Sony Ericsson has been boosted by strong sales of the W995 as it prepares to unveil an Xperia-branded Android handset.
Retail sources have informed Mobile that the W995 has been ‘flying off the shelves’ in its first month of release, after Sony Ericsson gave the device a £5m marketing push.
Sony Ericsson has been counting the costs of the W905’s software problems and the X1 Xperia’s underperformance, but the manufacturer looks set for a better second half of the year.
Sony Ericsson’s marketing manager, Dave Hilton, told Mobile: ‘We are very pleased with the way the W995 has sold, it proves there is still a strong market for people who don’t want a touchscreen, and that there is still an appetite from slider phones.’
The W995’s success looks to be followed up by an Xperia-branded Google Android phone, after a video of the device, codenamed ‘Rachael’, was leaked onto the internet.
'Rachael’ is anticipated to have the highest screen resolution ever to be found on a mobile, and will offer an eight megapixel camera, wi-fi, GPS, 3G and HSDPA all on board. The screen size is large at four inches.
In addition to ‘Rachael’, Sony Ericsson is expected to release at least one Google Android handset in the UK before the end of the year, and will also release several new handsets under the ‘Xperia’ sub-brand.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sony Ericsson lifted by strong sales of the W995
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Top 10 Cell Phones
Need a break from your laptop? These productivity phones offer a lot more than the ability to make calls. Here are the 10 best smart phones available today, according to PC World Test Center reviews.
1. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 (T-Mobile)
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: Sleek Pearl lets consumers use Wi-Fi to boost call quality where cell signals falter.
Price When Reviewed: $200
2. Motorola Motozine ZN5
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: Inexpensive phone has a high-quality camera, but speed and design are compromised.
Price When Reviewed: $200
3. Samsung Omnia
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:Verizon, OS Supported: OS:Windows Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: A versatile and stylish phone that is hindered by a sluggish interface.
Price When Reviewed: $200
4. RIM BlackBerry 8320
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: Voice-over-Wi-Fi feature makes an excellent phone even better.
Price When Reviewed: $200
5. T-Mobile G1
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:51,
Bottom Line: The G1 has great call quality and does a good job of melding hardware with the Android operating system.
Price When Reviewed: $180
6. Palm Pre
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:Sprint, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:17,
Bottom Line: The Pre's webOS software is touch-friendly and fun, but the cramped QWERTY keyboard detracts from the phone's usability.
Price When Reviewed: $200
7. Apple iPhone 3G
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, OS Supported: OS:Mac OS, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:38,
Bottom Line: With a lower price, 3G radio, and GPS, this smart phone is in a class by itself.
Price When Reviewed: $200
8. RIM Blackberry Bold
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 7:56,
Bottom Line: The BlackBerry Bold almost lives up to its name with a stunning design, but its mediocre call quality and camera hold it back.
Price When Reviewed: $400
9. T-Mobile Dash (Windows Mobile 6)
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Windows Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 8:40,
Bottom Line: The upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 adds support for Microsoft's productivity applications.
Price When Reviewed: $150
10. T-Mobile Sidekick 2008
Design: Swivel, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:DangerOS, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 8:57,
Bottom Line: A slimmer, sexier take on the Sidekick, but it's so narrowly-focused that it's only meant for kids.
Price When Reviewed: $150
Friday, October 10, 2008
Is Samsung Omnia Better than The iPhone for Indians?
The Indian market has been inundated with touchscreen mobile devices ever since Apple launched its iconic iPhone here in late August. South Korean electronics giant Samsung Group has launched the Omnia - a high-end entertainment phone targeted at consumers who do not mind spending excessively to get their hands on premium handsets.
The Samsung Omnia is priced at Rs 37,999 for the 24 GB version, while the 32 GB version costs Rs 39,999. Both pricing models are well above the standard iPhone cost as well as that of Nokia's N96. However Samsung remains confident of making a splash in the increasingly fashion-conscious Indian market.
The Omnia has a five mega pixel camera and is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. The phone is completely touchscreen and also sports an optical mouse that allows easy navigation.
Other features in the Samsung Omnia include MS Office, which allows consumers access to documents in the Word and PowerPoint formats. Measuring 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm and weighing just 122 g, the Omnia has a high style factor and looks to target the youth segment in India.
Connectivity options include 3G, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth, WI-Fi, GPRS/GSM, USB, and EDGE. The phone also boasts of a battery life of 5.8 hours.
One area where the Omnia scores over the iPhone is the presence of a slew of options when it comes to sending and receiving text messages. For the text crazy Indians, the iPhone offers nothing. Sure, it is a great corporate gadget and may be even a great personal gadget, but the absence of multiple contacts for SMS and the facility to forward a text message make it a liability for Indians who are SMS obsessed.
The Samsung Omnia has all text messaging facilities including SMS, MMS, Email and Instant message. This feature may just tilt the balance in Samsung's favor as the holiday season rapidly approaches in India.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Magento's iPhone Theme: Mobile Commerce for the Masses?
Magento Commerce, an open source ecommerce platform, has introduced an Apple iPhone specific theme that is potentially the first step toward leveling the playing field for small online retailers who want to compete in the lucrative and booming mobile e-commerce market.
Mobile eCommerce Has Massive Potential
Mobile ecommerce (often call m-commerce) is coming; 9 million Americans have already made a purchase from a mobile device, and perhaps half of the United States' 250 million odd mobile handset users are willing to make a purchase in the near future, according to a recent study from The Nielsen Company, New York, N.Y. All of those U.S. users plus the billions of consumers in Asia, Africa, and India, where a mobile handset may serve as phone, mobile TV, and primary point of Internet access, make m-commerce very attractive to e-retailers large and small.
But mobile browsing experiences can be frustrating for customers, and developing ecommerce websites that are functional, legible, and compelling for mobile device users has been the realm of moneyed and massive e-retailers like Amazon.com.
The Apple iPhone actually does an excellent job of rendering websites already, but there are still problems. Most online stores are designed to look good on a modern, flat-panel monitor which may be 19 inches in diagonal. While these sites are rendered properly on the iPhone, they take on diminutive dimensions, requiring an iPhone owner to zoom in, zoom out, and scroll in all directions. Bandwidth can also be a problem. iPhones use WiFi connections (802.11n standard), Bluetooth (radio), fast 3G cellular networks, or older and slower cellular networks depending on what sort of connection is available at a given time. Browsing on WiFi or a speedy 3G network might be no problem, but uploading an online store over older cellular networks can be painfully slow.
To address this, Magento developed a special theme or combination of layout, template, and presentation files that are optimized for an iPhone's browser. This theme still offers great looking graphics, full functionality, and the same payment gateways, but in proportions and layouts that make a store attractive and easy to use on an iPhone's palm-sized LCD screen.
Equalizing m-Commerce
Magento's new iPhone theme is an important (if small) step, giving independent e-retailers an easy way to tap m-commerce's amazing potential. Varien, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based ecommerce developer and consultancy, created Magento Commerce and then unleashed the platform, turning it over to a vibrant community of perhaps 400,000 users (store owners and developers), while staying intimately involved in the platform's development and expansion. The new theme makes it easier for iPhone users to browse and shop Magento-powered sites with ease. Basically, Magento utilizes "the iPhone's inherent navigation methods and offer[s] quick catalog browsing, global site search, customer accounts, and a shopping cart with a complete checkout process," Varien said, "The iPhone extension delivers a user experience that supports the iPhone's touch-screen functionality, taking users on a clearly defined path from browsing to purchasing."
The iPhone is Just a Drop in the Bucket
Unfortunately, as awesome, cool, and fantastic as the iPhone may or may not be, it represents a very tiny percentage of the total mobile handset universe. By some estimates, leading mobile phone makers Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony-Ericsson, BlackBerry, and the like, build between 700 million and 1 billion new mobile handsets each year. While something like 8 million to 10 million iPhones have sold worldwide based on Steve Jobs 2008 MacWorld keynote speech and estimates for the iPhone 3G. So the new Magento iPhone theme only scratches the m-commerce surface. On the other hand, what e-retailer wouldn't want to reach as many as 10 million or so potential customers all of whom represent the iPhone's decidedly upscale user base.
Using the iPhone Theme to Gain a Competitive Advantage.
m-Commerce is here to stay, and retailers who implement a mobile solution like Magento's iPhone extension will gain a competitive advantage over other ecommerce sites that are slower to adopt a mobile-specific platform. And there is still hope that Varien or other ecommerce developers will address the mobile mass market soon.
“We are looking to expand the capabilities of Magento to target additional mobile browsers in the future, but the iPhone, with its smart usability, market share and passionate audience was a natural place to start,” said Chris Marshall, a Varien spokesman.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Syncing into ‘Apple-ications’
Apple pioneered the concept of allowing third party applications to be run on its devices. Steve Jobs was a genius, opening up this space for private players creating a successful business out of Apps, says Janani Krishnaswamy as she downloads and tests a few Apple Apps to find out what make them unique.
Application stores appear to be the new rage now. After Apple, Google announced its Android market last week and rumour mills claim that Microsoft is also developing a new app store.
Steve Jobs started it and has even taken it forward with the iPhone, giving start-ups and developers enough to be enthused about to create richer mobile applications. What attracted them most was the open platform that Apple offers. However, the company still controls which ones get virtual shelf space and which ones get featured. There are a 1000 or so apps in the store, but not all of them are featured in the website. We tested a few of them, paid and free applications on the iPod Touch – most of which can be used in the iPhone 3G as well.
Gamers’ paradise
The store is almost filled with gaming applications – free and paid. Wonder why. That’s cos’ Jobs knew playing games on the iPhone/iPod Touch would be fun, and that why it was built with a screen pivoting option. So, you can just tilt, drag, juggle and rotate what’s onscreen. From Audi A4 Driving to Air Hockey, from the Solitaire to Blackjack, the store has something for everyone. Sure, it gives you more thrill than most gaming gadgets, but its one with a difference. For instance, driving through a Logitech Driving Force EX on a PS3 will give you an almost real driving experience and make your heart race, but test driving the Audi on the iPod Touch didn’t give us as much of a near and up-close feedback.
Believe me; if you didn’t tilt the device the right way, you’ll end up losing game after game. That’s the depressing part of it. For example, when you play ‘Super Monkey Ball,’ produced by Sega, you have the option of choosing from four different monkeys and four different monkey islands, then you get to choose your level and all you need to do is tilt and rotate the handset in a way such that you help the monkey eat up the bananas. Remember, it is an island, so you tilt a little extra, your monkey jumps into the sea and will be dead. There, you lose a game very easily.
So, that’s a positive and a negative together. However playing other games like ‘Pocket Hoops,’ which is a basketball-based game, could be real fun when played using the screen pivoting option.
Why not for India?
Apple’s Apps development has been very centric to the American market and its App store reflects this. Be it business, finance, real estate, entertainment or healthcare, a lot of the applications are location specific ones. But why should lifestyle applications that can be used by others not made available in India? We tried downloading one of the well-acclaimed free lifestyle apps – the ‘mobile eBay,’ but unfortunately all we got was a pop-up that said ‘sorry, not available in Indian store yet.’ Too bad! When will Apple encourage India-specific Apps?
There are Apps that can read tarots and foretell the future too. Just as we dabbled with a few apps, we realized that the iPhone can do that too with an exciting download. The ‘iTarot’ application, powered by astrology.com, the popular astrology website, lets you shuffle and pick a tarot for the day. We had two options there – daily tarot and love tarot. Each time we tried opening the application, a new card opened up and it showed up a different interpretation.
Apps for the frequent traveller
While tech experts around the globe are quite disappointed with the GPS in the iPhone, that tries hard to show your location on a map by analyzing nearby towers and Wi-Fi hot spots, its smart apps offer you navigation services and weather updates too, most of them require a Wi-Fi connection. However, many of them come for free. Finding it tough locating a Wi-Fi hotspot… use a wireless router. For the globetrotter, there are language tools too. If for instance you are lost in a foreign country, these apps will help you translate the local languages - Spanish, French, German and Italian are available so far under the category. There are a few applications to calculate your speed and help you keep a watch on your speed limits.
Smart applications
Apple has cleverly managed to deflect some of the criticisms about the iPhone through some really smart apps. You don’t have to be upset over the 2.0 mega pixel camera of the iPhone – not anymore. Download all ‘photography-based’ apps; a few offered free, and with this, you can make it an intelligent camera capable phone. There are not only apps for zooming in and out, panning to and from, but also other interesting ones like ‘ezimba’ - a fun and simple image conversion tool, that allows you to edit and transform your photographs with over 250 conversion categories. Apart from that, there’s ‘fuzzyshot’, ‘photobucket’ and many more that help photo bloggers. But Apple, this is no reason why you shouldn’t upgrade the camera in the iPhone!
For the fitness freak
A handful of apps focus on health and well-being too. Keeping in mind the psychology of the health conscious, developers have also managed to offer varied services from keeping up with a healthy diet, keeping tabs on one’s own medical records to learning about human anatomy. These apps can literally put all your health records within your palm. Or they can keep track of your calories and exercise.
One of the most wholesome fitness apps among the ones we tested was the ‘Medical calculator’ – it calculates Body Mass Index (BMI), Bicarb deficit, Hepatitis Discriminant, Free water deficit and tells you a lot of interesting facts about your body and about how to have a check on it. We can hear you screaming out loud that you don’t want such details. You can probably download just the BMI application – it’s for free. It calculates your BMI, ideal body weight, tells you if you need to put on more weight or if you need to cut some extra flab and also tells you how many calories you need in a day. There’s an app that calculates your Blood alcohol concentration levels too.
Functional apps
You thought the iPhone is only for gizmo freaks and gaming geeks? We found some ‘down-to-earth’ apps that can be used very often and most of them are offered free! ‘Flashlight’ fills up the iPhone screen with bright colour variants thus illuminating the space around you. Clubbing? Want to flash lights in different hues? There’s a ‘myLight flashlight’ to light up the iPhone. Forgot to take your scale to your classroom? The iPhone can help – with it’s ‘RulerPlus’ app.
There’s something for everyone
Something for the business man, something for the nomad, something for the music freak, and something for the student – there’s something for almost every user. Apart from the free ones, the priced apps are quite reasonable too. The delivery system for these apps are supposedly simple - you buy them through Apple’s iTunes store, which then stores the programs on your computer and loads them on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Apple iPhone in India - Your Questions on Unlocked iPhones
1. Is the Apple iPhone available in India – Yes. You can easily purchase iPhone phones here.
3. Will Indian iPhone work with the GSM SIM card of Airtel, Idea, BSNL or Vodafone? Yes but you cannot use the Visual Voicemail feature of iPhone. Also, iPhone is GSM based so it may not work with Tata Indicom or Reliance CDMA network.
4. Can I buy an unlocked iPhone in US and use it in India - Yes, the iPhone bought in US (or UK or Canada) will be compatible in India - you can just buy a local SIM card in India and replace the AT&T SIM. Make sure you read the Apple policies as this may break the warranty.
7. What about Apple Store - The first store will open in Bangalore for selling Macbooks, iPod, Apple TV and other Apple products but they won’t stock iPhone.
8. What is the price of iPhone in India - It varies but the time of writing, the unlocked 4GB iphone was around 20k while the 8GB unlocked iPhone was 30k. (Includes shipping and taxes)
9. Should I wait for iPhone or invest in BlackBerry or Nokia N95 ? Read this comparison of smartphones - iPhone vs Blackberry, N95
10. I have bought an iPhone and manage to unlock it. Now what - If you are connecting to iTunes for transferring music, videos and photographs from the computer to the iPhone, iTunes may suggest that you upgrade the iPhone firmware to version 1.1.1 - Cancel and do not allow iTunes to update your iPhone as it will get locked again and become useless. Update: The new unlocked iPhones are shipping in India with firmware version 1.1.1.
iPhone is a quad-band GSM mobile phone so it will working internationally in countries outside the US though you’ll have to ask AT&T to turn on international roaming on the iPhone and that the places you’re going offer GSM coverage. If you want to learn more about iPhone, here are iPhone books and iPhone tutorial DVDs that you may buy from Amazon.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
iPhones In India
User input is accomplished via touchscreen with virtual keyboard and buttons.
The iPhone is available from the Apple Store and from AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless, with a price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and US$599 for the 8 GB model, based on a two-year service contract. Apple intends to make the phone available in Europe in Q4 2007 and in Mexico, Australia and Asia in 2008.
The good: The Apple iPhone has a stunning display, a sleek design, and an innovative multi touch user interface. Its Safari browser makes for a superb Web surfing experience, and it offers easy-to-use apps. As an iPod, it shines.
The bad: The Apple iPhone has variable call quality and lacks some basic features found in many cell phones, including stereo Bluetooth support and 3G compatibility. Integrated memory is stingy for an iPod, and you have to sync the iPhone to manage music content.
The bottom line: Despite some important missing features, a slow data network, and call quality that doesn't always deliver, the Apple iPhone sets a new benchmark for an integrated cell phone and MP3 player.
High end Nokia Users in India might be able to affort the cost ($599 or around 25000 for a 8GB peice.), but the catch is that it can only be purchased with a two year AT&T contrat. You can't substitute its sim card with the other. for a country that has lagged behind in new phone devices, this will be , for the moment at least be " only in America".