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Its our pleasure to be able to welcome a guest review from our friends at My Social Agency a UK based Digital Marketing Agency.  Much thanks to them. Please give them a visit and discover how Social Media can change and enhance your business. You can also follow them on Twitter @MySocialAgency.

By Mark Mitchell / Cormac Reynolds, My Social Agency a UK based Digital Marketing Agency.

Samsung’s Galaxy SII has become increasingly prominent in the premium phone landscape and has topped Android best sellers and phone best sellers lists for most of 2011. The Samsung’s ability to be greater than the individual parts that it is composed of make it such a highly acclaimed device.

The phone’s diminutive size is one of the major factors in its popularity,; at 8.49mm it’s slimmer than the iPhone 4S, yet it still manages to offer a far larger screen area of 4.3 inches. The device is also extremely light weighing in at only slightly more than 100g and it is also quite an attractive phone, taking certain cues from the iPhone 4’s design. It’s only qualm would be the fact it is made of plastic and not aluminium like many HTC‘s and other devices and so doesn’t have the same quality feel aesthetically.

Of course power is also a factor with the Samsung and its 1.2GHz Tegra 2GPU as well as its powerful GPU ensure it is more than willing to give. The graphical processor is more modern and powerful than that of even the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The phone’s 1GB of RAM ensures it has enough short term memory to cope and its expandable memory can be extended to 32GB thanks to the micro SD card slot.

Running on Android 2.3, the device utilises its large processor to ensure it is far from sluggish and there is certainly little lag from the Samsung. Google’s operating system is a smooth one and offers most of what you would expect from even iOS 5. It’s a smooth and sophisticated operating system that combines well with the Samsung TouchWiz user interface and makes for a nice phone to use.

One of the strongest points on the Galaxy SII, one of many, is the Super AMOLED Plus display. The phone’s pixel resolution of 480x800p is no problem as the brightness of the screen overcomes and preconceptions about the displays ability. The Super AMOLED Plus screen is amazingly brilliant. Colours are extremely bright and dynamic and blacks are deep and whites are sharp. It is clearly evident that Samsung’s years of making top class screens for TVs has been put to use here. Watching video is extremely exciting and the size of the display, alongside its dynamic ration make it great for browsing.

The camera is one aspect of the phone that really cooperates well with the screen. The 8mp camera is excellent and the 1080p recording ability creates fluid, vivid pictures that show up well on the bright screen and really wow. Like many other Samsung’s the Galaxy SII is strong in the camera area.

Though the phone is 4G enabled, the high speed broadband network is not available in the UK as of yet (available in major markets in the US.) However, it does have a 14.4MBps connection for current broadband, meaning should you get the connection it is blisteringly quick. NFC is also available on a number of the current models of the device allowing you to pay for goods with your phone, thanks to the chip.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy SII is an extremely capable device that doesn’t really let down in any area. Sure it is made of plastic, but it still feels very strong. Though, we’re sure the processor, screen and operating system more than make up for all of that.

Related articles

• Going Android: Leaving the iPhone 4 behind, and learning the Samsung Galaxy SII (thenextweb.com)
• Drop Test: Apple iPhone 4S Vs Samsung Galaxy SII (netbooknews.com)

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iPhone 4S

Okay, so the hype is over! Kind of. The iPhone 4S has been released and all your friends have one but you’re still stuck in a contract with your mobile carrier and it’s going to be awhile before you get that upgrade for your old iPhone 4.  The question is: Do you upgrade or stick it out until the iPhone 5? Well here are some things to consider.

The iPhone 4 is only a little over a year old. According to Apple the iPhone 4 was released on June 24^th 2010 here in the US, the UK and elsewhere. I actually got mine about five weeks later and two weeks after I ordered it.  While you may feel the need to jump to the next model, the iPhone 4 technology is not so old. I find that my own iPhone 4 is more than capable and sufficient for what I use it for. Granted the 5 mega-pixel camera is a little lame, but beyond that, I am happy with it. It’s still useful to me.

So what’s new in the iPhone 4S? Well, notably the dual-core A5 chip, which definitely speeds things up a bit. The iPhone 4 only has the A4 chip, which is not dual-core, but is still speedy enough for most people.  What the A5 chip will do is give the 4S the ability to run faster graphics, up to seven times faster, which means faster games. Also launching apps, surfing the web, and basically anything else you might be doing will be quicker.  Though, if you are my age, then you know any 14 year old is going to smoke you in a texting contest.

Siri, the on-again-off-again assistant is amazing, even with the troubles she’s had recently with server issues. That aside, I’ve seen her in action, “Find the closest park” or “Call Sam” or “Text Heather.” She answers and does almost everything you tell her. She appears to be the info genius she is purported to be.  On my iPhone 4, I use Vlingo which does similar tasks without the sexy female voice talking back to you. If you can live with the silence, then you’re good to go. It’s also available for other mobile devices. Unfortunately, rumor has it that Apple will not be making Siri available for older iPhone models as the A5 chip is needed to run it.

Apple has completely redone the camera for the iPhone 4S. An 8 mega-pixel camera with newer, more advanced optics, including a lens with a larger  f/2.4 aperture. No, it’s not for the professional photographer, but for your family get-to-gathers it’s a step in the right direction. The 4S even comes with a few editing features such as cropping, image rotation, red-eye removal, and image enhancement. In addition to the camera features, you can record video in 1080p HD, yes High Def! Edit and send your Spielberg-like creation on the fly.

Of course, the iPhone 4S comes with iOS5; however you can upgrade your 4. I love the 200+ features added to iOS5. The pull-down Notification Center is something I’ve been wanting since I bought the phone, and I can see it on my locked screen. Other new features in iOS5 are iMessage, Reminders, and my favorite Twitter as part of the OS. Apple’s online storage, iCloud, which gives you 5GB of storage for free, is also available with iOS5 so you can manage and store all your files in the cloud.

This is just a small sampling of what you get with the iPhone 4S. So do you upgrade or do you wait for the iPhone 5? Well, this is Apple, even without Steve, I think it’s safe to say that they will introduce some amazing new features when the 5 is released.  If we are lucky, the iPhone 5 will be released in 2012. But really can I wait that long. I’m trying but it’s getting harder and harder. I’m up for an upgrade next month.

I’ll let you know.

Related articles

• If You Want an iPhone 4S, Check Your Upgrade Date Now [Iphone 4s] (lifehacker.com)
• Cruising Dreams and Desires, iPhone4S Unlocked @ $649 (knowledgetree12.wordpress.com)