mar-apr-english-2012 by Aman Saxena

Mar 15 to apr 14 2012  Rs 75

www.mymobile.co.in

for a connected lifestyle

u p dat e d !

BlackBerry PlayBook and six other devices get an OS refresh, and get ready to change the game P 36

æ Gadgets Galore

15 hottest gadgets and phones tested P 52

æ Camera

Phones Take on Digital Cameras

Has the camera phone killed the digital camera? A face-off in the snapper battle P 46

æSuper affordable SmartPhones Phones that will rock your world with their performance without burning a hole in your pocket P 48

æ Barcelona calling

Gadgets and apps that grabbed the spotlight at the 2012 Mobile World Congress P 24

first call

ow time flies. Barely half a decade ago, when you said “operating system,” most people thought you were talking about a desktop computer. However, today, the term is more closely associated with mobile devices, be they tablets or phones. And with good reason. Operating systems have changed the way the mobile phone segment functions and are the real power behind the functioning of a phone. While the new ones hog the limelight for their innovative features, the old ones reinvent themselves with updates and enhancements. Our cover story for this issue looks at just how much of an effect an updated operating system can have on a relatively older handset or tablet. Will these “OS refreshes” allow older products to compete with newly launched stalwarts? Or are they just a sweet solace to those who have invested in these devices and can’t afford to buy a new one? The answersbelieve us- will surprise you. One of the consequences of the increasing influence of operating systems has been the proliferation of smartphones, which are no longer the preserve of a niche segment. And if that sounds less than believable to you, then we would like you to cast an eye over our story that covers the ten best smartphones that you can buy for (yes!) less than Rs 10,000. There are some very powerful devices here, showing that the smartphone has come to stay in the mainstream segment. February is also the month where the mobile mighty and faithful flock to Barcelona for one of the mobility world's biggest events, the Mobile World Congress. For a few days, the rain in Spain literally comprises handsets and innovative devices and apps and services, and this year was no different. And as we do every year, we bring you the best from the Congress, even while keeping our fingers crossed that these will some day see the light of the day in India. Apart from our regular plethora of reviews of handsets and tablets, this issue also sees us review two very innovative devices that have made their debut in the Indian market – Sony's PlayStation Vita and the Amazon Kindle Touch. Neither device is a smartphone, tablet or notebook and yet each gives us an idea of how mobile technology is evolving and perhaps reaching niche segments – the gaming crowd in the case of the Vita, and the serious bookworm in the case of the Kindle Touch. Whatever happened to convergence? All of which, together with our regular dose of interviews and features, makes this issue a blend of various facets of mobility which make the mobile world what it is today. It is a world full of excitement, innovation and colour. Just like the festival of Holi, which would have passed about a week before you see this issue. We hope you celebrated the festival with due gaiety. And have recovered to be able to enjoy our latest issue. Our best wishes are always with you.

E D I T O R I AL Pankaj Mohindroo |

Editor-in-Chief

DESIGN Ajit | Consultant Art Director Ajit Kumar Parashar | Graphic Designer

C I R C U LA T I O N Amit Prakash | Circulation Manager

ADVISORY BOARD Prithipal Singh S.C. Khanna S.D. Saxena Rajan Mathews T.R. Dua T.V. Ramachandran Shiv K. Bakhshi Sonu Halan Bhasin Bejon Misra

Edited, published, printed and owned by Pankaj Mohindroo, Published from Flat No. 25, First Floor Shankar Market Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001. Printed at HT Media Ltd. B-2, Sector 63, Noida. Distributed by Central News Agency Pvt Ltd and India Book House (Maharashtra & Gujarat). Copyright 2005. My Mobile is a registered trademark of My Mobile Infomedia Pvt Ltd . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form– electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without prior permission.

Pankaj Mohindroo editor-in-chief

The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for errors and omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and the views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged.

Volume VIII Issue II, March 15, To April 14, 2012

04 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

content

lead Story

MWC

Seven updated devices ready to strike back at the competition

The best form the technology extravaganza at Mobile World Congress 2012

Chief Speak

A chat with Prashanth Adiraju, director-New Platforms Business Group, Intel South Asia about Intel's entry into smartphone space

Face To Face Nitin Mathur, senior director & head of marketing, Yahoo! India talks about the company's strategy to capture the Indian market

Anisha Singh, founder and CEO, My Dala shares her views about future of e-commerce in India

Sandeep Arora, VP, Service Provider, Cisco India & SAARC discusses the future of next generation technologies in telecom and broadcasting

114

spotlight

Can cameraphones take over the world of digital cameras? Letters

Mobile Doctor

Consumer Forum

News

Styluses are back with a bang!

06 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

content my guide

cell-ebrity

Actor Rajiv Khandelwal wants to design his own phone

cus able smar0t0 o f d in 10,0 ffor -

10 a wR Top es belo n pho

90 48

just in

Nokia Asha 202 and Asus Transformer Prime take on the Indian market

sneak peek First look at yet to come HTC Titan II and Samsung Galaxy Beam

et-cetera

From Bluetooth headsets, e-book readers, portable playstations to high performance laptops, we bring you a wide range of devices

vas

Social gaming is coming of age in India

BURN TESTS

Say Adaab to Techvaganza with Renaissance for some fun!

chaze C249

rage pride

lg optimus net duAL

samsung galaxy ace duos

lg optimus sol

iPAd (Preview)

college connect

50 51 70 80 event The telecom world reaches out to the youth

88 Boredom Busters

Squish some critters and kill some zombies its play time for all

Total number of pages= 116 (112 + 4 cover)

08 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

smart apps

Make learning fun and search easy with mobile apps

letters

65 14

FOR A CONNECTED LIFESTYLE

122

Anniversary

APPS TO KEEP WOMEN SAFE

POWER LIST

WWW.MYMOBILE.CO.IN

POWER LIST

WWW.MYMOBILE.CO.IN

OPERATORS

I was suprised to 5 see the ‘Powerlist’ in the last issue of your 2 magazine. My Mobile is COMMUNICATING more lifestyle but it was good to know about the 3 W achievers of the industry. It was great to see 4 that you have not just focussed on cities and have considered people from smaller towns and cities too. -M.K. Shastri, via Email  HIMANSHU KAPANIA Managing Director, Idea Cellular

Chairman, Bharti Group

One of the most prominent faces of Indian telecom, Sunil Bharti Mittal, or SBM, as he is popularly known as, is a man who with his sheer vision, hard work and innovation not only has emerged as the head of one of the most powerful conglomerates in the telecom industry but has also paved the way for others to enter this segment. In a highly competitive market, Airtel has kept its leadership position intact by evolving with the times and becoming all pervasive in almost every aspect of telecommunication. Be it infrastructure, devices, services or VAS, Bharti is present in every segment. It has even secured its place in the future by investing heavily in 3G as well as BWA. Needless to say, all this requires a leader with an open and creative mind and a strong understanding of the industry. SBM fits the bill.

 ANIL D AMBANI

Chairman, Reliance Communications

Anil D Ambani experienced power at an age when people start experiencing life. The son of one of India’s business legends, Dhirubhai Ambani, Anil Ambani has seen power at its best and worst. He has taken forward his father’s vision of bringing the tools of information and communication at an affordable cost to the people and has never been shy of playing game changer, be it in high speed data connectivity at low tariffs or an affordable tablet. Today Reliance Communications is a company that boasts of a subscriber base of more than 150 million. His recent truce with elder bother Mukesh Ambani, who is entering the telecommunication sector through BWA is another indication that if all goes well, the Ambani brothers could well emerge as the lead players of the Indian market.

POWER MY MOBILE

Some months back I was not aware of My Mobile magazine. One day I saw it on a book stall and found it interesting, so I bought it. I really like mobile BURN TEST burn tests because it gives in depth information about latest mobiles in the market especially for those who are planning to buy a new phone. The etcetera section of the 82% magazine is also very useful because it covers other gadgets as well. -Abhilash Verma , via Email th

WWW.MYMOBILE.CO.IN

Himanshu Kapania, joined Idea Cellular in 2006 and has worked towards strengthening the operator’s presence in the established regions and taking the services to new unexplored areas. He took over as the Managing Director of Idea Cellular in 2011 and despite challenges like uncertainity over 2G spectrum, 3G launch and a hostile Government, has been able to carry forward the operator’s business. Today Idea Cellular enjoys the highest number of active mobile subscribers in the country and in December 2011, it had the highest percentage of net additions month on month at 25.2 per cent. It has not only had a successful 3G roll out but has also ventured into the handset business with its own 3G smartphones. And mention has to be made of the extremely creative ad campaigns which have enabled the company to create a space for itself in the consumer’s mind.

pixel camera with features like smile shot, panorama mode, self timer, white balance and geo-tagging among others. It delivers decent results in well-lit conditions, but the absence of a flash limits its utility when the lights dim. It can also capture passable video 320 x 240 and 176 x 144 resolution videos in Normal as well as MMS modes. On the music front the Wave Y offers a great music experience despite the fact that the music player on the phone is pretty plain vanilla. The 5.1 channel function works only with the speakers and there’s a 3.5 mm jack for using headphones of your choice. There’s FM radio too, although there’s no support for playing HD video.

SAMSUNG WAVE Y Gen Y Gets a Bada Wave

TECH SPECS

Size | 110.0 x 57.9 x 12.3 mm

processor options

 Good sound quality

 No flash for camera

 Limited apps as compared

to Android

Samsung ChatOn app preloaded on the phone

The Wave Y boasts of light and sleek form factor

The phone offers a great music experience

Battery Life/Standby | Upto 12.1

GPRS/3G | Yes/Yes

 No secondary camera

Conclusion

Bluetooth/ WiFi | Yes/Yes

The Wave Y is a very decent option for those looking for a smartphone experience without emptying their wallets by too much. The hardware is reasonable and for the most part, the phone works well. App addicts might, however, prefer Android simply because there are many more apps on that OS. The Wave Y is priced at Rs7,900 The other options that you can consider are Android based Samsung Galaxy Y for Rs 7,700 and LG Optimus Me for Rs 7,000 but it runs on Android 2.2 OS. 

Phonebook Capacity | Shared Camera | 2.0 megapixel

HIGHLIGHTS

Screen | 16million colours

hours/Upto 610 hours

Cons

57.9 mm

The Samsung Wave Y delivers a sound user experience for its relatively low price tag. While the camera doesn’t stand out, the music performance was good. The battery backup of the phone is good too – we were able to get through a day with push mail and social networks running, apart from the regular browsing and calling. Yes, the screen at times does seem a tad small for browsing, but all in all, the handset behaved very well.

Memory | 150MB, microSD

Battery | Li-Ion, 1250 mAh

 Decent connectivity

User Experience: Standard Bada fare

Weight | 104.8 grams

Pros

 Bada 2.0 with 832 MHz

Frequency | GSM 850/900/1800/1900

The 2.0megapixel camera takes average pictures

The homescreen panel can be increased to 11

Others | Exchange Active Sync support

Price: Rs 7,900

team@mymobile.co.in

VERDICT

Looks: Different yet simple

 SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL

The 900 million subscriber telecom industry of India is run by a ‘few good men’ who have played a crucial role in envisioning and structuring the telecommunication segment. These include some veterans who have laid the foundation of telecom in India, a few seniors who have inﬂuenced the growth and the direction of the industry and a bunch of new talent which has shown the promise that the future is going to be equally brighter. These are the 65 most powerful people of telecom

condemned in various websites as it is considered to be flawed due to some ‘echo’ problem while listening to calls. Did you notice any such flaw in this handset? Please let me know. -Turbasu Bhattacharya Editor’s Reply: There was no such problem with the unit that we reviewed.

110 mm

I am a regular reader of My Mobile magazine, this is not my first letter to you. I have written couple of letters earlier also to let you know my views about your publication. I really enjoy reading its articles as it proLATEST GADGETS ON THE vides me with ample of knowledge MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE BLOCK IN INDIAN TELECOM regarding new technology in my area of interest i.e. mobile phones. issue TELECOM LICENSES I especially like rating system that SCRAPPED NETWORK you give to phones because it really TECHNOLOGIES WILL CHANGE EIGHT THAT THE FUTURE helps readers like me to compare gadgets which would otherwise be very difficult. Kindly publish more new launches which are soon going to mark their entry in the market. -Anuj, New Delhi FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012  Rs 75

www.mymobile.co.in

The Y series from Samsung is targeted at the youth and after the success of Android based Galaxy Y comes the Wave Y running on Samsung’s own Bada operating system. In appearance, the Wave Y is definitely a departure from the previous Wave devices. The phone has an all plastic body but with a metallic finish on the back panel it looks pretty tough. The front panel is all screen with just one hard key for home. The other keys and ports are placed on the sides.

Hardware: Bang for bucks

The Wave Y packs in decent specifications

for a mainstream phone. The 3.2 inch TFT screen offers an acceptable visual experience. The phone comes with Wi-Fi connectivity and Wi-Fi Direct for creating a hotspot. The phone’s 3G capabilities are limited to HSDPA and while Bada is known to support NFC, it is not available in the device. The 832 MHz processor offers a decent performance. So one can safely say that while the specs might not be really top of the line, they are more than adequate considering the price of the device.

Software: The new Bada

The Wave Y is running on Bada 2.0, the latest version of the OS that we earlier saw in the

58 MYMOBILE FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012

Wave III, with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI running on top of it. There are now eleven homescreen panels, with the first one just to host six live widgets. The remaining ten are marked as dots and can be increased or decreased. The live widgets currently include Calendar, News, Search, Weather, Stocks and Contacts. You can pinch to get all the panels on one pane to edit them. Another addition to the OS is the option to create folders which can be renamed and also posted on the homescreen. Once you log into your Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts on the phone through the Social Hub app, you get to choose whether you want to sync the contacts from

these accounts with your contact tab or not. Then you can see the latest activity and the photos of the contact in one go itself. However, viewing photos on these networks has to be done through the browser, despite the Social Hub app. Task managing capabilities also include task ending and there is also support for push notifications for e-mails as well as app updates. For e-mail, the phone comes with Exchange ActiveSync support along with pre-loaded settings for Hotmail, Google and Yahoo! Mail. You can set up other POP and IMAP accounts too. To compete with the popular chat apps like BBM, Samsung has introduced its own

ChatOn application. Once you register with your mobile number, the app scans your contacts and detects other people using this app and allows you to connect to them. The browser comes with full Flash support and multi-touch capabilities. There is a My Music link that gives access to a WAP site which has Bollywood related content along with various games and applications, and a Samsung App Store too from where you can download apps and games.

LOOKS

FEATURES

8 8 9

EASE OF USE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

OVERALL

Multimedia: Move and groove

For multimedia the device has a 2.0-mega-

FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012 MYMOBILE 59

 MARTIN PIETERS

Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Essar

ith power, comes the ability to bring change, usher in growth, equality, prosperity for the masses, be they in a country, state, industry segment or even an organization. My Mobile for the second year brings you the list of the most powerful people in the Indian telecommunications industry. These are the people who matter in the industry, whose every move makes an impact on India’s massive telecom market. Some are often in the spotlight. Others prefer to keep a lower profile. But all of them are critical for the health of Indian telecom. They are the powers of the massive kingdom that is Indian telecom.

FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012 MYMOBILE 21

Despite the highly competitive Indian market, Vodafone has written its own success story, thanks to a markedly different strategy. While the whole industry ran after advertising low tariffs, Vodafone urged consumers to do more with their phones. It simplified Value Added Services and brought down everything from Bollywood gossip to cooking recipes to a simple IVR platform. With the 3G roll outs in 2011, the company had 142 per cent year-on-year growth in terms of data subscribers at the end September 2011. Combine that with victory in the $2.2 billion win in the income tax case, and you can see why Martin Pieters occupies one of the most powerful places in the telecom industry.

 SANJAY KAPOOR

Chief Executive Officer – Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia)

One of the oldest telecom operators in the country, Airtel has always managed to command impressive consumer loyalty. It is the largest operator in the country with approximately 20 per cent volume market share and a substantially higher value market share of more than 30 per cent. Under the aegis of

Sanjay Kapoor, Airtel successfully rolled out 3G services in the country and has transformed itself from just a voice driven organisation to a voice and data driven one. It paved the way for a number of new value added services, be it m-commerce or launching of an application store for its consumers. It showed the confidence of a leader when it went right ahead and raised its pre-paid tariffs, despite all the hue and cry about competition, and gave other operators a chance of recovering from grim revenue situations. It also implemented the process of deactivating inactive connections to resolve the issue of subscriber figure inflation.

22 MYMOBILE FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012

FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012 MYMOBILE 23

I was glad to see a full page of my college’s fest in your magazine. I am a student of Hindu College and a regular reader of My Mobile magazine. I want to thank you for beautifully portraying our college’s annual fest Mecca 2012. It was really nice to see a magazine on mobile phones as most of us are usually clueless about which phone has what features. And it was great to get a free copy! -Hina, New Delhi

I think My Mobile is the only magazine offering detailed information on mobile phones. However, I would also like to get information about services like which operator is in which circle. It will be useful information and if possible new tariffs should also be a mentioned in the magazine. I also want to know about the Airtel Ad on customisable tariffs as I cannot find any information online -Vatsal, via Email The most informative parts in My Mobile magazine are the review and the price list of different devices. From a user perspective it is an informative magazine. The market is flooded with multiple brands in different price segments, a consumer easily gets confused. One can easily get tips to buy a device, which is a challenging task. I believe a user can follow the reviews and decide on buying a device so easily with this compact guide called My Mobile. -Himangsu, Assam CORRIGENDUM In power list published in Feb-Mar 2012 issue of My Mobile. Name of Mr. Marten Pieters, MD And CEO, Vodafone India was wrongly spelt as Martin Pieters. Inconvenience is deeply regretted

Today we are living in an app world where we can find applications for almost everything but I was not Women’s Safety? aware that there are There Are Apps For that apps for women safety I too. I found the feature very interesting. Applications for different mobile OS were mentioned which e the nd hav was a s e m n a drea ellpho n very useful. Also the finding revealed by a surc i t y u e o k also azy ab atest ines? vey mentioned in the story was quite alarming you cr pen a few l ews and can ds on the l you have it e r A and an eye opener for women living in metrofor n think ur han tial to politan cities. I found the article very useful and poten have a nose ve to lay yo em? If you dia’s to th u ra request your team to do such stories on a regular Do yo ? Do you c orld about sh your CV y Mobile, In w u ne basis. headli and tell the g for you. R r name in M n -Charru Singh, Mumbai ee you looki izmos WWW.MYMOBILE.CO.IN

SPOT LIGHT

a wide variety of situations that many women have to face ever day. I M SAFE

Ever been in a situation where you do not feel safe or would just like some help as soon as possible? There are applications on your phone that will help you do just that Heena Jatav t is a sad reflection of the times we live in that rare is the day which passes without news about crimes against women. According to recent survey conducted by Navteq, an accessories maker and map solution provider in association with TNS Global

Market Research, 51 per cent of Indian women surveyed feel unsafe travelling by themselves on Indian roads. The survey included a total of 760 respondents with 606 female participants between the age of 18 and 45. The purpose of the study was to assess Indian women’s transportation modes, travel behaviour and methods of obtaining guidance. The study showed 73 per cent of the women surveyed expressed fear for their physical safety when travelling at night. To find their way somewhere, most women preferred to seek directions from

friends and family before setting out while en-route in unfamiliar areas. In situations where women feel frightened or insecure, the first thing that comes to the mind of many is to take out their mobile phones and call their friends or relatives or parents. Yes, talking to a friend or a relative can be very reassuring in such situations, making one feel a lot less lonely, but it is not the only thing that a phone can do to make women safer. In fact, there are several applications that have been designed to get you out of a potentially dangerous situation – these range from apps that send out alerts to your near and dear that you are in trouble to conveying your location to those you trust to even sounding certain alarms to drive off your attackers. We have picked a few of these apps that work best for women when they feel that trouble is just around the corner. SELF DEFENSE FOR WOMEN

Availability- Android Price- Free Rather educative in approach, this app provides you with a number of suggestions and tricks on how to keep yourself out of danger. It teaches proactive offense and it tells ways of using common objects to assist you, should you find yourself in a tough spot. The app includes some real life stories to highlight how important it is for women to learn self defense. It teaches you different ways of countering a person who attacks you – yes, there are some combat tips in here as well. What we like most about the app is that it covers

86 MYMOBILE FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012

Availability- Android Price- Free The app lets you send your location to your parents or partner. You can configure a number that will consistently receive an SMS with your current GPS location. A user needs to put in the number to be informed and all other aspects will be taken care by app itself. GLYMPSE

Availability- Runs on all platforms Price- Free This app too is a simple way of keeping your well-wishers informed about your current location. You can send information via e-mail, SMS, Facebook or Twitter. To share your location, choose the contact you want to share your location with, choose duration for which you wish to do so, and press ‘Send’. The selected contact person will receive a Web link to view your current location and can see your location on a map within a browser.

that you wish to inform and can also choose how you want them to be contacted i.e. via e-mail or push notification. In settings, you can also choose from different alarms available and a contact person to send that alarm. You can also use Safety Cam in which you take a picture of a person who you think could harm you and use the ‘Send Panic’ button to send your GPS position to the people in your contact list with a message and mail.

SHAKEALERT

Availability- iPhone Price- Rs 48 (approx.) What we like about this app is its simplicity. All you need to do is configure it and the next time you feel threatened, just start the app and... well shake your phone. It will emit a screeching siren and with it an SMS will be sent to a person preselected by you in your contact list.

MY SECURITY APP

 Always keep the number of those you trust on speed dial.  Immediately dial ‘100’ if you feel that you are in danger 

If you feel lonely or threatened, doing something as simple as taking out a phone and talking on it can also deter attackers.

MY SOS PERSONAL SECURITY AND PEACE OF MIND

Availability- BlackBerry OS Price- Rs 74 This app turns your phone into a personal security device as it can instantly send SMS, emails and BBM message about your current GPS location to your parents or friends when you are in danger. It also contains an optional sound alarm that makes a shrieking sound which can be activated by simply tapping the phone screen. THE POWER OF NAVIGATION

ATTACK ALARM

Availability- BlackBerry OS Price- Rs 74 A clone of the ShakeAlert app, but for BlackBerry users, this app too emits a loud siren-like sound and alerts selected people of the fact that you might be in trouble. All it takes is a shake of the phone. SELF DEFENSE

Availability- iPhone Price- Rs 74 What makes this personal security app special is a friend tracker feature in which you can allow someone to keep an eye on you. The app works through GPS and you can add as many people in your contact list

Smart Safety Tips:

 Try to carry a pepper spray – a squirt can really make your attacker’s life miserable.

AvailabilityAndroid Price- Rs 67. 18 Another app with an accent on education, Self Defense tells you everything from potential predators you can come in contact with to how to react in difficult situations. The app not only reveals self defense methods for you but also for your children .

One can also use personal navigation devices and applications to feel safer. Even if they do not come with alert systems, they can make sure you do not get lost in unfamiliar territory by providing you sound routing solutions, averting the need to depend on strangers, which can be a bit risk especially in the early hours of the day. Rajat Tondon, director, Sales, Navteq India, a well known map solution provider for navigation systems, feels that women can benefit greatly from device ownership, through navigation app on cell phones, portable navigation devices or in-vehicle navigation systems. “Women in metros are stepping up to be independent as they drive on their own. For them we have two different kinds of navigations - one is car navigation and the other is pedestrian navigation. So, why to ask strangers if you can help yourself ?,” he points out. In fact, a recent survey revealed that four out of five women indicated that they feel more secure when travelling with a navigation device or app. So, if you ever feel threatened or less than secure, fear not – safety is just an app away on your handset. 

heena@mymobile.co.in

FEB 15 to MAR 14 2012 MYMOBILE 87

Hi, the review of Asha 200 in your last issue was really very useful. But I have a query, this handset is

10 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

s g re o.in to , we a in you mymobile.c e. n team@ bile magazi o m best

mobile doctor within Rs 10,000. It should have a 5.0-megapixel camera, with a sound operating system (preferably Android 2.3), video calling, 3G, good battery backup and Internet browsing.? -Mahender Singh It is very difficult to get an Android phone with video calling in this price range. If you really want video calling you can consider Nokia C5. However, in Android you can opt for Samsung Galaxy Fit but it does not have a secondary camera.. I want to buy a new phone and my budget is around Rs 2,000. I have chosen Samsung E2232. Please suggest? -Vinay Singh Samsung E2232 is a good choice. You can also consider Nokia C1-01.

I want to buy a dual SIM smartphone and have shortlisted two

Can I upgrade my smartphone running on Android 2.2 to Gingerbread?. -Abhishek Jha You have not mentioned your phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model. However, you can upgrade your Android phone only if your manufacturer has released an update. That is the safest option.

I want to buy a mobile phone and my budget is around Rs 9,000. It should have 3G, front facing camera, and a primary camera at the back with a flash. Please help me. -P. Patel Nokia C-5 fits into your budget and has a secondary camera, 3G and 3.15-megapixel camera with LED flash. I want to buy a full-touch screen mobile phone preferably from Sony Ericsson. Is there any phone from the brand in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000? -Aditya Kumar You can consider Sony Ericsson Walkman Mix in your budget. I would like to purchase an Android smartphone within Rs 20,000. My first prority is that it should have good web browsing capabilities. Its touchscreen should have good touch response. I've chosen Samsung Ace but I am also very fond of Sony Ericsson handsets. Please suggest is Sony Neo V a good option. I will be waiting for your suggestion. -Krishnendu Sil Sony Neo V is also a good choice. Yo can also consider Samsung Galaxy SL, Optimus Black and LG Sol. I want to purchase a smartphone

I have a budget of Rs 22,000. I have chosen two phones Nokia N8 and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. Please suggest which one I should go for. I want to use mobile banking on the phone and need a high definition camera (up to 8.0-megapixel) with video calling. -Ravi Ranjan Kumar If video calling is a priority then Nokia N8 is preferable as it has a secondary camera. Its 8.0-megapixel snapper is good too and the Symbian Belle upgrade has improved the interface. However Sony Xperia Arc has more applications and a good camera.

devices LG Optimus Net and Samsung Galaxy Y Duos. Please suggest which one is better? -Shanmugam Both the phones are good in terms of dual SIM capabilities but in a touchscreen phone Samsung Galaxy Y Duos has a better interface. I have a Nokia N73 handset but it does not show Hindi font. Please suggest how can I get Hindi font on my phone?. -Arvind Sagar You can download application like Panini Keypad on your phone to get Hindi functionality in a safe manner.

12 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

I need a mobile phone within Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000. I am thinking of buying Blackberry 9780 but am getting confused as there are so many options available on Android platform. Can you help me?. -Gyanranjan Majhi In your budget you can go for an Android phone like Samsung Galaxy Ace, Motorola Defy+ and Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro. All of which are good options. I want to buy a phone but I am confused between Android phone, Blackberry and Nokia phones. My budget is Rs 15,000. Please suggest which phone I should go for? -Ahmad Rezat It is very difficult to compare BlackBerry to Android. If you need a phone for extensive messaging, BlackBerry Messenger and email then go for BlackBerry. On the other hand, Android phones have more number of applications and

variety of models. I want to buy a new mobile phone and I have shortlisted Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, Nokia C6-01, Nokia C7, Nokia 700. I want a phone with good camera and music features. Can you suggest the order of preference? -Sibi George Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman is an Android phone with good music capabilities. The Nokia N700 too is a good phone with Belle interface and good camera and music capabilities. Nokia C7 on the other hand has been dicontinued. I want to buy a touchscreen Nokia phone with all the features of Nokia E5. My Budget is up to Rs 12,000. -Shashank Pathak If you are looking for a Nokia touchscreen with almost all features of the E5, you can go for the Nokia C6 as it is a Touch+QWERTY, Symbian phone. However it will cost around Rs 16,000. I have shortlisted two phones Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and HTC Wildfire S. I want a good camera and also a good processor speed for efficient multitasking. My budget is Rs 12,000. -Ashima Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini has a good camera while the HTC Widlfire S has a bigger screen you can choose as per your priority between them.

Is your mobile phone acting strange? Email your queries at team@mymobile.co.in and our mobile doctor Arshdeep Singh will suggest remedies for your ailing device. Disclaimer: The views expressed by Arshdeep Singh are his own and do not necessarily coincide with those of My Mobile.

consumer forum Complaint 1 I am using Airtel Mobile Services (Mumbai Circle), and would like to bring it to your notice that I had requested for mobile number portability from Airtel to Tata DoCoMo 28 days ago. Despite constant reminders and regular bill payments the request has been rejected and neglected for atleast six times. Dissappointment still continues, because whenever I text for number portability there are calls from Airtel for new schemes and offers. Inspite of clear rejection of the schemes offered to me by Airtel, my number portability request remains rejected. When I call customer care they simply say that I had accepted their new offer. This clearly shows how irresponsible Airtel is as it is not allowing its subscribers to port numbers. I am really upset about it and request you to look into the matter. -Sushant Pran Bhagat Airtel’s Reply Awaited

Complaint 2 I had purchased a BlackBerry 9800 Torch from 'Mobile City', Calicut in March 2011. In August 2011 a problem occurred in its display as it started bulging and falling out. So, I submitted my warranty criteria as the LCD slider had to be changed and they told me that I will have to pay around Rs 7,000 to get my phone repaired. My phone was not even an year old and no physical damage or mishandling had been done with it. It was an issue with the phone’s component and not mishandling but the company is not ready to understand. Please help me in getting my grievance addressed. -Rajan. K BlackBerry’s Reply Awaited.

FORM IV (see rule 8) My Mobile 1.

Place of publication

Periodicity of its publication :

Monthly

Printer's Name

Pankaj Mohindroo

Nationality

Indian

New Delhi

Address :

#25, First Floor Shankar Market Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001.

Publisher's Name

Pankaj Mohindroo

Nationality

Indian

Address :

#25, First Floor Shankar Market Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001.

Editor's Name

Pankaj Mohindroo

Nationality

Indian

Address :

#25, First Floor Shankar Market Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001.

6. Name and addresses of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholder' holding more than one per cent of the total capital: OWNER Pankaj Mohindroo, #25, First Floor Shankar Market Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001. I, Pankaj Mohindroo, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Complaint 3 I am using an Idea prepaid (North East Circle) connection since past one year. Even though, I don't subscribe to any additional service, a service called Videshi Tashan gets automatically activated on my number. This has been going on for the past four months. I have tried calling and registering my complaint with the customer care but it has proven to be ineffective so far and every time Rs 20 gets deducted from my phone. Please help me in getting rid of this problem. - Avibo Sumi Idea’s Reply Awaited.

14 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

Complaint 4 I am an Airtel subscriber. On 11 Feb 2012, when I was downloading a program from YouTube, suddenly Rs 99 were deducted from my main balance. I felt shocked. When I called the customer care on 12th Feb 2012, they told me that some games service had been activated on my number through Airtel Live. I don't know how it got activated on my number. Their was no confirmation SMS from Airtel that this service had been activated on my number and it would cost Rs 99. I had a data plan of 1 GB, valid upto 19 Feb, 2012. Please help me. -RK Rajeshor Singh Airtel’s Reply Awaited Consumer’s Reply My problem has been resolved.

Are you being harassed by a celco that doesn’t hear your plea? Email your issues to consumer-forum@my mobile.co.in and we will take up your cause with the concerned company. Kindly mention your contact number at the end of the Email so that we can get in touch with you. Whenever possible, also provide us complete details of the correspondence with the celco.

FINDING IS FUN.

A long-lost childhood buddy’s house, a client’s office or any address under the sun, MapmyIndia GPS leads you straight to your precise destination.

INDIA'S BEST CAR NAVIGATION & ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS PORTABLE NAVIGATORS

IN-DASH NAVI-TAINMENT SYSTEMS

CARPAD

8.9 cm to 12.7 cm Touch Screens GPS Navigation Bluetooth Hands-free Reverse Camera Support Multimedia Playback Maps available for international travel

16.5 cm to 20.3 cm full HD Touch Screens GPS Navigation DVD, Music Player & FM Radio USB, iPod & SD card support Steering Wheel Controls Bluetooth Hands-free & Audio-Streaming Reverse Camera Support

17.8 cm Touch Screen Tablet Phone Connected Car Navigation bundled with Car-Kit Stay connected with 3G & Social Hubs Pocket entertainment and apps on the go Perfect for use in-car and on the move Powered by Snapdragon & Android OS

India's Best Navigation Experience Instant Location Search 

 Live, Turn-by-turn Voice and Map Guidance

6 lakh towns and villages covered across India   1200 cities with street-level detail

 18 cities with house address level detail Languages  Augmented Reality with 3D landmarks Building footprints across major Indian cities Over 50 lakh destinations like ATMs, Restaurants etc.    Voice Support in English, Hindi and 8 Regional

NAVIGATION SYSTEM OF THE YEAR

Call: 011-46009999,+91-99993 33223/4

FIND EVERYTHING. GO ANYWHERE

AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

SMS: GPSto56767

ADVISOR PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

Visit: www.mapmyindia.com

NEWS bits operators & tariffs

MTS spreads out its high speed data card footprint in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh MTS, the national telecom service run by Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), has announced the expansion of its high-speed mobile broadband service, MBlaze, by making it available in twenty towns across the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala circles. The launched services are set to roll out in five towns in Gujarat (Mehsana, Ankleshwar, Halol, Kadi, Kalol), nine towns in Kerala (Kunnathangadi, Angadippuram, Thenhippalam, Vadanappally, Chalakkudy, Thodupuzha Kayamkulam, Attingal, Thrikkannapuram) and six towns in Andhra Pradesh (Mehboobnagar, Nalgonda, Bhimavaram, Chittor, Medak and Sangareddy).

Bharti Airtel appoints Nokia Siemens to supply 4G network in Maharashtra Bharti Airtel, one of India’a leading service providers, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to build and operate its TD-LTE (time division duplex long term evolution) network in Maharashtra. The launch of commercial TD-LTE services later this year will offer Bharti Airtel subscribers in Maharashtra a much improved experience when using bandwidth-intensive applications, with more consistent network coverage and faster response times (low latency). Bharti Airtel will deploy its TD-LTE network in the 2.3 GHz frequency band allocated by the Indian Government for broadband wireless access (BWA) technologies.

Vodafone, Seagram’s Imperial Blue sign up as Official Sponsors of World Series Hockey Hot on the heels of Bridgestone, a joint initiative between the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Nimbus Sport bagging the title sponsorship of the inaugural World Series Hockey, leading brands Vodafone and Seagram’s Imperial Blue have signed up as Official sponsors of the event. The Bridgestone World Series Hockey kick started on February 29, 2012, and will involve 200 leading players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 59 matches and vie for the biggest prize money for a hockey tournament in the world. The venues for the matches are Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Jalandhar, Mumbai and Pune.

Value Added Services/Applications/ Games ibibo goes the Apple way

ibibo, one of India’s leading social gaming portals, has revealed to My Mobile that it will launch its gaming application on iOS very soon. Social games on ibibo.com have been popular amongst game lovers who have been playing these games not only on social networking platforms but also on Java, Android and Symbian handsets. The company has a very popular set of social games like FarmVille and Teen Patti offering entertainment to gamers. It offers localised games based on concepts that range from word or text-based games to role playing games. ibibo also has a handset agnostic offering with WAP versions.

Apple phone users get a bubbly platform for voice blogging Bubble Motion, a voice blogging based social communicating service for mobile phones has announced the launch of its new Bubbly social voice application for the iPhone. The first smartphonecompatible version of the service has been launched for iPhone, and an Android version is likely to be seen in the coming days. The app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. The social messaging service allows users to share SMS and short voice updates with not just friends but celebrities that they choose to follow. It works on the Twitter-based theme wherein people can follow and have followers, and comes with a voice feature. One can create posts, or Bubbles, in their own voices via their iPhones and let their followers hear what they have to say. The application supports audio but not videos, as of now. The Bubbly app is free for the first 30 days of accessing celebrities’ content, but will require a payment of $2.99 (about Rs 150) after that period to unlock premium celebrity content.

MapmyIndia launches portable 3D Navigator MapmyIndia, the seller of portable navigation devices and maps, has launched Zx250, a portable 3D navigator which offers life-like experience with full 3D landmarks, 3D buildings and 3D elevation across hills and mountains, besides house-level search, built-in city and travel guides, and detailed trip computer with turn-by-turn voice instructions. The Zx250 has a 12.7 cm touch screen with music player, movie player and digital photo frame functions. It has an inbuilt memory of 2GB which can be expandable up to 8GB with a MicroSD card. The device can be connected with a phone over Bluetooth, enabling hands-free calling, and also has an ambient light sensor, automatically adjusting screen brightness according to surroundings. There’s an AV-in slot to connect a camera. Powered by Aura, MapmyIndia’s latest 3D navigation software, the device comes with the company’s latest Maps v7.0 including premium content which offers deep map details.

With Ditto TV, watch live TV and videos on demand on mobile The digital arm of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE), Zee New Media, has launched its TV distribution platform, Ditto TV, which offers Live TV channels and on demand video content to consumers on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, entertainment boxes and connected TVs. This will allow Internet enabled devices to have access to a collection of content from genres like GEC, sports, lifestyle and news. Ditto TV will be available on just in India but also in the global markets of UK, UAE, New Zealand and Australia with the US expected to follow by the end of this quarter. Currently hosting a total of 21 channels, Ditto TV has already partnered for content with Multi Screen Media (Sony Entertainment Television), TV Today Network, BBC, and ZEE. Ditto TV expects to offer a complete set of 50 channels shortly. Ditto TV is available in the form of an application on the iTunes App Store, Android Market, and the BlackBerry Application World.

16 MYMOBILE MAR 15 to apr 14 2012

NEWS bits HANDSETS & MORE Smartphones sales soared in Q4 2011- Gartner According to the latest report released by Gartner, an information technology research and advisory company, worldwide smartphone sales to end users soared to 149 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 47.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2010. Total smartphone sales in 2011 reached 472 million units and accounted for 31 per cent of all mobile devices sales, up 58 per cent from 2010. Smartphone volumes during the quarter rose due to record sales of Apple’s iPhone. As a result, Apple became the third-largest mobile phone vendor in the world, overtaking LG. IT also became the world’s top smartphone vendor, with a market share of 23.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, and the top smartphone vendor for 2011 on the whole, with a 19 per cent market share. LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Research In Motion (RIM) again recorded disappointing results. Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 476.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 5.4 per cent increase from the same period in 2010. In 2011 as a whole, end users bought 1.8 billion units, an 11.1 per cent increase from 2010.

Samsung unleashes dual SIM smartphone magic Samsung Electronics has entered the dual SIM smartphone market in India with the launch of the Galaxy Ace Duos (SCH-i589), Galaxy Y Pro Duos (GT B5512) and Galaxy Y Duos (GT-S6102). With the announcement of these handsets, Samsung has strengthened its dual SIM portfolio which includes feature phones like the Samsung Star 3 Duos and the recently released Samsung Champ Deluxe Duos (C3312). The Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos (SCH-i589) which runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, comes with Dual SIM Dual Active technology that supports one GSM network and one CDMA. The Galaxy Y Pro Duos (GT B5512) is the first Android based dual SIM QWERTY bar device from Samsung with GSM +GSM network support. Samsung Galaxy Y Duos (GT-S6102) is Samsung’s first full touch dual SIM device, while the Samsung Champ Deluxe Duos (C3312) and Samsung Star 3 Duos both support two GSM networks.

Policy & Regulation TRAI recommends Rs 600 Cr subsidy for BSNL for rural telephony In order to maintain rural wireline connections installed before April 1st, 2002, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended a subsidy of Rs 600 to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The Department of Telelcom (DoT) has sought TRAI’s recommendations regarding continuation of support from USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund) towards rural wireline connections installed beforethis date. BSNL was requested to provide location wise numbers of such working rural lines, revenues and expenditures corresponding to these lines. To continue getting support from the USO fund, BSNL asserted that rural wirelines are key to broadband adoption in rural areas. It, therefore, requested TRAI to recommend to DOT for provision of continued support to these rural lines.

Telecom subscription witnesses growth: TRAI

Indian handset manufacturer Micromax Informatics has entered into an agreement with Nimbus Sport to sponsor Cricket Asia Cup 2012. The event will be now called Micromax Asia Cup 2012. The Asia Cup is one of the subcontinent’s premier cricketing events which feature the top four cricket teams of the region(India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), who will be battling to secure the title of Champions of Asia. One of the most exciting and awaited cricket events of the year, the Micromax Asia Cup 2012 will be hosted by Bangladesh and will comprise seven ODIs. It is scheduled to start from 11 March and will continue till March 23.

According to latest data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 6 March 2012, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 936.12 million at the end of January, 2012 from 926.53 million at the end of December 2011, thereby registering a growth rate of 1.04 per cent. The share of urban subscribers has declined to 65.7 per cent from 65.9 per cent whereas thatof rural subscribers increased to 34.21 per cent in the month of January 2012. With this, the overall teledensity in India has reached 77.57 at the end of January, 2012 from 76.86 of the previous month. Mobile Number Portability requests also increased from 29.24 million subscribers at the end of December 2011 to 32.79 million at the end of January 2012. In the month of January 2012 alone, 3.55 million requests have been made for MNP. Active wireless subscribers on the date of peak VLR in January 2012 were 659.97 million. Broadband subscription reached 13.42 million in January 2012 from 13.30 million in December 2011.

Now tap to connect your headset

TRAI demands more teeth

Micromax sponsors the biggest cricket championship in Asia

Nokia has launched the NFC-enabled Bluetooth stereo headset, Nokia Luna, in India. All you need to connect the headset to a NFC-supporting phone is tap the back of its holder with the phone. The headset is also compatible with any Bluetooth mobile handset and comes in different colours options of White, Fuschia, Green and Blue. The compact product weighs only 5 grams and claims to offer up to sixty days of standby and eight hours of talk time. It also features voice prompts to alert the user of battery life status and walk them through pairing with a non-NFC phone. The Nokia Luna is available at a price of Rs 4530.

18 MYMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has requested the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to give it the powers of a civil court. This will help it to secure compliance of operators in the interest of the public. Exercising its existing powers, TRAI has come out with regulations to check unsolicited calls where it has provision to impose penalties on telemarketers. It has also demanded to be self financed. DoT is ready with the new National Telecom Policy and is expected to present it to the cabinet for approval by 21 March 2012.

fa c e t o fa c e

“Language, Video and Entertainment are our core areas of focus” Amidst stiff competition, Yahoo! still remains a force to reckon with on the Web. And it is now looking to recapture its glorious past. Nitin Mathur, senior director & head of marketing, Yahoo! India, tells us exactly how it plans to do so Heena Jatav from and they are coming from tier-II and tier-III towns. They are all literate but comfortable in consuming content on Internet in their own language and if you make it available in it, then it becomes easier. We have partnered with some newspapers for vernacular content so they are in the market in partnership mode, where editorial content is really coming from these partners and what Yahoo! brings is its technology platform which makes it easier for editors to work on.

What will be Yahoo!’s core areas of focus for 2012? 2012 will have three key pillars from our consumer audience perspective. One is ‘Language.’ We will deepen our language offerings and make sure that we will have that six languages running and get consumer traction as well. Second is ‘Video.’ We launched Yahoo! Video earlier last year and the proposition is really about original license content. The third vertical is ‘Entertainment.’ Entertainment is a broad bucket which has lifestyle, movies, celebrity news, etc. So we really want to focus on that. You would see us going deeper into Yahoo OMG! which is a celebrity gossip site. Do tell us more about the developments happening on the regional language front? Language is a very critical play for us because when we think as a new player, we need to think about where are the new users coming

What is Yahoo!’s strategy as regards social networking and how you are developing it for your consumers? Our strategy is necessarily about creating a social destination. We think ‘social’ more as a behavior. The direction in which we are encouraging people to draw their social graph in Yahoo! is very different. We are focused on social discovery of content because there is a lot of content we share on social sites and we want to go deep and rich into that. We want to use all sorts of social tools to help people share that content on the Web. For example, we have recently launched a functionality called ‘Social Bar’ which is basically your social activity on Yahoo! in which you choose to connect your Yahoo! and Facebook accounts. You can see your friends and their activities. Yahoo! is thus slightly ahead of the curve here - rather than trying to become a social destination itself, we are taking advantage of this curve and integrating these services into

20 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

our services, not just on PCs but on mobiles as well. So that is one example how we are helping people draw their social graph and leverage it on Yahoo! in a particular context. Globally 30 million people have already opted for this feature within two months of its launch. Yahoo! Messenger is one of your popular services. How many users does it currently have and what growth do you expect? For numbers, we really look at the client numbers on PCs, and we have 3.8 million users globally. Specific client category per se is declining because chatting on internet as a behavior has moved to other platforms as well. The basic version of Messenger is about chatting with text messages. So people who are interested in a richer experience around messaging are definitely our hard core fans but other casual chatting users have moved to other platforms like BBM, Facebook Chat etc. Another front on which a lot has been happening is that of mobile applications. What is Yahoo! doing in this regard? We have recently launched an app called “Into Now” in US, which will take some time to be available in India. The app runs on iOS and Android. It is among the top applications on iTunes right now. What it does is that it syncs up the program you are watching on television with your smartphone or iPad and can give information about that program or about any particular episode and you can also comment on it. It is another example of how content is becoming more relevant socially. n heena@mymobile.co.in

To Get Discount

chief speak

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are Bringing the Best of Intel to Phonesâ&#x20AC;? What inspired Intel to get into the fiercely competitive smartphone market? How does it fit into Intelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT legacy plans? We are in the midst of driving a series of transformations. These are being fuelled by computing experiences that the consumers are demanding. What we are doing is that we are bringing the best of Intel computing to phones. If you look at the characteristics of how people are using phones, consumers are spending less than 10 per cent of time on phones calls, especially in the smartphone category. Everything else that they are doing is very computing related whether it is browsing, searching, taking pictures and sharing them, listening to the music, watching videos, etc. What kind of opportunity do you see in India? The Indian market has been a market driven by a firsttime basic phone buyer. But now it has turned into a replacement market and much of it is being driven by feature phones and smartphones. It is said that the smartphone growth in the Indian market is three times more compared to the rest of the world. So the Indian market offers a huge opportunity for us. We are going to be bringing in a reference design that delivers leading edge performance and very energy efficient usage. The first phone that we have enabled offers a very rich imaging experience in the form of an 8.0-megapixel camera that can essentially take 10 pictures in one second. It will be able to play 1080p high definition videos, with HDMI connectivity and will have 14 days of standby time. Do tell us about your partnership with Lava for the first smartphone that you have announced in India... Partnerships are very important to us. At the beginning of this year we had announced two partnerships with Lenovo in China and with Motorola. Recently two more partnerships were announced that will get us into essentially two markets of Western Europe with Orange and India with Lava. The essence of our partnership with Lava is that we are attempting to enter a market with a player that has built their business and has a lot of breadth and depth in the market. We will bring the best of our technology to mobile devices and it gives Lava a great opportunity to enter the premium smartphone segment and

22 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

It may be best known for being ‘inside’ most computers in the world, but Intel now has every intention of being just as omnipresent in handsets. The company announced a range of smartphones at the Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, including the Xolo X900 in collaboration with Lava. We caught up with Prashanth Adiraju, director-New Platforms Business Group, Intel South Asia to know more about company’s smartphone strategy Sonia Sharma and Nimish Dubey compete with already established brands in the market. The essence of our strategy is that India is one of the fastest growing markets and we see this as an opportunity to enter a high growth segment and provide Intel’s computing capability to the smartphone segment.

14 million developers that we have today. It will be very much a standard-based ecosystem as we have always had historically and the best piece of this will be the multi-platform support where we will drive a technology to support various operating system environments.

Was it a conscious decision to go with a relatively new brand in a market like India? Partnering with local brands gives us an ability to address the local market need in terms of what the Indian smartphone user wants. Currently it is a focused effort that we are driving with one partner. Over the course of time you should fully expect our other partners to bring in products to India as they too will perceive it as a high growth market.

Your first phone is on Android. What happens to MeeGo, especially with Nokia not planning to launch any other phones on that platform? We are trying to push an operating system around the whole open source Linux environment. That effort will continue and since the announcements that we have made around our Tizen operating system, the effort will be in that direction. We are not abandoning MeeGo and are committed to it. Tizen will be built up on MeeGo to deliver that multi-device platform and we believe that ultimately we will be able to create a very strong ecosystem with leading service providers and OEMs. Our focus will be to transition consumers from the MeeGo ecosystem to Tizen ecosystem. Tizen’s proposition is that you will be able to use the latest HTML 5 for application development, be able to bring true open source ecosystem, take advantage of the innovation and differentiation being delivered by the ecosystem partners and ultimately get a solid backing from the industry leaders. So it will accelerate time to market and lower the complexity and cost some of the OEMs have to deal with in regard to the whole multidevice segment. However this is a very long journey and today we are going with Android. We are optimising the Android core to run better on the Intel architecture in the near term. But I fully expect that in the coming years our technology will be around multiple operating environments including Tizen.

How many phones can we expect on the Intel platform this year? We are going to be focusing on two vectors. First, we will be delivering a high performance smartphones. This is basically a smartphone that will deliver the best of computing technology that Intel can deliver. You will see products based on Intel technology along these lines. The second vector will be to address the lower cost mainstream smartphone market. You will actually see products based on that part of the roadmap come out in the latter part of the year. So through 2012, these two strategies will essentially be delivered by our partners. Are there any synergies that you expect to draw from you being a leading player in the IT business to succeed in the smartphone market? The best way to think about it is as the evolution of computing - starting from our core business strength around PCs and servers, and now getting extended to a whole host of other products like mobile phones, tablets, etc. The common thing that is fuelling this multi-device ecosystem is that no one device will be able to give what consumers are looking for and it is more than likely that the consumers will end up owning three or four such devices. From the technology strength standpoint, we are going to be delivering advanced semi conductor technology. We will also drive our architectural innovations around applications with a wide network of more than

How do you see the role of a solution provider like Intel change with time? The experiences are going to evolve in four dimensions. The consumers will want an engaging and immersive experience. Secondly, they would want it to be constant across multiple devices in a multi-device environment. The third thing is that the computing platform has to be very aware of the user’s preference and can intelligently find information for them accordingly.

And lastly, being able to deliver a secure online experience. We will be bringing these for the consumers. Will we see you entering into alliances for tablets too? We are making a very conscious effort to deliver a great experience on the Windows 8 platform. So what you will essentially see is a whole host of products coming in the Windows 8 ecosystem. We are building a very ground-up Atom platform for the OS which will be able to deliver a very compelling experience around Windows 8. Windows tablets, Android phones – isn’t that a bit fragmented? There will be Android tablets in the future to. We expect that the best Windows experience will be on Windows 8. By when can we see products running on Tizen OS? Products on the Tizen platform will be out in the middle of this year. But I would like to reiterate that it is a very long term strategy because its going to take some time to develop an ecosystem around it. We are currently focused on driving volumes around Windows tablets and Android phones. Don’t you think that another OS will just fragment the market further? Fundamentally there is space for three or four operating systems in the market. What we are trying to do is to nurture the availability and choice for our partners around an open source operating environment, because it has significant advantages in terms of driving innovation, reducing time to market, and providing flexibility to our partners. We are investing in creating an alternate choice for them Finally, what can the consumer expect from an Intel smartphone? The best of Intel computing is what a consumer can expect and when you talk about it, it is essentially being able to deliver the best browsing experience, camera experience, video experience and battery efficiency. So expect a very leading performance, energy-efficient device with the quality and reliability of Intel technology. n sonia@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 23

mwc

MWC:

Rocking the Mobile World With hardware features being commoditised, it has become a software game for smartphones too. One might have the best of specs but gets beaten due to a dated operating system. But operating system upgrades are changing the game completely and here are the phone which are back to enthrall you with upgraded software

Harshita Ratogi and Heena Jatav

24 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

or a few days every year, the Spanish city of Barcelona plays host to one of the biggest events on the technological calendar, the Mobile World Congress (MWC). For this period, the city gets transformed into the holy land of mobile technology, with just about everyone who matters in the tech world arriving to participate or just witness events unfold. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MWC was no different. We saw a plethora of products ranging from the insanely

innovative to the predictably humdrum being showcased and launched by a number of brands, reputed and unknown alike. There were apps, accessories, tablets and of course, cellphones galore â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a feast for all those who love the mobile side of technology, be it on the personal or enterprise side. While we would like nothing more than delving into just about every product launched at the event in some detail, we are constrained by space (and time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it would take ages to do

them ALL justice). So here in our opinion, are the nine products that stood out at MWC 2012 and which we think we will be hearing a lot of in the coming days. And given the fact that many worthies unveiled at Barcelona have never made it to Indian shores, we will keeping our fingers crossed that we see the ones discussed here to be launched in the Indian market sooner rather than later. But for now, let us feast on what we thought were the star performers at MWC 2012.

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 25

mwc

Nokia PureView 808

Count the megapixels please! Yay | A 41 megapixel camera sensor, courtesy Carl Ziess Optics Nay | Not the prettiest or most svelte device we have seen. Expect it in | The next quarter (in Europe) What it will cost | 450 Euros (expected) It might not be the dominant player in the mobile world that it was a few years ago, but Nokia remains a force to be reckoned with, notwithstanding all the obituaries being trotted out by cynics. And the company showed us once again that it had the wherewithal to surprise everyone when it unveiled the PureView 808 at Barcelona this year. It boasted very decent specifications in general, but what really grabbed the world’s attention was its massive 41 megapixel camera sensor, which on paper had a higher megapixel count than most DSLR cameras. While the jury is out on whether a cellphone camera actually needs that many pixels, the stark fact is that the device has the potential to redefine cameraphones as we know them with images that have richer detail than ever before. And this being a Nokia camera phone, there are no shortages of shooting options. We are going to be hearing a lot more about this device in the coming days – it already has sparked off a massive debate on the importance of megapixels in a camera. The rest of its specs are respectable too – a 1.3 GHz processor, 4.0- inch touchscreen display, NFC support, 16 GB storage capacity, and every connectivity option you would like. And running beneath the hood is the OS that many thought was dead – Symbian Belle!

26 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Nokia Lumia 610

Affordable Windows Yay | A Windows Phone at THAT price! Nay | Looks just like the Lumia 710, whose price has come down too. Expect it in | The second quarter of 2012 What it will cost | 189 Euros (US$254) When Nokia had joined hands with Microsoft, many of us had wondered if it would be able to retain its value for money strength with a platform that was as resource hungry as Windows Phone. With the Lumia 610, Nokia has shown that it can do just that. While it does look a lot like the Lumia 710 with its rounded corners, what will wow users is the fact that it too runs Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) albeit on a relatively more modest processor (800 MHz single-core Snapdragon S1). It packs in 256 MB of RAM and comes with 8 GB of non-expandable storage. It boasts a 3.7 WVGA TFT LCD screen, a 5.0 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, and comes with connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. And in keeping with its recent strategy of promoting handsets in different shades, the Lumia 610 will also come in a variety of colours such as Cyan, White, Black and Magenta. But most important of all is its rumoured price, which many say will be closer to Rs 10,000 than Rs 15,000, making it one of the most powerful smartphones in that segment. If it does come in with that price tag, Android would face its first real challenge for a while. And consumers will have reason to cheer.

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 27

mwc

28 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Sony Xperia P

Slim Smarty Yay | WhiteMagic display technology and THAT shape Nay | Android 2.3 (upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich expected later) Expect it in | The second quarter of this year What it will cost | € 449 (expected) The era of Sony Ericsson is over, thanks to the split between Sony and Ericsson. And now comes the era of Sony Xperia. And the Xperia P is an indication, this era could be something special. Designed in a delightful minimalistic way which brings to mind the glory days of Sony Ericsson, the Xperia P comes with a precision crafted, full aluminium unibody, and at 10.5 mm thickness is svelte without being unduly anorexic. But it is not just about stylish looks – the Xperia P comes with a 4-inch touchscreen display that showcases Sony’s WhiteMagic display technology, which makes for perfectly clear viewing even in broad daylight. On board also is a 8.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and Sony’s Exmor R for mobile CMOS Sensor technology, and a powerful 1 GHz dual core processor. Running the beast will be Android 2.3.7, which is a bit of a disappointment as we thought we had already entered the Ice Cream Sandwich era (Sony is promising an upgrade later). The phone will be available in three colours - Black, Silver and Red. A better combination of style and substance might be difficult to find.

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 29

mwc

LG Optimus Vu

LG takes Note! Yay | 5.0 inch high res display, stylus Nay | Android 2.3 (so 2011, no?) Expect it in | March (in Korea as an LTE device) What it will cost | $ 890 (expected) Is this a case of Korean competition? After Samsung took on the might of the iPhone with its large screened, stylus toting Galaxy Note, LG now seems to be borrowing a chapter from the same book. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Optimus Vu, just like the Note, is an attempt to occupy the middle ground that exists between a tablet and a smartphone. It packs in a 5.0-inch high resolution display with a 4:3 aspect ratio in a body that is amazingly only 8.5 mm thick. And it packs a decent enough punch in tech spec terms - it is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, has 1GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory with a micro SD card slot for extra storage, an 8.0-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front camera, and a host of connectivity options. And oh yes, it has a stylus too. Sounds familiar? Well, if the Galaxy Noteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sales are any indication, we cannot see too many consumers complaining. We are a bit surprised to see the hardware of this powerful running Android 2.3, though. LG has assured users of an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich in the coming days. Point noted!

30 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Bigger than before Yay | Dual core processor and stylus Nay | Does a 10.1 inch tablet NEED a stylus? Expect it in | The second quarter of this year What it will cost | Rs 35,000 (expected) We had not even finished debating about whether the Samsung Galaxy Note was a tablet or a phone, when Samsung released a new avatar of it at Barcelona that was definitely a tablet. As its name indicates, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 features a 10.1 inch display that is almost twice in size that of its predecessor. It also comes with the pressure sensitive S Pen which is larger and thicker than the one with Note. Powering the device is a dual core 1.4 GHz processor, but where it seems to have ceded ground to the original Note is in photography – the Note 10.1 comes with a 3.0-megapixel camera (capable of shooting HD video) and a 2.0megapixel front-facing one. However, it more than compensates by packing in some very powerful software. The Note 10.1 runs on the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, and also comes preloaded with Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas, making it a device that artists and designers might line up for. It will be available with 16, 32 and 64 GB Internal memory with 1 GB RAM, with MicroSD card support, and connectivity options that include A-GPS, Bluetooth v3.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct. Not a phablet this. But just as compelling.

Adobe Photoshop Touch for iPad2

The ultimate photo tweaking app on the iPad! Yay | Photoshop goodness on the iPad! Nay | Works only with the iPad 2. Expect it in | It is already available on the iTunes App Store. Expected Price | $9.99 and that’s final! One of the major quibbles that many people have had with the iPad is the relative paucity of “real” productivity apps. However, that seems to be coming to an end with rumours of Microsoft readying a version of MS Office for the iPad and Adobe revealing Photoshop Touch for the iPad at the MWC. While there has been a stripped down version of Photoshop (called Photoshop Express) available for iOS devices for a while now, what we saw at Barcelona was every inch the real McCoy, complete with layers, selection tools, adjustments and filters. And these have evidently been designed keeping in mind the navigation and touch interface of the iPad. Users can choose images from multiple sources which includes social sites like Facebook and online image search engines like Google Image Search, or a live feed from the tablet’s camera directly. The Scribble Selection feature can be used to extract objects in an image by removing the irrelevant part of the image. Projects can be uploaded to Adobe Creative Cloud and can also be printed wirelessly using AirPrint. If you are the type that loves playing around with images on a professional level, then Adobe might just have served up the app that could make you ditch your hefty notebook. Mind you, we wish it worked on the older iPad as well. And did not quite cost as much as $ 9.99.

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 31

mwc HTC One X

Click, flick and go Yay | Quad core processor Nay | Expected to cost a bomb! Expect it in | April-May What it will cost | £492 It might not have had the best of times of late, but HTC seems set to try and regain lost smartphone ground with devices like the One X, which is revealed at Barcelona. The phone which comes with a large 4.7 inch display is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, making it one of the most powerful handheld devices around. Also on board are a 8.0-megapixel camera, 32 GB internal storage, 1 GB RAM and a host of connectivity options, including NFC for the first time in a HTC handset. The camera comes with HTC’s ImageChip and with Always Focus and Continuous Shooting, while on the sound side, HTC continues its alliance with Beats Audio to ensure that users get deep, rich sound. And praise be, unlike some other manufacturers who have introduced powerful handsets on older versions of Android, the One X will come with Ice Cream Sandwich running out of the box. And running on top of which will be a new version of HTC’s iconic Sense interface, Sense 4.0. It is not likely to come cheap. It is likely to be worth every penny, though.

Lava XOLO X900

Lava with Intel Inside Yay | 1.6 GHz Intel Medfield processor Nay | Android 2.3 Gingerbread (yes, again!) Expect it in | The second quarter of this year What it will cost | Rs 20,000 ( expected) The iconic Intel Inside logo is set to be seen on smartphones as well this year and the first one to make its way into the Indian market is likely to be the XOLO X900. And as you would expect, the device with the chip giant’s name on it packs in a very powerful processor – a Medfield 1.6 GHz processor which is

single core but according to many pundits who saw it in action, was every bit as nippy as its multiple-cored competition. Of course, the processor is only part of what seems to be a very powerful package indeed – it comes with a 4.3 inch touchscreen, NFC capabilities, HDMI connectivity for HD output and HD video playback, and an 8.0 megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p HD video. Keep an eye peeled for the camera in particular – it allows users shots at 15 frames per second with 8.0 megapixel quality. Why it runs on Android 2.3, we know not. We just hope it will get bumped up to Ice Cream Sandwich in the coming days. Intel Inside deserves no less.

32 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD

Huawei’s quad core beast Yay | 1.5 GHz quad core processor Nay | An 8.0-megapixel camera on a 10.1 inch tablet? Expect it in | The second quarter of this year. What it will cost | No idea as of now (really!) Although it has been one of the early movers, Huawei has not exactly been making waves in the tablet space. That could change with the MediaPad 10 FHD which it showed off at the MWC. The fourth generation tablet from Huawei – it comes after the S7, S7 Slim and MediaPad – not only runs the latest version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) but also features a 10.1 inch IPS high definition display and most important of all, is powered by Huawei’s proprietary 1.5 GHz K3V2 quad-core processor. This processing muscle is expected to make the tablet an absolute wizard in fast content processing and handling 3D graphics and HD video. It comes with 8GB of storage (expandable upto 32 GB), 2 GB RAM, and rather surprisingly, an 8.0-megapixel camera, which is capable of shooting high definition video but is nevertheless unusual in a tablet of this size. Quite remarkably, Huawei has managed to put all this into an 8.8 mm thick body made of aluminium alloy. All of which makes it quite an interesting proposition, provided Android developers can step up with apps to make the most of that processor.

fa c e t o fa c e

“The e-commerce model in India is yet to mature” Thanks to improved connectivity and more affordable devices, e-commerce is emerging as a force in the Indian economy. And one of the sites at the forefront of this e-commerce revival is the online shopping and best deals portal mydala. com. We caught up with the website’s founder and CEO, Anisha Singh to talk about the site in particular and e-commerce in general Heena Jatav How is mydala different from websites like snapdeals.com and dealsandyou.com? For us, deals are just one aspect of our business. We are a marketing platform for merchants, unlike other sites which actually promote themselves. For us, we are promoting merchants that are getting showcased on our platform. At the end of the day, our aim is to get our merchants’ transaction done. We try to provide loyalty programmes and other user benefits in terms of being able to find other offline deals and not just mydala’s deals. Those deals don’t benefit mydala except the fact that we are providing our customers with these.

How does mydala help merchants in advertising themselves? With mydala the idea was to provide a complete marketing platform. Mainly because small merchants, have limited options for advertising such as bulk SMS or Just Dial leap. All of these required payment or some marketing money upfront. We provided a marketing platform to small businesses where they do not need to pay any money upfront. They get showcased to a larger base and target users.

What strategy are you following to provide full satisfaction to your customers and thus, to build trust in your site? One thing which we actively promoted is consumer feedback. We launched a new UI and the next thing we are launching is ratings and reviews. We also encourage our users to call and give feedback on merchants. If any consumer has any grievance against some merchant they can directly contact us as well. We try our best to keep the lines of communication open for users in terms of building trust in the site. An obvious question (we are from My Mobile, after all) – how are mobiles and IT products faring on your site? The mobile phone is a very popular category so we have a separate section for that on our site. I think it is one of those categories which tend to stay. Our focus is service deals. We don’t play much at products and neither do we intend to. The idea is to showcase the products of merchants who bring value based deals only. We also have ‘Bid deals’ service which is very popular and runs for a very limited time. In that too the most bid products are mobiles. Do you also have mobile applications? We have our WAP site which is quite popular. Then we have an application for BlackBerry and we are soon going to launch our apps on iOS and Android platforms which will be location-based apps. Where do you see e-commerce in India heading in the coming years? The e-commerce model in India is yet to mature. Everybody into this business is trying different things and adding more innovations to it. As far as India is concerned, it will be interesting to see where it goes. I think the scope is really big because it is a multi-million dollar market in terms of consumerism. n

34 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

heena@mymobile.co.in

lead story

Moving

up the Grades While one can generally upgrade the hardware of computers, it is well nigh impossible to do the same in the case of smartphones and tablets. What, however, can change â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and change dramatically is the software running on these devices. We take a look at seven devices who have been given a refresh, thanks to software updates after their launch. Sonia Sharma Nimish Dubey 36 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 37

lead story

hen it comes to smartphones and tablets, the term ‘end of life’ seems to be losing its meaning, thanks to the ability of manufacturers to upgrade the operating systems that drive such devices. Today, a device that is considered “dead on arrival” just because it runs on an older version of an operating system, gets a new lease of life when it receives a software or firmware update. But can an older device actually compete with much newer ones, just because it has had its software upgraded? Are these “software updates” worth the fuss or just a marketing gimmick by brands to push sales? We analyse seven highprofile updated devices to find out.

BlackBerry Playbook Running on the BlackBerry Tablet platform,

the PlayBook from Research In Motion had the most fluid, innovative, unique and interesting interface among all its contemporaries. It stood apart among the similar looking Android tabs in the market, but was let down by the fact that one could do very little with it if one didn’t have a BlackBerry phone and that it did not come with inbuilt 3G. Sales of the tab picked up after a dramatic price cut towards the end of 2011, and now RIM has attempted to improve the tablet with a software update.

Upgrade From BlackBerry Tablet OS to BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0

Process In the settings of the Playbook, there is an option called software updates. Once

Running on the BlackBerry Tablet platform, the Playbook from Research In Motion had the most fluid, innovative, unique and interesting interface among all its contemporaries. It stood apart among the similar looking Android tabs in the market

selected it shows an options ‘Check for updates. Select that and the tab automatically searches for software updates. Once found, all you need to do is touch the update button.

Vanilla PlayBook gets some toppings The first version of the Playbook didn’t have what perhaps every BlackBerry enthusiasts wanted – an e-mail client. One had to use BlackBerry Bridge on a BlackBerry smartphone and access its functions on the tablet. The interface of the tablet was optimised for touch and came with cool swipe gestures, but there were not too many apps to use it with. Playbook OS 2.0 adds a lot of features to the PlayBook, bringing it on par with the competition on a number of fronts. To start with, the Playbook now has a built in e-mail client which supports POP as well as IMAP clients along with an integrated inbox for all your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates. Then comes the calendar which automatically picks events from your social networking accounts. In contacts, the contact cards come with SNS integration. On the interface the icons have been made a bit bigger. The menu which was earlier divided like the BlackBerry phones into All, Media, Blackberry Bridge, etc., has been given up and replaced by just one unified menu that you can simply swipe through. You also have the option of creating folders. BlackBerry Bridge has also been given a brush up. There is a remote control feature that lets you control the PlayBook from your BlackBerry – you can navigate on the PlayBook from your phone and even type on it. Pretty cool, we think. Last but not least comes the content. The new Playbook OS comes with support for Andorid applications. Although there is no differentiation in the App World highlighting the Android apps, you now can get a few popular apps like Lyric Finder, DooQu Paint, Poolbreak Lite, etc., on the PlayBook. The tablet can also support 3D content but you will have to use 3D glasses for viewing it.

Still no go While it has become more of a standalone tablet than it started out as, we would have loved to see a stand alone BBM application on the tablet. The app situation has improved but remains less than great – there is no way to

38 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

know which Android apps will work on it.

Worth it? The interface and the experience of the tablet with its 1 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB RAM make it a superb device in hardware terms. The OS upgrade has broken its umblical chord with BB handsets and if you are looking for just a tablet with a great browser and mail support, we think it is worth considering at its prices of Rs 13,990 for 16 GB or 19,990 for 64 GB.

Nokia N8 When it was released, the Nokia N8 was arguably the best cameraphone the world had ever seen. However, it took a lot of flak for running on Symbian ^3, which was not really considered to be in the same class as Android and iOS. It has since been upgraded to Symbian Anna and then to Nokia Belle, both of which have added a few neat touches in terms of interface and experience to some very good hardware.

Upgrade From Symbian Anna to Nokia Belle.

Process You need to download the Nokia Suite version 3.3 or later on your computer to be able to download the Nokia Belle update. Once the suite is downloaded, just connect your phone to the PC with a USB cable and you are all set to go. It took us about 40 minutes to upgrade our N8 to Nokia Belle.

The Anna add-ons

The Nokia N8 is definitely one of the best camera phones in the market. With an improved interface and the fact that it has better multimedia specs than the 701, it is definitely worth a shot at the price of Rs 21,500, especially if you take lots of pictures

For those who have upgraded their N8 to Anna, the user experience is significantly different from the Symbian ^3 one. The icon designs were changed and touch response is much better. Another change was in the text input option where instead of a separate text input screen opening, now one had a split screen keypad both in portrait as well as landscape mode. The Web browser saw few updates too, with the addition of a new keypad here as well and auto suggestion, as well as support for Flash Lite 4.0. Nokia Maps too got updated to a newer version with better search functionality and tweaks to the menu design. There was some SNS integration in the contacts too as you could see your friends’ update from the contact tab itself. The Anna update also enabled N8 users to shoot videos at 30 frames per second with continuous focus, making its camera even more formidable.

Balle for Belle Nokia Belle adds a few more nice touches to the N8. Instead of three, you now have six

homescreens that are completely customizable with widgets or shortcuts. There can be different sized widgets too. Each of the homescreen has a separate wallpaper. There is a notification bar at the top that gives access to missed calls, SMS, mails, and calendar events, along with access to controls for GPRS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Silent mode. The transition between the homescreens has become zippier without any lags and the touch response is much smoother. The hierarchical menu has been discarded and you get a flat menu with one touch access. Some light changes have been made to the browser which seems to work smoother than before and managing multiple tabs has been made easier. The camera interface too has been polished.

Still no go While there are some significant changes in the interface and usability, there are a few things that are still missing. For instance, the browser comes with just Flash Lite 4.0 support. Adding widgets to the folder is still cumbersome. There is still no direct send key from the text box of the message editor as you need to first press the √ key and then send it, which frankly is cumbersome. On the apps department too, Nokia Belle is not really in the league of Android or iOS.

Worth it? The Nokia N8 is definitely one of the best cameraphones in the market. With an improved interface and the fact that it has better multimedia specs than the 701, it is definitely worth a shot at the price of Rs 21, 500, especially if you take lots of pictures.

Nokia E7 The Nokia E7 was released as the spiritual successor to Nokia’s legendary E90 Communicator. And it is still counted among the most powerful enterprise devices that the market has seen to date. Like the N8, it too received a fair deal of flak because of its operating system even though its hardware was appreciated. And like the N8, it too has received software updates, moving up first to Symbian Anna and then to Nokia Belle. The update process is very similar to the one seen on the N8, as are the additions to the feature list – the significant difference though is that the E7 has a hardware QWERTY keyboard and a fixed focus 8.0-megapixel camera.

Worth it? At Rs 25,600, the Nokia E7 offers a unique proposition of a touch plus QWERTY smartphone with a big 4.0-inch screen, running on the latest operating system and offering rock solid build quality and multimedia features. It does feel a lot easier to handle with Belle

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 39

lead story

At Rs 25,600, Nokia E7 offers a unique proposition of a touch plus QWERTY smartphone with a big 4.0-inch screen, running on the latest operating system and offering rock solid build quality and multimedia features

The Mango bite

under its hood, and we think is a good option for those looking for a large screen device with a physical keyboard. BB Boys could be tempted.

Dell Venue Pro When Microsoft launched Windows Phone, the Dell Venue Pro was the first device to showcase its unique and fresh tiled interface on a QWERTY-cum-touchscreen form factor. The device was powered by 1 GHz processor and boasted a 4.1 inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and a slide out QWERTY keypad. However, it faced a tough time in the market due to the limitations of Windows Phone, which included no multi-tasking, no copy and paste, and no Bluetooth file transfer. SNS integration was largely limited to Facebook. It was these issues that the Windows Phone 7.5 upgrade was looking to fix.

Upgrade Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)

Process For updating the device first you need to download the Zune software on to your PC. Once that is done, just connect the phone to the PC and update the operating system through the software.

Windows Phone 7.5 (also known as Mango) was one of the most eagerly awaited OS updates in the mobile world and one look at the updated Venue Pro tells you why. There are improvements galore - live tiles are now supported, allowing you to see live content on the homescreen. Third party apps and contacts can also be pinned to the start screen. The much missed copy-paste feature had also been added to the new OS, as has multi-tasking. On social networking, the operating system now also supports Twitter and LinkedIn integration in the contacts tab, while Facebook Events has been integrated with the phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calendar. On the subject of messaging, while the previous version supported popular mail clients including Microsoft Exchange, the updated version goes a step further and allows you to create a linked inbox, enabling you to see all your mails in one window. It also comes with a threaded view bringing it on par with the other OSes in this area. However, there was still no Bluetooth file transfer. There are some improvements in the multimedia capabilities too. The camera retained the custom settings made by the user and supported the onscreen touch shutter key.

Still no go While Mango represents a significant step forward for Windows Phone, it still needs a few more touches. We were not too impressed by the multi-tasking feature, which is actually just a task switcher that you can access by long pressing the back key, and works only with apps that support multitasking. You

40 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

There are improvements galore - live tiles are now supported, allowing you to see live content on the homescreen. Third party apps and contacts can also be pinned to the start screen.

www.mymobile.co.in

still need Zune software to sync your music and other content on to your phone. There is no Mass Storage mode available when it comes to USB connectivity. The browser still lacks Flash support. And while you can now access Windows Marketplace in India, the apps themselves have a long way to go before they can compete with Android or iOS apps. Even Bluetooth file transfer is not possible as of now. Though the Dell Venue Pro is an updated phone, it does not support Wi-Fi HotSpot function even though the OS offers the functionality.

Worth it? The Dell Venue Pro is the only device running on Windows Phone 7.5 that has a hardware QWERTY keypad. While this is an advantage for compulsive texters, there are phones Like Samsung Omnia W, HTC Radar and Nokia Lumia 710 in the market that are available for much lesser than the Dell Venue Pro which costs Rs 24,990. Go for it if you are a keyboard fan is our advice.

LG Optimus 2X When it was released, it was hyped as the first smartphone to possess a dual core processor (a fact supported by the Guinness Book of World Records). And in terms of performance, the LG Optimus 2X definitely lived up to its much hypes specs – it ran smoothly, shot full HD videos and handled high definition games with nary a quaver. All of which only made the fact that LG chose to release it running an older version of Android (2.2 or Froyo) a bit inexplicable. Although LG kept promising an upgrade to Gingerbread last year, it is only now that users in India can upgrade their devices to Android 2.3.

Upgrade From Android 2.2 (Froyo) to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Process The Gingerbread update is not available over the air (OTA), so you will first need to download the LG PC Suite to your computer and then connect your Optimus 2X to the computer and then see if any updates are available. Our experience was a bit inconsistent here – the suite initially did not recognise the phone and we needed to restart both the PC and the phone before they got on the same wavelength. However, things started going wrong when the upload was being installed on our handset, which restarted twice and once was just not recognised by the PC Suite. After that, things got back to normal and we found ourselves holding an Optimus 2X running Gingerbread, with all our contacts, images and apps intact.

Combined with a much lowered price tag (Rs 20,000, approx), the fact that the Optimus 2X’s specs remain as formidable as ever ( dual core processor, 4.0 inch display, 8.0-megapixel camera), and the fact that the device is due to get a further upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, we think that this is perhaps the best value for money high-end Android handset in the Indian market today A subtle slice of Gingerbread If you think that the Gingerbread update will totally change the way your phone acts and works, be ready to be disappointed. On the surface, nothing seems to have changed for the Optimus 2X even after the Gingerbread infusion. It seems business as usual with the standard LG UI. Cut and paste however have become a whole lot easier – you can now highlight a word and then drag trapezium shaped markers across others to highlight them as well in typical Gingerbread fashion. There is also the trademark blue-ish glow

when you reach the end of a list. However, for us the most notable change was in the browser’s performance, which is based on a tweaked JavaScript Engine. We found Web pages loading a whole lost faster and even the performance of Flash sites seemed to be a whole lot better. LG has opted to let the camera stay as it is. Yes, it still takes great pictures, but we do so wish more had been done on its app side.

Still no go One of the biggest complaints we had had about the Optimus 2X was its penchant to

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 41

lead story

It runs most of the apps that are there on Apple’s iconic iTunes App Store, handles iOS 5 very competently and now is available for far lesser than its launch price of Rs 29,500, thanks to the recent release of an 8GB version that costs approximately Rs 20,000 reboot from time to time and its battery life. While some people do claim that the Gingerbread update has improved the battery life of their handsets, we must confess to seeing no significant change – we still had to recharge it at least once a day with push mail and social network notifications running. The random rebooting also persists.

Worth it? The Gingerbread update might not have radically changed the LG Optimus 2X but it has cured the one Achilles Heel that many felt the device had. Combined with a much lowered price tag (Rs 20,000, approx), the fact that the Optimus 2X’s specs remain as formidable as ever (dual core processor, 4.0 inch display, 8.0-megapixel camera), and the fact that the device is due to get a further upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, we think that this is perhaps the best value for money high-end Android handset in the Indian market today.

Apple iPhone 3GS When Apple announced that it was going to be revealing a new operating system for its iOS devices in 2011, many iPhone 3GS owners resigned themselves to the fact that they would not be able to avail it. After all, the iPhone had moved on to higher resolution displays, better cameras and faster processors. It was therefore, a massive surprise when Apple announced that even those using the iPhone 3GS would be able to update to the latest version of iOS, although they would not be able to avail of all the benefits offered by it.

Upgrade

Upgrading the iPhone 3GS to iOS 5 was the same as upgrading all Apple iOS devices. You plug the iPhone 3GS to your computer, launch iTunes and check if an upgrade was available. If it was, it would be downloaded first to the computer and then would be installed on to the device, which would restart a few times. It is not the most elegant update process we have seen, but it is effective – we had our iPhone 3GS updated and ready to run after a couple of hours. Incidentally, this is the last time we will be using iTunes on a computer to update our iPhone – one of the benefits of iOS 5 is the fact that we will now be able to receive updates to the OS over the air.

pictures also becomes a whole lot easier as one can now take snaps by opening the camera app and the then hitting the ‘volume up’ button instead of searching for the onscreen button. The Twitter integration was spot on, letting us tweet and share images and links without having to open the Twitter app, and iCloud worked perfectly fine for us, letting us save a lot of our data online. What, however, REALLY surprised us was that the update did not seem to slow down the iPhone 3GS in any way. In fact, it seemed to be working significantly faster when it came to handling browsing and e-mail. Gaming remains as good as ever if you stick to relatively casual games. The battery does tend to drain out a little faster, thanks to the notification system but you can still see through a day comfortably on it. And yes, the majority of apps work smoothly.

Five live...on an old phone

Still no go

We must confess that the iPhone 3GS gets a whole new lease of life with iOS 5 running under the hood. We finally had a notification section just above the homescreen, thanks to the Notification Center feature, giving us details not just of new e-mails but also of social network updates, news and weather, and we could also get task and calendar reminders, depending on how we tweaked the menu. There were new apps to mess around with such as iBooks, but our own personal favourite was the BlackBerry-like iMessage, which automatically checked if the person to whom we were sending a message had an iOS device or not – if they did, it went right ahead and sent an iMessage rather than an SMS. Taking

Of course, the iPhone 3GS does not perform as well as the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S do on iOS 5.0. And while we loved the arrival of notifications, iMessaging and iBooks, we must confess that we missed not being able to play games as fluently as those on newer versions of the phone did. The traditional complaints about the browser not support Flash persist, even though multi-tasking is so much smoother now. That apart, there are hardware restrictions that stop you from using features like FaceTime as the iPhone 3GS has no frontfacing camera, and there is no Siri either. Video and text will also not look as smooth as on newer devices as the iPhone 3GS has a 480 x 320 display, which now seems a bit on the

From iOS 4.3 to iOS 5

Process

42 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

smaller side for a high-end smartphone.

Worth it? It runs most of the apps that are there on Apple’s iconic iTunes App Store, handles iOS 5 very competently and now is available for far lesser than its launch price of Rs 29,500, thanks to the recent release of an 8GB version that costs approximately Rs 20,000. Yes, the specs are nothing to rave about when you look at some of the Droids in the same price division, but factor in the apps and we think this is a very good choice for anyone wanting an iOS experience on a handset without spending the bombs that the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S cost.

Apple iPad 2 This was the iPad that made waves with its incredibly slim profile – at 8.8 mm, it was thinner than most smartphones – and the fact that it was the first iOS device that ran on a dual core processor. It was also the first iPad to sport dual cameras. And it did a whole lot more than the competition, thanks to the massive repository of apps in the iTunes App Store. The period since its launch however saw a number of other tablets emerge, many with specs far superior to the iPad 2 and with some innovative features besides. Which is why Apple decided to pump up its software with the massive iOS 5 upgrade.

Upgrade From iOS 4.3 to iOS 5

Process You go through the connect-device-to-computer-and-start-iTunes routine and check for updates. If you have a decent Internet connection, your iPad 2 should be updated and ready to go with the new iOS in a couple of hours. We are just glad we will not need to use a computer to upgrade the OS again, as keeping an iPad and a computer does take up a whole lot of table real estate!

The best gets better If the iPad 2’s performance moves up a significant notch with iOS 5. The addition of the notification center allows the device to get live updates from just about any app that supports live updates – you can even get reminders and calendar alerts, and if you feel like it, have a stock ticker running in the notification bar. The iBooks and Newsstand apps look a whole lot better on the larger iPad display. And the fact that you could set up your iPad to send and receive iMessages just as you could on your iPhone was a massive bonus – as both reading and composing messages is far easier on the large display than the smaller one seen on the iPhone and iPod touch. Safari’s Reader, which removed clutter from Web pages, was

This was the iPad that made waves with its incredibly slim profile – at 8.8 mm, it was thinner than most smartphones – and the fact that it was the first iOS device that ran on a dual core processor. It was also the first iPad to sport dual cameras difficult to appreciate on handsets, but made a vast difference here. Twitter integration was a welcome plus, although we would have liked Facebook too. The presence of iCloud meant that one could back up data online seamlessly. Battery life was totally unaffected – we still got more than ten hours on a single charge and there were no lags or stutters in performance.

Still no go We are going to sound a bit like a broken record here, but it does seem odd that a device that is so good at browsing still has no support for Flash. The hardware quibbles remain – no USB port, no expandable memory, et al.

Worth it? The iPad 2 was retailing from Rs 29,500

onwards when we had started writing this feature. The launch of the new iPad has seen its price plummet to a more modest Rs 24,500 onwards. It remains the most versatile and easy to use tablet in the Indian market by miles, and thanks to the price cut, one of the best value for money propositions in the market. Those looking for the best tablet (until the new iPad comes to India) could not do better. (Note: While this feature was being written, Apple upgraded iOS 5 to iOS 5.1 – both the iPhone 3GS and iPad 2 can be upgraded to this new version. While we were not able to include the changes it brings, our recommendations remain unchanged by the arrival of this update.) n nimish@mymobile.co.in sonia@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 43

spot lighT

The Return of the Stylus! I

n 2007, when the likes of HTC and Apple talked of using fingers on touchscreen devices, everyone was awestruck. For, at that time, the very thought of using a touchscreen device without a stylus was considered sacrilege. A stick-like gadget that either stuck in a slot of your phone or dangled from the lanyard and came handy in efficiently operating a touch phone, a stylus was a prerequisite for all those using touchscreen devices, in an era when the likes of Windows Mobile and Palm OS dominated touch territory, and touchscreens were resistive in nature, responding to sharp touches, such as from a pointer or a fingernail rather than a human finger. However, the success of the iPhone, followed by the flood of Android devices, all of which used capacitive screens which responded well to fingers and allowed features like multi-touch and pinch-to-zoom saw styluses being abandoned. People did not want to carry an extra accessory and using one’s finger seemed more natural than tapping with a plastic or metal stick.

What’s in a screen? The touch technology that was used in touchscreen has seen dramatic evolution over the past few years. About five years ago, most touchscreens were resistive in nature, where the layers of the screen responded to the pressure of a stylus or any other object. Among these, the most important layers were the two electrically resistive ones that were separated by very little space. While resistive screens

worked with a stylus or a pen or nail, at times they did not respond as expected and for finger use were really not accurate. On the other hand capacitive touchscreens work when the electrostatic field of the screen gets distorted by another conducting device such as human skin. So, a capacitive touchscreen requires a conducive device to work and thus does not work with insulating material like plastic or a nail. However there is no pressure required here and if implemented properly, it can respond to the slightest of touches, giving a quick response.

The Interface factor Apart from the evolution of the touchscreen technology, the development of a touchscreen phone’s interface also played a crucial part in

And as styluses get more popular, the number of apps supporting them will only increase. Of course, while the stylus does seem to be making its way back into the tech mainstream, just how long this resurgence lasts depends on how many devices and apps emerge in its support

44 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

making styluses seemingly obsolete. Prior to 2007, most touchscreens came with an interface was not optimized for them. The icons were small, so were the options that popped up in thin lines, making it very difficult to use a finger on them. The virtual keypad literally had microscopic keys, making typing quite a task. It was an interface that required a thin pointed device for tapping icons. Touchscreen user interface was revolutionized by Apple iPhone’s simple and intuitive UI with big, finger-friendly icons and features like pinch to zoom. Google’s Android OS followed the same formula as did Microsoft’s Windows Phone, which brought in the tile-driven Metro interface. Even Symbian moved on to Symbian Belle with larger icons, swappable screens and no styluses. Many manufacturers like HTC and Samsung also came out with “skins” or “layers” like HTC Sense and TouchWiz that could be placed above the basic operating system and made navigation a whole lot easier.

The stylus returns

In this scenario, styluses were pushed to the background and largely restricted to lowend devices that used resistive touchscreen. However, it has made a return of sorts to the tech centrestage with devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Lenovo ThinkPad tablet and the HTC Flyer, all relatively large screen devices that pack in a stylus. The Galaxy Note, in particular, added a new dimension to the role of the stylus, allowing it to perform a range of functions apart from the routine tap-to-

www.mymobile.co.in

There was a time when styluses were as natural to touchscreen phones as air is to breathing. However, the iPhone and Android invasion pushed them out, replacing them with the human finger. But there are indications that they are back, in a more advanced avatar to take on the touch world Heena Jatav and Sonia Sharma navigate and type that were seen in the past. The Galaxy Note’s stylus could be used for taking screenshots, scribbling on the screen for making notes and a host of other functions, with more being added by supporting apps. Styluses also were easier to use on large screen tablets for data entry as compared to typing on the screen and of course, sketching and making impromptu notes was a whole lot more convenient with a stylus than with one’s finger. Small wonder that manufacturers are coming out with styluses even for tablets and devices that are actually designed to be used without them – you have capacitive screen styluses for the iPad, iPhone and the Galaxy SII. And there are apps that are designed to work better with them, such as PhatPad for Android and iOS.

Fad or a trend?

The fact that brands like Samsung, Lenovo and HTC are taking the stylus seriously is reason enough for us to believe that the stylus is set for a comeback. At the Mobile World Congress 2012, Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 10.1, which too comes with a stylus. LG has also joined the party with its LG Optimus Vu, another phone-cum-tablet that comes with a stylus. On the software front too there have been a number of customisations to accommodate the stylus. Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich, Android 4.0 also offers native stylus support. It has been said that Google added Stylus support to enhance the sketching and drawing capabilities of devices based on Ice Cream Sandwich which reflects the strong presence and demand of stylus. And as styluses get more popular, the number of apps supporting them will only increase. Of course, while the stylus does seem to be making its way back into the tech mainstream, just how long this resurgence lasts depends on how many devices and apps emerge in its support, and just how much they cost – as of now, most stylustoting devices are very much in the higher price segment category. The coming days will reveal whether the stylus will be limited to being a doodling, writing device for touchscreens or will emerge as a strong input device for the consumer and a viable alternative to the onscreen and maybe even a physical keypad. n heena@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 45

spotlight

Has the Smartphone Killed The Digital Camera? They have more megapixels and more shooting options than ever before. And are being used by more people to snap away. Have cameraphones finally beaten digital cameras? We compare the two across a number of parameters Nimish Dubey

hones have not just got smarter and faster, they are now coming equipped with better cameras, some which are even capable of giving digital cameras a run for their money. Thanks to devices like the iPhone 4S and the Nokia N8, an increasing number of people are using their phones rather than their cameras to take pictures. And cellphone cameras are only getting better - witness the Nokia PureView 808 unveiled at the Mobile World Congress, which sports a 41.0-megapixel sensor, something that most DSLR cameras would envy. So, has the time come for us to start considering cellphone cameras on

par with their digital camera counterparts? The very thought is sacrilege to hardcore photography lovers, but what about the mainstream user who does not want to meddle in specs and tweaks and just wants a good picture with minimum fuss? Well, we decided to compare cameraphones and digital cameras across a few general parameters to see which one fared best in this regard. This is a very generic comparison, rather than between specific models as people do tend to use different devices for clicking images.

Portability and ease of use We cannot deny that because of its more compact and pocketable form factor, the cellphone is a better option for those “impulse shots,” when you quickly need to take out your device and take a snap. In the case of most cameras, you would need to take the camera out of its case (they rarely fit into pockets), switch it on, and then take a shot. Also, snapping a picture on a cameraphone is a much easier process, simply because one is more used to a phone’s interface. Winner: Cameraphone

Shooting options Yes, we know that cameraphones are now increasingly coming with more shooting options like panorama, night, sports, portrait and the like. But the stark fact is that if you are the kind of person who likes to mess around with image settings, then a digital camera still beats a cameraphone by yards. You can still tweak settings far more on a digital camera. Winner: Digital camera

Flexibility Let’s face it, when you purchase a phone,

46 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

no matter how good it is, it is a fair chance that you are unlikely to be able to add anything to its camera. Yes, we have heard of camera accessory cases that add optical zooms to phones, but these are expensive and rare to find. On the other hand, you can play around with different lenses to your heart’s content if you have a DSLR camera, although point and shooters are not as versatile. Again, we have to hand it to the digital camera here. Winner: Digital camera

Editing and sharing

This is a runaway win for the cameraphone, thanks to the plehtora of apps available for them, letting users tweak and edit images to their hearts’ content and share them across social networks and websites, or e-mail them without even having to move the images to a computer. While one can edit images to an extent on digital cameras, the software is not on the same level, and one more than often ends up needing a computer Winner: Cameraphone

Other functions In terms of versatility, cameraphones once again beat digital cameras, as they tend to incorporate more functions, such as making calls, browsing the Web, playing games and so on. The digital camera is a more specialised device, designed to mainly take pictures – it is a blessing for image enthusiasts but a curse for convergence fans who hate lugging multiple gadgets around. Winner: Cameraphone

Picture quality All said and done, while cameraphones do take some very impressive snaps, we must confess that eight times out of ten, digital cameras beat them hands down. We have seen digital

cameras with lower megapixel counts turn out images with richer colour and detail than those taken by the Nokia N8 and iPhone 4S. Yes, cameraphones are getting much better, but if its sheer image quality you are after, digital cameras still rule. And they also have the advantage of optical zoom, which lets you zoom into far away objects without butchering pitcure quality (something that occurs when you use the digital zooms in cameraphones). Winner: Digital camera

Value for money The digital camera wins out here again – you can get a decent digital camera for around Rs 10,000 these days, but will have to spend at least Rs 15,000 to get a cameraphone that takes print worthy pictures. We are not going to name brands, but from what we have seen, high-end handsets tend to come with better cameras. So if you are gunning for good picture quality, investing in a digital camera and a smartphone might cost lesser than buying a

high-end handset! Winner: Digital camera

Conclusion: On seven general parameters, digital cameras win on four. However, this should not be taken as a sign of their overwhelming superiority. The stark fact is that a cameraphone remains a very good option for those who want everything in a single, connected device and are willing to spend a few bucks for it. That said, the death of the digital camera is not likely to occur soon – it simply takes much better pictures, although it loses out massively on the connectivity front, which is getting increasingly important these days. Our recommendation? If its image quality that matters most for you, go get a digital camera. But if what you are looking for is a easy to use device that takes reasonable pictures and lets you share them within seconds of taking them, just head for a good cameraphone. n nimish@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 47

in focus

n e r T u , s o s e F ure on h g i p F art Sm

Not too long ago, the very thought of buying a smartphone meant blowing a significant hole in your budget. However, thanks to the advance of technology, today it is possible to get a decent smartphone without even venturing into five figure territory. Sounds hard to believe? We take a look at ten smartphones that cost less than Rs 10,000 Heena Jatav

arely five years ago, buying a smartphone was a major financial decision. You had to steel yourself to part with at least Rs 15,000 for a decent entry-level smartphone and almost Rs 35,000 if you wanted something more high-end. Five years, however, is a long time in technology. Today, while high end devices remain expensive (hey, the iPhone 4S will set you back by more than Rs 44,000), the advancement of technology and fierce competition have ensured that prices have literally plummeted on the lower end of the market. Today, it is perfectly possible to head out to the market and get a decent smartphone for less than Rs 10,000. If you are on a tight budget, here is our selection of ten smartphones that deliver a lot while costing a mere four figures. LG Optimus PRO C660 BlackBerry Curve 8520 LG has been betting heavily on Android For many people, smartphones are synonymous with to win followers in the budget smartphone BlackBerry handsets, with their traditional QWERTY segment. And devices like the Optimus Pro keyboards and BBM messenger services. If you too could see it succeed. The device combines a want to join the BlackBerry Boy club but do not want 2.8 inch touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard, to stretch your budget too far, then consider the runs on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and has 800 BlackBerry Curve 8520 handset which is available now MHz processor. The Optimus Pro is capable of providfor only Rs 9,600. The phone has now been upgraded ing HSDPA speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps and also comes to run on BlackBerry OS 6.0 and has a processor of 512 with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options. The phone MHz. It lacks 3G but comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth comes with a 3.15-megapixel fixed focus camera and has a connectivity, and has a 2.0-megapixel fixed camera. Best music player and FM. Not a multimedia monster but a sound of all, it has the traditional BlackBerry messaging and mail performer. muscle. Price- Rs 9,500 Price- Rs 9,600 Pros- Android Gingerbread OS, touchscreen and QWERTY combiPros- Good keyboard, BBM nation Cons- Average battery life, low resolution display Cons- Ordinary camera

Nokia E5 For all the talk about Nokia being in trouble, the fact is that the company still has thousands of faithful followers, thanks in no small measure to devices like the Nokia E5. The phone has 2.36 inch display, a spacious QWERTY keypad, a 5.0 megapixel camera, and every sort of connectivity option you could think of, including 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS etc. On entertainment front, the phone has music player with features like audio

48 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

equalizer, streaming, recording and also has FM radio. And running beneath it all is Symbian Series 60, one of the most stable smartphone operating systems in the world with great support for push mail and multi-tasking. Price- Rs 9400 Pros- Connectivity options, excellent battery life Cons- Some might find the Symbian UI boring after iOS and Android

www.mymobile.co.in

Motorola Fire Touch and type phones are becoming increasingly popular, thanks to their ability to combine the convenience of a touchscreen with the reliable data entry of a keyboard. And one of the best in the market is the Motorola Fire. The phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and has 600 MHz processor. It comes with a 2.8 inch sensitive touchscreen and a QWERTY keypad, that is just a bit cramped but is usable. On the connectivity front, it comes with support for 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and packs in a 3.15-megapixel camera for shutterbugs. Price- Rs 8,500 Pros- Touch and type functionality, Android 2.3 Cons- Ordinary camera, cramped keyboard

Samsung Wave Y If you want to try your hand on Samsung’s own operating system, Bada OS, then you can consider investing in the Samsung Wave Y. The phone runs on Bada OS v2.0 and comes with a 832 MHz processor. It also comes packed with almost every feature you would like in a smartphone - 3G support, Wi-Fi connectivity, social network connectivity, a 2.0megapixel camera, as well as Samsung’s own chat application ChatOn and Samsung’s own app store. Price- Rs 7,400 Pros- Excellent pre-loaded apps, good touchscreen Cons- Ordinary camera, limited app support

Sony Ericsson W8 The major highlight of this phone is its two Walkman speakers which come with the sales pack, making It the ideal smartphone for those who love their music. The device runs on Android 2.1 OS, which now seems ancient, and has a 600 MHz processor. But music lovers will forgive the Android version the moment they get to hear the sound provided by those two speakers. The device also comes with a video player, FM radio, 3D games, and YouTube, as well as a 3.15 megapixel camera for snapping images. On the connectivity front, the W8 supports 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Price- Rs 9,400 Pros- Additional speakers with sales pack, good sound quality Cons- Old Android version, average camera

Idea Blade Operators too have now joined the smartphone race, and one of the best offerings in this regard comes from Idea Cellular. The Idea Blade runs on Android 2.2 (an older version) but sports a massive 3.5 inch touchscreen display, and comes with 3G capabilities. It offers most connectivity options, has a decent 3.2-megapixel camera and also comes pre-loaded with apps like eBuddy, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Top that off with some good Idea 3G plans and the Blade becomes a very good proposition indeed. Price- Rs 7,992 Pros- Big display, attractive data plans Cons- Old Android version (2.2)

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 Samsung’s Galaxy Y is very much the company’s budget warrior and is being heavily promoted through the media. And for its price, it does offer a lot – a reasonably large 3.0-inch capacitive display, the latest version of Android (2.3, Gingerbread), a powerful 830 MHz processor, support for 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity, and a 2.0-megapixel camera. A very good choice for those looking for a taste of Android without spending a bomb. Price- Rs 7,600 Pros- Android Gingerbread, pre loaded apps Cons- Average camera quality

HTC Explorer Running on Android Gingerbread, HTC Explorer is among the first phones by the brand that focusses solely at the price conscious market. It has compact and sleek looks combined with durable exoskeleton. Packed with a 3.2-inch capacitive display, HTC Sense user interface, the device runs smoothly on a 600 MHz processor. While the internal memory of the phone is just 90 MB it sure can be expanded up to 32 GB with a micro SD card. It comes with a 3.15-megapixel camera and strong social networking to stay connected on the go. Price- Rs 9,500 Pros- Android Gingerbread Cons- No secondary camera

LG Optimus Me P350 Some might turn up their noses at the LG Optimus Me’s relatively small 2.8 inch touchscreen display and the fact that it runs a relatively old version of Android (2.2), but for those looking for a smartphone on a tight budget, it remains a very good option. Powered by a 600 MHz processor, it comes with all the connectivity options you would want (3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) and also throws in a 3.15megapixel camera into the mix. Best of all, it performs smoothly. Price- Rs 7,000 Pros- Smooth operation Cons- Old Android version

heena@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 49

just in Nokia Asha 202 New

Member in the Asha family

Asus Transformer Prime Speed up for fun

re you ready to shellout Rs 50,000 over a tablet? If yes then get ready to experience the powerful device by ASUS called the Eee Pad Transformer Prime. True to its name, the tablet can be used as a notebook too as it comes with an optional QWERTY keyboard dock all packed with touchpad and USB port. The device is powered by NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad Core CPU and currently runs on Android Honeycomb 3.2 operating system. This makes it one of the fastest tablets in the market today. It has a 10.1 inch WXGA LED screen, 8.3 mm thin body and weighs only 586 grams. It is designed to deliver maximum 3D performance with different kind of 3D effects like water effects, realistic textures, motion blur effects, camera splash effects etc. With Tegra 3 processor, the tablet is designed to play HD videos at impressive speed and claims to give 12 hours of battery backup for HD video playback. The version launched in India features 64 GB internal storage and 1 GB RAM. It has 8.0-megapixel primary camera with auto focus. Other features of the device includes scratch resistant Corning Gorilla glass, MicroSD card reader, micro HDMI port, 8 GB lifetime Web Storage space among others. Till now Transformer Prime is the costliest tablet available in the Indian market, priced at Rs 49,999. n

team@mymobile.co.in

50 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

okia which has already made its strong presence in the market with its Asha series phones has added another phone to its lineup called Asha 202. The device is an easy swap dual SIM phone with touch and type functionality. It has a multi-tap alphanumeric keypad and 2.4 inch QVGA touchscreen display. The phone weighs 90 grams and has dimensions of 114.8 x 49.8 x 13.9 mm. While the internal memory of the phone is 10 MB, one can also expand the phone memory up to 32 GB with the help of a microSD card. On the multimedia front, the phone has MP3 player, video player and stereo FM radio with FM recording. Other features include 2.0-megapixel camera which is able to take shots at 1600x1200 pixels and videos at 15 frames per second. For connectivity options, the device support WAP browser, Bluetooth V2.1, 3.5 mm AV connector and microUSB v2.0. It also has SNS integration to stay connected with your friends on the go. The phone has BL-5C 1020mAh Li-Ion battery capable of giving up to 5hrs talktime and standby time of up to 400 hours. The phone is available in wide range of vibrant colours like Dark Red, Black, Silver White, Dark Grey and Golden White colour. n

www.mymobile.co.in

sneak peek

HTC Titan II A Picture Perfect Camera Phone

hile operating systems hog the limelight when it comes to smartphones, there is another feature that is becoming a huge success and that is camera. HTC Titan II is another addition to the growing number of high perfomance camera phones as it boasts of a 16.0-megapixel camera powered by features like image stablisation, face detection, BSI Sensor, etc. It can also capture 720p videos at 30 frames per second but does not support full HD 1080p video recording. There is a 1.3-megapixel secondary camera that will come in handy for video calling. The device boasts of a huge 4.7 inch S-LCD capacitive touchscreen, something that HTC has done earlier too and is expected to offer a great visual experience. And when it comes to the overall design, there is a lot of similarity that one can draw from its predecessor. The Titan II runs on Windows 7.5 OS and powered by 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor and 512 MB RAM. In terms of connectivity, it also comes with support for LTE. The internal memory of the phone is 16 GB, however, it cannot be expanded further as there is no microSD card slot in the phone. n

Samsung Galaxy Beam Projects Your Life

nnovative ideas have always been welcomed with gusto in the mobile industry. And one recent innovation introduced by Samsung is through its new smartphone called the Galaxy Beam. Showcased recently at the Mobile World Congress 2012, the highlight of the phone is that it has a projector that can can beam out photos, videos, and other content onto a surface at 640 x 360-pixel resolution, making it the only smartphone from a global brand with this feature. However, its not something new coming from the brand as it had showcased this technology in the previous year too but didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really highlight it. This year however it has been incorporated in the Galaxy series which is the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Android line-up. Samsung has made sure that the Samsung Beam offers much more than just the projector. The 4.0-inch, super AMOLED touchscreen phone will carry a 5.0 megapixel camera at back and 1.3 megapixel front facing camera. And it runs on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Running on dual-core 1GHz Cortex-A9 processor the phone will come with a 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery seems reasonable with the projector. There also will be a provision to increase the 8 GB internal memory by using a microSD card of upto 32 GB. n team@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 51

burn test Multimedia: Not bad

Chaze C249

In this segment, the music quality of the phone is good in terms of both quality and volume. The audio quality is good both in earphones and loudspeaker mode. The FM reception of the phone is also good and one can search all channels easily, as well as save 30 FM channels. The phone has a 1.3-megapixel camera which captures average pictures in well lit conditions and comes with additional features like photometry mode, flicker control, and white balance among others. Our experience with video recording was also not that great – hardly surprising when you consider the relatively low pixel count of the camera.

Musical dual SIM BWhen it comes to the looks department, the Chaze C249 manages to look decent enough. It is a dual SIM bar phone with an alphanumeric keypad. The device is in black colour with a silver strip all around the body. The front is dominated by a 2.4 inch display, below which is an alphanumeric keypad, which is also in black colour. The back panel of the phone is in matte finish with a carved ribbon kind of design. The camera and speaker are also placed at the back panel. The top of the phone has got torch and a charging slot and another charging slot is also placed on the left side. A 3.5 mm audio jack is placed on the right

Pros  Dual

SIM functionality

 Good

Music

116 mm

Looks: Average Joe

Cons

User Experience: Looking for more

 Regular

looks

 Average

camera

50 mm

side of the phone. All in all, the phone is a average looking phone.

tech specs

Hardware: Hardly impressive

Size | 116 x 50 x 13 mm

Frankly speaking we didn’t find the hardware of the Chaze C249 very impressive. Though the keys of the phones are comfortable to use, they are not well fixed. Fitting the back panel abck on to the phone after opening it once was an uphill task and in the unit that we reviewed it did not fit properly. We were not too pleased with the quality of peripherals that were in the sales pack of the phone. It could have been built to be more sturdy.

Software: Simple interface The Chaze C249 runs on Java and although it does not have the kind of applications that a smartphone OS it does come preloaded with some interesting apps like MSN, Facebook and Yahoo! A separate icon is dedicated to the Chaze Smart Zone which contains games, astrology pack, answer machine, mobile tracker, and privacy protection tools. The phone also has other applications such as an ebook reader, and a currency and unit converter.

Weight | 92 grams Memory | 45KB, microSD Battery | Lithium 1600 mAh

Our experience with Chaze C249 was average. The phone disappointed us a bit in terms of voice clarity on calls. We also were less than impressed with the build quality of the device. That apart, we found the phone to be a decent performer in terms of dual SIM functionality and music capabilties .

Conclusion Chaze C249 is priced at Rs2,200 and will fit the bill for those looking for a low bugdet device with dual SIM capatibility, FM, audio player, and camera. One can also consider Rage Striker 2 which costs Rs 1,849. n team@mymobile.co.in

Price: Rs 2,200

52 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

verdict 8

Looks Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

76%

www.mymobile.co.in

RAGE PRIDE Groove

with White

Looks: A pleasant surprise!

Pros 115.3 mm

The Rage Pride surprised us with its simple yet attractive looks. Packed in a white plastic chassis with a silver metal strip running along the front panel edge, the handset has a sleek, bar-shaped body and features a large enough screen which is complemented by a smooth alphanumeric keypad. There are individual keys for both SIMs which come painted in white to match the body. The metallic silver strip around the D-pad enhances the device’s appearance and the keyboard below slims down the overall thickness. It is indeed a smart looking offering in this price range.

Price: Rs 3,099

 Poor

 Smooth

Internet browsing

 Elegant

Hardware: Good enough This white beauty comes with a 2.4 inch TFT display screen, which one can find in most of the recently launched models of the Rage. The device comes with the 2.0-megapixel camera with flash and a digital zoom option as well. The camera is given at the back along with loud speakers, and the back of the phone looks clean with a smooth, plane panel. There also is a short cut key to the camera. Connectivity options include GPRS (no 3G) and Bluetooth, although the phone takes time

Cons camera quality

 Less

value for money

looks

User Experience: Not bad, could have been better

49 mm to spot other Bluetooth devices and takes time to transfer information. A 1050 mAh Li-ion battery gives a good backup.

Software: Browsing delight Rage Pride is not a smartphone and so is limited in the software department but it offers a verysmooth Internet browsing experience. The large and bright screen is a major reason for this. One can also tweak the phone’s fonts.

Multimedia: Serves music lovers Good music is the cornerstone of most Rage devices and the Pride does not disappoint in this regard. The FM reception is fairly good and works well in low reception zones - it worked without interruption even in the Delhi Metro, while a branded smartphone’s reception got distorted. Music quality on loudspeaker was loud and clear but was a little distorted on the bundled headsets. We also were disappointed by the camera, both in stills and in videos. The phone comes with Rage Treasure Box, but it offers nothing exceptional, apart from the facility to block numbers and enter a security pin. Gaming enthusiasts will be disappointed

Looks aside, the Rage Pride has nothing special to offer. In terms of entertainment, while the audio support in the music category can be considered a USP, the video support will leave you craving for something better. Strangely, the camera flash light stays on even after an image is clicked. The battery gives a decent back up. However, the phone we reviewed heated up early unlike other models of Rage. It has a support for 8 GB storage with microSD card but functions relatively slow when loaded with data. One can store up to 500 entries in the phonebook and can divide them into groups.

Conclusion The Rage Pride is available for Rs 3,099. An alternative is theNokia X2-02, which is available for Rs 3,500. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

performance

value for money

overall

78%

mar 15 to apr 14 20121 MYMOBILE 53

burn test LG OPTIMUS NET P-698 (Dual) Andoid Optimused

- Over Two SIMs

4 2

Pros  Dual SIM with single

button switch

 Android 2.3.4  Good music experience

114 mm

Cons  Still on dual standby  Slow response

59 mm

Looks: Going regular After a brief sabbatical, LG has returned to the smartphone segment with the newly-launched Optimus Net P-698(Dual). As its name indicates, it is the successor of the earlier Optimus Net and while the overall appearance remains the same, there are more than a few changes beneath those similar exteriors. The phone, just like the earlier one, is stocky with average looks, although the black and grey colour combination at the back does give it a sophisticated look. There is a 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen in the front. The deep black front panel is complimented by a contrasting metallic grey back panel that hosts a 3.0-megapixel camera. The sides, incidentally, host a 3.5 mm

highlights

 No flash in camera

The SIM switch key offers convenience while using dual SIM

jack, USB cum charging port, power cum lock key and the volume keys. There are four keys in the front for Options, Home, Back and Search. The middle two are separated from the corner ones by a silver colour piping. The front and the back blend on the sides, forming a dynamic wave-like effect that is pleasing.

Hardware: Standard, solid The hardware of the P-698 is pretty much par for the course for the price segment, as one would expect from a brand as big as LG. The phone runs on a 800 MHz processor, and the 3.2-inch touchscreen responds well. The P-698 is LG’s first Android dual SIM phone and one of its highlights is that you can easily switch

54 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

The camera could have worked better with a flash

2 between the two SIMs using a single key, be it for calling, messaging or general functioning of the phone. On the down side, it is a dual standby device so only one SIM will be active during a call. On the connectivity front, it comes with both GPS as well as Wi-Fi capabilities and lets you share content using DLNA. The internal memory of the Optimus Net is pretty low at 160 MB but it can be expanded using a microSD card - the microSD card slot is hot-swappable and a 2 GB card comes bundled with the phone.

Software: Good new Android The Optimus Net runs on Android 2.3.4, also known as Gingerbread, which you can

5 www.mymobile.co.in

customer care agent to resolve the issue.

Multimedia: Not â&#x20AC;&#x153;flashâ&#x20AC;?y, but decent enough The Optimus Net Dual comes with a 3.0megapixel auto focus camera, but does not have a flash. The picture quality is acceptable. On the video front, it can shoot videos of acceptable quality of 640 x 480 resolution at 24 frames per second. You can add colour effects to the videos and adjust the video quality. The Optimus Net P-698 comes with a music player that is pretty plain vanilla with no equaliser presets or sound effects. The sound levels are good both on loudspeaker as well as through headphones. Songs get sorted on the basis of artistes and albums and you can choose to shuffle or repeat them. The FM radio comes with a nice scrolling mechanism for channel search - you can switch it off and on from the homescreen itself and also play it through the loudspeaker.

User Experience: Lags apart, not bad at all!

GPRS/3G | Yes/Yes

While the touch and the features of the phone worked well, the only thing that bothered us was the response time especially while making calls. We also found the transition times between screens to be a bit on the slow side. The phone is sturdy in built and runs on the latest Android operating system, and is definitely a step up from the previous Optimus Net. The battery backup of the phone is good. One full charge lasts more than a day with extensive usage.

Bluetooth/ WiFi | Yes/Yes Phonebook Capacity | Shared

Camera | 3.0 megapixel Frequency | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Others | Remote Call, Social+

Price: Rs 10,500 5 The phone comes with a 2GB microSD card

The Dual SIM slots are under the battery cover

customise in best Android tradition, with folders, shortcuts, widgets and the like. The notification bar at the top gives access to silent profile, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and data connectivity. At the bottom of the screen are four touch buttons for Calling, Contacts, Messaging and Menu. You can integrate your Facebook, Twitter, Google, MySpace and MS Exchange accounts and view photos, and updates from the Contacts section itself. In a neat touch, the dialler comes with smart dialling - making calls a whole lot easier. SIM 1 of the Optimus Net Dual is capable of providing HSDPA connectivity. The browser comes with multitouch capability along with Flash support. Facebook and Twitter apps do not come

Conclusion

3.5 mm jack offers convenience to use headphones of your choice for a better music experience

The LG Optimus Net Dual P-698 retails at Rs 10,500. If you are looking for a dual SIM Android, you can also consider the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos which is a dual SIM Android touchscreen phone costing Rs. 10,500. n team@mymobile.co.in

preloaded but there is an integrated SNS app called Social+ that enables you to manage your Facebook, Twitter and MySpace accounts from one window. Polaris Viewer lets you open MS Office files but you cannot create any. Apart from Android Market, the phone comes with a link to LG World from where one can download LG SmartWorld, which is another repository of applications for LG phones. An interesting feature is the Remote Call app that lets LG customer care remotely diagnose any problem with the phone without you having to go to the service centre. Once you call the customer care, the agent gives you a six digit code. You have to enter the code in the phone and it gives remote access of your phone to the

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

80%

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 55

burn test 5

samsung galaxy ace duos A two

(network) timing Droid! 1

112.40 mm

Pros

Cons

 Android OS v2.3.6 with

 Screen gets smudged

 CDMA + GSM dual SIM

 No secondary camera

 Document editor with

 Browser does not support

easily

TouchWiz UI

Flash

an option to create new documents

59.90 mm

highlights 1

3 Dual SIM functionality works efficiently

TouchWiz Ui is convenient to use

Looks: Standard Ace design When a phone is released in the market and tagged as being the sequel/successor of an earlier device, it is a fair chance that it will bear more than just a passing resemblance to its predecessor. This is the case with the new Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos which is a splitting image of its predecessor the Galaxy Ace, which did look a bit like the iPhone 4. The

front has a 3.5-inch capacitive screen and a single hardware home button at the bottom, and two touch buttons for Menu and Back. The SD card slot along with all the other buttons and ports are placed around the sides while the front and the back have been given a smooth shiny finish. Despite being all plastic, the build quality of the phone is good. All in all, the phone looks sleek and smart and the all-screen

56 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

3.2-megapixel camera takes avera pictures and lacks flash

SIM switching butoon comes handy for SIM management

front panel makes it look pretty impressive, although it does tend to get smudged very easily.

Hardware: Dual SIM power The 3.5 inch 16 million colours screen offers a great visual experience. The Ace Duos runs on an 800 MHz processor and gives a snappy performance while responding to commands

www.mymobile.co.in

between the CDMA and GSM connections. With speeds of upto 3.1 Mbps with CDMA Rev A, we had expected a secondary camera for video calling, but were disappointed. The dual SIM functionality has been simplified, with no need of constant switching. No Just choose the desired button on the dialler or the SMS editor to send the message using either of the SIM cards. The phone also comes with GPS capabilities with A-GPS support.

Price: Rs 16,900 5 The touch response of the screen is smooth

and running and opening applications. The microSD card is hotswappable but the same cannot be said for the dual SIM. We would have loved to have a hot swappable secondary SIM which supports both GSM as well as CDMA capability. The phone comes with Wi-Fi capability and the option to create a Wi-Fi hoptspot. There is a SIM switch button to switch

Software: TouchWiz flavoured Gingerbread The Ace Duos runs on the latest Android 2.3.6 operating system, with Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface running on top of it. There are three homescreen panels by default, but you can increase them up to seven. All the seven screen panels can come to the leap view by pinching your fingers on the display. There are four buttons at the bottom of the touchscreen – for Dialler, Phonebook, Messages and Menu. The notification bar remains at the top, but it has another five short cut buttons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, silent mode, and a button to turn auto-rotation on or off. The menu is also presented on side scrollable panels and you can pinch on the menu window to see the panels on the same plane. The Contacts tab allows you to integrate contacts from Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, along with the usual Gmail account. You can also use the direct call or direct SMS to access the functions for a particular contact from the homescreen. The phone has a task manager that goes beyond just killing apps- it shows your RAM usage and also gives a summary of internal and external memory. For each active application, it also depicts RAM and CPU usage. For messaging, the device comes with support for all popular e-mail clients and Microsoft Exchange Sync. In portrait mode, the input options include an onscreen QWERTY keypad, 3X4 keypad and two types of handwriting recognition. The latter works well if you write one letter at a time. In the portrait mode, it’s just the QWERTY keypad that is available. One let down in the phone’s browser is that it doesn’t come with Flash support, although it does support multi-touch. There is a separate YouTube app, if you wish to stream videos, and in a pleasant surprise, the bundled ThinkFree Office suite lets you not just view, bit also edit and create new MS Office documents. For apps, there is the Android Market and a Samsung App portal.

Multimedia: Par for price The Ace Duos comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera and no flash. Shooting modes include single shot, smile shot, continuous and panorama modes. There are various scene modes like portrait, landscape, and sports. You can geo-tag the pictures and add colour effects to them. The picture quality is average for a 3.2-megapixel snapper, even in well lit conditions. The videos can be shot at 320 x 240 resolution and the quality is nothing to really write home about. You can add colours and adjust picture quality and white balance. The video player doesn’t play 720p videos. The music player can sort songs on the basis of artists and albums and you can decide which filters you wish to keep. There are 11 equaliser presets available and you also have the option to activate 5. 1 channel sound in headset mode. The music quality is decent, both through headphones as well as loudspeaker. The FM radio comes with RDS support and you can specify four favourite stations on the homescreen itself.

User Experience: Following the standard The response and interface of the phone is good but we do think that a significant dependence on CDMA could have been avoided. Flash for the camera as well as browser would have been a great value addition. The battery backup of the phone is acceptable. One full charge proves to be quite enough for making it though the day with average usage, which is decent for a dual SIM smartphone.

Conclusion The Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos is a CDMA+ GSM dual SIM phone priced at Rs 16,900. Another CDMA+ GSM Android that you can consider is Motorola XT800 for Rs 16,500 n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

8 9

ease of use perfoRmance

value for money

overall

82%

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 57

burn test LG Optimus Sol E-730 Android

gets a Sol provider

Pros  AMOLED display  Android 2.3  Good sound quality

122.5 mm

highlights

62.5 mm

1 The device comes with an Ultra AMOLED display

Looks: Smart, but not different We would be lying if we said that we did not find the Optimus Sol attractive, but we would be deviating equally from the truth if we said that its design was unique. In fact, from some angles, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Samsung Galaxy S. Which is not a bad thing really. The front is dominated by the 3.8 inch Ultra AMOLED (480 x 800 display), and looks jet black, with three touch buttons beneath it for Menu, Home and Back (no search button!) that light up on being touched. The design is minimalistic with the sides being bare, barring the volume rocker on the

There are touch buttons for Home, Back and Menu but not for Search

left. The top has the power and display on/off button, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a micro USB slot for charging and data transfer. The back is made of smooth, glossy plastic and houses the speaker and a 5.0-megapixel camera with autofocus, but no flash. At 9.8 mm, the device is on the slimmer side and tips the scale at a relatively light 110 grammes. The overall look is one of understated class.

Hardware: Competitive, not compelling The most striking feature of the Optimus Sol is its 3.8 inch Ultra AMOLED display which we can safely say is the best we have seen on an Android handset this side of the one on

58 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

The phone comes with a 5.0megapixel camera, but with no flash

The device comes with LG’s Optimus 2.0 interface over Android 2.3

the Samsung Galaxy S2. That apart, it seems to pack in the kind of specs that were considered stunning a year ago but are now par for the course for Android phones in this price bracket – a 1 GHz single core processor, 512 MB RAM, 1 GB internal storage (expandable to 32 GB), a 8.0-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p video, and the usual stack of connectivity options, ranging from 3G and Bluetooth to GPS and Wi-Fi. This is one device that will be able to handle most of the tasks that you will throw at it.

Software: Standard Gingerbread, and then some... The Optimus Sol runs on Android 2.3.4

www.mymobile.co.in

camera took very decent shots and videos in good light conditions. There are a number of shooting options available such as Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Sunset, and you can also tinker with White Balance, Colour Effects and set different shot modes, among other things. On the sound front, the audio was very good on headphones although just a bit on the tinny side on loudspeaker – we cannot see music lovers having too many complaints. Gaming was generally very good as long as we stayed on the casual front with games like Where’s My Water and Angry Birds, but there were lags the moment we strayed into games that demanded more processing muscle, such as Real Football.

tech specs Size | 122.5 x 62.5 x 9.8 mm

User Experience: Solid performer, but pricey

Weight | 107 grams

Memory | 1GB, microSD

In terms of performance, we had very little to complain during our period with the Optimus Sol. Call quality was good, Web browsing delightful and the screen a joy to behold. We did wish that the battery life was a bit better – with all social networks and mail running at full tilt, the phone struggled to get through a day. Its pricing also seemed to be a bit on the higher side to us, when you consider that you can get devices like the Samsung Omnia W, the Nokia Lumia 710 and the Motorola Defy Plus for lesser.

Battery | Li-Ion, 1500 mAh Screen | 16million colours Battery Life/Standby | Upto 18.5

Cons  A bit on the expensive

side

hours/Upto 496 hours GPRS/3G | Yes/Yes Bluetooth/ WiFi | Yes/Yes

 No flash on camera  Poor battery life

Phonebook Capacity | Shared

Conclusion The LG Optimus Sol is priced at Rs 18,500 and is a very good option if you are looking for a good Android device for less than Rs 20,000. You could also consider the Samsung Galaxy SL, which costs Rs 18,000 and has a four inch display, or LG’s own Optimus Black, which retails for Rs 19,000 and has similar specs and a camera with a flash. n

Camera | 5.0 megapixel Frequency | GSM 850/900/1800/1900

You can tweak widgets and shortcuts across seven customisable homescreens

(Gingerbread) and if you are the types that prefers a relatively unfettered experience of the OS, you will like the Optimus 2.0 UI that LG has parked over it. It is not as radical as HTC’s Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz but adds a few neat touches to the OS without intruding too much on its essence. You get seven customisable homescreens, lots of widgets and apps classified in terms of those that came with the device and those that you downloaded. Speaking of apps, the phone comes with a task manager, LG’s SmartShare and also LG’s SmartWorld app repository. A very pleasant surprise is the inclusion of a full-fledged copy of Polaris Office, letting

Others | Exchange Active Sync support

Price: Rs 17,000

team@mymobile.co.in

you view as well as create and edit MS Office files. Mind you, we found typing to be a bit of a hit and miss affair in portrait mode, as the keyboard seemed a bit cramped. That apart, it is standard Android fare here, with seamless support for popular e-mail services and social networks, and some very good browsing (the browser does support Flash).

Multimedia: Good sight, great sound Its superb display makes the Optimus Sol a very good device for viewing images and videos. And while we were disappointed at the absence of a flash, the 5.0-megapixel

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

84%

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 59

preview

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a New iPad in Town 60 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

No, it does not have a new name, but Apple has revealed a new edition of the iPad even as we go to print. Can it replicate the success of its predecessors Nimish Dubey

www.mymobile.co.in

here was a lot of speculation about what it would contain. And what it would be called. While a number of the guesses in the former were spot on, no one would have believed that Apple would decide against giving the latest edition of its iconic iPad tablet a name. And yet that is exactly what happened on March 7 when Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the new iPad called – surprise, surprise – the iPad. Of course, there was more to it than that, although lack of nomenclature did surprise a lot of people (including us).

Retina display, graphics muscle, camera... As expected the new iPad packs in significantly more hardware muscle than its predecessors. Perhaps the most staggering upgrade comes in its display which has now a resolution of 2048 x 1536, more than that of most HDTV sets, and definitely far ahead of anything the competition can offer. The screen size remains the same, which means that now users will see 3.1 million pixels on a 9.7 inch display. All of which should make for some very sharp text and dazzling images and videos. And making this work is a new processor, an A5X chip with quad core graphics, and an update operating system iOS 5.1 – the main chip remains dual core, it should be noted. There’s also support for LTE connectivity, so now you can browse the Web and download apps at 4G speeds, if they are available. The storage space remains the same, however, and there is no sign of expandable memory or USB connectivity as some worthies were hoping. There is also no Siri, although voice recognition does make its appearance on the iPad in the form of the ability to take dictation, which is kind of handy. And before you ask, yes, it looks as good as ever, although just a tad thicker and heavier than its predecessor, the iPad 2. And one of the reasons for this thickness is the fact that the new iPad comes with what can be

said to be a proper camera. Yes, the iPad 2 also had a camera on the rear but it was mainly for shooting videos. The new iPad on the other hand comes with an iSight 5.0-megapixel camera that on paper, looks very similar to that seen on the iPhone 4S, although with a lower megapixel count. It sports an f/2.4 aperture and comes with built-in face detection that automatically balances focus and exposure across up to ten faces. Quite impressive, really, although we must confess that we still do not see too many people using this large and relatively hefty device to take snaps. ...all for the same price and battery life There are a host of other hardware and software tweaks and introductions – including the launch of iPhoto - making this a rather comprehensive refresh of the tablet. And remarkably, all this does not seem to be taxing the battery life of the device. We are still being promised 10 hours of battery life over Wi-Fi, which is the same as seen in the original iPad and the iPad 2. And that is not the only thing that remains unchanged - these improvements come at no extra cost to the consumer. The Wi-Fi only 16 GB version of the new iPad comes with the same price tag of $499 that the iPad 2 started out at. And even more remarkably, In the meanwhile, the price of the iPad 2 has been slashed by $100, making it far more accessible to budget-conscious consumers – for the record, you can now buy the iPad 2 at prices starting from Rs 24,500 in India, which makes it one of the most affordable large screen tablets in the country (as far as we know, only the Motorola Xoom comes for less than that).

almost every person’s mind – do you actually need to rush out and buy one. Well, in India, we have no option but to wait until its official release (the rumour market indicates April or May might see it arrive), but if you are considering getting it from abroad, well, we would say that it definitely represents a big step forward in terms of performance and specs. No, we are not enamoured of the camera as of now, but it still represents the best investment one can make in a tablet And as time passes and more developers come out with applications that make the most of the device’s improved hardware (especially the graphics processor and the retina display), we think that the new iPad will continue to dominate the tablet segment. There are other tablets out there with better specifications, especially in terms of processor speed, but where the iPad continues to score is in ease of use and applications. And the new iPad does not seem to have stumbled on either of those fronts yet. Until Android and the competition get their applications up to speed, iPad users will continue to be appier with their tablets. No matter what Apple chooses to call it. Pun intended. (While we are waiting for the new iPad to make its way to the Indian market, we would recommend everyone heads out and download iOS 5.1 for their iOS devices. It is free! n team@mymobile.co.in

Do you need one? Which of course, brings us to the question that is on

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 61

boredom buster

When Critters Attack Get ready to

defend...your food

ugs Revenge is the next instalment of the Critter Quitter series. There are more bugs, more power and a 54 level gameplay. The aim of the game is to save your burger from the insects who get drawn to it and try to take a bite out of it. In most cases, all it takes is a touch to squish them but not all touches have the same effect. For instance, slugs die with a double tap. Then there are Kamakaze bugs which blast when touched and kill or divert other bugs around them. There are a number of power ups like frogs, electric shields, mines, bombs, bug sprays, god fingers, food restorer etc. that you can use by spending the bug juice collected from the bugs that you have killed. A few of these power ups work for a limited period of time and one needs to use them efficiently for effective annihilation. Apart from the normal mode there is a survival mode where you have to save your food from critter attack for as long as possible. The longer you survive, the more points you get. The game supports multi touch, so you can use two fingers to squish these bugs. The overall gameplay is interesting enough to keep you involved but all that squishing might leave you with tired fingers. In the normal mode, the first 18 levels are for free but the next two have to be bought. The game can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store.n sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the Apple iPad 2

Rating

84%

62 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Impossible is ... nothing! Take down

hooligans

Y Rating

82%

es, the game is called Mission Impossible, but it does not have anything to do with the movie series, that has Tom Cruise playing hardball with terrorists, while doing stunts galore. No, this is about our local city cop Jack who has to find and kill gangsters carrying out illegal activity on his beat. He needs to catch up with a mysterious man and (of course) has to bump off all his “bhaade ke tattus” en route. The game is a platformer with graphics that will remind you of the old school games that we used to play on big machines in arcades. The controls are all lined up at the bottom of the screen which at times might be too small to press accurately with the finger. You can use your shadow skills, guns (there are three types of them) and hand grenades to tackle the bad elements on the streets. You can also collect points while running by picking up the coins that are placed on roofs or throughout the street. There are battles galore – you fight in the streets and also do your bit to free innocent hostages from the clutches of the evil mafia. Help comes in the shape of shapely Shirley, your informant who keeps giving you tips related to the crime scene in the city. And just brute strength or armaments won’t do – you need to decode certain locks to keep moving as well. While the individual elements of the game might not be very impressive, the overall package is a complete entertainer and keeps you hooked till the very end. On the downside the game doesn’t save where you left it so in case you leave it in the middle, you have to start from scratch. Mission Impossible can be downloaded for free from the Android Market. n sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 63

boredom buster

Judge the zombies... And

kill them all

mode the levels are divided into sectors where es, we love Zombie games and when you need to kill as many as possible to get something like Judge Dredd v/s points and in PSI mode you can intercept the Zombies comes along for free, we are future crimes and earn big money. sure to grab it in a jiffy. The game funda is You get various types of guns and simple, you play as the formidable Judge can upgrade their capabilities with Dredd who is the law (which he keeps Rating the credits that you earn. There are reminding us time and again through many other power-ups like sprint, out the game) judge, jury and exterenhanced stamina, instant reload, minator. etc., that you can also spend your The city has been infested with credits on. Gameplay is simple - the right zombies and you need to kill them all to side of the screen has the movement control bring back peace into the world. The game where as on the left lie the buttons for firing can be played in three modes - Story, Arena and reload. and PSI. The story mode has various levels The graphics and the background music with an area that one needs to clear. In Arena

82%

64 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

set the mood for a zombie thriller and one can actually imagine feeling the squishy green blood of the zombies splattering all over as one wades through them. The only thing that bothered us was that there are no checkpoints in the game so if you are at the fag end of a level and end up being zombie food, you have to start all over again. Judge Dredd vs Zombies can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store for $0.99 ( approx Rs 49). n sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the Apple iPad2

www.mymobile.co.in

Looking for your love Been around the world, lookin’ for my baby

to avoid these attacks and can even get here are some games which look your own back on your attackers by plain, but end up keeping you jumping on them. glued to them once you start Various power ups are availplaying them. Crazy Survival, a Rating able in the forms of stars which game available for free download let you grow bigger in size and on the BlackBerry App World, get more time. The basic idea falls into this category. It is a is to keep your hero alive for 60 game that revolves around a boy seconds. There are 15 levels in each who is trying to find his love who has continent. Most of the times a little presbeen (surprise, surprise) kidnapped by a ence of mind can help you get across but bad guy. Doing this involves a fair bit of sometimes it does get a bit difficult to travel – the game is spread across seven dodge so many attacks. Many was the time continents and each continent has variwhen we found ourselves struggling to ous levels. Our lover boy has to get past collect stars in the 60 seconds at our disbouncing balls, asteroids, rockets and variposal. We really wish that ous plants and animals, among other the controls could things, on his quest. You can run back and forth duck and jump

83%

have been made a bit bigger for an easier interface – we struggled with them on the touchscreen of our BlackBerry Torch. The graphics are very simple and are in the form of line sketches – you might not like them initially, but familiarity makes the heart grow fonder. Just be a little patient with the game control system and you will find yourself hooked to the game. We certainly were o n Torch n sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the BlackBerry Torch 9810

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 65

Smart apps

It's study time!

Apple adds an education touch to iOS

divided into three segments - subject wise categories, fter capturing the gaming and the music Rating notables and all. Selecting one subject gives you access to industry, Apple is now focusing on tapping lectures which can be in the form of audio, video or text. into the education systems. It has recently You can also do subject wise search like for Shakespeare launched iTunes U (university), which is a repositoor World War II. There is literally stacks of information ry of educational content related to various subjects. about courses, various publications and lectures that can Currently the curriculum and syllabi available on the app come handy for anyone in the academic field. It can also be is for countries like USA, Canada, Australia, China, UK, and integrated with iBooks and iCloud making it easier to take the France, with India not yet on the radar. Even then, it definitely downloaded content wherever you go. We would have loved opens doors to a vast repository of knowledge for those purto have a ‘downloaded’ button to keep track of the content that suing higher studies, anywhere, as most curricula do tend to has already been purchased from the repository, though. Most overlap. The interface of the application is the same as iBooks of the lectures that we searched for were available with a wooden book rack and a catalogue key on the top right for free. We hope most of it stays that way and we that takes you to the online portal, which has an App Store like get some Indian curriculum content too. n interface. There are three broad categories – Universities and Colleges, Beyond Campus and K-12. There are various institu sonia@mymobile.co.in We tested it on the tions listed under Universities and Colleges, which are further Apple iPad2

66 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

82%

www.mymobile.co.in

Getting there, Get (ting) It! Your on-the-go guide

various categories like Hotels, Restaurants, inding a restaurant, hotel or even a Auto, Packers and Movers, Health, Furniture, prominent landmark is always difficult Energy and Power, etc. Each category has when you are relatively new to a place. a number of sub categories like energy and Asking people helps sometimes, but the power offers vendor information for inverters, information one gains thus is not always relidiesel generators and UPS. Once you reach able or accurate. It is in such situations that the list of the vendors you can either make a location-based directory apps come to one's call directly from the application or view their aid. And on the newest ones on the block is location on the map. The application requires getit. It can be downloaded for free from Internet connectivity to work but covthe Android Market and is capable of ers almost all major subjects that you providing you information about 15 cities. It also uses GPS to detect Rating might need to get information about, without having to call a local direcyour location and offer informatory number. Within the city you tion of the surrounding areas. The can also further refine your search by app gives information related to

82%

choosing localities where you need to find the service or vendor. Search can also be refined through further sub categories. However, the refined search didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bring up different results, which perplexed us a bit. The app is a plain vanilla directory app but we would have loved elements like local deals, happenings around the city, etc. Nonetheless, it works seamlessly and offers accurate results. And definitely beats asking your way around a new town. n

sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 67

Smart apps

A Desi Type App Type in English, get results in Hindi

martphones might be getting more popular in India, but support for Indian languages remains an iffy point with most of them. While there have been some advancements in language support, but still typing in Hindi remains a tough task and often involves getting complicated Hindi keyboards with whose layout one might not be familiar. The result of all this is that we end up typing Hindi words in English, whenever we want to comRating municate in Hindi, which is not really an ideal solution. But now there is an app that can transform Hindi written in Roman script into Devnagri without having to use a Hindi keyboard. Called Hindi Editor, this application can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App store. Once installed, you just open the app and then use the English keyboard to type in Hindi words and the app then converts them into Hindi script as soon as you hit the space button. There is a word suggestion feature too in case you get confused in a spelling to get the right Hindi word. If you are not satisfied with the Hindi version of the word you have typed, pressing the â&#x20AC;&#x153;deleteâ&#x20AC;? button brings in a drop down list of suggested words with that spelling. You can either choose one or change the English spelling accordingly. Needless to say, you can copy and paste the text in any other app, but what is really neat is that you can directly share the text from the application through SMS, Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. All of which makes this one of the best apps for typing in Hindi we have seen. Some might frown at the need to type in English to get Hindi words, but we love its convenience. n

83%

sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the Apple iPhone 4

68 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Scrap it up

your Playbook. There is a wide variety of backgrounds that you can choose from and then add various elements to it. The interface is simple as you can simply drag and drop a picture, sticker or a dialogue box on the crapbooks have been an background. integral part of most of The app supports multitouch our lives. As children there so you can simply pinch to were school projects that needed decrease or increase the our scrapbook skills and of the photograph. then these became an Rating sizeApart from the availinteresting way of just able stickers there are remembering all we had a number of interestbeen through. ing packs like travel, pop Now, imagine having a art, the 50s, and others that you digital scrapbook where you can can download and use for free. add all these elements without However, pictures, text and clip the hassle of cutting, sticking or spending any money! That is what art are the only elements that you can add to it. the Scrapbook app brings to

Make interesting memories

80%

There is no provision of adding videos to you scrapbook â&#x20AC;&#x201C; something which would have been pretty neat. Once you create a scrapbook template you can take a screenshot of it and share it on Facebook or save the final product in a cool clip hanging interface where you can simply scroll to see all your entries. On the downside you cannot edit entries, once they have been created. It is available for free from the BlackBerry App World. n sonia@mymobile.co.in

We tested it on the BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 69

etcetera Get an edge

Tough companion for tougher terrain

armin has introduced its touchscreen GPRS bike computer for the bike riders to have a navigation system handy while they go out biking for pleasure, exercise or on expeditions. The device comes compact with dimension 5.1 x 9.3 x 2.5 cm and weight 98.0 grams. It has a built-in basemap and can track your distance, speed, location and ascent or descent on a click of a button. The device comes with various rubber rings which help you attach it with the stem or the handlebar of the bicycle. The map shows major roads and cities and allows the user to switch training pages or pan and zoom the map with just a tap. As the device is meant to be used for bikes, it has features like sunlight legible color display. Also, the company has made sure that the product fits in the outdoor environs and thus has made it waterproof complying to IPX7 standards. It has also been made shock and scratch proof for those who love to bike in rough terrain. The navigation device wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t leave you disappointed even if you are standing under a thickly dense area as it records every move with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver. It offers turn by turn navigation prompts on screen when selected a destination. Another interesting feature is that one can keep a track of the weight, body fat, body water and six other measurements when using the gadget that comes with the Tanita BC-1000 body composition scale. The Garmin Edge 800 is priced at Rs 45,000 in India. n

70 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Canon Shots

Capturing moments

anon has been regularly launching some power packed cameras in the market and the recently launched Canon Powershot SX150 IS too promises to offer the same. The camera is a bit heavy and stocky when compared to the contemporary range of digital cameras available in the market today. Despite that it is a smart looking device. The large lens at the front and pop-up flash add to cameraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looks. However, we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find it to be very comfortable to use. Canon PowerShot SX150 IS is a 14.1 megapixel camera with 12X optical zoom, despite the specs the pictures taken indoors were not that impressive. The camera has 5.0-6.0 mm lens. It has 3.0-inch LCD screen with brightness adjustment and Image Stabilizer feature. It offers different shooting modes for capturing images like Auto features determine scene and choose optimum settings automatically, easy mode allow even beginners to capture great images without any difficulty, Toy camera effect darkens the corners of the image to give vignetting effect. One can also customise camera settings through its Menu. The battery and memory card slot is placed on one of the lower side of the camera. The box contains 4GB microSD card, camera case and charger. Canon Powershot SX150 IS is available at the price of Rs 9,995 in India. n

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 71

et cetera

A Pro Performer

Sleek and smart

or some people, Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MacBook Pro range of computers represents the ultimate in computer performance for professionals. And the latest refresh of the range will gave them no reason to revise their opinions. The new 15 inch MacBook Pro not only retains the smooth and incredibly thin build of its predecessors, but adds a whole lot of muscle under its hood. The unit we got sported a 15.4 inch display, 2.4 GHz quad core Intel Core i7 processor, 4 GB RAM, Thunderbolt connectivity and a 750 GB HDD. And in what represents a significant boost to the gaming and multimedia prowess of the system, the graphics were

handled by an AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics card with 1GB memory. And in spite of all this, the notebook still tipped the scale at a relatively modest 2.54 kgs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not bad when you consider what lies inside. The new Pro comes with OS Lion 10.7.3 and iLife preinstalled. While the former serves up the speedy performance and intuitive interface that is the hallmark of Macs, the latter is a handy suite for those wishing to mess around with music, films and images on the notebook. And even as we were testing the device, iMessage for the Mac became available allowing us to swap text messages with all those using iOS and OS

72 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

Lion devices over a data connection. Battery life was a surprisingly good six hours with brightness turned up and Wi-Fi running, making it great for portable gaming (you will need to install Windows using BootCamp for best results) and film-viewing. Speaking of games, it handled most of the titles we threw at it with elan and scarcely stuttered even we put it through some serious editing in PhotoShop and Aperture. All of which makes it perhaps the best combination of looks and performance we have seen. Alas, it still remains a pricey one. At Rs 1,22,900 it is definitely for those with deep pockets. n

www.mymobile.co.in

Smart projector Extremely convenient presentation

ortronics PRO 315 Pico projector is among the next generation portable LED projectors that come with a strong set of features to enhance theirportability. Its is small and has a very compact design. The leanness also extends to the projectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looks. Basically, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a simple brown and white box with nothing much to write home about in terms of looks. It has controls on top and you can also operate it through remote control. The PRO 315 is capable of reading files from SD cards, or USB drives making it easy to carry and present content in an interesting manner without having to tug around a heavy laptop. You can easily play videos and music in all poplar formats. Apart from that it can also be connected to a laptop or PC to create an instant projector set up. The projector is capable of supporting widescreen resolution of 1024x600. Through this projector you can get 5.0-inch to 80.0-inch diagonal image with aspect ratios of 16:9 and 4:3. The PRO 315 data image quality is good. Some other essential features of the projector include full range of I/O ports, including USB, VGA, HDMI and video which allows easy connectivity to almost all analog or digital devices. The projector supports JPEG, BMP and PNG formats for pictures; MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, H.264, RM, RMVB, MOV, MJPEG, VC1, DivX, FLV formats for videos and WMA, MP3, M4A, AAC files for music. The Portronics PRO 315 Pico projector is priced at Rs 23,999 in India. n

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 73

etcetera

RoutE Your Net Easy setup strong signal

elkin N600 Dual Band Router promises to offer higher network speeds for those looking for a zippy Internet experience. Ideal for homes, the N600 has a sleek and sophisticated design that will surely not turn into an eye sore when installed at home or office. A blue LED light is located on the front. On the back it has one USB 2.0 port for

wireless printing or media sharing, four Ethernet ports for wired connections, and one WAN port for connecting to a broadband modem. We found that the router took very less time in setting up and started working without any hassle. It was easily recognised by devices like laptops and mobile phones. A reset button can restart the router while preserving settings in case

74 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

of any problem. The N600 DB router comes with a CD which contains the setup software. Just follow the step by step instructions and you can have the router up and running within 5-10 minutes. The new Belkin routers improve signal coverage for multi story houses, for all Wi-Fi needs. The N600 DB router is available in the market at Rs 9,999 n

www.mymobile.co.in

Sporting Style Wireless

inteligence for the sporting type

luetooth devices have always been known for their wireless convenience. Whether for calling, multimedia or utility functions, Bluetooth devices have donned many avatars to fit to our needs. A new enterant in this segment is the Jabra Sport which enables sport enthusiasts to wirelessly stay connected and active on the go. It is a stereo Bluetooth headset that fits around both the ears in a way that it remains secure even through vigorus activity like jogging. Both the headsets are connected with the band which goes at the back of the neck so incase it does fall it will land on the shoulder. As per company claims, the Sport has US Military grade dust, rain and shock protection. It comes with a built in FM transmitter that has good reception and the volume buttons double up as channel search keys. It can offer up to 4.5 hours of talk time although we were not really impressed with the outgoing voice. It is light and comes with three pairs of ear gels that you can choose from as per your convenience. The inbound sound quality for music as well as calls is great. The sales pack also contains an arm band in which you can secure your phone. For using the Jabra Sport, you can also download the Endomondo Sports Tracker application for free. All in all itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sound device for those who wish to not loose touch while physical training and also keep themselves entertained. The Jabra Sport is priced at Rs 5,999 in the Indian market. n

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 75

etcetera

Charge it up Portable

charge for anytime charging

n the world where smartphones and devices are an integral part of our life, it becomes pertinent that we keep them charged up and ready to use 24X7. And for those of us, who use these devices extensively while on the move, it is very important to have a source of emergency power supply at hand. These are the times when a portable charger comes really handy. Especially when one doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a power source to plug in to all the time. While there are a few options out there, Portronics has launched a new portable charger called the Powerpack 4000. It has a compact and sleek rectangular design with a smooth body finish. The top panel of the charger sports one USB port, a charging slot and an On/Off button. The back panel of the device has a power indicator which flash power supply at different voltage level of 5V, 600 mA; 5V, 1500 mA; 9V, 600 mA. Once fully charged, the rechargeable 4000 mAh powerful Lithium Polymer battery of Powerpack 4000 is expected to give emergency power supply to your devices for fairly long time. All you need to do is connect it to you device using the right connector. Yes, the fact that it comes with a number of charging extensions makes it compatible with a wide array of phones and gadgets. The Portronics Powerpack 4000 costs Rs 1,999 and comes only in Black colour. n

76 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

Snap on the go A

camera big on life

he latest enterant in the digital market segment is the the Fujifilm X10 belonging to the X seriese of the camera brand. It has a leather textured tough looking body which is built from die-cast magnesium alloy. It has an upper control deck with mode dials and aluminium textured finish lens ring. The chassis might not appeal you much, but it does pack in some powerful features. The 12.0 megapixel camera comes with a 4X manual zoom lens ring that doubles as the power on and off switch. It features a 2/3 inch EXR CMOS sensor that would click high speed photographs and enables you to make full HD movie on it. Other features include motion detection capability, wide optical view finder, and a smooth zoom action. It has a 2.8 inch LCD display screen. The pictures are taken in JPEG format by default settings and can be taken in RAW as well. The auto focus area on screen comes with 49 pointers to provide a better focus on the primary subject. Also, there is an option that allows you to take pictures while in video playback mode. These pictures are then saved separately from the videos. It offers a USB port along with a mini HDMI port. The camera comes packed with some delightful features and is rather steeply priced at Rs 44,500. n

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 77

et cetera Super console, wannabe computer The PS Vita lacks neiher gaming nor computing muscle

he PlayStation Vita, is one of the most powerful handheld devices we have ever seen. It combines a 5-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, a quad core processor, a backtrack pad, dual analog sticks, a number of sensors, dual cameras and a stack of connectivity options. It might look a bit like the older PlayStation Portable (PSP), but it renders games like Golden Unchartered Abyss and Unit 13 immacuately, providing an experience not too distant from that seen on real consoles. Throw in the option to browse the Web, chat with friends, view films, listen to music, and even spot other users and leave them virtual items, and the only thing that keeps the Vita from computerhood is the absence of apps. Still, some might feel that at Rs 19,990 for the Wi-Fi only version and Rs 24, 990

for the 3G and Wi-Fi edition, the device is overpriced - you can get a PS3 or a Xbox 360 for less. Even its games are likely to cost in excess of Rs 2,500, which could be a deterrent to some. You also need to invest in a special memory card to be able to save game data, adding to the costs. All of which makes the PS Vita in its current avatar a bit of an expensive gaming device, while not being enough of a com-

78 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

puter. We are not giving up on the computer dream yet, though. Who knows, a firmware update might make the device far more versatile. As of now, it remains a must for gamers with deep pockets. Those looking for more versatile gaming options will still flock to the iPod touch. n

www.mymobile.co.in

The tablet for bookworms Not the Fire, but just as handy for readers

ention touchscreens and Amazon, and most people will think that you are talking of the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s much acclaimed Android tablet. However, that device is not the only touchscreen in Amazon’s Kindle arsenal. There is also the Kindle Touch, a touchscreen device that uses the e-ink technology that drives Amazon’s e-book readers. There will be those who will wonder why one needs an e-reader when one can read a book just as easily on a tablet or a large screen handset. Well, e-ink displays are much easier on the eyes than LCD or AMOLED ones, have much better battery life, and also cost a whole lot lesser. The Kindle Touch (Wi-Fi) is a prime example – it retails for $139, and after factoring in shipping and handling and the import fees deposit (which is generally refunded), is available for those who order it from India for about $186, which is well under Rs 10,000. And for this, a book lover not only gets access to thousands of titles and magazines from Amazon’s Kindle catalogue (many of which now cost a lot lesser than their paperback editions), but also the ability to browse the Net on an experimental browser (which is about as good as a basic mobile browser, no support for videos or Flash), listen to music and share excerpts on social networks. It is a very compact device, light enough to slip into most coat pockets. and can last close to a month on a singe charge, with a couple of hours of reading every day! Reading on the device is an absolute pleasure, although you need to get the hang of the touch interface which is a tad slower than that seen on tablets but works reliably enough. The browser is adequate, the book selection awesome, and the sound quality very decent indeed. No, it is not a tablet-killer. But if all you are looking for is a device to read books and magazines on, we really think this is the best out there. We just wish Amazon had released the 3G version in India as well. n

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 79

va s

SOCIAL GAMING GOES MOBILE

Socialising has got a new meaning with the growing popularity of SNSes. Suddenly having friends you meet in real life seems as important as having those you only see on Facebook. Effects can be seen on one of a popular pastime – games are moving from parks to social networks. And on handsets Harshita Rastogi 80 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

here was a time when playing a game meant going out with your friends. However, with the increasing digitalisation of our lives has come the phenomenon of social gaming, in which people play games with their friends on social networks like Facebook and ibibo, or on applications found on handsets. And no matter what some cynics say, this is not necessarily a bad thing. “With social games, you strengthen your online relationships. Social games offer fun, entertaining and enjoyable social interactions that are inspiring more people to play”, says

www.mymobile.co.in

Sean Uberoi Kelly, vice president of mobile at Zynga, the company behind the uber successful FarmVille game on Facebook. While people are struck in the cobweb of a busy life, social networking sites help them stay connected and social gaming provides a platform where they can stay in constant touch and even enjoy a few light moments. “Playing games is an inherently social activity. The need to play with and against your friends and to share the results and be lauded for prowess is an acutely human phenomenon. Social network games are the ultimate expression of this trait,” feels Rajat Kulshrestha, CEO, PlayUp India. Rahul Razdan, president - products and operations, ibibo in fact feels that social games are particularly suited to India. “The core of social gaming fits in very well with the people here in India as Indians are very good at interacting and socialising with people. Indian culture is different from the culture abroad”, he points out.

mentally different than how they interact with PC or console games. Successful game designers recognise these differences and create unique experiences for each platform based on what players want. Currently, we have more than 15 million people playing our mobile social games each day.” Such is the potential of the Indian social gaming market that a number of international players lining up to enter it. Yoshikazu Tanaka, founder and CEO of GREE, one such company, says, “India is an emerging market and we are looking forward to have partners here so that we can reach more people. Social gaming in mobile space is growing fast and we focus mainly on that. Our strong portfolio of gaming applications has become our strength.”

these are easy to play and give us not only virtual but physical rewards when we win”, said Anjaani Patel, a management student. Yoshikazu feels that social networking and gaming go hand in hand. “While the social networking platforms have become very important, you can see that the gaming market globally has also grown multiple times in numbers. We here are thus providing not just gaming options but integrated social networking service as well,” he points out. Most social games use the freemium model, where gamers can play for a limited time or upto a certain level without paying anything but have to pay for further levels or for upgrades. “We believe games should be free to play and easy to access,” says Kelly.

The Facebook effect

Players have the option of purchasing virtual goods such as energy, collection items, or gifts for their friends to improve their playing experience. Zynga monetises its social games through in-game purchases of virtual goods as well as advertising.” With more people seeking their social gaming fix online, the number and kinds of social games are on the rise. And as people spend more time on their mobile devices and social networks, this trend is unlikely to change. The next time someone asks you out for a game, ask where. It is a fair chance the answer will be “On Facebook.” Social gaming has well and truly arrived. n

Going mobile! As the number of smartphones and tablets rises, more and more people are accessing the Internet and social networking sites on these devices. Keeping the high adaptation of mobile phones in mind more and more companies are getting into this market and thus, developing games for mobiles and tablets as well. “With the affordability of mobile phones amongst both the urban and rural area, social networking and gaming are getting very popular. In fact, they are very much interconnected. Not only can they access the social networking sites from their mobile phones but they also get to test their gaming skills online while socializing on the same platform”, says Kulshrestha. Razdan feels that online social gaming is set to get a significant boost. “Internet penetration in India has so far been less as compared to other countries which is why exposure has been on low side. With the availability of Internet enabled handsets at affordable price points, the accessibility of Internet has become easy,” he says. “This is why social gaming has taken off really well in recent times. Also, right now our total registered user base happens to be 15 million. Broadly, our intent is to look at least 30-40 per cent growth still coming in, and a lot of it is going to be driven by mobile. In terms of or strategic shift we are going to be focusing a lot on taking our offerings on to the mobile Internet space and therefore that is going to be a key driver for us.” Kelly is more direct. “Players want fun, casual playing experiences wherever and whenever,” he says. “The way in which people interact with their mobile devices is funda-

Facebook is a platform shared by most of the developers of social networking games. Be it FarmVille, Teen Patti, or Zynga Poker, Facebook provides a common playfield to all its members. And the popularity of the site makes it the preferred destination for most people looking for a bit more than stand-alone gaming. “Gaming on Facebook connects me and my friends when we are getting bored. Also, there are certain games that allow you to take a move now and your partner to revert whenever possible. This way there is no compulsion of replying instantaneously. Also, games like

harshita@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 81

co l l Eg e co n n ec t

A Renaissance of Talent and Entertainment H

appy faces, food stalls, music and dance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; these were all in ample evidence at the annual festival, Renaissanceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 12 of the Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Management and Research (BVIMR), which took place on 24-25 February. A spirit of euphoria prevailed throughout the very busy two days. On day one, students participated in a variety of competitions, ranging from the ever popular Antakshiri to marketing bingo to the solo folk dance competition. The solo folk dance in particular witnessed a jam-packed auditorium cheering for participants who performed a variety of regional dances. The crowds were a good deal quieter at the graffiti competition, but every bit as enthusiastic and enraptured as participants from different colleges painted their views on canvas. The biggest cheers on day one were, however, reserved for the Fashion Show in which students from various colleges of Delhi University participated, walking the ramp wearing creations of aspiring designers. There was also a power packed performance by

82 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

Delhi-based rock band ‘Astitva’ which left the crowd begging for more. The second day too had some interesting competitions like mimicry in which students had the audience in splits as they mercilessly mimicked their teachers. The star of the show however was Shubham, a student of Dayal Singh college, who won the first prize with his sarcastic humor, lampooning social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Other exciting activities included flameless cooking, photography quest, and street plays. Day two concluded with the college’s own rock band performance and fashion show. And the applause at the end left people in no doubt about just how successful Renaissance’12 had been for the organisers, participants and spectators alike. n team@mymobile.co.in

Photo: Prateek Kapoor

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 83

co l l eg e co n n ec t

AdAab, Fusion! ‘A

daab’ , the cultural festival of Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College witnessed an amalgamation of Indian and Western cultures. The two day event held on 15-16 February comprised of many programmes and activities, which reflected Indian culture, while capturing the flavour of ongoing western trends. Events like the Mehendi and Rangoli competition attracted the attention of a number of people, as students made beautiful rangolis using bright colours, flowers, cereals, and other materials. There was a semi-classical and western singing competition which left the audiences mesmerized. The

84 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

Photo: Freddy

opening day of the festival also saw participation in quiz, debate and essay competitions, from students of various colleges of Delhi University. The second day saw the street play competition literally hold centrestage, with the teams from the Janki Devi Memorial College and Zakir Hussain College presenting plays that highlighted how biased society was against women, and the need to empower women. Rounding off the event were performances from rock bands from different colleges. The crowds left, thoroughly entertained and enlightened, and already counting down the days to next year’s event!

co l l eg e co n n ec t

A Tech Extravaganza at HRCT W atching robots fighting has so far been the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters like Transformers. But hundreds of students got a chance to see a real robot war at HRCT College, Ghaziabad where budding engineers showcased their talent at Techvaganza V3.0 2012, a two-day festival organised on 2-3 March, in which students from 70 engineering colleges participated. The College has a 21 acre campus with full fledged facitites like hostels, labs, etc for boys as well as girls. Successfully into its sixth year the

college fest was not only fun but a display of the innovation and technical prowess of its students. The robot war was not the only attraction of this technology festival. There were no end of fun and games, in which the geek crowd indulged itself to its heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s content. More than thirty games were organised, with students getting to try their hands and face off against each other in cult titles like Need for Speed, Cricket and FIFA. For those who preferred to exercise their memories and/or little grey cells, there were activities on a host of top-

86 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

ics ranging from Java to Web designing and hacking. And there was plenty for those with a non-technical bend of mind as well, including games like dumb charades, Ad-Mad, role playing and Click short. All of which made the two day event a mass of frenzied activity, competition, fun and frolic, which was a tribute to the organizing team of the event, which had worked day and night to make it possible. What made Techvaganza V3.0 2012 stand out from other college events was the fact that it laid stress not just on entertainment but also on showcasing the skills of various participants, providing them with a great platform to showcase their talent and engineering skills. While everyone had more than their share of fun, what remained in the minds of most people was the incredible array of engineering talent that they had witnessed over two days. We would not be surprised if some of it plays a major role in our future. n team@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 87

event

Calling The

Youth! The past few years have seen the handset emerge as a device that the youth cannot really do without. With all sectors of the mobile industry targeting the youth, which is being seen as a key driver of the mobile market, UTV Bindaas organised a workshop to provide a common platform for the mobile and service industry people to connect with the younger generation Harshita Rastogi

or most existing and emerging players in the mobile industry, the youth of the country represent an important factor while developing new products and services. Which is why a large section of mobile phone producers, operators and application developers are making their products more youth-oriented. It was with this in mind that UTV Bindaas recently organised UTV Bindass Connect, an event where people from the mobile industry spent time and interacted with selected youth representatives under the same roof. The goal of the workshop was to seek findings that could be beneficial to all the brands involved. The two day workshop had about 20 youth participants from various fields and institutions. After a brief welcome note by Keith Alphonso, business head for UTV Bindaas and an introduction session. The first session revolved around

88 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

www.mymobile.co.in

discovering the kind of activities these participating youth do with their mobile phones throughout a day, to gather some generic information about the trends in mobile data usage and services used on a frequent basis. After this, the participants were asked to design their ideal phone, which helped members of the industry get a better idea of the kind of features they wanted in their devices. Most people were looking for some â&#x20AC;&#x153;sense-basedâ&#x20AC;? features that would sense the mood of the user and respond accordingly. The next day, the participants were divided into groups representing some handset or service operator brands and were given the task of designing a Facebook page for the same, enabling the industry to get a better understanding of the features that are not up to the mark or are not available on their own Facebook profiles. In most cases, these included a better customer service and information section! Later, participants were asked that what they would do if their phones were not handy or if the voice service on their phones was barred. Most of the participant responded by saying that they hardly made use of voice calling as messages, and mostly the messenger applications, kept them going throughout the day. All of which made industry members concede that they would need to focus more on providing message based coupons and services as this is what the youth seemed to want. Another fact that emerged from the session was that mobile communication services had somehow detached the young from their families. They barely spent enough time with their families and even when they did, there was always some activity, often related to their phone, that was occupying their minds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an unfortunate consequence of staying connecting on and to their handsets all day long. The event ended with some light interactive sessions. At the end, the participating members of industry went away, having learnt a fair deal more about what the Indian youth required of them. n harshita@mymobile.co.in

mar 15 to apr 14 2012 MYMOBILE 89

c e l l- e b r i t y He is one of the few to have moved smoothly from the small screen to the big one. And he has done so without having to give up his gadgets. We talk tech with Rajeev Khandelwal of Sach Ka Samna fame Harshita Rastogi

“

I would love to design my own phone First things first - which handset do you use? I have an iPhone 4S. Are you a gadget freak? No, I am not at all a gadget freak. I don’t have anything against them but I am not really drawn to them either. They are more need based for me. You have designed a car for yourself (Mahindra Xylo Extreme, which is patented on his name), so given a chance would you like to design a handset as well? I would love to design my own phone. In terms of features, I would like to have a phone which has the sense to reject calls of people I don’t want to talk to at that moment. I know there are facilities which enable you to reject or block calls and SMSes from a number, and I can also easily escape by keeping my phone on silent mode but still I want my phone to have a kind of a sixth sense so as to keep nuisance mongers away while the phone is still on ringing mode. If you were left on a deserted island with just your mobile and no network, what would you do with it? I will celebrate. I sometimes feel that these things take away your peace. At such an island I would feel rather heavenly sans certain luxurious things! Are you on any of the social networking sites? No I am not on any social networking sites and neither do I plan to come on them. It is not that I don’t like connecting or interacting with my

90 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

well wishers and fans but I like to do it on a more personal level. Whenever I get a chance, I love to meet and interact with people and I always look forward to such opportunities. I blog whenever I feel like it, or when I have something to share. Everyone knows that you are a fitness freak, so are there any applications on your handset that help you in keeping fit? I use no application except Google. I keep Googling a lot of things to deal with fitness, be it some diet charts, or exercises to or not to do. Also, I don’t want to rely on ideas through my handset to keep my regime right. I trust my trainers and also the research that I have done for the last so many years. Do you have any applications installed on your phone? No, currently there are no applications that I have downloaded on my handset. All right, finally a question on show business. Apart from Will You Marry Me, which other movies can we expect to see Rajeev Khandelwal in? There will be a supernatural film called Raakh, directed by Tanuja Chandra that is up for release next. There is another movie opposite Prachi Desai, where I play a single father to a four year old but the title of the film has not been finalised yet. Another movie will be Fever and lastly I have signed When Love Happens. n harshita@mymobile.co.in

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best mobile magazine

YEARS

SCRATCH

Subscription

Offer

WIN

YEAR

Subscription

Offer

Free Magazine issues

Subscription

Offer

S uNbO s cWr i!b e SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Term No of (year) issue

Coverprice (Rs.)

2,700

1,800

Option

You pay (Rs)

2,700

Haier Toaster / Timex Gents Watch worth Rs. 2,700 + Scratch Card

1,890

Save Rs. 810 i.e 30% discount on cover price

1,800

Arise Electric Kettle /Timex Ladies watch worth Rs. 1,800 + Scratch Card

1,350

Save Rs. 450 i.e 25% discount on cover price

900

Numero Uno Shoes worth Rs. 999 + Scratch Card

675

Save Rs. 225 i.e 25% discount on cover price

900

Cash Benefit/Gift

Yes, I would like to subscribe to My Mobile magazine for______ years with option_____ Name_____________________________________________________________ Age________________ Sex____________________ Job Title___________________________________________________________ Company Name______________________________ Address Office/Residence_______________________________________________________________________________________ Mobile__________________________Phone_____________________________ e-mail_____________________________________ Cheque No.________________________________________________________ for Rs.____________________________________

PAYMENT METHOD By Cheque/Cash No:___________________Amount:__________________________________Bank:_________________Branch:________________ PLEASE *Draw the DD in favour of My Mobile Infomedia Pvt Ltd. *Write your name and address on the reverse of the DD.

Add. - My Mobile Infomidia Pvt. Ltd., # 25, 1st Floor, Shankar Market, Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110001. Phone: 011-46206161, 41081012/13, Fax: 011-41520637 Terms and Conditions: The offer is valid in India only. Gift will be deliverd within a month after clearing of the cheque.Please allow 4 - 6 weeks for processing your subscription. Any request for cancellation of subscription will not be entertained. Copies will be send by ordinary post. The actual model of Subscription gift may vary from the model shown above. This subscription offer is valid till stocks lasts. All disputes subject to competent courts of Delhi only.

MY GUIDE Devices featured in the My Guide have been segregated into four categories based on price and colour-coded as:

CDMA Enterprise High-end (Rs 12,000 upwards) Mid-level

(Rs 6,000 - Rs 11,999)

Entry-level (Rs 2,500 - Rs 5,999) Sub-entry level (up to Rs 2,499) Disclaimer : The prices quoted in My Guide are the Best Buy prices quoted by the respective companies, ex-Delhi. The prices may vary on account of promotional schemes or dealer discretion. M.O.P. mentiond in My Guide are not applicable in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. While My Mobile tries to ensure accuracy in the pricing and features any discrepancies that may emerge are beyond our control. Please check with the retailer about features of the phone before buying. The ratings that have been included are from the burn tests of the phones that we have reviewed. Feel free to update us.

(Last updated on March 3, 2012)

NR stands for not reviewed M.O.P. stands for Market Operating Price

Y MOBILE 93 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

myguide MODELS

SUB-ENTRY LEVEL

BYOND

PARAMETERS

CELKON

BY 809

BY 120+

BY 255

BY009

C207

C33

C 66i

Dimension (mm)

107 x 46.3 x 14.7

110 x 46 x 14

110.7 x 47.5 x 12.5

111 x 41.7 x 14.5

108 X 46 X 16

Weight (grams)

120

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

4/240

10/480

4/192

10/240

6/120

15/300

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/1.5

NA/2.0

65,536/1.8

262,144/2.0

262,144/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/2GB

NA/4GB

1016KB/4GB

468KB/8GB

303KB/4GB

NA/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

NA/No

Yes/No

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

100

1000

500

1000

500

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

Proprietary

RTOS

NA/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,249

1,799

2,099

2,399

1,499

1,599

2,299

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

CHAZE

PARAMETERS

KARBONN

C123

C133

C159

C234

C245

C249

K 486

Dimension (mm)

109 x 49 x 15.6

107 x 46.5 x 13

115 x 48 x 14.6

118 x 52 x 13

121 x 53.8 x 16.6

116 x 50 x 13

109 x 47.8 x 14

Weight (grams)

121

133

9/NA

4/NA

7/NA

5/NA

12/NA

7/600

5/500

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.8

65,536/2.0

65,536/2.2

262,144/2.4

65,536/2.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

45KB/4GB

NA/4GB

45KB/4GB

123KB/8GB

136KB/8GB

45KB/8GB

32MB/8GB

Yes/No

Yes/NA

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/Yes/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

250

500

1,000

500

1500

300

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSB+GSB Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

1,350

1,650

2,500

2,150

2,200

1,800

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 94 MY

MODELS PARAMETERS Model

KARBONN

LAVA

NOKIA

ARC21

KKT 34+

A 230

1280

100

101

Dimension (mm)

115 X 50 x 15.5

110 x 46 x 14.65

113.5 x 51.2 x 16

108.6 x 46.6 x 13.8

107.2 x 45.1 x 15.3

110 x 45.5 x 14.9

Weight (grams)

112

81.4

81.92

69.6

Talktime/Standby (hours)

6/300

3/120

12/720

17/809

8.30/528

7.2/840

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.4

65,536/1.8

262,144/2.4

262,144/1.77

Monochrome/1.36

65,536/1.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/8GB

250KB/8GB

NA/8GB

25MB/8GB

NA/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

No/NoNo

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

500

1,000

500

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

No/No/No

Symbian S30

S30

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Bar/No/No

2,100

1,820

2,200

2,450

1,000

1,250

1,500

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/No

Yes/No/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

RAGE

SAMSUNG

X1-01

C1-01

Smart 2

Striker 2

1081

Dimension (mm)

112.2 x 47.3 x 16

108 x 45 x 14

108 x 42 x 14.25

117 x 50.2 x 15.4

107.4 x 45.5 x 13.6

Weight (grams)

91.5

78.8

105

64.5

73.2

13/1032

10.4/540

7/200

11/1000

9/560

11.1/580

Talktime/Standby (hours)

E 1085

Hero Music

107.4 x 45.5 x 13.6 110.60 x 45.35 x 13.90

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.8

NA/1.77

NA/2.4

65,536/1.43

65,536/1.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/16GB

64MB/32GB

45KB/4GB

1MB/No

4MB/4GB

No/No

Yes/No

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

VGA/No/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

500

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

No/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

S30

Symbian S40

MTK

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

No/No

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/NoNo

1,850

2,350

1,349

1,849

1,100

1,250

1,750

YMOBILE 95 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

SICT

E2230

E2232

109.2 x 46.0 x 14.9

116.5 x 46 x 14.8

119.1 x 51 x 15.3

118 x 58 x 10

108 x 56 x 12.3

110 x 45 x 14.6

Weight (grams)

Talktime/Standby (hours)

iV208

iV171

SPICE

Dimension (mm)

NEW

Spaark

NEW

SILK

M-5005

NEW

14.7/660

NA/500

9.5/400

18/960

11/NA

10/400

9.2/276

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.8

65,536/1.77

NA/2.0

NA/2.4

NA/2.8

65,536/1.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4MB/8GB

20MB/8GB

No/8GB

95KB/16GB

45KB/16GB

136KB/16GB

NA/4GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

200

500

200

500

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/No/No

No/NoNo

Yes/No/No

No/No/No

Operating System

Properitory

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

BarNo/No

2,050

2,250

1549

2299

2300

1,300

MODELS

ENTRY LEVEL

SPICE

PARAMETERS Model

UFX

BYOND

M-5350

M-5455

401

Star

Bizz

BY 260

BY011

Dimension (mm)

104.8 x 56 x 13.2

113 x 51.6 x 13.7

102 x 43 x 15.5

107.6 x 45.6 x 12.6

98.5 x 54 x 13.3

110 x 49 x 11

116.7 x 50 x 14.8

Weight (grams)

120

125

Talktime/Standby (hours)

3.50/300

4/230

3/300

3/120

3/200

4/240

13/600

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.36

2,621,442.40

65,536/1.8

268,144/2.0

NA/2.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/8GB

110KB/8GB

128MB/2GB

64MB/2GB

28MB/4GB

NA/16GB

1016.5KB/4GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

200

500

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

No/NoNo

Yes/No/No

MTK

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

2,050

2,250

1,999

1,523

2,199

2,899

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 96 MY

MODELS

BYOND

PARAMETERS Model

CELKON

CHAZE

KARBONN

BY007

Gamestar

C 227

C333

K44

K33

K1818

Dimension (mm)

111 x 47 x 14.5

114.3 x 45.5 x 13.6

117 X 57 X 13

114 x 62 x 13.8

95.5 X 46 X 16.8

15.8 x 51.5 x 107

106.6 x 54.3 x 12.7

Weight (grams)

120

100

117

Talktime/Standby (hours)

10/480

4/400

6/120

2.5/190

4/300

4/500

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/2.2

NA/2.4

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.2

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

1016KB/4GB

319.5KB/8GB+8GB

256MB/16GB

233KB/8GB

64MB/4GB

95KB/8GB

Yes/8GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

3.2MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/Yes/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

2,000

350

1,000

2,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/No/No

Operating System

Proprietary

RTOS

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Clamshell/No/No

Slider/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

2,999

3,299

3,699

2,850

2,600

3,000

3,700

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes Bar/No/No

PARAMETERS Model

KARBONN

LAVA

K1616

KKT39

A10

A16

M70

C105

A200

Dimension (mm)

116 x 61 x 12

116 x 47 x 11.5

120 x 47.5 x 13.1

114.5 x 59 x 13

99.8 x 51 x 15.8

Weight (grams)

135

80.5

105

100

110

Talktime/Standby (hours)

6/312

10/NA

3.1/220

16/650

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

262,144/2.2

262,144/3.0

262,144/2.6

262,144/3.2

262,144/2.2

65,536/2.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

Yes/8GB

NA/16GB

200MB/16GB

32MB/MicroSD

30MB/32GB

4.7MB/4GB

128MB/8GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

3.2MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

3.2MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

500

2,000

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Quad band/No

Quad Band/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Genric

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Slider/No/No

4,700

2,700

3,800

3,900

4,750

2,500

3,600

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

YMOBILE 97 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

PARAMETERS Model

S365

A350

T500

T515

C375

P520

T310i

Dimension (mm)

117 x 50.9 x 11.5

116 × 53.3 × 12.85

105 x 57.3 x 12.9

113 x 61 x 12.9

109.1 x 56.2 x 12.95

95.8 x 51.0 x 11.9

Weight (grams)

91.45

105

120

86.5

Talktime/Standby (hours)

14.5/559

12.5/328

8/720

NA/NA

16/789

23.8/454

14/569

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/2.4

262,144/2.2

262,144/2.8

262,144/2.3

256,000/2.8

262,144/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

9.7MB/16GB

256MB/32GB

NA/8GB

NA/4GB

78MB/8GB

13MB/4GB

18MB/4GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Quad Band/NA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Generic

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

4,000

4,100

4,200

4,700

5,100

5,000

5,200

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

MICROMAX

PARAMETERS Model

MOTOROLA

NOKIA

X333

X450

EX109

EX212

EX119

C2-00

X2-02

Dimension (mm)

103.65 x 57.2 x 13.35

116.7 x 52 x 20.3

102 x 59.5 x 12.8

106 x 53 x 13.9

103 x 60 x 9.9

108 x 45 x 14.65

113 x 50 x 15

Weight (grams)

110

105

74.1

Talktime/Standby (hours)

3/200

4/315

8.3/500

6.25/625

8.3/680

5.75//460

9.8/443

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,526/2.8

262,144/2.0

262,144/2.4

65,536/1.8

262,144/2.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

75KB/8GB

Yes/8GB

59MB/32GB

5MB/16GB

50MB/32GB

16MB/32GB

10MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

250

200

800

1,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Quad Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Symbian 40

S40

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/NoNo

Bar/No/Yes

Clamshell/No/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

2,883

3,500

3,300

4,600

5,500

2,650

3,400

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 98 MY

MODELS

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

RAGE

X2-01

C2-02

C2-01

Asha 200

C2-03

Pro

Dimension (mm)

119.4 x 59.8 x 14.3

102,8x51,2x17

109.6 x 46.9 x 14.6

115.4 x 61.1 x 14

103 x 51.4 x 17

111 x 47 x 13.3

120 x 57 x 13.6

Weight (grams)

107.5

110

105

115

120

Talktime/Standby (hours)

4.3/480

5/600

8.4/430

7/888

5/400

13.3/540

10/1000

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.4

65,536/2.6

262,144/2.0

65,536/2.4

65,536/2.6

262,144/2.2

NA/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

128MB/8GB

10MB/32GB

75MB/16GB

NA/32GB

10MB/32GB

48MB/16GB

125KB/8GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

2,000

Shared

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/No

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/R99

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Operating System

Symbian S40

S40

Symbian S40

MTK

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

Slider/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Slider/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

3,650

4,050

4,150

4,600

4,650

4,900

2,749

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

RAGE

PARAMETERS Model

SAMSUNG

Flair

Pride

Super

Noble 8

3011

E2152 Guru 36

2222

Dimension (mm)

114.4 x 58 x 8.8 mm

115.3 x 49 x 8.85

124 x 55 x 14

112 x 57.6 x 13.1

110 x 45 x 12.2

111.6 x 46.3 x 13.5

109.5 x 61.3 x 11.85

Weight (grams)

115

105

85.5

80.4

Talktime/Standby (hours)

5/400

10/1000

5/400

8/700

11/660

11.4/550

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/2.3

NA/2.4

NA/2.6

NA/3.2

65,536/2.0

262,144/2.0

262,144/2.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

230KB/8GB

145KB/4GB

NA/4GB

4MB/8GB

20MB/8GB

NA/2GB

45MB/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

Yes/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

500

300

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

MTK

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

2,999

3,099

3,199

3,999

2,650

2,750

3,300

YMOBILE 99 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS

3303 Champ

3520

Champ2

Champ Delux

3213

Metro Duos C3322

Ch@t C3222

Dimension (mm)

112.8 x 46.4 x 13.2

113.97 x 47.9 x 13.99

109.7 x 58.1 x 12.3

96.3 x 53.9 x 12.9

102 x 52 x 16.78

96 x 52.6 x 12.15

101.8 x 55.0 x 12.3

Weight (grams)

80.6

88.9

97.5

79.5

89.7

Model

8.2/550

10/500

11/500

12.3/666

9.1/610

10/500

15.8/500

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/2.0

262,144/2.2

262,144/2.4

262,144/2.7

262,144/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

36MB/8GB

46MB/16GB

54MB/8GB

30MB/8GB

28MB/16GB

40MB/16GB

30MB/16GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

2.0/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Proprietary

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Clamshell/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

3,300

3,550

3,700

3,750

4,044

4,000

4,100

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams) Talktime/Standby (hours)

C3530

Champ Duos E2652

112.2 x 46.7 x 11.9 99.90 x 54.90 x 12.95

Metro C3752

Chat 3G 527

Primo S5610

Star II

Champ 3.5G S3770

97.9 x 19 x 16.4

103 x 55 x 12

118.9 x 49.9 x 12.8

107.5 x 54.0 x 12.4

13/550

14.3/476

13.3/900

3/288

15.67/960

8.2/900

6/350

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.2

262,144/2.6

65,536/NA

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.0

262,144/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

50MB/16GB

40MB/16GB

80MB/32GB

110MB/16GB

30MB/16GB

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.2MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

2,000

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Tri Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

4,350

4,600

4,800

5,700

5,800

5,900

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 100 MY

MODELS PARAMETERS Model

SAMSUNG

SICT

SONY ERICSSON

SPICE

Corby II

iV198

Spiro

Cedar

W150i Yendo

Mix Walkman

M-5445

Dimension (mm)

109.9 x 60.6 x 11.7

117 x 52 x 17.8

92 x 48 x 18

111 x 49 x 15.5

94.0 × 52.0 × 16.0

95.8 × 52.8 × 14.3

118 x 49 x 11.3

Weight (grams)

102

Talktime/Standby (hours)

9.3/620

36/1920

4.3/476

12.5/420

4/400

9.6/465

4.5/400

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.14

262,144/2.6

262,144/2.2

262,144/2.6

262,144/3.0

262,144/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

21MB/16GB

45KB/16GB

5MB/16GB

280MB/NA

5MB/16GB

256MB/32GB

NA/8GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

500

2,000

1,000

Shared

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Operating System

Proprietary

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Slider/No/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

BarNo/No

5,950

2649

4,100

4,400

4,900

5,800

2,750

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes Bar/Yes/No

SPICE

PARAMETERS Model

UFX

M-6460

M-6700

M-6868

M-6900

101

201

301

Dimension (mm)

114.5 x 51 x 13.65

111 x 54 x 13.2

114.5 x 63 x 12

116 x 62.5 x 11.6

110 x 47.6 x 12.2

111 x 49 x 11.5

Weight (grams)

109

100

167

6/450

6.2/234

4.5/450

9.4/218

3/300

Talktime/Standby (hours) Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.1

262,144/3.4

262,144/3.5

NA/2.2

262,144/2.2

65,536/2.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

500KB/8GB

45MB/16GB

39MB/8GB

128MB/8GB

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

1.3 MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

1,500

2,000

1,000

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Tri Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

MTK

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

3,050

4,300

5,400

5,900

2,699

2,799

2,899

YMOBILE 101 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

myguide MODELS

MID LEVEL

PARAMETERS Model

UFX

NOKIA

501

Astro

T325

300

X3-02

Dimension (mm)

116 x 59 x 13.2

107 x 54 x 12.6

102.4 x 56.4 x 11.9

115.5 x 58.1 x 13.6

112.8 x 49.5 x 12.7

112 x 46 x 12.3

106.2 x 48.4 x 9.6

Weight (grams)

79.5

118

92.5

114

89.3

Talktime/Standby (hours)

4/360

3/200

7.9/381

7/800

6.9/550

12/630

5/430

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.2

265,144/2.6

262,144/2.8

262,144/2.4

16.7million/2.2

262,144/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

128MB/8GB

30MB/16GB

55MB/8GB

128MB/32GB

50MB/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

250

1,000

Shared

Quad Band/No

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Quad Band/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

MTK

Nucleus

Symbian S40

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

S40

Symbian S60

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSDPA Symbian S60

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

2,999

2,700

6,300

7,800

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

SAMSUNG

C5-03

500

Dimension (mm)

105.8 x 51 x 13.8

111.3 x 53.8 x 14.1

Weight (grams)

11.5/600

7/500

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.2

262,144/3.0

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

40MB/16GB

2GB/32GB

20MB/16GB

30MB/16GB

100MB/16GB

150MB/32GB

250MB/16GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1000

Shared

2,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Symbian S60

Symbian Anna

Android OS, v2.3

Proprietary

Bada

Bada OS v2.0

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

8,700

9,700

6290

6,300

6,400

7,400

10,700

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 102 MY

Star 3 Duos

Star II Duos 6712

Wave 525

Wave Y

Star Duos B7722

102 x 58 x 11.51

109.5 x 56 x 12.2

109.5 x 55 x 11.9

110.0 x 57.9 x 12.3

113.5 x 55.5 x 14.3

95.5

100

104.8

112

14.3/520

10/550

15/900

12.1/610

12.5/420

NEW

Dual Band/GSM+GSM Quad Band/GSM+GSM

MODELS

HIGH END

SONY ERICSSON

PARAMETERS Model

NOKIA

TXT

Text Pro

Elm

603

C6-01

700

Dimension (mm)

106 X 60 X 14.5

92.0 × 53.0 × 18.0

110 x 45 x 14

113.4 x 53 x 16.8

113.5 x 57.1 x 12.7

103.8 x 52.5 x 13.9

110 x 50 x 9.7

Weight (grams)

136

150

109.6

131

Talktime/Standby (hours)

3.2/416

5.1/400

10/430

11/400

8.7/540

12/420

7.14/403

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.55

16.7million/3.0

252,144/2.2

16.7million/3.2

16.7mollion/3.5

16.7milloin/3.2

16million/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

120MB/32GB

100MB/32GB

280MB/8GB

200MB/16GB

NA/32GB

340MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

2,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

Proprietary

Generic

Symbian S 60

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Symbian Belle OS

Symbian^3

Symbian Belle

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

6,000

7,400

8,000

13,100

13,299

14,300

16,300

Link

Meridiist Steel & Gold

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

NOKIA

PARAMETERS

SAMSUNG

TAG HEUER

701

Wave M S7250

Wave 3

Meridiist GMT Stainless Steel/Black PVD

Dimension (mm)

117.2x56.8x11

119.7 x 62.8 x 11.9

113.8 x 63.3 x 12.2

125.9 x 64.2 x 9.9

112 x 46 x 15.5

118 x 67 x 16.6

112 x 46 x 15.5

Weight (grams)

131

146

121

122

155

200

155

17/504

6/450

6.5/480

14.25/535

7/392

6.5/336

7/392

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.2

16.7million/4.0

262,144/3.65

16million/4.0

262,144/1.9

16million/3.5

262,144/1.9

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

150MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

NA/NA

256MB/8GB

NA/NA

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

No/No/No

5.0MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Shared

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Symbian Belle

Symbian Anna

Bada OS v2.0

Andriod OS 2.2

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/NA

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

16,500

Starting 2,80,000+/ 3,50,000+

Starting 3,25,000+

Starting 5,40,000+

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

17,900

21,000

12,500

YMOBILE 103 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

myguide MODELS

ENTERPRISE LEVEL

VERTU

PARAMETERS

APPLE

Ascent

Constellation Ayxta

Ascent Ti

Constellation Quest

Signature

iPhone 4

iPad 2 Wi-Fi

Dimension (mm)

117 x 46 x 19

100 x 48 x 18

115.5 x 49 x 13.1

116 x 60.8 x 12.7

130 x 42 x 13

115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3

241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8

Weight (grams)

148

174

160

165 to 185

166

137

607

Model

4.8/300

6/300

5/300

7.5/349

3.5/300

14/300

10/720

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/2.0

16million/2.4

16million/2.0

8GB/32GB

16million/2.0

16million/3.5

262,144/9.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

100MB/8GB

4GB/No

16million/2.46

4GB/No

16GB,32GB/No

16,32,64 GB/No

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

3.15/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

No/No/No

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

1,500

Shared

2,000

Shared

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/R99

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/R99

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

iOS4

iOS 4.3

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Clamshell/No/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Starting 2,89,000+

Starting 3,47,000+

Starting 3,68,000+

Starting 3,86,000+

Starting 7,22,000+

34,500/40,900

29,500/34,500/39,500

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

APPLE

PARAMETERS

BLACKBERRY

Model

i-Pad 2 Wi-Fi+3G

iPhone 4S

Curve 8520

Play Book

Curve 3G 9300

Curve 9360

Curve 9380

Dimension (mm)

241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8

115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3

109 x 60 x 13.9

194 x 130 x 10

109 x 60 x 13.9

112 x 62 x 14.2 mm

109 x 60 x 11.2

Weight (grams)

607

140

106

425

104

130

10/720

14/200

4.5/408

NA/NA

4.5/461

5/336

5.5/360

Talktime/Standby (hours) Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/9.7

16million/3.5

65,536/2.46

16million/7.0

65,536/2.46

262,144/2.44

16million/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16,32,64 GB/No

16,32,64GB/No

256MB/microSD

16,32,64GB/No

256MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad band/No

Quad Band/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

iOS 4.3

IOS 5

BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Music Player/FM Radio

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

9,600

13,990/19,990

14,000

19,200

20,990

Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

36,900/41,900/46,900 44,600/50800/57500

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 104 MY

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

MODELS

BLACKBERRY

PARAMETERS Model

CELKON

Bold 9780

Bold 9790

Torch 9800

9860

9810

9900

Dimension (mm)

109 x 60 x 13.9

110 x 60 x 11.4

111 x 62 x 14.6

120 x 62 x 11.5

111 x 62 14.6

115 x 66 x 10.5

108 X 46 X 16

Weight (grams)

104

107

161.1

135

161

130

Talktime/Standby (hours)

4.5/456

5.1/432

5.5/432

4.7/337

6.5/296

6.3/296

6/120

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/2.44

16million/2.45

16million/3.2

16million/3.7

16 million/3.2

16 million/2.8

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

256MB/32GB

8GB/32GB

512MB/32GB

2.5GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

2GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

2,000

Quad Band/No

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

BlackBerry OS

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Blackberry OS 7.0

BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Android 2.2

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/Yes

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

22,000

25,900

27,000

27,500

28,500

32,000

4,999

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

DELL

PARAMETERS Model

HTC

XCD35

Aero

Venu

Streak

Venu Pro

Explorer

Wildfire S

Dimension (mm)

114 x 56 x 12.2

122 x 57.9 x 11.7

121 x 64 x 12.9

152.9 x 79.1 x 10

122 x 63.5 x 15.2

102.8 x 57.2 x 12.9

101.3 x 59.4 x 12.4

Weight (grams)

120

104

164

220

192.8

81.3

105

4/216

5/400

9.8/400

7/NA

7.6/485

4/120

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

16million/4.1

16million/5.0

16million/4.1

262,144/3.2

16million/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/16GB

Yes/32GB

512MB/32GB

8GB/32GB

90MB/32GB

512MB/microSD

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Tri Band/No

Quad Band/No

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

Android OS v2.1

Android OS v2.2

Windows Phone 7.5

Android OS v2.3

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

8,500

10,990

21,500

22,990

24,990

9,500

13,600

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

YMOBILE 105 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

HTC

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

ChaCha

S-510 Desire S

Radar

Flyer

Rhyme

Sensation XE

Evo 3D

114 x 64 x 10.7

115 x 59.8 x 11.6

120.5 x 61.5 x 10.9

195.4 x 122 x 13.2

119 x 60.8 x 10.85

126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3

126 x 65 x 12.05

124

130

137

420

130

151

170

4/120

10/480

8/320

6.3/265

9.1/310

9.3/358

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.6

16million/3.7

16million/3.8

16million/7.0

16million/3.7

16million/4.3

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

1.1GB/32GB

8GB/No

1GB/32GB

1GB/microSD

4GB/32GB

1GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Camera/Flash/Video Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Android OS v2.3

Android OS, v2.3

Windows Phone 7.5

Android OS, v3.3

Android OS 2.3

Android OS, v2.3

Android OS v2.3

Yes//Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

12,000

22,500

22,600

24,000

24,500

32,500

34,000

HTC

KARBONN

LAVA

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

PARAMETERS Model

Sensation XL

S12

Optimus Me P350

Optimus One P500

Optimus Pro C660

Optimus Net P690

Dimension (mm)

132.5 x 70.7 x 9.9

106.8 x 59.2 x 14

117 x 57.5 x 13.4

108 x 57.5 x 12.2

113.5 x 59 x 13.3

119.5 x 59.7 x 12.9

113 x 59 x 11.7

Weight (grams)

162.5

105

120

110

129

121

Talktime/Standby (hours)

11.8/360

4.1/250

10.8/590

11/626

8/550

NA/NA

12/581

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.7

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.2

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.2

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/No

4GB/32GB

120MB/32GB

155MB/32GB

170MB/32GB

150MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Yes/NA

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

QuadBand/No

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android OS v2.3

Android OS 2.2

Android OS v2.2

Android OS v2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

36,000

4,800

7,300

7,000

9,600

10,000

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 106 MY

MODELS

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

MICROMAX

P698

E510

E730

Optimus Black P970

Optimus 2X

Optimus 3D

A60

114 x 59 x 11.7

113.4 x 60.8 x 11.9

122.5 x 62.5 x 9.8

122 x 64 x 9.2

123.9 x 63.2 x 10.9

128.8 x 68 x 11.9

106.8 x 59.2 x 14

124

123

107

109

139

168

105

11.5/556

18.5/496

6/375

14.5/421

13/450

4/240

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.2

16million/3.8

16 million/4.0

16million/4.0

16million/4.3

262,144/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

160MB/32GB

Yes/32GB

1GB/32GB

2 GB/32GB

6.4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

150MB/32GB

Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Camera/Flash/Video Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/N0

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Android OS v2.3

Android OS v2.4

Android OS v2.2

Android OS v2.1

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

10,500

13,000

17,000

19,000

22,000

27,000

4,600

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Android OS v2.3

MICROMAX

PARAMETERS Model

MOTOROLA

A55

A70

A75

A85

Fire

Fire XT

Defy+

Dimension (mm)

107.2 x 58.7 x 13.5

111 x 58 x 13.5

120 x 63.5 x 10.9

118.7 x 60.1 x 13.8

116.5 x 58 x 13.45

114 x 61.9 x 11.95

107 x 59 x 13.4

Weight (grams)

111.5

135.4

110

84.3

118

Talktime/Standby (hours)

4/144

4/168

5/288

3.2/250

7/504

9.7/720

7.10/384

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.2

262,144/3.75

16million/3.8

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.5

16million/3.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

150MB/32GB

160MB/32GB

NA/32GB

8GB/32GB

512MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad BandNo

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Android OS v2.2

Android OS, v2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

7,000

7,999

8,999

15,290

8,500

12,200

16,000

YMOBILE 107 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

MOTOROLA

PARAMETERS

NOKIA

Model

Milestone XT800

Xoom 3G/WiFi

RazrXT 910

Lumia 710

Dimension (mm)

120 x 61.8 x 11.4

249.1 x 167.8 x 12.9

130.7 x 68.9 x 7.1

115 x 58.9 x 12.8

119 x 62.4 x 12.5

115.5 x 59 x 10.5

113.5 x 59 x 12.9

Weight (grams)

137

730

127

126

125.5

133

135

5.4/100

10/336

9.4/305

7.3/400

14.4/681

12/390

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.7

16million/10.1

262,144/4.3

262,144/2.36

16million/3.7

16.7million/2.46

16.7million/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

1GB/32GB

32GB/MicroSD

16GB/32GB

256MB/32GB

8GB/No

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

12.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/GSM+CDMA

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/Rev. A

Operating System

Android OS v2.1

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Android OS 3.1

Android OS, v2.3

Symbian S60

Windows Phone 7.5

Symbian Anna

Symbian^3 OS

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

16,500

32,990/39,990

30,000

9,400

15,600

17,100

21,500

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

SAMSUNG E7

Galaxy Y

Galaxy Y Colour

Galaxy Pop S5570

Dimension (mm)

116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1

123.7 x 62.4 x 13.6

104.0 x 58.0 x 11.5

110.4 x 60.8 x 12.1

109.8 x 60 x 11.95

110.8 x 63.5 x 11.9

Weight (grams)

142

176

97.5

106.6

109

112.3

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Galaxy Y Duos

Galaxy Y Duos Pro 5512 NEW

Lumia 800

NEW

13/265

9/430

6/120

9.5/570

17.5/630

19.16/740

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16miilion/3.7

16million/4.0

262,144/3.0

256,000/3.14

262,144/3.1

262,144/2.6

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/No

160MB/32GB

164MB/32GB

160MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

Windows Phone 7.5

Android OS, v2.3

Android OS, v2.2

Android OS, v2.3

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Symbian^3 OS

Quad Band/GSM+GSM Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

24,500

25,600

7,600

7,700

8,500

10490

11,090

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 108 MY

MODELS

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

5830 Galaxy Ace

Omnia W I8350

112.4 x 59.9 x 11.5

115.6 x 58.8 x 10.9

Galaxy Ace Duos I589 NEW

I9003 Galaxy SL

112.4 x 59.9 x 12.44 123.7 x 64.2 x 10.59

Galaxy S Plus I9001 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9

Galaxy Tab620

Galaxy SII i9100

193.65 x 122.37 x 9.96 125.30 x 66.10 x 8.49

113

115.3

125

131

119

345

116

12/520

7/370

7/300

12.8/750

17.3/480

40/1000

19.3/710

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.5

16million/3.7

16million/3.5

16 million/4.0

16million/4.0

16million/7.0

16million/4.27

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

158MB/32GB

8GB/No

512MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/MicroSD

16GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/CDMA+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Operating System

Android OS, v2.2

Windows Phone 7.5

Android OS, v2.3

Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Android OS, v2.2

Android OS, v2.3

Android OS, v3.2

Android OS, v2.3

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

13,500

15,400

16900

19,000

22,000

26,800

31,700

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS

SONY ERICSSON

Galaxy Tab 730

Galaxy Note

Tab 10.1 1750

Xperia Mini

Live with Walkman

Dimension (mm)

230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6

146.9 x 83 x 9.7

256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6

196.7 x 133 x 7.89

99.0 × 54.0 × 15.0

92 x 53 x 18

106 x 56 x 14.2

Weight (grams)

453

178

565

340

104

136

115

Model

Galaxy Tab 680

NEW

NA/1750

6/100

9/NA

20/1200

4.75/446

5.4/331

6.7/350

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/8.9

16million/5.3

16million/10.1

16million/7.7

16.7million/3.0

16million/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/No

16GB/32GB

16GB/No

16GB/32GB

128MB/16GB

320MB/16GB

320MB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Android OS, v3.1

Android OS, v2.3

Android OS, v3.1

Android OS, v3.2

Android OS v2.1

Android OS 2.3

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

32,500

33,500

34,000

36,312

9,400

13,800

14,600

YMOBILE 109 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

SONY ERICSSON

PARAMETERS Xperia Mini Pro

Xperia Active

Xperia Neo V

Xperia Ray

Xperia Pro

Arc S

R800i Xperia Play

Dimension (mm)

92 x 53 x 18

106 x 60 x 14.5

116 x 57 x 13

111 x 53 x 9.4

120 x 57 x 13.7

125 x 63 x 8.7

119.0 x 62.0 x 16.0

Weight (grams)

136

126

100

142

117

175

Model

5.4/331

3.2/416

6.9/430

6.8/430

6.9/430

7.4/460

8.25/625

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16.7million/3.0

16million/3.0

16million/3.7

16million/3.3

16million/3.7

16million/4.2

16 million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

320MB/16GB

120MB/32GB

1GB/32GB

300MB/32GB

1GB/32GB

512MB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Android OS 2.3

Android OS, v2.3

Yes/Yes

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

14,700

16,000

17,500

19,000

19,500

26,000

31,000

MODELS

CDMA

PARAMETERS

SONY

SPICE

CDMA

Tablate S

Mi 280

MI 350N

V3 Gem

Samsung Hero Plus 159

Samsung B209

B229

Dimension (mm)

241.2 x 174.3 x 10.1-20.6

105.5 x 57 x 12.9

116 x 61 x12.75

106 x 44 x 13.5

108.5 x 45.8 x 13.3

108.0 x 44.8 x 14.3

108 x 44.38 x 14.20

Weight (grams)

598

136

72.3

11/430

3.3/150

5/200

2/NA

3/230

4.3/470

6.5/720

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours) Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/9.4

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.5

NA/1.5

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16MB/No

134MB/32GB

170MB/32GB

NA/No

597KB/No

351KB/No

450KB/No

Yes/Yes

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

200

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/NO

Dual Band/GSM+CDMA

CDMA/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

No/No/No

Android OS, v3.1

Android OS, v2.3

REX

BREW

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

29,990

5,600

8,500

999

1,000

1,100

1,200

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 110 MY

MODELS

CDMA

PARAMETERS Model

V3 Xing

Samsung Hero B319

Samsung B379

Samsung B339

V3 Ashwa

Dimension (mm)

Samsung Hero B189 Samsung Superstar 105 x 44 x 13

100 x 43 x 13.1

108 x 45.4 x 14.7

109.5 x 45.4 x 14.2

108.20 x 47.10 x 14.35

109 x 46 x 14.5

Weight (grams)

75.7

100

Talktime/Standby (hours)

3.3/250

3.3/212

2.5/NA

3/257

4.3/470

8/400

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.5

NA/1.8

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.5

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/No

NA/8GB

1MB/No

351KB/No

64MB/2GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/Yes

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

500

Frequency/Dual SIM

CDMA/No

CDMA

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

BREW

REX

BREW

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

No/No

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,399

1,499

1,500

1,800

1,999

MODELS

Price in Rs.

No/No Bar/No/No

CDMA

PARAMETERS V3 V26

Samsung Guru 539

V3 Sleek

V3 Dew

V3 Boss

LG 6160

Samsung Guru Muzik 219

Dimension (mm)

105.2 x 46.5 x 15.2

109.6 x 44.9 x 14.0

110 x 48 x 14.2

102.4 x 56 x 13.45

110 x 58.5 x 13.5

112 x 46.3 x 15.3

Weight (grams)

77.5

3/NA

6/720

2.5/NA

4/160

3.5/NA

3.30/NA

4/230

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours) Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/1.8

65,536/1.77

NA/2.2

65,513/2.0

NA/2.0

65,536/1.5

65,536/1.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/2GB

2.5MB/4+4GB

NA/2GB

64MB/4GB

NA/4GB

14MB/2GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/No

No/No/No

VGA/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/No

No/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

500

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

CDMA/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

Yes/Yes/CDMA1X

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

REX

BREW

REX

BREW

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Yes/NA

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,999

2,336

2,249

2,500

2,599

2,550

2,700

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE 111 MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 MY

MODELS

myguide

CDMA

PARAMETERS LG 6210

Samsung Guru Dual CDMA

V3 Quick

V3 Pearl

LG 6400

Duos 169

Mpower TV 239

Dimension (mm)

106 x 47 x 14.5

114.9 x 47.8 x 14.1

107 x 59 x 12.9

119 x 50 x 15

109 x 47 x 13.7

115.5 x 48 x 15.9

118.5 x 50 x 12.45

Weight (grams)

86.7

110

85.5

110

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

6/300

6.5/300

3.5/NA

3/NA

3.30/410

4.5/250

4.4/420

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/NA

65,536/2.0

NA/2.4

262,144/2.0

65,536/2.2

262,144/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

13MB/4GB

7.41MB/4GB

NA/32GB

NA/8GB

15MB/4GB

42MB/8GB

85MB/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

YesNo

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

No/No/No

2.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

500

1,000

2,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

CDMA/No

Dual Band/GSM+CDMA

CDMA/No

Dual Band/CDMA+GSM

CDMA/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/No/No

No/No/No

No/No/Yes

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/CDMA 1X

Yes/Yes/EVDO Rev.0

BREW

REX

BREW

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

2,950

3,500

3,499

3,999

4,500

4,600

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes Bar/No/No

CDMA

PARAMETERS Model

Galaxy Pop CDMA

Blackberry 8530

Blackberry Curve CDMA 9350

Blackberry 9670 Style

Blackberry 9650

Dimension (mm)

112x60.95x11.96

115.5 x 48 x 15.9

110.9 x 60.6 x 12.1

109 x 60 x 13.9

109 x 60 x 11

96 x 60 x 18.5

112 x 62 x 14

Weight (grams)

102.3

106.6

105

131

136

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Samsung TXT M369 Samsung Duos 259

4.5/420

4.8/230

5/320

4.5/252

5/312

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.2

262,144/3.14

65,536/NA

NA/2.44

65,536/NA

65,536/2.44

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

104MB/16GB

40MB/8GB

164MB/microSD

256MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

512/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/NA/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

1,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

CDMA/No

CDMA/CDMA+GSM

CDMA/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/EVDO RevA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Rev. A

BREW

Proprietary

Android OS 2.2

BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS7

BlackBerry OS

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Clamshell/No/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

6,000

7,100

8,900

12,400

20,990

22,500

24,000

YMOBILE MAR 15 to APR 14 2012 112 MY

fa c e t o fa c e

“We want to empower our customers” As India gets ready to move up to 4G, these are exciting times for Cisco, one of the world’s leading network solution providers. Sandeep Arora, VP, Service Provider, Cisco India & SAARC, tells us about just what the company is planning Heena Jatav With 3G not being very successful in India, what is the scope of 4G in the country? Even though 3G uptake in India so far has not been very good, there is still huge potential. As per wireless intelligence report, 100 million 3G connections by first quarter 2014 and 150 million 3G connections by end of 2014 are expected. In the coming years, telecommunication as a whole would be mobile based, including video, data and voice. Whether it is for business or for personal usage, data usage is going to surpass voice usage. The worldwide mobile broadband subscriber numbers have already surpassed fixed broadband numbers. The need for higher bandwidth and faster access to Internet would be the key demands that operators need to fulfill. Globally, mobile data traffic will increase 26 times between 2010 and 2015. 4G is designed to enable high speed Internet anytime, anywhere. It will facilitate higher bandwidth, higher data rate, and will support a higher level of user-level customization. Hence both 3G and 4G have a huge scope in the future. Cisco has recently launched a tablet. How has been the response for it so far? Are tablets viable for enterprise ecosystem? Cisco’s Cius was launched in May 2011 and has been developed keeping in mind the needs of the enterprise. According to Gartner, by 2013, 80 per cent of businesses globally will support a workforce using tablets. However, as businesses start supporting a workforce using tablets, security becomes a big concern. The only

way that tablets would be able to penetrate the enterprise is through solutions that would allow organizations to protect their data with end-to-end security embedded in the product. This is what has been done with the Cius. What value do you see in cable digitization market offering consumers in India? What is its scope? Cisco sees significant business opportunity with cable digitization. Many houses, especially in the metros, are likely to have two television sets and in rural India, people will move from community television to their own television set. If we look at digitizing 100 million homes, we will need a capital investment of around $10 billion, both from cable and broadband perspective. Cisco’s endeavor is to provide localized solutions for the Indian market. In fact the whole ecosystem needs to innovate to provide affordable and novel services for mass consumers in India. Digitization will revolutionize consumer entertainment and enable subscribers to experience superior HD TV along with other services such as DVR (digital video recording), HD gaming, VoD (Video on demand). What about competition from other technologies like IPTV, DTH, etc.? Screen Digest currently estimates that out of 111 million cable and satellite TV households in India, almost 86 million have cable TV. Hence, the massive size of the industry is clear and one of the biggest reasons for the same is reach or local cable operators. Therefore digitiza-

114 MYMOBILE mar 15 to apr 14 2012

tion of cable operators will result in digitization of millions of homes in the country. The subscribers are less than willing to pay more for better quality; and are bargaining harder now for better transmission quality and lower subscription fees. Therefore, as the competition is getting stiffer from the growth of DTH and IPTV, cable operators are gearing for digitization and introducing services such as DVR (digital video recording), HD gaming, VoD (Video on demand). Though we have new digital TV platforms like DTH and IPTV, but its cable digitization drive that is likely to bring about a revolution in the Indian television industry. What according to you is the future of broadcast in the country? As far as service providers concerned, we have a large list of over 6000 cable multi-system operators (MSOs), 60,000 local cable operators (LCOs), beside 7 satellite television operators and many IPTV providers. Digitization provides remarkable benefits for broadcasters, as it will result in full addressability, and would eradicate the nuisance of under-reporting of subscribers by operators. Consequently, there will be increase in subscription revenues for them. Also, with greater bandwidth underground the carriage cost paid by broadcaster to distributers will come down, significantly. Further, as the broadcasters will invest in targeted HD content this will result in newer revenue generation models for them. n heena@mymobile.co.in

RNI REG NO./DELENG/2005/15033 DL (ND) - 11/6100/2012-13-14 (Posting Date 19-20 of every month)