Microphone Problem on Samsung S3

My daughter's S3 phone is having a microphone problem. I can not hear her when we have a phone conversation. She needs to shout at her phone in order to hear what she is saying. But still, her voice is still very faint to understand.

What went wrong?

1. Microphone is faulty 

Obviously, this might be the case. But there are other conditions that can "mute" a working microphone. So before deciding to send the unit to Samsung for repair, do the following to diagnose if it is faulty.  

How to diagnose?

• Use voice recorder(under samsung folder)

Enable voice recorder and try recording your voice. If this works, then the microphone is working well, otherwise, it is not working.

• S voice (under samsung folder or double click the home button)(1) or  browser's voice search(2)(tap any browser and clear the address bar area to show microphone icon)

Enable S voice or any browser and say a word to search. If both of them can "hear" you, a respond will be shown on the screen. This means the microphone is working.

The fix.

If the microphone fails with the two tests, then the microphone may need replacing, send your unit for repairs. For the meantime, you can use a wired handsfree kit to make calls or a wireless bluetooth headset.

2. Software fault?

If you have other applications installed that can make calls, like viber, localphone, skype and etc., then most probably one of these apps is on and might be using the microphone that in effect is not available to use using the phone's dialer. 

How to diagnose?

• Sign in to skype on the S3 with mic problem and ask anyone from your contact to sign in as well or if you have two skype accounts then you can sign in to one of your account to a different device.

If they can hear you from the other end then this means the the microphone is working. And there might be a software that is causing the problem.

The fix.

Disable all communication apps that use the mic. Then try to call using the mobile network. If this does not work then resetting the phone to factory setting is the last resort.

**This is what happened with my daughter's phone. Although I can not pinpoint which application is the culprit, after forcing these apps to stop, I was able to hear and understand what she is saying over the phone.

Samsung S3's New Tricks

Just woke up with the OTA (over the air) update of my S3 GT-I9300 model yesterday. The baseband version of the update is I9300XXELL4 and has a build number JZ054K.I9300XXELL4. If you have the same model as mine, you can check if you have the latest firmware by going to settings and tapping about device. If you have not got it, connect to wifi and whilst still at the about device page, tap software update.  Depending on the server's traffic, the download should be straightaway or you might need to try again . I recommend to leave it on auto update and connected to wifi and mains plug over night.

Multi Window 

One of the impressive new changes is the addition of the multi window function. This is a native feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note II that displays two separate applications in it's screen when multitasking. Not all applications are supported though. The applications that can be run on the multitasking window is shown at the left side folder when multi tasking is turned on. The list includes, google maps, chat, talk, email, gallery, chat, internet browsers, video player, and social networks. This means it is now easier to attach a photo by opening both the gallery and email applications together in one window and without going back and forth. 

Paper Artist

This another interesting native application for note 2 is now included with the update on the S3. You can transform any photo into work of art easily in a matter of seconds. There are cool effects to choose like pencil art, for real effect and many more. Put a frame to brighten up a dull photo and share it straight away with email, to social networks,  bluetooth  and even to skype contacts. The application can access the camera function to take photos with these cool effects at real time, making you feel like a pro at no time. There's a button you can tap to save your work, and you can retrieve your saved project at the gallery's paper artist folder.

New Gallery

Tired of viewing your photo in a boring stamp grid  like arrangements? The new gallery has 3 ways of viewing it, either by grid, by two's, where you can make the files move forward or backwards like marching side by side, or like in a carousel where you can turn them around in a sweep of a finger. The later is mesmerizing fun especially when your phone is streamed in a bigger screen monitor. It is a must try feature. To help you easily organise your photos or help you find the picture you want to see, the sort by date or time is quite useful.

Samsung Keyboard Continuous Input

This reminds me of the swiftflow beta application I joined to test 3 weeks ago. The concept of this is, instead of typing the word by tapping each letter key, just glide your fingers across the letters that make up the word you want to write without lifting your fingers up from the screen. This makes you type faster and create messages easier than the traditional tapping.

Samsung S3's Interesting Features

The Samsung S3 has been around for a while and in fact, the S3 mini version is here, but still there are features and functions that I discover from time to time, which I find interesting and distinct exclusive Samsung S3 features.

Have you heard of the ....

Briefing Alarm

Setting up an alarm with your phone to wake you up in the morning is just a simple  task. All smartphones offer this and even the basic phones have it.  But the S3's alarm has gone a bit further. It will not only wake you up with a nice sounding alarm or melody, but will read you the news headline and the content of your calendar for the day.

To activate this go to the clock application, create an alarm (touch +) or edit the existing alarm, tap the alarm type and choose " briefing ", check the items you want to be as the contents, press OK, then press save.

Here's a video of the sample briefing alarm activated.

Zoom in on Faces

Viewing on photos taken from your smartphone sometimes is a pain, especially when you can not recognise the faces included in the scene because of distance or not so good lighting. With touch screen devices,you can just easily pinch out to zoom in and out but again you need to do this in every picture you wanted to have a better look at. The S3 has a feature to zoom in on faces within a particular picture. The zoom in on faces feature when activated,  lets you see the faces at a close up view during slide show playback, thus saving you time to tap, and zoom out every faces. It does this automatically for you. 

You can enable this by going to your gallery, select the folder where the photos you want to play,  tap play button, select slide show settings, tick zoom in on faces, then tap start.

The slideshow application then zooms in to the faces within the photo, and  making a random panning movement from right to left, top to bottom or vice versa. 

If you are bored of just viewing photos without any special effects, this will surely spice up your experience, especially when connected into a larger screen.

All Share Play

If you fancy sharing of contents from your devices without any wires, then this feature is for you. Anything from a photo, video, music, or document on your phone can be accessed by a tablet, smart TV,  a computer or on another smart phone running the application. You just need to activate both devices so they can share content and play and control it from the other device or vice versa.

Access a computer's content from your phone

You can even access a computer's content from your mobile device, as long as you are connected to the same wifi router. All you have to do is to tap on the all share icon on your S3, then nearby devices, and the name of the devices you want to access. You can access multimedia files like photos, music, and videos.

I have chosen the music file above and to play the content that is in my laptop from my mobile, all I have to do is to tap it, see video below.

Access and control files from another phone.

By screen casting, your S3 can control the playback of another S3's content and vice versa. To do this, both handsets, or all of the handsets involved is connected into the same wifi router.

On the file source phone, tap the all share button, the name of your device, choose which type of file(in this example, I've chosen photos) you want to share and tick them, tap the share button and select group cast, enter a PIN to make your connection secure, then press done. Wait until your files are being converted and after that, press OK.

On the remote phone, tap all share play, then tap the left soft key (left of home button) and tap join group cast. From here you can see the list of shared items, tap it and enter the PIN you have provided in the source device. You can now see the content shared and interestingly, when you scroll through the photos, the other device's screen also scroll it's contents. You can also annotate as you view the photos.

To help you do this trick you can watch the  video on how to set up the source and remote device below.

My thoughts

These features are distinct to the Samsung S3. Some are very useful and some are just there to show the advances in technology that the Samsung S3 can offer. Exploring these features makes the phone interesting each day of using it. This makes it less boring as one can discover and learn a trick or two everyday.

 Have you learn any of the S3's distinct functions lately? No matter how big or small, it is worth sharing and I love to hear from you, too!

8 Ways to Conserve Samsung S3's Battery

I am really impressed with the longevity of the Samsung S3's battery. It can get me through to 3 days without recharging with my normal use. Wifi when I am home, 3G or HSPA when out, bluetooth on and mp3 player on for at least 30 minutes when I travel by car, and up to 3 to 5 calls in a day. I am not really a gaming fan but I do sometimes play chess to kill time when picking up my son from school. At the end of the third day I still have at least 35% of power before I start filling up again. This is far more than my previous phones that can only do at most a day and a half with my kind of phone activity.

How to do it? Do you need a program to do it? Here are simple tricks!

1. Adjust screen brightness to a comfortable level.

Obviously, the larger the screen the more power the screen can consume. In my case the screen is the second  greediest in consuming the most power. Setting it to a low but comfortable brightness can throttle down the power that is going to this part of the phone, but not necessarily to set  it to it's lowest, that you may need to adjust it again to get a better view of what's on the screen. You can also try to set it into auto mode, and if you are comfortable with the output, leave it.

Setting >Display>Brightness

2. Use darker wallpaper and home screen.

The brighter the screen the more power it is consumed. Lesser light is used to display darker images and more light with lighter ones. Putting this in the equation, using a darker theme can also extend the battery life. 

On Google Play, search for dark wallpapers. One interesting app is Picspeed HD wallpapers 300,000. There is a wide selection of exciting and pretty wallpapers to choose from. Open the app and tap all categories. The categories are arranged alphabetically. Go to the black classification and download a dark wallpaper from there. Once downloaded, you can set it as your home and lock screen photos.

3. Screen Timeout

Set the screen time out to the maximum time you think that you need or comfortable with before the screen goes blank. Too soon  will only waste your time in pressing the button of the unit to bring it to life. Anyway you can turn the screen off when you are finished with it by pressing the power button quickly.

Setting>Display>ScreenTimeout(under general)

4. Turn Off Smart Stay

This feature is great when reading something without the screen turning blank when it reached the set timeout. But this feature uses the front camera in order to function, and again using an extra muscle of the processor and draining the battery power.

Setting>Display>SmartStay(under general)

5. Change screen mode

By default, the S3 is set to standard screen mode, setting it into movie mode will make the images in your phone less vivid and less bright. This may not be suitable to everyone's taste and may make your phone images unattractive but this will surely contribute more to the battery power.

Settings>Display>Screen Mode(under screen)

6. Tick auto adjust screen tone.

This automates the rendering of  brightness and tone when viewing photos. Less light, means less power consumed.

7. Enable built in power saving mode.

Instead of downloading apps that can help in extending the range of battery power, use the built in power saving feature which lets you in control of the processes within your phone to conserve battery like adjusting the CPU performance especially when you are not in gaming mode. It automatically reduces the screen frame rate and lowers brightness, turns off the vibrate function or the haptic feedback when pressing a function button.

8. Turn off connectivity when not in use

When away from your home router, turning off the wifi button saves power. As long as the wifi is on, it will continuously keeps on looking for wifi signals, thus using power without any benefit. The same with bluetooth connection. When you do not intend to use your bluetooth earpiece or away from your car's bluetooth connectivity, turn it off. Turning the mobile data traffic off when you do not intend to use the internet whilst away from your home is also a good way of saving the battery life. Whilst using the internet and you suffer from an intermittent data signal, it is also more sensible to turn off this button because the strain of the power goes to the radio button searching for decent signals, resulting in more battery drain than productivity.

During the night, you can turn off all connectivity by turning the flight mode button on. You can do this by pressing the power button for a few seconds. This doesn't affect the wake up alarm you've set in.

My Thoughts

Doing two or more of these steps can make a difference on the battery's life but it is possible to really extend the power of up to six days without recharging with light usage, using all it's built in power saving features you know and with being sensible to know the time when we need to turn off the features we do not really need at a particular time.

This does reduce the wear and tear of plugging in and out the connectors, and of course adding  further life to the battery's life cycle.

It's about time to get an S3 whilst the price has gone down! Online only deal!

Buy the Samsung S3 from a low £21 a month tariff see more details here!

S-Voice's Practical Application

This post is a part of mobilers mission.
One of the features of Samsung S-III  is the S Voice, a SIRI equivalent to apple fans. It is a virtual mobile digital assistant that can talk back to the user when asked a question. It can be helpful and handy specially with trivia like questions, as long as the answer is located on it's data base, or explore the internet as needed to fetch for the best answer.

How to use it?

As the data base which is the source of it's intelligence is located somewhere at samsung servers, the S Voice needs an internet connection to work. It can be from 3G/HSPDA connection provided by your mobile company or through a wi-fi network.

The application can be started by a double tap on the home button, or by a tap at the application's icon shortcut button.

What does the S Voice can do?

Practical uses

Placing a call and sending a message

Dozens of tasks can be performed by the S-Voice through voice command, like calling somebody on your contacts. This function is useful when your hands are tied up to something and doesn't have the chance of fiddling your device to bring up the list of your contacts.

Another situation is when you are out in bright day light and the brightness of your screen is set to automatic mode, chances are you can not see the things being shown at your screen. Then you ask yourself how can you make a call? You like to change the setting of your screen but will not be able to because you do not know where to press.  With the S-Voice, just double tap the home button and command S-Voice to call anyone in your contact. Or you can dictate which number to call if the number is not yet in your contacts. You can as well send a text with simple messages, which is quite very handy, in fact one of my favourite and most used S-Voice function.

Set up alarm time easily

Another favourite is the easy way to set up the alarm with S-Voice. Just say wake me up at 6:30 and an alarm  for 6:30 am is set. Say wake me up at  8:30 pm or 20:30, S-Voice will set up 8:30pm alarm. Very useful and you can do this with your eyes closed, especially when you are too lazy to fiddle with the buttons and icons after another tiring day.

Play a specific MP3 music file

Say "play " and S-Voice plays your MP3 music stored within the phone, specify the title of the song like "play Smile" then the MP3 with "smile" title plays. Brilliant, specially when you have hundreds of music within your device and you do not have the time searching for the title of the music manually. S-Voice really saves you time and effort with this.

And other uses

Turning on applications

The S-Voice can open up native applications that are available within the phone, like calculator, browser, camera, and other downloaded applications like facebook and tweeter. You can actually update your status on both social networks by just dictating it to S-Voice. Unluckily I can not make a screenshot with this as the phone opens up the page after I dictate the command.

Navigation

S-Voice uses google maps when you want to use it as a navigator. But instead of dictating post codes, which S-Voice does not understand, the full address is needed. On my experience, it is useful in locating specific places like tube stations. Tell S-Voice to navigate to a name of a tube station and google map takes care of the rest. You need to enable first the  location services when you want this function.

And more

It can also open up simple phone settings, other phone functions like bluetooth, voice recorder, downloaded applications and many more. See screenshot below on the things S-Voice can do.

My personal thoughts

I can not deny that S-Voice made some of the task sweat free and easier to use on some applications than manual fiddling. It can be refined to help people with visual impairments and help them have confidence in having and using a mobile phone. This would be a good news to blind users.

The only thing that I do not like is the fact that it still needs internet to work even with the basic commands like  opening up an application  or dialling a number. I hope in the future the artificial intelligence needed to perform these basic functions will be built into the device and does not need internet access.

The Samsung S3 and the Novice User

This post is a part of mobilers mission.
The latest handset from Samsung's surely is making a buzz. The S3 had 90 million preorders worldwide before it's release. Could it be because of it's new and powerful features, or plain brilliant marketing strategies? Or maybe with it's unusual but simple characteristics and uniqueness amongst other mobiles?

As a regular user, I may not be able to explain most of it's new and powerful features but will discuss the S3 according to my feelings the first time I handled the device.

Unboxing

The S3 comes in two variants, marble white and pebble blue. It's box is somewhat made out of ordinary carton although sturdy, it doesn't have that expensive feel compared to the S2. It is also thinner but almost similar in length. Opening the box uncovers the phone inside. It has the second largest screen next to the Galaxy Note and amongst other mobiles that I have seen, a 4.7 inch amoled screen. Underneath the little flip cover is the warranty and quick start guide. Going further, the two piece charger is cleverly tucked inside along the white hands free accessory and lithium ion battery. Assembling the mains charger is quite easy, if you know something about lego toys, then you can do it in seconds.

The phone takes a micro sd expansion memory and a micro sim. If you bought yours sim free, then you need to buy a micro sim or you can  make your regular sim into microsim. It is quite easy using a tool, but if you want to sweat a bit and try your luck, then there are online suggestions on what to do. I would recommend to buy a cutter because I failed  in making one myself before. The other advantage of using a proper tool is, if you want to use the fashioned microsim later on, you can put it back with the cut out and just put a tape at the back. Because if you will buy an adaptor later, the cost of an adapter is as much as the cutter. Get a sim cutter here!

To add more storage capacity to the 16GB built in memory (32GB and 64GB are also available depending on location), a microsd slot is located near the microsim cage. The device can take up to 64GB capacity card which you can buy  cheaply online or from high street retailers. Buy micro sdcards here!

The case

My first impression about the case specially the battery cover is it is plasticky and can crack easily. I was wrong, it is made from polycarbonate material that is very durable. It is a high impact and high temperature resistant material. The cover glimmers with it's nicely brushed polycarbonate property, which makes it look  pretty and expensive. Overall, the phone is lightweight at 133 grams despite the size.

The screen

Upon turning on the phone, the usual galaxy splash screen greets the eyes, this time with full beauty and clarity. This is the beauty of a LED screen, where backlighting is already replaced by individual LEDs. This makes the picture vividly clear and stunningly sharp. As the LED only gives off enough light according to what colour it wants to show, rather than continuously like in backlighted devices, hence battery power is also saved.  It is protected by the latest generation gorilla glass 2 that  promises lightweight, clarity, scratch resistance and robustness. The full dimension of the device is 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm.

It is worth considering a screen protector, to make the device more stunning and to keep it's value with time. See some nice covers here.

The battery

The battery promises more time to enjoy the unit than previous samsung S variants. It is a 2100 mAh lithium ion battery that can give users a talk time of  up to 22.5 h in 2G, 11.6 h in 3G, and standby power of up to 830 h (2G), 770 h (3G). And because it is removable, changing the battery when the end of life, which is inevitable on all devices, is easy and affordable. A clear advantage over rival products.

The processor

To help speed up things, a 1.4GHZ 4 heads or quad processor cores are installed coupled with 1GB of ram. I began to think of the top of the line computers years back with this specification put in together to form a mean multitasking mobile phone. As the modern swissknife  gadget of today, these features are important, especially when playing HD videos, 3D games and among others that require massive computing ability and power. It is also necessary to balance power and performance so that they can co exist in one device.

This is one of the features that is more advanced than other smart phones.



The features I like

As a regular user I am contented to these features of the new Samsung S3

Bigger screen

If you are a games enthusiast then the screen of this phone is a joy to use.  Bigger screens can show as much graphics and can let you appreciate every scene of the game. The on screen menu and qwerty board is easier, more practical and more accurate than typing on a cramped screen. Enabling landscape view will provide a decent screen for movie entertainment playbacks during boring travels.

Comfortable and secure feel

The size is massive compared to other smartphones, but surprisingly lightweight. The feel of it in my palm is comfortably secure unlike other smartphones that without an additional body case, it is prone to slips and falls even how careful you hold on to them.

Automate phone card dialling procedure 

Using the built in wait or pause function, you can automate your call using a phone card or any similar way to call your destination using an access number, PIN number and destination number by using this format.

Access number + (;) wait or (,) pause + destination number

Swipe to call or text features

This lessens the steps when you call or text somebody. At the contacts list, just swipe your fingers to the right to make a call and it dials the number selected. Swipe it in the left direction will bring you into texting menu. When enabled, the device can also dial the contact that is on your screen by putting the phone close to your ears. You can enable this feature by going into the settings, motion, tick motion activation, and turn on direct call.

Swipe to screen capture

I call this karate swipe myself as you swipe the side of your palm, like doing a karate chop, from right to left or vice versa into the screen to make a screen shot. This is more convenient than pressing combination buttons. Specially when your phone has a commercial casing that the power button is slightly unreachable because of the thick case. Enable this under motion, hand motion.

20 burst mode 

The front facing camera has a 1.9MP resolution whilst the back has 8MP. It has a feature to capture 20 photos in a second and an option to automatically select the best captured photo. This is useful for taking subjects in motion and letting the phone's software to choose the which one is the best shot. You can enable this by going into the camera function, enabling burst shot, and turning best photo on.

During video capture, this phone can also take still photos at the same time, saving you time in turning the camera mode into video and still photo, and making it sure that you do not miss a once in a lifetime shot.

Big screen output

With a compatible MHL attachment, you can see your movies, photos, games, documents on a big telly. Better option than taking the whole collections of DVD's when going on a holiday. Get yours here.

Sound Quality

Both the sound quality from media playback and voice calls are superb even if the volume is on maximum. It is crisp and clear surround sound.

There are a lot more advanced features of this phone that are fantastic and would like to try like how it is easy to share things through s beam, wifi direct, bluetooth, and new technology like NFC and among others. I know that  these full load of features will let  the more adventurous users  eager to discover more of what it can offer everyday!

The Samsung Galaxy S III

This is a mission post  submitted for samsung mobilers.

Quad core, S beam(NFC), s voice (siri equivalent), wifi direct, 20 burst shots, these are just a few of what's to expect with the new Samsung Galaxy S III, the latest, most powerful slimmest and sexiest  galaxy varaint at the moment. It has landed and now available to all mobile retailers over the UK! 

Why do you and I want to have one? Here's my reasons why I've fallen for the S3, the S3 factors.

Shame I have the S2 recently, but nevertheless, it's hard not to dream about and  get my hands on the new S3! What I like the most on Samsung's high end smartphones is the vibrant screen, second is  the ability to customize the screen the way I like it. The S3 has added attractions and new tricks to awe the users. Here's a list of some of the features.

Lock screen rippling effect.

The first noticeable boast is the way it mesmerises users when they touch the screen. It's like touching a bucket of water as the image ripples when the screen is unlocked. This is not really new and there are apps like this. The original samsung galaxy has this kind but as a wall paper but it has not been used in the locked screen before.

The bigger screen is also a plus not only to game addicts but to movie fans as well.

Quad core

A buzz on iPhone 4's quadcore turned out to be a misunderstanding and misleading to apple fans. It was actually the graphics that has the extras and not  it's processor.

This time at Samsung, when they say quadcore, it is really a quadcore processor! If you believe that two heads are better than one, then what is four heads? I am guessing than Samsung wants to make a killing on gamers, and thinking two steps ahead on the future of mobile gaming, which is getting more sophisticated and needing more processing power as it progresses.

The S beam

This is actually a new kind of  wireless sharing protocol, like the bluetooth and wi-fi. The S beam or NFC(near field communication) which is already existing in debit and credit card applications, is a kind of technology in data transfer that covers distances up to 10 cm, with data transfer rates from 106, 212 or 424 kbits/sec. This kind of contact less technology on transactions with the debit and credit cards that is embedded with this device would change the way we shop in the future. There will be no need to carry our  cards, just our phones to do all the shopping. Convenient! 

The S voice

Like the SIRI, the S voice can answer your questions about locations, weather, the time or anything that is in it's data base. You can also dictate what's on your mind and it happily types the word for you, then it can send it as a message or text to anyone in your contact without lifting a finger. Indeed, it is your personal digital slave.
See what you can do more with S voice at

http://prakticality.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/s-voices-practical-application.html

Text to voice call

While reading a text message, just lift the phone into your ear and the number that have texted you will be dialled. This saves time and few screen touches. It also enables you to respond faster. Clever!

Burst camera shot

I have not tried using any camera with a burst shot of 20 pics. My compact systems camera can only do 10 shots, but this phone can promise 20! This means you could possibly capture the moments you really are waiting for. Good for the sports enthusiasts or those new parents trying to capture the first steps of their child, or preserving those unguarded shots when having fun.

Smart stay.

It is annoying sometimes that the screen just timed out and goes blank when you are looking at your messages for sometime. Especially when you set the time out for 3 seconds just to save battery. This is a useful and sensible feature. The screen stays on until the phone's camera cannot detect the user's face or eyes focused on the screen on a certain distance. This function can be turned off as well if you prefer to wakeup your phone by touching it.

Pop out video player

Other phones stop the video you are playing when you want to do something else like calling a friend, checking your messages, or making a note. This phone does not! You have the choice to "detach" the video and continue watching while surfing the web, making a call, checking your mail or doing anything. Multi tasking, huh! What do you expect with a quadcore? Really a hardcore!

4G phone

It is a 4G enabled phone meaning it can handle the future 4G data connections that will be provided by mobile networks in the future. This means a faster internet and bigger bandwidths. The data transfer for 4G is at least 100mbit/sec. To get the idea how fast the connection is, the 3G has 3.85mbit/sec only.

Other top features

• Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
• Weight: 133 grams
• 4.8" HD Super AMOLED
• 8MP Camera
• Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Smart Rotation
• Video Pop
• S-Beam
• 1080p Video Recording
• 16GB Internal Storage

Where to buy?

• Dialaphone

You can get this great phone for  an effective £28.50 a month from  Dialaphone  with unlimited texts, 600 minutes talk time and 1GB data allowance.

• Carphonewarehouse.

You can get  this for £26 a month with £49 upfront cost  from  Carphonewarehouse, the lowest tariff so far, with unlimited texts, 300 minutes talk time and 750MB of data

Video


Watch the video of the Samsung S3 in action