Samsung

Galaxy S4 benchmarks almost twice as fast as the iPhone 5

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 31, 2017

As most of you know already, Samsung unveiled its highly anticipated Galaxy S III successor last week, the S4. The handset will sell head-to-head against the iPhone 5 until Apple releases its next-gen smartphone, which is expected sometimes this summer.

While the jury is still out on which handset provides the best user experience — easy-of-use, reliability, etc — the S4 is certainly looking better on paper. It has a sharper screen, a bigger battery, and according to new benchmarks, a much, much fast processor...

Folks not trading-in their iPhones following Samsung’s next big thing announcement

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 18, 2013

Gadget resellers such as Gazelle may have been eagerly awaiting Samsung's new Galaxy S 4 in the hope that Apple fans will jump ship and trade-in their iPhones. Thus far, this hasn't been the case. Quite the contrary - the vast majority of post-S4 trade-ins are for other Galaxy smartphones, not iPhones.

Specifically, Gazelle's CEO said Monday his company has seen a cool 168 percent increase in the number of the Galaxy S III trade-ins compared to the number of Galaxy S II trade-ins, both observed during the same post-launch timeframe for each device...

Comparison video: iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S4

Cody Lee ∙ March 15, 2013

You saw this coming. Since the moment Samsung unveiled its new flagship Galaxy S4 handset yesterday, the iPhone 5 comparisons have been flying about nonstop. So a video comparison of the two devices was inevitable.

This clip from the folks over at PhoneArena shows the i5 and S4 side by side, and their many differences, from display quality to build quality. It also showcases some of the the Galaxy S4's unique new software features...

Apple’s Tim Cook loses top CEO ranking to Facebook in Glassdoor survey

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

It's uncertain what caused it, but the first cracks are appearing in the honeymoon between Apple CEO Tim Cook and company employees.

After being named the top CEO of 2012, Cook slipped to 18th place, behind Google and Amazon. According to employment site Glassdoor, Apple employees gave Cook a 93 percent approval rating, down from 97 percent last year.

By comparison, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg jumped 14 points to land in the top spot for 2013 with a 99 percent approval rating from employees of the social networking giant...

Samsung unveils new Galaxy S4 handset

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Say what you will about Samsung, but the company has managed to distance itself from the other Android device makers to become Apple's greatest competitor in the smartphone space. The two of them, in fact, account for a majority of all handset profits.

So you can understand why we've been so interested in seeing Samsung's new flagship handset, the Galaxy S4, which it just unveiled onstage at its New York-based Unpacked event. And as usual, we've put together a handy roundup of all of the highlights...

Apple’s marketing honcho Phil Schiller launches attacks on Android on eve of Galaxy S4 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Following today's unexpected news of Google's SVP Andy Rubin leaving Android to focus on moonshot projects at the Internet giant - and conveniently just 24 hours ahead of Samsung's big unveiling of the Galaxy S4 at the Unpacked event in New York City - Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller sat down with The Wall Street Journal to pooh-pooh the Android platform.

He's touched upon several controversial topics, including Android fragmentation and lack of integration. And dismissing the looming Samsung launch, the exec called Android "a free replacement for a feature phone" and cited Apple's own research claiming four times as many iPhone users switched from Android than to Android during the fourth quarter...

Apple actually removed one CPU core from Apple TV’s die-shrunk A5 chip

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Silicon analysts over at Chipworks were able to conclude yesterday that the smaller A5 package, which was recently discovered inside a retooled Apple TV, is still being fabbed on Samsung’s 32-nanometer process rather than on TSMC's 28-nanometer technology, as some watchers speculate. Compared to its 2012 counterpart, the new A5 with a 2013 die is noticeably smaller, prompting questions on how Apple has managed to achieve a smaller die without changing fabbing technology.

The full A5 floorplan Chipworks published this morning reveals the culprit: the new die is smaller because the package contains just one ARM CPU core. Now, Apple has always rated the Apple TV as single-core, but previous implementations called for dual-core designs with one core intentionally disabled, though still present.

In removing one CPU core altogether, Apple's silicon team was able to shrink the die size without having to switch to a more sophisticated fabbing process technology...

Samsung outspent Apple in 2012 smartphone marketing by $68 million

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 13, 2013

For years, the knock (unfairly) against Apple has been its slick marketing was what pushed sales. A report earlier this week put a dent in that urban myth, showing South Korea's Samsung outpaced the iPhone maker in terms of self-promotion.

Samsung spent $401 million to promote its mobile devices in the U.S. during 2012, above Apple's $333 million during the same period, according to the Wall Street Journal. Although Apple's brand is much better known, Samsung is pouring money toward raising brand awareness in the U.S. market, trying to overcome the lead the iPhone already has.

Indeed, Samsung's marketing budget may be cutting into its profits - spending that will only increase as sales of the company's smartphones climb, say analysts...

Apple’s smaller A5 chip is still being fabbed by Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As we reported Monday, a retooled version of Apple's $99 set-top box has been found to have a die-shrunk version of the iPad 2's A5 chip rather than the A5X package, as previously speculated. Some market watchers even thought the new package is fabbed on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) new 28-nanometer process. However, after conducting a thorough analysis of the silicon under sophisticated microscopes, chip wizards over at Chipworks and Silicon-IP have determined that the new A5 package is being fabbed on Samsung's 32-nanometer process after all...

Samsung, TSMC and Intel competing for contracts to build A7 chips for Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2017

Another report surfaced this morning that gives us more reasons to believe that Apple is indeed looking to diversify its chip making contracts which thus far have been an exclusive Samsung domain. The somewhat accurate Asian trade publication DigiTimes quoted "institutional investors" who believe that chip giant Intel has been contracted to produce about ten percent of Apple's planned capacity for a next-generation iPhone and iPad processor, the A7 chip.

Moreover, Apple is apparently spreading those orders across Samsung, Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Samsung will reportedly build about half of Apple's A7 orders, TSMC should take care of an additional 40 percent while Intel will get the remaining ten percent of orders. Rumor mills have been reporting for at least a year that Apple has been looking to move its chip biz away from rival Samsung, which currently builds all iPhone, iPad and iPod processors at its Austin, Texas plant...

Samsung leads Apple, Lenovo in China smartphone market

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 11, 2013

An interesting report on what smartphone brand is leading in China leaked over the weekend. It's interesting because most market updates are distributed far and wide. Instead, the South Korean news agency Yonhap published a private report indicating that country's Samsung leads Apple and others in the huge mobile marketplace.

According to the Strategy Analytics report obtained by Yonhap, Samsung is the number one brand in China with 17.7 percent of the market during 2012. Intriguingly, Samsung's rise coincides with a plummeting Nokia, which previously held the top spot...

Microsoft and Samsung try to patent Apple’s already patented pinch-zooming

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 10, 2013

In a 'how low can they go' moment, both software giant Microsoft and the South Korean conglomerate Samsung have moved to patent the pinch-zoom concept that Apple popularized (and patented) on mobile devices with the introduction of the iPhone six years ago, as if Apple's technology never existed.

Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs reportedly hit the roof after HTC in early 2010 launched a handset with pinch-to-zoom functionality, but the two companies recently settled their patent disputes. On the strength of its iPhone patent portfolio, Apple even forced Google to agree to disabling multitouch on early Android devices sold outside the United States.

Now, Apple claims a specific software implementation that's different than that Google used in Jelly Bean, Android version 4.2. Be that as it may, it's funny both Microsoft and Samsung patent filings now suggest pinch zooming was their invention...