February 1st, 2010
Samsung is leaving no stone unturned in the battle of the smartphones, leaving Nokia and others a real uphill task in the touchscreen race. Having sold 40 million touch phones in 2009 alone, Samsung has enough wisdom to know what really sells. Someone hunting for a Rs 8000 – Rs 12000 touchscreen smartphone isn’t a power user and the Samsung Corby / Star range suits them just perfectly. The iPhone wannabes if you can call them (and there isn’t any shame in being one); love the freedom of memory cards, ringtones, bluetooth file transfer, better camera with flash, cheaper price etc. The latest addition to the low end touchscreen from Samsung is the Star Superb (S5560). Bundling WiFi, 5MP camera, full touchscreen and a compact design at a price point of mere Rs 11,000 (<$250) is pretty much a success formula. IMO this one certainly kills the Nokia 5530 and even gives the 5800 a run for its money.
The Star Superb is basically a Corby design with the finishing of a Samsung Star. Confused? (more…)
Categories: Reviews, samsung, smartphones |
Tags: buy, buy samsung star, review, samsng india, samsung, samsung star, samsung star review, samsung superb india, star, star superb, superb | 38 Comments
January 31st, 2010
After failing to capture the touchscreen market in 2009. Nokia is back with a bang in 2010 with a slew of touchscreen handsets (or smartphones I must say) being released one after the other. With the 5800 doing well initially but failing to maintain the steady sales with time because of various shortcomings in terms of pricing and other issues like an unimpressive touchscreen and slow UI when used with various apps. Nokia seems to have got hold of the situation and their developers have come up with newer software versions for their S60 5th edition phones. Now with these problems taken care of, Nokia has started afresh and launched new phones like the Nokia 5230, 5233, 5530 and 5235 (this will be launched soon). Not to forget that the 5800 got a good price cut a few months back.
Unable to ignore the fact that the Nokia 5233 is the most basic;
lacking advanced features like 3G and Wi-Fi (also its the cheapest of the lot), we decided to do a quick review of their basic touchscreen phone and compare it with Nokia 5800. Now the 5233 costs only about Rs. 7500 approx. compared to the Rs 13000 for a 5800 (India). So what has Nokia really done with this phone that justifies this steep drop in price. Hmmm. Lets take a look.
On first look you can easily notice that this one does not have a secondary camera (for 3G) in the front, a scaled down 2.0 MP camera with no LED flash and only a single speaker (it has a very low output I must say). They have done away with the free 8GB micro-SD card. You get a WH-102 headset instead of the way better HS-45, AD-54 music headsets. A VGA camera for video recording. Most importantly, its got 3G & Wi-Fi missing. Being heavier by 4gms (weighing 113g), lack of mini qwerty input method are the other minor differences.
Side pose 5800 vs 5233 (Speakers)
(more…)
Categories: Reviews, Videos, nokia, smartphones |
Tags: nokia 5000 series touchscreen, nokia 5233, nokia 5233 vs samsung corby, nokia review, review, symbian touchscreen, touchscreen | 8 Comments
December 28th, 2009
It may be getting into headlines more often for its cellphones (especially the never-ending Corby range) but Samsung is busy in other fields too. It recently gave us a glimpse of its latest digital camera – the CL80 and we were not just intrigued – heck, we were downright impressed.
The reason for our jaws doing the dropping act was not just gravity. Or even the specs on the new Sammy clicker. All right, 14 megapixels, 7x optical zoom, 31 mm wide angle lens, 720 dp HD recording and HDMI connectivity are not to be sneezed at, but at the most, they would elicit a raise of the ‘umble eyebrow. What sent ours scurrying into our scalps was the fact that the device comes with a bigger than usual 3.7 inch display. And it ain’t an ordinary display – it is AMOLED. It is a touchscreen. And a capacitive (read “iPhone type”) one at that. With haptic feedback!
And we are not through (more…)
Categories: Cameras, Tech Industry News, samsung |
Tags: CL80., digital camera future, review, samsung, samsung cl80, samsung cl80 review | 2 Comments
October 20th, 2009
Over the years Nokia has had some real classics in the 6000 series. Starting from the Nokia 6600 (that sold like hot cakes) to the 6610, 6233 and 6300. The 6700 Classic is an ideal upgrade from the 6233 or the 6300, both of which were pretty popular devices in the mid-range segment. We saw a few more devices like the 6208 and the 6303 classic, but the 6700 appeared to be the best bet, which is why we picked the 6700 to review. (more…)
Categories: Reviews, nokia |
Tags: 6700 classic review, nokia, nokia 6700 classic, nokia 67000 review, review, symbian s40 platform | 2 Comments
October 19th, 2009
It is a few days to the official release of Windows 7, but in true tech media tradition, we managed to lay our mitts on a copy of Windows 7 (the Ultimate edition, no less) a few days ago and have been putting it through its paces. These are early days but we must confess that we are really liking what we see and that Microsoft might finally have closed the gap on the Mac crowd and buried the Vista legacy with Win 7. We could write reams on why we think so, but this being a blog, we will simply stick to seven reasons why we think Win 7 is a winner: (more…)
Categories: Reviews, Softwares, microsoft |
Tags: 7, asus eee pc windows 7, microsoft win 7, review, win7 review, windows, windows 7, windows 7 on netbook, windows 7 review | 25 Comments
October 12th, 2009
Sometimes, a good shock is just what you need to get yourself going. And Nokia has been having a fair share of experiences in the shocks department of late. The N97 got hammered, the 5800 Xpress Music sold a few million but was not really the iPhone killer it was touted to be and its recent E series and N series phones have not exactly set the market on fire. The pundits have been muttering that the Espoo company is making the same mistake that IBM made in the eighties in the PC business, letting an almost monopolistic command of the market slip away by attempting to be high-tech and neglecting the grass root segment, which actually provides the volumes.
While there is some justice in that argument (when was last time you saw Nokia come out with a powerful phone that was intended for the masses rather than the classes?), there is also evidence that Nokia is shaking off (more…)
Categories: Reviews, nokia, smartphones |
Tags: 5230, nokia, nokia 5230 review, nokia touchscreen, preview, review | 21 Comments
October 8th, 2009
Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 is finally out and finally the OS which which we know as a yesteryears superhit, in the age of Android and iPhones, it’s trying to adapt to the touch generation. Here are 7 reasons why we are not impressed with Windows Mobile v6.5: (more…)
Categories: Softwares, smartphones, windows mobile |
Tags: microsot wm 6.5, review, symbian vs windows, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.5 review, windows mobile vs anroid, windows mobile vs iphone, WinMo 6.5, wm 6.5, wm6.5 | 6 Comments
October 6th, 2009
While the iPhone 3Gs continues to have a hold on the high-end touchscreen market, the battle ground for the other end of the market spectrum is getting hotter by the day. The plethora of cheap touch phones by Nokia, LG and Samsung sure leaves consumers confused on what to buy and what not to buy. Nokia has its little handsets (5230, 5530, X6) rolling out, and the 5800 recently got a hefty price cut. Samsung is aggressively promoting its Star Series that comes in three variants, viz. the Star, Star 3G and Star 3G WiFi. LG has its Cookie on the lower-end that’s doing pretty well in sale numbers, while the GD510 will be releasing in stores soon. (more…)
Categories: First look, Reviews, samsung |
Tags: capacitive touchscreen review, corby, corby india, corby mumbai, corby s3650 review, review, s3650 review, samsung corbi review, samsung corby, samsung corby india, samsung corby price in india | 48 Comments
August 28th, 2009
After numerous leaks and lots of excitement, Nokia has officially announced the N900. The N900 is the first Nokia phone powered by the Maemo OS. Previously we have seen Nokia’s internet tablets like the N800 running the Linux-based Maemo 5, so while Nokia has phased out its internet tablets, devices like the N900 will pack in all the features of an internet tablet as well as a phone. Industry experts believe that (more…)
Categories: Launch Pad, Reviews, nokia, smartphones |
Tags: maemo, maemo5, n900 review, n9000, nokia, nokia n900, nokia n9000 review, review, syimbian, symbian | 4 Comments
May 26th, 2009
Palm / Sprint seem to be pushing the PRE really hard before the iPhone 3.0 and Nokia N97 showup 
. Here is a recent campaign that reviews the Palm Pre against Storm, iPhone and the G1. Does make a strong point with the Flash light and physical keyboard.
Click on image to enlarge
Categories: Reviews |
Tags: iphone vs g1 vs pre, iphone vs palm pre, palm pre, pre competition, pre vs, review, smartphone wars | No Comments
May 26th, 2009
LG Km900
Every time we come across a clone of iPhone for a review, the expectations shoot up high in the sky. Here is another one from the long list of iPhone killers trying hard to make it big like the big white Apple . This one from LG isn’t a low end offering like the LG Cookie, but LG Arena still KM900 has some tough competition to fight off in the mobile market. So here we have a detailed review to let you know if Arena would live the competition or would it be a KO!
(more…)
Categories: LG, Reviews |
Tags: iphone killer, km900, km900 review, LG Arena KM900, lg vs iphone, review | 9 Comments
March 30th, 2009
Here we have the successor of W580 not only with a better design but also with better specs like 2.2” QVGA and a 3.2 MP camera to name a few. Here is a review of the latest in the walkman series.
Key Features:
- Quad-band GSM and 3G
- 3.2 MP camera with 2.5x digital zoom
- 2.2” QVGA 256K colour display
- Bluetooth A2DP and USB 2.0 support
- Auto-rotate display
- 40MB internal memory, expandable upto 8GB, 2GB M2 included
- Walkman 3.0 with shake control and SenseMe
- FM radio
The W595 comes with a battery charger, USB data cable, two-piece headset with a stereo share headset to share music with friends and a 2GB M2 card to store all your music.
The Design:
W595 is a slider phone (like its precedor W580) and has metallic finish and rubbery accent on the back and sides of it. It weighs 104g with dimensions 100×47×14 mm. Most of the front panel is occupied by the 2.2” display. The keys below the display take up rest of the space. Though a slider the phone is sleek and fits in comfortably in the hand.
The keypad under the slider is comfortable with good spacing between the keys. Apart from these the walkman key and the shake control is on the right side. On the back is the 3.2 MP camera. SE fans would really miss a flash and a lens cover though.
(more…)
Categories: Reviews, sony ericsson |
Tags: review, se w595, sony ericsson w595 review, w580i, w585, w595i | 4 Comments
March 18th, 2009
The last super camera phone from SE, the K850i didn’t impress many. And here they have another one now C905, that looks much more promising to us. Believed to be one of the best camera phones around, the C905 has an 8 megapixel camera under the hood.
Here is a quick look at the specs:
- 8.1 Megapixel Cyber-Shot™ Camera with 16 x Zoom (digital)
- xenon flash & geo-tagging
- Camera Image Stabilizer & Red Eye Reduction
- Wi-Fi
- 2.4″ TFT 256K-color display
- AGPS + turn-by-turn voice guided navigation
- 2G HSDPA Technology
- Bluetooth (with A2DP)
- Exchange ActiveSync®
- Media Player With Album Art Display
- 360 Hours 3G Standby
- FM radio with RDS and TrackID
- 160 MB built-in memory, M2 card support, 2GB included (though I got 8GB in the box)
(more…)
Categories: Reviews, sony ericsson |
Tags: 905 review, c905 review, c905i, review, se c905, sony ericsson c905 | 5 Comments
January 6th, 2009
The highly promoted LG touchscreen has hit the markets with an aggressive pricing. The Cookie (KP 500) for me is an update to the previous attempt to cash in on the Touch hype – “Prada”. While the LG Prada was an early attempt, the Cookie is much more impressive.
The touchscreen is not as bright and rich as the iPhone but comparing the KP500 to the Apple iPhone would be wrong. Firstly the iPhone is iPhone and secondly the KP500 is targeted at a different level altogether. While the iPhone would cost you anywhere around Rs 28000 – Rs 30000 (8GB) in India the KP500 is all yours for Rs 13000/- approx!
(more…)
Categories: Reviews |
Tags: cokie, cookie, cookie review, kp500, kp500 review, lg cookie review, lg review, review | 22 Comments
November 28th, 2008
E63 is very similar to the Nokia E71 with not much difference between them. Both handsets run on Symbian OS 9.2 S60 version 3.2, and are almost identical in shape/design. However the E63 would come significantly cheaper to the E71. Somehow this gives me a feeling that its price competition that Nokia wants to bring in. With the domiance of Blackberries in QWERTY’s and also the rising popularity of the iPhone and Windows Mobiles, Nokia needs to enter this segment with multiple option. Nokia has always relied on the numbers game. It rests on its worldwide depth to maintain its dominance in the cellphone industry. In developing nations like India, it has over a dozen models priced below Rs 8000. Hitting the nail right on the head!
(more…)
Categories: First look, Reviews |
Tags: e63, e63 review, nokia, nokia e63, review | 2 Comments
July 25th, 2008
Though I haven’t had the opportunity to hold the E71 for too long, the few minutes that I had with is enough for a short review. I am currently using a E61i (and my next upgrade most likely is E71) and I have used the Treo 650 and the E62 for a long time. So whats so common in all these? Well, the QWERTY keyboard! Ask any Blackberry user what he loves in his cell, and he would undoubtedly tell you that the pleasure of typing on the QWERTY is addictive, and add to that a fast and responsive OS and you would have a winner. The E71 is very handy and probably much more sleek than its predessors
The navigation joystick that we originally has in E62 was replaced with the D-Pad in E61i and is still good enough with excellent performance in the E71. Its crisp and big enough for my thumb. E71 packs in a lot of features: AGPS, 120MB internal memory + MicroSD slot, 3.2MP camera with Flash!, WiFi, Bluetooth with AD2P, Adobe Flash support (lets you surf YouTube and other flash content).
Dealers are selling the device claiming that all E90 features are here and its half the size. Can’t blame them for that can we? The device sure is sleek. E71 has a 1500mAh Bp-4L battery which is the same that was used in E61i, but is strong enough to handle the GPS and WiFi.
One thing that I miss on the Symbian based Nokia devices, the speed and swift OS like the Palm OS (the one I experienced in Treo 650). The messaging app in E62 and E61i gets slow as soon as you cross some 1200 messages in your Inbox. Although I couldn’t test the E71 with that much data, but with a faster processor and three times more RAM am hoping it would be better!
Comprehensive review at All About Symbian
Image source
Categories: Reviews |
Tags: e71, nokia, nokia e71, qwerty, review, symbian | No Comments
July 23rd, 2008
Here is another 5MP horse heating up competition in the high end camera mobile segment. SE fans have been waiting for the next 5MP ever since the Sony Ericsson K850i came in. The Sony Ericsson C902 is a simple, slim and plain 5MP camera phone which ends up being compared to the Nokia heavy weights. One thing we never understand is the reason why Sony Ericsson ignores data features so badly. A couple of years back they were the last ones to start offering EDGE, and now the high ends like K850i and the C902 lacks WiFi. Comeon guyz its 2008!!
Design:
The C902 is a slim candy-bar design, with no weird key placement like the K850i. The camera is seen no where untill you slide the top of the screen to reveal the lens. So if camera phones are banned in your office, this might well be a phone with a hidden camera that will let you sneak through the security (really!!). In hand the SE C902 gives a very solid feel and is much more (comfortable) easier to handle than the Nokia N95 or the Sony Ericsson K850i. Its really slim at 10.5mm.
The sides of the C902 are nicely designed with the volume buttons placed on the bottom (yeah sounds odd) on the right side, just next to the camera button. Though for cellphone users this is new, but Digicam users are used to have the Zoom buttons just next to the Camera click button. The charger / data socket is on the left.
Features:
C902 has all the standard media and communications (MP3, FM, Bluetooth, USB). Though it lacks on WiFi and GPS, it isn’t a smartphone that will please the business users. Its is rightly labeled the “best cybershot phone’. I personally feel that this one should have come much before, specially as the K850i disappointed. C902 makes up for lack of WiFi with its HSDPA / 3G network. But then 3G isn’t available everywhere, leaving EDGE as the only option for internet. The phone also features a full web browser and Google Maps.
The music in C902 is not Walkman branded but its good, while the MegaBass technology gives good output from the speakers. C902 offers a 160MB internal memory which is good, but moving on to the gigs is the trend. However 160GB + upto 8GB expandable is acceptable. One wonderful thing about the K850i was the interchangeability between M2 and MicroSd cards. Sadly thats missing in the C902, which
supports only the Sony M2 card format. Not only is it an expensive option (compared to the MicroSD) its not universal either. Making SE users feel alien J.
Accelerometer has become a common term for cellphones after the iPhone. Just like the K850i the C902 offers a accelerometer that rotates the pictures that you are viewing (toggle between landscape / portrait).
Camera:
Camera had to be the talking point here, and the brand name Sony brings a lot of trust. Sadly the k850i wasn’t spectacular and difficult to use. And thankfully Sony Ericsson has left out the Xenon Flash that they used in the K850i. Yes Xenon Flash is supposed to be better than the regular ones, but if you had experienced the K850i, you would know what I am talking about.
C902 has a lot of camera features and will please the camera lovers (Face-detection and Auto-focus). SE C902 offers a 5 megapixel camera with So
does it replace your conventional digital camera? read here
The C902 also features the Geo Tagging (Geotagging feature) that automatically Tags the images shot by you with the approximate location of the place where you shot it. This is not as accurate as a GPS system but it utilizes cellular triangulation to conclude the location. The same can then be located on Google Maps that is integrated in the C902.
Verdict:
The C902 is no wonder. It lacks WiFi, GPS, Xenon flash and the only thing that impressed us is the simple design. No we don’t like simple, but then after seeing the horrible (and fat) K850i this slim and simple C902 suits us a little more. At just Rs 2000 ($50) more up for grab is the Nokia N95 which still looks a better option. The C902 leaves a few features but with strong media and a good battery life SE fans would love this K850i upgrade.
(Also I would have loved to see some more colour variations in the C902, currently they offer only the Black colour. Maybe red would look good).
Sony Ericsson C902 and C902i are the same model, ask SE why they confuse …!
Categories: Reviews |
Tags: 5mp, c902, c902i, review, se, sony ericsson | No Comments
June 8th, 2008
The touch technology has undoubtedly been the biggest revolution in cellphones in the last one year. Last year we saw two major releases which heated up the competition amongst mobile manufacturers. This was the Apple iPhone and the HTC Touch, and now we have seen Apple bring the touch technology in macbooks, and windows unveiling its Touch plans for Windows 7.
For the handhelds, Apple iPhone has been a great success but the HTC Touch managed to get a head-start globally and became very popular, selling in millions. Since then HTC has offered a upgraded HTC Touch Dual and lately its biggest announcement for 2008, the HTC Touch Diamond. We still await the big release from Apple (the new 3G iPhone), which again faces competition from HTC which has again managed to release its iPhone rival before Apple. (more…)
Categories: Reviews |
Tags: diamond, HTC, htc diamond, htc _review, review, windowsmobile | 2 Comments
May 13th, 2007
The rumors started many months ago about a smaller PalmOS Treo with an internal antenna. Some of the rumors suggested that the new Treo would come in different colors and might even be less expensive than the Treo 650 or 700p. A few of these rumors proved to be true when Palm announced the upcoming release of the Treo 680, but there are still many unanswered questions such as the price and release date. It’s time to put an end to the rumors, because the new Palm Treo 680 is finally here and just in time!!
The 680 is a wee-bit heavy weighing in at 157 grams, though it does look a little plump, it’s actually quite ergonomically designed. It has a nice big 2.75-inch display sporting a 320×320 pixel resolution so suffice to say it
As previously announced by Palm in October, the new Treo 680 comes in four colors: Graphite (nearly identical to the color of my Sprint Treo 700p), Arctic (white), Crimson (bright red), and Copper (orange).
Categories: Reviews |
Tags: palm, palm treo 680, review, treo, treo 680 | No Comments
