EASY BLAZERZ: April 2015

Friday, 24 April 2015

10 Hidden Chrome Features That Will Make Your Life Easier

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Omnibox Search Directly Into Individual Sites

You can automatically search through many websites without actually going to those sites, as long as they're in your list of search engines (if not, we'll get to that below).

This is beneficial if you wanted, for example, to go directly to the Wikipedia article on orangutans and skip the stops of going to Google or Wikipedia's front pages first. If this trick is enabled, you simply start typing "Wikipedia," and the far right side of the omnibox will prompt you to press tab to search within the site (in this case, Wikipedia). Once you press tab, a solid block will appear in the left side of the omnibox that says "search Wikipedia" after which you can type your search within in that site (in this case, "orangutans"). Hit return, and you'll be taking in the Internet's collected knowledge about our fuzzy orange friends.

This function isn't even just specific to reference or search sites. You can use the omnibox to search directly through nearly any site, even PCMag.com—as long as it's included in your managed list of search engines.

If a site is not included in your list, right-click on the search box on the site and click the the option: "Add as search engine…" Then you can have direct search access to Twitter, Google Drive, Gmail, CNN—anything with a search box, really. On a Mac, hold down the Control button when you click on the search box.

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Drag Multiple Tabs at Once

Most people are familiar with the ability to drag and drop Chrome tabs into their own browser windows, or mix and match them between browser windows, but they may not know that it can be done with more than one tab at a time. Just hold down the Ctrl key and click on all the tabs you wish to move and you can move them as one. If you're on a Mac, hold the Command key.

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Your Omnibox Is a Calculator

As you may or may not know, Google will calculate basic math in the search bar. However, did you know that you can access a similar math function in your omnibox without ever going to Google.com? Just type in a basic math problem and the correct answer will appear in the suggestions below the omnibox without pressing enter (as you have to do on Google.com).

This handy little trick appears only to work if your default omnibox search is Google—you won't get an answer if your default is, say Yahoo or Bing. It also doesn't appear to work if you are typing into an incognito window, no matter what your default browser.

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Your Omnibox Is a Unit Converter

Your omnibox can also perform Google-like unit conversions without going to Google. As with the calculator, the correct answer will appear in the suggestions below without ever hitting enter. As you type, Chrome will automatically convert your number into a unit that you may or may not want. So, if you type "9 inches," Chrome may automatically suggest conversion rate to centimeters. If you want a different conversion, just type an equals sign with the conversion you do want (e.g. "9 inches = km" or "9 inches = mm" or "9 inches squared = m squared").

Once again, this particular function only appears to work if Google is your default omnibox search engine and it won't work in incognito mode.

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A Simple Image Browser

Have you ever been organizing your computer and come across some jpeg and you have no idea what it is or how it got on your computer? Well if you just want to see what it is real quick, drag it directly into your Chrome browser window and take a quick gander.

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Drag to Search

Highlighting a word and performing a drag and drop is fundamentally the same as performing a cut and paste, so it stands to reason that you could just highlight a word or phrase and drag it into the omnibox to perform a Web search. Conversely, you can also just right-click on highlighted word or phrase and you will prompt a pop-up option to conduct a Google search (on a Mac, Control-click on a highlighted word).

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Drag a URL to the Bookmarks Bar

If you come across a website you will want continual and easy access to, you can quickly add it to your Bookmarks Bar by highlighting the URL and dragging directly down to the Bar. Boom. You can edit it later if you want to change the name. You can drag a URL in from sources other than Chrome as well.

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Use Key Commands to Browse Through Tabs

If you ever need to read something quick on another tab, hold down the Control key (Command on Macs) and a number 1 through 9. Each number is associated with a different tab starting with 1 all the way to the left and moving incrementally through 9 tabs as you move to the right.

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Navigate Up and Down Using Key Commands

You can use the spacebar to scroll down on any webpage, and you can scroll back up by pressing Shift and the spacebar.

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Open Specific Pages at Start

If you use the Web like me, you end up going to the same sites every time you log on. Conveniently, you can set Chrome up to open those same websites every time you start up. In the Settings menu, go to the section "On Startup" (or just type chrome://settings/startup in the omnibox) and click on the option to "Open a specific page or set of pages." Next to that option is a "Set pages" link, which allows you to choose your starting sites (it will even auto fill from sites in your recent history or you can choose the tabs you currently have open).

Understanding Binary and Hex numbers

Computers only understand numbers.
The first thing to understand about computers is that they are nothing more than a powerful,
glorified calculator. The only thing they know, the only thing they understand, is numbers. You
may see words on the screen when you're chatting with your friend via AOL, or breathtaking
graphics while playing your favorite game, but all the computer sees are numbers. Millions and
millions of numbers. That is the magic of computers - they can calculate numbers, lots of
numbers - really fast.
But why is this? Why do computers only understand numbers? To understand that we need to
go deep into the heart of a computer, break it down to its most basic functionality. When you
strip away all the layers of fancy software and hardware, what you will find is nothing but a
collection of switches. You know the kind, you have them all over your house - light switches.
They only have two positions: On or Off. It's the same for computers, only they have millions
and millions of the little buggers. Everything a computer does comes down to keeping track of
and flipping these millions of switches back and forth between on and off. Everything you type,
download, save, listen to or read eventually gets converted to a series of switches in a particular
on/off pattern that represents your data.
What does this have to do with Binary and Hexidecimal numbers?
Let's back up for a minute and look at how human beings deal with numbers first. Most people
today use the Arabic numbering system, which is known as the decimal, or Base-10, numbering
system (dec means ten). What this means is that we have ten digits in our numbering system:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
We use these ten digits in various combinations to represent any number that we might need.
How we combine these numbers follows a very specific set of rules. If you think back to grade
school, you can probably remember learning about the ones, tens, hundreds and thousands
places:
When counting, you increase each digit in the right-most place column until you reach 9, then
you return to zero and increment the next column to the left:
1352
I know this all probably seems very remedial and unimportant, but going back to these basic,
simplistic rules is very important when learning to deal with other number formats. Would it
surprise you to learn that there other numbering systems that have a different base? Somebody,
somewhere, a long time ago decided that having ten digits would work best for us. But there
really is no reason why our numbering scheme couldn't have had seven, or eight, or even
twelve digits. The number of digits really makes no difference (except for our familiarity with
them). The same basic rules apply.

As it turns out, computers have a numbering system with only two digits. Remember all those
switches, each of which can only be on or off? Such an arrangement lends itself very nicely to a
Base-2 numbering system. Each switch can represent a place-column with two possible digits:
0 1
0 = off, 1 = on. We call such numbers binary numbers (bin means two), and they follow the
same basic rules that decimal numbers do: Start with 0, increment to 1, then go back to 0 and
increment the next column to the left:
binary
decimal
equivelent
0 0
1 1
10 2
11 3
100 4
101 5
110 6
111 7
1000 8
1001 9
...
Hexidecimal
Binary numbers are well and good for computers but having only two digits to work with means
that your place-columns get very large very fast. As it turns out, there is another numbering
scheme that is very common when dealing with computers: Hexidecimal. Hex means six, and
recall that dec means ten, so hexidecimal numbers are part of a Base-16 numbering scheme.
Years ago, when computers were still a pretty new-fangled contraption, the people designing
them realized that they needed to create a standard for storing information. Since computers
can only think in binary numbers, letters, text and other symbols have to be stored as numbers.
Not only that, but they had to make sure that the number that represented 'A' was the same
number on every computer. To facilitate this the ASCII standard was born. The ASCII Chart
listed 128 letters (both upper- and lower-case), punctuation and symbols that could be used and
recognized by any computer that conformed to the ASCII standard. It also included nonprintable
values that aren't displayed but perform some other function, such as a tab
placeholder (09), an audible bell (07) or an end-of-line marker (13). The various combinations of
only eight binary digits, or bits, could be used to represent any character on the ASCII Chart
(28 = 128). (There were also other competing standards at the time, some of which used a
different number of bits and defined different charts, but in the end ASCII became the dominant
standard.)1
128 characters may have seemed like a lot but it didn't take long to notice that the ASCII Chart
lacked many of the special vowels used by latin-based languages other than English, such as ä,
é, û and Æ. Also lacking were common mathmatical symbols (±, μ, °, ¼) and monetary symbols
other than the dollar sign ($) for United States currency (£, ¥, ¢). To make up for this oversight
these symbols and a series of simple graphical shapes, mostly for drawing borders, were
assembled as an extension to the original ASCII Chart. These additional 128 characters brought
the new total to 256 (216), with the pair of charts being referred to collectively as the Extended
ASCII Chart.
Did you notice that the value 256 can be represented as 2 (the base of a binary numbering
system) to the 16th power? This brings us back to hexidecimal (Base-16) numbers. It turns out,
through the magic of mathmatical relationships, that every character on the Extended ASCII
Chart can be represented by the a two-digit hexidecimal number: 00 - FF (0 - 255 decimal).
Whoa! What's up with this FF stuff?
Hexidecimal is a Base-16 numbering system, which means that every places column counts up
to sixteen individual digits. The decimal system that we humans are familiar with only has a total
of ten unique digits, however, so we need to come up with something to represent each of the
remaining six digits. We do this by using the first six letters of the alphabet.2 This means the
digits for the hexidecimal numbering system are:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
And, of course, hexidecimal numbers follow the same basic rules that decimal and binary
numbers do. Count up to the last digit, then return to zero and increment the next column to the
left:
hexidecimal
decimal
equivelent
0 0
1 1
2 2
...
9 9
A 10
B 11
...
E 14
F 15
10 16
11 17
...
19 25
1A 26
...
1F 31
20 32
...
As you can see, the hexidecimal numbering system doesn't advance through the place-columns
as quickly as decimal numbers do - and certainly not at the rate of growth experienced by binary
numbers! This, coupled with its relationship to the Extended ASCII Chart and subsequent
relationship to various other computer concepts, has made the hexidecimal numbering system,
or hex, a standard for computer programmers and engineers the world over. It is common when
viewing a raw data dump to use a Hex Viewer - software that displays the hex values of each
character. This allows one to see every character in the Extended ASCII Chart, even the ones
that are not normally printed or visible.
If you are a programmer, or aspiring to be one, it is also worth noting that the variable type Byte
is, depending on the programming language, 8 bits in size. This means that it can be
represented by a single digit hexidecimal number (0-F). If you are programming for the Windows
platform in C or C++ you have probably noticed the commonly used variable type DWORD
(Double-WORD). A WORD is 16 bits (0-FF) in size, which makes a DWORD 32 bits (0-FFFF). If
you are an HTML programmer you have probably seen color values that are composed of hex
numbers. Colors are represented as a mixture of Red, Green and Blue values (RGB). Each of
these three primary colors can have a value from 0-255 (decimal), which translates into three
sets of two-digit hexidecimal numbers: 00 1A FF.
This tutorial just touches on the basics of the hexidecimal and binary numbering systems and
their importance when working with computers, but I hope that it has provided a good base of
understanding from which to start.

What is the difference between DDR3, DDR2, DDR, and SDRAM?

Most desktops and notebooks use one of four popular types of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) for the main system memory.
Single data rate (SDR) SDRAM is the older type of memory, commonly used in computers prior to 2002.
Double data rate (DDR) SDRAM hit the mainstream computer market around 2002 and is a straightforward evolution from SDR SDRAM.
The most significant difference between DDR and SDR is that DDR reads data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal,
enabling a DDR memory module to transfer data twice as fast as an SDR memory module.
Systems implementing the followon
technology to DDR, called DDR2 began to appear in mid2004.
DDR2 achieves speeds beyond
that of DDR, delivering bandwidth of up to 8.5 GB per second. Frequently, DDR2 based systems can use memory installed in pairs to
run in "dual channel mode" to increase memory throughput even further.
The latest generation of memory technology, DDR3, began to appear in systems in late 2007. DDR3 is an evolutionary step beyond
DDR2 and operates at lower voltages, thereby consuming less power, and can transfer data at rates up to 12.8 GB per second.
Typically, DDR3 based systems can address memory modules in banks of 1, 2 or 3. If a system supports it, installing memory in matched
sets of 2 or 3 modules (dual channel or triple channel modes) will deliver greatly increased memory performance over running a single
memory module by itself.
Generally speaking, motherboards are built to support only one type of memory. You cannot mix and match SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, or
DDR3 memory on the same motherboard in any system. They will not function and will not even fit in the same sockets.
The right type of memory to use is the one that your computer takes! The easiest way to find the right memory for your computer is to look
up your system in Crucial's Memory Advisor tool. The Memory Advisor tool will list only compatible memory for your system.
If you don't know the exact model of your computer, the Crucial System Scanner can scan your computer hardware to automatically
detect your system configuration and give you a report on which upgrade is right for you.

Thursday, 23 April 2015

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 full review

INTRODUCTION
Some said it would never catch on, but here we are over four years on from the original Galaxy Note phablet with the fourth generation device - the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
The Galaxy Note's big screen and S Pen stylus are certainly not for everyone. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Alpha offer a more mainstream smartphone setup - the Note 4 brings together big power, a big screen and big productivity.

If you're after a top-end smartphone which won't break the bank (or your palm, pocket or handbag) then you're probably in the wrong place - you could consider the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge, and while they offer the latest tech from Samsung, they're not exactly cheap either.
At over £600, $800 (around AU$960) SIM free the Galaxy Note 4 was heart stoppingly expensive at launch.
Several months have now passed since then and the price of the Note 4 has dropped a bit, and you can now pick it up for under £500, $700 (around AU$900) if you don't want to be tied down to a contract. That makes it decidedly cheap than the S6 and S6 Edge - while offering a similar level of power and performance
On contract in the UK a free handset will now see you pay £31 per month for two years, which isn't too bad all things considered.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review — The Galaxy Note 4 - king of the phablets?

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is up against the likes of the Nexus 6, Nokia Lumia 1520, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and the steeply priced iPhone 6 Plus, with the latter the only one matching the Note 4 in terms of cost.
It's also no longer the newest flagship in Samsung's fleet either, with the introduction of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge providing the most cutting edge tech and an improved design.
Unlike the previous three iterations Samsung hasn't deemed it necessary to increase the screen size of the Note 4, so it sticks with the same 5.7-inch dimensions of the Galaxy Note 3.
It's not the same screen though, as Samsung has given the Galaxy Note 4 a hefty resolution boost - but more on that on the next page.
When it comes to design Samsung has definitely listened about its latest line-up feeling plasticky in the hand and has decided to give the Note 4 more of a premium finish.

There's a metal rim surrounding the handset, shielding the rest of the chassis like a velvet rope protecting celebs from real people in a club.
It sports exactly the same shape, style and rounded corners as the Galaxy Alpha, only on a bigger scale and thanks to the increased size the plastic rear is more noticeable here than it is on the Alpha.
Samsung has tried to make the removable plastic cover feel more premium by giving it a leather effect finish, but there's still no fooling your hand with that unmistakable texture.
It's not on the same level of design as the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge which ditch plastic altogether, so if you really don't like this cheaper material then consider these two instead.

A plus side to this though is the plastic rear does provide good grip - vital when you've got such a large handset in your hand and even though the Galaxy Note 4 is a touch wider than the all metal iPhone 6 Plus, I found the Samsung is easier to hold.
Even though the 6 Plus has a smaller, 5.5-inch display, it's actually taller than the Note 4 - something else the Samsung has over its Apple rival as it makes the phone more balanced in the hand.
Add to that the placement of the power/lock key on the right of the Galaxy Note 4 and you find that even for a big phone the key buttons are still easy enough to reach (if your palms are on the larger side).

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 measures 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm, almost the same as its predecessor and smaller in width and depth than the Galaxy Note 2, which is impressive considering this is the first of the Note series to sport a metal frame.
I've also been using the 5.5-inch OnePlus One recently and there's really not a lot to choose between the two in terms of size.
It's safe to say then, if you're already accustomed to the larger league of smartphones then the Galaxy Note 4 will feel right at home in your palm.

I really like the way the Galaxy Note 4 feels in the hand and having used the Note 3 on a number of occasions, it definitely feels different and refined enough - plus it's light too, just a touch over the weight of the Note 3 at 176g.
Samsung's tried and tested physical home key still resides at the bottom of the screen, providing a location for the Korean firm to stuff in its fingerprint scanner, and that's flanked by two touch keys.
To the left of the home button is the Multi-tasking key, while on the right you get Back. Both Back and Multi-tasking are completely hidden when not illuminated by the backlights, providing a clean finish to the front of the Galaxy Note 4.

Some shuffling of the Note 4 in the hand is required to get your fingers in the right position to reach these during one handed use, and you'll need to be careful not to drop it.
Round the back you'll find a 16MP camera, LED flash and the heart rate monitor which also features on the Galaxy S5, S5 Mini and Galaxy Alpha.
In the bottom corner you'll also notice the end of the S Pen stylus hiding inside the body of the Galaxy Note 4, while behind the removable rear cover there's a microSIM port, microSD slot and a sizable 3220mAh battery.

This, then, is the Note handset with the most premium and accomplished look and feel to date. Samsung is finally providing the build quality its top-end devices have been yearning for.
Samsung has managed to keep the dimensions manageable - it's certainly a lot easier to hold than the 6-inch Lumia 1520 and Ascend Mate 7 - and while the iPhone 6 Plus may look sleeker, the Galaxy Note 4 boasts a bigger, better screen and very similar dimensions.

You'll want to see this

Samsung's Galaxy Note series is all about the screen. The original Note arrived with a 5.3-inch display, which seemed ludicrously big against the 3.5-inch iPhone 4 and 4.3-inch Galaxy S2 - yet fast forward to now and 5-inch+ smartphones are the norm.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 rocks up to with a 5.7-inch display - the same size as the Galaxy Note 3 - and it's been given a resolution boost over its predecessor.

Buy Galaxy Note 4 Black at MobileShop.com for £254.99

In fact the Note 4 joins just a handful of smartphones boasting a QHD display, providing it with a rather eye-popping 515ppi pixel density thanks to the 2,560 x 1,440 resolution.

That puts it on par with the 5.5-inch LG G3, although the LG can lay claim to a slightly higher pixel density, but at this resolution you're unlikely to see the difference.
This means the screen on the Galaxy Note 4 is sharper than the full HD offerings on the iPhone 6 Plus (401ppi), Nokia Lumia 1520 (367ppi) and Huawei Ascend Mate 7 (368ppi) - and the good news doesn't stop there.
Earlier this year DisplayMate dubbed the Galaxy S5 "the best performing smarphone display" thanks in part to Samsung's Super AMOLED technology, and that tech is also featured on the Galaxy Note 4.

Samsung's Super AMOLED displays have been around for a while now, providing vibrant, vivid colours that really pop and make for an impressive viewing experience, and the Note 4 is no different.
Coupled with the QHD resolution and something Samsung calls 'adaptive' display - that sees the screen change to suit your lighting environment - the screen on the Note 4 is truly fantastic.
Text and images are crystal clear, which makes for a superb reading and viewing experience - which is exactly what the Note 4 needs as it encourages you to consume media and work on the go.

In short, you'll be hard pushed to find a better display on a smartphone.
The screen on the Galaxy Note 4 also has - unsurprisingly - support for the S Pen, which itself has also been upgraded since the Note 3.

A pen in disguise?

With the new S Pen for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 sensitivity and accuracy have been pushed up a notch, providing you with a more enhanced writing experience.
I was impressed with the precision I could achieve with the S Pen, and it's certainly the best handwriting experience I've had on a smartphone.

The Galaxy Note 4 is able to keep even the smallest of words legible, and reproduction of strokes on screen is instantaneous so you keep the natural flow of your writing.
Of course it still isn't the same as writing on actual paper, and I found it a little tricky taking notes while holding the Note 4 in my hand. It's a lot easier to place it on a flat surface and scrawl on it as you would a piece of paper.

The S Pen isn't just for writing though: you can also use it as a replacement for your finger, allowing you to move apps and files around the phone with ease.
The S Pen is still very a divisive feature, with some Note users swearing by it while others find themselves ignoring it most of the time.
Click the button on the shaft of the S Pen and the Air Command menu will appear on screen, allowing you to jump into Action Memo (a floating S Note window), Smart Select, Image Clip or Screen Write.

Both Smart Select and Image Clip allow you to highlight a particular section of the display, with the former able to recognise any text in your selection while the latter allows you to pull out an image and save it to your scrapbook for use later on.
I found their uses relatively limited day-to-day, although they were fun to play around with and for some they will be useful tools.
Screen Write potentially has a wider scope of use, allowing you to annotate the screen you're viewing - be it a map, text message, picture or just the home screen.

Once edited you can then share the finished article via social media, email, text message or just save it for a later date.
With a selection of different drawing tools you can generate a variety of effects using the S Pen, which is much better than your finger when it comes to precision editing.

Fingerprint Scanner

Apple really stumbled upon something when it launched Touch ID on the iPhone 5S, providing users with an extremely simple yet secure way of unlocking their handset.
Unsurprisingly other manufacturers have tried to mimic the success of Touch ID, and Samsung is no different with the Galaxy Note 4 joining the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Alpha in the fingerprint scanning stakes.
Like Apple, Samsung has opted to imbed its digit scanner in the physical home key below the screen - but the South Korean firm's implementation isn't quite as clean cut.

While on the iPhone (and the rear of the Hauwei Ascend Mate 7) all you need to do is place your finger over the home key for the handset to recognise your print, on the Note 4 you're required to swipe your finger over the pad.
While this process isn't in itself much of an issue, the poor implementation of the service from Samsung is hampering its effectiveness.
I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini earlier this year and quickly fell out of love with Samsung's digit reader as it simply didn't work well enough.
Thankfully it looks like Samsung has tried to address this issue on the Galaxy Note 4, firstly by getting rid of the "five strikes and you're locked out" rule which drove me up the wall on the S5 Mini.

Instead of locking the handset for 30 seconds after five failed finger swipes (which happened a lot with the S5 Mini) the Note 4 seemingly lets you go on and on until you get it right.
You've still got to ensure you're swiping down the centre of the home key, and you can't go too quickly or too slowly, otherwise the Note 4 gets a bit grumpy.
As well as using the fingerprint scanner to unlock the Galaxy Note 4, you can also use the biometric test to verify your Samsung and PayPal accounts, and as an alternative way to sign into websites on the internet.
While the system is still some way off a successful scan first time, every time, I did find that in general there were fewer occasions demanding a third or fourth attempt.
It's still frustrating how frequently it doesn't work though (especially compared to the iPhone), and trying to swipe a thumb while holding the Note 4 in the same hand is near impossible - you'll want to use both hands to grip the handset so it doesn't fly out of your hand.
Samsung has signifcantly improved its finger scanner again for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge and its quick, accurate and hassle free - putting the Note 4 to shame.

Heart rate monitor and S Health

Something else the Galaxy Note 4 has inherited from the other top end Samsung smartphones in 2014 is the rear mounted heart rate monitor, allowing you to keep track of your pulse.
Reviews for Samsung's other handsets have already pointed out that a heart rate monitor is far better suited to a smartwatch or fitness band, but the Korean firm seems intent on including the tech on its phones.
It can be tricky to line your finger up blind, and I often found I had to double check my placement which in turn added unnecessary time to proceedings. I far prefer using the Gear Fit or Moto 360 to check my heart rate.

The good news is it does appear to work, just fire up the S Health app, select heart rate and place a finger over the sensor. After a few seconds the Note 4 will give you a reading and it'll save all your results so you can look back at your history.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 also claims to be able to measure your stress level using the heart rate monitor, though it's unclear just how scientific this reading actually is.
Both feed into Samsung's S Health app, which helps you to keep track of your diet, fitness and exercise and the Galaxy Note 4 comes with a built in pedometer to count the steps you do each day.

It runs in the background and uses pretty much no power, so you needn't worry about switching it on and letting it do its thing.
S Health will also try and work out how many calories you've burnt based on your activity, and there's an exercise mode allowing you to track a stint of walking, running, cycling or hiking.
If you're really keen you can also track your food intake, weight and sleep (with the aid of a third party device).
There are plenty of fitness applications and wearables which offer similar services, but it's handy to have an option pre-installed on the Galaxy Note 4 and S Health works well.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 comes running Android 4.4.4 KitKat, the final iteration of the chocolate snack based operating system, but the upgrade to Android Lollipop has started to roll out.
I will update this review fully once Lollipop lands on my Note 4 to give you the full run down of Google's latest sweet treat, including improved lock screen notifications, better Android Wear integration, Smart Lock and slicker performance.
Of course this wouldn't be a Samsung handset if the Korean firm hadn't done some tinkering with the operating system, and its familiar TouchWiz interface is present on the Note 4.
The good news is that Samsung's 2014 update to TouchWiz is much more refined than previous offerings, with fewer pre-installed bloatware apps and redesigned icons making everything look a lot smarter.
Some Android fans will still find it clunky in places, and it doesn't have the same simplistic feel to is as stock Android, but I found it perfectly palatable to use.

The lockscreen of the Galaxy Note 4 gives you the option to launch directly into the camera or the dial pad for an emergency call, plus it can also display information such as the time, date, weather and even how many steps you've taken during the day.
In a similar fashion to HTC's Blinkfeed news aggregation service on its smartphones, Samsung has partnered with flip board to give you easy access to the latest headlines by swipe left to right on the home screen.
Pull down from the top of the screen - which can be tricky when using one hand due to the size of the handset - and you'll access the familiar notification bar.
A selection of quick links are housed across the top, while brightness control and toggles for S Finder and Quick Connect bridge the gap to your notifications.

To help you tackle the big screen nature of the Galaxy Note 4 you can shrink select pre-installed app windows down to make them easier to reach one-handed.
Unfortunately there's no support for third party applications, so you're rather limited to Samsung's suit of apps and extras such as Google Play.
All you need to do is drag down diagonally from the top left corner and the app will pop out of full screen mode and into a smaller form factor.
Tap the grey dot at the top of the window to bring up the menu from where you can minimise the app into a floating bubble on screen - much like Chat Heads from Facebook.

I did find that on several occasions I accidently shrunk the app I was viewing when trying to access the notification bar. Not a huge issue, but it can get frustrating if you do it several times in a row.
When minimised you can move the floating window round screen, resize it, and access the Android interface behind it, giving you an added level of multi-tasking.
As with previous Note devices you can also get two applications side by side on screen and the best way to do this is by holding down the Back key below the screen.
This will bring up a column of apps on the right hand side of the Note 4's display, and from here you can drag two onto the main part of the screen to snap them side by side.

Your choice here is limited to some pre-installed apps such as calculator, camera, contacts and email, but there is some third party support including Facebook and Whatsapp.
It's a simple and effective system, but I question its usefulness on a smartphone - there's a better case to be made for its use on tablets.
Some may find themselves using this all the time, but during my review I very rarely bothered.
The multi-tasking button makes it quick and easy to jump between applications, and the fluid interface of the Galaxy Note 4 means there's little delay jumping from one to another.
Samsung has played with the design of the multi-tasking menu, with a series of stacked cards showing all your currently running applications.

Scrolling through and swiping to close, is a fluid experience, plus there's the option to close all at the bottom of the screen, as well as jump into Task Manager.
Something I did find from continued use with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is its rather aggressive vibrate.
While many of the smartphones I've reviewed gently hum on my desk, the Note 4 has a much stronger vibrate function.
That's great if it's in your pocket as you're more likely to notice is, but it did lead to some strange looks in the office when I had it out on my desk.

As I've already alluded to the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is impressive, and so it should be considering it's packing a 2.7GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM.
That means Android 4.4.4 KitKat runs very smoothly, and I didn't experience any slow down or lag during operation.
Applications and games loaded quickly, and even with apps opening in the small floating window view there was not noticeable dip in the performance.
I ran the Geekbench 3 test on the Galaxy Note 4, and after several goes round it averaged a score of 3351. That trumps the likes of the HTC One M8 (2951), iPhone 6 Plus (2911) and Samsung Galaxy S5 (2905), and shows just how much power is packed into the Note 4.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a slick performer and the refined TouchWiz interface and excellent QHD display makes this an enjoyable phone to use day to day.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 packs in a sizable 3220mAh battery which, unlike many of its rivals including the Nexus 6, iPhone 6 Plus and even the new Galaxy S6, is removable.
For those who always find themselves away from a plug socket the ability to swap out a dead battery for a fully charged one is an enticing proposition.
In fact it houses the same size battery as the newly announced Nexus 6, while the QHD toting, 5.5-inch LG G3 can only boast a 3000mAh power pack.
It's a touch bigger than the 3200mAh battery inside the Galaxy Note 3, and with the Note 4 having a vastly enhanced display you may initially worry about its battery life potential.
The good news is I had no trouble getting the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to last a whole day on a single, with it generally having 20%-30% of juice left in the tank when I got into bed.

That's with moderate to heavy usage, with a couple of hours of Spotify music, a couple of hours of gaming, some light web browsing, emails plus a variety of calls, texts and social media activity.
Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8 though, the Note 4 won't go for almost two days - you'll still need to practice the nightly charging ritual here, but you're unlikely to ever find yourself dashing to a power point.
Running the TechRadar 90 minute HD video test with the brightness on full and various accounts syncing over Wi-Fi saw the Galaxy Note 4 drop 19% - a respectable performance that puts it above the iPhone 6 Plus (27%) LG G3 (25%) and HTC One M8 (23%).
The battery performance on the Note 4 isn't quite as good as the Galaxy Note 3 then (which lost 13% in the same test), but with day-to-day usage you're unlikely to notice much of a difference.
Put that QHD screen to work for an extended period of time though and the percentage will tumble, but perhaps not as fast as you may expect.

If you do find yourself in the red zone and near a plug Samsung's fast charge cable is able to recharge approximately 50% of the battery in just 30 minutes, providing a welcome boost of power.
The cable (and plug) is included in the box, so you won't have to go out and spend extra cash on another lead.
There will be times though when you're not near a power source, or don't have the correct cable to hand, but the Galaxy Note 4 has you covered here as well.
Samsung's impressive power saving mode which has featured in the likes of the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Alpha also finds its way onto the Note 4, allowing you to make the most of those last few drops of juice.

You get the choice of 'power saving mode' and 'ultra power saving mode' on the Galaxy Note 4, with the former restricting background data and performance while also giving you the option to switch to a greyscale interface, saving you precious power from the QHD display.
Ultra power saving mode is far more aggressive, as it totally changes the interface to one which gives you access to just a few core apps (phone, texts, emails, web browser) as well as providing a simplified greyscale design.
When turning on this mode the Galaxy Note 4 makes some pretty bold claims, including "days" of standby life, but to be fair to Samsung it does make a difference.
It's not a mode you'll find yourself using all that often, but when you do hit the red zone - and at some point you probably will - you'll be thankful it's there.

What can I say about the camera on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4?
It's a 16MP lens equipped with a dual-LED flash along with auto- and touch-to-focus - that's hardly ground breaking information, and it mirrors the Galaxy S5 in terms of general specs. Something the Galaxy Note 4 does have over the S5 though is OIS (or Optical Image Stabilization, if you prefer).
OIS fights against camera shake, and also allows you to take better pictures in lower light by automatically extending exposure time.
It's not just the rear camera that's been given some love by Samsung on the Galaxy Note 4, with the front facing snapper gaining a 90 degrees lens allowing you to fit more of your mates into those all important selfies.

Fire up the camera app - which can be done direct from the lock screen if you're in a hurry - and you'll find it's not as cluttered as previous Samsung offerings.
The Galaxy Note 4's camera app may not be as sparse as Apple's offering on the iPhone 6 Plus, but there are fewer options available with a big shutter and video record keys at the bottom of the screen making it obvious what you need to hit.
There's also a Mode key down here, which on previous Samsung devices opened up a volley of different settings. On the Galaxy Note 4 however you get just three options pre-installed.

I say pre-installed, as there's an option to download further modes from Samsung's App Store including Animated Photo, Sports Shot, Sound & Shot and Sequence Shot.
These are typically features I rarely, if ever, use, so not having them cluttering up the menus in the main camera app is great.
The options that are already loaded are Rear-cam Selfie, Selective Focus and Panorama, which should all be pretty self explanatory.

Switch to "Rear-cam Selfie" or flip to the front facing camera and Samsung's beauty mode will be activated by default, smoothing your skin and increasing the size of your eyes.
There's a sliding scale from 0 (off) to 8 (max beauty), with the highest level making you look a little scary, while I found 3 was almost passable as someone's genuine complexion. It's fun to play with, but ultimately pretty pointless.
Back to the main screen and at the top of the display you'll find a centralised HDR toggle, flanked by an option to switch between front and rear cameras and the settings menu.

For anyone fearing that Samsung has removed the more technical tools on the camera then there's good news. Tucked away in settings is exposure, ISO, white balance and metering, giving the more proficient photographers among you a wider scope of adjustments.
You can also set the volume keys on the left of the Galaxy Note 4 to act as shutter keys, something I found very useful on a phone this size.
So what about the photos the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 takes? Are they any good?
Yes.

I'd even go as far as to say that the camera of the Galaxy Note 4 is one of the best mobile snappers I've had the pleasure of using.
The stunning QHD display makes for an excellent viewfinder, even in brighter conditions, and the Note 4 is capable of capturing a huge amount of detail.
Colour reproduction is great, HDR generally performs well and up close you can snap some top notch macro photos.

In low light the Galaxy Note 4 also does pretty well, and while it hasn't mastered this area entirely, you're still able to grab some decent images which you'd happily show off to others.
I did find from time to time that the auto-focus needed some manual assistant with a tap of the screen to tell the Galaxy Note 4 what to focus on, but these occasions were few and far between.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is made for media with its 5.7-inch QHD display, punchy 2.7GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM and microSD slot providing everything you need to enjoy movies, music and games on the go.
With a slim frame and textured plastic rear the Galaxy Note 4 is also reasonably comfortable to hold during extended gaming and movie sessions, and for such a large device at 176g it's not as heavy as you may expect.

Video

There's good news for film fans as the Galaxy Note 4 comes with a dedicated video app, meaning you won't have to sift through hundreds of photos in the gallery to find all your moving picture files.
It's a simple offering with all the basics without any confusing additional content.
Videos are displayed in a series of thumbnails, making it easy to see what you've got on the Note 4, and a quick tap will see you launch yourself into the player.

Play/pause, skip and scrub controls are all present and correct, and further settings can be reached via the menu key. From here you can share your film via email or on social networks.
Playback on the Galaxy Note 4 is fantastic - set yourself up with a full HD movie and your eyes will thank you as the screen pops with colour and the action is crystal clear.
The additional size of the screen on this phablet makes playback even more enjoyable and you'll feel a smug sense of satisfaction as you take it all in on your morning commute.
As well as sticking video files on the Note 4's internal storage or a microSD card, you can also download directly from the Google Play store where there's a whole host of movies and TV shows available to buy and rent.

A neat feature which finds its way onto all of Samsung's top end devices is pop out play, allowing you to shrink your video into a small window which sits on top of the Galaxy Note 4 interface.
This then gives you access to the rest of the phone, allowing you to reply to a quick text, update Twitter on your dinner or browse the web for merchandise while still watching all the action.
With so much power under the hood there's no lag or slow down while in pop out mode, making it all the more enjoyable to use.
The single rear speaker on the Galaxy Note 4 can kick out a decent volume, but it's no where near as good as the front facing Boomsound speakers on the HTC One M8 and you'll be much better off using a set of headphones.

Music

Music also gets its own dedicated application on the Galaxy Note 4, and like the video player app it's all very straight forward.
You can view your tracks by name, artist, album or genre, and a quick tap on a tune will see it start to play and you'll be taken to the player screen with all the usual controls including random and shuffle.
If you like tinkering with your tunes you can go to the menu within the app and select Settings followed by SoundAlive.

Here you'll get access to a graphic equaliser, and if you've got headphone hooked up there are a series of presets providing you with simulations including surround sound, a concert hall and more.
Playback controls can be found in the notification bar and on the lock screen of the Galaxy Note 4, allowing you to easily skip, reply or pause songs without the need to navigate back to the application.
As I've already mentioned the inbuilt speaker on the Note 4 can go loud, but to the detriment of sound quality with songs sounding tinny and degraded. You're much better off plugging in a set of headphones, or an external speaker setup.

Like with movies and TV, Google has a way of pushing music at you with the Play Music section of the Play Store providing a huge library of tracks and albums for purchase and download.
Google also has its own music streaming service, dubbed All Access, providing a similar service to Spotify for a monthly fee.

Games

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is also a pretty mean mobile gaming machine, with the huge amount of power and impressive display translating into a pocketable system capable of running anything you throw at it.
I fired up the graphically intensive Real Racing 3 and the Note 4 had no trouble running it at top spec, and the graphics looked great on the QHD display.

Contacts and calling

The Galaxy Note 4 benefits from Samsung's solid contact management system, allowing you to pull in details of all your buddies from a variety of sources including Google, email accounts, social networks and Whatsapp.
Profile pictures are moved across too, providing a more colourful contact list and some instant visual recognition of who's who.
It also does a reasonable job of joining up a person's various profiles into one contact although it's not perfect, so if you're a perfectionist you'll have to manually complete the missing links.

The phone and contacts apps may appear separate in the app list, but in reality they're the same application divided by four tabs at the top of the screen; keypad, logs, favourites and contacts.
It's all very straight forward and anyone who's used a smartphone previously won't have any issues navigating to contacts and making and receiving calls on the Galaxy Note 4.
A nice feature which I enjoy using on Samsung phones is the ability to quickly make a call by sliding left to right across a contact's name in the contact list, call log or even in the messaging app.
This action launches you straight into a voice call, and if you swipe in the opposite direction you'll be taken to a new text message screen with that person already entered as the recipient. Which takes us nicely onto...

Messages and email

You can both send and recieve text messages on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and from the off you've got the choice of two SMS clients.
Samsung's own Messages app is a run of the mill offering with the addition of profile pics of your chums to make it look a little more inviting.
All the basics are there, but if you're after something with a few party tricks then Google's pre-installed Hangouts app may be more up your street.

Not only does Hangouts deal with text messaging, it also incorporates Google's own instant messaging client into the app, meaning fewer trips to different apps as you attempt to keep in contact with everyone.
Both are easy to use, but the keyboard Samsung provides to enter your missives will not be to everyone's liking.
That's not to say it's bad, but I've never been a huge fan of Samsung's own board and I get the same feeling when using it on the Galaxy Note 4.
I'm able to type relatively quickly on it, but characters such as punctuation aren't as easy to access as on other boards. I still much prefer SwiftKey which provides greater accuracy, a more efficient design and better next word prediction.

If you're going to be doing a lot of typing I'd suggest downloading a third party alternative on the Note 4, but for casual users it suffices. If you really want you can draw out the S Pen and handwrite your messages, but I found it slow and at times frustrating so I wouldn't bother.
That keyboard could become a real bug bear if you're planning on firing off a lot of emails and once again you've got the choice of two apps to manage your electronic mail.
You get Samsung's own email client plus Google's Gmail app, the latter of which now accepts all email accounts rather than just the search giant's. That means you can truly pick one app and ditch the other.

I find Google's Gmail a much cleaner and snappier offering, but both offer the same level of features so either way you'll be well catered for.

Internet

With strong Wi-Fi capabilities, 4G connectivity and an expansive 5.7-inch display the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is well built for web browsing.
Websites load up very quickly, with even full desktop sites appearing in a matter of seconds.
The QHD display ensures images and text are crystal clear, making surfing the web an enjoyable and stress free experience.

And to round off the choice carousel the Note 4 comes with two browsers as well - it's pretty silly when you stop and think about the amount of duplication - and again both Samsung's Internet app and Google's Chrome offer very similar experiences.
There's tabbed browsing, bookmarks, the option to force desktop mode and more, ensuring you won't be caught short at any point.

EASY BLAZERZ