Slashdot Mirror

I have a few devices for testing. I have NOT tried this but it might be interesting:

"The Remote Test Lab is a solution that enables developers to control devices remotely. Using the Remote Test Lab service, you can test your application on a real device."
http://developer.samsung.com/r...

What's the math to be applied to LBAs? How big is an LBA? A 512 byte sector?

My nearly 4 year old Samsung shows just under 2 TB written if I multiply the SMART-provided Total LBAs written against a 512 byte block.

Correct.
Though there could be differences depending on the model of drive you have, it's very likely 512B LBAs:
http://www.samsung.com/global/...

Since you said you have a samsung, you can run the Samsung Magician 4.0 and it'll do the conversions for you (assuming you're running Windows or Mac; AFAIK, Magician isn't available for Linux).

There will be a bootable DOS disk image for Mac and Linux users. It's supposed to be released late October, according to the download page:

https://www.samsung.com/global...

"Dos version for MAC, Linux users ... Will be released on end of Oct."
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html?CID=AFL-hq-mul-0813-11000279/
Let me guess - the source for that firmware patch is stored on a Samsung EVO 840 disk?

I also attended the first BUILD, in September 2011, and have the Samsung slate right beside me.

Samsung agrees with me.

https://www.samsung.com/global...

SD card for storage up to 128 GB, 4K video, etc.

When you buy an iPhone 6 you're reaching backwards.

If you buy a product from Apple, it's not really yours.

Just hum the tune of "This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now" and wander over here: http://www.samsung.com/galaxys...

I don't think I could convince very many people (at least, not non-techies) that my dishwasher, refrigerator, and washing machine should be referred to as "computers".

:) Have you SEEN some of the new dishwashers and refrigerators?

http://www.samsung.com/us/appl...

This one clearly has a computer in it... :) touch screen and all... You can listen to Pandora on it, you can check the news and weather, it has wi-fi built in...

Sure looks like a computer to me... :)

Say, many android apps have arm binaries.

Well, many Chrome OS devices are ARM-- and supporting multiple architectures is something all Android apps have to deal with on actual Android.

With only a few apps released, I'm guessing not everything is ready and they want to do it slow and steady. I wish they'd release this stuff and let everyone develop in the open on the canary builds of ChromeOS and let devs know what this environment is like, what SDK might be needed, how to configure the manifest, how to prepare, test, etc, how to send bug reports, how to submit to the web store, etc. In other words, tell everyone what's going on. Running Android apps in Chrome is too cool and exciting to go in drips and drabs... if it's NaCL I wonder whether it will show up on regular chrome as well...? If so, that might mean Android apps on OS X and Windows as well... lots of potential...

The Vine app looks and behaves like the L-preview, which is cool tho...

Apple is a marketing company, not a technology company. They have brazenly stolen others ideas and (quite successfully) marketed them.

That's a ludicrous conclusion. If they're to be reduced to something other than a technology company, then let them be an industrial design firm. While everyone else is concentrating on specs and feature bullet lists, Apple seems to this day to be the only company focusing on UI and usability. Their goal is to make things that people enjoy using - ignoring the specs and feature bullet lists - and sell bazillions of them.

There are already smartwatches on the market. Check out Samsung's product page: Powered by Google Android Wear! 1.63" Super AMOLED® display!. Now check out Apple's product page, which focuses on its design. Even the technology page describes how each feature should make you want to have one.

Non-geek people I know couldn't care less about a 1.63" Super AMOLED® display. They understand why they'd like to "glimpse the weather forecast, check out what’s next on your calendar, or find your current location on a map". You can probably do the same things with a Samsung, but know knows? They'd rather tell you about which OS is installed on the thing.

Actually, most SSDs support SMART and/or have their own monitoring system. Unless you're buying bargain basement SSDs, most of them have perfectly servicable lifecycle management.

(Purely as an example, here's Samsung's listing of the SMART attributes in their SSDs: http://www.samsung.com/global/...)

That said, yes. When SSDs get the "computer will no longer boot to the OS" point of their lifecycle, you're a lot less likely to be able to recover any information. But, like magnetic disks, by the time you get to that point, you've generally been ignoring other symptoms.

You're dealing with nontechnical folks at both ends... You want ease of use and commercial customer support

Easy answer: Smart TV w/ Skype camera. Here's Samsung's version

Some of the Samsung SSD drives have encryption since 2009. I don't use it because one has to setup the ATA password to enable it, and does not feel as secure. http://www.samsung.com/global/...

Let's see where we can put these reservoirs. If we calculate the required amount of water X height, we find that the reservoirs need to cover 80% of the United States. That's right, you can power the country by putting most of it underwater. And that's with magical solar panels that are free.

I call bullshit. Show your work.

Actually, since you're obviously just going to make shit up, I'll do it for you.

So I go here and plug in 916.6666 total watts per hour, giving me the 22 kWh/day it says on my power bill this month. Then I fill in 24 hours per day for the time I expect my equipment to run. Then I fill in a 48 Volt system voltage. Then I say I want 5 full days of backup capacity, so no sun for five days straight, 120 hours of battery capacity. Then I fill in 820 amp hours for this battery and the calculator spits out a number: I need 12 batteries that capacity. Looking at the data sheet, we discover that each of those batteries is 4516.875 cubic inches, for a grand total of 54202.5 cubic inches, which is 31.3672 cubic feet. Which, as luck would have it, is almost exactly the capacity of this refrigerator.

So in order to power my house in summer months, complete with the lights, appliances, computers, and the air conditioner I have today, for five whole days, I need approximately one refrigerator worth of lead acid batteries. Which will handily fit in a corner of my basement.

80% of the US under water? Bullshit. Try an extra fridge in every house. A ~$12600+charge controller+shipping fridge.

It isn't impossible to be 100% solar. Just expensive.

It doesn't have a cellular radio and neither do that tablets.

Tons of tablets have cellular radios. You have no idea what you're talking about.

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Touch-e-Reader-Touch-Screen-3G-Special-Offers/dp/B005890G8O
https://www.apple.com/pr/libra...
http://www.samsung.com/uk/cons...

put down the joint and re-read my post, very very slowly.

The warranty covers 10 years or 150TBW whichever comes first. This should be fine for private use (150TB written over 10 yrs = 40GBW/day) but YMMV.

    http://www.samsung.com/global/...

To be fair, the Nexus wireless charging pads suck. Samsung's are better, as they tend to be phone-sized, which makes for much easier alignment. http://www.samsung.com/us/mobi...

Lol, Ebay charger £1, Apples charger £15:

Apple 5w usb plug charger

eBay 5w usb plug charger

LOLer - Samsung USB charger £20

1TB of writes per day to an SSD probably isn't a normal usage scenario for your average consumer. Samsung for example claims that the average consumer writes no more than 10GB/day to an SSD:

The 840 Series demonstrates impressive lifespan results under industry-standard methods of simulating real-world use-cases. BAPCo's SYSMARK, a third party benchmarking tool, shows a 20 year lifespan under a moderate workload consisting of 35% random writes. Applying JEDEC's testing methodology, the minimum lifespan is 7 years, despite an extremely severe workload containing 75% random writes. Keep in mind that these testing scenarios, especially the JEDEC workload, are used primarily for enterprise computing applications (e.g. workstations, servers). Under consumer workloads (internally estimated not to exceed 10GB/day for most users) and more appropriate testing scenarios, the 840 Series will show considerably better endurance numbers.

(emphasis mine)

Certainly a page on Apple's website explaining this would be useful.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts...

http://www.samsung.com/us/supp...

http://www.htc.com/www/support...

but still everyone is going to say how people don't read emails from companies....

In the last ignorant rant about this posted just a day or so before this story, it was pointed out that their provider DID in fact send them an email that told them what they had to do when they switched phones.

At some point, the user has to actually pay attention to what they are doing and put some personal effort into it.

Ok, correction.

So, she's suing because she's too clueless to figure out how to deactivate iMessage support on her number?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS...

http://www.samsung.com/us/supp...

Both Apple and Samsung have clear solutions to this if anyone cares to ask. How is that worthy of a lawsuit?

Go to the website and do it there?

Samsung has a nice right up on how to resolve the problem using any number of methods:

http://www.samsung.com/us/supp...

Have you people not heard of Google?

Doesn't work reliably. My sister has gone through the process twice and it still tries to iMessage her. I have a couple other friends experiencing the same issue. The only thing I have seen reliably work is to sign into iMessage on another device (mac included) and disable. Changing the iTunes password and other such tricks seem to be a crap shoot.

Go to the website and do it there?

Samsung has a nice right up on how to resolve the problem using any number of methods:

http://www.samsung.com/us/supp...

Have you people not heard of Google?

Apple has no idea how to fix it, but Samsung has several.

Amazing that. I wonder if Apple will post the same support article in 6-12 months time and sue Samsung for patent infringement.

Go to the website and do it there?

Samsung has a nice right up on how to resolve the problem using any number of methods:

http://www.samsung.com/us/supp...

Have you people not heard of Google?

I don't expect that $16.5B worth of facebook stock will be worth much in another couple years.

Quick glance I thing 3 Billion in stock, and if the merger fails 1 Billion in Facebook Class A common stock
http://www.forbes.com/sites/br...

I hope Facebook fails as well, I don't wish to be forced into a facebook account to to complete another company's (Samsung) setup.
SamSung says it's much easier to use a HDTV if you have a Facebook account - this is a HDTV that monitors your every move (channel wise),
it also has the ability for a web cam for gestures, Their ToS and PrivacyPolicy reads like a Mark Zuckerberg wet dream.
http://www.samsung.com/us/comm...

We've been able to quantify air pressure with a smart phone for a while now. One of the more popular android phones, the galaxy s3 has a barometer in it.

The Galaxy Note has a 5.3" screen, according to the specs. Unless there's some other one that I don't know about?

Galaxy Note is a series of devices, all of which use stylus input. You linked to the phone, which is the smallest device in the line (barring the Gear watch, which is often marketed as a companion device to the Galaxy line). Devices in the Note line are also available as 8 inch and 10 inch tablets (Wikipedia, Samsung).

I'm interested mostly because I used to use a Palm, and I like stylus devices. Incidentally, the Note 3 phone has a screen almost identical to an index card, which is nice (if you use 3x5 cards for notes). I asked about your size preference because I would like a roughly A4/US Letter sized tablet, but they don't seem to be readily available currently. If you're like me and looking for even larger than 10 inches, I will also point out that Samsung is rumored to be announcing a 12.3 inch Galaxy Note within days (article).

The Galaxy Note has a 5.3" screen, according to the specs. Unless there's some other one that I don't know about?

Galaxy Note is a series of devices, all of which use stylus input. You linked to the phone, which is the smallest device in the line (barring the Gear watch, which is often marketed as a companion device to the Galaxy line). Devices in the Note line are also available as 8 inch and 10 inch tablets (Wikipedia, Samsung).

I'm interested mostly because I used to use a Palm, and I like stylus devices. Incidentally, the Note 3 phone has a screen almost identical to an index card, which is nice (if you use 3x5 cards for notes). I asked about your size preference because I would like a roughly A4/US Letter sized tablet, but they don't seem to be readily available currently. If you're like me and looking for even larger than 10 inches, I will also point out that Samsung is rumored to be announcing a 12.3 inch Galaxy Note within days (article).

The Galaxy Note has a 5.3" screen, according to the specs. Unless there's some other one that I don't know about?

This is true. They don't need an always on connection, but you may need a firmware update to play a "new" disc. It's the reason my only bluray player is a PS3 (it very likely sucks more power to play a disc, but it's very likely to get an update, and very unlikely to be hardware constrained or unable to support an update).

Most likely, your old player didn't support the "latest-and-greatest" DRM crap so you had to update. And, fortunately, your player had the update available... You could have been left in the cold.

Quoted from the first link:
One of the main reasons include copy protection. The Blu-ray format utilizes a variety of copy protection methods such as DRM (Digital Rights Management) and AACS (Advanced Access Content System) to prevent Blu-ray Disc movies from being pirated.

What Is Firmware And Why Are Updates Needed? : Bluray Players ...

A quote from the second link:
Sometimes, manufacturers just stop supporting their products, even models only a few years old.

Blu-ray Player Firmware Upgrade Issues | HD Guru

MOTOROLA STRONGLY RECOMMENDS AGAINST ALTERING A PRODUCT'S OPERATING SYSTEM, WHICH INCLUDES UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER, ROOTING A DEVICE OR RUNNING ANY OPERATING SOFTWARE OTHER THAN THE APPROVED VERSIONS ISSUED BY MOTOROLA AND ITS PARTNERS. SUCH ALTERATIONS MAY PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR PRODUCT, CAUSE YOUR PRODUCT TO BE UNSAFE AND/OR CAUSE YOUR PRODUCT TO MALFUNCTION. IN SUCH CASES, NEITHER THE PRODUCT NOR ANY DAMAGE RESULTING THEREFROM WILL BE COVERED BY THIS WARRANTY.

Read the Samsung Smart TV Manual's Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and you'll see, "Carefully read the terms and conditions to use Samsung Account...". Read the Privacy Policy and you'll see, "We collect such information to help us identify users' browsing preferences. This information is used for internal purposes so that we can carry out research on user demographics, behavior and interests."

I prefer my 2560x1600 screens in 10" form factor. 27"+ needs to be at least 3840x2160.

I prefer my 3840x2400 screens in 22" form factor. 27"+ needs to be... I dunno, something bigger.

On the bright side, modern 4k displays do have better frame-rate and more convenient inputs than the old beast.

I prefer my 2560x1600 screens in 10" form factor. 27"+ needs to be at least 3840x2160.

Samsung America has more employees in the USA than Apple does. However, as long as people think of Samsung as a Korean company...

Bullshit. At the end of 2011, Samsung had 21,531 employees in the Americas (mostly in the USA, see page 58). Around the same time (February 2012), Apple had 50,250 direct employees in the U.S.

Straight from the horses' mouths.

1. Create an enterprise hardened version of Android

Samsung did this already. It's called Knox. As most Android vendors have discovered, competing with Samsung is a losing proposition.

3. Provide a compatibility layer/VM for existing Blackberry apps on their devices

If that could easily be done, they would have done it for BB 10. And honestly, can you name one BlackBerry app worth having that doesn't exist on Android already? Ironically, BB did build Android compatibility into BB 10... but it apparently hasn't made the platform any more popular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8ujrNWSwf8 Looks like BMX endorse wheelies and bunnyhops
Even back in 1981 in partnership with Mountain Dew http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2fDdhnCKLg

My washing machine says you can wash shoes. My dryer even has an optional shoe rack attachment so you can dry them without having them bang around inside.

Samsung says you can wash shoes. http://answers.us.samsung.com/answers/7463/product/WF410ANR/samsung-4-3-cu-ft-washer-questions-answers/questions.htm

I think you picked some poor examples there.

Not only were there Microsoft watches previously, but there are currently Android watches, Apple watches (slightly discontinued), and a Microsoft table platform that used to be called Surface. They definitely have plans to take over walls, but so far that's still limited to projector-powered prototypes at Microsoft Research as far as I know.

You'd think ComputerWorld would know better...

It's not 128 GB (gigabytes), it's 128 Gb (gigabits) of capacity.

"128 gigabit (Gb) density in a single chip..." - Samsung press release

No no no. Please read carefully. The ComputerWorld article says that the final device ("once used to create embedded memory and solid-state drives") can have from 128GB to 1TB of storage. However the article states erroneously "Samsung's new V-NAND offers a 128 bit density in a single chip".

It's not 128 GB (gigabytes), it's 128 Gb (gigabits) of capacity.

"128 gigabit (Gb) density in a single chip..." - Samsung press release

Samsung has a similar application: http://findmymobile.samsung.com/login.do, it's being around for a while now.

I would think that an eight core processor might make sense for a high end smartphone; you could have four cores with scalable clock speed for high performance computing (gaming, video editing, etc.) and switch to four low-power cores on the fly, which will still multitask very well but will conserve power. If only any smartphone manufacturer would introduce such a beast.

Cost is a far more important factor in smartphones (even the high end) than performance. Paying for 8 cores when you only use 4 is just plain idiotic. You could just get a more power efficient 4 core setup and have done with it. Most of the 4 core systems can quite happily scale power levels up and down with utilization, so using 8 cores to achieve 4 cores with adjustable power consumption is, as stated, idiotic.

I would think that an eight core processor might make sense for a high end smartphone; you could have four cores with scalable clock speed for high performance computing (gaming, video editing, etc.) and switch to four low-power cores on the fly, which will still multitask very well but will conserve power. If only any smartphone manufacturer would introduce such a beast.

I must admit, seeing this article made me go check out their site. They made this massive organic publicity through the Streisand effect.

Hmm..

I agree I too checked out their site. It indeed added value to my life and would recommend casually to a friend or fellow slash dot user to join me there

I must admit, seeing this article made me go check out their site. They made this massive organic publicity through the Streisand effect.

Hmm..

I agree I too checked out their site. It indeed added value to my life and would recommend casually to a friend or fellow slash dot user to join me there

I must admit, seeing this article made me go check out their site. They made this massive organic publicity through the Streisand effect.

Last time you bought your PC was the clockspeed of the GPU listed in the specs sheet? Does this MacBook Air page say the GPU clockspeed? Nope. Does this Apple iPhone page say anything about the GPU clockspeed? Zilch. Nada. If the Samsung Galaxy S4 specs say Samsung Exynos 5 Octa SOC then you go to Samsung Electronics, the manufacturer of the SOC, and see the spec sheet or brochure. Which is what I did.

You come back to me with a GPU clock speed quote that comes from actual Samsung literature and not a benchmark app or a source-less web page, and then we'll talk some more.

Sure. Here is the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa flyer.

It's there on page 2. PowerVR SGX544 MP3 533 MHz GPU.

I have a Samsung B2710 (also available in the US from Amazon) that has a similar rating and is also impact-resistant. (Various tests have been carried out on this phone.) It's great for those who don't need a smartphone.

Mine has survived a few years of somewhat extreme travel, including meteorite search expeditions in the heat of the desert of Oman.

I'm in the market for a new TV. Since I'm very, very old, I'm upgrading from a 25-year-old CRT TV, and I don't think I care much about 4K. I'm prone to VR sickness, so I don't want 3D, either.

I realize that I probably can't count on my next TV lasting 25 years. But why on Earth would I want my media box built into my television, so that following the curve of technological advancement means pitching the entire huge TV into the waste stream?

Samsung TV's have upgradable motherboards so you can upgrade the hardware that drives the smart tv functions independently of the rest of the box.
http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/accessories/SEK-1000/XY?subsubtype=accessories

I'm not a big Samsung fan, but that's your answer.