SoFty By M@K

iPhone 5 V/S iPhone 4S

2012-09-19T11:20:00.001+05:30

Difference Between The iPhone 4S And iPhone 5

Apple has now announced its latest iPhone, the iPhone 5, which has had a number of upgrades over last years iPhone 4S and this article is designed to explain the difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.
Apple now sells three different versions of the iPhone, the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.
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The iPhone 5 features a new design over the iPhone 4S, the handset is taller it measures 4.87 inches as opposed to 4.5 inches on the iPhone 4S, it is the same width at 2.31 inches and is thinner than the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 is 0.30 inches thick where as the iPhone 4S is0.37 inches thick.
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The iPhone 5 is also lighter than the iPhone 4S, weighing in at 112 grams as opposed to 140 grams for the iPhone 4S, it is also Apple’s first smartphone to come with a 4G LTE connection.
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The main difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 is the screen, the iPhone 4S feature a 3.5 inch Retina display with a resolution of 960 x 640 pixels at 326ppi.

The new iPhone 5 features a 4 inch Retina display with a resolution of 1,136 x 640 pixels at 326ppi, and it features a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, on top of that WiFi has also be upgraded on the iPhone 5.
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The iPhone 4S comes with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, with 802.11n WiFi on the 2.4GHz band, where as the new iPhone 5 features 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and 802.11n WiFi on the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz bands.
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Both devices come with Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS and GLONASS, and the iPhone 5 features either GSM Edge or CDMA, the same as the iPhone 4S, but the new iPhone 5 also comes with DC-HSDPA and 4G LTE.
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The iPhone 5 features a new smaller Nano SIM card as opposed to the microSIM card in the iPhone 4S, unfortunately the iPhone 5 is not compatible with microSIM cards.

Processing wise the iPhone 5 features a new faster processor than the iPhone 4S, which according to Apple delivers two times faster processing and graphics performance, the iPhone 5 features an Apple A6 processor and the iPhone 4S features an Apple A5 processor.

Both devices come with an 8 megapixel camera with tap to focus, auto-focus, an LED flash, a backside illumination sensor, a five element lens and face detection.

The front camera on the iPhone 5 is different to the one on the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4S features features a VGA resolution camera for photos and video where as the iPhone 5 features a 1.2 megapixel camera for photos and it is capable of HD video in 720p, it also comes with a backside illumination sensor.

Video recording on the iPhone 5 is slightly different, and new features over the iPhone 4S include improved image stabilization, face detection and the ability to take photos whilst in the middle of recording a video.

Another difference between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 is the new Apple EarPods, the iPhone 4S comes with standard Apple Earphones where as the iPhone 5 comes with Apple’s new EarPods.

The iPhone 5 also features Apple’s new Lightning dock connector, where as the iPhone 4S comes with Apple’s older 30 pin dock connector, there is also an adapter which will let you use the older 30 pin dock connector with the new lightning connector.
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The iPhone 5 features a larger battery than the iPhone 4S, and according to Apple the iPhone 5 will come with up to 8 hours of talk time over 3G, up to 8 hours of browsing time over LTE, 8 hours over 3g, and 10 hours over WiFi, plus it comes with a standby time of up to 225 hours.

The iPhone 4S comes with up to 8 hours of talk time over 3g, up to 6 hours of browsing time over 3G and up to 9 hours of browsing time over WiFi, it also features a standby time of up to 200 hours.

There is a difference in pricing between the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, the SIM free prices are as follows, the iPhone 4S is available for $549 SIM free, it is also available on contract with a number of carriers.

The iPhone 5 will be available in three different sizes, the 16GB iPhone 5 will retail for $649, the 32GB iPhone 5 will retail for $749 and the 64GB iPhone 5 will retail for $849.
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Review: Samsung Galaxy Note

2011-11-26T16:01:00.002+05:30

It is an unwritten rule of sorts that if a device has a display below 5-inches it is considered a smartphone and if the display size crosses the 7-inch mark, it is a tablet. Lately, however, an increasing number of smartphones displays in excess of 4-inches have blurred the line between tablets and phones. Some companies have started to stray into the uncharted territory between 5-inches and 7-inches.

Dell was the first to test the waters with Streak, the first device to come armed with a 5-inch display. Then came Acer with the Iconia Smart. However, neither of these were well received by either customers or reviewers. But, undeterred, Samsung has also been thinking along the same lines. The world's best selling Android brand clearly felt this was an area they own and they came up with the Galaxy Note. It looks like the lovechild of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab, and it packs in some awesome firepower. Lets see if the Note has some noteworthy chops to make the market warm up to this new hybrid concept.

Design

At 9.65mm, the Galaxy Note is the thinnest device in the hybrid category and we dare say it is thinner than most smartphones on the market. It also weighs only 178 grams making the Galaxy Note a very pocket friendly device. This, however, does not necessarily make the Note a small device in itself. In fact, quite the opposite. Its gargantuan 5.3-inch display takes center stage and we had trouble with the phone or tablet struggle. Obviously, the device borrows its heritage from fellow Samsung products like the Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Tab, but after handling it for a few minutes it became quite clear the Galaxy Note was basically a slightly plusher and much larger version of the Galaxy S2. Make no mistake, if you use this device to make calls in public places people will stare at you for all the wrong reasons.
As usual, Samsung has employed capacitive Android controls right below the display and have also incorporated the front facing 2 megapixel camera on the top of the display alongside the proximity and ambient light sensors.

Samsung has made subtle changes to the design of the Note from the Galaxy S2, where the sides are now tapered with a chrome like metallic material instead of the black one employed on the Galaxy S2. It's an acquired taste - some will like the new design, some will not. We will not desist from passing judgment on the change itself but we will say that it looks a wee bit less fragile than the Galaxy S2. That's a good thing, but still not very reassuring. As with the Galaxy S2, the standard power button is placed on the top right hand side, the volume rockers are placed on the left hand side of the device and the 3.5 mm audio jack is placed on the top. On the bottom end of the device Samsung has placed the microUSB/charging slot and, next to it, a silo for the 'S-Pen' which is a digital pen and a special feature of the Note.
Apart from this, the 8-megapixel camera is housed in the rear end of the device along side the flash. For the back cover Samsung employed a similar super slim plastic as it did with the Galaxy S2, but this time around it is tad a softer to touch.
Another thing we could not help noticing is an ever so slight contour on the back which makes the device ergonomically sound.

On the whole, we can safely say the device was quite pocket friendly, though not ideal, and light years ahead of the Dell Streak and the Acer Iconia Smart both of which were bulky and would often sneak out of the confines of our pockets.

Display

When it was first shown off at IFA 2011 in Berlin, the display of the Galaxy Note created a lot of hype as it was the first device to adopt a Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 1280x800. In our testing we found out the hype around the display of the Galaxy Note was worth it. On the large 5.3-inch display, the Super AMOLED HD panel was a sight to behold. It was just stunning, in spite of Samsung employing the rather ungainly Pentile-Matrix technology for the sub-pixels instead of the one seen on the Super AMOLED+ display of the Galaxy S2.

Obviously, with the massive increase in resolution there was also quite a massive upgrade to the pixels per inch count with the Galaxy Note encompassing 286 pixels per inch (PPi). Compare this to the Galaxy S 2's 218 PPi, which uses an 800x480 Super AMOLED+ panel. It still does not manage the magical retina resolution of the iPhone 4S, but the super gorgeous 5.3-inch panel more than makes up for this variance, as the text looks immensely sharp, colours in photos look vivid and overall viewing angles are absolutely stunning. To put it simply, this display is the best among the Android family at least till the Galaxy Nexus arrives on Indian shores.

Playback on videos is outright gorgeous. In our opinion, the 5.3-inch form factor is ideal for video content but, of course, that comes with a massive ergonomic trade off as the device itself becomes quite large for regular usage.

One area where the Galaxy Note excels due to its large display is typing. In this BlackBerry generation thumb typing is the name of the game and often-full touch screen devices fall short due to their virtual keyboards. Refreshingly with the Galaxy Note, one does not need precise typing skills on a virtual keyboard - a probable first, though the auto correct on Samsung's keyboard is still not the best and does not come close to the iPhone's.

The true strength of the Galaxy Note's display lies in the way it displays webpages. The display shows more content thanks to the higher resolution and that too in a more beautiful way. Suffice to say, it was probably the most pleasurable web browsing experience we've had - more so than on the iPad 2 - and that too with Flash support.
What more can one ask for? Obviously naysayers will say the Galaxy Nexus will beat the Note thanks to retina PPi count, but we will cross that bridge once we have the Galaxy Nexus actually in our hands.

Camera Quality

The Galaxy Note boasts of the exact same camera sensor as the Galaxy S2. Its performance is also pretty much the same. We mean superb, of course. More advanced camera devices such as the iPhone 4S have popped up in international markets but till we test them we will reserve comparisons. The 8 megapixel camera on the Galaxy Note offers a plethora of customization options that shutter bugs are definitely going to like. These include: Self Portrait, Scene, Focus, Effects, Exposure mode, Self Timer, ISO, White Balance, Metering, Anti shake, Blink detection and Auto contrast. Clearly, Samsung wants to impress photographers.

On the whole images are very sharp and colour contrast is quiet impressive though at times, due to post processing, the colours tend to look artificial. This though is a problem with most mobile cameras. In low light conditions the camera performs admirably though some glitches do pop in due to the flash and there are a few over exposed grainy images, but for the most part it's more than satisfying. Let's just say you will not need a point and shoot after you purchase the Galaxy Note.

The Galaxy Note ably shoots 1080p full HD video at 30 frames per seconds with minimal hiccups. The performance is at par with Galaxy S2, if not a tad better.
On the whole Samsung has packed the Galaxy Note with a very strong camera package, which is easily the best among the current crop of Android devices, but things could change once the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy Nexus get here.

Operating System and Interface

The Galaxy Note runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread on which Samsung has applied its ugly TouchWiz layer. Don't get us wrong, TouchWiz has become quite a useful addition over the years but beautiful is one thing it is not. As we have mentioned many times in our reviews, the iconography on Samsung handsets look like cartoonized versions of iOS icons which is one of the reasons Apple is relentlessly pursuing a patent battle against Samsung. Apart from being copies, they look horrible. But otherwise, TouchWiz is quite handy. Samsung adds its Live Tile widgets for the device and there are numerous interface enhancements, which enrich the Android experience.

There are nice touches inside the contacts and call logs where we can swipe on the name to either message or call. Other niceties include tilt zooming inside the web browser which is assisted by the accelerometer and gyroscope. However, these features are not unique to the Galaxy Note but are part of the TouchWiz user interface.

Samsung has also spruced up the Music player and Video Player apps but they do not offer anything revolutionary. They just look different from their stock Android cousins. All features seem to be the same with the MP3 player playing most of the standard formats including lossless formats such as - FLAC and also offering numerous equalization options.

The video player plays most of the standard formats - except for HD video encoded in .mkv format, unfortunately.

Preloaded Software

Apart from the standard suite of Google apps, Samsung has loaded the Galaxy Note to the teeth with a myriad of apps. Some are handy, some border on bloatware.
To start, there are a number of 'S' apps such as the S Memo, the S Planner and S Choice apps store. All these 'S' labeled apps are designed especially for the S-Pen. While most will think the S-Pen is a glorified stylus, in truth it is a full-fledged digitizer. With the S-memo app, we can draw and sketch as if on paper. We can also take screenshots and edit them with the help of the S-Pen according to our whims and fancies. It pretty much became our personal digital notepad. We can even use handwriting recognition capabilities but these are not very accurate.

The S-Pen itself has a buttons placed which activates a variety of different features, such as taking screenshots.

The S-Planner is a calendar app optimized for the S-Pen, there is nothing revolutionary about it apart from cool quotient.

The S-choice is an apps store dedicated to apps optimized for the S-Pen. Samsung has also released a Software Developer Kit (SDK) for the S-Pen, allowing developers to build apps optimized for the S-Pen. As of now, the S-Choice store only offers 10 apps but Samsung expects the number will increase over time, but we are not entirely convinced.

Although the S-Pen is not the first of its kind in a mobile device, Samsung has definitely nailed the implementation. It is way better than the haphazard pen input on the HTC Flyer where the pen cannot be utilized throughout the OS. At the end of the day, however, it's still a novelty function - at least until the handwriting recognition algorithms are nailed because, in our opinion, only a superb handwriting experience will drive forward Pen based devices.

Besides the 'S' apps, Samsung has also loaded Polaris Office, which is a very capable office suite and also doubles as a file manager. It even supports the cloud with .Boxnet integration. It's a pity that .Boxnet does not offer the 50Gb free storage to its Android clients that it offers to iOS users, otherwise this would have been a lethal combination.

As with all Samsung devices, we get the Social Hub which is Samsung's social media aggregator. It integrates Twitter, Facebook, Email and SMS feeds in one. It's not the most intuitive way or not even the most handsome way of accessing ones personal information; frankly, we would rather use the default Facebook and Twitter apps for this.

Samsung has also loaded Kies Air Wi-Fi sync functionality, which works in tandem with a Kies Air desktop app or works directly via web browser. Definitely a handy tool, but Samsung could do a lot more to unclutter the interface especially in light of the iPhone's new found wireless capabilities thanks to iOS 5.

Performance

Samsung has armed the Galaxy Note with their latest Exynos processor dual-core which now clocks 1.4 GHz, a 0.2 GHz boost from the Galaxy S2's 1.2 GHz processor. All this firepower works in concert with I GB of RAM and, needless to say, the Galaxy Note is by far the fastest Android device we have ever reviewed. This is a claim we make on the basis of daily usage rather than on the basis of synthetic benchmarks such as Quadrant where the device scored a class leading 3980, besting the Galaxy S2's score of 3212.

While the performance was stunning there is something suspicious about how Samsung's Exynos processor scores on the Quadrant benchmark as both the results of the Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Note are almost 33% higher than phones with different dual core processors. We say this as the performance variance is not so great in real work testing. In fact, because we test such things on a daily basis, we were able to make out minute differences.

Nonetheless, the Galaxy Note has sublime firepower and this fact was further vindicated by the Linpack Pro benchmark where it scored 96.54 MFLOPS in 1.75 seconds on a multi-thread analysis. In comparison to, this the Galaxy S2 lagged behind with 47.75 MFLOPs in 1.77 seconds.

Even on the BenchmarkPi test, the Galaxy Note had the chops to take on the best as it managed to calculate Pi in just 578 milliseconds while the Galaxy S2 trailed slightly at 617 milliseconds.

As far as web browsing went, we already mention it was the best we had experienced with Flash running smoothly. But just to check we ran the Rightware Browsermark test where it scored in excess of 55456 which, again, class leading.

In terms battery performance, Galaxy Note is impressive. Samsung has packed a gargantuan 2500 mAh battery though naysayers expected the 5.3-inch Super AMOLED HD display to down Samsung's 12 hour claim. For the most part, the Galaxy Note lives upto Samsung's lofty claims as it managed a decent 10 hours which included us making our regular calls, a bit of web browsing via 3G and Wi-Fi networks, and listening to music for a couple of hours.

Call quality is pretty good, though not top notch especially in crowded areas - like Palika Bazaar in New Delhi - where the call quality dipped a few notches. In comparison, our BlackBerry Bold 9700 maintained stellar calling performance, But this situation was not disastrous like the iPhone 4's antenna gate. At the end of the day, most people will be quite satisfied with call quality.

Apart from all these performance related goodies, Samsung also packs in 16GB of Flash based memory and for a memory card slot for multimedia gluttons.

Verdict

There is absolutely no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy Note currently offers the most cutting edge Android experience with its stunning high definition Super AMOLED display and super fast processor. The questions one should ask is - Am I comfortable with this weird form factor, or will I use the large display for productivity? If your answer is a yes, then go ahead and buy the Galaxy Note because it not only offers the best hardware on the market, but also the most slick form factor amongst all the hybrid devices. If the form factor is not palatable then one will be better off waiting for the Galaxy Nexus which will come with Google's shiny new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and at the same time will provide all the hardware goodness of the Galaxy Note in a more subtle and sleek package.

Pros

Stunning Super AMOLED HD display
S-Pen is actually useful
Best in class performance
Battery Life

Cons

Average build quality
Slightly Expensive
Weird form factor if used as phone
No confirmed ICS upgrade date

Ratings

Performance: 5
Price: 3
Features: 5
Ergonomics: 3
Wow Factor: 5
Overall: 4.1

Gmail Redesign Leaked by Google

2011-10-21T22:38:00.000+05:30

A number of Google properties are getting a redesign. The new designs are a little more sleeker than previous versions and make Google look a little more modern in terms of the interface that millions of people use. To get a look of which way Google is headed in the designs, look at Google search, Adsense, Analytics, Docs as well as Google+ to get a glimpse of how things look.

The image below shows a leaked shot of what Gmail will look like when it gets a new design. The video showing the new design was uploaded by Google to Youtube and for the few minutes it was online (before being pulled), it also showed a number of new features.

The design is based on the Preview theme already available since June in Gmail. New features include a better way to read emails which are now shown as a conversation along with photos (where available) of the person you are having a discussion with.

Search in Gmail is also getting a little more enhanced. When doing a search the regular operators also pop up for you to select from. At the moment Gmail search requires that you type in sent: from: etc... This will be more automated in the new update.

Another nice set of features revolve around resizing the window, setting the size of each email and adjusting the sidebar. Resizing the Windows now makes the whole Gmail window shrink down a little in size so that it adapts to the current condition. For setting the size of emails you get to choose from options such as Cozy or Compact to name 2 of the three so that you can space messages out or squash them up together. Also, the sidebar is also adjustable. If you use labels more than you chat then you can slide the chat bar down a little to make it smaller and provide more space for your labels to appear.

We don't know when Google [GOOG] will launch the new interface and design, but expect it within the next few months, perhaps within days or weeks if the video was uploaded just a little too early. The team in the first source link below managed to get a copy of the video and re upload it. We don't know if this will be taken off line as well, so take a look while it's still available.

Windows 8 Tablet Video Reveals More of the UI

2011-10-21T22:06:00.000+05:30

Windows 8 looks like it could do extremely well when it launches. When Microsoft [MSFT] first announced it recently, bloggers around the world were positive with what they saw.

Today we get to take another look at how the OS will work when running on a tablet.

The main focus of the video demonstrates how portrait mode can be used and how the apps can adapt to the aspect ratio of the screen which obviously differs from the landscape mode. What we also get to see is a little more of how multitasking can work as well as how to access the menu bar. If you want to open another running app you slide on the left of the screen and if it's not the right app, you repeat the sliding motion to skip to the next app. The menu bar appears on the right side and is hidden when not used.

Overall, Windows 8 on the tablet looks like it could do very well. As you might be aware, the OS isn't just limited to the tablet form factor though as Microsoft has created the OS to be versatile enough to work on a number of screen sizes with a number of input methods. Enjoy the quick demonstration video below:

Porsche Design BlackBerry Bold 9980 Coming October 27

2011-10-21T21:54:00.000+05:30

Next week could see a new BlackBerry Bold launch numbered the 9980. This new model has a design created by Porsche Design. The device has been previously named the Knight. We are hearing rumours today that indicate the Bold 9980 will be unveiled in Dubai by Porsche and RIM on the 27th October which is next Thursday.

The event is being held in the most impressive skyscraper in the world, the Burj Khalifam, in the highest restaurant in the world which is called the At.Mosphere.

It is expected that the device will be more of a limited edition due to the design and the exclusive launch. It isn't known if the device will go worldwide or if it will be restricted to a few regions and for people who are willing to pay a little more than average for it.

The hardware is unknown at the moment but we expect it will be similar in specs and performance to the other BlackBerry Bold, the 9900. The main difference is the design of the device from what we can see although RIM might include a few UI tweaks based on the Porsche brand although we're just guessing at this point.

If it does follow along with the technical specs of the Bold 9900 it will come with a 2.8 inch touchscreen and a 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor. 8GB of RAM is included and the camera can capture at 5 megapixels and has 4x digital zoom.

Windows 8 Task Manager Improvements Detailed

2011-10-21T21:44:00.000+05:30

Windows 8 received quite a warm welcome when it was first announced. The new metro layout along with how it functions on the desktop and tablet was one of the many interesting new features about the operating. Today though, we're taking a quick look at the task manager and although the task manager is a place that's rather boring to visit for most users, Microsoft has made a number of improvements to make it more user friendly.

The image above shows a couple of task managers. The one on the left is what many of you will have on your Windows based PC now. The one on the right is the Windows 8 way of doing things. You'll notice that things are quite a bit more friendly in that the new version simply shows what programs you are running and then allows you to easily close out any programs that cause problems.

The reason it has been made more simple is that research shows that most people navigate around the first 2 tabs and a common thing that users do is kill processes and apps... particularly those that cause the machine to go sluggish.

Although the task manager has been simplified, this is purely in looks from what we understand. Microsoft is making the most used functions available in a more friendly way but also tucks the power away so that it can be accessed if needed.

A heat map has also been added to the task manager and now shows visually which programs are eating up the most resources.

We quite like the look of the new task manager. Take a look at the video below to see a demonstration of it.

Review: Apple MacBook Pro 2011 13-inch notebook

2011-08-29T14:53:00.003+05:30

Intro

Staying true to tradition, Apple completed it's annual revamp of the MacBook Pro lineup in early 2011. The announcement came close to CEO Steve Jobs' birthday.

Although in appearance all the 3 MacBook Pros i.e., the 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch look identical to the previous generation, it's under the hood where these machines have truly been upgraded. So does the new hardware pack a punch or is the upgrade incremental? Read on to find out!

Packaging and Contents

The packaging and content is typical Apple with the aluminum unibody 13-inch MacBook Pro in the standard compact white briefcase-style box. Open it up and you have the device, below which rests the charger, manuals, a soft cleaning cloth and two Apple logo stickers.

First Impression

At first, the device appears to be exactly the same as its predecessor, as beautiful and as sturdy. Even in its simple design, the device is an eye catcher. The only new addition that you will find in the appearance of the device is a small lightning bolt symbol above the mini display port. This is the new high-speed Thunderbolt I/O from Apple. Although there are no devices available in the market that support this interface, they are expected to launch soon.

Performance

The first thing that you will notice in the performance of the device, especially if you are a MacBook Pro user, is that the device feels a bit snappier. Under the hood, this beast is powered by an Intel Core i7 2.7 GHz dual core second-generation processor. Apple has ditched the NVIDIA GeForce 320M that was present in the previous gen 13-inch for integrated graphics. The battery life has improved owing to the new age processors and the absence of a dedicated graphics card. But don't expect to get some serious gaming out of the device as the integrated graphics card will not give you the best of results. You can juice out anywhere between 5 to 7.5 hours of battery life depending on how you use the product.

The full size keyboard is great to type on and is backlit, making it very comfortable and easy on the eyes in the dark. The ambient light sensor on the device ensures that you never have to adjust the keyboard light or the brightness of the screen manually.

The legend-daddy of track pads too is present here. The 13-inch device houses Apple's glass multi touch touchpad, which is undoubtedly the best in the business supporting up to four-finger touch recognition.

The biggest addition to the performance - and, sadly, we can't test it - is the Thunderbolt port which occupies the same physical space as the display port. On paper, the Thunderbolt port can support speeds of up to 10Gbps, but we will have to wait and see if that is true in performance.

The left of the device houses the standard mag safe charging port, Ethernet port, FireWire 800, Thunderbolt/Mini Display port, Two USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader and a headphones port. The disadvantage (and this was there with the previous gen 13-inch pro as well) is the absence of a microphone port. Sure, the onboard mic is accurate but an option would have been nice. Also by now, we would have liked to see USB 3.0 on the MacBook pros. Even if it hasn't turned up as default, a customization option would have been truly satisfying.

The left of the device also houses the battery life indicator, similar to the previous generation Pro.

The right of the device houses the 8x Super Drive that can read/write dual layer DVD's. Again here, the option of a Blu-Ray drive would have been appreciated.

The web cam in the 13-inch MacBook Pro supports 720p HD video for video calls. Apple's FaceTime app also comes pre-installed on the device, which is otherwise available for $0.99 on the App Store for previous generation devices. FaceTime is a great app and works really smoothly. We chatted between the MacBook Pro and an iPhone. The experience was smooth, audio was clear; there was virtually no lag and this reviewer was made dizzy by his colleague constantly rotating the iPhone and changing the orientation on his screen!

In terms of testing the device, it took about 3 min and 30 sec to copy a 8GB .mkv file to the device via USB from a portable HDD.

Converting the same video, which was 1hour 50 minutes in duration and had a resolution of 1920x818 via the free software Handbreak to .m4v (same resolution) took us a whopping two and a half hours!

On GeekBenck (64-bit), the device has an overall score of 7500 as compared to the 2010 model that scored 4012. (Higher score = better performance)

On Xbench the 2011, the 13-inch MacBook pro scored 178.09 as compared to the 2010 model that scored130.99. (Higher score = better performance)

Multimedia

Apart from the regular typing and web browsing, multimedia is what you will primarily use this for. The 13.3-inch LED backlit display has a 1280x800 resolution, which is great for watching 720p HD movies. However, if Apple could give theMacBook Air's display a resolution of 1440x900, why not integrate the same with the new generation 13-inch MacBook Pro?

HD movies stream smoothly on the device. Although 1080p movies ran smoothly on the device we really couldn't take full advantage of the video, as the screen isn't full HD. We watched a bit of Megamind, Iron Man, Tangled and some music videos and the colours were vibrant and the picture detailed. Although, if you sit with the device in an out door coffee shop, you will have some trouble with the glare on the screen.

The sound quality from the in-built speakers is good but the volume could have been better. You can however use third-party software like Perian to improve the audio output. Like its predecessors, the speakers are clear and the audio doesn't distort at high volumes but the speakers lack bass. For everyday music and video needs, the speakers perform very well.

iTunes and iLife comes pre-installed on the device. iLife comprises of the latest version of iPhoto, GarageBand and iMovie. iPhoto is very engaging especially if you are a photos buff. The app is among the best photo managers and it is easy to sync with your iPhone, iPod andiPad with absolute ease.

Verdict

Apple has once again produced a winning notebook. It has great ergonomics, upgraded hardware, superb battery life and the integration of an HD webcam is nice for video chatting. We do wish they had bumped up the screen resolution as they did on the MacBook Air and the option of USB 3.0 and Blu-ray would have been nice as well. But if you around Rs. 85,000 to spend on a new 13-inch laptop, you might want to consider the Dell Alienware M14x or the HP Envy 14.

Specifications:

2.7 GHz dual core Intel Core i7 processor (sandy bridge)
4MB shared Level 3 cache memory
500GB 5400rpm HDD
13.3-inch LED backlit display with a resolution of 1280x800
Intel HD graphics 3000 processor 384MB DDR3 SDRAM shared with the main memory
Built in 720p webcam
8x Super Drive slot
Thunderbolt I/O port
SD card slot
Two USB 2.0 ports
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Backlit keyboard

Pros
Strong ergonomic build
Upgraded second generation Core i processors
Great battery life
Well laid out keyboard
Large Multi-touch trackpad

Cons
No dedicated graphics card
Screen resolution could have been better
Thunderbolt cannot be used to its potential yet
No option for USB 3.0 or Blu-Ray

Price: Rs. 84,900

RATINGS:
Performance: 4
Price: 3.5
Ease of setup: 5
Ergonomics: 5
Wow Factor: 5
Overall: 4

Review : Acer ICONIA Dual screen Laptop

2011-08-29T14:35:00.002+05:30

Make way for the touchbook - Acer's new dual touchscreen laptop. The device has two touchscreens and no physical keyboard whatsoever. In fact, apart from the power button and the display keyboard button, there are no physical buttons on the device. Put simply, the device looks like two 14-inch tablets glued together on a hinge.

So is the Acer ICONIA dual screen laptop just another trophy for your 'show off' wall or does it pack in some utility as well?

Packaging and Contents

A standard briefcase style box contains the device along with the manuals, CD, charger, a power filter adaptor and an external card reader.

First Impression

The device is quite heavy, weighing in at over 2.5 kgs. Open the lid and instead of seeing the usual keyboard, you will find two 14-inch HD touchscreens screens. The device is quite thick and you'd expect such a thick device to house a CD drive at the least but it doesn't. It doesn't even house a card reader, which is an extra accessory available with the device. An upside - the device houses one USB3.0 port.

Multimedia

Are two 14-inch screens better than one? Well, yes and no.

Both the displays have a resolution of 1366x768. The upper display is a standard touchscreen where as the lower display has gorilla glass making it scratch resistant.

The touch response on the upper display is pretty bad. The close, maximize and minimize icons along with the scrolling bar have been increased in size to make the touch inputs more responsive but it's the little things such as trying to control the volume/navigation on VLC, clicking on File, Menu, etc. that becomes quite problematic. The overall experience of touching the monitor to launch, close or perform any action feels quite inconvenient and after some time this reviewer's arm started hurting with the effort of keeping it up to use the touchscreen.

The bottom touchscreen, however,is an entirely different story. Its response is fabulous,much better than expected. A nifty feature - put all 10 fingers on the display to launch the keyboard, put 5 fingers on the display to launch the Acer ring.

Typing on the keyboard takes some getting used to. The keys are well spaced out and you do get an audio feedback for every key you press a key but the experience isn't the same as a regular keyboard. In fact, the experience feels rather odd. Especially since we are used to a physical keyboard.

The trackpad on the device is very disappointing. There is no way to distinguish whether your finger is on the trackpad or not. So many times while navigating, this reviewer's finger subconsciously left the track pad with resulting confusion about why the mouse wasn't moving. The trackpad could have been bigger and had a different feel to distinguish it from the rest of the surface.

You also have the option to put custom skins on the keyboard display, which is nice.

One Ring to rule them all:

As mentioned earlier, upon touching thesecondary display with 5 fingers, the Acer ring launches. Conceptually, the Acer ring is a good idea. Practically, it's a bit buggy, which is to say that the applications crashed sometimes.

Gesture Editor is a cool feature. You can customize and assign specific gestures to launch certain programs or applications. For instance, one swipe of the finger and your browser pops up, or draw the symbol "D" to show the desktop.

You also have certain essential optionssuch as screen brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, screen saver, hibernate, sleep, shut down, etc. on one click of the Acer ring. Although this feature isn't a game changer, the availability of the option is nice.

The ring feature also offers one touch access to your music, movies photos and web browsing. Here, the Social Jogger app deserves special mention. This app integrates your social networking and YouTube streams under one roof. The visual representation looks a lot like tweet deck.

Another way in which you can use the dual screen is by expanding the web browser on both the screens. This will reduce the amount of scrolling you do on a particular page but the experience of reading the information feels disjointed. Plus, it's very inconvenient trying to read text on an inclined screen and then text on a flat surface.

In terms of audio, the speakers on the device are average performance-wise. The midrange and vocal output is good but the speakers lack bass. Movie playback on the device was good. We ran Iron Man 2 in 1080p .mkv format and the movie played without any hiccups. The only way to take advantage of the 2 touchscreens while watching a movie is use the second screen for the controls through the videos app in the Acer ring.

Performance

Performance as a notebook is where the Acer ICONIA dual screen laptop truly disappoints. If you do not get used to the touch keyboard typing will be tedious. You would think that integration of touch on the monitor would add to convenience but there are times when it just frustrates you. Good luck trying to see the virtual keyboard if you are sitting out in the open with a lot of direct sunlight hitting the device.

The device is really heavy and scores low on portability factor.
In terms of connectivity, the device has the charging port, HDMI out and two USB 2.0 ports on the left. The right has the Ethernet port, VGA out, one USB 3.0 port (nice!!) and the headphones and microphone port. A display keyboard and power button is present at either side of the hinge. The device also boasts of a 1.3MP camera for video chatting and Bluetooth 3.0.

A disappointing factor is that the previous generation Intel core i5processors and not the Sandy Bridge powers the device. It also lacks a dedicated graphics card so don't expect great gaming results. On the 3D mark 06, the device had a score of 2728. The PC mark Vantage gave a score of 6150.

The battery life of the device is bad. The device possesses a 4-cell lithium ion battery that powers two LED displays. Pushing the device to itslimits, the battery barely lasted an hour. But use the device conservatively and you may be able to touch the three-hour mark.

Verdict:

The device has some interesting features such as the Acer ring app and USB 3.0. But the device needs some serious dedicated apps to justify the use of dual touchscreens. As a multimedia device,it is an unique and fun experience but falls short when you decide to use it as a notebook. If you want a new toy to show off then by all means this is for you, but if you if you want the biggest bang for your bucks -all 70,000 of them -look elsewhere, as the Acer ICONIA dual screen notebook is pretty much only good for novelty value.

Pros:
Cool Acer ring UI
USB 3.0 support
Great touch response on the lower display
Innovative design

Cons:
Uncomfortable typing experience
Small trackpad
Monitor touch experience is disappointing
Heavy
No CD Drive

Price: Rs. 69,990

RATINGS:
Performance: 3
Price: 2.5
Ease of setup: 5
Ergonomics: 3
Wow Factor: 3.5
Overall: 3

Specifications

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS
Intel core i5-480m 2.67 GHz processor
Dual 14-ich Acer CineCrystal Display with a resolution of 1366x768
Integrated Intel HD graphics
4GB DDR3 RAM
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 3.0
1.3MP webcam
4-cell li-ion battery

Benchmark scores:

PC mark Vantage scores:
PC Mark: 6150
Memories Score: 3420
TV and movies score: 4042
Gaming Score: 3421
Music Score: 6376
Communication Score: 5220
Productivity Score: 5620
HDD score: 3783
3D mark 06: 2728

Battery mark:

By test results: 48 min and 45 sec
Forecast Windows: 3 hours, 43 min and 54 sec

Review: B&W Zeppelin Air

2011-08-28T17:25:00.000+05:30

Back in 2007 Bowers & Wilkins entered the consumer audio market with the MM-1 desktop speakers and quickly followed it up with the original Zeppelin. The Zeppelin was an unknown quantity when it was initially released because of its now trademark airship-like shape. With the Zeppelin B&W, did no harm to their reputation as the dock sounded like a million dollars and was relatively affordable considering the other products in the company portfolio. The Zeppelin Air pushes the envelope further as it adds Apple Airplay support and includes updated mid-range drivers and tweeters, along side a beefier sub-woofer. So is it worth the hype?

DESIGN

When we saw the Zeppelin initially, inventive was the word that came to mind. The simplest way to describe the product would be to compare it to an abnormally elongated egg. The same holds true for the Zeppelin Air as, looks-wise, nothing much has changed except the fact that the original chrome finish at the rear has been replaced by a more classy glossy black plastic finish.

All ports are housed in the rear. We get the standard auxiliary port, component ports and USB along side the new ethernet port for AirPlay and power port. As always, the dock connector is in the front. Keeping up-to-date with changes in mobile computing technology, the dock connector can support an iPad. Most probably, B&W reinforced the base of the dock connector making it more sturdy for iPad compatibility.

In keeping with the design of the dock, B&W also provides an egg-shaped remote control which, frankly, looks adorable. One gripe one may have with it is that the battery compartment of the remote is covered with rubber which can be quite a pain to attach.

Build quality is exemplary even by B&W standards, with the Zeppelin being constructed of a mesh like fabric and having a rock sold plastic covering in the rear. When paying in excess of Rs 40000 for an iPod dock, quality is what is expected and that is exactly what we get. In comparison to the slightly cheaper Bose and JBL offerings, the build quality is light years ahead and we are guessing that is a tradeoff most will be willing to swallow considering the amount of money being invested.

SOUND QUALITY

The original from 2007 wowed people with its sound quality, a fact that doesn't surprise given that B&W has always had a penchant for superb sound quality. One has to just listen to all the old Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and the Who records as most of them were mastered with the help of B&W monitors placed in London's legendary Abbey Road Studios. As a matter of fact, some of the vintage B&W equipment is still used there. We are talking about some of the most iconic albums in music history here. So, could a relatively inexpensive B&W system sound poor? The answer to that would be no.

The Zeppelin Air is a modern B&W marvel, it incorporates the best sonic technologies developed by the company in their iconic Nautilus line of speakers and combines them with mid-range drivers and tweeters used in their award winning MM-1 desktop speakers. We also get the same DSP sound processing found in the MM-1 which converts to superior sound quality if one bypasses the PC sound card and takes the sound output directly through USB.

While all the tech jargon is alright, the big question is - how does it sound? To put it simply, it is the best sounding iPod dock south of Rs 50k, which is a massive category as we have more than 50 products in the under Rs 50,000 range. In many cases it outclasses docks which are must more expensive - for instance, the Bang & Olusen BeoSound 8 which will set you back by Rs 85,000.

Overall, the sound does have remnants of dynamic compression but acoustically the Zeppelin Air delivers a hair raising sonic quality which one has become accustomed to with B&W audio gear.

The sound is very open and warm, which cannot be said about the much more expensive Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 or the Bose Soundock.

We tested multiple tracks on the Zeppelin Air, covering a plethora of genres. From the brash sonic boom of progressive metal of Tool to the silky suave blues licks of the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Zeppelin conquered a sonic stratosphere only known to audiophiles. All tracks were 320KBPS MP3's and the same files were used for Airplay tests too.

Drums thudded, cymbals blasted and distorted guitars roared on the machine gun riff of Tool's oddly timed Jambi. Interestingly, the guitars maintained the machine gun rhythm interplay of Adam Jone's Les Paul and Danny Carey's drums without sounding overly muddy and providing adequate clarity allowing us to hear every nuance of the flanging and echo effects used by the band. The key here was the ambient reverb which was audible and made the song come alive. Even the pinch harmonics used sat well in the mix and never gave us an ear piercing squeal which can often happen with sound docks.

Next in line was our personal favorite, the '80s classic Sweet Child O' Mine. Here, the sound of the main riff is always the key and, thanks to our good fortune, Slash's Les Paul never sounded sweeter with all the harmonic overtones singing. The midrange was beautifully balanced with all the natural harmonics of the distorted neck-pickup popping in the mix. The treble response was equally impressive and Axl Rose's husky wail never caused our ears any discomfort. The same held true for the lightning fast Wah-Wah laced guitar solo. Most impressive was the bass response, as normally in most hard rock songs we hear the guitars, the drums and the vocals, but the bass gets lost in the mix.

A constant oddity with most speakers is that they perform well with newer music but struggle with music from the '60s - basically, we mean mono recordings. So we had to check out some Jimi Hendrix style psychedelia. In our experience, the fuzz laden tone of Hendrix's albums is the ultimate litmus test for the mid-range of a speaker. Zeppelin was proficient at what ever we threw at it, be it the univibe laced fuzz of his Fender Stratocaster on Purple Haze or the Wah-Wah pyrotechnics on Voodoo Childe. The Zeppelin conquered. We believe this happened due to the newly redesigned mid-range drivers and tweeters as the old Zeppelin did not reproduce audio with such detail.

Impressive as this was, we found that the real forte of the Zeppelin lies in reproducing acoustic music. On the 12-string reverberating bliss called Stairway to Heaven, the nuances of guitar slide, subtle chord changes, hammer-ons and pull-offs, all came forth with a magnificence only seen before in high quality studio monitors. This was quite amazing.

Even for hardcore Texas blues. the Zeppelin was astoundingly competent. The percussive rhythms, the baritone vocal style of Stevie Ray Vaughn and the throaty overdriven Stratocaster were all omnipresent in the mix. Actually, the most satisfying bit was the throaty tone on the solo on Life Without You. Luthiers will tell you that the single coil tone is the most dynamically complex but this complexity is often missing on sound systems, leave alone iPod Docks.

Overall, we were very satisfied with the performance of the Zeppelin Air but, if we were to get really picky, then we would say it could offer better stereo imaging although, as a rule, iPod docks are limited in this aspect due to their general design.

AIRPLAY

One of the more hyped features of the Zeppelin Air is the Airplay functionality giving it the 'Air' moniker. For starters, Airplay is Apple's wireless technology which allows streaming of music via Wi-Fi. Airplay automatically converts your music to Apple-Lossless while streaming but this will never result in any audio quality gains. The most impressive thing about Airplay has to be the potential for wireless playback which is extremely convenientand it even works with other iOS based hardware. While the audio may not be as crisp and clear as a direct wired or docked connection, the quality loss in Airplay is quite minimal. So minimal that the layman will not even identify the difference, only audiophiles will - but, then again, audiophiles flinch at the thought of wireless sound.

When it works Airplay is a delight, but when it does not it is a pain in the neck. We noticed some minor lags in changing songs or changing volume levels but these issues are very trivial. The major issue with Airplay, at the moment, is that it is only as good as one's wi-fi signal. The moment you have issues with your signal you have issues with your audio which is quite a turn-off.

VERDICT

At present, the B&W Zeppelin Air is the reigning king of all iPod docks at present. With the Zeppelin Air, British audio alchemists have managed to enhance an already sublime product. Apart from the upgraded internals and better sound quality, B&W provides AirPlay which is a nifty little addition making it more iOS friendly. We can even connect it to our TV and use it as a sound-bar. The only thing stopping one from buying this dock would be it ultra high price tag of Rs 48,000.

PRICE
Rs 48,000

Pros
Stellar Sound Quality
AirPlay
Inventive Design

Cons
Price
Overwhelming Bass

RATINGS:
Value:3
Design:4.5
Sound Quality:4.5
Wow Factor:5

Review: JBL ONBEAT

2011-08-28T17:13:00.000+05:30

JBL has always had an affinity for unique high fidelity audio gear (remember Sound Sticks II) so be rest assured something interesting is in store for you. This time around we have wrapped our picky ears around the JBL ONBEAT, which is an ultra portable iPod/iPad Dock. High quality iPod/iPad docks are a rarity in themselves and finding one sub Rs 10,000 gets even harder, so the ONBEAT is a rare breed. So lets see if this one can appease our sonic sensibilities.

Design

Clearly, JBL intended to design something that would sit comfortably on your office desk or on your bedside table. For the most part,they succeed. The ONBEAT is a very well designed dock and it is relatively light, weighing only 1.9 pounds.

Even the speaker grill is made up of quality plastics, so we have been pampered with plush build quality as no other dock in this price range manages to look so premium.

At first glance its oval base and curvaceous structure lends it a look reminiscent of a croissant.There is also a heart shaped incision in the center which houses the iPod/iPad dock clamp.

Besides this, we have the two 7.5 watt drivers on the sides. These are not dedicated drivers, they are designed to deliver all the frequencies through a singular unit. So, there are no dedicated tweeters and woofers.

The volume knobs are placed on the right hand side and they are made up of chrome like material,which lends a solid and comfortable feel to them.

On the rear end of the dock we have the standard power port, the ON/OFF switch, the auxiliary input, the USB port and a Video out. JBL has equipped the dock with all the connectivity frills a layman would need for his day-to-day entertainment.

The package even includes a remote control,the buttons of which are made up of a membrane like material. All aspects of the dock can be easily accessed but,in the absence of a display, we sometimes did not realize what functionality we were activating. This was a tad problematic. So we would have appreciated a tiny display even if it bumped up the price.

Apart from this, an adapter for the docking station has been provided, enabling the iPod to be docked in landscape mode. This functionality is meant for the iPod Touch and the iPhone but not for the iPad. Though one must mention that the iPad compatibility is a boon.

Sound Quality

At the outset we should make it clear that sky high expectations of the dock are unfeasible as the category of ultra-portable docks is itself limited by the general design of the products.

The ONBEAT is designed to do a specialized job and it serves its purpose more than adequately. Overall, the mid-range remains pretty balanced albeit a tad brittle, the treble response was on the brighter side of things but, as usual, the bass response was lacking.

All these qualities are par for the course and while testing the ONBEAT we found it sounded slightly better than the offerings shelled out by JBL's sister company Altec Lansing.However, it was definitely inferior to the similarly priced Logitech Rechargeable speaker dock S715i

For testing we picked some of our favorite MP3 tracks all encoded at 320KBPS. Interestingly, the results were quite varied.

We started with some electronic magnificence of Tangerine Dream's Poland and Firetongue. Generally, electronic music has an ambient overtone which always remains omnipresent coupled with a repetitive bass-line. We found out that the ONBEAT excelled at reproducing these sound gradations. The ONBEAT successfully managed to reproduce the elegant ambient nuances at low to-mid range volumes but the melletron and slap-back bass effects started to buckle at higher volumes.

We experienced similar results with the Guns n Roses' smash hit Sweet Child 'O Mine. The overdriven tone of Slash's guitar was not distinct enough as the ONBEAT failed to pick up the harmonic overtones produced by the higher notes at higher volumes and had a tendency to clip too.

While listening to some modern alternative rock in the vein of Nickelback's Rockstar we did not face many problems thanks to lower levels of distorted guitar in the mix. While the acoustic elements sounded decent they were notably brighter than usual. As far vocals went, Chad Kroeger's vocals remained crisp and the interlude with Billy Gibbons' spoken words sounded perfect.

We also bravely tested some metal tracks such as Metallica's classic riff-montage called Four Horsemen and Megadeth's Hanger 18 but these sounded downright awful with the drivers buckling under the pressure exerted by the excessive distortion based tones.

Clearly these speakers are not designed to be pushed or to be used with more brash genres of music. They perform best when they are left alone on an office desk or the bedside for some ambient, lounge like music or simpler tracks, which do not overwhelm the drivers with multiple instruments.

Verdict

If you are looking for a decent dock for your office/bedroom, which also supports the iPad then the JBL ONBEAT, will fit the bill. But don't expect it bring the ceiling down. While it does not offer awe inspiring sound, it does manage to sound decent in popular genres of music which will be adequate for most. It even manages to offer good connectivity options which is another feather in its cap.

The only problem would be its steep price tag of Rs 9,990 as for slightly less we could get a similar sounding dock which would only lack the build quality of the ONBEAT.

Pros:
Solid Build Quality
Good Connectivity options
Portability
iPad compatible

Cons:
Brittle sound
Expensive
No display

Ratings:
Price: 2
Design: 4
Sound Quality: 3
Wow Factor: 3

Review: Reliance 3G Tab

2011-08-28T17:00:00.000+05:30

There seems to be no end in sight for the Tablet frenzy. After the iPad 2 and the Android Honeycomb armada, here is Reliance's latest 7-inch, 3G tablet which runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and comes bundled with a multitude of 3G plans. At the outset we have to say that for a change this one does not follow the monotonous similarity of all the other Android tablets. Lets see if this one breaks the ice with the Indian masses.

Packaging and Content

Reliance gives us the standard set of goodies including the power cable, the USB cable, the 4-gigabyte memory card and also a pair of super-cheap headphones. But yes, headphones. Apple, are you reading this? If Reliance can, so can you - give us headphones with the iPad!

Hardware and Styling

At Rs 12,999, this is not the cheap Chinese built tablet one would expect. Even though its clearly 'made in China' courtesy ZTE, its at the higher end of the spectrum. With its brushed aluminum like plastic finish in the rear, the device indisputably feels well built. Interestingly, the rear casing is removable which means we can access the 3400 mAh battery, alongside the Reliance sim-card slot and the MicroSD memory-card slot. We also get the 2-megapixel camera in the rear end of the device.

The front-end of the device welcomes us with 7-inch capacitive touch display along with the three Android touch buttons and the VGA front camera, which facilitates video chats.

On the right hand side, we get the customary volume rocker and the unusually placed power button which has clearly borrowed from Samsung. Actually, the Reliance 3G tablet can easily be mistaken for the original 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, the only difference being the finish in the rear.

On the top, we get the standard 3.5 mm audio jack and the bottom houses the micro-USB port. Besides these both the top and bottom have a speaker modules.

Interface

We get impression that this tablet was designed more as a means to promote Reliance's 3G network. The only way that is going to happen is if the users have a decent interface at their disposal, and stock Android pretty much offers exactly that. Unfortunately, someone at Reliance thought that they could out-do Google and build a better user interface. Bad idea guys, even premier smartphone manufactures like Samsung and HTC haven't come up with anything better than vanilla Android.

The moment we powered the device up we were at the mercy of the unwholesome Android skin Reliance has specially developed for it.

Funnily, for the first 15 minutes we were wondering if the device had a resistive display or a capacitive one, which was Reliance's claim. After struggling with the horrid touchscreen response we lost patience and decided to install LauncherPro which is the best third party Android skin available. The moment LauncherPro was ready the tablet became a pleasant device to use.

Apparently, the Reliance skin was consuming so much of processing power from the device that it was left almost unusable for any other task.

If you have been reading our reviews, you will know we are not big fans of Android skinning, even from companies like HTC who deliver the very good HTC Sense UI, and here's why.

Android skinning never works, as the best Android is the one delivered by Google - it is fast, smooth and intuitive. Skinning slows down the device, it clutters the user interface and rarely adds any functionality that stock Android does not have.

This is a direct indictment of the Android ecosystem where OEMs have the license to pollute the software and pass on any bloat-ware to the consumer in the name of differentiations and marketing. Hopefully, this will change in the near future.

Lets be clear out here - we are not saying that the 3G tablet is a bad device, actually the reality is quite the opposite. What we hate is Reliance's decision to pollute the OS with their skin just for the sake of pushing the Reliance brand. Make no mistake, that's what it is. They may claim that their user interface is unique but it is not. It does not add even one bit of functionality to the device that is not already available on stock Android.

Multimedia

Multimedia is normally a tablet device's forte as the tablet form-factor is optimized for multimedia consumption. The Reliance tab is designed for this purpose only.

As the device runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread it is as adept as any other Android smartphone on the market when it comes down to multimedia.Admittedly, it tends to get a tad slow but hey, it costs Rs 12,999. That price won't get you any dual core goodies and we don't think many will care, either.

For music we get the stock Android music player. Despite the lack of the visual flamboyance of an iTunes-style cover flow interface, it's very functional and easy to understand. It organizes one's music pretty neatly. One can easily sort out assorted music according to Artists, Albums, and Genre or even according to the song name. A built-in equalizer would have been great, but, again, the price bracket doesn't allow.

Oh well. We're probably suffering from the Samsung Galaxy Tab blues, which is higher up on the tablet food chain.

For video, we have the standard Android Video player, and also a myriad of free alternatives making the rounds of Android Market. The video player is a pretty barebones experience. No HD video playback, which is a bummer, but HD video playback does require at least an 1GHz processor. Besides this, the device handled most of the standard video formats pretty well, though one would do well to shut down all apps before starting a video.

We should also mention that the display does not boast of a very high resolution and can look bland at times.

Reliance did not mention the exact resolution of the display but we are assuming it to be below 1024x600.

Reliance has added dual cameras - a 2-megapixel snapper in the rear and a VGA resolution one for video chats. Our summation was not very good. They produce some disastrous pictures filled with noise, grain, poor colour and so on. We can actually write a whole other article just on the cons of the cameras. To tell the truth, a 2004 Sony Ericsson S700i could click better pictures. But yes, you will at least get the bragging rights and the VGA front camera will be more than adequate for video chats. We are guessing Skype will come in handy.

PC Sync and Market

This is one area where the device excels. PC sync as with all Android devices is quite painless courtesy Google Contacts. The moment we popped open the Reliance tab we logged into our Gmail ID and eureka! we had all our contacts.

As far as Android Market goes, we do get a wholesome selection of apps to choose from, as this is an Android 2.3 Gingerbread device. Some 300,000 apps are at our disposal so be rest assured you will be playing around with the device for a long time.

Essential Apps

While Reliance added its skin on the Android interface, they thankfully did not install any bloat-ware on the device. The device could hardly stand on its feet with the Reliance skin, with multiple apps it would have been dead on arrival. In spite of this, we do see some Reliance apps such the Rworld which is basically an app linked to their network services and Reliance Mobile TV. The Mobile TV app is basically a spin-off of the one for the iOS. We must say this is quite a handy app as it streams most of the major TV channels on subscription. The streaming quality is pretty good and utilizes the Reliance 3G connection to its fullest. Reliance must be hoping for such services to catch the fancy of the middle-class as they unlikely to make much money on the device itself because of low margins. The one place they can cash in is on their 3G network, and basically they are hoping that the 3G Tablet will act as a catalyst for the 3G market, still at a nascent stage and riddled by poor connectivity and expensive data charges.

Performance

Lets be clear - this isn't the fastest tablet around. Reliance also claims this device features 512MB of RAM but they don't mention clock speed or the processor type. We believe it is a processor from the ARM cortex A8 family clocked at 800 MHz which is more than adequate for day-to-day tasks, though we must admit it's not ideal for multi-tasking.

The device was pretty snappy once we got rid of the Reliance embellishments, but we ran our standard tests to make sure.

So we started with Quadrant and guess what, it crashed. The same happened with Linpack and Benchmark Pi. This was pretty disappointing, but we are assuming this happened because the processor was not supported by the benchmarks.

The only test we managed to run successfully was the web-based Rightware Browsermark test. The results were not very encouraging with a paltry score of 15646. In real-world testing, things were quite different as web pages rendered quickly and we did not encounter many flash problems. Suffice to say we were more than satisfied with the performance.

When it came down to battery life the device lasted around 6 hours, which included constant 3G usage, some phone calls and multimedia consumption. This was quite impressive considering the battery in question is a 3400 mAh.

Another noteworthy mention is the loudspeaker, which handled duties while we used the device as a phone and it also came in handy when we listened to some music. It was loud and clear most of the time. Normally, Chinese tablet manufactures employ their cost cutting tactics in areas such as this but,thankfully, the Reliance 3G tablet does not suffer from this syndrome.

Verdict

There is a lot to like about the Reliance 3G tablet including decent build quality and a fairly functional feature set. Once we couple these features and the Rs 12,999 starting price tag with the myriad of 3G plans the offer becomes tastier. Clearl,y this device is not meant to be a workhorse. As a multimedia consumption hub the device fits the bill perfectly.

One has to admit the Reliance Tab has the potential to open up the 3G market in the country.

Price: Rs 12,999

Pros
Value for Money
Good Battery Life
Decent Performance

Cons
Reliance Skin
Average display
Bad camera

Ratings
Performance: 3.5
Price: 5
Ease of Setup: 4
Ergonomics: 4
Wow Factor: 3

Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 750

2011-08-28T16:46:00.000+05:30

On January 27, 2010 Apple boss Steve Jobs introduced the world to a little something called the iPad, and suddenly tablet became something other than what you take when ill. A flotilla of other tablets, mostly Android, followed but failed to crash Apple's party. Samsung, with its original Galaxy Tab starring a 7- inch display and Android Froyo, led the charge but to no avail. A year later, here are the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9, both are running Google's tablet OS, Honeycomb. But are they any different from the slew of Honeycomb tablets already flooding the market?

Packaging and Content

Our jaws dropped when we first saw the packaging - a humongous cube like box. Clearly, size does matter to Samsung. The box could probably fit two full frame DSLR cameras. But we are not complaining! The outsized packaging makes the device supremely secure - so secure, it would probably survive even if thrown out of a moving vehicle. Overall, the packaging was very similar to that of the Galaxy S II, except larger.

As far as content went, all the standard amenities such as the power adaptor, the proprietary USB connection cable and the tablet itself were present. Nothing revolutionary here!

Hardware and Styling

Samsung has adopted a widescreen design with the Galaxy 10.1. It is an interesting decision. While other tablet manufactures like Acer too have adopted similar form-factors, the implementation on the Galaxy Tab is superior thanks to its being ultra light at 565 grams making it more comfortable for over extended periods of use. And yes, it is lighter than the iPad 2 - by a minute 36 grams, but there it is. The comparisons with iPad 2 don't stop here as the svelte Galaxy Tab 10.1 snatches the tag of the world's thinnest tablet from the iPad 2 by 0.2-mm. 8.6-mm vs 8.8-mm may seem negligible but it matters a lot when it comes to heavy usage.

Obviously, in designing the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung has borrowed design cues from the their own product portfolio. Be it LED TVs or smartphones, we see a bit of everything in the Galaxy Tab.

Originally, when Samsung had announced the Galaxy Tab, it was thicker but Samsung decided to totally redesign the device in the wake of the iPad 2. We must say that it is a very commendable effort. Samsung has of late made a conscious decision to make super-light products and this design philosophy is also seen in the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Like in the Galaxy S II, Samsung has used an ultra light plastic in the construction of the device, especially the glossy white back finish. This felt a tad flimsy as we could actually depress it if we held the device firmly. The 3-megapixel camera is also housed in the rear which is, as usual, more of a formality.

Samsung claims that it has added an aluminum element in the construction, which tapers down the sides of the device and extends up to the rear, covering the area surrounding the camera. This is problematic, as it certainly did not feel like aluminum. It felt more like painted plastic but we do not have any evidence to prove this. What ever may be the case, the fact is that it just does not have the solidity of aluminum.

We get the impression that Galaxy Tab tries to mimic the look of a Samsung LCD, but we felt that they could have saved more space as the bezel measured 0.75-inches. Samsung has produced thinner bezels - their Smart TVs measure 0.50-inch. Such small details could have helped make the Galaxy Tab 10.1 a more svelte product as its still feels a tad larger than the iPad in spite of all the weight and profile reduction attempts made. We mention this as, in our opinion, if there is a company capable of out-foxing Apple in design, it is Samsung. That hasn't yet happened, but Samsung has done a pretty good job of out-maneuvering Sony in the LCD market and let's not forget Sony are also known for their elegant products.

Apart from all the design niceties of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, we get a front facing camera for video chat. The standard volume rockers, micro-SD card slot, 3.5 mm and power button are all housed on the top of the device.

Interestingly, the bottom side of the devices houses an Apple-esque proprietary connector for USB and HDMI. Unfortunately, the HDMI adaptor will be sold separately alongside a micro USB dongle. In all likelihood Samsung had to abandon the inbuilt USB and HDMI ports in their quest for slenderness, which we do not mind, but we do mind them charging us extra for additional dongles, which should have been included in the package.

But there is no denying the fact the Galaxy Tab is the most portable and comfortable tablet to carry around in the market today and, dare we say it, more so than the iPad 2, which is an astonishing achievement by Samsung considering they totally redesigned the product in the wake of the iPad 2. Take a bow.

Interface

With the launch of the Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconia A500, Google has established a solid Honeycomb presence in India. Many people ask us how are they different from each other, and our answer is the form factor and the full USB port offered in the Acer Iconia. The standard reply is in the region of 'That's it!' and all we can do is nod along as the internals and the OS are identical. So our question to Samsung: how would they differentiate the Galaxy Tab from their Android competitors in India on the basis of User Experience? They fired back with an answer. It was TouchWiz UX, the Android skin implemented on the Galaxy Tab.

We have seen TouchWiz before on Samsung smartphones but this is the first time it makes an appearance on a Honeycomb device. As always, Android skinning is a double-edged sword with minor performance blips caused by the extra eye-candy, but this should not be a major problem.

With TouchWiz UX, Samsung adds Live Panels to the Honeycomb homescreen, which includes a multitude of Samsung widgets such as AccuWeather, Samsung Mail and Calendar. Samsung has also re-designed the iconography of Honeycomb with their trademark cartoonish icons, which we hate! They look like cheap rip-offs of iOS icons and this is one area where Samsung gets nothing but minus points.

A nifty addition to the UI is the inclusion of a screenshot button right inside the UI, which is placed next to the 'open apps scroller' option. Besides this, we get another option in the bottom task bar, which opens up a dock of some handy apps. This dock can be opened from any app as it is well ingrained into the UI.

Samsung has become a devout supporter of gyroscope based gesture controls as seen in the Galaxy S II. The same holds true for the Galaxy tab 10.1. We get the same gesture based Tilt Zoom functionalities. With the gesture controls we could even flip widget placement. While we don't know how many people will use this party trick, it is a handy addition and,more importantly, exclusive to the Galaxy Tab for right now.

We also see numerous Android 3.1 upgrades of which most are 'under the hood' relating to the operating system stability, but one has to mention the resizable widgets. Now we can resize the widgets on the home screen according to our own whims and fancies. Pretty cool! Where is the like button, if we may ask?

Samsung has even added SWYPE capabilities in the stock keyboard. We were never big fans of SWYPE when we first saw it on smartphones, but on the larger tablet display it is a revelation. Even the keyboard itself felt well laid out, and though we still prefer the iPad's slick auto-correction skills, it is a very good keyboard indeed.

Besides the UI tweaks, we have found many new applications, which make the Galaxy Tab a more complete device. More on these apps in the Essential Apps section of the review.

Multimedia

As a rule, the tablet form-factor specializes in multimedia consumption and the Galaxy Tab is no exception to this rule. It is an absolute multimedia leviathan.

But the process of adding media to the device can become a tearful experience if you happen to own Apple hardware as in its current state the Android File Manager utility for Mac OS X does not support the Galaxy Tab. Google, you better rectify this, you are torpedoing Samsung's chances.

In this case we were left with the 'Kies Air' Wi-Fi sync app, but, come on, how can a device miss out on USB connectivity even if it's the Mac OS, which has a market share as large as a bacteria.

Fortunately, we faced no such problems on our Windows machine.

With Honeycomb, Google finally managed to re-design the stock Android MP3 player, and it was beautiful. It featured a beautiful, carousel-like, album-art flipping interface. But please note the use of the past tense - it 'was' a beautiful MP3 player because with the Galaxy Tab, Samsung had the urge to skin it. So what we have here is an MP3 player, sans the beautiful stock interface. Why, Samsung? Why would you strip an application of its natural beauty?

Apart from this folly, the app is actually quite handy as the songs are divided in a well-organized way and also we get multiple equalizer modes, which help modulate the sound frequencies according to the users preferences.

Interestingly, we can even launch the MP3 player from the Samsung dock, which opens a small widget like window and can be blown to its full size just with a tap. This is handy as one can start the MP3 from within any app without needing to switch to the menu screen.

When it comes to video, we can safely say that the Galaxy Tab offers the best video experience on a tablet device, iPad 2 included. We say this, as the on-board 1280x800 LCD display is the best yet to grace a tablet. It features sublime contrast ratios, impressive brightness levels and best in class viewing angles. This is not surprising as Samsung is the leading manufacturer of LCD displays in the world and they also supply the display panel for the iPad but it's clear they reserved the best one for their own tablet.

Even the Video app has received the TouchWiz Skinning treatment, but luckily most of the changes only improve the navigation of the app. We managed to play multitude of video formats without glitches including 720p HD video. Formats like .MKV, .AVI and. Xvid all worked seamlessly.

The 3-Megapixel camera is just about passable. It produces grainy pictures but thankfully we get many options such as white balance, focus modes, Scene Mode, effects and Geo tagging. The camera is par for the course as the even Motorola and Acer have employed poor cameras on their devices while the iPad's camera is not even worth mentioning.

The 720p HD video was also a tad jittery, again we believe the tablet form factor is not ideal for any kind of photography so, and mostly consumers don't care about the back camera. They only care about the front facing camera, which can enable video-chat.

Apart from this, the device comes with 16GB of memory, which will be ample. But if it's not enough, then one can always add up-to 32GB in the memory card slot.

PC Sync and Market

As always with Android devices syncing is probably amongst the easiest things to do. You only need to login to your Gmail account and you are good to go. The same can be done on the Galaxy Tab, but Samsung has stepped up the game with the 'Kies Air' Wi-Fi sync application. We have seen this app before on the Galaxy S II smartphone and it's very handy indeed. All one has to do is connect to a Wi-Fi network (the same one as your PC/MAC) and connect. The app will reproduce an IP address, which we need to type in our browser, and voila! We have access to all the data. We can drag and drop files, save messages and much more.

Adding more to the synchronization carnival, Samsung brings its Social Hub, which basically aggregates all information from one's E-mails, Facebook and Twitter.

Handy, but we'd rather use the dedicated Facebook and Twitter apps. Whoops, they are not available on Honeycomb. So, for the time being, we are stuck with the Social Hub. Luckily though, the web-browser opens a full version of Facebook with chat support unlike the iPad.

As far as Android Market goes we all know that Honeycomb is struggling with a dearth of apps hampering the growth of the platform. We only have 200 odd Honeycomb optimized apps, which is shockingly low - even the webOS powered HP TouchPad launched with more than a 1000 webOS apps recently.

Samsung provides their own apps store, but it's nothing special and we only get a handful of apps, most of which are available on Android Market.

Essential Apps

Apart from the standard Google apps, The Galaxy Tab 10.1 brings in much more utility thanks to TouchWiz UX.

So some of the more important apps include the following:

1. Samsung Hubs
2. Samsung Mail
3. Gmail
4. Kobo eBooks
5. Pen memo
6. Photo Editor
7. World Clock
8. Polaris Office

The most major update that TouchWiz UX brings in relates to the Samsung Hubs - namely Social Hub (discussed above), and the Music Hub.

Currently, the Music Hub is not functional in India, but Samsung tells us it is powered by 7-digital and hopes to offer an online hub where consumers can purchase music similar to iTunes.

Skinning is the name of the game so Samsung added their Email app, which, surprisingly, has issues with Gmail. This is not new - we encountered it earlier in our Samsung Smart TV review and also with the Galaxy S II. Apart from this, it handles Microsoft Exchange accounts pretty well, but we see no utility for it as Android already offers us a robust Email app.

As far as our Gmail troubles went, we chucked the Samsung Email app and logged into the fantastic stock Android Gmail app. It is clearly the best way of accessing one's Gmail account. The app is neatly divided into two separate panes reminding us of Mail from the iPad. Thanks to the Android 3.1 update we now have resizable widgets, which means our Gmail widget looks cooler than ever.

The Kobo eBooks app is reminiscent of iBooks on the iPad, with its bookshelf like home-screen. The app includes the standard page turning niceties that come with eBook apps. With Kobo powering the app, we have access to a vast library of books, but it's a bummer that Google's own Books app is not available in India as it has a larger library of books and will soon incorporate a newsstand for newspapers and magazines.

The Pen Memo is a note-taking application and it even allows one to scribble with our fingers, but the whole experience was very laggy reminding us of a time when the Symbian powered Sony Ericsson P900 was the pinnacle of mobile OS technology.

The Photo-Editor app works exactly as advertised. We could crop images, do minor touch-ups, apply effects, change various color properties. This one is aimed at Photoshop junkies.

Samsung felt that the Android clock was not good enough; they saw fit to install a world clock. In theory, this could come in handy for frequent travellers. The app welcomes us with globe, which can be manipulated using pinch zoom but it does not do much.

Polaris Office handles the office duties on the Galaxy Tab. It can handle the standard Microsoft Office formats such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. It also includes Box.Net integration, which is immensely handy if one seeks cloud integration.

Apart from all these apps we have access to all the Google apps, such as Maps, Places and Latitude, which makes the Android experience very robust and cohesive.

While Samsung has gone to great lengths to add functionality to the already robust Honeycomb OS, none of these apps have an effect on the consumer's choice. The one app that could have is the Music Hub and that's sadly unavailable to us in India.

Performance

When a 1GHz NVidia Tegra 2 processor and 1GB of RAM power a device, we expect it to be a speed demon. But TouchWiz UX skin has a tardy effect on the device and we found it to be a tad slow in comparison to the Motorola Xoom, which also runs Android Honeycomb 3.1. The major problem we faced was that whenever we activated a Live wallpaper the device slowed down considerably. Even after multiple Factory Resets the problem persisted and it only went away when we installed the standard static wallpaper. This could be a problem with our review unit but, if not, should be easy enough to rectify through a software update. Anyway, most people don't use Live Wallpapers so Samsung can probably breathe easy. Nonetheless, the effects of skinning were evident.

Apart from this flaw, the device was very smooth and the performance was comparable to the other Android Honeycomb based tablets. Even the benchmark tests agree with our assessment.

On the Quadrant Benchmark, the Galaxy Tab scored an impressive 2378, which is more or less par for the course. In comparison, the Motorola Xoom scored 1916, but once we had updated it to Honeycomb 3.1 the performance deficit increased as the Xoom only managed 1572.

On the Linpack Pro test, the Galaxy Tab scored 54.129 MFLOPs in 3.12 seconds while the updated Xoom scored 59.875 in 2.82 seconds.

In the Benchmark Pi test, the Galaxy Tab calculated Pi in 563 milliseconds, and the Xoom beat the Galaxy Tab by a minute 1 millisecond.

Even on the Browsermark test, the stalemate continued as the Galaxy Tab scored 83672 and the Xoom closely followed with 81574. The Honeycomb web-browser generally has been very impressive with its Flash support and the same holds true for the Galaxy Tab.

Another impressive facet of the Galaxy tab was its battery life as it lasted 8 hours and 26 minutes with incessant Wi-Fi and 3G use. Video and browser usage did not hamper it much and only the iPad managed to beat it in terms of battery life, which was pretty impressive.

Verdict

At present, we can safely say that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the best of the rest. It is the closest thing to an iPad competitor - if such a thing exists. It boasts of a sublime slim form factor making it the most portable tablet in the market and also has an impressive OS, which is only shot down by the lack of apps.

While all this is nice, we do have issues, which TouchWiz UX as it slows down the general performance of the tablet. In spite of all the good things we have to say about it, we still cannot recommend it over the iPad - at least not till the apps situation drastically improves for Honeycomb.

Specifications

Pros
Compact form factor
Beautiful Display
Tilt Motion controls
Wi-Fi sync

Cons
TouchWiz UX is a double-edged sword
No USB and HDMI dongles in package
Apps selection
Poor Mac OSX support

Ratings
Performance: 3.5
Price: 3.5
Ease of Setup: 4.5
Ergonomics: 4.5
Wow Factor: 4.5

Apple suppliers building cheaper, 8GB iPhone 4 - sources

2011-08-24T00:04:00.000+05:30

TAIPEI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian suppliers to Apple Inc have begun manufacturing a lower priced version of its hot-selling iPhone 4 with a smaller 8 gigabyte flash drive, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The flash drive for the 8GB iPhone 4 is being manufactured by a Korean company, one of the people said on Tuesday, declining to name the company. Apple currently sources its flash drives from Japan 's Toshiba and South Korea 's Samsung Electronics.

The sources declined to be identified because the information has not been made public.

Apple, which demands high levels of secrecy and security from suppliers and employees, declined to comment.

The existing iPhone 4 was first launched in June 2010 with 16 GB and 32 GB versions, with a white version added to the lineup in April. The 8 GB version expected to launch within weeks, one of the sources said.

In addition to launch of the smaller iPhone 4, Apple is targetting an end September launch for the next-generation iPhone 5, one source said, confirming earlier reports on Apple follower blogsites and industry websites.

The new iPhone , which some call the iPhone 4S because of its largely identical appearance to the existing iPhone 4, will have a bigger touch screen, better antenna and an 8-megapixel camera, one of the people said.

The iPhone 5's two manufacturers have been told to prepare production capacity for up to 45 million units altogether, the source said. The phone will be made by Hon Hai and Pegatron, the person added.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini VS BlackBerry Storm 3 comparison review

2011-08-23T15:59:00.005+05:30

Basic functions

Electronic compass:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support the electronic compass function
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Acceleration sensor:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support the acceleration sensor
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Light sensor:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support for the light sensor (automatically adjust screen brightness light-sensitive)
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Gravity sensing:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support for gravity sensing
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Additional features:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Alarm clock, calendar, calculator, calendar, memo, world clock, automatic keylock, data backup, data encryption, remote control, map software, NFC payment technology
BlackBerry Storm 3:Alarm clock, calendar, calculator, calendar

Main function:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Built-in antenna, clock, built-in shock scenarios, standby picture, picture caller identification, call tone recognition, flight mode, recording the theme menu
BlackBerry Storm 3:Built-in antenna, clock, built-in vibration, standby picture

Office functions:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support TXT, Adobe PDF, Office (word, excel, ppt)
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Games:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Built-in games, support to download
BlackBerry Storm 3:Built-in games

Input Method:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Handwriting input, text input, input method, third-party input method
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

E-mail send and receive:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support E-mail, support for SMTP, POP3, IMAP4 mail protocols, etc.
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Messaging:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:SMS text messages
BlackBerry Storm 3:SMS text messages

Ringtones:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Supports MP3, MIDI and other formats
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Camera

Video capture:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Audio video capture, 720p (1280 * 720,30 frames / sec) video recording
BlackBerry Storm 3:Audio video capture

Shooting functional description:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support multi-shot
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Digital zoom:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Feature film:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Smile shutter, auto focus
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Photo Quality:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support up to 2592 * 1944 resolution pictures were taken
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Shooting Mode:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Beauty shot, panoramic shot, action shot, cartoon film
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Flash:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:LED photo light
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Vice camera:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Built-in camera, vice, 30 million pixels, support video telephony
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Sensor type:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:CMOS sensor
BlackBerry Storm 3:CMOS sensor

Pixel webcam:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:500 million pixels
BlackBerry Storm 3:500 million pixels

Camera:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Built-in camera
BlackBerry Storm 3:Built-in camera

Data applications

GPS positioning system:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support GPS, support for A-GPS network-assisted navigation
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

WiFi (WLAN):
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support WiFi
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Expansion card:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support TF card (microSD card), the largest expansion of support for 32GB, support App2SD function
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Data line:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB 2.0
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

WWW browser:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support the Webkit HTML browser
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

JAVA:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support Java
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Data Services:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:GPRS, EDGE, HSPA +
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Bluetooth:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Bluetooth support, Bluetooth v3.0
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Basic parameters

Shell color:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Black
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Standard:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Lithium battery, data cable, headset, charger, manual
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

CPU:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Qualcomm MSN 8X55
BlackBerry Storm 3:1.2GHz

Touch Screen:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support, capacitive screen, multi-touch
BlackBerry Storm 3:Capacitive screen, multi-touch

The main screen parameters:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:480 * 800 pixels (WVGA)
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

The main screen color:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:16 million colors
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

The main screen material:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:AMOLED
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

The main screen size:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:3.7 inches
BlackBerry Storm 3:3.7 inches

Mobile form:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Straight
BlackBerry Storm 3:Straight

OS:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Android OS v2.3
BlackBerry Storm 3:BlackBerry system

Mobile band:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/2100MHz
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Phone standard:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:GSM, WCDMA
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Time to market:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:2011
BlackBerry Storm 3:2011

Phone type:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Smart phones, music phones, camera phones, 3G mobile phone
BlackBerry Storm 3:Smart phones, music phones, camera phones, 3G mobile phone

Model:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Galaxy S2 Mini
BlackBerry Storm 3:Storm 3

Multimedia entertainment

Other properties:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Supports JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and other graphic formats
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Flash Player:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support for Flash Player 10.1
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

FM Radio:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support RDS function
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

Video:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support for video playback, support MP4, DivX, WMV, H.264, H.263 and other formats
BlackBerry Storm 3:Support for video playback

MP3 Player:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:Support for MP3 playback, support for MP3, WAV, eAAC +, AC3, FLAC and other formats
BlackBerry Storm 3:Support for MP3 playback

Multimedia:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:FM radio, 3.5mm headphone jack, e-books, HDMI output
BlackBerry Storm 3:720P

SNS Service:
Samsung Galaxy S2 Mini:QQ, MSN, flying letters, Social Hub (social circle), Yue reading circle, circle games
BlackBerry Storm 3:None

What Is A Blog and How To Create A Blog ???

2011-08-22T00:53:00.002+05:30

here are many people who still do not understand what a blog is or why is blogging so much expanding in the cyberspace. I feel all these people deserve the right to know what a Blog is and how can a Blog be created along with some other similar questions. So for those who just heard of a Blog from their friends, media or any other source, here is a short and precise illustrative tutorial to help you find answers to four important questions in most people’s mind.

Which are,

What is a Blog?

How do I create a Blog?

What is the advantage of blogging?

What is Blogger or Wordpress?

Now here comes some useful answers for each demanded question

What is a Blog?

A blog is nothing but an Online Notebook Diary. What do we write in a notebook diary? Of course stuff that we like and things that we feel important to be recorded and shared with our friends and family. A notebook diary can be based on any topic that you like for example you can write on your hobbies, activities, poems, songs, tutorials, pets, home and family, your personal thoughts etc. People will read your Online Notebook Diary on daily basis and will leave you a comment, suggestion or feedback.

If you write about your personal experiences in a notebook made up of papers, then your writings will reach only limited people around you but with an online diary like a Blog you speak to the world!

So in short a blog is your Personal website where you write and share things you like with millions of people out there who are eager to read what is cooking in your mind!

The video below will give you a more illustrative view of a Web Blog.

How do I create a Blog?

Creating a blog is absolutely free. There are many quality Blogging hosting services that you can choose to create a blog but the best among them is Blogger. I have created this blog with Blogger without even paying a penny! Want to know how? Watch this video to knowhow to create a blog in less than Five minutes!

What is the advantage of blogging?

You pay nothing Instead you Earn in $$ !! You earn by displaying advertisements on your Blog. People are earning from $100 to $100,000 monthly!

Plus you will make new friends in the Blogosphere and you earn respect in the eyes of thousands of people. You can become a celebrity! But all this with a little hard work and great patience.

And the best advantage which I have experienced is that you learn every second online! Your internet and computer skills will improve to an extreme edge and this is what the coming era demands from you. Every second on blogging is undoubtedly a new experience! I have learnt HMTL, CSS, XML and a bit of JavaScript without taking any classes. I learnt them all within a year of my blogging career and today I am able to design a quality blogger template in less than three hours.

What is Blogger or Wordpress?

These are the major blogging platforms which help you create a free Blog. But if you are confused which one to start with then go for Blogger. It has many features which wordpress doesn’t have and the best part is that Blogger allows you to customize your template in any way you like by editing the CSS style sheet! So what are you looking? Start blogging now and build up a new cyber life. Best of luck!

Feel free to ask any question that is still troubling your mind. Take care :-)

Google+ review: It is not a Facebook killer

2011-08-14T18:13:00.000+05:30

It is no secret that the success of Google+ is so crucial for Google that a part of every employees bonus is directly related to its performance. However, having used Google+ for the past three-four days, I am not convinced about the whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, Google+ brings a lot of interesting features on the table but I don’t think they have the right target audience in mind. Hit the jump to read my thoughts on Google+ and why it is a long way from beating Facebook in its own game.

Nokia to undercut Android prices to gain U.S. market share

2011-08-14T18:00:00.003+05:30

Nokia’s head of North American sales Chris Weber sat down in an interview Business Insider recently and explained how the Finnish company will regain its market share in the United States by writing “one of the greatest turnaround stories in history.” Weber said that Nokia will release a number of new smartphone models running Microsoft’s Windows Phone Mango operating system and will compete with Android by pricing several of them lower than the cheapest Android models. Weber reconfirmed that Nokia is still on track to release its first Windows Phone handset this year, likely the SeaRay device we’ve seen leaked, but said the majority of its phones will begin to land next year. Business Insider also said that Nokia is deeply integrated with Microsoft’s plans for a complete tablet, PC and mobile phone ecosystem, which loosely suggests Nokia may have a tablet in the works, too.

Philips launches its premium Fidelio DS9000 docking station

2011-08-14T17:57:00.001+05:30

Philips has launched the Fidelio DS9000 iPhone/iPod/iPad docking station in India. This premium speaker looks painfully sexy in its curvacious design carved out of layered wood. The materials used in its construction – wood, fabric and metal; help to reduce unwanted vibrations and sounds. There’s a proximity sensor thanks to which the volume control bar lights-up as soon as your hand approaches it. It also claims to possess audiophile-quality drivers (for the music experience pretty close to original performance). The device also features a 3.5mm audio jack at the back. However, at a price tag of Rs 38,990, the absence of FM radio clearly takes away a few brownie points. Philips has also launched an-all-aluminum home theatre system HTS9520 which will retail at a price of Rs 79,990. Check out how this beauty looks like after the break!

Tags: Philips, Philips DS9000 iPod/iPhone/iPad dock, Philips Fidelio Docking station, Philips Fidelio DS9000 launched in India, Philips HTS9520 home theatre system

Micromax takes a jab at Apple with a cheeky ad

2011-08-14T17:55:00.000+05:30

This has to be one of the most brazen advertising targeting the iPhone we have seen in the longest time (remember those cheap Chinese rip-off with iOS screenshots?). Micromax today released its “i (can afford this) Phone ad campaign that talks about its A70 Android phone, priced at Rs 7,999. Yeah, the features are just about okay (a 600 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, anyone?) but we have to take our hats off for creativity and sheer guts.
Tags: Micromax A70 Android phone, Micromax ad, Micromax i can afford this phone ad, Micromax iPhone

Apple iPhone vs HTC Evo 4G : The SmatPhone War via gadgetcage.com

2011-08-09T17:20:00.009+05:30

Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G

In this post, we are going to deal with Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G, the 2 Ultimate SmartPhones which are well know for their performance and Brand as well. Huge Deal of discussions and blog postings are available these days in the iPhone related websites. The market for iPhone is not what it was even two or three years ago, as the competition was creeping high and high. A lot of change is taking place and newer and aggressive players are coming into this market. Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G comparison is going to be really exciting tech stuff for Gadget Freaks and hope this post about Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G will help you to make decision that suits your needs.

The notable names that have made a presence for themselves are, Samsung, Motorola and HTC. Today let us compare the features and specifications of Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G and try to find out the various benefits and features available with both these brands.

In our previous posts we’ve compared many smart phones like Apple iPhone 4 vs Motorola Droid X, Apple iPhone vs Dual Core and many more. Now, in this post we are going to deal with Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G.

#1. Introduction to Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G
Both these brands come from great companies and hence there is a normal tendency to get into terms like Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G.
While the comparisons between both these brands have been largely restricted to their features, an attempt is being made to take the comparison to a higher level.
The service providers who form a part of both these brands are also being compared to enable a more comprehensive iPhone vs HTC evo comparison.

#2. Design, Display and Interface of iPhone vs HTC
EVO 4G
In terms of design the iPhone 4 looks much better when compared to HTC evo. On a closer look HTC evo appears more like a PSP rather than a phone which makes iPhone to win the design element of comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G.
When it comes to sleekness the iPhone 4 is better because it is thinner than HTC evo by almost 3 mm. The quality of the material that has been used for making iPhone is much better than that of HTC evo. So far as design and quality of material is concerned, the battle between iPhone vs HTC evo has been won hands down by iPhone.
Coming to the display features as the next iPhone vs HTC EVO battle ground, the HTC evo has a 4.3 inch display compared to the 3.5 inch display of the iPhone 4. The quality of images of iPhone 4 may be better because of a better technology, but the sheer size difference of the display screen makes HTC evo win this round of iPhone vs HTC EVO battle. In fact people are much inclined to sacrifice image quality with bigger size screen which HTC evo offers.

#3. Camera and Apps comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G
In our 3rd point of comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G, we’ll discuss about Camera and other Application facilities. I don’t hesitate to say that the major reason for the success of Apple iPhone series is because of the huge number of applications available and it is estimated that over 10 millions of applications were developed officially and unofficial apps would be countless for sure. When it comes to Android, though it is having good deal of applications but still it is not capable enough to beat Apple’s Market. So, in the apps comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G, iPhone is the sheer winner.
Regarding Cameras, both Apple iPhone 4 and HTC EVO 4G are loaded with Dual Cameras. The primary camera of Apple iPhone 4 is 5MP where as HTC EVO 4G is 8MP and front facing second camera is VGA for Apple iPhone 4 and 1.3 MP for HTC EVO 4G. Which explains the fact that in camera comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G, HTC EVO 4G is the winner of the war.
But when it comes to video recording, both these smartphones are capable of catching 720p up to 30 and 25 frames per second. While Apple iPhone 4 also have the video editing feature which makes its way to win the competition. So, the entire camera and video comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G, its the even competition.

#4. Network Access, Service Providers and Other Features of Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G
The Network access of Apple iPhone 4 is 3G while HTC EVO 4G is 4G which is one step ahead. While AT&T is acting as official service provider for Apple iPhone and there have been quite a few complaints regarding their service. There are also other problems associated with the external antenna of iPhone 4. This has resulted in many loyal Apple customers moving to some other brands.HTC EVO 4G works on sprint network which is supposed to a better and wider network. The reception is also clear and there is a perception that as far as connectivity is concerned, the iPhone vs HTC Evo battle is moving towards EVO, unless Apple does something immediately to correct the situation.

Comparison between Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G

Apple iPhone 4 runs is iOS4 and HTC EVO 4G with Android 2.1 version. When it comes to memory, Apple with its traditional Memory Peices launched 16/32GB Flash Drives while HTC EVO comes with 8GB and it can be extended to 32 GB. Finally the battery backup of Apple is upto 7hrs in 3G and 14 hrs in 2G while in HTC Evo 3G is upto 6 hrs. Considering these elements in comparison of Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G, Apple iPhone can be declared as winner when it come to design, apps and build-up quality and HTC EVO is considered as winner when it comes to Service and Network advancements. Thus, you might have got clear view about Apple iPhone vs HTC EVO 4G.

Joomla vs WordPress: Choose Best-Suited CMS for Your Website

2011-08-09T15:40:00.000+05:30

In this article, we are going to deal with comparison between 2 best CMS platforms Joomla vs WordPress.Whenever we talk about website design the first thing that comes to our mind is a content management system. Content management system not only helps you to manage your website, but also gives you the freedom to maintain it from time to time according to your need.

Some CMSs are easy to handle that one can manage it without or very little knowledge of the intricate technology. Among all CMSs, Joomla and WordPress are the most popular. This article will definitely help to choose the best-suited CMS for your website.

But before we decipher as to which is best CMS (Joomla vs WordPress), let us have a brief introduction about both CMSs.

Joomla vs WordPress Comparison

#1. WordPress

The WordPress content management system is an ideal platform for bloggers as it is easy to install and use.
You can customize it according to your needs.
Moreover for its customization you don’t need to have extensive programming knowledge.
You can make your website more dynamic by using WordPress plug-ins which can be installed easily.
This technology gives your website an in-built platform allowing visitors to comment on your posts automatically. WordPress is one of the best CMS platform used and accepted by many bloggers who complain the WordPress is the ultimate winner in comparison between Joomla vs WordPress.

#2. Joomla

Joomla CMS is an excellent content management system allowing easy management and maintenance of your website, with little or no programming knowledge needed.
It offers all the required features right from adding and updating everything such as your images, article pages, navigation menus, and users to more elaborate in terms of technology enhancements.
Increasing the functionality of a website can be done by number of extensions offered by Joomla software.
Joomla provides full flexibility to developers to design a website the way they want. Many designers and Developers wont accept the fact regarding the greatness of wordpress and will complain that Joomla is the best platform in comparison with Joomla vs WordPress.

Let us Jump into Reasons : Joomla vs WordPress.

#3. Comparison between Joomla vs WordPress

If you want to add images, publish new items, WordPress is extremely easy to use. Whereas Joomla presents a more “feature-rich” CMS, though one needs to get the hang of making the modifications.
In comparison to WordPress, Joomla is supported by a strong community to help the end users.
Joomla is best for creating websites oriented to e-commerce and website requiring a more professional touch. Joomla has thousands of extensions to offer, which are instrumental in increasing the functionality of a website. With its wider flexibility, enhanced features and premier extensions, Joomla to greater extent out beats WordPress.
Joomla was created from the ground up and over the years grown as an acclaimed CMS, while WordPress was designed as a publishing platform that has developed gradually into a CMS, offering each unique capability. These are the reasons why many developers declare that Joomla wins in the comparison between Joomla vs WordPress.

#4. Why use Joomla over WordPress ( Joomla vs WordPress )

Just because of power and flexibility provided by the Joomla CMS, it has become most popular CMS available on the market. Reasons for its vast popularity are its features, numerous capabilities and a developed custom database work. Joomla offers a complex multiple user privilege system, with user registration and layered content privileges, while WordPress does not have the privilege system. Joomla is also the best open source CMS solution when it comes to multiple user groups. For me personally from the comparison between Joomla vs WordPress, I prefer Joomla.

In nutshell both platforms work well for managing a website, WordPress is best option for small to medium business. But Joomla is fantastic option for a website that requires multiple user privileges or custom database work. It’s still not possible to declare a convinced winner between Joomla vs wordpress as bloggers, webmasters have their own reasons.

Hope you enjoyed reading article on Joomla vs WordPress Comparison

Tagged as: joomla and wordpress, joomla vs wordpress

Top 5 Web Browsers to Enhance your Browsing Experience

2011-08-09T15:29:00.002+05:30

In this post we are going to deal with Top 5 Web Browsers that which help you to enhance your browsing experience like fast browsing, inspecting elements, design aspects which leads to comparing the Best CMS options like joomla vs wordpress and many more. The Technology is creeping high and high at the same time the demand also growing with same pace. So, the Organizations have to strive even more to bring something new and also increase the efficiency in the performance of their products.

The browsers are considered as a software application that which provides us the platform to browse around the web in order to collect the information. Initially Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is considered as the best browser in the world, but after evolution of Chrome,Mozilla Firefox, Opera the demand of IE decreased while the competition increased rapidly.
Now here in this post we are going to deal with 5 Best Web Browsers that help us to browse fast and works efficiently.
#1. Mozilla Firefox
• Get to your favorite sites quickly – even if you don’t remember the URLs. Type your term into the location bar and the autocomplete function will include possible matches from your browsing history, bookmarked sites and open tabs. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Google Chrome, Maxthon, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Top Web Browsers

Social Networks

2011-08-09T14:57:00.000+05:30

: Adium
Free IM tool

: Skype
Voice over internet

: TweetDeck
Browsing the moment

Social Networks

2011-08-09T14:49:00.002+05:30


Adium Free IM tool: Open source multi-protocol instant messaging client, supports MSN, Jabber, Yahoo! and other network

Netnewswire Newsreader: NetNewsWire is an easy-to-use and customizable RSS and Atom newsreader, Bring The Power Of RSS Right To Your Desktop.

Magican Monitor

2011-08-09T14:45:00.000+05:30

Freely monitor mac system, disk, memory, network as vivid graph

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