www.mymobile.co.in
oct 15 to nov 14 2012 Rs 75 tm
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æ The Gifting Season Forget sweets and clothes, gift a gadget! P 44
æ Appy Foodies
Apps for those who love their food P 78
æThe
Phablet Wave
Are the tablet-smartphone hybrids the heroes of the future? P 22
æ Tested æ
MapMyIndia CarPad 5, Sony Xperia tipo dual, iBall Andi 5C and more... P 50
Samsung Galaxy Note II
content in focus
lead Story Phablets: will these hybrids be heroes or just a passing fad?
34
22
SAR Scramble: The much hyped radiations, norms, and what they really mean for us
Face To Face
Spotlight
S N Rai, co-founder, Lava International reveals his company's plans to move up the price ladder in the smartphone segment Md Imthiaz, founder and director, hoppr, speaks about location based services in general and what makes hoppr special Karthik Kumar, director, Rage Communications, shares his take on the mobile app market and where it is headed
Inactive subscribers: Is it fair to kill relatively inactive connections? ISD restrictions: aimed to protect, but ending up restricting users
30 32
cell clues
versus
Want a dual SIM smartphone? We give you some of the best options
Nokia Maps V/S Google Maps: our take
38
Spotlight Mobile Doctor
14
News
16
Letters
19
Consumer Forum
29
Gear Guide
86
My Guide
89
28 37 80
47 44
Gifts for festivals: Sweets are passe, gift these gadgets!
08 MYMOBILE oct 15 to nov 14 2012
Chief Speak
42
Pankaj Kedia, country manager, Dolby India, talks on what the Dolby technology is all about and what the future has in store
content cell-ebrity
48
just in
Micromax A90 and Samsung Champ Neo Duos
The tech side of the new Bhatt, Alia, in Bollywood
sneak peek
49
A glimpse at the soon to arrive Sony Xperia T and Nokia Lumia 920
84
& Tricks Apptastic 78 tips Transfer calling credit Making your foodie side appilicious
from phone to phone, via operators
81
2G
Infographic 2G-3G data consumption trends
etc We take a look at the devices, other than tablets and handsets, that caught our attention
persona Not so well known facts about the amazing Sir Richards Branson
BURN TESTS Idea aurus 985n iBall andi 5c
50 52
Ice xtreme
54
smartouch ct 01
56
carpad 5
58
mts mtag 351
60
sony xperia tipo dual
62
samsung note 2 n7100
64
Total number of pages= 116 (112 + 4 cover)
What they are talking about in the tech world, if not officially
Telco Trivia A look at the iPhone down the ages
The words of those who matter in telecom
Vantage Point
Rohit Dadwal, MD, Asia-Pacific, Mobile Marketing Association
smart apps Find out interesting places around you, tweak videos with minimum fuss - and more appiness besides
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10 MYMOBILE oct 15 to nov 14 2012
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72 109
113 114
they said it
New Tekken and Borderlands games up the action in the gaming world
82
110 112
rumour mill
Boredom Busters
3G
lead story
Phablet
Hybrid Hero!
22 MYMOBILE oct 15 to nov 14 2012
www.mymobile.co.in
Hot on the heels of the smartphone and tablet invasion comes a new product that claims to be a blend of these two - the phablet. Initially dismissed by many experts as a passing fad, it now seems to be emerging as a product category in its own right, with manufacturers large and small coming out with these hybrid devices across a wide spectrum of prices. We take a closer look at what threatens to be the phablet phenomenon Harshita Rastogi
I
n the past few months a new term has been added to technology lexicons around the world - phablet. A blend of ‘phone’ and ‘tablet’, the term represents a new set of devices that combine the calling and texting abilities of conventional handsets with the larger displays that have been mostly the preserve of tabets. A phablet attempts to give you the best of both tablet and phone worlds - the large display of the former and the portability and connectivity options of the latter. And like all new product categories, it too has emerged from a consumer need - tablet users found the devices too large to hold and missed calling facilities, which even when present were not easy to use, while phone users yearned for more display real estate. Phablets are hybrid devices that have emerged in an attempt to address these needs, and try to save the consumer the hassle of carrying two devices. Although there is no standard definition of phablets, the general consensus is to consider them to be devices that are an amalgamation of features of tablets and phones, with screen sizes ranging between 5.0inches to 6.9-inches. In many ways, a phablet is defined by its display - smaller than a tablet but larger than a phone.
in the beginning Until a few years ago, any device with a display in excess of 3.5 inches was considered to be adequate for most users. Apple, however, then added a spin on the whole definition of a portable device with a large display with the introduction of the 9.7-inch sporting iPad, kick starting the tablet revolution. While other manufacturers followed suit with similar devices, there was already a feeling that perhaps a display of 9.7-inches was a tad too big to be handled comfortable on the move. Which is why Samsung experimented with a smaller sized tablet, the original Galaxy Tab, which came with a 7.0-inch
display, and also came with calling functions (someting the iPad never had). Dell it was. however, who perhaps came out with the first phablet of them all - the Streak, which sported a 5.0-inch display and could also be used as a phone. Although it boasted some very impressive hardware and connectivity options, the Dell Streak was undermined by a number of problems. Most people found it too big to be a phone and too small to be a tablet and the fact that it was launched running older version of Android did not help its cause at all. As a consequence, it faded out of the market, but not before reminding people that the gap between
there is no standard definition of phablets, the general consensus is to consider them to be devices that are an amalgamation of features of tablets and phones, with screen sizes ranging between 5.0inches to 6.9-inches. In many ways, a phablet is defined by its display a tablet and a phone could be bridged. However, there was not much action on the phablet front for a while after its launch.
Enter the note The Streak might have been the first phablet to be seen in the Indian market but the one that really captured the public’s imagination was the Galaxy Note that was released by Samsung in 2011. And unlike the Streak, it came with a uber sleek design, terrific hardware, the latest version of Android, and most
importantly, a stylus that added a whole new dimension to the device in terms of functionality. It came with dazzling 5.3-inch SUPER AMOLED display that many considered to be among the best ever seen on a mobile device. Top that off with a host of connectivity options, a very portable form factor, the best camera seen on a large screen device and the ability to be used as a handset (albeit a wide one), and the Note, notwithstanding cynicism from a number of tech quarters, emerged as one of the biggest tech successes of the year. Samsung even used it to mock iPhone users in a high-profile campaign.
The phablet edge Bigger screen: Phablets offer the user a bigger and better display than smartphones. And for those who like to spend more time on their phones on tasks involving consuming content, these phablets are the ideal option without compromising on portability. Tablets come with bigger displays, it is true, but are very difficult to use on the move, a difficulty that is surmounted easily on the smaller phablets. The fact that some phablets (like the Galaxy Note) come with display resolutions that match those of larger screen tablets means that users do not lose out on content quality. Good for content creation: Writing a long mail or text message, or even editing a video or an image without having to sit down is perfectly possible on phablets, thanks to their larger displays. You simply get more space to play with. Double role: There have been tablets with calling abilities but most users feel awkward using them in that capacity, as they are awkward to hold. There is generally no such problem with phablets which in most cases, are slightly bigger than a large smartphone. So you have a device which can serve up a big display and can be used as a phone unobtrusively.
oct 15 to nov 14 2012 MYMOBILE 23
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