galaxy S4 mini could also shoulder some of the intense demand for Samsung's top-tier smartphone throughout the rest of the year.
The only other comparable device due to arrive this year would be Sony's Xperia Z, which too will be dust- and waterproof, but doesn't quite carry the same recognition as the Galaxy line of smartphones.
Samsung is also looking to take a bit of the business clientele away from BlackBerry, whose Q10 is aimed squarely at the same corporate market.
In spite of the Galaxy S4 shortages, Samsung has still been tearing up sales charts around the world, and the added variety and options reportedly in the works should only help distance the Korean manufacturer from rival Apple.
If you've pre-ordered a Samsung Galaxy S4, you may have more of a wait on your hands than expected as Samsung is struggling to provide enough handsets to meet demand.
The handset is meant to be landing in stores and on the doormats of organised pre-orderers on April 27 (tomorrow) but some will be disappointed.
"There has been unprecedented demand for the Galaxy S4 in the UK," Samsung told us in a statement.
"Samsung is working hard to ensure that pre-orders and sales across all channels are fulfilled as soon as possible."
Price of popularity
What does that mean for you? We've had a word with all the UK networks to see what's what.
An O2 spokesperson told us that some handsets should be on time: "For us, some customers (who've pre-ordered their handset before 19 April) will get their handset on 26 April. These customers will receive an SMS to let them know, if a contact number has been provided at point of order.
"For other customers who've ordered their handset before 19 April they'll receive their handset from 27 April." - from being the operative word, there.
Over at Three, it's a similar story in that some customers will get their handsets on launch day.
The network's spokesperson told us, "As Samsung have stock issues, we're unable to deliver the S4 to all customers who have pre-ordered. We're working closely with Samsung to do everything we can to get the S4 to our customers as soon as it's available."
We're waiting for word back from EE, Vodafone and Virgin so we'll keep you posted on those networks as and when we hear from them.
The free calling and messaging app Viber could be letting hackers gain control of your Android phone by bypassing the lock screen.
Discovered by a Vietnamese security firm, the possible security breach allows attackers to scoot round the phone's lock screen before gaining access to the phone's controls and everything else stored within.
Much like Skype, Viber allows you to make calls and send messages using your data connection instead of munching through calls and minutes included in your contract.
Vibraphone
The attack is carried out through messages sent and calls made to the victim through Viber; it uses the fact the that the app lets you reply to a message through a pop-up without having to unlock the handset.
"The way Viber handles to pop-up its messages on smartphones' lock screen is unusual, resulting in its failure to control programming logic, causing the flaw to appear," said Nguyen Minh Duc, director of Bkav's security division.
Viber is aware of the loophole, and is "currently working on fixing this issue"; in the meantime it advises users to uncheck 'unlock for popups' in their settings menu to safeguard against attacks.
It’s something that many have predicted but nobody thought would happen anytime soon. According to IDC, sales of smartphones have surpassed that of feature phones in the first quarter. Samsung is leading the race, with Apple, LG, Huawei and ZTE in the top 5.
Samsung’s shipments increased 60.7 percent to reach 70.7 million smartphones and that has helped the South Korean company to get 32.7% of the market share. Apple’s iPhone 5 helped the Mac maker to grow 6.6% to 37.4 million handsets, but their market share dropped to 17.3% from 23%.
Samsung certainly has gained by flooding the market with cheaper Android devices. And the variety of hardware configurations they bring out is an answer just about anyone’s needs (rugged S4 anyone?).
In the third spot is LG, with the Google Nexus 4 among the company’s most popular handsets. The company has 4.8 percent of the market. But where is Nokia, which until last year was a global leader for 14 years? Although their Lumia shipments have grown, that hasn’t helped them with market share. Nokia and BlackBerry have been pushed out of the top 5 by Huawei (4.6%) and ZTE (4.2%).
Nokia, as you might know, is very fond of feature phones, but smartphones have taken over the stage. Nokia should evolve and expand its smartphone line if they plan to get back to the top again. Kevin Restivo, IDC senior research analyst, says, “Phone users want computers in their pockets. The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away. As a result, the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones“.
Warren East is winding down to retirement later this year from his role of CEO of ARM, but that isn't stopping him waxing lyrical about the impact that the company's big.LITTLE technology will have in 2014.
Big.LITTLE pairs a powerful processor with a much smaller one, allowing your device to do intensive processes like gaming using one, but drop down to using the less-power hungry processor when it's doing simpler tasks.
Although it made its debut in the much-lauded but little seen octa-core version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Korean giant's decision to go with quad core in the major Western markets, including the US and the UK, means that many will have to wait to see its impact.
Speaking to us on the day of the company's positive first quarter financial results, TechRadar took the opportunity to ask if he would have liked to have seen the first big.LITTLE offering make it to the UK.
"Yes, but we think in due course there will be quite a lot out there," he said. "2013 is just too early to expect to see them in phones. Technology is something that people think of as fast moving and in some ways it is, but it takes a very long time to get products to market.
"I'm not surprised that Samsung managed to get a big.LITTLE phone to market this year because they are a very capable, determined outfit and there is a lot of marketing kudos in being first to market.
"But the reality is that we have 17 partners with a big.LITTLE licence out there...2014 is going to be a big year."
East, who has announced that he will retire from ARM this year, believes that the benefits of utilising a low power processor with a more complex one, upping compute power without sacrifices to battery life is critical.
"It is important to get that bit of extra performance to make things that much better," he said. "The Samsung demos showed that, without the big processor, some of the applications can be a bit clunky. The demos are designed to show that and emphasise the point, but it's still a point."
ARM's first quarter brought positive results, and the big.LITTLE successes were front and centre in the company's announcement.
"Big.LITTLE is ONE of the things that has been a growth driver but I wouldn't say that without it you wouldn't be seeing growth from us," added East.
"The requirement for compute performance is going to to increase by a factor of 30 in the next decade but battery size capability doesn't increase at anything like that - maybe a factor of two."
As a company that licenses its IP, ARM has to stay well ahead of the game - and TechRadar enquired as to how the company remains agile in a fast-paced and mercurial market.
"It's not really rocket science," he said. "We spend out time not just designing but talking to customers, our customers' customers and people like servic providers about the services they want to offer.
"We try lots of tricks and employ some bright people to solve the problems and work around constraints . We can't always make the move all in one go. To go from a to c you sometimes have to go through b.
"Take big.LITTLE for instance: we introduced the A9 processor then the A15 and then A7. It's a bit like rock climbing, you don't take all your limbs off the wall at the same time."
Since arriving at the company in 1994, East has overseen some big changes at ARM, and he admitted it was a difficult decision to announce his retirement for later this year.
"From a personal point of view it was very difficult indeed, I still think this is the best job in the industry, but I have given my reasons for leaving. I've spent 12 years as CEO and as we think about the next stage and the five to eight year journey we're about to set off on, if I was still CEO then I don't think there would be sufficient edginess and energy in the executive team.
"I think it's the right thing to step back and allow change to happen."
Of course, given his passion for the company, it would be easy to fall back into a consulting role and keep an involvement, but East is not looking for an active role.
"As a shareholder I'll remain very interested, but I think part of the idea is to step back and allow proper proper change. In 1994 ARM was a startup with great potential and when I became CEO it was a very successful startup with great potential in the mobile space.
"We've scaled business way beyond mobile now, with 5 billion non mobile chips shipping this year we've scaled the operation to cope with multiple designs at the same time.
"From a business point of view we now have a sustainable long-term and very high-quality business. ARM is growing up and that is great fun."
ARM's profile remains a hot topic, and East admits it would be nice to be better known.
"It would be very nice to wander down the high street and be able to see all the ARM powered products, and I would be much more satisfied if my mother knew what an ARM product was but it doesn't necessarily help the business," he said.
"Seven or eight years ago you would never see ARM's financial reports on the BBC website and now you do."
ARM is headquartered in Britain with just under half of the workforce in the UK offices, and it is something that East believes is a huge benefit to the company. "It makes us different from most other technology companies - and that gets us more visibility," he concluded.
Qualcomm announced at an event held earlier today in Beijing that the big daddy Snapdragon 800 will see production toward the end of May. The Snapdragon 800 features some key performance updates over to Snapdragon 600 (found in the S4, HTC One, Optimus G Pro etc) including Krait 400 architecture and Ardreno 330 graphics.
What these improvements actually mean though are the new chip is capable of being clocked at 2.3Ghz and will happily play 4K video at 30fps, although it remains to be seen just how useful this will be on a phone size display. It is rumoured that China’s ZTE will be the first company to launch a Snapdragon 800 phone, but we’ll have to wait until later this year for confirmation and further details.
The in-store release of the much awaited Samsung Galaxy S4 has been delayed by both Sprint and T-Mobile. AT&T appears to be capitalizing on this and have made an announcement via their Twitter account that the AT&T S4 smartphones will arrive in-store on the earlier announced date with no delay.
The handset will be in-stock on April 27th. This of course is not a surprise since the AT&T Galaxy S4s are already in the hands of those who pre-ordered the device. It will be interesting to see how the carrier performs this quarter with this early availability advantage.
As for the other carriers, Sprint has moved in-store availability of their S4 from April 27th to an undetermined date. While T-Mobile’s S4, which was originally planned to be made available on May 1st, will only be available in “select stores” starting May 8 and in “all stores” on May 15, according to the carrier’s Twitter announcement.
If a new rumor is to be believed, the Sony Xperia Z and ZL are getting a smaller screened little brother in the not-to-distant future. The so-called Sony Xperia ZR is said to feature a design akin to the ZL, though it features a 4.6-inch 720p display instead.
The rumor mill says that this is the same device that has previously been known by the codename Dogo, and that it will be powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm S4 Pro chipset (or perhaps even a Snapdragon 600). Other rumored features include 2GB RAM, a 13MP Exmor RS camera, 8GB storage, microSD and a 2300 mAh.
The Xperia ZR looks to outrank the Xperia Z when it comes to water proofing, with a rating of IP55/IP58.
No word on when this might be coming or even what countries it might target with its release. What do you think, would you be interested in such a device or are you disappointed that Sony is continuing its trend of releasing too many variants of the same device?
Everyone (well, almost) loves a good party, but at some point in the process, planning and putting it together can become drudgery. There are so many different elements to keep track of, depending on the event: a menu, for example. A guest list. Beverages. Music. Party favours.
No matter what kind of party you're having, at some point things can start to spin out of control. But that's where your trusty iOS device can step in. Certainly you can use some of the built-in apps such as Calendar and Notes to help keep things straight, but those tools are going to run out of steam.
Thank goodness there are hordes of developers who offer great applications to make it easier to ensure your next party is a raging success. Whether it's a pocket bartender that'll help you make the best cocktails or a DJ mixing board to make sure everyone's having a rockin' good time, iOS can help.
If logistics are more your thing, we've got that covered in spades too, with everything from meal guides to wedding planners to complete party planning software. Parties vary in all shapes and sizes, depending on your mood and the occasion. You're going to use a very different set of skills to make a cowboy party for your six-year-old compared to a fancy dress soirée with a five-course meal.
So come check out our list of the 10 best apps for throwing a kick-ass party, make sure you let the neighbours know and put on your dancing shoes, because these gems could well help kick your next bash up a notch or two, and keep things going until the break of dawn.
1. Pro Party Planner
An all-in-one planning tool to help you make your next bash a huge success
It's no wonder party planning is a full-time profession for some - from planning a guest list to making a menu and buying decorations, party favour bags and planning activities… it can be an exhausting morass of details that can all too easily get the better of even the most organised of hosts.
If you don't have the budget for a personal party planner you could always hire (or rather, download) Pro Party Planner from Zysco. Pro Party Planner is essentially a dedicated database for the anal-retentive party host who wants to keep their eye on every element of their next big happening.
This impressive tool does practically everything: input guest's names, email and phone numbers, and you can check them off as they RSVP. Plan a menu, drinks, entertainment, decorations and party favours, and then assign individual tasks to the people helping you put your party together.
You can even keep track of your budget, see a timeline to make sure you're all on schedule, and connect to Pinterest to get ideas and inspiration for how to make your next bash a success. You can connect with your Contacts database and back up and export data to Google.
If you want to share your Pro Party Planner information with another user - if, say, two of you are organising the party together, you'll need to activate a subscription as an In-App Purchase that runs for 12 months for another £1.99.
A karaoke machine to get everyone at the party singing their hearts out
Price: Free Works with: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Once the drinks start flowing and inhibitions become a bit lowered, karaoke can be a hilarious way to get the party moving. Buying or renting a full-blown karaoke machine isn't necessary these days thanks to JoltSoft's Karaoke Anywhere, available in a regular version for iPhone and iPod touch and an 'HD' version for iPad (and happily, both are free to download).
Karaoke Anywhere gives you access to a library of officially licensed karaoke songs. If you've ever done karaoke at a bar, the presentation is pretty similar: you hear a cover of the popular song you remember along with a screen of lyrics that slowly change colour to keep you on track of the tempo.
If reading lyrics off an iPad (or iPhone) doesn't sound like fun, the app features TV and video output capabilities. It can also record the songs if you want to embarrass the participants later!
Built-in effects can help you tweak the vocals a bit - handy when things get a bit sloppy late into the evening. Karaoke Anywhere is a free download that includes 200 well-known tracks - everything from Aerosmith to Wilson Pickett. If you want more - and you will - you can either subscribe to its unlimited streaming service (£6.99 per year) or you can pay per track.
A sophisticated music player that helps you spin the perfect party mix
Price: £2.99 / $4.99 USD Works with: iPad
Nothing sets the mood and tempo of a party like a music mix, and nothing brings down the vibe faster than hearing… nothing. That's where algoriddim's djay comes into play.
This is a one-stop shop to making music on your iPad, using an interface that looks just like a twin-turntable DJ deck. (A separate version has just been launched for the iPhone too (69p), but it's obviously easier to scratch away on the iPad's larger screen.
You load music from your iPad's music library and then crossfade, mix, scratch and add effects as you want. Automatic beat-matching will adjust each track for a smooth flow, and you can manage levels and a wide variety of effects like echo, flange, phaser, bit crusher and gate, to give your mix that club feel. You can also loop and adjust equalisation.
Live mixing is only part of what djay can do, though: if you'd rather talk with your guests at the party and hang out instead of spin discs, you can record a mix ahead of time and then play it back for your guests once they are there. Hey, if you've gone to all the trouble of organising the party, you should get to enjoy the beats, too!
Like having a bartender in your pocket, but you don't have to tip
Price: 69p / 99¢ Works with: iPhone, iPod touch
Unless you're a professional bartender, you might only know how to make a handful of cocktails. Digital Outcrop's Mixologist (also available in more limited free form as 'Mixology') fixes that by providing a searchable list of hundreds of cocktail and party beverage recipes ranging from Shirley Temples to Long Island Iced Tea jelly shots.
But cocktail recipes and a good search tool are only two of many items on Mixologist's impressive résumé. The app also lets you narrow your search depending on what you have in your liquor cabinet (whiskies are differentiated, so you can find recipes for scotch drinks separately from bourbon, as are flavoured and unflavoured vodkas) and what kind of mixers you have on hand (cordials, juices, mixes, sodas and other items are all included).
For the well-stocked boozehound, a 'random' feature lets you come up with a unique concoction you might have never tried (and might never try again, if it isn't nice…).
Get ready for the big day with organisational tools and social networking
Price: Free Works with: iPhone, iPod touch
WeddingHappy is like having a hyper-organised wedding planner in your pocket. Give it the planned date for your nuptials and the app will do the rest, building a customised to-do list with suggested due dates that you can change to your liking.
The secret to its success is in its complete coverage of everything that brides and grooms (and their families and friends) need to keep track of before the big day - such as: who's catering the event? DJ or band? Which dress shop and florist to opt for?
Mercifully, you can keep on top of all these tasks and, along with that, you can use WeddingHappy to see where you are along the way: how many tasks have been completed and how many are yet to do, when they should be done, and who's involved. 'Achievements' even help you keep track of major milestones, such as finalising a wedding date or delegating a task to someone else by email. It's free, but paying £1.99 will let you track as many tasks as you want.
Planning your party and getting all the goods together are important, but you also have to get the word out. Bucket Labs' Phoster helps you do exactly that using exquisite typography and lots of customisation options.
First, you select one of 87 free templates; there's a handful of holiday-specific templates for Christmas, Valentine's Day, New Year's and Halloween, along with a wedding template. But most of the options are flexible enough to be used for almost any occasion that might arise.
You can add images from your photo library and adjust brightness, contrast and saturation, and input your own text into fields and customise it with colours and font sizes. You can also add filters or add some custom patterning. It's even possible to output it to other apps if you'd like to make additional changes.
Phoster includes the ability to print (if you have AirPrint-compatible devices on your network) or you can email or use Facebook, Flickr, Twitter or Instagram to share your images with the world.
Coming up with recipes that truly impress your guests can be tricky, and there's only so much to be gleaned from the average cooking show on television. Food52's Holiday Recipes & Party Planning Guide offers suggestions for how to really dress up your next dinner party with 127 exquisite recipes, from snacks and starters to desserts, with drinks, breads, soups and everything in between.
A dedicated section offers suggestions if holiday planning's on your mind: everything from making a romantic Valentine's Day meal for two to celebrating Easter with the entire family (the guide offers a somewhat US-centric holiday list - including Thanksgiving and Independence Day, for example - and all measurements are in standard units). The recipes themselves are accompanied by lush photography and video.
If you're a busy parent, it can be exhausting to try to put together a fun party for your little ones. Finding the right time around other busy schedules is bad enough, but what happens if you can't come up with an imaginative theme? This app is based on (and linked to) a popular website by Kara Allen, who's also published a book on the topic to share her party ideas to the masses.
The app is full of great ideas to dress up any party, though the focus here is mainly on family parties, especially ones for younger kids. The app breaks down parties by category - boy, girl, western, princesses and so on. There are a few 'grown up' categories as well - sports, beach and teen bridal shower, to name a few.
Each entry provides photos and descriptions of ideas, and will often include links to Etsy sites and other places you can buy custom decorations and printable patterns.
All party hosts and guests dread the awkward moment of silence that can occur when polite conversation has run its course. That's where Conversation Cards comes in handy - it's a fun and easy way to start or continue a conversation.
The app offers a number of interesting questions you can ask others at the party, ranging from 'What is the happiest moment of your life?' to 'Would you rather be a ninja or a pirate?' Just tap the screen to flip over a new topic.
Clear typography make the cards easy to read, which means you can unobtrusively load the app up on your iPhone if you don't want to make a show of it. There isn't a way to mark cards as 'read', so you might come across repetition, but the questions steer clear of theology, politics, and the Great Pumpkin, so you don't have to worry about breaking Peanuts' Linus Van Pelt's cardinal rule.
A fun twist on the classic party game with customisation options
Price: Free Works with: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Generations of party-goers have played Charades, the game where one person stands up and the rest of the team tries to figure out what they're pantomiming. Reverse Charades takes the concept and turns it on its head: Now the entire team acts out the words, and it's up to one person to guess the clue.
Suitable for two to four teams of potentially any size, it takes place in timed 30-, 60- or 90-second rounds. A small number of sample cards have been included, but to really unlock the game's full potential you'll need to buy booster packs through IAP. The packs cost 69p each and feature content for kids, '80s trivia buffs, a 'Girl's Night' and more (six in all).
The original pack sports 500 cards; other add-ons range from 163 to 724 cards. Options let you select which card deck or decks you'll use, how long each round will be, how many rounds there are and how many seconds per turn.
You know what Samsung needs? Yep that's right, another phone and if one Russian site is to be believed that's exactly what's happening in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Core.
According to HiTech the Galaxy Core is currently in production over in Korea and is set to be an entry-level version of the Samsung Galaxy S4.
We've heard rumours that a mid-range Galaxy S4 mini could be on the cards sometime this year, so the Core would complete Samsung's S4 look-a-like line up.
Dubious details
The site claims that the Galaxy Core will rock up with a 4.3-inch display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 768MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, 5MP camera and 1,800mAh battery.
Credit: HiTech
It's said that the Core will run version 4.1 of Android Jelly Bean with Samsung's TouchWiz overlay - but we can't see why you'd buy this over the Samsung Galaxy S2.
HiTech has come up with the goods in previous years - correctly noting for example that the Galaxy S would receive a processor bump in 2011 - although the quoted price tag of 14,000 rubles (around $280/$430/$AU420) and grainy images don't fill us with confidence.
It's cool! It's great! It's bigger than a plate! Yep, it's the rather nifty Samsung Galaxy S4, which our very own smartphone superhero Gareth Beavis has been staring at with his X-ray eyes. It is "the most anticipated smartphone ever from the Korean brand... the most powerful and desirable device Samsung has created yet."
But is it any cop? Mr Beavis says yes. It's lots of cop. But while it's a great phone, there are some niggles: gallery loading was slow - to the point where we decided not to show people any photos at all - and it's a little short of internal storage capacity too. But the biggest issue is where the S4 has tried to innovate: "Air View, Air Gestures, Smart Scroll... all are flawed or overly complex." Nevertheless it's "a great, great device."
Fancy one? The release date has been put back a day because "Samsung wants to make it available to all of its customers at the same time", John McCann reports, and he's put together an exhaustive list of who's selling the S4 and what you should expect to pay.
Intergalactic challengers
The S4 isn't the only superphone to tremble beneath Gareth Beavis's unblinking gaze: he's put the HTC One through its paces too. It's "one of the best smartphones around", a "combination of innovation and sumptuous hardware" with a great camera for low-light shooting. However, it suffers from poor battery life, no expandable memory and a screen that isn't quite as good as you'd expect. It's still "the best HTC phone ever", but while it's better than the Samsung Galaxy S3, the S4 may just have raised the bar again.
Between the HTC One and the S4, the title of best Android smartphone is hard-fought
If you like the idea of a quad-core Android phone but don't want to pay top whack for one, the Acer Liquid E2 may be the phone for you: the latest soldier in the Android army will go on sale in Europe in mid-May, with a price tag of around £195.
The big shows
Or maybe you should save your cash because THE XBOX 720 IS COMING! The invitations have arrived and we'll see the next Xbox on May 21. That date "marks the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment," Microsoft tells us, and the event "will give a taste of the future while also letting Microsoft share its vision for the gaming console". Which means nothing, of course, but we're still excited because THE XBOX 720 IS COMING! For a reminder of the latest leaks, check out our round-up of the latest next Xbox news.
May 21 is set to be a big day for the next Xbox
Prefer Glass to games? GOOGLE IO IS... sorry, we'll stop shouting. The search giant's annual showcase is just around the corner, and we're expecting all kinds of goodies: a new Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, Google Now on the Google home page, the much-rumoured Babel chat system and hopefully Android 5, aka Key Lime Pie. It's the first of the summer's really big events, with E3 and Apple's WWDC happening in June.
Apple's just announced its latest financial results. It's still selling ridiculous quantities of products, but profit margins are down. Inevitably some analysts say that means Apple is "DOOOOOMED!", Gary Marshall reports. It isn't - "what we're seeing here is the tail end of a wave" where the iPhone's incredible growth is finally starting to slow. It happened with the iPod and one day it'll happen with the iPad. "What's surprising isn't that the iPhone is being squeezed," Marshall says. It's that Apple has been able to maintain such extraordinary profit margins for so long."
No smut with your Starbucks
And finally, isn't it nice to make it through a week without any politician saying stupid things about tech? Oh, hang on. Here's David Cameron. "We are promoting good, clean Wi-Fi in local cafes and elsewhere," he told The Telegraph. The reason? So that people "are not going to see things they shouldn't." We're sure that'll work. After all, blocking the Pirate Bay stopped all internet piracy, forever.
Sure, the Snapdragon 600 you find in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is fine and all, but we're pretty excited to hear that Qualcomm's next-gen processors, Snapdragon 800, are soon to trundle off the production line.
At a briefing in China, Qualcomm confirmed that the 800 line would be hitting mass production in May - although there'll be a bit of a wait before you see any souped-up 2.3GHz processor action in any phones or tablets.
Although the company had prototypes on hand, it wasn't letting anyone near any benchmarks until June.
Processor porn
So what can we look forward to in 800-toting devices? Up to 2.3GHz quad-core processing, with the cores running on different frequencies to conserve power - two cores can handle the more intensive processing action while the others idle for later.
There's also an Adreno 330 graphics processor in there, which means the next generation of handsets should be able to support 30fps 4K video playback.
All in all, pretty exciting stuff. Rumour has it that the LG Optimus G2 could be the first Snpadragon 800 phone - stay tuned for more details on the new flagship from the chip-maker in the coming months.
An upcoming Android app by Microsoft will help you ease into a shiny new Lumia
A new app to be released on the Google Play Store is aimed at those looking to switch from Android to Windows Phone, and you'll never believe who is behind it.
Microsoft has worked with developer Quixley on the Android app, which offers Windows Phone alternatives for all the apps you have installed on your Android device. Where it can't assure you that the same app exist on the Windows Phone ecosystem, it will find one with similar features.
Called Switch to Windows Phone, the app shows all the available alternatives, then saves a list to the user's SkyDrive account. When you then sign in on a Windows Phone device, the list is retrieved and the apps are downloaded to the new phone.
This may all sound like sneaky smartphone subterfuge, but from a user perspective, this sounds like one very handy tool.
Smoked by Windows Phone
You'll remember that this isn't Microsoft's first attempt at luring Android users over to its phone system. In the US, Microsoft ran the "Smoked by Windows Phones" campaign last year. In these videos, average Joes were accosted by Microsoft evangelist Ben Rudolph and tasked with performing everyday phone duties faster on an Android (or iPhone) then Ben could on a Windows Phone.
In May 2012, Rudolph posted to the Windows Phone blog that over 50,000 phones had been "smoked" between CES and the blog post, with a 98% success to the Microsoft team.
Market share stats tell a different story though, with the latest numbers revealing Android holds about 60 percent of the smartphone OS market, while Windows Phone holds about 5 percent -- with these figures varying slightly in different regions around the world.
