all-pdf-english-sep-2013 by My Mobile

www.mymobile.co.in

september 2013 ď Ź Rs 100

for a connected lifestyle

50 Apps

that matter P 20

Smart TVs The idiot box is getting smarter P 66

Tested

Samsung Grand Quattro, LG Optimus G Pro, Nokia Asha 501, Micromax Canvas 4, Huawei Ascend Mate and more... P 40

One License Era DoT's Unified Licensing scheme is on its way P 36

device of the Month

Acer Iconia W3

P 50

Cloud Storage The four best options compared: pros, cons and all P 38

'We want to make 3G the de facto standard'

also reviewed

P 32

P 61

Gurdeep Singh, RCom

JBL Speakers, iBall Powerbank and more...

first call

here's an app for that." Five words. And those five words sum up the revolution that has occurred in the mobile phone space over the past five years. There were apps before that too - we at My Mobile had a Smart Apps section well before the so-called 'app revolution' or 'smartphone revolution' got underway - but their features, functionality and availability to a limited few. But thanks to iOS and Android, apps are everywhere and used by just about everybody today. Indeed, they have become so important that many mobile manufacturers talk of apps almost as much as they talk of their own devices - for, while hardware is important, apps are the fuel that enable users to do more with their devices. Of course, not all apps are the same. Some are useful, some strange, some useless and some downright dangerous. Which is why we decided to cherry pick fifty of the best apps around for your downloading delight in this issue. We have searched extensively, gone across platforms, and spent hours testing hundreds of apps before narrowing the list to the fifty (in ten categories) mentioned in the pages that follow. Some of them might be new to you, some old favourites, but one thing is guaranteed - each will improve your mobile experience. Apps might be the fizz in the current issue of the magazine, but the substance as usual flows from our regular features. We cover the Department of Telecommunications Unified Licensing scheme, bring you up to speed with the best in mobile storage options, take a closer look at the smart television trend and where it is headed and also share our experience of visiting a mobile phone manufacturing factory in China. That apart, there are interviews and interactions with some of the biggest names in mobile technology, including Reliance and NVIDIA. And of course, no issue would be complete without our reviews of the latest in the world of mobile technology. From Nokia's budget baby, the Asha 501 to Micromax's improved phablet, the Canvas 4, to LG's hardware beast, the Optimus G Pro to the first eight-inch Windows 8 tablet in the world, the Acer Iconia W3, this magazine has them all. Round this off with our comprehensive round up of phones in the country in My Guide, the accessories in the Gear Guide section and a look at news and gossip in cell town, and I can assure you that this issue of the magazine will provide you food for thought as well as for your eyes. It will also warm you up for what promises to be a very exciting period in the world of mobile technology. Even as we go to print, word is coming in of new flagship devices from the likes of Apple, Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Amazon. Updates to Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Android and iOS are also being expected. Needless to say, we will be keeping you up to speed with whatever happens. In the meantime, happy reading. And keep your feedback coming - we just love reading your e-mails and letters. Happy reading.

EDITORIAL Pankaj Mohindroo |

Editor-in-Chief

DESIGN Ajit Kumar Parashar | Sr. Graphic Designer Pooja Papnai | Assistant Graphic Designer

CIRCULATION Lalit Sharma | Sr. Manager – Circulation

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

Edited, published, printed and owned by Pankaj Mohindroo, Published from Flat No. 25, First Floor, Shankar Market, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110001. Printed at HT Media Ltd. B-2, Sector 63, Noida. Distributed by Central News Agency Pvt. Ltd. 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 september 2013

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 IX, Issue VII, SEPTEMBER 2013

content

Lead Story

Appy round up! We bring 50 apps across different genres that you will just love

just in

Sonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phablet and Samsung's tablet

sneak peek The HTC One gets into Mini mode, while the Lumia 1020 brings mega shooting power

spotlight

chief speak Gurdeep Singh, President & CEO, Wireless, Reliance Communication talks about 3G in India and what Reliance Communication is doing to push 3G adoption

The art of phone assembly: we visit Gionee's factory

in focus

36 Face To Face Harinder Takhar, CEO, Paytm discusses the potential of e-recharge in India and what Paytm has to offer in the future

A close look at the Unified Licence regime of DOT and how it will affect the industry and consumers Letters

News

Gear Guide

Mobile Doctor

Consumer Forum

Vishal Dhupar, MD, NVIDIA South Asia, shares the plans of the company for the coming months and also talks of the much hyped gaming console, SHIELD

Pankaj Agarwal, Director, Maverick Mobiles highlights the different services his company offers and strategies for the future

06 MYMOBILE september 2013

34 35 69

content

spotlight We take a look at four prominent cloud storage services

my guide 73

Boredom Busters

60 Battle Nations: Build and defend your territory

etc

AOC smart AIO, STK BTHS800 Groveez HD Bluetooth Headphones, iBall Powerbank PC2204, Livguard LP 52, JBL On Beat Venue LT

BURN TESTS iBall Slide 3G Nokia Asha 501 Fly F53S Ice Xtreme Pro Huawei Ascend Mate Panasonic P51 Acer Iconia W3 Samsung Grand Quattro Micromax Canvas 4 Blackberry Q5 LG Optimus G Pro

40 41 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58

Total number of pages= 100 (96 + 4 cover)

08 MYMOBILE september 2013

Trivia

94 95 96

LinkedIn- the professional social networking platform

persona 10 interesting facts you might not know about Larry Ellison

rumour mill The buzz around cell town

vantage point BlackBerry's Ashish Gupta on the power of smartphones

technology

66 Companies are working overtime to make TVs smarter. We bring you up to speed.

68 tips & tricks The art of watching TV on your mobile phone

letters I am a 1st year engineering student and a religious reader of My Mobile magazine. I like the innovative ideas that the magazine highlights in their monthly issues. It provides me with the information needed to make a sensible choice about any gadget BlackBerry Q5 CHIPPING or device available in the market. AWAY AT Quad-Core CHIPSETS Apart from this, the magazine Battle covers everything and anything Mobile Apple iOS 7 Shopping that any gadget lover would love Tested to read about. This time in the magazine’s August issue the lead story headed “Chipset talk” was quiet intriguing as it covered the components present in handsets and specified their roles. Keep up the good work! –Akhil Arora,Pune www.mymobile.co.in

AUGUST 2013  Rs 100

FOR A CONNECTED LIFESTYLE

The new BlackBerry boy in town P 18

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHIPSETS P 20

Is this something really revolutionary? P 36

Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8, Sony Xperia Tablet Z, Lenovo K900, Micromax Canvas 3D, Lava Iris 504Q and more... P 41

Four quad-core powerhouses against each other P32

Just how safe is it to shop on your handset? P 38 DEVICE OF THE MONTH

Amazon Kindle Fire

P 54

It’s been over a year since I have started reading My Mobile magazine when one of my friends introduced it to me. She knows I am a nerd and like playing games during my leisure time. Now, opening the Web and scanning games is absolutely boring for me. But, the magazine itself gives an in-depth review of the games in vogue, which is invaluable to me. Boredom Buster is my favorite portion out of all that the magazine covers. -Nipun Das, Jaipur When we shop for tech devices like phones, tablets, etc., we often get puzzled due to the availability of these devices in numerous brands. I am lecturer in a Patna college and wanted to surprise my husband by gifting him a tablet for our first anniversary as he is so much into technology. One of my colleagues advised me to check out My Mobile magazine in this regard, specially the “My Guide” section which covers just about every mobile product in the market along with their specifications and prices. I selected my desired item and made my husband glad on the day. A massive thanks to My Mobile. -Nalini Sethi, Patna

gies in the world. Other than existing gadgets, the magazine also provides detailed information on soon to be launched products as well as apps, games and much more under one roof. I am impressed by the work of the My Mobile team and would like to continue reading this tech magazine. -Anant Chaddha, Delhi

This Time, That YearAug 15-Sep 14, 2008 My Mobile,

One of the reasons why the mobile revolution has been so successful in India has been the fact that its consumers have been ready to embrace innovation and change. And this ability to accept change was seen in September 2008, when Nokia launched the Nokia 6210 Navigator phone, at a time when the Indian mobile market was flooded with multimedia phones that focused more on music and camera quality. However, the 6210, as its name indicates, mainly revolved around navigation. It was the second device in the Nokia Navigator series and was designed to provide voice assisted, turn-by-turn navigation services. Along with all this, it came equipped with a 3.15-megapixel camera, audio\video player and FM connectivity. Although at that time 3G services were not available in the country, the device came with 3G support and a front camera for video calling. The phone also had a stylish design. It was therefore hardly surprising that it scored 86 per cent in our burn test, and scored over some very tough competition from the likes of the iPhone 3G (the first iPhone to be officially launched in India). Its navigation skills and smooth functioning however saw it beat Apple's poster boy. Little did we suspect what the future had in store...

Sometimes it’s quite difficult for me to actually understand how technology works. I am into the mobile business and often things get too complex for which affects my business dealings. I started reading My Mobile magazine more than a year ago and the 'faceto-face' section helps me a lot during times of crisis. The interviews provide core knowledge along with the explanation of subjects like how the processors work, specifications and differences between various operating systems. The language in which the magazine describes each and every term makes e the nd hav it worth reading. I gradually developed an intera s e m n a drea ellpho n est in reading the magazine and still continue c i t y u e o k also azy ab atest ines? to do so. you cr pen a few l ews and can ds on the l you have e r A -Vipul Das, Kolkata ink r han al to for n The best thing about My Mobile magazine is that the magazine always provides plenty of knowledge about handsets and devices in vogue. It provides a platform of knowledge to its technology readers and expands their knowledge about gadgets and technolo-

10 MYMOBILE September 2013

th u ti 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 HANDSETS & MORE Gionee Elife E6 released Gionee, a Chinese manufacturer, has launched its next flagship device, the Gionee Elife E6 in the Indian smartphone market. The E6 is being followed with interest, thanks to an impressive spec sheet. It runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with a number of optimisations. It comes with a MediaTek MT6589T 1.5Ghz quad-core processor. The device has a full HD 5.0-inch retina display. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage, although it has no expandable memory slot. It has a 13.0-megapixel rear camera with BSI sensors, video recording and a 5.0-megapixel front facing camera. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth 4.0. The Gionee Elife E6 will come with a 2,020mAh battery. The device wil be available in black and white variants and is available for Rs 29,999.

Lenovo launches the IdeaTab A3000 With the tablet segment in India growing at a rapid rate, a number of companies are coming out with value for money tablets with innovative features. Lenovo which has a number of interestingly priced tablets in the market has now added the Lenovo IdeaTab-A3000 to the list. The 7.0-inch tablet sports an IPS 1024X600 display, and will run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core MTK processor, which should make it a dab hand at handling games, videos and photo sharing along with seamless fluid navigation. It can store up to 64GB via its microSD card slot, and comes with 1GB of RAM. It is equipped with a 5.0-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and 0.3-megapixel front facing camera for video calls. The connectivity options on this tablet include Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, optional 3G HSPA+. The device houses a nonremovable-Po 3,500mAh battery. It comes with a price tag of Rs 16,000.

Smartphone dedicated to Narendra Modi unveiled A smartphone dedicated to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has finally been unveiled. The handset will be called Smart Namo and will be available in the Indian market from September, 2013 at prices of Rs 21,111 for the 32GB variant. Smart Namo is a big handset, almost as big as a tablet. Its 6.5-inch multi-touch display is bigger than the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, which claims to be the biggest smartphone in the market. The phonet supports a multi-touch display has a screen resolution of 1920x1080p and is coated with Gorilla Glass 2. The handset is driven by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, has 2GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, and supports 32GB of expandable memory and has a 3,150mAh battery. The phone is a dual SIM device with 3G, Wi-Fi, a 13.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus and it runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). The handset will also be available in a signature edition with Narendra Modi’s initials. Besides the 32GB variant, the handset will also be available in 16GB with 1GB RAM, 16GB with 2GB RAM and 64GB with 2GB RAM versions. The price of the other versions is still awaited.

12 MYMOBILE September 2013

Policy & Regulations New Media wing for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube The Government has wings for communicating with the public on multiple subjects in the public’s interest or conveying rules and regulations. Witnessing the power of social media all around the globe, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has proposed a new media wing which would address the communication and dissemination requirements of the Government on social media platforms. The wing will amalgamate the communication tools horizontally and vertically through multiple social media networks. Manish Tewari, I&B Minister, confirmed that the wing will avail of the prior tech devices for the officers roped in for this project. The officers assigned for this process will attain administrative and operational navigation via the Media Unit which falls under the ministry’s Research Reference & Training Division which will officially be the New Media Wing.

TRAI issues draft regulations to resolve consumer issue The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a draft amendment regulation to give more teeth to the Telecom Consumers Complaints Redressal Regulations 2012, in order to protect the interests of the consumers. The regulator has asked the stakeholder to provide their comments on it. The draft was issued after some consumer organizations reiterated the need for further improvement, particularly those regarding the procedure of appeal, limited number of complaint centers of service providers, and the lack of awareness of the appellate authority. According to the new draft, there should be a consumer care number for lodging complaints with the appellate authority and the procedure for lodging a complaint should be communicated to the consumer. Once the complaint has been made and the appellate body has disposed of it, details must be shared back via SMS, e-mail or post. Service providers must address the subscribers’ issues though voice call, SMS, e-mail or post. Addressing the growing consumer dissatisfaction with service providers over billing and service related issues, TRAI has often taken operators to task, reproaching them for not resolving billing issues and for keeping customers waiting.

100 per cent FDI in telecom will boost R&D in India: Kapil Sibal Speaking at the National Telecom Summit 2013, Telecom and IT Minister Kabil Sibal emphasised the need to empower each and every citizen with affordable services, data and devices. He also spoke of the urgent need to resolve issues with operators, encourage R&D in India and the creation of a favourable environment for foreign investment. He stated that 100 per cent FDI in telecom is the right step in that direction. But a lot is needed to be done. If there is a telecom regime in place investors will come on their own without fear of over regulation. Regarding innovation, he pointed out that nobody invests in R&D in India. Through FDI, strong players with deep pockets will come and sooner or later, they might invest in R&D here. He stressed the need to establish an indigenous fab facility in the country.

NEWS bits operators & tariffs Airtel to expand its 4G services to other circles After introducing its 4G services in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Pune earlier this year, the telecom giant Bharti Airtel is all set to expand its circle by introducing its 4G services for Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai consumers in September. 4G is the fourth generation of mobile phone and mobile communications standards. A 4G system provides ultra-broadband Internet access, and is expected to enhance the footprint of mobile broadband in India. It can provide Internet download speed of about 100 megabytes per second on the move, and can go up to 1 gigabyte per second at a fixed location. The telecom company has tied up with the Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Huawei in May 2012 to plan, build, design and operate in other circles as well as the capital in the coming days. Airtel had one spectrum for high speed broadband service- Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) in four telecom segments (Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka) in 2010 paying Rs 3,314.26 crore for it. This helped the telco acquire a 49 per cent stake in US telecom major Qualcomm Inc’s India 4G venture Wireless Business Service (WBS) that eased its entry for circles like Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. Currently Bharti Airtel holds a 51 per cent stake in WBS and the company plans to take over the entire section by the end of next year.

Vodafone offers free Twitter access to customers Vodafone has announced that it will offer free Twitter access to both its prepaid and postpaid subscribers in India. This will be applicable till November 1 and will enable its subscribers to access the official Twitter app or Twitter’s mobile website (mobile.twitter.com) for free. However, this offer is not available for Blackberry users and is also not valid for Twitter accessed via third party apps and external links. Individuals will be charged for viewing pictures, videos and other media content.

Tata Indicom introduces Rs 8 plan for pre-paid users in Delhi Tata Indicom has launched an Rs 8 plan for its existing and new pre-paid customers in the Delhi circle. Available as PV8 plan, the plan voucher offers call rates at reduced prices and is valid for six months while the tariffs are valid for two months only. Under the new plan, call rates for first two minutes of calls each day will cost 2 paisa per second, while rest of the local/STD calls will be charged 29 paisa per minute. First two messages will be charged Rs 1/1.5 per message, after that all messages will cost 29 paisa per message.

14 MYMOBILE September 2013

Value Added Services/Applications/ Games Disney UTV launches Chennai Express game It is common to see major films being accompanied by mobile games based on their story and often featuring film stars. So, we cannot say that we are surprised to see the digital arm of Disney UTV launch an official mobile game based on Shah Rukh Khan’s latest flick “Chennai Express.” The game revolves around the plot of the film starting with a stroll in the scenic town of Rameshwaram where locals can be seen wearing authentic South Indian lungis and saris. Rahul, who leads the animated game like SRK in the film, will fight away through an army of thugs from Chennai while dodging obstacles like trucks, busses, and coconut trucks. The players can unlock Deepika Padukone’s avatar by collecting ten thousand coins in a single game session only. The game is available for Android and Java based mobile phones and iOS.

MEA India app for Android and iOS As smartphones and tablets become more popular, the Ministry of External Affairs has taken a vigorous step in the direction of e-governance by releasing an “MEA India” mobile application for iOS and Android platforms available for download on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. The app attempts to create a single gateway of information related to the Ministry’s citizen-centric services and outreach activities, including details related to visa, passport services, embassies, foreign relations, consular related services, details on journey to holy places like Haj and Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, where the ministry is actively involved. The app is expected to be of immense help to Indian citizens, even those who are travelling abroad. The user can track the nearest passport office, along with their application status.

Indian Idol Junior app released Multi Screen Media has launched a funfilled app for all fans of Indian Idol Junior. The app is available on Android, iOS and Windows Phon and allows users to play games like Jigsaw Puzzle where users can put pieces together to relive their favorite scenes from the reality show. The application comes with inbuilt features like “Bachpan Ki Awaaz” in which the users can record their voice into the app and the app fetches a voice of how the user sounded when they were children. The sound clip can be shared on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. Other than voting for their preferred Indian Idol Junior contestant, users can also utilise the dynamic “popularity meter” to check how viral they are amongst the people. n

just in Sony Xperia Z Ultra Sony gets phablet-y

Samsung Tab 3 10.1 Tab to the power 3

amsung continues on its product launching spree and the latest to hit the Indian market is the Tab 3 10.1. The tablet is the successor to the Tab 2 10.1, and bears more than a passing resemblance to it. There are some changes, though - the tablet has been updated with a newer version of Android and the dual speakers have been reshuffled. The device comes with a 10.1 inch display, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Z2560 processor and runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS. On board is a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel camera in the front. There are connectivity options like GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0, but no NFC. The device comes with a massive 6,800mAh battery which can keep the device running for three days. Priced at around Rs 28,000 the device is expected to go toe to toe against the likes of the Kindle Fire 8.9 and the iPad. It has its work cut out, we would say. n team@mymobile.co.in

16 MYMOBILE September 2013

ony has been betting heavily on its waterproof devices to get back into the smartphone limelight. And after the Xperia Z and the Xperia tablet Z, now comes the big screen Xperia Z Ultra. This device which is more tablet than a smartphone boasts a 6.4-inch display. And it comes with a stiff price tag too - at Rs 46,990, it is one of the more expensive phablets in the Indian market. The Xperia Z Ultra is a sleek phone with a big screen that comes with with Sonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Triluminos technology, which reproduces rich and natural colours. The handset runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor. The device is dust proof and waterresistant and comes with a 8.0-megapixel rear camera and a 2.0-megapixel front-facing one. For connectivity, it has NFC, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, 3G and Wi-Fi. The phone comes with 16GB of internal storage which is expandable to 64GB via microSD card, and offers 14 hours of 2G and 16 hours of 3G talk-time with its 3,050 mAh battery. All of which makes it sound very compelling although some might be put off by the size of both - the device itself and its price! n

For distribution inquiry please contact : +91-9717041986, 011-46206100

sneak peek HTC One Mini The “Small” One!

he latest trend in the world of technology these days is to take out a smaller version of a large screen device within a few months of its release. So we have devices like the iPAd mini, the Galaxy S4 Mini, the Xperia Mini, and so on. HTC has clearly decided to take a page out of this ‘mini’ book and is planning to launch a smaller version of its flagship device, the HTC one, called (surprise, surprise) the HTC One Mini. Mind you, it is not exactly ‘mini’ in stature - it will come with a 4.3-inch display, be powered by a 1.4 GHz dualcore Snapdragon Qualcomm processor, and will run on Android Jelly Bean with HTC’s Sense and BlinkFeed technology on top. The One Mini will come with 16GB internal storage (other variants are expected too), 1GB of RAM and an 1800mAh battery supporting 13.27 hours of talk-time over 3G network. The smartphone will also come with a 4.0-megapixel camera similar to the one seen in the HTC One and a 1.6megapixel camera in front for self-portraits and video calls. For connectivity, it will have 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, and GPS. The device has not arrived in the Indian market but could make waves with its design and hopefully lower price tag (as compared to the One). n

Nokia Lumia 1020 41.0-

megapixels on WP8

okia’s 808 PureView phone last year pretty much redefined camera phone photography with its amazing 41.0megapixel sensor. However, many people complained about the fact that it ran on the Symbian OS, which was a bit on the slow side and not as touch friendly as Android and iOS. Well, the Lumia 1020 should take care of that. It too sports a 41.0-megapixel sensor, and comes with a 4.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, and is powered by 1.5GHz Krait dual-core Snapdragon processor. And of course, being a Lumia, it runs on Windows Phone 8,

18 MYMOBILE September 2013

which means a smoother interface and access to a number of Windows Phone 8 apps. The device also comes with a 1.2-megapixel secondary camera, and has 32GB of internal storage which, however, is not expandable. Battery life is expected to be decent with Nokia claiming 19 hours of talk time for 2G and 13 hours for 3G users. The device has not yet been released in India, but given its specs and the hype around it, it is expected to come with a stiff price tag. n team@mymobile.co.in

lead story Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an app for everything these days. And thousands of apps to choose from as well. Which ones work? Which donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t? We at My Mobile put our heads - and devices - together to come out with fifty apps that rock. Team My Mobile

The

Apps That Matter I

t might not have grabbed as many headlines as the Smartphone Revolution, but the App Revolution has changed our lives just as much as the devices on which the apps themselves run. Today, many people judge a device not just by its features and hardware but also by the apps that run on it. Small wonder that many manufacturers include app statistics with their devices and even pre-load many apps on them. But this plentitude of apps has its downside too. Given the plethora of apps on different platforms, users often find themselves at a loss about

which ones to download, and which to ignore. After getting multiple queries in this regard, we decided to sit down and come out with a list of fifty apps that we thought would deliver most value to users, beyond the obvious browser-SNSapp-mail-

20 MYMOBILE september 2013

media player collection. We mapped out ten categories, stressing function over convention and came out with five apps in each, across different platforms. There were arguments and discussions galore. Lists were made and torn up. And when the dust settled, these were the fifty apps that were left standing.

www.mymobile.co.in

Movie Apps VidTrim- Video Trimmer (Android) price: Free (Premium Version), Rs 120.54 (Pro Version)

This is an interesting application for those who love playing around with videos. As the name suggests, the VidTrim application plays the role of video editor where the user can add effects, cut short the video, and convert it to various formats. This app also allows you to share videos with your friends directly. VidTrim is exclusively available for Android only.

VLC Streamer (Android, iOS) price: (ad supported for Android), Rs 122.46 (Full Version for Android), $1.99 (iOS)

This amazing app streams movies from your computers via Wi-Fi directly to your smartphone. Users can enjoy videos on their devices sitting in any corner of their house. This is a clutter-free process as one does not require transferring the movie manually or converting it into different format. You can enjoy any movie from your collection at any point of time.

TicketNew App (Android, iOS, Windows Phone) (Free)

With the box office buzzing with new movies every weekend, the TicketNew app will keep you posted about all the latest and upcoming releases. One can also keep a track of other events, sports and entertainment activities through this app. Those who wish to avoid those long queues on ticket counters can also book and download tickets in advance and keep a track of the show timings via TicketNew.

New Movie Reviews (Android) (Free)

Are you a movie buff and love to know the talk in town about the latest releases? Then you must grab New Movie Reviews. As the name suggests, this app provides the user with the latest information on upcoming and latest movies. One can check out official trailers and reviews exclusively from Rotten Tomatoes. The application covers all Hollywood movies and also has a feature that lets users bookmark the films they want to watch under the â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Watch List.â&#x20AC;? The app is also equipped with basic information about the movie like synopsis, casts, trailer, etc, which you can access with just a tap.

Plex (Android, iOS, Windows Phone) (Price: Rs 268.21(Android), $4.99 (iOS, Windows Phone)

Plex is a media platform that brings you TV shows, videos, music, etc., at just a tap, letting you access content online via different channels. Currently, Plex supports almost 200 channels including the likes of YouTube, Vimeo, and CNET. All you need to do is install the Plex Media Server to have have access to all the media options available.

september 2013 MYMOBILE 21

lead story

health Apps First Aid by British Red Cross (Android, iOS) (Free)

First Aid by British Red Cross is an amazingly simple, professional and useful solution for providing initial care to an injury until professional help steps in. This app provides step by step instructions through videos, diagrams and text format for 18 emergency situations like heart attack, seizure, head injury, burns, choking, and poisoning. It also prepares you for disaster scale situations like fire, flood, earthquake, and terrorist attacks. These steps have been provided by none other than British Red Cross experts working in twenty countries. All the information is hosted on the app itself, and is hence accessible even if you are not connected.

Drug Dictionary (Android, Windows Phone) (Rs: 219)

Interested in finding out more about the medicines that have been prescribed for you? Finding the chemical compositions and instructions on medicine wrappers is too confusing? Drug Dictionary by Vimana LLC just fills that gap and lets you know about most of the popular and widely recommended drugs along with the reason for prescription, possible side effects, precautions to be taken, and storage environment, as well as a host of other details. The app has over 4,700 drug names and detailed information for over a thousand drugs.

Fooducate (iOS) (Free)

Fooducate is an award winning app which helps buyers of packed eatables develop healthy food habits. The product automatically scans the barcode on the product, and instantly tells you whether it is healthy or not. The app grades the food item, explaining what is inside it and how much calories you are going to gain through it. It does not stop there, and provides you healthy alternatives as well. The food item is graded according to its nutritional value as A, B, C and D helping users in making healthy purchase decisions.

Medscape (Android, iOS) (Free)

Medscape is a medical app where physicians, medical students and other professionals related to healthcare can find answers to their questions, learn more through clinical presentations, and get further information on how one can treat 4,400 diseases and conditions. One can also read about what is happening in the world of medicine through journals and articles. Users can access drug information of up to 8,000 drugs, diseases and condition reference, and procedure reference even if they are not connected online. The appâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s directory has more than 4,60,000 physicians, hospitals and pharmacies listed on it.

Run Keeper (iOS, Android) (Free)

Imagine your handset keeping tabs on your daily running exercise. Well, that is what RunKeeper does. It tracks your movement which includes running, hiking or cycling, and the path you follow, and makes these available on your handsetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s display in the form of a virtual map. The app uses the GPS in your mobile handset and takes into account the time, distance, speed and the amount of calories lost. It stores all your workout data on the handset and you can access them at any time to see how you are doing. The app continues to run even if you are using the camera or listening to music.

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music Apps Ringtone Maker and MP3 Cutter (Android) (Free)

You can make unlimited ringtones for your mobile device using Ringtone Maker and MP3 Cutter. You can easily trim the best portions of a song using the app, which are later stored on your microSD card. Along with this you can also record live audio using the app and can later edit the same. The song is displayed in the scrollable wave format and you just have to set the start and end points of the song and you can easily cut the song by simply tapping on the section you need. The app supports MP3, AAC and AMR music formats.

Sonarflow Music Player (Android, iOS) (Free)

This music app comes with a simple and sleek user interface. You can enter to the world of music with just a simple tap. Along with listening to seamless music the app allows the user to discover new bands, songs and artists. Before listening or downloading the entire song you also get a preview clip which will help to decide whether you want the song or not. The app has a very interesting way of finding a song. It will first ask you about your mood and will then find suitable songs accordingly. Along with this, if you’re looking for music in the same genre as your favourite band/artist; use the magnifying glass to give you a list of other bands/artists that are of a similar style. The app is different from the other music apps because of its visual search features.

Music Off (Android) (Free)

We all love listening to music in the night. The problem with this, however, is that one can drift off to sleep while the music plays on merrily draining the phone’s battery. You can now save the battery of your phone and can also listen to your favourite music using the Music Off app. The app automatically switches off the music when you are asleep. It allows the user to set a timer according to their needs, after which the music automatically turns off. Handy for those who love to sleep to the sound of music.

SoundCloud (Android, iOS) (Free)

‘SoundCloud’ allows users to have access to musicians, bands and music creators of all types from around the globe. It is a leading social sound platform, which gets an update every minute. The songs are free and you can also share them with your friends. You just have to log in using a SoundCloud account. You can easily listen and stream your favourite tracks whenever you want - all you need to have is a working internet connection. Apart from this, you can also record you own sounds and music with the app and can share it via different social networks. You just have to find and follow your favourite artists, radio stations and podcasters so that their latest tracks, sets and recordings appear in your stream.

Traktor DJ (iOS) (Free)

Traktor DJ is a simple and well-designed app to showcase your DJ skills. The app consists of standard twin decks. You load a track by swiping in from the bottom, and you can send music to either deck A or deck B from the file manager. It is really very straightforward and allows you to easily and continuously choose music to mix. You can also create your own music pieces by mixing two forms of music and can also record them with the help of the app. There is also a freeze mode which enables the user to do light mixing while the song is playing.

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Security Apps Crash Plan (Android, Windows Phone, iOS) (Free)

Crash Plan is a mobile app that securely backs up your mobile data on the company’s online backup destinations Crash Plan Central or Pro Cloud. The app is free but you will need a Crash Plan Plus or Crash Plan Pro subscription. The app allows users to download, view and share all those files which you have entrusted to Crash Plan. Your data remains accessible to you through a password protected account. So, even if you lose your device, you will never lose your data.

Don’t Touch My Droid (Android) (Free)

Don’t Touch My Droid protects your handset not from spam, but from people around you trying to steal your phone, be it in a crowded bus or an eating joint. The app has a simple interface - select from ten different alarm types and the volume level, and then simply press the ‘activate’ button and put the mobile phone down in your bag or on the table. The moment someone tries to remove it, the alarm will go off and you will know right away and with a bit of luck, catch the person in the act.

Lookout Security & Antivirus (Android) (Free)

Lookout Security app for mobile is not just an anti-virus but also backs up your contacts, photos, and call history. It acts as your privacy advisor and scans all the apps to tell which of them are accessing your personal information like mobile number, contacts, SMS, and location. It also scans every site you visit to protect you against phishing attempts. And if you have lost your mobile phone, go to Lookout.com to locate it on a map. Meanwhile, to keep your personal data safe, you can remotely lock or wipe it clean as well. It is available for free but you need to pay for certain services. It also comes in a premium version which costs $2.99 per month.

File Hide Expert (Android) (Free)

Mobile devices today have access to security tools that were once the preserve of the PC. File Hide Expert is one of this breed. It can hide videos, images, and data stored in your mobile phone to protect them from falling into the wrong hands. It is easy to use and has a simple interface. Go to the files folder, select the files you wish to hide and the files will not show any more on the device. You can go to the settings and enable password to keep the app to yourself.

Password Keeper (BlackBerry) (Free)

Many apps and services ask users to create a password protected account. This can create problems as remembering all your passwords or pins can be quite a task. Apps like Password Keeper can manage your passwords and logins by putting them away at one secure location for easy access. All the information is further encrypted and protected with a single password. You can import data stored in Password Keeper from a previous Blackberry device as well.

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weather Apps Accuweather (iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry) (Free)

Such is the popularity of this app that for many users, weather apps are synonymous with Accuweather. And with good reason. The app served up extremely comprehensive information about weather across a host of parameters ranging from the routine humidity, rainfall and temperature to map-based weather trends and in some cases even videos of forecasts and news pertaining to the weather. Pretty much a one-stop weather app for those crazy about weather data. Mainstream users might find it a bit overwhelming but if all you need is lots of information about the weather, this is the app for you. Just make sure you have got connectivity.

Haze (iOS) (price: rs 55)

Interface. That in essence is what makes Haze special. Unlike other apps, it does not rely on bombarding you with information but instead sticks to a very minimalistic interface. The launch screen will show you the temperature in large letters in the centre with a five day forecast above it. Just swipe to the right or the left to get information about humidity and sunshine and if you want more information on either parameter, simply long press the present figure in the middle. In a neat touch, the app also changes colours depending on the kind of weather expected - so if the temperature is likely to go up, it will be shown on a red backdrop with waves moving upwards. Stylish indeed.

InstaWeather (iOS, Android) (Free)

There will be some who will say that this is a photography app rather than a weather one but we are sticking to our guns and putting it under the weather category for the simple reason that it tells the viewer about the weather. Of course, it does so with an interesting twist - the app places information about the weather on top of a picture that you have just taken. A bit like InstaPlace you would say, only with weather information replacing the other captions. Once again, you get a choice of presentation options, letting you choose the one that you think works best with the image you have taken.

Swackett: (iOS, Android) (Free)

A weather app that not only tells you about the weather but also throws in trivia about weather phenomenon, advises you on how to dress up, and also suggests whether the weather (pun intended) is good enough to take your pet for a walk? Swackett does all that and whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, presents this information in an interface that is totally different from the routine temperature charts that mark most other apps - you have snazzy cartoons and bright backgrounds, making the app an absolute pleasure to use. Weather was never this much fun to follow, in our opinion.

Yahoo! Weather (Android, iOS) (Free)

On the surface, there does not seem to be too exciting about Yahoo! Weather. The app simply serves up temperatures, forecasts and other weather details on your device. But it is the manner in which it does so that makes it a winner. Not only is the interface minimalistic and not too cluttered, but it also works very fast indeed. Round that off with the fact that it uses images from its vast Flickr database to reflect both the weather and the location referred to, and what you have is one of the most simple and yet good-looking weather apps in cell town. And it is free as well.

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Photography Apps Blux Camera (iOS) (price: rs 55)

Yes, it comes with a price tag but Blux Camera Pro delivers a lot of dollop for its Rs 55 price tag. The app gives users an alternative camera interface, one with many more options, including live effects where you can see the result an effect would have on your photograph even before you take as well as a number of tweaks including a smoother digital zoom system and macro mode. No, it is not perfect you cannot use existing pictures with it and it can sometimes take a while to start up, but still it serves up enough to make it most people’s preferred app for taking pictures on the iPhone.

InstaPlace (iOS, Android) (Free)

If you are a shutterbug that travels a lot, then this is just the app for you. InstaPlace allows you to add the name of a place to a photograph in large, prominent letters. What’s more, this addition happens without your having to write anything yourself - the app detects your location using Foursquare and Facebook locations. If you are not content with what the app has chosen, you can also search for the correction location. That done, the app gives you the option to add a number of catchy captions to the image and share it with your friends and over social networks. No, you cannot add your own words to the image but in terms of sheer utility, this app is a traveller’s dream.

Layrs (iOS) (Free)

No, this is not the sort of layer editing that you get on Photoshop on your computer. Layrs actually lets you divide your photograph into two parts - the foreground and the background. You can highlight the part of the picture that you want in the foreground using the app’s special masking feature which wraps highlighting around objects, even covering edges accurately. You can then add effects to the foreground and background - yes different ones to each if you wish - and share them across mail and social networks. No, not quite Photoshop we know, but quite amazing once you get the hang of it.

PIP Camera (iOS, Android) (Free)

Pictures by themselves are fine but what if you wanted to put a picture of yourself within another object, say a phone, a tumbler, an Apple logo even? Well, that is exactly what PIP Camera lets you do. PIP stands for ‘picture in picture’ and the biggest strength of the app is its ability to let you place your image within an object, and then share it across different social networks. You can resize the picture, add a different one in the background if you wish, and even throw in some filters and effects for good measure if the mood strikes you. The results are surprisingly good and the developers keep adding new objects and effects all the time.

Pixlr-o-matic (iOS, Android) (Free)

Instagram might have stolen all the headlines and the spotlight when it comes to filter based image editing and effects, but this app for AutoDesk is more than a match for it in many regards. It comes packed with filters, effects and frames which you can use in dozens of combinations and permutations, allowing you to totally transform your images, and make them look like works of art or pictures from another era. Yes, it does not have its own community, unlike Instagram, but that apart, it offers as many sharing choices and what’s more, comes with many more image tweaking options and that too without compromising on resolution.

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social networking Apps HootSuite (Android, iOS) (Free)

This is the one solution to all your social networking needs. HootSuite allows you to manage your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare and other social networking sites in one go. You can share posts, manage connections and handle pages on different social networks via this application, saving you from using multiple apps. HootSuite is easy to use and a secure application to schedule your updates. Very much a must-have for the heavily socially networked.

InstaPicFrame for Instagram (Android) (Free)

Instagram is a popular platform for the social buffs who like sharing their life using colourfully filtered pictures. InstaPicFrame adds a fillip to your Instagram experience, making it even more enjoyable. Now, you can add on beautiful picture frames to your shots and then share it with the rest of the world. This application allows its users to add on more than one picture in a variety of picture frames forming a collage. All you need to do is shake your smartphone and you will have a different template.

Just Unfollow (Android, iOS, BlackBerry) (Free)

All those with Twitter and Instagram accounts can now track their followersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; actions by downloading this app. Just Unfollow is an application that notifies you about people who follow or unfollow you on these social networking sites, making it the perfect app for those who love to know who is following them and who has stopped doing so. The app also has other features, including the option to automatically start following new followers, showing blacklisted users, and the ability to handle multiple Twitter accounts.

TweetCaster (Android, iOS) Price: Free, Rs 272.20, Rs 545.50 (TweetCaster for Premium, pro and Pink Android versions), Free (iOS) Tweets are popping out from every nook and corner of the world as Twitter becomes a rage. And TweetCaster makes your tweeting experience even more fun and easy, helping you not only manage your Twitter account but also letting you access Twitter in a whole new manner. It notifies you on every new tweet and one can add effects and filters to their pictures before uploading. It also comes with colourful themes, widgets, schedule tweet options, suggests people to follow, speak tweets out, and much more besides.

Split Camera for Instagram (Android) (Free)

This app adds a new feature to Instagram. With this app, the user can enjoy twin shots aligned in a single frame. The pictures are exclusively optimised for Instagram but one can share it on other services as well. One can align two pictures, making the second picture look like a clone of a person as well, provided one can take the two shots within seconds of each other.

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news Apps Flipboard (iOS, Android) (Free)

For many, this remains the app that started the whole trend of â&#x20AC;&#x153;read news on your device just as you would in a magazineâ&#x20AC;? apps. Flipboard offers you a selection of news sources, covering most of the prominent ones, and then throws its own twist on them by presenting them in the form of a digital magazine, complete with flippable pages and well-placed illustrations and photographs. A recent update lets you even create your own magazines with news stories selected by you. One of the most innovative news reading solutions around and very popular too.

Newser (Windows Phone 8) (Free)

While most news apps try to flood you with information from multiple sources, Newser takes the opposite route. Rather than promising you the world, it actually limits itself to presenting you sixty of the stories that it considers to be the most important and then presents each in a crisp, easy to read two paragraph summary. You have the option to read more from the original source if you wish, as well as the option to share news across mail and social networks. The perfect app for those who do not want to be bothered with setting up complex apps or surfing through dozens of stories.

Press Reader (iOS, Android, BlackBerry) (Free)

So you want your daily newspaper just the way you get it on paper, without the hassle of the paper itself ? Well, Press Reader delivers that. It gives you access to hundreds of newspapers across the world that are completely like their printed forms, even down to the last ad. In some cases, you can even access different editions of the same newspaper. There are dozens of nations and languages to choose from and after your initial quota of free downloads is over, you can either opt for paying 99 cents per download or a monthly plan of USD 29.95 for downloading as much as you want. This is traditional news in a digital format!

The Early Edition 2 (iOS) (price: rs 110)

Flipboard might have grabbed the headlines and popularity, but The Early Edition was one of the earliest apps to implement the idea of reading news on a tablet in magazine-like form. And although it comes with a price, what cannot be denied that for sheer news presentation, nothing really comes close to it. Those with Wi-Fi only devices also have the options to download complete news stories at one go and then read them at their leisure, even without an internet connection. Perhaps the best digital news magazine app around.

Pulse (iOS, Android, Windows 8) (Free)

One of those apps that redefined how news could be viewed on a mobile device, Pulse basically reformatted news into a very colourful spreadsheet-like rows and column affair, with each row representing a news source or topic and each column a different story. Users can choose the sources from which they want news and then view it in an interface that is very different from the routine news apps. You can slide from item to item using your thumb, tap on a cell to see the complete news item and do a whole lot more, such as sharing stories online, saving stories to be read later and so on. News never looked like this.

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utility Apps Heard (iOS) (price $1.99) Heard from Faalsa Labs is a voice recording app which constantly records voices and sounds made around the phone. After every five minutes, the recorded sound is automatically deleted. It runs silently in the background and keeps the recording in a buffered state. If a user wants to save something, they can go back to the buffered sound, choose the sound or conversation and save it. After saving, a user can tag and even share the clipping on Facebook. Heard is also available as a freeware with 12 seconds of past recording. To get the full benefits of the app, i.e., 5 min of past recording, users need to buy the premium version. Locate (Android) (Free)

MapmyIndia’s Locate is a location tracking app for Android based phones. It allows users to locate the movement of their near and dear ones on an interactive map, right on the mobile phone’s display. Users can add up to three people from their contact list and trace them every time they check into the app from their handset. One can also get a detailed report on the added person’s movement including the date, time and address for up to five days. Users can also fix the date and time when they want to be tracked.

MEA india (Android, iOS) (Free)

This is the first mobile app from any Indian Ministry. It provides information on External Affairs Ministry’s citizen services like visa and passport, along with details on pilgrimages like Haj and Kailash Mansarovar, where the Ministry is actively involved. The app also contains statements issued by the Ministry, documents, press releases, media briefings, and videos along with details on India’s foreign policy. The app is of particular help to those applying for a passport - it tells them how to apply, provides information about the nearest passport office, and allows them to track their passport application status as well.

Measure Treasure (BlackBerry) (Free)

The size, height and length of objects and people have always been a matter of interest. Thanks to Measure Treasure, you do not need to carry a measuring tape or even a ruler to work these out. This app can measure height, width and even distance with a mere tap on the handset. It is simple and easy to use. To get your distance from an object, locate the object on the screen and tap on the ‘Get Distance’ button in any unit you want. This works for height as well. You can share what you find straightaway with your friends on BBM.

Waze (Android, iOS) (Free)

Waze is a community based mapping and navigation app, which instead of mapping each and every lane, uses its wide social network of over 50 million users in several countries to gather and provide real-time traffic updates and keeps other users posted about incidents like traffic jams, accidents, road-blocks in real-time. This makes it more accurate than other mapping apps. Waze collects information related on to speed and location from one’s mobile phone and uses it to suggest alternate routes to other users as well.

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Humour apps Funny One Liners (Android) (Free)

If you need to cheer up someone, then the ‘Funny One Liner’ app from Android can be the perfect solution. The app comprises a free and offline collection of funny quotes and one-liners, some of which are quite hilarious. The quotes cover topics like politics, work, ageing, and marriage. The app enables the user to bookmark their favorite one-liners for future reference. Some of the featured categories include “Wife Jokes,” “U r an Engineer if...,” “Diet,” and “Job.” You can also share the jokes with your friends via mail, text messages, and social networks.

Faking News (Android) (Free)

Faking News is known for its well written non-reliable news stories. The stories are humorous and also a good read. Many of them are satires on the prevailing political, social and economical conditions. The stories are funny with no cheap humuor and sometimes are also sarcastic towards the Indian media. They also have some catchy headlines which compel the reader to read on and more often than not, end up laughing.

Fart Sounds Machine (Android) (Free)

Fart Sounds Machine as its name indicates is an app with some very funny farting sounds. The sounds are very realistic and can leave one giggling after listening them. You can play pranks with your friends by using more than fifty fart sounds from the app. The user can also set the timer fart named ‘bomb fart’ with a timer of 10 seconds. Apart from this, you can also set these sounds as a ringtone for your smartphone, contact ringtone, alarm sound and SMS sound. Download the app and a hilarious farting time.

Funny Videos (Android) (Free)

We all love watching funny videos. But finding a good funny video is quite a task. Unless you are using the Funny Videos app that lets you watch all giggle-inducing YouTube videos in one place. You can also share these amazing videos with your friends by texting the link through SMS or through Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, you can add your personal comments to any particular video you like, rate them, or save them to your favourites list.

Humor Photos WhatsApp (Android) (Free)

Instant Messaging has become a rage of late, and one of the most popular messengers is WhatsApp. Well, if you happen to be a WhatsApp addict, you can make your messaging experience more entertaining using the Humor Photos WhatApp app. The app is a compilation of a number of funny pictures and photos, which you can send to your friends. You also have the option of editing some existing photos using the clip art available in the app, and share the same with your friends. You can also use the pictures in the app as your WhatsApp background. And there’s always plenty to choose from - the app gets new pictures every 4-5 days. team@mymobile.co.in

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spotlight

Visiting the Gionee Mobile Factory Mention the words “made in China,” and most people think

that one is referring to a product with a cheap price tag and not the greatest quality. Well, they would not have visited the Gionee Mobile factory in Shenzhen, China. We did. And came away amazed

Sulabh Puri

hen we were invited to visit the factory of Gionee, a leading Chinese mobile phone manufacturer, we must confess we were a bit sceptical. After all, while a number of leading brands might get their devices manufactured in China, the image of Chinese manufacturing houses is not a flattering one, with horror stories about productions units and line ups. However, we decided to swallow our scepticism and decided to go. And we are glad that we did. Gionee’s stateof-the-art manufacturing unit is built on 3.3 lakh square meters of area and houses 5,000 workers within the Gionee Industrial park. The park has provision to house these workers, has sports courts in the complex and also

a large cafeteria which can seat 2,000 employees. In a way, this industrial park is a small city in its own right, and is expanding, with new housing and manufacturing units coming up. The company employs more than 10,000 workers in all, who work on a shift basis and can produce over 30 million phones in a month,

which are shipped to twenty countries worldwide (including India). We got a glimpse just how a phone is made from scratch. The product building lines where workers sit and put together the mobile phone, from the front panel to the machinery inside to the back panel is a fascinating sight and works very smoothly. A phone like Gionee ELIFE E6 can be built in just six minutes flat. Prior to this, the chips inside go through a rigorous process of quality control, where each chip is tested and gets into a phone only if passed. It is in this testing area where the firmware and operating system is installed on the chipset. Gionee is making chips and mobiles for various OEM partners as well as its own Gionee brand. There are no plans for making tablets as yet, but judging from global trends, we do think that we might see something coming from them or with an OEM partner pretty soon in this segment. We left the Gionee factory with a lot of our beliefs about “Made in China” products well and truly changed. The country certainly is a paradise for mobile phone manufacurers. Perhaps we could learn a few things from them in this department.n sulabh@mymobile.co.in

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chief speak

“Our Aim is to Make 3G the De Facto Standard” The 3G roll-out began almost three years ago, but its adoption has been dismal. Operators have tried every marketing technique in the book to accomplish maximum penetration, but still the majority of subscribers in the country have not been impressed. Gurdeep Singh, President and CEO, Wireless, Reliance Communication, explains why operators in general have not been able to expand India’s 3G base, and what Reliance Communications in particular is doing about it Mukesh Kumar Singh & Abhijit Ahaskar

You have just slashed 3G prices by half. What are you looking to achieve by this? Our company did a survey of 5,000 odd subscribers to find out why 3G is still not the preferred network for consumers. We found 75 per cent consumers telling us that price is a barrier from using 3G. If this barrier is overcome, not only they will move to 3G but will also consume more data as 3G brings better speed and options. So, we decided to reduce our 3G rates. From Rs 250 for 1GB data, we have brought it down to Rs 123, making our 3G service cheaper than our 2G by 2 rupees. The offer is valid for one month and is less than half of the universal 3G prices. Though we have reduced prices in the past, the last time in October 2012, the pace of migration has been slow when compared to mobile phone penetration, which is growing at

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a much faster rate. Our objective is simple. We want to encourage our subscribers to migrate to a superior network. What are your expectations from the price cuts? We expect 3G traffic and data off-take to grow by three times over the next two years on our network. With the new rates, we are expecting 25-30 per cent of 2G phone owners to migrate to 3G within a year. Those who have 3G handsets but use 2G data must be already moving to a 3G network. We have enough spectrum and in most circles we have dual technology i.e. CDMA and GSM. We will offer dongles on CDMA, and smartphones and tablets on 3G. This gives us more capacity than other operators, giving us the chance to bring a data tsunami in the country.

Who is going to benefit from rate cuts? It will help us consolidate our leadership position and help us improve our customer mix. Since we are latecomers in the market, the best of class, mid-value and high value customers are sitting on other networks. It will help us attract these customers. And they have a good reason to come on our network. Why should the consumers stick to 2G when 3G is available and is better than 2G! Devices are moving to 3G all over the world. By 2015, 2G phones won’t be manufactured and 3G handsets will be the starting point. In five years from now, we will be on a hockey stick like growth curve and data will be the chief source of revenue. However, with today’s rate cuts we believe that curve can be preponed and in the next two years we can see data making a significant contribution to

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our revenue. What about the rural market? When 3G prices will fall, penetration of phones in villages has to increase first, so we have to go hand in hand with the handset manufacturers. Smartphone manufacturers have reduced prices and so must we. Therefore, reducing 3G prices will help in taking it to the nooks and corners of the country but it will take some time. We want to make Reliance the favourite network for mobile phone users. Our aim is to make 3G the de facto standard, where everyone has a 3G handset with a 3G network.

benefit from this plan, as 3G connectivity is poor in rural areas? Considering that our new data rates are so good, we are expecting a boom in demand for data in rural areas. Once this happens, we will see more and more users migrating to 3G and then we will improve our 3G network. You teamed up with Reliance Jio for 4G services. How are you going to benefit from this? The partnership will benefit both the companies. In fact, Reliance Jio is going to get the maximum benefit out of this deal, since instead of setting up fresh towers, they are going to use our already existing pan-India infrastructure.

apps and devices front? Our entire system of devices, handsets and apps is working to provide our customers not only an affordable network but also a reason for using the internet. We are continuously working to develop and offer more and more apps and services to our users through Reliance Web World. It will be available on all platforms: iOS, Windows and Android. We are also working on the devices front because unless there is an ecosystem to support 3G services, adoption isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t possible. Therefore, we have tied up with OEMs like Lenovo, Samsung and Micromax on devices of Rs 5,000 to Rs 45,000, including tablets. n mukesh@mymobile.co.in

How can your consumers in rural areas

Meanwhile, what is Reliance doing on the

abhijit@mymobile.co.in

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fa c e t o fa c e

“We will be loyal to our customers” The e-recharge market is growing at a brisk rate - it is finding takers even in rural India. But is this a passing fad or a trend that is here to stay? We met Harinder Takhar, CEO Paytm, to talk about the future of e-recharge in India and Paytm’s plans for the future Mukesh kumar Singh & Heena Gupta What is the state of e-recharge services in India today? The Indian consumer is now understanding that e-recharges are more convenient and the level of service is as per their expectations. An increasing number of people are going online and a few million every month are getting on to a smartphone that has a data connection. A lot of people are also opening bank accounts which are active online. When these all things come together, we get a segment of people who are young, happier to try new things, and who are upwardly online. We believe that e-recharge is right in the middle of this trend. So as far as India is concerned, the services are gaining immense popularity and momentum. How safe are online recharges and how different they are from conventional recharges? The offers are the same everywhere, but yes, they are very much safe. For instance, if you go to a retailer for a recharge then there are only some options available as, he has a limited space and he cannot post different offers by all operators. In this situation, the online medium becomes very active as a consumer is able to see all offers and benefits which they will get on recharging with a particular amount. Every now and then, a technical fault occurs while you are recharging with the retailer,

because of which your recharge gets stuck in the middle and you have to check with the retailer whether the recharge has been done or not. This is not the case with the online - if you place an order and it gets stuck, we will keep trying for you and will keep you informed through mail.

How does Paytm keep online recharge transactions secure? We keep all the credit and debit card information safe. There are audits conducted by the RBI and other authorities to check whether we are following proper norms or not. Apart from that, there are certain processes which banks want us to follow to make sure that people’s money is safe. We also carry out a number of checks, to make sure the user remains happy. We actually study the recharge patterns and look if something is amiss, and safeguard transactions by adding this extra layer of security. On which platforms is the Paytm app available? The app is available on Android, BlackBerry (old and new), WindowsJava, some selected Nokia phones. Paytm also started a bus ticketing service. What was the idea behind that? There is a very basic idea: whatever we do, we do it the way people like it. We will be loyal to our customers and in turn, create a loyal consumer base. We wanted to deliver better options and choices to our customers. That’s why we started this service. What improvements can we look forward to in money transactions through Paytm? We do something every week to make the transaction process better for the consumers. For instance, if you are our regular customer and you are using the card of a particular bank, the next time when you will do a transaction, the name of your bank will be on the top in the list. This is done in order to save the user’s time. n mukesh@mymobile.co.in heenagupta@mymobile. co.in

34 MYMOBILE septenber 2013

fa c e t o fa c e

“We wanted to bring Tegra to consumers at an affordable price” It has been a busy time for NVIDIA. Although initially known for its PC graphic cards, the company has been carving a niche for itself in the mobile space with the Tegra series of processors, and has been in the news of late for teaming up with Xolo for a Tegra 3 powered handset, even as its first gaming console, SHIELD, debuted in US. We caught with Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, NVIDIA South Asia to find out more about the company’s plans Abhijit Ahaskar How important is the mobility segment for NVIDIA? Over the last couple of years there has been a new trend, which is the rise of the mobility market, which includes mobiles and tablets. Tegra architecture is made for mobile devices and has been in the forefront for a while now. On July 15, we introduced Tegra with an Indian OEM, Xolo, bringing the Tegra experience to Indian consumers at a price they love. About 30 per cent people in India spend time on gaming in one form or the other. For gaming enthusiasts, we thought it’s best to partner with one of the biggest Indian market players and come out with something as irresistible as Xolo Play T1000. Which leads me to the next question: why tie up with an Indian brand? We wanted to bring Tegra to Indian consumers at an affordable price. We found that there are local players, who have a different cost structure and a reach that is completely unprecedented. So we thought, why not bring that technology to them if they can convert that technology to a new price point? Today one-third of the smartphone market belongs to the local companies. Here Xolo comes into the picture.

Xolo is created for and will have a continuum of products based on Tegra in different formats and form factors. NVIDIA’s fiscal year strategy is to partner with Xolo for more products catering to different segments of Indian users. Why should a user buy a Tegra powered quad-core device when he can get other devices at a lower price? In mobility, there are two principal factors i.e., performance and battery. All implementations have to be done keeping these two parameters in perspective. So we brought in the quad core but we also added a battery saver core. So when you are not using the phone, it is still doing something like synchronisation with mail, capturing SMSes, none of which needs the highest throughput. The single battery saver core handles all these tasks efficiently. Let us move on to NVIDIA’s console, SHIELD. How does it compare with powerful smartphones? The mobile is the fastest growing segment because it is easy to carry and play on. The engine for the Shield and a Tegra 4 powered smartphone is the same. SHIELD,

like a smartphone, can be used anywhere as it’s a mobile device. Among the mobile based gamers, someone wants a controller and someone wants an open device. SHIELD allows you to play in stand-alone mode, allows connecting with a PC and it has controllers which gamers love. Gamers still enjoy consolequality of gaming and with SHIELD we bring the same on a platform (Android) known to them. SHIELD will become our first end-user product for gamers. We will roll it out first in North America and Latin America. It can come to India very soon, depending on the response it gets in America. Finally, tell us a bit more about Logan, which everyone seems so excited about. Logan is our next gen mobile chip, and is still in the project stage. At the heart of Logan lies the Keplar GPU, which is also used in notebooks, desktops, workstations and supercomputers. We believe Logan will accelerate mobile computing by seven years, by allowing things that were not possible on mobile devices earlier. Devices based on Logan can be expected by mid-2014. n abhijit@mymobile.co.in

september 2013 MYMOBILE 35

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in focus

The Unified Licensing Regime Cometh

The era of ‘one nation one licence’ seems set to finally arrive with the guidelines of the National Telecom Policy 2012 having been sent for approval. We take a closer look at what this regime entails for the user and industry Abhijit Ahaskar

t might finally come after all. After years of deliberation, the proposal on ‘one nation one licence’ known as the Unified Licensing Regime has gathered momentum. Most of the drive in this regard has come from the part of the Government, while operators and experts in the industry have criticised some of the recommendations of the regime. The regime is a part of the National Telecom policy 2012 and its guidelines have been sent to the Law Ministry for approval. The Unified Licensing Regime will replace the existing United Access Service Licences (UASL) which stipulates separate licences for separate services. Under UL regime, operators can offer internet, telephone, mobile and related communication services through a single licence. What is the Unified Licensing Regime? The Unified Licensing Regime will allow operators to sell multiple communication services through a single licence, even if the operator does not have the infrastructure for all of it.

36 MYMOBILE September 2013

The operator will have to shell out a one-time entry fee of Rs 15 crore for a national level unified licence after which they have to pay 8 per cent of their annual gross revenue every year for the entire licence period of 20 years, renewable for 10 more years. The licence fee for district level unified licence is Rs 15 lakh. In all, licensing has been divided into three sdifferent levels- national, service area and district area. The services include national long distance, international long distance, access service, internet, IPTV, VSAT, and INSAT. Spectrum sharing a strict ‘no’ The new regime disassociates spectrum from the Unified License, which means the operators have to separately apply for Frequency Allotment and Wireless Operating License for obtaining spectrum. Earlier, spectrum was sold with the licence. The new regime will also address the long standing issue of roaming by allowing operators to sign roaming

pacts in areas where they do not have licences. Sharing of spectrum will remain prohibited to prevent spectrum hoarding by operators. However, sections of the industry feel that the spectrum is an important resource, which needs to be utilised efficiently. Sharing and trading in spectrum between operators, therefore, should be allowed for maximising benefits. Cross holding checked According to TRAI’s recommendations, no license holder or promoter company can have an equity of 10 per cent or more in another licence holding company in the same service area. Vodafone has stakes in Bharati Airtel and Reliance Communications in Reliance Telecom. While Vodafone holds upto 5 per cent equity in Airtel, Reliance Telecom, the GSM arm of Reliance Communications, has six service areas in common with Reliance Communications. The new regime is likely to be finalised soon and will be applicable as abhijit@mymobile.co.in

shootout

The Cloud Quartet It has been around for a while, but cloud storage is finally beginning to make its presence felt among mobile users. We take a look at four prominent cloud storage services and what they do and do not - offer the user Heena Gupta

38 MYMOBILE September 2013

www.mymobile.co.in

ne of the biggest advantages of storing our data online - in the ‘cloud,’ as they say - is that one can access it at any time and from any where. There are plenty of cloud services available in the market, and quite often, all that you need to have is an e-mail account to access them. What’s more, many cloud services also allow the user to view, edit and share files saved in the cloud. With some services, you can even sync your content across all your computers and devices. We bring to you four popular cloud services that can be accessed from your handset, along with their pros and cons.

Dropbox AImagine yourself stuck in the middle of a vacation, but needing to access data for an impending presentation. Well, you can access it in a matter of seconds if you have a Dropbox account. A file hosting service operated by Dropbox Inc., Dropbox offers cloud storage, file synchronization and client software for its consumers. It replicates the entire data that an individual has saved in his/her devices into a special folder which the user can access on any mobile phone or website in the world.

Pros- It offers up to 2GB of free cloud storage, which can be extended up to 18GB with the support of referrals. Pro account users can store up to 500GB, whereas business accounts start at 1TB for five users. It enables you to share data and create photo galleries and limit access to certain viewers too. The service supports Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and Blackberry operating systems and, also has unofficial ports to Symbian, Windows Phone, and MeeGo. Cons-

It has a one month ‘memory life’ after which one has to re-save the entire data. When it comes to the file synchronization, it can be made only from the files/documents the user has uploaded and not the ones pre-saved in the PC itself. It is also difficult to find files in the cloud as no tabs are available.

Apple iCloud Apple’s iCloud virtual storage service is compatible across all iOS devices and Mac OS X computers. It enables the user to keep all sorts of data (music, contacts, calendar entries, and more) in sync across their compatible devices using a centralised iCloud account as the conduit for distributing the content. In order to use the iCloud service, users must have an iTunes account and compatible computer or iOS device. When data in iCloud-enabled apps is added or updated on compatible devices, it automatically gets uploaded to the user’s iCloud account. Moreover, data can also be automatically downloaded to the user’s other iCloudenabled devices. iCloud is therefore both a storage tool and a system to keep all your data in sync across multiple devices.

Pros-

iCloud offers free storage of up to 5GB to all its users, with the option to buy more space, if the need arise. It also allows automatic downloads - so if you download music on your Mac from iTunes, then the same gets updated on all your other connected devices.

Cons-

One major problem which people face using iCloud is that it stores photographs only for a period of 30 days. There is also a limit on the number of photographs you can store on your device. Apart from this, iCloud is more of a syncing service that stores you data, but will not stream your tunes or photos from the cloud to any device.

Google Drive One of the most popular cloud services around, Google Drive allows the user to not only store information online but also edit and share it. Using it is easy - you only need to sign in using your Google account. You can then share data with authorised partners and colleagues. What’s more, data access is speedy and reliable. It also allows the data owners to create and manage an Access Control List.

Pros-

Google Drive provides free 15GB online storage

to its users across three services Google Drive, Gmail and Google+. However, if the free storage is used completely, then users can also get additional space from 100GB to 1TB through a paid monthly plan. Apart from this, the user can access the drive from any device that is online.

Cons-

The major disadvantage of the Google Drive is that it supports only 15 types of file formats. Your experience of the service also tends to vary with bandwidth.

Microsoft SkyDrive SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service, is basically a file moderator which allows users to upload and sync files to cloud storage and then access them from a web browser or their local device. The service is constructed on HTML5 technologies, and files up to 300MB can be uploaded via ‘drag-and-drop’ into the web browser, and up to 2GB via the SkyDrive desktop application for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

Pros-

Its service provides 7GB of free storage for users and an additional 3GB to students. SkyDrive saves any changes that the user’s friends make in any of their stored data keeping all the documents updated automatically, saving the user from the trouble of saving multiple copies of a document. . Cons- SkyDrive does not guarantee any safety for users storing their personal data on the cloud. n heenagupta@mymobile.co.in

September 2013 MYMOBILE 39

burn test Pros

Slip Slidin’ Away iBall’s budget-friendly tablet

internal memory

Hardware: Dual SIM, dual camera, dual core, dual speakers

198 mm

The iBall Slide 3G is powered by a dual core processor and comes with 1GB RAM. The tablet comes with dual SIM connectivity with 3G support, an uncommon feature for a tablet priced at less than Rs 10,000. There is a 2.0-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front facing camera. The former is passable and the latter grainy. It also supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and has 16GB internal memory, expandable via memory card. The 7-inch multi-touch display has a resolution of 1024x600, which is par for the course. It scored a decent 2,931 in Quadrant tests.

Multimedia: The antenna effect

ith the budget tablet market booming, iBall has reworked its Slide tablet to take on the competition. But will things ‘slide’ its way?

Looks: Compact and lightweight The iBall Slide 3G 7334i is a 7-inch tablet with a lean form factor and a plastic body. It feels compact and light and the plastic back almost passes for metal until you have touched it. The brushed metal appearance however, does add a touch of grace to its look and the matte finish, and has a comfy feel. It is compact but

40 MYMOBILE september 2013

with SIM

 16GB definitely not sturdy. If you hold it a little tightly, you can see ripples on the display. It has a covered panel beside the camera, which houses the dual SIM slots and a microSD slot. There are two speaker grilles at the back, and in a blast from the past, a slightly frail-looking antenna for FM radio.

124

 3G

The iBall Slide can handle games well, be it the graphic rich Virtua Tennis or the simple but intensive Temple Run 2. The tablet does lag sometimes when you have too many apps open, but that is a common occurrence with most of the tablets in this range. Video playback is smooth and sound through the dual speakers is of decent quality. Video quality suffers from the same issues that we have seen in most budget tablets: dull colours and washed out graphics. Then there is the FM antenna – just pull it out and you can listen to nine FM channels. The reception is usually decent, but suffers when used in a closed room.

Cons  Ordinary

battery



Plastic build

battery that gives three to four hours ofnonstopmovie playback.

Conclusion The iBall 3G is a value for money device with loads of features at an attractive price. For Rs 9,990, it is a very good proposition for those looking for a tablet on a tight budget. Those seeking an alternative can check out the Micromax Funbook Pro, which is priced at Rs 8,399 or the Swipe MTV Slash, which costs Rs 9,490. n team@mymobile.co.in

Price: Rs 9,990 verdict

Software: Runs on Android 4.1

Looks

The tablet runs on Android 4.1 OS, and besides the regular Google apps, it has Skype, Nimbuzz, RTI, Opera Mini, Voice search, We Chat, WhatsApp, and MX player, which can play all video files including mkv. Last but not least, it supports Bluetooth based keyboard and mouse. Just pair it and you can use it like a PC.

Features

ease of use

User experience: A smooth Slide The tablet responds very well to touch. Its interface is simple, the display is decent and so is the overall performance. It has a 3000mAh

performance

value for money overall

78%

www.mymobile.co.in

Nokia’s New Hope The Asha 501 comes with a new

design and interface

99.2 mm

he Lumia range might be making more Pros Cons headlines but Nokia clearly has no intention of giving up on its budget phone  Excellent design  No 3G support users. Which is why its CEO Stephen Elop and build flew down to India to launch the Asha 501,  Low screen a device that many expect to redefine the  Good interface and resolution budget phone segment with its innovative performance design and interface. But does it live up to its promise? case of Nokia Asha 501. Most Nokia devices come with the ability to change FM radio Looks: Breath of fresh air stations from headphones, but this feature is The Nokia Asha 501 comes with an all new design. The look is minimalistic, with only one missing from the Nokia Asha 501. We are also surprised to see no equaliser settings for the hardware button on the front, which houses audio player. That said, the sound quality of the 3.0-inch display. The volume rocker and the device is very good indeed. The phone the power button are given on the right side has a 3.15-megapixel fixed focus camera. The of the device. The build of the device is very image quality was decent enough, but video solid and what makes it stand out from the was not that good. budget phone crowd is its smooth finish and its colourful back panels which come in bright colours that are very reminiscent of the Lumia User Experience: Refreshing series. We, however, found too much empty The Nokia Asha 501 is a stylish phone with space around the display, which could have good build quality. It also comes with new and been better used – as of now, it actually makes exciting features and is easy to use, thanks to the display look smaller than it is.

58 mm

Hardware: Adequate The Nokia Asha 501 comes with a capacitive 3.0-inch display. The screen resolution is not that great but the touch experience is very good. The device comes with dual SIM capability (GSM+GSM), and offers 128MB of internal storage along with 64MB RAM. That might not sound very impressive to Android fans but is more than adequate for running the Asha series of devices. 4GB microSD card is available with the pack. The connectivity options include EDGE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but 3G is missing. To keep everything ticking is the 1,200 mAh battery.

an all-new interface. Some might take a bit of time getting used to the new OS and UI but it certainly is a breath of fresh air in the budget

Nokia Asha 501 tech specs Weight | 91 grams

The Nokia Asha 501 runs on the new Nokia Asha software platform 1.0. The homescreen now consists of the entire menu, and one swipe from it takes you to the list of apps you have used today. Which brings us to the matter of the swipe – no matter which app you are using, you can directly go to the homescreen by swiping to the left or right. There are also a number of pre-installed apps and games on the device – a good move as Asha still does not have the variety of apps that its biggest rival in the budget phone category, Android, does.

Memory | 128MB, MicroSD

Nokia phones have a good track record in multimedia but we were a bit disappointed in the

Conclusion The Nokia Asha 501 comes with a price tag of Rs 5,000. Those looking for alternatives can consider the Samsung REX90 which is priced at Rs 5,800. n team@mymobile.co.in

Size | 99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm

Software: A different touch

Multimedia: Good sound

segment. We would have preferred a slightly bigger display with higher resolution, but at its price tag, it certainly is not a bad deal.

OS | Asha 1.0

verdict 9

Looks Features

Battery | Li-Ion 1,200 mAh

ease of use

Talktime/Standby | Up to 17 hours/Up to 1152 hours

performance

Screen Size | 3.0-inch, Capacitive

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/No/Yes/Yes Camera | 3.15-Megapixel Others | Facebook, FM Radio, EA games

Price: Rs 5,000

value for money

9 8

overall

84%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 41

burn test

‘Fly’ing High Fly’s

e seem to be in the ‘phablet’ era with phones with large displays hogging both the limelight as well as market share. Following the footsteps of international brands, Indian manufactures are also rolling out devices with large displays. And among the latest to hit the market is the Fly F53S, which packs in a 5.3-inch display as well as some decent hardware. But are those - and what seems to be a tempting price good enough for the device to stand out in a very competitive market?

F53S blends a big screen with big features

3 5

Looks: Different Android Android devices of late tend to resemble each other to a large extent. But this is not the case with the Fly F53S. The smartphone is available in two colour variants Black and White - and we got our hands on the black one. The phone is made up of plastic but the sides of the device have a metal strip running along them, giving it a distinct look. This textured metal strip on the phone houses the volume rocker buttons on one side and the power button on the other. Below the 5.3-inch display are three soft keys for Menu, Home and Back. The upper front part of the phone has the front facing camera and a few sensors, while below the device is the charging slot, with the 3.5mm audio jack right on top of the phone. The device comes with a rubberised back panel. The build quality of the device is decent and it is comfortable to hold. However, using the phone with one hand might be a problem because of its size.

Hardware: Decent

151.5 mm

The Fly F53S comes with a 5.3-inch qHD display with 540x960p screen resolution, which is par for the course for the price. The smartphone is powered 1.2 GHz dual- core processor and comes with 1GB RAM and 4GB of internal storage which can be further expanded to 32GB using a microSD card. The phone comes with dual SIM functionality (GSM+GSM). It houses a 1,850 mAh battery, which delivers a decent backup in spite of the large display. The touch experience on the device was very good and it handled a number of HD games well. Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Software: Four Point One The Fly F53S runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. Some might consider it to be old, but there are a number of leading smartphones that are still using it and it addresses most of the users’ basic needs well enough. The logo of the company appears on the screen and you can unlock the screen by sliding it. The device has five customisable homescreens

Cons

Pros 5.3 inch capacitive screen  Dual core processor  Good build quality 

76.8 mm

42 MYMOBILE september 2013

Uncomfortable to use with one hand  Internal memory should be larger 

www.mymobile.co.in

which can be used to place the shortcut of apps and widgets - incidentally, you cannot increase or decrease the number of homescreens. The homescreen also comes with fixed options for calling, contacts, menu, messaging and browsing the web.

highlights The phone has only 5 homescreen panels

Multimedia: Fair light friend

The phone comes with a 5.3-inch IPS display

2 3

Back panel has 8.0-megapixel camera with LED flash

Matel strip on the side panel gives it unique looks

5 There is a 2.0-megapixel camera on the front

Price: Rs 11,499

The Fly F53S comes with an 8.0-megapixel rear camera with flash and a 2.0megapixel front facing camera. The image quality of the camera was good, but it tended to deteriorate as lights dimmed. The secondary 2.0-megapixel camera worked fine during video calls and was also useful in taking self portraits. The smartphone has FM radio and audio player. Music quality was good both on the headphones and loudspeaker. The video player is also capable of playing HD videos.

User Experience: Good value for money The Fly F53S is a good buy for those on a tight budget. The phone is good in terms of build quality and comes with a large display. The dual core processor works fine and the music quality of the device is very good indeed. The 8.0-megapixel camera also is a decent performer. The large display makes viewing videos a delight. Round that off with decent battery life and the phone is a very good proposition for those who do not want to venture too deep into five figure territory for a phablet.

Conclusion The Fly F53S is available for Rs 11,499, which is definitely an attractive proposition. Those looking for an alternative can also consider the Intex Aqua i5 which is priced at Rs 11,690 and has a 5.0-inch display. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

80%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 43

burn test Ice Ice Baby Ice X

arrives in the tablet space withe Ice Xtreme Pro

Looks stylish and trendy  Comes with a number of pre-installed apps  Dual SIM connectivity 

Rajasthan Royals IPL team branding

The Ice Xtreme Pro looks stylish and trendy, especially when compared to other Android tablets available in the market. The front of the device comprises a 7.0inch display, a front facing camera and a speaker grille. There is no hardware button on the front. Right on top of the device is the power button and the volume rocker key. The upper part also has a rubber flap, which covers the SIM slots along with the memory card slot. The tablet comes with a rubber coated rear panel, which has the Ice Xtreme branding on it, and contains a camera and a speaker grille. On the sides are charging port and the 3.5mm audio jack. The tablet looks good, but at the same time, is very bulky as well. That said, it is comfortable to hold and the rubber coated body provides a nice grip to the user.

Trendy rubberised design

Hardware: Decent

Dual SIM support with 3G connectivity

The Ice Xtreme Pro comes with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 1024x600 screen resolution. For better connectivity, the tablet has both Wi-Fi and 3G support - in fact, it comes with dual SIM support, with the option to use 3G on one SIM and EDGE on the other. Powering the tablet is a 1GHz dual core processor, backed up by 1GB RAM. The on board storage of the tablet stands at 4GB, which can be further expanded with the help of a microSD card to 32GB. The tablet houses a 2.0-megapixel rear camera and a secondary VGA camera. To ensure all this keeps working, there is a 3,400 mAh battery on board.

A bit bulky  Ordinary camera  Not the greatest sound 

highlights

here’s a new tablet manufacturer in tech town. Ice X has launched the Ice Xtreme Pro tablet, its first tablet. And well, it certainly does make a visual impact, with Rajasthan Royals branding and claims to come with some good apps and games on board as well. But will they help the Ice Xtreme Pro stand out in an extremely crowded - and competitive - market?

Looks: Pretty stylish

Cons

Pros

195 mm

4 Contains pre-loaded Ice XBuddy 96 applications

Software: Well endowed The Ice Xtreme Pro runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system. The device comes pre-loaded with many useful applica-

44 MYMOBILE september 2013

5 The loudspeaker delivers crisp sound

3 123 mm

www.mymobile.co.in

User Experience: Fine

tions, the most notable of which is Ice XBuddy pre-inwhich contains 96 applications. In order stalled, and plays them to install the Ice XBuddy applications, you smoothly with no lag whatsoever. The need to go to the settings menu and click sound quality of the device is good over on Source, after which you will be able to the loudspeaker but not that great over install these apps. The tablet also comes earphones, which is a bit odd, as it generwith the Rajasthan Royals software, which ally is the other way around. provides the user with detailed information about the IPL team. Those wanting to explore the technical side of the tablet can use the Xtreme Pro application for the purpose. The device also has Google Play on board, for those who prefer getting their apps Size | 195 x 123 x 11.9 mm from the official Android marWeight | 330 grams ketplace.

ICE xtreme pro tech specs

Multimedia: Fun and games

Our multimedia experience of the device was a mixed bag. The images taken from the camera are nothing great, but can be improved using the editing options that come with the camera app. In order to play videos on the tablet, you will need to use the Mix video player which supports playing HD quality videos. Gamers will like the tablet. It comes with games like ‘Subway Surfer’ and ‘Where is my Water’

Memory | 8GB, microSD

For RR fans! It you are a big fan of the Rajasthan Royals and are looking for a decently performing tablet that does not cost the earth, then the Ice Xtreme Pro is a good option for you. The tablet offers you decent build quality, strikingly different looks, and dual SIM connectivity. The pre-loaded apps and games are a decent bonus, and battery life is good - it easily stretches to more than a day.

Conclusion The Ice Xtreme Pro is priced at Rs 8,999. Those looking for alternatives can consider the iBall Slide 3G 7334i which comes with a price tag of Rs 9,450. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict

OS | Android 4.1

Looks

Screen Size | 7.0-inch, Capacitive

Features

Battery | Li-Po 3,400 mAh

ease of use

Talktime/Standby | Up to 8 hours/ Up to 200 hours

perfoRmance

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

value for money

Camera | 2.0-megapixel Others | Google Play store, ICE xbuddy

Price: Rs 8,999

overall

80%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 45

burn test Ascend, Mate? Huawei aims big with a

big phone

t may be one of the leading mobile device manufacturers in the world, but Huawei has been keeping a relatively low profile in India. Well, that could change with the Ascend Mate, one of its most well-endowed - and expensive - handsets.

Looks: Big screen, graceful looking Ascend Mate is one of the best-looking big screen smartphones around. The unit we got had a matte greyish-black exterior with a matte metal rim running across it. The 6.1-inch edge-to-edge display is definitely its most significant feature - it looks as big as a small-sized tablet. The back panel is removable, but the battery is non-removable and the microSIM and microSD slots are on the top and right hand side respectively. It weighs 198 grams, which is a bit heavy for a smartphone. Samsung’s 6.3 inch Galaxy Mega weighs the same and has a bigger screen. Its rubber-like finish and slim frame make it not only different looking, but also relatively comfortable one to use. All the panels are closed, there is a volume button adjacent to the screen/power button, keeping the exterior simple. The back panel has a round camera with flash and small speaker, while the front one sits next to the inear grille which seems bigger than the speaker. We missed an external camera button, but it seems like most large screen devices have said goodbye to it.

Hardware: Powerful and smooth performer The 6.1-inch display is an IPS LCD panel

that supports multi-touch, is protected with Gorilla glass 2, and has a screen resolution of 1280x720p and pixel density of 241ppi. These may not be the best in class but they combine well to deliver sharp images. We loved the colour effects even when the brightness was low. For the processor, Huawei has opted for a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, which comes from the China-based chip maker, Hi-Silicon. The handset includes 2GB RAM and 5GB internal storage which can be expanded to another 32GB. It certainly is an impressive performer. You can keep several files open, run any graphic intensive game, record full HD videos and watch full HD videos without the slightest of jitters. Response to touch is also smooth and instant even if you are wearing gloves - Huawei has called this feature ‘magic touch’ as the user will not have to take off their gloves to use the device. For connectivity, it has Bluetooth 4.0, 3.5mm audio jack, Wi-Fi, and HSDPA. The camera has a megapixel count of eight and plenty of shooting options. The 1.0-megapixel front camera can record in 720p and handles video chats very well.

Software: Better than regular Android Ascend Mate runs on Android 4.1, with Huawei’s own Emotion UI over it, which looks better than regular Android UI. It comes with three customisable home screens, and all apps have been clubbed under various categories making the search easy. For instance, Facebook and Twitter have been clubbed under social

highlights Rugged matte exterior

Impressive HD display in a sleek body

3.5 mm audio jack given on the upper panel

1 Intuitive Huawei Emotion user Interface

46 MYMOBILE september 2013

It has a Li-Ion 4,050 mAh battery which lasts long

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huawei ascend mate Multimedia: What a viewing experience

Price: Rs 24,900 networking, all Google apps under another category, and so on. The handset also boasts of Air sharing, a multi-screen software solution, which allows content to be shared with other devices like a TV or a tablet.

The Ascend Mate handles games very well, and with the screen size a tad bigger than stock smartphones, watching movies was a great experience. Full HD movies in all popular file formats play smoothly and look colourful and sharp. The camera performs impressively too. Of the 5GB internal memory, more than 1GB is occupied already, and the remainder also fills in no time if you record full HD videos or install HD games on it. Of course, you can expand it, but we wish it had more space. The FM radio is good and the reception decent. Call quality is clear and quite loud. The speaker grille may be 3 small but its output is crisp. Battery life is very impressive indeed - it lasts up to twelve hours on regular gaming and movie watching, and over two days of normal usage.

User Experience: Big for a smartphone The Huawei Ascend Mate doubles up as your phone and almost as a tablet as well. It is good looking, works excellently and it has all the features that a smartphone can have. However, a 6.1-inch display device is definitely not every-

body’s idea of a smartphone. But for those who want a device with a big display that can also double up as a phone, the Ascend Mate is a very good option.

Conclusion Ascend Mate is available at Rs 24,900, which is pretty impressive given the features and utility it offers. Overall, it is an excellent device at an excellent price, and has the potential to sway those who hark after betterknown brands. For alternatives, check out Samsung Galaxy Note 2, priced at Rs 27,500, and comes with a stylus and an AMOLED display of a lower resolution. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

Cons

Pros Excellent performance  Very intuitive UI  Long lasting battery 

Slightly heavy  Low internal memory  Too large for some 

7 9

perfoRmance value for money

overall

80%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 47

burn test

Panasonic Phablet

Will the P51 carve a niche for Panasonic?

anasonic has re-entered the Indian phone market and seems to mean business, as is indicated by its launch of the burly P51, which comes with a 5.0-inch HD display and a quad-core processor. Does it do enough to make the bigger brands sweat, though?

does not possess a magnetic layer to m m lock or unlock the screen. 4 14 There is also no space on the device for storing the stylus, which can be a problem.

Looks: Stylish and trendy The Panasonic P51 falls into the phablet segment with its 5.0-inch display. The device 75 m boasts of a HD IPS m display of 1280x720 pixel resolution. The display is protected by the Dragontrail glass which makes it scratch-resistant. The phone looks stylish, sleek and the edge-to-edge glass look adds a classy touch to the device, even though the device does have a very prominent ‘chin.’ There are no hardware keys on the front, which also houses a front facing 1.3-megapixel camera placed on the top right corner. The power button is given on the top along with the 3.5mm audio jack. The volume control keys are located on the right side of the device and below it is the microSD card slot. The left side has the SIM card slots accompanied by the USB charging port. The rear panel of the device has a good matte finish and contains an 8.0-megapixel camera and a speaker grille.

Hardware: It’s quad core The Panasonic P51 is powered by a 1.2GHz MediaTek quad-core processor, backed up with 1GB RAM and 4GB onboard storage which can be further expanded using a memory card. It comes with dual SIM functionality (GSM+GSM) and a 2,500 mAh non-removable battery, which makes both the SIM card and microSD card hot swappable, and also takes a fair amount of time to get charged. On the connectivity front, it comes with options like 3G HSDPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS/A-GPS.

Software: Yummy Jelly Bean The Panasonic P51 runs on the Android 4.2 version of Jelly Bean. It comes with five customisable homescreens which can be used to place shortcuts of your favourite apps and widgets. The notification bar also features a settings

48 MYMOBILE september 2013

Multimedia: Mixed bag shortcut and a button to clear all the notifications along with expandable notifications. Like most other Android devices, this one also has five fixed shortcuts on the main screen for calling, camera, menu, internet and messaging. Apart from these, the keys for Back, Home and recently used apps are incorporated in the device UI. The smartphone also offers pre-loaded apps like Twitter, Facebook, WeChat as well as the usual Google apps. The phone also comes with a stylus and a magnetic cover, but the cover

panasonic p51

The Panasonic P51 comes with an 8.0-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash. The camera offers features like face detection, zero shutter lag, geolocation tagging, ISO, and exposure settings. The zero shutter lag feature is the trump card of the camera, and lives up to its name. The camera also comes with different camera modes including normal, face beauty, HDR, panorama, and multi-angle. The images captured with the device were sharp but the colours did not come out well - and pictures taken indoors were generally disappointing. The front facing 1.3-megapixel camera worked well during video calls, and the music quality of the device was good both on loudspeaker and headphones. However, the equalizer settings were missing for the default music player. The phone recorded and played HD videos smoothly without any problem. All in all, our experience in the multimedia department was a mixed bag.

tech specs

User Experience: Fine, very fine

Size | 144 x 75 x 8.5mm

The Panasonic P51 is a decent device. However, in spite of the quad-core processor, the smartphone lagged a bit while playing heavy graphic rich games. The battery backup of the device was satisfactory it easily lasted for a day, but charging the battery took a lot of time. The camera delivered fine pictures, even though the colours did not always come out well. The sound quality and voice clarity was good. All in all, our experience was definitely a positive one.

Conclusion

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

The Panasonic P51 is a good looking device that performs solidly. However, some might think that it is a bit highly priced at Rs 26,990. Those looking for alternatives can consider the Huawei Ascend Mate which comes with a quad- core processor and full HD display and costs just Rs 24,900. n

Camera | 8.0-megapixel Others | HD videos Playback, Twitter, Facebook, WeChat

Price: Rs 26,990

team@mymobile.co.in

www.mymobile.co.in

highlights 2 1

The 5.0-inch display is a delight

2 The 8.0-megapixel has a number of shooting options

3 It runs on Android 4.2 jellybean operating system

4 The magnetic cover available with sales pack

verdict

Looks It comes with Twitter, Facebook and WeChat

Pros Stylish looks  Decent performance  Good battery life 

Cons  A bit expensive  Lags during HD games  Camera is inconsistent

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

78%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 49

burn test Iconi(a)c Windows The Acer Iconia W3 is

the most portable Windows device ever

t might have ruled desktops and notebooks for more than a decade now, but Windows has found the going tough when it comes to tablets. But that could change with devices like Acer’s Iconia W3, which combine productivity with portability and affordability.

Looks: Plain, portable Jane Acer might have made some very snazzy gadgets of late, but it has stuck to being solid and safe rather than spectacular when it comes to the Iconia W3. While it is surprisingly compact - it is the first 8.1-inch tablet to be running Windows 8 - it is unlikely to attract attention with its plain front, where the display dominates, or its metallic back, which houses the camera. At slightly over half a kilo, it is surprisingly lightweight and while it is not the thinnest tablet around, it will slip into most overcoat pockets and handbags with a degree of ease.

Hardware: Shades of a netbook As in most portable, wallet-friendly Windows devices, the Iconia W3’s specs are designed more to perform than to impress. The 8.1 inch display has a resolution of 1280 x 800, and powering the device is a 1.8 GHz dual core Intel Atom processor, backed up by 2GB of RAM. The tablet comes with storage options of 32 GB and 64GB (expandable using a microSD card) and has all the connectivity options you would expect in a netbook - USB connectivity via a bundled adaptor which fits into the micro USB port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It also has dual 2.0-megapixel cameras for video calls and some very basic photography. Pretty much netbook we would say.

Software: Windows 8...and MS Office too Where the Iconia W3, however, holds an edge over its tablet competitors is in the fact that it runs a complete version of Windows 8. This is not the watered down RT, but Windows

8 proper, complete with tiled interface and the desktop mode, which will let you run Windows 7 apps on it as well. And if that were not enough, Acer has also bundled MS Office 2013 with it, giving users access to perhaps the most powerful office suite and productivity tool around. And of course, one has access to the Windows Store for downloading fresh apps.

Multimedia: Not the greatest On the multimedia front, the Iconia W3 is adequate rather than exemplary. We have seen tablets in the price segment having displays with much higher resolution and brightness. While the tablet is great for browsing the Web and other routine tasks, it is not the greatest when it comes to viewing videos. Playing games is easy thanks to its size, but colours look washed out and the sound seems a bit on the tinny side. The cameras too are good enough for very rough and ready photography, although the front facing camera handled video chats well.

User Experience: Windows at its portable best

small notebook of sorts. Yes, we would have preferred something with a much better display and sleeker design, but what we cannot deny is that this is the first time we have seen a device that runs exactly the same operating system as on our desktops and notebooks and can still fit into an overcoat pocket. And that in our opinion is the core strength of the Iconia W3 - it gives you your desktop in your hand. The relatively smaller display actually makes it possible for one to hold the tablet with both hands and type away using one’s thumbs - something that is not possible in other Windows 8 tablets. Battery life is decent too we easily got through a day of hefty use with mail running and lots of browsing and typing.

Conclusion At Rs 30,500, the Acer Iconia W3 actually costs lesser than the fourth generation iPad with Retina Display, while delivering a PC-like experience. However, those wanting more apps and a smoother interface will be lured by the iPad, which has a superior display, better camera and starts at Rs 31, 900 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only edition n team@mymobile.co.in

There will be some who will compare the Iconia W3 with budget Windows 8 notebooks and complain about its performance in this regard. However, consider it purely as a standalone tablet and it acquires a different dimension. The Iconia W3 might not have the processing muscle to run high end video games or video-editing software, but is more than capable of handling mainstream tasks like Web browsing, word processing, presentations, e-mail and social networks. Acer even gives you the option to purchase a wireless keyboard into whose back it can fit easily, effectively converting it into a

highlights The Iconia W3 runs Windows 8 and does so comfortably

The 8.1-inch display is good for viewing websites, but could have been brighter

50 MYMOBILE september 2013

MS Office 2013 comes bundled with the device

Acer also provides a wireless keyboard case as an additional accessory

The build quality of the tablet is solid rather than spectacular

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Cons

Pros Complete Windows 8 experience  Very portable  Terrific price tag, with MS Office 2013 onboard 

Not capable of high-end computing tasks  USB connectivity needs an adaptor  Display quality not the greatest 

218.44 m

1134

.62m m

Acer Iconia W3 tech specs Size | 218.44 x 134.62 x 10.16 mm Weight | 498.95 grams

verdict

Memory | 32GB, microSD OS | Windows 8

Looks

Screen Size | 8.1-inch, Capacitive Battery | Li-Po 6,800 mAh Talktime/Standby | Up to 8 hours/-

ease of use

value for money

Camera | 2.0-megapixel

8 9

overall

Others | MS Office 2013, Dual Camera, micro HDMI

Price: Rs 30,500

Features

perfoRmance

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

86%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 51

burn test

Grand Performer?

Samsung attempts to repeat the Grand formula with a smaller display and more power Pros  Excellent  Good

performance

battery life

 Attractive

price

Cons  Low

resolution display

 Slight

lag in screen unlock

 Flimsy

back panel

Metal rim gives it solid feel

highlights 4

Dual SIM support with 3G connectivity

Easy mode on the home screen

1 Decent quality dual cameras

he Galaxy Grand was a major success for Samsung, combining a large display with a relatively low price. So, it is hardly surprising that the Korean behemoth is looking to repeat the formula with the Galaxy Grand Quattro, a smaller handset with more power and a lower price. Along with the recently launched Galaxy Core, it also fills a price gap between the Galaxy Ace Plus (priced at Rs 15,750) and Galaxy Grand (priced at Rs 19,900). But can the Grand Quattro succeed against some very spirited competition?

Looks: Same old Grand It may have a smaller screen than the Galaxy Grand, but the Quattro looks very similar to it. The front comes with a 4.7-inch capacitive display, the regular Samsung Home button, and a front facing camera. The back panel is swappable and has the same flimsy plasticky feel to it for which Samsung has been heavily criticised, even in

52 MYMOBILE september 2013

Decent battery back-up

the high-end S4. The slim form factor, light build, handy screen size and nicely curved edges combine to make the device easy to hold and use. The metal rim running along its side adds a touch of class too.

Hardware: Quad core processor, ample storage As its name indicates, the Quattro is powered by a quad core processor. It also has 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal memory (expandable upto 32GB), and a 2,000mAh battery that claims talk-time of upto 11 hours. The 4.7-inch TFT display supports multi-touch and has the same screen resolution as the Grand, i.e., 800 x 480 pixels. It supports dual SIM connections and you can easily toggle from one to another. The call quality is good on both. For connectivity, it has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, 3G with HSDPA, micro USB, 3.5mm universal jack and GPS. It has a VGA front facing camera and a 5.0-megapixel

rear facing camera. On the Quadrant benchmark test, it registered an impressive score of 4712.

Software: Appy fizz, intuitive UI The device runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, has five homescreens with large, prominent icons. The pre-loaded apps list includes FM Radio, Chat On messenger, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Play, Voice Search, Picassa, Samsung All share, VLC player and Samsung’s own recommended apps. The interface also comes with an ‘easy’ mode, which allows one the option of placing one’s favourite contact, apps, and features on the homescreen for easy access to the apps and services one uses most frequently.

Multimedia: Not HD, but impressive The Grand Quattro’s display might not be

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Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro tech specs 133.3 mm

2 70.7 mm

720p HD like some of its competitors but it still manages to handle videos and images well, and is bright and renders colours and details well. The device also features a pair of cameras. The front one is pretty basic and best used for video chats, but the one on the back offers a number of options like 720p recording at 30fps, LED flash, auto-focus, colour effects, smile detection, face detection, and macro along with an image editor. Speaker quality is really good, with clear and loud sound. The handset handles graphic intensive games like Temple Run and Virtua Tennis very well.

User experience: Compact, competent The Grand Quattro responds well to touch, although there is a slight lag after one hits the screen unlock button. The handset also comes with some simple, motion-based controls. For instance, if you shake it, it starts searching for

Bluetooth devices in range and if you want to mute an incoming call, an alarm, or pause a video, just turning the handset over will do just that. These features were first seen in the Galaxy SIII, and are now being incorporated in other devices in the range. We are not complaining at all. Overall, we found the handset very ergonomic and handy to use. The buttons are well placed, the display is suitably sized, and the performance is impressive as well.

Conclusion The Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro combines some very good hardware with an attractive price. If you want a quad core powered handset from an established brand, perhaps the Quattro is your best option. But if you are not averse to trying out relatively lesser known brands, then Micromaxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Canvas 4 is definitely worth checking out. Samsung Grand Quattro is priced at Rs

Price: Rs 17,435

17,435 and offers better features a higher resolution display, a newer version of Android, better camera and more internal memory. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

performance

value for money

overall

80%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 53

burn test A New Canvas Micromax

ups the ante with the Canvas 4. But can it challenge the bigger brands in its segment? 5

highlights 1 Stunning 13.0megapixel camera

Impressive 1280 x 720 display,

icromax has been on a launching spree on its Canvas range, adding new handsets to the series almost every few weeks. Although the specs have been tweaked and devices targeted at different price points, most of the Canvas phones have looked largely similar. Which is why the Canvas 4 is interesting - the new handset marks a significant shift in terms of looks, build quality and the overall performance.

Looks: Very compact and elegant The Canvas 4 has a flat plastic back panel with a glossy finish. The front boasts a 5.0-inch display with Gorilla Glass 2 coating over it. There is a matte metal rim across the device to give it a solid feel and some elegance, an element which has been missing in previous devices in the series. It looks good but not really unique â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in fact, it almost looks like a replica of Galaxy Grand, minus the metal rim (even the removable back panel is equally flimsy and plastic in nature). The micro USB port lies on the lower part of the phone, the 3.5mm universal jack on the top, volume controller on the left and

54 MYMOBILE september 2013

power button on the right.

Hardware: Very impressive indeed When it comes to the Canvas 4â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hardware, what impressed us most was its 1.2GHz quad core processor and 1GB RAM combo which makes for fast processing and adept handling of games, HD movies and apps. Then comes its 16GB internal memory, to which you can add another 32GB via a memory card. We ran the Quadrant benchmark on the phone and it scored an impressive 4,003. The device boasts a 5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280x720, and pixel density of 294ppi, which works a treat while playing videos and games. Also present are a 13.0-megapixel camera with a LED flash, although we would have preferred a dedicated camera button. The 2,000mAh battery claims a talk time of 8 hours and on regular use it gives upto 6 hours, which is pretty impressive. On the connectivity front, it has Wi-Fi, dual SIM support, Bluetooth 4.0, micro USB, 3G with HSDPA, and GPS.

Speaker quality is good

4 Slim and elegant looking

5 Blow or shake to unlock screen

Multimedia: A solid entertainer The Canvas 4 has a remarkable camera with multiple features like panorama, smile detection, scene mode, ISO, anti-flicker, and colour effects. It is however, oddly positioned, so we

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Pros 

Elegant looks



Excellent performance,

 Brilliant

144.5 mm

display

Cons 

No camera button



Plasticky back cover



Odd camera position

73.8 mm

Battery | Li-ion 2,000 mAh Talktime/Standby | 8 hours, NA found our fingers going over the lens while holding the device to shoot videos or images. The video player supports playing full HD videos in most popular file formats including mkv. The speaker is good and so is the video quality. In most of the handsets in this price bracket, videos either look dull or washed out, but not in the new Canvas. It has a dazzling display and videos and images look rich in colour and life-like. The FM radio works well and the call quality is decent too.

Software: Comes with Android 4.2 The handset runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and comes with five homescreen panels. Micromax has thrown in some interesting touches to the interface - you can blow on the screen or simply shake the handset to unlock the screen. Besides regular Google apps like Maps, GTalk, Google Play, and Search, it also features a few Micromax apps like MLive and M Security. The former is for watching movies and the latter for taking backups and protecting handset against viruses and spam. Another notable app is the Pop-Up

Browser which opens in half a window, allowing you to play movies or other apps behind it. It may not be a useful feature, but is certainly a decent try at multi-tasking.

User Experience: A pleasure to use The Canvas 4 is a signficant improvement over its predecessors. Elegance is written all over it, an element somewhat absent in earlier Canvas handsets. In spite of having a 5-inch display device, it is comfortable to use and is slim and compact. In a nutshell, it is a sturdy and nice looking handset with a robust hardware, all of which comes at a fairly moderate price.

Conclusion In our opinion, the Micromax Canvas 4 delivers very good value for money at its price tag of Rs 17,999. However, at this price point, it faces competition from the big brands, most notably the Samsung Grand Quattro, which also sports a quad core processor and is priced at Rs 17,435, although we did not find its camera and display to be on the same level as the Canvas 4. n team@mymobile.co.in

GPRS/3G/BT/WiFi | Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes Camera | 13.0-megapixel Others | Quad-core processor, HD display

Price: Rs 17,999 verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

perfoRmance

value for money

overall

80%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 55

burn test For Budget BlackBerry Boys The least expensive BB10

device

lackBerry has brought another physical QWERTY driven smartphone to the table, the Q5. Like its two predecessors this year, it too runs on the new BB10 operating system. However, it does not come with as hefty a price tag as the Z10 and Q10. But does the lower price tag come at the cost of performance?

Looks: Could have been better The Q5 is a touch and type smart phone. It has a 3.1-inch

highlights 4

Pros

 Great build

quality

The Looks of the Q5 are similar to the Q10

 Very good

camera

 Excellent

performance 2

Cons

It runs the new BB10 OS

 Can be

difficult to hold

 No

expandable memory

 Sound

quality not exceptional

It has both, a touch screen and physical QWERTY keypad

2 4 BlackBerry Hub makes interface more user friendly

5 Voice quality of the phone is very good

56 MYMOBILE september 2013

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Hardware: A mixed bag We must say its competitors have an edge over the Q5 when it comes to hardware for the price. The Q5 does try to bring some good stuff to the table like the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor with 2GB RAM, which speeds up programs on the device, all of it built on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 chipset. However, putting a 5.0megapixel rear camera and just 8GB on board memory is slightly disappointing. In our opinion, it needed at least an 8.0-megapixel camera and 16GB on board memory to make it a good challenger in its price category. To power the device the phone has 2,180 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery. Other hardware features include a 2.0-megapixel front camera that can capture 720p videos, micro SIM support, a microSD expansion slot which can accommodate memory upto 32GB and 3G, Wi-Fi, USB and Bluetooth V4.0 connectivity.

Software: The new BB10 If you have seen or used the Q10 or the Z10, then you will feel right at home with the Q5. The usual finger gestures like swipe up to close a program, swipe left to right to go the BlackBerry Hub and more can be performed to operate the phone. The Hub keeps all the accounts in one place along with the settings, via which one can quickly set up Facebook, Twitter or get connected to Web mail accounts. The whole operation is smooth and the user does not get the feeling of lag when switching from one panel to the other. The drop down menu is also like the one found on the Q10. There are some good apps pre-loaded on the phone and one can download more through the rapidly expanding BlackBerry world.

Multimedia: Good sound, great screen and not so great camera One thing we particularly are appreciative of

is the touchscreen on this phone. The colours are crisp and one can watch movies or play games without the graphics going haywire. The text on it is no different. The usual movie and audio player come pre-loaded and do justice to the content. The loudspeaker located at the bottom of the phone makes sure the user hears the audio properly and is quite loud. For optimal sound excellence, however, we do recommend you use a headset. Moving to the camera, we got mediocre results from it. While the outdoor shots were good, the indoor ones even with the flash fetched digital noise. Close up shots on the other hand were better.

User Experience: We expected more

120 mm

touchscreen 720x720 pixel display, and also a physical QWERTY keypad underneath. The keypad is nice to use, but we would have preferred larger keys, just like the ones found on the Q10. Above the screen users will also find a front facing camera for video chat. Turn the phone around and you will find the large BlackBerry logo in the middle of the panel, a rear camera and a LED Flash. This is probably the first BlackBerry phone whose back panel cannot be removed, which is why Blackberry has kept a flip panel on the side, which hides the microSD card and SIM slots. The volume rocker is placed on the right side of the phone and the power button is placed on the top. The build quality is not what we had expected. We quite liked what the Z10 and Q10 gave, but the Q5 just looks plasticky. You do get three colour variations in the form of red, black and white, but none of them redeem its looks.

Overall, this phone did try to deliver what was expected, but in some areas it could have done much more. While the interface is a treat to work with and one can quickly go through programs or check e-mails, you do feel a bit more onboard storage would have been good, especially as the phone seems targeted at a more youthful audience. A better megapixel camera would also have helped. On the brighter side, the voice quality and battery life of the phone are brilliant. It ran smoothly (with Wi-Fi

66 mm off) for a day, something that the earlier Curve models could hardly do.

Conclusion To sum it all up, the BlackBerry Q5 definitely seems a step in the right direction, although we do think some work needs to be done on build quality. You wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find its alternative as there are no physical QWERTY phones in this price range, but you can consider full touchscreen one phones such as the LG Nexus (Rs 25,200) and Nokia Lumia 820 (Rs 21,200). n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

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

perfoRmance

Camera | 5.0-megapixel

value for money

Others | QWERTY keypad, upgradable to BB 10.1

Price: Rs 24,990

9 8

overall

82%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 57

burn test Optimus Beast LG’s Optimus G Pro boasts staggeringly good hardware

fter not exactly setting the market on fire with its first phablet salvo, the Optimus Vu, LG returns to the phablet arena with the very muscular Optimus G Pro. But will bleeding edge hardware be enough for it to succeed against some very well-entrenched rivals?

Looks: No Beauty there... When it comes to appearance, the Optimus G Pro follows relatively routine phablet looks. Its size might attract some attention but we doubt if its sight would. The front is dominated by the large 5.5 inch display, which looks even more imposing as LG has trimmed the bezel from the sides. There is a massive home button beneath the display and above it is the front facing camera. The volume controller button is large and on the side, while the back houses the speaker and a 13.0-megapixel camera. As in the Galaxy S4, the phone has a definite plasticky feel to it, courtesy the back. At 9.4mm, it is not the thinnest and at 172 grammes, not exactly flyweight either. In sum, the Optimus G Pro looks like what it is - a large phablet. Its size will turn heads, but not its design.

Hardware: ...but a Beast here! If the looks of the Optimus G Pro are relatively run-of-the-mill, its innards certainly are not. LG has thrown the kitchen sink at the device and result is one of the most powerful phablets in tech town. The 5.5 inch display is a full HD one with 401 ppi pixel density, and purring merrily inside that largely plastic hood is a 1.7 GHz quad core Krait processor from Qualcomm, backed up by 2GB RAM to keep lags at a minimum. The main camera is an impressive 13.0-megapixel affair, storage stands at 32GB and can be expanded, and when it comes to connectivity, the device has pretty much everything you could demand from a high-end phablet: 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and yes, even infra-red (you can use it as a remote for your TV if the fancy strikes you). In sheer hardware terms, we have to concede that this is one of the most impressive devices we have seen in the Indian market in recent times.

Pros

Very good hardware  Excellent display  Solid performer 

Cons Older version of Android  Mediocre camera  Routine design 

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We were a bit surprised to see the Optimus G Pro running on a relatively older version of Android, 4.1.2. Although all mainstream functions - browsing, mail, social networking, games - run just as well on this version of Android, we really thought something boasting as advanced hardware as this would have a newer version of the OS. LG has placed its Optimus UI on the device, and we must confess we have a soft corner for it in our hearts, as it does not guzzle as many resources as Samsung’s TouchWiz or HTC’s Sense. Highlights includes QMemo that lets you take notes from any app and floating apps, which do not occupy the complete display but can be opened from just about anywhere, adding a neat element of multi-tasking.

Multimedia: Achilles’ strength...and Heel The multimedia shows the best as well as the weakest points of the Optimus G Pro. While its outstanding display makes videos a treat to watch and Web browsing an utter delight, we must confess that we felt a little let down by the sound quality, which compared poorly with the likes of the HTC One and Xperia Z. The 13.0megapixel camera too packs in a lot of features

highlights The 5.5 inch display is a full HD one and awesome for videos and Web browsing

including a full 360-degrees panorama shot and simultaneous dual camera shot, but image quality alas, was not the greatest, with colours and detail not really standing out. We would say that the Optimus G Pro is great for viewing images and videos but not for shooting them.

User experience: Super performer If it is just phablet functionality that you are looking for, then the LG Optimus G Pro is a formidable proposition. It works brilliantly with no lags and handled pretty much everything we threw at it from high-definition games to HD video (viewing as well as editing). Yes, its size does inhibit one-hand use and we think call quality could have been better (the sound seemed a little low at times), but all said and done, this is phablet muscle at close to its best.

The LG Optimus G Pro retails at Rs 42,500, making it one of the more expensive phablets in the country. It boasts impressive hardware but users might also get tempted by the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which

LG Optimus G Pro tech specs

The device is powered by Android 4.1.2, which is a bit on the older side now

Size | 150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4 mm

The 13.0-megapixel camera at the rear is a bit of a let down

Conclusion:

150.2 mm

Software: Not quite overwhelming

Weight | 170 grams

Memory | 16GB, microSD OS | Android 4.1

LG has placed its Optimus UI on the device

The design of the device is routine and the build a bit plasticky

Others | QMemo, full HD recording, 64 GB Card support

Price: Rs 39,000

76.1 mm comes with a lower resolution display but with a stylus and is available for Rs 28,000, or the slimmer and more solidly built Lenovo K900, which too sports a full HD display and is available for Rs 32,990. n team@mymobile.co.in

verdict Looks

Features

ease of use

8 9

perfoRmance value for money

overall

78%

september 2013 MYMOBILE 59

boredom buster

Ready for Battle Battle Nations is an addictive

strategy game that’s all about defending your turf

lthough there are numerous real time strategy (RTS) games available for mobile devices, most fail to keep gamers hooked on for long. This is not the case with Battle Nations. It starts slowly but once it picks up, it will keep you well and truly riveted. You are in charge of the imperial army with Sergeant Ramsey, whose lands are teeming with overlords, dinosaurs and wild boars. You have to build an outpost, defend it and defeat all those who threaten it. Like most RTS titles, here too you have to build everything from barracks to vehicle factories to houses; train your troops, build hospitals where the injured can be healed; and also resource depots to mine for resources. When you fight your foes, wild boars or dinosaurs, you gain XP and money. This raises your level and can be used for various building exercises. There are over 500

missions to be played, some which require heavy firepower and some funny ones as well (your furry feline is required to kill all the rodents in the outpost, for instance). You can use nanopods to speed things up. These finish the building process which takes hours in a matter of seconds. However, they are scarce so use them wisely, or be prepared to shell out real money to get them. If you are not in a hurry, you can sail through the game without spending a penny. The graphics of the game are good and the storyline engaging. Overall, this game is a pleasure to play. A must download for RTS fans. n

60 MYMOBILE september 2013

sulabh@mymobile.co.in

RATING



Name: Battle Nations Price: Free Tested on: Apple iPad 2

www.mymobile.co.in

etcetera Livguard LP 52 Feather light, rock solid

Livguard LP 52 Price: Rs 1,599 Pros | Easy to use, Good build quality Cons | Good for calls only, Passable battery life

t is compact, well built and weighs just 7 grams. We are talking about the new LP 52 Bluetooth headset from Livguard. You can place it on your ears for hours without feeling a thing. The rubber ear-buds are soft and slim and fit comfortably into one’s ears. The side panel has a volume controller and a USB port on the opposite side. The headset has a wasp like shape and a detachable clip, which keeps the main device safely held along your ear. The front panel has a phone shaped button which serves dual purposes - for switching the power on and off, and for Bluetooth pairing. Once connected, you can use it for taking calls and with the same ease you can cancel the calls. The Bluetooth connects the headset with basic feature phones and smartphones with equal ease. The sound quality is crisp, though not as loud as we would have liked. Once a device has been attached, you do not have to pair it again, as the headset will automatically connect with the last paired device. It is rechargeable and a single charge keeps it running for 2-3 hours, which we felt could have been better. The LP 52 is available for Rs 1,599, which is decent given the features and performance it offers. n

RATING



September 2013 MYMOBILE 61

etcetera Pros | Excellent sound, Bluetooth support

JBL on beat venue lt

Cons | No memory card playback, no

Price: Rs 15,990

display

RATING



JBL On Beat Venue LT Good looks, great sound

pple made changes in the charging connector last year, making older dock speakers incompatible with their present day devices. Accessory makers have been making changes accordingly and JBL recently launched a dock speaker with a lighting connector, which works with newer iOS devices. Users can also connect devices to it over Bluetooth - the speaker identifies nonApple devices with Bluetooth as well, allowing users to connect even a feature phone with it. The speaker comes with five default equalizer settings, which you can customise according to your taste. It has a 3.5mm universal audio jack, but unfortunately

62 MYMOBILE September 2013

there’s no FM radio on board. The sound quality of JBL On Beat Venue LT is excellent and we can see music lovers warming up to it. It is not just an excellent performer but is also one of the best looking speakers around. It has a black matte exterior and its control panel lies at the top from where it can be viewed and used easily. It is priced at Rs 15,990, which seems acceptable given the performance and features it offers. However, we missed a few things in it. For instance, if it had a LCD panel, it would have been more intuitive to use. We would have also appreciated the option to play music off memory cards. n

www.mymobile.co.in

STK BTHS800 Groovez HD Bluetooth Headphones

Wireless, powerful sound

pair of headphones that provide powerful sound without the hassle of cables - that is the STK BTHS800 Groovez HD. The headphones come in a trendy pouch with stylish design and are also foldable which makes them easy to carry. They connect easily with a mobile phone or laptop, and enable the user to enjoy music or movies without any wires. There are are different controls buttons given on the headphones for different functions. There’s also come an in-built microphone which allows the user to answer calls. They can be easily charged using a micro USB cable. Sound quality was excellent, although we found the bass to be a bit heavy. Battery backup was decent with one charge lasting more than seven hours. At Rs 3,999 this a good option for music enthusiasts. n

iball power bank pc2204 Price: Rs 1,199 Pros | Different connectors, small &

portable

Cons | Charging takes time, button hangs at times

RATING

STK BTHS800 Groovez hd Price: Rs 3,999 Pros | In built Bluetooth, detachable keyboard Cons | Cannot handle loud sound, not compatible with all handsets

RATING



iBall Portable Power Charger Power Bank – PC2204 The power to recharge

hones might be getting faster and more powerful than ever before but their battery lives have been dipping at the rate of knots. Getting a high-end smartphone to last more than a day of heavy usage is a challenge. Which is why a number of companies have started coming out with portable chargers, enabling users to recharge their devices on the move. The iBall Portable Power Charger Power Bank – PC2204 – aims to provide just that. It is a lightweight, stylish looking charger that comes with a metallic finish, and is small enough to be easily carried in one’s pocket. It comes with a USB cable and three different types of connectors for different charging slots. It has a powerful 2,200mAh battery and a LED light indicator to show that your device is being charged. We used it to charge a fully drained battery of 1,400mAh and it took one and an half hours, which is decent enough. It comes in two colour variants pink and steel gray, and is priced at what we think is a very reasonable Rs 1,199. n

 September 2013 MYMOBILE 63

etcetera AOC my Smart AIO An All In One with Android

he past few months have seen Android come on a number of devices ranging from wristwatches to smart boxes. And now AOC has introduced its first all in one (AIO), My Smart AIO PC, which runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The device has a matte plastic body held by a flexible metal stand that supports it quite firmly. The familiar Android interface comes to life the moment you start up the 22-inch non-touch full HD LED display. You can connect a mouse and keyboard to it for easier use. It might not match up to Windows in terms of functions and features but is more than adequate for checking out mails, watching movies, playing casual games and browsing the web. You can connect to the internet through a LAN cable or through Wi-Fi (you will need a Wi-Fi adaptor for this). For media playback, it has SDHC card slot, HDMI port, four USB 2.0 ports and a VGA port. It also has a pair of decent quality 2 Watt speakers. All the ports and the speakers are placed on the back panel and are easily accessible. It runs on 1GHz dual core processor and works smoothly. The interface is simple and easy to use. A left click on the mouse executes a command and a right click exits the page. The display is impressive and especially when you are playing HD movies on it. Overall, an excellent Android device but at Rs 18,990, some might find it expensive. n

64 MYMOBILE September 2013

AOC My smart AIO Price: Rs 18,990 Pros | Internet ready, Easy to

use

Cons | High price, Mobile OS experience

RATING



technology

IQ Bump: O

TVs Get Smarter!

nce referred to as an ‘idiot box,’ the humble television is getting smarter by the day. Many high end televisions today come packed with connectivity options and some even are compatible with proper operating systems and computing platforms. Once considered suitable only for passive viewing, televisions today are much more interactive, bringing social networking platforms, live streaming videos, gaming and much more to our living rooms. The era of the ‘smart television’ (‘smart TV’ henceforth) has well and truly arrived with a number of manufacturers introducing new models with exciting features to attract the attention of the consumer. Here’s a snapshot of the work being done on the Smart TV front by four major manufacturers:

Samsung Smart TV

Sony Smart TV

Samsung has perhaps the most advanced form of Smart TV. There is the motion sensor, which works with an in-built camera, for controlling the TV, volume and playing games. It also has a voice command tool that listens to your voice, identifies it and allows you to use the TV without a remote for certain functions, like navigating channels, select source, play what you want, exit, etc. Smart hub is another interesting Smart TV feature, which simplifies the Smart TV interface by classifying apps and services into different media hubs, like Apps world, Social Media, and Multimedia. Screen mirroring allows you to duplicate whatever you are playing on your smartphone to the TV display, be it games, apps or any other content. Unlike other TV displays, Samsung Smart TVs are not restricted to in-built apps and the user can download as many apps they want from the Samsung App store. The latest in its kitty is the smart evolution, which allows you to upgrade not just a few apps but a great deal more - simply attach your TV to the Samsung Evolution Kit and transform your TV to a new TV every year with improved picture quality, faster processing speed, more contents and features.

One of the leading manufacturers as far as Smart TVs are concerned, Sony is known for the build quality and the sound quality of its television. Sony’s Smart TVs also come with an ‘Intelligence Centre’ that produces light from the bottom edge and changes colour according to the input you are using. The company is making its televisions more handy and user friendly as well - a user can connect their smartphones or tablets wirelessly with the television and can browse the device. You can also browse the web and can use all your social networking sites on your television. There are some pre-loaded apps like the YouTube and BigFlix which give you access to music and movies. You can also access your personal files and data from your other Sony devices and can view it on your Bravia Smart TV. Sony’s Smart TVs also come equipped with some personalized, easy to use innovative features which make the device more user friendly, like Scene Select, FM radio and Photo Frame Mode. The company also offers accessories like glasses, cameras and other connectors which take the entertainment to another level.

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They are no longer restricted to showing you your favourite TV serials or cricket matches. Televisions today are getting closer to computers and are offering some very ‘smart’ features. We take a look at what key players are offering in the rapidly emerging smart TV segment Heena Gupta & Abhijit Ahaskar

Panasonic Smart TV

LG Smart TV

Panasonic is known for its design simplicity and easy user interface. On the smart TV front, the Viera series from Panasonic has introduced some amazing features that make television viewing a delight. One of these is the personalised homescreen, which lets you place your favourite channels, apps and other content on your main screen as per your convenience. The company has also introduced voice controlling features in the TV which allows the user to control the television with their voice. The Smart Viera can also recognise your face and can instantly lead you to your personalised homescreen. Moreover, the TV also has an interesting feature - it lets you share data between two devices through a simple swipe. For instance, you can swipe a photograph or video from your smartphone on to your smart television. Another exciting feature is ‘twin turner’ which allows you to watch two programs at the same time or it can easily record a particular program while watching the other one on a different channel.

LG is offering a magic remote that is intuitively designed for a better-than-remote experience and works on the point and click on the screen principle. LG also has gesture control in its TVs that works with their top segment displays, which have an in-built camera. Then it has voice recognition, which is turned on through the magic remote. However, LG’s voice recognition doesn’t allow you to navigate, and instead works as a search tool. LG has a simple and organised interface catering to LG Smart World, Picture on Air, My Apps, and premium content. Dual play brings a unique two player gaming experience by splitting the screen into two screens with LGs’ special 3D passive glasses. LG’s 4k TV allows users to upscale HD content into ultra HD. Then there is LG Smart Share, which allows users to wirelessly share photos, videos and music from a camera or smartphone on the TV display.

Adding brains to your TV: smart boxes A smart box is an ultra-portable box (generally running Android) that can convert your simple old LED TV into a smart TV. Once connected to a smart box, older televisions can be used for web browsing, or as a media player to watch online movies from YouTube or BigFlix, or as gaming device. You can also play movies directly from a hard drive or an SD card. They generally cost Rs 7,000 - Rs 8,000. Akai, Amkette and Woxi Media are offering smart boxes, some of which have interesting features. For instance, the Woxi Media smart box provides a cloudbased content service, which offers movies, sports, news, lifestyle, and devotional content directly from the cloud without users having to download or install anything. Whether you opt to invest directly in a smart TV or just ‘smarten up’ your existing television using a ‘smart box,’ one thing is certain - the ‘idiot box’ just got some heavy duty brains! abhijit@mymobile.co.in heenagupta@mymobile.co.in

september 2013 MYMOBILE 67

tips & tricks

Now, Watch TV

on your

Handset! Missing your favourite TV programs, just because someone is hogging the remote control? Well, do not nexGTv Free for new users for one year, lose heart, for now you nexGTv offers great Indian TV content. You will have to pay some can watch television subscription fees after this period. on your mobile phone. No need to be glued to the television - just HD Live Tv DTV India DTV provides the links It has more than 180 pick the right apps to the web streaming HD live TV channels. of popular Indian TV You can watch HD and your television channels, letting you Indian channels but access news, entertainyou need to have good will literally be in ment and sports channetwork reception like nels for mobile phones 3G or Wi-Fi for live your hands. There as well as for tablets. streaming. are a number of applications streaming Zenga TV Watch TV TV shows to your It works with the With this app you get default video player access to over 100 Android phone, but offers many online TV channels, channels at a time. which are categorbut not all of them It provides a mix of ised into groups such Hindi and English as movies, music, deliver a great user channels that are cartoons, news, and free to air. sports. experience. Here are the ones that we think Note : Your experience of TV on your handset will depend to a great extent on the quality of network - we recommend using 3G or Wi-Fi. Do keep in mind, however, that 3G data costs can be expensive. work best For some apps, your device needs to have Flash Player installed. You will be billed separately by your operator in most cases for the data costs incurred while watching television on your handset. Waseem Ansari waseem@mymobile.co.in

68 MYMOBILE september 2013

fa c e t o fa c e

“Our Main Focus is the Rural Area” Mobile phones have become an integral part of our lifestyle, thanks to the number of services that come with them. And some of these come from Maverick Mobile, a value-added services company, which has come out with a mobile wallet service and app. We met Pankaj Agarwal, director, Maverick Mobile, to ask about the service and his company’s plans Mukesh Kumar Singh

Tell us something about Maverick Mobile. Maverick Mobile Solutions is a ‘value added services company, dedicated to developing applications targeted at helping in fulfilling the everyday needs of the mobile users, as well as focusing on enterprise mobility applications. Expanding into mCommerce, we have launched a mobile-based money remittance service in association with BSNL and Department of Post (DoP) to help uneducated migrant workers remit their money instantaneously, through a secured channel which will soon cover every nook and corner of the country. What is the idea behind introducing a mobile wallet app? A mobile wallet is about making the use of virtual money more widely accepted. Like credit/debit cards, the real money is not transferred from the consumer to the merchant. A mobile wallet imitates this, with the added advantage of not having the hassle to carry another relationship with the bank and taking care of cards, and so on. Also the control is in the hands of the customer and not the merchant. Since wide acceptability of mobile wallet needs a lot of behavioural changes, the idea is to start

with the first application of mobile wallet, i.e., money remittance, and that too in assisted mode. On which platforms will this app be available? As such there is no restriction of the type of the platform. However, since the first phase is the assisted mode of money transfer, we have used the basic J2ME platform. Mobile money transfers were expected to connect unbanked areas with banks. But that has not yet happened. Mobile based access is the best possible medium to reach out to the people for financial inclusion. However, certain characteristics of the ecosystem have hindered the expected growth. The people needing financial inclusion have very basic devices and are not tech-savvy enough to use any other function apart from texts and calls. The effort now is to use mobile access as an information only resource where users can still approach the CSC and after establishing the ownership of the mobile number, get the benefits. This takes away the problem from the user’s hands and the more educated micro-entrepreneur

CSC agent, who is also well equipped to take care of the technical portion, i.e., the app, can use it. However, since biometric authentication is a must for verifying the real beneficiary, a data network (GPRS) is a must. This continues to be a bottleneck for desired growth. What is your reach in rural areas? We are continuously expanding the coverage and our main focus is the rural area. We have already covered seven states with coverage across 200 cities/villages and plan to cover pan India by the end of this calendar year. What are your plans for the coming days as far as the mobile application arena is concerned? We will continue to focus on developing enterprise-use applications as far as smartphone platforms are concerned. This has a huge potentital. The applications are not limited to a type of industry and work across different segments. We will also continue to focus on the health, education and financial inclusion space while expanding into the area of entertainment. n mukesh@mymobile.co.in

spetember 2013 MYMOBILE 69

Gear guide Disclaimer: The prices have been obtained from companies 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

Wireless Charging Plate

Keep your Nokia Lumia on this sleek plate and watch your battery charge up. It comes with minimalistic design and vibrant colours to match your device. Rs 3,999

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 2,100

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 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 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 1,600

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

70 MYMOBILE september 2013

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

Wireless Charging Shell for Lumia 820 With wireless charging shell make your Nokia Lumia 820 compatible across any Qi wireless charger. Rs 1,999

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 Monster Headset | WH 930

Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy

Now simply place your Lumia on the Fatboy pillow to start charging without even plugging in your Lumia. Rs 5,499

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 1,100

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

september 2013 MYMOBILE 71

MY GUIDE 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 July 3, 2013) Devices featured in the My Guide have been segregated into four categories baswed on price and colourcoded 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

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

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 73

MODELS

NOKIA

PARAMETERS 105

100

101

110

114

112

Asha 205

Dimension (mm)

107 x 44.8 x 14.3

110 x 45.5 x 14.9

110 x 46 x 14.8

110.4 x 46.9 x 15.4

112.8 x 61.1 x 13

Weight (grams)

69.6

Model

12/840

7.2/840

10.5/637

14/840

11/891

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.45

65,536/1.8

56K/1.8

65,536/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8MB/No

NA/No

64MB/32GB

16MB/32GB

64MB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

No/No

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

1000

1,000

1000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

No/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

S30

S40

Symbian S40

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

1,150

1,200

1,450

2,260

2,550

3,450

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

NOKIA

PARAMETERS 206

Asha 306

202

Asha 200

Asha 305

Asha 210

Asha 309

Dimension (mm)

116 x 49 x 12.4

110.3 x 53.8 x 12.8

114.8 x 49.8 x 13.9

115.4 x 61.1 x 14

110.3X53.8X12.8

111.5 x 60 x 11.8

109.9 x 54 x 13.2

Weight (grams)

105

97.3

102

20/680

14/600

5/400

7/888

14/528

12/1104

6/650

Model

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

65,536/2.4

65,536/3.0

262,144/2.4

65,536/2.4

262,144/3.0

65,536/2.4

65,536/3.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

64MB/32GB

10MB/32GB

NA/32GB

64MB/32GB

128MB/32GB

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3Mp/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Shared

1,000

2,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual SIM/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Dual SIM/GSM+GSM Dual SIM/GSM+GSM Dual SIM/GSM+GSM Dual SIM/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Operating System

Symbian S40

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

3,650

3,850

4,100

4,300

4,400

4,750

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

Price in Rs

74 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

Asha 501

Asha 308

301

Asha 310

Asha311

Lumia 510

Lumia 520

Dimension (mm)

99.2x58x12.1

109.9 x 54 x 13

114x50x12.5

109.9x54x13.2

106 x 52 x 12.9

120.7 x 64.9 x 11.5

119.9 x 64 x 9.9

Weight (grams)

104

102

104

129

124

Talktime/Standby (hours)

17/624

17/600

20/504

17/600

14/696

6.2/738

14/360

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.0

65,536/3.0

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.0

65,536/4.0

16 million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

64MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

4GB/No

8GB/64GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.15MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

2,000

1,000

2,000

Shared

Quad Band/No

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

Price in Rs.

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

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

S40

Symbian S40

S40

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

Symbian S40

Windows Phone 7.8

Windows Phone 8

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

5,000

5,150

5,500

6,250

6,500

9,900

MODELS

SUB-ENTRY LEVEL

NOKIA

PARAMETERS Model

Lumia 620

Lumia 720

FLY Lumia 820

Lumia 920

DS 186

JOSH MV242n

A2700

NEW

Dimension (mm)

115.4 x 61.1 x 11

127.9 x 67.5 x 9

123.8 x 68.5 x 9.9

130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7

108 X 47 X 15.6

118 x 51 x 15

120 x 51 x 10.8

Weight (grams)

127

128

160

185

125

14/330

23/520

15.4/360

18.6/460

5/240

10/ 400

2.5/36

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/3.8

16million/4.3

16.7million/4.3

16.7million/4.5

65,536/1.8

NA/2.4

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/64GB

32GB/No

NA/ 16GB

245KB/32GB

NA/8GB

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

6.7MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

200

500

100

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

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.

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

Windows Phone 8

Nucleus

Proprietry

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

14,200

18,100

21,200

32,000

990

1,590

1,800

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

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 75

MODELS

myguide

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

WYNNCOM

E1207T

E1282T

W540

W415+

W412

W601

Dimension (mm)

108.0 x 45.5 x 13.5

109.2 x 45.5 x 14.5

105 x 44 x 17

130 x 95 x 62

116 x 105 x 80

119 x 52 x 10.5

117.2 x 55.4 x 13.5

Weight (grams)

65.1

74.5

259

280

246

111.4

Talktime/Standby (hours)

W156

NEW

8/430

12/660

10/320

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.8

NA/1.8

NA/2.4

NA/2.8

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/No

NA/4GB

NA/16GB

NA/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/No

Yes/NA

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

VGA/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

1.3 MP/Yes /Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

500

200

300

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

Operating System

Proprietary

Nucleus

Nucleous

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

Bar/No/No

1,250

1,590

1,199

1,349

1,499

1,599

1,749

MODELS

ENTRY LEVEL

WYNNCOM

PARAMETERS Model

FLY

JOSH

W617

W704

W716

E350

Dimension (mm)

124.4 x 57.2 x 14.7

103 x 56 x 13.8

120 x 63 x 12.4

114 x 62 x 13.2

113 x 58 x 13

116x50x60

Weight (grams)

110

109

81.2

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NA/NA

8/700

25/350

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

NA/3.0

NA/3.5

NA/2.4

262,144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/32GB

NA/32 GB

NA/32GB

45KB/16GB

NA/8GB

258KB/4GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

A999

LAVA

NEW

JM2400

NEW

Discover 132

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

1.3 MP/Yes/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,500

500

1,000

500

Frequency/Dual SIM

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Operating System

Proprietary

Nucleous

Nucleus

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

1,899

1,999

2,299

2,990

2,900

4,099

3,299

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

76 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS PARAMETERS

LAVA

SAMSUNG

Discover 135

T375

Metro 2252

Champ Neo Duos C3262

Metro Duos C3322

Rex 60

Rex 70

Dimension (mm)

103 x 59 x 10.7

113.0 x 46.0 x 13.9

96.9 x 54.3 x 13.5

113.97 x 47.9 x 13.99

101.8 x 55 x 12.5

104.90 x 57.2 x 11.99

Weight (grams)

88.9

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

12.8/601

11.9/760

14/550

10/500

15/NA

13/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

262,144/3.2

65,536/1.8

262,144/2.4

262,144/2.2

65,536/2.8

65,536/3.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/16GB

48MB/16GB

NA/32GB

20MB/32GB

46MB/16GB

30MB/16GB

10MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

Yes/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

2.0/No/Yes

1.3MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

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

Price in Rs.

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

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Proprietary

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

3,600

4,200

2,500

3,100

3,300

3,800

4,100

MODELS

HIGH END

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS

TAG HEUER

Rex 80

Rex 90

Racer Sport Classic

Meridiist GMT Stainless Steel/Black PVD

Racing Carbon

Link

Racer Prestige Gold

Dimension (mm)

102.0 x 58 x 11.5

113 x 61.90 x 11.84

118 x 64.35 x 15.9

112 x 46 x 15.5

118 x 64.35 x 15.9

118 x 67 x 16.6

118 x 64.35 x 15.9

Weight (grams)

160

155

160

200

160

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

15/NA

3/220

7/392

3/220

6.5/336

3/220

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.0

262,144/3.5

16 million/3.5

262,144/1.9

16 million/3.5

16million/3.5

16 million/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

20MB/16GB

10MB/32GB

8GB/32GB

NA/NA

8GB/32GB

256MB/8GB

8GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.15/No/Yes

3.2/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

No/No/No

5.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSUPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSUPA

Operating System

Proprietary

Android v2.3

Andriod v2.2

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

2,06,000

Starting 2,85,000+/3,55,000

3,15,000

Starting 3,40,000+

4,55,000

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

Price in Rs.

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

5,100

5,500

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 77

MODELS

ENTERPRISE LEVEL

PARAMETERS Model

TAG HEUER

VERTU

Meridiist Steel & Gold

Ascent

Constellation Ayxta

Ascent Ti

Constellation Quest

Signature

iPhone 4S

Dimension (mm)

112 x 46 x 15.5

117 x 46 x 19

100 x 48 x 18

115.5 x 49 x 13.1

116 x 60.8 x 12.7

130 x 42 x 13

115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3

Weight (grams)

155

148

174

160

165 to 185

166

140

Talktime/Standby (hours)

7/392

4.8/300

6/300

5/300

7.5/349

3.5/300

14/200

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/1.9

16million/2.0

16million/2.4

16million/2.0

16million/2.46

16million/2.0

16million/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/NA

8GB/32GB

100MB/8GB

4GB/No

8GB/32GB

4GB/No

16,32,64GB/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

No/No/No

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

2,000

1,500

Shared

2,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad band/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/R99

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/R99

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

iOS 6

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

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Clamshell/No/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Starting 5,45,000+

Starting 2,89,000+

Starting 3,47,000+

Starting 3,75,000+

Starting 3,90,000+

Starting 7,28,000+ 37,500/42,500/54,000

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Yes/No Bar/No/No

PARAMETERS Model

APPLE

BLACKBERRY

iPhone 5

Curve 9220

Curve 9320

Curve 9360

9860

Bold 9790

Dimension (mm)

123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6

109 x 60 x 12.7

112 x 62 x 14.2 mm

120 x 62 x 11.5

110 x 60 x 11.4

120 x 66 x 10.8

Weight (grams)

112

102

103

130

135

107

120

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NEW

8/225

7/432

5/336

4.7/337

5.1/432

12/336

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.0

65,536/2.44

262,144/2.44

16million/3.7

16million/2.45

16million/3.1

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16,32,64GB/No

512MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

2.5GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

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

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/No

iOS 6

BlackBerry OS 7.1

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Blackberry OS 7.0

BlackBerry 10

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

45,500/52,500/59,500

9,500

15,000

17,000

20,500

25,000

24,990

78 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

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

MODELS

BLACKBERRY

PARAMETERS Model

FLY

9900

Z10

Q10

F32

Dimension (mm)

115 x 66 x 10.5

130 x 65.6 x 9

119.6 x 66.8 x 10.4

110 x 58.7 x 14.7

Weight (grams)

130

136

139

Talktime/Standby (hours)

F351

F350

116 x 61.2 x 12 mm 118.88 x 61.79 x 11.8 81

115.5

F40 125x66x12.3 180

6.3/296

10/312

10/NA

6.5/250

10/260

4/350

10/260

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/2.8

16 million/4.2

16million/3.1

NA/3.2

262,144/3.5

NA/3.5

262,144/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

154MB/32GB

138MB/32GB

110MB/32GB

170MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Shared

1,000

Quad Band/No

Quad band/No

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Dual Band/NA

Yes/Yes/HSPA

Yes/Yes/No

BlackBerry 10

Android v2.3

Android V2.3.6

Android v 2.3

Android V2.3.6

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

BlackBerry OS 7.0

BlackBerry 10

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

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

31,000

42,000

44,990

3,990

4,199

4,990

4,999

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

FLY

PARAMETERS Model

F350s

F410

F41S

F51

F50s

F53s

F45s

Dimension (mm)

117.5x62.5x12.8

123.9 x 64 x 10

126 x 63.5 x 10.3

146 x 77 x 11.5

148x78.2x10.6

151.5x76.8x9.8

131 x 67 x 10.5

Weight (grams)

101.5

140

170

210.9

140

158

Talktime/Standby (hours)

10/230

10/331

7.5/263

7/144

8/100

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

16million/4.0

NA/4.0

16.7million/5.0

16million/5.3

16 million/4.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

200MB/32GB

1GB/32GB

139MB/32GB

130MB/32GB

3GB/32GB

2.5GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

12.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

1,000

Shared

1,000

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/NA

Yes/Yes/Yes

Android V2.3.6

Android v4.0

Android 4.0 ICS

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Android v 4.1

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

5,199

7,690

7,790

8,490

9,999

11,499

11,990

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

Price in Rs.

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 79

MODELS

myguide

HTC

PARAMETERS

Desire U

Desire XDS

Desire C

Desire V

Desire VC

Desire X

Dimension (mm)

107 X 60 X 11.9

118.5 x 62.3 x 9.32

119.5 x 62.3 x 9.5

118.5 x 62.3 x 9.3

120.5 x 63 x 10.28

118.5 X 62.3 X 9.3

Weight (grams)

114

118

114

113

114

Model

NA/NA

20/833

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.5

16million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Tri-Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

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

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Android v4.0

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

Android v4.0

Android v 4.0

Windows Phone 8

Android v4.1

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

9,547

12,179

13,587

14,057

14,390

14,900

16,790

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

HTC

PARAMETERS Model

Desire XC

Desire X600

Desire SV

One X+

Butterfly

One

Dimension (mm)

119.5x 62.3 x 9.4

134.8 x 67 x 9.26

129.7 x 67.9 x 10.7

134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9

132.35 x 66.2 x 10.12

143 x 70.5 x 9.08

137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3

Weight (grams)

107

130

131

135

130

140

143

NA/NA

11.4/539

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.0

16million/4.5

16 million/4.3

16million/4.7

16 million/ 4.3

16million/5.0

16 million/4.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

8GB/64GB

4GB/32GB

64GB/No

16GB/No

16GB/32GB

32,64GB/NA

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

4.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Quad band/No

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Price in Rs.

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

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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 v4.1

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Windows Phone 8

Android v4.1

Android v 4.1

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

17,590

26,890

19,491

26,800

26,945

43,000

42,500

80 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS

IDEA

PARAMETERS

JOSH

Model

Zeal

Aurus 2

Ivory

Whiz

Petal

Fortune

Fortune 9

Dimension (mm)

118 x 62 x 10

118 x 62 x 13

119 x 65 x 12

Weight (grams)

170

220

165

Talktime/Standby (hours)

7/300

7/NA

5/320

8.5/NA

Apr-48

4/48

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

262,144/4.0

262,144/3.5

16million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

140MB/32GB

170MB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.2/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.2MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

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

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

Android v4.1

Android v4.0

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/Yes/Yes

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

5,350

6,450

7,000

7,800

4,100

4,999

6,199

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Android v2.3

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Yes/Yes/Yes

JOSH

PARAMETERS Model

KARBONN

Fortune HD

Thunder

Dimension (mm)

151.1x80.5x9.9

160x82.5x9.7

Weight (grams)

200

188

Talktime/Standby (hours)

5/48

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16,million/5.3

16million/5.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

A2+

NEW

A10

NEW

A25

NEW

A30

A27 +

NEW

124 x 63.6 x 12.4

146 x 78.6 x 10.5

166 x 91 x 10.7

133.6x66x9.1

110

150

280

126.5

3.5/120

6/300

10/600

4/180

262,144/4.0

262,144/3.9

16million/5.0

262,144/5.9

NA/4.2

180MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

114Mb/32GB

4GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/No

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Shared

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/GSM+GSM Quad Band/GSm+GSM Tri Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Operating System

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Android v4.0

Android v 4.1

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

12,499

15,999

4,999

6,390

6,990

7,990

9,490

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

Price in Rs.

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 81

MODELS

myguide

KARBONN

PARAMETERS

LAVA

LENOVO

S5 Titanium

S1 Titanium

Iris N320

Iris n400

Iris N501

A390

Dimension (mm)

145 x 74 x 9.90

134.6 x 66 x 9.25

115 x 61.5 x 11.9

125 x 63 x 10.2

148.5 x 79 x 10.5

125.6 x 64 x 10.1

Weight (grams)

186

115

131

Model

S2 Titanium

NEW

6/250

NA/NA

4/200

4/390

7.8/620

14/220

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/5.0

16 million/5.0

16million/4.5

262,144/3.2

16million/4.0

16million/5.0

NA/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/32GB

1.4GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

100MB/32GB

127MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/No

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Operating System

Android v 4.1

Android v4.1

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

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

Android v4.0

Android v 4.0

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

9,990

10,990

4,499

8,099

13,500

8,689

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

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

LENOVO

PARAMETERS Model

P700i

A706

S920

P780

K900

Optimus L3 E400

Optimus L3 Dual

Dimension (mm)

125.6 x 64.5 x 12.8

136 x 69 x 10

154 x 77.7 x 7.9

143 x 73 x 9.9

157 x 78 x 6.9

102.6 x 61.6 x 11.85

102.6x 61.6 x11.85

Weight (grams)

162

130

159

176

162

110

119

NA/NA

16/230

25/480

43/840

15/300

12/600

17/1044

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/4.0

16million/4.5

16million/5.3

16million/5.0

16million/5.5

262,144/3.2

262144/3.2

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

4GB/16GB

4GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

1GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

13.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Tri-Band/No

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

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

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

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v 4.0

Android v4.1

Android v4.2

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Yes/NA

Yes/Yes

Yes/NA

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

12,499

15,949

26,339

22,529

32,999

5,900

6,600

82 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS

PARAMETERS Optimus L3II Dual

Optimus L4 II Dual E445

Optimus L5

Optimus L5 II E450

Optimus L5 Dual

Optimus L5 II Dual

Dimension (mm)

102.6 x 61.1 x 11.9

102.9 x 61.3 x 11.9

112.8 x 64.7 x 11.9

118.3 X 66.5 X 9.5

117.5 x 62.2 x 9.2

118.3 X 66.5 X 9.6

117.5 x 62.2 x 9.2

Weight (grams)

125

110

125

103

126

103

Model

Optimus L3 II Single

Talktime/Standby (hours)

NEW

8/480

16/730

NA/NA

10/900

10/642

10/901

10/642

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.2

16million/3.8

16million/4.0

16 million/4.0

16million/4.1

16 million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

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

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v 4.1

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

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

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

6,900

7,100

8,800

9,600

9,800

10,700

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

PARAMETERS Model

Optimus L7 P705

Optimus L7II Dual

Optimus L9 P765

Optimus Vu P895

Nexus 4

Optimus 4X HD

Optimus G

Dimension (mm)

125.5 x 67 x 8.7

122.2 x 66.6 x 9.7

131.9 x 68.2 x 9.1

139.6 X 90.4 X 8.5

133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1

132.4 x 68.1 x 8.9

131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5

Weight (grams)

124

115.5

125

168

139

133

145

19/902

12/800

12/830

16/510

15/390

9.3/730

15/335

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.3

16 million/4.3

16 million/4.7

16million/5.0

16million/4.7

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

2.72GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

32GB/No

16GB/No

16GB/32GB

32GB/No

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

13.0MP/Yes/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.

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

Android v4.0

Android v 4.1

Android v4.0

Android v4.2

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Bar/Yes/No

12,000

13,800

15,700

22,500

25,200

26,000

27,000

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 83

MODELS

myguide

PARAMETERS

MICROMAX

Optimus G Pro

Bolt A51

A89 Ninja

Canvas Music

Canvas2 A110

Canvas 3D

Canvas A110Q

Dimension (mm)

150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4

135 x 68.7 x 11.3

147 x 76.5 x 9.7

Weight (grams)

170

144

Model

31/598

4/140

4/170

5/260

5/180

4/225

6/280

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/5.5

262,144/3.5

262,144/4.0

16 million/4.5

16 million/5.0

16million/5.0

262,144/5.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/64GB

512MB/32GB

2.07GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

13.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1000

Shared

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSPA+

Yes/Yes/HSUPA

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Android v4.1

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

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

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

Android v4.0

Android v 4.1

Yes/Yes/HSPA Android v 4.2

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

36,000

4,400

5,750

8,499

10,000

9,999

12,750

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

MICROMAX

PARAMETERS

RAGE

SAMSUNG

Canvas Doodle

Canvas HD

Canvas 4

OPS40

OPS50

OPS60

Galaxy Star

Dimension (mm)

147x77x9.9

144 x 74 x 10.7

116 x 59 x 12.5

127 x 64.3 x 10.8

140.5 x 70 x 11.5

105 x 58 x 11.9

Weight (grams)

156

110

135

170

100.5

6/220

5/174

5/200

6/240

14/320

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/5.3

16 million/5.0

16million/5.0

NA/3.5

NA/4.0

NA/4.6

65,536/3.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

512/32GB

512MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0/Yes/Yes

13MP/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

5MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Shared

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

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

Yes/No/No

Yes/Yes/No

Android v4.1

Android v4.2

Android V2.3

Android v2.3

Android v4.1

Yes/Yes

Yes/ Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

12,999

13,990

17,999

3,999

4,999

6,999

5,100

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

Price in Rs.

84 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

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

MODELS

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

Galaxy Y

Galaxy Y Plus

Galaxy Music Duos

Galaxy Young

Galaxy Fame S6812

Galaxy S duos

Galaxy Core

Dimension (mm)

104.0 x 58.0 x 11.5

104.9 x 57.9 x 13

110.1 X 59 X 12.3

109.4 x 58.6 x 12.5

113.2 x 61.5 x 11.55

121.5 x 63.1 x 10.5

129.30 x 67.60 x 8.95

Weight (grams)

97.5

106.9

112

120

124

Talktime/Standby (hours)

6/120

6/260

15/570

7/250

6/300

12.8/570

9/500

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.0

262,144/2.8

262,144/3.0

262,144/3.2

262,144/3.5

16million/4.0

16million/4.3

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

160MB/32GB

4GB/32GB

4GB/64GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/64GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

3.15 MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

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

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

Android v 4.0

Android v4.0

Android v 4.1

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

Android v 4.1

Android v4.0

Android v 4.1

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

5,200

6,300

6,500

8,200

8,400

9,500

13,000

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes/HSUPA

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

Galaxy Grand

Galaxy Quattro

Galaxy SII Plus

Galaxy Note

Galaxy Mega 5.8

Galaxy SIII

Dimension (mm)

143.5 x 76.8 x 9.6

133.30 x 70.70 x 9.65

125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5

146.9 x 83 x 9.7

162.6 x 82.4 x 8.9

136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6

124.60 x 61.30 x 8.94

Weight (grams)

161

143.9

121

178

184

133

108

10.1/440

11/210

9/549

6/100

NA/NA

22.5/830

12/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/5.0

16million/4.7

16 million/4.3

16million/5.3

16million/5.8

16million/4.8

16million/4.3

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/64GB

8GB/32GB

8GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/64GB

16GB/64GB

8GB/64GB

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Quad Band/No

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Galaxy S4 mini

NEW

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

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

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

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes/HSPA+

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Android v4.1

Android v 4.1

Android v2.3

Android v4.2

Android v4.0

Android v4.2

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

17,500

18,260

19,500

23,000

24,400

26,000

27,200

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 85

MODELS

myguide

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

Galaxy Note II N7100 Galaxy Mega 6.3

Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4

NEW

167.6 x 88 x 8

SONY Galaxy S4

Xperia tipo

Xperia tipo dual

Xperia E

Xperia E Dual

136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9

103 x 57 x 13

103 x 57 x 13 mm

113.5 x 61.8 x 11

183

199

130

99.4

115.7

35/980

17/420

17/370

5/470

6/530

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/5.5

16,million/6.3

16million/5.0

262,144/3.2

262,144/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/64GB

8GB/64GB

16GB/64GB

2.9GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

13.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.15/No/Yes

3.2MP/No/Yes

3.2/No/Yes

Talktime/Standby (hours)

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

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/NA

Quad Band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

Quad band/No

Quad Band/GSM+GSM

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

Android v4.1

Android v4.2

Android v4.0

Android v 4.1

Android v 4.0

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

29,500

39,500

6,700

7,600

8,700

9,800

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

PARAMETERS Model

SONY Xperia U

Xperia miro

Neo L

Xperia Sola

Xperia J

Xperia L

Xperia P

Dimension (mm)

112 x 54 x 12

113 x 59.4 x 9.9 mm

120 X 61 X 12.8

116.0 x 59.0 x 9.9

124.3 x 61.2 x 9.2

28.7 x 65 x 9.7

122 x 59.5 x 10.5

Weight (grams)

110

131.5

107

124

137

120

Talktime/Standby (hours)

6.6/472

5/470

8/575

6/475

7/618

8.4/498

6/475

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.5

16million/4.0

16million/3.7

16million/4.0

16million/4.3

16million/4.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/No

4GB/32GB

1GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/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

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSDPA Android v4.0

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

Android v2.3

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

11,700

12,500

13,000

14,000

16,500

20,000

86 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS

SONY

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

SPICE

Xperia Ion

Xperia SP

Xperia ZR

Xperia ZL

Xperia Z

133.0 x 68.0 x 10.6

130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98

131.3 x 67.3 x 10.5

131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8

139 x 71 x 7.9

Xperia Z Ultra

NEW

139 x 71 x 7.9

Mi 351 115.3x62x11.8

144

155

138

151

146

10/400

18/734

11/470

10/500

11/550

3/216

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16M/4.55

16million/4.6

16 million/5.0

16million/5.0

16million/5.4

262,144/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

512MB/16GB

Yes/Yes

12.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

13.1MP/Yes/Yes

13MP/Yes/Yes

13.1/Yes/Yes

8.0/Yes/Yes

3.0MP/Yes/Yes

Talktime/Standby (hours)

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

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

Quad band/No

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/HSPA+

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

Yes/Yes/No

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Android v 4.2

Android v 4.1

Android v4.1

Android v4.2

Android v 2.3

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

45,000

3,877

20,500

24,000

29,000

31,000

34,000

Stellar Virtuoso Mi 495

Stellar Virtuoso Mi 530

MODELS

Price in Rs.

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

SPICE

PARAMETERS Model

WYNNCOM

Mi 352

Mi 435

G11

G32

Dimension (mm)

124 x 63.5 x 11.8

140 x 73 x 9.9

152 x 79 x 10.3

147.5 x 90 x 65.3

115.4x61.6x12

Weight (grams)

161

196.3

318

114

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Coolpad

MI-515 NEW

NA/NA

4.1/696

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/3.5

16 million/4.0

16million/5.0

16million/4.5

16million/5.3

NA/3.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

512MB/32GB

2GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

NA/32GB

16GB/32GB

NA/32GB

NA/32 GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.0MP/No/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

3.0MP/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

GPRS/EDGE/3G

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

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

Price in Rs.

Android v 2.3

Android v 4.0

Android v 4.1

Android v4.0

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Android 2.3

Android v2.3

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Bar/Yes/No

4,859

7,559

9,990

10,499

13,999

3,799

4,499

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 87

MODELS

myguide

WYNNCOM

PARAMETERS Model Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

XOLO

G51

G41

G58

G60Q

A700

A800

117.8 x 63 x 11.2

146 x 77 x 11.5

124 x 65 x 11

145 x 78 x 10.4

133.6 x 67.5 x 10.6

136 x 68.5 x 9.1

133x67x10.5

118

170

130

200

115

4/140

NA/NA

7/425

6/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/3.5

NA/5

NA/4.0

NA/5.0

NA/4.5

16 million/ 4.5

16 million/4.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

100MB/32 GB

NA/32GB

4 GB/32 GB

4GB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.0MP/Yes/Yes

5 MP/Yes/Yes

3.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

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

Dual Band/GSM+GSM

GPRS/EDGE/3G

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Operating System

Android v4.0

Android v 4.0

Android v4.0

Android 4.2

Android v4.0

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

Price in Rs.

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Yes/Yes

Yes / Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

4,999

5,999

10,499

8,050

10,000

MODELS

CDMA

XOLO

PARAMETERS

CDMA

Q800

A1000

Q1000

X1000

Samsung Hero Plus 159

Samsung B209

Samsung B229

Dimension (mm)

135.5 x 67 x 9.6

143.5 x 70.8 x 8.8

108.5 x 45.8 x 13.3

108.0 x 44.8 x 14.3

108 x 44.38 x 14.20

Weight (grams)

143.5

72.3

Model

Talktime/Standby (hours)

16/360

NA/NA

14/350

9.5/336

3/230

4.3/470

6.5/720

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/4.5

16million/5.0

16.7million/5.0

16 million/4.7

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.5

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

597KB/No

351KB/No

450KB/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

No/No

Camera/Flash/Video

8.0MP/Yes/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

1,000

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/No

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 v 4.1

Androi v4.1

Android v4.2

Android 4.0

CDMA/No

No/No/No

BREW

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

11,500

13,500

15,000

19,000

1,000

1,100

88 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS

CDMA

PARAMETERS Model

Samsung Hero B189 Samsung Hero B319

Dimension (mm) Weight (grams)

105 x 44 x 13

108 x 45.4 x 14.7

Samsung B379

Samsung B339

109.5 x 45.4 x 14.2 108.20 x 47.1 x 14.35

Samsung Guru Muzik 219

Lava ARC8c

Samsung Guru Dual CDMA

112 x 46.3 x 15.3

114.9 x 47.8 x 14.1

75.7

86.7

3.3/250

3/257

4.3/470

4/230

May-90

6.5/300

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

65,536/1.5

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.5

65,536/1.52

65,536/1.7

65,536/2.2

65,536/2.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

NA/No

1MB/No

351KB/No

14MB/2GB

NA/8GB

7.41MB/4GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

No/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Camera/Flash/Video

No/No/No

1.3MP/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

No/No/No

Phonebook Capacity

500

1,000

100

1,000

Frequency/Dual SIM

CDMA/No

Dual Band/GSM+CDMA

GPRS/EDGE/3G

No/No/No

Yes/No/No

BREW

Operating System Music Player/FM Radio

No/No

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Bar/No/No

1,150

1,380

1,400

1,650

2,500

2,699

3,250

Mpower TV 239

MTS Duet

Samsung Primo Duos

Samsung Galaxy Y CDMA

Blackberry 8530

Galaxy Ace Duos I589

BlackBerry Curve CDMA 9350

Dimension (mm)

118.5 x 50 x 12.45

109 x 60 x 13.9

112.4 x 59.9 x 12.44

109 x 60 x 11

Weight (grams)

105

125

Form Factor/T.Screen/QWERTY Burn test Rating

MODELS

Price in Rs.

CDMA

PARAMETERS Model

118.8 x 49.9 x 14.07 104.0 x 58.0 x 11.5 103

97.5

4.4/420

NA/NA

6.67/160

6/120

4.5/252

7/300

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

262,144/2.4

242,144/3.5

262,144/2.4

262,144/3.0

65,536/NA

16million/3.5

NA/2.44

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

85MB/16GB

4GB/32GB

75MB/-

160MB/32GB

256MB/32GB

512MB/32GB

Talktime/Standby (hours)

YesNo

Yes/Yes

YesYes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

1.3MP/No/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/NA/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/Yes/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

2,000

Shared

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Price in Rs.

CDMA/No

Dual Band/CDMA+GSM

CDMA/No

Yes/Yes/EVDO Rev.0

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Rev.A

Yes/Yes/No

BREW

Android v 2.3

BREW

Android v2.3

BlackBerry OS

Android v2.3

BlackBerry OS7

CDMA/No

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

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/No

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

4,400

4,799

4,999

7,350

12,500

12,550

17,250

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 89

myguide MODELS

TABLET

APPLE

PARAMETERS

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

HTC

Model

iPad Mini Wi-Fi

iPad Mini W-Fii+3G

iPad(4th generation) Wi-Fi

F8S

Dimension (mm)

200 x 134.7 x 7.2

241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4

198 x 155 x 9.6

Weight (grams)

308

312

652

662

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/7.9

16 million/9.7

NA/8.0

16million/7.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

16,32,64GB/No

4GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Yes/Yes

4GB/32GBp

4GB/32GB

Camera/Flash/Video

5.0 MP/No/Yes

3.2/No/Yes

VGA/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Quad Band/No

Dual Band/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

No/No/No

Yes/Yes/HSDPA,HSUPA

Yes/Yes/Yes

No/No/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

iOS 6

Android v4.1

Android OS, v4.0

No/No

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

12,500

5,999

7,999

MICROMAX

RAGE

21,900/27,900/33,900 29,900/35,900/41,900 31,900/37,900/43,900 39,900/45,900/51,900

MODELS

Price in Rs.

NA/No No/No/No

PARAMETERS

HCL

KARBONN

Model

A34 TA-FONE HD NEW

Dimension (mm)

197 x 124 x 12.3

Weight (grams)

335

Talktime/Standby (hours)

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

A37 TA-FONE HD NEW

Smart Cosmic

Funbook P600

OPT400 Laptab

197 x 124 x 12.3

119.5 x 193.5 x 11.5

241 x 185 x 9.8

335

370

400

8/240

NA/NA

10/224

5/ 150

16million/7.0

262,144/7.0

16 million/9.7

16 million/7.0

NA/9.7

Yes/Yes

4GB/32GB

1.5GB/32GB

4GB/32GB

1GB/ 32GB

4GB/32GB

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

2.0MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/Yes/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

2MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Tri Band/NA

Tri Band/GSM+GSM

No/No/Yes

Dual 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.

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

A39 TA-FONE HD

NEW

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/No

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes/HSDPA

No/No/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

Android OS, v4.0

Android OS, v4.1

Android v4.1

Android v4.0

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

11,999

7,490

7,990

8,990

9,990

9,499

14,999

90 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

MODELS

SAMSUNG

PARAMETERS Model

Samsung Galaxy Note Galaxy Note10.1N800 510

Galaxy Tab2 311

Galaxy Tab2 310

Dimension (mm)

193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5

188.0 x 111.1 x 9.9

209.8 x 123.8 x 7.4

210.8 x 135.9 x 7.95

262 x 180 x 8.9

Weight (grams)

345

304

316

345

600

Talktime/Standby (hours)

Galaxy Tab 3 210

NEW

Galaxy Tab 3 211 8.0

NEW

Galaxy Tab 3 311 8.0 NEW

NA/1070

30/NA

20/NA

24/NA

NA/NA

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16million/7.0

16million/8.0

16million/10.1

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

8GB/64GB

16GB/64GB

8GB/32GB

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

Yes/Yes

NA/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

3.0MP/No/Yes

3.15MP/No/Yesz

3.15MP/No/Yes

5.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

Quad Band/No

GPRS/EDGE/3G

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

Android v4.0

Android v4.2

NA Android v4.2

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

Android v4.2

Android v4.1

Quad Band/No Yes/Yes/HSDPA Android v4.0

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/No

12,750

16,250

16,900

20,900

24,500

30,500

36,500

SONY

SPICE

MODELS

Price in Rs.

Androi v4.1

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

SIMMTRONICS

PARAMETERS Model

X720

XPAD X722

X1010

X801

XPAD XQ1

Xperia Tablet Z

Stellar Pad Mi 1010

Dimension (mm)

117 x 193 x 11.6

10.5 x 165 x 263

162 x 212 x 12.8

251x177x9.6

266 x 172 x 6.9

Weight (grams)

332

335

610

500

540

495

Talktime/Standby (hours)

5/NA

5/100

10/890

NA/384

Screen (colours)/Size (inch)

16 million/7.0

262144/7.0

16 million/ 10.1

16 million/ 8.0

16million/10.1

16million/10.0

Inbuilt/Expandable memory

4GB/32GB

8GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/64GB

16GB/32GB

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

No/Yes

Yes/Yes

Camera/Flash/Video

0.3 MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

0.3/No/Yes

2.0 MP/No/Yes

2.0MP/No/Yes

8.1/Yes/Yes

3.0MP/No/Yes

Phonebook Capacity

Shared

Frequency/Dual SIM

NA/No

Quad Band/No

NA/No

NA/-

NA/No

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi

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

Price in Rs.

No/No/Yes

Yes/Yes/Yes

No/No/Yes

Yes/No/Yes

No/Yes

No/No/HSPA+

No/No/Yes

Android v4.0

Android v 4.0

Android v4.0

Android v4.1

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/Yes/Yes

Bar/Yes/No

Bar/No/Yes

3,999

5,999

8,449

8,499

15,999

45,500

12,999

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 91

mobile doctor scratch-resistant display, a decent 3.2 megapixel camera, internet connectivity (and Nokia's Xpress browser) and microSD card support.

I have a Karbonn A1 Android 2.2 mobile phone. The main issue with this phone is that all the forwarded messages that I receive on WhatsApp in Hindi show certain images of boxes and signs and not the original Hindi text. Please help me as I have tried the language settings options but, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not helping. -Vinay Android 2.2 does not have Hindi support. This is the reason that Hindi text is displayed in the form of images. The Karbonn A1 does not come with upgradable Android, so you will not be able to use Hindi in WhatsApp with it. You will have to change the device if you want Hindi support. I want to purchase a scratch-resistant Nokia touchscreen or QWERTY phone costing between Rs 4,000-4,500, with high-resolution camera (flash optional), good internal memory, microSD card support of at least 4GB, USB port, internet connectivity (preloaded FB or Gmail optional), and basic facilities like Bluetooth, music player, FM radio (dedicated music keys optional). -Shivani Negi In this range, you will only get Nokia's Asha devices. If you are willing to stretch your budget by a bit, I would suggest investing in the new Nokia Asha 501 (reviewed in this issue). It has a

Sir, please suggest me a smartphone in the vicinity of Rs 10,000 with good network reception, splendid camera and a brisk internet connectivity supporting 3G. -Chaitanya Bhaskar You can go for the Nokia Lumia 520 which runs Windows Phone 8 and comes with very good multimedia integration. It also offers brisk internet browsing. If you prefer Android, then you can go for the Samsung S Duos, Karbonn Titanium S5 or the Micromax Canvas 2. I am looking for a dual SIM(GSM+GSM) phone, where I can use both SIM card connections at the same time, attending calls from SIM 1 and keeping

another SIM card on hold. -Manishankar Some Samsung phones are available with dual SIM active connectivity. If you have the budget for it, you can go for the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, which has the dual SIM active feature or go for Samsung Galaxy Star.

92 MYMOBILE SEPTEMBER 2013

I want to buy a smartphone in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. It should have a new processor, GPS, 3G and Wi-Fi, and should come with apps like Gmail, Facebook, Weather and Newspaper, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader, as well as the option to read and view all files, take online tutorials and other education imparting apps. -Tushar Rajput You can opt for the Nokia Lumia 620 which is a good option for using document-based applications and will also come in your budget. If you need more apps, then you can opt for Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy SII Plus and the Micromax Canvas 4. I am a religious reader of your magazine My Mobile and while going through the magazine I read the expert views in Mobile Doctor. I would like you to suggest me a smartphone running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system within the price range of Rs 17,000 to Rs 18,000, and which has a 8.0-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. -Surabh Singh In this range, you can go for the Samsung Grand and Grand Quattro. The phones run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and meet most of your requirements. I want to purchase a smartphone that costs up to Rs 20,000, and offers good browsing, dynamic sound and good camera quality. I have shortlisted phones like the Galaxy Mega 5.8, Grand Duos and Canvas 4. Do let me know if these meet my needs or if there is any other that I need to add to my list. -Prashant Saxena The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is the best option amongst all those you have mentioned. It has a powerful dual core processor and performs really well. I want to purchase a smartphone,

but, I am stuck between the Nokia Asha 501 and Samsung Galaxy Star. Which should I purchase? Please suggest which one of the two can do multi-tasking, and which is better in terms of looks and design. -Nikhil Handa The Samsung Galaxy Star is an Android phone, and comes with a number of applications and a good display. But, in terms of multimedia and build quality the Nokia Asha 501 is a better option. Its operating system is a newer one and the phone looks very stylish too. I want to purchase a Blackberry Curve. Should I go for the 9220 or 9320? Also, let me know about any Android phone available in the same range. -Vinod I would advise you to go for an Android device, as by the end of the year, Android devices will have BBM support. You can go for the Samsung Galaxy Core in this range. I want to purchase an Android smartphone in the range of Rs 7,000 - Rs 8,000. The device should have decent RAM, inbuilt storage, and a touchscreen display of 4-inches or more. I would prefer Micromax and Samsung. -Joydeep Sengupta Within this range, all the Samsung and Micromax devices will have lesser RAM. You can go for the Karbonn Titanium S1, as it is a good option keeping in mind your budget and requirements. n

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

consumer forum Complaint 1 I bought a Nokia Lumia 720 in May this year from Dehradun. Initially, the phone was working fine, but soon the handset started behaving strangely. Firstly, While using applications, the three front facing touch buttons (back, start and Bing) started working automatically and during this automatic switching by any of the three buttons, the phone begins to vibrate until I press the lock button. The problem occurs five to six times a day. I took the device to a Nokia Care Centre on Faizabad road, Lucknow where I was offered a reset along with updates. But the problem persisted. I recorded the problem in another handset and took it to Nokia Care again. This time the Nokia Care representative asked me to submit my phone to them. After four days, I received my phone. Again I am facing the same issue and this time, the touch is also behaving weirdly. I am totally disappointed and don’t know what to do. Please help. -Aman Deep Sharma Nokia's response: Awaited.

I have changed the battery twice, but to no avail. I have to charge the handset four times a day even if I do not use it properly. I want Samsung to replace my handset or reimburse the amount. -Priyanshu Nayak Samsung's response: Awaited

I contacted the customer care of Micromax to lodge a complaint. They also kept extending the date of handset delivery. Finally, I got my handset after 70 days. But the problem with the handset is still the same. Kindly help solve the problem. - Arup Baral Micromax's response: Awaited

Complaint 5 I booked the Aakash tablet online two years ago and I received it in July 2013. Not a month has passed and it has already started having problems. It used to switch off automatically and now it is not starting at all. The tablet was fully charged yet it switched off and is not starting. I have been calling the customer support number but no one has responded from their side. I have also sent a mail to them but they are not responding.

Complaint 3 I bought a Samsung GTS 5302 last December from Gorakhpur. When it started having trouble with the battery, I took it to the Golghar service centre, where my handset was deposited for 24 hours. Later, they returned it without resolving the problem.

Complaint 7 My new Zen M45 wouldn’t start for some reason. When I couldn’t get it started, I took it to the service centre where I was told the phone has to be left with the centre for 30 days. 45 days have passed, and I haven’t got my handset back. I urgently need my mobile phone back. I want the problem to be resolved as soon as possible or I will take the matter to the consumer court. -Rajnish Kumar Zen Mobile's response: Awaited.

Complaint 8 I am an Aircel customer and my mobile number is 961xxxxx679. I am using the number portability option and moving to Vodafone. But Aircel is not allowing me to move. I am tired of submitting my documents to Vodafone. Please look into the matter and help me as I urgently want to switch my operator. - Priyanshu Nayak Vodafone's response: Awaited. n

Complaint 2 I purchased a Micromax A54 handset in February 2013. And from July onwards it started giving me problems. The phone hangs a lot and the Wi-Fi also does not work properly. I went to the customer care and they asked me to deposit the handset. But they kept my handset and now they are not giving it back to me. I want the company to look into the matter and give me my handset back or reimburse the amount. - Raju Upadhaya Micromax's response: Awaited.

but, the problem was not solved. I have problems with the battery too - it lasts only for an hour when fully charged. When I told this to the service centre, they did not said anything about the battery. My device does not work properly. Please help me in resolving the issue. –Santosh Gautam Micromax's response: Awaited

Complaint 4 I bought a Micromax A110 handset. Soon its display started having blackout issues. I decided to visit the Micromax service centre where I was asked to deposit the handset for repair. They promised to return the handset within 15 days. However, every time I visited them to find out about my handset, I was asked to come back in seven days. But every time they failed to give me my handset, saying that the parts were not available.

Kindly help me in this matter. - Badriprasad Dandekar Datawind's response: Awaited.

Complaint 6 I brought a Micromax Funbook Talk P360 about two months ago. I had some problem with the device that I received. The tablet automatically shut down whenever I tried to open Bluetooth. It just hangs with the Funbook logo on. When I went to Micromax, they installed the software and charged me with Rs 350 for it

Are you being harassed by a Telco 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 Telco.

SEPTEMBER 2013 MYMOBILE 93

The Social Network for Professionals n

LinkedIn is considered to be the first corporate social networking website and has around 225 million users in over 200 countries. It was launched on 5 May, 2003 and was founded by Reid Hoffman and a few people from Socialnet.com and PayPal.

LinkedIn is more famous among the male of the species. The male: female ratio on the network is 58:42.

As per Quantcast statistics, LinkedIn has a 178.4 million unique visitors, 65.6 million of which are from the US.

94 MYMOBILE September 2013

While the likes of Facebook and Twitter cater to more mainline interests and tastes, LinkedIn has carved a niche for itself by focusing on industry and corporate news, and on information related to businesses and professions.

are allowed to access Facebook. n

According to a research, 55 per cent of the people looking out for a job are sure to visit LinkedIn. This makes it more popular than some specialised job sites.

With its stress on the professional and business front, LinkedIn has become a popular platform for jobseekers who logon to the social networking site to search for job openings.

India has more than 20 million LinkedIn members. Only one country, the US leads with 74 million members, has more. The UK and Brazil share third spot with 11 million members apiece.

In the UK, 55 per cent of the organizations allow their employees to browse through their LinkedIn profiles during work. Interestingly, only 47 per cent of employees

This professional networking site is mostly used by the people in the age bracket of 35-54 years. n team@mymobile.co.in

persona

Ten Things That You Might Not Know About...

Larry Ellison, CEO and co-founder, Oracle

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He is better known as Larry Ellison, but his full name is Lawrence Joseph Ellison. Ellison dropped out of college, not once but twice. First he dropped out of the University of Illinois, not appearing for his second year exams. He later joined Chicago University, only to drop out once again after the first semester. At the age of twelve, Ellison got to know that he was adopted by his birth mother’s aunt and uncle. He has never met his ‘real’ father. The idea for Oracle came to Ellison after he read a paper from IBM research about relational databases. He is the sixth richest person in the world and third richest in the US, with his total value calculated to be around $41 billion. Ellison has been in the limelight for his love for luxury real estate properties. He has property worth $200 million in Malibu. Ellison and Apple Inc’s former CEO, Steve Jobs were very close friends. It has been reported that Jobs also played the role of photographer at Ellison’s and novelist Melanie Craft’s wedding in 2003.

Ellison has a passion for planes and yachts. He is a licensed pilot and apart from owning his own aircraft, he also owned the tenth largest yacht in the world, ‘The Rising Sun,’ (worth $200 million) till late 2010.

He may be an all-American boy but Ellison is an admirer of Japanese culture. He describes it as the most aggressive yet polite culture in the world.

He may admire the Japanese, but Ellison’s feelings towards Microsoft founder Bill Gates are less reverential. In an interview, Ellison admitted that he hired a private investigator to get some dirt on Bill Gates. *Disclaimer: The information has been collected from the public domain and not from an interview with Larry Ellison.

september 2013 MYMOBILE 95

rumour mill

Talk Samsung making a smartwatch

Sony has made a couple. LG made one. Apple is said to be working on one. And as we go to print, we have received a word that Samsung is now trying to join the smartwatch gang. And if we have to believe what we have heard, then the Korean giant is looking at something that will act as an independent device rather than as something that just works in tandem with your phone. It is expected to have a Super AMOLED display and we even hear that it will have a ‘wind-up button’ that can be detached and made into a small stylus. Could the phone and tablet wars become the smartwatch wars? We are waiting and watching.

No retina display iPad mini this year

All right, this one has taken us totally by surprise. Even as a section of the tech media has gone to town talking about the next iPad mini, which will come with a retina display, just like its larger counterpart, there are whispers in some corners that Apple might not actually make too radical an update to the iPad mini this year. The rationale for this is the belief in some quarters that the iPad mini is actually impinging on the sales of the iPad itself. As per this branch of thought, Apple might actually improve the processor of the next iPad mini but strip it of its camera, and

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in Tech Corners

steer clear of the retina display.

Nokia making a Windows 8 tablet

Even as the market is abuzz about the Lumia 1020, out comes word from a source that Nokia is going to try its hand at the tablet space after all. And not surprisingly, just as in handsets, it is likely to go the Windows 8 way. Judging by what our source told us, the Finnish company is actually considering launching a tablet that will run Windows 8, will sport a 8.3-inch display and will cost lesser than an iPad. What however is uncertain is whether the tablet will run Windows 8 or its watered down Windows RT version. A dual core processor, dual cameras, 720p HD display and NFC connectivity have been mentioned as the possible specs, with Flash memory standing at 32GB. This is not the first time Nokia would have tried moving beyond handsets in the consumer tech space - it tried out a netbook some years ago - but if the price and specs do actually work out, the Nokia tablet could be quite a proposition.

An Instagram camera from Facebook

After having met with relatively moderate success in its efforts to come out with a Facebook phone, the Social Network now seems to have turned its attention to releasing a camera. Not just any run of the mill

camera, of course, but an Instagram one. If we are to believe what some sources have let drop, the Instagram Camera will come with a modest (8.0 or maybe even 5.0) megapixel count and 4x optical zoom, but will cost barely 150-175 USD and will revolve around adding filters at the flip of a dial. It will also come with Wi-Fi connectivity, with the option to automatically upload pictures to Instagram. You will also be able to edit images and add captions on the camera itself. Will this work better than a Facebook phone? We know not, but are definitely intrigued.

A SHIELD phone in the offing

NVIDIA has just released its SHIELD gaming console in the international market. But even as the critics wonder whether the company’s Android gaming initiative will pay off, we are hearing the news that NVIDIA is also working on a phone version of the device. Unlike the SHIELD console, the SHIELD phone will not have a gamepad, but will possess some very serious processing power under the hood, and will come with a 4.3-inch, 720p display. Evidently, the phone is targeted at those who want a terrific gaming experience on the move in a device that is more portable than a console. Mind you, we are being told that its release depends on the success of the SHIELD console - if the console does well, NVIDIA might just choose to sit on its phone avatar. n team@mymobile.co.in

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va n ta g e p o i n t

Smartphones

Powering the connect

recent Nielsen survey says it all: the penetration of smartphones in the US is highest amongst users within the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups, which is 80 percent of all mobile subscribers. There’s no denying that the youth have become champions of the smart phone revolution which is becoming a burgeoning phenomenon across the globe. In India, the case is not very different. According to Nielson, there are more than 27 million smart phone users in urban India, which is 9 percent of all mobile users in urban India. The smartphone proliferation is much higher in the large metros of 4 million plus population with one in ten smartphone users, and it is 6 percent in cities with a population of 100,000 to 1 million. Again the youth segment in 18-24 years has received maximum impregnation from this neo-age revolution. Youth in India is playing a big role in augmenting the smartphone adoption and the primary reason is the perpetual expansion of the internet network across the country. The huge spike in internet usage is a clear

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manifestation of the enormous opportunity in mobile handsets market in India, especially smart phones. According to Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and other global consulting firms, India is expected to have an internet user base of 300 million by 2015. As per Ericsson’s new Consumer Lab study, while 30 million out of 69 million urban members of Generation Z own mobile phones, 21 per cent of the urban Indian kids reflect patterns in mobile internet services usage as similar to their older counterparts. There is more than one reason for smartphones being such a huge hit among the youth across the world. The preference for smartphones is also growing thanks to the plethora of packet data options that are offered by the network service providers – cloud backup, push and pull email services, innovative apps, high-speed internet and social networking capabilities. Seamless connection, independent of geographical barriers, amongst teens and the youth has been on the upswing across the latitudes and longitudes of the world and the ability to stay connected online 24/7 through instant messaging, emails, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare etc. have the youth addicted to smartphones. Mails, text alerts and notifications are witnessing significant growth, music and video downloads have become faster, easier and more convenient. Applications, that’s another catch word for the youth when it comes to smartphone. Apps, as they are popularly known, are pieces of software that help you do everything from tracking the weather and news to help you read better on a shaky screen or learn music. App stores provide endless options catering to nearly every area of interest for the youth. Smartphones have also become a powerful platform for gaming because of the high resolution screens, tremendously powerful processors, huge memory capacity and availability of high end 3D and graphically intense games. Another aspect of smartphone applications relates with other convenient offerings such as seamless backup of the contact list, emails, SMS, important files and save it in secure storage destinations so as to retrieve them later as per requirement. Even when they are working, smart phones can take care of all

their work-related activities – one can configure client emails, read emails on the go whenever and wherever they want to, carry their contacts and important email ids with them, receive mission critical notifications, work on reports, presentations, edit documents; the list is practically never ending. These phones also allow secure online banking transactions including money transfer while on the go and this is what today’s young audience prefers. Staying connected has metamorphosed and has been completely redefined by the smartphone revolution. Earlier, internet calling was limited between computers(desktops and laptops), but now with an internet connection on the smartphone, youth can make online calls between computers as well as other smartphones. Almost all the social networking platforms have been seamlessly integrated using various applications which have enabled the youth to receive updates and notifications of activities of their friends and family as and when it is happening. Considering this scenario, no wonder smartphone sales in India have registered a phenomenal growth in the last couple of years and going forward, they are likely to get past the sales figures of the feature phones. According to industry figures, smartphones posted a 9 percent growth in the last financial year. This is likely to catapult to 68 percent by 2015. Another key driving impulse for this colossal surge in smartphones adoption is smart pricing. With a marked reduction in prices in the country, a smartphone comes easy for as little as Rs 5000, which is almost same as the price of a basic handset. Additionally, the free downloadable content, apps and lucrative service plans makes it worth every single penny that the youth is spending on smartphone. Further, aiding this phenomenonis the reduction in 3G tariff, given that about 95% of smartphones today are 3G-enabled and the introduction of 4G which, going by the market sentiment, will be providing another impetus to the young generation to go for a smartphone n -Ashish Gupta, Director of Alliances and Business Development, BlackBerry India, (Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the stance of the magazine)

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