Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs Nexus 7vs iPad Mini, Will Samsung Win?

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has finally been unveiled at MWC 2013 (Mobile World Congress), which is undoubtedly give a boost to the tablet market specifically aiming at Apple’s iPad Mini and Nexus 7.

When Samsung is obviously the ruler of the global smartphones market, will it get the same success in tablets? We know, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is the very awesome one, so what’s this one? Maybe one interesting way of appreciating its future success is a comparison with its strong contenders Nexus 7 and iPad Mini.Just let’s have a look at the Galaxy Note 8 vs iPad Mini vs Nexus 7 battle.

Design & Display
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 keeps the classic design of the Note line-up with round edges and plastic back lid, boasting an 8-inch 1,280 x 800 pixels display. Nexus 7 is superior to Note 8 with an elegant design, a textured back for the best grip and a 7-inch 1,280 x 800 pixels screen while Apple’s iPad Mini excels with its premium-looking body, solid construction and a 7.9-inch display with a resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels.

For portability, Nexus 7 is the most suitable one, second iPad Mini, last Galaxy Note 8. But iPad Mini is the thinnest and lightest one, and also Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is about 2.5 mm thinner than Nexus 7.But for display, Nexus 7 is inarguably the winner, and Note 8 failed in this game.

OS & Software
Running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, Note 8 also features the optimized apps for the S Pen stylus, which allow you to easily draw or edit photos in Photoshop Touch with Handwriting support. Also, the TouchWiz UI of Note 8 offers the popular features on Samsung Galaxy S3 or Note 2 like Pop up Play, Smart Stay. Via Smart Remote app, you can even use Note 8 as a remotecontrol.

Coming with pre-loaded with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, Nexus 7 is the one of the few device which can upgrade to Android 4.2.2.

The iPad Mini certainly runs iOS 6 out of the box, but it can upgradable to iOS 6.1.2 now.

CPU, RAM & Storage
Note 8 sports the Samsung’s proprietary Exynos 4 Quad chipset based on a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, Mali 400 MP GPU and 2GB of RAM, which is really powerful to make the Note 8 a very fast tablet. It will come with 16 or 32 GB of internal storage, with up to 64GB expanded storage.

Nexus 7 comes with a quad-core 1.2 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset ,1GB RAM and16GB/32GB models, and iPad Mini only includes a dual-core 1 GHz A5 processor , 512 MB RAM and 16/32/64 GB models.Both of they have no SD card port.

Obviously, Note 8 owns the most powerful hardware platform of the three. But remember although the iPad Mini does badly in this specs term, iOS still runs pretty smooth without the multitasking and other Android features.

Battery, Connectivity & Camera
Note 8 includes a 4,600 mAh battery while iPad Mini and Nexus 7 packs with the same 4,325 mAh battery .In this factor, the three ones is pretty close.

Note 8 uses a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front camera and offers WiFi, 3G and 4G, just the same as iPad Mini while Nexus 7 can only offers WiFi and 3G and a front facing 1.2MP camera.

Verdict
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 definitely is the powerful and attractive device with higher technical specs. And Samsung may become stronger on the tablet market. However, Google and Apple will reportedly upgrade their tablets in 2013, and it is still the beginning of the battle. But until then the Note 8 is an important competitor for both Nexus 7 and iPad Mini.

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Three Methods to Manually Update Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 to Android 4.2.2

Google pushed the new Android 4.2.2 update specifically to Nexus devices a few days ago, and the devices includes Google Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10.The update mainly fixed Bluetooth implementation to limit audio stream stuttering, and a codebase change to limit random rebooting. Other changes includes the disabled workaround that enabled LTE connectivity on very specific markets and networks, ADB connection security measures, app download notification changes, quick setting user interface changes, etc.

The reviews of the new update of the system are positive and for the rooted users or others, updating the system to Android 4.2.2 over the air (OTA) will get some troubles because of the custom recovery. But don’t worry, you can try the following three ways to get the new update besides installing the OTA.

Note: The method below is under the assumption that you’re running stock Android and not a custom ROM. For custom ROM users, an updated Android 4.2.2 version of that ROM have to be found on the device or download suitable stock image from Google and install factory image fresh which will erase everything.

Method 1:System Updates

• Go to Settings> Apps > All and scrolling and find Google Services Framework.
• Tap the “Clear Data” button and confirm by tapping “OK”, then back to the main Settings screen.
• Tap “About Phone” on Nexus 4 or About Tablet on the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, and then tap “System Updates”, tap “Check Now” and the update process of Android 4.2.2 should begin when you are asked to confirm the update.
• When finished the update, your root will remove without the extra protection. You can use the Clockwork Mod recovery or the OTA Rootkeeper to retain your root when get the update.

Method 2: Flash the update from your recovery

• Download the Android 4.2.2 update for Nexus 7 , Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10, and transfer the file to your device.
• Reboot the device into recovery (power down the device, and then power it up while pressing (and holding) the volume up and down buttons).
• Boot to a screen with a big (green) colored arrow pointing to where power button is, and Andy the Android in the background.
• Use the volume button to choose different boot options. Press volume up or down until the arrow is red and says “Recovery mode”, then press the power button.
• After booting to recovery, you will find the option to install from a zip, choose the file you saved to your device and start to install the Android 4.2.2 update.

Method 3: Using ADB

At first, ensure the present system you have used is updated to Android 4.2.1 and not an earlier build.

• Install the ADB file and let it work.
• Download the Android 4.2.2 OTA update to Nexus 7 , Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 and move the file to the same folder where ADB is located 
• Connect the device with computer via USB cable.Boot the device into recovery like the previous method, and find the option to “sideload” or “apply update from adb” on the recovery mode menu.
• Open a command-line window on the computer and run the commands.

   Nexus 4:
   adb sideload de8b8d101614.signed-occam-JDQ39-from-JOP40D.de8b8d10.zip
  Nexus 7:
  adb sideload 6ece895ecb23.signed-nakasi-JDQ39-from-JOP40D.6ece895e.zip
  Nexus 10:
 adb sideload eaef14432ff5.signed-mantaray-JDQ39-from-JOP40D.eaef1443.zip

• When the running progress reaches 100%, you will see the device installing the update. After the update, reboot the device from the recovery menu, and the updates will run the final step and once it finished, you can enjoy Android 4.2.2.

If you want to experience the latest Android 4.2.2 on you Nexus but have trouble in receiving the OTB update, then try the ways above, and the first one is the priority.

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How to Connect Nexus 7 with PS3 or Xbox controller to Get the Better Game Experience?

A game addict? So would you want to experience the different potable game experience with the great device Nexus 7?Undoutedbly, with a quad-core Tegra 3 heart, a vibrant 1280*800 high-resolution display, and sensors like a gyroscope and accelerometer, you will feel Nexus 7 is very brilliant for games. But touch controls are inarguably not the best way of playing. Fortunately, we can use the PS3 or the Xbox controller with Nexus 7 to get the amazing game experience. Following will show you the way.

What you need: A Nexus 7 ,a PS3 or Xbox controller(or another game controllers), a USB OTG cable to turn the micro-USB connector on the bottom of your Nexus 7 into a full-sized USB port, a mini USB to USB cable for PS3 or a wired pad for Xbox.

When you have prepared for the things, you can get started. Go into the below steps.

Step 1. Connect USB OTG cable to the micro USB port of Nexus 7, the other side with the mini USB to USB cable or wired pad.

Step 2.Plug in the PS3 controller or Xbox controller. With luck, your controller will turn on and be automagically detected by the Nexus 7

Step 3. Press the controller's Xbox 360 or PS3 home button, when fiddling with the analog stick while on the app menu, you should be able to move between apps, and open the games like with the Y (Xbox 360) or X (PS3) button.

Step 4.Load up a compatible game like Dead Trigger, Asphalt 7, or OnLive. You can start to find the game with Nvidia's TegraZone app, which will point you towards many a fine Tegra 3 optimized title including joystick support.

Step 5. If your game is not optimized for controllers, you can use the gamepad with emulators to let you manually assign different button taps and analog stick wiggles to in-game inputs.

If you have rooted the Nexus 7, then you can play the games fully wireless with PS3 controllers using the Sixaxis Controller app.You will need to pair the controller within the app using your USB OTG cable first via the Bluetooth.

Want to experience the game on Nexus 7 with the controller? Go and try it, you can feel something unthinkable.


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How to install the Ubuntu on Nexus 7?

How to install the Ubuntu on Nexus 7?

Recently, Ubuntu has become hot with the release of Ubuntu of phones. The special free Linus-based operating system allows you to experience both desktop and the Android. And since Canonical launched Ubuntu for Android, Android users can enjoy the service. Good thing is that, Ubuntu is now available on Nexus 7.So do you want to install Ubuntu on your Nexus 7?Or do you want to get two completely different operating systems on Nexus 7? If your answer is yes, then you can check out how to install Ubuntu on Nexus 7.

Preparation:
In order to install the Ubuntu, you’ll need a computer with Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin, a Nexus 7 with 8GB ,16GB or 32GB of storage, and a USB cable to connect the tablet to your PC.

Step 1:Unlock the bootloader
Warning: Unlocking the bootloader erases all data and resets the device to factory defaults. So keep in mind to make a backup using TWRP or ClockworkMod to save your files on an external storage device. Also, you may void your warranty.

To install, you must first unlock the bootloader in order to flash different images to the device. You can use the All-In-One Nexus Root Toolkit to simply finish the operation of you can follow the Canonical’s instructions.

Step 2:Install Ubuntu Nexus 7 Installer

• Launch Ubuntu’s Terminal app and enter the following commands one by one:

      sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-nexus7/ubuntu-nexus7-installer
      sudo apt-get update
      sudo apt-get install ubuntu-nexus7-installer

• Connect Nexus 7 with the computer via the USB cable(make sure no other connected devices) and boot the Nexus 7 in fastboot mode.

• Turn off your Nexus 7. Press and hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power buttons until you see the Android mascot.

• Search for Ubuntu Nexus7 Installer from the Ubuntu dashboard. Launch it. Follow the on-screen instructions.

After less than 20 minutes, you can run the Ubuntu on your Nexus after a boot if the steps are right.

Video guide

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