Pedro...Galaxy S4 v Nexus v HTC One

[Darrell KSR]

Fair assessment here?

http://m.blogs.computerworld.com/sma...6v%3D133247963

Sent using Forum Runner.

[badrose]

Just did a quick scan, but HTC-1 looks better. I've been a Droid Razr user for a while and not in the market.

[Catonahottinroof]

I will be in the market this year for a new one. My first smartphone was a Blackberry 7105. I loved it, wore it out. Since I've had a string of 3 iPhones with the latest being a 4S. I'm not going to get another one as I have to jailbreak it to get it to do things I want it to do.
The HTC on tempts me

[Darrell KSR]

I'm reading Nexus 4 from that. No specific hardware, and the best experience grabs me, especially since I am so heavily invested in Google mail, business edition, calendar, Drive, multiple email addresses, etc. I want to want S4, but practically, it doesn't make sense. HTC is 2nd to me. Daughter has HTC, and I've had prior HTC phones, and happy with them.

Sent using Forum Runner.

[PedroDaGr8]

Damn I could have sworn I answered this post. Anyways, yeah its a pretty fair assessment. The best all around device and the highest quality device is the HTC One, that being said the limited storage may or may not be a killer. Second place would be the nexus (despite its slightly lower specs). Last place being the S4, mainly due to the fact I'm not a fan of Samsungs interface. They do some cool stuff but they also do a lot of things that are more of solutions in search of a problem.

[Darrell KSR]

Now thoroughly confused, and thinking about the S4 again.

Read the Consumer Reports review and comparison of all 3 phones, and their review had the S4 above the HTC and the Nexus. Sigh.

Thanks for the comments, Catonahottinroof, badrose and Pedro. Of course, you guys just confuse the heck out of me, too lol.

I think I'm just going to go to the store, and whichever grabs me, I grab.

[CitizenBBN]

Darrell, curious which one you got and how it's worked out?

Next question. Iphone 5 v Samsung S4 v HTC One

I need a new phone. I've had Iphone forever b/c that's what I started with and has lasted a long time, and it works well with exchange server, that drives all my email/calendar stuff. However I know it has its drawbacks.

If I'm going to pay $200 even with the upgrade for a new phone, I figure I'd better look around.

Here's what I need:

-- has to work great with Exchange server. Would be AWESOME if it worked with tasks as well as email/calendar/contacts. My iphone doesn't do tasks, I have to homework if Iphone 5 has fixed that.

-- Need a good video chat solution. Have been using facetime, I can change to a different one but need something as good or better that can still talk to iphones or I'm locked into the iphone platform.

Otherwise I really do little with it. I presume the apps are basically competitive (correct me if I'm wrong), and my small exposure to the android platform (samsung galaxy s3 iirc) was fine. I know it's a lot more flexible in that they don't have apple's control obsession. I use Forum Runner for here (know that is covered), google search app, browsing, nothing fancy.

One thing that would be nice is a proper secure erase program. Something that does an overwrite of deleted info (texts, emails, calendar, anything deleted) with at least DoD level erase. Gutmann is better. I really don't have anything on my phone that I think is at issue, but I've always followed good practices on whacking stuff on my laptops and given the chance of a phone being stolen I see no need to leave any more info on it than absolutely necessary.

Pedro you may be able to tell me how difficult it is to write a custom app for android v iphone. I could use a couple of dedicated apps that are pretty simple (posting data records to a mysql db on one of my servers) and would be great to be able to fill out the info on the phone. I wouldn't commercialize it, just for me to post auction stuff when we have to make corrections and I'm not in front of a computer. Ideally I'd be able to tether the phone and load it and be done. Being able to do an app easier on android would be a huge plus in its favor.

[Darrell KSR]

I have not had time to go to the store and compare side by side in person, but I'm pretty sure it will be the HTC 32gb.

I realized that I'm making do fine with a 512kb phone with a 16gb microsd card, and although I would love the 64gb sd card ability of the Samsung, I thing 32gb built in will be more than fine.

Build quality means something to me, too, and from what I can tell, the htc is outstanding with that, moreso than the plastic samsung.

If the store is open tomorrow, I may take a run by. Tues thru the rest of the week is a disaster.

(Edit...my biggest hesitation now is that although I have been happy with HTC phones in the past, my daughter has struggled with 2 of them recently, although neither is the HTC One.)

[PedroDaGr8]

1) Neither iPhone or Android natively supports tasks. It almost seems like exchange server itself is the reason for this. There are some apps that seem to enable support for this on each platform. Otherwise, both have fully integrated exchange support.

2) If by videochat works with iPhones you mean works with facetime, then you are locked into the iPhone platform. Facetime is Apple's 100% proprietary video chat implementation. Basically, while there were dozens of already well used video chat platforms on the market, Apple made sure to go and make their own proprietary one.

3) For data security, you may find Samsung Knox interesting. Other than that, there is an app in the Android store called Nuke My Phone, which erases to NIST guidelines.

4)Android is significantly easier. First off, it uses JAVA (which pretty much everyone and their brother knows how to use). Secondly, there are no restrictions on third party development "environments". Which help streamline app design, interface design, etc. Lastly, because its Linux at its core, SQL in particular is easy to implement from what I understand.

Darrell, curious which one you got and how it's worked out?

Next question. Iphone 5 v Samsung S4 v HTC One

I need a new phone. I've had Iphone forever b/c that's what I started with and has lasted a long time, and it works well with exchange server, that drives all my email/calendar stuff. However I know it has its drawbacks.

If I'm going to pay $200 even with the upgrade for a new phone, I figure I'd better look around.

Here's what I need:

-- has to work great with Exchange server. Would be AWESOME if it worked with tasks as well as email/calendar/contacts. My iphone doesn't do tasks, I have to homework if Iphone 5 has fixed that.

-- Need a good video chat solution. Have been using facetime, I can change to a different one but need something as good or better that can still talk to iphones or I'm locked into the iphone platform.

Otherwise I really do little with it. I presume the apps are basically competitive (correct me if I'm wrong), and my small exposure to the android platform (samsung galaxy s3 iirc) was fine. I know it's a lot more flexible in that they don't have apple's control obsession. I use Forum Runner for here (know that is covered), google search app, browsing, nothing fancy.

One thing that would be nice is a proper secure erase program. Something that does an overwrite of deleted info (texts, emails, calendar, anything deleted) with at least DoD level erase. Gutmann is better. I really don't have anything on my phone that I think is at issue, but I've always followed good practices on whacking stuff on my laptops and given the chance of a phone being stolen I see no need to leave any more info on it than absolutely necessary.

Pedro you may be able to tell me how difficult it is to write a custom app for android v iphone. I could use a couple of dedicated apps that are pretty simple (posting data records to a mysql db on one of my servers) and would be great to be able to fill out the info on the phone. I wouldn't commercialize it, just for me to post auction stuff when we have to make corrections and I'm not in front of a computer. Ideally I'd be able to tether the phone and load it and be done. Being able to do an app easier on android would be a huge plus in its favor.

[CitizenBBN]

Thanks Pedro. I knew facetime was proprietary Apple, so I'm just looking for a good alternative app. Skype I guess is the most popular, didn't know if there's something better. It just needs to work on iphone so people I use facetime with now will still be able to video chat with me.

How is Android for basic exchange? From my research today from what I can tell it takes at least Exchange 2007 to sync tasks with anything. I have 2003 and I'm unlikely to upgrade at this point. As long as I can do my email/calendar/contacts well I won't have lost anything.

I've seen programs like Nuke that will erase the entire phone to factory, but few apps that erase just unused memory. Found 1 or 2 but nothing like the erase programs for Windows where you can run an erase on something like an individual spreadsheet file. Would be nice to just say "erase everything that's been deleted" and whack emails, texts, appointments, all of that sort of info.

I'll have to homework on app development. Any favorite android platform? Haven't written in Java in a while but after the first half dozen they're all basically the same. If I can find something with a decent set of GUI components I can knock out what I need pretty easy.

[PedroDaGr8]

Thanks Pedro. I knew facetime was proprietary Apple, so I'm just looking for a good alternative app. Skype I guess is the most popular, didn't know if there's something better. It just needs to work on iphone so people I use facetime with now will still be able to video chat with me.

How is Android for basic exchange? From my research today from what I can tell it takes at least Exchange 2007 to sync tasks with anything. I have 2003 and I'm unlikely to upgrade at this point. As long as I can do my email/calendar/contacts well I won't have lost anything.

I've seen programs like Nuke that will erase the entire phone to factory, but few apps that erase just unused memory. Found 1 or 2 but nothing like the erase programs for Windows where you can run an erase on something like an individual spreadsheet file. Would be nice to just say "erase everything that's been deleted" and whack emails, texts, appointments, all of that sort of info.

I'll have to homework on app development. Any favorite android platform? Haven't written in Java in a while but after the first half dozen they're all basically the same. If I can find something with a decent set of GUI components I can knock out what I need pretty easy.

- SKype is the most common and frankly it does work well. There are likely other platforms available as well but truthfully I do very little video chat or video conferencing so I don't know much about it.

-Android works perfectly for basically all exchange functions including allowing remote administration of the mobile device (for remote wiping when a phone gets lost, etc.)

-This is made a bit more difficult due to the use of NAND flash. It is much more wear intensive on the NAND flash to do this as you have to fight the wear leveling of the drive.

-I'm not a huge programer just dable in it a bit. For quick and basic, MIT AppInventor gets mentioned a lot, quite frankly there are dozens out there each with its own abilities and focus. I can look around a bit and see which ones seem to cater to SQL types of stuff and let you know.

[CitizenBBN]

Don't worry about it Pedro. For what I need it shouldn't be too hard to find something that covers it. Android seems to have its own download, Eclipse plus their SDK. that's probably more than sufficient but I'll check out MIT and some of the others. Would be nice to have it compile cross platform but not essential for this stuff. Just as long as I can use it. It's a convenience. I could end up developing an app for some of our auction stuff but I'll get my feet wet with some utilities for just me.

Re the erase I saw that mentioned as an issue. Not a huge deal, would just be nice b/c I like to keep things tidy that way.

[Darrell KSR]

Went to look at them today to get one. Left without one.

Eliminated the Nexus and HTC One, although I loved the look and feel of the HTC. Eliminated the iPhone 5.

Samsung Note 2 or S4 for me. Will go back in the morning or Monday and get one of them.

FWIW, since I had not previously considered the iPhone, I took a good look at that today. Didn't like the size. Still like Android better, like the coordination with Google. Did not like non-removable battery, and non-expandability of micro -sd cards. It felt great, well-built, and I could type on it well. But just didn't care for it as much.

[CitizenBBN]

Darrell why did you eliminate the HTC?

I'm curious b/c I hadn't gotten around to posting on here, but I went and took the plunge last week on a new phone. My Iphone 3 couldn't run some of the apps I use (and I use very few), but mostly it had already lost the on/off button (had to use a finger nail reaching inside the case to operate the base switch) and it was cracked, etc. and ready to fail completely.

I pondered the HTC v S4 for a while in the store, and went with the S4. So far I'm very happy. Most of my issues have been the change from iphone to android, but I wanted to make that move and try android. I have an interest in developing a few apps for my use and I can do that for free with android on a Windows machine development platform and SDK free from google. On Iphone it's absurd what you have to do just to develop an app for personal use. There were other reasons, but that was enough to help me narrow down that particular variable.

HTC case was great, but it seems the interface was a bit less of the normal android layout and I wanted the more generic layout. I like the extra SD option on the S4, and I really don't need the speaker quality on the HTC b/c I don't use it for music often and when I do I can plug it in to something else. I put all my mp3s on a usb drive and leave it in my car's usb so I wouldn't be constantly plugging and unplugging my phone. I have it all on my office computer too.

Oh, and I'm totally worn out on the battle with Itunes on Windows. It is one of the worst written least reliable apps in history. Surely I can do better with android.

[Darrell KSR]

I've decided on the S4 as well, CBBN. Funny.

I loved the look of the HTC. It felt great. It looked great. In the end, I decided I would--for the first time ever--be getting a case for my phone anyway, so that eliminated the difference I had with the S4 (I didn't like the plastic look/feel).

Anecdotally, I have had HTC phones before and liked them. My daughter has had HTC phones before and struggled with them. I spoke with the guy there outside the place, and he told me they've had some issues with them being "quirky." I hate the idea of something not being replaceable like a battery. I have a 16gb micro-SDhc card I use with my existing phone, and love the idea of being able to expand that to 64gb if I choose.

I'm not big into music, although I have been listening a little to some music on my phone, but with headphones anyway, so the speakers--which I loved on the HTC--aren't a big deal to me, either.

I like the fact that the S4 has a 5" screen instead of 4.7. I would be happy with a 4.7 compared to what I have now, but why not have 12% more real estate if you can get it (without being problematic to hold?)

The specs, as I understand them from some reviews I've read, are slightly better on the S4 than the HTC as well.

I'm also real bad about hating to buy something that just locks me in. I don't mind buying a computer with inadequate RAM if I can buy RAM later. I don't mind buying a 16gb S4 if I have a 16gb SD card to go with it, and can buy up to a 64gb card if need be.

There are a few more things that convinced me to eliminate the HTC, but those were the main ones. (Now watch me go in tomorrow or Monday and come back with the HTC lol.)

I arrived home and my daughter had a friend over and she told me she had the HTC One, and was counting the days til she could upgrade to the S4. She said the HTC One was a good phone, but she would have to reboot it too often, and said she had them in the past and they were good for about "a year."

Again, just anecdotes. But made me feel better about it.

Ultimately, I think all of those are good ones, but it just boils down to personal preference. With the case I'll get, the S4 hits everything for me.

[CitizenBBN]

What case are you getting? Had one on my iphone forever, it wore out and I carried it without one. The button/cracks were already there, so the lack of case didn't do it. I'm debating whether to get one on this one or not, but it "feels" like it could really use one. It's so light and thin.

[Darrell KSR]

What case are you getting? Had one on my iphone forever, it wore out and I carried it without one. The button/cracks were already there, so the lack of case didn't do it. I'm debating whether to get one on this one or not, but it "feels" like it could really use one. It's so light and thin.

Will look tomorrow. Won't get it from the store. One of those good, protective ones like a Otterbox or something. Just looks like it really needs it.

Mobile platform post.

[blue2ksr]

I would think the next version of the iphone will be out between now and fall.

I'm due for a discount upgrade from Verizon on the 12th of this month, but I'm waiting to see what the new iphone has to offer.

I currently have the 4s, and have really enjoyed it.

[Darrell KSR]

I elimated the iPhone 5 pretty quickly. Solid phone, nothing wrong with it, but just didn't have the size, the speed, the camera, the features I wanted. I did enjoy typing on it, though...surprisingly (to me) it was very easy and my fat fingers didnt get in the way soo much.

I hear the 5s may have a larger screen. That would help.

OH--edit--I should add that I am heavily "invested" in Google, too, from business google mail, drive, etc. and had a personal preference for a strong google connection. So android had a natural bias from me. But I did spend 90 minutes in the store (they were SO ready to get rid of me) using the phones, making calls, web surfing, etc. and just didn't care for it. Lot of this is personal preference, methinks.

Did not get the phone today, spent most of the day at Shelby Cty airport watching my 12 year old fly a plane. Young eagles day today; really neat thing they do. His co-pilot was an orthopedic surgeon here in town, and a really cool guy to donate his time, plane, etc. to letting the young scouts go on flights with him.

Forum Runner Phone Post.

[PedroDaGr8]

I've decided on the S4 as well, CBBN. Funny.

I loved the look of the HTC. It felt great. It looked great. In the end, I decided I would--for the first time ever--be getting a case for my phone anyway, so that eliminated the difference I had with the S4 (I didn't like the plastic look/feel).

Anecdotally, I have had HTC phones before and liked them. My daughter has had HTC phones before and struggled with them. I spoke with the guy there outside the place, and he told me they've had some issues with them being "quirky." I hate the idea of something not being replaceable like a battery. I have a 16gb micro-SDhc card I use with my existing phone, and love the idea of being able to expand that to 64gb if I choose.

I'm not big into music, although I have been listening a little to some music on my phone, but with headphones anyway, so the speakers--which I loved on the HTC--aren't a big deal to me, either.

I like the fact that the S4 has a 5" screen instead of 4.7. I would be happy with a 4.7 compared to what I have now, but why not have 12% more real estate if you can get it (without being problematic to hold?)

The specs, as I understand them from some reviews I've read, are slightly better on the S4 than the HTC as well.

I'm also real bad about hating to buy something that just locks me in. I don't mind buying a computer with inadequate RAM if I can buy RAM later. I don't mind buying a 16gb S4 if I have a 16gb SD card to go with it, and can buy up to a 64gb card if need be.

There are a few more things that convinced me to eliminate the HTC, but those were the main ones. (Now watch me go in tomorrow or Monday and come back with the HTC lol.)

I arrived home and my daughter had a friend over and she told me she had the HTC One, and was counting the days til she could upgrade to the S4. She said the HTC One was a good phone, but she would have to reboot it too often, and said she had them in the past and they were good for about "a year."

Again, just anecdotes. But made me feel better about it.

Ultimately, I think all of those are good ones, but it just boils down to personal preference. With the case I'll get, the S4 hits everything for me.

I had a feeling D, that the MicroSD would be one of the most important points. As for HTC phones, I currently have the Evo 4G LTE, a OneX variant (which is likely what you daughters friend has, the OneX). Mine has been rock solid, that being said one of the first things I did was install a custom OS on it. HTC makes great hardware but sometimes the software isn't up to par. I've treated this thing rough too (not intentionally), its still ticking. The new One (its weird and annoying the older phone is the OneX and the new one is the HTC one) is supposedly light years better. Also, they are coming out with Nexus versions of both the S4 and the One. Personally, that's what I would go with, the Nexus HTC One. Everything I need and want in one package. I just get so annoyed at the AMOLED display and the plastic feel.

[Darrell KSR]

Yeah, the micro-SD was an important part--for me, Pedro. Again, everybody's needs and tastes can differ. In reality, as I understand it, if I stick with the 16gb card + the 16gb (really about 8+) the S4 has, it will be no more than the HTC's 32gb, but I do like the *ability* to go larger if needed.

I have had a couple of HTC's and loved them. This time, I'm passing for several reasons, but there's a reason, to me, that all of the phones we're discussing get very high marks from places like Consumer Reports, from guys like you, from articles on the internet, etc. They're all good. If I say I like the camera better on the S4, somebody will tell me the HTC shoots better in low light. If I say I like the speed better on the S4, somebody will say that despite the clock tests, the iPhone 5 will be smoother. And so on and so forth.

The painfully slow way I absorb information, then agonize over it is really silly, but to me, it's a fun part of the process.

[PedroDaGr8]

Yeah, the micro-SD was an important part--for me, Pedro. Again, everybody's needs and tastes can differ. In reality, as I understand it, if I stick with the 16gb card + the 16gb (really about 8+) the S4 has, it will be no more than the HTC's 32gb, but I do like the *ability* to go larger if needed.

I have had a couple of HTC's and loved them. This time, I'm passing for several reasons, but there's a reason, to me, that all of the phones we're discussing get very high marks from places like Consumer Reports, from guys like you, from articles on the internet, etc. They're all good. If I say I like the camera better on the S4, somebody will tell me the HTC shoots better in low light. If I say I like the speed better on the S4, somebody will say that despite the clock tests, the iPhone 5 will be smoother. And so on and so forth.

The painfully slow way I absorb information, then agonize over it is really silly, but to me, it's a fun part of the process.

You make an excellent point. The fact of the matter is all of the phones are incredible phones. What differentiates them are small differences in extra features, not lack of important features. Any of these phones is killer and if the Nexus editions start gaining popularity (which I hope they do) we may see something even more interesting come along. That's were fragmentation starts falling away and phone OS support goes to google instead of waiting on the phone maker.

[CitizenBBN]

The painfully slow way I absorb information, then agonize over it is really silly, but to me, it's a fun part of the process.

I do the same, but I don't find it fun. I find it painful b/c I really want a decision and then I run into some variables that can't be quantified or balanced in the equation matrix and I end up having to be subjective. Ick. lol.

[Darrell KSR]

Oh, it can be painful, too. But I love feeling good aout the decision when I'm done.

Got distracted today looking at online cases. Want one that is very protective and looks stylish. Bulk doesn't bother me as much as it does others, althoufgh, sure, would like it less bulky if no tradeoff.

Forum Runner Phone Post.

[CitizenBBN]

Let me know what you find. I haven't had time to even begin that part of the process. I really want opposite things though, my old case wore me out with size, would like thinner, but this phone is so freakin' thin how bad could it be with the case? Besides, the suckers aren't cheap.

I am really liking it though. WAY faster, the 4G around here seems to be doing pretty well.

FWIW I had to download a "visual voicemail" app so it would list my messages and let me manage them. that was stock on my iphone 3, is that just something weird about android or did the S4 just forget to put it on there? It's there now, seems to be workign fine. I like the more granular app approach of android, I'm a computer guy after all, but surprised that one wasn't in the stock build and there are some in there that seem pretty unnecessary in its place. No idea what I need with a HP Print app it wanted me to update. Skipped that one.

[Catonahottinroof]

I'm listening too. I won't go with Apple on the next go around.

[Darrell KSR]

Let me know what you find. I haven't had time to even begin that part of the process. I really want opposite things though, my old case wore me out with size, would like thinner, but this phone is so freakin' thin how bad could it be with the case? Besides, the suckers aren't cheap.

I am really liking it though. WAY faster, the 4G around here seems to be doing pretty well.

FWIW I had to download a "visual voicemail" app so it would list my messages and let me manage them. that was stock on my iphone 3, is that just something weird about android or did the S4 just forget to put it on there? It's there now, seems to be workign fine. I like the more granular app approach of android, I'm a computer guy after all, but surprised that one wasn't in the stock build and there are some in there that seem pretty unnecessary in its place. No idea what I need with a HP Print app it wanted me to update. Skipped that one.

I use Google voicemail, which lists and transcribes, puts on my email, and stores in my files.

Forum Runner Phone Post.

[Darrell KSR]

Some of the cases so far:

Pretty thin, has the "front cover" (Not sure if I want that), very professional look.
http://www.belkin.com/us/F8M564-Belkin/p/P-F8M564

Love this look, and thin, too. (I like the obsidian black over the titanium silver, but both are sharp looking)
http://www.incipio.com/cases/smartph...hine-case.html

Here's a compromise (for you and me, probably) for Otterbox--the Otterbox Commuter series. It's less bulky than their full blown version, but probably plenty protective enough. And how can you turn down a color called "Marine"--gunmetal gray and admiral blue? Almost enough for the sale by itself.
http://www.otterbox.com/Galaxy-S4-Co...efault,pd.html

I really like this one--the Impact Snap. Claims it's great for people who work in construction. Well, I modify that to people who coach basketball, go to soccer games, go to volleyball games, forget and put the phone on top of their car, etc. They have them with/without the leather screen cover, too. This company's claim to fame is their "Impactology." Check out their video on it--pretty dang good marketing.

http://www.tech21.uk.com/Category/galaxy_s4_cases
Video: http://www.tech21.uk.com/index.php/i...is_impactology

Here it is on Amazon in the minimalistic version. This is my "leader in the clubhouse." Great absorption protection, not much bulk (although, again, that's not a huge deal for me.)
http://www.amazon.com/Tech21-Impact-...pr_product_top

Want a cheap case that is good--either just by itself, or while you're waiting to figure out the "best" case? How about $9.93 from Amazon? It's the Cimo Back Gloss case, plastic and silicone material hybrid.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00BLQIIM4

Another decent cheap one, $8 from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00BT9KSQ2

It's the Bear Motion folio case. I like that one a lot. To me, it's like a bike helmet--one crash, and you probably need to replace it, but it will do its job for that crash. (Read the first review if you get time.)

There are tons more. I mean, tons. It's like the iPhone, the market for them is through the roof because they are selling so many.

Here is a link to 35 of cnet's top Galaxy S4 cases. I have not had time to go through them. In addition, there are a bunch of them on Youtube reviews, which I actually find most helpful. There's a British chap who has reviewed half-a-dozen of them, and I love his reviews. He'll drop his dang S4 from a couple of feet away on its screen to show how shock absorbent the cases are. It makes me cringe, but I'm glad he's doing it.

I am not ready to get one, just thought I'd show some results so far.

[CitizenBBN]

Man, thanks D. I can narrow down pretty quick with that much info between the Otterbox (like you said, who can turn down "gunmetal" as a color?) and that Tech21, which has a great pitch.

FWIW Got an email today on the S4 "Active" that will be available this summer. Dust/weather resistant to IP67. Thought that was interesting, but didn't see a mention of impact resistance improvements. http://www.eweek.com/mobile/slidesho...3&rni=24769901

[Darrell KSR]

Must have accessory? I really love this concept.

It's the Joby Griptight MicroStand. $29.95.

Here it is on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Joby-JM2-01WW-...rds=joby+micro

At Amazon, 4.7/5.0 stars out of 40 reviews.

It is for any smartphone, not just the S4. I saw it in an article on "must have" accessories, clicked on it, went to the Joby website, and saw it unfolded--wow. It is great.

http://joby.com/smartphones/griptight-micro-stand

Psst....hint....put in SMUGMUG in the coupon code box before checking out, and it will knock off $6 (ok, $5.99) from the price.

I think it's a great gift item for anyone with a smartphone of any type. Want to skype/facetime? Use this. Want to take a picture with a tripod? This does it. Want to watch a UK ballgame on your phone at a perfect angle? This is your guy.

(Even though it's one extra thing to carry--it folds up so small it's not a big deal to me. I actually looked at the Otterbox Defender series case because it had a case that could double as a viewing stand, but I like this so much better.)