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Archive for December, 2010
Facebook beats Google in 2010
Dec 31st
Facebook passed Google as the most visited website in the US in 2010, according to a survey by the web tracking firm Experian Hitwise.
The social networking site also claimed the top search term of the year, with variations on its name filling four of the 10 most popular searches, the survey found. In all, Facebook searches accounted for 3.48 percent of all web searches in the US in 2010, a 207-percent increase over 2009.
The study found that Facebook accounted for 8.93 cent of all US website visits in the year, ahead of Google.com’s 7.19 percent and third-placed Yahoo Mail with 3.85 percent.
However if all Google’s various properties are taken into account, the web search giant did overtake Facebook with 9.85 percent of all website visits. Microsoft’s msn.com and bing.com also made it into the list of top ten websites, as did myspace.com.
Other terms in the top 10 searches included “youtube”, “craigslist”, “myspace”, “ebay” and “yahoo”.
HTC launches HD7 in India
Dec 29th
NEW DELHI: Handset maker HTC has launched its Microsoft Windows Phone 7-powered smartphone ‘HD7′, priced at Rs 29,999 in association with telecom operator Bharti Airtel.
“Windows Phone 7 is an entirely fresh mobile experience, on which HTC is excited to be going big,” HTC India Country Head Ajay Sharma said in a statement.
Airtel customers will get exclusive data pack to download 2GB data per month for 6 months at Rs 300.
Sporting a large 4.3-inch display with 480 x 800 WVGA resolution, HTC HD7 runs on 1GHz processor. The phone packs a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and dual LED flash.
It will offers 720p HD video recording. The phone will come with 3.5 mm stereo audio jack and standard micro-USB 2.0.
“Combining the strength of the Airtel brand and network with the innovation and design of HTC and the great user-interface of Windows Phone 7, we are happy to bring another first for our customers that will take mobile communications to a whole new level,” Bharti airtel CMO-Mobile Services Shireesh Joshi said.
Smartphones that failed in 2010
Dec 29th
| Here are 10 Smartphones that failed in 2010 | |
| The year 2010 has been witness to several big ticket smartphone launches, including the Apple iPhone 4. The year also saw Apple’s iconic iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry phones face rising competition from smartphones based on Google’s open source mobile operating system (OS) Android.
In fact, Android gave a new lease of life to US giant Motorola this year, helping it turn profitable after almost three years. However, if some smartphones helped turn around fortunes of manufacturers, there were also some that failed to click despite their high-profile launches. These feature-rich, big ticket launches got a thumbsdown from users. According to a list compiled by eWeek of 10 smartphones that failed to inspire American and European buyers in 2010, there are many surprises. Five of these models, however, have not been launched in India. At least, not yet. Here is the list of 10 that didn’t click: |
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| 1. RIM BlackBerry Torch | |
| RIM’s first device with both a touchscreen and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and running on its newest OS, BlackBerry Torch, tops eWeek’s list of failed smartphones in 2010. According to the report, the phone’s sale paled in front of hot frontrunners like iPhone and Motorola Droid X.
Featuring a poor 3.2-inch touchscreen display with 360 x 480 pixels resolution, the phone weighs 5.8 ounces. It sports an optical trackpad. Torch is RIM’s first smartphone to sport the company’s BlackBerry 6 operating system and has recently been launched in India. |
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| 2. Palm Pre Plus | |
| At No. 2 is Palm Pre Plus. The phone failed to impress on new features and was passed on just like its predecessor, according to the report.
Featuring a 3.1-inch multitouch screen with a 24-bit color, 320×480 resolution HVGA display, the phone has a slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard. The phone comes with 3 megapixel camera with LED flash, geotagging and video capture. |
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| 3. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro | |
| Next on the list of smartphones which failed to take off in 2010 is Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 Mini Pro. The phone which was touted as the company’s flagship model got mixed reviews on looks, features and pricing. In India, the phone was launched at a price of Rs 16,000.
The phone’s thicker body also didn’t go well with the users. Many users and reviewers were also critical of Mini Pro’s petite 2.6-inch touchscreen vis-a-vis its rivals. |
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| 4. HTC HD2 | |
| At No.6 is HTC HD2 running an older Windows Mobile 6.5. The phone got criticised for its bigger size and data connection issues, says the eWeek report.
The phone’s operating system too reported some issues. According to reviewers, many users complained of OS issues, especially while listening to music and messagiing. The phone’s battery also performed poorly when compared to its rivals. The phone comes with a 4.3-inch HD touch-sensitive screen with 480 x 800 WVGA resolution. |
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| 5. Dell Aero | |
| Dell’s smartphone Aero runs on a 624MHz processor compared to most smartphones running on a 1GHz processor. Powered by an older version of Android 1.5, the phone got thumbs down on user interface, software keyboard, live wallpapers and voice commands, as per the report.
Featuring a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 360 by 640 pixels, the phone has 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. |
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| 6. Palm Pixi Plus | |
| Though the phone boasts off improved features over its successor, the phone failed to take off amid growing smartphone competition.
According to Web reviews, the smartphone’s camera lacked editing options and picture quality too was unimpressive. The phone has no expansion slot. |
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| 7. Motorola Defy | |
| Though endowed with reasonable features, Motorola’s Android-powered Defy too is among the list of failed smartphones of 2010. Yet to be launched in India, this phone which can withstand accidents like dropping in water or hard surfaces, surprisingly failed to take off in the US.
According to some reviews, despite its 5 megapixel camera, the picture quality is not top of the line and its rough design doesn’t seem impressive. |
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| 8. BlackBerry Curve 3G 9330 | |
| Next on the eWeek’s list is BlackBerry Curve 3G 9330. The phone showed only a few cosmetic changes over its predecessor and got poor response for its photo quality.
According to the eWeek report, the phone is a capable, nice Blackberry smartphone for the average enterprise customer. The phone comes with responsive optical touchpad, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, GPS and a 2 megapixel camera. |
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| 9. T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide | |
| At No. 3 is myTouch 3G Slide which got dumped by users as the iconic iPhone 4 made its debut this year in June. Also, the phone fell short in front of the growing Android smartphone population.
According to reviews, the phone’s camera quality was average. |
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| 10. Motorola i1 | |
| Motorola’s 5 megapixel shooter i1 is at No. 5 on the list of failed smartphones. The phone running on older version on Android 1.5 got poor response when compared to its alternatives running higher version of Android 2.1. Also, its 3.1-inch touchscreen display felt short in front of Droid X’s big 4.3-inch screen.
However, Motorola i1 was praised for a responsive touchscreen and rugged look. |
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Intex Android Phone Price in India
Dec 28th
Intex is about the launch its first Android Phone in India. The Intex Android smartphone will be powered by Android 2.2 OS. Intex Android Phone will sport a 2.8 inch resistive touchsceen display, a 3.2 mega pixels camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and more features.
Intex Android Phone features:
OS: Android 2.2
Display: 2.8 inch resistive touchscreen
Camera: 3.2 Megapixel
Wi-Fi
GPS
Intex Android Price in India
Intex Android smartphone will be available for Rs. 5500.
Hit ‘Like’ if you love the video! :)
Dec 27th
Can’t get enough of the BlackBerry PlayBook?
Check out this cool preview video!
Sony Launches its Next Gen Blu-Ray Rewritable Drives
Dec 27th
Sony has announced the launch of its next generation Blu – Ray disc Rewritable drives in the Indian market.
Sony Internal Blu Ray writer BD-5300S Key Features:
- 12x Max BD write, 8x Max read
- 16x DVD+/-R write/read
- 3D Blu-Ray support
- 50GB high capacity
- Microsoft Windows 7 compatible
Sony External Blu Ray writer BDX-S500U Key Features:
- Blu-Ray write: 6x BD-R, 4x BD-R DL, 2x BD-RE
- 50 GB of HD video or data storage
- 3D Blu-Ray support
- Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Certified
- Microsoft Windows 7 compatible
- Cyberlink Media Suite 8
Pricing & Availability:
- Sony Internal BD 5300S comes at an MRP 11000/-
- Sony external Sony BDX – S500U comes at an MRP of 18,500/-.
Windows Phone 7 May Flop
Dec 23rd
| 9 Reasons : Windows Phone 7 May Flop |  |
The mobile smartphone race is on. Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, HTC and Blackberry are all on top of the game. However, Microsoft is a little late to the party. Windows Phone 7 has launched globally, but there’s just a trickle of devices coming in to India.These are ten factors to prove that Microsoft has a tough task ahead for its newest mobile operating system. |
| 1. Competition from the existing app stores |
Microsoft’s existing app store is woefully inadequate compared to Apple’s App Store or even the Android Market for that matter. No matter how great the hardware or how slick the operating system looks, it’s finally the applications that drive the user towards a certain platform.
Apple is currently king of the app stores with over 5 billion downloads, over 300,000 apps and thousands of new additions each month. Android is fast catching up with over 1 billion downloads, 120,000 total apps and thousands of new additions each month. |
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| 2. Vendor support |
Just like Windows for a PC, Microsoft is going to charge OEM manufacturers a license fee to be able to use Windows Phone 7 on their devices. Meanwhile, Android, Symbian 3, Bada and Meego are all open source operating systems. Furthermore, OEM manufacturers will not have access to the Windows Phone 7 code, which means they will not be able to make their own customisations to the software.
Currently, big players like HTC and Motorola rely heavily on OS customisation to differentiate their products. |
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| 3. Bad Press |
Before Windows Phone 7 devices flood the market, it is getting really bad press. Research firm Gartner ranks Windows Phone behind Symbian, Android, iPhone, Blackberry and the Linux-based MeeGo in its 2014 OS ranking forecast. Reviews are calling it “inferior to Android, iPhone and even Samsung’s Bada” (from CIO Magazine).
Infoworld.com published one of the more scathing reviews of Windows Phone 7. “Windows Phone 7 is a waste of time and money. It’s a platform that no carrier, device maker, developer, or user should bother with. Microsoft should kill it before it ships and admit that it’s out of the mobile game for good. |
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| 4. Dropped features |
Microsoft seems to treating Windows Phone 7 as a completely new operating system, because features like tethering (using the phone’s data connection on a PC) have been dropped. It does not do multitasking, there is no backwards support for apps and the copypaste function is limited. If it has to compete with iPhone and Android, it needs to go one-up, not two-down!
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| 5. Xbox Live integration |
Windows Phone 7 has Xbox Live integration. However, this doesn’t mean that you can play Xbox games on it. Just that users’ avatar and gamerscore will be available on the phone. Games still have to be made specifically for the smaller screen and particular hardware of a handheld device.
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| 6. Microsoft’s track record |
Microsoft’s track record with mobile phones has been less than stellar. Older devices powered by Windows Mobile 6 and 6.5 were often described as boring. More recently, the Microsoft KIN was announced to the world and just as quickly, was abandoned.
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| 7. An outdated platform |
Windows Phone 7 is still based on the old Windows CE platform and most devices have limited flash memory, with nonuser accessible memory card slots. Sure, there are a lot of new features and functionality built on top of the platform, but it still is Windows CE.
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| 8. Slower on the uptake |
Slower on the uptakeIn the same time it took Microsoft to go from Windows Mobile 6 to Windows Phone 7, Apple has released four different versions of the iPhone. Meanwhile, between Feb 2009 and now, Google has released four different versions of Android.
By the time Windows Phone 7 launches, iPhone 4 and Android 2.2 will already have a huge headstart. This is one place where all the money that Microsoft has just isn’t going to help matters. |
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| 9. ‘Impractical’ user interface |
The Windows Phone 7 interface is ported over from the Zune media player. But it seems that Microsoft has not analysed why the Zune failed in the first place. Apart from trying to directly compete with the Apple iPod Touch (which shares the same App Store as the iPhone), the Zune interface may have had something to do with its low popularity.
The interface, while visually stunning, is not very practical since you have to scroll from side to side within each app to see more info. |
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Grab Life with one hand!!!
Dec 20th
Do you think you can multitask? Check out this video starring the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini Mobile Phone and see how fun and easy it is to grab life with one hand! What would you do with a spare hand?
Watch out for the review of new Eclipse phone from Micromax!
Dec 20th
Here is the complete review of NEW Micromax Eclipse Mobile Phone check out:
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