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The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Edge

Samsung have been working hard to make something that will make up for the lack of enthusiasm around the Samsung Galaxy S5 but not without fault. In what could seem like an insane gamble Samsung have discarded a few specification that they have frequently aped Apple over, the ability to remove the battery and expandable storage. Thankfully the removable battery isn’t quite as criminal as one might think give that Samsung have put extra effort into drastically reducing charge times to the point were 20 minutes plugged in on their fast charger will be good for half a day, ask any Note 4 user and they will be beaming ear to ear. My guess is that the slow roll out of 4G, cheapening online storage solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive mean that the SD Card is not used as frequently as it was 5 years ago, so are Samsung taking steps or just dropping another device to appease the yearly regeneration?

Yes and no, every flagship from HTC, Samsung and Apple needs to be faithful to the previous model as to not alienate fans, however it needs to appeal to a new crowd, borrowing ideas from what is making their rivals attractive to rope in new users. Certainly the Galaxy S5 was a handsome device that really knew only one major criticism, the building material. This has been Samsung’s major stumbling block over the last number of years. Last years Note 4 arrived and wowed the audience with it’s use of a metal frame. Expanding upon this Samsung have looked at the metal frame, reinforced it and added Gorilla Glass to both the front and the back for maximum protection. Whilst you are not going to want to drop it, there is much more of a chance this will withstand the casual drop that has left many crying over the years. Samsung are boasting that the body is 50% stronger than previous models.

Touchwiz has been given a much needed overhaul. For some, this will be a good thing, for new users a great deal more appeal but for seasoned veterans it will bring an end to the Oracle like knowledge of how to do things, hopefully. The phone can glow different colours depending on who is calling and quick messaging for calls you cannot take using the heart rate sensor on the back.

This year phone manufactures seem to be declaring war on the SLR. The onboard camera has come a long way, especially in the last couple of year and both Samsung and HTC are happy to have folk make comparisons between the output quality of their phone’s camera to that of an SLR camera. Both the front and rear camera’s f/1.9 aperture allows the user to capture 60% more light. Employing real-time HDR for the first time on both the front and rear sensor makes for an impressive camera setup.

Which brings us to the Galaxy S6 Edge. We have seen this tapered screen effect on the Note 4 Edge and those who use it, love it. It’s too early to speculate how well this will fare in the mass market however it’s a option that will provide a much needed choice for the customer however it’s also an acquired taste. 

• 64-bit Exynos 7 Octa porcessor
• 3GB RAM
• 32GB, 64GB or 128GB UFS 2.0 storage options
• 16 megapixel rear camera, 5 megapixel front facing 
• 5.1-inch Quad-HD Super AMOLED display @ 577 ppi
• Dual-mode wireless charging with support for both WPC and PMA charging pads
• 10 minutes charging for 4 hours of use,
• Fast charging 0% to 100% battery in about an hour
• NFC
• Bio-metric heart-rate sensor
• fingerprint scanner
• Depth: 6.8mm (7.0mm edge)
• Weight: 138g (132g Edge)

The HTC One 2015 (M9)

The Internet has been awash with rumours and speculation regarding the HTC One M9 and things have gotten quite savage. Seasoned leakers had their credibility questioned, HTC themselves rumoured to be leaving red herrings all over the show and mock ups of dreamy devices arrived on the biggest sites as most likely candidates. No one could be trusted, until now.

The HTC One has been refreshed for 2015 under the model number M9. Much like the previous M8 and M7 this flagship device boasts the best HTC can produce, with a carefully selected specification list, a closely considered design HTC have produced an update that is both an in-keeping fan pleaser and a high end status symbol that adds elegance to the flooded and cutthroat high end Android market.

In an early preview HTC have shown off the goods on a technician’s preview ROM that is likely to receive a few tweaks before it hits market. HTC denied requests to benchmark the phone as it runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor the however the ROM was not perfected at the time and scores would not be accurate. Recent reports surrounding the LG Flex 2’s identical processor overheating is not an issue HTC is concerned with. Both HTC and Qualcomm have not noticed any similar problems with the 810 and are certain the chip will deliver the power without reaching unacceptable heat levels, especially when you consider the chip in housed inside the M9’s metallic case.

Whilst the M9 is similar to the M8 and M7 the specs are updated to take on a new year and new challenges. The camera has been upgraded to a 20mp shooter with the Ultra Pixel shooter from before being brought around the front for selfies. HTC have made a lot of effort in the past year to position themselves as the leader of the selfie phone and they have succeeded, The Ultrapixel technology really lends itself to the forward facing position. Of course HTC are still building on the camera results so sample photos are not available until launch and finalised firmware. The battery capacity has been increased from 2,600mAh to 2,840mAh.

The Boomsound continues from the M7 alongside the equaliser from the M8, now HTC have added the Dolby Audio to enrich the experience. 24 bit audio is also compatible with the M9.

Four colours will be available to start with, Pink, gold, silver and grey. Whilst these do not have exotic colour names they do give you a better idea what to expect with using realistic names. The silver version pictured above includes an elegant gold twinge around the sides, this will help distinguish M8 users from M9 users however this isn’t as big an update in styling as some users might like and folks will probably have to ask before they can tell its the newer HTC One.

One of the biggest additions HTC have made is a software update for HTC Sense, a Theme generator, This learns what you use, where and when, be it apps, or games. It can suggest content you might want depending on your location and time of day. An example being a railway timetable application where you are in the proximity of a railway station. Images from your gallery are shown when you are near somewhere you may have taken photos at before. The lockscreen mimics this feature and suggests local facilities and amenities nearby. 

Overall the update to the HTC One isn’t a big one, but a logical one. There is nothing revolutionary here and HTC may suffer from the same backlash that Apple have seen each year, especially when it comes to the protruding camera housing. Some may like the “if it ain’t broke” approach however others have trusted HTC for innovation over the years and may be disappointed.

• Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 processor
• 3GB RAM
• Android 5.0 Lollipop 
• 4G LTE speed
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac network
• Bluetooth
• 5″ Super LCD3 touch screen
• 1920 x 1080 resolution 
• 32GB internal memory
• microSD slot up to 128GB compatible
• 20.0MP and 4.0MP front-facing cameras
• Up to 20 days of standby time lithium-ion battery

Google updates to the Spiral 2

Google has finally unveiled it’s new prototype for Project Ara called the Spiral 2 and it features a 3G modem, 11 additional modules, and other selectable options. The Spiral 2 is a pretty decent step forward from the original prototype. So far it has a 3G modem / RF bus for antenna support and features a totally different processor which is an ASIC (application specific integrated circuits) processor. One of the more impressive notes is that Google has 11 prototype modules already and, of course, more are on the way as companies and developers make their own. These modules are held to the phone through magnets within the bracket frames so popping a module in is pretty easy.

If you have been following the whole Project Ara development then you will be interested to know that the hardware for Project Ara devices will not be made using mostly 3D printing as was originally planned. Hopefully the new method won’t affect the cost of production too much in terms of increasing it.

Google did not announce any sort of base cost for a Project Ara device, only that they are going to try and keep it low and let consumers customize their device as much as they like. This will allow consumers to control the cost of their device initially, and then future upgrades can be done whenever a user wants to do it and keeping it within a budget if needed. The base device will feature an exoskeleton type of set-up inside and users can just slip a module into the available spaces. Some modules that can be swapped out include ones for batteries, storage, processors, cameras, speakers, and other components.

Currently a third prototype is in the works, named the Spiral 3, and when that launches it will be labeled as a “Market Pilot Launch”. This means that a few lucky people will be able to get one of these third prototypes. Puetro Rico, or more specifically the University of Puerto system, is the first location announced for the Market Pilot. From here Google will determine how they want to scale the global Market Pilot launch for the Spiral 3 and are hoping to have “20-30 modules across 10 categories” by the time this takes place. This includes the possibility of subsidized / on-contract modules as well.

So for right now getting a Project Ara device is really difficult even if you are a developer and sign up for it. As for a launch date here in the United States, nothing was mentioned regarding that but hopefully we see this in 2015.