Samsung announces Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 duo of smartphones

Samsung took the wraps off the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 duo of smartphones. The Android duet is targeting young buyers with entry-level and mid-range specs, variety of colors, and decidedly premium all-metal unibody.

Samsung Galaxy A5 packs 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM.There’s 16GB of built-in memory, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot.

The device's display is a 5" HD Super AMOLED unit (likely with 720p resolution). A 13MP main camera, 5MP front-facing unit, and full connectivity suite that includes LTE round up the highlights in its spec sheet. Samsung Galaxy A5 boots TouchWiz-ed Android 4.4 KitKat.

Physical measures of the Samsung Galaxy A5 are 139.3 x 69.7 x 6.7mm, while its weight tips the scale at 123 grams. The handset is powered by a 2,300mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy A3 on the other hand packs 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and a gig of RAM. Onboard memory is 8GB, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot.

The display of the Galaxy A3 is a 4.5” qHD Super AMOLED unit. The device’s main camera is an 8MP unit, coupled with 5MP front-facing snapper. Full connectivity suite is also on board, headed by Cat4 LTE. Like its bigger brother, the A3 boots Android 4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI.

The measures of Samsung Galaxy A3 are 130.1 x 65.5 x 6.9mm, while its weight comes in at only 110.3 grams. A 1,900mAh battery powers the smartphone.

You can check out Samsung’s official promo video for the Galaxy A family below.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

.The best way to describe my new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is if it were a man, it would be Mr. Right. This smartphone does it for me in ways that no phone ever has. Never before have I had such a geek girl crush on a smartphone. I don’t change my phone every 3 months like some people, but I do make a switch at least once a year. I have always been on Team Android because I think of Android ( or shall I say Google) as more of a lifestyle brand when it comes to my smartphone selection. I am a heavy user of Google products for my business and every day life.

The Galaxy Note 4 is what you would call a phablet ( a cross between a phone and tablet) with the added bonus of a stylus if you are into that sort of thing.  While some think this smartphone is to big with a screen of 5.7 inches, I find it just right for all of the things that I need to do with it such as take notes, watch Netflix on the go,  take photos at events, find documents in my Google Drive, and everything else.Let’s break down the new love of my life shall we. For starters, the phone is excellent, but that should not come as a surprise, Samsung has always made clear sounding phones. As my mother says, “it sounds like you are in the room next to me.” The 16 megapixel camera simply rocks, which takes the selfie game to another level. Samsung declaares that it is the best camera they have put on a smartphone.  I have to agree. While I may not beaprofessional photographer, trust me when I say that I see a difference in the photos I am taking now versus with the Nexus 5 that I traded in.Some other sexy specs for this phablet are: the fast charging battery, intuitive S pen,  32 G internal memory ( oh hell yes you can add more if you want), Android 4.4 ( Kit Kat version).  An extra added bonus is that the phablet came with a premium subscription of Evernote, one of the best applications ever.Picking a new phone can be difficult. While I joked and said the Galaxy Note 4 is like my Mr. Right, we do become partners with the phone that we select. Who doesn’t want a phone that can’t keep up with them?As you do your research, keep the Galaxy Note 4 in mind, you won’t be sorry. If you are a note taker or writer, you will adore the addition of the  intuitive S pen. Keep doing your research and going into the stores to try phones out. Don’t let the sales people talk you into selecting what will work for you. Selecting the right phone is a very personal thing, just have fun with it.

Two tribes coming together in Chicago. @Motorola meets #Lenovo in a town hall. What a day. #hellomoto

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Moto 360 in gold surfaces on Amazon, quickly pulled

A Champagne gold color option of the Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch was briefly available on a pre-order on Amazon but it seems the product pages were pulled.

The smartwatch was up with two strap sizes - 18mm (shown below) and a 23mm one, both matching the color and both metal. Motorola started shipping Moto 360s to owners in two color options - silver and black - and with only leather watchstraps, leaving the metal ones for the fall.

  

Moto 360 in gold, 18mm strap

It seems we're getting closer to the metal bands, which Motorola will soon offer with its smartwatch or as an accessory at $80 a piece.

 

Moto 360 in gold, 23mm strap

For those interested in the price, before Amazon pulled the product links, both the more feminine golden Moto 360 with 18mm strap and the golden Moto 360 with 23mm strap had a price tag of $299 with shipment expected in the 1 to 2 months range.

Finally a silver Moto 360 with brown leather has surfaced but, again, was quickly pulled.

Xiaomi could be working on a low-end 9.2-inch tablet

Now that it's become the world's No.3 smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi may be looking to expand its tablet lineup, which so far consists only of the 7.9" MiPad.

The Chinese company's next tablet might be a decidedly low-end affair, however. A new benchmark result has surfaced, and with it a spec list for a yet unreleased Xiaomi device with a 9.2-inch touchscreen.

The new tablet will have a low-res panel, with 1,280x720 resolution. This isn't standard for Android tablets (which usually go for 1,280x800 and a slightly squarer aspect ratio), then again the MiPad didn't come with a standard resolution and aspect ratio for the Android world either.

Powering up the leaked tablet is a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC with a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU, an Adreno 306 GPU, and 1GB of RAM. Built-in internal storage space is 8GB, of which around 5.8GB will be user accessible.

The benchmark oddly doesn't feature any information about this device's cameras, but it does say it will sport a SIM card slot, so it will have mobile data connectivity integrated. It's also got Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

If this is a real product that's currently in development by Xiaomi, we'll surely find out more about it pretty soon through subsequent leaks.

Kantar: Android grows as iOS and Windows Phone decline in Q3

According to the latest Kantar WorldPanel report on mobile operating system market share, Android continues to take the lead marking a slight growth. Its main rivals, iOS and Windows Phone, declined slightly in their respective market share numbers.

In both Europe (EU5) and the US, Android leads its competitors with a market share of 73.9% and 61.8%, respectively. In Europe, Apple takes 15.4% of the market, while Microsoft with Windows Phone manages 9.2%. Interestingly, iOS marks a decline in the US of 3.3 percent points to 32.6% compared to Q2. Windows Phone's presence is also shrinking and is now 4.3% from 4.6%

As far as manufacturers go, LG and Motorola have been doing great in the US and Kantar sees them in a better position to fight with Samsung and Apple than ever. LG is counting on the G3, while Motorola is betting on the Moto X.

In China, Samsung is also feeling pressure from uprising manufacturers such as Xiaomi. It now boasts 30.3% market share whereas Samsung's market share fell to 18.4%. Interestingly, 16% of all smartphones sold in China were with a screen size of 5.5" or larger.