Best Android phone in India

Best Android phone in India

Mobile phones have have come out of ages from what it used to be. Earlier mobile phones were used in in a very limited manner namely calling, messaging and performing some other basic applications. As things have changed, mobile phones have been transferred in to a multi-tasking devices. With 3G coming in to scene, mobile phones in India are now available with lots of new interesting features. From being a music player, GPS device to becoming a camera and being used for internet purpose, the mobile phones have started giving these device a nightmare. People can listen songs, play games, surf internet and performing professional tasks along with some other tasks.

With each passing time the mobile phone in India have gone to become an integral part of the people. Today we can find a new category in mobile phones called the smartphones which do smart work. Running on 3G technology they come packed with the up to date features and specs. The things that differentiate the smartphones are the the operating system on which they run. These OS are the driving force behind the smartphones. smartphones run on mainly different operating systems like Android, Windows, Symbian, iOS and a couple of more.

Among all these the most talked about is the Google's Android operating system. Majority of the smartphones which we find run on this OS. Many of us would heard the this term over a couple of times, but only a handful of of us might know its insight. In simpler terms, it is a software developed which is owned by Google Inc. Currently Android is said to be the top-selling smartphone with nearly one third of the market share. When we talk of Android phones in India, there are many cheap and best Android phones in India. On smart phone market, iPhone may have a huge impact and are ranked among the top, however Android phone has got a third of market share and the count is still rising. As we can see Symbian is fading away, iPhone is costly for most of the Indians and Windows Phone 7 device available only in the limited and higher price bracket, the best option would be to own an Android phone. Available in many brands we can find some very best Android phone in India.

An important point about the Android phone in India is available in various price ranges, making it easier to grab for class of people. It's one of the reason why this OS has become probably the most popular mobile operating today. The best Android phones in India are expensive, but that does not mean you won't get one without burning a hole in your pocket. In the market today we can find the best Android phone in India under Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, Micromax and some other brands. Samsung is apparently is the world domination in smartphone segment and best Android phone in India. Samsung with its Android based Samsung Galaxy series phones are the leader in smartphone market.

Free Open Source Software Downloads

Many of the software libraries one finds when doing a quick Google search are available for free. But what interesting is the software directories that already exist and provide a combination of both free and open source software. There are various sites that don't brand themselves as providing free as in liberty software, but each of them have a good selection of open source free software downloads. All you have to do is to know where to look for. Naturally, when anybody is looking for software and stumble across a directory, they either know what they are looking for or they don't. This means, if you want open source software and know you want open source free software downloads, then you can find it easily. It is either on one of the free software focused sites, or one of the general freeware directories that provides all kinds of options.

For those who are not aware of what they are looking for and are willing to settle for the first and easiest piece of software that comes their way, open source probably isn't going to be an option they would consider. These kind of people would want names they are familiar with, or, the first name on the page. Only the educated people who are looking for software would know about the differences between free as in beer and free as in liberty, and try and make it clear which one is the best option. Going ahead this could be done by having software directories that offer open source explaining the differences in their products. Obviously, free software downloads are making a name for itself now in the world anyway.

In production and development, open source is a process that promotes free redistribution and access to an end product's design and implementation details. Before the phrase open source became widely adopted, this concept was used in various terms by the developers and producers. Open source gained momentum with the rise of the Internet along with the attendant needing computing source code for massive retooling of the. Opening the source code enabled a self-increasing boundaries of production drafts, communication paths and interactive communities. The free open source software downloads came in existence to describe the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain and consumer issues created.

The free open source software downloads includes the concept of simultaneous yet different agendas and numerous ways in production. They are in adverse with more accumulated models of development such as those commonly used in commercial software companies. A main standard and routine of open-source software development is coequal to production by exchanging and collaboration, with the end-product and documentation available at no cost to the general public. The promise of free open source software downloads seems to be of best quality, flexibility and reliability. This is the best open source software in the world. They deliver many new and helpful features to make our online experience enriched with more productiveness.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus S7500 launched at Rs. 18,150

The Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus has been officially launched in India, priced at Rs. 18,150 (MRP). The Galaxy Ace Plus effectively refreshes the popular mid-range Samsung Android offering, the Galaxy Ace, which so far has seen good sales in India.

The Galaxy Ace Plus was first announced by the Korean giant back in January, and has since appeared for pre-order online in India, at roughly Rs. 16,275. We can expect street prices to be closer to this figure.

As for specifications, the Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus S7500 runs on Android v2.3 Gingerbread and is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor, coupled with 512MB of RAM. It bears a 3.65-inch 320x480 pixel display, 3GB of built-in storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card, and a 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash.

Other features of the Galaxy Ace Plus S7500 include such connectivity options as 3G (HSDPA 7.2Mbps), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and hotspot functionality, GPRS/EDGE, microUSB, GPS with A-GPS support, and stereo FM radio with RDS.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus will also ship with a document and image editor, and comes with pre-loaded apps for Samsung ChatON, Social Hub, Gmail and YouTube.

HTC Sensation XL

The HTC Sensation XL is the second phone, with the HTC Sensation XE being the first, to come with the Beats Audio branding. And is targeting an even more unique demographic - one that doesn’t want a traditional smartphone with a 4-inch display, and neither do they want the mammoth 5.3-inch goodness of the Samsung Galaxy Note. How successful that approach will be, only time will tell. But we should state this straightaway - the bigger the display, the more convenient it is to use a touchscreen.

It is a big phone, and quite clearly feels that way. HTC have smartly thinned the bezel on the right and left side of the display, to shave off that precious mm that could make all the difference between comfortable and unwieldy. Below the display are four touch sensitive keys - Home, Options, Return and Search. While a lot of phone manufacturers are doing away with the dedicated Search key, HTC retains that. And we believe that is a convenience thing we wouldn’t want to let go of. Flip the phone over, and there is a dual toned finish - silver combines with the white flowing over from the rest of the phone. The Beats Audio logo clearly gives away its alliances. Battery opening mechanism is simple, thanks to the press to flip up mechanism. However, be careful to not press the power button while doing that. There is the 1,600 mAh battery sitting there, and so is the SIM card slot. No memory expansion though - you will have to be happy with the 13GB of the 16GB internal storage available to you. While it is plastic all through, the build quality is just okay. It doesn’t have the premium feel that the black and red finish of the slightly smaller Sensation XE offered. But doesn’t feel flimsy or badly made in any way.

The HTC Sensation XL is powered by a single core 1.5GHz Scorpion processor, and is teamed up with 768MB of RAM. Whichever way you look at it, this isn't a speed monster. What you should expect is basic performance, which surprisingly handles app load quite well. Despite having multiple apps open in the background, we didn’t feel the phone slowed down as much as we expected. HTC Sense is surprisingly nimble. When you compare the benchmark scores head to head with the Galaxy Note (or most newer dual-core smartphones in the same price bracket for that matter), the Sensation XL does take a beating. That is simply because of the inferior power train that HTC has inexplicably put in a phone as expensive as this. We at least expected a dual core processor (even if a slightly older generation one) and at least 1GB of RAM. However, benchmarks aren’t the true indicator of this phone’s real-life performance.

HTC sent this phone into the world with Android v2.3 on-board. And this phone is on the list of phones to get the Android ICS update sometime in the first half of this year. While we don’t understand the logic of that, we’ll keep out fingers crossed about the update arriving a bit late, but not never.

The HTC Sense 3.5 that we get with the Sensation XL is the same as the one on the Sensation XE. We particularly like the active lock screens - weather, social updates, stocks etc. The lock screens have 4 customizable app shortcuts, and dragging the icon of the app into the semi-circle ring at the bottom takes you directly to that app. This is particularly useful for messages, mails and IM clients. Unlock the display, and this is where you appreciate the full glory of the widgets and the UI in general - on the bigger display. Most Android phone UI’s face the issue of different widget sizes that always don’t blend in well on the screen. HTC has, on the other hand, always managed that very well. The variety of widgets is the widest we have seen across multiple Android devices, and is a cherry on top of the delicious UI cake.

The 4.7-inch Super LCD display is definitely one of the biggest, and one of the best ones around. While it isn't as vivid as the Super AMOLED family, the colour depth is still amazing. The crispness of the text helps a lot when reading mails or an article in the web browser. While we don’t believe phones are the best devices for reading ebooks or watching movies, the combination of colour depth and sufficient inherent sharpness means both activities will be comfortable and enjoyable.

Technology reviews in India

Technology reviews in India

These are the years which has shown some path breaking development in the technology. It has been seen in the field of gadgets, internet, computers, mobiles, telecom and more. There have been some latest technology trends which are being followed currently. Some are quite a hit while are some are fairing at a descent pace. All these technology news and the how these are fairing can be get after reading the technology reviews in India. There are a various websites which host these type of reviews. These latest technology news are also published in the different technology magazines.

Nowadays in this technology driven world the the technology reviews in India can be also get from the social networking sites. In the current scenario they prove to be a powerful tool as it reaches to the common people within no time. Since so many people are active on the different social networking sites, it penetrates deep and reaches out to the maximum of the audiences.

The technology mobile reviews in India could be categorized according to the category in which they fall and how much popular are those. They are helpful for the general public. The technology reviews in India provide the data analysis for the people. These reviews are done after doing an intense study and research on that technology. There are done by the experts who have a rich experience in technology field and know to count the pros and cons. After reading them the user can decide as to what is best for them and how they can use it. Since all the companies in the technology development segment would try to glorify their product, these technology reviews can give a good insight of them. After trying out a particular technology, users too can post their experiences and reviews on the different forums.

Falling under the different technology reviews, there are mobiles reviews too. It contains a slew of reviews which consists mobile phones specification, prices, news and the expert reviews. There are numerous of Indian websites which host the mobile reviews in India. Before putting up of the reviews, the particular handset goes through a tough scrutiny. Currently as we can see, almost every week we can see mobile phones being launched by different brands. All of them boast of delivering powerful performances. But that may lead to a chaos and confusion among the consumers.

Heres comes the role of these reviews. The different mobile reviews in India posted on different sites gives out a more clear picture on the newly launched phones. More over the users reviews posted by the consumers are also of great help. All these combinedly speaks about the latest technology used in India. There are also some world wide gadgets show which are held annually and they too provide a lot of input on the latest technology reviews along with laptops reviews.

Technology News

Technology News

We all use this technology word so often but what does it really means. Going by the definition it is the making, usage and knowledge of machines and techniques of an organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It is today regarded as the most common, most dynamic, most vibrant word on earth. This one word has completely changed the thinking and the lifestyle of human. From preparing or breakfast to searching life beyond earth, technology has made its way in every possible field we can think. With research and development wing of all major industries dedicating in it, the technology has been never so dynamic. The latest technology news are found on internet or on print magazines, newspaper etc.

Once you go through this technology news, you can seen how rapidly the shape and size of the technology world is changing. In the past twenty years, most of the major technological breakthrough in consumer electronics has really been part of one larger breakthrough. All are built around the same basic process: converting conventional analog information in to digital information. There are also technology news reviews. These are the reviews of the technologies that have been recently launched. After they get launched, the experts test it and the user use it. After going through all such rounds, these reviews come out. So basically the technology news reviews tells about the actual performance.

One of the major inventions of technology has been the mobile phones. Millions of people around the world use mobile phones. At the launch of it, people were just amazed by the fact that how people can talk to anyone on the planet from anywhere. With the development in mobile technology mobile phones now provide an array of functions and the new ones are being added at a breakneck pace. Depending on the mobile phone you can send text messages, store contact information, make to do list, keep track of appointments and reminders, use the built in calculator, send or receive e-mail, get information from the internet, play games, watch TV, listen songs and do many more activity. The latest mobile phone news tells us that these type of mobile phones which are capable pf doing these smart jobs are known as smartphones. All these have been possible due to some innovative operating system for the mobile phones.

Going by the mobile phone news it can be said that all new smartphones run on these new and innovative operating system. For example iPhone runs on iOS, Nokia smartphones run on Symbian Belle and Samsung, Sony’s and some other smart-phones runs on Google’s Android operating system. Of these the most common and happening is Android. Android news India would give you a bigger picture on this thought. The latest tech news will definitely reveal the popularity of this operating system. Among the latest tech news for mobile phones, Android news India would be the most happening news.

Sony announces Xperia Sola, with 'floating touch display'

Sony has announced its latest Xperia handset, the Xperia Sola – which features the same styling as the Xperia S, P and U. Sony has also given the Xperia Sola “floating touch” display, a new feature that will allow users to navigate with fingers a few millimetres above the touchscreen. The device will release in Europe in Q2 2012, and should be available globally by the end of the first half of the year – so far, no pricing has been announced yet.

The Sony Xperia Sola, previously codenamedPepper MT27i, will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread out-of-the-box, but has been promised an ICS update sometime in Q2 2012.

The Sola has a 3.7-inch 854x480 pixel display with the Mobile Bravia engine, a 1GHz dual-core NovaThor U8500 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording, and 8GB of built-in storage.

The 9.9mm-thick Sony Xperia Sola weighs 107 grams, and will be available in black, white and red colours. As for connectivity options, the Xperia Sola features 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and hotspot functionality, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DO, microUSB 2.0, stereo FM with RDS, and NFC - the device will come with two NFC Sony SmartTags.

It runs on a 1,320 mAh battery, rated to deliver up to 470 hours of standby time, 6 hours of talk time, and 40 hours of continuous music playback.

Top 10 Smartphones

With the rise of smartphone market, there are various of smartphones available in the market. From the foreign brands to the cheap domestic ones, we can find all sort of good and price worthy smartphones. Many brands today boast of manufacturing some best smartphones for the different parts. If we give a deep look in to the market, then we van find that the top 10 smartphones are from brands like Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Motorola and some others. Though we can find different phones listed on different websites and magazine under the top 10 smartphones, but most of them contain the mentioned brands. One of the prominent name in this list is Apple. It has always been delivering mind blowing handset. The latest one is the Apple iPhone 4S.

It is one of the most amazing smartphone available. But the version which is available in India is without its signature feature. Apart from this it certainly has features which are best in the industry. It operates on one of the world's most advanced mobile operating system, iOS 5, which brings close to over 200 new features to this ultra modern phone. It is built with Retina display which is one of most sharpest and most vibrant display available in the market. In fact it is the highest resolution phone screen manufactured ever.

The Apple iPhone 4S contains Dual-core A5 chip which makes it the most powerful iPhone processor ever. It also makes it a great handset for the gamers. The chip pushes the graphics up to seven times faster. As a result the games run more smoothly and look more realistic. it has an impressive phone camera. It got a 8 MP resolution and a custom lens with a larger f/2.4 aperture. It has a new iCloud feature which is the easiest way to manage stuffs. With the new Apple iPhone 4S in your hand, now calling is better, faster and even more worldly. It comes loaded with a couple of built-in apps which lets you do the most common things in an extraordinary ways.

Another brand which seems prominent under the top 10 smartphones list is the Nokia.

Though in recent time its smartphones have not been received very well in the market. It is leaving no stone unturned to regain the lost turf. On this front, it has launched the new Nokia Lumia 800. This smartphone gives you a easier, faster and funnier smartphone experience. To give this, it runs on the latest Microsoft Windows Operating System. It comes in a smooth one piece body with a floating 3.7 inch ClearBlack AMOLED display.

It gives updated from all over the place in one place. Be it Facebook, Twitter or Linkedln, all the updates can be integrated in to the home screen. The Nokia Lumia 800 comes loaded with Internet Explorer 9, HTML 5 and Wi-Fi which leave you with a fast web browsing. It is integrated with 8 MP camera and supports all MS Office documents.

To check out the list of samsung galaxy note Review visit to the HTC Radar Review and gather all the updates of new technology.

Top 10 Android Phones

Android phones are the most popular device in the smartphone segment. And to make it more popular, there a lot of fantastic smartphones falling under this category. This has also led to a healthy competition between them in order to make it to the top 10 Android phones. There are many brands like Samsung, HTC, Nokia and others whose handsets figure in the top 10 Android Phones list. One of the best brand in this category is HTC. They have a Sensation XE which is sure shot name in the top 10 Android Phones.

It comes with a 4.3 inch of Super LCD capacitive touchscreen with Ambient sensor, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto rotate, Proximity sensor for auto turn off and Gyro sensor.

It comes powered by 1.5 GHz dual core Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon processor, an Adreno 220 graphics processing unit and 768 MB of RAM. It comes with 4 GB of internal storage on board and a microSD card slot for memory expansion up to 32 GB. The HTC Sensation XE runs on Google's Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread operating system along with HTC Sense 3.5 software. It comes with an improved multimedia package like a Stereo FM radio, music player and 3.5 mm audio jack. The HTC proprietary Beats Technology has been added to make audio sound better. The HTC Sensation XE is kitted with a powerful 8 MP camera capable of 720p HD video recording along with a secondary camera for making video calls. It is loaded with micro USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, GPRS, Bluetooth and 3G. The HTC Sensation XE supports NSN Integration, Adobe Flash support, Document Viewer and editor. It is embedded with Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk and Picasa Integration.

Another high profile name which we find in the top 10 Android phones is the Samsung. It can be proved from the fact that the Samsung Galaxy series of mobile phone are the most prominent in the smartphone market. One of the most high profile phone from this brand is the new Samsung Galaxy Note. It is the most smartphone till date. Its because it proves to be a hybrid of a smartphone and tablet. One of the main reason is because of its build. It comes with huge 5.3 inch Super AMOLED display that has managed to outshine other smartphone.

The rear side comes kitted with an impressive 8 MP camera along with a LED Flash and 1080p HD video recording capabilities. On the performance front the new Samsung Galaxy Note proves to be a powerful device. The core of this device is assembled with an ARM Cortex A9 dual core 1.4 GHz processor. The Samsung Galaxy Note is powered with 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory and expanding it up to 32 GB of external memory through microSD card slot.

To check out the list of samsung galaxy note Review visit to the HTC Radar Review and gather all the updates of new technology.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro in India

As a major player in consumer electronics market, lack of mobile assets had become liability for Sony particularly when it is being compared with other brands. So it started out freshed to take over the world market. Sony Ericsson phones are best known for their camera and music quality. Sony Ericsson mobile phones have always something interesting in them. They bring innovative design and exciting features in them. Initially it thrived with an array of camera and music phones but it lost out in the smart-phone race. Now they have give a full attention to Smartphone segments. Sony has taken over its mobile phone venture with Ericsson, as it seeks to exploit its music and video to help it catch smart-phones leaders. Sony has taken over its mobile phone venture with Ericsson, as it seeks to exploit its music Smart-phone have been become more important product for Sony and as boasted by company Sony Ericsson mobile phone will probably become the main device for connecting the people to the internet.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is a business smart-phone with optimized slider QWERTY keyboard. It has the latest Android v2.3 Gingerbread OS. It gives good quality work for business guys. It sports a 3.7 inch touch-screen displaying 854 X 480 pixels resolution and comes with Bravia Graphics Engine. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is built with Ergonomic keypad with smart functions which facilitates faster typing. It offers excellent tactile response and is backlit in white which gives a classy look. It is powered by 1 GHz Qualcomm Processor. The internal memory is build up with 320 MB and also includes 8 GB microSD card. It comes assembled with Wi-Fi, A-GPS, Bluetooth and USB. The new Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro comes with dual camera. The 8 MP main camera with Sony Exmor CMOS sensor, tales good quality pictures. Video recorded in 720p HD are also of good quality. A micro HDMI to HDMI cable is also provide with this handset. The secondary camera is of 2 MP. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro offers preloaded Office Suite Pro for editing office documents and advances functions like syncing your mail, calender, contacts in a safe and secure manner. It also features FM radio, NeoReader bar-code scanner, Noise shield, Google Talk, Music player and 3.5 mm audio jack. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro price in India is of premium range. The specs and the look makes Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro price in India a high-end one.

Samsung Galaxy S III coming in Feb 2012; Galaxy S 3D in the works

Rumours of Samsung's next flagship smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S III are back in the news. According to the latest reports, the Samsung Galaxy S III will be launched in February 2012, at MWC 2012. The new Galaxy SIII is expected to come with a quad-core processor. The last round of rumours had suggested that the S III would feature a new Exynos processor, the Exynos 4412. Also, the new Exynos processor is rumoured to be an ARM Cortex A9-based quad-core unit.

According to unwiredview.com, the Galaxy S III is likely to feature a large HD (1280 x 720) Super AMOLED Plus display, LTE connectivity, and the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich platform. Other things to expect from the S III are a 12MP camera and 2GB of RAM.

Galaxy S II is Samsung's most popular smartphone

Separately, reports suggest Samsung is also working on a 3D smartphone. Dubbed as the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S, the Galaxy S 3D is expected to be launched in the second half of 2012. The Samsung Galaxy S 3D is likely to feature an autostereoscopic Super Amoled HD Plus display with 1280x720 pixel resolution. The screen size of the 3D device is expected be between 4.2-inch to 4.65-inch.

Also read,

• Samsung buys out Sony's stake in S-LCD joint-venture
• Samsung announces dual-SIM versions of Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro
• Samsung Galaxy devices to receive Android 4.0 ICS update by Q1 2012

Amazon Kindle Touch Review

Amazon Kindle Touch Review

The Kindle has shed the buttons, and seems to be handling this facet of its personality very comfortably. While it is still not officially available in India, you can order it from Amazon or any of the shopping websites that allow global shopping. Amazon accounts work seamlessly across devices - be it the Kindle app for the PC, iPad, Android or the Kindle Reader itself. Buying books will not be a problem either.

Look & Feel
The Kindle Touch is slightly heavier than the Kindle (the plain-Jane edition), but is considerably less bulky than the one with the keyboard. Since the Kindle Keyboard wasn’t considered heavy or uncomfortable to hold and read on for long durations, this one certainly isn't either! It is slightly thicker than the Kindle and the Kindle Touch, because of the touchscreen.

The bottom of the Kindle Touch has the standby/power button, and the micro USB slot for charging and data transfer. Press the power button for 7 seconds and that’ll put the Kindle in sleep more. Press it once and it goes into stand-by mode. For the version with the advertisements, it’ll show an advert, and pending any gesture, will turn off after 10 minutes.

Click to enlarge

Features
The Kindle Touch has a 6-inch display with multi-touch capabilities. The device has 4GB on-board storage - Amazon says that is good for about 3000 books. You can also email yourself ebooks (PDFs, MOBI and txt files) using the email address that gets created for you when you register the Kindle for the first time.

On-board is an experimental web browser, and “experimental” for a good reason. Some flash heavy websites do not render properly, but most sites have no such issues.

The Kindle Touch has a 3.5mm jack and built-in speakers to feed the audio books, text to speech and the built-in MP3 player functions. The speaker isn't great, quite expected. Amazon doesn’t ship any earphones with the Touch, but the audiobooks and MP3s do sound a lot better if you have a decent pair of headphones in play.

Performance
It looks extremely unassuming. On the front is the 6-inch e-ink display with multi-touch, and is accompanied by one hardware button. With all the Kindle devices till now, you had to press a hardware button to flip pages - something that turned off a lot of book lovers who missed the feel of actually turning a page. The Kindle Touch brings that back, to a huge extent. Amazon have divided the fields on the display very well - tapping anywhere in the wide margin on the right side to flip to the next page, or tap anywhere in the thin left margin will flip to the previous page. Alternatively, you can just swipe on the screen like you would swipe a page in a book. Tap on the very top of the display to open the menu bar.

You can access Kindle Store from within the reader, but you need to access the Amazon Account from via a PC and register the Kindle there. This is a one-time process, and any purchases you make will be automatically sent to your Kindle, and any other linked devices.

The screen refresh capability also has two settings here - every page or every sixth page. If you set it to every page, the text is perceptibly crisper and better to read, but there is a flash of black every time you flip a page. If you choose the latter setting, the text quality does degrade slightly, but page turn is quicker and smoother. The Kindle Touch is set to refresh the display with every page, by default.

While reading a book, you can press and hold on any work or phrase, and after a couple of seconds, a pop up menu will open. This is where you can get the meanings, as well as social network integration - post to Facebook and/or Twitter.

Tapping on the top of the display opens up the menu bar - store access, search, change font size etc. to change font sizes though, you can just use the pinch-zoom gesture and the text size can be increased or decreased with every gesture. When you are doing that, a small pop up indicates what size it is now on, from a list of pre-set font sizes.

Amazon claims a battery life of about 2 months, with an hour of reading daily. We still haven’t been able to drain the battery on our Kindle Touch! It has been with us for two weeks, and despite a couple of hours of reading daily, the battery is slightly less above 50%. It had come out of the box with about 60%, and we haven’t charged it even once. Nothing suggests we should not believe what Amazon claims about the battery life.

Our Take
The Kindle Touch brings back the fun of flipping pages to an e-book reader. It isn't officially available in India, but Amazon ships it here, and so do websites like ebay Global EasyBuy and Shop Your World. For someone who already has a Kindle, the Touch isn't an enticing enough upgrade. But for someone who is looking to buy their first e-book reader, or want to gift someone one, then the Touch is the smartest choice at the moment.

Price: US$ 99 (Wi-Fi only, with special offers)plus shipping etc.

Specs: E-book reader, 6-inch E-ink display, capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch, Wi-Fi (3G optional), experimental web browser, music player, access to Kindle Store

Ratings
Features: 7.5
Performance: 8
Build: 8.5
Value: 8.5
Overall: 8.5

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iPhone 4S tariff plans compared - Aircel vs. Airtel

With just one day left before the launch of the iPhone 4S, telecom operators, Airtel and Aircel have revealed their tariff plans for the long-awaited device. The telecom operators are presently taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4S, while the official launch is scheduled for November 25th. The tariff plans for the iPhone 4S are said to be pretty similar to what the operators have been offering for the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS.

The pricing of the iPhone 4S has already drawn flak from all corners, as it has been kept extremely high in India as compared to other countries including the U.S. and U.K. Both Airtel and Aircel are expected to provide respite to the Indian consumers already bearing the brunt of price rise. Let's have a look at what both the telecom operators are offering with the new iPhone 4S:

Aircel

Aircel has priced the 16GB variant of the iPhone 4S at Rs. 44,500, while the 32GB variant is available at Rs. 50,900. Aircel has not yet mentioned the price of the 64GB variant of the iPhone 4S. Previously, it was listed as “sold out” on the website. Aircel is offering two plans of Rs. 950 and Rs. 1,150 for the iPhone 4S enthusiasts. The telecom operator says the plans assure you recover the cost of your iPhone 4S over a period of 2 years with its fixed discount on the monthly rentals..

http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/iPhone-4S-tariff-plans-compared--Aircel_8021.html

RIM launches 3 new Blackberry smartphones in India

Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the launch of three new BlackBerry smartphones in India. All three phones are based on the new BlackBerry 7 OS operating system.

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 combines a QWERTY keyboard with a touchscreen. The BlackBerry Curve 9350 is the first CDMA-based BlackBerry 7 smartphone to be launched in India. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first smartphone with an all-touch display in the curved series.

"We are pleased with the response that the new BlackBerry 7 operating system is receiving from customers in India and we are very excited to introduce these three new BlackBerry 7 based models here,” said Krishnadeep Baruah, Director of Marketing for India at Research In Motion. “These new BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve smartphones offer compact designs with faster performance, enhanced browsing and richer multimedia, as well as NFC support.”

9380

9350

9790

BlackBerry Bold 9790 with Touch Display and Keyboard
Carrying forward the Bold 9700 series, the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone comes powered by a 1 GHz processor, and a touchscreen + QWERTY combo. There is 8GB onboard memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of additional storage. This phone is priced at Rs 27490.

BlackBerry Curve 9350 with Keyboard
The new BlackBerry Curve 9350 is a CDMA smartphone. It has features like optical trackpad, GPS and Wi-Fi, 5MP camera with flash and video recording and the microSD/SDHC slot supports up to 32 GB memory cards. This one is priced at Rs 20990.

All-Touch BlackBerry Curve 9380
This is the first all touchscreen phone for the Curve series, and not to be confused with the Torch 9860. It has a 3.2” touchscreen and an optical trackpad. This one will be priced at Rs 20990

Also read our reviews of other recent BlackBerry devices:

1. BlackBerry Curve 9360 Review
2. Blackberry Bold Touch 9900 Review
3. Blackberry Bold 9780 Review
4. BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review

More information on the new BlackBerry 7 OS
The new Blackberry 7 OS focuses on improved browsing, voice-activated searches, support for Augmented Reality and NFC (Near Field Communications).

BlackBerry 7 also comes with an updated browser is faster than the predecessor. The browser includes a new JIT (just in time) JavaScript compiler to improve the load time speed of web pages and it offers optimized HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences. The popular universal search capability has also been enhanced with support for voice-activated search, so users can simply speak to begin searching their device and the web for information.

The BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9350 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones include built-in support for Augmented Reality and NFC, allowing users to connect with the world around them in fresh new ways. With Augmented Reality, users can use the Wikitude application to find nearby BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) contacts in real-time, read reviews on restaurants close to them, or get the story behind an interesting landmark or points of interest. NFC also enables many new and exciting capabilities, including the ability to pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone.

BlackBerry 7 OS comes with a host of pre-loaded applications. The Premium version of Documents To Go allows users powerful document editing features as well as a native PDF document viewer. BlackBerry Protect app is also pre-loaded, for personal data can be back up on the cloud. BlackBerry Balance app is integrated in BlackBerry 7, allowing users to enjoy the full BlackBerry smartphone experience for both work and personal purposes without compromising the IT department’s need for advanced security and IT controls.

The Social Feeds (2.0) app has been extended to capture updates from media and favourites all in one consolidated view. The Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones (2.0) app introduces features like Facebook chat and BBM integration that makes it easier for users to connect with their Facebook friends in real time.

Motorola Droid Razr XT910 available online in India for Rs. 33,990

Motorola's Droid Razr XT910 is now available in India via online retailer flipkart.com for Rs. 33,990. Dubbed as the world's slimmest smartphone, the Droid Razr XT910 runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and features a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor.

The Droid Razr XT910 comes with a 4.3-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 540 x 960 pixels resolution. It has 8MP primary and 1.3MP secondary cameras. It has a 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. For connectivity, the device supports Wi-Fi, GPRS, 3G and Bluetooth. The Droid Razr also comes with a 1,780 mAh Li-On battery. The device has various pre-loaded apps including MotoCast, YouTube, Google Talk and Google Search. Read more details about the specs of the new Droid Razr XT910 here.

Spice Transformer M-5500

In this era when mobile phone are fast becoming a necessity rather than a luxury, many companies have jumped in this fray and are trying to earn their bread and butter exploring the business opportunity in this market. While many companies have been targeting the high end customers and the professional working class, there are some mobile manufacturers who have been constantly focusing on lower and middle income group. One such company is Spice. Spice mobiles are generally affordable and fulfills much of the common people needs. But that should not be taken for the thing that they compromise on quality. They are keen on providing with good and stylish phones with trendy designs. Spice phones have been known for launching Dual-Sim phones in India.

Going by the commitment and the determination to built a name for themselves, Spice has launched Spice transformer series phones have been launched with an exclusive tie-up with Transformer 3 movie. And as it may suggest Spice transformer phones have Transformer 3 movie theme, videos and wallpaper.

One of the phone from this series is Spice Transformer M-5500. Its an touch and type Dual-Sim (both GSM) mobile phone. It is true to its name, Transformer. The keypad panel, equipped with feather keypad, can be removed thus making it also a full touchscreen phone making it a totally different phone. It carries itself two panels, one being the alpha-numeric keypad and the other being for the touchscreen. Spice Transformer M-5500 has been made as a easy to use device with simplified menus and shortcut keys in it. It is high on features and low on pricing. Loaded with some attractive features it has many things which can make it appealing to the masses. The new Spice Transformer M-5500 has 1.3 MP camera which works fine for the phone of this type. From connectivity point of view, it is well equipped with WAP, GPRS and Bluetooth. The younger lot can find mp3 player, video player, stereo speakers and FM radio inbuilt in it, appealing to them. Some people might get disappointed with the fact that it does not come with stylus. Though not a very high-end phone, it has managed not to look dull and boring either. Overall it is a phone priced just right for you and promises to be delivering a mix of style and innovation.

Spice Blueberry Express

Spice mobile has been trying very hard to make in roads in the mobile phone segment and has been performing in the direction which will help them create a name for them selves. Spice mobile is trying to make footprint in mobile phone market by launching some innovative and not so common phones. One field in which it is really coming out to be a leader is Dual-Sim technology. As it allow user to carry two numbers in one phone, this feature has brought smile on many of the faces by reducing their expenditure a bit. User can have CDMA and GSM or both GSM technology in the same set. To sustain and perform in this market Spice mobile have been armoured with great features, fresh designs and innovative technologies. Most importantly Spice mobiles are priced economically which gives them a fair advantage among the low spenders.

Offering in Dual-Sim category is Spice's new mobile, Spice Blueberry Express. For people who wants to have a taste of Blackberry without paying a hefty price, Spice Blueberry Express is sure shot alternative for them. With latest QWERTY keypad and instant messenger for quick chat, it is trying to make itself count in business phones. Spice Blueberry Express is handsomely packed with FM radio, 2MP cameras, music player, video recording, availability to social networking sites and other friendly interface. Spice has taken care of it looks and this bar shaped phone comes in a couple of colors which can suit to your taste and personality. It is exceptionally built and boast of a perfect dimension. You also have the option to change the back and front panel. It also comes with a track pad which helps in the navigations of the menus suitably. It also comes with Mobile tracker, so you can be sure of keeping a tab in case your mobile gets stolen.

Spice Blueberry Express price is very economical and has been fixed in such a way that it is well within the reach of price conscious people. For a phone having such great collection of applications, Spice Blueberry Express price is really cheap. Spice Mobile has again come up with a winner with Spice Blueberry Express. Its a great phone perfectly blending the combination of style, performance and price. Definitely you won't demand for something else in this price segment.

Dell XPS 15z

The Dell XPS 15z laptop is available for a starting price of Rs. 70,800—our review sample retails for a price of Rs. 81,800, since it’s a higher-end model. For that price, you get a sophisticated, premium 15-inch desktop replacement laptop for home entertainment. It’s very well built and feels elegant and premium on touch with a quality finish. And apart from most laptops that come with 1 year warranty, the XPS 15z comes with 3 year Complete Cover, making sure your hefty investment is insured for a long time.

Pros

• Stylish, well built
• Full-HD widescreen display
• Very good features, performance
• Free 2GB online backup
• 3-year warranty

Vodafone 555 Blue - Facebook will never be too far away

The Vodafone Blue is aimed at a very specific audience – the ‘social networking addicted' kids! This surely isn't a smartphone, but does three things very well – calls, messages and Facebook. Basic looks and build quality, and the hardware specs aren’t something exciting. Pretty much a run of the mill feature set for a price of Rs. 4,950, but this one might just be what you buy to access Facebook on the cheap.

Pros

• Affordable price for the demographic it is aimed at
• Facebook integrated quite well

Cons

• No Wi-Fi or 3G

Facebook integration seems to be the name of the game, at least as far as integrating social networks with smartphones is concerned. We reviewed the HTC ChaCha sometime back (http://goo.gl/4Cj8r), and that was the first indication of how deeply Facebook can be integrated with the smartphone. However, we had pointed out that the Facebook button on the ChaCha doesn’t do too much more than quick posting. Note that at no point of time are we comparing the two phones, because they fall in very different price brackets. However, we are just looking at the FB integration part of it.

Look & Feel
From afar, the Vodafone Blue does have an uncanny resemblance to the HTC ChaCha. However, that theory is pretty much dispelled the moment you hold the phone. The Blue doesn’t have that banana curve design, and the keypad layout is also a lot different from the HTC phone. The 2.4-inch display takes up half of the front panel, with four hardware keys and the optical track pad below it – call connect, call disconnect, options and menu/return. The addition of a track pad is a nice touch. The QWERTY keypad is distinctly divided into four rows, while all keys in one row don’t have a lot of spacing between them. The key size is fine though, and that’s a huge relief. Interestingly, there is a dedicated camera key as well, laid out amidst the traditional keys in a QWERTY keypad.

Click to enlarge

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The left side of the phone has the volume rocker, distinctly identifiable as a thin strip of blue colour. The right side hosts the micro USB slot, while the 3.5mm jack is on the top panel. The back of the Vodafone Blue has the 2MP camera with the LED flash, and what seems to be a pretty big speaker. Right in the middle is the Vodafone logo, not in the traditional red, but silver.

The battery cover is plastic, and we were a bit disappointed by the quality of materials used and the mechanism to open the battery cover. Firstly, we do not like the ‘use nails to prise open’ mechanism. Secondly, it opens up sideways, rather than near the bottom. This does two things – makes opening the cover harder than what it could have been, and runs the huge risk of the plastic snapping. More so, there is a danger of the ‘teeth’ on the cover breaking away.

Apart from the battery cover issue, we quite like the build offered by the Vodafone Blue. It isn't feather light, but a weight of less than 100 grams isn't something we can find any fault with.

Features
One word – Facebook! The darned Facebook button holds more aces up its sleeve! Having given us a trailer with the HTC ChaCha, and probably heard our criticism, it is back with a vengeance. This time offering the functionality and access we had expected in the first place. And not remain just a quick post thing.

Interestingly and annoyingly, the moment you attempt to sign in your user ID to log in to Facebook, the auto correct feature will instantly change it to something else. And yes, the first word of the user ID is also always capital! A bit of chaffing is needed here.

A few apps do come preloaded on the Vodafone Blue -Facebook Chat, Palringo, File Manager, Weather, converter and access to Vodafone Live services.

Performance
We really cannot expect much from the 200MHz processor but then again, it really doesn’t need more (unnecessary, if you may) power considering what it is supposed to do and what it is aimed at.

The 2.4-inch QVGA display has a resolution of 320x240 pixels. It is a pretty okay display for reading text on, and the high-ish brightness levels means that viewing in sunlight won’t be a real problem. However, browsing web pages or viewing videos will be an eye straining experience.

The QWERTY keypad is very comfortable to use. The keys are essentially divided by the rows, and just make it a little difficult for the fingers to remember the key positioning. Typing quickly wasn’t a problem, provided you were looking at the keypad. Dedicated camera key is a unique feature, only because it is within the keypad layout.

Speaking of which, the 2MP camera is one that falls in the category of being there because it was asked to be. Not to expect too much from it, except a quick snap of something interesting to post to Facebook.

Vodafone Blue does cut down on features like Wi-Fi connectivity and 3G. While it is okay most of the time, with the slow speeds on EDGE, YouTube is almost certainly out of the question.

Despite being coupled with a pretty small battery, just 1000 mAh worth of juice, it manages to hold up quit well - about a day and a half to two days, from full charge to complete shutdown. This is with a fair number of voice calls and FB syncing in the background via EDGE.

Our Take
The Vodafone Blue isn't a device for everyone. It certainly isn't for someone who wants a smartphone and/or isn't a big Facebook user. Essentially, this phone is targeted at the youth, who want instant social networking connectivity, but wouldn’t want the phone to be very expensive. It has decent build quality and sleek looks as well.

Price: Rs. 4,950

Specs:
Platform: Proprietary; Display: 2.4-inch QVGA, 320x240 pixel resolution; Camera: 2MP with LED flash; Storage: microSD slot up to 16GB; Battery: 1000 mAh

Ratings:
Features: 6.5
Performance: 7.25
Build: 7
Value: 7
Overall: 7