Sony Xperia T will appear in Next James Bond Movie

Install Fast and Smooth Xperia S 6.1.A.2.45 ROM

We are sure many people must be searching for a reliable review for Xperia S ICS Firmware 6.1.A.2.45. Of course reliable reviews help in taking the decision that whether this new firmware should be flashed or not. Well, of course we are writing this review in coordination with how we felt and with some research at XDA. So, here we present Xperia S ICS ROM review for you.

ICS ROM 6.1.2.45 Review

The very first thing you must do is wipe the data and then flash the firmware. After flashing there will be many good things that will happen. You can experience the following things:

1. 
   Fastness and smoothness
2. Bottom keys sensitivity increase
3. No Bluetooth stutter
4. Better battery life
5. Impressive
6. Widgets loading becomes quite fast
7. Quick network registration
8. Start up time improved.
9. Internal Storage Preparation does not change. It remains almost same
10. Contact app loads in better way
11. Album apps works superbly
12. Scrolling becomes very smooth
13. Screen shot taking becomes very easy.
14. Noise suppression and war piece volume results much better

But, there are some bugs like Wi-Fi not working very properly and some issues with Bravia engine. This is what some users reported online. These issues need to be sorted out quickly. However, when we went through XDA, we found that many users and developers who did not find any issue with this Xperia S 6.1.A.2.45 Firmware. As per amfirbek92 who is senior member at XDA, this ROM was really quite smooth and fast. Here’s how he felt forXperia S 6.1.A.2.45 ICS Firmware. 

He wrote the following info on XDA thread:

Bravia engine working great
Phone is butter smooth (More and more than the S3)
Battery life is amazing
Camera lauch and camera capture is very fast
Album app lauch is faster also the setting.apk
More free ram about +40MB
Touch buttons are so sensitive(like my xperia active eventhough I have 2 screen protectors)
No a little lag after 10hrs of flash till now
Thanks a lot Sony this a really awesome stable update now am concerning about porting some stuff from the GX.

We hope that this review will provide you an apt guidance about whether you wish to install new ICS Firmware on Xperia S or not. Also, do let us know how you found this post. Put your doubts and feedback here in the comment section.

Samsung Series 7 Gamer laptop: quick review

At a hefty 17", the Samsung Series 7 Gamer is not exactly what you might call "portable." It's a laptop that's squarely in the realm of desktop replacement. The system specs say it weighs in at just under 8.4 pounds, but it's still not something you'd exactly want to carry around.

When I got it out of the box, everything about it felt ludicrously large. The machine, frankly, is a beast. It is the first laptop in this house (and there have been many laptops in this house) to be larger than the cat. For comparison, I took a quick (if terrible) photo of the Samsung Series 7 Gamer next to an Alienware M14x 14" gaming laptop, which itself is not exactly svelte.

Happily, the feel of the thing is actually pretty nice. It may be a beast, but it's a comfortable beast. The plastic around the keyboard isn't rubberized, but it does have a smooth, satiny feel that seems like it would wear well. The size is an advantage when it comes to the keyboard, which features full-sized, responsive keys and a number pad to go with. The default backlighting, a gentle, vaguely-blue white, works nicely as well, creating light and contrast without being garish. And of course, the big advantage of a big laptop is its big screen. The crisp 17" display runs at 1920x1080, delivering nicely on HD gaming.

The Samsung Series 7 Gamer Is One Effective, and Enormous, Gaming Laptop

The one exception to the nice feel is the trackpad, which honestly is kind of terrible. The buttons are placed in such a way that I routinely hit right-click when reaching for left-click, the touch-tap is not always responsive, and the texture of the thing created a weird sort of friction drag on my fingers, making me feel like using the mouse pointer was twice as hard as it should have been. You'll want to plug in a proper mouse (or use a Bluetooth mouse) for any extended gaming sessions.

The other issue I had was with the sensitivity of switches along the top bar, just under the monitor. Volume looks like it should be a dial, but it's actually just a (very sensitive) plus/minus switch. The whole bar is so sensitive that when brushing my hand along it gently to remove a stray cat hair, I managed to turn off the wifi antenna without realizing I had ever touched it at all. Since it's easier to control the laptop's volume using the keyboard, it's probably just smart to stay away from that area of the machine entirely once it's been turned on.

Of course, look and feel are meaningless without performance. The specs are nice, with the i7 quad core Ivy Bridge CPU, the NVidia GTX 675M graphics card, and more RAM than anyone can actually use, but do they add up to smooth gaming?

Samsung Series 7 Gamer System Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-3610QM, 2.30 GHz, 6MB L3 cache
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M
• Memory: 16 GB DDR3
• Hard Drive: 1.5 TB
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Ports: 1 HDMI, 2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0
• Card Slot: 7-in-1 (MS, MS Pro, SD, SDHC, MMC, MMC plus, xD)
• Optical Drive: Blu-Ray
• Network: Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n, and wired

The Samsung came pre-loaded with a number of games, including Peggle, Plants vs Zombies, and Chuzzle. As much as I do in fact love PopCap games (I may have put more hours into Plants vs Zombies over the last year than is strictly healthy), they're not going to put a gaming machine through its paces. They don't even really put my two-year-old phone through its paces. It was time for something a bit more demanding.

The most system-punishing game we have in the house, as it happens, is The Secret World. On my desktop, I run TSW on DX11, with most settings on the default "Ultra," and get an average of just over 30 fps. (The range runs from about 25 FPS to nearly 50, but during normal gameplay and combat hovers in the 32-35 fps area.) That's on a desktop using an Intel i7-930 quad core CPU from 2010 and an NVidia GeForce GTX 480.

So how did the laptop compare? I turned the dial to "gaming" (more about that in a moment), set the game to "Ultra," and ran off to kill zombies. While puttering around Kingsmouth in solo combat it pretty much stayed in the 21-28 FPS range, which—while not exceptional—is actually a lot better and more playable than I expected. It doesn't take many tweaks to the settings to get it running around 30. Naturally, of course, the laptop sounds by that point as if it is trying to take off into space, but that's just how heavy-working laptop fans get.

I mentioned the dial. The knob is the big gimmick of the Series 7 Gamer. Yes, a knob. It's a small dial set into the right side of the machine, just under the monitor, that basically has four pre-configured power management settings. There's a mode that optimizes gaming performance, naturally, but there's also a mode that reduces fan speed (making the laptop quieter) and dims the lights, so that the user won't be That Guy in a library or other quiet location.

The gaming setting is effective. It brings the fan to life and makes sure that GPU has the juice it needs. But it's also, well, garish. Horribly garish. All of the lights switch to a bright, electric blue, except WASD, which go bright red. The volume and power switches, both round, also light up red and then pulse in sync with whatever audio source you have playing. By default, it also comes with a full Windows theme that changes your desktop and mouse pointer. Of course, the settings can be customized, so it's possible to keep the power boost while ditching the visuals, if they're not your thing.

The other feature setting the Series 7 Gamer apart is its attention to audio, with Dolby sound processing. I threw some music on via the speakers to see how they sounded, and started out impressed. The treble and mid-range are actually very good, for laptop speakers. But as soon as the chord of Reaper in E Minor hit, they went all tinny and "blaaat." They may be very good for laptop speakers but in the end, they're still laptop speakers. With headphones plugged in, the sound (from games, music, or video) is as good and robust as you'd generally expect.

So yes, the Samsung Series 7 Gamer makes a good desktop replacement machine. But its bulk and price point—just under $1900—are enough to invite the question of, "why?" If power is what a gamer is after, desktops are less expensive and can be upgraded more easily. If portability is what a gamer is after, there are similarly powerful machines, also less expensive, that can be picked up and hauled around much more easily. The number of players who need what the Samsung Series 7 Gamer has to offer is probably a small segment of the population. But for those who do need a 17" desktop-replacing, gaming-capable laptop, the Series 7 Gamer wouldn't be a bad choice.

Asus Transformer Pad TF300 Review

Targeting the iPad 2, Asus' Eee Pad Transformer launched with much fanfare last year as it bridged the gap between tablets and netbooks by serving as both form factors via its TF101 docking station. The Eee Pad tablet sported a 10.1-inch (1280x800) IPS multitouch screen with a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC. Additionally, the device was loaded with 1GB of RAM and 16GB to 32GB of flash storage.

By itself, the Eee Pad Transformer was a competitive Android tablet, but much of its appeal stemmed from the aforementioned docking station which enabled additional usage scenarios, especially those requiring a hardware keyboard or other peripherals. The TF101 supplied a keyboard and touchpad, increased the device's battery life by 6.5 hours and offered greater connectivity via two USB 2.0 ports and a card reader.

At the time, we thought the Eee Pad Transformer was a great bargain. The 16GB version (with a docking station) cost only $505. This value was slightly diminished later in 2011 when Asus unveiled its $620 Eee Pad Transformer Prime with the new 1.3GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3, 32GB to 64GB of storage and although it shipped with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, it has since received an update to 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Although the Transformer Prime's price increase was technically justifiable, it pushed the upper budgets of some shoppers. Addressing that issue, Asus has released a more affordable version called the Transformer Pad TF300T, featuring the same Tegra 3 SoC yet costing only $520 with a docking station ($385 without). You're probably wondering whether the savings are worthwhile, and that's precisely what we hope to discover...

Inside the Transformer Pad TF300

Unlike the Tegra 2, which has numerous different models, the Tegra 3 (codenamed "Kal-El") has only one -- at least for now anyway. As with its predecessor, the Tegra 3 uses the 40nm design process and is based on the ARMv7 CPU instruction set. However, whereas the fastest Tegra 2 model had two cores clocked at 1.2GHz, the Tegra 3 has four running at 1.4GHz and can be overclocked to 1.5GHz when using a single core.a

The Transformer Pad TF300 comes with either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for optional storage expansion, as well as a 2-in-1 audio jack (Headphone/Mic-in) and Micro HDMI port. Asus includes two cameras, 1.2MP in front and 8MP in back. The rear camera's photo quality is great for a tablet and we found it to be worlds better than the original Eee Pad Transformer. Video is also much improved.

The TF300 has a 10.1-inch LED Backlight WXGA (1280x800) ISP screen with scratch-resistant glass, a 178° viewing angle, and 10-finger multitouch support. The only difference between the Transformer Pad TF300 and the pricier Transformer Prime is that the Prime has a Super IPS+ panel that is brighter for outdoor use.

Wireless connectivity includes 802.11b/g/n@2.4GHz and Bluetooth 3.0+EDR -- the latter of which will be appreciated by folks who plan to use a mouse with the system. The TF300 uses a 22Wh Li-polymer battery that is said to provide 10 hours of operating time. This is a slight downgrade from the 25Wh Li-polymer battery in the Prime, which offers 12 hours of run time according to Asus.

The TF300T dock also features its own 16.5Wh Li-polymer battery that extends uptime by another 5 hours for a total run-time of 17 hours. Asus says these claims are based on a battery life tested using the power saving mode while playing a 720p video with the brightness set to 60nits.

When testing, we found that both batteries would often run out of juice after about 15.5 hours, which is a great effort. Without the docking station, the Eee Pad Transformer is good for at least 9.5 hours, which makes Asus' estimation fairly accurate.

The docking station also provides a full QWERTY keyboard and trackpad, which turns the Transformer Pad TF300 into a netbook-like computer. There is only one USB 2.0 port on the dock, which is an important addition as Asus excluded USB on the pad itself. A second card reader (MMC/SD/SDHC) is also included on the dock, allowing you to expand storage even further. It's worth noting that the USB ports support flash drives using NTFS.

The docking station can be attached to the pad using a 40-pin connector. When connected to the power outlet, the tablet battery is charged through the docking station.

The Transformer Pad TF300 also carries various sensors including a G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, and GPS.

Cubitek HPTX-ICE Case Review

Founded in spring 2010, Cubitek is a relative newcomer to the chassis industry, but that's not stopping it from challenging the biggest names in the business -- including veteran Lian Li. Last month, the company unveiled its latest ICE series with five premium models spanning everything from Mini-ITX to HPTX.

The most affordable is the Mini-ICE, which runs $170 and supports Mini-ITX boards. Next up is the $260 Micro-ICE for MicroATX boards. That's followed by the ATX-ICE ($280), which, as you probably guessed, supports ATX boards. Larger still is the EATX-ICE for $320, which handles up to and including EATX.

If that's not big enough for you, Cubitek offers the $360 HPTX-ICE, which stands 559mm (22") tall and 613mm (24") long. All of the ICE series chassis feature a 2.5mm aluminum construction and Cubitek says this makes them stronger than standard aluminum cases while maintaining a thin and light figure.

Given our preference for full tower chassis like Cooler Master's HAF X and Storm Trooper, it should come as little surprise that we're reviewing the heftiest of Cubitek's new arrivals. We're also interested in the largest model as few enclosures support EVGA's HPTX form factor (mostly just Lian Li cases).

Besides, at $360, the HPTX-ICE is among the priciest cases around, so we're expecting good things -- though the competition is certainly stiff. Lian Li's PC-V2120 is $350, and it left a strong impression when we reviewed in 2010. Let's move on and see what the HPTX-ICE is made of -- literally and figuratively...

External Design

Cubitek uses a clean and minimalistic design for all its ICE cases. As previously noted, the HPTX-ICE measures 559mm (22") tall, 613mm (24") long and 230mm (9") wide, and weighs 19.6lbs (8.9kg) when empty, which is surprisingly light for its dimensions.

In front, it has a sleek brushed black aluminum bezel with a large fan grill and five 5.25" drive bays. While front panel connectivity is found on top of the case, power and reset buttons along with activity lights are up front. I/O includes two USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports along with headphone and mic jacks. Also on the top of the HPTX-ICE are two fan grills similar to the grill on the front.

The 5.25" drive bay covers look great, but almost every time I grabbed the case to move it around they would press in, often falling inside. This introduced another annoying aspect of the HPTX-ICE: you have to remove four screws per door.

While most case doors feature clips every few inches around the perimeter to ensure a tight fit, the HPTX-ICE simply relies on one screw per corner. This is annoying in and of itself, but it's more than just an inconvenience.

Once hardware is installed, cables pressing even gently on the door cause it to buckle outwards. This leaves the HPTX-ICE looking unattractive and we spent quite a lot of time trying to tuck the cables away to avoid this issue. The doors are bland with no distinguishable features, though they blend into the design well -- if you can get them to sit flush, that is.

We also dislike Cubitek's use of four pop rivots to connect the back panel to the panel that covers the top and front of the chassis. This isn't necessarily bad, but the panels don't align correctly, giving the impression of poor craftsmanship.

Nevertheless, the back is quite clean with a polished aluminum insert that houses the motherboard's I/O panel, a rear fan, water cooling holes and ten expansion brackets. At the bottom is a bracket for an ATX power supply.

Overall, the HPTX-ICE's external design isn't bad, it just lacks refinement as noted with how the doors and panels attach. Given the case's size and price, Cubitek had room to come up with a more intelligent means of accomplishing both.

Internal Design

As mentioned, getting inside the Cubitek HPTX-ICE requires you to undo four small thumbscrews, which allows the door to be fully removed. This is easy enough to do, but it's more time consuming than it has to be.

Inside, you'll find a massive motherboard tray that is non-removable -- though that's okay, given how spacious the HPTX-ICE is. Towards the front are seven 3.5" drive bays with one 3.5" to 2.5" adapter for a pair of SSDs.

Above the HDD bays are five 5.25" bays and the bottom two are populated with an adapter for another two 3.5" drives. In total, the HPTX-ICE supports five 5.25" drives, nine 3.5" drives and two 2.5" drives out of the box.

Moving to the back, there are ten ventilated expansion brackets and a power supply mount. There's also a 120mm black fan that uses a 3-pin power connector and is rated at 38.83 CFM. Speaking of fans, there's also a front-mounted 200mm blue LED intake fan with a flow rate of 57.76 CFM.

Cubitek also installed a pair of 140mm blue LED fans into the top of the case, and while they call these "outflow" fans, our review sample came with one mounted as an intake and the other as an exhaust. Both are rated at 49.05 CFM and use a 3-pin connector.

If that's not enough airflow, you can install a 140mm fan in the bottom of the case. Alternatively, the movable 3.5" hard drive cage can be placed here, freeing up the 5.25" bay area. Even with the HDD cage at the bottom, the HPTX-ICE has enough room for a 220m (8.6") long PSU, which covers just about everything available.

The case also has 17" (433mm) for graphics cards, loads of space considering the longest cards only measure around 11". Likewise, CPU coolers up to 7" (180mm) tall are covered.

For its size, the HPTX-ICE seems a little stingy on cable management. Unlike the Corsair 800D, the HPTX-ICE's motherboard tray doesn't provide holes for ATX boards, so cables have to stretch further than they should. There also isn't as much room behind the motherboard tray as we would've liked. Companies such as Cooler Master solve this issue by being creative with concaved doors.

The HPTX-ICE is also missing a fan speed controller and some form of a tool-less design. Although Cubitek says it provides anti-vibration and tool-less elements for the hard drives, this is not entirely true. There is an anti-vibration design, but it's far from tool-less. Each drive requires four screws and four rubber grommets before being installed, and that calls for a screwdriver. That said, we like the anti-vibration implementation and tool-less or not, it works well.

Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Phantom Review

After many months of talking up its latest architecture, Nvidia reclaimed the single-GPU performance crown with its GeForce GTX 680, which outpaced the Radeon HD 7970 by about 7% in our tests. Kepler's arrival forced AMD to slash prices across its Southern Islands lineup, including a $70 drop on the HD 7970, putting it at $479 or about 4% cheaper than the GTX 680's MSRP of $499.

The HD 7950 also took a $60 cut to $399, making it one of the most tempting 7000 series cards because it has no equal -- or had no equal, we should say. Continuing Kepler's rollout, Nvidia has unveiled the GTX 670, which is priced against the HD 7950 at $399. Despite being $100 cheaper than the GTX 680, the GTX 670 doesn't appear to be much slower on paper, and that could spell disaster for AMD.

The GTX 670 shares the GTX 680's DNA, as it's powered by the same GK104 GPU and has many other similarities. For example, it uses 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6GHz and features the new SMX units and GPU Boost technology. Although it's targeting the HD 7950's pricing, Nvidia says its crosshairs are actually on the HD 7970 in terms of performance. Again, a scary notion for AMD.

All this posturing means very little if gamers can't actually buy GTX 600 series products. It's been nearly two months since the GTX 680 launched, but as of writing, you can't purchase one online. Poor availability not only means that it's hard to find a GTX 680, but it also means many people have paid more than the $499 MSRP, which dents the card's full value potential.

We hope Nvidia solves this soon, especially if the GTX 670 is everything it's chalked up to be...

Gainward's GTX 670 in Detail

Having recently reviewed Gainward's GeForce GTX 680 Phantom, we're pleased to be looking at the company's premium version of the GTX 670. The Phantom edition card boasts a reworked PCB with an upgraded power phase, factory overclocking and a massive triple slot cooler. Gainward used the GTX 680 to introduce its second-generation Phantom cooler, and the GTX 670 receives the same treatment.

The GTX 670's Phantom heatsink measures 185mm long, 70mm wide and 17mm tall (7.28in x 2.75in x 0.66in), making it considerably smaller than the GTX 680's 225mm x 70mm x 40mm heatsink. It has a black fan shroud that forces the 80mm fans to draw air in through the grill above them and push it over fins below.

Although the smaller heatsink surprised us, we're more shocked at how compact the GTX 670 Phantom's PCB is. Without a cooler, it measures only 17.3cm (6.81in) long, making the shortest high-performance graphics card we've seen. To put this in perspective, the Radeon HD 6450 also measures 17cm and that's an ultra-low-end HTPC card. With the heatsink and shroud installed, the GTX 670 Phantom is 24.3cm (9.56in) long, which is still slightly shorter than the GTX 680's 25.5cm body.

You'll notice some layout changes between the GTX 670 and 680. Nvidia moved the power supply to the west side of the GPU (much closer than on traditional boards), then rotated the chip to improve power integrity and increase efficiency. With the GTX 670's power circuitry moved to the other side of the board, the right side of the PCB was empty and thus removed to save space.

Whereas the GTX 680 Phantom had a large heatspreader that covered its entire PCB to cool the GDDR5 memory and 6-phase power, the GTX 670 Phantom abandoned this design. Instead, the GDDR5 memory is naked while the power phase is cooled by a separate aluminum heatsink.

Gainward also performed a little factory overclocking, but before we talk clock speeds, let's explore the GTX 670's GPU in a little more detail. The card ships with 1344 CUDA cores and 7 SMX units, 1 SMX unit and 192 CUDA cores less than the GTX 680. There are also slightly less TAUs, 112 down from 128, while the ROPs remain at 32.

The memory subsystem is identical to the GTX 680, consisting of four 64-bit controllers (256-bit) with 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz (DDR). The memory bandwidth remains at 192.2GB/s.

Nvidia's specification for the base clock frequency is 915MHz while the average Boost Clock speed is 980MHz. Gainward has increased the base clock frequency to 1006MHz, while the memory operates at 6108MHz, boosting the bandwidth to 195.5GB/s.

The rest of Gainward's card remains fairly standard, including a pair of SLI connectors, 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and an I/O panel configuration consisting of HDMI, DisplayPort and two DVI ports.

Benchmarks: Crysis 2, Dragon Age II

When testing Crysis 2 at 2560x1600, the GTX 670 was 13% slower than the HD 7970 and GeForce GTX 680, but it mustered an 8% lead over the HD 7950 and a 22% boost over the last-gen GTX 580.

Nvidia's new arrival rendered 37fps when running Dragon Age II at 2560x1600, 3% faster than the HD 7970 and a whopping 37% margin over the HD 7950. It was still about 8% slower than the GTX 680.

Samsung Galaxy S III Smartphone Review

Last year Samsung solidified its position as the dominant Android smartphone manufacturer with the Galaxy S II. The massive success of this phone helped propel Samsung into becoming the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world.

Things are different than they were last year, however, as HTC has awoken from its slumber and released some really competitive and compelling smartphones. Samsung isn't sitting idly by as others ramp up their smartphone offerings, and its efforts to stay at the top are wrapped up in the Galaxy S III, a 4.8-inch powerhouse of a smartphone.

Is the Galaxy S III a worthy successor to the venerable Galaxy S II and does it help keep Samsung ahead of its rivals? In a word, yes. Aside from the fact that Samsung managed to pull an Apple-esque move and release identical versions of the Galaxy S III across five U.S. carriers, the Galaxy S III features cutting edge hardware paired with useful software additions that make it an attractive option for the prospective smartphone buyer.

Note: This review was conducted with the AT&T and T-Mobile versions of the Galaxy S III, but the vast majority of it also applies to the Sprint, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless models as well.

Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy S III features a polarizing industrial design - some people will love it, while others might hate it. Available in either Marble White or Pebble Blue color options, the Galaxy S III is unmistakably Samsung through and through. This time around, Samsung has moved away from the squarish shape of the Galaxy S II and has gone back to the rounded corners and softer lines that the original Galaxy S of 2010 featured.

Samsung says that the phone's design (and software) were inspired by nature and is supposed to evoke a polished river stone. Elegant verbiage aside, the S III's rounded shape does help it cradle nicely in your hand and makes it comfortable to hold, despite its rather large dimensions. The Galaxy S III is exceptionally glossy, however, and it can be difficult to keep a grip on it at times because of that. Consequently, the phone did slip out of my hand on more than one occasion during my review period while I was trying to take pictures with the camera. The glossy finish is also prone to collecting fingerprints, which I don't think that anybody really likes.

The Galaxy S III is by no means a small phone, as it measures 136.6mm x 70.6mm x 8.6mm (5.38in x 2.78in x 0.34in) and weighs 133g (4.7oz). It is, however, smaller in all dimensions than the Samsung-built Google Galaxy Nexus, despite sporting a larger display. Samsung says that it focused a lot of effort into shrinking the border and bezel around the display to give the Galaxy S III a smaller footprint, and I have to say that the effect produced by a smaller bezel does work. The Galaxy S III is one of the few super-sized Android smartphones that most people will be able to comfortably use with one hand.

The Galaxy S III's display is a new 4.8-inch version of the HD Super AMOLED screens seen on other recent Samsung devices. It features 720p (720 x 1280 pixel) resolution and a 306ppi pixel density, and it is very crisp to the naked eye. The new display does use the much-derided PenTile sub-pixel arrangement, but at these pixel densities, it is hard to see the ill effects of the PenTile matrix. Samsung did tell us that it has improved the gaps in the sub-pixels to make the screen appear sharper than earlier HD Super AMOLED displays, and the Galaxy S III's screen is noticeably better looking than the one found on the Galaxy Nexus.

As with other AMOLED screens, colors on the Galaxy S III's display are very saturated and vibrant - almost to the point of looking cartoonish. When put side-by-side with an HTC One X, the Galaxy S III's colors are not as accurate as the HTC's, and you can notice a bluish cast in white areas on the screen. However, if you never compare the two phones next to each other, the Galaxy S III's display is pretty stunning.

It also has tremendous viewing angles, though I did find it a bit hard to view the screen in direct sunlight - something that is much easier with the Super LCD2 screens used by HTC.

Above the display you can find the light sensors, earpiece, and 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera. To the left of the earpiece is a hidden multi-color LED notification light, which I was very glad to see. The light all but disappears when it is not illuminated - a pretty cool effect.

Below the display there is a physical home button and capacitive keys for menu and back, just as found on the global versions of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II. The earlier Galaxy S models that were available in the U.S. dropped the three-key layout and featured four capacitive keys for menu, home, back, and search, so it is nice to see that the Galaxy S III keeps the three-key format this go-around.

It is interesting to note Samsung's approach here: despite the fact that the Galaxy S III is launching with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, it is essentially using an Android 2.3 Gingerbread button layout and has ignored Google's guidelines to use virtual on-screen keys (as seen on the Galaxy Nexus). I think that was a good choice, since the hardware keys let content fill the entire height of the display without wasting precious screen real estate. Not that the Galaxy S III is really lacking for screen space, but every little bit helps.

Samsung's key layout is different than the one opted for by HTC, and there are pros and cons to each. I prefer HTC's dedicated multitasking key (you have to hold the home key down on the Galaxy S III to access the multitasking menu, which is a bit slower), but I think Samsung was very smart in providing a dedicated menu key on the Galaxy S III, since so many Android apps still require the use of one - despite Google's best intentions. A long-press on the Galaxy S III's menu key also launches a search in any app, which is certainly useful. One thing to note about the actual hardware of the keys is that they all but disappear into the front of the phone when the backlight is off and it can be hard to decipher their exact location when you pick up the device. Fortunately, the keys are very responsive to the touch, and if you just mash your finger on either side of the home key, you are likely to hit the capacitive key you are aiming for.

Though the Galaxy S III is made entirely of plastic materials, the edge features a wrap-around silver (light blue on the Pebble Blue model) trim with a faux brushed metal appearance. I'm not a huge fan of it, since I feel that any plastic that tries to ape another material's look and feel usually fails in doing so, but the trim doesn't get in the way of the phone's functionality and many users will probably not have a problem with it.

As is the Samsung tradition, the right side of the phone is home to the power/sleep/unlock key, while the left side houses the volume rocker. Both switches were solid and easy to suss out when you have the phone held to your ear. The top has your standard 3.5mm headphone jack, while the bottom of the Galaxy S III is home to the micro-USB charging port that doubles as a MHL port to output media to an HDTV with the proper adapter.

The back of the Galaxy S III is pretty sparse, with just a silk-screened logo for the carrier and Samsung's branding. At the top you can find the 8 megapixel camera, LED flash, and lone external speaker. Kudos to Samsung for making the back cover removable, since many phones on market today don't let users remove the back panel at all. Underneath it you have access to the 2100mAh battery, micro-SIM slot, and microSD card slot for storage expansion. The big battery is user replaceable, which should make power users very happy.

All in all, the Galaxy S III is a very well put together and smartly-designed phone. The only real complaints I have with it are its plasticky feel and exceptionally glossy finish. Though it is built just as solidly as most other smartphones on the market, it doesn't have the same quality feel that one gets from an HTC One X or an Apple iPhone 4S. But for sheer functionality, the Galaxy S III fits the bill.

Usability, Calling & Data, Browser

Usability

Samsung set the bar for how an Android smartphone should perform with the Galaxy S II last year, and this year's Galaxy S III is no different. Though the international version of the Galaxy S III features Samsung's own quad-core Exynos 4 Quad processor, the version available to U.S. consumers has a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz.

This shouldn't be an issue for anyone, as the S4 processor performs just as well in the Galaxy S III as it does in other devices we have reviewed this year. Samsung has paired the processor with 2GB of RAM, making the S III the first smartphone in the U.S. with more than 1GB of RAM. This combination produces a speedy experience without any lag or stuttering from the phone, even when performing intensive tasks like 3D gaming.

Under benchmark tests, the Galaxy S III doesn't quite hit the same high numbers that other phones like the HTC EVO 4G LTE do, but in real-world usage, the phone is exceptionally quick. Apps open without delay, and even when repeatedly switching between open apps, the S III doesn't skip a beat. One thing of note: when using the phone for long periods or during intense gaming, the bottom of the device gets noticeably warm.

The Galaxy S III runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, though you might not realize it at first. Samsung has installed the latest version of its TouchWiz interface on top of Android 4.0 and it has changed the appearance of the platform quite a bit. The latest version of TouchWiz is an evolution of the TouchWiz 4 that debuted on the Galaxy S II, and it isn't terribly different from an appearance point of view.

If you didn't like TouchWiz before, you probably won't like it now. That said, a lot of what Samsung has done with the interface is for the better. Gone is the robot-inspired Tron motif that stock Android 4.0 has, replaced by bright colors and elements inspired by nature. The nature theme carries over to the phone's various water droplet sound effects and animations, as well as its selection of ringtones. Fortunately, the animations in TouchWiz are more informative than obtrusive, and they don't get in the way of what you are trying to do.

Certain tweaks to the platform that I appreciate are the customizable app shortcuts on the lock screen, toggle switches in the notification bar, and useful app drawer that lets you uninstall apps or hide them from view with only a couple of taps. I also really like the option to display the actual battery percentage in the status bar.

Samsung has built in a number of gestures into the S III's interface, and they let you do certain things like flip over the phone to mute incoming calls, pause media playback with the palm of your hand, and capture a screenshot by swiping your hand across the display. One particularly useful gestures is the ability to launch the camera from the lockscreen by rotating the phone from portrait to landscape orientation. You can also opt to unlock the device by tilting the phone if you are not a fan of the traditional swipe-to-unlock method.

Other enhancements that Samsung has brought to the table include expanded sharing capabilities with the S Beam feature. S Beam builds upon Android 4.0's native NFC-based Beam function to allow users to transfer large files by just bumping two phones together. Samsung says that S Beam can be used to pass a 1GB video from one S III to another in three minutes. It can also be used to share web pages, images, and other content.

Samsung's Smart Stay feature uses the front-facing camera to keep the display on if you are viewing a web page or reading an article. The phone will periodically look for a face staring back at it, and maintain the screen brightness for longer than the time out setting would allow. In good lighting, Smart Stay worked as advertised, but when the light levels fell (when you are reading in bed, for instance) the reliability of Smart Stay fell as well.

The other major feature that Samsung includes with the Galaxy S III is the new S Voice personal assistant. S Voice is a virtual clone of the Siri personal assistant that Apple introduced on the iPhone 4S, and lets users interact with the Galaxy S III through speech. You can launch S Voice from its app icon or by double pressing the home key. Like Siri, S Voice can be used to check the weather, make appointments, set reminders, and perform web searches. S Voice does have a couple of tricks of its own, though, as it can toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, be used to snooze or dismiss alarms, and launch some select third-party apps.

In practice, S Voice works about as well as Siri, but it doesn't have the same personality touches and nuances as Apple's product. Its features aren't as fleshed out as Siri's are, either, which isn't saying much. Both services have some functionality, but I don't think either one is where it needs to be to become an integral part of everyday use (that may change with the new features coming to Siri in iOS 6, but I digress).

Calling / Data

The Galaxy S III supports the fastest data services available to each carrier that it is being offered with. That means that the T-Mobile version has support for the carrier's 42Mbps HSPA+ network, while the AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless versions all feature 4G ~LTE data capabilities.

Of course if you buy the Sprint model, you won't be able to use the phone's LTE features until Sprint actually launches its LTE network, which is due to happen sometime this summer.

As far as call quality is concerned, the Galaxy S III performs well, with loud, clear audio from both the earpiece and the speaker phone. The call settings app offers a volume boost and customizable EQ settings, so you can really tweak the sound for your preference. I tested the AT&T and T-Mobile models during my review, and I found call quality to be comparable between both of them. The only complaint I can levy against the Galaxy S III is that the sound can be a bit thin and is not as full as the audio produced by other smartphones.

Messaging

Samsung has included a threaded messaging app with the Galaxy S III that supports standard SMS and MMS messages. The phone also comes with the standard Google Talk for Android, which offers both video and text chatting, and Samsung's own ChatON messaging service. Fans of other chat services will have to head to the Google Play Store to download the app, as the S III doesn't ship with any other IM systems pre-loaded.

Samsung's email app has been updated for Android 4.0, and I must say I like it a lot. The app is fast and responsive, and it offers features like threaded messages, multiple message management, HTML email support, and pinch zooming. The Galaxy S III also includes Google's excellent Gmail app for Android 4.0.

Apps / App Store

The Galaxy S III has full access to the Google Play Store and its hundreds of thousands of apps, as well as books, music, and movies. Chances are, if there is an app you are looking for, it can be found there.

Fortunately, Samsung did not burden the Galaxy S III with a plethora of pre-installed apps, but it did include the Flipboard app for Android. The Galaxy S III is the first Android device to ship with the long-awaited app, which originally debuted on the Apple iPad. Flipboard for Android on the Galaxy S III works just as smoothly as the iOS version, and lets users browse their social network feeds in a magazine-style layout.

Each carrier version of the Galaxy S III includes some carrier pre-installed apps, but they are kept to a minimum (in the case of our AT&T and T-Mobile review units, at least). The Galaxy S III does let you disable pre-installed apps that are not wanted, or alternatively, you can hide them from view in the app drawer.

The Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular versions of the Galaxy S III feature Dropbox installed out of the box, and offer customers 50GB of free Dropbox cloud storage for two years. During the phone's initial set up, users are prompted to sign in to or create a Dropbox account. Once signed in, the free storage is automatically added to the account. Unfortunately, this perk isn't available on the AT&T or Verizon Wireless models.

Browser

The Galaxy S III comes with an exceptionally fast and capable web browser. The browser loads pages in what feels like an instant, and it features effortless panning and zooming. The browser scores very well on the SunSpider benchmark, and that translates into a snappy day-to-day experience.

It also includes support for Adobe Flash Player (though the Adobe Flash Player is not pre-loaded, you have to get it from the Google Play Store if you want it), RSS feeds, and a reader mode that strips out images and ads from websites to make web content easier to consume. Since the Galaxy S III runs Android 4.0, you can also opt to use the excellent Google Chrome Beta browser for Android.