[Step666]

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

Not really as the chips usually operate on 1 core, but for gaming or using the 8 cores they wake up and are in use only when needed.

You'd never use all 8 cores simultaneously.
4 of them are low-power cores, they're only used when the handset is idling/not being pushed. Then when needs demand, the 4 main cores are used instead. But it's only ever one set or the other.

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

The question is, will there be an LTE version I can buy that will work with UK frequencies. As I want to buy it in April ready for the LTE launches so I can be first to test (not bothered about EE, looking for 3's budget deals and the low frequency launches).

The LTE variant of the S3 that EE sell supports the 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz LTE bands.
The LTE variant of the Note2 covers all that plus the 900MHz band.

There's no way that Samsung's next flagship handset would be a step back from that, at least not from the S3 - it's possible the 900MHz band would be dropped for UK/European handsets as it's a frequency that almost no networks here use.

[whoever,hey]

Originally Posted by Step666

Android has supported multi-core CPUs since Honeycomb (3.0).

So what? The software running on it has to to benefit from 8 cores. Even desktop PCs only just make use of 4.

Edit....

Originally Posted by Step666

You'd never use all 8 cores simultaneously.
4 of them are low-power cores, they're only used when the handset is idling/not being pushed. Then when needs demand, the 4 main cores are used instead. But it's only ever one set or the other.

Just read this ^. I wonder what benefit this has to just switching to a single other core or a pair.

[Thine Wonk]

Originally Posted by whoever,hey

So what? The software running on it has to to benefit from 8 cores. Even desktop PCs only just make use of 4.

Edit....



Just read this ^. I wonder what benefit this has to just switching to a single other core or a pair.

If the OS is given multiple instances of a process it will and can use more cores for different processes. The very fact that there are multiple things going on will means the cores will be worked by the OS, although the full potential of a very powerful app will only be unlocked if it's coded to take advantage of multicore.

[whoever,hey]

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

If the OS is given multiple instances of a process it will and can use more cores for different processes. The very fact that there are multiple things going on will means the cores will be worked by the OS, although the full potential of a very powerful app will only be unlocked if it's coded to take advantage of multicore.

Yes, i totally understand that. I'm talking about the main app needing to be coded to use the multiple cores.

All the background tasks would hardly even use a core or 2. Leaving the rest for the main app, which DOES need to be coded multithreaded.

[nafanny29]

Maybe with 8 cores I will be able to press "contacts" and have them display in under 5 seconds unlike my S3 LOL

[Step666]

Originally Posted by whoever,hey

So what? The software running on it has to to benefit from 8 cores. Even desktop PCs only just make use of 4.

This:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

If the OS is given multiple instances of a process it will and can use more cores for different processes. The very fact that there are multiple things going on will means the cores will be worked by the OS, although the full potential of a very powerful app will only be unlocked if it's coded to take advantage of multicore.

Even if individual apps don't use multiple cores, doesn't mean there's no benefit.

As for the low-power cores vs switching cores off, it must be something to do with the architecture.
The Exynos 5 Octa follows ARM's big.LITTLE design, there must be a reason why ARM chose to implement that architecture.


edit:

Originally Posted by whoever,hey

All the background tasks would hardly even use a core or 2. Leaving the rest for the main app, which DOES need to be coded multithreaded.

It doesn't work like that.
You don't put all the processes onto one core until it's maxxed-out, you spread everything out across all the cores and that should aid battery life as each core will run at a slower speed and therefore use less power.

[whoever,hey]

Originally Posted by Step666

It doesn't work like that.
You don't put all the processes onto one core until it's maxxed-out, you spread everything out across all the cores and that should aid battery life as each core will run at a slower speed and therefore use less power.

Fair enough then, if the total battery drain ends up less net. That does sound pretty cool if it works out like that. We need something to extend our battery life!

[Step666]

Well, yeah, in theory...

You need to get the code right or it doesn't work.

[PencilBreath]

Originally Posted by nafanny29

Maybe with 8 cores I will be able to press "contacts" and have them display in under 5 seconds unlike my S3 LOL

mine comes up less than a second. the YouTube app is the slowest. to start.

[Scotty2012]

Will this be the best seller of 2013 and will it be more or equally as successful as the S3?

Is anyone here waiting for it or due to upgrade around the time its released? What specs do you want?

[The Lord Lucan]

Which smart phone was actually the best seller of 2012?

[Scotty2012]

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

Which smart phone was actually the best seller of 2012?

Samsung Galaxy S3

[Thine Wonk]

Originally Posted by Scotty2012

Will this be the best seller of 2013 and will it be more or equally as successful as the S3?

Is anyone here waiting for it or due to upgrade around the time its released? What specs do you want?

I want a similar or bigger screen to the S3, 2 gigs of RAM like the international S3 had, and LTE. If it ticks those boxes I'm buying it as soon as it comes out. Wireless charging would be nice, but not a must.

[jabbamk1]

I would want a...

16 core processor
4GB ram + 128GB storage
5inch 4k res screen
41mp camera
4G LTE Advanced

*wakes up*

[Step666]

The international model of the S3 is the i9300, the same (non-LTE) model that is on sale in the UK. It was the US variants and the Korean LTE model that had 2GB of RAM and, in the case of the US handsets, that was down to the difference in the SoC used and how it performs.
That said, the Note2 had 2GB of RAM so it's unlikely that any future Samsung flagship would take a step back from that.

The screen will almost certainly be the 4.99" fullHD S-AMOLED panel that Samsung have shown off.
And LTE is a given.

It's the SoC that raises the biggest questions - I'm not sure it will be the 8-core Exynos5 chip, I think the potential heat it produces is far too high for a phone.

[The Lord Lucan]

Is there any phones currently LTE Advanced compatible ?

Originally Posted by Scotty2012

Samsung Galaxy S3

Where was this confirmed?

[jabbamk1]

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

Is there any phones currently LTE Advanced compatible ?




Where was this confirmed?

Nope, none at the moment.

It was confirmed somewhere, can't remember where. But basically it outsold the 4s in Q2 and 3 i think.

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

Nope, none at the moment.

It was confirmed somewhere, can't remember where. But basically it outsold the 4s in Q2 and 3 i think.

Nicked from Wikipedia:

2012
Samsung Galaxy S III, 96 million sold
Apple iPhone 5, over 54 million sold
Samsung Galaxy Note, 10 million sold
Apple iPhone 4S, 9.5 million sold
Samsung Galaxy Note II, over 8 million sold
Apple iPhone 4, 7.3 million sold

[jabbamk1]

Originally Posted by alan1302

Nicked from Wikipedia:

2012
Samsung Galaxy S III, 96 million sold
Apple iPhone 5, over 54 million sold
Samsung Galaxy Note, 10 million sold
Apple iPhone 4S, 9.5 million sold
Samsung Galaxy Note II, over 8 million sold
Apple iPhone 4, 7.3 million sold

thats totally wrong.

54m is too high for the iPhone 5. They only shipped 48m iPhones combined during 2012 (4,4s,5) since the iPhone 5 was released. (sep-Dec)

And the S3 should be somewhere around 40m at the end of 2012, not 96m.... WTF!

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

thats totally wrong.

54m is the total number of iPhones sold in 2012, not iphone 5's.

And the S3 should be somewhere around 45m, not 96m.... WTF!

Where are you getting your figures from?

[jabbamk1]

Originally Posted by alan1302

Where are you getting your figures from?

Sales reports from Samsung and Apple themselves.

[joshua_welby]

Please Note: No Phone will be fully LTE Compatible until OFCOM's Auction has finished, as the frequencies that the companies will be using after the Auction is not available on current Phones,
if you want a truly LTE Phone you will have to wait until the Auction has finished

LTE Now is in the 1800Mhz band

EE
Three - when they launch from the frequencies they had from EE

LTE Later - in the 800Mhz and 2.4Ghz band - Bidders

BT
EE
Three
O2
Vodaphone
HKT UK
MLL Telecom Ltd

See Here for more information
http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2013/0...ion-under-way/

[IslandNiles]

Those stats above are completely wrong. The iPhone 4S was Apple's flagship phone until September. The idea that it only sold 9.5 million units throughout 2012 is ridiculous. It probably sold at least that many in Q4, despite the iPhone 5 being out.

Sales of the S3 were higher than that of the iPhone for one quarter of 2012. I can't remember if this was worldwide or in the UK, and if the figures were directly comparing the S3 to the iPhone 4S (this was before the iPhone 5's launch) or to all three models of iPhone that were available at that time (3GS, 4, 4S).

As of just over a month ago, Samsung had sold 40m S3s, so the 96 million figure is completely wrong. They announced just over a month ago that they'd sold 100 million units across the Galaxy S line.

Nevertheless, the S4 will be a huge seller.

[Step666]

Originally Posted by joshua_welby

Please Note: No Phone will be fully LTE Compatible until OFCOM's Auction has finished, as the frequencies that the companinies will be using after the Auction is not available on current Phones, if you want a truly LTE Phone you will have to wait until the Auction has finished

That's completely wrong.

Originally Posted by joshua_welby

LTE Now is in the 1800Mhz band

[...]

LTE Later - in the 800Mhz and 2.4Ghz band

And the LTE variants of the S3 and Note2 support all three of those bands.
As does the Xperia Z and ZL, the Lumia 920 and 820 and the Blackberry Z10.

[late8]

For me the S4 needs to be a real upgrade.

The s3 felt tacky and plasticky especially compared to the other top smart phones. It's design was rare dated too.

It sold however.