HTC Flyer vs Samsung Galaxy Note

We're concerning ourselves with two devices which can't quite make up their minds what they are this time around, as we compare HTC's Flyer with Samsung's Galaxy Note

If you're in the market for a device with a little more screen space than your average smartphone, this comparison is for you, as we're taking a look at HTC's Flyer, a tiny tablet which packs a punch and Samsung's Galaxy Note, a small but perfectly formed hybrid.
Will bigger turn out to be better or will the Galaxy Note win us over with its diminutive stature and charm? Let's find out!

Processing and memory
HTC's Flyer is powered by a single core 1.5GHz CPU that performs well, and will keep the device running a nice turn of pace even under duress.
The device's drive-train is backed-up by 1GB RAM, which keeps pace with everything else on the market to date, allowing the Flyer to multi-task in a brisk and orderly fashion.
Samsung's Galaxy Note is driven by a fast 1.4GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and also offers a Mali-400MP GPU, which will make short work of even the most taxing 3D games and visual effects.
Samsung also opted to fit the Galaxy Note with 1GB RAM, which will allow the device to age well.
The HTC Flyer comes with 32GB storage, while the Galaxy Note comes in 16 or 32GB flavours, and both support micro SD cards up to 32GB in size too.
Winner - Samsung Galaxy Note

Form, Build and Portability
HTC Flyer - 195.4x122x13.2 mm, 420.8g
Samsung Galaxy Note - 146.9x83x9.7 mm, 178g
Seeing as we're dealing with two oversized devices here, weight and size are a definite issue.
The HTC Flyer comes in at 420.8g, making it a tad on the heavy side for a tablet of its size. Construction is up to HTC's usual standard though, and the device feels all the better for it.
Size-wise, it isn't too much of a heavy lump and we could quite easily cart it around all day without it feeling like too much of an encumbrance.
The Samsung Galaxy Note is the opposite end of the tablet scale, though - in fact it's more of a smartphone on steroids.
The device weighs a mere 178g, too, which is not much more than the average chunky smartphone and its small form factor make it ideal for carrying around. You wouldn't even notice it was in your jacket pocket unless you thought about it (or have incredibly small pockets).
The Galaxy Note does arguably suffer from Samsung's reliance on plastics and, like most of its brethren, it feels like it should be in a toy shop, rather than alongside bleeding-edge gadgets.
While the HTC Flyer does have the better craftsmanship we still wouldn't choose it over the Galaxy Note, though, simply because it doesn't offer enough to warrant the extra inches and ounces.
Winner - Samsung Galaxy Note

Software
Both of these devices run on Google's Android platform, specifically version 2.3 (Gingerbread), and the OS performs as you'd expect. It's brisk, secure and has oodles of room for customisation. And let's not forget you also get access to the tons of apps and games available in the Android Market.
The Galaxy Note comes with Samsung's TouchWiz UI 4.0 added to the OS, and while it takes a bit of getting used to it is a welcome augmentation, with added social networking features, widgets, apps and other tweaks.
Similarly the Flyer comes with HTC's lauded Sense UI, which brings with it custom apps, eye-candy and social networking functionality.
Both of these custom user interfaces add plenty to the Android foundation, but Sense UI is definitely the more mature of the two and is glorious to look at too! Whereas TouchWiz still has some way to go before it's the well rounded UI that it purports to be.
Winner - HTC Flyer

Screen

The HTC Flyer features a 7-inch LCD touchscreen that operates at a resolution of 600x1024 pixels and has a disappointing pixel density of only 170ppi, which is light-years behind its market leading competitors.

In terms of performance the screen is sound enough, with nice colour reproduction and responsiveness, but it never goes beyond average.

Samsung's Galaxy Note features a lovely 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display that operates at a resolution of 800x1,200 pixels and offers up a pixel density of 285ppi, which is much more up to speed.

What the device lacks in screen size it more than makes up for in clarity, too, thanks to the Super AMOLED's amazing deep blacks and vivid colours.

Winner - Samsung Galaxy Note

Optics

Samsung has imbued the Galaxy Note with two cameras. A primary 8-megapixel, with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilisation, as well as 1080p video capture.

The secondary camera is a 2-megapixel offering that makes video-calling a really positive experience.

Performance is solid overall and keeps up with Samsung's tradition of producing high functioning smartphone cameras.

HTC's Flyer is also fitted with two cameras. One 5-megapixel primary, which has an autofocus and geo-tagging, as well as a 1.3-megpixel secondary for video-conferencing.

The Flyer's performance is in keeping with HTC's standard, which is to say disappointing. Photos captured in ideal light conditions are nice enough, but overall it isn't something that you could (or would want to) rely upon.

Winner - Samsung Galaxy Note

Final thoughts

Samsung's Galaxy Note has aced this little test without breaking a sweat. It's a solid device that offers a great balance between size and performance.

HTC's Flyer, on the other hand, suffers from its lack of direction and it's a mutt that is too big to throw in a pocket and too small run with the big boys, like Motorola's Xoom and Apple's iPad.

There's nothing majorly wrong with it, but there isn't really anything to shout about either, and for that reason it has been soundly defeated today.

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CyanogenMod 7 coming to the ATRIX 4G, nightlies available now

The Motorola ATRIX 4G is a pretty solid device, but it’s a rare Android phone indeed that the CyanogenMod team can’t improve with some clean, optimized software. Brave ATRIX owners can now try their hand at an early build of CyanogenMod 7.1 for the AT&T device, assuming of course that it’s already rooted with a custom recovery installed. Like most “official” CM nightlies, it’s already surprisingly stable.

When the ATRIX launched, it did so with a locked bootloader, which in most cases makes CyanogenMod impossible on account of its custom kernel. But happily, the official Gingerbread update brought an unlockable bootloader with it, in the spirit of Motorola’s more relaxed attitude towards the aftermarket. Motorola’s unlockable bootloader is contingent upon carrier approval, so while the manufacture’s AT&T phones appear to be blessed, Verizon phones (like the upcoming DROID RAZR) will continue to labor in the land of proprietary Android software.
Naturally, the CM7 port isn’t perfect yet: there are still quite a few bugs to iron out before it gets to a stable release stage. The Gingerbread 2.3.7 codebase is well-trodden, so nearly all official functions are working, but the biometric sensor and Motorola’s WebTop interface are taking a backseat to the main action. Cameras on Motorola phones tend to be alittle tricky for ROM developers, but according to some of the latest posts on RootzWiki, it’s working well at the moment. Great news for ATRIX 4G owners – how’s about an ATRIX 2 port? Take your time, CM7 devs, we know you’ve got real lives to take care of as well.

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HTC leads the US in total smartphone sales

The smartphone boom seems to have no end in sight, and for the moment, HTC is right at the forefront. Though Samsung is selling the most units worldwide, HTC has cornered the lucrative American market: according to Business Week, the Taiwanese manufacturer finished out the third quarter with 24 percent market share in the United States. That narrowly beats out Samsung with 21 percent, and Apple with 20 percent.


Not all of those impressive sales are Android, of course; HTC is one of the most popular sellers of Windows Phone 7 devices, and I’m sure there are still a few Windows Mobile holdouts. But with Android sitting pretty at more than 40% of the smartphone market, and Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 together claiming about 10%, it’s fair to say that HTC’s fortunes are currently resting on little green robots. Major upcoming phones for HTC include the Rezound on Verizon, expected at the company’s New York City announcement tomorrow, and the Vivid (codename Holiday) on AT&T, one of the first phones to take advantage of the carrier’s new 4G LTE network.
HTC’s bottom line is healthy, as well. The company announced that it had shipped 13.2 million devices worldwide in the third quarter, for an equivalent of $4.54 billion in total revenue, with an impressive 13.76% profit margin. That’s a 93% increase year-over-year. Unfortunately HTC’s outlook for Q4 isn’t nearly as rosy; the company expects sales to be essentially flat. With the iPhone 4S and new Samsung phones on all U.S. networks, it’ll be a photo finish to see who ends the fiscal year in first place.
[via SlashGear]

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Motorola DROID RAZR Shows Off SpeedTests and Boot Animation [Video]

The Motorola Droid RAZR launch is almost upon us and as we near its release, the device has already showed up in the hands of one lucky user on YouTube. While there’s not too much here we haven’t already seen, the lucky Razr user does give us a brief video tour of the device showing off the boot animation, Speedtests, Motoblur and a couple of profile shots. Have a look for yourselves in the video below.

The disgustingly thin Motorola Razr is gearing up to launch on November 10th for $300 with a 2-year agreement. What did you guys think? Does the promise of Android 4.0 and its nearly indestructible design make this a clear choice for any of you guys?
Thanks, ___!

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Android beating iPhone by more than two to one in the UK

49.9 percent of all the smartphones sold in the territory over the 12 week period were running Android, compared to just an 18.5 percent share for the iPhone. The Blackberry platform hasn’t fallen from grace so dramatically in the UK, and has 22.5 percent of the market. According to Kantar Worldpanel Comtech’s estimate, 43.8 percent of the UK population owns a smartphone, meaning that almost a full quarter of the population owns an Android phone.
Caveats: this data doesn’t include the iPhone 4S, which will certainly spike the numbers in iOS’s favor for a few weeks. It also doesn’t represent an accurate picture of the mobile OS market as a whole ,as it doesn’t include iPods or iPads, or the small number of Android tablets out there. Apple is still kicking backside when it comes to mobile browsing – Safari has captured an impressive 62.2% of all mobile browsing, incorporating all iPhone, iPod and iPad models in the UK and elsewhere. Also, Android manufacturers typically report in terms of units shipped, not sold – Apple has an advantage there since a lot of their sales are direct to consumers.
Still, any way you slice it, Android is continuing to dominate in the smartphone arena. Here’s hoping that Ice Cream Sandwich will continue the trend when the Galaxy Nexus lands at the White Cliffs of Dover on November 17th.

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Android Market version 3.3.11 rolling out with new settings, and new icon [Download]

Whoa another update to the Android Market appears to be rolling out today. While many are still currently on the new 3.1.5 version Google is now pushing a much improved Android Market v3.3.11 to get us up to speed above the latest 3.2.0 that leaked from Ice Cream Sandwich. This appears to be the absolute newest market from Google although we are hearing it wont play nice with Honeycomb so flash at your own risk. We have tons of new options and settings and I’m really like the auto-update only over wifi option for those larger games that take forever. More details and download link after the break.

Aside from the few UI tweaks and changes they have added some awesome new features or settings that many have been waiting for. Instead of manually making certain apps auto update now you can check one box for all, this is nice and about time they’ve added that one. We’re also seeing options to update over WiFi only for those bigger games. Just like Honeycomb apps we’ll now get the icon shortcut added right to our homescreens automatically, and you can opt out of that too of course.

Not only that but there is a new icon in the application tray for the Android Market, as well as the entire app having slightly smaller font. My personal favorite is the graph showing the rating and level of stars each particular app has received, now we’ll be able to actually tell how many people gave it a 1 star rating before we download. We are still enjoying the new market and will update once we notice any additional changes. More details are available at the source below. Download the new market at the link provided and let us know if you find anything else special or new.
Android Market v.3.3.11 — Download (2)
[via Android Police]

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Motorola RAZR gets redesigned for China markets

What do we have here, is this the DROID X3 or just another variant of the newly announced DROID RAZR? We know the DROID RAZR is for the US and Verizon and Motorola was planning just a Motorola RAZR for international markets but here we have a completely redesigned model from the images that were just leaked. Obviously it shares a very similar design with the Kevlar rear and extremely thin 7.1mm body, but clearly things are a bit different here, see for yourself after the break.

Apparently the model shown above has just cleared China’s equivalent of the FCC and will be headed to a few markets across China soon. Shown below is an image of the US model so you can see the difference.

Known as the Motorola MT917 the newly designed model will most likely share the same specs as the recently announced DROID RAZR. With a dual-core processor and the new 4.3″ AMOLED qHD display, 8MP camera on the rear making up that little hump and running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. We’ve been told the DROID RAZR should see ICS very soon in 2012 and would expect the same for this too. From the front it resembles the Motorola Atrix if you ask me and the entire design goes back to the original shape they’ve used in the past instead of what we’ve been seeing from Motorola with tapered edges. Either way we don’t expect to see this outside of China, but was worth a look.
[via UnwiredView]

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Galaxy Nexus may not be coming until after Black Friday

Bummer. Some recent internal documents are indicating that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Google’s next developer phone, the first device with Ice Cream Sandwich and pretty much the object of every Android fanboy’s desire, may not be arriving on the carrier until after Thanksgiving. A timeline for Verizon’s advertising campaigns put the Galaxy Nexus in the “Samsung Holiday Portfolio”, which will begin on November 28th, after the weekend of Black Friday.

The news isn’t all that surprising. Verizon has a ton of truly awesome phones landing at the same time: the DROID RAZR hits on November the 10th, the HTC Rezound will (probably) be announced on the 3rd, and according to the advertising calendar, hit retail or at least advertising channels on November 14th. That’s three major phones, any one of which could carry a manufacturer or wireless carrier’s smartphone campaign for six weeks or so. Verizon is probably staggering the Galaxy Nexus to give the DROID RAZR and HTC Rezound some time to rack up a few early adopter sales.

It’s not all bad news – at least we’ve got a more definite timeframe for the Nexus’ release, so those of us who’ll be shelling out $600+ off-contract (like your truly) can have time to soften the fiscal blow. Note as well that the two December campaigns for Samsung and Motorola say “Portfolio”, meaning we’ll probably get to see some other devices along with the current flagships. The DROID 4 and XOOM 2 seem like possible candidates for Motorola, while we can hope (and pray, and cross our fingers and such) that the Galaxy Note may be part of the Samsung portfolio.

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LG Optimus U1 to be first LG phone tasting Ice Cream Sandwich

This sure looks interesting. What appears to be either an excellent render or some actual images of the new LG Optimus U1 have appeared. The device sure looks thin and apparently may end up being the very first LG phone to run off the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. While the name U1 is most likely just a code name, we don’t have much else to go on so that is what we’re calling this sleek and thin device.

I don’t know about you guys but it looks quite similar to the Galaxy S II with a hint of LG around the edges. According to sources this will be the first device by LG offered with Ice Cream Sandwich, but then seeing that dedicated home button smack dab in the middle has me seriously doubting this already. Why put the big chrome button in the middle then launch with ICS, unless this is a phone coming soon that will get updated to ICS, then it would make more sense.
We don’t have any hardware specs to go off of, but looking at the leaked image I’d say we have a 4.3″ device here. We can clearly see the 8MP camera around back and the extremely thin and sleek design, but then I also see a few dots near that home button so it could be Android, but could also run Windows Phone 7 — just saying. One thing worth mentioning is that just because ICS has built in navigation and home buttons doesn’t mean manufacturers will move to no dedicated home buttons on all devices. So that doesn’t necessarily rule this out for ICS, but I do have my doubts.
What does everyone think? Will we start seeing all devices that ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich have no dedicated buttons, or will OEM’s still try to be different from the pack and include a few? We’d love to hear your thoughts or preferences.
[via GSMArena]

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