The Handheld Blog

Lumia 928 For Verizon: Unboxing & Overview

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:25:29 +0000

The Lumia 928 is the only Lumia that comes with a Xenon flash, 3 high amplitude audio capture mics and a loud speaker with more thumb than most of its competition. If along with Verizon’s excellent LTE network, these are things that excite you, then read on for the unboxing and overview of this device, that costs $99 on contract.

The Lumia 928 while looking different from the Lumia 920 (more square than rounded, less colour options) is still very similar to it. Most internals are still the same, a 1.5 Ghz dual core Snapdragon S4 chip, 1 GB of RAM, NFC, a 2000 mAh battery, a 4.5″ Gorilla Glass 2, super sensitive Pure Motion HD+ display, 8.7 MP Carl Zeiss camera with optical image stabilisation, HERE apps, Nokia Music and other apps like Smart Shoot, Cinemagram camera lenses.

Where the Lumia 928 improves is:

Despite packing a Xenon flash, is only 10.1 mm thick.
3 HAAC mics for great audio capture no matter where you’re shooting.
A louder speaker on the back (although the quality can be iffy at full volume).

(YouTube link)

In case there’s something you’d like me to cover sooner, please let me know in the comments section below.

Tizen 2.1 (Nectarine) SDK & Source Code Released Ahead Of The Tizen Developer Conference

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:00:29 +0000

Just in time for the Tizen Developer Conference that kicks off today (May 22nd) in San Francisco, the source code and SDK for Tizen 2.1, codenamed Nectarine has been released. You will note that Tizen 2.0 Magnolia had debuted not too long ago in February, and the 2.1 release follows in its heals. Nectarine contains several new features and performance enhancements. A full list of the changes it brings is here, highlights include:

Enhanced Web framework that provides state-of-the-art HTML5/W3C API support including new features, such as Content Security Policy 1.0 and Navigation Timing, and relevant specification updates
Web DynamicBox runtime framework supporting the embedding of Web DynamicBox in viewer-like applications (e.g., home screen application)
Enhanced Web IDE providing WYSIWYG design environment, Chrome-based JavaScript inspector, and JavaScript log viewer
Native IDE providing a project wizard, WYSIWYG design environment, unit test tool, and dynamic analyzer

According to the Conference schedule, the main keynote with Imad N. Sousou, VP of Intel Software and Services Group, GM of Intel Open Source Technology Center, and Intel Co-Chair on the Tizen Technical Steering Group and Jong-Deok Choi, Executive VP of Samsung, and Samsung Co-Chair on the Tizen Technical Steering Group happens on Thursday morning, and that’s when you can expect to hear more concrete details about where Tizen is headed.

Samsung has already publicly stated that commercial Tizen devices are coming this year, and its Bada OS has since been folded into Tizen. The official conference hashtag is #TizenDevCon but over the years people have been know to use #TizenConf as well.

Dear Nokia India, Why Don’t You Leverage Your Retail Store Network Better?

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:31:06 +0000

Nokia’s had an online store for well over a year now, and while we haven’t seen any concerete numbers about how successful its been, my guess is that it still trailers online retailers like Flipkart and others by a distance. When the store launched, it promised a delivery time of 4 working days, and for most devices its still that much. But look at some of the popular phones, and you’ll see that most of them are either out of stock or come with long delivery times.

At the time of publishing, the Lumia 520 (in all its coloured variants) was out of stock. Cyan, Black and Green colour variants of the Lumia 620 were out of stock, white and yellow were available with a 4 day shipping time, while a Magenta Lumia 620 would take 10 days. No variant of the Lumia 720 would be delivered in less than 7 days as well. If the Lumias were as successful as the online store seems to suggest, Nokia’s is well on its way to a blockbuster quarter.

The thing is that if you call a local Nokia retail store, you’ll see that these devices are very much in stock and the local vendor will probably give you a better deal on the price as well. The thing about buying a phone is that once you decide that you want a device, you want it in your hands that very second, and an online store telling me that I’ll have to wait for a week is just ridiculous.

What I don’t get is why doesn’t Nokia India leverage its retail presence? They have a store in almost even nook and corner of the country, and each of those stores is a possible distribution point.

Here is how things could work.

You place an order.
Nokia looks up the location from which it was placed, calls its local distributor/biggest store in that area.
The distributor is given the address of the customer, and a delivery boy immediately leaves for that address.
The device is delivered in a matter of hours.

While I understand that managing something like this can be a logistical nightmare, but that’s where customer service comes in. When you are no longer the incumbent, you have to do things like these to shake up the market. This is what the challenger mindset looks like. Don’t do it in the smaller towns, justs start with the metros. You obviously cannot promise same day delivery, but that will allow you to say something like “Delivered in o-4 days”, rather than the disappointing ”Delivered in 4 working days”.

The advantages of something like this are immense:

Same day/next day deliveries make a lot of people happy.
Nokia saves on shipping costs
The local Nokia Priority Stores that are now either ceasing to be sole Nokia stores, or worse converting to Samsung Smartphone Cafes get a piece of the online sales pie.
Positive social media chatter. People who receive their devices the same day will only have good things to say on Twitter and Facebook.
People finally start considering Nokia’s official store as their goto portal, and Nokia’s reliance on selling through Flipkart etc is lowered.
I could go on, but you get the idea.

Dear Nokia, take this up like a pilot project, and see where it goes.

Creative Studio For Lumia Receives A Major Update: Brings Tilt Shift, Colour Pop, Collages & More

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:06:11 +0000

Nokia’s Creative Studio has come a long way since it first came out. Its not only much faster, but it pretty much enables you to do anything with photos that you could think of. Earlier it allowed you to the basics – crop, rotate, add filters, adjust the colour balance, brightness, vibrancy, clarity and remove red eyes, quickly and easily. But the new update takes the Creative Studio’s abilities to a new level, enter:

Blur: Focus Object, Radial+Tilt Shift

Focus Object lets you manually draw around the subject you want to highlight and the blurs the background.

Radial mode does the same thing, but gives you a circle you can work with.

Tilt Shift on the other hand keeps everything between two parallel lines in focus and blurs the rest. You can also set the blur level.

Colour Pop – Turns the photo into black and white and then highlights the colours you choose.

Collage Mode – The first photo you choose is the biggest, and then you can keep adding photos. There is sadly no way to choose between different frames yet.

Creative Studio is a free download from the Windows Phone Store. Thr best part about this update is that it works flawlessly on the slightly lower spec-d, Lumia 520, 620 and 720 as well.

Nokia Lumia 925 Camera: Samples & Improvements

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:25:51 +0000

When asked about its key differentiator, along with location services, Nokia never forgets to mention imaging. So it should come as no surprise that they are yet again looking to push the envelope with the Lumia 925. On the face of things it seems to have the same 8.7 Megapixel camera with an LED flash + optical image stabilisation that the Lumia 920 did, but there’s more to it than what meets the eye.

The Lumia 925 features an industry first, 6 part camera lens that along with improvements in the imaging algorithms promises better, clearer and sharper images than before. During the keynote, Nokia’s Jo Harlow specifically mentioned even better low light and ‘day light’ photos. This was perhaps in response to the criticism than the Lumia 920 has faced that its good light performance is average, and some shots tend to be slightly less sharp than what is expected.

Further, the Lumia 925 also becomes the first Nokia to ship with the ‘Smart Camera’ kit. The Smart Camera lens brings a number of features to the Lumia range that devices like the HTC One, and the Galaxy S4 pack. Basically, the app takes 10 five megapixel frames over the course of 2.5 seconds, and gives you the following options:

Best Shot: The device automatically determines what it perceives is the best photos out of the lot, and presents it to you.

Action Shot: This mode lets you super-impose the ‘action’ into one single photo, and then you can even highlight one part for that extra pop. Examples below, click through for the full resolution shot.

Motion Focus: While best shot and action shot like features are available elsewhere, Motion Focus seems to be a Nokia exclusive for now, and adds a lot of drama to the photo. It creates motion blur in the background, making the subject look as if it was moving very fast. Taking such a shot on a DSLR is possible, but involves a lot of skill.

Change Faces: This feature has been available on Lumias for a while, but now has been brought under the Smart Camera umbrella. It recognises each face in the photo, and then lets you replace it from any of the other 9 shots. Very handy for taking portraits and group shots, no more retaking a shot because someone’s eyes were closed.

Object Removal: You’re taking a photo in front of a monument, someone walks by and ruins the shot. With this mode, you can make that person disappear.

The good thing about the Smart Camera lens is that unlike other lenses for Windows Phone, you can directly launch this application by pressing the camera button, making it your default shooting mode. Like I said earlier, the 6 part lens and the improved camera software promise even better photos, and another example of this push is the new ISO range that the Lumia 925 brings. Instead of going from 100 to 800 like it was with the Lumia 920, it now goes upto 3200, letting in 4 times more light.

While in the Smart Camera mode, you are restricted to 5 MP shots. If you want to use the full resolution of the 925′s camera, shooting in the default WP mode will also not disappoint if these images are anything to go by. Click to get the full resolution shot.

Since the Lumia 925 camera software isn’t final yet, Nokia isn’t letting people take their own samples from the prototype units. All photos above have been published by Nokia themselves.

How Use The HTC One To Create Video Highlights Of Pictures & Video Taken On Another Camera

Vaibhav Sharma — Mon, 13 May 2013 07:58:51 +0000

One of the nicer features of the HTC One is its ability to create Video Highlights. Highlights are nothing but 30 second videos created from the pictures, Zoes and videos that you have shot on the HTC One. By default, a video highlight is created for each ‘Event’, and the HTC One automatically creates events based on the geo-tags of the photos and videos. But if you want to merge events, there’s also an option to do that, so you can have a single event spanning a week, which includes all your holiday photos.

I love these video highlights, they look great, have great animations and the best part is that they are automatic. If you don’t like the highlight that’s been created, just hit shuffle and the One creates another one. You can also choose from a bunch of themes. The result is videos like this or this.

Fortunately, you can use the HTC One to create Highlights from pictures and video that you have taken from other devices as well. For example, I created a Highlight from photos that I have taken from an iPhone in 2012. For good measure I also threw in a video taken on a Nokia N8. Here’s how:

Attach your HTC One to the computer in the ‘Mass Storage’ mode. (I’ve used AirDroid to connect wirelessly).

Navigate to the Pictures folder on the phone, and create a Folder. Name it whatever you want the name of the event to be. Copy the photos and videos into it. Note that only .mp4 files are supported. The Gallery doesn’t see .mov files.

On the phone, the photos and video will show up as an ‘Event’ in the Gallery app.

Open the event and the video highlights will be waiting for you. If you like what you see, you can directly share to HTC Share, YouTube or any other destination that you may like. If not, hit the shuffle button, play around with the themes etc. You can also save the video to the phone without sharing it to an online service. An average video highlight is 1280 x 720 and weighs in at 12-14 MB in size.

Enjoy.

With The Lumia 928, Nokia Concentrates On HQ Sound: Both Recording & Playback [+Other Specs]

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:34:57 +0000

Nokia Lumia 928 has just been announced, and its big differentiator from the Lumia 920 is supposed to be the Xenon flash and the new squared design. But that’s not all that has improved. The Lumia 928 also packs three high-audio-amplitude-capture (HAAC) microphones to ensure that users get great HQ audio capture, no matter where the recording is taking place. It could be a concert, a noisy room, a party but the HAAC mikes ensure that the audio is distortion free and rich. As long at the audio isn’t above 140db, your video will sounds great. To give you a better idea of what that means, jet engines produce a 140 db sound.

But that’s not all. I’m glad to see Nokia also invest in high quality sound output from the phone. Nokia claims that the Lumia 928 features “one of the most advanced loudspeakers available for smartphones”. Inside the Lumia 928 is a powerful digital amplifier that is “combined with real-time measurement and control, resulting in unmatched clarity and loudness”. I like the sound of that.

We’ll get an idea of how true this is very soon, but if the speaker grill on the back is anything to go buy, Nokia’s claims might not be far from the truth. Nokia’s made of the best sounding phones in the past, the Nokia X6 and the 5800 Xpress Music come to mind. Here’s hoping the Lumia 928 continues that tradition.

While the cheaper devices generally have insanely loud speakers (think Xpress Music Nokias), great sounding high-end smartphones should be also be a priority for all manufacturers. Hopefully Nokia’s May 14 Lumia announcement for the rest of the world will feature similar kit as well.

Before you leave, here is the Lumia 928 spec sheet.

Hat tip to @WhatTheBit for the link to the Lumia 928 reviewer’s guide.

Nokia Lumia 928 For Verizon Is Official: On Sale May 16th

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:19:34 +0000

After weeks of leaks and teasers, the Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon is now official. In a post on Nokia Conversations, Nokia has detailed its latest Lumia device, and announced that it will be available on May 16th at VerizonWireless.com and Verizon Wireless Stores across the US. Further, for a limited time buyers will also received a $25 credit for Windows Phone apps and games with the purchase of the phone.

The Lumia 928 builds on the 920, but is slightly more squared than its elder sibling and also manages to pack 8.7 MP camera with a Xenon flash while remaining relatively thin. There’s wireless charging, a 4.5″ display, three high-audio-amplitude-capture microphones to give you great audio recording capabilities. There’s also a built in LED light for use during video capture.

The Lumia 928 will be available in Black and White for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate with a two year contract. Nokia also claims that the Lumia 928 will have one of the most advanced speakers, and after the HTC One, its good to see Nokia pay attention to this aspect of the phone as well.

Video Demo: Nokia DC-18 Portable Charger – Compact, Trendy & Economical

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:40:02 +0000

At the Asha 501 launch event, Nokia also quietly announced a cool new accessory in the form of the DC-18, its latest portable charging solution. The square shaped box (57 x 57 x 14.9mm) packs a 1720 mAh battery and comes in cyan, white, red, and yellow. Inside it resides a micro USB port that can be plugged into any device that supports micro USB charging for a quick top off.

While its 1720 mAh battery might not be enough to completely charge some of the higher end devices like the Lumias or Samsung’s Android phones, but the DC-18′s 1720 mAh is enough to help get through a day. If you own a Asha device, you’ll be able to get a full charge. The DC-18 joins its elder sibling the 2200 mAh DC-16 as part of Nokia portable charging solutions.

The DC-18 features a sliding microUSB connecter, and everytime you slide it in or out, the four LED lights on the device light up to tell you how much juice is left inside the battery pack. The video demo below should give you a better idea of how this works:

The DC-18 will hit stores in June/July at an estimated price of 15 Euros without taxes. In India it is expected to launch at around the 1000 INR price point.

Note: The device in the video features LEDs that look slightly different from those in the press photos, perhaps because they were prototypes.

Nokia Asha 501 Demo Video: Things You’ll Want To Know

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:56:11 +0000

The Asha 501 was announced today morning, and I’ve already covered that here. But what’s a post without a video. So here is a detailed demo of the impressive new Asha 501. In the demo we get a look at the new Lumia inspired design, the Swipe UI, the Asha platform’s new ‘Fastlane’ that brings pseudo multitasking, its performance and other things that make the Asha 501 the compelling proposition that it is.

At the 99$ price point you get a capacitive display, that is responsive to the touch like no other device in low end of the spectrum. Add to that the N9 like intuitive UI, Nokia’s services (Nokia Music is coming as well), social network integration and the wide variety of popular apps that will be available at launch, and there is very little to not like about this nifty little device.

(YouTube link)

Many thanks to Pranav Shroff of Nokia India for the demo. I shall also be publishing my own hands-on video from the launch event, so look out for that as well.

Nokia’s Asha Lineup Gets A Reboot, As the Asha 501 Is Announced In Delhi

Vaibhav Sharma — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:14:37 +0000

Nokia’s Asha range kept the company afloat while the transition to Windows Phone happened, however in the last quarter Nokia’s Asha shipments have taken a hit. In the Q1 earnings call Stephen Elop had hinted that a rechristened Asha was coming, and it has been revealed at Nokia’s global launch event in Delhi.

The Asha 501 represents a departure from the existing Asha design language, and is also based on a brand new Asha platform, Series 40 is no more. Now that Symbian is out of the picture, Nokia had been using Series 40 to bridge the gap between Windows Phone and their entry level phones, thus blurring the definition of a smartphone.

The Asha 501 is backed by solid specifications:

A brand new Asha platform (everything is swipe based)
A 3 inch AMOLED capacitive screen with a 320 x240 pixel resolution
A 3.2 MP camera
MicroSD card support, ships with a 4GB card inside
FM Radio, WIFI.
Swappable back covers, Lumia inspired design
Xpress Now
Dual SIM version as well, lets you swap SIMs without a reboot.
3G version coming later
Dimensions: 99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm; 98 grams
Available colours: Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black

All this ensures that the Asha 501 feels like a lot like a smartphone. Asha and Series 40 have supported apps for a while now, with Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp support being its bread and butter. When Nokia killed MeeGo, the promise was that the lessons learnt from the N9 would live on, and we finally get to see that implemented across the board with the new Swipe based UI on the Asha 501.

The UI is controlled with swipes and the only physical button is a back key. On screen the UI is split into a app launch screen and ‘fastlane’. Fastlane is the N9′s notification screen on steroids. The Asha 501 also benefits from Nokia’s acquisition of Smarterphone, and features an impressive talktime of 17 hours and even more cool 48 days standby.

The Asha 501 should have access to 90% of the Series 40 touch apps at the time of sales start. EA and Gameloft games will be available as well. The phone will come pre-loaded with the Nokia Xpress Browser, and a brand new Xpress Now feature that presents local content in a good looking UI, think Flipboard but without the fancy animations. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube etc. will also be available.

The Asha 501 will retail at $99 without taxes, a very impressive price point indeed. It will hit stores in India come June.

Both Foursquare & YouTube For Windows Phone Receive Major Updates

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:16:10 +0000

With each passing day, the app situation on Windows Phone seems to get better and better. In the past few weeks seen brand new Twitter and Facebook apps, a HDFC Bank app, Hulu Plus, Fidelity app, Open Table, better Skype and Viber etc, and today updated versions of the YouTube and Foursquare apps have hit the Windows Phone store.

The YouTube app is now an actual app, as opposed to the mobile website wrapper than the old ‘app’ was. You now have YouTube in the Metro UI, can sign in with your account, have access to playlists, play videos under the lockscreen if you just want the sound etc.

The official feature list:

Pin videos, playlists, channels, and even search queries to Start as Live Tiles for fast access. The tile flips to show either the latest video from your subscriptions or the most popular one.
A new and innovative playlist design gives you easy access to videos using a touch-friendly filmstrip.
Just want to listen to a video? It now plays in the background even when the screen is locked.
You can share videos to popular social networks, and via email and text.

The app has just been pushed to the store, and at the time of publishing was not yet available here in India. WP 8 only for now, but an update for WP 7.8 is coming in a ‘few weeks’. Windows Phone store link.

Onto Foursquare. We first got wind of this upcoming update at the Mobile World Congress. The app has been jointly developed by Foursquare, Microsoft and Nokia. The big 3.0 version is compatible with all Window Phone 8 devices, but has additional augmented reality features for Lumias.

“The new app has all the best Foursquare features, each tailored for the Metro UI — beautiful maps, great insider tips, trending places, and more. Some of the Lumia models even integrate Foursquare data into their augmented reality experience (!!!), so it feels like you’re in the future when you’re finding cool places and money-saving deals.

Apart from the refresh and the other speed and stability improvements, the welcome functionality is that Nokia Maps is nicely integrated with the app. Want directions to a particular location? Just hit ‘get directions’ in the app, and HERE Drive opens up. WP 8 only for now, but an update for WP 7.8 is coming. Windows Phone store link.

While Windows Phone has excellent third party alternatives for both these apps, MetroTube for YouTube and 4th & Mayor for Foursquare, its augurs well for a platform when the official apps keep the third party developers on their toes.

Optimus G Review: LG Gets Serious About Smartphones

Vaibhav Sharma — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:31:59 +0000

More than anything else, the biggest problem LG has at the moment is that no one really considers it a top grade Android device manufacturer. This isn’t because their devices don’t have great screens, or the latest specs, but because people don’t really associate LG with great smartphones. In the Android ecosystem its all about Samsung these days, and then to a lesser extent HTC and Sony. Tell a friend that you picked up the latest LG, and you’re sure to get a puzzled look. This sentiment is LG’s problem, and they are getting serious about fixing this.

The partnership with Google to make the Nexus 4 has really helped, but the branding is not quite there yet. So does the Optimus G help LG push that envelope further, is this a smartphone that you should think about when looking for a shiny new toy? Lets find out.

When it comes to specs, LG’s really left no stone unturned. For about 30,000 INR ($560 / 425 Euro) this devices manages to pack quite a bit of muscle:

A 4.7″ 16M-color WXGA True HD IPS Plus (768 x 1280 pixels) display with Gorilla Glas
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset - Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU with 2 GB of RAM, Adreno 320 GPU
13 MP camera with LED flash and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera
32 GB of non expandable storage
NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, WIFI Direct
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
Runs Jelly Bean 4.1.2
Stereo FM radio

VIDEO REVIEW

If you can’t see the video, click here.

DESIGN

LG generally has a tendency of following its Korean sibling, Samsung’s lead when taking cues for its smartphones, but thankfully they’ve brought something of their own to the table with the Optimus G. The device is made using plastic and glass with a metal frame surrounding the screen. The glass back also has a nice reflective texture that becomes visible when light hits it at certain angles, much like the Nexus 4 and the older Optimus devices before that. This along with the metal frame around the screen add a premium feel to the device, and the glossy plastic bezel doesn’t feel too bad at all.

LG’s gone in for a very squared look, and that means that the Optimus G can feel a little blocky at times. Since there is no curved back, the device doesn’t fit as naturally into the hand as some other devices. However, since this is a unibody design with no removable parts, it does feel quite solid and reassuring in the hand with no creaks or squeaks. At 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm and a 145 grams, the Optimus G isn’t too big or bulky. Its a little smaller than the Galaxy S3, but about 12 grams heavier.

SOFTWARE & PERFORMANCE

The Optimus G had launched with Ice Cream Sandwich, but has since been upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.1.2, while that’s not the latest Jelly Bean software, devices like the HTC One that are just coming out, also run the same release. In any case, there isn’t much that Android 4.2 (also called Jelly Bean) brings to the table that you’ll really miss.

On top of Jelly Bean 4.1.2 is LG’s very own Optimus UI. Traditionally, it has been very cartoon like and LG’s worked on toning it down. Infact, the Optimus UI comes with four themes that you can choose from, and you can also pick the font that you like from the settings. Google’s new default Android font, Roboto is available. While the icons still do not deserve an A+, you can easily live with them.

Other than that, the UI is very slick and very fast. You can literally fly past homescreens, and everything launches instantly. The lockscreen features a nice bubble like unlock animation. The notification area houses quick toggle for everything that you can think of, and then there are the Qslide apps.

If Samsung has multi window apps, where you can run two apps side by side, LG has Qslide. Arguably, this implementation is better. Basically Qslide gives you a picture on picture mode, where one app becomes transparent and lets you interact with the app under it. So for example if you are watching a video and an email pops in, instead of exiting the video, you can enable the Qslide mode and let the video play in the background (its still visible, but is now see through) while you check your email/do other tasks. Since you can also control the transparency, this feature comes in pretty handy. This works with Memo, Calendar, Browser and Calculator. The video above will give you a better idea of how this works.

Then there is also Quick Memo. This application takes a screenshot and then lets you annotate on top of that.Useful, and something similar to what Samsung has on the Galaxy Note devices.

DISPLAY

The 4.7″ 16M-color WXGA True HD IPS Plus is one of the Optimus G’s highlights, and among the best 720p displays on the market currently. What I love about high resolution LCD displays is that unlike AMOLEDs, there is no blue tinge to them, so reading text on a white background is a real pleasure. Further, a person spends a lot more time reading on the phone than looking at photos/videos. So even if the display doesn’t have the pop that AMOLED screens do, it remains a better bet.

While LG uses a zero-gap construction so that there is no air between screen layers in order to eliminate reflections, strong sunlight might present a bit of a challenge. Other than that, its everything you could want. Right under the screen are three capacitive buttons, back, home and menu. A long press on the home button brings up the task switcher, and a button to goto Google Now. You can change the duration for which they light up from the settings menu, I personally had them set to always on.

BATTERY LIFE

A quad core processor, a 720p screen, multitasking and all the other gazillion things that smartphones can do today eat into the one precious commodity that’s battery life. The Optimus G features a 2100 mAh Li-Po battery, that unlike Lithium-Ion batteries give you more charging charing cycles, about 800 in the Optimus G’s case. That’s a good things because the Optimus G’s battery isn’t end-user replaceable.

So how does the Lithium-Polymer battery do otherwise? With 3G enabled, 2 push Gmail accounts, a fair amount of Twitter and Facebook usage with notifications turned on, WhatsApp, an hour of browsing and 15 minutes of calls, you’ll get through a 9am to 8pm day. That’s not bad for a modern smartphone, without 3G and 3D gaming, the battery life will be even better. Most people shouldn’t have problems getting a day’s usage out of the device.

CAMERA

While the Optimus G boasts of a 13 MP sensor, don’t let that play on your mind too much. Unfortunately, the camera is at par with the 8MP snappers that the competition offers, and those 5 extra megapixels aren’t really doing anything for image quality. Day light photos are acceptable, but the unit struggles in low light, producing some grainy shots.

The phones does come with the ability to shoot HDR photos and panoramas out of the box. The Camera UI is nice and simple, and there are even a few fun modes to it. For example you can take a shot using your voice by saying words such as ‘Whisky’, ‘Cheese’ and so on. Then there is a mode called ‘Time Catch Shot’ that starts taking photos before you have pressed the camera button, making sure you don’t miss the right frame. Next, there is ‘Smart Shutter’ that is aimed at producing lag free photos. The phone is also capable of shooting 1080p video, with average results.

Overall the Optimus G camera is good, without being impressive. A closer look at the camera UI is available in the video review above.

CONCLUSION

The Optimus G has been available for a while now, and it isn’t exactly the newest kid on the block. But because it came a few months after devices like the Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X, it does have a few advantages over them. A faster processor, 2 GB of RAM compared on the 1GB on the S3, 32 GB of storage compared to 16 on the S3 (but no microSD slot). The HTC One X/X+ devices with their Tegra processors had a tendency of getting hot, and that’s something that’s much better on the Snapdragon powered Optimus G. All of this does make the Optimus G more future proof.

Overall the Optimus G presently a very competitive package. A good looking device that has powerful hardware under the hood. The Optimus UI has been toned down and is no longer a hindrance to the functioning of the device. Infact, with Qslide apps and things like Quick memo, it does bring value to the product. So if you are in the market for a mid-high range smartphone, should you consider the Optimus G? Yes.

Infact, if LG can continue to iterate and build upon devices like the Optimus G, it is poised to be the comeback kid of the Android world.

Facebook Beta For Windows Phone Arrives, Exactly What Was Needed

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:13:04 +0000

Just today afternoon I was filling in a survey that Nokia had sent out about which apps I thought were lacking. One such app that I had a lot of say about was Facebook. Microsoft’s all metro Facebook app just wasn’t cutting it, and I always resorted to using Facebook in the browser because of that. Space was wasted, the UI was completely different from Facebook’s other offerings, and using it was otherwise frustrating as well.

Thankfully you do not need to deal with that anymore. A brand new beta has just been made available by Microsoft that takes its design cues from Facebook’s iOS and Android offerings, and in the process will make a lot of users happy. I’ve been playing with the app on a 512 MB RAM packing Lumia 720, and I’m glad to say that the performance isn’t bad at all, and this is still a beta. Scrolling is smooth, the slide gestures to the right and left in order to reveal chat and the navigation bar is specially fluid.

The beta finally brings the ability to view your newsfeed by ‘Top Stories’ or ‘Most Recent’, something I have really missed. But since this is still a beta, there are bound to be some issues. The app takes a bit of time to resume, and that is something Microsoft really needs to work upon. This means that while Messages can still be pinned to the homescreen, they won’t be able to work like the ‘Facebook Messenger’ because of this reason.

This is what Microsoft has to say:

As you’ll see, the app is undergoing a major redesign and now includes several much-requested features, including new support for high-res photos, post sharing, and Facebook Timeline. Once you’ve put the beta app through its paces, we hope you’ll pass along bug reports, feature requests, and other feedback by going to Settings>About in the app. You can also post a Store review. Your comments and suggestions will inform future releases.

You can keep both version of Facebook running side by side. Click on this link from your Windows Phone to download the Facebook for Windows Phone Beta.

HTC One India Launch Pushed To End Of May

Vaibhav Sharma — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:33:33 +0000

If you’ve been feverishly waiting for the HTC One to launch in India, there might be some bad news headed your way. The official word is that the One will not be hitting stores in India before the 4th week of May. This information is based on HTC’s response to an email sent by a consumer.

The Galaxy S4 just went on sale in India over the weekend, and any further delay will only make HTC’s task of succeeding in India harder. Samsung has the marketing muscle, while HTC has a great product. If only they’d put it on sale.

If you’re lucky and already own a One, be sure to check out our must know HTC One tips and tricks.

Hat tip to Amit for the email!

Must Know HTC One Tips & Tricks

Vaibhav Sharma — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:50:59 +0000

The HTC One packs a quad core Snapdragon 600 chip, 2 GB of RAM, an incredible 1080p 4.7″ IPS display and runs Sense 5.0, a new iteration of Sense that trims down the UI to a very large extent, while not taking away too much from the default Android experience. With its premium aluminium construction, there is hardly anything you won’t like about this device.

The HTC One is definitely one of 2013′s top smartphones, and as is the case with most devices these days, there are features that are obvious and then there are some that take a bit of finding. Over the last few days that I have been using the HTC One as my primary device (review coming soon) I have come to learn a few nifty shortcuts and tricks that every HTC One user should know.

If you can’t see the video embedded above, hit this link to go to YouTube. If you’d like to see some of these tips & tricks in text instead of video, read on.

How Use The HTC One To Create Video Highlights Of Pictures & Video Taken On Another Camera: Details here.

Capacitive Buttons: Because the One only comes with two capacitive buttons, instead of the 3 button default Android setup, the home key has some added responsibilities. A long press of the key launches Google Now, while a quick double tap, ala iOS, launches the multitasking app switcher. From there you can kill apps by simply dragging them off the screen.

Screenshots: Taking screenshots is very easy, just hit the home button and the power key simultaneously and a screenshot will be saved to the gallery. The One also has the ability to take screenshots while a video is playing. So if you want to quickly grab an image, just tap the screen once while the video is playing and hit the camera button that appears. A 1920 x 1080 screenshot will be saved to the gallery.

Homescreen Setup: By default, whenever you press the home button the first thing you’ll see is Blinkfeed. There is no way to turn Blinkfeed off, but fortunately you select another homescreen to be the default screen. To do this, pinch the homescreen and you’ll be presented with the following screen. Now choose the homescreen you want to set as the default by pressing down on it and dragging it to the ‘Set As Home’ option that appears.

Jump To Top: Very hand for long lists, wherever you are to quickly jump to the top, hit the notification bar once. This works in all sorts of lists – Contacts, Blinkfeed, Music Player and so on.

Secure Inbox: If there are certain messages that you’d best keep from prying eyes, the HTC One has you covered. Long press on the message you so wish to hide, and select the move to Secure Inbox button. Then when you wish to goto that message, choose ‘Secure Inbox’ from the list and enter your password. Note: The password is set the first time you enter the Secure Inbox.

Two Finger Scrolling: Scrolling with two fingers on any list displays the corresponding alphabet as you scroll along. Great when you want to stop at a particular letter in say, the Contacts app. In the messages app, a two finger scroll results in the dates being displayed as you scroll along.

Bluetooth Remote for the Camera: A bluetooth headset can act as a remote for the camera. Mount the One of a tripod and be part of the shot. Makes you wonder why didn’t anyone implement this earlier.

NFC & Usage: Buried in the settings menu under the ‘More’ heading is a toggle for NFC, turn it off if you’d like to save that every bit of battery life. The Usage option lets you restrict and monitor the amount of data your device is using. You can also keep tabs on your cellular minutes and text messages. Very handy if you don’t have unlimited data.

App Gallery: By default, the Sense UI displays a grid of 3 x 3. Thankfully you can change this to 4 x 5. Also present is an option to hide certain apps completely. So all the operator branded junk that you never open can now easily be removed from sight. Also, you can list apps alphabetically, or by the date they were added. You can also have a custom setup if you like.

Power Saver: The HTC One has a power saver mode, use it. It throttles the CPU, reduces the brightness, makes the data connection goto sleep for small intervals, and turns vibration off. Based on experience, just letting the phone throttle the CPU and suspend the data connection makes a lot of difference. Enjoy that screen, don’t skimp on the brightness.

Stop Google Play from auto creating shortcuts: If like me, you hate it when an app is automatically added to your homescreen the moment you installed it, this tip is for you. Goto Google Play settings and uncheck the auto-add widgets button.

Gracenote Integration: Thanks to its Gracenote integration, the One automatically adds album art to the music you’ve copied to the device. That’s not all, it will even pull the lyrics down from the Internet and display them – synchronised.

Unresponsive/Reset: If the HTC One ever hangs, or becomes unresponsive you can’t really pull the battery out. The way around that problem is holding the power button down for 10 seconds. The phone will reboot and hopefully your problem will be fixed.

Changing Shortcuts in the Dock: You can change the default apps in the dock, and even add folders. However, this cannot be done from the homescreen and you’ll have to be in the app drawer to make changes.

In addition to these, there are a ton of other must know things – Zoes, Video Highlights, IR Blaster for controlling the TV. Which ones are your favourites? Sound off in the comments section below!

Demo: LG Pocket Printer – Wireless Printing On The Go

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:53:20 +0000

At LG’s Tech Show yesterday, I played with their upcoming Pocket Photo Printer, the PD233. The device lets you print 2×3 inch photos without needing power, and measures only 72.4×120.9×24.0 mm, a very impressive size for a printer. It is accompanied by LG’s Pocket Photo App that lets you edit the photo you’ve taken before printing it. You can crop, add a QR codes, filters, stickers, make it into a card etc.

Pairing with the printer happens using NFC, or the traditional Bluetooth setup. This means that almost every smartphone should be able to connect to the printer, officially it supports iOS and Android.

The printer takes about 45 seconds to spit a photo out, this is from the time you hit print on the phone. It comes with a 500 mAh battery than can be fully charged in 1 and a half hours and prints 15 sheets when full. The printer is cartridge free and uses inkless printing technology from ZINK. The process uses heat to activate the colour forming chemistry within the ZINK 2.0 paper to create the photo.

I am told that the Zink paper will be sold separately in the market, and will cost about 700 INR (12.9$) for 30 sheets, taking the per photo cost to just over 20 INR. Video demo below:

The LG Pocket Photo Printer is expected to retail at Rs. 15,000 INR, and will hit stores in India in the coming months.

While 2×3″ photos may not sound terribly exciting, the fact that that wireless printing technology can now rest in your pocket is definitely a sign of the things to come.

Jet Airways App For Windows Phone Hits The Store

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:38:30 +0000

It is very seldom that Windows Phone gets apps before iOS and Android, but that seems to be the case here. The Jet Airways app for Windows Phone has just become available, and it is a great 1.0 release. The app is fully featured, and lets you book tickets, check flight status, manage your JetPrivilege account, and avail special offers among other things.

Just like the BA app that was demoed with the Windows Phone 8 release, Jet Airways also lets you pin the booked ticket onto the homescreen for quick access. You also get push notifications and flight updates. The app follows the classic Windows Phone UI, and manages to look very elegant. It is compatible with both WP 7.5 and WP 8.

The Jet Airways app is a free download from the Windows Phone Store.

Hat tip to @popvulture for the heads up.

Major Whats App For Windows Phone Update Incoming, May Finally Fix Things Once & For All

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 07:19:57 +0000

Whats App performance on Windows Phone has never been great. It was especially bad on Windows Phone 7.5, but with Windows Phone 8 it became much better. However, its been far from seamless and severely lacking in comparison to its iOS and Android clients. Fortunately, it seems things are about to change. WP Central has news of a major Whats App update thats in the works, and it promises to greatly improve the experience on Windows Phone.

The changelog:

In addition to UI improvements we’ve rewritten our background agent code for increased performance (biggest plus no more music API usage) – This is a big deal. Currently, if you’ve just used Whats App, you loose the ability to control the music player from the volume keys as Whats App takes over.
New smileys
Fixes notification issues for WP8 users.
Users can now see smileys on the double wide tile.
Fast resume. (If the app is open and you click on the incoming notification it opens as if in Android, very fast really)
On the start-up now it ask you to backup your chat history.
Large images shown

A faster, more reliable Whats App on Windows Phone will be huge deal, especially for the mid segment Lumias. They are more than capable of giving the budget Android devices a run for their money, and if the Whats App update lives up to its promise, the Lumias will be a lot easier to recommend to the messaging focussed crowd as well.

[via: WP Central]

Tizen Conference Schedule Announced

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:19:41 +0000

Tizen is poised to be Samsung Mobile’s next big bet, as it looks to reduce its dependence on Android as its primary cash cow. The operating system was born from the ashes of MeeGo, Intel and Nokia’s open source alliance, but doesn’t share much with the now doomed platform. Intel remains the common link, and along with Samsung and other partners, the brand new HTML5 centric OS has been in development for over 18 months now.

While it started out as an out and out HTML5 platform, with apps and the UI being done in HTML5, with Tizen 2.0, it’s added brand new native application layer as well. Further, Samsung has also announced that it will be folding Bada into Tizen, and that Tizen devices will be able to run Bada apps. More than one Tizen device is expected from Samsung this year, and the upcoming Tizen Developer Conference should reveal a lot more.

The first schedule of the sessions that can be expected at the Conference has been announced, and it includes three tracks:

1. Application development and deployment
2. Platform and device development
3. Tizen project, process, and progress – A look at the Tizen architecture, Tizen Store, In-Vehicle infotainment.

The official Tizen blog has a break-up of all the sessions inside these tracks. If you’re interested in Tizen, there’s still time to register for the Conference.

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