I’m a sucker for first party accessories for my mobile devices. That’s not to say that other companies can’t come up with their own fine accessories, it’s just that hardware makers typically find a way to make something that feels like it was perfectly crafted for their particular products.
So with that, here are three things I want to see Samsung come out with this year.
GS4 extended battery and replacement back
The Galaxy S II shipped with a 1,650 mAh battery. Sounds crazy when you think about it, but that was considered big back in the day. Still, Samsung offered an official 2,000 mAh battery, along with a bundled replacement battery door to deal with the extra thickness.
Same thing happened to the GS III. It shipped with a 2,100 mAh battery. Soon after that device hit the market though, the South Korean phone maker launched a massive 3,000 mAh battery. Again, it featured a replaceable door to deal with the extra thickness.
You probably know what I’m going to say now, right? Where’s the GS4 extended battery? The default 2,600 mAh battery is great, but wouldn’t a 3,600 mAh cell be better? The phone is less than 8 mm thick, so it can afford to bulk up a bit.
Galaxy Note III kickstand case
I own a Galaxy Note II, and I love it, but sometimes I wish there was a way for me to put it on my desk with the screen facing me. When I was traveling through Asia earlier this year, I saw a ton of Note I and Note II cases that came with a built-in kickstand. They weren’t exactly high quality, but they got the job done.
So Samsung, when you launch the Note III later this year, and we all know you will, can you please offer an official case that not only protects the screen, but also offers a little piece of pop-out plastic for those of us who want to prop up your product on a table?
USB key with full sized and micro sized USB ports
This one is going to be a bit controversial, but to me it’s important. I transfer files between my phone and my Mac all the time, and it’s a painful process. It used to be that you could connect your Android phone to your computer and then your computer would simply mount it as a storage drive, but that feature got taken out of Android a while back.
There’s WiFi transfer thanks to tools like AirDroid and WiFi Explorer, but they’re not exactly bulletproof. Also, they depend on you having an awesome WiFi router. Do you know how terrible of an experience it is to connect both your phone and your laptop to a hotel’s WiFi access point and then transfer a movie?
Thankfully, Android still supports something called USB on-the-go. Put simply, it allows your phone to read USB peripherals, including memory keys. I picked up a USB OTG adapter recently, and while I love it, I can think of a way to make it even better.
Why not simply make a USB key that has two ports? On one side there’s a full sized USB port for your computer, and on the other side there’s a microUSB port so you can connect it to your phone. This contraption wouldn’t have to look like a traditional USB key either, it could look like a plastic ring that you can easily carry with you.
Think of how much easier it would be to share files with friends, and to move stuff at high speeds between computers and phones. I think I’m not alone when I say this would be great.
What about you?
What do you think Samsung, or your handset maker of choice, should come out with to enhance your phone’s experience? As a former iPhone user, it’s quite sad to see how little support Android devices get, though it makes sense why. When an iPhone comes out, that’s what it’ll look like for two years. Samsung or HTC on the other hand, they come out with new devices seemingly every month.
That makes product planning nearly impossible.