SmartSupport - StarHub's Latest Value-Added Service

StarHub recently launched their latest value-added service called Smart Support.

So what is SmartSupport all about?

SmartSupport provides the following:

1. Technical Support
2. Data Protection
3. Device Replacement

You can read more information from this link.

After using the service for a month, so what I love about it?

1. Easy to use - No set up is required. Just need to download the Smart Support App, available from both Apple App Store or Android Play Store. Start the app, set up an account and the app will start the rest on its own.

2. The Auto Back-Up Function of the phone's contacts, photos and videos. The back-up is saved in a secure cloud which can be easily retrieved from the Smart Support Website. Who still sync and does back up of their phone to their PC in these days? Please note that only the phone's information is back up, not those information saved in the SD card.

3. There is a Locate function, for this who always misplaces their phone. Once logged into the Smart Support, you can see the last location of the phone, or you can activate an alarm from the phone. The alarm can be sound even the phone is set on silent mode. If there is not access to internet, you can call the Technical Support hot-line to activate the alarm.

4. Device replacement for lost phone within a certain time frame. This is good for those who always seems to lose their phone. The service allows up to 2 phone replacement in a year. However there is a fee for the phone replacement.

So what do I find this service not attractive?

1. The monthly subscription can be confusing. There is SmartSupport Plus and SmartSupport Basic and it is price differently depending on the phone model. You can only subscribe to this service at the point of purchase. Once you walk out of the shop with the new phone, you will not be allowed to subscribe to this service.

2. With free apps providing anti-virus protection and back up services, this might not appeal to experienced users, especially those who do not lose their phones.

I think SmartSupport value-added service can be offered as a trial or time-limited free service to new subscribers and those who reconstruct their phone lines. So they can try the value-added service on their own, and determine if they like to continue to use the service.

So are you using the StarHub's SmartSupport service now? What are your thoughts on it?

Samsung Galaxy S4 Accessories

With a few more weeks to the launch of the phone, what are the accessories that Samsung came out along with the phone?

Phone Cover

Most of the people would get a cover for their phone, hence it is quite important to have this. Samsung came out with a range of different covers for all, from leather pouch to flip cover, some designs came in a range of colours to choose from. 

However, I am sure once the phone is launched, there will be a lot of different cover designs everywhere.

Wireless Charging Pad / Cover

It seems the latest trend to charge the battery is wireless charging. Samsung came out with a wireless changing pad. To charge the phone, just place the phone on the pad and the charging begins. For me, this is a MUST HAVE! No more messy cables! For those who are always on the go, you can always purchase an extra battery. Just remember to charge it though.

Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) and Body Scale

In the market now, Polar and other health brands came out with their own applications to work with their own HRM to monitor and record the data. Samsung now also want to have a share of this market by coming out their products and applications in the phone. This would come in quite useful for those who like to monitor their health status. For me, I would buy these accessories if the price is right.

The above accessories are from the Samsung website. I am sure they will be coming out a lot more accessories to be used with the phone. So which accessories would you aiming at?

A "looking forward to wireless charging" Polarbear

APPvisor

Recently, I just got my first Android phone. As I moved from an OS to another, I was totally unfamiliar with the new Android OS. I got no clue where to start from with the new OS.

Lucky for me, I found out that Starhub had created a series of Andriod Applications to assist newbies like me to set up my new phone with ease.

The first application (app) that I started off is APPvisor. What is APPvisor? From this app, it is similar to the Andriod Play Store but the contents are localised. It is a good way to start downloading the applications with local content. The starting page of the app had different categories which will lead you to the common and popular apps under that specific category.

If you got no idea what app to look for, you can try Discoverio. Just tap on the gears in the brain, it will random generate some topics which will lead to the applications related to the topic.

In Appvisor, there is a faster way to locate all the popular apps. There are 3 “top” list, Top 25 Paid, Top 25 Free and Starhub Apps. This will be a good starting place to start downloading apps, especially from Top 25 Free list. 

So if you are a Starhub and Andriod phone user, I would recommend that you can try downloading this app first as your first app! 

Below is a list of Starhub created apps that you can download as well.

A "where to start for Android newbie" Polarbear

Samsung Galaxy S4 - Software features

I am very impressed with the software features of Samsung Galaxy S4. I think Samsung really go all way out to win some new fans with this new phone. For me, the software will be the main pull factor for me to lay my hands on one when it is released.

Samsung believed in creating a richer, simpler and fuller life and hence the tagline for Samsung Galaxy S4 is Life Companion. So how are they going to do this? Simple, they created the phone based on 4 statements below, which makes the phone to be useful in your daily life.

1. Daily life is more convenient - Making your life easy and hassle free

a) Air View: Preview videos by hovering your finger above the screen, instant preview and speed dial your contacts

b) Samsung Smart Pause: Recognizes when to pause and play your video

c) Samsung WatchON: Making your living room experience more enjoyable with your smartphone

d) Optical Reader: Recognize information

e) Touch and use with gloves

2. Life becomes more fun - Making life’s everyday moments fun and memorable

a) Group Play: Share music: Use multiple phones as speakers

b) Group Play: Play Games: Play Games with your friends in real time

c) Sound and Shot: Give life to your photos by adding audio

d) Cinema Photo: Animate photos to make them fun and interesting

e) Dual shot: Double the joy with a front and rear camera that can be used simultaneously

f) Dual recording: Create a more personal and dynamic video

3. Relationships grow closer - True connections bringing people closer together

a) ChatON: Dual Video Chat: Simultaneously show surroundings during a video call using both front and rear cameras

b) ChatON: Share screen: Share your screen with friends and family

c) S Translator: Communicate globally anytime, anywhere

4. Wellbeing is cared for - Taking care of your health and quality of life

a) Samsung Adapt Display: View more comfortably with a display optimized for your eyes

b) S Health: Monitor your health, reach goals and share with friends

After previewing what the phone’s capabilities during the launch, most of the features appeal to me, the ones that appeals to me most are as follows:

Camera functions – Gives a new definition of taking group photo or video

Air view – Gives a quick preview

Smart Pause – No need to press pause any more, eye ball tracking technology.

S Translator – A great help when travelling, provided if able to use offline.

The feature that are the least appealing to me is S Health as there are currently a lot of apps which are available and has the same functions. There is a need to buy external devices in order to have full use of the feature. I am sure that this function would use up a lot of battery life like using a pedometer to track the number of steps taken. Can the app track while the phone in sleep mode? I do not think so. Hmm… This needs further testing when I have the phone.

So which is your favorite feature of the phone? Do you think Samsung created a Life Companion phone? I think they did manage to do it and set a pretty high bar for other phones to catch up.

For the full functions of the phone, you can just click on the link here.

A "so many functions in a phone" Polarbear

Samsung Galaxy S4 - Hardware features

Samsung Galaxy 4 is finally unveiled and I believed you have read a lot of reviews or discussions about the phone.

Below are some of my favorite hardware features of the phone:

The screen got larger. From 4.8” to 5”, as compared to S3, yet the size of phone still stayed the same.

It got a slimmer body with premium finish. Its back cover is still made from plastic though, available in 2 colors.

It has a Full HD Super AMOLED display to provide an immersive experience. With 1080 x 1920 pixels (441 ppi pixel density), it provides one of the brightest and clearest screen, bringing the vibrant colours alive.

The cameras got upgraded. The rear camera is a 13-megapixel camera, with flash and high shutter mode. The front camera is a 2-megapixel camera which can be used to control the phone as well. Both cameras will be able to capture video at 1080p@30fps.

In order to enable the phone to operate seamlessly, the phone is equipped with either Exynos 5 Octa 5410 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset. Which processor you will be getting, will depend on where you live in the world. 

The eight core unique design is actually a Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7. The more powerful Cortex-A15 cores will be used to handle the more hungry powered tasked where Cortex-A7 will be used to take care of the simpler task, thus extending the battery life.

The phone will comes with a Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery, 500 mAh bigger than the battery used in S3. This will come in handy with all the upgrades of the phone. As usual, the battery is removable, so you can always carry a spare battery around if you are unable to charge your phone.

In terms of hardware wise, it is comparable to S3 with a few upgrades. In fact, it does look like a S3 with a bigger sceen. So what you think of the hardware specifications for S4?

For the full specifications of the phone, you can just click on the link here.

A "want to lay my hands on this phone" Polarbear

Samsung UNPACKED 2013 Launch Event

The long awaited event finally happened on 14 Mar 2013 (Singapore time 15 Apr 13, 7am)! I watched the live streaming over You Tube, anticipating for the unveiling of the latest member of the Galaxy family, Galaxy S4.

Instead of talking of the phone here, I am going about the launch event itself first.

The event was hosted in New York, Radio City Music Hall. Prior to the event, Samsung had billboards all over New York Time Square to hype up the launch.

The event was carried out in a very Hollywood awards ceremony style. It looks more like an award ceremony than an event to launch a new phone.

The event started where the 2 Samsung teasers advertisement left off.  Jeremy Maxwell “the messager” walking onto the stage with the “Unpacked” box. The host, Will Chase, did a short introduction and introduced J.K Shin, President and Head IT and Mobile Communication Division, who introduced and unveiled the new Samsung Galaxy S4.

From left to right: Will Chase and “Jeremy Maxwell”, J.K Shin and Ryan Bidan

After the phone was unveiled, Shin handed the reins over to Ryan Bidan, Director Of Product Marketing to show what Samsung S4 can do. At this time, the presentation turns into a Broadway show and via singing and acting, it showed what the phone can do.

I will be talking the functions of the phone on a later posting.

Through four very different acts, it did managed to highlight the functions of the phone and how the normal users (like us) to use the phone on a daily basis.

After big fanfare, the show wrapped up and the front of the stage was turned into a big exhibition area for audience to view and play with the phone.

I liked the launch event. From the ad teaser leading the way to the actual launch event, it shows how much effort Samsung put into this launch. It was just not a boring presentation with 1 person talking away about how good the phone was but it showed the functions via an interesting way of song and dance.

After all, they went all the way to New York to do the launch rather than to do it in South Korea instead. I wonder why. Hmm…

So if you missed and want to watch the launch, you can always watch it on You Tube.

Please comment if you like the launch event.

Coming up next, I will be talking about the phone and what are my favorite functions of the phone.

Please note that the pictures are screen captures from the live streaming of the show.

A "excited to see the phone" Polarbear

Be Ready 4 The Next Galaxy

Today is a BIG day for all Samsung fans as they are ready to welcome the latest member of the Galaxy family.  I think all Samsung fans would do anything to get a ticket to the event in New York, so that they can be the first in the world to see, touch and play with the new product. I know I would!

This time round, Samsung is going all way out for this product launch with a BANG, based on the hype created and discussion everywhere about the event. To shed some light on this event, Samsung had created 2 advertisements to “explain” what the event would be about.

The story is based on a young boy named Jeremy Maxwell, who is the secret messenger of SAMSUNG UNPACKED 2013, collected a SPECIAL package from Samsung. Is he going to leak out what is in the box? Watch to find out!

Part  1: (Samsung UNPACKED) Be ready 4 The Next Galaxy

Part  2: (Samsung UNPACKED) Be ready 4 The Next Galaxy

So would you be watching the live streaming of the event at 7am, Singapore time? I know I am! Be sure to log into either Samsung Mobile’s official YouTube channel or Samsung’s official Facebook Live streaming to watch the event.

A "excited about Samsung S4" Polarbear