After a week of using Auto driving App Free, I decided to buy it. Buying it did 3 things:
It’s been a nice couple of weeks with my new phone, the Galaxy S3, SGH-I747M. I can safely say that for most users, part of the fun of setting up a new phone, is trying the new features. I’ve achieved everything I’ve set out to do in customizing so far…Today I cover 2 new features. The notification light, at the top left. ( I hope Rim doesn’t sue Samsung) and Driving mode. In both cases, I enhanced the features with some apps from the App Store.
One of the things I’d missed the most going from my Blackberry to to the Galaxy 1, was that notification light that comes up on the Blackberry when you have new mail or a missed call etc etc. The first Galaxy, didn’t have it. The Galaxy 3 does!
Customizing notification lights has gone into overkill, at least for my needs. ICS comes with some basic controls, but if you want to kick it up a knotch, go to Google Play and check out Light Flow. There is a lite version (free) and a paid for version for $1.99 . I have plenty of bang with the lite version. The paid version has over 200 pre-defined events to chose from. If your big on social apps or need all kinds of notifications, you’ll most likely find what you need with the paid version.
Of course the laws here, require that driving is not done holding a phone. Ok, Safety First! Hence many people have an ear piece. I checked out “Driving Mode” on the new Galaxy 3. Nice try Android, but I need a lot more than that. Driving mode announces your notifications with voice. Not enough for me.
The speaker phone or Bluetooth features also put you on the right side of the law. Since our car is not equipped with Bluetooth yet, I use the speaker phone. With my new app, Auto Answer the Phone, I don’t even have to touch the phone. You can set the amount of rings for auto pick up with the paid version ($1.66). Something I haven’t done yet. So, you just start the app as you get in the car and turn it off on your way out. If you were a real Samsung Maniac, you could configure some NFC tags for the latter!
For $1.99 and $1.66, I may end up getting the full versions as a show of support for the devellopers for both these apps. Let’s see how much I use them.
I waited over 6 months for this? The only thing it’s done so far is reduce my wi-fi connection on the tablet, to stay connected. I looked to see if there was a software tweak that I missed, but didn’t find anything. If anyone can provide me with any support on this, please do!
I am having the same problem with my 7510 Wi-fi tab, after the upgrade, it doesn’t keep it’s wi-fi connection. Everything else on our network is fine. Just the Tablet has issues, and only since the ICS upgrade. There are 5 other wireless users on our network, Mac and PCs, no one else has issues, and this was never an issue on Honeycomb.
I am running ICS on a Galaxy 3, and there is no problem there.
So by habit now, the second I pick up the tablet, I disconnect and re-connect. Despite the fact that this solves my issue, I wonder if there is a fix for this?
Here;s another with WiFi issues,,,
Just a few hours after I wrote the last entry, my better half, informed me that Rogers wasn’t charging upgrade fees last week end if you upgraded to Galaxy 3. With 20 minutes left before closing, I jumped in the car and went to pick up my new phone. Now free, with a 3 year contract.
The phone is everything you read about, I haven’t put it through all of the tests yet. I’m still at the part where you set up the basics to make a new phone functional. Set up emails, configure screens, download basic apps, etc, etc…
Christian, my sales rep at Rogers took my old 16g micro chip, put it in the phone, activated the new sim card and started to prepare the paperwork. While he waved the $35 activation fee, I logged into my Google account and Bingo, my contacts transferred over in less than 30 seconds. Nice feature! My text messages did not carry over automatically, but there are apps for that. It’s on my to do list.
The Camera, is an 8 megapixels with a 4X zoom. The front camera is at 1.9 megapixels. That will provide a better Skype experience than my Tablet. Not that I Skype a lot, but I will probably use my phone over my Tablet if I do. The Galaxy 1 didn’t have a front facing camera, so I would use my Tablet.
Size does matter. This phone sports one of the largest smartphones screens presently, and right now, I am very happy with that. Speed matters too. I note a difference running LTE. If you like a smaller phone, this isn’t for you. I’ve done well with it in my front pocket, most of the week.
You would be proud of me! I didn’t accessorize to the hilt! I walked out of the store with only one accessory. I am a strong believer of protective cases and after spending unnecessary money in the past, I just bought the top of the line. My phone armour is the Otter DEFENDER SERIES. Some would say it’s a little heavy and bulky, but so is the Galaxy S 3. Part of the Otter package, is a belt clip on. So far this hasn’t happened for me. The clip on is still sitting in the box. I did give it a try, but it’s not for me. It’s a personal preference, the clip on is actually very well made and safe . $68.00 at Rogers. You can do better if you shop around.
I’ve been reading about NFC and a friend of mine also has a Galaxy 3. I’m looking forward to playing around with this. This is the part where you tap phones to transfer multimedia such as playlists and pictures etc. You can see it in the commercial.
OS wise I’ve gone from Gingerbread on my old Galaxy 1 to ICS on the Galaxy 3. I see the American Samsung users already have a Galaxy 3 Jelly Bean upgrade available. It will be interesting to see how long the wait is for this upgrade in Canada. Samsung has also enhanced the hardware portion. You can read the specs from my previous post. As happy as I was with my Galaxy 1, this is a notable difference in all respects. Here is something that applies to most technology.
Hardware pushes software and software pushes hardware. With an old Toy, like the Galaxy 1, at the end, I had noted my phone was much slower. A couple of times I removed many apps I suspected of slowing down my processes. Software was pushing my old phone. It wasn’t designed to perform effectively with how the new apps were designed to do. The same is true with my new phone. Nothing stumps it. a new processor, gobs of ram, it takes a lot to slow it down. Actually, it hasn’t slowed down yet!
As for my old phone, it will become my portable, wireless, Samsung music player. I’ve never been fond of managing my music with ITunes, but like most folks I have a Ipod. An old Ipod. I will be happy to retire it to my antique paraphernalia shelf and start using the Samsung Galaxy 1 as my portable media device. Yes I could use my new phone for that too, but I like to park my media player at the living room sound system.
With a new OS on my 7510 Tablet and the new Galaxy S 3 phone, there should be lot’s to discuss. Over the next few weeks I will report back on transfering to my new phone, and some of the new features most talked about and how I’m using my Galaxy S 3.