A charging dock is quickly becoming one of the most popular accessories users wants to buy for their smartphones, now as phones are getting smarter than ever these simple charging docks are quickly evolving into what Samsung calls a Smart Dock. Samsung recently launched a Smart Dock compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 which allowing users to turn their smartphones into mini desktop computers.
This particular dock that we’re reviewing includes an HDMI port, three USB 2.0 ports, a 3.5mm stereo audio jack and a microUSB port to charge the phone of course. These connectivity options will allow you to connect your phone to a TV or monitor via the HDMI port, connect an external keyboard, mouse and even external storage via the USB ports, connect external speakers via the 3.5mm audio jack while the phone is being charged by the microUSB port.
Instead of the dock you could get separate MHL, OTG, AUX and other cables to fulfill the purpose but the dock makes everything so simpler. It’s so small and easy to carry, has a beautiful design and is very simple to use. In short the extra price gets you a much better product. Also as far as compatibility with devices is concerned the dock will work seamlessly with the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S4 but with the Galaxy S3 it won’t be able to power a USB drive.
The Smart Dock also has a full software overlay displayed on the device connected that displays the weather and other details similar to what we get on Motorola’s docks. I’ve been using the dock to mirror my Galaxy S4 on my TV for a few days now and the display quality is splendid, there is little to no lag while browsing and movies and other media played have exceptional quality.
The Smart Dock isn’t for everyone though, most casual users will be put off by somewhat low app compatibility and the fact that most if not all Android apps work better with the touchscreen than a keyboard or mouse. I consider the Smart Dock a niche item which will be very useful to those who need a tiny computer in their pockets that has the ability t0 turn into a proper desktop.
A short note though, if you’re planning to use the Smart Dock with a cover make sure you use the official Samsung ones, I tried using it with my third party leather cover on my Galaxy S4 and it was a pretty tight fit so I took the cover off.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 Smart Dock is now available for purchase for just $83 which is excellent value in my opinion.
TechDeville gives the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 Smart Dock 4/5 stars.
Samsung has enjoyed an unexpected amount of success with its Galaxy Note smartphone. The phone/tablet mixture initially looked like a niche device but the tens of millions of copies sold it’s pretty clear now that people love a big smartphone. So it’s natural that Samsung would want to continue this success by releasing a true successor. We’ve already seen some rumors regarding the successor to Galaxy Note before, let’s see what we have this time around.
According to reports, Samsung will hold a dedicated event for the launch of Galaxy Note 2 on August 30th. The event will start at 7pm CET and as mentioned, it will be about Galaxy Note 2 only.
Now onto some speculated specs. Samsung will most likely go with a quad-core CPU to power this monster. It’s probably going to be their Exynos brand of SOCs with Mali GPU. The screen size is increased and now measures at 5.5″ with the same 720p resolution. It will use Samsung’s SAMOLED technology. There’s no mention of RAM capacity though it’s likely to be around 2GB. The smartphone will come with Jelly Bean out of the box (thank heavens for that).
The camera is rumored to be a 13MP unit. That is easily the biggest sensor (in terms of MP) that Samsung has used in an Android smartphone. It seems unlikely though, because Samsung still keeps its Galaxy S lineup as its top end, and that only has a 8MP camera.
If the phone does support LTE, which it most likely will, Samsung will probably go with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset for the North American market. That is if they’ve not yet found a way to incorporate LTE onto a quad core chipset.
So this is shaping out to be quite a monster of a phone, both physically and technically. August is only a month away, so we’ll know more about this as the time approaches.
We recently covered the steps you can follow to update Galaxy Note N7000 to DDLRB Android 4.0.1. Now we’ll guide you on how you can root this firmware. The advantages of rooting are countless. Rooting allows you tinker with phone settings otherwise not possible. This includes apps that can alter CPU speed, voltage as well as other advance tasks.
Be sure to backup all your important data before commencing and make sure your phone battery is fully charged.
You will notice that this is not the regular CF-Root method but instead uses a custom kernel.
Step 2- Download ODIN (if you have not downloaded it already)
Step 3- Boot your phone into download mode. Do this by switching it off and then pressing and holding the Volume Down + Home buttons together, and then pressing the Power button. You’ll see a triangle and an Android logo. Press the power button to enter download mode
Step 4- Open ODIN on your PC. Make sure USB drivers for the phone are installed. Upon successful connection one of the ID:COM boxes will turn yellow with the COM port number.
Step 5- Select the file you downloaded in step 1. You will find these once you extract the package. Click on ‘PDA’ and select the file GL_NOTECORE_v13_OC.tar
Step 6- In ODIN, check the Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options.
Step 7- Click Start button in ODIN. Installation process will start which takes a few minutes to complete. After this your phone will restart and your phone running DDLRB will be rooted.
Despite being a year old Galaxy Note N7000 is still one of the most powerful phones available. It also happens to be 1 of the 2 smartphones with a gigantic screen size of over 5 inch. If you happen to own this monster then you’d be glad to know Samsung just released a new firmware DDLRB for India which updates the phablet to Android 4.0.4. Follow the steps below for the update.
Before proceeding make sure your data is backed up and your phone is fully charged.
Step 3- Boot your phone into download mode. Do this by switching it off and then pressing and holding the Volume Down + Home buttons together, and then pressing the Power button. You’ll see a triangle and an Android logo. Press the power button to enter download mode
Step 4- Open ODIN on your PC. Make sure USB drivers for the tablet are installed. Upon successful connection one of the ID:COM boxes will turn yellow with the COM port number.
Step 5- Select all files you downloaded in step 1.
Click the PDA button. Select the file which has CODE in its name
Click the Phone button and select the file which has MODEM in its name
Click on the CSC button and select the file which has CSC in its name
Click the PIT button and select the .pit file
Step 6- In ODIN select Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options. Select repartition only if your selected the PIT file
Step 7- Click the start button. Installation process will take a few minutes. After that your phone will reboot with Android 4.0.4 DDLRB official firmware
If you want to root your phone after this, follow this guide to do so.
Samsung is easily the biggest Android OEM in the world right how. Heck it is the biggest smartphone manufacturer even when operating system isn’t taken in consideration. With market penetrating in countries ranging from its home country of Korea all the way to the United States, it won’t be surprising at all to know that the company has sold quite a few smartphones. From its massive portfolio, it’s easy to pick the Galaxy S lineup as the company’s most successful. The original Galaxy S propelled Samsung to the top of the charts way back in 2010. And with Galaxy SII that upward trend only increased further.
Samsung, according to BGR, has now unveiled some official sales figures for a few of its top selling phones. According to the company the combined sales for Galaxy S and SII have surpassed 50 million. If broken down into separate sales figures, it comes to 24 million for Galaxy S and 28 million for Galaxy SII. The phablet, Galaxy Note has also enjoyed success with sales figures topping out at 5 million units.
Now with the launch of Galaxy SIII, which has already broken preorder records for all Android smartphones, the only future for Samsung is further up from where it already is. Don’t be surprised if by the end of the year sales figures for Galaxy SIII alone surpass 50 million.
Even though Samsung has now released its successor, the original Galaxy Note N7000 is still a powerhouse of a smartphone. It can still hold its own against the very best of today. Of course that would mean nothing if it runs outdated software. Today we will guide you how to install Android 4.1.1 XXLS2 official firmware, which is the latest firmware available for the Galaxy Note N7000.
Overview of the firmware
PDA: N7000XXLS2
CSC: N7000OXXLS2
Version: 4.1.1
Date: 2012-10-01
Regions: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom
Make sure your phone is fully charged and your data is backed up. Since this is an official firmware, your phone will be unrooted after installing it, if it was rooted before.
The guide to install Android 4.1.1 XXLS2 official firmware is below:
Step 3- Boot your phone into download mode. Do this by switching it off and then pressing and holding the Volume Down + Home buttons together, and then pressing the Power button. You’ll see a triangle and an Android logo. Press the power button to enter download mode
Step 4- Open ODIN on your PC. Make sure USB drivers for the phone are installed. Upon successful connection one of the ID:COM boxes will turn yellow with the COM port number.
Step 5- Select all files you downloaded in step 1.
Click the PDA button. Select the file which has CODE in its name
Click the Phone button and select the file which has MODEM in its name
Click on the CSC button and select the file which has CSC in its name
Click the PIT button and select the .pit file
Step 6- In ODIN select Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options. Select repartition only if your selected the PIT file
Step 7- Click on the start button. Installation process will start which will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Upon restart your phone will be updated to Android 4.1.1 XXLS2 official firmware.
Remember that huge godly abomination Samsung announced at IIFA 2011? Yes I’m talking about the Galaxy Note. Samsung just released a commercial for the tablet-phone or ‘Phablet’ as it’s now popularly known.
The commercial shows us how productive the Galaxy Note could be, especially in the hands of graphics designers. With support for an accurate stylus on such a big and sharp display which you can you hold in one hand (barely) the Galaxy Note is the device to have for artists.
What do you think? Was their need for a device bigger than a phone and smaller than a tablet like the Galaxy Note? Let us know in the comments below.
Tablets are dominating the market nowadays and slowly replacing the desktop PC merging compact form factors with the ability to accomplish the most daunting of tasks. The only downside to a tablet is that they can be too big to carry around for people who like to travel light so manufacturers introduced a new form factor – 7″ but that still proved to be too big. Here’s where a a mix between a phone and a tablet (or Phablet as Samsung likes to call it) comes in. With the he screen measuring at 5.3-inches, the Samsung Galaxy Note is the perfect phone for someone who wants to carry a tablet in their pocket but how does it compare to the hunderds of other Android phones on the market? Check out the full lowdown in our review below.
Unboxing
Box
Being a huge phone the Samsung Galaxy Note comes in a shockingly small box which seems to be just big enough to fit the phone. Opening the box presents you the phone fit inside a tray; removing the tray reveals the S-Pen, wall charger with USB port, microUSB cable for charging and data access, pair of earphones with different sized buds, standard warranty information and instruction manuals. You may also receive a case with your phone depending on where you buy it. The battery with the Galaxy Note is a 2500 mAh unit which is roughly the same size as other Samsung batteries.
Specifications
Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support
21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
5.3″ 16M-color HD Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (800 x 1280 pixels)
8 MP wide-angle autofocus camera with LED flash, face, smile and blink detection
Video recording of up to 1080p@30fps
Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n; Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi hotspot
GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
16/32GB internal storage and microSD slot
Accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Charging MHL microUSB port with USB host and TV-out (1080p through optional adapter) support and Bluetooth v3.0
2MP secondary video-call camera
2500 mAh battery
Hardware
The hybrid that is the Samsung Galaxy Note features some pretty awesome hardware, highlight of which is the glorious 5.3-inch Super AMOLED HD display which has impressed me a whole lot. The HD Super AMOLED is the first HD display in a smaller <7″ form factor by Samsung, it runs at 1280 x 800 or WXGA resolution which on a 5.3-inch display equals to 285.3 PPI or pixels per inch. The screen also fully supports the included S-Pen which uses the very same technology as Wacom Bamboo tablets. The S-Pen can also enable you to use gestures and the likes by pressing a button located on the pen.
The Galaxy Note measures in at 83.95 x 146.85 x 9.65 mm and weighs just 178 grams which is way less than you would expect such a huge phone to be. The 2500 mAh battery that comes with the Galaxy Note is covered later in the review.
There’s a 2MP camera on the front and an 8MP autofocus camera with a single LED flash on the back which supports face, smile and blink detection along with numerous other features. The shooter on the back can capture 1080p video running at 30fps while the front cam records in standard VGA. The camera is very good and can match similar point and shoot cameras present in the market. Connectivity options include quad band GSM, quad band UMTS with HSPA+ support, WiFi a/b/g/n, FM tuner, Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Galaxy Note also packs the standard sensors including proximity, gyroscope, accelerometer and barometer.
The build quality as you may have already guessed is plastic, but not some cheap plastic which would develop cracks after a few weeks. All of Samsung’s products are extremely reliable and strong, anybody remember this drop test?
Design
The front of the phone houses the huge 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a single home button below with two capacitive menu and back buttons on either side. Above the screen and logo is the earpiece and left to that is the proximity center and the 2MP camera. Below the phone is the microphone right next to the microUSB port and S-PEN slot. On the very top we have the secondary microphone and 3.5mm headphone jack.
On the left side of the phone we have the volume rocker which is pretty hard to reach for if you’re using the phone with one hand unless you have huge hands. Right side of the phone houses the power button. On the back we have the 8MP 1080p video recording camera next to which is the LED flash and finally the loudspeaker which is in the bottom left corner. The S-Pen slot as we mentioned before is pretty sturdy and during our testing the S-Pen never fell out, it’s actually pretty hard to get the pen out but it’s better this way than it getting out in untimely situations.
Camera Sample
Software
The Samsung Galaxy Note runs a modified version of TouchWiz 4.0 on top of Android 2.3.5 specifically made for the higher resolution screen and support for the Note exclusive S-Pen. TouchWiz 4.0 includes features which make the Galaxy Note operate like both a smartphone and a tablet, you can really notice the difference when you tilt the phone into landscape mode. The Galaxy Note includes standard TouchWiz apps like AllShare, Polaris, Samsung Hubs, etc along with some exclusives ones like S Memo and S Planner.
The Galaxy Note’s highlight is clearly the bundled S-Pen accompanied by the aforementioned S Memo and S Planner softwares. The S-Pen works just like the graphic tablets designers use which is expected since the technology present in the Galaxy Note is produced by Wacom who are the makers of the popular Bamboo line of graphic tablets.
Performance
The Galaxy Note comes with the 1.4-GHz Exynos processor which is the best performing dual core mobile CPU in the market right now. The Note performed exceptionally well in both benchmarks and real life tests. It scored 4123 in Quadrant, 4108 in Smartbench 2011 for productivity and 2212 for Games on average.
We expected the battery life on the Note to be very poor, powering the huge 5.3-inch display and super fast Exynos chip while running the battery hungry Android OS is no easy task but thanks to Samsung’s super light TouchWiz UI and the huge 2500 mAh battery, the phone lasted me over a day on a single charge with heavy use.
Overall
The Galaxy Note may be a bit impractical for most users but can prove to be a blessing in disguise for others. The Phablet is perfect for people who don’t want to carry around or own both a tablet and smartphone, which lets be honest are pretty much the same thing except for their screen sizes. The Galaxy Note is the best of both worlds and Samsung deserves a standing O for getting it right.
TechDeville gives the Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 4/5 stars.
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