News & Reviews:   Samsung Galaxy SIII

We're not sure if it is in response to the botched Android 4.3 update we reported on earlier but it seems that the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 will soon be getting the Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade from Samsung. Originally, the Samsung Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade was just limited to the Samsung Galaxy S4 and above but it's good to know that Samsung are still thinking about users who bought their previous flagship smartphones as well. These users can expect the upgrade to come out in Q1 of 2013, probably around March. While the Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade should help further increase performance (it was designed to work well with devices that only have 512MB of RAM) we do hope that it doesn't cause any battery drain botch-ups like the recent Android 4.3 update.

A word of warning to those Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 users looking to update their devices to Android 4.3, don't! It seems that updating the device to Android 4.3 will result in battery drain issues (which has happened before). Other issues also include slower performance, bad memory management and general app compatibility problems. While Samsung Mobile UK has suspended the update temporarily, this hasn't been done elsewhere, so if you've updated already, we hope you don't have these problems. Some users have found that if you backup your data and then do a factory reset, this solves the problems somewhat, but it still isn't the same as a brand new update patch from Samsung. For those who haven't updated yet, please wait a while longer. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted on this as soon as we know.

After some minor bugs due to the Android 4.3 update, Samsung Galaxy SIII users can now continue their updates as Samsung have announced the updating process to resume. While this is all good news for Samsung Galaxy SIII users in Malaysia as well, the more interesting news is that after the update, you can finally use the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch with the Samsung Galaxy SIII. Do note, some functions which can only be found on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are not available for SIII users even with the update. In related news, Android 4.4 looks to be coming to Samsung users as early as March or April 2014, so stay tuned.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is one of the smartphones recently slated for an official Samsung Android 4.3 Jelly Bean firmware update and has been seeding for the past 2 weeks. However, there have been a number of problems and issues with the update including bricking the smartphone, making it unstable, and other glitches. Samsung has since stopped the seeding and responded with an official statement:

"As we are currently investigating the reported issues with Galaxy S3 4.3 Jelly Bean update, the upgrading service has been temporarily suspended. We are committed to providing customers with the best possible mobile experience, and will ensure to resume the upgrading service at the earliest possibility."

This means you won't be able to update your Samsung Galaxy S III from KIES or the OTA service for now. No news when Samsung could come out with the update as trouble shooting does take some time. Hopefully, Samsung come out with it soon and make sure that all the kinks have been ironed out this time as a buggy updated version of a buggy update will likely just irritate users even more.

Released around the time when Samsung was building up the hype for their Samsung Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Grand is an entry-level to mid-range smartphone with a relatively large 5-inch screen. Designed for those on a budget, the smartphone has less features than some of the other Samsung models but offers some good basic performance with a large screen. For some people this is more than enough. Read on to see if one of these people is you.

Design

Since it was released around the time when the Samsung Galaxy SIII was still relevant, the Samsung Galaxy Grand looks just like a larger version of the former flagship smartphone. While it does pack a larger 5-inch screen the resolution is just 480 x 800 pixels for a rather low 187 ppi pixel density. You can still watch HD videos on it with reasonable viewing angles, but details are definitely less sharp compared to similarly sized screens with higher resolution. Build quality is good, if a bit plastic and a little slippery, as the backplate doesn't have the same patterned look and feel as the Samsung Galaxy SIII. Due to the larger screen size, it does weigh in a bit heavier at 162g but it should fit well for those with larger hands. The buttons are also larger while the icons on the interface are about tablet sized.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 brings with many new additional features and functions. While NFC isn't new and has been available on the Samsung Galaxy SIII, Samsung recently revealed that the previous programmable NFC sticker TecTiles doesn't work with the Samsung Galaxy S4 / S IV. So if you've been using this a lot (and have TecTile stickers all over the place) don't be surprised if your new Samsung Galaxy S4 / S IV doesn't seem to work with them. This is because Samsung have released a new TecTiles 2 version. This news isn't such a big thing for Malaysia where not many people actually use it but for the tech savvy it could be the explanation for why your new smartphone isn't working as you well as the previous one.