Yesterday Opera team released a major update (version 14) of Opera Mobile browser for Android. The new Opera Browser is a completely redesigned and overhauled avatar of its older sibling – the Opera Mobile. Opera has dropped version number 13, directly skipping to 14 from 12.5 (the last version of Opera Mobile). With this release Opera has accepted the fact that the distinction between desktop and mobile devices is getting blurry by the day. With Quad-core CPUs, RAM in GBs, big 1080p displays, Android smartphones are giving tough competition to their bigger-counterparts (desktops/netbooks). Like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome (for Android), Opera also renamed “Opera Mobile” to just “Opera Browser”. Opera claims it to be faster, slicker and less power consuming than older version. Following are some of the new features of Opera Browser –

1. More “Android-ish” native UI built from the scratch. There are 3 swipable home screens – history, speed dials and “Discover”

2. New glossy, visually appealing speed dials with easy to create speed-dial folders function. Now multiple pages can be merged to create a group (at a single speed) – to create a group/folder just drag and drop one or more speed dial(s) at another speed dial.

3. At “Discover” home screen you will get all the important news content automatically curated from the web (according to the country you choose). Its like homepage of portals like Yahoo or MSN. Besides country you can also filter the content according to the available categories.

Opera Browser for Android

4. Navigation bar position can be changed (top or bottom)

5. URL address bar and search bar has been merged into one

6. Private browsing feature has been added

7. Off-Road mode – off road mode is just like the “Opera turbo” function of desktop browser. It uses server-side data compression technology to load pages faster and save data cost

Interestingly iOS and other mobile operating systems are still to get this new version although Opera has promised to oblige them soon. One more thing, Opera has also clarified that the new Opera Browser will not replace their more popular and smaller mobile browser Opera Mini which will continue to be available for all mobile platforms including Android.
You can download the new Opera Browser (version 14.0) for Android smartphones from m.opera.com or Google PlayStore (not still available for Android Tablets).

In today’s fast paced life most of us don’t give enough time and care to our children or even ourselves. Whatever be the reason, I would call it carelessness and ignorance and after reading the following real life incident you will surely agree with me. You won’t even imagine, how dangerous and even life-threatening this ignorance sometimes becomes.

It’s a story of a single-working mother (Malti) and her 10 year-old son, Yash living in Delhi. Due to her busy working schedule Yash was totally dependent upon the full-time maid Malti hired for him. As expected his eating habits were very bad with lots of toffees. chocolates etc constituting major part of his daily diet. For some two months Yash was complaining of mild tooth pain and occasional blood on brushing. Having no time, Malti used to give him household pain killers to relieve the pain and this routine continued for several months. One day Yash returned from school early complaining of severe tooth tooth-ache and bleeding. Malti rushed him to the nearby dentist, after examination and X-ray Yash was diagnosed as having decaying of tooth and a dental ulcer. Doctor further advised her to take Yash to a higher center for tissue (histological) examination. Now she was really worried and immediately took Yash to a super-specialty hospital.

A Dental (Mouth) Ulcer

Finally after a series of tests Yash was diagnosed as having oral carcinoma (mouth cancer). Shocked by the announcement, Malti cursed herself for the situation. However the doctor told her that the cancer is in very early stage and can be completely cured by surgery. Soon Yash underwent radical surgery with almost half the jaw and teeth removed. Months later he again underwent a series of reconstructive (cosmetic) operations to repair the face. It took almost one year and cost a lot of money (plus mental trauma) for Yash to come back to his normal life.

Moral of the story – As you can see the root cause of the problem was ignoring the warning signs which resulted in this horrific series of events (decaying of teeth – dental ulcer – transformation into oral cancer). Warning signs are Nature’s way to protect us by giving some indications that something is wrong and one should take necessary action to correct it. Almost all diseases have some warning signs, all we need is to take proper action to prevent the illness. Similarly, do not ignore bleeding gums (blood on brushing teeth) as it may be a warning sign of many teeth and gum diseases.

You may refer to My Healthy Speak Blog for latest, useful  information on oral hygiene and problems.

For the past twenty years or so, India has seen exponential growth and development in almost every sector of life, be it business or infrastructure, real estate or hospitality and so on. But the most impressive and significant development has been witnessed by the healthcare scenario of the country. From pathetic health indices and a grim outlook of last century we have now evolved into a relatively healthy society (though still far away from the magic figures of western developed countries) boasting of healthcare facilities on par with the west (USA and Europe). There are many reasons behind this transformation – huge fund and resource investment and active involvement of WHO, UNICEF and other world health bodies in healthcare planning and delivery across the country, foreign investment in the establishment of state of the art super-specialty hospitals and research centers and availability of highly competent and skilled medical workforce of international standards etc.

Modern Day Healthcare

Rapid ongoing research and improvements in all medical specialties, novel drugs and drug delivery systems, new medical equipments, use of computer (various specialized softwares) in every aspect of medical care and seamless internet connectivity are the key features of modern day healthcare. Following are some of the innovations and highlights of this state-of-the-art system and how it is serving and touching peoples lives –

Modern healthcare delivery is quite different from the older conventional model as it focuses on treating the patient utilizing the best available means (latest technology, highly skilled medical personnel etc), each and every individual life is important to the system

A Modern Medical Facility Setup

Tele-medicine – internet has revolutionized the way expert medical care is utilized to diagnose and manage complicated patients – services and opinion of any expert from around the globe can be availed via tele-conferencing even in remote village settings

It’s all in the “smartphone/tablet” – One of the most revolutionary innovation which affected our lives in recent times is the smartphone. It is so powerful now that you can easily call it a computer shrunk to fit in the palm. Today’s physician carries his/her whole bookshelf in his pocket for easy reference. Besides there are thousands of health tracker/monitor/counter (and various other) apps available for smartphones/tablets which are very helpful for patients, physicians and even healthy people. Of note is Omnio – a multi-utility app for medical professionals from Skyscape (specially designed for iPad) which keeps them up to date about latest innovations and has many other functions. Universal internet access on handhelds also greatly helps healthcare personnel and general public to stay connected to each other and access information on the go.

Availability of new and innovative technologies in tertiary care centers – most advanced medical procedures are also available now in the best tertiary care hospitals of India for example in Apollo Hospitals (a hospitals group, pioneer in cutting-edge, integrated healthcare delivery in India) following world class medical facilities are available -

Robotic surgery
Radio surgery (like Cyberknife)
Stem Cell Transplant
Bone Marrow Transplant
Liver Transplant
Bariatric Surgery etc

Thus you can see, now India stands along with the developed countries in terms of highest standards of healthcare plus with an added advantage of comparatively lower cost of such facilities (which explains the rapidly increasing medical-tourism in our country).

So you just got your swanky new smartphone but when the initial euphoria subsides you have quite a few tasks to perform, after all switching from an old phone to a new one is not an easy nut to crack. Transferring media (songs, videos etc) is very easy these days thanks to widespread compatibility of popular media formats across platforms. The difficult part is transfer of contacts, messages, notes and other phone specific data. There are many tricky methods to copy such data depending upon the mobile OS involved. Most of such methods are time consuming and difficult for an average mobile user. In this post I will describe the easiest and almost universal (applicable for three most popular mobile OS – Android, iOS and Symbian) method to perform the phone-to-phone data transfer.

All you need is a simple mobile-data transfer software, a Windows PC, both the phones (which may be both Android, iPhone or Symbian or a combination of any of these) and their connecting data cables, rest of the process is a breeze –

1. Download the data-transfer software from here and install in your Windows computer – internet connection is required as the installer will download the package. When the installation completes do not run the software, first disconnect the computer from internet as it will authenticate the installation online

2. Now connect both the phones to computer via USB data cable and wait for a while (if you have connected the phone(s) first time with PC then let the computer install device drivers). Preferably select PC Suite mode/connection if the phone asks for the connection type.

Mobile Data Transfer

3. Now run the software in computer and register with the email and key provided in the zip file. After registration is complete, the software will detect and show both your phones at the main screen. MobileTrans might ask for some actions like installation of MobileGo app in the phone or to enable “USB debugging” option in Android phones etc just follow the instructions as asked

4. After successful detection of both the phones and getting other settings done, MobileTrans will show some or all transfer options applicable for the two devices. Before moving further, make sure that the source phone is at the left side and destination phone is at the right, if it is not the case then just click the flip button to swap the position of phones for example (as shown in the screenshot) we are transferring data from Nokia N8 (Symbian) to LG Optimus G (E-975) thus N8 (source) is at left side while Optimus G (destination) is at right.

5. Now select the option(s) you want (Contacts, Text Messages, Call logs, Apps, Photos, Music and Videos) and click “Start Copy” button, let the process finish (it will take some time so be patient). When done, disconnect the phone and wonder how easy it was!

Note – If your phone is not detected by the software then download and install device drivers from here and repeat the process again….good luck

The mobile-data transfer software is compatible with Windows 8/7/Vista/XP only
All Symbian S60 and S40 phones, Android 2.1 and later devices, iOS 5 and later (iPhone and iPad) are supported

Wondershare MobileTrans is available for US $39.99 at the official site and its worth every penny, please buy if you like it to support further development of this wonderful software.

Bad news for Nokia fans and power users! Nokia finally closed its phone firmware repository doors to the general public this past week. Now only authorized Nokia personnel will have full access to all firmware files via valid login. Which means Navifirm is useless now. If you do not know – Navifirm is a wonderful software which provided users full access to official Nokia mobile-firmware servers enlisting all available software versions (product codes, releases, variants and related files of Symbian, S40, Windows Phone models) and the option to download any firmware file. Thus It has always been a must have tool for mobile flashing and firmware modding. Besides Navifirm used to enlist the product codes of upcoming mobiles and the soon-to-be-released firmware updates before their official announcement, thus making it the popular Nokia leak-channel.

After Nokia blocked the firmware-server access, Navifirm is giving following error (while trying to connect to Nokia servers) –

Navifirm error

Warning
“Service specific exception
com.nokia.posti.server.caresuite.webservice.UnauthorizedFault”

Alas! Good bye Navifirm, you rocked!
However everything is not bleak folks! you can still access and download your phone’s software (only the latest version available) via Nokia Care Suite without requiring login. And of course there are other means and places (like various Nokia forums and sharing sites) which can help you get any desired phone firmware.

X-plore, the best and most popular Symbian file manager has been made a freeware recently. Lonelycatgames (the developer of X-plore and other popular Symbian apps) have virtually declared their Symbian apps as end-of-life, stopping further development as the end of Symbian is nearby. No Symbian phone has been announced since last year (after Nokia 808 PureView). SmartMovie and UltraMP3 have already been made free by lonelycatgames, in fact UltraMP3 is not available at the site now. Now X-plore and SmartMovie are heading to the same way. So download X-plore v1.60 free before it is removed from the official site.

This version (v1.60) of X-plore has been released just to make it a freeware and no new feature has been added over the previous paid build (v1.58). Interestingly, the “Program update” option has been removed from the menu in this version of X-plore which means it is officially the last version of the app. You may refer to this post to know the features of X-plore in detail.

Any way, Symbian fans will always remember you X-plore….

Android smartphones having quad-core processors are currently at the higher-end of specifications spectrum. All current flagship devices (Galaxy S3, HTC One, Xperia Z etc) of top brass companies sport quad-core CPUs and 5” HD display. Due to the premium hardware used, these devices are very expensive (more than $700/Rs.30000 unlocked) and out of average consumer’s budget. Fortunately there are some second-tier mobile manufacturers in developing countries (China and India) which have started making high end Android smartphones for masses off late. Micromax, Lava, Spice, Intex, Karbonn, ZTE and Huawei are a few of such companies starting this trend of giving competition to the likes of Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony. Micromax’ A110 Canvas 2 was perhaps (and still is) the first highly popular, high-end but affordable (US$200) Android superphone made for Indian market. Considering the success of Canvas 2 many companies have launched high-end Android smartphones in Asian markets at very competitive prices. Here are four affordable quad-core Android phones under Rs.15000 (USD $200-250) currently available in Indian market –

1. Micromax A116 Canvas HD – this phone is currently the most popular and cheap quad-core Android device in India. It went out of stock just half an hour after launch at online store Snapdeal. Its specs sheet is pretty impressive – 5 inches, 720 x 1280 pixels resolution screen, 1.2 GHz, quad-core Cortex-A7 processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, expandable upto 32GB, Android 4.1 JellyBean, 2100mAh battery
Price – Indian Rs. 14500

2. Celkon A119 Signature HD – This phone is almost the copy of Canvas HD, all specs are same except camera (it has 12 Megapixels main and 3MP front camera) and 1GHz quad-core CPU.
Price – Rs. 13500 (India)

Celkon A119 Signature HD

3. Karbonn Titanium S5 – Another quad-core, 5 inches, Android 4.1 JellyBean smartphone. The only negative is qHD (540 x 960 pixels) screen resolution
Price – Rs. 11990

4. Xolo Q800 – Another very good phone having 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 4.5 inches qHD screen (other specs are same as Canvas HD). Price – Rs. 12500

5. Karbonn Titanium S1 – A relatively lower specs (and cheaper) phone having 1.2GHz quad-core processor. Other specs – 4.5 inches qHD screen, 5MP camera and 1600mAh battery
Price – Rs. 9700

Intex is also planning to launch a quad-core Android phone in the near future at a very low price. So this list is expected to become longer soon.

Other notable ones –
Xolo A1000 – Dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 720 x 1280 pixels, 5 inches display, Android v4.1 JellyBean, 8MP camera, 2100mAh battery
Price – Rs. 13800

Karbonn Retina A27 – 4.3 inches, qHD screen, 1.2 GHz, dual-core CPU, 512MB RAM, Android v4.1 JellyBean, 4GB internal memory, 2100mAh battery
Price – Rs. 8800

Micromax A110 Canvas 2 – a 5 incher, dual-core phablet still selling like hot cakes all over India. It has also been updated to JellyBean recently. However it has some negatives – low res screen and low internal memory)
Price – Rs. 10500

Note – All the above phones support dual-SIM functionality. Prices given here are the least one after comparing various online stores and may vary somewhat store to store and city to city.

BT Charger is an innovative (and potentially a blockbuster) app which the developer claims to actually charge the phone’s battery using electromagnetic radiation in the surroundings and Bluetooth hardware of the phone – aptly called as electromagnetic harvesting. Dennis Siegel, the developer of BT Charger explains the science behind the app as follows (excerpt from his site) –

The omnipresence of electromagnetic fields is implied just by simple current flow. We are surrounded by electromagnetic fields which we are producing for information transfer or as a byproduct. Many of those fields are very capacitive and can be harvested with coils and high frequency diodes. Accordingly, I built special harvesting devices that are able to tap into several electromagnetic fields to exploit them. The energy is stored in an usual battery. So you can for example gain redundant energy from the power supply of a coffee machine, a cell phone or an overhead wire by holding the harvester directly into the electromagnetic field whose strength is indicated by a LED on the top of the harvester.

Depending on the strength of the electromagnetic field it is possible to charge a small battery within one day. The system is meant to be an option for granting access to already existing but unheeded energy sources. By exploring these sources it can create a new awareness of the invisible electromagnetic spaces while giving them a spatial dimension.

The app description says –

“This app is designed to charge smartphone from the Bluetooth antenna. It is based on electromagnetic induction. A potential difference (voltage) appears across a conductor in BT-antenna when it is exposed to a varying magnetic field. This app uses that voltage to charge your smartphone.“

Interface of BTCharger is simple having just an “Enable Bluetooth” toggle button. Enabling this option power on phone’s bluetooth and the battery icon start showing charging status. But the catch is that the charging process will be satisfactory only if the phone is close to the strong electromagnetic field (like near overhead electric cable, working electric appliances etc). Also the app must continue to run in the background to charge the battery thus do not exit the app rather press menu button to come out of it. You can download BTCharger (unsigned) free for Symbian from here. It is compatible with all Belle/Belle Refresh/Belle FP1/FP2 phones (Nokia N8, 701, 603, 808PV etc).

However there are some questions in my mind regarding BT Charger -
1. Bluetooth itself drains the battery very fast then what is the point of charging and discharging at the same time?

2. Besides the running app also consumes battery so if the rate of charging is too slow then it is useless?

Considering all these issues all I can say is that BT Charger is a very promising app(roach) which still needs a lot of improvement to be considered a solution of the eternal battery problem of portable gadgets (including mobiles). But hats off to the developer for materializing this concept (of tapping an easily available source of energy).

Update – Its an April-fool act from app developer Kolaysoft! BTCharger is a prank app which fakes the battery charging. Hope you enjoyed the idea and the app……Dennis Siegel or his site has no connection with it!

After UltraMP3, Lonelycatgames recently made SmartMovie a freeware too. Throughout the golden era of Symbian OS (2003-2008), SmartMovie remained one of the most popular and must-have app among Symbian device users. But with the downfall of the OS, Lonelycatgames gradually stopped further development of its Symbian apps, UltraMP3 was first to go (removed from the official site long time back). Now it’s time for SmartMovie – the countdown has begun with the first step of making it a freeware (earlier it has been made free for S60v2 phones last year). It has also been updated to version 4.20 (the last paid version was 4.15) removing the restriction of limited playback time in trial version.

SmartMovie is a good video player which can play AVI (originally it was the only format which SmartMovie supported), MP4, 3GP and FLV format videos. In fact SmartMovie is optimized and better suited upto Symbian S60v5 for which it is a very good, even indispensable app.

Smart Movie v4.20

However from S^3 onwards it is not fully compatible (and relevant) – I have noticed a sluggish playback of HD videos and even not supported errors while trying to play some MP4 videos in my Nokia N8. Actually the built in video player of Symbian^3/Anna/Belle is way better than SmartMovie (better codec support, great HD video playback etc). Still you may try SmartMovie as an alternative video player in your S^3 phone.

So head to lonelycatgames.com to download SmartMovie v4.20/Build 15.3.2013 free (also available for S60v2 and Windows Mobile). A video converter software for Windows is also provided in the download package.

There are very few quality apps left for Symbian now as the end of this OS is nearing. Good music player apps are also scarce for touchscreen Symbian devices (TTPod, QuasarMX, qooPlayer and ??? none I remember except these). Yesterday I came across a less-known music player for Symbian called Zene. It looks pretty simple in appearance but has some cool features to enjoy the music. I tried Zene in my N8 and it impressed me indeed. Here is an overview of it’s features –

“Shake to change the song” is an interesting function in Zene which allows you to move to the next track by just shaking the phone. This function works even if the phone is locked. This function can be disabled via menu.

Zene can sort and play songs by albums, specific folder or playlists of your favorite songs

Zene will scan all drives for songs at start and you can also create playlists using the player

Repeat/Shuffle functions

Zene Music Player

Zene can run in the background (hide function)

There are some built-in themes to change the appearance of the player

Sleep-timer function allows you to set the time for switching off Zene (at the specified time)

Mp3/wma/midi format support

However there is no equalizer function to change the audio frequencies but how many of us care about equalizer!

So give Zene Music Player a try – it is compatible with all Symbian^3/Anna/Belle phones (Nokia 500, 603, 701, N8, C7, E7 etc). Download free from here or here. There is also a Symbian S60v5 specific version of Zene available at the Nokia Ovi Store.