are you getting the Samsung Galaxy S5?

I think my friends have gone pass the stage of asking me this question because I will almost always always without fail, get a Samsung phone every other year (when my contract expires). Instead, they will either keep quiet or go, “Apple, Apple, Apple.” #truestory

I’m a huge Samsung fan a loyal Samsung user. From the A800 to Samsung Omnia to Samsung Galaxy to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.  Even when my S3 died, I grabbed the chance when Daniel offered me his spare Galaxy Note 2.

every phone has a story.

However, after my ‘harrowing’ experiences with the Samsung Service Centre and the super short lifespan of my Galaxy S3, I am actually *hold your breath, folks* having second thoughts about pruchasing the Samsung Galaxy S5 when my contract expires…TODAY.

During one of the lunches with ZQ, I told him, “I don’t want any fancy latest technology for the new S5. I just want them to make it more durable and usable.”

And I think that’s precisely what happened. To quote a report from TODAY newspaper –

Mr J K Shin, President and Chief Executive of Samsung’s mobile division, said: “Our consumers do not want eye-popping or the most complex technology.” Instead, a survey revealed that they were interested in simple enhancements such as durable design, a better camera, faster and more seamless connectivity and the ability to manage fitness plans.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/tech/gadgets/samsung-unveils-galaxy-s5-focused-consumers

But did the S5 do that? I don’t know.

In terms of technology, the fingerprint scanner was expected. Download Booster (send data over Wifi and mobile data) sounds useful but honestly, with only 2GB of data per month, I will stick to Wifi (white elephant function again). For camera, the real time HDR and the bokeh things  sounds interesting. But I guess the function that I am looking forward to trying the most is the S Health Suite 3 (a fitness tracker and calorie counter). It might either fan my desire to get a JawBone UP or might satisfy my desire for you (:

In terms of appearance, I guess it looks more durable but it seems to have lost the sleekness and refine-ness that I have come to expect from Samsung.

The polka-dot back cover T_T

can we say R-E-T-R-O?

Then the metallic finish of the side that somehow gives me the nagging thought that it will rust. Boooo! And it makes the entire phone look so thick (and cheap) 😦 I much rather have the cheapo plastic thing that S3 had.

Sigh. But the whole dust-proof and water-proof is interesting though.

So…Hmmm.

Will I buy the Galaxy S5? 

I haven’t quite make up my mind yet. If only there’s a way for me to actually hold the phone in my hand to see how it feels…

But maybe I will still sign up for pre-order and see how it goes from there? I have about 1.5 months to think about it (am secretly hoping we belong to a later group) ;p

Sigh.

What’s your thoughts? Buy or don’t buy?

meet junsu!

I think by now, everyone knows that my Galaxy S3 has died at a young age. The youngest of all my (Samsung) devices, actually.

Anyways, I think I’m very lucky (: Daniel offered his spare phone to me and guess what? It’s a Samsung too! Galaxy Note 2 to be exact!

I think by now, everyone knows me and my weird love for Samsung phones. No matter how laggy they become (Omnia) or how troublesome they are (Galaxy s3), me and Samsung…together forever, never be apart. Even though DK dug out his iPhone 4 for me, when I heard Samsung, I’m sold.

Was just jokingly telling the Korean classmates that S3 is a girl (cos it’s calls me 언니), Galaxy Note 2 is a boy (cos it’s calls me 누나)! Yes, it’s the message ringtone. I couldn’t find the 언니 ringtone somehow so had to settle for the 누나 one.

And since I have a habit of naming my phone, decided to name this “Junsu” cos the word keeps coming up on the dictionary (when I’ve never type the name). Plus, the ringtone sounds like something one of the kids in “아빠 어디가?” will say. So…Meet Junsu!

Galaxy Note 2!

Doodling with the S-Pen was quite fun! Going to do some googling to see what else I can do with a Note 2. I’m sure it’s more awesome than my S3 (:

Tuesday was more than I bargained for.

When I woke up on Tuesday, I was expecting it to be another chillax day. Read some Harry Potter, nap, watch some daytime TV, more harry potter and then dinner. But….

I did read Harry Potter. I finished up Book 3 in fact. And I finished it @ 11.11am. I saw the time when I finished my book and exited from Aldiko on my S3. Then…the phone died. It exploded into sparkles. Okay, fine. Dead pixels.

Galaxy. Literally.

If I wasn’t so upset, I would have thought it’s pretty. But yes. I tried to restart it, took out the battery, give it a few good bang and even try to charge it. Nothing works. The funny thing is…I can still hear my messages and emails coming in!

Desperate, I called the mum using the house phone to tell her I will be heading out, switched on the Wi-Fi and posted on my Facebook to let everyone know that my phone is dead. I also sent out several emails.

It was quite a….unique experience going out without my phone.

I couldn’t check what time the next bus was coming. So I just waited there, checking my watch every few minutes. Tapping my foot restlessly while waiting. Sticking my head up to check if the bus is coming. Longest 10 minutes of my life.

But I did something nice! I saw a guy running after a bus and helped him hold the bus. Wouldn’t have noticed him if I had my phone with me.

Then, I couldn’t decide if taking the Circle Line or the NS Line to Marina Square was faster. I decided on the Circle Line cos the 3G signal is stronger. Realised I can’t use my phone so erm…But I was already at the Circle Line station so I decided to just take it. Then! I wanted to check if I should alight at Promenade or Esplanade cos I wasn’t sure…I couldn’t T_T So I had to guess (it’s Esplanade).

Met a weirdo at the train station. He stood super close to me and kept sticking his head out to look at me when I chose a seat far away from him. Wanted to tweet about it to feel less freaked out but…you know the story.

My experience at the Samsung Service Centre @ Marina Square was quite pleasant. The lady at the counter (Christina) was really honest and gave me practical answers. After listening to her options, I decided not to repair the phone cos the cost is almost equivalent to buying a new one (approx $500). Almost.

Took a long train ride home again. I am so glad I insisted on separating my entertainment and daily usage devices *hugs iPod touch* Without it, I would have died of boredom and get super irritated by the noise on the train.

Came home, saw some emails that made me upset. I don’t think people believed me when I said I don’t have a phone 😦 Hence the emails. Tried to ignore them and searched for my old phones. Found Omnia (from 2008!) and realised that the battery has “bloated up” and can’t be used 😦 It was still working in June!

Luckily my mum came home and offered to lend me her iPhone 4. It must have caused her some inconvenience but she didn’t want to upset me by asking for the phone back. Cos when she thought that I was sleeping, she called the dad and asked him where my old Samsung E870 was (from 2006). She sounded quite irritated with the dad when she realised that he threw the charger away.

I offered to return the iPhone 4 to my mum and she said it’s okay. She will just go buy a flip phone from the Ah-Bengs shop. I felt so bad 😦 She knows I can’t afford to buy a phone now so she rather be the one spending.

So after she left to buy dinner, I cried abit but pulled myself together and managed to locate the charger *phew* E870 is still working! just that the buttons have fallen out and it’s quite impossible to type. Super afraid the mum will go and spend unnecessary money so I quickly went to FB and asked if anyone has a spare phone to lend me. And many people came forward. Thank you thank you (:

Now that the phone problem is solved, I am left with a lingering headache that grew as the day went on. Meh. I am going to sleep soon but…Here’s a photo of my phones –

every phone has a story.

I bought Samsung Omnia cos I wanted to give the mum my Samsung E870. Then E870 was passed on to the dad when his phone died. Bought Galaxy S because Omnia was getting retarded and well….It’s about time. Bought Galaxy S3 because of vanity. But I passed it on to the little brother whose HTC was dying.

See! All my phones have a history and I always work them hard. Not like Galaxy S3. It’s probably the phone I treated with the most care. It has it own casing, change of screen protectors, least no. of falls and etc. And it died after ONE year! BOOO!

Anyways, glad that this is over. I am going to bed now. Tired and this headache needs to go away.

TADA! Samsung Galaxy Tab Pricing (:

Following my post last week about the Samsung Galaxy Tab, here are the pricing from Singtel –

2 different plans - Mobile vs Broadband

Keep a look out for the Galaxy Tab advertisement! My brother saw it just now and he went, “..Hmm. Samsung quite smart ah.” From a guy who has been nagging me about getting a Samsung phone, the Galaxy Tab must have impressed him? *shrugs* Ah well.

ANYWAYS, head on over to Singtel Shop to pre-order a Tabby Tabby Tab Tab now (: Tempted but the hole in my pocket is too big.

Oh, and do you know that G.NA will be coming on Saturday for a really mini-showcase @ the launch party? (:

 

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab (:

Guess where I slipped off to during lunch on Friday? (:

tada! (:

Yups! Singtel and Samsung again! What are they collaborating on you ask? You might remember my post about Samsung Galaxy S. Well, TADA! 😀

Samsung Galaxy Tab! (:

Samsung Galaxy Tab! Wheee~ Was just telling some of the usual suspects about my curiosity of the Galaxy Tab and as luck would have it, an invite came (thanks, DK!).  You might remember that during the launch of Samsung Galaxy S, Super Junior was here! So is Super Junior here this time?

super junior again? (:

Nah! This time, the event was held in Ku Dé Ta @ MBS Sky Park (:

It was quite scary though! The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the event venue was…ALMOST EVERYONE WAS IN SUIT! Black Suit! It felt like International Suit-Up Day! I even told Victor that I would have turned up in shorts and flip flops if I was still unemployed! Haiyo! But this time, I was wearing heels and my favorite (ok, 2nd favorite) dress. Phew!

Emcee for the day - Andrea De Cruz.

After a short clip and a runway display of the Galaxy Tab, Singtel’s Executive VP (Consumer Group) and Samsung Asia’s Managing Director went on stage to talk more about the collaboration and of course, Galaxy Tab (:

I have to say, I rather like the two of them! They are funny and candid on-stage! Especially Mr Sung-Hyung Moon!

posing for the cameras.

Overview: Hmm. I spent about 15 min with the Samsung Galaxy Tab before I had to go back to work. But the general feel was pretty good. I’m quite familiar with the UI because of Galaxy S (: There’s a few added features like De!lite and exCiteTV. Initially I thought it was a Samsung version of Apple’s iPad (i.e. without calling features). So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that it CAN call and comes with a bluetooth wireless headset. OHHH! Did you know the back is actually WHITE? Pretty~

white!

What I like most: Strangely enough, I like the SIZE (: At 19cm x 12 cm, it’s about 2.5 times bigger than my Galaxy S (or the size of a paperback).  It fits into handbags and pocket of coats (hence the suits!).

the Galaxy Siblings.

I know, I know! Your first thought will be..”It’s too big for a phone! So why!” But but! I don’t categorize it as a phone (and I don’t think you should)! It’s more of a mobile multimedia device! Or if I may put it in a very layman turn, think of it like the iPad BUT with a bonus – IT CAN CALL! When you think about this way, you won’t think that it is too big and you’ll actually appreciate the size (:

See, I don’t like the size of the iPad. It’s a tad too big for comfort and I can’t hold it with one hand! But I can do that with Galaxy Tab! (: And it’s not too heavy!

it fits!(:

Dang, my face looks big next to the Tab! T_T

ANYWAY! The screen is 7″! So not too bad (: Tried typing while holding it in landscape mode, you will be able to reach the centre of the keypad perfectly fine (you can’t with iPad, i think). Do note the the display is not AMOLED 😦 However, display is still pretty awesome!

image quality.

Camera: Yes. I am still very concern about camera! Hahaha! The camera is 3MP with LED Flash! 3MP only, you say? No worries. The picture quality is still not too bad!

straight from the camera.

Notice that this picture is taken with backlighting too! Not too bad right? (:

It also has a 1.3MP front camera. I took a picture with it but I forgot to send it to myself T_T Upset!

Multimedia capabilities: Galaxy Tab is running on Andriod 2.2 and supports the latest Adobe Flash Player! YAYYY! You know what that means? That means you won’t have to climb out of bed everytime you encounter a Flash site(: Or! Being lost because you can’t load the flash site of the bubble tea outlet you are looking for (read: Gong Cha!) Likey!

It can also play HD video in a wide range of format (: Forget about converting the videos into MP4. Just popped it into the tab and you can view it on the go.

Ohoh! And it can create, edit and view spreadsheets, Word documents, PDF files and Powerpoint presentations (: WAHAHAHA!

De!Lite and exCITE Video: Singtel has developed a new De!Lite app to complement the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

 

selecting magazines.

De!Lite allows users to download and view LOCAL magazines like Hardware Magazine and ASIAN Geographic Passport. It has about 2o magazines at the moment but I’m sure it will slowly expand in the future. Once you decide that you want to buy a certain magazines, just click buy and it will download straight into the Tab AND charged to your monthly Singtel bill! Nice! 😀

On top of that, you can also perform keyword searches, make side notes and share your favorite excerpts on Facebook and Twitter!

exCITE Video sounds pretty good! It allows you to search for videos in the entire web, not just Youtube! Whee~ It means I can now go to Tudou, search for dramas and watch it 😀 Don’t have to rely on my lappy or download applications only to discover that it doesn’t work 😀

Things I want to find out more: exCITE Video and De!Lite! Of course, I also want to see how well the Tab can fit into my life because currently, it sounds pretty good. And like I said, I don’t view it like a mobile phone, more like a lifestyle device so I’m quite curious as to how it fits into my daily life. One of my colleagues is actually tempted to get it! 😀

When is it coming out? How much is it?: It will be available on 13th November (16GB + 32GB MicroSD slot), exclusively to Singtel (: Price is about $998 without plan.

At the moment, no news about the price with plans but the price plans available are 3G Flexi Lite ($39), 3G Flexi ($56) and 3G Flexi Plus ($95).

You can read the press release and find out more about the price plan here. Or take a look at the official Samsung Galaxy Tab site (: OR! Head on over to the official Samsung Youtube Channel to look at Live Demo and Galaxy Tab stories 😀

For now, here’s the official video (:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samsung i9000 (Galaxy S) Wireless Bug + Tethering (:

So I’ve noticed that a fair number of people landed on my blog through search terms like “samgsung i9000 internet problem” and “can i tether ipod touch to samsung galaxy s”. They probably landed on my “first look post” of Samsung Galaxy S which means that they probably didn’t get the answer that they are looking for.  Therefore, I thought I should do a post about those 2 “issues”.

Help! I am unable to switch off my wireless!

When you drag down the notification page, you will see that Wireless is turned on. Even when there’s not wireless network nearby, the WiFi button is still green. You tapped on the icon, it doesn’t go off! NOW WHAT?!

Well, here’s one of the ways you can switch it off. Head on over to Settings > Wireless and network > Wi-Fi settings > Wi-Fi. Tap on it and it should switch off (:

If that doesn’t work, you can try switching on the Mobile AP! It will ask you if you want to disconnect from Wi-Fi to use Mobile AP, click “Yes” and TADA!

On the very very rare occasions that both methods don’t work, switch off your phone. But thats only when necessary!

Can I tether to my iPod touch?

Of course you can! This is one of my most adored function 😀 Just switch on Mobile AP on Galaxy S (i9000), go to your iPod Touch look for “Galaxy S _8710” (or some other number), key the ‘password’ provided on your Galaxy S and VIOLA! Your iPod touch now has internet!

I know some people will go, “Why so stupid! Just surf on your Galaxy S lah! Tethering will waste battery for both devices!” but sometimes, I want to use banking apps that are on the iPod Touch but not on the Andriod system yet! PLUS! I realised something!

You know how video quality is VERY BAD if you watch them on 3G? No, it is not because of Galaxy S..iPhone has the same problem. So what I always do is to use Mobile AP and youtube on iPod touch! 😀 The streaming might be a bit slow but HELLO! Good quality! WHEEEE~

So there! (:

Super Junior for Samsung Galaxy S (:

Warning: Potential fan-girl post!

DK asked if I was interested in the Super Junior showcase a few weeks back. I’ve heard of them but I’ve no idea what’s the big deal about them. So after confirming that Victor and QQ was going, I went along.

BOY! I AM NOW A CONVERT! I LOVE SUPER JUNIOR ! ❤

You will not believe how many times I have watched their Bonamana performance! Over and over and over again! And when I am feeling a little down, I youtube them to make myself feel better.

But I am still trying to remember their name. At the moment, I can only remember Siwon, Wookie and Donghae! The rest I just refer to them by nickname. Like Leader, girly, JJ and chubby one :X

But I AM LEARNING!

Starting from the left: ryeowook (wookie), leeteuk, yesung, siwon, heechul (cinderella), sungmin, eunhyuk, donghae (pinnocchio), shindong.

Pardon me if I get their nicknames wrong! Still learning lah! 9 boys at once is hard!

No points for guessing who my favorite is! 😛 SIWON!!!!

YUMMY YUMMY (: Heeee.

He caught my attention during the press conference cause other than Leeteuk, he is the one who responded to the questions. He moved RIGHT UP TO THE TOP when he stood up to offer his mic to an audience. I tell you! I melted. Like really! I blushed! *melts* Totally had a fangirl moment right there. He gets plenty of brownie points for that move ❤

Plus, he knows how to have fun/ tease the fans! Like how he snatched a video camera from the crowd and ‘camwhore’ on stage! Or when he did this –

Licking cream off his fingers (: *melts*

But someone else caught my eyes during the showcase too! Guess who?

Wookie! 😀 Yes! Not too impressed with him during the press conference. I thought he was the usual pretty boy. Not much, not much. But when he dances, he looks fab! (: None of that cutesy air. More hotness. Which is good(: Plus, he is ‘in-charge’ of the higher pitch stuff in the group. Kinda. According to i-Weekly, at least!

I guess, why I like Suju is that the group is formed such that there’s a guy for every girl. If you like cute boys, Wookie and Yesung. Muscle boys? Siwon, Leeteuk and Donghae. Like I’ve said, Suju has every boy for all my different moods (:

Plus, they are so good at teasing the fans? The small drama that occurs while the interview is going on. And the fooling around. You never quite know where to focus – on the person who is talking or the rest of the boys?

I feel like a fangirl all over again. I am even thinking of printing their photos and pasting it in my work station. I need a good picture first though.

Me being me, I actually went to google for the translated version of ‘Bonamana”! I don’t want to end up liking a song that has no content? If you must know, Bonamana is a song for a pretty lady. How the boys want to get her and stuff. Chorus is something like, “..bounce to you bounce to you, my heart beats only for you. Break for you, break for you, my heart will break if you don’t come to me..” or something along that line. So there! 😛

AND! If they come to Singapore for a concert, I AM IN!!!

Not just to see the boys, but also to see their dance moves (:

And yes, I AM OBSESSED! I feel 13 all over again. I even had a dream of touring with the guys! -.-

Enough of me swooning! Here’s one of their most recent performance (not their best though!)-

For more photos, head on over to my Facebook album (; If you can’t view it and is a Suju fan, just drop me a msg!

I LOVE SUJU!

Maybe I should put a video of their performance in my iPod touch so I can look at it when I feel tired during work. HMMMMM.