8 best NFC smartphones based on Android, Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry

In the current smartphone market, no doubt NFC has been a very important feature for a good smartphone. NFC technology has been poised to reach critical mass, at least in the U.S., for years now. The NFC could enable everything from using your phone as a digital wallet, serving as a secure and convenient method of identification, to even unlocking your home's front door. Nearly all top-rated smartphones, except iPhone 5, come with NFC circuitry baked right in. Today, I would like to list some smartphones that have been considered to be the best NFC smartphones in the smartphone market currently.

HTC Droid DNA (Verizon)

Unquestionably the best Droid device Verizon has ever sold, the HTC Droid DNA is much more than a mobile fire-breather. Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, the DNA also uses NFC for easy Bluetooth pairing. The handset has built-in Qi wireless charging, too.

Update of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for Samsung Galaxy S III Is Now Available

For a long time period, people were waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S III and finally it got released days ago. All features of Samsung Galaxy S III are considered perfect, though it is only operating on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. If those people who are OS-addicted, the Android 4.0 ICS might be not enough. However, the Samsung does not disappoint its fans and supporters by announcing the update availability of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for Galaxy S III. Samsung has been prepared to commit to releasing a timely update of OS on Galaxy S III ever since the Jelly Bean was announced. And now, Samsung has made it possible for you to update your Galaxy S III to Jelly Bean.

Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update new features:
Project Butter - smoother UI animations with higher frame rate
Google Now
Offline voice typing support
Better notification area with expandable notifications
Better Settings organization
Two different modes for home screen behavior
Resizable pop-up play window
S Note app replaces S Memo
Faster web browser

Sadly, the update will cost you your official Flash support, but at least for now you still get the option to side-load a modified Flash apk if it's a must-have for you.

We have all known the great performance of Samsung flagships operating on ICS. When the company allows users to update the flagships to the latest and greatest 4.1 Jelly Bean, we can imagine how great the phone performance would be.

By the way, for certain owners of the Samsung GALAXY Tab 2 (7.0) or the Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1, some good news has arrived - the OTA Android 4.1.1 update for both tablets has been made available. If you're rocking the GT-P3100 or the GT-N8000, all you need to do is follow the directions for each tablet. Before you start, you need to make sure that each device has the proper firmware base. That would be N8000DDALH1 for the Tab 2 7.0 and P3100DDBLH3 for the Note 10.1.

Samsung Introduced Compact MP3 Player W1 for Galaxy S III Exclusively to Realize Music Transition without Using Computer

The Samsung Galaxy S III has been considered to be the most powerful smartphone to compete with Apple iPhone 4S. As the best Android smartphone so far, the Samsung Galaxy S III comes with quite a number of wonderful features to rival with iPhone 4S. It runs on the Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, which produces fast and smooth performance as that of iPhone 4S. Also, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS enables you to experience all advantages of Android OS. The 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED screen display with 1280*720 HD screen resolution lets you freely watch 720P videos on Galaxy S III in quite vivid visual effect. All in all, the Galaxy S III itself performs great in competing with iPhone 4S. But for the accessories of Samsung Galaxy S III, there were quite few impressive ones at the release day of Galaxy S 3. Now, Samsung introduced a compact and sleek MP3 player, namely Samsung MP3 Player W1, to help users share music files seamlessly between the Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung MP3 Player W1 with hassle-free drag and drop.

This pebble Samsung MP3 Player W2 sports very soft and smooth feel for handling. It is quite easy to ware. Its internal 4GB memory storage could provide you with fingertip-access to about 1,000 songs on the move, which also means you can store over 17 hours of music for enjoying on your long boring trip. With audio codec supported in MP3, WMA, Ogg and FLAC, you have store songs in different formats. It provides both shuffle and normal modes to let you choose to listen to your favourite albums in order, or your favourite songs in a random sequence. Unlike other mobile devices which need to connect to computer to transfer music files for sharing, just like iTunes or other data transfer tools, you can freely transfer music files between MP3 Player W1 and Galaxy S III by using the phone connector. The below picture shows the full specifications of this MP3 Player W1:

“Samsung MP3 Player W1 presents a great option for outdoor enthusiasts who want an ultra-wearable MP3 player that combines style and power, as well as an easy way to transfer music between phone and player while on the go.” said Seong-Eun Kim, VP and Head of Global Product Planning Group at Samsung.

Samsung MP3 Player W1 is available in Pebble Blue and Marble White.

Samsung Galaxy S III shipment delay due to “overwhelming demand and limited supply” resolved

Sprint had warned last week that delivery of the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone would be delayed because of "overwhelming demand and limited supply." Around the same time, AT&T and Amazon distributor BluTekUSA announced the same.

It appears Samsung Electronics wasn't quite prepared for the wild popularity of its mobile phone. The smartphone-maker has said it was expecting to sell more than 10 million units in the first two months of sale, according to Reuters. Delays in shipping this device may have cost the company 2 million units of sale in just one month.

The Galaxy S III went on sale on May 29 but was quickly confronted with a couple-week shortage on shipments of the "pebble blue" version of the phone. Now, the devices are finally starting to hit stores. Samsung told Reuters that the delay has been fixed and the company is now up to speed in meeting demand.

"It is simply that demand far exceeded our expectation. But that doesn't mean we had set a very conservative demand forecast," Samsung told Reuters.

The timing for the release of Samsung's newest smartphone couldn't be better since the iPhone 5 won't be coming out for a few more months, according to Reuters.

"Samsung might have been caught off guard by the demand, not because they did not believe in their own products, but because they might have over-estimated the competition," Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi told Reuters. "In other words, aside from the iPhone and HTC's One X, there's not much out there at the moment, which would have certainly helped Samsung."

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57461162-94/samsung-resolves-galaxy-s-iii-shipping-delays/

iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S III – To wait for the iPhone 5 or to buy Samsung Galaxy S III

"The Samsung Galaxy S III (S3) is a great phone, but should I wait for the iPhone 5 instead?" This question is quite common for all people who would like to buy a new phone. The Samsung Galaxy S III has been released this month via five carriers, while the iPhone 5 is still about to come. In some ways, the answers are obvious upon your preference. If you prefer one OS over another, have a Mac at home, or need a phone right now. However, if not, there's a lot to like about each platform's superphone, and we can't make your decision for you. So here's what we'll do. We're going to break it down by some of the phone features that we think could help you to decide.

Design: The GS3 also features a Gorilla Glass 2 cover. When it comes to first-class materials, Apple has Samsung beat. That is, if you like glass on both sides of your handset and an industrial look and feel. With the Galaxy S3, Samsung unabashedly sticks to its plastic preference, but has managed to make it look and feel sleeker and more desirable than its past Galaxy S devices.

Size is the other issue. Rumors point to an iPhone 5 with a larger screen, but an only slightly taller profile. Apple's phone would still fit in the hand about the same way. Compare this with the Galaxy S3, which dwarfs the iPhone 4S. We like its smooth, comfortable feel, but some people will simply find it too large.

Screen: Apple has made it abundantly clear that it's obsessed with screen quality. And now that the MacBook Pro is sporting a Retina Display, it's safe to assume the next iPhone will be equipped with the same technology, with which users could even enjoy Blu-ray movies on iPhone 5.

Though the iPhone 4S has the brighter and sharper display of the two phones, the Galaxy S3's HD Super AMOLED display has richer color contrast. Plus its 4.8’ large screen display, thus to watch HD videos on Galaxy S III will also be not inferior to that of iPhone 5. Some argue that the S3's AMOLED screen technology oversaturates, and in some cases we do find that to be true.

Camera: Apple is never one to pass up a chance to lift smartphone camera standards and some rumors about an interchangeable lens and a high-definition front-facing camera would call for another camera showdown. For now, the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 4S offer the same amount of megapixels, high dynamic range, and zero shutter lag. Thus, we have reason to believe the iPhone 5 would get improvement in camera to bring better camera experience. But if you want something featured-packed, the GS3 has a lot of options. True, we don't know what sort of services the new iPhone will offer, but the GS3 already has panoramic shooting, burst shot, two sharing modes, and other fun shooting settings like "cartoon" (a la "A Scanner Darkly") and "beauty" (a la this-is-not-real-life).

Processor: Samsung and Qualcomm teamed up to put a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor in the Galaxy S3, which makes it one of the fastest phones in the U.S. Apple is all about advancing its processors with each succeeding model. Rumor is that Apple will promote the 4S' A5 chip to a faster A5X chip. However, don't get too caught up in processor specs (after all, quad-core prowess is still shrouded in myth).

Data speeds：The Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple iPhone 5 will be evenly matched once the iPhone comes along with its expected (and anticipated!) 4G LTE support. Just keep in mind that not every carrier supports LTE (like Sprint and T-Mobile), and some networks are faster than others.

Availability: Both the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 will be easy to get. The Galaxy S3 will be available on T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, U.S. Cellular, and even C Spire (a regional carrier.) Apple will surely let its carrier-partner gravy train keep rolling with the Big Four, and (way later) down the line, it could also pass the iPhone 5 to Cricket and Virgin Mobile, following by taking the iPhone 4 and 4S prepaid.

Price: In the U.S., the Samsung Galaxy S3 is starting on-contract at $199.99 for the 16GB and $249.99 for the 32GB model (it'll differ by carrier.) As for the iPhone, the 4S on a designated network has a retail price of $199.99 for the 16GB model, $299.99 for the 32GB model, and $399.99 for its 64GB model. And, if the rumors prove true, the newest generation won't be any cheaper.  

Whether or not a phone is right for you depends on a whole bushel of personal values, but the bottom line is that when you compare the main features and specs, you can get the best out of the phones provided.