After listening to the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S3, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a sleek design with awesome hardware and software. I was a little underwhelmed at the announcement, particularly because of the design. Considering the previous Galaxy releases everyone was expecting a little more. I think many Samsung fans were a little let down after the fairly awkward announcement.

The hardware of the S3 is top notch, no arguments there. Powerful quad core processor, support for removable battery, Micro SD slot, and lots of memory. It lived up to all my expectations hardware wise, no doubt.

I was a little let down by the design. First of all, I’m not too big into the color options: blue and white. The blue isn’t a solid either, it has a pattern to it which makes it look pretty weird. I really wish they would offer an optional black phone as well. It also has a menu and back button which Android Ice Cream Sandwich definitely doesn’t require. Android has definitely been trying to back away from the need to having physical buttons, but Samsung apparently is not.

I’m not a huge fan of TouchWiz either. It’s clunky, ugly, and reminds me of previous Android versions like Ginger Bread. ICS is sleek and futuristic and TouchWiz takes away from it. Samsung claims it wants to keep their user experience consistent across all phones and versions. However, with consistency comes sacrifice which they’ve demonstrated.

After reading a Samsung Galaxy S3 review, I’m pretty impressed with some of the built in software. One feature in particular, Smart Stay, which will keep your phone unlocked if you’re looking at it. It uses the front facing camera to recognize facial features, eliminating the need for an auto-lock feature.

All in all, I probably won’t be pre-ordering the Samsung Galaxy S3. I’ll probably wait for the next “big thing” to come out. While I definitely won’t be considering an iPhone, I will be looking out for other Android smart phones.

Many people still think tablets are a novelty and not worth the price. However, with $200 tablets many people have been buying them and using them for basic things such as eBook readers. Big Lots just started offering a new $100 Polaroid 7″ tablet that runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich. This tablet is for anyone interested in getting their feet wet in the tablet market without a big investment.

Now don’t go expecting the world with this tablet, it is after all only $100. Early users have been reporting that it’s a great buy except one thing: screen quality. It has a low resolution – as low as a phone, 800 x 480. They rate it somewhere between a Nook and digital photo frame. But for reading books and browsing the web this cool Android powered tablet will work just fine.

• Connect to the internet wirelessly (Wi-Fi)
• Built-in speaker
• 4GB internal memory
• 4GB of RAM
• Micro SD card slot (for additional memory)
• Video out jack
• Rechargeable Li-ion battery
• Operating System: Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Processor: 1GHz ARM Cortex A8
• Graphics Accelerator: OpenGL ES 2.0 (3D game support)
• Screen Resolution 800 x 480 (16:9)
• External Memory: Micro SD
• Networking: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Battery: Rechargeable Li-ion Polymer

It’s pretty surprising to see such low screen quality from a tablet which supposedly supports 3d gaming, but again for the price this is an excellent buy. I might pick one up because my Galaxy Tab runs Android 3x and this would be a good chance to play around with ICS.

I choose the Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus out of all Android and iOS tablets for a few reasons. The infrared blaster, the size and price were all perfect fits for what I wanted out of a tablet PC. The Galaxy’s hardware is as powerful as the iPad and has software that I can easily modify to my needs are among a couple of those reasons.

Hardware

There are a few things I like about the Galaxy 7s hardware. The infrared blaster which is part of a growing trend on smart phones and tablets allows me to control anything with an IR sensor. This includes things like my TV, stereo, and Bluray player. Using peel which is a free application I can browse my TV guide, start DVR recordings, or start Bluray disks on my player. I can do all of this from the convenience of my tablet PC.

Another option I like about the Galaxy is screen size choice. The 7 inch display allows me to read websites in proper format, but is still small enough to not be too heavy or awkward. I use my tablet as an eReader a lot and 7 inches is also the same size as a paperback book. It fits in my hand nicely and is the perfect weight.

Software

The Galaxy series does not rely on Android market to provide you with software. A lot of tablets and smart phones use the market as a crutch and do not have good software by default. The Galaxy has every piece of software a tablet should have. Office software, image editing, universal TV remote, and memo pad are among the applications it has by default.

I also choose the Galaxy for Android OS. Unlike iOS you can do whatever you want with Androids. There is no app screening by Apple, and there’s no set file extension for media files. It seems it’s every other day I hear about another useful app being rejected by Apple staff because they simply don’t like what it does. I want to use my tablet the way I want.

Price

The Galaxy tab series is reasonably priced for the hardware it comes with. Sure you can buy cheaper tablets, but you do get what you pay for. For $450 the Galaxy 7.0 Plus comes with a dual core processor and a gigabyte of memory. I experience no lag running any application and can multitask a half dozen applications with no issues. It’s a very powerful tablet and is equal with the hardware that comes with the iPad for significantly less money.

Apple is current dominating the tablet market, but why? There are many clear reasons why you should purchase an Android tablet rather than an iPad. Choice of hardware, control over the operating system, and price are all things to consider when purchasing a tablet.  So which one is the right one for you?

The good:

Size

Android tablets come in a variety of shapes and sizes, small, medium, and large. If you’re using it as an ereader, you should consider a 7″ tablet. If you’re using it for business and browsing the web, you should purchase 10.1 or bigger. The iPad only comes in one size and therefor loses appeal to some users.

Price

They also come in many price ranges some ranging from inexpensive, to some that are equally priced with iPads. For those on a budget you can get an Android based tablet for as little as $200. Obviously it won’t be a powerhouse, but it’s better than being forced to spend $500+ dollars.

Multitasking

Android based tablets can handle true multitasking. Why have fancy dual core processors when you can’t even multi task. iPads don’t have true multi-tasking in order to save on battery life.

Hardware options

Since Android tablets cover many different brands, there’s different hardware that might suite you better. iPads do not have interchangeable batteries, when it dies, it dies. Some Android tablets have better cameras than the iPad. Maybe you don’t need a front camera to save a little money, this is not an option with Apple products. Different speed processors, memory, and graphic cards are among the choices you have with tablet PCs. The overall variety when it comes to hardware gives Androids a clear edge over their Apple counterparts.

The bad:

Apple has long been the leader in the apps department for phone or tablet computers. While Android has significantly caught up with smart phone applications, why aren’t more developers making tablet specific applications? This gives the iPad a huge advantage over its counterparts. With 100s of thousands of apps specifically made for tablets, competing tablets are left in the dust.

It all comes down to the chicken and egg theory. With 10s of millions of iPads sold, there is a huge market for tablet based applications. The closest thing to tablet based applications that Google can come up with is the ability to zoom in on apps to take advantage of the extra screen space. Another issue is the Android market. It does not make finding applications that were made for tablets hard to find using its search feature.

If you’re not satisfied with the external speakers of your Android powered device the iFrogz Boost will amplify the sound for you without any configuring. Simply place your phone on the box with the speaker outputs facing the front of the box and it’ll automatically output a crisp sound.

The iFrogz website says it works without any configuration using a little bit of magic. I’m inclined to agree that there’s magic involved and here’s why. Without any cords, apps, or Bluetooth connectivity, the Frogz speaker box amplifies the sound from your Android phone.

I think it might work by reading magnetic changes (similar to a guitar amp) hence the reason why it has to be so close in order for it to work. The only other explanation which the manufacturer says is not happening is a microphone. Simply listening for sound and then amplifying it.

The sound is clear, crisp, and loud for such a small device. It will also work on all devices, not just Android powered ones. The only downside is if there’s a really quiet part of a song, it will not pick it up properly. To fix this issue you can use a standard 9mm headphone jack to plug the box in directly to your Android. Lastly, durability might be an issue. The speakers can be pushed in using very little pressure; a plastic cover of some sort is needed. Otherwise this is a handy well-made product.

The device has three modes: standby, on, and off. Standby will listen for audio input for 10 seconds and if there is none shut off. On mode will do the same but listen for 10 minutes. To power it on will require three AA batteries.