all-pdf-dec-2012 by My Mobile

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13  Rs 75

www.mymobile.co.in

for a connected lifestyle

æ Spectrum Auction

What can we expect, after the scams and controversies P 34

æ Going Wireless Gadgets that deliver a whole lot, minus the wires P 38

Perfect Twelve!

The hits, the misses, the stars of a very busy year indeed P 20

æ Tested

Sony Xperia SL, HTC Desire SV, HCL Me Tablet G1 and more... P 50

æ Exclusive

Apple iPad mini

P 62

first call

here is a saying that the more things change, the more they remain the same. And as we come to the end of 2012, it is difficult not to feel a slight sense of deja vu. Some things indeed have not changed since the year got underway twelve years ago - the Apple-Samsung tussle continues, Android continues its domination of the smartphone OS ecosystem. Samsung continues to strengthen its position at the top of the hardware mobile manufacturer pile, Nokia and RIM continue to plot returns to glory, HTC and LG continue to make their presence felt without actually dominating the market, the 2G spectrum controversy continues, operator tussles remain a staple fare, opinions remain divided over the Aakash initiative... it all sounds so familiar, doesn’t it? And yet, the stark fact is that for all its familiarity, the year 2012 saw a number of significant changes in the tech world. We saw Microsoft come to the mobile hardware party for the first time with its Surface tablet. We saw Google release its first Nexus tablet and Apple enter the smaller tablet segment. We saw completely refurbished Windows and Windows Phone operating systems from Microsoft, and significant software updates from Google and Apple, even as Amazon continued to make a statement with its Kindle Fire range. It was also - and this is difficult to believe - the first year in a long time without a keynote address from the charismatic Steve Jobs. Mantles passed, empires fell, kingdoms strengthened their hold... it was riveting stuff all the way. For all the twelve months. We take a look at some of these events and the products that made the headlines in 2012 in this issue’s cover story. And as this was a year that ended with the number twelve, twelve is the theme of our cover feature - twelve apps, twelve gadgets, twelve disappointments and so on. But there is more to this issue than a trip down the immediate memory lane. We also take a look at the 2G auction controversy, the dispute between operators over SMS, and other issues affecting the Indian telecom industry. There are also features on the art of going totally wireless and apps for those who love to travel. In the burn tests, we review the latest devices from Apple, Sony, HTC, and HCL (who have released a dual core tablet for less than Rs 15,000). And of course, in addition to all this, there is the usual cocktail of reviews of the latest gadgets in mobile town and interviews and interactions with leading industry persona. And of course, no issue would be complete without a review of some of the latest apps and games to have hit the mobile world. It has been an awesome, hectic year. And we are betting 2013 will be every bit as good. Of course, we will be keeping you up to speed with developments through our features, analysis and reviews. We will also, as always be looking to improve - and for this there are few better instruments of change than your feedback, so keep those letters and e-mails coming. Wishing you all a very happy new year from the team.

ED I T O R I A L Pankaj Mohindroo |

Editor-in-Chief

DE S I G N Ajit Kumar Parashar | Graphic Designer

C I R CU L A T I O N Lalit Sharma | Sr. Manager – Circulation Amit Prakash | Circulation Manager

AD V I S O R Y B O A R D 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. 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

04 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

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 XI, december 15, To January 14, 2012-13

content

spotlight

lead Story What rocked in 2012, and what did not

in focus

SMS Blocking: our look at the operator battle that led to SMS passage blocking

just in

The year may be coming to an end, but the devices keep coming in

Face To Face

Spectrum Auction: Why the lukewarm response? Who is to blame? The questions still remain!

John Braun, CEO, TIP solution talks about adding a new dimension to voice calling in India Mike Dhall, founder, ZenFocus, talks about theirarrival in the affordable tablet market and their goals Troy Lobo, senior director, South Asia, network and content distribution, Turner Bros, talks about the rising popularity of apps among kids, and the challenges app developers face in India Sanjeev , director – handset division, Intex, gives his take on the Indian handset and tablet market and talks about Intex as a brand

Kapil Sibal’s journey in the world of Indian telephony

109

Mrigank Tripathy, CEO, Apllied Mobile Labs talks about the company's future plans and the role of mobile devices in spreading education

Chief Speak

32 42 78 80 83

Faisal Siddiqui, country head, HTC India gets candid with us about Windows Phone 8 and the company’s aggressive strategies in India

add-ons Letters

News

Consumer Forum

Mobile Doctor

Gear Guide

Shedding Wires: Some terrific enhancements and accessories that come sans any strings attached

infographic

06 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

The tablet arena

content my guide

versus Confused between which handset to buy in 15-20k range? Read this

Apptastic

Must-have apps for those planning to travel

convergence The 2013 edition cometh. Bigger, better than before

sneak peak A few devices we hope to see shortly in the market

etc The latest in laptops, speakers and other gadgets

Telco Trivia Evolution of tablets

Tips and Tricks How to back up your data

Jargon Buster We demystify LTE for you

BURN TESTS

rumour mill

Fly F 350

Lemon T99X

Spice Horizon Mi500

Xperia J

My Zen Tab

HCL Me Tablet G1

HTC desire SV

apple ipad mini

Asus Google Nexus 7

Sony xperia SL

The new buzz around cell town

persona Find out more about the people who found Google

What they said in the tech world

vantage point Anuraj Gambhir, strategic advisor-Inovation and Technology, Sleakwork

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

08 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

79 81 108 110 111 112

they said it

Boredom Busters

44 46 48 49 74

114

68 Knock out pigs or shoot your enemies, we bring you a few of the best time watsers

smart apps

A few handy applications to access your social networks on one platform or edit pictures on the go

letters In the last issue, I really liked the feature ‘Super phones at low prices’ because it was like an eye opener for me. We often overlook  INSIDE WINDOWS some really good phone when the new ones get launched. The  Chinese Invasion phones you covered in the feature  Processing Power are some really cool one whose BYOND prices have gone down significantly. After reading your feature,  Tested I made a decision of buying the  EXCLUSIVE Nokia N8-00 for myself because I found it amazing both specifications and look wise. I would like to make a request here that if you could do a similar story on tablets, it would be of great benefit to readers like me. My regards to MY Mobile team. -Arvind Kumar, Patna NOV 15 to DEC 14 2012  Rs 75

www.mymobile.co.in

FOR A CONNECTED LIFESTYLE

All that you need to know about the new windows operating systems P 20

Handsets from China are gaining ground P 34

Know what your phone processor can do for you

P 32

The affordable tablet range, now available in India

LG Optimus Vu, HTC 8X, Nokia Asha 311, HTC Desire X and more... P 49

iPhone 5 and HTC One X+ P 64 & 66

PHONE OF THE MONTH HTC ONE X+

I have been reading this magazine for the last three months and found it the best tech magazine till date because it is different from what others are offering. I just love reading Mobile Doctor and Consumer Forum because they equip me with consumer’s needs and problems today. The ‘tips and tricks’ section is also very informative. I think My Mobile is a one-stop destination where a user can get all the information related to the mobile world easily. -Kapil Kumar, Burari, New Delhi

What change can a better processor brings to the functioning of a mobile phone? I always used to wonder but your article in the last issue of My Mobile on processors helped me a lot in understanding it to a great SPOT LIGHT extent. I found the Processors: article very interThe Core Score esting and informaU tive. The other area of my curiosity nowadays is about the decreasing size of mobile SIM cards. I am really confused between the micro SIM and nano SIM and which phone requires what. Like you have demystifiedthe processor, I want you to do a complete story on mobile SIMs as well. -Bharti Sharma, Agra, via-email WWW.MYMOBILE.CO.IN

cameras not too long ago?

What is a processor?

“Processors” are the latest buzzword when it comes to smartphones. Just as they did with computers, manufacturers have started boasting about the clockspeed of the processors powering their devices. We take a closer look at what the processor does and to what exent the tall claims about its speed and cores are justified Ketan Pratap

sually, when it comes to buying a mobile, we think of owning the trendiest device and hunt for a phone with features like a new operating system, good display, good camera, and connectivity options and so on. And one new feature that has been added to this list in recent times is the processor. Whenever the term ‘processor’ comes, some names

spring to mind- Qualcomm Snapdragon, ARM Cortex, NVIDIA Tegra, Intel Medfield, etc. These names are often tossed around in the spec sheets of devices as well. And now to these have been added terms like clock speed, dual core and quad core. But does all this actually make a difference to the end user or is it just pure marketing hype, just as had happened with megapixels in

Just as every computer has a processor to handle its functioning, so too does every mobile handset. Technically, a processor is that part of a computer system or device which executes instructions. It functions as a core component and whether a computing device is low-priced or a pricey one, it almost always will have a processor at its core, handling tasks. The smartphone processor acts as a device’s intellect that handles most or all of the CPU’s tasks on a single integrated circuit or chip. In fact, the operating system and even the support for hardware are determined by the type of processor used in a mobile. And what are those cores about? Most people do not know much about the nitty-gritty of how a CPU installed in the mobile device interacts with the software. A simple logic that is followed by most of them is: the more cores a device has, the better it is likely to perform, means the better is it than others. Well, technically that is correct. These days smartphones are being used for doing

multiple tasks, such as browsing, streaming videos, gaming and HD video playback. These tasks are expanding the functionalities of processors and in order to do all these tasks, there needs to be a part of the system that can carry out and process those functions, which is where the multi-core processors come into the picture. Now, whether a processor is single, dual or quad core depends on how many CPU cores it has. Generally, processors with several CPU cores make it easier for a system to multitask without compromising on speed of performance. A smartphone with a multi-core processor will generally allow faster Web browsing, easier watching of 3D content and even run apps that use advanced graphics smoothly. Multi-core processors in mobile devices have enabled advanced use cases such as desktop class Web browsing, console class gaming, panoramic photo stitching, multi-tasking, and advanced image processing. Vishal Dhupar, managing director, Asia South, NVIDIA, explains the role of multicore processors in these terms: “Multi-core processing has been at the heart of the computing revolution for more than a decade. They (multi-core processors) can operate at lower frequency, often consuming less power, and completing work much faster by running tasks in parallel compared to single-core predecessors. Multi-core means increase in the number of cores; however it doesn’t mean that all the cores are used for every task assigned to the device. Every core of a mobile processor is defined with the tasks to be performed, for ease of segregation of tasks. ”

Multiple cores, multiple benefits

Asia.

Until recently, multi-core processors were the preserve to computers. However, they are slowly becoming an integral part of smartphones too. And no, this is not just a matter of jargon. Multi-core processors can deliver the following benefits to users: Gaming: Multi-core powered devices provide support for advanced graphical techniques like anti-aliasing that smooth out rough edges giving stunning visuals, and also allows enable user to play 3D games on these devices. Full HD video: Multi-core processors enable users to access 1080p resolution videos both in terms of device’s camera and movie playback. A multi-core processor powered device can even pump out videos matching a large TV’s resolution. Multi-tasking: The multi-brained architecture of processors suits multi-tasking. This

32 MYMOBILE NOV 15 to DEC 14 2012

means you can run more apps, games and even browse at the same time without affecting the device’s performance. Battery-Life: Although multi-core processors claim to bring better battery management to mobile devices, this is one area where they have not been very convincing - many multi-core devices have suffered from poor battery life. So the ‘more cores = better performance’ argument does seem to have some merit in it. NVIDIA’s Vishal Dhupar explained how the company’s Tegra 3 chip handled operations for users. “NVIDIA Tegra 3’s 4-PLUS-1 quad core architecture with Variable SMP technology intelligently switches between high performance CPU cores and the low power battery saver core to deliver both high performance and long battery life. Tegra 3 has multiple processing cores that not only include a quadcore CPU but also a GPU core, ISP core, audio and video processing cores. Depending on the use case, one or more high-performance CPU cores are used to deliver the required performance. “ On the other hand, Intel’s Prashanth Adiraju, director New Platform Business Group, Intel South Asia told us how Intel’s technology is different from others. “Our Atom Processor is designed to provide all advanced capabilities to a smartphone. It uses the Hyper-Threading Technology that increases performance and system responsiveness to meet the requirements for advanced smartphones. Additionally, Intel Burst Performance Technology enables the Intel Atom processor to burst to higher performance that offers higher performance on smartphones.”

A multi-core future

Given the speed at which the mobile industry has moved from single to dual to quad-core processors, there is every chance that mobile phones and tablets of the future will come powered by even more core-laden processors. A point to note, however, is that the multiple core phenomenon has so far remained restricted largely to high-end devices. Critics of multiple core processors point out that there are not many apps or even games that are designed to benefit from multi-core processors. That said, we feel it is only a matter of time before multiple core devices become mainstream, just as 1 GHz processors did a year ago. So if you are looking at purchasing a device and want it to deliver stunning performance over a long period of time, it makes sense to count the cores in its processor! 

ketan@mymobile.co.in

and feel that such a magazine is very important for mobile phone lovers for their proper guidance and knowledge. I specifically like Mobile Doctor, Consumer Forum and the My Guide section of the magazine. The story on Desi Vs Videshi brands was of great use as it provided a clear insight on whether a customer should focus only on brand name or the quality of the product. Through this letter I want to make a request here that you should start a column called ‘Suggestions’ in your magazine. My Mobile being a watchdog of the telecom industry should make some suggestions every month for telecom operators, mobile companies and for VAS players. Here I want to suggest that mobile operators should not activate any VAS service on a consumer’s number until they get a specific request from the user via SMS or call. Also any VAS service should not get renewed automatically once the service pack gets over. I hope my suggestion will reach them. -Hulaas Ram, Madhya Pradesh Being a regular reader of My Mobile, I know that this magazine contains all the relevant information from the mobile world. If you could also add the list of service centers with complete details of all the mobile phone brands, then it will be of great use for your readers. -Mohan Kumar, Bhagalpur I love reading burn tests of various devices in the magazine every month. Certainly burn tests give in-depth knowledge of mobile devices and tablets but sometimes it happens that a reader could not extract the real meaning of what has written and ends up getting confused. In this case if you could provide a YouTube link with burn tests so that readers can also watch related videos, then it will be fantastic. It’s just a suggestion. -Uday Veer Singh, via email In the last issue I read an article on DLNA. I found it very interesting and informative as we often hear these terms in our day-today life but do not know their actual meanings. Therefore I think it is very important for tech readers to understand such terms. Being an Apple user, I myself was not aware of AirPlay but when you wrote about it, I got to know about it. I think many readers would like to read about AirPlay too. ● -Amit Jain, via email

NOV 15 to DEC 14 2012 MYMOBILE 33

I have been a mobile phone user for some years but how to keep a phone always in a good condition is what I have learnt from your magazine in our years of close association. Every month the magazine brings deep knowledge to its customers about the mobile industry’s new innovations. I always eagerly wait for the next issue of My Mobile to get my hand on the latest information from the mobile world. -Ranjeet Kumar, Kishanganj, Bihar I am regular reader of My Mobile for the last one year

10 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

e the nd hav a s e m n a drea ellpho n c i t y u e o k so st y ab es? can al u craz e it he late ew lin Are yo l to pen a f or news and hands on t ink you hav f th ur tia poten have a nose ve to lay yo em? If you h a dia’s to t u r Do yo ? Do you c orld about sh your CV y Mobile, In w u ne headli and tell the g for you. R r name in M n s ou i gizmo e are look .in to see y w o , in you mymobile.c e. n i @ z team bile maga o m best

NEWS bits operators & tariffs

Value Added Services/Applications/ Games

Airtel brings emergency alert service

iTunes in India now, sells music and films

India’s leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has introduced a 24X7 emergency alert service for its customers, providing a unique way of staying connected with family and friends during times of emergency such as tsunami, earthquake, cyclone or disasters like fire and accidents. They can do this by sending an alert with their geographic location to their ten loved ones simultaneously with just a call. In order to activate the service, Airtel users can dial 55100 and follow the menu options. Users can identify their closest ten loved ones by adding their number by messaging START <MobileNumber1>, <MobileNumber2>, <MobileNumber3> up to ten numbers for which they will be charged Rs 30 for 30 days. In case of emergency, users can give a call to 55100 and their family will receive voice and SMS alerts with their location details.

Apple has launched its iTunes store in India, allowing Indian users to purchase music and films from a number of major national and international labels. Customers can choose from over 20 million songs. The Apple iTunes Store offers individual songs priced between Rs 7-15 and whole albums from Rs 70 onwards. In India, it also offers iTunes Match that enables users to store music purchased from sources other than iTunes in the cloud. For movie lovers, the store has a wide variety of Indian films to choose from.

Flipkart offers over 1,00,000 e-books Flyte, the digital store of Flipkart, is now offering e-books as well as music. Presently, the store has some 1,00,000 e-books for those who prefer reading on displays rather than paper. One can purchase a book starting from Rs 30, or if one is feeling tight-fisted, just choose from the 4,000 free titles on offer. The e-books bought from Flyte can only be read via the Flyte e-Book app available for Android OS. Competition for the Kindle? Let’s see...

Nokia introduces City Lens 1.5 beta for WP7 The Nokia City Lens app, an exclusive app for Lumia devices is now available in a beta version for Nokia Lumia 900, 800 and 710, and claims to be the first application to provide a LiveSight-enabled experience. The existing version of City Lens shows you places of interest in your vicinity, even around the corner or a block away. The latest Sightline feature lets users switch their view to only what’s in their direct line of sight, making it easier to spot important places that are right in front of them. Another addition to this beta is the ability to let users quickly view a place’s address without leaving the camera view.

Aircel launches Pocket Internet Games card For all mobile game lovers, Aircel has launched Pocket Internet Games, a new retail recharge card for its subscribers in India. The card allows Aircel subscribers to download and play unlimited games and access unlimited Internet. The card starts at Rs 31 (depending on location) and is also available in seven day and fourteen day packs. The company has partnered with leading gaming content providers Electronic Arts (EA) and Disney UTV to bring Pocket Internet Games to offer more than 1500 titles from their gaming libraries. Some of the most popular and sought after games like Need for Speed, EA Cricket, FIFA, Medal of Honor and Pirates of Caribbean are on board.

Airtel introduces international roaming pack for subscribers travelling to US Bharti Airtel has introduced three new international roaming packs for its postpaid subscribers travelling to the US. Subscribers will get five hours of free calling by subscribing to any of the three offers rolled out by the operator. The three tariff packs are Rs 1,000, Rs 3,500 and Rs 8,500 with a validity of 30 days each. In addition, users can make outgoing calls back to India at just Rs 20/minute.

12 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

Apple brings iTunes 11 for Mac users Apple has launched its latest version of its music and application store, iTunes 11 for Mac users. The new version is available for download from Apple’s official website. The updated version also features a redesigned Mini-Player, which is smaller than its predecessor and also displays more information. The new library view makes it easier to view music, TV shows and movies, allowing you to click on the category of content you want to browse.

Digivive brings English music channel ‘nexGTv music’ DigiVive, a VAS provider which already offers a mobile TV app has launched a new English music channel called ‘nexGTv music’ for mobile platforms. At present, nexGTv offers over 300 popular English songs and the company claims that the number of songs will be increased to thousands in the times to come. nexGTv uses Adaptive Streaming technology that enables users to enjoy viewing uninterrupted music videos and non-stop playing of songs regardless of the bandwidth of the network they are using.

NEWS bits Policy & Regulations HANDSETS & MORE

Free roaming could arrive by March 2013

Aakash 2 in China manufacturing muddle The Aakash 2 tablet, which is part of the Government’s initiative of providing education to every corner of this country with the help of technology, finds itself mired in yet another controversy. This one revolves around allegations that it was manufactured in China and not in India. Despite being called and known as an Indian innovation, 10,000 units of Aakash have been allegedly manufactured in China. Clearing the air, Datawind founder and CEO Suneet Singh Tuli confirmed that the partial manufacturing of the device took place in company’s Chinese subcontractor’s facilities.

Karbonn launches A5+ for Rs 4,990 Increasing its portfolio of budget Android phones, Karbonn has launched another smartphone, the A5+ in the Indian market. The dual SIM phone is based on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread OS and is powered by a 1 GHz processor. It comes with a 3.5 inch capacitive display which has a HVGA resolution of 320 X 480 pixels. A 3.5 megapixel camera is also on board. On the connectivity front, the device supports Wi-Fi connectivity 802.11 b/g/n and HSPDA up to 7.3 mbps. Making sure it keeps working is a 1,420 mAh Li-Ion battery. The device is now available in the Indian market.

Lava launches affordable segment devices - KKT 38, IRIS N320 and N350 phones Lava International has launched three phones in its budget phones segment. It has launched the KKT 38 which has a bar form factor and 2.4 inch display. The phone has a 1.3-megapixel camera and comes preloaded with some interesting apps, as well as a 4GB microSD card and is available for Rs 2,250. The Android based IRIS N320 runs on Gingerbread OS, and is powered by a 1 GHz processor and has 256 MB RAM. It features a 3.5-inch display and a 2.0-megapixel camera with LED Flash, and comes with a price tag of Rs 3,999. Finally, there is the N350, which again is an Android based dual SIM phone with a 3.5 inch capacitive display, 1 GHz processor, 160 MB internal memory and a 2.0-megapixel camera. The IRIS N350 is priced at Rs 4,499.

Wishtel launches Ira Icon HD tablet for Rs 12,999 Tablet PC maker Wishtel has released a new tablet, the Ira Icon HD in the Indian market. The tablet has an 8.0 inch TFT LCS screen with a resolution of 1024X768. It runs on Android 4.0 ICS OS and is powered by a 1.2 GHz processor. It also supports 3G SIM, and has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The internal memory of the device stands at 8 GB which is expandable up to 32 GB. It comes with a 2.0 megapixel rear camera and 0.3 megapixel front camera. The Ira Icon HD is priced at Rs 12,999 and is available in the Indian market. Wishtel was one of the manufacturers in the running to make the Aakash tablet.

14 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

According to some media reports, the Department of Telecom may ask the telecom operators in India to implement the plan of abolishment of roaming charges. Abolishing roaming charges was one of the key objectives of National Telecom Policy 2012 passed by the cabinet. If implemented, mobile subscribers in India can travel within India using the same number without paying extra as roaming charge. The Government’s plan to do away with roaming charges was opposed by telecom operators as roaming services garner near about 10 per cent of total revenue for them. However, if implemented successfully, the move will be a big step towards providing consumers with more freedom for using their mobiles anywehre in the country, without worrying about attendant extra charges.

TRAI intervenes into arbitrary disconnection of SIMs due to non-usage The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has initiated a debate with the industry on the issue of arbitrary cancellation of SIMs due to non-usage. According to findings of meetings with telecom service providers, there are 20 crore inactive SIMs in the nation with an average of Rs 6 remaining as account balance on each one of them, indicating that a large number of India’s massive telecom base is actually inactive. “Out of a total wireless subscriber base of 90.7 crore as on 30.09.2012 in India, only 69.9 crore subscribers (77.1%) were active in the month of September, 2012. Thus about 20.8 crore SIMs, held by the subscribers, were not in use in the month of September, 2012,” said TRAI. While raising concerns for consumers who often complain about arbitrary disconnection of their SIMs by the service providers, TRAI said that some telecom service providers are not following the common criteria for the deactivation of SIMs. December 21 has been fixed as a last date by the regulator for comments from the industry stakeholders.

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just in power of a high-end Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS with a big 4.8-inch HD Super Clear Touch display, a 21x optical zoom and a 16.0-megapixel camera. It offers 3G and Wi-Fi support, letting you share and upload images within seconds of shooting them. And of course, it comes with all the social network connectivity and apps of Android, including photo editors such as PhotoShop and Pixlr. Other features include slow motion video, voice control, Paper Artist and various modes like auto, smart and expert. The Galaxy Camera is currently retailing at a price of Rs 29,900. n

Samsung Galaxy Camera The camera, Android-ified!

he idea of a camera with a huge display and an Android running operating system with an Internet ready device is enticing for any photography enthusiast. Nikon introduced such device earlier this fall, the CoolPix S800c. However, it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite live up to expectations. Now Samsung has launched the Galaxy Camera (GC100). It combines the

LG Optimus L9 Stacked

with features

G has been throwing its weight behind its L series of handsets designed for those who cannot stretch their budgets for top-rung smartphones. Now LG has added the L9 as a follow-up to its L3, L5 and L7. The LG Optimus L9 comes with a 4.7-inch high definition IPS display that builds on the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation for churning out large screen handsets. It runs on the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android (v4.0.3) and is powered by 1 GHz dual-core processor. It comes with 1 GB RAM and 4 GB storage that is expandable up to 32 GB. In the camera department, the L9 sports a 5.0-megapixel camera along with a VGA front camera - honestly we expected something more powerful. Lodged inside the 9.1 mm thin frame is a hefty 2,150 mAh battery which could redefine smartphone battery life with a standby time of 830 hours. LG has launched the device in India and has priced it at Rs 22,500. n team@mymobile.co.in

16 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

consumer forum Complaint 1 I am a Tata DOCOMO customer. Though I have not opted to terminate the number, my number has been allotted to some other user. I have complained to the customer care centre earlier but no action has been taken so far. Please help me. -Priyanshu Nayak Tata’s Reply We are looking into the matter.

easily. When I went to the service centre, they updated the software and replaced the battery of my device as well. However, the problem remained. I then spoke to the customer care people to provide

Complaint 2 I had prebooked a Ubislate 7+ in December 2011 and made payment for the same in March 2012. In spite of umpteen requests, mails, calls, and letters, the company is not responding. This company has been advertising its products through government machinery and consumers like me fall prey to them. I am not worried about my money but I feel desperate and sorry for my helpless state. Please do something if you can. I have attached a Word file of all the mail transactions. I would have made not less than 200 calls to the company but have received no response. -Dr.Mathew P.Alex Datawind’s Reply We are looking into the matter.

are also now giving problems. I want the company people to return me my money, as I am not at all happy with the company’s response. I have already visited the service centres a number of times and have spend about Rs 1,300 on the same. I had saved every single penny to invest in this handset and am now highly disappointed. Please help me get the money back. -Shrikant LG’s Reply Thanks for the query. We will see what is to be done.

Complaint 5 I bought a Sony Ericsson E16i/ W8 on 22 March. It was working fine for a few months and then suddenly the screen went black. I gave it to customer care in Pondicherry on 18 October, 2012 but have not got any response from them till date. This is really disheartening for a consumer like me who buys a branded handset considering that he can rely on the service thereafter.

Complaint 3 I had booked an Akaash Ubislate for my child in March and my booking id was PM895D4 with an advance payment of Rs 2999, with a promise for delivery in 25 working days. It was not delivered to me. Then I requested them to clear my refund of advance. But all the time they use to give some kind of reasons for not refunding the amount. Please help. -Dileep Gupta Datawind’s Reply Awaited. (We have sent the complaint to the concerned person in the company.)

Complaint 4 I bought an LG Optimus 3D (P920) from Flipkart.com at a price of Rs 29,200. Within three months of the purchase, the handset started giving trouble. It would hang at least 2-3 times in a day, and would get discharged

Please help me. me technical support but was disappointed. Then I asked the area manager to replace the handset and give me a new unit but he suggested I get the motherboard replaced. I did the same and got the motherboard replaced from the customer care centre. Now the device has started giving me another problem. Every time I start playing a game, it quits by itself in five minutes. Even the processing has slowed down. Earlier, while the camera would get launched in 2-3 secs, now the same takes 20-25 seconds. Not just this, many other applications

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-P.PRABU Sony’s Reply We will get it resolved on priority

Complaint 6 I submitted my Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro handset on 16 August 2012 in Accel Care Centre, Ranchi. Till date the Sony team is not giving me any update about when I can expect to get the set back. I went to their service centre despite my busy schedule – to my utter surprise, they asked me to call up their toll free number to get the tentative date! My point here is if I am visiting their ser-

vice centre – is not their responsibility to provide me with this data? Why should I call up the toll free number? Even their website does not have proper data about the status of the set. For the last 10 days they are showing that it is under repair. If possible, please intervene and help me out. -Shaunak Basu, Sony’s Resply We are looking into the matter.

Complaint 7 I saw the September 15 - October 14 issue of My Mobile magazine. In it, relating to my complaint, Nokia's reply was shown as they couldn't get my contact, because my phone were switched off. Now my mobile number does not get switched off because it is my personal number, but what I forgot to mention in my complaint is that when somebody tries to call my number, they are told that the number is switched off/ number doesn't exist/please check the number/out of coverage area. I first thought that this was a network issue, but when I contacted my operator, they asked me to try using my SIM card with another handset. I did so and it worked fine. But when I put it back into my Nokia C-5, the problem returned. What should I do? I have been to Nokia Care and they have tried to repair my phone but my problems are increasing. -Jaychandran Nokia’s Reply We will take care of it.

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.

lead story

The hits

and misses of

2012

20 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

www.mymobile.co.in

We are on the brink of a whole new year. And if 2012 was any indication, it is going to be a rollicking one. As we welcome 2013, we get up and close with the year that has just been consigned to tech history, revisiting the hits and misses of what will be remembered as a landmark year in the annals of mobile technology Team My Mobile

hey say that change is the only constant in the modern era. And that certainly seems to be the case when it comes to the world of technology. Every year sees a slew of innovations and new products that pundits claim will change the world as we know it. Only for the next year to swamp us with even more radical innovations. And 2012 was no different in this regard. It came with its shares of thrills and spills, hits and misses, rock stars and duds. But one thing it did not lack was innovation. From operators to handset manufacturers to app developers to policy makers - all members of the massive technology community seemed to be on an innovation overdrive. In handsets, we saw yet more new form factors and the arrival of the phablet era (begun last year by the Samsung Galaxy Note). Apps continued to surpass our expectations, be it in terms of games, image editors or simple utilities, and operators kept surprising subscribers with new packages and offers. And even the Government was in the thick of it with new initiatives and reforms, from free roaming to uber affordable tablets. Will 2013 be half as eventful or exciting? Well, it would take some doing, but then knowing the way the way things have been changing, we would not bet against it. And while we wait for the new year to unfold with its own set of surprises, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a look at what rocked - and what did not - in the year 2012.

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 21

lead story 2012: 12 Devices That Rocked PureView 808 Nokia

This was one of the most innovative devices to see the light of the day in 2012, and certainly one of the highlights of the year for Nokia. At a time when most manufacturers were still trying to accommodate 12.0-megapixel cameras in their devices, Nokia changed the entire benchmark for the cameraphone by introducing the PureView 808 that came with a staggering 41.0-megapixel sensor capable of taking pictures of up to 38.0-megapixels. Yes, some found it to be far too bulky in an era of uber sleek handsets, and many others complained that the Symbian OS running on it was clunky and outdated, but what no one could deny was that the PureView 808 took pictures that could give point and shoot cameras a run for their money. It was one of the most acclaimed handsets of the Mobile World Congress in 2012 and definitely gave reason for cameraphone users to leave their cameras at home.

Samsung galaxy SIII

The much hyped phone designed for (and by) humans came on the heels of the bestselling Galaxy S II, and just like it, managed to grab a signficant segment of the market. The Galaxy S III came with a number of innovative features along with the power packed hardware. There was S-Voice, which is Samsung’s very own answer to other voice assistants; Smart Stay, which is a gesture based feature; Direct Call for making a call by just bringing the device close to your ear and more. No, it was not quite a design masterpiece but is worthy of acclaim for blending some excellent hardware (a quad core procssor, no less) with good software and then throwing a number of innovations into the mix for good measure. It sold millions of units and remained the best alternative to the iPhone for those who wished to steer clear of Cupertino’s walled garden.

Intel XOLO X900

This was the year when Intel finally came to the smartphone party on its own terms. The Xolo 900 was the first smartphone to come with the legendary ‘Intel Inside’ logo and while some people sneered at its plastic build and relatively plain design, rare indeed was the person who was not impressed by the sheer speed at which the phone performed tasks. The Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor was a singhle core affair on paper but in terms of performance, it more than matched up to more illustrious competition, be it in editing high-defintion video or playing graphics rich games like Shadowgun. With the Xolo 900, Intel showed the mobile world that it could deliver staggering performance from a single core processor. We are already wondering how well its dual core successor will perform.

HTC One X

The HTC One X came loaded with a number of features but the ones that really caught the imagination of the tech world were its powerful processor and camera. As the smartphone world moved into the multiple core procssor era, HTC packed some serious processing power into the One X. It came with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.5 GHz quad core processor, adding a whole new dimension to smartphone performance. As if that were not enough, the processor also had a fifth core that was dedicated to power management. Then there was the 8.0-megapixel camera in the device which was nothing like conventional ones as far as features were concerned. It allowed the user to capture four frames per second and would keep capturing up to ninety shots in continuous mode without compromising on picture quality - the era of ‘burst mode’ had well and truly arrived. There were also innovations like two shutter keys on the view finder, slow motion video capture and HDR that allowed capturing multiple shots of the same frame letting user opt the best amongst the lot. This was HTC at its innovative best.

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Sony Xperia S

The year 2012 also marked the year when Sony and Ericsson finally went their separate ways. The Sony Ericsson brand became history and was replaced by a plain ‘Sony.’ And the first major device to bear that name was the Xperia S. It came with a totally new design - one that would provide the foundation for the entire Xperia range - and with Sony’s multimedia muscle as well as some very formidable specs - a 1.5 GHz dual core Snapdragon processor, a 12.0-megapixel camera and a large 4.3 inch display powered by Sony’s legendary Bravia display engine. A new era had begun.

iPhone 5

Spectacular design, an amazing display and heavenly build factor make the iPhone 5 one of the most happening phones of the year 2012, just like its predecessors. With this phone, Apple made a number of changes in what had been a rather standard design for its iconic handset. To begin with, the device carried a 4.0-inch retina display screen (with a 326 dpi), leaving behind the traditional 3.5-inch display size. The makeover in design included a fine glass and aluminum framed body, perfect curves on the sides, with a lustrous band surrounding, making it a sight for sore eyes. It was also incredibly thin and lightweight, even though it packed in the most powerful specs ever seen on an iPhone. Finally, it came with a 8-pin connecting port unlike the 32-pin one seen in other iOS devices. Top that off with iOS and its app treasure and you have a masterpiece in every sense!

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Samsung Note II

The successor of the famous Galaxy Note by Samsung, the Note 2 carried on the phablet tradition with better specs and design. The highlight was its 5.55-inch display, which made it a joy to see and scribble upon. Speaking of scribbling, the Note 2 also came with the innovative S Pen stylus, allowing users to write on the screen. Critics continued to carp that it was too large and unweildy to carry but customers kept lining up to buy it, entranced by the magnificent screen and impressive specs, that included a quad core processor and an 8.0-megapixel camera.

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Even as Nokia was trying to revolutionise the features of cameras on phones, its rival Samsung went in the opposite direction, adding smartphone-like features to a powerul camera. The Galaxy Camera might have appeared like a normal, slightly tall camera to most people, but what marked it out as special was the fact that it came with a massive 4.6inch touchscreen display with Android 4.1 running underneath the hood. As a camera, it came a with a 17.0-megapixel sensor and 21X zoom,

Nokia Lumia 800

Even as cynics were busy writing off Nokia, the Finnish company pulled a rabbit out of its hat by entering into an alliance with Microsoft, and shifting the emphasis of its smartphone porfolio from Symbian to Windows Phone. And the first offspring of the Microsoft-Nokia union was the new Lumia range of devices, and more specifically the Lumia 800. It ran on Windows Phone 7.5, and came in a unibody with flashy colours. It also packed in some very impressive tech specs that allowed it to perform very impressively indeed - a Clear Black 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, a 1.4GHz processor, and an 8.0-megapixel camera and 16 GB of non-expandable storage. It looked nothing like anything from Nokia in the past, heralding the comeback of one of the world’s smartphone giants.

Micromax funbook

which when allied with a quad core processor and Android’s amazing array of apps, and 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, made this one of the best convergence devices around.

apple ipad mini

There had many who had stubbornly believed that Apple would never make a smaller sized iPad and would stick to the large 9.7 screen size of the original. The Cupertino copany, however, surprised everybody by releasing the iPad mini which came with a much smaller form factor than the original iPad. It sported a 7.9 inch display, albeit not a retina one (its resolution was the same as the iPad 2 - 1024 x 768), and was powered by a dual core A5 processor. In terms of design, it was however, noting short of exceptional, being designed to be held in one hand and slip into a coat pocket easily. It also packed in a 5.0-megapixel iSight camera, and most importantly, came with the smooth iOS interface and the thousands of apps that had made the iPad and iPhone sensations. Round that off with the presence of voice commands through Siri, battery life that matched the original iPad, and a reasonable price tag and seven inch Android tablets had reason to be scared. Very scared.

For many, the year 2012 was the year when tablets went well and truly mainstream. And one of the devices that paved the way for this trend was the Micromax Funbook. The highlight of the tablet was the myriad of features it offered at a surprisingly affordable price point. At a time when branded tablets priced below Rs 10,000 were a rarity, the Funbook came in at a staggering price of Rs 6.450. And it did not scrimp on specs either - it came with a 7.0-inch capacitive touchscreen and a 1.2 GHz processor, and was one of the first devices running Android ICS in the Indian market. Now that’s what we call a real game-changer.

Asus google Nexus 7

The Nexus brand finally arrived in tablet territory with the Nexus 7 tablet. Developed by Google in collaboration with Asus, the Nexus 7 was Android’s flagship 7.0-inch tablet. And although it would not stop traffic with its relatively plain and plastic build, it had everything an Android enthusiast would have dreamed of in terms of hardware and software. The device is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, sports a 7.0inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution and 216 ppi (more than the iPad mini), 1 GB RAM, and 16 GB of non-expandable storage. Yes, there was no camera on the rear (there is a front facing one for video calls), and while connectivity options included NFC, the 3G model was not available for Indian users. But compensating all that was the assurance that the device would get updated to the latest version of Android within hours of its release, without having to depend on the foibles of the manufacturer. And it works brilliantly too, handling games, videos and just about everything we threw at it.

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lead story 2012: the 12 that let us down iOS 6 Maps: getting truly lost

The year 2012, may be a stellar year for Apple in terms of its product releases. The company unveiled its much touted iPhone 5 with the biggest display in an iPhone, iPod touch (fifth generation), iPad Mini and the usual array of Macs, but one thing that it would dearly like to forget are the maps that accompanied its iOS 6 update. Usually, Apple’s software upgrades are welcomed with much fanfare globally. iOS 6 was treated no differently until users realised that the new mapping app that came as part of the package was showing them odd routes, did not work in many locations and often had incorrect information and blurry graphics. Yes, people had expected the maps scenario to change when Apple had announced that it would not include Google Maps with its iOS updates any more with iOS 6, but no one had expected a mapping disaster on such an epic scale. So fierce was the criticism that Apple CEO Tim Cook actually had to write a letter of apology to assuage angry users, and even suggest free alternatives.

Where is Aakash 2?

The upgraded version of Aakash dubbed as Aakash 2 may not be the best tablet in town in terms of specs but it has been one of the dream projects of the Government of India, and a key part of its aim to provide education throughout the country by utilising cutting edge technology. The tablet is considered to be amongst the most affordable in the world, but has always been mired in controversy. And its second edition has been no different in this regard. The HRD Ministry said that it would be offering the improved second edition of the low-cost tablet at a subsidised price of Rs 1,130 while the same device’s commercial version will be available for Rs 4,499. It was supposed to be given out to the students and the teaching community after being released by the President of India, but weeks after a high-profile launch, thousands of advance orders and even a display in the United Nations, many people still have not received their units. Even as allegations about it being Chinese rage, Aakash and controversy show no signs of parting.

LG optmius Vu: late lateef

Not only did LG err by delaying the release of its Vu phablet in India but also made a design error by not providing a slot for the stylus packaged with it. Not just that, the phablet, which many considered to be the rival of the Samsung Galaxy Note, came with no handwriting recognition software on board and had a hefty price tag. Yes, we loved the large display. Yes, we thought that the superb processor made this a heck of a gaming device. But its price and the stylus quandary deterred us from recommending it to too many people.

HCL Me tabs minus Google Play Store

On paper, we liked the look and features of all HCL Me tabs that were released this year - they were all handy devices with very affordable price tags. But the only thing that let us down every time was that the tabs did not support the Google Play Store. HCL did bundle its own app store along with the tablets but it could not match Google Play in either the quality or quantity of apps. Which made the company’s decision to exclude it all the more puzzling.

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S voice & Siri: Missing the ‘Accent’!

When Apple introduced voice assistance feature - Siri in its iPhone 4S, it was expected to revolutionise how we interacted with our mobile devices. Yes, voice commands had existed before but Apple did it better and of course, it marketed it even better. Thanks to this, the voice command feature on handsets found itself pushed into the spotlight again. And it seemed it would stay there for a while when the much touted S-Voice was shipped with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy SIII. Unfortunately, neither app has been able to really achieve what many thought they would. The voice-command feature never really got off the ground despite a significant amount of buzz and advance praise. Most voice recognition software ended up having issues with the accents of users, and often not being able to do enough. What made matters worse was that both Siri and S-Voice at times took much longer to execute orders than users could have done thmselves by following a ‘normal’ method of usage. Has the voice command bubble burst? We hope not but 2012 was not its year!

Nokia Lumia 900: Too late, too little

Nokia’s Lumia 900 is no doubt one of the most powerful devices running Windows 7.5 in the Indian market. But the only reason why we have listed the device in our let downs is its belated launch in India. Considered by many to be one of the best phones in the world, the Lumia 900 however took its time coming to Indian shores, and by the time it had arrived, news had already slipped out that existing Windows Phone devices would not be upgradeable to Windows

Phone 8. As if that were not enough, the phone came with a startlingly high price tag, scaring away many users. It could well have been Nokia’s saviour in India, but its timing and pricing consigned the Lumia 900 to the tole of an also-ran. The fact that it is easily the best Lumia device we have ever used only made this even more ironic.

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SMS limit: Why the cuts? why?

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: not note-worthy

In spite of all the criticism it attracted for its size and for using a stylus, the original Galaxy Note was one of the stars of 2011. So when Samsung released a second device in the Note series with a larger 10.1 inch display and a quad core processor, we had great expectations. The 10.1-inch avatar of the Note had everything going for it, but stumbled badly in terms of design, with many criticising its plastic build, and the fact that it seemed to be great at being neither phone, tablet nor scribbler, in spite of having all their features!

Samsung Omnia M: Missing!

This has been a very mixed year for mobile phone users who generally are very fond of messaging and keeping in touch with their friends through messages. The Government first axed the number of messages to five per day per SIM to prevent the spreading of rumours that led to the mass exodus of north eastern people from southern and western parts of the country. Although as many people pointed out, this was a classic case of punishing the medium rather than the people who had misused it. And now TRAI has ordered service providers to limit the number of messages to 200 text messages per SIM a day to curb unsolicited and pesky text messages from telemarketers. All of which made 2012 that texting addicts would love to forget. Hopefully 2013 will bring happier tidings and get them texting happily again.

Samsung attempted to do something different with its Windows Phone running Omnia devices. The company released the Omnia M running the Windows Phone 7.5 into the market, with a good display, excellent camera and a slightly slower processor. And then seemed to forget all about it. Today you will be hard pressed to find anyone selling, let alone using the device. A sad end to what seemed like a promising start.

Amazon kindle fire and app store: India still not on the radar!

It might have emerged as the toughest rival to the iPad, but Amazon’s Android devices still show no signs of arriving in India. The Kindle Fire series of tablet have sold millions with their innovative interface and affordable prices, but for Indian users they remain of little use. Even if one gets a Kindle Fire from abroad, one will not be able to download apps, music or video on to it, as Amazon’s Appstore for Android is not available for Indian users (Kindle Fire devices cannot access Google Play). With iTunes having arrived in India, we only hope that Amazon’s Android devices and app store will follow suit in 2013.

ICS/Jelly Bean updates: late AGAIN!

Handset manufacturers may be rolling out Android OS updates for their handsets globally, but the fact is that India continues to be missed out by them. Recently, Samsung rolled out the Jelly Bean update for its flagship device, the Galaxy SIII but Indian consumers are yet to receive the update. Sony also has released a list of devices and countries getting Android updates for its handsets but India was again ignored. And Motorola has not yet made its Jelly Bean update for Xoom available in India yet. Not really fair, is it?

Sony Smart Watch: too xperia-centric!

One of the quirkiest devices to emerge this year from Sony was the Smart Watch. At first look, it looked tempting but when we got to know that it only works with Xperia devices, we were disappointed. The 1.3-inch screen of the watch did offer users Facebook updates, tweets, emails, messages and incoming calls when it was paired to an Android device over Bluetooth. It had no speaker or microphone, somewhat cumbersome controls and when topped off by its Rs 6,299 price tag, proved to be an expensive proposition to many people. The day could have been saved by adding a number of interesting watch-compatible apps which could have worked indepently of the phone, but alas, that did not happen.

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lead story 2012: What made the News SC cancels 122 telecom licenses

The Supreme Court of India on February 02, 2011 cancelled all the 122 telecom licenses issued by the then telecom minister A Raja to nine telecom companies. The Minister had allegedly favoued some companies and gave away the licenses in 2008 at prices fixed in 2011. The court slashed the licenses on the grounds that they were distributed in a totally arbitrary and unconstitutional manner. It also condemned the First Come First Serve policy and called for a re-auction of the spectrum in a fair and transparent manner.

Airtel becomes the first to launch LTE services in India

On 10 April 2011, Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecom service provider launched fourth generation mobile services in Kolkata. By launching its 4G (TD-LTE) service, Airtel became the first operator in India to do so. In 2010, Airtel had successfully bid for BWA license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka,

Microsoft releases a new Windows platform

Software behemoth Microsoft created a massive ripple in the tech world when it launched a completely new and revamped version of its Windows operating system- Windows 8. The newly launched operating system is designed for tablets and PCs and came alongside the launch of Windows Phone 8 for smartphones. While Windows Phone 8 looks like the previous version of Windows Phone (7.5), it comes with changes like resizeable tiles and support for multiple core processors. Meanwhile, Windows 8 represented a massive overhaul of the Windows interface with the introduction of a touch-friendly live tile interface, although it can work on non-touchscreen devices too. The way we work on PCs is clearly set to change.

President of India launches Aakash 2 tablet

4 Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles. Later it acquired a 49 percent stake in Qualcomm’s BWA license by paying an amount of Rs 907 crore. The acquisition of Qualcomm’s licence gave Bharti an entry into four key circles: Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. After Kolkata, Airtel launched its 4G service in Bangalore and Pune. Although the uptake of the service has been slow, the launch of LTE marked India’s arrival in the mobile broadband party. Hopefully, affordable tariffs and devices will follow.

The year 2011 witnessed the launch of the world’s cheapest tablet, Aakash which aimed to provide education through technology to every nook and corner of India. However, Aakash was criticized by many for its substandard hardware, poor battery backup, unresponsive touchscreen and generally bad performance. The Government has now launched the Aakash 2 under the same programme, but with better design and hardware. The Aakash 2 comes with a 7.0 inch capacitive screen with 800X480 pixel resolution. It runs on Android version 4.0 (ICS) with a Cortex A8- 1 GHz processor. The Aakash 2 has been made by Datawind, the same company which made the original Aakash. While the HRD ministry is offering the tablet to Indian students at a subsidized price of Rs 1,130, the same device is also commercially available for Rs 4,499.

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Cabinet clears NTP 2012

The cabinet in May 2012 passed the National Telecom Policy 2012. Some of the prominent highlights of NTP 2012 are to abolish roaming charges, allow pan India mobile permit and to promote telecom equipment manufacturing within the country. The telecom policy which replaced NTP 1999 also states that the spectrum will be refarmed. It also states that revenue generation would continue to be a secondary objective of the Government, with affordability and availability of effective communication being core objectives of the policy. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it gets implemented soon.

Government issues stricter mobile radiation norms

In order to safeguard public health, the Department of Telecom in September 2012 issued guidelines for telecom companies to maintain the level of radiations emitted from mobile devices as well as from mobile towers. In this regard, the EMF exposure limit (Base Station Emissions) was lowered to 1/10th of the existing ICNIRP exposure level. The stringent rules are not only limited to service providers but also apply to mobile manufacturers, who have now one year’s time to come out with new handsets that are compliant with the new SAR guidelines. All new handsets shall comply with the SAR values of 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 gram of human tissue, only then can they be manufactured or imported into India.

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Nokia brings its revamped maps service ‘Here’

Nokia launched its revamped mapping service called ‘Here’ for different platforms. The maps can be used by any OEM through agreements, and are no longer limited to Nokia devices, as in the past. Here maps are now available on the Web and in the form of an application on iTunes. The mapping and location-based service allows users to save maps for offline viewing and obtain public transport routes and also includes voiceguided navigation. Now everyone can use Nokia’s maps!

Rahul Khullar takes over as the new TRAI chief

Rahul Khullar, the former commerce secretary, joined the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India as the new chairperson in May. Khullar who succeeded J S Sharma has been appointed for the term of three years. He is a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre. He experienced some turbulent times right from day one as he took over the TRAI chief ’s mantle when the industry was going through some tough times due to the auctioning of spectrum whose licenses were cancelled by the Supreme Court in February. As commerce secretary Khullar is credited with the valuable negotiation of India’s stance at World Trade Organisation and at other multilateral pacts. Khullar also served as a personal secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he was Finance Minister in 1991.

Amazon enters India with Junglee.com

Apple brings iPhone 5 to India without any carrier tie ups

For the first time, Apple brought its iPhone 5 handset directly to India without tying up with any carrier partner. This brings the iPhone on the same level as other Apple products which can be purchased from any electronics store without making any commitment to an operator. The move is signficant for Apple in India as it shows that the company is now looking to focus on the Indian market on its own, rather than relying on partners. Previous editions of the iPhone were always sold in collaboration with carrier partners, although the handsets were available unlocked as well as with carrier plans and commitments. What’s next, we wonder? A proper Apple Store for India? Fingers crossed!

American online giant Amazon made its entry to India in February with Junglee.com, an online shopping site. The site declares that it is an online shopping service by Amazon and claims to offer 1.2 crore products from both local and international retailers. However, those expecting to see the complete range of Amazon’s products on this portal have been disappointed as Amazon still does not sell its complete portfolio of products directly in India, although one can order some of them from overseas and get them shipped here.

Movers and Shakers

The year 2012 also witnessed some changes in top level management across leading telecom companies. P. Balaji, the former managing director of Sony India joined Nokia as a Director for its India operations. Another big name from the industry in the movers list is Ranjit Yadav. Yadav who was associated with mobile phone giant Samsung as company’s country head for IT and consumer Mobility moved to Tata Motors. We expect many similar moves to happen in 2013. After all, what’s professional life without some moving and shaking!

Spectrum auction receives lukewarm response from bidders

The sale of 2G spectrum whose licenses were cancelled by the Supreme Court in its February 2, 2012 verdict, received a half-hearted response from the industry due to what it claimed was a way too high base price i.e. Rs 14,000 crore. There was no pan India license taker and there were also no bidders for some of the leading circles like Delhi and Mumbai. The government was able to garner only Rs 9,407 crore against its Rs 40,000 crore target. Only five players - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Telenor and Videocon bid for the spectrum in 1,800 MHz band. The industry called the spectrum reserve price set by the Goverment flawed and unrealistic, and claimed that it did not allow players to bid freely. We clearly have not seen the last of the 2G saga.

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lead story 2012: 12 apps that made us appy Nokia Express Beta (OS: Windows Phone)

Nokia Beta Labâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very own browser Xpress (Beta) has got itself a place in this segment for being an alternative to the default Internet browser, that too with a twist. The highlight of the application is the browsing speed it provides as the app literally cuts down the overall size of data hungry websites to a much lower resolution. This cuts down the data weight to up to 85 per cent, resulting in faster browsing and lower data costs. Yes, we know other browsers that do the same but what marks Express Beta as special is the Magazine feature, which can be used to view websites in a magazine-like layout, provided they have an RSS feed. And the best part? It comes for free.

Nokia City Lens (OS: Windows Phone and Symbian)

Nokia has carved a niche for itself in the maps and navigation arena and strengthening its postion are apps like the amazing Nokia City Lens. The augmented reality based application runs on LiveSight technology and tells you what is around you. All you need to do is launch the app, which opens the camera. Point it in any direction and the app will show you points of interest in the vicinity, along with directions of how to get there. Be it hotels, restaurants, pubs or cinema halls, you can get all the information you want from this handy app. Amazingly, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free.

Delight Circle (OS: Android, iOS and BB)

Delight Circle is a location-based application developed for shopaholics. Switch it on and the app will promptly show you the best deals that are available in your vicinity and even give you the option of browsing through different products. And it is not limited to deals - it also updates users about fresh arrivals in stores. You can even pick up points for walking into some stores and switching on the app. Price tag? None at all.

Granny Smith (OS- iOS, Android)

Every year throws up a game that comes from seemingly nowhere to capture playersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hearts and in 2012 it was the turn of Granny Smith. The old lady on roller skates with her supporting stick attracted thousands of adoring follow-

Waze (OS- iOS, blackberry, symbian, android)

In a year when maps made news for all wrong reasons (remember the iOS 6 fiasco), Waze emerged as the favourite navigation app for many users. A simple app, it provided users with information not just about routes but also about traffic on them based on feedback given by its various users. Call it a social network of drivers, but it worked, even in Indian cities.

Evernote (OS: Android, Windows PHONE, iOS, BB)

The very popular note taking application is no more restricted to taking down plain notes but does a lot more. What makes it special is the easy-to-use interface and some really good feature additions. Apart from taking notes, you can capture photos, record sound, take pictures and save them all in your Evernote account in the cloud, allowing you access them all from just about any device. And best of all, it still comes without a price tag.

28 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

ers, as everyone tried their best to help her achieve her goals. The graphics were good, the gameplay simple enough and the sound spot on. Enough to make Granny Smith one of the surprise app hits of 2012.

www.mymobile.co.in

Here.com (OS- iOS)

Nokia’s newly launched maps and navigation service Here.com has made its way to iOS in the form of an application. And it did so within weeks of the iOS 6 maps disaster, giving many iOS users a good mapping solution, free of cost on their devices. It not only provides routing assistance but also comes with live traffic information (yes, even in India), making it pretty much a must-have app for those seeking directions on their iOS devices. Of course, it works largely off the Web (although you

Bad Piggies (OS: iOS, Android)

“It’s all very well about the birds, but why don’t the pigs do anything?” is one of the queries that often confronted Rovio, the developers of the iconic Angry Birds game. And so the makers launched a new physics puzzle based game, Bad Piggies that featured the same green pigs we all try to take down in Angry Birds. However, this time one had to aid the pigs by helping them make machines by putting different components together. It looked very much like Angry Birds, but was far more complex and challenging. Not all Angry Birds fans loved the twist in plot and gameplay but physics puzzle followers adored it, and Rovio showed it could do more than just catapultbased games!

Angry Birds Star Wars (OS: Android, Windows phone, iOS)

Rovio has enjoyed one hell of a run with its Angry Birds franchise. The latest addition to the series is Angry Birds Star War. It has the regular birds and pigs in all new avatars inspired by the lgenedary Star Wars franchised and this time the weapons on display include lasers, light sabers and of course, Force powers. The gameplay remains largely the same - one has to launch the birds at pigs, but now the pigs are wearing Storm trooper helmets, and the birds have Star Wars inspired powers. Many of the birds even look like characters from the series - we have Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo and even ChewBacca in fowl form, each with their own special skills and strengths. Rovio has rounded off things nicely by adapting the Star Wars soundtrack to the game. Star Wars with birds and pigs rather than humans and aliens? Ridiculous though it sounds, we are hooked!

can download some parts for offline browsing) so it does gobble a lot of data, but we expect it to improve significantly in the coming years. And yes, it is available free of cost.

Swype Beta (OS- Android, SYMBIAN)

The app that has become synonymous with swiping your fingers across an onscreen keyboard to enter information rather than tapping each letter reached new heights in 2012. The latest beta of the app for Android not only came with improved support for conventional users but also with voice and handwriting recognition, so one could swype, type, speak or scribble using the same app. Now, that’s what we call being versatile.

Instagram (OS: Android)

There’s no substitute for great photography, but Instagram has actually made everyone look like a decent photographer! And it is today one of the most popular photo processing and sharing apps around - big enough to be acquired by the mighty Facebook. And 2012 saw it arrive on Android for the first time. Though, most iOS fanatics cried treason, the fact is that after being released on Android, the app is now available to a greater number of people. And remains on top of the photography app charts, thanks to its amazing filters and easy sharing capabilities.

Flipboard (OS: Android)

When Flipboard was introduced in 2010, it was originally designed specifically for the iPad. Then a version of the app was released with support for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It was only this year that the app has been released for Android users. And although meant mainly for Android phones (we are still waiting for a HD version in Android), the app works very much like it does on iOS, converting your news and social networks into a graphics-rich, flippable magazine. You can read articles, save them for offline reading, flip through Facebook posts and images, respond to tweets, read the article shared on social networks, share articles you like, and do a whole lot more, all in the same way as you would while reading a magazine. It remains one of the best news and social networking reading apps we have ever used. And yes, the fact that it is totally free does help a lot. We are now waiting for a tablet version for Android - this is really a bigscreen app at soul. n team@mymobile.co.in

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 29

chief speak

“We will never compromise on quality and experience” It might have had its share of good and bad times, but HTC has forged a reputation for delivering innovative smartphones with excellent design across both Android and Windows Phone. We caught up with Faisal Siddiqui, Country Head, HTC India to discuss the company’s future plans and strategy for the Indian market. Heena Jatav HTC has launched two new handsets on the Windows Phone 8 platform. What are your expectations from these devices? We are very positive about these phones. We launched them with Steve Ballmer in New York and Steve said that this (HTC Windows 8X) is the signature phone for Windows Phone 8. So our expectations are very high. We have also shown the phones to bloggers in the US and to all the community partners and the response was quite good. We have compared our devices with some other phones available and our phones stand out, so we are very positive.

our service infrastructure. We used to have around 51 service centers, now we have 151 centers and we are again going to double it in the next eight to nine months. We have invested profoundly on the retail store front. If you look at our branding, we are now present in almost 100 cities. We have just opened our first concept store few days back in South Extension, Delhi. Our endeavour is to continue to invest in this market because India is one of the key markets for us and we will continue to expand our footprint in retail, distribution, service infrastructure, manpower and branding.

Do you think the market is ready for Windows? I think at the end of the day, it is the consumer’s choice. There may be consumers who want Windows platform and have been using Windows devices for quite some time now. We launched the Radar sometime back and even Nokia launched its Lumia series so there are people who are using the Microsoft platform and actually want a new Windows platform device. Now, if you look at the smartphone market in India, it is growing at 60-80 per cent year on year. Our endeavor is to bring the best possible phones on Android which is One X+, on Windows which is 8X. So we want to give consumers a choice in whatever they want to use.

Does HTC have plans to open more concept stores? Yes we do. We will have more concept stores in the leading cities of India. It’s a great place to experience all the HTC products and it took us six months to design that store. Apart from that we have stores in stores, which means we have taken places inside the stores for our branding. We have over 200 stores in stores across India.

What is HTC focussing on in the Indian market? Our focus in India is to get the right devices. If I look at our business here, the India business has grown by over 100 per cent in the last nine months. We are the fastest growing smartphone company in India today and that’s on the basis of products which we have launched at the right price. We have invested heavily in this market and have doubled the resources, distribution and have actually tripled

What is HTC’s market share in India right now? I would not be able to give out market share information but I would like to share GFK’s views. GFK put us at the end of July at 6.7 per of the smartphone market. We were 3.5 percent in January as per GFK and in July we reached at 6.7 per cent. What are your plans for the tablet segment? We had launched the HTC Flyer last year and witnessed a great response! But I think the tablet market is highly fragmented and if we do put a tablet in the market, it has to be unique to stand out from the rest of the market. So, no plans for tablets at the moment. Our focus is primarily on smartphones and we will continue to focus on that.

30 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

Companies today are launching 5-5.3 inch display devices. Any plans to come up with a phablet? Stay tuned, I would say. There are so many smartphone players in the market today. In your opinion, what makes HTC different? We are a smartphone company. We built the first smartphone. We don’t make feature phones. We are not into consumer electronics. So all we know is smartphones and that’s what we are good at and that’s what we do. How are you going to compete with the likes of Nokia, which has a massive retail presence? We sell only smartphones and not feature phones. So we are going to be present in all the smartphones selling outlets. GFK says that there are 14,000 smartphone outlets in the top 50 cities so we will have a presence in every outlet that sells smartphones. In the outlets we are present, we have promoters, we have live phones, we have branding and we have a service infrastructure. We are investing to provide the best after-sales service for which we have also signed up new partners for service infrastructure because that’s very important for us. In the next four to five months we will have over 200 service centers across the country. We are also doing a retail meet in the top ten cities of India in which we are meeting leading retailers. Facebook is also a strong medium through which we reach out to our customers and where we get feedback from them. It’s really important for us to stay in touch with consumers as well as with retailers. One of the important categories of smartphone market is the sub Rs 10,000 one which caters approximately to 60 per cent of the

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market today. HTC has only one smartphone in this segment... Our approach is very clear: whatever we do, we build the phone of the highest quality and standards. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not fair to call Indian consumers price-sensitive. I think they are value sensitive because they want the best value for money they are paying. So we will never compromise on the quality and experience on phones. That is the foremost thought in our mind when we build a phone. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a very big portfolio of smartphones but we have the best phones to offer in every segment. HTC Explorer is the biggest selling smartphone today. What are the challenges you see in terms of business growth in India? India will be the third or fourth largest smartphone market in the world in the next four to five years. So the market is growing at phenomenal rate and I see an opportunity for us as a smartphone player. We have great products; we are investing in this market. So instead of challenges I see a huge opportunity in terms of business for HTC in India. n heena@mymobile.co.in

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 31

fa c e t o fa c e

“Voice is the future” TIP Solutions, a US-based software company, is targeting the Indian market with services built around the good old voice call. Sounds strange, in this appcrazy era? The company’s CEO, John Braun met us and revealed their strategy Heena Jatav and Harshita Rastogi Why do you have services only around voice? Our features were designed and developed as a necessity that caters to everyday problems. We saw that voice is the future and also have the feeling that if we start our services around voice, we would have a better

product offering. At present what kind of product offerings do you have for voice? We have two segments of product offerings right now. One is for OEMs and the other is for operators. So the feature we have on devices is for incoming calls. If calls come in, we try to provide more solutions to a person who has to answer that call. We offer something for each person in your contact list as all the responses are customisable. You can send whatever voice message you want to the caller. Tell us a bit about your services for OEMs and for carriers. We have two features for devices. The first one is called ‘Hold On’. If a call is important and the user wants to take a call but due to some reason can’t, he/she can send a custom voice message by choosing a key which will suggest the caller to hold on for some time. There’s also an opportunity that you can play your favourite song to a caller while putting the call on hold. The other feature ‘Got Call’ is for those who really don’t want to miss any information of missed calls. So the user can send a custom voice message to the caller automatically on disconnecting saying that “I cannot take your call right now but will get back to you soon.” It also tracks missed calls and provides the users with reminders via a unique missed call log. For carriers too, we have two features. One is Auto-Got-Call which also provides a custom voice message to alerts while the user’s phone is off the network. When he/she gets back on network, this delivers them a missed call alert. The other feature is Driving Mode, which will send a custom voice message saying that ‘I am driving right now so can’t take your call.’ We

32 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

believe such features are extremely important in our day to day life. What are your expectations from the market here in India? Considering that we are Americans, we had no expectation from the market. We did not know much about the market here and have come to do research first to know more about the scenario. But when we got in touch with the people here, we got an exciting response. We are meeting with mobile operators and manufacturers and getting a positive reply from their end. They are really excited about our potential and with the kind of solution we have for them. They have enough exposure and experience of what would work and what would not. The fact that they are registering a positive reply says a lot about us. What are the challenges you see here in implementing your service? In terms of challenges on the OEM front, we realise that they feel some kind of risk in it. They would ask if the products would work as a value-added proposition and come as a part of the answer screen in their product. However, after seeing what we have to offer, they gained confidence in us. In terms of operators, providing the service in minimal price or no price would be a challenge in itself. Moreover, we see that India still has a large feature phone segment, which would require us to change the whole solution interface to work on it. Do you think your product will be accepted by the audience here? We are doing a pilot test which would help us test the waters here. The pilot test we did in the US got positive results. We did a survey on 1200 smartphone users across the country in the age group ranging from 18-50. The adaption of the service has been a good signal for us to move ahead and test it in other major countries. n heena@mymobile.co.in harshita@mymobile.co.in

in focus

Spectrum Auction: The Story So Far...

34 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

www.mymobile.co.in

hen it comes to scams, the 2G spectrum scam has the dubious distinction of being considered the best among a very bad lot. It began when in year 2008 the former telecom minister A Raja erroneously 2008 gave away spectrum to some mobile telephony companies at the prices fixed in the year 2001. This led to a huge outcry and the nation’s highest auditor body, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India was given the task of estimating the exchequer’s loss. The CAG came up with the startling estimation

If you had thought that the Supreme Court’s verdict in the 2G scam case would pave way for fresh licences to be issued in a fair an uncomplicated manner, think again. We take a closer look at the 2G auction process and where it is headed Heena Jatav

that the 2G scam had resulted in losses of a whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the government’s revenues. When the matter was passed on to the Supreme Court, it came up with a decision that surprised many observers. On February 2, 2011, the Court cancelled all the 122 licenses distributed by the former minister to nine telecom companies on the grounds that they were distributed in a totally arbitrary and unconstitutional manner. It condemned the ‘First Come First Serve’ policy and called for a re-auction of the spectrum in a fair and transparent manner. However, the spectrum re-auction turned out to be a disappointment, and raised only Rs 9,407 crore of the Rs 40,000 crore target. Only 55 per cent of the total spectrum offered received bids, while there were no takers for major circles like Delhi and Mumbai. This is in stark contrast to the 3G spectrum auctions two years ago in which the government garnered Rs 67,000 crore, as operators fought for a share of this coveted territory. Many feel that the reason for this shortfall is the TRAI’s decision to set a high base price for the spectrum - the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has termed the base price of Rs 14,000 crore unrealistic. In fact, the base price has been subjected to much criticism both before and after the auction.

The auction: Who should be held responsible for lukewarm response?

“I believe that the responsibility of failure is with bureaucrats because the TRAI and the DoT made serious blunders in estimating the reserve price that high. The government could not have done too much. If it had lowered the reserve price then it would be again accused of underpricing the spectrum. They did, after lot of pressure, reduce the reserved price by Rs 2,000 crore but even with the reduced price, the auctions flopped. So this time the responsibility has to be with people who wanted the high reserve price namely the TRAI and DoT,” said Mahesh Uppal, telecom analyst and director at Comfirst. Uppal is not the only person who holds this opinion as there are many others who see the TRAI’s reserve price recommendations as flawed. In fact, Kapil Sibal, the Telecom Minister himself agreed upon obvious nature of changed market dynamics with time. “Dynamics of the market change from year to year. We can’t extrapolate figures, sensationalise them and destroy the hen that laid golden eggs,” said Sibal. However, Mohammad Chowdhury, Head at PWC’s Telecom practice, feels that the auction was not a failure. “I have a different opinion for the recently conducted auctions. Auctions were conducted in a fair manner and players

bought spectrum according to their needs. Also, the auction has revealed the real demand from operators for spectrum at these high prices,” said Chowdhury. The recent auctions also started another blame game in the industry. While on onehand, Kapil Sibal picked on the CAG for placing the presumptive loss at Rs 1.76 lakh crore, R P Singh, the former CAG auditor, revealed that he was forcibly made to sign the CAG report in spite of not agreeing with many of its findings.

Reauctioning the spectrum: success, this time? While all this has been going on, a second round of auctions has been called by March, 2013 to find bidders for unsold spectrum. And the industry is hoping to get a lower reserve price for the spectrum this time which will encourage them to bid. Analysts feel that the Government needs to reconsider the whole spectrum allocation exercise to ensure a successful auction. “Lower the reserve price and make it less than half of what it is at present to ensure more participation. This is the most important thing because the auctions will then have sufficient bidders to determine the market value of the spectrum,” feels Uppal. “It’s time for a full review of spectrum allocation and pricing. I believe that holding the auction without a full review of spectrum allocation would be a mistake.” Chowdhury feels that more auctions would also be a good move. “We need to have auctions more often so that players could get more opportunities to acquire and plan for spectrum needs. It will also reduce pressure on them. Secondly, the government should lower the prices for spectrum in 1,800 and 900 MHz bands to discover true demand and allocate accordingly. Thirdly, Government should publish its timetable for the future spectrum auctions to reduce uncertainty. Operators will be able to foresee how much spectrum they want. If these little things will come into practice, it will fetch great results for the Government. Its revenue will be increased and the ecosystem will favour market as well,” he points out. So, will the Government reduce the spectrum base price? Will it be able to achieve its revenue targets? Will the re-auctioning of the spectrum be a success? The questions are many and the answers are few at the moment. But both the Government and the industry will be keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for the best. As will the consumers. n heena@mymobile.co.in Disclaimer: The story has been done considering the industry status at that point. Some developments might happen after we go to print.

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 35

spotlight

THE SMS

Blocking Battle Many Indian telecom users were shocked to see certain operators block SMS services of others on their networks a few weeks ago. We take a look at what happened and whether the industry is dancing to the tune of a few notable players Heena Jatav

here is a saying that in a pond, the big fish inevitably calls the shots. And that certainly seems to be what’s happening in the Indian telecom space, where bigger players like Airtel and Vodafone seems to be literally dictating the direction the market will take. If one increases the tariffs, the others follow suit. If they launch an exciting SMS or call or data plan, others join the league. And sure enough, when Airtel stopped the SMSes to and from Aircel and RCom on its network, Vodafone followed suit and stopped SMSes to and from Aircel and Tata Teleservices on its network.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in year 2003 decided that because the authority did not have separate traffic/cost data to ascertain usage charges for resources utilised in termination of SMS, the service providers should work out natural arrangements for usage charges for exchange of SMSes on each other’s network. However, what is to be noted is that at that time the volume of SMS was not as huge as it is today, so perhaps it was difficult for TRAI to calculate the costs involved, although it mentioned that IUC for SMS may be revisited in the near future.

When the SMSes stopped

The Bill and Keep style

On November 9, 2012, a few days before Diwali, Airtel, blocked the SMS services of Aircel on its network, saying that the latter was sending spam in a large quantity, which was hampering its network. A few days later, Airtel also broke the SMS channel between it and Tata Teleservices, again disconnecting several users from that network from its own when it came to SMSes. Whatever be the official reason for these moves, it seems that the real issue was not spam, but actually interconnection usage fees between the networks. The Interconnection usage charge is a charge levied by an operator on another operator for using its services on its network. For example, if a call is being made by an Aircel customer to an Airtel user, then Aircel has to pay an amount as IUC (Interconnection Usage Charge) to Airtel. However, did IUC apply to SMSes as well?

The operators followed the ‘Bill and Keep’ style and worked on mutual understanding until 2008-2009, when some service providers objected to the prevalent practice and decided to charge SMS termination fees. During the review of the IUC in 2008-2009, some service providers showed concern on the growing trend of charging IUC for SMS from new entrants. TRAI, however, decided to continue with the policy of forbearance in the matter of IUC for SMS, but added the provision that “SMS termination charges, if any, should be transparent, reciprocal and non-discriminatory.” However, it seems that players like Airtel and Vodafone who have bigger networks argued in favour of having an SMS termination charge, saying that it is important to have termination fees “to avoid abuse of the network of terminating operators by way

36 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

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of bulk and free SMS sold by the originating operators.” They suggested that TRAI should fix a termination charge which acts as a “deterrent” against any such abuse of the network.

The big guns call the shots...

Now, the question that obviously pops up in our minds is that if only the bulk SMSes or spam was the concern of operators for levying IUC charge for SMS, then TRAI has several norms in place like limited SMS in a day, registration of telemarketers, and DND service to tackle the menace of spam messages. Such norms by the regulator may have given users a tough time to an extent but they were undertaken to make services better and to streamline the working of operators. Also, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone’s demand of Rs 10 paisa per SMS seems to be a bit on the unrealistic side and even smacks of

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in year 2003 decided that because the authority did not have separate traffic/cost data to ascertain usage charges for resources utilised in termination of SMS, the service providers should work out natural arrangements for usage charges for exchange of SMS on each other’s network monopolistic behaviour. These operators have bigger networks and a very large consumer

base, and therefore have large SMS termination on their networks. So one cannot help but feel that Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are demanding high SMS IUC from smaller operators by leveraging their considerably larger networks. Rs 10 paise per SMS might not sound like a large amount but can add up to a massive sum when you consider the amount of SMS traffic that moves between networks, and would certainly hit the bottom lines of smaller operators who were paying nothing in the past for similar facilities. What’s more, levying such charges and blocking services might make many subscribers desert smaller networks in favour of bigger ones - after all, everyone wants a smoothly functioning network.

...and the consumers take the punishment

In these battles between operators, it is the consumers who are always at the receiving end. If the spectrum charge is high, it is the consumer who has to pay high tariffs. If it is any special day like Diwali or Eid, it is the consumer who has to pay extra for SMSes. And the conflict over IUC has again seen the consumer shouldering the burden of what is essentially an operator’s issue. Many justifiably feel that if operators can inform consumers about extra charges for messages on special occasions and festivals, why could they not have done so in this case as well? “My boss scolded me for not responding to his important SMSes which I did not even receive. Later when I enquired about the problem with customer care, I got to know about the SMS ruckus going on and was highly upset,” says Himani Gurtoo, a media professional. “I think it’s an operator’s duty to inform its customers about the problem and when will it be solved.”

What happens now?

Many feel that in the absence of regulation from authorities, mobile operators are setting their own terms and conditions unilaterally. Therefore, regulatory intervention is necessary. Another way of resolving the issue was also suggested by many operators to TRAI in the consultation paper dated 27 April 2011. This is to prescribe a deterrent termination charge for commercial SMS and ‘Bill and Keep’ for other types of SMS. As of now, the TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) has brought an interim arrangement between operators and asked them to pay Rs 5 paisa per SMS as interconnection charge and managed to restore SMS services between operators. But what the final judgement will be, only time will tell. n heena@mymobile.co.in

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 37

add-ons

Shedding wires Using cables to connect different devices to each other is rapidly becoming passe thanks to the emergence of a number of innovative products and technologies. We take a look at some products that keep you connected, without having to trip over cables and cords Harshita Rastogi

ntangled in wires? Well, you do not have to any more. With phones, tablet, laptops and even the venerable computer getting sleeker in build, smarter in looks, intelligent in design and performance, how could accessories for the same be left behind? In fact, although the main products might hog the headlines, we are actually witnessing an accessory revolution with manufacturers churning out devices that look sleeker than before and are much easier to not just use, but also install. Accessories are no more about fiddling with wires and connectors, and are mastering the act of connecting wire-

lessly without breaking your heart or testing your patience with queries about drivers and protocols. They come with stylish looks, innovative designs, smarter user interfaces, and are easy enough to carry. What would you prefer: using a headphone with long wires hanging around or something that just clips into your ears and connects effortleslly to your device by just touching a button? If you would prefer the former option, then perhaps this article is not really meant for you. But if you are fed

Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver

Amkette SmartBoard

f you are the kind of person who loves to type lots of text on their devices, we would suggest you carry a Bluetooth keyboard along. And the Amkette SmartBoard is as smart as its name suggests. You can pair it with your device over Bluetooth - no wires necessary. It has a number of shortcut keys for ease of use and a comfortable form factor which adds to its charm. The best part about the keyboard is its portability - it is compact and light enough for you to carry it anywhere. Moreover, it is compatible with all operating systems, so it can be used by iOS, Android and Windows followers alike. Need we say more to those who want to have the best of both touch and type worlds?

Price: Rs 2,695

ove listening to music out loud but do not want to keep your handset connected to the speakers all the while? Then Belkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bluetooth Music Receiver is a must-have for you. This is one device that would free your iPod or iPhone from being hitched to the speakers via a cord. All you need is to simply connect the device with your iPhone or iPod via Bluetooth and then further connect it with your home stereo or speakers. You can then play the music on your device through the speakers. A nice and simple way to keep on listening to your favourite music out loud without having to worry about wires. And it works over a decent range too.

Price: Rs 2,499

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up of the tyranny of cables, cords and drivers, then you need to take a good hard look at some of the new accessories in the tech market today. Thanks to technologies llike Bluetooth and Wi-Fi finally going mainstream, connecting two devices to each other is no longer the headache that it once was. If you think that is overstating matters, cast an eye on the seven devices below which deliver a lot of tech punch without making you trip over any wires whatsoever.

Nokia Wireless Charging Pad

Jabra HALO2

or the lads and ladies who like things to be simple yet creative, this is the perfect charging solution. Nokiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest innovation, the Wireless Charging Pad, is restricted to Lumia devices only. Simply place the device on to the surface of the charger and the phone would start charging. To know about the status of the battery, a light indicator shows when the phone gets fully charged. The innovative charging pad comes in an array of colours to match up with your Lumiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colour. Simple to use, easy to carry and very easy on the eye, this device has not yet been released in India, but is expected to arrive any time next year. And charging will never be the same again.

Price: TBA

e all love listening to music at some or the other point in time in a day. And for those who would not like to miss an important call while listening to their favourite tracks, this is a good option to chose to listen to music in wireless mode without missing a call. The band shaped headset is extremely compact. One can simply fold the arms of the device to make it easily slip into their bags. It not only saves you from the tangle of wires and cables, but also gets high marks in terms of appearance and ease of use. And the interesting part is that it can work easily for about 7-8 hours on a single charge. And of course, the voice quality is absolutely outstanding.

Price: Rs 6,499

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2 3

7 4

5 Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650

Nokia Luna

his is verily the era of touch technology, not just in highprofile gadgets but also in their accessories. And Logitech’s Touchpad is the latest addition to the latter. A rather smooth device with a classy design and uber cool build, it not only looks good but comes loaded with some features that can be operated using a few touches and swipes. With a fine, glass touch surface, the touch pad gives the user an excellent experience while operating it. It is best used with Windows 8 run devices, where a simple swipe allows you to change screens, and do a whole lot more. All of which makes it the perfect companion for those looking for a sleek yet powerful touchpad to be connected to their devices.

Price: Rs 4,995

his is by far one of the most cool looking Bluetooth devices with support for Near Field Communication. Luna means ‘Moon,’ and just like the moon signifies beauty, from the innovative and clever design to the colourful, pebble-shaped look, the Luna too is a sight for sore eyes. The accessory comes with built in NFC support. It can be paired with another device very easily. The device has a Bluetooth headset docked in it which can be easily separated from the main body for further use. This makes it portable and easy to carry, and moreover, saves it from attracting dust. To check on the connection and battery status, the device has some voice indications. Moreover, a tap on an NFC-enabled handset leads to pairing the device with the handset. And it delivers about eight hours of talk time as well. So flaunt the device which comes in colours like black, white, fuchsia, green and blue colors. And keep hearing from your paired device as well.

Price: Rs 4,530

Logitech M600 Mouse

e have mostly been using the mouse with a long cable connecting it to the computer. However, this mouse from Logitech comes sans tail and, for that matter, even without any buttons, unlike the usual ones. In fact, at first glance it does not even look like a mouse. It looks just like a pebble, with the print and design on the surface enhancing its similarity to that object. It has a smooth, smartly curved and shiny surface which not only looks but even feels good to use. For those who are wondering how it works even without keys, the mouse is intelligent enough to function by sensing the part of the device pressed. All of which makes it the perfect device for those who want to move cursors without moving wires. And look uber cool in the process.

Price: Rs 3,999

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infographic

Tablet

A Classic Convergence Innovation in Form Factor

Tablet PC

Netbook

Smartphone Notebook

Desktop PC

Mobile Phone

Computing Ability

Mobility

Tablet adoption by type of consumers Tablets

10%

90%

Individual consumers

2011-12 40 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

Enterprise consumers

19%

81%

2012-13

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evolution

Tablet usage by Indian Government in the next

2-4 years

Tablet market based on OS in 2011-12

2012-13

57% 35% 07%

Others

48% 43% 09%

Human resource ministry:

58,60,000 Units Director of census:

10%

Hi-end

Mid-end

Low-end

6,00,000 units

2012-13

03%

2011-12

Tablet market based on price segment

08% 16%

76%

Email Social Networking Voice & Video Chat Applications installed on tablet PC Information Search eBanking Gaming Video Streaming eTicketing

Tablet Market Estimates

87%

Key Usage of Tablet

Members of parliament:

795 units CAGR-40%

2,000,000 1,800,000

1,890,001

1,600,000 1,400,000

1,350,001

1,200,000 1,000,000

Current Market Size 620,690

800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0

931,035

357,500 93,150

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16*

Source: MAIT, IMRB and eTech

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 41

fa c e t o fa c e

“The biggest difference we want to create is in quality” A relative newcomer in the Indian market, ZenFocus is aiming to deliver products that are affordable without compromising on quality. We met Mike Dhall, CEO, ZenFocus and discussed the company’s plans and product offerings for the Indian market Heena Jatav What was your target when you entered the Indian market? We basically come from a very strong software background. We started looking into the tablet sphere because we realised that a tablet is a very cost effective device. Though we already have our offerings in the enterprise segment but now we wanted to bring our product offerings for the consumers as well. Our aim is to provide optimum solutions to our customers and we are not using something proprietary. So before launching tablets into the consumer market, we looked around to study the Indian market and consumer behaviour here and launched cost effective myZenTab. What sets ZenFocus apart from the bunch of tablet brands available in the market today? Before entering into consumer market we decided on some things. We decided that we won’t use resistive screens in tablets, maintain product quality and provide good products at an affordable price. We also decided to get more and different apps on board and maintain a good warranty. We have also set up 252 service centers across India. Though we have our software team, we

are engaging lot of software developers who are making different content and apps for us. Right now you have tablet offerings in the 7-inch screen space. What other products do you have in the pipeline? Currently we are focusing on 7-inch tablets because with a bigger screen cost too will go up. Today budget tablets available in the market are not qualityefficient. Also, a 7-inch display tablet is quite a comfortable size. Our strategy is to keep it below Rs 10,000, but not below Rs 5,000 so that we can provide quality products to our consumers and build the initial momentum. The biggest difference we want to create is in quality. What is your target market? We expect most sales to come from tier 2 cities like Jaipur, Amritsar, Meerut, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Agra. We don’t want to go into the very expensive or very cheap price bracket. We want to make sure that if a customer is spending Rs 7,00010,000, he/she should get quality products. We are also planning to announce free 4 GB and 8 GB memory cards with tablets by partnering

42 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

with flash card companies. What about after sales service? After sales service is very important for us. We have two aspects in that. One is that our customers can reach us through a hotline number for small issues. But for bigger issues like damaged products, they can visit our service center. We have 252 functional service centers in India. What role does price play in the Indian market? Indian customers are very smart. They expect quality if they are paying for something. But one thing which is apparent is that cost is not a hindrance for any product’s mass market uptake. If cost would have been the only factor that matters, then Chinese goods would have dominated the Indian market, which is not the case. Indian customers won’t mind paying if they are getting a good quality product. Any plans to launch phones as well? Yes, you will soon see ZenFocus in phone segment. By December we want to launch both feature and smartphones. n heena@mymobile.co.in

Also Available

Versus

‘Pocket

Sony Xperia Sola (Rs 17,990)

ony seems to be throwing everything it has behind its range of Xperia smartphones and now has a line-up that suits just about every pocket. And when it comes to the sub-Rs 20,000 category, the Fireworks Xperia Sola within is one of its frontrunners. The candybar phone packs a lot of punch under from Sony’s BRAVIA display engine to a dual core processor. The best thing about the device is its easy to use interface and the build that is dressed in all black.

Specs| OS: Android: 2.3 (Gingerbread), Screen size: 3.7 inch, Processor: 1 GHz Dual Core, RAM: 512 MB, Battery:1320 mAh, Camera: 5.0 megapixel, Memory: 5 GB (user available)

Smartp between Rs

*Go for it if you want a smartphone that is actually ‘smart’!

*Go for it as this Curve offers the iconic BlackBerry experience.

The ‘Curve’ craze

15-20K

Nokia Lumia 800 (Rs 18,000)

he Nokia Lumia 800 was the first Windows Phone handset to spring from the Microsoft and Nokia union. The phone has a unibody design with top-mounted flaps to cover the charging port and SIM slot. The Lumia 800 comes with some very decent specs, including a brilliant display and an 8.0-megapixel camera. Combine it with the Windows Phone OS, and you have a great mix of style and substance. Specs| OS: Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), Screen size: 3.7 inch, Processor: 1.4 GHz Scorpion, RAM: 512 MB, Battery: 1,450 mAh, Camera: 8.0 megapixel, Memory: 16 GB.

BlackBerry Curve 9360 (Rs 16,050)

hen it comes to QWERTY keyboards on mobile phones, Research In Motion (RIM) is unbeatable. And the Curve series from BlackBerry has helped the brand penetrate the mass market mobile phone category, thanks to its affordable price. In fact, it played a pivotal role in making BBM the craze it is today in India. The BlackBerry Curve 9360 may have been released more than a year ago and would seem a bit outdated to some but it is still a very formidable proposition in terms of functionality, and runs on BB OS 7. Specs| OS: BlackBerry OS 7.0, Screen size: 2.44 inch, Processor: 800MHz, RAM: 512 MB, Battery: 1000 mAh, Camera: 5.0 megapixel, Memory: 512 MB

44 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

*Go for it if you want a reasonably priced powerful Windows running smartphone.

Muscular

Big screen delight

LG L7 (Rs 17,500)

arge displays seem to be the craze among handset manufacturers these days. LG has played a prominent part in the large phone display race and has released a number of smartphones with relatively large displays this year. The LG Optimus L7 is one of them, and makes this list for offering a 4.3 inch display - a rarity in its price range. A great option for those bitten by the touch bug. Specs| OS: Android: 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Screen size: 4.3 inch, Processor: 1 GHz Single core, RAM: 512 MB, Battery: 1700 mAh, Camera: 5.0 megapixel, Memory: 2.7 GB (user available) *Go for it if you are looking for a large screen device running a relatively new Android

www.mymobile.co.in

-Light’

Sony Xperia U (Rs 15,500)

nlike other Xperia handsets that boast a big screen, the Xperia U comes with a smaller screen offering. In fact, it looks more like a minor version of its flagship product, the Xperia S. The device is a solid, well made little phone that manages to squeeze a highresolution and very Charming sharp display into a modestly sized chassis. It is technically a mid-range smartphone offering but unlike most phones in its price range, this runs on a dual-core processor, a very pleasant surprise.

hones

The sub-Rs 20,000 segment might not grab headlines, but for many, it represents the segment to which their first smartphone belongs. We pick eight of the best phones in this segment Ketan Pratap

The Intel Beast

XOLO 900

Specs| OS: Android: 2.3 (Gingerbread), Screen size: 3.5 inch, Processor: 1 GHz dual-core, RAM: 512 MB, Battery: 1320 mAh, Camera: 5.0 megapixel, Memory: 4 GB (user available) *Go for it if you are not caught up in today’s obsession with enormous display sizes, or alternatively, if you have relatively small hands.

(Rs 17,600)

his year saw one of the world’s leading PC chipmakers enter the smartphone arena with a device tagged ‘Intel Inside.’ Yes, we are talking about the Xolo smartphone that grabbed a number of headlines, being the first smartphone ever to sport the ‘Intel Inside’ label. What truly makes the Xolo compelling is the hardware it packs inside its hood. The phone can handle all the multitasking thrown at it from HD games to shooting and editing high-defintion videos to Web browsing. Specs| OS: Android: 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Screen size: 4.0 inch, Processor: 1.6 GHz Single core, RAM: 1 GB, Battery: 1,640 mAh, Camera: 8.0 megapixel, Memory: 16 GB *Go for it, if you want a device that performs at the rate of knots, number of processor cores be damned.

Samsung S duos (Rs 16,800)

fter throwing down the gauntlet to the iPhone, and selling millions of units in its single SIM avatar, the Galaxy S now has gone dual SIM. The Galaxy S Duos looks quite similar to the company’s flagship The Galaxy S’s device, the Galaxy SIII, dual avatar which has boosted its popularity against dual SIM competitors. What’s more, it packs a lot of muscle when it comes to specs. No, we don’t think it has quite the same magic as its single SIM predecessor but it definitely cuts an impressive figure in the high-end dual SIM smartphone space. And still works brilliantly. Specs| OS: Android: 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Screen size: 4.0 inch, Processor: 1 GHz Single core, RAM: 512 MB, Battery: 1,500 mAh, Camera: 5.0 megapixel, Memory: 4 GB *Go for it if you are looking for dual SIM functionality in a powerful smartphone

HTC One V (Rs 17,500)

f late, HTC has been on a launching spree, coming out with a number of devices across all price ranges. This year we saw HTC launching the pocket friendly One V for the price conscious segment of the market. The phone comes with a sleek and stylish combination of Sense-ible glass, metal and snapper rubber. The fact that the One V runs on ICS and packs some good hardware makes it a very good deal. Specs| OS: Android: 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Screen size: 3.7 inch, Processor: 1 GHz Single core, RAM: 512 MB, Battery: 1,500 mAh, Camera: 5.0 megapixel, Memory: 1 GB (user available) *Go for it, as it offers a standard HTC experience and a good camera!

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 45

a p p ta s t i c

Have An Appy

Holiday

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an app for everything. And yes, that includes planning your latest holiday or vacation trip. We take a look at six apps that leave you appy...and happy when you go travelling Harshita Rastogi

t is that time of the year when people take holidays and venture out bravely to see new sights and new lands. For some people, of course, travelling never really stops as being on the move is part of their professional lives. Well, be it personal, professional or just plain casual, if you are planning on making a trip beyond familiar climes, there are a bevy of apps that will help to ensure that your trip is a smooth one. No matter which phone or tablet you use, application markets on various platforms have a bouquet of applications which can help you in just about every aspect of your trip - from planning your travel to preparing the itinerary to checking out hotels and restaurants in the vicinity. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not all. If you happen to be travelling to a country or a region with whose language you are not familiar, there are also apps that will help you get translations and even guide you about places of interest, routes, and much more. And not all of them cost a bomb, in fact many of them are totally free of cost and come for nothing except the cost of accessing a data connection on your mobile handset (a tip: just make sure your handset can access the Internet wherever you are planning to go and also check out roaming charges to ensure you do not end up getting a nasty shock). So the next time you start packing for a trip - overseas or local, casual or professional - just make sure you have the following apps installed on your phone. Your trip will be a much happier one, mark our words.

46 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

BlackBerry Travel Tested on BlackBerry, Price: Free From keeping a check on flights available to booking one, from reserving hotels to cars, this application has it all. This is the one must-have app for all the travelers out there, especially the ones who often travel for work. The application will help you plan your trip in an easy way. It will help you get regular information on your flights, giving you details on any changes or, Lord forbid, cancellations. You can also connect to Yelp for food and shopping based information. And there is more besides: accommodation information, currency converter, weather forecast, among other things. All in all, a perfect app for travellers.

Wikitude

Google Translate

XE Convertor

HERE Maps

Tested on Android Price: Free

Tested on Android, iOS Price: Free

Tested On iOS Price: Free

This augmented reality browser makes you see much more through the camera of your phone than what you are actually seeing. It gives you options to explore places around you and find out more about these. Point the camera of your phone at a place and the app will help you gather relevant information on it. This app also has players like Tripadvisor and Yelp providing important information on their respective fields. You can find places to be visited using the Sight feature.

Travelling to a state or country with a different dialect? Language might become a barrier in such a case, but not if you are using the Google Translate app. The application will help you get the translation of words and sentences you wish to know in various languages. We are not saying that this is the perfect translator, but it is a whole lot of help when you are having difficulty in understanding a language, or for that matter even making others understand what you are saying.

If you are travelling to a foreign country, it is a fair chance that you will face some difficulty with calculating the actual cost of the native currency as compared to your own. As the currency rate varies from country to country, and often, even from day to day. This application can be handy in such cases. You can easily find out about live currency rates and thus, can calculate prices easily. What’s more, you can also save the data for offline use later.

In a new place when you are lost, you can either ask for somebody’s help or simply take out your smartphone and figure out for yourself using a maps application. For all those who are seeking a navigation application, while travelling, Nokia’s HERE maps application is a must. From nooks and corners to the well-known points, this application knows it all and presents it in the best way possible. The best part is the app has detailed map views,

Instagram Tested on iOS, Android, Price: Free Well travelling without clicking the pictures for memories later feels almost incomplete. After all, who would not want to capture the best or even the worst of what they have seen during a trip? And Instagram is the perfect application for those who want to do nothing more than simply click a picture, edit it on the go without much hassle, upload it and share it with family and friends. What makes the app special are the various features and editing options it comes with, which can make even ordinary images look brilliant. So simply click, pick, edit and share, and go ahead and let the world know just how your trip is going. n harshita@mymobile.co.in

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 47

event

21st convergence India 2013 expo

he 2013 edition of the convergence India Expo promises to be bigger and better than any of its predecessors. Small wonder the industry is buzzing about it. Held every year, and organised by the Exhibitions India Group, one of India’s finest trade promotion organisation, the series of Convergence India Expos have been recognised as South Asia’s largest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) event. The three day international exhibition and conference is the preferred B2B platform for companies to showcase cutting-edge technologies and interact with the policy-makers, key decision takers, research analysts, academia, media and industry peers to promote brand and generate business. With the support from the Government of India, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Department of Information Technology (DiT), and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 20 editions of Convergence India expos have been successfully hosted at New Delhi. The Information and Communication Technology sector has been recognised world over as an important tool for socio economic development for a nation. It enables societies to produce and apply information in greater amounts, more rapidly and at reduced costs and offer enormous opportunities for enhancing business and economic viability. Being one of the prime support services, this industry helps in rapid growth and modernisation of various sectors of the

economy. Driven by various policy initiatives, the Indian ICT sector witnessed a complete transformation in the last decade and is poised to take a big leap in the future also. The Indian telecommunication industry is the second largest telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after China. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an economic research agency, the total subscriber base is expected to reach 1,042 million by March 2013. As we move towards a world of connected economies, the milestone 21st edition of Convergence India 2013 expo is being held from 16-18 January, 2013 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The event will focus on new-age technologies and merging business solutions, which will enable inclusion and enrich the lives of people. Developed around the theme of “Enriching a billion lives”, the rich format of the event will feature a wide range of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) including broadband, broadcasting, cable and satellite, data centre virtualisation, digital money, Green ICT, IT & info security, mobility, security and surveillance, telecom, unified communications, VAS, WiMax, etc. A host of leading domestic and international associations and media have extended their support for promotion and success of the forthcoming event. The forthcoming expo will showcase leading devices and innovations to enhance e-Development at all levels and drive the growth of urban usage. Focused business-

48 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

matching will provide the perfect opportunity to network with industry executives and establish new partnerships. Attracting global leaders, the concurrent conferences will serve as an ideal platform for knowledge-experts to share industry insights and successful case studies from across the globe. Fulfilling its long-standing mandate as a premier knowledge sharing forum, the milestone edition of Convergence India Expo will play a key role in facilitating trade & commerce, technology transfers, collaborations and new launches that will provide further impetus to the growth of the sector. Spread over a gross area of 12,000 square meters, the event has received a robust response from the domestic and international industry. Over 375 exhibitors, 100 speakers, 2,000 delegates and 15,000 trade visitors from over 25 countries will participate at the 3 day-expo. Some of the key services like business matching and interactive Client Presentations allow the participants at the Expo to extract maximum benefit from the proceedings and harness the full potential of global wireless technologies A continuous flow of high profile trade visitors include government officials, trade associations, regulatory bodies and media, the 21st Convergence India 2013 promises to be an exciting event for the ICT industry, buzzing with entrepreneurship, innovation and expansion. For more details log on to www.convergenceindia.org absolutely free for large consumer traction.

www.mymobile.co.in

sneak peek BlackBerry 10 RIM’s new

ray or last hope

esearch In Motion (RIM) is soon going to release BB10, the much awaited next version of the BlackBerry operating system. We have seen a lot happening on the software front during the year 2012 as almost all of the major OS players brought major updates to their software. RIM, however, plans to unleash the all-new looking BlackBerry only next year. BlackBerry 10 will come with an array of features and will also include some changes and updates on the music, entertainment and application front. The company plans to release a number of applications alongside the launch of the platform. Apart from these, the operating system is said to have an easy switching mode between the personal and professional sections, and thus will cater to both the ‘normal’ as well as the professional lives of its users. And of course, to make the most of the new OS, RIM will also be releasing a bevy of new devices, including all-touchscreen phones as well as traditional QWERTY keyboard sporting ones. The OS is set to release worldwide on January 30 next year, and is expected to mark a completely new chapter in BlackBerry’s history. Cynics are saying that the OS could well represent RIM’s last chance to win back market share in an increasingly competitve smartphone market. We will discover come January. n

Nokia Lumia 620

The pocketfriendly WP 8

Nokia has added a new member to its Lumia range of devices running Windows Phone 8. Considered by many to be the frontrunner in the WP8 phone race because of its relationship with Microsoft, Nokia has already unveiled the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, and now comes a device that sports impressive specs but is priced well below those two worthies the Lumia 620. The device has been introduced in international market for about $249, and packs in a 3.8-inch TFT WVGA display of 800x480 resolution.The device will also come with a 1GHz dual core Snapdragon processor, a 5.0-megapixel main camera and a VGA front-facing one. It will come with all the connectivity options which you expect in a modern smartphone (Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth) and in best Nokia tradition, also NFC. What’s more, it will be released in a number of interesting colours to attract the attention of the mainstream user. The Lumia 620 seems to reflect Nokia’s strategy of late, releasing three devices aimed at different price segments of the market. While the high-end devices have grabbed the headlines, iit is the “affordable” smartphones in the Lumia range that have setting the cash counter ringing. Will the 620 continue this tradition? Watch this space. n team@mymobile.co.in

DEC 15 to Jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 49

burn test Looks like Android It is a

from which users can download apps for free.

feature phone, with Droid aspirations

Multimedia: Hitting the right notes

emon’s latest offering in the multimedia phone segment, the T99X comes with a number of decent features and an innovative user interface. But just how much does it offer for its relatively low price tag?

The Lemon T99X does very well in the multimedia segment. The music player supports almost all popular formats and we just loved the sound quality on both loudspeaker and earphones. Also on board is FM radio with good reception, and also a recording option. The 2.0megapixel camera takes decent rather than spectacular pictures, but comes with a number of shooting options. The quality of videos recorded was also average, but then we did not have any great expectations.

The Lemon T99X is a bar phone with a capacitive touch display. Although, this is a feature phone, its interface makes it look like an Android device - even we were fooled for a moment or two. It comes with a 3.5-inch capacitive display which is followed by four touch keys: Home, Menu, Back and Search. The phone is made of plastic and has a solid

Pros

114 mm

Looks: Decent deal

Cons

 2.0-megapixel  Limited

camera

8

GB expandable memory

internal memory

User Experience: Satisfactory

 No

volume key provided

feel to it. It is solid to hold but the sharp edges on the side feel a bit uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the device comes with no physical volume rocker key. Still, it is definitely not an eyesore.

Hardware: On expected lines The 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen is the biggest strength of the Lemon T99X, making it good for viewing videos and Web pages. It is a dual SIM phone with support for GSM networks on both connections and works in dual standby mode. It comes with a 1,050 mAh battery which the company claims will give six hours talktime and up to 12 days standby time. The phone’s internal memory is 49 MB which is expandable up to 8 GB with the help of a microSD card.

Software: Smart choice In the software segment too, the phone seems like an Android device. The phone’s menu and icons are designed like Android’s as is the user interface. The phone also comes with preloaded Launchers for those looking for further variety. And there are a number of games and and apps preloaded too, such as the Opera

62 mm

Lemon

T99X

browser, Yahoo! Messenger, and Facebook apps. Also on board is the Lemon App Zone

tech specs Size | 114 x 62 x 11.2 mm Weight | 95 grams

The Lemon T99 can be considered a good phone for the entry segment. The user interface has something new to offer and the loads of apps and games are also preloaded in the phone are an added advantage. Battery life is decent, although we wish it had more internal memory and more phonebook capacity.

Conclusion The Lemon T99X is priced at Rs 3,599. As an alternative one can look for Karbonn K1818 which will cost you Rs 3,600. n team@mymobile.co.in

Memory | 49MB, microSD OS | -

verdict 7

Screen Size | 3.5 inch, capacitive

Looks

Battery | Li-ion 1,050 mAh

Features

Talktime/Standby | up to 6 hours/up

ease of use

to 300 hours

performance

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/No/Yes/No

value for money

Camera | 2.0 megapixel Others | Opera browser, Yahoo! Messenger and Facebook

Price: Rs 3,599

50 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

overall

76%

burn test “Fly”ing low (budget) A budget smartphone from Fly

its own FLY store on the device.

he affordable smartphone range in the country is booming and is offering customers a gamut of options. Indian handset maker Fly has come up with the latest Android offering, the Fab F 350, a feature-laden dual-SIM smartphone.

The overall look of this smartphone is impressive and the build quality is solid as well. The plastic back cover with texture allows a tight grip. It comes with a front VGA camera on the right side with no physical buttons on the front, and a 2.0-megapixel rear camera. There are three touch keys placed beneath the screen for Home, Back and Settings and a power button on the right side of the device, while on

Pros

Cons

1

 Average

 Customised

 Laggy

GHz processor user interface

The sound quality of the device is not the greatest as the sound scatters at times while playing video and audio files, although the loudspeaker is loud enough. The device is capable of playing HD videos, although the experience is diminished by the low-resolution screen. The 2.0megapixel primary camera clicks decent pictures and comes with Face Recognition, Burst Shot and Smile Shot mode. Interestingly, the front-facing VGA camera supports all features available for the main camera, along with face recognition.

118.88 mm

Looks: Impressively solid

Multimedia: Not raveworthy

quality

Sound

User Experience: Very acceptable

touch response

the left, it features a voice controller. There is a 3.5 mm jack on top of the device, and the mini USB slot sits on the bottom.

Hardware: Not bad at all The device is equipped with a 1 GHz Mediatek processor that makes it perform decently. It comes with an internal memory of 235 MB, which can be expanded up to 32 GB through a memory card. The F 350 is equipped with dual SIM capability (GSM+GSM), and offers Bluetooth, USB, GPRS, EDGE, WLAN and WAP connectivity. The 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen is not the most responsive we have seen, but is bright enough and offers decent visibility in the sunlight.

Software: ICS-flavoured Gingerbread The device runs on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread OS, which has been customised to look like Android 4.0 ICS. The main menu is divided into three sections and there are five customisable homescreens. It is also packed with several applications such as Money Control, Shazam, Zenga TV and IRCTC Easy, as well as apps like Facebook, Twitter, Nimbuzz, Whatsapp, and WeChat. FLY has also loaded

The Fly Fab F 350 impressed with its processing speed and the customisable user interface (UI). There are very few low-end smartphones available in the market with face recognition on both primary and front cameras. The 1,650 mAh battery can easily last a day and offers almost 5 hours of talk time.

61.79 mm

fly f350

Conclusion

tech specs

The overall performance of this device was acceptable, given its affordable price. Those looking for an alternative can consider Micromax A50 cost Rs 4,500 . n

Size | 118.88 x 61.79 x 11.8 mm Weight | 115.5 grams

team@mymobile.co.in

Memory | 110MB, microSD

verdict

OS | Android 2.3

Screen Size | 3.5inch, Capacitive

Looks

Battery | Li-ion 1,650 mAh

Features

Talktime/Standby | up to 4 hours/up to 350 hours

ease of use

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes

performance

value for money

Camera | 2.0 megapixel Others | Pre Loaded Apps, Shazam, Whatsaap

Price: Rs 4,650

overall

76%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-131 MYMOBILE 51

burn test Spice-y Phablet!

Spice joins the phablet race, with a budget offering 2

pice is a brand known for providing feature laden smartphones while keeping prices relatively low. The Spice Stellar Horizon, its latest product, adheres to this tradition, serving up a large display and a dual core processor at a less than exorbitant price. But does it do enough to lure consumers?

143 mm

77.4 mm

Pros 

5.0-inch display



Dual core processor



Good design

Cons 

Camera quality is not good



Average sound quality



A bit heavy

52 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

Looks: A delight to look at The Stellar Horizon will surely grab your attention by its looks. The unit we got was white in colour and with a smart build. It is not on the light side in terms of weight, but has an attractive design and build. In fact, with its five inch display

www.mymobile.co.in

highlights The phone supports 3G connectivity

The 5.0-inch display comes at an affordable price

OS | Android 4.0 Screen Size | 5.0 inch, capacitive

Software: Not the greatest

tech specs Size | 143 x 77.4 x 10.5 mm Weight | 205 grams Memory | 4 GB, microSD

Price: Rs 12,490 and metal borders, it looks a lot more expensive than it actually is. In spite of the large display, the device felt comfortable to hold and operate. The top of the device houses a power on/off key, mini USB charging slot and a 3.5mm audio jack, while the side has a volume rocker. We would have liked a dedicated camera key, though. The bottom of the phone is designed in such a way that it looks like a speaker grille. The speakers themselves are on the back of the device alongside a 5.0-inch camera with LED flash. There is a secondary camera on top of the display and three soft keys beneath it for Settings, Home and Back. We liked the look of the phone, although we wish it had been a bit lighter.

Hardware: Decent deal The Stellar Horizon comes with a 1 GHz dual

It comes with a number of preloaded apps

Pre-loaded NQ anti-virus with a six-month subscription

core processor, which works well enough, although we found it slightly less impressive than that seen on one of its competitors, the Micromax A90. The 5.0-inch touchscreen is sensitive and responded well to our touch. The device offers dual SIM compatibility and out of the two SIM connectivity slots, one offers support for 3G connectivity. The 0.3-megapixel camera in the front can be, thus, utilised for video calling. On the memory side, the device offers you 512 MB RAM and 4 GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 32 GB using a memory card. Over all, we would say that the Stellar Horizon offers very decent hardware for its price.

Spice Stellar Horizon Mi500

The phone has a separate back cover with display flap

The Stellar Horizon runs on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. As far as the interface is concerned, it is like many other ICS run devices. The top grid in the screen rolls down to reveal shortcuts to various functions. These can further be scrolled to the sides to get four panes featuring shortcuts to the regular Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, connections and also to brightness, colours, phone modes and more. There is a shortcut for directly changing settings as well. The device has an NQ anti-virus pre-loaded with a free six-month subscription - all you need to do is activate it and it will keep the device safe from malware, viruses and the like. However, the device does not do too well when it comes to handling graphic rich and heavy apps, where lags start creeping in. We had honestly expected better from a product in the phablet category. There are a number of preloaded apps in it, and well, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always the Google Play store for those wishing to download more.

Multimedia: Disappointing Multimedia on the Stellar Horizon is a bit of a let-down. The 5.0-megapixel camera comes with a number of setting options and tweaks but does not exactly perform wonders. The images we shot were pixelated, and there were issues with colours as well. There is also an option to click pictures on HDR mode, but that too did not really seem to improve matters by much.

The front camera is mainly meant for video chats and does not exactly shine in the image department. As for music, the phone does support FM, but FM reception again is very average. The music on loudspeaker is decent in terms of volume, but distortion creeps in as volume increases. Even the headphones could not retrieve the handset when it came to sound.

User experience: Not phablet-like The Stellar Horizon undoubtedly scores well in the looks and spec departments, but it being a phablet with such a large screen, we expected a whole lot more when it came to the visual experience it provided. Although the dual core processor handled games and multi-tasking well, it did stutter when handling hefty apps. On the phone front, the device has good call quality, and was easily able to last a day on a single battery charge.

Conclusion The Stellar Horizon is a decent example for those wanting a slice of phablet magic. It is available at Rs 12,490 in the Indian market and is worth a buy. Those looking for an alternative can go with the Micromax A100 in the 5.0inch screen category, which is available at Rs 9,500. Another phablet option in this segment is iBall Andy 5c priced at Rs 12,999. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

78%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 53

burn test Xperia gets some J(oy)! The Xperia range now has a J too

3 1

124.3 mm

61.2 mm

t seems to be raining Xperia smartphones of just about every size, configuration and alphabet extension these days. Cashing in on revived interest in its Xperia range, the handset maker has now added another handset to it, the Xperia J. But will it strengthen the range or confuse users?

Looks: Carved to curve! Sony is following a very consistent blockinspired design across its Xperia range of late, but the Xperia J harks back to the days of the Xperia Arc - the front looks standard Xperia with a 4.0-inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen and three soft keys for Back, Home and Menu, below it, but the back is arched,

highlights

2 1

The interface of the phone is smooth and easy to use

giving it a distinctive design pleasing to our eyes. A silver strip runs along the side of the phone. There are a pair of notification lights one placed near the earpiece indicates about charging, new message, mail or low-battery, while the other is located on the base of the phone, and emits an ambient light based on the theme of the phone, when you hit the lock/unlock key. The right side houses the unlock/lock key at the top with the volume rocker keys below it, while the charging port is on the left side. We found the unlock/lock key too small and on some occasions were struggling to wake up the phone. While we will not rate the phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looks as out of the world but still it

54 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

Light at the bottom of the front panel is likeable

is a good looking device, and sits well in the palm, although it does feel a bit slippery at times.

Hardware: Slightly under powered The Xperia J is built on Qualcommâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Snapdragon chipset, with a 1 GHz Cortex-A5 processor along with 512 MB RAM onboard, with the Adreno 200 handling the graphics. While this is good enough for managing most basic tasks and browsing the Web, it is a bit under powered when it comes to high end games, applications and heavy video files. The Xperia J comes with 4 GB internal memory, and although only 2 GB is available to users,

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Multimedia: Good sound, bad camera, no action!

Sony Xperia J

For music lovers, the phone comes with a music player and FM Radio. There are equaliser pre-sets to improve the sound quality and in best Sony tradition, sound quality is very good both through loudspeakers and headphones. What however is NOT in Sony tradition is the camera. The photos taken with the Xperia J’s 5.0-megapixel camera were frankly ordinary, whether one viewed them on the phone itself or on larger screens. Video does not redeem the camera either - the Xperia J can shoot only VGA videos. No HD.

tech specs Size | 124.3 x 61.2 x 9.2 mm Weight | 124 grams Memory | 4GB, microSD OS | Android 4.0

Design is impressive



Good sound quality



Battery backup is good

Battery | Li-ion 1750 mAh Talktime/Standby | up to 7 hours/up to 618 hours GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes

Cons 

Camera disappoints

Camera | 5.0 megapixel



No BRAVIA Engine display

Others | xLOUD, LiveWare manager



Touch could have been better

It has a LED flash accompanying the rear camera

Our experience with the Sony Xperia J falls in the average category. The single core processor is decent enough for most tasks but was a disappointment when it comes to playing games that had rich graphic content. Even the touch sensitivity of the device is not exceptional. The Xperia J is a good option for those looking for music device as it offers respectable sound quality both on headphones and loudspeakers, thanks to the xLOUD feature. The camera was another dampener but what really impressed us is its battery. The 1,750 mAh capacity battery easily lasted for a day and a half under normal use. We tested the phone out with Quadrant and it gave us a score of 1,798.

Screen Size | 4.0 inches, capacitive

Pros 

User Experience: Needs more

The silver strip running all over the device gives it a classy looks

Price: Rs 16,550

Conclusion

5 The display is decent enough

It may not be a wizard on the inside, but overall the Xperia J turns in a decent performance for its price. It is priced at Rs 16,550. As an alternative you can try out Sony’s own Xperia U which has a dual processor and is available at Rs 15,500. Also the HTC One V that is available for Rs 17,500 and the LG L7 which has a price tag of Rs 17,500. n team@mymobile.co.in

this can be expanded up to 32 GB through a microSD card. The display has a resolution of 854x480p which is par for the course in this segment, although we were disappointed to see no BRAVIA engine display in this handset. On the camera front, the Xperia J is loaded with dual cameras – a VGA in front and a 5.0megapixel camera with LED flash on the rear. And this being a smartphone, you get connectivity options like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G as well.

Software: ICS again! The Xperia J like most new Android devices launched in the country, runs on Android ICS (4.0.4). Good enough, but we would have liked

Jelly Bean. There are five customisable homescreen panes, which take care of social, multimedia and application needs. The interface is more or less the same as seen in earlier Xperia devices in this range. For contacts, you can easily sync your SNS contacts with the phonebook and view details from a single tab itself. The device comes with LiveWare manager that lets you set the behaviour of your handset when paired with an accessory - for instance, you can set the device to open the FM Radio each time you plug in your headphones. For office users, there is an OfficeSuite document viewer preloaded on the device. Standard stuff, overall.

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

76%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 55

burn test Stylish budget performer

A tablet that looks good, performs well, and costs not too much

Pros 

Sleek design



Android 4.0



Easy to operate

Cons 

Nothing new on interface front



Very few pre-loaded apps

 Low resolution camera

t is raining budget tablets in the Indian market and almost every player, big or small seems to have an offering in this segment. Unfortunately, not every budget tablet has actually delivered what it has promised. All of which made us just a little apprehensive when we tried out the Zen Tab 708B, one of the three devices ZenFocus has released in the Indian market. So how does it fare against some very stiff competition and does it deliver where many others have failed?

Looks: Hey, smarty! As far as looks are concerned, the tablet is surprisingly good to look at. It comes with a 7.0-inch large display with the camera placed

on the left of the screen. While one of the sides of the device is plain, the other houses a 3.5mm audio jack, USB slot, memory card slot and speakers. When held horizontally, the top has a power on/off key along with the volume rocker and home keys. The best part about design of the tablet is that it looks sleek with the width measuring merely 8.5mm - a rarity in this price segment. In fact, in terms of looks, we would go so far as to say that we hardly get to see such a sleek device in this price category. Even the build is impressive and solid, very unlike what we get to see in this budget segment. Well, on the flip side, the glossy surface of the tablet attracts fingerprints, but whatever it

56 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

looks, it sure does not look cheap.

Hardware: Pretty good too There are plenty of devices that manage to look good but fail to impress in terms of hardware. But the Zen Tab backs up its decent looks with some very reasonable hardware as well. It is powered by a Boxchip A13 1.2 GHz processor, and for better graphics quality, there is a Mali 400 Graphic processor. Both combine to deliver good Web browsing and decent app performance as long as one does not venture too deep into HD territory. On the memory front, the device comes with 512 MB RAM and internal storage of 4 GB, which can be expanded to 32 GB using an

www.mymobile.co.in

highlights 1

It supports 3G data connectivity via a dongle

My Zen Tab 708B tech specs

The tablet comes with Flash and HTML 5.0 support

Size | 193 x 121 x 8.5 mm Weight | 360 grams

Memory | 4 GB, microSD OS | Android 4.0

The device is just 8.5mm thick

Screen Size | 7.0 inch, capacitive Battery | Li-ion 2,350 mAh

4 The touch interface of the device works smoothly

Talktime/Standby | up to 4 hours/-

external memory card. On the connectivity front, it comes with Wi-Fi, but has no place for a SIM card. However, you can get 3G speeds via a USB data dongle using the USB port, which incidentally can also be used to connect to a keyboard or a mouse (the sales pack includes a USB connector. Very thoughtful).

Software: Budget fun The tablet runs on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and the manufacturers have opted to leave the interface relatively untampered. The device has five homescreens which can be spruced up with widgets and shortcuts as per your convenience. So you can add as

User Experience: Quite acceptable The Zen Tab is an entry level budget tablet that is capable of handling most routine tasks and does so without burning a hole in your pocket. The tablet is not just sleek but also offers good build quality, and comes packed with what we thought was decent hardware for its price point. Yes, we would have liked to have some more preloaded apps on the device, but then what is the Android Play store for? As far as the battery backup is concerned, the 2,350 mAh battery in the device works well enough to surpass what the company promises to give. As per the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claims the device can work for up to 3.5 hours without needing a recharge. However, the device easily lasted for longer than that when we used it - we are not complaining one bit.

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | -/-/No/Yes

Conclusion

Camera | VGA

The Zen Tab 708B is priced at Rs 6,999, and in our opinion delivers decent bang for that many bucks. Those looking for an alternative in this segment can also consider the Micromax Funbook costing Rs 6,100, which also runs Android 4.0, boasts a 7-inch display and comes with decent hardware. n

Others | HTML 5.0 support, HD Video It is Wi-Fi compatible

VGA camera? The camera is capable of shooting videos too, the quality of which again is passable rather than exceptional. However, in a pleasant surprise, the device is capable of playing HD video and comes pre-installed with a HD music player. Music quality is good on loudspeaker as well as earphone. Speaking of which, the quality of the headphones supplied with the device is rather good. So, the tablet scores on the viewing and listening stakes, although it does lag on the shooting ones. That said, not many people take pictures with tablets, do they?

playback

Price: Rs 6,999

team@mymobile.co.in

well as delete widgets and shortcuts on these screens. However, unlike other budget tablets, this one does not come stacked with preloaded applications and games. In fact, one almost gets the impression of an app scarcity when he first explores the device, as there are very few apps visible. The device offers Flash as well as HTML 5.0 support, making it great for browsing on.

Multimedia: Feature packed The tablet packs in a VGA camera for photography and video chatting. The quality of pictures taken by the camera is nothing to rave about but then what could one expect from a

verdict 8

Looks Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

78%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 57

burn test Dual core on a budget HCLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Me

186 mm

tab range gets a spec boost 5

HCL Me Tablet G1 tech specs Size | 238 X 186 X 11 mm Weight | 570 grams

238 mm

Price: Rs 14,999 3 4

highlights The 9.7 inch screen is a delight for watching videos and movies.

It comes with a 2.0 megapixel rear camera

The 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU gives the right boost to the tab

1 It supports HDMI

58 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

The touch experience is good

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the crisp and big 9.7 inch display - the same size as the iPad. It has no physical buttons on the front but once the screen is unlocked one can find Back, Home, Recent Apps and Volume rocker keys. A 2.0 megapixel camera is placed on the back and a VGA camera on front. HCL has always been a bit hazy in placement of power and volume rocker keys – something we have pointed out for previous versions of Me tab as well - and has again experimented with the unlock key of the tab - it is placed right next to the rear camera, just as in the Motorola Xoom. The right side houses the back, options key and volume rocker keys. We don’t consider them very useful, though, as one can access the same functions from the on-screen buttons as well. At 570 grammes, some might find the tab a bit heavy, but then that is the price you pay for a larger screen size. The tab is bit heavy to hold as it weighs 570 grams.

Pros 

9.7 inch display



1.2 GHz dual-core processor



Decent battery life

Cons 

No Google Play Store



No SIM support



Irregular key placement 1

Hardware: Power packed Beneath that exterior come a set of specs that are not exactly common. The 9.7 inch IPS panel has a 1024x768 pixel resolution (same as the iPad 2) and delivers a good touch experience. The device is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual core Cortex A9 CPU which is accompanied by a Mali 400 quad core GPU for graphics now that is some serious muscle at this price point. The tablet also comes with a number of connectivity options - its right side houses USB and HDMI ports as well as a microSD card slot. Also on board are Bluetooth, 3G via dongle (sorry, no SIM card slot) and Wi-Fi. It has an internal memory of 8 GB which can be expanded further up to 32 GB through microSD card.

Software: ICS plus, Google Play minus

fter launching the affordable tablet U1 and mid-ranged Y2, HCL has come out with another tablet in the Me series, the Me G1. And it has upped the ante in tech spec terms - it comes with a larger 9.7 inch display and a dual core processor under the hood. But do these features enable it to get an edge over its other competitors?

Looks: Bigger and familiar The HCL Me G1 looks like an oversized version of the 7.0 inch Me Y2 tab with almost the same design and features. It comes with an all plastic body. The front is dominated by

The HCL Me G1 comes with the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android. While this is not the latest, it is still very user-friendly and is now becoming familiar territory for many Android users. HCL also packs a lot of pre-installed apps into its devices, and this one is no exception on board are the likes of BIGFLIX, Bollywood Hungama, Cleartrip, Crosswords, FriendCaster, LinkedIn, News Reader, Twitter, WeChat, and TOI. The Back, Home, Recent Apps and Volume rocker touch buttons are placed on the left bottom side of the screen while the right has a system bar with a number of functions including the date and time, Wi-Fi connectivity and settings. Surprisingly, HCL has again kept Google Play off the tab that is a huge let down. Instead, there is HCL Me Apps that offer some apps for the tablet, which does not simply have the same variety of apps.

There is also a HCL Touch app that lets you access a helpline straight from the tab. For MS Office users, the tab comes with Thinkfree Office for creating and editing MS Office files.

Multimedia: View big The 9.7 inch display and quad core graphics make the new G1 good for viewing videos and films. The tab comes with full HD 1080p video support. The VGA front facing camera and a 2.0 megapixel camera at the back deliver average picture quality but then we do not expect anyone to use them for serious photography. That said, the camera comes with panorama shot mode and the dual core processor stitches the images in no time. For music, there is a music player but no FM radio. The sound quality is just about decent.

User Experience: Mixed bag Considering that most of its competitors are still playing with seven inch form factors and single core processors, HCL has definitely pulled a rabbit out of the bag with the G1. Yes, some might quibble at the absence of a SIM card slot but if you are looking for a large screen tablet with good processing speed without spending a bomb, then the G1 is one of the better options available in the market today. The 7,000 mAh battery lasts for more than a day of mail, SNS, browsing and video playback thrown in. We just wish they had included support for Google Play in it as well!

Conclusion The HCL Me G1 is a good performer and is priced at Rs 14,999. As an alternative one can consider the Micromax Funbook Pro with 10.1inch display available at Rs 9,999. If you want to try a lower screen size then HCL’s own Y2 can be a good option priced at Rs 14,999. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict 8

Looks Features

ease of use

8 9

perfoRmance value for money

overall

80%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 59

burn test Desirable Dual SIM HTC ups the

dual SIM ante

129.7 mm

67.9 mm

fter forging a formidable reputation for itself in the conventional smartphone segment, HTC has now turned to the dual SIM phone one. But does the wellspecced and well-designed Desire SV represent a good deal for the consumer seeking smartphone aligned with dual SIM capability?

Looks: Sober and Classy HTC is known for making good looking phones and Desire SV too looks classy with its simple and sober appearance. The front is dominated by a 4.3-inch display, below which are three touch keys and above which is a speaker grille. The back panel comes with a rubberised matte finish with HTC written on

highlights

1 Delightfully big 4.3-inch display

it. The camera with flash is placed on the top of the back and a speaker grille on the bottom with the Beats Audio logo. The back is slightly curved, making the device look slimmer than it actually is. The volume rocker is placed on the right side, the power on/off key and 3.5 mm audio jack on the top, while the bottom of the phone houses a charging slot. The phone is comfortable enough to hold. And looks sober, but smart. Good for those who believe in simplicity.

Hardware: Solidly impressive Coming to hardware, the Desire SV comes packed with some decent specs. The 4.3-inch LCD display has a 480 x 800 resolution, which

60 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

1 GHz dual core processor ensures a smooth experience

is good but not exceptional (we would have liked a higher-res screen). The device comes with dual SIM support (both for GSM networks), although one needs micro SIMs for both the connections. Further, it comes with a Qualcomm S4 1 GHz dual core processor and an Adreno 203 GPU for graphics support with 768 MB RAM, making it a formidable customer in the gaming segment. For sound, there is the now expected Beast Audio support. There is 4 GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 32 GB with the help of a microSD card. The back has a 8.0-megapixel camera with flash, although there is no front camera. On the connectivity front, the device supports Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS and Bluetooth.

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HTC Desire SV

tech specs Size | 129.7 x 67.9 x 10.7 mm Weight | 131 grams

Memory | 4 GB, microSD OS | Android 4.0



Dual SIM support



Good 4.3 inch display



Beats audio support

User Experience: We wanted lil more!

Screen Size | 4.3 inch, capacitive

Pros

Battery | Li-ion 1,620 mAh Talktime/Standby | -/GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes

Cons 

No front camera

Camera | 8.0-megapixel



Camera quality not too impressive

Others | Beatsaudio, Wi-Fi hotspot



No support for shooting or playing HD video

Price: Rs 22,590

Dual SIM functionality

The 8.0megapixel camera comes with multiple effects

when it comes to videos, we were surprised to see that the phone was not able to play 720p HD videos, forget about full HD - what a waste of that brilliant 4.3-inch WVGA screen. The 8.0-megapixel camera too is a bit of a disappointment, churning out mediocre results, even though it comes equipped with a number of different shooting modes like Auto, HDR, Panorama, Portrait, Landscape, and different effects like Vignette, Sepia, Depth of field, Vintage, and Posterize. And as expected, the phone cannot record HD video the maximum recording resolution it supports is 800 x 480. Yes, we would have appreciated a front-facing camera in a device at this price point.

Though we liked the overall performance of the HTC Desire SV, we must confess we were disappointed by some aspects of it. A higher resolution display and better camera are just two of the latter. That said, the phone does deliver a lot of punch, when you consider that it comes with a dual core processor and decent specifications as well as a number of pre-installed apps. The battery life was surprisingly good as well. On a full charge, the phone can easily last for a day with approximately two hours of calling, one hour of gaming and approximately one to two hours of playing music. The touch also gives smooth experience.

ConclusionThe HTC Desire SV is available for Rs 22,590 and is a decent option for those looking for a smart looking dual SIM smartphone with a large display and very good technical specifications. As an alternative one can also look at the Samsung Galaxy Duos that is also a dual SIM phone available for Rs 17,600. n

There are a number of preloaded apps on board

team@mymobile.co.in

Software: Ageing Android The HTC Desire SV runs on old Android 4.0. Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC Sense version 4.1 running on top of it. We were expecting it be on the latest Android however hope it will soon get the upgrade. It comes with five customisable homescreens which can be customised with widgets and shortcuts. There are five touch icons on the screen for Camera, Messages, Main Menu, Mails and Calling. There are a plethora of pre-installed apps like Play Music, Adobe Reader, Friend Stream, Google+, Dropbox, News & Weather, Polaris Office, Sound Hound, Teeter, TuneIn Radio and YouTube. It also has a unique app called

Remote that can be used to access technical support for your mobile device. And for cloud computing fans, there is an offer of 25 GB data of Dropbox storage free for two years. Thanks to HTC Sense, the interface is slick and easy to use. We loved the Web browsing experience and games played well too. However, one can experience difficulty in connecting the phone with old Wi-Fi routers.

Multimedia: A few sore points On the multimedia front, the Desire SV is steady rather than spectacular. Thanks to Beats Audio, the sound experience on headphones is outstanding, and it actually is not bad even on loudspeaker mode. However,

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

84%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 61

burn test

Honey, Apple shrunk the iPad Every inch an iPad...

teve Jobs might have poked fun at seven inch tablets, but that has not stopped the company he founded from releasing a smaller version of the iPad. The iPad mini comes with a smaller 7.9-inch display, but does it compromise on the iPad experience?

really!

200 mm

Looks: The best-looking iPad...ever The iPad mini is not just the best looking iPad ever, but the best looking tablet we have ever seen. Period. The front is dominated by the 7.9-inch touchscreen display, even more so than in the larger iPad simply because the bezel has been shrunk, and the single Home key beneath the display made smaller. The result is that Web pages and apps just seem to cover it almost completely. The left side of our Wi-Fi, 16 GB model was bereft of any buttons whatsoever, while the right housed the volume buttons and the mute/screen orientation lock button. The top has the 3.5 mm jack and the screen on/off button, while the bottom of the tablet houses the Lightning connector (no, your current iOS accessories will not work with it, unless you grab an adaptor) and speakers. On the back is a 5.0-megapixel camera, but you will notice that only after you take your eyes off the smooth metallic panel with the Apple logo on it. And just like on the iPhone 5, EVERYTHING on the black model is, well, black the buttons, the logo, the works. The white model, on the other hand has steel coloured buttons. The form factor is surprisingly small. Although it sports a display that is bigger than the Nexus 7, it is barely a little taller, only slightly wider, and a mere 7.2 mm thick. It will fit into most overcoat pockets with ease and at 308 grammes is one of the lightest 7-inch tablets around. Flaunt worthy, drool worthy... the iPad mini is all of them!

Hardware: Very decent The one Achilles Heel in the iPad seems to be its 1024 x 768 display, which is not only not a retina display but also seems to lag behind those found on some Android tablets (most notably the Nexus 7). But that apart, there is some very decent tech inside the uber sleek frame. You have a dual core A5 processor, a 5.0-megapixel iSight camera on the back (capable of capturing HD video) and a 1.2-megapixel one on front, and storage varying from 16 GB to 64 GB. There is

134.7 mm

highlights The 7.9-inch display has the same resolution as the iPad 2

The dual core processor handles games and HD tasks with ease

62 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

The 5.0-megapixel camera takes decent snaps

The Home button is markedly smaller than on other iPads

It is barely 7.2 mm thick, or rather, thin

www.mymobile.co.in

3G connectivity for those who opt for that model, although you will have to get a nano SIM to make it work.

Pros

Software: iOS magic The real power behind Apple’s mobile throne however is not its hardware but the software that runs on it. And this is the biggest strength of the iPad mini as well. When Apple called it “every inch an iPad” what it meant was that it could do everything that a normal iPad could. And well, it does. The rich treasury of apps on the App Store work just fine on it - from games to video editors to utility applications - and the interface is the buttery smooth iOS one that has charmed the world. Incidentally, it has been bumped all the way up to iOS 6.0. You can also communicate with other iOS users using FaceTime and iMessage. And before you ask, Siri is very much there to cater to your spoken demands, whether they be about the weather or requests to open apps. And as we go to print comes the news that now Indian users can also download music and videos directly from iTunes on to it!



Brilliant design



Support for iOS apps



Very good multimedia handling

Cons 

No retina display



Lightning charger means existing accessories won’t work



You need a nano SIM for the 3G version

Multimedia: Awesome It might not sport a retina display like its big brother, but the very fact that the iPad mini has the same resolution as the iPad 2 squeezed into a smaller display, makes it great for viewing Web pages, images and videos. Sound quality from the twin speakers is the best we have heard from a tablet this side of the PlayBook. On the camera front, the iSight camera takes some very decent shots in daylight, although some noise does creep in as darkness descends. Of course, if the images are less than great, you can always download an app to spruce them up.

User Experience: Smaller wonder After redefining - and indeed inventing - the tablet market with the iPad, Apple seems to have pulled out another winner with the iPad mini. The device scores heavily in terms of style and substance, with our only quibble being the less-than-retina display. The apps work, the design is brilliant, the interface smooth, the screen is wide and yet small enough for one to hold in both hands and type easily with one’s thumbs, and praise be, the price is not a backbreaking one. We are just looking at the best tablet in terms of single handed use out there. And the battery life remains as awesome as ever - it easily ran up ten hours on Wi-Fi with social networks and mail.

Conclusion Those in the market for the iOS experience on a relatively large screen without splurging on a full sized iPad will love the iPad mini. Those looking for an alternative could consider the Nexus 7, which costs Rs 19,900.n team@mymobile.co.in

Apple iPad mini tech specs Size | 200 x 134.7 x 7.2 mm Weight | 308 grams Memory | 32 GB, microSD

verdict

OS | iOS 6 Screen Size | 7.9 inch, capacitive

Looks

Battery | Li-Po

Features

Talktime/Standby | up to 10 hours/-

ease of use

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | -/-/Yes/Yes

perfoRmance

Camera | 5.0-megapixel

value for money

Others | HD video recording, FaceTime, iMessage

Price: Rs 21,900

9 8 9 8 9

overall

86%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 63

burn test The Google Tablet Whether official or not, the Nexus 7 is in India

Pros 

Superb specifications



Very good performance

Automatic Android updates



Cons 

Rather plain design



No rear camera



A trifle oddly-priced

Asus Google Nexus 7 3

tech specs Size | 198.5 x 120 x 10.5 mm

198.5 mm

Price: Rs 19,999 120 mm

64 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

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highlights The seven inch display is awesome for viewing videos and browsing the Web

There is only one camera - a 1.2megapixel front facing one

sus, its manufacturer claims it has not yet been released officially, although the Croma retail chain is selling it openly off its website with an official warranty. Considered by many to be the ultimate challenger to the iPad in the tablet market, the Nexus 7 has finally, and somewhat confusingly made it to Indian shores. But does it live up to its reputation as Android’s flagship tablet?

Looks: On the plain side If you are among those who insist on being seen with the snazziest looking device in town, we are going to be blunt and say you will be disappointed with the Nexus 7. It is not an eyesore, but is definitely not designed to turn heads with its all plastic body. The front is dominated by a seven-inch display and has no hardware buttons at all, although there is a front facing camera on the top. Two of the four sides are totally bare, while the right houses the volume rocker and the screen/power on/off key, and the bottom houses the charging/USB port and 3.5mm audio jack. The back of the tablet is slightly dotted and carries the Nexus brandname near the top and Asus on the lower side. And before you ask - no, there is no rear camera on this baby. But at 10.45 mm thickness and 340 grammes weight, it is compact enough to slip into most handbags. This is a device meant for function rather than flaunting.

Hardware: Seriously good stuff If the appearance of the Nexus 7 might disappoint some people, we are sure that its innards will impress many. The tablet is powered by a quad core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, and comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC connectivity (the 3G avatar of the tablet has not yet arrived on Indian shores). There is 16 GB on onboard storage, although that is not expandable, and 1 GB RAM to ensure that the device keeps ticking over smoothly. Although there is no rear camera, the front facing camera is a 1.2-megapixel affair, which is reasonably handy for video chats and even the odd self-portrait. And we left the best for last - that

Like all Nexus devices, this too runs the latest version of Android

The front is plain with no hardware buttons

The dotted texture on the back makes it easy to grip

seven inch display comes with an impressive 1280 x 800 resolution and a pixel density on 216 ppi, both of which are higher than the much-hyped iPad mini.

Software: The latest Android The biggest attraction of the Nexus series of devices has not been their hardware (impressive though that has always been) but the fact that, unlike other Android devices, they receive the latest Android updates literally within hours of Google releasing them. And the Nexus 7 continues that trend - when it arrived a couple of weeks ago, it was running Android Jellybean and has hence been twice updated - to Android Jelly Bean 4.2, and 4.2.1. That apart, the tablet comes with Android at its bare best. There are five customisable home screens on which you can park widgets and shortcuts, and the basic Google apps like maps, mail, Chrome and YouTube. If you are looking for pre-installed third party apps, this is not the tablet for it. The Nexus is the pure Android experience, although you can always spice it up with apps from Google Play.

Multimedia: Great sight, decent sound Its high-resolution enables the Nexus a very good device to view videos and images on. And thanks to all the hardware muscle that lies within, it handles HD videos without any hassles whatsoever, whether they are being streamed off the Web or played from the tablet itself. On the audio front, however, it is a more modest performer - the audio quality is perfectly acceptable but we would recommend using a good pair of headsets with it if you are an audiophile. The fact that it has one front facing camera, meant mainly for video chats, limits its imaging options, but if it is video or image editing you are looking at, the hardware goodness of the device ensures that you will be able to do so at a snap.

User experience: Pretty near awesome In terms of speed and performance, we can-

not deny that the Nexus 7 is one of the best Android devices we have used. Yes, we missed a rear camera (we don’t take many snaps with tablets but we would have liked the option), but whether it was browsing the Web, playing high definition games like Shadowgun or full HD video, or messing around with images, music and videos, the Nexus 7 handled everything we threw at it with a degree of aplomb. Battery life was very decent too - a full charge easily lasted a day of hectic gaming, with social networks, widgets and mails in push mode. And we don’t have words to describe the delight we felt when we were able to update Android to its latest avatar time and again, without depending on the manufacturer.

Conclusion Although it is available in the Google Play store overseas for $199, Croma has been retailing the 16 GB Nexus 7 for Rs 19,999, which is close to twice the price in terms of Dollar conversion. Even then, the Nexus 7 is the most affordable quad core device in the market right now and the only one running Android 4.2.1. Those seeking alternatives can opt for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 available at Rs 18,500. It has dual cameras and runs on Android 4.0 powered by a dual core processor. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

84%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 65

burn test 5

Xtra spec boost

Another addition to the Xperia S range

128 mm

64 mm

hen it comes to high-end smartphones, Sony seems to have decided to stick to a standard form factor and design. And the Xperia SL certainly seems to bear this theory out. It looks similar to the Xperia S, but does it offer enough under the hood to make buyers gravitate to it? We take a closer look.

Looks: Standard Xperia fare The Xperia SL looks like a replica of the Xperia S, which is not really a bad thing - it certainly looks very stylish. Just like the S, here too there is a transparent band on the lower part of the phone. Unfortunately, the three touch keys placed beneath the screen are as confusing to use as ever - we kept pressing

highlights

1 4.3 inch display is sharp and crisp

the transparent bar instead of the keys. The phone comes with a micro HDMI port, volume rockers and camera key on the right hand side, a charging slot on the left, while the on/ off power button and 3.5 mm audio jack are placed on top. The 12.1-megapixel camera with flash and speaker grille are placed on the back. All in all, the Xperia S looks solid and classy. The unit we got for review was white but the device is also available in other colours like Grey and Peach Pink.

Hardware: The upgraded one It might look similar to the Xperia S, but the Xperia SL boasts significantly better hardware. The phone comes with a 1.7 GHz dual core Qualcomm processor which makes it presence

66 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

The 12.1megapixel camera takes decent shots

felt when graphics-rich games and apps run on the device. Web browsing was a delight on the Xperia SLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bravia powered 4.3 inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution, which is among the highest in a handset (higher than the iPhone 5). The Xperia SL comes with two cameras - a 12.1-megapixel main camera and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. On the connectivity front, the phone supports 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS, Bluetooth, DLNA and NFC. The battery of the device is non-removable and stands at 1,750 mAh. Storage is non-expandable and stands at 32 GB, while 1 GB RAM ensures that you can multi-task smoothly.

Software: Good...old Android Unfortunately, while the hardware of the

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Pros

Battery | Li-ion 1,750 mAh

User Experience: Pretty good



The phone looks good



The 12.1 megapixel rear camera takes good shots

Talktime/Standby | up to 8.5 hours/ up to 410 hours



BRAVIA Engine

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes

Cons

Camera | 12.1-megapixel



Non-expandable memory

Others | Live Ware manager, NFC,



Oddly placed touch keys

PlayStation™ Certified



Slightly overpriced

The phone is sleek and lightweight

Price: Rs 28,200 The 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera enables video calling

tracks, albums, artists and playlists, the My Music section also contains Music Unlimited for online music from Sony Entertainment and also has Friend’s Music which works via integration with Facebook. We were however not very impressed with the sound quality, which was good without being exceptional, in spite of the presence of sound enhancement settings. For videos, the device has a new player called ‘Films,’ and can play 1080p videos easily. The phone’s 12.1 megapixel camera takes decent shots and comes with a number of options such as resolution adjustment, self timer, smile detection, 3D sweep panorama, and sweep multi-angle. It is also capable of shooting full HD video and turns in impressive results there as well. We would advise using it in well-lit conditions for best results.

Overall, we liked the Xperia SL in terms of performance. However, people who are already using the Xperia S are unlikely to find much difference in the device notwithstanding the faster processor and upgraded software. While the large screen makes viewing anything a delight and the camera turns in very good results, the touch keys on the front remain an irritant. Still, all said and done, there was not much we could fault the Xperia SL with - it is a smartphone with a very solid multimedia side to it.

Conclusion The Sony Xperia SL is priced at Rs 28,200 which we feel is a bit on higher side. However, it does perform well and is a good option for those looking for a smartphone with a fast processor and a good camera. Those looking for an alternative can also consider the Samsung Galaxy Note which has a 5.3 inch SUPER AMOLED display and is now available for Rs 28,500. n

The touch of the device is quite smooth

team@mymobile.co.in

Xperia SL has got a boost, it still runs on a relatively older version of Android, 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Yes, it remains very usable and works very well, but we would have expected Android JellyBean 4.1 or 4.2 on it. The UI again is very much standard Xperia the device has five homescreen panels along with five shortcut keys placed on each of them that can be customized as per user’s need. The phone also has an Overview mode which shows all five homescreens on a single screen on pinching one’s fingers. In the main menu, user can arrange icons according to one’s needs in alphabetical order, most used, recently installed, or in any other order one likes. The phone also comes with Album, a new

way to view images on the device. On the application front, the device has some basic social networking apps like Facebook, Google +, and Gtalk. It also has Timescape, Wisepilot, Maps, Latitude and Places for location-based services, and Music unlimited, Track ID and YouTube for music and video lovers. Also on board is a power saver which advises users on when to change the phone’s settings to conserve power.

Multimedia: We like what we see...and hear For music lovers, the phone comes with Walkman player, which comes with a new interface and a visualizer option that runs special effects while playing a track. Apart from

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

78%

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 67

boredom buster Return of the Master Blaster... Chief! Master Chief returns in Halo’s fifth instalment

alo and Gears of War series have for many people been the cornerstones of the success of the Xbox 360. Each addition to their saga raises gamer’s expectations, so you can imagine how eagerly we were waiting for the fifth instalment of Halo, having seen the trailer of the game at E3 2011. Halo 4 takes place in the year 2557, four years after the carnage of Halo 3. Master Chief returns in this game as the main character, and yes, you get to play him. Lost in space earlier, he now is back in action with his ageing AI Cortana. Cortana awakens Master Chief up to tell him that someone is trying to board their ship. The duo find themselves near a planet called Requiem, where they crash land and most of the game takes place. The storm Covenant forces run wild on this ruthless planet and Master Chief needs to rip through them we are not telling you more than that! Halo 4 is an action packed game where you get lots of guns, ammo, grenades and more to take down the villains. The co-op and online play is brilliantly built and you can play it for hours and hours, even after the campaign gets over. Just remember to purchase a good broadband connection first as it will get you better pings when connecting to some respectable South-East Asian servers. If you have played the Halo series before, then you would feel right at home. The graphics are superb and the storyline keeps you guessing. All in all, a top notch game worth every penny spent. n sulabh@mymobile.co.in

Name: Halo 4 Price: 2,899 Tested on: Xbox 360

RATING

68 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

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The Force is with the Birds! Angry

Birds clash with Pigs in the world of Star Wars

fter becoming synonymous with casual gaming, the Angry Birds are back in an all-new avatar, inspired by one of the iconic movie series of our time - Star Wars. The gameplay is the same as before - one has to propel birds from a catapult towards their piggy foes. However, Rovio has added a number of Star Wars elements to this. Angry Birds Star Wars manages to impress in both visuals and sound right from the splash screen. There is a classic movie theme pervading through the game, with slightly cartoon-y touches. Moreover, Star Wars inspired powers are added to the birds. So, the red bird takes the place of Luke Skywalker and is equipped with a

light saber. The black bird has shades of by Obi-Wan Kenobi and is able to use Force to push blocks in any direction. The yellow bird is Han Solo and has a blaster to fire three shots. Oh and yes, there is ChewBacca too - a large bird that can smash through anything. The pigs have been Star Warred too they can fire back through Storm Trooper guns. There are also a lot more levels with moveable hinges like floating stones on the planets that can actually ruin your slingshots. Moreover, in between sections, are small cinematics that show you scenes from the films, with an Angry Birds touch. All of which makes the latest Angry Birds Star Wars a worthy addition to the

series, and a must-download for fans of either franchise. The game is free on Android and costs $2.99 for iPad and $0.99 for iPhone. n ketan@mymobile.co.in

Name: Angry Birds Star Wars Price: Free Tested on: HTC Desire SV

RATING



dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 69

boredom buster The executioner is back

One of videogaming’s best-known assassin returns in Hitman: Absolution

he Hitman series has been a riveting one since it got underway more than a decade ago. With each addition to the series, the gameplay keeps getting better and so do the graphics. Hitman: Absolution picks up nicely after the last edition. Here the handler Agent 47 (yes, that is the Hitman’s name for those who know not), Diana Burnwood, has gone rogue and is threatening to expose the agency. So what does the agency do? They send their best assassin (Agent 47) to take her out and bring back a girl called Victoria, who is in Diana’s possession. And Agent 47 is as good a marksman and tracker as ever. But midway in his mission, there is a twist and suddenly, he is in a familiar position of not knowing who are his friends from his enemies. The game is wonderful to play, with improved physics, shooting and graphics, and there are plenty of twists and turns in the tale to keep you absorbed. We would have liked the enemies to put up a much more stubborn resistance, though - as usual, you have to

70 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

opt between the sneak and attack method, or opt to go in all guns blazing. A new point-shoot method has been adopted by the game, where you can mark multiple targets in slow motion and take all of them out at a press of a button. Overall the game is not very hard to adapt to and some levels can be challenging. What really gets you playing is the wonderful storyline that will keep you glued to the controller for hours. Yes, Agent 47 is well and truly back. n sulabh@mymobile.co.in

Name: Hitman: Absolution on PS3 Price: 2,499 Tested on: PS3

RATING



www.mymobile.co.in

Smart apps

Image editing gets easy The app lets you

jazz up your images at no cost whatsoever

re you one of those who like playing with pictures by adding some effects or borders or text into them? Well, there’s a new photo editor app from Autodesk (the same folks who gave you Pixlr-o-matic) for all photography lovers. The application has more than 600 effects and let you easily crop, resize, remove red eye, whiten teeth, and do a whole lot more, and all this without compromising on the original resolution of the picture (remember, Instagram reduces the resolution of the images you edit). Pixlr Express works in two modes - you can take a photo with your phone’s camera and edit it or choose a photo from the phone gallery. The app has four basic functions: Adjustment, Effect, Overlay and Border. One can carry out operations like cropping, red eye reduction, rotate contrast, and blur in Adjustment, while there are multiple effects like vintage, subtle, too old, and unicolour in Effects. And there is more - each of the given effects comes with further multiple effects to choose from. There are also numerous lighting effects given in Overlay that could add

more life to your pictures. The app also lets you add a frame or border to your picture, and that too comes with dozens of options. Once you are finished with your tweaking, you can also share your edited photos directly on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We just loved the app for providing hundreds of effects and multiple settings that allow you to change the entire look and feel of your picture, and the cherry on the cake is that it is available absolutely free of cost on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. n heena@mymobile.co.in

Name: Pixlr Express Price: Free Tested on: Sony Xperia SL

RATING

 dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 71

Smart apps

Edit photos effortlessly Adds new elements to a routine image

ith cameras becoming an integral part of handsets these days, apps that let you add innovative touches to your photographs through filters and other options have become a rage. Lomogram is one such application that can add life to even the most dull and boring image by adding some filters, using borders and light effects in numerous ways and combinations. The application comes with an array of features inside. You can edit any of the pictures stored in the photo gallery or launch the camera from within the app, click a picture and then edit it. Editing is just a matter of a few touches. The real strength of Lomogram is the effects that it comes packed with. You can

add a number of filters varying from a retro look to a faded one to a club one, all named after persons, like Elbert, Maya, Amy, and more. Apart from that there also are options for adding some light-based effects along with borders. Play around with various options and you will end up with a photograph with a unique look. Besides this, you can also crop out the parts you do not like, and also experiment with basic contrast, brightness and saturation effects. Moreover, you can share the images on a number of social networks with just one tap. All in all, Lomogram is a good, handy application for those who love taking pictures with their phones and editing them. It is very much a

72 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

must-have for all those who have Windows Phone devices and are missing out on the joys of photo filtering apps like Instagram, which are available on iOS and Android. n harshita@mymobile.co.in

Name: Lomogram Price: Free Tested on: Nokia Lumia 800

RATING



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One app for them all... Your phone

becomes the social hub!

magine a single app that syncs your different social networks onto one platform from where you can post status updates, tweet, share photos or check in. Well, Banjo does just that. The app integrates some of the most popular social networks- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare and LinkedIn - to help users find out common connections, mutual friends and even get notifications when a friend is in close proximity. One can find their friends’ updates in a combined global feed on the homepage of the app. The app has three sections: Friends, Place and Me. Friends includes posts by your friends with whom you are connected on one or more

social networks. Place comprises people active on Banjo, and not just your friends. One can also check their activities on different social networks and can check their location as well through maps. The map in the Banjo app shows your connections as well as any other Banjo user who might have shared geo-tagged posts publicly. This means you could start a conversation with another Banjo user who might have common interests. Those who love to network will love this feature, although some might find it strange. However, maps load very slowly and zooming in and out of the map is again a tricky thing to do. But all said and done, Banjo is a great app

for those who are active on multiple social networks and want to be free from the fuss of switching between them. And it costs nothing. It can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. n

Ketan@mymobile.co.in

Name: Banjo Price: Free Tested on: Sony Xperia SL

RATING



dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 73

etcetera Booked for a light life A superb

travelling companion

or all the increase in processing power of smartphones and tablets, laptops or notebooks remain an essential part of the lives of those who work on the move. And if you happen to be one of these, it is a fair chance that you will love the Fujitsu Lifebook P772, a

business notebook which is compact in size and light in weight - it comes with a 12.1-inch screen and weighs 1.4 kg. Ultrabook fans might find it a bit on the thicker side, but take it from us, it looks smart and its features will make you forget its not-so-sleek side.

Alongside the touch panel on the keyboard, there is a circular ring given for scrolling up and down. The resolution is 1280 X 800 pixels, which is once again lower than the 1366 x 768 as we find in most ultrabooks, but is great for viewing text, videos and images. The device runs on an Intel Core i5-3320M CPU with 2.60GHz processor, and comes with 8.0-GB RAM. It is compact enough to carry but this compactness comes at a price the keyboard can feel a tad cramped. On the connectivity front, the device comes with three USB ports, an HDMI port, DP port, ethernet port, and two 3.5mm jacks for audio and mic. It also has support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and come with a 32-bit version of Windows 7 Professional. It also comes with a dock that adds further ports and support for other cards, although it adds to the weight of the package. This is one versatile beast. All in all, the Lifebook P772 is a very good option for those looking for an easy to carry notebook. We have seen ultrabooks that are sleeker and have perhaps better specs but what makes the Lifebook special is the way it has been built and its portability. We tested it with PCmark 7 and it scored a decent 2882 points n

Fujitsu Lifebook p772 Price: Rs 69,000 + taxes Pros | Offers an array of connectivity RATING



options, Connectivity doc comes with box

Cons | Thick in width, Priced High

74 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

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Acer Aspire MA50 Price: Rs 62,999

RATING



Pros | Decent performer, Battery Backup is very good Cons | Scroll pad missing, Nonconvertible design

Notebook with a touch (screen) Windows 8 magic on a notebook

fter phones, it is now the turn of the venerable computer to get the touch treatment, courtesy Windows 8 and some manufacturers. And one of the first to come to the touch party in India is Acer with the Aspire MA50. The slim ultra-portable notebook comes with a 39.63 cm multi-touch Acer CineCrystal LCD screen with 10 point touch, full gesture support, and runs the Windows 8 64 bit RTM operating system. Featuring a matte black finish build, the notebook is 22mm thin and weighs 2.3 Kg - not lightweight, but not bulky either. It is powered by a 1.8 GHz Intel i3 processor, and comes with 4 GB RAM and an NVIDIA Geforce 1 GB graphics card. For connectivity, it has HDMI, LAN Ethernet and three USB ports - all on the back. On the left-hand side, there’s the optical DVD drive along with a 34mm ExpressCard slot. And that’s not all - the Acer Aspire MA50 offers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 via the Atheros Bluetooth+WLAN module. Sound comes courtesy stereo speakers and built-in Dolby Home Theatre v4, optimized for volume and surround sound. The device has a full keyboard with a separate numpad, although there is no scroll pad, which causes problems while browsing the internet. Still, we were impressed by the performance of the notebook - it worked briskly, the touchscreen was responsive, we got more than seven hours of battery life. We just wish it was a convertible rather than an out and out notebook. n

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 75

etcetera Angry Bird Speak(er) i-Flash Drive HD (8 GB)

This angry bird sings

Price: Rs 4,550 (Approx) Pros | High speed data transfer, Easy connectivity Cons | Separate connectivity required to use with iPhone 5, Price a bit on higher side

RATING



sKULLCANDY SKULLCRUSHER Price: Rs 4,399 Pros | Rotating earcups that fit properly, Inline bass boost controller

iOS device storage booster Add gigs to the storage

Cons | Price is a bit on the high side, Can feel a bit tight on the ears

of your iPad and iPhone

lthough all iOS products do not come with microSD card slots, third party manufacturers have been trying to make their way around this restriction, and one of these is the i-Flash Drive for iOS devices launched by PhotoFast. For connectivity the drive has a USB connector on one side ,whereas the connector at the other end enables it to connect to iOS devices. One has to, however, download the iFlash application from the iTunes App Store which will allow users to use the drive for contact backup, local storage and external storage. An option to use Dropbox is also there. It is simple enough to use and works like a charm and is very handy for storing hefty multimedia files that can take up a lot of space on a device. Do remember, however, that it can be used only with iOS products launched after the iPhone 4. Also, thanks to a change of connector, you will need to buy a separate accessory to connect it to all iOS devices with Lightning ports. The iFlash HD drive comes in three sizes (8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB) with prices starting from Rs 4,550, which we think is a bit on the higher side. n

76 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

RATING



www.mymobile.co.in

Gear4 space lazer bird mini speaker

RATING



Price: Rs 2,290 Pros | Catchy looks, Compact

and portable

Cons | Average sound quality, Overpriced

usic accessory manufacturer Gear 4 has launched its Angry Birds-themed mini speakers recently. And if looks were all that mattered, our hearts would have been stolen. The speaker looks like an Angry Bird and is compact enough to be carried around, although we would have liked a longer cord with it - it is so short that the speaker is literally within inches of the device to which it is attached. In the sound department, we noticed distortion while playing music at higher levels. The volume levels were good enough, but clarity was compromised at higher levels. The speaker has charging slot at the back, volume rocker on the right side and an on/off button with 3.5 mm jack on its left. It also has an expandable bass port that can be accessed by twisting the upper part of the speaker towards the right. They seem to have been short of wiring at Gear4 - even the charging cable is way too short. Those crazy about Angry Birds might not mind the Rs 2,290 price tag, but we think it is too high for the performance the speakers deliver. n

Fill your skull with music Skullcandy

delivers great sound. Again

Sound Performer For

excellent music quality lovers

martphones today seem to be well on their way to replacing the portable media player. In fact, people increasingly seem to want all features in a single device. However, media player manufacturers are in no mood to go down without a fight as can be seen by the Zebmate Cinema 1.8 touchscreen media player from Zebronics. The smart-looking device comes with a 1.8-inch touchscreen of 168 x 128 resolution, a 3.5 mm audio jack, expandable 8 GB storage and support for playing WAV, WMA and MP3 audio formats. On the video front, however, it plays only AMV files. It also comes with FM radio, photo viewing ability, an e-book reader, and a voice recorder. You can transfer data to it from your PC using a USB cable, but unfortunately you cannot listen to any music while doing so. Speaking of music, the player comes with equaliser options for those who love tweaking settings. The sound quality is decent, and battery back up is good (the company claims 12 hours). We just wish the touchscreen had been more responsive. Still, it is not a bad deal for Rs 2,200. n

Zebmate Cinema 1.8 Price: Rs 2,200 Pros | Upto 16 GB microSD support, Good sound quality Cons | No volume rocker, Mini USB connector

RATING



kullcandy has forged a formidable reputation for itself in the audio products business, thanks to its innovative headphones. And one of the latest additions to its headphone portfolio is the Skullcandy Skullcrusher. The build quality of the headphones is solid and they come with an adjustable headband to make it fit skulls of all sizes (pun intended). The design is quite funky with rotating cans that come with a soft leather covering, thanks to which one can wear it at whatever angle suits one the most. In terms of audio quality, the Skullcrusher does not disappoint. It was able to play tracks without any distortion even at the highest volume levels and delivered very good sound at all levels of volume, making it perfect for those who like to hear it out loud as well as more moderate volume lovers. The Skullcrusher also comes with bass amplified subwoofer that can be adjusted with a bass controller key. And dangling from the headphones is a 4.9-feet cord which also has a controller for bass adjustment, the on/off key, external battery holder and a gold plated connector. The headphone is priced at Rs 4,399 which we feel is bit on the high side, but then, this is very high quality audio that you are getting. A good buy for those who cannot compromise on sound quality. n

team@mymobile.co.in

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 77

fa c e t o fa c e

“Pricing plays a very critical role in India” It’s known as the company behind the iconic Cartoon Network but is now moving into making its presence felt in the Indian mobile arena. We caught up with Troy Lobo, senior director, South Asia, Network & Content Distribution, Turner International to know more about what the company has in store Harshita Rastogi mobile, on-air shows and characters that kids How is Turner India doing in the Mobile sphere? Any key achievements? The mobile platform in India is emerging rapidly and is dominated by gaming content. In 2013, we will be developing over 15 games across all major platforms. Some our most successful applications so far are Chhota Bheem: Save the Laddoos which had 1.9 million downloads on the Nokia Store, Tom and Jerry: Food Fight which had 2.7 million downloads on the Nokia Store and Ben 10: Xenodrome with half a million downloads in one month on the iTunes App Store. What are your investment and expansion plans for India? Globally, Cartoon Network gives high emphasis to 360 degree brand presence especially in the digital space. Naturally, this philosophy has been applied to the Indian market for Cartoon Network and POGO. This year, we will be developing over 15 games, the highest yet in any given year. We will be expanding our portfolio of games, wallpapers, etc., with existing popular shows like Ben 10 and Chhota Bheem and also new shows like Kumbh Karan. What factors do you keep in mind while developing products? Since we cater to kids, who are at an incredibly impressionable age, our priority is to make sure that our content, in the form of games, applications, and videos, is safe. The content should assuage the fears of parents leaving their kids alone in front of the device. At the same time, there should be a high level of engagement, fun and innovation to allure kids and ensure that they keep coming back. In order to boost digital success, we aim to provide a strong link between the content on the

78 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

adore. Such immersive experiences give kids an opportunity to be a part of the toon world consisting of their favourite characters. What challenges do you see in the Indian market? On Mobile, accessibility is a limitation as the subscriber numbers for WAP, GPRS and 3G are not very high. Another big challenge is devices. Unlike the linear business, in mobile, when we create content, it has to be unique to a set of devices. That takes a lot of resources in terms of cost as well as time. Monetisation is also a challenge as the business models are constantly changing; they could be advertising, subscription or premium in-app purchases. At Turner we are experimenting with every model depending upon the audience and the market. Which operating systems do your apps run on? We create applications that work across iPhone, Android, Java and Symbian OSes. Every platform is unique and has its own merits in a market place. The ecosystem is evolving and currently Symbian and Java are most prominent in India. On an APAC level, Android is becoming a significant platform. What do you feel are the emerging trends in the app sphere? Games contribute to the highest number of downloads on the stores with the top genres being action, racing and arcade. Although downloads of paid games are growing due to the ‘Try and Buy’ and ‘Freemium’ offerings, free games enjoy phenomenal popularity especially on some stores. Pricing plays a very critical role in a market like India. It has to be low prices and the best consumer traction is found between Rs 5 and Rs 10 price points. It’s not a onesize-fits-all market and brands have to cater to various segments of consumers and keep their offerings flexible. n harshita@mymobile.co.in

Tablets:

Medicine for Mobility

Tablet computers have been around since the late 1980s. The concept was initially based on pen computing technology and revolved around a computer user interface requiring a pen (stylus). The first patent for an electronic tablet used for handwriting was granted in 1888. It was in the year 1956 that a tablet with handwriting text recognition sans keyboard for working with a modern digital computer was publicly demonstrated. In 1991, Microsoft announced Pen Extensions for Windows 3.1 and called them Windows for Pen Computing. By 1994 a number of companies like EO, NCR, Samsung, Dauphin, Fujitsu, TelePad,

Compaq, Toshiba, and IBM released their hardwares to support Windows Pen extension. Most people found pen tablets difficult to use and criticised handwriting recognition. Most of the players stopped manufacturing consumer market pen products within a short while of their release. As a result, Pen computing was almost dead in the consumer market by 1995. Microsoft reintroduced pen computers as the “Tablet PC” in 2002. This brought back slates and notebook convertibles. New players like Motion Computing joined the league followed by others. Meanwhile, Palm and Windows Mobile devices were launched with stylus support.

The Paceblade Pacebook tablet PC was introduced with a touchscreen and stylus support in the year 2002. This was followed by Nokia’s 770 Internet Tablet released in the year 2005 and Nokia N800 in 2007. The devices carried quite an array of features for those times, like Internet connectivity, office suites, and more. The real game changer for the tablet market came in April 2010, when Apple introduced the iPad. Unlike previous devices, this one sold in millions and soon the tablet market was flourishing with every major player introducing their own devices. The tablet era had well and truly begun. n

DEC 15 to Jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 79

fa c e t o fa c e

“2013 will be the year of smartphones” Intex is a relatively experienced player in the tech market. What changes have you seen in this period? We have witnessed a consistent growth for the past 16 years. In mobile handset category, we have been present since 2008. The customer’s demand has moved from feature phones to touch phones and the recent rage are smartphones. The single biggest trend to emerge in 2012 is the continued penetration of smartphones and 2013 will be the year of smartphones, with different variants in affordable prices. We are always ready to move on a dime to take advantage of trends in this fast paced mobile environment, and are thus expecting revenues of 30 per cent in the first quarter of the next financial year only through smartphones. Brands like Micromax and Karbonn are getting more active in the smartphone segment... Since the last quarter, market sentiment is moving towards smartphones which has already captured 7-8 per cent of the total handset market. We are in the same league with other prominent players and have already launched four models. By March we have planned to launch another six. Recently we have associated with cricket for the upcoming England-Pakistan–Australia series, which will provide huge brand visibility for our Intex Aqua smartphones. The Aqua range of smartphones was rated amongst the top 20 most searched smartphones on Google.

Although initially known for its computer accessories, Intex has been making inroads into the tablet and smartphone market in India of late with a slew of releases. Sanjay Kumar, general managerMobile Business, Intex Technologies spoke to us about where the brand is heading Harshita Rastogi

How big is the smartphone market in India, and what is your share in it? Smartphones cover 7-8 per cent of the total Indian market. Our market share is aggressively rising and we are looking forward at a bigger pie of the entire segment in the next fiscal year. You have recently launched a device with a 5.0-inch display. What factors are driving the companies to offer such large-screen products? This move towards larger touchscreen displays isn’t new. However, the trend is developing. Users of mobile device video content and richer applications can benefit the most from larger displays. At Intex we

80 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

endeavour to provide our consumer with high quality products at an affordable price. We are planning more products in bigger screen segment and the response for our bigger screen products has been overwhelming. There is a lot of emphasis on accessories these days. Do you also focus on giving accessories with your devices? Accessories enhance the look and utility of the devices. They are trendy and are becoming very popular these days. We have a separate vertical for accessories ranging from battery and earphones to chargers for all brands. We also provide leather covers with a few models of mobile brands. How do you see the tablet market in India? What new developments are driving the market? The market is witnessing a complete revolution. According to the Manufacturers Association of IT (MAIT), tablets are emerging as the preferred device for entertainment and content consumption. MAIT has estimated that tablet market will grow to 7.3 million units by 2015- 2016. MAIT has also projected a demand of 9.2 million units of Tablets by 2015. Tablet sales in India are expected to cross 1.6 million units this year, a growth of 40 per cent over last year. Two major factors which are driving the market are the portability and cost. What innovations and products can we expect from you in the new year? Innovation is crucial to Intex’s business. As new technologies are being constantly introduced to the market, it is essential to maintain the speed to remain competitive in today’s digital era. We were the first to come with a long life battery phone, waterproof phone, projector based phone, and special phones for people without vision. We are working towards market centric applications based mobile and multilingual phones for the masses. We strive hard to provide our consumers with goodlooking, applications-laden, value for money phones and we will continue to innovate and offer choices to the consumer at an affordable price. n harshita@mymobile.co.in

tips & tricks

Moving Data From One Mobile Platform To Another Got a new handset that runs on a different OS from your previous one? Just follow these handy tips to transfer important data to it from your older handset Waseem Ansari

ne of the biggest problems people face when they switch handsets is in moving data from their previous handset to the new one. And this task gets even more complex if the two handsets involved are on different platforms, i.e., if one is on Android and the other on Symbian, or if one is on BlackBerry and the other on iOS. In fact, some people find this proposition so scary that they often postpone buying a new handset altogether. However, as in almost everything in tech life these days, there is a handy app to smoothen matters out. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, it is relatively simple to use - you do not need USB cables, PC software, or messing around with settings or configurations. Just follow some simple steps and you will be able to transfer your data from your old phone to the new one in a hassle-free manner. Making this possible is an app called SaveIt, a full featured data backup and restore service, which lets you transfer contacts, calendars, pictures and videos between two devices running on different OSes like from Symbian to Android, Android to iOS, and so on. The app backs up all your data on to the cloud, and then lets you restore it to another device.

Just follow these simple steps to back up and restore your data

1 2 3 4 5

If you are a Symbian user download SaveIt from www.freemysymbian.com on your existing phone. Android and iOS user can download it from their respective app stores. Register your e-mail ID and open an account with SaveIt.

Go get your new Android or iPhone. Download SaveIt from Google Play or the iTunes App Store on it. Sign in again and hit Restore. Sit back and see your data being transferred!

There are many other solution for data backup and restore but this is the easiest way to save your data and restore it. Note: SaveIt is offered as a free service for a limited time, in which you can back up unlimited data. But you have to pay when you need to restore it to a device. You can opt for a 30-day pack or an annual one.

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 81

mobile doctor Android phone in Rs 20,000. -Siddhartha Anand Dear Siddhartha, the Sony Xperia U is a good device but offers an internal memory of 8GB. And if you feel that this space is not enough for your requirements for storage, then you can opt for the HTC One V, LG Optimus L7 or the Xperia Sola, all of which are good performers.

What is special about the Google Nexus 4 as compared to any other Android mobile. Is there any specific problem with the HTC One S mobile? I am confused in choosing between the HTC One S/ the Google Nexus 4/Samsung S3 mini/Samsung S2. My budget is around Rs 25,000. Please advise. -Dr. Ramesh Balaji Dear Ramesh, the Google Nexus range of devices have a special place in Android as they are made in direct collaboration with Google. They are also assured software updates directly from Google, unlike other Android devices which depend on updates from manufacturers. Although all three phones you name are good, we would recommend going for the Google Nexus. I am seeking a branded tablet with a SIM card slot, so that I can surf the Net and my budget is Rs 7000 as I want to gift this on my wife's birthday. Please suggest? -Navin Pareek, Mumbai Dear Navin, we cannot recommend a tablet with a calling feature available in the range of Rs 7,000. However, if you are willing to shell out a little more then you can consider buying the Reliance Tablet, which is available for Rs 12,999. And in case you can afford to miss on the calling feature, then tablets like Micromax Funbook and My Zen Tab will come within your price range. I am planning to buy the Sony Xperia U but have a problem that it doesn't have an expandable memory slot. Is it worth a buy? Will you please suggest an

I want to buy a tablet with a very good screen resolution. Please mention the ppi of the screen also. Budget can be anything below Rs 20,000. -Raja Goswami Dear Raja, we will suggest you either go for the Nexus Tablet 7 which costs Rs 19,990 or to shell out a little more and invest in the Apple iPad mini available for Rs 21,900. The former has a ppi of 216 while the latter has a ppi of 163. I want to buy a smartphone with a nice camera with flash, good sound quality, powerful processor, many apps and other nice features. I like business class phones. My choice is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and HTC One X +. Could you please tell me which is better or if there is a better altenative. Price is not an issue. -Naresh Gidwani Dear Naresh, both the phones you have chosen are good in their own ways. The HTC One X+ offers a very good camera and processing power, and though Galaxy Note 2 is no less in these but it is better for applications that come with stylus support. For business use, we would suggest you to go for Galaxy Note 2 which comes with an array of other interesting features and is available for Rs 39,550. I want to purchase an Android smartphone. Please suggest which one is a better option: Motorola Atrix 2, Samsung

82 MYMOBILE DEC 15 to JAn 14 2012-13

Galaxy S Advance or LG Optimus L9. Also please tell me the price of LG optimus L9 in India. -Galib khan Via Email Though all the phones you have suggested are good, we find the LG Optimus L9 the best option of the lot. It comes with a 4.7-inch screen, runs on a 1GHz dual Core processor, has a 5.0-megapixel rear camera and an array of other features. It is available for Rs 22,500.

I want to buy a Nokia Lumia 510. Please tell me if this is a good buy in the budget of Rs 10,000. And also please tell me about its features. -Saif Malik. Nokia Lumia 510 runs on the Windows Phone operating system, and in this price range this is the best Windows Phone device available. To know more about its features, you can refer the My Guide section of our magazine. I want to buy a mobile in the range of Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000. I would prefer to buy a Samsung or an LG. Please suggest a device for me. -Pankaj Kumar Dear Pankaj, the Samsung Champ Neo Duos C3262 is priced at Rs

2,950. It is a dual SIM device with a touchscreen. You can also consider the LG A350 which again is a dual SIM device. My job requires me to stay in the field most of the time. So please suggest a device with good navigation features which can help me locate my position and find out my destination on the phone. -Santosh Dear Santosh, navigation services in phones require GPS receivers. We suggest you to go for any of the handsets in Lumia series of Nokia as it comes with preinstalled mapping apps and will work even if there is no cellular network connection. This would enable you to access maps anytime, anywhere, without much hassle. I am a regular reader of My Mobile. I want to buy a dual SIM phone with the latest version of Android, a good MP3 player, battery back-up, best camera, and fast performance. Please help me buy a nice phone within Rs 9,000. -Vishal Kumar Dear Vishal, none of the devices running the latest version of Android are available in your budget. However, if you can compromise on that part, you can choose from the Micromax A100, Karbonn A9, and Spice Stellar Horizon Mi 500. All these devices are packed with features and perform well, and have large displays.

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.

www.mymobile.co.in

“We expect to serve 7 to 8 million subscribers in India” Applied Mobile Labs has a very lofty goal - to bring about an education revolution in the country. It aims to do this by providing the right platform with the right content at an affordable price to all those who need it. Mrigank Tripathi, CEO, Applied Mobile Labs, told us just how his company aims to follow this path Heena Jatav and Mukesh Kumar Singh You say you make products to cater to an ‘underserved’ and ‘inefficiently’ served market. What exactly do you mean by that? We believe that the mobile has a lot of potential but its potential has been used inefficiently. Our focus is clearly to make products for mobile phones. So we have two categories- one is mobile education and other is mobile-based lead generation. For mobile education, we have created our own platform to disseminate all types of educational content over mobile. The idea is to replicate the whole offline experience not only on smartphones but on normal feature phones as well that can run videos. What kind of apps are you planning to develop? Our motive is to spread education through mobiles. Anyone from any place around the world should be able to take any course on a mobile. There’s an app on which we are working which is called ‘Tutor Tube.’ The Tutor Tube will work on both the Web and the mobile, and in the mobile we will be able to give the whole course structure. This app will be available in a month’s time. Do you yourself develop educational content or do you get it from other sources? We are not at all a content maker. We aggregate content from people who already have that content. So basically we let firms like NIT, FIT-JEE use our platform to monetise their content. Which are the apps that are most in demand? Learning guitar. The response is amazing for it. Other apps like videos on personality development and Vedic Maths are selling like hot cakes. English learning too is a popular category. We are soon going to launch an outside operator English learning programme. We guarantee that by taking up that

programme, the user will not come out without learning the language. We can also provide a trial. Try it, if you like it, then buy it. Our motive is to provide the right platform, the right content with the right amount of money. Currently you have a tie-up with DOCOMO and Airtel. What services do you provide on these networks and how many subscribers you have for them? We have ‘Tutor on Mobile’ on DOCOMO and ‘Career Counseling’ on Airtel. We have already served 5 million subscribers. By the next financial year, we expect to serve 7 to 8 million subscribers in India. Language is a major barrier to communication in India because not all are well versed with Hindi and English. How are you tackling this issue? When we started with mobile education service, we had only Hindi and English support and later we introduced other languages as well. The content requirement is the same from different parts of India, but in their local language. So, right now we have support for four to five languages on our platform. Are you planning to tie up with other operators too? We are in talks with all major operators in India and are about to finalise deals with some very soon. n heena@mymobile.co.in

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 83

Gear guide Disclaimer: The prices have been obtained from company’s/ respective showrooms

Nokia Fast Micro-USB Charger | AC-10E

Save energy and save the environment. Based on a common energy-rating system for chargers, it has a 5-star rating for energy saving. Rs 900

Nokia Bluetooth Headset | BH-607

This headset enables you to be connected with little charging. It just requires 15 minutes of charging, giving you up to 5 hours of talk time. Rs 4,500

Nokia Bluetooth Headset | BH-111

Choose the colour that suits you in a design that’s as comfortable as it is stylish - up to five colours available. It is lightweight and offers long time usage. Rs 2,110

Nokia Monster Earphone | WH920 The in-ear design of the set isolates external noise to ensure enriched music experience. The earphones have volume controller built in to its cord. Rs 5,000

Nokia Bluetooth Headset | BH-218

It puts you in control of your hands free calls and keeps you connected all day long. Rs 1,999

Nokia Universal Portable USB Charger | DC-16

You can now charge your smartphone anytime, anywhere with this power bank. It is compatible with most of the devices and has a battery capacity of 2,200 mAh. Rs 1,499

Nokia Play | 360°

Enjoy clear 360-degree audio for your music with Nokia Play 360° (MD-50W). The curved design case brings a modern look and feel. Rs 9,000

Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset | BH-505

Nokia Mono Bluetooth Headset | BH-109

With Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-109, you can handle calls hands-free, even when you are using two mobile devices at the same time. Rs 1,600

Bluetooth Headset BH-505 keeps you active and entertained. The headset features a lightweight neckband for all day comfort. Rs 3,500

84 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

www.mymobile.co.in in Delhi but may vary on account of dealer discretion/company schemes.

Nokia Extra Power | DC-8

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on the road and away from an AC supply, you can get peace of mind with a reliable, pocket-sized source of backup power. Rs 1,500

Nokia Bluetooth Headset | BH-112

Keep it simple - pick up and end calls at the touch of a button. It works with multiple handsets at the same time ideal if you have phones for work and play. Rs 1,450

Nokia Retractable Car Charger | DC-10 With Nokia Retractable Car Charger DC-10 charge your phone in the car. Rs 950

Nokia Monster Headset | WH 930

This Nokia headset boasts of some high end features that are not to be seen in any other headsets available in the market. Rs 10,500

Nokia Stereo Headset | WH-701

It helps to control your calls and music in a world of sound. It features three sets of comfortable ear pads and an integrated remote for controlling volume, calls, and music. Rs 1,110

Nokia Mini Speaker | MD-11

Play your music and listen to the radio out loud with this compact, yet powerful mini speaker. You can also connect them for quality stereo surround sound. Rs 1,100

Nokia Extra Power | DC-11K

Charge two devices at the same time. It is extra compact and lightweight and offers a quick boost of power. Rs 2,400

Nokia Bluetooth Headset | BH-104

With Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-104 you can stay on top of your calls and enable convenient wireless communication throughout the day. Rs 1,000

Nokia Car Charger | DC-4

Simple and compact, this mobile phone charger offers rapid phone charging from a car cigarette lighter socket. Rs 220

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 85

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MY GUIDE 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 Dec 3, 2012) Devices featured in the My Guide have been segregated into four categories baswed on price and colour-coded as:

Tablet 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) Nokia

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

Y MOBILE 87 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

myguide MODELS

NOKIA

PARAMETERS 1280

100

101

C1-01

110

C2-00

112

Dimension (mm)

107.2 x 45.1 x 15.3

110 x 45.5 x 14.9

108 x 45 x 14

110 x 46 x 14.8

108 x 45 x 14.65

110.4 x 46.9 x 15.4

Weight (grams)

81.92

69.6

78.8

74.1

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

8.30/528

Screen (colours)/Size (inch) Monochrome/1.36 Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/No

7.2/840

10.4/540

10.5/637

5.75//460

14/840

65,536/1.8

56K/1.8

NA/No

64MB/32GB

16MB/32GB

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Symbian S30

S30

Symbian S40

S40

Symbian 40

S40

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

950

1,150

1,370

1,800

2,150

2,300

2,500

Music Player/FM Radio

MODELS

Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY

NOKIA

PARAMETERS C2-02

X2-02

C2-03

Asha 200

202

Asha 305

Asha 308

Dimension (mm)

102.8 x 51.2 x 17

113 x 50 x 15

103 x 51.4 x 17

115.4 x 61.1 x 14

114.8 x 49.8 x 13.9

110.3X53.8X12.8

109.9x54x13 mm

Weight (grams)

110

115

105

104

5/60x0

9.8/443

5/400

7/888

5/400

14X528

17/600

Model

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

65,536/2.6

262,144/2.2

65,536/2.6

65,536/2.4

262,144/2.4

262,144/3

65,536/3.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

10MB/32GB

NA/32GB

10MB/32GB

64MB/32GB

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Shared

1,000

Shared

1,000

2,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/No

Yes/Yes/No

S40

Symbian S40

S40

Symbian S40

S40

Yes/Yes

Slider/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Slider/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

3,100

3,600

3,700

3,750

4,590

5,600

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Price in Rs

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 88 MY

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

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

MODELS

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

Asha 309

300

302

Asha311

X3-02

303

Dimension (mm)

109.9 x 54 x 13.2

112.8 x 49.5 x 12.7

116.5 x 55.7 x 13.9

115.5 x 58.1 x 13.6

106 x 52 x 12.9

106.2 x 48.4 x 9.6

116.5 x 55.7 x 13.9

Weight (grams)

102

114

Talktime/Standby (hours)

6/650

6.9/550

9/707

7/800

14/696

5/430

8.2/731

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/3.0

262,144/2.4

256144/3.0

262,144/2.4

262,144/2.6

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

128MB/32GB

55MB/8GB

256MB/32GB

50MB/16GB

100MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

Shared

2000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Symbian S40

S40

Symbian S60

S40

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

S40

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

S40

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

5,800

5,850

6,100

6,300

6,600

7,450

Lumia 610

603

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/No

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

C5-03

500

Lumia 510

Lumia 710 119 x 62.4 x 12.5

Dimension (mm)

105.8 x 51 x 13.8

115 x 58.9 x 12.8

111.3 x 53.8 x 14.1

Weight (grams)

126

129

131.5

109.6

125.5

11.5/600

7.3/400

7/500

6.2/738

10.5/670

8.7/540

7.3/400

Talktime/Standby (hours)

120.7 x 64.9 x 11.5 119.24 x 62.18 x 11.95 113.5 x 57.1 x 12.7

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.2

262,144/2.36

16million/3.2

65,536/4.0

16million/3.7

16.7mollion/3.5

16million/3.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

40MB/16GB

256MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

4GB/No

8GB/No

NA/32GB

8GB/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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/Yes

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

Symbian Belle

Windows Phone 7.5

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

10,099

12,000

12,100

13,700

Symbian S60

Symbian Anna

Windows Phone 7.5 Windows Phone 7.5

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

8,100

8,400

8,900

YMOBILE 89 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

Lumia 800

808

Lumia 900

Dimension (mm)

115.5 x 59 x 10.5

113.5 x 59 x 12.9

119.7 x 62.8 x 11.9

123.7 x 62.4 x 13.6

116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1

123.9 x 60.2 x 13.9

127.8 x 68.5 x 11.5

Weight (grams)

133

135

146

176

142

169

160

Talktime/Standby (hours)

14.4/681

12/390

6/450

9/430

13/265

11/465

7/300

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16.7million/2.46

16.7million/3.5

16.7million/4.0

16million/4.0

16miilion/3.7

16million/4.0

16million/4.3

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/No

16GB/32GB

16GB/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

12.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

41.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

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

Symbian Anna

Symbian^3 OS

Symbian Anna

Symbian^3 OS

Windows Phone 7.5

Nokia Belle

Windows Phone 7.5

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

15,200

18,200

20,500

18,500

24,999

29,990

Powerhouse

BY015

MODELS

SUB-ENTRY LEVEL

BYOND

PARAMETERS Model

Nano

BY002

BY011

Torch

X-5

Dimension (mm)

106.3X47.8X14.6

108.3 X 45.2 X 14.2

104.6 X 38.8 X 3.7

115.5 X 50.1 X 14.8

119 X 50 X 10.3

Weight (grams)

109

118

176

150

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/1.8

NA/2.2

NA/2.4

NA/2.6

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/4GB

NA/8GB

NA/4GB

NA/8GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

121.8 X 54.6 X 18.7 118.04 X 52.1 X 15.32

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

300

500

300

500

300

500

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

No/NoNo

YesNo/No

NA/NoNo

Yes/No/No

NA/No/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,250

1,299

1,799

1,999

2,099

2,199

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 90 MY

MODELS PARAMETERS Model

BYOND

FLY

X-1

DS187 NEW

DS222 NEW

SX243 NEW

MV264 NEW

MV242n NEW

DS222+ NEW

Dimension (mm)

97.6 X 51.9 X 13.8

107.9 x 44 x 14.8

115 x 49 x 14.7

121 x 51.5 x 10.5

122 x 53 x 14

118 x 51 x 15

115 x 49 x 14.5

Weight (grams)

81.2

138

125

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

5/200

9/500

4.5/180

10/500

10/ 400

9/ 360

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/2.4

65,536/1.8

NA/2.2

NA/2.4

NA/2.6

NA/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

85.5KB/4GB

NA/ 32GB

NA/32GB

100KB/32GB

245KB/ 32GB

NA/ 32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

VGA/No/yes

Yes/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

100

200

1000

300

500

200

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

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/No/No

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

Proprietry

Nucleus

Proprietry

Nucleus

Proprietry

Nucleus

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

2,250

1,299

1990

1,990

2,290

2,399

2,499

INTEX

KARBONN

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

PARAMETERS Model

LAVA

LEMON

Yuvi

ARC21

C31

B629

S459

A 230

Dimension (mm)

117×50.5×13.8

115 X 50 x 15.5

110 x 46 x 14.65

103 x 52.5 x 14.5

112 x 46 x 13.5

121.2 x 51.6 x 10.5

108.6 x 46.6 x 13.8

Weight (grams)

92.5

112

81.4

90.6

Talktime/Standby (hours)

5/250

6/300

3/120

3/220

NA/550

NA/300

17/809

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.4

65,536/1.8

262,144/2.6

NA/2.6

NA/2.3

262,144/1.77

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/16GB

NA/8GB

250KB/8GB

NA/8GB

60KB/8GB

125KB/16GB

25MB/8GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/NA

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

No/NoNo

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/NA/Yes

1.3MP/NA/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

500

100

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

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

1,485

2,000

1,700

2,450

2,099

2,000

YMOBILE 91 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

MTECH

PARAMETERS Model

ALPHA

Beta

M78

M15

M135

M18i

MT279

Dimension (mm)

104.2 x 47 x 15.8

106 X 48 X 16

112 x 49 x 16

125 X 52 X15.3

117 x 53 x 15.5

118.5 x 55 x 14.7

113 X 54 X 14.3

Weight (grams)

110

115

110

Talktime/Standby (hours)

10/960

8/720

10/960

8/720

4/240

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/1.8

NA/2.0

NA/2.4

262,144/2.4

262,144/2.6

NA/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/8GB

NA/16GB

32MB/8GB

NA/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

Yes/No/Yes

Yes/NA/NA

1.3MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

1.3MP/NA/NA

Phonebook Capacity

500

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/GSM+GSM

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/No

YesNo/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,149

1,299

1,749

1,799

1,849

2,149

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

WYNNCOM

1200

1205

E1207T

Hero Music

E1282T NEW

E2232

W100n NEW

Dimension (mm)

109.5 x 45.5 x 12.8

108.0 x 45.5 x 13.5

110.6 x 45.35 x 13.9

109.2 x 45.5 x 14.5

109.2 x 46.0 x 14.9

108 x 46 x 14.7

Weight (grams)

65.1

73.2

74.5

Talktime/Standby (hours)

8.6/800

8/430

11.1/580

12/660

NA/500

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65536/1.5

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.8

65,536/1.77

NA/1.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

32MB/No

64MB/No

NA/No

4MB/4GB

NA/4GB

20MB/8GB

NA/16 GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

VGA/No/Yes

NA/NA/NA

Phonebook Capacity

100

1,000

300

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/No

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

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

No/No/No

Operating System

Proprietary

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

1,150

1,200

1,580

1,800

1,950

999

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

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 92 MY

MODELS

ENTRY LEVEL

WYNNCOM

PARAMETERS Model

FLY

W221 NEW

W617 NEW

W601 NEW

W704 NEW

MV282 NEW

E284 NEW

E350 NEW

Dimension (mm)

128 x 88 x 52

124.4 x 57.2 x 14.7

117.2 x 55.4 x 13.5

103 x 56 x 13.8

120 x 56 x 15

114 x 62 x 13.5

114 x 62 x 13.2

Weight (grams)

110

111.4

81.2

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

15/ 400

6.5/500

8/ 700

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/2.0

NA/3.0

NA/2.8

NA/3.0

NA/2.8

NA/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/16 GB

NA/32 GB

613KB/ 32GB

45KB/ 16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

0.3 MP/No/Yes

1.3 MP / No / Yes

1.3 MP / Yes / Yes

2.0 MP / No / Yes

Yes/No/Yes

1.3MP/Yes/Yes

1.3 MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

300

1500

1000

500

1000

500

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

Yes/ No/ No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Operating System

Proprietary

Nucleous

Proprietary

Proprietry

Nucleus

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

Yes / Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

1,499

2,199

2,349

2,499

2,889

2,990

4,590

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

KARBONN

PARAMETERS Model

LAVA

KT81 Cosmos

K1818

K1616

KKT39

A11

A10

A16

Dimension (mm)

106.6 x 54.3 x 12.7

116 x 61 x 12

116 x 47 x 11.5

104x50x15.6mm

120 x 47.5 x 13.1

Weight (grams)

135

80.5

120

105

100

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

4/500

6/312

10/NA

8/500

3.1/220

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/3.2

262,144/3.2

262,144/3.5

262,144/2.2

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.0

262,144/2.6

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/16GB

Yes/8GB

NA/16GB

48MB/16GB

200MB/16GB

32MB/MicroSD

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

3.2MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

500

2,000

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

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

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Clamshell/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

2,850

3,600

4,600

2,650

3,500

3,600

YMOBILE 93 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

LEMON

PARAMETERS

LG A350

A290

T375

113.5 x 51 x 13

103 x 59 x 10.7 97

GC333

T89

T99

Dimension (mm)

108 X 46.8 X 17.1

115.2 X 59.9 X 9.9

114 X 62 X 11.2

114.3 x 60 x 12.8

116 × 53.3 × 12.85

Weight (grams)

91.45

12.8/601

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/360

NA/300

NA/200

12.5/328

25/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/2.2

NA/3.5

262,144/2.2

65,536/2.2

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

60KB/8GB

256MB/8GB

60KB/8GB

256MB/32GB

NA/4GB

48MB/16GB Yes/Yes

Yes/NA

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

2MP/NA/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

300

500

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

Yes/NA/NA

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/NA

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Generic

Proprietary Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

3,599

5,999

3,650

3,800

4,400

2222

Metro Duos C3322

2,799

3,199

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

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

MICROMAX

PARAMETERS Model

SAMSUNG

X259

X445

X45

E2152 Guru 36

Metro 2252

Dimension (mm)

118 x 50 x 16

110.3 X 55.2 X 14.1

122 x 48.8 x 13.5

111.6 x 46.3 x 13.5

113.0 x 46.0 x 13.9

Weight (grams)

80.4

88.9

4.5/200

4/129

5/360

11/660

11.9/760

11.4/550

10/500

Talktime/Standby (hours)

109.5 x 61.3 x 11.85 113.97 x 47.9 x 13.99

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262144/2.4

NA/3.2

65,536/NA

262,144/2.0

65,536/1.8

262,144/2.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

5MB/NA

NA/8GB

10MB/16GB

NA/2GB

NA/32GB

45MB/16GB

46MB/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

No/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

2.0/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Operating System

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

2,300

2,700

4,050

2,250

2,350

2,750

2,850

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

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 94 MY

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

MODELS

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

Champ Neo Duos C3262

Ch@t C3222

Champ Delux

Chat 3G 527

Star 3 Duos

Metro C3752

Wave 525

Dimension (mm)

96.9 x 54.3 x 13.5

109.7 x 58.1 x 12.3

101.8 x 55.0 x 12.3

103 x 55 x 12

102 x 58 x 11.51

97.9 x 19 x 16.4

109.5 x 55 x 11.9

Weight (grams)

89.7

95.5

100

Talktime/Standby (hours)

14/550

11/500

15.8/500

3/288

14.3/520

13.3/900

15/900

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.4

262,144/2.2

262,144/2.8

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.0

65,536/NA

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

20MB/32GB

54MB/8GB

30MB/16GB

80MB/32GB

20MB/16GB

40MB/16GB

100MB/16GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA, HSUPA

Yes/Yes/No

Operating System

Proprietary

Bada

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

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Slider/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

2,900

3,000

3,450

4,000

4,400

4,450

4,500

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

SPICE

WYNNCOM

Champ 3.5G S3770

Primo S5610

M-6700

cappuccino 2

M-6868

W707 NEW

W716 NEW

Dimension (mm)

118.9 x 49.9 x 12.8

111 x 54 x 13.2

107.6 x 55.6 x 13

114.5 x 63 x 12

107.5 x 55.8 x 13.1

120 x 63 x 12.4

Weight (grams)

100

95.5

109

6/350

15.67/960

6.2/234

6/288

4.5/450

NA/NA

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

262,144/2.8

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.1

65,536/2.8

262,144/3.4

NA/3.2

NA/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

30MB/16GB

110MB/16GB

45MB/16GB

54.7MB/8GB

39MB/8GB

NA/32 GB

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/No

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

1.3 MP / No / Yes

2.0 MP / Yes / Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

1,500

1000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/ No/ No

Yes/ Yes / No

Proprietary

Nucleous

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

5,000

5,500

2,500

2,700

4,799

3,049

3,249

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Price in Rs.

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

YMOBILE 95 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

myguide MODELS

HIGH END

WYNNCOM

PARAMETERS

TAG HEUER

VERTU

W711 NEW

W720 NEW

Meridiist GMT Stainless Steel/Black PVD

Dimension (mm)

120 x 63 x 11.8

125.7 x 68.6 x 10.8

112 x 46 x 15.5

Weight (grams)

110

138

155

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

7/392

6.5/336

7/392

4.8/300

6/300

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/3.5

NA/4.0

262,144/1.9

16million/3.5

262,144/1.9

16million/2.0

16million/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/32 GB

NA/NA

256MB/8GB

NA/NA

8GB/32GB

100MB/8GB

Model

Link

Meridiist Steel & Gold

Ascent

Constellation Ayxta

118 x 67 x 16.6

112 x 46 x 15.5

117 x 46 x 19

100 x 48 x 18

200

155

148

174

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3 MP / Yes / Yes

No/No/No

5.0MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2000

500

1,000

Shared

1,000

2,000

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.

Quad Band/No

Yes / No / No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/No

Nucleous

Andriod v2.2

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

Yes / Yes

Yes/No

Yes/NA

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Clamshell/No/No

4,599

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

Starting 3,25,000+

Starting 5,40,000+

Starting 2,89,000+

Starting 3,47,000+

3,399

MODELS

ENTERPRISE LEVEL

VERTU

PARAMETERS Model

APPLE

BLACKBERRY

Ascent Ti

Constellation Quest

Signature

iPhone 4

iPhone 4S

iPhone 5

Curve 8520

Dimension (mm)

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

123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6

109 x 60 x 13.9

Weight (grams)

160

165 to 185

166

137

140

112

106

5/300

7.5/349

3.5/300

14/300

14/200

8/225

4.5/408

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

16million/2.0

8GB/32GB

16million/2.0

16million/3.5

16million/4.0

65,536/2.46

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/No

16million/2.46

4GB/No

16,32GB/No

16,32,64GB/No

256MB/microSD

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

No/No/No

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,500

Shared

2,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad band/No

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/R99

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/R99

iOS4

iOS 5

iOS 6

BlackBerry OS

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Starting 3,68,000+

Starting 3,86,000+

Starting 7,22,000+

26,500/31,900

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

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 96 MY

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

38,500/45,500/54,500 45,500/52,500/59,500

Yes/Yes/No

8,450

MODELS

BLACKBERRY

PARAMETERS Model

Curve 9220

Curve 3G 9300

Curve 9320

Curve 9380

Curve 9360

Bold 9780

9860

Dimension (mm)

109 x 60 x 12.7

109 x 60 x 13.9

109 x 60 x 12.7

109 x 60 x 11.2

112 x 62 x 14.2 mm

109 x 60 x 13.9

120 x 62 x 11.5

Weight (grams)

102

104

103

130

104

135

Talktime/Standby (hours)

7/432

4.5/461

7/432

5.5/360

5/336

4.5/456

4.7/337

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/2.44

65,536/2.46

65,536/2.44

16million/3.2

262,144/2.44

65,536/2.44

16million/3.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

2.5GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/No

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

BlackBerry OS 7.1

BlackBerry OS

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

BlackBerry OS 7.1

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

9,700

9,750

12,550

15,500

16,050

19,500

FLY

HTC

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

BLACKBERRY

PARAMETERS Model

Torch 9800

Bold 9790

9810

9900

Porche

F350 NEW

Explorer

Dimension (mm)

111 x 62 x 14.6

110 x 60 x 11.4

111 x 62 14.6

115 x 66 x 10.5

115 x 67 x 11.3

118.88 x 61.79 x 11.8

102.8 x 57.2 x 12.9

Weight (grams)

161.1

107

161

130

155

115.5

81.3

5.5/432

5.1/432

6.5/296

6.3/296

5.5/348

4/350

7.6/485

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.2

16million/2.45

16million/3.2

16million/2.8

NA/3.5

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

8GB/32GB

110MB/32GB

90MB/32GB

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/No

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

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/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

BlackBerry OS

Blackberry OS 7.0

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Android v 2.3

Android OS v2.3

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/Yes

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

19,999

23,500

27,800

29,650

1,36,000

6,499

7,650

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

YMOBILE 97 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

HTC

PARAMETERS Wildfire S

Desire C

One V

Desire V

Desire VC

Desire X

Dimension (mm)

101.3 x 59.4 x 12.4

107 X 60 X 11.9

120.3 x 59.7 x 9.24

118.5 x 62.3 x 9.32

120.5 x 63 x 10.28

119.5 x 62.3 x 9.5

118.5 x 62.3 x 9.3

Weight (grams)

105

115

114

113

118

114

Model

4/120

NA/NA

6.73/261

NA/NA

20/833

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.2

16million/3.5

16million/3.7

16million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/microSD

4GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/CDMA+GSM

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Android v4.0

Windows Phone 8

Android v4.0

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Android OS v2.3

Android v4.0

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

10,990

12,999

17,500

17,999

19,250

19,500

19,799

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

HTC

PARAMETERS Model

Desire SV

One S

Dimension (mm)

129.7 x 67.9 x 10.7

130.9 x 65 x 7.8

Weight (grams)

131

119.5

130

135

NA/NA

10/290

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/4.3

16million/4.3

16million/4.7

16 million/ 4.3

16million/4.7

262,144/3.2

262,144/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

16GB/No

32GB/No

16GB/No

64GB/No

512MB/32GB

152MB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

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.

OneX

IDEA 8X

One X+

134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9 132.35 x 66.2 x 10.12 134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9

ID 918

ID 280

111 x 57 x 12

102 x 53 x 13

126

4/200

4/288

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v4.0

Windows Phone 8

Android v4.1

Android v2.3

Android v2.2

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

22,500

26,999

33,000

35,000

40,050

4,700

5,000

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

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 98 MY

MODELS

IDEA

PARAMETERS Model

INTEX

KARBONN

Aurus

Blade

Aqua 3.2

Aqua Sx

Aqua 5.0

Dimension (mm)

116 x 56.5 x 11.8

110.5x61x12.6

116×60.5×13

143x80x10.1

Weight (grams)

130

125

138

198.9

Talktime/Standby (hours)

3.5/200

4/192

4/120

5/360

5/115

4/100

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

16million/5.0

NA/3.5

262,144/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

256MB/32GB

152MB/32GB

75MB/32GB

128MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

512MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0/NA/Yes

3.2MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0 MP/No/Yes

5.0 MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v2.3

Android v2.2

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v2.3

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

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

6,650

6,800

3,730

4,720

9,890

4,999

7,000

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

KARBONN

PARAMETERS Model

LAVA

A18

A21

S12

L3 E400

Optimus Pro C660

Optimus L3 Dual

Dimension (mm)

120 x 60.5 x 11.3

127 x 67 x 10.5

117 x 57.5 x 13.4

102.6 x 61.6 x 11.85

119.5 x 59.7 x 12.9

102.6x 61.6 x11.85

Weight (grams)

120

110

129

119

4/200

5/200

10.8/590

12/600

13.5/852

17/1044

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/3.8

16million/4.3

NA/4.5

262,144/3.2

262,144/2.8

262144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

2.5GB/32GB

120MB/32GB

1GB/32GB

170MB/32GB

1GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

QuadBand/No

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v2.2

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

8,800

9,500

11,500

5,399

6,700

7,500

7,850

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

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE 99 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

Optimus Net P690

P698

E510

Optimus L5

113 x 59 x 11.7

114 x 59 x 11.7

113.4 x 60.8 x 11.9

118.3 X 66.5 X 9.5

Optimus L5 Dual NEW Optimus Black P970 118.3 X 66.5 X 9.6

122 x 64 x 9.2

E730 122.5 x 62.5 x 9.8

121

124

123

125

126

109

107

12/581

11.5/556

10/900

10/901

6/375

18.5/496

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.2

16million/4.0

16million/4.1

16 million/4.0

16million/3.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

150MB/32GB

160MB/32GB

Yes/32GB

4GB/32GB

2GB/32GB

1GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

Talktime/Standby (hours)

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

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/N0

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/ GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Android v2.2

Android v2.4

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

8,400

9,850

11,500

12,950

13,499

16,500

17,000

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

PARAMETERS Model

MICROMAX

Optimus L7 P705

Optimus 2X

3D maxx P725

Optimus 4X HD

Optimus Vu P895

A25

Dimension (mm)

125.5 x 67 x 8.7

123.9 x 63.2 x 10.9

131.9 x 68.2 x 9.1

126.8 x 67.4 x 9.98

132.4 x 68.1 x 8.9

139.6 X 90.4 X 8.5

104.5X56X13

Weight (grams)

124

139

125

148

133

168

102

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Optimus L9

P765 NEW

19/902

14.5/421

12/830

17.5/365

9.3/730

16/510

4/180

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.3

16million/4.0

16 million/4.7

16million/4.3

16M/4.7

16million/5.0

262,144/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

2.72GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

32GB/No

NA/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

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

Android v4.0

Android v2.2

Android v 4.0

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Yes/Yes/No Android 2.3

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

17,500

19,999

22,500

26,000

27,990

33,000

3,750

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 100 MY

MODELS

MICROMAX

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

A50

A57

A87

A52

A100

A90

A90S NEW

113 x 61 x 13

116 x 62 x 11.5

124.8 x 64 x 11.7

1112X61X13.2

142.2 x 72.6 x 11.9

125 x 65 x 10.6

116

112

4/240

4.5/145

5/175

5/182

5/180

5/174

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.1

262,144/3.5

262,144/4.0

NA/3.2

16M/5.0

262,144/4.3

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

132MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

160MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Shared

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Camera/Flash/Video Phonebook Capacity Frequency/Dual SIM GPRS/EDGE/3G Operating System Music Player/FM Radio Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

Shared Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

12,550

12,990

4,400

4,600

5,700

6,050

9,500

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Shared Dual Band/GSM+GSM

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

MOTOROLA

PARAMETERS Model

SAMSUNG

Defy mini

Defy+

Defy XT535

Atrix 2

Galaxy Pocket 5300 Galaxy Y Duos Lite

Galaxy Y

Dimension (mm)

109 x 58.5 x 12.5

107 x 59 x 13.4

115 x 58 x 11.9

125.9 x 66.0 x 10.4

103.9 x 57.90 x 12.98 103.9 x 57.9 x 12.98

104.0 x 58.0 x 11.5

Weight (grams)

107

118

115

147

Talktime/Standby (hours)

97.5

9.6/420

7.10/384

9/290

8.9/3821

15.8/520

15/410

6/120

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.2

16million/3.7

16million/4.3

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

1GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

3GB/32GB

2GB/32GB

160MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.15/Yes/Yes

5.0/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

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

Android v2.3

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

10,850

13,750

14,000

19,500

6,400

6,750

YMOBILE 101 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

Galaxy Y Colour

Galaxy Chat B5330

Galaxy Y Duos

Galaxy Y Duos Pro 5512

104.0 x 58.0 x 11.5

118.9 x 59.3 x 11.7

109.8 x 60 x 11.95

110.8 x 63.5 x 11.9

5830 Galaxy Ace

Galaxy Ace Duos

Omnia W I8350

112.4 x 59.9 x 11.5 112.74 x 61.50 x 11.50 115.6 x 58.8 x 10.9

97.5

112

109

112.3

113

122

115.3

6/120

14/520

17.5/630

19.16/740

12/520

16.8/570

7/370

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.0

262,144/3.1

262,144/2.6

16million/3.5

262,144/3.5

16million/3.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

160MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

160MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

158MB/32GB

3GB/32GB

8GB/No

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v2.3

Android OS, v2.3

Android OS, v2.2

Android OS, v2.3

Windows Phone 7.5

Camera/Flash/Video

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

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

6,880

8,250

8,200

8,750

10,500

11,650

13,150

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

Omina M

5830 Galaxy Ace Plus

Galaxy S duos

Galaxy Advance i9070

Galaxy S Plus I9001

Galaxy SII i9100

Galaxy Beam

Dimension (mm)

121.6 x 64.0 x 10.5

114.7 x 62.5 x 11.2

121.5x63.1x10.5

123.20 x 63.00 x 9.79

122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9

125.30 x 66.10 x 8.49

123 x 59.8 x 14.9

Weight (grams)

120

114

120

119

116

145.3

12/530

11.1/660

12.8/570

15.5/690

17.3/480

19.3/710

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.0

262,144/3.7

16 million/4.0

16million/4.0

16million/4.27

16million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/NA

2.7GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM 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

Windows Phone 7.5

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

Price in Rs.

Android OS, v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v2.3

Android OS, v2.3

Android v2.3

Android V2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

14,500

14,999

16,800

19,000

20,650

24,500

27,450

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 102 MY

MODELS

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

Galaxy Note

Galaxy SIII

146.9 x 83 x 9.7

136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6

SONY ERICSSON Galaxy Note II N7100 Live with Walkman 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4

106 x 56 x 14.2

Xperia Active

Xperia Ray

Xperia Neo V

106 x 60 x 14.5

111 x 53 x 9.4

116 x 57 x 13

178

133

183

115

100

126

6/100

22.5/830

35/980

6.7/350

3.2/416

6.8/430

6.9/430

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/5.3

16million/4.8

16 million/5.5

16million/3.2

16million/3.0

16million/3.3

16million/3.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

320MB/32GB

120MB/32GB

300MB/32GB

1GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

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/Yes/HSPA+

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

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

Android v4.1

Android 2.3

Android v2.3

Android 2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

28,500

35,500

37,100

13,500

15,500

16,000

16,900

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

PARAMETERS

SONY ERICSSON

SONY

Xperia Pro

Arc S

tipo

tipo dual

miro

Xperia U

Xperia J

Dimension (mm)

120 x 57 x 13.7

125 x 63 x 8.7

103 x 57 x 13

103 x 57 x 13 mm

113 x 59.4 x 9.9 mm

112 x 54 x 12

124.3 x 61.2 x 9.2

Weight (grams)

142

117

99.4

110

124

Model

6.9/430

7.4/460

5/470

6.6/472

7/618

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.7

16million/4.2

262,144/3.2

16million/3.5

16million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

1GB/32GB

2.9GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/No

4GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15/No/Yes

5.0/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

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

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Yes/Yes

Slider/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

18,750

23,750

9,050

9,999

13,900

15,500

16,550

YMOBILE 103 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

SONY

PARAMETERS Neo L

Xperia go

Xperia Sola

Xperia P

Xperia S

Xperia SL

Xperia Ion

Dimension (mm)

120 X 61 X 12.8

111 X 60.3 X 9.8

116.0 x 59.0 x 9.9

122 x 59.5 x 10.5

128 x 64 x 10.6

128.0 x 64.0 x 10.6

133.0 x 68.0 x 10.6

Weight (grams)

131.5

110

107

120

144

Model

8/575

6.3/520

6/475

7.5/450

8/410

10/400

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.0

16million/3.5

16million/3.7

16million/4.0

16million/4.3

16M/4.55

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

1GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/No

32GB/No

16GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

12.0MP/Yes/Yes

12.1MP/Yes/Yes

12.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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

Price in Rs.

Android v4.0

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

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSPA+ Android v4.0

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

17,050

17,250

19,990

22,000

26,990

28,200

30,599

MODELS

CDMA

SPICE

PARAMETERS

WYNNCOM

XOLO

CDMA

Stellar Craze Mi-355

Stellar Mi-425

Mi-500 NEW

G1 NEW

A700 NEW

N900

Samsung Hero Plus 159

Dimension (mm)

118 x 62 x 11.5

125 x 63.5 x 12.5

143 x 77.4 x 10.5

119.5 x 63 x 11.4

136 x 68.5 x 9.1

123 x 63 x 10.99

108.5 x 45.8 x 13.3

Weight (grams)

110

205

129

115

124

4/192

5/NA

NA/NA

7/425

14/336

3/230

Model

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

NA/3.5

262,144/4.0

16 million/5.0

65,536/3.5

16 million/ 4.5

16million/4.0

65,536/1.52

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

140/32GB

149MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

NA/32 GB

4 GB/32 GB

16GB/No

597KB/No

Yes/Yes

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3MP / No / Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Quad Band/No

CDMA/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.

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

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSPA+

No/No/No

Android v2.3

Android v 4.0

Android 2.3

Android v 4.0

Android v2.3

BREW

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

5,650

8,500

12,490

6,499

9,999

17,600

1,000

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 104 MY

MODELS

CDMA

PARAMETERS Model

Samsung B209

Samsung B229

Samsung Hero B319

Samsung B379

Samsung B339

Dimension (mm)

108.0 x 44.8 x 14.3

108 x 44.38 x 14.20

105 x 44 x 13

108 x 45.4 x 14.7

109.5 x 45.4 x 14.2

108.20 x 47.1 x 14.35

Weight (grams)

72.3

75.7

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Samsung Hero B189 Samsung Superstar

4.3/470

6.5/720

3.3/250

3.3/212

3/257

4.3/470

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.5

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.5

65,536/1.52

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

351KB/No

450KB/No

NA/No

1MB/No

351KB/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

500

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

CDMA/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

BREW

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio

No/No

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,000

1,100

1,200

1,300

1,380

1,400

1,650

Model

Samsung Guru 539

Samsung Guru Muzik 219

Samsung Guru Dual CDMA

Mpower TV 239

MTS Live Wire

MTS M-Tag

Samsung Primo Duos

Dimension (mm)

109.6 x 44.9 x 14.0

112 x 46.3 x 15.3

114.9 x 47.8 x 14.1

118.5 x 50 x 12.45

198 x 54 x 13

113 x 54 x 12

118.8 x 49.9 x 14.07

Weight (grams)

77.5

86.7

103

6/720

4/230

6.5/300

4.4/420

3/200

4.4/200

6.67/160

Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

MODELS

Price in Rs.

CDMA

PARAMETERS

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

65,536/1.77

65,536/1.7

65,536/2.0

262,144/2.4

262,144/2.8

262,144/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

2.5MB/4+4GB

14MB/2GB

7.41MB/4GB

85MB/16GB

256MB/32GB

170MB/32GB

75MB/-

No/No

Yes/No

YesNo

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

2,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

CDMA/No

Dual Band/GSM+CDMA

CDMA/No

Dual Band/GSM+CDMA

Yes/Yes/CDMA1X

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/EVDO Rev.0

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/Yes

BREW

Android v2.2

BREW

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

2,100

2,500

3,250

4,150

4,600

4,699

4,999

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Price in Rs.

YMOBILE 105 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

MODELS

myguide

CDMA

PARAMETERS Model

MTS M-Tag 352

MTS M-Tag 351

Samsung Galaxy Y CDMA

MTS M-Tag401

Blackberry 8530

Galaxy Ace Duos I589

Blackberry Curve CDMA 9350

Dimension (mm)

114.5 x 61 x 11

116x62.2x12.15

104.0 x 58.0 x 11.5

127 x 64 x 13

109 x 60 x 13.9

112.4 x 59.9 x 12.44

109 x 60 x 11

97.5

132

105

125

Weight (grams) Talktime/Standby (hours)

4/200

5/200

6/120

4.3/200

4.5/252

7/300

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

262,144/3.0

262,144/4.0

65,536/NA

16million/3.5

NA/2.44

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

160MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/NA/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

CDMA/No

Quad Band/No

CDMA/No

Dual Band/CDMA+GSM

CDMA/No

No/No/Rev.A

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Yes/Yes/No

Android OS v2.3

Android v2.3

BlackBerry OS

Android v2.3

BlackBerry OS7

Camera/Flash/Video

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

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

5,999

6,900

7,250

7,800

12,500

12,850

17,999

iPad(4th generation) Wi-Fi+3G NEW

241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4 192.8 x 117.28 x 12.53

Burn test Rating

Price in Rs.

MODELS

TABLET

PARAMETERS

APPLE

HCL

iPad 2 Wi-Fi

i-Pad 2 Wi-Fi+3G

iPad(4th generation) Wi-Fi NEW

Dimension (mm)

200 x 134.7 x 7.2

241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8

241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4

Weight (grams)

308

312

607

652

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

iPad Mini Wi-Fi NEW iPad Mini Wi+3G NEW

ME U1

662

350

NA/NA

10/720

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/7.9

262,144/9.7

16 million/9.7

NA/7.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16/32/64GB/No

16,32,64 GB/No

16/32/64GB/No

4GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0 MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

5.0 MP/No/Yes

0.3 MP Front/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

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.

NA/No

Quad Band/No

No/No/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA/HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

No/No/No

iOS 6

iOS 4.3

iOS 6

NA No/No/Yes

iOS 6

Android v4.0

No/No

Yes/No

No/No

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

21,900/27,900/33,900 29,900/35,900/41,900 23,999/29,500/34,500 32,000/38,000/44,000 31,900/37,900/43,900 39,900/45,900/51,900

YMOBILE DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 106 MY

6,999

MODELS

HCL

PARAMETERS Model

INTEX

MICROMAX

MY ZEN TAB

ME Y2

ME G1 NEW

I BUDDY 7.0

Funbook

Infinity

Funbook Pro

708B NEW

Dimension (mm)

120 X 200 X 13

238 X 186 X 11

193x121x9

122 x 192 x 10

192 x 122 x 10.5

122 x 192 x 10

193 x 121 x 8.5

Weight (grams)

370

570

316

360

600

360

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

5/NA

4/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/7.0

NA/9.7

16million/7.0

NA/7.0

16million/10.1

16million/7.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

0.3/No/NA

2MP/No/No

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

NA/NA/Yes

No/No/NA

No/No/Yes

Android v4.0

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

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

14,550

14,999

6,150

6,100

6,400

9,700

6,999

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/No Bar/Yes/No

PARAMETERS

MY ZEN TAB

SAMSUNG

SONY

SWIPE

708BH NEW

Galaxy Tab2 310

Tab 10.1 1750

Galaxy Note10.1N800

Tablet S Wi-Fi

Tablet S 3G+Wi-Fi

X74 3D

Dimension (mm)

195 x 122 x 11.7

193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5

256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6

262 x 180 x 8.9

241.2 x 174.3 x 10.1

192 X 124 X 10.5

Weight (grams)

440

345

565

600

598

325

Model

5/NA

30/NA

9/NA

NA/NA

11/430

NA/6

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/7.0

7.0/16million

16million/10.1

16M/10.1

16million/9.4

16 million/7.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/No

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

4GB/NA

Talktime/Standby (hours)

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

NA/Yes

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

VGA/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/NA

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.

No/No/Yes Android v4.0

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

Android 4.0

Android v3.1

Quad Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/No/Yes

Android v4.0

Android OS, v3.1

Android v3.1

Android v4.0

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

7,699

18,500

31,999

37,500

21,000

26,000

5,999

YMOBILE 107 DEC 15 to JAN 14 2012-13 MY

Jargon buster

What does the Long Term Evolution or LTE in telecommunication mean and what are the terms associated with it? We try to simplify the term LTE for you

Simplified n Commonly known as 4th generation

of wireless network, LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a term used for wireless communication of high speed data in mobile devices. It is considered to be the next step ahead of 3G in terms of speed and efficiency.

on paired spectrum (communication happens by using two frequencies) whereas Time Division Duplex (TDD) works on unpaired spectrum (communication is done using just one frequency). n Since the service runs on a different

n There was a lot of debate over whether

LTE standard should be considered as 4G or not because the first release of LTE did not meet the requirements of 4G, which are a data transfer rate of up to 1 GB/s. But LTE is categorised as a candidate system of 4G, with WiMAX being the other. n LTE uses two forms of technology for

communication. These are FDD LTE and TDD LTE.

spectrum altogether, it is incompatible with 2G and 3G networks. Therefore only LTE-enabled devices will be able to work on it. n While most of the western world has

opted for FDD-LTE, China and India, which are the largest markets in the world, have opted for TDD-LTE technology for 4G services. n First proposed by NTT DOCOMO Japan

n Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)works

in 2004, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first LTE service was

108 MYMOBILE dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13

introduced in Oslo and Stockholm in the year 2009 by Teliasonera as a data connection with USB modem. n In India, the first operator to start

LTE operations was Bharti Airtel. It introduced TD-LTE technology in Kolkata on 10 April, 2012 and later in Bangalore and Pune. Airtelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4G-LTE enable users to connect to the Internet at a speed of up to 40Mbps over a USB modem. n LTE supports the data transfer speed

of up to 100 mbps for mobile users. Unfortunately, there are very few LTE supported devices available at the moment. But we expect that to change in the coming days with the arrival of high-profile devices like the new iPad, which support LTE. n

www.mymobile.co.in

in focus

Kapil Sibal: His Telecom Journey Love him or hate him, what you could definitely not do is ignore Kapil Sibal. The irrepressible legal eagle with a flair for showmanship attracted praise, criticism and controversy in equal measure during his tenure. We take a look at his days in the Indian telecom ministry Heena Jatav

n 2010, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to hand over the command of the telecom ministry of India to probably one of the most high-profile members of his cabinet, Kapil Sibal. And he came in a day after A Raja stepped down from the same post, following the 2G scam. The two years that followed were a roller coaster ride for the industry, complete with dramatic ups and downs and swings of fortune. He attracted criticism and praise in almost equal measure over every step he took, but he took them and was never too far from the headlines, besides. Here are few of the highlights of his term:

improved Aakash 2 has been released and even showcased in the United Nations.

“Zero-loss” on 2G

Sibal was severely critized for his views on 2G scam causing ‘zero loss’ to the nation in 2010. He called the 2G scam estimated loss figure given by CAG ‘utterly erroneous’ and ‘baseless,’ implying in a manner that there was no scam and no undervaluation of spectrum. That was not the end of Sibal’s controversial ways as regards the 2G spectrum. He has also been blamed for the disappointing 2G spectrum

auction held recently, with many claiming he had not created an ecosystem for players to bid easily, leading to a lukewarm response to the auction from telecom companies.

Social media censor

Sibal did also have a stab at censoring or restricting social media, creating an uproar in both the real and virtual worlds. He had urged websites and social service networks to regulate content online, asking them to take down anything that was objectionable and controversial. n heena@mymobile.co.in

NTP blues Perhaps his biggest policy measure was the National Telecom Policy (NTP) which was passed on March 31, 2012, with much fanfare. The policy came with initiatives like abolishment of roaming charges, broadband on demand, and promoting domestic manufacturing. Many of the objectives of the policy were carried forward from the previous ones and unfortunately, many remained only on paper. When the NTP got the nod from the cabinet, consumers hoped for free roaming anywhere in the country, but are disappointing, till date.

Fibre Network success

However, another of his initiatives, the National Optical Fibre Network Scheme, which aims to provide broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats in India by the year 2014 is progressing well. The rollouts have already started in towns like Ajmer. One knows not whether the scheme will achieve its lofty goal of connecting the entire nation, but a good start has been made.

Aakash matters!

Another interesting event during Sibal’s reign was the launch of Aakash 1 and its failure. Undoubtedly, the thought behind the tablet was a noble one, inspired as it was by the One Laptop Per Child programme, but the “world’s cheapest tablet” was laid low by poor quality. However, a start in the right direction had been made, and as we go to print, a much

dec 15 to jan 14 2012-13 MYMOBILE 109

rumour mill

Talk Surface RT coming to India in January

The jury might be out on whether the Microsoft Surface RT is a hit or less than a success, but there are rumours that Microsoft’s tablet will be arriving on Indian shores in January. Although these are relatively vague at this stage, what we are hearing is that the tablet’s pricing will begin at Rs 28,000, and in combination with the keyboard cover, will put the customer back by something in the vicinity of Rs 34,000. We just wish we had something more specific than this, as this is one device that we really really want to see officially in the Indian market. For those who know not, the Surface RT is Microsoft’s first tablet with a 10.6-inch display, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor, and a keyboard which can also double up as a cover. It runs Windows 8 RT and comes with MS Office 2013 installed on it.

Windows 7.8 incoming

It might have been overshadowed by all the hype and publicity surrounding Windows Phone 8, but Microsoft has not stopped work on its upgrade to its existing Windows Phone 7.5 devices. The update, which has been called Windows Phone 7.8, will bring some features of the new Windows Phone 8 interface, such as resizable tiles to Windows Phone 7.5 devices. The update is being seen by many

in Tech Corners

analysts as being very important for Microsoft as it answers to an extent to the criticism that the company had abandoned Windows Phone 7.5 devices, which could not be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 because of hardware reasons. If we are to believe our sources, the 7.8 update could be headed our way in early 2013. Not a moment too soon, we think.

Facebook looking to grab WhatsApp

Is Facebook in acquisition mode again? Well, Zuckerberg and Co. are in the hunt for the popular messaging service WhatsApp if rumours are to be believed. There is talk in tech corners that Facebook has put in a very lucrative offer for the messaging provider, looking to integrate WhatsApp massive following with its own, and of course, add more muscle to its very own Facebook Messenger service. We don’t know if the folks at WhatsApp will be tempted, but seeing what happened to Instagram, you never really know what might happen. We are watching both parties with bated breath and interest. Another multi-billion dollar takeover? It might just happen.

iPad mini to get retina display The iPad mini might be setting the tablet world on fire with its brilliant design and

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blazingly fast performance, but one area in which it is seen as lagging behind some very formidable competition is its display, which is the same as seen on the iPad 2. Evidently sensitive to feedback in this regard, Apple is said to be working on a retina display avatar of the mini, which many say will be launched in March-April 2013, and could also feature a faster processor, and come with a significantly stiffer price tag ($399 is what one rumour pegs its price at). Clearly Apple is finding the smaller tablet space a lot more competitive than a 10-inch tablet territory. We don’t hear consumers complaining.

Amazon readying Kindle Fire for India

It’s been in the international markets for more than a year and is being seen as one of the biggest rivals of the iPad, but has not yet made an official appearance in India. Well, that could well change in 2013 with Amazon believed to be all set to release the Kindle Fire tablet series in India in either Kolkata or New Delhi World Book Fair, along with its video and music store. Interestingly, rumours in this regard have only got strengthened ever since Apple made most of its iTunes services available in India as we go to print. So could the tablet battles come to Indian shores? We are surely hoping they do. n team@mymobile.co.in

persona

www.mymobile.co.in

Ten Things You Might Not Larry Page & Sergey Brin, Know About... Co-Founders, Google 6 1 2 7 3 8 4 9 10 5 Google started as a Ph.D. research project. In 1996, Larry, 24 and Brin, 23 began collaborating on a search engine named as BlackRub, later known as Google. They might have found one of the world’s most famous tech brands, but Brin and Page initially did not hit it off. In their first meeting, during a campus tour for Stanford’s doctoral students in 1995, Brin was Page’s guide and they reportedly bickered the entire time. So much for the “first impression is the last impression” theory.

The name Google was actually an accident. Brin and Page were planning on calling the search engine “Googol” but made a spelling mistake and the rest, as they say, is history.

The idea of Google came to Larry Page in a dream. In 2009, while addressing the University of Michigan, he explained how the idea for a different kind of search tool came to him in the middle of the night, “When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking: what if we could download the whole Web and just keep the links and... I grabbed a pen and started writing.” Sergey Brin believes in simplicity of business and lifestyle. According to Brin, simplicity was one of the reasons why people use Google. And now the reason for the simplicity - the main reason why the Google home page is so bare is because the founders did not know HTML and just wanted a quick interface.

Google founders named it after ‘Googol’, a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 to 100 zeros. To Google’s founders the name represents the immense amount of information that a search engine has to sift through.

Page and Brin’s paper entitled, “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” has become the tenth most accessed scholarly paper at Stanford.

The Google doodles that we all see as a way to mark a special event was initially designed to be used as a message (such as for “out of office”). The first doodle, a Burning Man doodle, was used in 1998.

Brin and Page unveiled the company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org in 2004 focused on solving worldwide problems relating to poverty, energy and environment.

*Disclaimer: The information has been collected from the public domain and not from an interview with Larry Page & Sergey Brin.

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They said it

Talk Time... “The reserve price of Rs 14,000 crore set for airwaves is “too high” and the auction of 2G spectrum will be over on the first day itself.” -Sunil Bharti Mittal

Bharti group chairman, Said before the 2G spectrum auction.

“We have positioned HTC as a brand that is elevating, heightening and redefining the passion points of end consumers (the way they enjoy/consume/share music, capture/share special moments) by providing smartphones that are more alive than you are!”

“...are starting modestly.” -Steve Ballmer

-Microsoft CEO in surprisingly understated mode, while speaking of sales of the Microsoft Surface tablet to French daily Le Parisien.

-Manu Seth

Director Marketing, HTC India.

“I think it’s all lining up. Sometimes you get the feeling that the universe is in disarray, and with BlackBerry 10 coming, I see the stars lining up.” -Thorsten Heins

RIM CEO is bullish on BlackBerry 10

“What is extremely important is that in May 2010 when the draft report was prepared, the loss was quantified at Rs 2,645 crore but in November 2010 when the report was presented in the Parliament this loss jumped to Rs 1.76 lakh crore. How did this leap take place?”

-Manish Tewari

Information and Broadcasting Minister on comments by a former official of the CAG over the report on 2G spectrum allocation

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va n ta g e p o i n t

A New Era of Digital Empowerment W

e live in a world that is constantly re-inventing itself. The mobile industry landscape is changing with the entrance of new stakeholders and dominance changing hands across the value web. It is said that Content (rather Context) is the King! Those enabling it are the Queen, but the Customer and eventually end-user/consumer is the real ‘King Kong’ - the ultimate stakeholder (at the centre of the value web). We are witnessing a new era of digital empowerment like never before in a truly connected world. Our personal/social life is on Facebook, our professional life (CV) on LinkedIn, our views

on Twitter and blogs. There is a mass transformation that our society is undergoing. The ‘Big data’ revolution is leading to a digital fatigue and clutter of information which can be overwhelming, but it also represents a huge opportunity. There is a strong need to incorporate ‘Simplexity’ which is the need for simplicity in an increasingly complex world (ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Simplexity). Micro-segmentation is crucial to bring relevance with hyper local and hyper context as prime themes, bringing meaningful solutions to the user. The mobile device itself has transformed from a mere communication device (the handset) to an integrated lifestyle phenomena with convergence (and also divergence to some extent) coming out of the box. One may forget their wallet, keys or watch but doing without a mobile phone is getting impossible! The smartphone of today has been strongly influenced from adjacent and converging industries. The mobile device with the right services (as a holistic solution) has greatly enriched lives and renewed the ‘digital divide’ to ‘digital dividend/ opportunities.’ The 3C convergence phenomena has seen Communications, Computing and Consumer Electronics integrating and fuzzying the boundaries of what we call a computer or a mobile phone – smartphones/converged devices are bringing a paradigm shift in our industry. Multimedia Convergence with new forms such as video can break across language barriers, bring a high emotional connect value and reduce the carbon footprint, directly impacting the environment. We are witnessing not just teenagers who have become heavy ‘screenagers’ but many new demographic segments taking on multi-screen convergence by storm. The re-invention of tablets specially the iPad, has created a whole new category. It is truly a breakthrough consumption device, as are other new transformational smart devices and morphed new categories, such as ‘Phablets’. Half of the world-wide broadband connections (currently at 1.8 billion) and half of the 1 billion smartphones sold in this year will come from emerging markets. With affordability accompanying accessibility, these come at

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an attractive TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for the masses. Mobile apps have been amongst the most powerful innovations our industry has seen in recent times. Although, there is a clutter of apps across multiple OSes and app stores, we see several positive moves to provide meaningful and productive apps. The ‘Appcessories’ trend (new-age Apps enabled/bundled with accessories) is also catching on like wildfire. We are seeing that ICT enabling domains such as M-Education, M-Health, M-Inclusion, M-Governance are truly transforming economies, with major traction being visible at BOP/MOP (Base and Middle of the Pyramid). From empowering farmers, WSHGs (Women Self Help Groups), under-privileged communities, students in remote areas, the ‘aam-admi’ (common man) will truly be revamped into an ‘e/m-nagrik’ (digitally connected citizen). This presents an excellent opportunity for emerging markets to grow rapidly, applying highly innovative technologies for mass use ranging from 3D, AR/VR (Augmented and Virtual Reality), gesture recognition (as a Natural User Interface), brain/mind-sensors using EEG (Electroencephalography) to multitouch surface collaborative smart devices. M2M (Machine-to-Machine) or IOT (Internet of Things), as it is commonly called, will be a mega-trend in bringing a new meaning to communications and connecting people and things to one another. We already see home automation, connected vehicles, smart cities and inter-networked objects bringing a revolution from active control, monitoring/ surveillance to managing lives on various dimensions. This is bringing new perspectives to life, building us precious equity in time, efficiency and subsequently productivity. Ultimately all that matters is not the technology but the benefits, its impact and how delightful is the end-user experience. It is about touching hearts, creating that big ‘wow’. and increasing the happiness quotient. n -Anuraj Gambhir, Strategic Adviser Innovation & Technology, Steadwork Pte. Ltd. Singapore (Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the stance of the magazine)

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