Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 vs Apple iPad mini vs Google Nexus 7: Specs comparison

Whether you are an admirer of 7 or 8 inch tablet devices, or don't really care about these particular screen sizes, the leading mobile gear makers decided that there is a market niche to be won here, and with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 everyone will have a dog in the small tablet fight this season.

We are pitting Samsung's latest Note family member against its most formidable opponents - the Apple iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7 small affordable slates. While we don't have much details on price and availability for the Note 8.0 rather than Q2 in Europe and Asia, the other two have been around for a while, so you can have a look how they stack up in the table below.

It's immediately clear that Samsung has placed a lot of effort to make its tablet as slim and light as possible, considering that it also has to house the S Pen silo and the stylus itself. The Note 8.0 is in fact slimmer and a tad lighter than the Nexus 7, despite being the slate with the largest screen of the bunch. Its resolution is actually the same as that of the Nexus 7, with a slightly lower pixel density because of the screen size. Note 8.0 also has the immediately recognizable styling of the Galaxy family with its rounded corners, looking like a larger Note II.

As far as processing power goes, the 1.6 GHz Exynos 4 Quad Cortex-A9 CPU might not be at the fastest edge of ARM's technology, but it would surely be more than enough to handle anything Android throws at it. Moreover, Samsung's tablet is the best of the bunch memorywise, sporting 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, as well as a microSD slot for more, which the other two don't have.

When we add the generous 4, 600 mAh battery and the myriad of productivity options added by the S Pen stylus and the accompanying software, it seems that Samsung has nailed it in terms of specs as usual, so the only thing remaining is to get one for a review to check out the performance side as well.

DESIGN
Phone functionality	Yes
OS	Android (4.1.2) TouchWiz UI	iOS (6.1, 6)	Android (4.2.2, 4.2.1, 4.2, 4.1.2, 4.1.1, 4.1)
Dimensions	8.30 x 5.35 x 0.31 inches (210.8 x 135.9 x 7.95 mm)	7.87 x 5.30 x 0.28 inches (200 x 134.7 x 7.2 mm)	7.81 x 4.72 x 0.41 inches (198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm)
Weight	11.92 oz (338 g) the average is 4.3 oz (123 g)	11.01 oz (312 g) the average is 4.3 oz (123 g)	11.99 oz (340 g) the average is 4.3 oz (123 g)
Design features	Stylus
Colors		Black, White

DISPLAY
Physical size	8.0 inches	7.9 inches	7.0 inches
Resolution	1280 x 800 pixels	1024 x 768 pixels	1280 x 800 pixels
Pixel density	189 ppi	162 ppi	216 ppi
Technology	TFT	IPS LCD	IPS LCD

BATTERY
Stand-by time			12.5 days (300 hours) the average is 17 days (411 h)
Video playback			9.00 hours
Capacity	4600 mAh		4325 mAh
Type		Li - Polymer	Li - Polymer
Not user replaceable	Yes	Yes	Yes

HARDWARE
System chip	Exynos 4 Quad	Apple A5	NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L
Processor	Quad core, 1600 MHz, ARM Cortex-A9	Dual core, 1000 MHz, ARM Cortex-A9	Quad core, 1200 MHz, ARM Cortex-A9
Graphics processor	Yes	PowerVR SGX543MP2	ULP GeForce @ 416MHz
System memory	2048 MB RAM	512 MB RAM	1024 MB RAM (1333 MHz) / LPDDR3
Built-in storage	16 GB	16 GB	8 GB
Storage expansion	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC up to 64 GB

CAMERA
Camera	5 megapixels	5 megapixels
Aperture size		F2.4
Features	Auto focus, Geo tagging	Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Auto focus, Touch to focus, Digital image stabilization, Geo tagging
Camcorder	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)
Features		Video calling, Digital image stabilization	Video calling
Front-facing camera	1.3 megapixels	1.2 megapixels	Yes
Video capture		1280x720 (720p HD)

MULTIMEDIA
Music player
Filter by	Album, Artist, Playlists	Album, Artist, Genre, Playlists	Album, Artist, Playlists
Features	Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback
Supported formats	MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, FLAC, WMA	MP3, AAC, eAAC, WAV, M4A (Apple lossless)	MP3
Video playback
Supported formats	MPEG4, H.263, H.264, DivX, WMV	MPEG4, H.264, Motion JPG, AVI, MOV	MPEG4, H.263, H.264
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Stereo speakers
Streaming	Audio, Video	Audio, Video	Audio, Video
YouTube player	Yes		Yes

TECHNOLOGY
GSM	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
LTE		700 MHz Class 17, 1700/2100 MHz
Data	HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS	LTE Cat3 Downlink 100 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS	HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS
nano-SIM		Yes
Global Roaming	Yes
Positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass	A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS
Navigation	Yes		Yes

CONNECTIVITY
Bluetooth	4.0	4.0	3.0
Wi-Fi	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz	802.11 a, b, g, n
Wi-Fi Direct	Yes
USB	USB 2.0	Yes	USB 2.0
Connector		Proprietary	microUSB
Features		USB charging	USB Host
Headphones connector	3.5mm	3.5mm	3.5mm
Charging connector		Proprietary	microUSB

AVAILABILITY
Officially announced	24 Feb 2013	23 Oct 2012	27 Jun 2012
Scheduled release	Q2 2013 (Official)

-Via Phonearena

Samsung overtakes Apple as top 'smart connected device' vendor in 2012

Via Appleinsider

Fresh data from IDC shows that Samsung surpassed Apple in collective PC, portable PC, tablet and smartphone shipments for 2012, with the Korean outfit moving 250 million devices over the 12 month period. 

Source: IDC

Overall, the segment, which IDC calls "smart connected devices," reached shipments of 367.7 million units in the last quarter of 2012, up 28.3 percent from one year ago. For the entire year, the firm's Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker saw manufacturers ship a staggering 1.2 billion devices, a 29.1 percent uptick from 2011.

Driving the shift toward the so-called smart connected devices were Apple and Samsung, which combined took a 41.3 percent share of the market in the December quarter. While Apple was the previous number one vendor, taking a large portion of smartphone sales and being largely uncontested in the tablet arena, Samsung edged out the Cupertino, Calif., company by a little over 3 million shipped units for the last quarter of 2012. 

Samsung took 21.2 percent of the smart connected device market on shipments of 77.9 million, up 86 percent from the year ago quarter. By comparison, Apple's marketshare grew by 29.7 percent over the same period to hit 20.3 percent of the market on shipments of 74.8 million units.

"The fourth quarter market share numbers showed a fairly dramatic resurgence for Apple," said Bob O'Donnell, IDC vice president of the Clients and Displays program. "After falling well behind Samsung early in 2012, Apple came roaring back in final quarter of the year thanks to its latest hits – the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini – and reduced the market share gap to less than a single percentage point. The question moving forward will be whether or not Apple can maintain its hit parade against the juggernaut of Samsung."

Coming in a distant third was Lenovo, which managed to net 6.6 percent of the market after shipping 24.3 million devices, a year-over-year change of 47.2 percent. HP and Sony rounded out the top five with unit shipments of 15.1 million and 11.1 million, representing 4.1 percent and 3 percent of the market, respectively. 

For the year, Samsung shipped 250 million units, representing a 119.3 percent year-to-year increase that was fueled in large part by the company's popular smartphone lineup. The iPad's dominance helped Apple stay close in overall numbers as the tablet market enjoyed a growth rate of 78.4 percent, the highest of any smart connected device.

The metrics tell only half the story, however, as shipment values went unreported. In December, IDC found that for the third quarter of 2012, Samsung lead in device volumes, but Apple's high-value products raked in the most cash. At the time, Apple trailed Samsung in quarterly market share by 6.7 percent, compared to the last quarter's 1.9 percent gap.

Morgan Stanley expects 6% dividend, cheaper 'iPhone mini' after meeting with Apple CFO

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty recently met with Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer, and came away with the impression that Apple will likely increase cash return to shareholders, and potentially release a lower priced iPhone to maintain growth.

Huberty, in a note to investors on Friday, said that innovation remains a "top priority" at Apple. That's why she expects Apple to expand the iPhone lineup, and also to introduce new services that can "unlock significant value" and drive device sales.

She noted that demand for the iPhone 4, Apple's current low-end handset offering, was surprisingly strong during the December quarter. With a gross margin of 40 percent and a one-third cannibalization rate, she believes a so-called "iPhone mini" would drive incremental revenue and gross profit.

"The company's approach to product decisions and innovation has not changed in the past several years despite the CEO transition," Huberty wrote. "Making great products remains Apple's core strategy and the company is as confident as ever about the future pipeline of new products and services."

And with Apple's cash balance $40 billion higher than it was in March of 2012, Huberty believes the company will likely return more cash to shareholders. She believes the iPhone maker could match the S&P 500 IT sector's average free cash flow payout of 68 percent.

At that rate, Apple could return $28 billion to shareholders in fiscal year 2013, which would imply a 6 percent total yield on the company's dividend. That would be a major increase over Apple's current $2.65 quarterly dividend, which carries a 2.3 percent yield.

To pay out that higher dividend, Apple could borrow cash. She noted that the amount of Apple's cash overseas has limited the company's flexibility, but this could be addressed by raising low-interest debt.

Morgan Stanley has maintained its "overweight" rating for AAPL stock with a price target of $630.

via Appleinsider

Apple Makes More From iTunes and Accessories Than Most Companies Do From Phones

An analysis by Asymco of Apple's newly-introduced revenue breakdowns claims that Apple made more money from iTunes and accessories sales alone than all other companies except Samsung made from phone sales during the most recent quarter. 

As noted in its latest earnings release for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple's total revenues from iTunes and accessories amounted to over $5.5 billion - ahead of the total phone revenues of each of Nokia, Motorola, Sony, LG, RIM (now rebranded as BlackBerry) and HTC. 

Analysis author Horace Dediu also notes that iTunes may be worth more to Apple than its Mac business within the current year.

" iTunes+Accessories combined is a bigger business in terms of revenues than any of the other phone vendors except Samsung. iTunes is now Apple’s fourth largest business, having overtaken the iPod in revenues two years ago. iTunes growth relative to the Mac means that it could become the third largest business during this year. "

The figures also make iTunes bigger than Microsoft's combined Xbox and Windows Phone divisions. 

Meantime, Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt (via Business Insider) suggests that Apple receives around a billion dollars a year from Google in return for making Google the default search on iOS devices, up roughly tenfold from just three years ago. It had previously been believed that Apple had a revenue-sharing deal with Google, but Devitt believes Apple would have gone for the neater and less risky option of a flat fee per device sold. 

The steep rise in value for the search deal is said to have been driven in part by Microsoft which has been becoming increasingly aggressive about making such deals for its Bing search engine but has yet to secure a partnership with Apple for iOS to make the switch.

Courtesy : Macrumors