The Samsung Galaxy S3 has been on sale for about 8 months. Just over a month after the S3 was announced, Google released Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Although Verizon and Android have a history of being untimely with their updates, this is putting them on a whole different level. For one thing, the Galaxy S3 has become one of the best-selling devices to date.

In a recent post to the XDA Developers forum, a guide was released to help readers get stock 4.1.2 on their Verizon Galaxy S3′s. Not only does the post include the leaked downloads, but it also includes an extensive list of frequently asked questions, step by step instructions, and a method to keep all your data/apps/settings and internal storage partition in tact. In short, the guide helps you go full circle (ClockworkMod, SuperSU, and the Bootloader).

If you do choose to flash this update, keep in mind that it is not an official Verizon update and there may be issues. If you know what you are doing, flashing this ROM should be easy. On the other hand, if this is new to you, be sure to read through the instructions carefully.

Can you stand to wait any longer for the Jelly Bean update? Or will you use the stock jelly bean factory images on XDA? Let us know in the comments below.

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Last week in “Maximizing Your Samsung Galaxy S3: Improving Battery Life” we went through all the most common tips and tricks out there when it comes to expanding your battery life.

While that particular article in the series was probably most useful for existing owners of the S3, today’s piece will be important to both brand new S3 users and those that are considering the S3 and want to know a bit more about what set’s it apart from the competition.

We are going to jump in and take a look at one of the biggest features that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has when compared to some of its competition: the ability to use motions and gestures to perform certain tasks.

Again, a seasoned Galaxy S3 owner might already know every single one of these but those that just purchased the S3 or are considering a purchase might find this run-through quite helpful.
Without further ado, let’s get started.

A Look at the Motion Menu

When it comes to controlling and configuring gesture controls for your Galaxy S3, it can all be done in the “Motion Menu”, which you’ll find by pulling down the Notifications drawer and tapping “Settings”. Within settings, move down until you find “Motion”. Click on that to open up the Motion Menu.

There are quite a few options in the menu, and in order to keep things organized, we will explain what each gesture is and how it works by starting at the top of the Motion Menu and working our way downward.

First off, make sure that you enable Motion through the check in the picture directly above– or else none of these will work. From there, you can individually turn on/off these components if you wish.

Direct Call

With direct call enabled, you simply need to browse through your contacts and when you are ready to talk to one of them you raise you phone and bring it towards your face like you would if you were are already talking to them– and from there it will start dialing automatically.

Smart Alert

When you place your Galaxy S3 down, it knows it and turns off the screen. The cool thing about “Smart Alert” is that when you go to pick it up again the phone will let out a vibration to make you aware of any alerts or missed calls that need your attention.

Tap to top

What’s tap to top you wonder? Basically its a way to bring yourself back to the top of your email messages, email contact list and phone contact list quickly. This function works in your email or contact app.

Let’s say you needed to look at a contact in the middle of the list, but now you need to get back to the top. Simply tap the top of the phone and it will jump back up to the top of the list. Keep in mind you are tapping the top of the phone itself, not the display.

Unfortunately this seems to only work with the native Email and Contacts apps, not with 3rd party apps like Gmail and Yahoo Mail.

Tilt to zoom

Next we have tilt to zoom, which basically works as an alternative to pinch and zoom. When on a webpage or looking at a picture, tap and hold the phone at two different spots and tilt the phone towards you to zoom in or away from you in order to zoom out.

Pan to move icon

When it comes to moving icons on your Home screen, with a typical Android device you touch and hold the icon and drag it to another screen. With Pan to move, you hold and touch the icon like normal and simply move your phone left or right. When you do so, you will see the home screens will move in the same direction as you move your phone.

Simply release the icon when you find the right home screen for the app and it will be moved to the new position.

Pan to browse images

When this is enabled, you can move around an image in which you are zoomed in to with ease. Basically all you have to do when enabled is touch and hold anywhere on the screen and move your phone up, down, left or right. Release to stop.

Shake to update
Certain apps like Email, News and Weather are designed to update their information when you simply shake your phone.

Turn over to mute/pause

While this feature might not be a good idea all the time, it can be useful in specific situations where you need silence from your phone. When this is enabled, your phone is muted. This means calls won’t make a peep and if you are listening to anything within Samsung’s Media apps they will pause when turned over.

For folks like myself that often keep their phone on their desk turned over while working and actually WANT to receive calls? This could be something you’d want to turn off.

Palm Swipe to Capture

This “hand gesture” feature works by having you swipe your hand across your phone’s screen, in which it will then take a screenshot. As simple as that.

Palm touch to mute/pause

With this feature you basically get an alternative to turning your phone over. It works by having you cover your Galaxy S3 handset with the palm of your hand and it will then mute the message, video/song or ring tone. Keep in mind though that this works only with Samsung’s stock apps.

Summing it up…

Well that pretty much sums up the gestures and motion controls for the Samsung Galaxy S3. As you can see, there is a lot of extra functionality here that makes the S3 rather unique. Are all of these going to be useful for you? Probably not.

Some folks like the idea of gesture/motion controls to make things easier, others prefer more traditional methods. Either way, its nice that the Samsung Galaxy S3 gives us that choice.

Any other hints or tips related to gesture and motions for the S3 that you think I missed or didn’t cover enough on? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Maximizing Your Samsung Galaxy S3: Using Gestures and Motions appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Despite all the gossip about the Samsung Galaxy S4 arriving at CES, it didn’t happen, and honestly no one is really surprised. Don’t be surprised when MWC doesn’t see the newest member of the Galaxy S family either.

Samsung has been pretty much exclusively unveiling flagship devices at “Samsung Unpacked” events for a while now, so why would they change this up for the Samsung Galaxy S4? If you need extra assurance that the phone isn’t coming at MWC 2013 though, JK Shin has now confirmed that the S4 will not be announced at the event.

So when is it coming? We have no official news to that end, but a new rumor has suggested that a US-hosted Samsung Mobile Unpacked event might take place on March 22nd, which could certainly be focused on the S4.

The new rumor originally comes from a Korean Newspaper that claims that the Galaxy S4 will be unveiled on March 22nd, and according to SamMobile the phone will ship in April coming in just two colors: black and white. There will also be additionally features like a wireless charging station.

While this is all still just a rumor and should be taken with a big grain of salt, SamMobile is certainly one of the more trustworthy sources when it comes to information about Samsung devices.

For those that haven’t kept up with all the rumors, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is supposedly going to pack an Exynos 5 8-core processor, a Mali-T658 8-core GPU, a 4.99-inch 1080 display, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP back cam, a 2 MP front cam and Android 4.2.1 out of the box.

What do you think, are you excited to get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy S4? Does a March 22nd reveal sound likely to you or not?

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Recently Samsung has been gearing up to move into the business world in a big way. The company has mentioned in the past that it sees strong potential in the BYOD model, and believes that its products could be perfect in these situations.

Now Samsung has a new commercial out that promotes the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3 in a business. For a change, this ad isn’t pitted against Apple’s iPhone, but the formula is pretty similar – this time going after RIM.

The ad follows a game development studio that has now switched to a BYOD policy. It shows how some users are clinging to their Blackberry devices but Samsung shows how their devices can do more. The ad indicates not only a shift by Samsung into business targeting, but it also shows that RIM is truly back on the radar, in large part due to the upcoming Blackberry 10.

What do you think of the new commercial? Would you (or do you already) use a Samsung device for business or do you think that Blackberry is still the better solution? Additionally, what do you think of BB10, excited or not?

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Its 2013 and that means a new year for flagship phone announcements, including Sony’s announcement of the Xperia ZL at CES.

Although we knew just about everything there was to know about the flagship long before it was officially confirmed, it was still nice to finally have everything about the ZL out in the open.

When the Sony Xperia ZL arrives this year it will be facing off against many other strong handsets out on the market today. Probably the biggest flagship to beat in the Android world would be the Samsung Galaxy S3– at least until the Samsung Galaxy S4 arrives later in the year.

So how exactly does the Sony Xperia ZL fare when compared to Samsung’s flagship S3? Let’s take a look:

Design

The Sony Xperia ZL has a very different overall aesthetic when compared to the S3. The stylish glass back is gorgeous, and has a very classy, premium design. As for its size, it is just 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8mm and weighs 151g.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is also an attractive premium phone, though I can’t help but feel that its design is starting to look at least a tiny bit dated (at least in my own opinion). The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in at 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm, making it thinner than the Xperia ZL– though not by much. As for the weight, the S3 weighs in at just 133g.

It’s hard to really which design is better, as preference plays a pretty big role. You like rounded phones and don’t mind the plastic look of the S3? You might love it. Others might prefer the sleek yet boxy design of the Xperia ZL.

Another big difference is that the Sony Xperia ZL doesn’t have physical buttons on the front at all. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on your tastes.

Display

The Galaxy S3 has an excellent 4.8-inch Super AMOLED with a resolution of 720×1280 and a pixel density of 306ppi. There is no denying that the S3 has a good screen, unfortunately it missed out on the late-2012/early-2013 shift to 1080p displays though.

Because the Xperia ZL manages a 5-inch 1920×1080 display with a ppi of 443, it clearly wins here. The S3′s screen is very good, but the Sony Xperia ZL display is excellent.

There is no beating around the bush here, the Sony Xperia ZL wins hands down when it comes to display quality.

Hardware

If you live in North America, the Samsung Galaxy S3 ships with a dual-core processor with 2GB of RAM. For the rest of the globe, the S3 packs a quad-core 1.4GHz processor with 1GB of RAM.

As for other specs? Both versions of the Galaxy S3 have 16GB and 32GB version. The 32GB version also supports microSD cards up to 64GB.

Regardless of the version of the S3 you carry, its hard to outshine the 1.5GHz Krait quad-core and 2GB of RAM found inside of the Xperia ZL. Until we have actual benchmarks, we can’t say how much more it performs, though.

In day to day use will you be able to tell the difference? Honestly, probably not for most things. Still, the Sony Xperia ZL is likely the winner here as well.

What about storage though? Actually, the Xperia ZL just has a 16GB version with expandable microSD memory up to 32GB– so the S3 does manage to win here.

Camera

While we are on the hardware, let’s compare cameras.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has an 8MP shooter with 1080p recording and a 1.9MP front-cam. This sounds very good, but the Sony Xperia ZL manages to one-up the S3 here as well. The Sony Xperia ZL has a 13.1MP camera with LED flash and a 2.2MP front-cam.

Battery Life

So how does battery life compare? Until we see real-world results we can’t say for sure, but we can certainly take a guess based on the evidence we do have.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 2100mAh battery, while the Xperia ZL manages to bring a slightly bigger battery to the table with 2330mAh. With a bigger screen that is full HD, odds are the Xperia ZL will NOT be as good with battery life as the S3, so that means that even though its battery is a bit bigger, it probably will have less overall battery life.

Another major difference when it comes to batteries is that you can change out the Galaxy S3 for bigger batteries or carry a spare. The Sony Xperia ZL has a non-removable battery.

Android Experience

With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box and an upgrade to 4.2 promised for the near future, the Xperia ZL is off to a good start in the “Android Experience” department. That said, the Galaxy S3 also is now at Android 4.1 for most S3 owners.

Where you really need to take a look is at the custom Uis. Samsung has TouchWiz, Sony has its own minimalistic looking UI. It’s hard to say which will be better though– as it kind of depends on what you prefer personally.

The BIG thing to think about though is future upgrade-ability. While Samsung might not be brilliantly quick with updates to the newest versions of Android, they have a much better track record when it comes to upgrades than Sony does.

Pricing

We don’t really have a lot to say here, because we just don’t know. Considering the premium specs in the Sony Xperia ZL, we know it will cost more. How much more though? That’s hard to say. If the device isn’t MASSIVE, the extra power from the Xperia ZL would certainly be worth spending more for some.

That said, the S3 has been out for a while now and is often found at very good sales prices for those willing to commit to a two-year contract.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Sony Xperia ZL – Conclusion

The Sony Xperia ZL is fresh, new and relies on some of the latest technology around. This is why it is no surprise to say that the ZL manages to pack a bit more power overall than the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Still, there are other considerations outside of “pure power”. You might prefer Samsung to Sony, you might not like that Sony has dropped the ball many, many times when it comes to upgrading to newer Android builds.

It is also worth noting that the Sony Xperia ZL will not be on top for long. Many brands are bringing out stunning new flagships over the course of the year, and that will include the Samsung Galaxy S4 at some point.

What do you think, would you consider purchasing the Sony Xperia ZL over the highly popular Samsung Galaxy S3 or not?

The post Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Sony Xperia ZL: How Do They Compare? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Whether you recently received your Samsung Galaxy S3 over the holidays or have had it for many months now, there are certainly ways to make an already great phone experience turn into an excellent one.

That’s why Mobile Magazine while be taking a deeper look at the Samsung Galaxy S3 over the next several weeks with a new article series, “Maximizing Your Samsung Galaxy S3”.

For some users (especially those who have had their phones for a while) some of these topics might just seem like common sense. For others some of these tips might really help them get around the UI better, improve battery life, custom the start screen and much more.

Today’s topic is all about extending your battery life. Keep in mind that some of these tricks might only be useful when your phone is nearing the end of a charge and you need to just get a few more minutes out of the device in order to tide you over until you get to your charger.

Alright, so let’s dive in and take a look at just a few things that could potentially help you maximize your Galaxy S3′s battery life.

Power Saving Option

If you’ve had the S3 for a while now, or jumped in and played around– you probably already know all about the Samsung Galaxy S3′s Power Saving options. Enabling this mode will limit the maximum CPU speed, change background colors throughout your system apps and lower the screen power.

Go Dark with the Colors

Some screen profiles actually use a bit more power than others, particularly choosing a profile that is darker in color isn’t a bad idea. Using darker backgrounds can also help a little.

Also, you might want to head over to Settings>Display>Brightness and bring things down a bit.

Don’t go too crazy here though, as getting a little better battery life probably won’t mean much if using your phone becomes a pain because you are straining your eyes just to see what you are doing.

Screen Time Out

The Galaxy S3 has a special “motion detect” method that should automatically know whether you are looking at your phone or not and have your screen dim out according. Make sure this setting is on. If not, you can also go to “Screen Timeout” and make it so the screen turns off after a certain amount of time.

Turn Off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth When You Don’t Need Them

When you have no real need for extra radios like Bluetooth, turn them off. If they are on, they are constantly scanning and could be putting extra pressure on your battery.

Interactive Wallpapers and Fancy Ringtones

Believe it or not, both of these things can suck out extra juice from your battery. Turning off the interactive wallpaper can add a little extra life if you need it.

Additionally, use beeps and short tones for your ringer as opposed to vibrate or a long musical tune.

Going Beyond Stock Options….

Beyond the tricks listed above, there are also third party apps that can do even more for your battery life. Some of these apps include task killers like “Advanced Task Killer”. That being said, many techies across the web have put task killers to the test to see if they really help with speed and with battery life. The conclusion? It seems to be mixed, but for the most part you probably won’t find much gain here.

If you think that there is a specific app that might be bringing you massive battery drain, you can always use the built-in battery usage tool to check for sure:  Settings > About Phone > Battery Usage

Looking a 3rd party app specific to increasing battery life? JuiceDefender Free or the more powerful Pro version might be worth a look. Keep in mind that the Pro version will set you back $5.

Since the Galaxy S3 has a removable battery, there is also the option of buying a 3rd party or even official larger battery for your S3, such as the S3 3000 mAh battery from Samsung.

Did I miss specific trick or excellent app that you feel could make a big difference in battery life? Perhaps you feel one of the suggestions really doesn’t do much for battery gain? Share with our readers (and us) below!

The post Maximizing Your Samsung Galaxy S3: Improving Battery Life appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

It has been about seven months now since the release of the Samsung Galaxy S3. We continue to hear that the phone is doing quite well, but how well exactly?

Samsung has now confirmed that they have sold over 40 millions units of the popular S3 Android flagship phone.

Still don’t think Samsung Galaxy S3 is a hot-selling device compared to many other smartphones, including many of Samsung’s other devices? Let’s compare Galaxy S3 sales to the Galaxy S2. The S2 was and still is a rather popular device, but in the little over a year and a half its been on the market, it has ALSO sold 40 million. That means that in much less time, the S3 has managed to cover just as much ground as the older S2. 

Outside of announcing the S3 and S2 both hitting the 40 million mark, Samsung also confirmed they have sold a total of 100 million units between their entire Galaxy S line. Not bad, not bad at all.

Do you own a Samsung Galaxy S device, what do you think of it compared to other Android devices on the market– or even compared to Apple’s iPhone 5?

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While the international version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has had Jelly Bean for about three months, the same can’t be said for the United States. It took quite a bit longer in the States, but now every major carrier has Jelly Bean– Except Verizon. The good news is that Jelly Bean rolls out to the Verizon network starting today.

The software upgrade is listed as “JRO03L.I535VRBLK3″ and will in fact bring you Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and all the features that come with it such as Google Now. Verizon also brings new features to the phone that makes it ISIS-ready.

Other changes include improvements to the camera app with 11 new photo filters. Additionally, there is a new option that allows the phone to switch to a “global mode” that will allow it to operate on international carrier networks.

As with most Verizon updates, this will likely roll out in phases over a period of about a week. In other words, if you can’t pull the update down today, don’t panic.

There is no word when the rollout will start today, only that Verizon has confirmed it is coming for some lucky S3 owners today. Have any of our readers managed to get their hands on the update yet? If so, what do you think?

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There has never been a greater time to buy a smartphone I’d wager. From Nokia to Samsung to Apple and even (surprisingly) LG– there is lot to love. When it comes to iconic smartphone leaders though, we still often hear the names Samsung and Apple come up.

This begs the question, which flagship device reigns supreme at the moment: The Samsung Galaxy S3 or the Apple iPhone 5? Honestly, they both have their positives and negatives. This article is less about declaring a winner and more about just pointing out the overall hardware differences.

Let’s jump in and take a look:

Hardware

When it comes to processing power, there are two different versions of the Galaxy S3. The international has a quad-core, the US version has a dual-core. As for the iPhone? It is a dual-core device in all markets.

So how much difference does all that make? Less then you would think. With the US version of the S3, you get more RAM to make up for less cores. When comparing either version of the S3 to the iPhone 5, there isn’t a huge noticeable difference. Both swipe in and out of apps with relative ease. Both handle just about everything you throw at it.

As for battery life? Both perform about the same, though the iPhone 5 is said to last slightly longer.

As for other aspects like weight, the S3 is slightly heavier at 133g versus 116g for the iPhone 5, but you probably won’t feel the difference all that much. That said, the S3 has a much larger 4.8-inch screen.

Overall, the iPhone 5 does benchmark higher than the S3. That said, benchmarks don’t mean that much when it comes to everyday performance. Removing factors like OS preference, weight and size preference: these two phones both are rock solid. You won’t have to worry about the phone not handling apps or glitching. You won’t find either to be slow.

Design

This probably plays a lot into preference as well. The iPhone 5 has a glass and aluminum design that is admittedly quite attractive. Still, the Galaxy S3′s plastic body still manages a very premium look. The 4.8-inch screen on the front also adds to the appeal in design.

Android versus iOS

In many ways it is hard to directly compare the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 because their ecosystems differ so much. They have different looks, different levels of customization, etc.

To put it simply, figure out what OS matches your tastes.

Reasons for iOS: Most users that go with iOS laud it with praise for being simple, easy to use and highly secure. Apple fans say it just works, without all the extra effort. Apple’s AppStore is also known for having more apps, particularly paid apps.

Reasons for Android: Android users like that the OS is customizable on just about every level and that it has more free apps. Additionally you aren’t locked down to just one app store.

Pricing

While this varies based on carriers and where you are in the world, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is generally a little bit cheaper than the iPhone 5. Without any special deals going on, Verizon currently prices both handsets for $199 with two year contract. That said, the S3 often goes for less during special promotions.

When it comes to buying without contract, unlocked? You can find the S3 for cheaper as well.

Conclusion

When it comes to “versus” articles, there is probably nothing more dissatisfying for a reader than to hear a draw. I know that fans of one phone or the other won’t probably like to hear this– but it is really hard to say one is better than the other.

If you like the openess of Android, the S3 wins.

If you want the neat tidy Apple experience and don’t mind being a bit locked down, you get an iPhone 5.

There are other considerations to factor in as well– such as opinion regarding the company. Some people don’t like Apple, they feel that the company is unfair and overpiced. Some also feel the same about Samsung, and feels that it copies companies like Apple and profits off of it.

Instead of us declaring a winner, we want to leave this to our readers. We invite you to comment below with which phone you think is better, and why.

Please try and be respectful of others opinions. Honestly, both phones are great in their own ways.

The post Samsung Galaxy S3 versus Apple iPhone 5 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In the United States, Jelly Bean is just starting to arrive to the Samsung Galaxy S3, and Verizon is still left in the dark with no official date for its upcoming Jelly Bean upgrade. Things are moving much faster for the international 3G version of the Samsung Galaxy S3, though. It seems that Android 4.1.2 is now starting to rollout to a very select few Galaxy S3 users. The latest version is also said to bring multi-window support to the S3.

It is also believed that the Galaxy Note 2′s gallery app, Smart Rotation and other apps and features may also arrive on the Galaxy S3. Interestingly enough, right now the upgrade seems to only have rolled out to users in Poland.

Are you a user of the Galaxy S3 in Poland? If so, has the upgrade managed to reach you yet?

[ source ]

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