A little bit of a playing with the Samsung Wave Camera

I've had a very quick play with the camera of the phone and taken some photographs of the room I was where I was sat whilst writing a small beginners guide to using the camera function. These photographs aren't supposed to be masterpieces but are just to try and show the differences between what the Camera CAN do and how bad some photographs are with the phone. IF you know what you are doing (not that I actually do) you can take some fantastic pictures. These have just been taken with various settings to see the differences between a good photo taken with the correct settings and those taken with "bad" settings.

Terrible photo that was taken with a "macro" focus and the lowest resolution. As you can see it looks blurry and just not particularly good. This is a bad photo example we are using and one that was used in the article linked to above. The problems extend much deeper than the blurring effects, just look at the TV in the background to show the problems with this image.

Although this needs to be perhaps darkened slightly it's a much better picture of the same thing as the above picture. Whilst it's not ideal (remember this is me taking the photograph) you have gotten a much crisper image, if you view the image in full size you can visible see the lines on the table and the lights on the DVD player under the TV. As well as the difference in sharpness you can also make out the image on the TV and the cup is white instead of an off-white "dirty" colour.

When blown up this picture is strikingly blurry and that was due to making a really small movement when using night mode. The image although looks "acceptable" when viewed in a small image really doesn't look good at all when blown up and the blurriness really comes out. The features of the "Night" scene is that the picture takes a while to take and is high quality, though movement really blurs images.

 This is essentially a very similar picture to the one above though with out the phone being moved at all. The blurring is gone and it's incredibly smooth and crisp. Sadly with using the "Night" scene and needing to hold the camera still it had to be rested on the floor (hence the slight change in angle from the image above). "Night" scene really does increase the quality of a picture though if used properly.

This was taken with slightly different settings and as a result it lost some of the colour quality of the picture above. Whilst it's still "acceptable" it's not as good as the really good night mode one above. Again it's a crisp image though the colours are a little too bright.

This is an odd picture, I do rather like it for the way it shows the rotting orange off and the carpet looks "almost" right. Though it's focused very heavily on the foreground and as a result really neglects the background and looks darker than it should do. I class this as a good photograph though it's the qualities it has rather than anything technical that makes me like it.

 This is pretty much the opposite of the picture above. It shows the background well though the fruit and the fruit bowl are really bad amd dark. I dislike this one despite the fact it does show some of the background features. The problem is that the whole photograph is just too dark and the fruit is really terrible.

This one is simply too bright on the oranges and has overly brightened the carpet. The dark colours on the carpet "should" look rather deep red and instead they look really bright red and the even the rotting orange looks like it could just have been from the flash. Really terrible picture in terms of lighting even if it is relatively sharp.

This one was taken using the "macro" focus, and as you can see it's just blurry and horrific. Out of the "Orange bowl" pictures this is my least favourite as it's blurry, the colours are generally hit and miss and it's a just not very good.

This one is quite possibly the best of the photographs as it's got both the foreground and background looking good and the carpet, although not perfect is pretty accurate. The oranges don't overly reflect the flash and on the whole it's a pretty decent photograph for a complete amateur.

 This is a really poor picture, it almost looks as if it was taken in black and white (though it wasn't) and the colours just seem to be drained out of the image. It's an interesting one in regards of this blog entry though had it not been for this blog it'd have been deleted instantly.

This is probably the best one from a technical view point, the colours are all spot on and the image is crisp, true and sharp. Although not my favourite picture it is a solid image and really show off the ability of the camera. It's a photo that should be zoomed into to really see why it's the best image out of the orange ones.




Although it's pretty obvious I'm not a photographer these have all been taken with the same phone and you can see the vast difference between images from just playing with the settings. If you're a good photographer you will be able to get some very decent photographs out of the phone by using the right settings.

Samsung Wave

It's been ages since I last posted on to this blog and I've since had a pretty fun play with a Samsung Wave GT-S723e. The things I've learnt from this phone have been put into a number of hubs for Hubpages which I'll link you to through out this piece.

The Samsung Wave I have is currently with Vodafone in the UK on some special 24 months offer with unlimited texts and 300 minutes for a nice price though the phone it's self isn't anything brilliant it's ok for what it is. The phone runs the "BADA" software which when compared to things like Android, Windows and iOS seems relatively limited. Despite this the handset is easy to use and the touchscreen is pretty accurate and works well. The battery can last a while and you can of course use a bunch of tricks to stretch out the phones battery life which aew pewtty simple and painless.

The phone has a solid 5MP camera which although not brilliant does take some pretty decent photos and are incredibly easy to transfer to a computer with out too much effort. Though admittedly I've not really played with the camera enough to work out how good it actually is. In all honesty it does seem slightly better than the HTC Wildfire's camera though not as good as the Sony Ericcson C902 one (the three phones I have for comparison at the moment).

As with all modern phones you can easily put your music on to the phone and of course select your own tracks as a ringtone. With out a memory card you are pretty limited to a handful of songs or photographs. The memory card you will be needing if you purchase the phone is a Micro SD card which can come in some hefty sizes and are afforable (though not "cheap" per se).

As with all modern phones there is a real depth to how far you can explore the phone but you will still be surprised by the depth of the handset and the fact there is a real wealth of secrets. I sadly didn't find some of them out until it was too late, though here is a heads up on some of them to allow you to do things like "Screenshots" and factory resetting the handset.

On the whole the phone is a "decent" handset but not a particularly great one. If you want to be up to date this isn't the phone for you though it's a steady handset for those who aren't too big on multi-tasking. It does all the basic things well such as making calls, playing music, allowing you to use the net (via either 3G or Wi-fi), texting, photography, being an alarm but it doesn't do the advance things. Don't look to this phone to be a mobile office or to be a replacement to your Nintendo DS as it's not that kind of device, it's a phone first and foremost with some bonus'.

HTC Wildfire Tips tricks and stuff

So with Christmas around the corner and phone stores everywhere trying to flog you a smart phone, you want to know as much as you can about them....right?

Well although I can't tell you everything you may want to know I can help you with the one I've got, the HTC Wildfire. A cheap and well rounded HTC that look as attractive as any other smart phone out there at the moment and although not the most versatile is one of the best introductory Android phones out there. Although the phone is a solid one and has a fully fledged review here. You'll probably want to know more than just want a review gives you, so lets look at some of those useful little things that every phone user wants to know.

So firstly something that the you'll find yourself using more often than you'd expect, using the phone as a torch isn't something most would think they will find as a bonus, but it actually is. To read how to use the phone as a torch, by using either it's inbuilt “Flashlight App” (which uses the Camera light) click here,  though of course that guide also teaches you how to use the a free App to use the screen as your torch light.

A common question regarding the phone is “how do I select my own ringtone?”A question that you will ask yourself unless you've been shown how to set it. Heck even the in built menu doesn't pose any help at all. If you're one of those that likes to set your own music for a ring tone then I must urge you to give this guide a click. Although it's not a pictorial guide it is easy to follow and talks you through all the steps you need to look at.

Of course you'll not want you're phone getting scratched and any tips to prevent damage to it are advisable. As well as remembering not to try and use a stylus (they don't work with the screen) you can read a variety of common sense tips in this guide of “How to prevent your screen being damaged”. It may not be anything ingenious but it is certainly useful. Although that's not a money saving tip, one that is is connecting your phone via Wi-Fi where ever possible. The reasons can be found here, though a description on hos it's done is actually very simple. On the home screen press “menu” then find wireless, click on Wi-Fi and find your normal connection (generally your home internet, though also things like “The Wi-Fi Zone- The Cloud”. For your home internet you will have to have the WPA key the first time.

Whilst on Wi-Fi why not make the best use of your phone and either listen to one of any number of digital radio stations from the amazing TuneIn Radio App (that's currently free from the Android market) or watch Youtube through the phone. Though of course if neither of those please you, you can generally find a way to watch live TV from a website like Tvcatchup.com (though it's limited to the UK sadly) totally legally (at time of publication it is legal).

When your sick of Apps or have just need to free some space on your phone there's 2 ways to delete them from your phone. Have a read of both of these techniques here. They are sadly not the most logical of ways but they both work brilliantly.

Of course there is much much more to the phone than just those tips and tricks above as well as the tricks that can be found in this “Tricks and Tips” article. Feel free to google around and share these tips, I'm sure any of your friends with, or getting this or similar phones will find them really useful.