RIM: BlackBerry OS 10 to rival iOS, Android

 

RIm said, "The new operating system could be RIM's answer to other OS software like Windows Phone, Android, iOS and Samsung's Bada."

NEW DELHI: Facing competition from smartphone-makers like Samsung and Nokia, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has chalked out an aggressive plan for India where it will be increasing its footprint to 160 cities, besides launching new devices and the latest Operation System 10 soon.
The BlackBerry maker has a presence in 80 cities in the country now and is keen to tap the burgeoning demand for smartphones here. "In terms of expansion, we would like to strengthen our existing presence. As far as new cities are concerned we would like to double our presence this year and go to every city which has a demand for smartphones," RIM India Head Sunil Dutt said.
He, however, declined to comment on investment details. RIM started its operations in India in 2004 and has a presence in over 80 cities across more than 4,000 retail points of presence. It has three national distributors - Redington India, Brightpoint India and Ingram Inc.
Its portfolio in India includes the Curve, Bold and Torch series. The company also sells CDMA smartphones like BlackBerry Tour 9630, BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Style 9670 and BlackBerry Curve 9350.
RIM shipped about 14.1 million BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 150,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in Q3 FY12.
During the same period, its subscriber base grew to nearly 75 million, up 35% year-over-year. RIM does not provide country-specific details.
Talking about its latest operating system, Dutt said, "The OS 10 would be available from the second half of 2012." The new operating system could be RIM's answer to other OS software like Windows Phone, Android, iOS and Samsung's Bada.
Asked if the company would look at setting up a manufacturing base in India, he said the company is open to the idea but "it would depend on the demand".
The former Samsung India leader, who joined RIM from HP India, is also excited about the BlackBerry brand.
"BlackBerry devices continue to be popular, especially the BlackBerry Messenger service. We would continue to bring out newer devices. The broad areas of focus are innovation, building brand association, effective go-to market channels and customer satisfaction," Dutt said. He said the company is also upbeat on its applications store.

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1 of every 3 phones shipped worldwide now is a smartphone

 

Sales of computers and TVs may be hurting, but smartphones keep the tech economy chugging along: Worldwide, the smartphone market grew 54.7 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2011, and 1 out of every 3 mobile phones shipped worldwide was a smartphone, says IDC Research.

"The launch of Apple's iPhone 4S played a key role in smartphone growth to capture pent-up demand, and smartphone launches from other vendors also provided a broad selection to meet varying preferences and budgets," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team, in a release.

While the iPhone 4S was certainly the leading smartphone in the U.S., it also helped spur sales worldwide, along with high-profile Android phones, including various iterations of Samsung's Galaxy phones.

Still, "a growing number of sub-$250 device offerings, based on the Android operating system, have allowed Google's hardware partners to grow smartphone volumes and expand the market concurrently," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker program.

Here's a snapshot of how each brand (aka "vendor") did in the fourth quarter of 2011:

• Apple "climbed back into the market leadership position with the launch of its iPhone 4S worldwide, and in the process it reached a new shipment volume record for itself and for the entire industry for a single quarter. Although the iPhone 4S disappointed some detractors by lacking 4G LTE connectivity or a different size screen, demand was high for the device. In addition, the combination of holiday seasonality, the delay in product launch from 3Q to 4Q, and the addition of multiple mobile operators helped drive volumes higher."
• Samsung hit some new milestones in the quarter, "breaking the 30 million units mark for the first time, posting the largest year-over-year increase among the top vendors, and finishing 2011 as the overall smartphone market leader." In addition to itse Galaxy line, IDC said, Samsung "updated its Omnia and Focus smartphones with Windows Phone Mango." (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
• Nokia had the "largest year-over-year decrease among the top vendors, but its smartphone strategy took another step forward with the release of its first Windows Phone smartphones, the Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800."
• Research In Motion "finished the quarter with a mixed bag of results." The company's phones with its new BlackBerry OS 7 on them "staved off a fourth consecutive quarter of sequential decline. Still, overshadowing these results was the global network outage in October, followed by announcements that its first BB 10-powered smartphones will not arrive to market until late 2012."
• HTC kept up a "strong pace of device releases during the quarter, with the launch of the Windows Phone-powered Titan and Radar models, the Beats-influenced Rezound, and the LTE-enabled Vivid in addition to multiple other Android-powered smartphones." Despite lots of "high-profile launches" in the fourth quarter, HTC "still shipped lower volumes compared to the previous quarter."

Overall, the worldwide smartphone market grew 54.7 percent year over year in the last quarter, IDC said. Vendors shipped 157.8 million smartphones, compared to 102 million in the last quarter of 2010. While that growth didn't match 2010's year-over-year spurt of 75.7 percent, IDC "still fully expects continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future."

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Calibrate your computer's monitor for the best picture

How can you make sure you're getting the best picture on your computer monitor? There are a couple of ways you can go about this, depending on how serious you are about color calibration. If you're an average computer user and just want your colors to match up approximately, there's an easy way to go about this. If you do any photo or video editing, you may need to drop some cash into this process, but we'll get to that in a moment. Let's start with the basics.

 

Familiarize yourself with your display's controls
Before you begin, make sure your display has been on for at least a half-hour (so it's properly warmed up) and is set to its native screen resolution. Even if you use it at a different resolution (and we can't imagine why), set it back to its native resolution while you calibrate it. Then, make sure you know your way around the controls for your display. This shouldn't be difficult to do — just take a look at the front of the panel. You'll likely see buttons near the power button to do things like switch inputs and open and navigate the on-screen options menu. These menus vary across display manufacturers, so there's no one way to open these menus and navigate them, but you want to find your color, contrast and brightness controls. Once you find them, you're ready to get started.

 

The quick and dirty method: Use the built-in calibration tool
First, reset your display to its default values. Even if you're played with the on-screen controls in the past, you don't want any errors of the past to change how you use your monitor today. Use the on-screen menus to reset the display to the manufacturer's defaults. Then you can use your computer's built-in calibration tool to tweak the display to your liking.

Mac OS and Windows both have built-in display calibration utilities that walk you through a series of steps to build and save a calibration profile. In Windows, the display calibration tool is in the Display Control Panel, and in Mac OS, if you open the Display System Preferences and click the Color tab, you'll see the button to calibrate. The calibration tool will walk you through configuring your computer's contrast and brightness, color temperature, and gamma correction, and will adjust the image from your computer's graphics card on the fly as you make changes.

 

The pricier, more accurate method: Buy a calibration tool
Going by sight should be enough for people who just want to be able to watch a YouTube video or browse their photo library without everything looking weird, but professionals need a level of accuracy that by-sight calibration may not offer. If you do any kind of photo editing, video editing, or rely on the color accuracy of your displays for your work, you may want to take calibrating your monitors a step further and spend a few bucks on calibration software and a colorimeter. A colorimeter is a device that attaches to the front of your display and "sees" the color levels generated by your display and adjusts your OS to compensate. Some of them even support multiple displays, and can walk you through adjusting the settings for each display to get the best possible color values.

The Spyder4Pro from Datacolor will set you back about $170 retail, connects to your computer via USB, and mounts on the face of your monitor to automatically calibrate it for you. The Spyder4Pro is designed primarily for people who need to calibrate their display against color prints, so if you're more concerned with the way images look on-screen, you can get by with the Spyder4Express for $119 retail, which still offers instant and automatic calibration, even though it's missing a few features from the Pro model (most notably the ability to adapt to ambient light levels.)

You may also consider the SprectraCal CalPC, another tool specifically designed for computer displays, even though it's a bit pricier ($299 retail.) CalPC even has the ability to control your monitor's display settings directly, so you don't have to fiddle with the display's on-screen menu at all. Just adjust the settings in the app, and your display will adjust itself to match.

 

For multi-monitor setups: Test patterns on both displays
If you have more than one display connected to your computer, you'll need to use a combination of your OS's tools and the on-screen settings. Start by using your computer's calibration utility, the way we described above. When you've finished building a color profile, it's time to take the OS out of the equation and make adjustments using the panel's display settings.

1. First, you'll need some test patterns. You can find some great ones at the Lagom LCD monitor test pages, or you can walk through the steps at DisplayCalibration.com to get started.
2. Open the test patterns on both displays. Open two browser windows to the same patterns, or open two image viewers with the same pattens in both. Maximize them on both displays and take a look at the differences.
3. Make subtle changes on the second display to try and match the first. The steps you'll follow here are very similar to how you calibrate your HDTV. You'll need to adjust the contrast and brightness against black and white gradient patterns, and you'll need to adjust the color levels (red-green-blue) against some color test patterns. Since you calibrated your OS against the first display, that monitor should look the way you like. The goal now is to make the second one look just like the first one. You may need to make some subtle changes to the primary display, but don't go overboard — the first display is supposed to be your control, and if you adjust it too much you won't have a point of reference.
4. When you finish, bring up a photo on both displays. Make sure your test photo looks the same on both displays. If you can, set both displays to the same wallpaper and examine them that way. You're just using your eyes, but it's a good way to make sure that your colors and contrast look the same. If you see something off, open up the on-panel display controls and tweak them.

You can try to just set both displays to the same color settings and walk away, but even though color temperatures are supposed to be the same across all devices, manufacturing and design differences in different manufacturer's panels can mean that 6500k on a Sony display can look significantly different than 6500k on a Dell display. Using test patterns first, and then validating using images or photos that you'd actually spend time viewing is a much better option.

Whatever you do, do something
You don't need to spend a lot of money on color calibration for your LCD display unless you need color fidelity between printed materials and your image and video editing tools, or you're just a video and graphics fanatic and need to make sure that everything is just right. Like we mentioned, for most people, the on-board calibration tool or spending a little time with some test patterns will be enough to make sure your friends don't look like aliens when you open their Facebook photos.

Still, even if you haven't noticed any issues with your LCD display, it's worth calibrating it at least once. The process is especially useful if you have multiple displays that are different sizes or from different manufacturers, or if you're upgrading to a new one. The only thing you have to lose is a few minutes, and you'll get a much better picture from your monitors as a result. Good luck!

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First-time smartphone buyers choose Android over Apple

Apple surged past Samsung and LG to have the best-selling phone brand in the United States, capturing 43 percent of the smartphone market in the last quarter of 2011. But among first-time smartphone buyers, 57 percent purchased Android phones compared to 34 percent who bought iPhones.

The information comes from The NPD Group, which said that combined, Android-based phones and the iPhone "accounted for over 90 percent of smartphone sales" in the fourth quarter.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” said Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, in a press release.

Android phones are made by a variety of manufacturers, including Samsung, LG, HTC and Motorola. Notably absent from the NPD Group's findings were Windows phones and those made by Research In Motion, once the smartphone leader. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBCUniversal.)

The added availability of the iPhone at Sprint last fall (the only major carrier to not have the phone now is T-Mobile), and the launch of the iPhone 4S in October helped catapult it to the top spot, said Rubin.

"Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4," he said. He noted that the iPhone 4S "outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.”

Smartphones themselves continued to grab an increased share of the mobile market over less-complex feature phones. In the last quarter, smartphone sales represented 68 percent of the mobile phone market, up 18 percent from the last quarter of 2010, NPD Group said.

The "average selling price" for smartphones was $143 in the fourth quarter, $6 less than the average price of $149 in the last quarter of 2010.

And even though the new iPhone outsold its older siblings, all iPhone models led the top-selling handset list for the fourth quarter, with Samsung Galaxy models next in line:

1. Apple iPhone 4S
2. Apple iPhone 4
3. Apple iPhone 3GS
4. Samsung GALAXY S II
5. Samsung GALAXY S 4G

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Leaked: Nokia Lumia 910

Mobile giant Nokia seems all set to reaffirm its re-entry in the smartphone battle. The company which according to analysts estimates sold 1.3 million Lumina units to operators and retailers globally in 2011, recently unveiled Lumia 900 at Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.
Close on the heels of Nokia 900 announcement, the internet media is abuzz with rumours that the Finnish cellphone maker is readying Lumia's fourth-generation called Lumia 910.

According to a Dutch online site Typhone.NL which published the details and later pulled it off, Nokia Lumia 910 is likely to sport a 12 megapixel camera, 1.4 GHz processor, 16GB of storage and HSDPA speed. The phone will reportedly feature a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack touchscreen display with 480x800 pixel resolution.
Though no news on its global launch is available, however, the phone is expected to hit European markets by mid-year.
Nokia last month announced Lumia 900 sporting a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display with a resolution of 480 x 800. The phone packs 8 megapixel AF camera with Carl Zeiss optics, 720p video recording at 30fps and 1 megapixel front facing camera. Powered by 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor, the phone includes 16GB internal memory and 512MB RAM.

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Samsung Transparent Smart Window floats Twitter over your garden

Samsung had plenty of smart TVs that it hoped people would stare eagerly at last week at CES 2012, but it was a display you can gaze right through that was arguably the most exciting. Samsung’s Transparent Smart Window, the 22-inch LCD panel can not only show you everything your regular computer display does, but is also clear so that you can look through at what’s outside your home.

Samsung actually showed off the transparent display technology back in March 2011, suggesting at the time that it could be used for advertising. Unfortunately that application proved too mundane to catch the public’s attention in quite the way Samsung hoped for, hence the return of the tech last week and the far more exciting prospect of your double-glazing telling you your latest Tweets, Facebook friend requests and Google+ Hangouts.

As well as giving internet updates and letting you work on your latest report for work while simultaneously keeping an eye on the kids in the garden, the smart window can create its own virtual privacy shades. Although during the day, it’s ambient light that works as the backlight, two traditional edge-lighting sources are also fitted for nighttime use.

Tech-wise, the 22-inch panel runs at 1680 x 1050 resolution and has a 500:1 contrast ratio. Regular LCDs are only 5-percent transparent, whereas Samsung’s new panels increase that to 15-20-percent. Unfortunately there’s still no word on pricing or domestic availability.

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iPad 3 debut in March plus “strange” February event tip sources

Reports of an iPad 3 reveal this month may have been premature, sources now claim, with Apple tipped to unveil its third-gen tablet in March but squeeze in a “strange” event before then. Although a February press event is still apparently on the calendar, Macotakara now says, it won’t see the debut of the new iPad: instead, that will take place the following month, reducing the expected time between the big reveal and sales starting. The rumors leave the purpose of the February event unclear.

Details on the February press gathering are unknown, and only described as “strange”; however, it’s said to be a non-product related event. That could mean services, similar to the iBooks event earlier this month.

The new iPad, meanwhile, will be shown off in early March, supposedly, then released later in the month. It’s unclear whether the refreshed model will be the iPad 3, as suspected until now, or the iPad 2S, a bridging model that will introduce a faster, Apple A6 processor and “Retina Display” screen, but leave more fundamental changes until later in 2012 or even beyond.

Leaks earlier this week, reportedly from a user with early access to the iPad 3, suggest the tablet will come with a global 3G/4G option. Apple is apparently using a combination GSM/CDMA/LTE modem, that will allow the slate to run on HSPA+ networks as well as LTE ones, though specific carrier support is unknown at this stage.

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Online petition asks Apple for 'ethical' iPhone

An online petition asking Apple to "address dangerous conditions in factories" making the next iPhone has gotten 35,000 signatures in the first 24 hours of the effort.

“I use an iPhone myself. I love it, but I don’t love having to support sweatshops, and neither do millions of other Apple consumers,” said Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, executive director of the group behind the petition, SumOfUs.

The working conditions at Apple factories in China were detailed in a recent New York Times article. In the article, a former Apple executive is quoted as saying, “We've known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they're still going on…Why? Because the system works for us.”

 

SumOfUs, which describes itself as a "movement of consumers, workers and shareholders speaking with one voice to counterbalance the growing power of large corporations," said it started the petition because the timing is right, with a new iPhone, called the iPhone 5 for now by many, in the works.

"Right now we have a huge opportunity as ethical consumers: The launch of the iPhone 5 later this year will be new Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first big product rollout, and he can’t afford for anything to go wrong — including negative publicity around how Apple’s suppliers treat their workers," the group says on its site.

"That’s why we’re launching a campaign this week to get Apple to overhaul the way its suppliers treat their workers in time for the launch of the iPhone 5."

Apple, contacted for comment by msnbc.com about the online campaign, has not yet responded; if the company does, the post will be updated.

Apple CEO Tim Cook did send an email to employees after the New York Times story was published, saying in part, "We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain ... Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are."

Said Stinebrickner-Kauffman: "Apple’s enforcement of razor-thin profit margins at suppliers invites — and may even force — them to slash workers’ rights. But Apple is going to have much bigger longer-term problems than paying a few extra dollars for its products if it loses its luster with ethical consumers.”

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Android users most likely to use phones on toilet

The next time an Android user mocks your shiny new iPhone or BlackBerry, just smile, nod ... and avoid touching his phone. Because odds are quite high that the device has been used while its owner sat on the toilet at some point — and who knows if he even washed his hands.

According to a survey conducted by marketing agency 11mark, about three-fourths of Americans with mobile phones admit that they have occasionally used their devices in the bathroom.

74 percent of men and 76 percent of women reported that they took their mobile phones into the bathroom, so there wasn't a large gender gap. Instead it was their device types which divided the toilet texters (and talkers) from those who prefer to disconnect while in the lavatory.

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It seems that 87 percent of Android users admitted to using their mobile phones while on the throne. In comparison, 84 percent of BlackBerry users and only 77 percent of iPhone users took their phones into the little girls' and boys' rooms.

The BlackBerry users were the ones most likely to answer a call than the others though. According to the survey, "75 percent of BlackBerry users report they have done so, versus 67 percent of Droid and 60 percent of iPhone users."

I hope they at least hang up before flushing.

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Sony debuts 3 new Cyber-shot cameras

Sony Electronics

Sony Cyber-shot TX200V in red

In an attempt to stanch the flow of consumers leaving digital cameras for their phones to take photos, Sony released its first wave of ultra slim Cyber-shot point-and-shoots that feature 18 megapixel sensors that lessens the "noise" in low-lit scenes and auto-focuses faster.

In all, we'll see 12 models from Sony this spring, with these three coming out first: the TX200V ($500), the WX70 ($230) and the WX50 ($200). All three will be in stores in March.

Sony Electronics

Rear of the TX200V

The TX200V, as you can see in the two above images, is billed as the cream of the crop in this deployment, with a glass-bodied waterproof, dust proof and freeze-proof design that gives it a distinctly different look than the other Cyber-shots, an 18.2 megapixel "Exmor R" CMOS sensor (supposedly "the highest-resolution currently offered in point and shoot market") and the ability to snap stills while also recording full HD videos. As you can also tell from the image above, the 3.3-inch OLED touch screen takes up the entire back of the camera. It will come in silver, red and violet.

Sony's Kate Dugan admitted that despite the natural disasters in Japan that affected production and shipment of its digital cameras, "true decline" has set in for digital cameras, in which sales are down 20 percent, the first time losses have hit in the double digits. The exodus is most pronounced amongst entry level users, who have turned to their phones as their all-in-one must-have gadget.

Dugan said that meant Sony has to focus on things phones can't achieve, such as "high optical zoom, low light shooting, full HD video." The way the company sees it, phones are fine to shoot food on the fly, but for "important moments should go to cameras."

You can see there are some problems with this, right? Anyone who has an iPhone or has seen pictures from the iPhone 4S knows that it is as high quality a camera, period, as you can get on entry level. And right now, there are already smartphones that shoot in 1080p full HD, such as the 4S, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the Motorola Razr.

But seeing the slides on the enhanced low-lighting shooting does give us some pause that there are some advantages to standalone cameras (though again, the iPhone 4S's performance in low light is comparable).

Sony Electronics

Sony Cyber-shot WX70 in pink

Besides sharing the full HD shooting capability of the TX200V, the WX70 comes in at 16.2 megapixels with a 25mm equivalent lens with 5x optical zoom and a 10x virtual zoom, with a slightly smaller 3-inch LCD touch screen; the WX50 differs from it only in a smaller screen (2.7-inches) and its color choices (silver and black, vs. silver, black, pink, and violet).

All three models have the CMOS sensors, three-way image stabilization and picture effects that allow users to exercise some creativity as they shoot.

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Apple became world's No. 1 smartphone vendor at end of 2011: report

Riding on the popularity of the iPhone 4S released in October, Apple became the world's No. 1 seller/maker of smartphones in 2011's final quarter, shipping 37 million iPhones and overtaking Samsung for the top spot, according to a recent report.

According to Strategy Analytics, smartphone shipments all over the world "grew 54 percent annually to reach a record 155 million units" in that fourth quarter, led by Apple, which saw a 128 percent increase.

With 24 percent of the global market share, Apple wrested the smartphone crown back from Samsung, which had taken it in the third quarter of 2011. While Apple is now ahead on a quarterly basis, Samsung is winning the war. The report says that in a first, Samsung is the "market leader in annual terms" with 20 percent of the global share in 2011.

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With these end-of-year figures, it's clear Samsung and Apple will continue to duke it out for supreme world reign over smartphones, especially with the incoming anticipation of a new iPhone this year and on the strength of the Samsung's Galaxy line, which includes the well-reviewed Nexus and the S II. We've even seen Samsung set up the rivalry with its commercials mocking the Apple fanboy culture.

Strategy Analytics' executive director of global wireless practice, Neil Mawston, told msnbc.com that "the iPhone 4S model drove Apple volumes in developed regions like the U.S., while the iPhone 4 drove sales in emerging markets such as China," (which overtook the U.S. in the fall as the world's largest smartphone market). He also informed us that, "For Samsung, the Galaxy family is by far its most popular range worldwide, especially the S II superphone."

The Boston-based research and consulting firm is also keeping an eye on Nokia for a possible comeback as its partnership with Microsoft blooms in 2012 with the big 4G LTE Windows Phone push in the U.S. and Canada. Some market researchers are so keen on the Lumia line, especially the 900, that they think Windows Phone may be able to overtake Apple for the No. 2 spot in mobile operating systems by 2015. But for now, Nokia has to dig out of hole in which its market share dropped to 16 percent in 2011, about half of what it was in 2010 (33 percent).

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Top 5 Android mobile phones under Rs 10,000

Almost a year ago, Android phones under the Rs 10,000 category were not great enough to attract consumer attention. With sluggish performance due to myriad hardware models and delayed updates, several users preferred to wait till good Android handsets showed up in that price range.
Now we have a range of relatively powerful mobile phones that can run the latest Android OS smoothly. It is indeed very important to know the version of Android the mobile phone uses to make the best of it.
Android phones under Rs 10,000 are expected to have a feature rich package. They need to have a reasonably large capacitive touchscreen, decent processor, at least 3.2 megapixel camera and, of course, a recent version of Android OS.
Here is a list of the best mobile phones one must consider while buying a new Android phone for Rs 10,000 or less.
LG Optimus Net P690 (Rs 9,999)

Successor to the popular Optimus One, the new Optimus Net P690 has instantly been accepted as a budget friendly smartphone, mostly because the phone is a feature rich package. Optimus Net P690 has a 3.2 inch touchscreen display with 320 x 480 pixel resolution and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system.
Under the slim chassis, Optimus Net houses an 800 MHz mobile processor along with 512 MB of RAM, which is a good enough combination to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread smoothly. If third party developers get interested in this device then perhaps a custom ROM with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich might be supported on it.
Supporting 3G networks, Optimus Net offers wireless connectivity via WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 as well. LG has used a 3.15 megapixel camera at its rear for decent quality photos to be uploaded and shared on social networks.
Finally, a mobile phone with a seemingly fast processor, decent camera and capacitive touchscreen should be your best bet if you plan to spend under five figures.

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 (Rs 7,500)

Packing a 3 inch capacitive touchscreen, the new Galaxy Y is quite popular amongst users of all ages and occupations etc. It's one of those mobile phones that come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread pre-loaded and with a flavour of TouchWiz user interface layered on it. Galaxy Y GT-S5360 mobile phone houses an 832 MHz processor to run the mobile operating system smoothly with 290 MB of RAM.
The compact candy-bar form factor makes it quite enjoyable and easy to hold. The Galaxy Y also comes in a special package - Galaxy Y Color Plus, which packs four additional inter-changeable backpanel covers, just like the Samsung Corby series phones. The Galaxy Y is kind of disappointing with a mere 2 megapixel camera at the back without any secondary camera in front.
Galaxy Y also features WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Of course, it comes with FM radio that works with an RDS and location services chip with A-GPS. Not counting the camera, this handset offers the best budget friendly Gingerbread experience.

Sony Ericsson W8 (Rs 9,300)

Sony Ericsson's Walkman series mobile phones come with the special Walkman software and audio profiles loaded in them. The new Sony Ericsson W8 features a nice 3 inch capacitive touchscreen display and Walkman branding targeted at music lovers. By default the mobile phone bundles a 4 GB microSD card for music files.
Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson's Android phone buyers have to wait for weeks to get the latest update and enjoy a smooth OS experience. W8 comes with the age old Android 2.1 Éclair operating system that is powered with a 600 MHz mobile processor and a mere 168 MB of RAM. However, this mobile does not have enough hardware muscle to run even Android 2.3 Gingerbread smoothly, let along the upcoming Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Sony Ericsson has added custom Walkman styling with the TimeScape interface, bringing a W shortcut to the top right corner of the homescreen. This smartphone supports 3G networks and also offers WiFi support for wireless internet connectivity. It is a good phone which does appear slightly over priced. If you wish for a good music experience with your favourite pair of earphones and a fancy looking mobile, W8 should be the apt choice.

Motorola Fire XT311 (Rs 8,950)

Android is indeed cumbersome to use with a Qwerty smartphone in candybar form, but if there's a capacitive touchscreen involved, the task is a wee bit easier. Motorola Fire XT311 is a Qwerty candybar phone with 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen display supporting 240 x 320 pixel resolution.
Fire is one of the good entry level Motorola devices with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread operating system for those who wish for the fastest and best features. Under the hood, Fire XT311 houses a 600 MHz mobile processor that might appear a bit slow, but is decent enough to run the operating system with a 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM.
The Fire XT311 is one heck of a good looking Android smartphone. It is very different from the dual-SIM EX119 that has a minimalist design. This mobile phone promises talk time of 7 hours on 2G networks and 5 hours on 3G. Considering the healthy talk time and physical Qwerty keypad, Fire XT311 is indeed worth a try.

Micromax Superfone Lite A75 (Rs 8,900)

Micromax launched the iPhone 4-mocking Superfone with a bang and quietly slipped in the Superfone Lite, which is a stepped down version of the former model. Superfone Lite A75 comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Micromax offers a 3.75 inch capacitive touchscreen display to enjoy Gingerbread goodness to the maximum without spending more.
Under the hood, it packs a 650 MHz mobile processor and offers dual GSM SIM support with dual-standby mode. 3G and WiFi enabled, this mobile phone is expected to eat up loads of battery life and that's why the company has packed a 1300 mAh battery, which is pretty decent for a budget phone. Then again, Superfone Lite comes with just 256 MB of RAM and there would be performance as well as battery issues on dual-SIM mode.
All the above mobile phones are available in Indian markets at different rates in different regions because of the variable taxes, octroi and other charges.

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Motorola Xoom 2

The Xoom tablet did not get the cash register ringing for Motorola. However, the company will be hoping to change this with the upgraded Xoom tablet that is loaded with many interesting features and a stylish design.
Though it is not clear as when Motorola would bring the Xoom 2 to India, but it is already being launched in phases in different parts of the world, so we can expect it to come to India within next three months.
There are two versions of the Motorola Xoom 2 tablet with screen sizes of 8.2 and 10.1 inches, but both have the same display resolution of 1280 × 800 pixels and even the same hardware. Both tablets have an LTE version and a WiFi only version. Apart from that they use a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and run on Android 3.2, which will be upgraded later.
The 10.1 inch Xoom 2 has a detachable key board as an accessory. Motorola has also included Infra-red in the tablets that helps it work as a universal remote for all your gadgets. Other connectivity options are present in full force.
You can read our hands-on here (Xoom 2 is called Xyboard in USA). Motorola Xoom 2 is expected to be priced around Rs 30,000- 40,000.

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Acer Iconia A200

This one is a mid range 10 inch tablet from Acer. It boasts a 10.1-inch display with a native resolution of 1280x800 pixel, and has a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor with an integrated low-power GeForce graphic chip which is capable of playing 1080p HD videos.
The tablet runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system and will be upgraded to Android 4.0 later. In the front, Acer has only 2 megapixel front camera for HD video chats.
Acer Iconia A200 has a full USB 2.0 port, which means that it will support 3G dongles. The Iconia Tab A200 doesn't offer SIM slot and is entirely dependent on the WiFi for Internet connectivity. Bluetooth, GPS are there. It has also dual speakers for good audio experience.
While the price and availability of this tablet for India is yet to be announced, we expect it to be launched by March within a price range of Rs 20,000. The tablet has just started selling in USA for $350 (Rs 18,000 approx).

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Samsung Galaxy 7.7

Another tablet that is expected to be launched in a couple of months is the Samsung Galaxy 7.7, though no formal announcement has been made in this regard. This tablet will come with a 7.7 inch Super Amoled Plus display supporting 1280x800 pixel resolution. Inside, it would pack a dual core 1.4 GHz microprocessor with Mali-400MP graphics chip to power the Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system.
Samsung has added Universal Remote Control functionality in Galaxy 7.7 that will let you control your television as well as home entertainment systems through your tablet.
Samsung Galaxy 7.7 will support SIM calling and has a 3 megapixel camera at the back while a 2 megapixel one will be there in its front. It supports 3G and WiFi and will come in 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB storage options along with support for micro SD card of up to 32 GB capacity. Samsung has not revealed its price yet but we expect it to be within Rs 30,000 price bracket.

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Asus Transformer Prime TF201

This is another tablet with a confirmed launch date, and a unique form factor. Like its predecessor, Asus Transformer, this tablet has a keyboard docking station which transforms it into a laptop.
The tablet is going to be launched in February at a price slightly higher than its earlier version, which sold for Rs 29,999 with keyboard dock.
Transformer Prime TF201 features a 10.1 inch touchscreen display. It houses a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 mobile processor and will run on Android 3.2 Honeycomb, though Ice Cream Sandwich update already lined up for it. In terms of connectivity also, the tablet is fully loaded with 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth etc.

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Sony Tablet

Eyeing the increasing competition, we may also expect manufacturers to keep the prices of expected tablets reasonable.

Despite lower than expected sales, Android tablets remain hot favourites of the handsets vendors - this further gains ground if we look at the number of tablets lined up for launch this year.
Moreover, these new tablets are likely to come with better design and features. Eyeing the increasing competition, we may also expect manufacturers to keep the prices very reasonable.

This one has already been announced and will be available within next 10-15 days in India. The biggest USP of this tablet is its form factor. It has two screens measuring 5 inch each; together they give you 10 inch space and when folded gives you a form factor of a large smartphone. How it performs in the market is something that needs to seen but this PSP (Playstation) certified certainly has a lot going for it.
Under the skin, this tablet houses a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 mobile processor and runs on Android Honeycomb OS. Sony P has a 5 megapixel camera at the back and a 0.3 megapixel camera in the front. It has quite a unique design and the interface is programmed to use both the screens combined and individually.
The device, with both 3G and WiFi connectivity, will cost Rs 36,990 but might not be liked by many users because in a time when high end feature phones come with around 4 GB of internal memory they would expect a tablet to have minimum 16 GB of internal storage capacity.

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Nokia’s Lumia 800: smartphone and saviour?

Nokia and Microsoft are both banking on the new Lumia 800 to provide them with a big comeback in the smartphone market, currently dominated by Android devices and Apple’s iPhone.

The fact that two global market leaders -- Nokia has seen its market lead cut by Android and Apple, while Microsoft operates the world’s premier PC operating system, while failing so far to crack the smartphone market -- have tied up so much hope in one device is reason enough to give it a close look.

Nokia announced in February that it was switching to Windows Phone as the operating system for its smartphones. The Lumia 800 is the first fruit of that partnership.

It is a purely Windows device. Controls and functions are identical to smartphones using the system, like those from HTC or LG.

But the Lumia is supposed to get a boost from its design, its camera and Nokia’s navigation service.

Nokia will have to deal with the fact that, just this summer, it released its first, and likely last, smartphone using the MeeGo operating system, developed in collaboration with Intel: the N9.

The Lumia 800 looks identical to the N9. It has a seamless polycarbonate housing with rounded corners, meaning it sits better in the user’s hand. Connections for earphones and a mini-USB device are hidden under a plastic lid along the top side. Next to that is the dock for a micro SIM.

It comes in classic black, light blue and bright pink. The screen is also slightly arched and merged into the housing, keeping with the overall feel of the device. Measuring 3.7 inches (9.4 centimetres) diagonally, it has a resolution of 800 X 480 pixels.

Despite bright colours, that means the Lumia’s display is significantly less defined than the display of the iPhone 4, with its 960 X 640 pixels.

Its camera has a wide-angle lens from Carl Zeiss and an 8-megapixel sensor. Nokia is especially proud of its serially produced integrated navigation service, which comes with a 3D view that lets users view a city plan from a bird’s eye view.

When it comes to software, the Lumia 800 is firmly in Microsoft’s hands. The centerpiece of the operating system is the large tiles that have become the calling card of Windows Phone on other applications. Those provide an initial overview of email and contacts as well as links to the app marketplace and the XBox Live gaming area.

Even if you want to download a free app like Twitter, you have to set up a Windows Live account with Microsoft. Prices for apps in Microsoft’s Marketplace are significantly more expensive than those for iPhones and Android machines.

But, if nothing else, Nokia has delivered a machine that’s up to running Microsoft’s demanding operating system. Whether you’re using email, Facebook or an internet search engine, using the Lumia 800 is like paging through a magazine, with large text and colourful pictures.

And the processor, with a speed of 1.4 gigahertz, makes sure that the phone reacts with lightning speed to every touch of the finger, hindered only sometimes by the speed of the internet connection.

The touchscreen navigation is expanded by three buttons on the screen’s edge. There is a back button, one that creates a direct link to internet searches, and a Windows button that returns to the initial screen.

Users will have to make do with the Lumia 800’s 16 gigabytes of storage. There is no SD card slot. Nor is there a second camera on the touchscreen side for video telephony.

Then again, Nokia and Microsoft do not seem to tire of telling everyone that this is just the first device of their partnership and that customers should be ready for more products in the future.

Keywords: Nokia Lumia 800, Microsoft, Android

 

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GMail Drive shell extension

GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google Mail account, allowing you to use Gmail as a storage medium.

GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google Gmail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your Gmail account directly from inside Windows Explorer. GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.

Ever since Google started to offer users a Gmail e-mail account, which includes storage space of 8000 megabytes, you have had plenty of storage space but not a lot to fill it up with. With GMail Drive you can easily copy files to your Google Mail Account and retrieve them again.
When you create a new file using GMail Drive, it generates an e-mail and posts it to your account. The e-mail appears in your normal Inbox folder, and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment. GMail Drive periodically checks your mail account (using the Gmail search function) to see if new files have arrived and to rebuild the directory structures. But basically GMail Drive acts as any other hard-drive installed on your computer.
You can copy files to and from the GMail Drive folder simply by using drag'n'drop like you're used to with the normal Explorer folders.

Because the Gmail files will clutter up your Inbox folder, you may wish to create a filter in Gmail to automatically move the files (prefixed with the GMAILFS letters in the subject) to your archived mail folder.

Please note that GMail Drive is still an experimental tool. There's still a number of limitations of the file-system (such as total filename size must be less than 65 characters). Since the tool hooks up with the free Gmail Service provided by Google, changes in the Gmail system may break the tool's ability to function. I cannot guarantee that files stored in this manner will be accessible in the future.

9 Jul 2008 update: A new version was released since some users complained that they had problems with login; please install the latest version 1.0.13 and reboot Windows.

26 May 2010 update: Fixed a login problem on Win XP. Now includes a Windows 64-bit version, and FileOpen dialog support has returned. Remember to reboot Windows after installation.

7 Dec 2010 update: Google stopped supporting Gmail UI=1, and moved to Gmail 2.0. GMail Drive was unable to save files, so a new version is needed. For older Gmail accounts you may need to disable the Buzz feature in Gmail to be able to see files.

26 Oct 2011 update: A new version was released to overcome a login problem. Other improvements include a Shell Command Bar, and better support for Google Apps accounts.

Be aware that support for this tool may suspend at any time if Google decides to block its use.

Installation Requirements

Internet Explorer 5 or better

Installation Guide

• Extract the ZIP file to a temporary folder.
• Run the Setup application.

Useful Links

Original idea by Richard Jones

Download Files 

GMail Drive v1.0.18 - download site #1

Technorati Tags: gmail,drive,virtual,applications

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Free File Recovery Software

Recuva is free file recovery software that allows you to recover photos and documents accidentally deleted from your hard drive–even if you have removed them from your Recycle Bin. This free software from Piriform even recovers deleted files from USB sticks. One of the most impressive features of this software is it can even recover lost emails, and another great advantage of Recuva is a portable version that allows you to install a version on a CD or USB drive and take it with you.This software is a must have for techs in the field as well as normal computer users. Recuva can perform a deep scan in a few minutes and recover files that were delete long ago. As with any file recovery program, the more you use the hard drive after deleting a file, the less likely you will be able to recover it.

Recuva can also permanently shred files you never want recovered. This is great is you plan on selling the PC and do not want to risk having private documents recovered by strangers or snoops.

But the best technique for recovering files is to never lose them at all. Be sure to have a redundant method of backing up at home.  A Network Attached Storage device (NAS) is a convenient way to share a large drive with other computer in the house. At the very least, backup weekly to another hard drive or an online service like Carbonite.

Download Recuva Here

Technorati Tags: file recovery,backup,storage,documents

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