NDTV News

D-Link DIR-605L Cloud Router: Review

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:54:00 GMT

D-Link announced its cloud service and a range of cloud-based products at this year's Consumer Electronic Show (CES). The DIR-605L Cloud Router is one of the products unveiled by the company in Las Vegas. We received the unit last month and here's our somewhat belated review.

In the box
DIR-605L
Power Adapter
1 LAN Cable
User Manual

Build & features
The router looks rather plain with a black plastic body that is dominated by two large, non-detachable antennas at the back. The top features seven indicator lights at the front - Power, Internet, Wireless and numbered lights for each LAN port. The backside sports the power port, WAN/ Internet port and 4 LAN ports. A WPS button is present on the side.

The DIR-605L is pretty much a no-frills router, with 300 Mbps 802.11n wireless networking perhaps the only feature hitherto seen in higher-priced routers. There's no dual-band wireless (only 2.4 Ghz), no Gigabit Ethernet or USB ports.

Setup & options
The router does not come with a CD. You simply join the default wireless network or connect via LAN cable and follow the web-based setup to configure your network. The setup is simple enough without being anything special.

The router supports port forwarding & triggering, dynamic-DNS, UPnP and other features you expect from a modern router. An interesting addition is Parental Control Rules that let you define a black/white list of sites that users can access and have a schedule associated with each list. This lets you, for example, have a pre-defined list of sites your kids can access while you are at work during the day, and an unrestricted Internet when you are around. The feature works as advertised.

Performance
This is where the router really begins to shine. The wireless range is excellent, thanks, no doubt, to the dual antennas. We installed the DIR-605L in a large six-bedroom house that was originally being served by two dated routers working in conjunction. The DIR-605L served strong signal in every corner of the house.

The wireless performance was excellent and we didn't experience any signal drops or any need to reset the router during our 3-4 days test period. The data transfer speeds were satisfactory and in line with the specifications.

Cloud integration

The DIR-605L is mydlink enabled, which is D-Link talk for a device that supports its cloud service mentioned earlier. Once you've signed up for the service, you can link and control all your mydlink enabled devices from the web or mobile. D-Link has also released iOS and Android apps that let you do the same.

Linking the DIR-605L to the cloud was pretty straightforward but of limited utility. While it's nice to be able to monitor your router from anywhere in the world without fiddling with half-a-dozen settings, the mydlink service doesn't let you do much with the device. You can monitor the throughput and, sure, you can reboot your device when needed, but, chances are, when your router really needs a reboot, it won't have a live Internet connection for you to remotely login either!

Verdict
What the DIR-605L lacks in features, it makes up in performance. If you are looking for a wireless router for a duplex apartment or large office, this one deserves a second look.

Price
Rs. 2,900

Pros
Steady performance
Good range

Cons
Lacks features that other similar-priced routers offer

Rating
Performance 4
Features 2.5
Design 3
Value for Money 3.5
Overall 3.5

ViewSonic ViewPhone 3: Review

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:26:00 GMT

ViewSonic, the company that is well known for its LCDs, plasma displays and projectors, has launched its first dual-SIM 3G Android phone in India. Dubbed as the ViewPhone 3, it is an entry-level smartphone with Gingerbread and an 800MHz processor at its core. We take a detailed look at the device to find out how it competes in the dual-SIM Android budget phone category.

Hardware
The ViewPhone 3 sports a sturdy build with a rubberised finish that gives it a good grip. The design is decent and doesn't offer much in terms of looks. It does feel light at 123 grams and is quite comfortable to hold. The front looks clean with the conventional Android Back, Menu, Home and Search capacitive buttons at the bottom. The volume rocker rests on the right, while the power button is located on the top next to the 3.5mm headphone jack. The left side houses the Micro-USB port for charging and data transfers.

The back plastic panel comes off easily to reveal the battery which needs to be removed to access the SIM and microSD card slots.The smartphone comes with an AC adapter supporting multiple plug options (three types included in the box), a USB cable, a 2GB memory card, pair of standard headphones and a basic instruction guide.

Display
ViewPhone 3 has a 3.5-inch multi-touch capacitive display supporting a 480x320pixel resolution. The display isn't anything to boast about, with images looking rather dull. While outdoors, despite increasing brightness to full, you still find yourself straining to decipher the screen's content.

Camera
The 5MP camera of the phone is a little disappointing. Images look dull and without any LED flash on the smartphone, there is no scope for images in low lighting conditions. The video recording on ViewPhone 3 is also so-so and it would hardly be any value addition.There is no front camera on the device.

Software/ Interface
The ViewPhone 3 runs on Gingerbread (Android 2.3.6) featuring an 800MHz Qualcomm processor under the hood. The company has loaded its own skin over Android which doesn't add much to the device's interface. One interesting feature however, is the presence of a rotating carousel mode accessible via the ViewScene 3D option that allows you to easily switch between home screens.

While using the phone, the UI felt a bit sluggish at times, especially when opening and closing applications or simply browsing through home screens. However, consumers can download third-party launchers from Google Play store, which improve the performance a lot. The device comes with 512MB of RAM and ROM. The external memory is expandable up to 32GB via microSD.

Apart from the standard Google apps (Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google+, etc.), Flickr and the stock music and video players, there aren't many pre-installed apps on the device.

ViewSonic also has its own app store called ViewApps which is rendered useless because it cannot be accessed from any region except Taiwan! We felt the need for this app was unnecessary with the Google Play store already available on the phone.

Performance/ Battery Life
The phone delivers an average performance which neither amazes nor disappoints you. The device comes with a standard 1500mAh Li-ion battery capable of lasting anywhere between 6 -7 hours before it completely drains out. The dual-SIM feature remains restricted to dual standby with just one SIM active during the call. The call quality was decent.

It would've been better to see the SIM options as being colour coded on notifications bar for clearer identification rather than being labelled S1 and S2.

The ViewPhone 3 works well on Wi-Fi connectivity front and the browsing experience was hiccup-free. Watching YouTube videos was a pleasant experience. The videos played alright with minor pixelation issues.

Casual Android games like Angry Birds Space and Fruit Ninja ran pretty smoothly with no lag or crashes. The in-built FM radio also worked quite well, tuning in to all available frequencies without any hiccups.

The audio quality of the device is better on the speakers than with the headphones provided in the box. Perhaps, using a better pair of headphones might enhance the audio experience.

Verdict
The dual-SIM Android category is quite abuzz with phones from companies like Samsung, Micromax, LG and Spice. There isn't anything new that the ViewPhone 3 offers in terms of specs. For a price point of Rs. 9,990, it might not be a great smartphone, but it does offer decent user experience.

For more pictures of the ViewSonic ViewPhone 3, visit our photo gallery.

Pros
Sturdy build

Cons
Poor camera
Sluggish UI

Price: Rs. 9,990

Ratings
Design: 3
Display: 2.5
Camera: 2
Performance: 3
Software: 2.5
Battery Life: 3
Ecosystem: 4
Value for Money: 3
Overall: 2.5

BlackBerry Curve 9220: Review

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:36:00 GMT

In the wake of increasing popularity of Android phone and Apple's iPhone, Research In Motion (RIM) has not been having a good run with its BlackBerry devices. Fortunately for the company, India is one of the few markets in which it is still popular amongst youngsters, thanks largely to the BlackBerry Curve 8520. Launched way back in 2009, 8520 was the first Curve smartphone from the Canadian handset maker and it continues to be their bestselling smartphone in the country.

The reasons why Curve 8520 proved to be such a big hit are easy to understand. It's the cheapest BlackBerry around, and the go-to option for the young crowd who use BlackBerry Messenger as if their life depended on it. The wide variety of colour options no doubt helped the sales.

Though the Curve 8520 continues to be the top selling model for RIM, it runs on the dated OS 5, has a slow processor and an average battery backup.

This is where the new BlackBerry Curve 9220 steps in. Priced attractively at Rs. 10,990, the company expects it to be as popular as the first Curve and is specifically being targeted at the youngsters.

Hardware and looks
The first thing that you notice about the new Curve 9220 is that it looks very similar to Curve 8520. However, despite having a larger battery, it is 1.2mm thinner than its predecessor.
The Curve 9220 also has the full plastic body but the build quality is nice. It feels sturdy and can bear a few falls with without any major damage.

The big highlight of this smartphone is the presence of a dedicated BBM key. This key is placed on the left side of the handset, and gives instant access to BlackBerry Messenger. However, it works only when the handset is unlocked, so not really a shortcut to access BBM.

Unlike other BlackBerrys, this smartphone does not have any dedicated media keys on the top panel. This clears a lot of space at the top, which now only houses the screen lock key.
The keyboard is pretty much the standard one found on any BlackBerry device and the QWERTY lovers will find it quite convenient to use.

Just like the BlackBerry Curve 8520, the new Curve handset, too, will be available in vibrant colour options such as fuchsia pink and teal blue, apart from the usual black and white.

Display
The BlackBerry Curve 9220 comes with 2.44-inch TFT LCD display with 320x240 pixels resolution. When pitted against the other Curve devices at similar price point, Curve 9220 scores better than the rest in terms of display. Having said that, the display of this handset is still nothing to rave about when compared to other smartphones.

Camera
BlackBerry Curve 9220 sports a 2.0-megapixels fixed focus camera. The images captured through this camera in proper light conditions were at the most average. Needless to add, the quality deteriorates even further in low-lighting conditions.

Considering that RIM is trying to catch the fancy of the young consumers through this handset, we feel that the camera should have been better. Most devices at this price point come loaded with at least 5-megapixels primary camera.

Another downside of this smartphone is the fixed-focus nature of the camera rather than auto-focus found on other smartphones. The quality of videos recorded through this handset is also average.

Software/ Interface
Curve 9220 comes loaded with the latest BlackBerry OS 7.1, which makes it the first handset at this price point to do so. To put things in perspective, the more expensive BlackBerry Curve 9300 (commonly referred as Curve 3G) and BlackBerry Bold 9780 handsets are still running on the older BlackBerry OS 6.

When compared with BlackBerry OS 5 and OS 6, the new operating system seems far sleeker, faster and more user-friendly. Also BlackBerry OS 7.1 brings mobile hotspot, universal search, BlackBerry tag and FM Radio support, which were in the earlier version.

The addition of Social Feeds in an entry-level device is handy, especially when it is targeted to young users. We liked the experience of using Facebook through Social Feeds more than the native Facebook app. One of the most important aspects of any BlackBerry device, without any doubt, is its BBM experience. We found the experience of using this app on Curve 9220 to be almost identical to other BlackBerry OS 7 devices.

Performance/ Battery Life
RIM is tight lipped regarding the processor inside BlackBerry Curve 9220, but irrespective of the which processor has been used in this phone; we found that this smartphone was pretty smooth in terms of functioning. There were no lags in transitioning between different apps; neither did we encounter any unusual crashes.

Another addition in this handset is the FM radio. The radio app is quite basic with no frills attached. The voice quality and music playback quality on the handset, both through loudspeaker and earplugs, is good.

The best part about this smartphone is the battery-life. The Curve 9220 comes with a 1450 mAh battery, which easily lasted for a day with frequent app use and web browsing without needing a charge.

In terms of connectivity, this mobile handset comes with a Wi-Fi and 2G but lacks 3G support. It's a bit disappointing to find a device at this price point of Rs. 10,000 that does not have 3G support.

Verdict
The biggest drawback for BlackBerry still continues to be its inability to excite the developers to create apps for its platform and the BlackBerry Curve 9220 is unlikely to change that. However, if you are not into the apps and are looking for a budget BlackBerry smartphone to connect with your BBM friends, then Curve 9220 is worth considering. It is also be a good upgrade for users of BlackBerry Curve 8520 as it offers an updated OS and better battery at a similar price point.

For more pictures of BlackBerry Curve 9220, please visit our image gallery.

Pros
Battery life
Affordable BlackBerry OS 7 device

Cons
2.0 MP Camera with fixed focus
No 3G

Price: Rs. 10,990

Ratings:
Design: 3
Display: 2.5
Camera: 2
Performance: 3.5
Software: 3.5
Ecosystem: 1.5
Battery Life: 4
Value for Money: 3
Overall: 3

Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000: Review

Mon, 07 May 2012 17:52:00 GMT

Microsoft recently launched its Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 in India. It can be paired with any Bluetooth enabled mobile phone, notebook, desktop or tablet.

Mobile Keyboard 5000 succeeds company's Mobile Keyboard 6000 and the only major difference between the versions is the missing numeric pad in the former.

Packaging and contents
The red keyboard box is just as sleek as the product. Apart from the Bluetooth keyboard, the package comes with a user manual and two Alkaline AAA batteries that are required to power this device.

Design and build quality
Microsoft's Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 is a visually appealing device. Unlike the competing keyboards that are rectangular in shape, it has a slightly curved design that works in its favour. Another positive for this keyboard is its slim and light-weight profile.

The keys are large and well-spaced, but unlike other keyboards not all keys on Microsoft's Keyboard 5000 are of equal size. The function keys placed in top row are very small in size; however, as the function keys are hardly used, we did not find it much of an issue.

Function keys aren't the only ones with smaller size on the keyboard. While centre keys such as 'B', 'N', 'G' and 'H' are larger, the corner keys like 'O', 'K', 'L' and 'Q' are smaller. According to the company, this unusual size of keys, and the design of this keyboard, encourages natural posture while typing. That might well be true, but it certainly takes some getting used to.

Talking about the other parts of the keyboard, the battery lid has been placed at the rear along with power button and Bluetooth pairing button. The pairing button is quite small and we found it a little uncomfortable to use. If you plan to pair with different devices on a regular basis, this may be a slight pain-point.

Moving on to the build quality, this keyboard is made essentially of the plastic but it does not look cheap and feels like a sturdy device.

With mere 414 grams weight, the keyboard is quite lightweight, but because of the size, we didn't find portable enough for tablets. To make it more travel friendly, the keyboard should have ideally come with a soft cover/pouch. But, Microsoft seems to have overlooked it.

Further on the downside, there is no indicator for Caps Lock, or the battery life. Company has just given a power indicator, which informs you if the device has been powered on and also blinks while the device is in discoverable mode.

Performance
To use the Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000, all one needs to do is insert two AAA batteries in the keyboard and pair it with a compatible Bluetooth device. We paired it with an Apple iPad and Windows notebook, and in both cases we found the connecting procedure to be similar and fairly straightforward.

In terms of usage, the device is comfortable to use and is very responsive. However, as we have already pointed out, it takes a while to get used to the keys on this one.

Verdict
If you are out in the market looking for a wireless keyboard for home-use, Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 is a decent option, but if you want a portable keyboard for your new tablet, you might find it a bit large.

Pros
Appealing design
Light-weight/Portable
Easy to connect

Cons
Takes a bit of time to get used to the key placement
No battery life/Caps Lock indicator

Price: Rs. 3,350

Ratings:
Performance: 3.5
Price: 3
Ease of setup: 4
Ergonomics: 4
Wow Factor: 3.5

HTC One V: Video Review

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:54:00 GMT

Along with HTC One X, Taiwanese manufacturer has also released its mid-range Android smartphone One V in the Indian market recently. Featuring a chin and unibody design, this smartphone isn't a hardware powerhouse but that shouldn't be an issue for someone looking for a smartphone in a fixed budget.

It comes with Android 4.0 and is the cheapest smartphone that you can buy today with Ice Cream Sandwich on-board in the country.

HTC One V features a single-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 4GB of internal storage, and only 512MB of RAM. But do these basic specs show in daily use? Find out in our video review.

Motorola Atrix 2: Video Review

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:38:00 GMT

Motorola has recently launched the Atrix 2 Android smartphone in the Indian market. Successor to the original Motorola Atrix, which was launched last year at Consumer Electronics Show, Atrix 2 comes with some decent upgrades over the original.

Priced at INR 23,000, is Atrix 2 a great performer, find out in our video review.

Key Specifications
4.3-inch qHD display
1GHz dual core TI OMAP 4430
Android 2.3
8MP rear camera with auto-focus, LED flash
8GB internal storage, 1GB of RAM

Apple's new iPad - Review: The best tablet money can buy

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:48:00 GMT

The iPad is the kind of product that doesn't come around very often. Like Xerox, Walkman and, more recently, the iPod, it's when a particular product sees so much success that it becomes synonymous with the entire category. Less than two years after its launch, the iPad is already a category-defining product.

Not sure what we mean? Here's an anecdote. Only the other day someone walked into our office and popped the question - "Should I buy Motorola's iPad?" Hint: they were referring to the Motorola Xoom.

Back to Apple's iPad. The new iPad - yes, that's what it's called, not iPad 3 - more on that later - builds on the incredible success of its predecessors. Rather than offering something radically different, the new iPad retains the familiar and throws in some compelling upgrades.

What's in a name?
While the name new iPad has confused, and even amused, many Apple's intention is to bring the nomenclature of its mobile products in line with that of traditional computing devices. The 'new' in the name is surely transitional, and the next iteration would almost certainly be simply called 'iPad'.

The latest generation of Apple's ultra-portable laptop is called MacBook Air, just like the four generations before it. Why should the tablet be any different? Indications are that the next iteration of the iPhone would drop the number from its name as well. Years, instead of version number style monikers, would come to represent every product generation, such that the current iPad would be known as the iPad 2012 in the annals of time.

First impressions
The first thing you notice upon taking the new iPad out of the box is that it looks exactly like the iPad 2. It's not until you hold the new iPad in your hands that you notice something different - it's slightly heavier than its predecessors. People who generally use their iPad with a case or Apple's smart cover probably won't even notice the difference.

If you've never used an iPad before, do not let reports of the extra weight bog you down. Just like its predecessor, extended periods of holding the new iPad promise only joy and excitement, and not hurting hands.

As per Apple's specifications, the new iPad is slightly thicker than the iPad 2, but we couldn't tell the difference. We did, however, experience the new iPad's infamous heat. It definitely runs hotter than the iPad 2 because we don't recall our iPad 2 ever warming up to us like the new one does. It didn't deter us from holding the iPad for extended periods of time, so we filed this away under the 'minor irritant' category and moved on.

Display
It's not until you power it on that the new iPad really begins to shine. The all-new Retina Display is everything that it is made up to be, and more. This may feel like your old iPad but the moment you watch your first video, or simply open your favourite website (this one, of course) in Safari, we promise you'll hand down the iPad 2 to your kids faster than they can spell Chhota Bheem.

The official specs peg the Retina Display resolution at 2048x1536 pixels. That's more pixels than a typical full-HD screen (1920x1080). We could wax lyrical about the new display for hours, but nothing will convince you faster than this simple test. Walk in to the closest shop that has both, the iPad 2 and the new iPad, on demo and play any (full-HD) trailer using Apple's Trailer app. The difference between the two will be evident to even the most casual of observers.

The speakers seem unchanged from the iPad 2, loud enough, but not ones that would ever win an award for sound quality.

Camera
The other big improvement from the iPad 2 is the camera. The rear camera is now a 5-megapixel camera, capable of recording full-HD video, just like the one in iPhone 4. Image quality is noticeably better (see comparison shots below), and the lens seems capable of taking slightly wider shots as well.

See the difference in details captured between the cameras in iPad 2 (top) and new iPad. Notice the slightly wider shot as well.

The front-camera is beefed up too and it's perfect for FaceTime, Skype or anything else that you would want to do with a front-camera.

While we remain unconvinced about the need of having great rear-cameras in tablets, truth is, Apple would have been criticised if it had stuck with the generation-old camera. We are yet to see people hold their 10-inch tablets in the air to click photographs en-masse, but it's nice to know you have a quality option to fallback on should you have a "photography emergency".

Processor & GPU
Apple made a rather bold claim when it introduced new iPad's A5X processor with quad-core graphics, saying its performance blows the competition away. While NVIDIA was initially upset at Apple's claims and wanted to benchmark the A5X against its Tegra 3, but the fact that they have gone quiet since probably means they might have conducted the benchmarks in private and realised Apple was indeed right in its claim.

As it turns out, the additional processing power in the new iPad is not a luxury but a necessity. The apps you run may not feel any faster, but there's a lot more going on in the background, even when your iPad is simply displaying a webpage on screen.

The new Retina Display has four-times as many pixels as the iPad 2, which means refreshing the display is four-times the work. The quad-core graphics engine does a stellar job in handling this extra load, which means you'll almost never notice any lag in terms of performance.

However, we did stumble upon one such moment of "lag", while trying to take a screenshot of a full-HD iTunes rental video in action. There was a slight, longer than expected, delay between the time we pressed the home and power buttons and when the screenshot was taken. However, that was the only situation where we experienced any kind of a lag and the iPad handled everything else we threw at it flawlessly.

Apps/ Software
The new iPad has access to all apps that worked on the iPad and the iPad 2. However, apps updated to feature graphics optimised for higher resolution display of the new iPad will look a lot better than older apps. Overall, the iPad/ iOS ecosystem trumps all other competing tablet platforms (if you can call them that) combined, in terms of quality as well as quantity of apps available.

The new iPad also features voice dictation. We're not sure if it was the Indian accent or the speed at which we spoke, but our experience with dictation ranged from the outrageous to downright hilarious, with the most unexpected of results.

Battery Life
In a departure from usual next generation Apple products, the new iPad is, as mentioned earlier, heavier and thicker than its predecessor. With a faster processor and a bigger display to power, Apple decided to increase the battery size, even if it meant giving up the slimmer, lighter maxim it loves. The move seems to have paid off as the new iPad features the same incredible battery life that made its predecessors famous.

4G/ LTE
"What 4G/ LTE?" you might ask, and rightly so. As of date, India has only one 4G network, restricted to one city/ region, so the 4G/ LTE networking feature seems to be a non-starter. What's worse, even when 4G/ LTE takes-off in our country, the new iPad is unlikely to work in 4G/ LTE mode, since the chip inside is designed to work on a different spectrum than what the Indian networks are expected to use. Customers in UK and Australia are already experiencing the problem and Apple has been asked to stop advertising it's models as 4G in these countries.

The good news is that the new iPad works just fine on 3G-mode out-of-the-box, with performance similar to its predecessor. The GSM version of the iPad (the one available in India) comes factory-unlocked, so you can pop in any compatible SIM. The iPad now also supports the Personal Hotspot feature, that lets you create a Wi-Fi network on the iPad for other devices (like your phone) to use.

Verdict
If you're in the market for your first tablet and not looking for bargains at the very bottom of pit, the new iPad is an absolute no-brainer. Apple products are, often incorrectly, perceived to be premium or expensive but nothing could be further from the truth in case of the new iPad. As of today, no other company could possibly deliver a tablet with iPad like specs at this price-point. Apple manages to do so thanks to its amazingly efficient supply-line and economies of scale.

If you have the original iPad, the present generation offers a compelling upgrade. The new display, cameras and the overall performance gain you'll experience compared to the original iPad, makes the new iPad worth your money.

Things are not so cut-and-dry if you have an iPad 2. At the end of the day, the only thing significantly better in the new iPad is the screen. So is that alone worth spending upwards of 30,500 rupees? Not if you use your iPad for email and browsing alone. However, if you love playing games or watching movies, you should give the new iPad a spin and take a call based on your spending ability.

With Android tablets still trying to get their act together in terms nailing down the hardware as well as the ecosystem to go with it, the iPad seems devoid of any genuine competition. In such a scenario, we can safely say the new iPad is the best tablet money can buy.

Pros

Stunning display
Battery life
Cameras
Apps

Cons

Wi-Fi+4G option slightly overpriced
4G option not compliant with Indian network(s)

Price: Between Rs. 30,500 and Rs. 50,900.

Ratings
Design: 4.5
Display: 5
Performance: 4.5
Software: 4.5
Battery Life: 5
Value for Money: 4.5 Wi-Fi only, 4 Wi-Fi + 4G
Camera: 4.5
Ecosystem: 5

Overall: 4.5

Full coverage:

Which iPad should you buy?

20 great apps for Apple's new iPad

Top 10 things to know about the new iPad

New iPad in pictures

Watch: How an iPad is made

Apple's new iPad not compatible with India's 4G network

Is the new iPad screen too good for the Web?

HTC One X: Video Review

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:12:00 GMT

HTC recently launched its flagship smartphone 'One X' in the Indian market. Targeted to high-end users, One X is also the first Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone to become available in the country. Sporting some great specifications on paper, does it perform in the real world? Check out the video review.

Key Specifications

1.5 GHz quad-core processor
Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4
Total storage: 32 GB
RAM: 1 GB
3.5 mm stereo audio jack, NFC, Bluetooth with aptX enabled, Wi-Fi, DLNA
8 megapixel camera with auto focus, LED flash
1.3 megapixel front camera
Beats Audio
1800 mAh battery

You can also read our full review and watch the 'hands on' image gallery.

Huawei Honor: Video Review

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:25:00 GMT

Huawei Honor is the Chinese company's attempt to enter the big league of Android phone manufacturers. The phone packs quite a punch in terms of features and Huawei calls it "smartphone with longest battery life" - quite a tall claim, especially for an Android smartphone.

But how does it perform in the real world? Before we jump on to the review, here are some of the key specifications of the phone:

Android Gingerbread V2.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich Ready)
1900mAh battery
4" & FWVGA, 245ppi display
Scratch Resistant Gorilla Glass
1.4GHz processor;
8MP AF HD Camera with HDR
Front VGA camera

Now, without further ado, here's the review.

Indian Wine List: App Review

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:07:00 GMT

The Indian Wine List is an exclusive wine and food pairing app that helps you select the type of wine to match your delicacy. The app has a very clean and simple user interface. The home screen greets you with the Wine and Food Pairing Guide, a Wine Catalogue, a Monthly Selection and even a virtual cellar.

The Wine and Food Pairing Guide lists various categories of food such as Salads, Pizza, Meat, Sushi and even Indian Dishes. These items further have a sub menu listing the types of delicacies. For instance, if you enter the Cheese section, it has 6 different types of cheese. When you tap on any one, you get a list of wines to choose from that you can pair with.

The wine details include a bottle image with the name, a tasting note stating the contents of the wine, a pairing note suggesting other delicacies to pair with, serving and storage temperatures and the price per bottle. The bottom of this screen gives options to find similar wines, add it to your virtual cellar and even tweet about it.

The IWL wine catalogue features eight Indian wineries; Sula, Vallonne, York, Reveilo, Fratteli, Four Seasons, Good Earth and Zampa and lists 78 wines from across these vineyards. You can choose your wine on the basis of the type of Grape, Ocassion and the Winery.

The Monthly Selection menu gives you updates on food and wine pairings at select restaurants. These include an image of the dish, pairing notes, the price of the dish, the price per glass of the recommended wine and the restaurant serving it with contact details.

You can always visit your in-app cellar to view the list of wines you've chosen either to try out yourself or perhaps gift it to someone.

Currently, only the iOS version of the app is available. However, Android users will be able to experience the app in May. The Indian Wine List app is a first of its kind in India and tells you more or less everything you need to know about certain types of wines. So if you'd like to be known as the wine connoisseur around your block, this is the app for you.

Indian Wine List (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, Free)

Sony Xperia S: Review

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:35:00 GMT

Sony Xperia S is the first product from newly formed Sony Mobile division after the company bought out Ericsson's stake in Sony Ericsson. It sports a beautiful design and comes with some big upgrades from last-years' models like 12.1MP camera and 720p display. But, are these upgrades enough for us to forget the presence of dated software? Read on to find out.

Hardware
Sony's design prowess is clearly visible in Xperia S; it looks simple but is unique and distinctive. It might not be the lightest or the thinnest phone on the planet, but the Xperia S stands out nonetheless. Be it the transparent bar below the capacitive buttons, or the flat sides of the phone, the modern design sets it apart from the crowd.

They say devil is in the details, and the Sony Xperia S sure gets those right. It comes with the matte finish on the sides and back, while the front is covered in a single-sheet of glass. The front and rear of the phone are pretty much clean apart from the Xperia branding, ear-piece and secondary camera on the front, and speakers, primary camera and Sony branding on the back. On the right side, you will find the two-stage shutter button, volume rocker, and HDMI port, while the left houses the USB-cum-charging port.

But the Xperia S isn't perfect. We can't claim to be fans of the rectangular design, which makes it a little harder to hold compared to smartphones with curved edges like the HTC One X.

Another disappointment with Xperia S is the fixed battery. Although the back cover is removable, the battery is still not user-replaceable.

Display
Sony has included a 4.3-inch 1280x720p Reality display on Xperia S, which comes with company's own Mobile Bravia engine. The Xperia S has better PPI (pixels-per-inch) than all the smartphones available in the Indian market even iPhone 4S, thus giving you extremely sharp images. The colour reproduction is good and display is sufficiently bright, we even found it taming HTC One X in the brightness department. However, the viewing angles are sub-par on the smartphone.

Camera
Sony Xperia S comes with a 12.1MP rear camera with f2.4 aperture, along with 1080p video recording support. As you can expect from Sony, the Xperia S camera performs brilliantly and takes some nice and detailed shots. Be the indoor clicks or outdoor shots, Xperia S does not disappoint.

Software-wise, the controls on Xperia S camera app are pretty straight forward, and you can also select manual settings for ISO, white balance, metering and focus mode. Company has also included a nifty feature which allows you directly open the camera with the dedicated camera key even when the phone is locked. This two-stage camera button allows users to set the auto-focus with a half-press, while a full press completes the image capture. The button is conveniently located and distinction between the two stages of the capture is clearly felt under the finger.

Despite running on Android 2.3, Sony has added the panorama, 3D panorama shot- taking capabilities in Xperia S, which were natively introduced first time in ICS.

The 1.3MP front camera on Xperia S is decent and capable of shooting 720p video. So, you don't have to worry about video-chatting on your phone.

Software/ Interface
One of the few disappointments, but not exactly a surprise given the spec sheet, is the presence of Gingerbread. With phones like HTC One X and One V that come pre-loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich for competition, launching Xperia S with Android 2.3 isn't really a positive for the company. Although Sony has promised to release an update sometime this quarter, consumers will be stuck with the old version for at least a few weeks.

We don't have any specific qualms with Gingerbread and Sony's skin atop it, but we miss a few things in particular from ICS, like the refreshed UI, Android Beam, and resizable widgets. While on the subejct of Android Beam, Sony Xperia S ships with Near Field Communication hardware, which can be used for quite a few things including changing the smartphone settings to a pre-set using the SmartTags in the box (as our review unit was missing them, so we weren't able to test the feature).

In terms of other software additions, Xperia S comes with Facebook inside Xperia, which includes features like single sign-on for Facebook, FB Images in phone gallery, contacts and calendar sync as well as the Media discovery widget.

In terms of pre-loaded apps, Sony has filled up Xperia S with apps like TrackID, World Clock, Neoreader, Wisepilot, Office Suit, Timer, Recommender, and PlayNow.

Overall, by Gingerbread standards, Sony's implemetnation runs nice and smooth and we did not face any issues.

Performance/ Battery Life
Sony Xperia S comes with a dual-core Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5GHz and 1GB RAM. With phones like HTC One S expected next month with next generation Qualcomm Krait processor and Android 4.0, the specs may seem a little underwhelming on paper, but what about the real world performance?

Leaving the competition aside, talking solely based on the Xperia S performance, which is pretty good and we would go on say that it is the best Sony (Ericsson era phones included) smartphone so-far in-terms of user-experience. There is no lag whatsoever, or any hiccups while playing high-def videos or playing graphic intensive games.

Coming to the battery life, the fixed 1750 mAh battery gave us surprisingly decent performance and it would easily last a-day for moderate users. Light-users might be able to able to squeeze out even more.

Verdict
Can Sony Xperia S be your next smartphone? Well, if you are ready to wait for ICS and don't have an issue with a generation-old processor, Xperia S has a lot to offer. It packs in quite a punch, has great display, excellent battery life and a beautiful design.

For more pictures of the Sony Xperia S, please visit our picture gallery.

Pros

Attractive, unique design
Great HD display

Cons

Gingerbread
No microSD card slot or user-replaceable battery

Price: Rs. 32,549

Ratings
Design: 4
Display: 4
Camera: 4
Performance: 4
Software: 3
Battery Life: 3.5
Value for Money: 3.5
Overall: 3.5

Flyte MP3: App Review

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:22:00 GMT

Flipkart's online digital store, Flyte has now come to Android. The Flyte MP3 app allows users to buy, download and listen to legitimate music directly on their Android device.

You can begin by logging in to the app with your Flipkart username and password. Creating one won't take much of your time. The home screen displays a categorised list of albums under New Releases, Most Popular, Featured Albums and Flyte Recommends. Tapping a particular album will take you to its list of songs listed with their price. The MP3 files can be downloaded at prices starting Rs.6 for a song and Rs.25 for an album.

Flipkart uses its Wallet service that allows you to make in-app purchases. On the down side, you can't make a purchase directly using your debit or credit card or even net banking. You will have to login to flipkart.com to add funds to your Wallet as it is not available in the app.

Another drawback that we noticed with the app is that there is no dedicated section to view your orders. You will have to check the details of your account by visiting the website.

The songs are DRM free that allows users to share and transfer them as per their liking. The app also has preference settings for bitrates. You can choose the bitrate in the Account section for downloading the MP3s and if it is available, it will be downloaded. If not, it will give you the best available bitrate. You can choose and select music from a wide range of 40 Indian and foreign languages across 28 different genres.

The user interface of the app is very neat and extremely simple. The menu icons are placed at the bottom of the screen that allow you to manage your songs. The Library section is divided into Online and Offline library. Once you've downloaded the song, you can listen to it offline as well using any media player on your device.

The app's in-built player looks chic with an aqua blue colour scheme and has all the basic player controls. The list of songs you purchase appear in the playlist below the player. The app provides a legitimate way to download songs which seems to be a great initiative to stop piracy.

The songs are very reasonably priced. A Music CD of Kahaani will cost you Rs.160 on the T-series web store while Flyte offers the same at Rs. 54 which is a great deal. English tracks and albums are a little expensive as compared to the Hindi ones, but still quite affordable.

The fact that the songs can be downloaded legitimately for a price may appeal to only some users. Flipkart will certainly have to make greater efforts to target more users. But the app will come as great news for Android users already using the online store. Those who haven't heard of it should not miss the opportunity to experience it for free.

Flyte MP3 (Google Play, Free)

Micromax Funbook: Review

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:19:00 GMT

The last few weeks have seen a flood of low-cost Android tablet launches in India. Known manufacturers like HCL and even the unknown ones, like Zync, have jumped in to tap this lucrative market.

Micromax is one of the vendors to join the mix with its decently priced Ice Cream Sandwich sporting Funbook. Although Funbook sounds like a great deal on paper, is it worth it? We will find out in this review.

Hardware
Like other low-cost tablets available in the market, Micromax Funbook comes with all plastic body with faux aluminium coated back. The tablet has been put together well, but the hardware Android buttons seem unecessary, considering the on-screen virtual buttons introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich.

Among other hardware characteristics, Funbook comes with a volume rocker and power button on the right side, while all the ports including 3.5mm headset jack, TF card slot, HDMI, Mini-USB and charging port are placed on the bottom. The Mini-USB port can be used to plug-in the data card (available for free with the tablet) or even the flash drives with the help of the bundled adapter. The tablet is light and feels nice in hand and even the overall build quality is decent.

Software/ Performance
Thanks to Google's decision to make Android 4.0 open-source (unlike Honeycomb), the budget tablet makers no longer have to install FroYo or Gingebread on their tablets. So, Micromax Funbook comes with Android 4.0.3. The presence of ICS itself improves one's perception of the tablet but in reality the performance is sub-par. During our brief usage, the tablet hung frequently and we saw several 'force closes'.

Funbook takes 3-5 seconds to wake up from sleep, which made us believe many a times that the device had run out of charge, only for the screen to come up. While Android 4.0 provides great user interface, the crippled hardware dampens the whole user experience on Micromax Funbook. We even performed factory reset to try the tablet from scratch but there was little-to-no improvement in the lag or sluggishness that we had been facing.

If you are one of the patient ones and don't care about the hiccups, Funbook has a lot to offer - it gives a versatile multimedia playback support and even the browsing experience is decent. Company has also attempted to target students with the pre-loaded educational content, which is certainly an added advantage.

Unlike many other budget tablets, Micromax Funbook also comes with the Google Play store along with company's own appstore, so you will not have any issues in getting apps for your device. Company app store also offers multimedia content along with the apps, part of which is free for users, but for others you will have to pay. In terms of the pre-loaded apps, Funbook features Aldiko, Documents to Go, Zenga Live TV, and Super HD Play.

Display/ Touch
Micromax Funbook comes with a 7-inch capacitive display with 800x480p resolution. The touch sensitivity is surprisingly nice on the tablet and even supports multi-touch input. However pinch-to-zoom is laggy at-times.

Display is a major disappointment; resolution is too low for a tablet and even the colours and viewing angles are far from decent.

Battery Life/ Camera
Micromax has included a 2800 mAh battery in Funbook, which gives around 5-6 hours of backup for a moderate user. One can't expect more than that from a low-cost tablet. On the camera front, there is no rear camera in the device, but company has included a 0.3MP front camera. It can be used for video chats and company has also pre-loaded Tango chat client on the device.

Verdict
The ultimate question for a low-cost device - is it value for money or not? Despite the fact that Micromax Funbook comes with plethora of features, it is the user experience that mars the deal. For someone looking to buy their first computing device on a tight budget, the Funbook might make sense. But based on the time we spent with the device, anyone who's been around the block may find dealing with Funbook a frustrating experience.

Pros

Low price
Ice Cream Sandwich

Cons

Poor user experience
Sub-standard display

Price: Rs. 6,499

Ratings

Design: 3.5
Display: 2
Performance: 2.5
Software: 3
Battery Life: 3
Value for Money: 4
Camera: 1
Ecosystem: 4
Overall: 2.5

Google Currents: App Review

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:17:00 GMT

Many don't know about Google Currents, a magazine-style news reader app available on Android and iOS, that made its debut last December. Well, we're here to tell you it's a hidden gem, and is an absolute must-have. Yesterday, the app received a significant upgraded so that it now reaches out to an international audience.

Google's Mobile Blog post explained 'the top features readers requested were to make the app available internationally and to allow content to sync quickly.' This has been made a reality.

For one thing, the app is now available across the globe. It means you'll be able to read any edition from any place and also add local blogs to your news feed. Local publishers can add their content through the 'Google Currents Producer' tab. News editions that have both video and text have dedicated sections - the videos are all in one place and the text is in another.

You can even customize your news feed by adding and removing editions; you can even go so far as to remove pre-loaded feeds. It's like creating your own personal 'newspaper'.

Translate articles into one of the app's 38 supported languages with just a click. Not only this, but your edition feed automatically changes if you change your location - If I were in New York for example, the New York Times would show up on my news feed rather than The Hindustan Times. Your taste might run differently though, and you may prefer to always have Indian news on your fingertips. But, you can always manually add editions of your choice.

I was particularly happy that it supports a plethora of regional Indian languages - Hindi, Telegu, Tamil, Bengali, Gujurati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Urdu.

The only problem is that the new translation feature is publisher-selected. In other words, only if the publisher has enabled an article to be translated into other languages will you be able to read it in your preferred language.

The 'Trending' tab displays the top 5 trending stories across 8 topics - World stories, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Health, Technology, Science and the current 5 Top Stories across all categories. You can choose which categories you want displayed.

Google Currents also features a 'dynamic sync', which means that your editions get updated automatically and you have the freshest content at all times. This is made even faster thanks to a 7X speed boost in its latest upgrade.

The app is easy to use and gives Flipboard a reason to worry. Personally, I find it easier to swipe through news articles like in Google Currents rather than flipping through pages like in Flipboard. But, to each his own. However, Flipboard's design wins hands down - it is so much more elegant than Currents.

There are few differences when it comes to social integration on both apps - both allow you to share stories via common social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and various other apps. Google Currents also lets you decide to store stories and read them offline, too.

An important point to note while distinguishing the two apps is how Flipboard has bumped up its iPad application to support the new Retina display. This is not included in Currents recent update.

Where all three apps fall short I think, is that none of them provides any indication if you've read an article. Of course, the fact that the apps are designed to be like an actual magazine may make this critique somewhat moot.

Google Currents has captured the simplicity of Zite and combined it with a Flipboard-like look, to give its users an incredible app

Google Currents (iOS - Reviewed Here)
Google Currents (Android, Free)

HTC One X: Review

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:51:00 GMT

When HTC CEO Peter Chou stood at the podium at the Mobile World Congress, his company's investors were expecting something that would stop the downward spiral this Taiwanese manufacturer has seen in the last few quarters. Chou gave them HTC One series smartphones, the company's attempt to reclaim the Android smartphone throne from Samsung.

HTC One series, and specifically One X, brings several firsts to HTC's portfolio like Ice Cream Sandwich and a quad core processor. Launched in India at Rs. 37,899, one surely wonders whether it is really worth this hefty price-tag. We will find out in this review.

Hardware

HTC One X is the company's flagship smartphone for this year and that is clearly visible in the design and looks. It sports a beautiful unibody design with a polycarbonate shell. Being made out of a single block of matte plastic, it surely feels sturdy and durable. The company has certainly stepped up its game with One X; it is better looking than any of the company launches in 2011.

Coming to the specifics - while the One X may remind you of the curved look of Galaxy Nexus, it isn't really curved. It sports a 4.7 inch display, which is carefully covered with one sheet of glass that also drapes the capacitive Android buttons. In other physical characteristics, One X has smoothly rounded, glossy sides, which are really clean apart from the presence of volume rocker on the right, micro-USB port on the left side, microphone on the bottom with another secondary microphone on the top, along with power bottom and 3.5 mm headphone jack. The only omission is a dedicated camera button. Considering HTC has been going gaga about the One X camera to anyone who would care to listen (more on this later), we believe it would have been a welcome addition.

As the battery is non-user-replaceable, the micro-SIM slot is conveniently located at the top. The rear camera is surrounded by an attractive matte silver ring, which also saves it from scratches.

The only issue with our White One X unit was its tendency to retain dirt marks very easily; although some of them could be removed with a damp cloth, we still were left with a few marks.

Overall, HTC One X is a gorgeous smartphone with surprisingly thin and lightweight body, and make no mistake, it is not a flimsy looking smartphone. Thanks to the curved sides, it fits well in the hand compared to the Sony Xperia S, which comes with a rectangular body and sharp edges.

Display

This is one part we really loved about HTC One X. Its 4.7 inch 1280 x 720 SLCD is one of the best displays that you can get in the market right now. We won't call it perfect, but it's certainly a great step in that direction - be the near-perfect 180 degree viewing angles or the great colour reproduction. It is bright and you won't have any issues under the sun. It offers sharp and clear text and individual pixels are invisible.

Camera

Half of the HTC's press conference at the Mobile World Congress was centred around the all new camera technology used in the One series smartphones. With that in mind, we were extra excited to check out its camera and see if it was all that HTC claims it to be.

Yes, it performs and performs well! From the low light indoor shots to capturing Delhi after a rainy evening, HTC One X came out trumps. Its 8MP rear camera provides a holistic imaging experience. It may not be out to replace a point and shoot, but for your day-to-day photography needs, you would not need to carry two devices.

It comes with a wide f2.0 aperture, which helps in capturing nice images even in low-light conditions, while the dedicated Imagechip processor for the phone's camera needs, help it being the quickest cameraphone available in the market. HTC has also included all the new burst mode in One series of smartphones, which allows you to take 4 shots per second, reducing the chances of you missing 'The Decisive Moment'.

Coming to the software part of the camera on One X, it features Instagram like real-time filters, HDR, panorama and slow-motion video, ability to take photos while recording a video and more. The camera interface is a big improvement from earlier HTC phones and it gives you a clean UI with direct on-screen buttons to capture an image or record or video anytime you want, so no need to go and change the mode etc. There is almost no shutter-lag while taking stills, but for video recording One X still takes two-three seconds to start recording.

To further sweeten the deal, it also comes with several manual settings like ISO, white balance, exposure level that you can play with.

Software/ Interface

Thanks to Samsung's delays in launching Galaxy Nexus in the country, HTC One X is actually the first smartphone with Ice Cream Sandwich on-board to release in India. It comes with Android 4.0.3 along with company' revamped Sense 4.0. Both of which are clearly a refreshing upgrade from their previous versions, be it Gingerbread or bloated Sense 3.0/3.5.

Talking about ICS first, as HTC has put its own skin on top, you won't really get the Android 4.0 look, but all features are present - from Android Beam to the Task Switcher, Resizable Widgets to Face Unlock. You can read more about ICS features in our Galaxy Nexus review.

One of the major concerns with last year's HTC Android smartphones was the presence of bloated Sense interface. While HTC hasn't removed it, noticeable effort has been made to try and tone it down in the One series of smartphones. So, instead of throwing Google's design completely out of the window, as it had done in the past, the company has created a pleasant mix of ICS and Sense in One X and it no longer puts a burden on smartphone hardware in terms of performance.

Host of Sense bloatware has been removed from the One X, but you can still find the reminiscences in Friend Stream and Task Manager. There are still instances where you feel the Sensification of Android was totally unnecessary - like the Gallery and HTC Task Switcher; both are way better in the Stock version of Android 4.0.

HTC has partnered with Dropbox to provide 25GB of cloud storage to One X users for the duration of 2 years, which is certainly a nice addition and would certainly help a lot of consumers. Although company calls it deeply integrated in Sense, in our experience, the integration was more or less like any other Android device.

In terms of pre-loaded apps, you will find 7digital music store, Bollywood Hungama, eBuddy XMS, HTC's own Locations, Movie Editor, Notes, Polaris Office, SoundHound, Stocks, Teeter, TuneIN Radio and Voice Recorder. That's still a few too many for our liking - we hope the company removes some of these in the next version of Sense.

Overall, Sense 4.0 is a huge improvement over the previous version and HTC has been able to make it lighter, while retaining its unique identity.

Performance/ Battery Life

Thanks to the 1.5GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor and 1GB RAM inside HTC One X, it performs exceptionally well in day-to-day tasks. There is no lag whatsoever while browsing through apps, home-screens or playing games.

The stock browser also performs up to the mark and we didn't notice any issues while going through image heavy webpages, high-speed scrolling or even viewing the flash content. Any less would certainly be unacceptable with One X.

Coming to the battery, you pay for the awesome display and quad core processor with your phone's battery life. Heavy users would just be able to pass a day with the 1800 mAh battery. As you can't replace it, any hopes for a bigger battery are a no-go.

Verdict

HTC was under a lot of pressure to bring something unique to the Mobile World Congress this year and One X has turned out to be that product. It combines the raw quad core power with Android 4.0 goodness and the refreshing Sense UI. In one line, it is one of best Android smartphones available right now in the market. It might not have the simplicity of ICS stock interface, but Sense 4.0 helps it stand out. Thanks to the some top notch work by folks at HTC, it looks stunning and is backed by some great real life performance. The only part where we are left a little overwhelmed is the Rs 37,899 pricing, but we've never said quality comes cheap.

For more pictures of the HTC One X, please visit our picture gallery.

Pros

Stunning Looks
Gorgeous Display
Tegra 3 Performance

Cons

Price
Non user-replaceable battery

Price: Rs 37,899

Ratings

Design: 4

Display: 4.5

Camera: 4.5

Performance: 4.5

Software: 4

Battery Life: 3.5

Value for Money: 4

Overall: 4