REVIEW: NOKIA LUMIA 900

The Windows Phone 8 makes the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango-based Lumia 900 obsolete. Still, is it worth your hard-earned cash? The specs and OS on new devices matter, but the average mobile phone buyer, who might indulge in an impulse buy while browsing through a mobile store, cares far more about the general look and feel. This is precisely what the Nokia Lumia 900 offers – a design that is as good as the iPhone's (if not better), and arguably the best user interface, in the form of live tiles.

The Lumia 900 gets the same polycarbonate shell design borrowed from the N9 and the Lumia 800. The Lumia 900, however, features a larger screen at 4.3 inches, but a slightly lower pixel density at 217 pixels per inch compared to that of the 800. The non-Pentile AMOLED screen with ClearBlack Display ensures that your viewing experience remains just as good.

The Windows Phone Metro UI is one of the most visually pleasing and easy to use UIs we have seen on smartphones in a long time. It makes Android and iOS platforms look plain ugly in comparison. And thanks to the single-core Snapdragon processor clocked to 1.4 GHz and all of 512 MB RAM to support it, apps and games run smoothly on the device with zero lag, no matter what you throw at it. Impressive.

The only negatives for the platform are the fact that it 'only' has around 100,000 apps on offer (iOS has over five times that number). Another irritant is the fact that multi-tasking is limited only to the last six apps you were using. In contrast, it has one of the best implementations of social network integration we have ever seen on any platform and the user experience is enhanced with a multitude of features in the ‘People’ and ‘Me’ tiles.

The 8 MP camera at the rear with dual-LED flash shoots at 720p, but we loved the clarity and detailing in the images and videos. Clever apps like Camera Extras come to the rescue to make every photograph stunning. That said, we must admit that the camera on this device still has come catching up to do when it comes to Samsung and HTC devices. The Lumia 900 also boasts of the first secondary front-facing 1.3 MP camera on a Lumia device, which ensures you can enjoy video calling as well as video chats with Skype on the device.

As for the battery, 1830 mAh is a step up from the Lumia 800 and could last you an entire day of average usage. This is impressive, considering the fact that most of the flagship Android devices falter in this department.

In our opinion, the Lumia 900 is a good first choice smartphone for the average man on the street; this actually forms the larger pie of the smartphone market. But the trick here for Nokia is to price the Lumia 900 aggressively, given the fact that it still lags behind top Android handsets and the iPhone when it comes to sheer hardware specs and an ecosystem of apps. Hence, we'd say the device would be a value for money proposition
only if it is priced below the Rs 25,000 mark. Our recommendation: wait and watch.

Skytex announces Gemini and Protos: ICS tablets that sound like X-Men

Last time we saw Skytex, it was serving up a warm slice of Windows 7 on its tablets. Now, it's back with a pair of Androids, one under each arm. The Skypad Protos ($279) is 9.7 inches of Ice Cream Sandwich, while the Skypad Gemini ($179) measures in at just 7. Both slates run on 1.2GHz Cortex A8 silicon, shacked-up with a Mali 400 GPU. Other internals include 8GB storage, and 1GB or RAM, HDMI and a microSD card slot for expansion (up to 32GB). The larger Protos has an IPS screen, and a pair of cameras (5- and 2-megapixels) while the smaller Gemini just has the one (2-megapixel). It's not all about what's inside those box these days, as both also come with 5GB of cloud storage, showing these slates know what's on trend right now. With competition getting intense at the cheaper end of the scale, though, is there enough to get your credit card out when they start shipping this month?

MP3 Player Creative, listen to the music from the wrist

The MP3 Player like portable great that. But if, you haven't a bag will add it, in case that you wear it that your wrist
Brazilian designer Dinard da Mata has developed another wearable gadget that becomes a fashion accessory to complement the style of next-gen users. Hailed as "MP3 Player Creative," the portable music player features a flexible OLED screen that other than displaying the playlist also lets the user select the song or control volume with just a touch of a finger. Worn around the wrist like a bracelet, the MP3 concept gives easy access of the functions to the user. In addition, the sleek music player includes wireless headphones to offer clutter-free music on the go.

Hello guys, today I come to tell you about a very nice MP3 it is called Creative MP3 Player, the gadget also a fashion accessory, a bracelet is flexible with MP3. The controls for choosing music and volume are built into the strap itself and the product comes with a pair of wireless headphones. The goal is to become more comfortable and unobtrusive user experience, while the style of hand.

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 2 310

Samsung’s Galaxy 2 Tab 310–aka Galaxy Tab 2 7.0–is for users looking to bridge the divide between a full-fledged tablet and a smartphone. The 310 boasts of a 7-inch display and is capable of making and receiving phone calls. Wait: Samsung already has a bridge device known as the Galaxy Note, doesn’t it? Sure. However, the idea here seems to be to please folks who require a larger display than the Galaxy Note's without forfeiting the ability to make voice calls.

Unlike most other Samsung displays, the screen on the Tab 310 is not a Super AMOLED panel. Samsung has decided to use a PLS display instead. This is similar to Apple’s IPS displays and sports a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. The screen is bright and the text, crisp. Of course, it would be difficult to get used to this if you come over from the Retina Display-toting iPad.

The 310 gets two cameras: a 3-megapixel fixed-focus rear camera and a VGA front one to enable video calls. Note that the rear camera comes sans a flash. While we wouldn’t term the 310 as gorgeous, it will turn heads if you use it to answer calls, and not necessarily for the right reasons. There is a much-needed 3.5 mm jack at the top of the device. This is a critical accessory if you intend to make phone calls using this device, since it would be rather awkward to raise the relatively large device to your ear to make or receive calls.

The design of the tab is quite plain, with no buttons on the front fascia. The rear, however, looks better with its grey metallic finish. The only hardware buttons are the volume control keys and the power button, which also doubles as your screen lock/unlock button when the device is powered on. On the other side, there is a SIM-card slot flanked by a micro-SD card slot. The device weighs just 315 grams and is just 10.5 mm thin. For a tablet, it is quite compact but obviously comes up short if you were to benchmark it against a smartphone.

Powering the Galaxy Tab 2 310 is a Ti OMAP dual-core processor running at 1 GHz as well as 1 GB RAM. There was no noticeable lag while running intensive apps and it was only when we played a 3D game in the background that the tablet showed some signs of stress. The tablet runs Samsung’s proprietary Touchwiz UI atop Android 4.0.3 ICS. The Touchwiz UI offers some neat functionality to the device, like the easy screenshot option and the universal bar at the bottom via which you can access your favourite apps easily. The Tab 310 offers comprehensive codec support and is capable of playing back almost all the file formats you can throw at it. It is DivX certified and also supports high quality FLAC audio files.

As for all-important battery life, let us assure you that the 310 can last you an entire day under normal usage circumstances courtesy the 4000 mAH battery. However, things are not so great if you surf the web continuously while on 3G and at full brightness.

In India, Samsung sells only the 16 GB version of the Tab 2 310. The same device is also available in 8 GB and 32 GB versions elsewhere. The 16 GB version is priced at Rs 19,000, which we feel is a great price for a smartphone-esque tablet with a 7-inch display.

Growing pains for MacBook Pro's new Retina display

Everyone is excited about the just-announced MacBook Pro and its high-resolution screen, but there may be a few bumps in the road before it's as "magical" as its Retina display brethren, the iPad and iPhone. The OS X desktop is a considerably more complicated and varied environment than iOS, and early reports suggest early adopters might face a slightly uneven experience.

The complications arise, ironically, because of Apple's decision to hide the complications of a higher resolution from the user. Normally, if you were to double the density of pixels on a display, the result would be that everything would be displayed at half the size. Each of the letters in this sentence would still be around six or seven pixels wide, but the pixels themselves would be much smaller — so, then, would be the letters. The result: tiny text, tiny buttons, and way too much screen real estate.

Anand Lal Shimpi / AnandTech
In order to fix this, Apple had to do some fancy behind-the-scenes footwork while avoiding mention of the actual new resolution (above). And while on iOS it was comparatively easy for them to standardize requirements for apps, things are a bit more difficult on a laptop. The techniques Apple has chosen, described in greater detail by the team at Anandtech, are smart and effective, but involve a bit of trickery for which not every application and website is prepared.


Anand Lal Shimpi / AnandTech
The result? Websites look great in Safari, but (as of this writing) highly pixellated in Chrome (a new pre-release version of the browser reportedly fixes this). And some games, for instance "Diablo III," let you select the highest resolution available, while others don't even detect it. And who can say what will happen with the myriad programs available for download all over the net, many of which don't have graphics teams to address these issues? For power users, it could be something of a minefield.


That's not to say people should think twice about buying one of the new laptops if they feel so inclined. But as has often been the case with first-generation Apple products, there are a few hiccups to work out, so the first month or two may be be marred by occasional inconsistencies. Unless, of course, you decide to migrate to Apple's Retina-ready apps in order to smooth things out — as Apple surely hopes many will do.

Sony Launches World’s Slimmest 3D Camera in its class – Cybershot DSC-TX55

The Cybershot range from Sony was always known for sleek and crafty cameras, which were able to take good photos. Today, Sony launched a yet another sleek camera which redefines the slimness characteristic of the Cybershot range.

The Sony Cybershot DSC-TX55 is just 12.2 mm thick (measurement excludes lens cover), making it even slimmer than a standard AA-size battery. Its the slimmest among cameras with an optical anti-shake function.

This camera features the Carl Zeiss lens and Exmor R CMOS sensor which can capture great still photos as well as full HD videos even in low light conditions. Its high speed auto focus can lock the subject in as little as 0.1 second.

The 3.3″ (8.3cm) Xtra Fine OLED wide touch-screen on the back is quite comfortable for viewing photos and movie clips with incredible detail.

The 3D capability of this 16.2 Megapixel camera featuring 5x optical zoom, needs a special mention. Without a large stereoscopic lens, this camera allows 3D Sweep Panorama mode and Sweep Multi Angle mode, apart from various still 3D photography options.

The Sony Cybershot DSC-TX55 is available in 3 colours, namely Gold, Black & Silver. It is priced at Rs. 19,990 and is available in all leading consumer electronic outlets across India.

Toshiba Excite 13 review: a big-screened tablet with a price to match

In the tablet game, there seems to be only one question - what's the right size? Samsung with their Galaxy Note figured a 5-incher qualified only as a hybrid. The iPad proved people would buy a 9-incher en masse, the HP reaffirmed it, and the Blackberry thought it stumbled on something magical with its 7.7-inch tablet.
But Toshiba has unequivocally answered the question nobody was asking - "what size is too big?" The Toshiba Excite 13 inch tablet is the answer to that question.

The Excite line already had the basics covered - a 7.7-inch and 10-inch tablet - when they decided to go pull a Galaxy Note.

The official PR line on the Excite 13 is that it offers "more screen for more of everything" and this certainly holds true. Whereas a 13-inch computer might not seem Godzilla-sized in your hands, the Toshiba Excite 13 does.

This also leads to a feeling that you're somehow doing something superior, like every video is an IMAX film, and that your tablet is technically superior through screen real estate alone.
Fortunately, the illusion isn't quickly shattered by looking over the spec sheet. the 13.3-inch tablet has an LED backlit display boasting a 1600x900 resolution (at 16:9 aspect ratio - tailored perfectly for HD videos).

A quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with GeForce graphics keeps the processes snappy and the gaming good, while 1GB of RAM insures the processes never make the device feel sluggish. In our tests, the tablet could respond as quickly as we could possibly hope.

Swiping between home screens can be done quickly with the swipe of a finger, though we have to admit even that slight swipe seems astronomically huge to what we've experienced on other tablets.

Holding the damn thing is also a bit of a problem, as it's a "two hands at all times" type tablet. The Excite 13 isn't so much heavy as it unwieldy. But once you get yourself acquainted to the idea that what you're holding is more computer than tablet, you can start to excitedly imagine all the possibilities a tablet this size could offer. HD Videos would rock, a bluetooth keyboard would make the device the sleekest laptop imaginable, Angry Birds with eagles displayed in their real-life size.