Nokia Lumia 800 Windows smartphone review
- Category: Reviews
- Wednesday, 08 February 2012 12:30
- Written by Rishabh Jain
Nokia Lumia 800 is one phone that needs no introduction. It is one phone that has singularly rescued Nokia from the brink of failure and catapulted it to the position of world’s No. 3 smartphone company. But those rudimentary facts aside, we love the Nokia Lumia 800; primarily because it has those lovely ads that just make you want it like anything.
The Nokia Lumia 800 is undoubtedly one of the most glamorous phones out there. In fact, it is the best Windows Phone available in the market currently, without a doubt.
Review: Samsung Omnia W
- Category: Reviews
- Saturday, 28 January 2012 15:46
- Written by Kunal Khullar
Windows Phone is being called as the OS of the future and a number of handset manufacturers have started tilting towards the new platform. Samsung had already committed to Microsoft and had launched the Omnia 7 long back. Now there’s an upgrade, err...sort of.
The Omnia W is the latest offering by Samsung running Windows Phone 7.5 aka Mango. While the device doesn’t look all that bad, it also falls in a decent price segment.
Reviving the Walkman with Android: Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Review
- Category: Reviews
- Thursday, 19 January 2012 13:27
- Written by Kunal Khullar
The Walkman series of handsets by Sony Ericsson was adored by many around the globe. However the company changed its focus on smartphones with its Xperia range. We even heard the company announcing that they will be only focussing on smartphones from 2012 and will not be dealing in feature phones any more.
So Walkman and Android, sound like a good combo? Sony Ericsson did launch the W8 earlier but unfortunately it didn't do any good. Now we have Live with Walkman which is another Android smartphone with Walkman onboard.
Samsung Galaxy Note - Review: We call it Smartphone of the year
- Category: Reviews
- Friday, 30 December 2011 13:28
- Written by Puneet Jain
A Tablet? A Smartphone? Yup you guessed it right I am referring to the Samsung Galaxy Note, the masterpiece crafted by Samsung. It's an amazingly built device with some real good specifications. Though it has a few things which I don't like but then when that is compared to what it offers those are subsided.
Display
I will begin with the display size, obviously, which is the most talked about feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note, apart from the S Pen and the 2500 mAh battery. The 5.3" Super AMOLED display is awesomely bright and clear, everything looks so good on it. It takes watching videos, pics or reading on a smartphone to a completely different and comfortable dimension.
The Water-Proof Hero: Sony Ericsson Xperia Active Review
- Category: Reviews
- Friday, 02 December 2011 17:38
- Written by Kunal Khullar
Sony Ericsson has been consistent in delivering handsets that have a unique oomph to them. The Xperia Active, specially made for the ones who are active all day long, is a very good example. Water-proof, dust-proof, sturdy, and sporty looks, the Xperia Active gets a thumbs up from me.
So let's see what this handset has to offer.
So let's see what this handset has to offer.
Experience Pack (XP151) for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
- Category: Reviews
- Tuesday, 22 November 2011 13:40
- Written by Kunal Khullar
The first PlayStation handset, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is a delight if you love your gaming. The gaming controls and the performance of games is great and keeps you busy tapping away to a number of gaming titles available for the device.
Sony Ericsson had shown off a nice accessory for the gaming handset called the Experience Pack at the E3 and now we have a quick review of the product for you.
Paytm : A Quick Review
- Category: Reviews
- Friday, 12 August 2011 14:52
- Written by Puneet Jain
Whenever you recharge your mobile, DTH or Data Card online what affects your preference for a certain website. There can be many factors like no additional convenience charge, free coupons, faster processing, easy to use platform, better payment system etc. I wanted to review two online recharge websites from quite some time, one of them is Paytm. The other one, I will be reviewing soon. Paytm is one of the newest entrants in Online recharge space, owned One97 communications which is a provider of telecommunications value added services.Paytm offers its users option to recharge Mobiles (top ups and special recharges), DTH and Data cards. The website layout is pretty neat and allows its users to recharge in just 3 steps. Once the user enter the details of recharge required, he/she is taken to another page to choose payment option. For payment a user can choose between Net Banking, Debit Card, Credit Card and American Express Card. Once the option is selected user is taken to the payment page, he/she needs to fill in the necessary details and Done!
Paytm also offers free discount coupons worth Rs. 2000 on every recharge, but I don't find any coupon which I can use apart from the Domino's Pizza Discount Coupon. For discount coupons you do not need to pay anything extra, as discounts codes are sent via email after every recharge.
Apart from online mobile recharge on Paytm, you can also dial 09004790047 to recharge your mobile. Paytm is also working on Applications for various mobile platforms to offer recharge via apps.
Final words :
Paytm is a good option if you want a quick and hassle free recharge, though I expect Paytm to offer it's users better discount deals.
iPad 2 Review: Hands on with Apple's Next Generation Tablet
- Category: Reviews
- Thursday, 07 July 2011 12:32
- Written by Nikhil Pai
An year after the iPad, Apple launched the iPad 2. Faster, thinner, lighter. The original iPad created an all new tablet industry which was subsequently entered into by various Android manufacturers, some with better specs but not necessarily better experience. Apple’s aim has always been to make the word ‘iPad’ synonymous with ‘tablet’. Does Apple succeed in this objective with the iPad 2? We find out.
Specs, Look & Feel
The iPad 2 brings both a performance upgrade and a redesign. The tablet is powered by Apple’s A5 SoC with a dual core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, PoverVR SGX543MP2 graphics and 512MB RAM. The screen is the same 9.7 inch LED IPS display that we have seen on the original iPad
Needless to say, as advertised, the iPad is thinner & lighter than its predecessor. But it looks very much like the original iPad. The position of the iPad’s buttons and ports are more or less retained too. There’s a sleep/ wake button at the top right, a standard headphone jack at top left, a volume rocker and a sliding switch that is configurable to lock screen orientation or mute alert sounds at the top of the right side, a 30-pin dock connector port at the bottom, & a home button at the bottom of the front face.
Cameras and FaceTime
The cameras were sorely missed in the original iPad but the iPad 2 finally gets a camera. In fact, two of them. The front facing is for FaceTime while the rear camera is for taking snaps. The FaceTime experience is very good though we would like it to be supported over 3G too in the future. The rear camera isn’t that impressive for taking pics but you wouldn’t want to be seen taking party pics with a ~10 inch tablet anyways! And it can record 720p videos for the records!
Apps
The iPad like most Apple products is all about apps. And the app that really stands out from the crowd is Flipboard which converts various data sources such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader & Flickr to a magazine format. The animation used to display flipping of pages is superb & gives you the impression of browsing through pages. This is the app that truly justifies the very existence of an iPad. If we were ever told that we could use the iPad with just one app, that app would be Flipboard without any second thoughts!
It has never been more fun to read your Facebook newsfeed than through Flipboard
Reading your Twitter timeline is fun too!
And Google Reader news doesn’t feel boring anymore
Moving on with other apps, Twitter for iPad is very polished & has push notifications that iOS fans are now quite used to
Garageband converts the iPad into a musical instrument and allows you to produce songs in a fun way
Like in the original iPad, Apple’s suite of paid iWork apps, Keynote, Numbers, & Pages are available on iPad 2. All 3 apps come with sufficient number of templates to create documents on the move
You can watch live TV on your iPad
And who needs to buy newspapers when you can read them this big! (Note the ‘iPad Edition’ on top. Cool!)
Unfortunately Facebook for iPad is not available. So you have to make do with the iPhone app for now. However an iPad version is expected soon. One thing to note here is that if an iPhone app is not available for iPad then your only choice is to use an upscaled version of the iPhone app on iPad which doesn’t look that nice. See for yourself
Browsing, Email & IM
You don’t need a laptop to browse websites anymore when you have the iPad 2. Unless you need Flash of course. You can bid goodbye to browsing mobile versions of websites while on the move.
Email on the iPad is well taken care of by the built-in email app while Instant Messaging is taken care of by apps such as imo.im
Gaming
Apple has emphasised graphics performance on iPad 2 and also introduced a gyroscope for 3-axis positioning. It’s safe to say they are taking gaming very seriously. The abundance of games found in the App Store ensures that gaming on the iPad 2 is a pleasure. Many developers have already updated their games to take advantage of the better processing and graphics on iPad 2
Movies
Watching movies on the iPad can be fun except for the fact that the iPad has an 4:3 aspect ratio which is not ideal for most movies. Moreover, out of the box Apple only allows you to use regular MOV & MPEG movies to be watched in its movie player. To watch DivX movies, you may need to install free apps such as OPlayer HD or purchase paid apps such as AVPlayer since the ubiquitous VLC Player has been long removed from the App Store due to legal issues. We unfortunately could not test our DivX movies on the iPad 2.
Text Input
Can a tablet be a notebook replacement? In most cases, it can’t. But just in case you want to use it as one, the crucial aspect is how fast & efficient the input system is. We tried typing fast on the iPad with 2 hands as we would do on the physical keys of a laptop. Surprisingly we could type quite fast on the touchscreen qwerty & the auto-correct system in action meant that we didn’t need to correct our spellings many times. We were more than happy with the typing experience on iPad 2.
Battery Life
Despite boosts in processing power, iPad 2 retains the same ten-hour battery life as in the original iPad. In nearly a week of use, we never felt let down by the battery.
Smart accessories
Smart accessories
With the release of the iPad 2, Apple is also releasing several accessories related to the iPad 2. Most notable is the Smart Cover that magnetically sticks itself to the side of the iPad 2 and protects the front, locking and unlocking the iPad when you open and close the cover. You couldn’t put on the Smart Cover wrongly even if you wanted to! Pretty neat!
The Apple Digital AV Adapter gives the iPad 2 the ability to output HD video and mirror its own screen. This can be quite useful in giving you a better experience in watching movies & gaming.
Should you buy or upgrade?
In terms of use cases, the iPad 2 can be used for web browsing, gaming, reading eBooks & newspapers, watching movies, etc. We must mention here that reading any stuff feels great on the iPad. Be it newspapers, eBooks or just your Facebook newsfeed through Flipboard.
The list of disadvantages of any iOS device is the usual long read. Apple’s iOS has limitations that we all are forced to live with. Apple will never introduce Flash support, allow regular file management or make iTunes optional. The lack of a USB drive on any tablet can be a big disadvantage & the iPad 2 is no exception.
Though the iPad 2 is an improvement on the original iPad in numerous ways, it’s still an evolutionary product & not a revolutionary one. If you are happy with your original iPad, there is no reason to dump it just because there is a newer version available in the market. Besides the speed improvements, the only other reason for you to upgrade is its camera for FaceTime. The iPad 2 even retains the same display resolution as the original one.
Of course, if you need to buy a new tablet, then iPad 2 should definitely be on top of your list. In India, budget permitting, we would anyday suggest buying a Wi-FI plus 3G model over a pure Wi-Fi one simply because Wi-Fi hotspots are not as abundant in India as they are in other countries. Moreover, only the Wi-Fi plus 3G models have a GPS chip which can be an added advantage!
Review : NDTV iPhone Application
- Category: Reviews
- Friday, 16 July 2010 11:24
- Written by Giridhar Chandrasekar
After the launch of Hindustan Times iPhone application, the trend is getting quite popular with the main stream media. NDTV recently launched its own application for iPhone. iPhone users can access the news sites via the mobile browsers, but apps have the ability to enrich the experience and increase the intuitiveness. After NDTV iPhone app was declared as one of the most downloaded iPhone app in India, we got quite curious and wanted to take a test drive. The result: it’s impressive.
First to start off with, it has push notification. It can push news alerts on to your iPhone, in real time as it happens. But I was not able to select a particular category for the push notification. That would have been better, rather than being notified about all sorts of news. The categorization was very neat and clutter-free. The site features 2-step categorization. The navigation bar on top, categorizes news articles based on the subject (news, entertainment, cricket, lifestyle, business, gadgets, etc...). The menu bar at the bottom, categorizes based on the news format (Articles, Photos, Videos, etc...). On the title bar, there is a ticket tab. This features stock alerts and sports score. Any other section that don't fall under the pre-defined categories are grouped under "More".
There is an interesting section called the NDTV Social. In this category, there are many pre-defined sections for NDTV's Award-winning journalists. Users can read and comment their views directly to the editor. You need to log in using any of the open IDs, to be able to comment on the articles. You need not create new log-in id for NDTV app. The picture gallery is quite pleasant to navigate or to watch slide-shows. Unfortunately, I was not able to check the videos section, as my EDGE/GPRS connection was not sufficient for the videos. I’ll come back to this, when 3G in India becomes a reality.
This application is from the makers of KSRTC online website, Robosoft, Mangalore. Though its free application, its ad-supported and the ads occupy a considerable percentage of the screen. The icons and other interaction are based on iPhone UI standards, but the news content area doesn't have a consistent layout.
Overall, it’s a welcome step towards the mobile media era. The promised live streaming section and 3G connectivity has the potential to make this application a 'must-have' iPhone app.
Yahoo app for Android – Quick Review
- Category: Reviews
- Sunday, 04 July 2010 11:57
- Written by Giridhar Chandrasekar
Yahoo! recently announced 2 apps and a search widget for Android. At MobiGyaan, we downloaded and installed the app in Motorola Milestone. Here is a quick review.
Hits
+ The applications have a slick and attractive User Interface.
+ The interface is fast and responsive on our device.
+ New feature: Smart Folders and Flag a message are very useful.
+ Yahoo Mail app integrates with phone contacts
+ The mail composer has a rich interface and supports attachments (multiple format support)
+ In Milestone, the indicator LED glows lavender, to match the App UI, when there is a notification.
Misses
- No support for multiple accounts.
- No integration with other chat clients like gtalk or msn.
- No thumbnail for image attachments, in the mail view.
- No indication in the mail preview, for type of attachment
- Notifications are not spontaneous. The notification does not stay in the bar for a long time.
- Yahoo Mail for android is ad supported
- Yahoo Messenger log out every time you close the application without warning. It does run in the background seamlessly like the google talk.
It’s been a while since the supremacy in Mail and Chat has been taken over by Gmail. Yahoo is trying its best to grab that spot. They want to prove a point and tell the world that they still have what it needs to be a market leader. With the new Android apps, Yahoo hits certain sweet spots and misses a few by miles. But it’s a very good step that’s been put forward. The apps are already available for iPhone, but the iPhones versions have also been updated to support HTML5. Go ahead, try it out and tell us what you feel.
