While
all the hoopla is certainly about the upcoming launch of the Apple iPad, once
cannot forget the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4, which is set to launch on Friday October 17th
2014 in the United Kingdom as stated in the article “Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 UK launch delayed to October 17”, published 09 October, 2014,
GSM Arena.
Apparently
it was supposed to have launched on Friday October 10th 2014 in the
UK, but it failed to launch. Oddly, it’s launching in India, a Developing World
Country but a very large, affluent and rapidly growing market on Tuesday
October 14th 2014, based on invitations that have been sent out for
the event as stated in the article “Samsung
to launch Galaxy Note 4 in India on October 14”, published Oct 9, 2014,
04.57PM IST by Anupam Saxena, Times
of India.
This
launch is occurring days ahead of the Diwali Festival of Lights which falls on
Thursday October 23rd 2014. Coincidentally Samsung plans to take
another shot with Tizen OS even after the dismal failure in Russia back in August
2014 as noted in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Samsung
Z running Tizen OS fails to enter Russian Market hints at Caribbean and Latin
American Launch”.
This
with the launch of the Tizen OS based Samsung Z9000 ZEQ smartphone in India
during the Diwali Festival of Lights to boost its presence in that market even
as they face having to report 60% decline in Profits for the Third Quarter of
2014 to shareholders as reported in my
blog article
entitled “Samsung’s
declares 60% Profit and 20% Sales decline - Tizen OS Response needed as India’s
Diwali may Light a Path in November towards Future Prosperity”.
So based on the interest, I guess I’m a tad
late in doing a quick review on the Samsung Galaxy 4, being as it’s really
launching Friday October 17th 2014, a day after the
Apple iPad Air 2 and the Apple iPad Mini 3 as reported in my blog article
entitled “Apple
iPads launching on Thursday October 16th 2014 - Apple No. 2 in Gold with Touch
ID as Chinese Tablets, Phablets, Microsoft Surface and Google Chromebook
Competition grow”.
And
yes dear reader, as my article implies, the Samsung Galaxy Note, being a Phablet,
is potentially a competitor to Apple’s shaky Tablet throne that’s showing signs
of crumbling. So what Big Guns is the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 packing?
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 –
Traffic for the Samsung Galaxy 3 alerted me to its coming
I do admit, I ignored the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4, due to my personal bias against forced-fed
Phablets and the smartphones craze in general as noted in my blog article
entitled “The
Reason why I don't like Smartphones - Location Privacy and How to disable
Location Services on Android and iOS”.
I
became aware of the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 when I noticed an awful amount of Traffic coming to my
blog from persons Googling the words “Samsung
Galaxy Note 4”. Very hard to ignore spikes in blog traffic like this!
Googlers
were apparently bumping into my Samsung Galaxy Note III review I did last years
as detailed in my blog article
entitled “Samsung
Galaxy Note III is an excellent alternative to the Apple iPhone - Phablet
competition from the HTC One Max and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra signals long
lasting trend”, hoping to find news on the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 .
Take
note people!
I’d
done an article about its possible debut at the Samsung Unpacked Event which
took place on Wednesday September 3rd 2014 as I’d chronicled in my blog article
entitled “Samsung
Unpacked 2014 Event coming September 3 2014 - Samsung Galaxy S6 with a dash of
Note 4, Tizen OS and Samsung Galaxy Glass”.
During that time, Samsung revealed the Samsung Galaxy Note
and the Apple iPhone 5S Clone, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha as chronicled in my blog article
entitled “Samsung
Galaxy Alpha with Metallic Band - Last of the 5” smartphones with decreased
Battery Life as the Luddite Camp gets Larger”.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 – Samsung Galaxy Note III and Samsung Galaxy
S5 had a Child
The specs of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are surprisingly
similar to those of the Samsung Galaxy Note III, with a few improvements,
mainly in the Processor and the Screen.
The screen is now a 5.7” QHD (1440x2560p) in Note 4, upping
the ante from the Full HD (1080x1920p) in Note 3 and just 0.2” bigger than the
Apple iPhone 6 Plus as noted in the article “Samsung Galaxy Note
4 has quad HD 5.7-inch display, 16MP camera, faster Snapdragon 805 chip
(hands-on)”, published September 3, 2014 6:30 AM PDT, CNET News.
The overall dimensions are small for a Phablet but with dimensions
of 153.5mm by 78.6mm by 8.5mm (6” by 3.1” by 0.34”) and weighing in at 176g
(6.2 ounce), it’s a contender that won't spoil your look, so long has you have
pants with really large pockets!
The Indians got luck for Diwali as their erosion of the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 has an octa-core Processor with a choice of 1.9GHz quad-core
+ 1.3GHz quad-core, compared to the international version which only comes with
a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 Processor. 3GB of RAM complements either
version nonetheless, with the standard 32GB of RAM and expandable 64GB microSD
slot for increased storage.
Interestingly it's running Samsung's TouchWiz interface on
top of Android 4.4 KitKat, which is the same OS configuration that the Samsung Galaxy
S5 currently runs. This makes me wonder if the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 is the Spiritual Child of the Samsung Galaxy Note III and the
Samsung Galaxy S5, that is, if smartphones could have children of course!
Selfies are now a big thing, and the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 is firmly on that bandwagon. 3.7 Megapixel front facing camera
capable of taking 120 Degree angle photos definitely eats the Apple iPhone 6
Plus 1.2 Megapixel Front Facing Camera as noted in my
blog article
entitled “Apple
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - No Sapphire Screen but 128GB Storage and
NFC-powered Apple Pay in Apple's Biggest iPhone Launch”.
The Rear Facing camera is double that of the Apple iPhone 6
at 16 megapixels, albeit the 8 Megapixels Apple iPhone 6 Plus iSight Camera
performs much better based on DxO's DxOMark Mobile scores released Tuesday
September 23rd 2014 as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple
iPhone 6 and Plus with 128GB Storage and Apple Pay is Biggest iPhone Launch”
The Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 interface is reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S5 as described
in my blog article
entitled “Introducing
the Samsung Galaxy S5 – 16 Megapixel Camera with Fingerprint Scanner and
Fitness Tracker is Improved Fun Experience in a better Business Suit”.
Like the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 features a Fingerprint scanner in the Home key and an oddly
placed LED Laser based heart rate counter on the back. It's now a weatherman
with a built-in barometer and can detect proximity to magnetic fields with a
Hall Effect Sensor.
In terms of hardware, it’s a mix of both its predecessor and
the Samsung Galaxy S5. Improved multitasking is very obvious with the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4, with a neat new trick borrowed from the Samsung Galaxy S5 of
minimizing Apps to floating widgets when not in use.
The S Note App finally gets its own widget which is accessible
using the S Pen Stylus. The floating widgets combined with better text selection
and ability to take screenshots of the sections of the screen using the S Pen
Stylus makes the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 perfectly optimized for multi-tasking.
Rounding out this well balanced multi-tasking Phablet is the
battery life, which has improved over its predecessor by 20mAh to 3,220mAh
battery. That extra 20mAh, Samsung claims, delivers 7.5% more battery life. Coupled
with their latest fast-charging technology that can get the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 from 0% to 50% in 30 minutes, Samsung has a serious contender
for Corporate and Enterprise workhorse on their hands.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 Prospects – Pricing, Colours Diwali Festival of Lights Blackberry
Passport Contender
This, dear reader, is a Phablet that can get work done.
The Apple iPhone 6 Plus has no stylus and thus may not have
that level of productivity built in, save of course for Microsoft Office 365,
which is on the Apple iPad and on the Apple iPhone as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Microsoft
to introduce Office to Apple iPad on Thursday March 27th 2014”
The Blackberry Passport, which is also in India, may need
more than synching messages from other devices and a swipe-able physical
keyboard as noted in my blog article
entitled “US$500
Blackberry Passport Launched - How Blackberry Blend Remote Access may trump
Apple Pay Wallet in the US of A” to woo the Indian Crowd after the Diwali Festival
of Lights is over
The Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 comes in the following colours which are a quiet nod to the
Apple iPhone 5S and current Apple iPhone 6:
1.
Black
2.
White
3.
Gold
4.
Pink
Most likely it'll be priced at US$600 unlocked, an increasingly
popular option for Americans with cash to splash and Jamaicans interested in
buying the smartphone for relatives back home as noted in my blog article
entitled “Unlocking
Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act makes Cellphone Unlocking Legal
again - President Barack Obama upholds DMCA”
That's US$100 more than the Blackberry Passport. With all
those features pack into the Samsung
Galaxy Note 4, the Price is Right for the Diwali Festival of Lights!
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