USB OTG Supported Phones?

The hardware on the Nexus 1 (like many other phones) supports USB host mode even though the vanilla drivers that comes with it do not.

However, there's a driver available on the net that allows you to turn the support on.See here: http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb_host/ and since it's a Google dev phone "rooting" is a supported feature, not a hack.

 Transfer Your Photos, Videos, Music, Documents and more in a flash, by simply plugging in your Beyond USB into your Smartphone or Computer. Very simple and easy for all to use. Get Yours Today! Visit http://www.BeyondUSB.com for more details.

How USB Ports Work by Marshall Brain

Just about any computer that you buy today comes with one or more Universal Serial Bus connectors. These USB connectors let you attach mice, printers and other accessories to your computer quickly and easily. The operating system supports USB as well, so the installation of the device drivers is quick and easy, too. Compared to other ways of connecting devices to your computer (including parallel ports, serial ports and special cards that you install inside the computer's case), USB devices are incredibly simple.

­In this article, we'll look at USB ports from both a user and a technical standpoint. You'll learn why the USB system is so flexible and how it's able to support so many devices so easily -- it's truly an amazing system.

Anyone who has been around computers for a while knows the problem that the Universal Serial Bus is trying to solve -- in the past, connecting devices to computers has been a real headache.

Printers connected to parallel printer ports, and most computers only came with one. Things like external storage media, which need a high-speed connection into the computer, would use the parallel port as well, often with limited success and not much speed.
Modems used the serial port, but so did some printers and a variety of odd things like personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital cameras. Most computers had at most two serial ports, and they were very slow in most cases.
Devices that needed faster connections came with their own cards, which had to fit in a card slot inside the computer's case. Unfortunately, the number of card slots is limited and some of the cards are difficult to install.

The goal of USB is to end all of these headaches. The Universal Serial Bus gives you a single, standardized, easy-to-use way to connect up to 127 devices to a computer.

Just about every peripheral made now comes in a USB version. A sample list of USB devices that you can buy today includes:

Printers
Scanners
Mice
Joysticks
Flight yokes
Digital cameras
Webcams
Scientific data acquisition devices
Modems
Speakers
Telephones
Video phones
Storage devices
Network connections

Transfer Your Photos, Videos, Music, Documents and more in a flash, by simply plugging in your Beyond USB into your Smartphone or Computer. Very simple and easy for all to use. Get Yours Today! Visit http://www.BeyondUSB.com for more information on the Best New Technology!

Galaxy S2 Review

Galaxy S2 Review
By Hubert Nguyen on 09/09/2011

Transfer Your Photos, Videos, Music, Documents and more in a flash, by simply plugging in your Beyond USB into your Smartphone, Tablet or Computer. Very simple and easy for all to use. Get Yours Today! Visit http://www.BeyondUSB.com for Details.

galaxy-s2-review

The Galaxy S2 is defined by Samsung and carriers with a two sentences: “ultra-powerful, ultra-thin, ultra brilliant” or “vidid, fast, slim”. It’s true that the Galaxy S2 is the best that Samsung has to offer today and benefits from improvements such as a dual-core application processor (also called system on a chip, or SoC), and large 4.3” Super AMOLED Plus display with a Gorilla glass. Additionally, everything has been integrated in a 8.49mm thin body that is very light (116g). The Samsung Galaxy S2 looks good, but does it live up to the legend in the real-world? Let’s find out.
samsung-galaxy-s2-att-16 samsung-galaxy-s2-att-11 samsung-galaxy-s2-att-10 samsung-galaxy-s2-att-01

Context

We all use smartphones differently, so it’s important that I tell you what I do with my smartphone: I typically check my email often with the built-in email app (via Microsoft Exchange), and I reply moderately because the virtual keyboard is slow, even on large displays. I browse the web several times a day to check on news sites, but I rarely watch movies or play music. I don’t call much – maybe 10mn a day, if at all. On the “apps” side, I have a couple of social networks, but I rarely play games or do something super-intensive. This usage pattern will affect battery life and the perception of what features are useful.
Technical Highlights

Android 2.3.3
4.3″ AMOLED Plus display (800×480)
1.2GhzDual-Core application processor (SoC)
16GB of internal storage. Optional (32GB) microSD
8 Megapixel (back) + 2 Megapixel (front) cameras
WiFi A/B/G/N
Size: 125.3X66.1X8.49mm
Weight: 116g
Battery: 1650mAh
What’s new?

Samsung’s new Galaxy S2 line has many improvements, but the few that you should not miss are:

Dual-core system on a chip (SoC): The Galaxy S2 is powered by a dual-core system on a chip (or SoC) with a Samsung Exynos (GT-i9100) running at 1.2Ghz. Although Samsung doesn’t communicate about sub-components, the graphics processor is believed to be a Mali-400MP, which is a capable GPU, but it is not as fast as NVIDIA’s Tegra 2. This new hardware platform should lift the Galaxy S2 to the top of the performance charts, but we will get back to this later on.

HSPA+ (21Mbps): I really consider this to be 3.5G, but some carriers like T-Mobile USA may simply call it “4G”, so keep in mind that while it is better than 3G, it is not as fast as 4G LTE (as deployed by Verizon in the US). That said, HSPA+ phones don’t use nearly as much power as today’s LTE phones when transmitting data, although things are getting slowly better. For more information, read my post about the different 4G networks.

1080p video recording: the Galaxy S2 is the first smartphone that records in 1080p with very good results. It’s surprising because usually I dismiss even 720p recording in real-world usage, because many phones don’t do a good job with it. Strangely, I found 1080p to be the most usable video recording mode… I’ll get back to that later.

Low-light photography: Samsung didn’t make much noise about this, but they should.The Galaxy S2 has much better low-light photography capabilities than the original Galaxy S Series. It maybe a combination of sensor and software, but I like what I’m seeing, even if the S2 probably doesn’t beat the XPERIA Arc in that domain.

NFC: Near Field Communication (NFC) has been included to this phone. At the moment, it’s not really useful, but some users are really excited about this tech, so I thought that I would mention it.
Physical Design

Chassis: we had seen it during Mobile World Congress in February, and I’m glad to see that this phone came out as it was announced. The design is very clean (I prefer the unlocked version without any carrier markings…) and the display is big (4.3”). But the most noticeable thing is how light the handset is. Even with the battery inside, the phone weighs a mere 116g, which is noticeably lighter than the 137g of the smaller 3.5″ iPhone 4.

The USB port is conveniently located at the bottom of the device, which makes the phone easy to use while charging or during a computer sync.
Galaxy S2 Review

The phone can have a "plastic" feel to it, that's true

Of course, the light weight comes from using plastic instead of glass/metal in many places. This may sound bad, but I haven’t noticed any differences in rigidity while I was using it. I’m not sure how it would resist if you were to drop it on a solid surface, but I’m pretty sure that it is less likely to shatter than an iPhone 4. There is simply less glass to break (the iPhone 4 has glass on the front and the back). Of course, the front glass is still a sensitive part, but unlike the iPhone 4, if the phone lands on a corner, the glass is not in direct contact with the landing surface. The lighter weight should help too as there would be less force on impact.

Now, I really love the “feel” of touching glass and aluminum, and in an ideal world, I would surely want such a design in a lightweight and less fragile form. But in reality, that is not possible, at least today. Yes, it’s about making compromises (again). As a user, you will have to choose between a very light phone that may have a “plastic” feel, or a glass/metal phone that is much heavier for its size.

I have also heard from a number of people (especially HTC users) that the light weight makes them feel like the Galaxy S2 is not solid. I wish that we could crash-test the phones, but this sounds to me like a matter of personal preferences more than a matter of sturdiness. When in doubt, get one in your hands before you pull that credit card out of your pocket.
Display
Galaxy S2 Review

The colors contrast and saturation are amazing, but not accurate

The Galaxy S2 comes with a Super AMOLED Plus display which can be found on a number of Samsung on the market, like the Samsung Infuse 4G that we reviewed recently. Typically, AMOLED displays have extremely saturated colors, which always trigger a “wow” when you show them to someone.

However, the colors aren’t accurate and often don’t reflect the original colors that the content was designed with. That said, I have hardly heard anyone complain about over-saturation but it’s a good thing to know if you care about color accuracy. IPS LCD displays, or LCD displays would be better at this.

Indoors, the Super AMOLED Plus screen does very well, and watching movies or viewing photos are a real treat. Contrast and brightness are great. I can’t wait to see the 7.7″ version of the Galaxy Tab with an AMOLED display.

Outdoors, on a sunny day, it’s a different story. The screen can be very difficult to read in direct sunlight, especially if you are using a dark wall paper and lock screen. For optimum readability in direct sunlight, I always recommend using a light (if not white!) background on your home page or applications.

There’s a catch, however: AMOLED displays tend to use more power when displaying bright images, so a good chunk of the Android user interface and application interfaces on Samsung AMOLED devices are usually dark, and there is not always possible to change that.

In terms of sheer display resolution, the Galaxy S2 is still using a 800×480 resolution, which is inferior to today’s qHD 960×540 resolution that many high-end Android phones are using. Obviously, this won’t cripple the user experience, but the display does matter a lot, and it would have been nice to get a resolution upgrade.
Software

Android 2.3.4: this AT&T Galaxy S2 is powered by Android 2.3.4, which is the latest (and probably the ultimate) 2.x version in existence today. If you are really curious, you can go to the official Android developer website to look for all the changes from one version to the next:

Samsung software

As it is the case with virtually all the Android handset makers, there is a level of customization that comes with Samsung products, some for the sake of being different, some that turns out to be really useful. I’ll skip the pure “differentiation” part, but here are a few functionalities that you may be interested in:

Live panels: What Samsung calls “live panels” are really widgets. They are little applications that you can drop on your home screen, and they will show some sort of quick-access information, like email notification, battery life or weather information.

I personally don’t use them much because some tend to consume power to stay updated, but I really like the Task Manager Widget as it lets me know how many applications are currently running. If I feel like there are too many, I can quickly go into the task manager app and shut them all off (except the ones that Samsung deems as “part of the system”).

Kies

Kies 2.0: To put it simply, Kies is Samsung’s equivalent of iTunes. It lets users synchronize with a PC over WIFI, sync contacts with Outlook, Yahoo and Google, manage songs and playlists, backup photos and files.

For Outlook users, the synchronization of over USB is undoubtedly the biggest value. This is an option that few Android phones have, as Android has been designed to be synchronized over the air.

Kies is also handy if you have a larger number of media files (music, movies) to manage. Kies can also take care of converting videos to make sure that they are compatible, or optimized for the Galaxy S2.

I bumped into connectivity problems with Kies, and the sync does not work. At the moment, I will assume that it is something related to my configuration, but if you have the same issue, leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
Basics

Dialing: no problem there, dialing a number directly from the numeric pad, or doing so from one of the contact is easy. If there are a couple of numbers that you call on a regular basis, I recommend create a “direct shortcut” on the home screen. That makes it a one-tap call. You can’t be any faster than that.

Contacts (syncs with Outlook over USB): Contacts can be synchronized from many sources. Google of course, but also Facebook, Exchange and more. Those who use Outlook without using Microsoft Exchange will be happy as Samsung Kies utility can synchronize contacts, calendar, todo lists and memos from Outlook.
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

The internal speaker does a good job, but the Nexus S has better sound quality

Call Audio Quality (Good): The audio quality is good, although I tend to think that the Nexus S is still has the best audio quality. I have had a number of phone conversations with the Galaxy S2, and it’s good enough that it doesn’t get in the way, there’s no complaint on that front.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Virtual Keyboard (Android+Swype): A good keyboard is really important because most users are using apps that are text-based, like Email, Chat, Social Networks and more. In the AT&T Galaxy S2 users have the choice between the stock Android keyboard, the Samsung Keypad and Swype. Frankly, the Android and Samsung keyboard are so similar that I don’t really see the point of having a Samsung keyboard.

For standard virtual keyboards, the most important factor (other than size) is response time (the lag between a tap, and the phone’s action). I often find Android phones to be slower than the iPhone 4, but the fastest are still Windows Phone 7 (WP7) devices. It’s fundamentally a software thing because the WP7 aren’t particularly more powerful than their Android and iOS counterpart. The WP7 keyboard is amazingly responsive.
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Swype is a must-try!

However, Swype is truly different. Instead of “tapping” on virtual keys, you can swipe your finger from one letter to the next to form complete words. Instead of going into a long description, here’s a video that shows how Swype works.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Web Browsing: web browsing is very good, although a number of devices actually have better displays, which implies better readability and/or more information visible at once on the web page. That said, The Galaxy S2 will handle web browsing without any problems.

Obviously Flash (10.3) is supported and it will let you access many websites from small business and restaurants. You can also play with select casual games, which opens a new realm of games to your android device. That said, don’t expect any miracles: only games that use light computing power can be played. Also, there is no decent “fullscreen” mode, which is annoying.
Work

Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Email with Exchange (good): the overall email experience is good. Unlike many Samsung phones, the background is actually white, which makes the text much more readable in direct sunlight (phew). As I said in the “display” section, Samsung uses a lot of dark colors because AMOLED displays consume more power with bright images. The Email app does not support actions on multiple items, which is too bad because that makes the Motorola Android phones like the Photon 4G a bit better for email curation.

For those who work in a company that uses virtual private networks (VPN), Samsung supports Cisco AnyConnect. In terms of security, the Samsung Galaxy S2 has on-device encryption which would free up some CPU cycles. This phone also supports WebEx, but I have not tested it. For more information, you can go to their mobile business site.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Microsoft Office Documents: The Samsung Galaxy S2 comes with QuickOffice, an app that can open and edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents. It can also read PDF files too. Quick office can be handy to view and possibly edit documents, but honestly most people don’t edit Office documents on a phone, unless there is no other option. Still, it’s free, so it’s hard to complain.
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Google Docs requires a network connection

Google Docs: depending on your work habits, Google Docs can be an alternative to Office documents. It works too and Google has put a lot of efforts to make it phone-friendly. There are a few downsides. Google Docs is very weak when it comes to formatting. Also, many companies don’t actually use Google Docs for important documents. Finally, it requires a network connection.

GMail: As usual, GMail is very good and has features like “stars”, multi-items action and labels. It is the same on every Android phone, so there is no surprise here.

Email / Others: popular email services can be setup very quickly. Just enter your email address and the Email app will try to configure itself. If it does not know how to do that, you can always enter the address and port of your email server. It’s usually pretty easy.
Play


Video playback (excellent): The Samsung Galaxy S can play videos without any difficulty. I tried to play the 1080p Gran Turismo 5 trailer that I downloaded directly from the web, and it played without a hitch.

The video quality and the AMOLED contrast are exemplary. Even if the color saturation is a bit over the top, it’s clear that the image quality of the Galaxy S2 is awesome.

Games (very good): The Samsung Galaxy S has certainly enough muscles to play. I tried games like Raging Thunder 2 Lite, and the framerate was very good. It is clearly one of the fastest phones that I have tried to date. I wish that there were better gaming benchmarks because I would like to see how well it does against NVIDIA’s Tegra 2. In theory, the graphics processor (GPU) used in Samsung’s processor should be a bit slower.

NVIDIA was smart enough to secure many exclusive games, which is still the best way to “win”. Recent games like Sprinkles aren’t available on other devices. Maybe that’s why Samsung is using Tegra 2 in a number of upcoming phones. Check TegraZone.com to see the exclusive.
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

The loudspeaker is located at the back

Speaker Quality (good, but not best): when in speaker mode, the sound comes from a tiny speakers in the back of the phone. Surprisingly, the sound is pretty decent and the speaker does its job in a relatively quiet environment. However, I was not blown away by the sound quality. The audio has some echo in it, and at maximum volume it starts getting distorted. The LG Optimus 2X, the iPhone 4 and select Motorola phones do have better speakers.
Photo and Video Capture (excellent)
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

This photo was taken right before sunset

The Samsung Galaxy S is very good at digital imaging in general. In broad daylight, the photos are less noisy than on competing phones, especially the iPhone 4. I don’t say that often for smartphone photos, but daylight photos could be nicely printed on an 4×6. The Galaxy S2 definitely sits at the top of the food chain in terms of mobile photography.

In low-light situations, the Galaxy S2 also does a good job. In our tests, the colors were captured fairly well and it even bests the iPhone 4 which is a reference for low-light mobile photography (I don’t have an XPERIA Arc on hand, but I wish that I did).

The iPhone 4 still has a slight advantage when the light is extremely low, but overall, I have to give it to the Galaxy S2. Samsung is *finally* learning that mobile photography is about the trade-off between absolute quality and low-light abilities. It’s OK to add noise for the sake of seeing something… Hopefully, others will learn too. Low-light is the next frontier.
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

This photo has been taken at night with far away street lamps as a light source

The Galaxy S2 has also a Panorama mode that is effective. Although it is quickly becoming a common feature, the Panorama was first introduced to us on Android by the LG Optimus 2X, and has seen a steady adoption since.
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

A panorama shot with the Samsung Galaxy S2

The video capture on the Samsung Galaxy S is excellent. So far, this is the best HD 1080p (yes “p”) video capture that I have seen on a smartphone. It is actually better than the video recording on my Panasonic GF1 in terms of resolution and framerate (The GF1 still holds the advantage of having a superior lens). Here’s a 720p sample: I’ve uploaded the 1080p version to our Flickr account too.

In short, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is an excellent mobile camera if you take into account its performance in broad daylight, low-light and video recording (in low-light as well).
System Performance (very good)

When talking about the performance of a consumer electronics device, I always try to separate the “measured” and “perceived” performance. Measured metrics are obtained by running synthetic (not always life-like) benchmarks to stress specific parts of the system.

On the other hand, “perceived” performance is the user observation and perception of performance. Although they should correlate, I would always place perceived performance as being the most important thing. After all, what is performance good for if you can’t tell?

Measured performance

Galaxy S2 Review

Galaxy S2 Review

BrowserMark, SunSpider: BrowserMark and SunSpider are two tests that measure the speed of Javascript, a key component for interactivity in websites. To be clear, this does not measure “how fast” pages are loading. Instead this look at how fast scripting code can execute. Javascript is used in modern websites for user interface or even complete applications/games.

Although the Galaxy S2 is a fast phone, other leading phones are slightly faster at this particular benchmark. That said, the difference among the leaders is pretty small.

Galaxy S2 Review

GUIMark 2 Flash graph test: This test measures the Adobe Flash performance. Flash is a widely used multimedia platform and you can find it virtually everywhere as advertisement, video or other forms of interactive web page module.

In the Flash benchmark, the Samsung Galaxy S2 stands with the leading group at above 20 frames per second, but the Motorola Atrix still leads by a big margin.

Galaxy S2 Review

The CPU Benchmark also shows a relatively average score for a dual-core SoC. That explain why the Javascript benchmarks also showed average scores. It’s not the Javascript runtime, it’s the CPU. Note that we are still struggling to find a benchmark that provide a truly accurate performance profile, however, they are still good indicators.

Galaxy S2 Review

NeoCore graphics benchmark: as you can see, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is one of the fastest at this particular benchmark. However, the Optimus 2X, which is powered by Tegra 2 is clearly much faster. [link]

Update: I’ve abandoned Neocore for the graphics benchmark because it is simply too old, and some phones seem to cap the FPS to 60, while others don’t. I’ve replaced it with Nenamark 2, and you can see the results in my Epic 4G Touch Review: the Galaxy S2 platform wins hands-down against Tegra 2.

Perceived Performance

Perceptively, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a very fast smartphone. Its user interface is responsive and I have not experienced any hiccups. Although it is not the fastest, Most users won’t feel any difference with what’s best out there – except possibly for gaming and Flash usage, so keep that in mind.
Battery Life (very good)
Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

The best way to improve battery life is... a bigger battery

With very moderate usage, I have seen this phone hold for 2.5 days. However, with the usage that I have described above, it’s more likely that I will need to recharge it every other day, which is very good by mobile phone standards. I have compiled numbers gathered from typical use cases. Keep in mind that while these will give you an indication, actual performance may vary quite a bit depending on your own configuration of applications and settings.

30mn of Gaming : 22%…. (it got hot around the camera module)
30mn of Youtube: 8%
30mn of Web browsing (WIFI): 10%

You can do your part in making the battery life better. For example, it’s easy to install the Power Control Android widget, and the Samsung Task Manager (very convenient!) to keep an eye on what’s running in the background. Also keep in mind that the display is one of the largest contributors to battery depletion.
What could be better

USB connectivity: The USB connectivity of the recent Samsung devices has been a bit strange. Both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy S2 don’t naturally show up as USB mass storage (USB disks) devices. This is completely artificial since Android supports that feature out of the box. I don’t know if this is intentional so that users have to connect with Kies, but why not do both?

To connect via USB mass storage, one needs to go to Settings>Applications>Development>USB Debugging (check). From there, the Galaxy S2 can show up as a USB drive.

Samsung, please let us use the USB Mass Storage feature. Everyone else supports it properly.

Display: While I love the contrast and brightness, it would have been really nice to get a qHD or even 720p resolution. I’m not sure if the color accuracy can be improved, but it looks like LCD IPS if the way to go if you need colors to be accurate.
Conclusion (excellent)

Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Samsung’s original break in smartphones was due to the Galaxy S hardware platform, and it is clear that Samsung took it to the next level with the Galaxy S2. The hardware has been improved on many points, including additional horsepower, faster graphics and faster HSPA+ “4G” access. The chassis has been improved too: it’s much thinner and lighter.

Detractors will be quick to point out that the manufacturing is “cheap” and “fragile”. It is true that there is a “plastic” feel, especially in the back, and I can understand where the criticism comes from. However, that’s also the price to pay to get an extremely light phone.

In the end, I found the Galaxy S2 to be an excellent phone. It is light, very fast, can capture great images and has a good battery life. These attributes are what most users would want in a modern Android smartphone. Wouldn’t you?

I hope that this review has given you a good overview of the Samsung Galaxy S2 (for AT&T). I tried to cover most of the areas that one may want to know, but if there is something else that you would like to ask, or if you simply want to provide some feedback, please leave a comment below. I’ll try to reply as soon as I can.

Update 10/21: our iPhone 4S Review is out. See how the Galaxy S2 stack up against Apple’s best
Links

Don’t miss those reviews:Atrix 2 Review, iPhone 4S Review, Epic Touch 4G Review, Motorola Droid Bionic, HTC Wildfire S Review, Photon 4G Review, HTC Sensation Review, Droid Incredible 2 Review, iPhone 4 Review, Samsung Epic 4G Review, Samsung Infuse 4G Review.

Official Samsung Galaxy S2 page,
Additional info

I found a very interesting list of codes that can be used to check on various states of the Galaxy S2. It may work with other Samsung phones as well, but I don’t know. So far, I have tested the unlock status of my phone and it is unlocked (I don’t expect the retail AT&T phone to work, though). Here are the codes, as seen from the whirlpool.net.au forums:

Samsung Galaxy S2 II secret codes (Not Network Unlock Code)

*#1234# (View SW Version PDA, CSC, MODEM)
*#12580*369# (SW & HW Info)
*#197328640# (Service Mode)[i had to put: #*#*#* at the end of the numbers before my service mode menu came up could be same with you if its not coming up after entering that]
*#0228# (ADC Reading)
*#32489# (Ciphering Info)
*#232337# (Bluetooth Address)
*#232331# (Bluetooth Test Mode)
*#232338# (WLAN MAC Address)
*#232339# (WLAN Test Mode)
*#0842# (Vibra Motor Test Mode)
*#0782# (Real Time Clock Test)
*#0673# (Audio Test Mode)
*#0*# (General Test Mode)
*#2263# (RF Band Selection)
*#9090# (Diagnostic ConfiguratioN)
*#7284# (USB I2C Mode Control)
*#872564# (USB Logging Control)
*#4238378# (GCF Configuration)
*#0283# (Audio Loopback Control)
*#1575# (GPS Control Menu)
*#3214789650# (LBS Test Mode)
*#745# (RIL Dump Menu)
*#746# (Debug Dump Menu)
*#9900# (System Dump Mode)
*#44336# (Sofware Version Info)
*#7780# (Factory Reset)
*2767*3855# (Full Factory Reset)
*#0289# (Melody Test Mode)
*#2663# (TSP / TSK firmware update)
*#03# (NAND Flash S/N)
*#0589# (Light Sensor Test Mode)
*#0588# (Proximity Sensor Test Mode)
*#273283*255*3282*# (Data Create Menu)
*#273283*255*663282*# (Data Create SD Card)
*#3282*727336*# (Data Usage Status)
*#7594# (Remap Shutdown to End Call TSK)
*#34971539# (Camera Firmware Update)
*#526# (WLAN Engineering Mode)
*#528# (WLAN Engineering Mode)
*#7412365# (Camera Firmware Menu)
*#80# (Unknown)
*#07# (Test History)
*#3214789# (GCF Mode Status)
*#272886# (Auto Answer Selection)
*#8736364# (OTA Update Menu)
*#301279# (HSDPA/HSUPA Control Menu)
*#7353# (Quick Test Menu)
*2767*4387264636# (Sellout SMS / PCODE view)
*#7465625# (View Phone Lock Status)
*7465625*638*# (Configure Network Lock MCC/MNC)
#7465625*638*# (Insert Network Lock Keycode)
*7465625*782*# (Configure Network Lock NSP)
#7465625*782*# (Insert Partitial Network Lock Keycode)
*7465625*77*# (Insert Network Lock Keycode SP)
#7465625*77*# (Insert Operator Lock Keycode)
*7465625*27*# (Insert Network Lock Keycode NSP/CP)
#7465625*27*# (Insert Content Provider Keycode)
*#272*imei#* (Product code)

Samsung Galaxy gets the Best Compatible USB OTG Transfer Device.

With the launch of Beyond USB’s new product, Samsung Galaxy Phones can use this device to Transfer, Movies, Videos, Documents and More. The ease of use and storage devices ranging from 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB, which will add much more storage for the Samsung Galaxy Phones. When viewing movies on the Samsung Galaxy, they can be viewed directly from the Beyond USB and this will allow you to save your battery life and allow for more clarity. You can also view Photos and documents right on your smartphone instantly as well. You can also move files from your Smart phone onto your Beyond USB and free up storage space on your phone. Movies, Photos, documents and more, can also be stored in separate files for easy viewing and navigation.
There is no point in carrying around cables and other adapters, when this can all be done on one device which has the micro B and USB plugs on each side. Transfer speed is extremely fast and it is a simple copy and paste or drag and drop functionality. The pricing is extremely inexpensive for this product and it is a must see and must use for all Samsung Galaxy Phones.

Visit www.BeyondUSB.com for more details and to watch the instructional video.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 pricing set for disaster

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 pricing set for disaster
Chris Burns, Feb 13th 2012



We’re now reviewing some pricing details for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 announced earlier today, and if these number stick to release day, we’ve got not doubt that Samsung has a rather larger blunder on their hands. The Galaxy Tab 2 was announced as a low-cost update to the original Galaxy Tab, otherwise known as the first real effort on earth to create an Android tablet. This new tablet has a 7-inch 1024 x 600 PLS LCD display, a 1GHz dual-core processor, and a 3-megapixel camera – perfect for a $240 price point – thats about half the cost we’re seeing here in an apparent Euro price schedule.

What’s being confirmed here by Samsung to Sammy Hub is a set of prices that sit in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, along with assurance that the Galaxy Tab 2 will release in the UK first. This tablet is shaping up to be rather similar to the ASUS MeMO tablet we saw at CES 2012, but at half the core power and twice the price. Will the high-powered display be enough to convince customers that this is the winning 7-incher?

Here is the official pricing and availability for the Scandinavian countries. Expected in March, the tablet will sell in both Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + 3G versions.

Sweden:
Wi-Fi: 2,995SEK (450USD)
3G: 3,695 SEK (556USD)

Finland:
Wi-Fi: 349EUR (463USD)
3G: 429EUR (568USD)

Norway:
Wi-Fi: 2,400NOK (420USD)
3G: 2,990NOK (523USD)

Denmark:
Wi-Fi: 2,350DKK (419USD)
3G: 3,995DKK (512USD)

Take a trip down Chris Davies way to get a better understanding of this situation and head back to our last review of a Galaxy Tab to see what Samsung is about to offer. This is the billionth tablet shown off by Samsung in the last year it seems, and there’s no sign of them stopping in 2012. Tablets galore for all!

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The Fastest Mobile Networks 2011

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The Fastest Mobile Networks 2011

PCMag hit the road to test eight 3G and 4G networks in 21 U.S. cities. Before you buy your next phone or tablet, find out which wireless carrier has the fastest data network where you live.

Sascha Segan By Sascha Segan, PCMag Staff
June 27, 2011
108 Comments

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Contents

The Fastest Mobile Networks 2011
Different Carriers, Different Strengths
Are You Getting 4G?
How We Tested
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Detroit, MI
Jacksonville, FL
Kansas City, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL
Nashville, TN
New York, NY
Oklahoma City, OK
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
St. Louis, MO
Washington, DC
Rural Central
Rural Northeast
Rural Southeast
Rural West

Fastest Mobile NetworksWith smartphone innovation moving at a breakneck pace, new tablets hitting the market all the time, and an increasing number of people using cellular modems and mobile hotspots to get online on the go, access to speedy data coverage is becoming more essential every day.

But you shouldn't believe the hype: All "4G" is not the same. In a 21-city test across the United States, we found that Verizon's new 4G LTE network is much faster than other mobile Web options, with speeds that often exceed home Internet connections.

There's no question that 4G is spreading across the nation, but there's a lot of confusion over what 4G exactly is. AT&T, MetroPCS, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless aren't just using varied technologies; sometimes they're implementing the same technology very differently. So we sent six drivers on a cross-country road trip in Ford cars with lots of mobile phones and custom software designed by network testing firm Sensorly to see just how fast these 4G Internet connections really are. (See How We Tested for more details.)

Last year we tested with laptops. For our second annual test, we switched to phones, to more accurately reflect how Americans are using the mobile Internet. According to research firm NPD, as of the first quarter of 2011, more than half of all new mobile phones purchased in the U.S. were smartphones, and analysts have projected that will grow.

We didn't test voice quality or dropped calls, which we've already surveyed, as part of our annual Readers' Choice Awards. The tests for this story were all about mobile Internet. We ran more than 140,000 tests in 21 cities. Not all the networks were available in all the cities, as you'll see on the individual city pages. Most notably, cities generally have either Cricket or MetroPCS as a local option.

We didn't test coverage either, but our technology partner Sensorly does. Head over to the company's website, or download the Sensorly app from the Android Market to see crowdsourced coverage maps for all the major U.S. mobile carriers, enhanced with the data from our test drives.

Bear in mind, mobile networks are constantly changing, and almost always for the better. And because speeds vary based on tower location, network load, device used, and even the weather, we can't predict performance in a specific location; rather, we're giving a snapshot of a few days' worth of usage in several locations across a metro area. So without further delay, we give you the winners:


Northeast: Verizon 4G
Fastest Mobile Network 2011: Northeast Verizon's new 4G network covers many of the Northeast's top metro areas, including Boston, the Hartford-New York-Philadelphia corridor, Pittsburgh, and the Baltimore-Washington corridor. We tested in Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. In those areas, while T-Mobile's HSPA+ 21 network is also speedy, Verizon's 4G is by far the fastest. Outside the metro areas, AT&T offered the best balance of speed and coverage.

Fastest Mobile Networks: Northeast



Southeast: Verizon 4G
Fastest Mobile Network 2011: Southeast In the Southeast, we tested in Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Miami/Fort Lauderdale. Verizon's 4G network came out the fastest in every city, while outside the cities, AT&T and T-Mobile virtually tied for best results. Pick Verizon for speed and AT&T for coverage.

Fastest Mobile Networks: SouthEast



Central: Verizon 4G
Fastest Mobile Network 2011: Central Our Central region included our only city without Verizon 4G, Kansas City. We also tested in Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and Dallas. Even with a zero score for Kansas City, Verizon 4G was the fastest network for the region. (It also covers a large area around Chicago and in central Oklahoma.) The Central cities were some of the nation's fastest, overall. We saw leading speeds in Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit.

Fastest Mobile Networks: Central



West: Verizon 4G
Fastest Mobile Network 2011: West Verizon's 4G system was the fastest in the West as well. We tested in the states of Arizona, California, and New Mexico, as we couldn't get our drivers as far as the Northwest. Verizon 4G won every city it was in thanks to its stellar download speeds. Outside the cities, AT&T delivered the fastest connections, but Verizon's much slower 3G network was the most reliable.

Fastest Mobile Networks: West



Rural America: AT&T
Fastest Mobile Network 2011: Rural America For us, "rural America" included everywhere we drove that wasn't in one of our 21 metro areas—not only wide-open spaces in Arizona, but mid-sized cities like Macon, Georgia and Midland, Texas.

Fastest Mobile Networks: Rural America

The new 4G networks are generally polka dots on the U.S. map, or bubbles around the nation's major cities. In the spaces between them, AT&T won the crown for the best balance of speed and consistency on its 3G, HSPA 7.2 network.


Nationwide: Verizon 4G
Fastest Mobile Network 2011: Nationwide Overall, Verizon's LTE system is remarkably faster than the technologies AT&T, MetroPCS, Sprint and T-Mobile are currently using for "4G." Even with one hand tied behind its back—a 20-percent penalty to its speed score for its lack of rural coverage—Verizon's new 4G network trounced the other carriers. In many areas, it was even faster than some DSL or cable connections.

Fastest Mobile Networks: National

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Product for my Samsung Galaxy S2, February 6, 2012
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Best Buy Uses the Big Game Stage to Focus on Mobile Technology

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Best Buy Uses the Big Game Stage to Focus on Mobile Technology
* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.

Sun Feb 5, 2012 7:01pm EST

Retailer pairs ad that features ground-breaking tech pioneers with a unique mobile phone offer to tout its influence in the mobile technology space

MINNEAPOLIS (Feb. 5, 2012) - Tonight Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is using the world's biggest stage to celebrate mobile technology by using true tech pioneers to assert its growing influence in the mobile phone business. The campaign kicks off with Best Buy's second appearance in the Big Game as well as a special week-long offer for anyone looking to upgrade to a new phone at Best Buy in 2012

Best Buy's commercial reveals 10 technology innovators who have changed the way we use our phones and culminates with Best Buy's own contribution to the process. From iconic apps like Words With Friends, to innovations we can't live without like SMS messaging, Best Buy is putting a name and face to these unsung, yet amazing rock stars of mobile technology whose inventions impact billions of people around the world every day. Each of these innovators also is featured in longer-form videos that premiere online tonight and are available for viewing at (http://www.youtube.com/bestbuy).

"Consumers give us credit for being a technology brand that helps people get the most out of their devices," said Drew Panayiotou, senior vice president of U.S. marketing at Best Buy. "Showcasing innovators like Philippe Kahn, who created the camera phone, and Jim McKelvey, who introduced the notion of mobile payments, first in our ad and then in longer-form media made sense. It allows these inventors to move from tonight's spot to a format where they can share more about technology and how it might impact all of us in the future."

To coincide with the mobile-centric ad, any customer who registers and then upgrades to a new mobile phone at Best Buy by Dec. 31, 2012 will receive a $50 Best Buy gift card.

The offer is simple:

Step One: Consumers register their phone number at www.bestbuy.com/phonefreedom by Feb. 12, 2012
Step Two: Consumers activate the registered phone number with the purchase of a new mobile phone with a two-year agreement at Best Buy or BestBuy.com any time before Dec. 31, 2012
Step Three: Upon purchase and activation, customers will receive their $50 Best Buy gift card

There is no obligation once a phone number is registered. Customers must register their phone number online between Sunday, Feb. 5 and Sunday, Feb. 12 to qualify.

"We are thrilled to have a stage as significant as the Big Game to showcase all that Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile have to offer," said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile. "We have spent the last five years building and improving the mobile phone buying experience in our stores, and we are confident in our ability to deliver a world-class experience that features any carrier, any phone, any plan combined with unbiased advice."

The $50 gift card offer is valid on Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile phones activated with a new two-year agreement at Best Buy or online at BestBuy.com (excluding T-Mobile activations requiring a deposit). Once signed up, consumers will have until the end of the 2012 calendar year to purchase a new mobile phone at Best Buy and receive their gift card. If they don't activate a phone within that time period, the gift card offer simply goes away. For full terms and conditions, visit www.bestbuy.com/phonefreedom. Not valid in Puerto Rico.

Best Buy's Big Game spot was created by agency CP+B and directed by Wayne McClammy. It was shot in 6 locations in 3 countries. The innovators featured in the spot include:

Philippe Kahn - created the camera phone and MotionX

Philippe Kahn is a technology innovator and entrepreneur who has founded four successful technology companies. Kahn is married to Sonia Lee, who he co-founded Fullpower/MotionX LightSurf and Starfish Software with. They have a daughter Sophie whose memorable camera-phone first pictures dates her birth to June 11th, 1997. Together, Lee and Kahn run an environmental charity, the Lee-Kahn Foundation.

While at LightSurf Technologies, Kahn developed one of the first camera phones. His team at LightSurf built the first end-to end solution for picture messaging, and was the first to share pictures instantly on public networks. LightSurf's core technology, the LightSurf 6 Open Standards MMS Platform, allows users to capture, view, annotate and share multimedia messages with any handset or e-mail address. It was the first commercially deployed inter-carrier MMS solution in North America, with over 400 million media messages shared on Sprint's network. In 2005, LightSurf was acquired by VeriSign.

Ray Kurzweil - invented text-to-speech

Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first CCD flatbed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, the first music synthesizer capable of re-creating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition. Ray has written four nationally best-selling books. His latest book, The Singularity Is Near, was a New York Times bestseller, and has been the #1 book on Amazon in both science and philosophy. He was awarded the National Medal of Technology, has received 19 honorary doctorates, and received awards from three U.S. presidents. KurzweilAI.net, his website on future technology, had more than 2.3 million unique visitors in 2011.

Text-to-speech is utilized on mobile devices by enabling the reading of information for a visually challenged person, or it may be used to augment the reading of a text message or email. It is often used with voice recognition to answer questions.

Neil Papworth - sent the first SMS message

Papworth is currently a software architect at Tekelec in Montreal. A graduate of Thames Valley University, he has been involved in product architecture and software engineering at technology companies for over 20 years.

Papworth is credited with sending the first SMS text message. While working with Sema Group in Newbury, England at age 22, Papworth sent his historic greeting to Richard Jarvis of Vodafone, during a Christmas party. Since cell phones were not yet designed to type out and send individual letters of the alphabet, Papworth sent "Merry Christmas" from a computer keyboard. It took some time for cellphones to evolve into send/receive capability.

Paul & David Bettner - created Words With Friends

Paul and David Bettner are the brothers behind Words With Friends, the word building game that has taken the world by storm by challenging players to create the highest-scoring words on a game board while playing against another opponent - friend or random. They first launched Chess With Friends in November, 2008 followed by Words With Friends in July, 2009. Paul is now Vice President and General Manager of Zynga With Friends based in McKinney, Texas, where David is Studio Director.

Words With Friends is a part of the 'With Friends' franchise, which has grown to four games and continues to connect players with their friends, family and even random opponents through its in-game chat and triple letter words. Available on Facebook, Android devices, iPad, iPhone and iPodtouch, Words With Friends continues to hover at the top of the App Store charts and is currently the number three game on Facebook by DAU according to Appdata.com.

Kevin Systrom - creator of Instagram

After graduating from Stanford in 2006, Systrom spent two years at Google where he worked on Gmail and Google Reader. In 2010, he launched Instagram.

Instagram is a free photo sharing application that allows users to take photos, apply a filter, and share it on the service or variety of other social networking services. It was launched in Apple's App store in October 2010, and by December it had one million registered users.

Jim McKelvey - created Square Mobile Pay

Jim McKelvey is co-founder of Square, a mobile payment platform. A renowned glass blower, he was trying to sell one of his pieces over the phone to a woman in Panama, and lost his sale because he could not accept American Express. He founded Square in 2009 as a way to prevent small business from not being able to accept certain payment cards.

Square was the first mobile payment system for smartphones. The miniature, square shaped, thumb-sized slot plugs into any Android or iPhone/iPad device and allows users to securely swipe credit cards and process instant payment. Instead of charging up to 5 percent of the gross sale like most machines, Square charges a fixed 2.75 percent. McKelvey built the prototype card-readers as Dorsey worked on the software. By the end of 2009, Square had over 100,000 customers, today it has over a million.

Chris Barton and Avery Wang - helped create Shazam

Chris Barton and Avery Wang were two of Shazam's four founders (Philip Inghelbrecht and Dhiraj Mukherjee being the other two). Chris Barton had the original idea for Shazam and sought out "the smartest guy he could find" to build his vision. Avery Wang was that guy. He became the principal inventor of Shazam's recognition algorithms and is still Chief Scientist at Shazam. Barton is currently employed at Dropbox and serves as a Shazam Board observer.

Shazam's roots are in music, enabling people to identify, buy and share music discoveries through an acoustic fingerprint algorithm. This amazing service began even before there were smartphones by delivering a text result to UK fans that dialed 2580 and held their phone towards the music. Today, Shazam connects more than 175 million people, in over 200 countries and 30 languages to the music, TV and brands they love. Shazam works with music labels, TV program producers and broadcasters, as well as every major mobile platform and carrier, making it the world's leading media discovery company - and one of the most popular apps in the market (106)

Shazam is the world's leading media discovery company with more than 175 million people in 200 countries and adding another 1.5 million new users each week. Shazam is the best way for people to discover, explore, buy, and share, music, TV shows and branded content.

For further information about Shazam Entertainment visit www.shazam.com and @ShazamNews or follow us on Facebook. For daily music updates follow the Shazam Blog and @Shazam.

Additional information on all of the innovators featured can be found at http://www.youtube.com/bestbuy.

Best Buy Mobile brings consumers the choice of any carrier, any phone, any plan with lots of unbiased advice at the more than 1,100 Best Buy stores and 279 Best Buy Mobile specialty stores. In addition, it offers an array of services aimed at improving customers' experience, including Walk Out Working, Upgrade Checker, Happy 24 and a full array of accessories for customers to protect and personalize their device.

About Best Buy Mobile

Best Buy Mobile was founded in 2006 with a goal of changing the way consumers shop for and purchase mobile phones in America. Today, Best Buy Mobile is in every Best Buy store and also has 279 Best Buy Mobile specialty stores around the country. Best Mobile features one of the largest selections of carriers, handsets and accessories available anywhere. Employees undergo at least 80 hours of intensive training, as well as continuing education on mobile phone technology and trends to help customers get the most of their mobile phones. For more information about Best Buy Mobile visit www.bestbuy.com/mobile or www.bestbuymobile.com.

About Best Buy Co., Inc.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is a leading multi-channel global retailer and developer of technology products and services. Every day our employees - 180,000 strong - are committed to helping deliver the technology solutions that enable easy access to people, knowledge, ideas and fun. We are keenly aware of our role and impact on the world, and we are committed to developing and implementing business strategies that bring sustainable technology solutions to our consumers and communities. For information about Best Buy, visit www.bby.com and to shop at Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com.

Media Contact: Paula Baldwin

Director, Best Buy Public Relations

(612) 291-6126 or Paula.Baldwin@bestbuy.com

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Cheap phones

Transfer Your Photos, Videos, Music, Documents and more in a flash, by simply plugging in your Beyond USB into your Smartphone or Computer. Very simple and easy for all to use. Get Yours Today! http://www.BeyondUSB.com

Cheap phones

Kent German Kent German
Senior editor February 22, 2010 (updated on: July 13, 2011)

Though no one loves cell phone contracts, signing one can knock a lot of money off the price of your phone. And sometimes these service rebates can even be enough to make a handset free. In the below list, CNET has picked a few handsets that, as of this writing, either cost you one penny or nothing at all. Some require additional online-only discounts, and some offers are available only through third-party retailers. Also, keep in mind that free models tend to be on the basic side. But even with those caveats, there are plenty of satisfying phones that won't put a big dent in your wallet.

The Samsung Trender is a messaging phone for Sprint. It doesn't have the best camera, but it fits the bill as a user-friendly and functional handset centered on communication. It costs just 1 cent from Amazon.com, and because it's not a smartphone, you won't need a data plan. The Samsung Replenish packages Android 2.2 Froyo in an eco-friendly design. Call quality wasn't exceptional, though we liked the camera and the physical controls. Sprint now offers it for free.

AT&T has the Pantech Crossover. It's a well-built entry-level handset with a physical keyboard. Amazon lists it for just a penny with a contract. If you don't need quite as many features, T-Mobile has the Samsung SGH-T259. Its flip phone design is easy to use, you can get e-mail, and call quality is great. Sure, it's pretty simple, but Amazon lists it for just 1 cent with service.

Product name
Samsung Trender SPH-M380 - sapphire (Sprint)
Play CNET Video
Samsung Trender SPH-M380 - sapphire (Sprint)

Samsung Replenish - onyx black (Sprint)
Play CNET Video
Samsung Replenish - onyx black (Sprint)

Pantech Crossover (AT&T)
Play CNET Video
Pantech Crossover (AT&T)

Samsung SGH-T259 - blue (T-Mobile)
Play CNET Video
Samsung SGH-T259 - blue (T-Mobile)
Price $0.00 to $259.99 $0.00 to $339.99 $0.00 to $0.01 $0.00 to $184.98
CNET editors' rating

3.0 stars



3.5 stars



3.5 stars



3.5 stars

Average user rating 0 stars

3.5 stars



3.0 stars



2.5 stars

Release date June 06, 2011 May 08, 2011
The Bottom Line If you're trying to avoid a data plan, the Samsung Trender is an affordable messaging option, though one of Sprint's budget Android phones could prove a better value. With a price tag of just $50, the Samsung Replenish offers good value as a basic, easy-to-use Android phone, and one that's environmentally conscious to boot. The Pantech Crossover is a well-built entry-level Android smartphone for AT&T customers who want a physical keyboard. The Samsung T259's intuitive design, excellent call quality, and affordable price make it a good choice for someone in search of a simple handset.
Similar Products Compare more products Compare more products Compare more products Compare more products
Features
Specific absorption rate (SAR) 1.02 W/Kg
0.3 W/Kg
Info unavailable 0.36 W/Kg
Cellular technology CDMA2000 1X
CDMA2000 1X
WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
CDMA2000 1X
Weight 4 oz
4.1 oz
5.15 oz
3.25 oz
Talk time Up to 300 min
Up to 324 min
Up to 300 min
Up to 270 min
Wireless Interface Bluetooth
IEEE 802.11
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
IEEE 802.11
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Service Provider Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel
AT&T
T-Mobile
Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications
Buying choices

Sprint
$0.00
In stock: Yes

A1 Wireless
$244.98
In stock: Yes

LetsTalk.com
$0.00
In stock: Yes

Prices from 4 CNET Certified stores


Sprint
$0.00
In stock: Yes

Wirefly Mobile
$0.01
In stock: Yes

LetsTalk.com
$0.00
In stock: Yes

Prices from 4 CNET Certified stores


AT&T Wireless
$0.00
In stock: Yes

Price from 1 CNET Certified store


Best Buy
$0.00
In stock: See Site

T-Mobile USA
$29.99
In stock: Yes

Wirefly Mobile
$0.01
In stock: Yes

Prices from 4 CNET Certified stores

Instructions - Beyond USB 2.0 - OTG USB - Smartphone USB to Computer USB Interface Instructions.

Beyond USB 2.0 - Smartphone USB to Computer USB Interface Instructions.

Hooking up your Compatible Smartphone or Tablet to the Beyond USB;

1.     Simply plug the Micro B end of the Beyond USB into your Micro B Port on your cell phone or Tablet. ( This is the same port you plug in your USB Cable or Charger)

2.     The Device will be recognized and then go into your Applications and click on file manager.

3.     You now can open up your Files and view them right on your Smartphone; Videos, Movies, Documents, Photos, Music and more!

4.     You can save files right off of your Smartphone and save them into a new created file, right on your beyond USB, by copying them and saving them in your chosen location.

5.     You can also copy any files from your Beyond USB right onto your Compatible Smartphone or Tablet and save them there.

The Beyond USB will save you storage space on your Smartphone or Tablet and allows for much faster viewing on this storage device. This works as a great solution to backup all your files.

Hooking up your Computer to the Beyond USB;

1.     Simply plug the USB side of the Beyond USB into any USB Port on your Computer.

2.     The computer will recognize the device and give you a choice of how you want to view files.

3.     You can click on the file you want to view and your computer will give you the option of how you want to view that file.

4.     You can directly view these files from the Beyond USB or Copy and Save the files to a location, where you would like to save those files on your computer.

5.     To save files from your computer to the Beyond USB, simple click on the file or image and drag it onto the Beyond USB or Copy and save it onto the Beyond USB.

The Beyond USB will save you storage space on your Computer and allows for much faster viewing on this storage device. This works as a great solution to backup all your files.

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Apple and Android Gain Smartphone Marketshare at Expense of RIM and Microsoft

Thursday December 29, 2011 2:46 pm PST by Arnold Kim

comScore released their latest numbers for the relative market shares of the mobile market. Apple continues to inch upward with 11.2% of total U.S. Mobile Subscribers.

This percent share is up from 9.8% in August and 10.2% in September. Apple's growth was greater than its competitors during this time which covers the introduction of the iPhone 4S. Apple has historically trended well with steady gains in this measure over time. These numbers are for both smartphone and non-smartphone subscribers in the U.S.


Amongst Smartphone platforms, Google's Android continues to lead at 46.9 % over Apple's 28.7% but both platforms grew in the past few months as compared to both Microsoft and RIM.


Microsoft, RIM and Symbian saw continued declines in Smartphone marketshare over the past quarter. The difference in change between Apple and Android's growth is even smaller (1.3 points vs 2.1 points) when comparing the November numbers to September numbers. The iPhone 4S's launch in October should have been covered in these figures.

comScore's data tracks installed user base rather than new handset sales, making it more reflective of real-world usage but slower to respond to shifting market trends than some other studies. 

 

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The Future of Mobile Social Networking

The Future of Mobile Social Networking

Whrrl combines activity recommendations with real-time location data.

• Monday, June 2, 2008
• By Kate Greene

Audio »

When Steve Jobs strides onstage at Apple's annual developers conference on June 9, many will be expecting fireworks. Some industry analysts think Jobs will announce an iPhone upgrade, one that takes advantage of faster networks and includes new hardware, perhaps a GPS receiver. Jobs is also expected to demonstrate some third-party iPhone applications, available in June, which could include games that use the phone's accelerometer as a control, new mapping software, and quick ways to update profiles on social networks such as Facebook or MySpace.
One rising company that's hoping for a mention during the Steve Jobs Show is Pelago, a startup that recently garnered $15 million from funders, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Pelago will soon offer a version of its software, called Whrrl, for the iPhone. The software enables something Pelago's chief technology officer, Darren Erik Vengroff, calls social discovery: using the iPhone's map and self-location features, as well as information about the prior activities of the user's friends, Whrrl proposes new places to explore or activities to try.
"If you think about your day-to-day life and how you discover things around you and places to go, to a great extent the source of that information is your friends," Vengroff says. With Whrrl, a user can "look through the eyes of friends and see the places they find compelling." The software begins with the user's position on the iPhone's map and indicates a smattering of nearby establishments. If the user's friends have visited and rated these places, the software indicates that as well. The map also shows the positions of nearby friends who have enabled a feature that lets them be seen by others.
Whrrl may turn out to be the leading edge of a wave of new location-based applications. "I think we're going to see a lot of new players showing up in this space," says Kurt Partridge, a research scientist at the Palo Alto Research Center who works on a similar project called Magitti. "Part of the reason," he says, "is the universal availability of GPS or access to location, which hasn't been available to application writers before." The iPhone and Nokia's N95 phone are two examples of phones that provide location data to computer programmers. Google's forthcoming Android mobile operating system may also help push location-based applications onto the market.

The idea of community-generated reviews is, of course, not new. The popular recommendation service Yelp, for example, is already integrated into Google Maps. And the concept of locating friends using a mobile phone has also been around for years; Loopt, a service that runs on Sprint and Boost Mobile phones, is one of the most common examples. Whrrl, which can also be downloaded onto BlackBerry Pearl, Curve, and Nokia N95 smart phones, is commonly compared to both types of service. But it differs from either in that it combines aspects of both. In addition, Vengroff explains, Whrrl has collected details on establishments in 17 cities, which allows the service to provide fine-tuned local search, letting the user narrow down the hunt for, say, a café to one that has outdoor seating and vegetarian options and is recommended by at least one friend.

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CES 2012 Smartphones: 7 New Devices That Stole The Show (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post   Jason Gilbert

LAS VEGAS -- At a Consumer Electronics Show dominated in hype by a new laptop category called Ultrabooks, it might have been easy to miss just how significant all of the smartphones introduced at this year's CES really were.
Perhaps lost in the glitz of this Year Of The Ultrabook convention were smartphones that could have huge implications for their companies in 2012, beginning with the Nokia Lumia 900. Introduced at an intimate press conference here on Monday, the Nokia Lumia 900 is the handset-maker's first smartphone designed specifically for the Windows Phone operating system, Microsoft's critically acclaimed mobile software that has yet to catch on with consumers. Handset makers like HTC and Samsung are both manufacturing Windows Phones already, but sales have been slow; Microsoft and Nokia are both banking on the Lumia series of phones in 2012, and the rollout has officially begun, as the intro-level, $50 Lumia 710 went on sale at T-Mobile on Wednesday. It is the 900, however, that is the major mobile story that emerged from CES, however. At the risk of hyperbole, the Lumia 900 could determine the fate of both Nokia as a mobile presence in the United States and Windows Phone as a viable mobile operating system, as each tech giant has placed a lot of faith (and a lot of money) in this top-of-the-line Nokia Windows Phone.
Other smartphones introduced here don't carry such existential weight but are significant nonetheless: Motorola's beautiful DROID Razr had a big battery problem that Motorola claims to have fixed with the DROID Razr Maxx; Samsung pushed the limits of screen size with the Galaxy Note, a mammoth 5.3-inch device that comes with a stylus and will be promoted as a primary phone; and Chinese giant Huawei introduced the phone that it hopes will earn it a foothold in America: the Ascend PS1, which Huawei is calling "the thinnest smartphone" on the planet.
Below, we've compiled the 7 major smartphone introductions at this year's CES, all of which happen to be gorgeous pieces of technology, too. Scroll through and check out some new options for what could be your next cell phone.
For more from CES 2012, check out our roundup 9 wild and wacky gadgets for music lovers, as well as 7 Ultrabooks that could take on the MacBook Air. You can also visit our CES 2012 Big New page to see all our coverage from the week.

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LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 10: The Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone is displayed at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center January 10, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 13 and is expected to feature 2,700 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 140,000 attendees. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Our test for the best cell phone service provider at CES 2012

January 17, 2012 | James Pikover

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At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, everybody wanted to talk. And when they talked on their mobile phones, they put a great deal of stress on the mobile phone carriers. We tried to figure out who handled the load the best.
CES is the biggest technology convention in the US. This year it once again broke attendance records with 153,000 analysts, exhibitors, and journalists. Regardless of your place in the industry, having mobile service in Sin City during the week-long extravaganza is the single-most important thing everyone must have.
To do the testing, I brought along four phones (plus my personal phone), one on each carrier. Here are the phones I used for testing:

• Verizon: Samsung Galaxy Nexus
• AT&T: HTC Vivid
• Sprint: Samsung Epic 4G Touch
• T-Mobile: T-Mobile myTouch
• Additional phone: iPhone 4S

All four tested devices work on 4G networks, and both the Galaxy Nexus and Vivid have access to LTE networks. Because I, along with Venturebeat staffers, also covered the show, testing on which cell provider worked best during CES was not purely scientific. It was all real-world testing using data and telephony when there was a need to use the phones. Of course, at CES, that was constantly.
The best overall coverage came from, in a word, Verizon.
Nearly every carrier provided similar call coverage and quality, but data speed and coverage varied wildly. Verizon was the only provider that consistently had solid performance, both over LTE and 3G. All three other cell carriers were in a constant state of flux, but for one specific reason: there was no upstream bandwidth. Sprint had waves of data coverage, where data speeds would fluctuate between 0-300kbps. AT&T and T-Mobile almost consistently had little to no upstream bandwidth.
Testing data speeds with Ookla’s Speedtest.net app, both on and off the show floor, AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks struggled to find any bandwidth. Download speeds ranged from 100-12,000kbps, but it almost never mattered because there was no upstream bandwidth. Suffice it to say, both GSM carriers’ tubes were clogged.
Verizon was the only carrier who almost never dropped a data signal and always had enough bandwidth to download new emails, upload photos and documents, and do so consistently. Sprint regularly received emails and push data faster than Verizon. For hotspot use Verizon had the most stable network, though transfer speeds even over LTE were fairly slow because of the high volume of users. It was enough for mobile and even minimal laptop use.
On the strip, my findings were the same. AT&T, which recently began providing LTE in Las Vegas, was mostly unusable because of so little upstream bandwidth. In tall hotels data speeds were significantly slower, and LTE and even 3G networks were completely dropped the higher up I went. This is an unfortunate problem, especially since most hotels do not have free Wi-Fi. Further off the strip data speeds increased, but not during the main show days.
While Sprint proved to be second best for data, because data fluctuated so much using GPS navigation was surprisingly difficult. Strangely AT&T and T-Mobile didn’t have this problem, and the tested Epic 4G Touch has no problems with the GPS in Los Angeles. Verizon proved to be the best for navigation.
Call quality, as mentioned earlier, was similar across all networks, likely because most communication was done over data during the show. I made calls across all carriers and dropped or could not connect only in poor connection areas, such as hotel parking lots or underground.
In short, here is how each cell provider fared:

• Verizon: the best overall quality. Data was consistently fast enough for work, and was at times better than available Wi-Fi networks. Best hotspot functionality.
• Sprint: poor GPS quality. Regularly had the fastest push notification. Data download and upload speeds were sporadic, but usable.
• AT&T: Fastest potential data transfer, but no upstream bandwidth available the majority of the time. Push notifications work, but use as a hotspot during the show was impossible.
• T-Mobile: Weakest overall quality. Regularly poor data both down and up. Hotspot was consistently too slow for use.

Because most of us enjoy, or attempt to take advantage of the best local cell provider, my recommendation for future attendees or at other conventions is to use a company Mi-Fi card from Verizon.

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