Latest Mobile Reviews

Berkshire, UK
Metro
Being seen with the latest mobile phone has become as important to fashionistas as the latest designer labels.
Now designer Sean Miles has found a way to bring the two together. For his Christmas collection, the 42-year-old ‘upcycled’ old handsets and incorporated them into Christian Louboutin heels, Miu Miu gloves and an Alexander McQueen clutch bag.
The gloves, worth £1,000, have a microphone built into the little finger and an earpiece in the thumb and his £2,500 ‘Walkie Talkie’ shoes have a phone in the sole. Operator O2, which estimates there are 70million unused mobile handsets nationwide, provided the phones for the collection.
‘Fashion and technology can go hand in hand and I hope my creations for this innovative project will get people to notice what can be done with old phones,’
Mr Miles, from Windsor, Berkshire said. ‘If we can combine the best of fashion while also recycling gadgets we can be trendsetters in more than one way.’

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BlackBerry Ltd. (BB) will start sellingits largest smartphone yet in the U.K. and Middle East nextweek, the latest step in a bid to turn around the strugglingCanadian device maker.

The Z30, which has a 5-inch touch screen and is based on anewer version of the BlackBerry 10 operating system, wasunveiled today at a Kuala Lumpur event, according to astatement. Prices will be announced by the phone’s carriers.

The company is counting on its new range of BlackBerry 10phones to deliver a return to sales growth and profitability asit tries to regain market share from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and SamsungElectronics Co. (005930) Sales two quarters ago missed analyst estimatesby almost 1 million units, and Waterloo, Ontario-basedBlackBerry said last month it would consider putting itself upfor sale or forging new partnerships.

BlackBerry, which traditionally made devices featuring aphysical keyboard, in January unveiled the Z10 with a 4.2-inchtouch screen that more closely resembled handsets like theiPhone. The Z30 has a 1.7-gigahertz processor, stereo speakersto improve conversation quality, and the largest battery everbuilt into a BlackBerry.

The stock fell 1.5 percent to $10.40 at the close in NewYork. The shares have dropped 12 percent this year and remainmore than 90 percent below their 2008 high. BlackBerry willreport fiscal second-quarter earnings on Sept. 27.

The worldwide mobile-phone market is forecast to grow 7.3percent to pass 1 billion units for the first time this year,according to researcher IDC.

Apple, Google

BlackBerry, which already trailed Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android andApple’s iOS operating systems, also fell behind MicrosoftCorp. (MSFT)’s Windows Phone in the first half of this year, IDC said.BlackBerry’s operating system will account for 2.7 percent ofsmartphones this year, declining to 1.7 percent by 2017, IDCsaid.

“BlackBerry OS share will decline markedly over theforecast due to tepid BlackBerry 10 reception and emboldenedcompetition that are expected to whittle away share in itsremaining regional bastions of strength, such as Africa, LatinAmerica, and the Middle East,” IDC said this month.

Constrained by its shrinking market share, BlackBerry saidin May it would begin offering its BBM instant-messagingsoftware as a free application on its bigger rivals’ devices.The app will be available Sept. 21 for Android and the followingday for iPhone, BlackBerry said today in a separate statement.

Upgrade Delay

Morgan Stanley (MS) is holding off on upgrading its employees toBlackBerry 10 because of concerns the company may not be aroundlong-term to support the platform, two people with knowledge ofthe bank’s plans said last month.

BlackBerry may cut as much as 40 percent of its staff bythe end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported today.The job reductions will be across the company and will happen instages, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with thematter.

BlackBerry had about 12,700 employees in March, the lasttime the company gave a payroll figure, after Chief ExecutiveOfficer Thorsten Heins cut 5,000 jobs in 2012 to save $1 billionin operating costs. Adam Emery, a spokesman for the company,declined to comment specifically on the 40 percent figure, whichwould be the equivalent of about 5,000 jobs.

“Organizational moves will continue to occur to ensure wehave the right people in the right roles to drive newopportunities in mobile computing,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.

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BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Sep 10, 2013) - Sophos announced today that its award winning mobile device management and security platform, Sophos Mobile Control (SMC), will immediately support iOS 7, Apple's latest mobile operating system, which was also announced today.

Sophos Mobile Control is ideal for small- and medium-sized businesses looking for a simple, secure way to enable employees to use mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phones, to get work done.

In addition to delivering iOS 7 support, Sophos announced an update for customers to manage the new business-focused features of Apple's latest version from the easy-to-use Sophos web-based console, deployed either on-premise or as Software as a Service (SaaS).

According to Gartner, Apple iOS 7 includes more enterprise enhancements than any release since iOS 4.0 introduced mobile device management APIs. Version 3.6 of Sophos Mobile Control enables enterprises of all sizes to protect corporate data, with many new enhancements, including:

"Sophos Mobile Control allows us to easily manage our existing devices while simultaneously adding new devices safely into our organization," said Jeri Sample, IT Manager, Meadville Medical Center, an outstanding community medical center in Meadville, Pennsylvania. "It is important for us to keep patient data secure. With accelerated deployment, ease of management, and complete visibility, SMC makes Sophos the right choice on behalf of our staff and our patients."

"Mobile devices in the workplace are the rule, not the exception," said John Shaw, Vice President for end user security products at Sophos. "Sophos Mobile Control provides simple to deploy mobile device management and security that will keep employees happy and productive, minimize the workload for IT, and give managers confidence that the company's data is protected. We think iOS 7 is a huge step forward in enabling personal devices to be used securely at work, and are delighted to be extending the benefits to our partners and customers."

To learn more about Sophos Mobile Control, please visit http://www.sophos.com/mobile.

About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos' complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage, and use, Sophos' award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network security solutions are backed by SophosLabs -- a global network of threat intelligence centers.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

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Cape Town – Apple released its latest instalment of iOS, the operating system running its popular mobile phones and tablets on Wednesday around 7pm South African Time. Twitter was a flurry with comments of people excited to download the software.

While the software slightly pre-empts the official launch of the newest phones, the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, it is available for all iPhone users from the iPhone4 and up.

“The new ‘blocked list’ to block specified numbers from phoning and texting you is a great feature that I’m sure a few people will use,” says Glynn Pearson, an Apple Fan from Centurion.

“And the slight differences in the sound and notifications like the slight echo are pretty cool!” he adds.

iOS7 is available as a free download from Settings -> General -> Software Update. But be warned – it’s a 720MB download (910MB on iPad) – so make sure you have enough data on your phone or use a wifi connection.

In answer to a reader quickpoll, James MacDonald from Rondebosch adds, “Simply Brilliant! It is a clever update and one that really moves their software forward.”

Jarrod Eder from West Beach said, “More new-age design is impressive and it feels like the phone is easier to use. All in all a great upgrade.”

Byron Rode, a developer from Durban said, “Where do you want me to start? iCloud Keychain is by far the best thing since sliced bread. Complete secure sync of all your access across devices.”

But not everyone is happy with the latest iOS release. Jason du Toit from Milnerton took a dig at Apple’s introduction of features available for quite some time on Google’s rival operating system, Android. “Happy to let you use some of our android features!” he said.

photo credit: Janitors via photopin cc

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Sprint is launching a new program that gives customers the chance to upgrade their phones every 12 months, becoming the last of the four national wireless carriers to target customers who want the latest devices.

Sprint Corp.'s new One Up plan is most similar to Jump from T-Mobile US Inc. T-Mobile allows for more frequent upgrades, but requires a $10 monthly fee to participate. Sprint's is free, but doesn't include insurance, as Jump does.

Like T-Mobile, Sprint is reducing the monthly cost of voice, text and data services while charging for the phone in installments. But unlike T-Mobile, Sprint's discount ends after the phone is paid off over two years. T-Mobile customers can keep the lower service rates indefinitely.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless also allow customers to upgrade their phones before the typical two years are up. But neither Verizon's Edge nor AT&T's Next program reduces the monthly service fees, so customers pay more overall. With the iPhone 5S, for instance, a phone company typically charges about $200, or $450 less than the full retail price of the phone. With Edge, customers pay the entire $650, with no credit for not needing the subsidy. Next discounts the price to $540, but that's still $340 more than what customers normally pay.

Sprint said the program is available to new and existing customers on Unlimited, My Way and My All-in plans beginning on Friday. It is not yet available at Sprint stores in Florida or Washington, D.C.

Customers who want to sign up for the Sprint One Up program must buy an eligible smartphone or tablet and agree to two years of installment payments. Sprint said that once a customer makes 12 straight payments, or pays for half of the phone's cost, they can upgrade to a new smartphone or tablet. That applies retroactively to customers who have had their current phone for at least 12 months. The customer must turn in the old phone in good working condition, which means no cracked screens or other damage.

The fee for unlimited voice, text and data will be $65 a month, which is $15 less a month than its standard rate plan. That's a savings of $360 over two years, but less than the $450 iPhone subsidy.

Sprint isn't charging a down payment for new phones, but says that's a limited-time offer. That means that when customers are ready to upgrade in 12 months, they may have to make an extra payment up front to get the new device.

In July, T-Mobile was the first of the four carriers to announce an upgrade plan. Under Jump, customers are eligible for two upgrades every 12 months as long as they pay the $10 monthly fee. There's a deductible for insurance claims and a down payment for new phones, so upgrading frequently will be more expensive than keeping the phone the full two years.

AT&T Inc. followed a few weeks later with Next. There's no down payment or upgrade fee, but there's no insurance or reduction in monthly service fees either. The customer pays for the phone over 20 months and can upgrade 12 months into it.

With Verizon's Edge, which began in August, there's also no down payment or upgrade fee, nor is there insurance or any change in service fees. The cost of the phone is spread over 24 months instead of 20, and a customer can upgrade in just six months. However, before a year is up, the customer needs to pay off several months of installments to hit 50 percent of the phone's full cost. So at six months, that's six extra monthly payments at once.

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Smartphone Adoption United StatesAmerica really has become smartphone nation. Nielsen estimates in its latest survey of American consumers that smartphones now account for around 64% of all mobile phones used in the United States and that 80% of Americans who recently bought a new phone bought a smartphone. As far as smartphone platforms go, Nielsen found that Americans have stuck with the iOS-Android duopoly as Android phones accounted for 53% of all smartphones bought between June and August this year while iPhones accounted for 40% of all smartphones bought over the same period. Nielsen unsurprisingly reports that smartphone adoption is strongest among young people while noting that “50% of the mobile subscribers using feature phones in the U.S. were those aged 55+, highlighting significant room for smartphone growth among this group of mobile users.” A chart showing Nielsen’s findings follows below.

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Motorola's fresh handsets are innovative and uniquely compelling.

From the beautifully crafted and compact Moto X to the phenomenally long-lasting Droid Maxx with its ridiculously high-capacity battery, Motorola's new Android smartphones for 2013 have a lot to offer. And thanks to Motorola Mobility's recent acquisition by Google, its latest mobile phones flaunt some truly innovative Android features.

Motorola has also taken steps to improve its phones' digital picture-taking abilities. Unlike previous generations of Moto handsets that were photographically challenged, this refreshed lineup sports a completely revamped camera app and 10-megapixel imaging system. The result: you can actually snap some pleasing photos and video with Motorola's new devices. Read on to see what these very capable mobile products can do.

You may think it's odd that Motorola's current flagship smartphone, the $199.99 Moto X, isn't the biggest, baddest mobile device money can buy. Once you pick it up though we guarantee the company's strategy will become immediately clear. Sporting a handsome design and a curved chassis that's extremely comfortable to cradle in your palm, this phone hits the sweet spot between screen size and other types of usability. The Moto X also squeezes a great camera and futuristic voice command capabilities, not to mention great battery life, into an endless variety of customized designs. Read our full review of the Motorola Moto X.

Who says good things only come in small packages. The new $299.99 Droid Maxx certainly bucks that convention. The Maxx, the third in Motorola's Verizon Droid Maxx product line, sports a massive 3,500mAh battery that delivers astonishingly long run time. It also has a big, colorful 5-inch AMOLED screen and a durable, attractive design. The camera takes pleasing pictures too, and performs inventive tricks such as voice commands, screen-based notifications, and quick-launching its camera. Read our full review of the Motorola Droid Maxx.

Occupying the middle rung of Motorola's new Droid handsets on Verizon, the $199.99 Droid Ultra is one of the thinnest smartphones on the planet. If that floats your boat, you'll certainly find a friend in the Ultra. The handset also features the same 5-inch AMOLED screen you'll find on the Droid Maxx and uses an identical digital camera. The phone has long battery life as well, and supports Motorola's slick Android tricks such as advanced voice commands and screen-based notifications. Read our full review of the Motorola Droid Ultra.

If you really crave a Droid-style smartphone but want it shoehorned into a tiny, pocket-friendly chassis, the $99.99 Droid Mini could be the ticket. The lowest-priced device in Verizon and Motorola's new Droid 2013 lineup, the Mini still packs Moto's X8 chip, fancy Touchless Control, the Quick Capture 10MP camera, and 4G LTE data. It also makes rock-solid phone calls and delivers impressively long battery life. Read our full review of the Motorola Droid Mini.

The bottom line: While in screen quality and storage capacity it lags behind rival superphones, the Moto X's superbly compact and comfortable design, whiz-bang voice controls, and long battery life make it a worthy Android contender. Read Full Review

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A majority of Americans use their mobile phones to access the Internet, and a growing number use their handsets as their primary online device, a survey showed Monday.

The Pew Research Center survey found 63 percent of mobile phone owners now use their phone to go online. And because 91 percent of Americans now own a cell phone, this means that 57 percent are "cell Internet users."

The proportion of cell owners who use their phone to go online has doubled since 2009, Pew found.

The survey also found 34 percent of these mobile Internet users use their phones as their primary Internet device, instead of a desktop, laptop or tablet computer.

These "cell-mostly Internet users," account for 21 percent of the total mobile phone owner population, and are most likely to be young adults, non-whites, and those with relatively low income and education levels, the survey found.

Prior Pew studies have found some 56 percent of US adults own a smartphone, which offers easy Internet access.

The latest report found 85 percent of mobile phone owners in the 18-29 age ground use their handset to go online. That compared with 73 percent in the 30-49 age group and 51 percent in the 50-64 age category.

And in the 18-29 age group, nearly half of those with mobile phones say that is their primary device for the Internet.

Some 74 percent of African-American mobile phone owners are cell Internet users, as are 68 percent of Hispanics with mobile phones, the survey found.

Those with lower incomes were far more likely to use their phone as their primary Internet device: this was the case for 45 percent of those with an annual income of less than $30,000, compared with 27 percent of those with $75,000 or more.

The report was based on a survey of 2,252 adults from April 17 to May 19, with a margin of error estimated at 2.3 percentage points for the full group and 2.5 percent for the group using their phones to go online.

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Are you ready to drive your mobile strategy forward in a way that delivers to the bottom line? EyeforTravel.com editor Pamela Whitby looks to the latest research to find out what travel brands need to know today.

To say that mobile needs to be an essential part of any travel firm’s armour is, well, stating the obvious. According to EyeforTravel’s most recent research, Social Media and Mobile in Travel Distribution: Online strategies, consumer and industry trends 2013, the proportion of consumers using mobile to book travel has been growing year on year to a quarter of all travellers this year. However, the research also finds that what remains to be seen is how mobile can deliver fresh revenue streams. Here we highlight some essential statistics and trends to emerge from the report -the culmination of interviews with over 30 industry players and surveys of 2,000 executives and 20,000 consumers – to establish whether your brand is ready to face the future.

1.  63% move travel suppliers saw mobile booking volumes increase between 2011 and 2013, yet half of consumers surveyed still prefer to research and book travel online using a PC.

Could this be because many travel suppliers are not yet delivering a slick user-friendly mobile experience? What is clear from the research is that having a mobile optimised site is absolutely business critical today. Some meta-search operators will not aggregate brands that lack this functionality. And in fact, some intermediaries are using this as an opportunity to bolster their own business. For example, pure play hotel search engine Room 77 is offering a branded mobile booking page to its hotel partners that do not yet have a mobile optimised site. The firm also has the CheckMate product, which enables hotel guests to check-in from their mobile phones.

2.  45.3% of travellers are willing to make a booking on a tablet up to a week before travel and 43.8% on a mobile.

Yes we’re talking the last-minute mobile booking phenomenon. Interestingly though, it is intermediaries which are using social media and mobile to develop new deal structures that maximise their product ranges and target emerging segments like this. For a brand like HotelTonight, mobile has allowed it to focus purely on the last-minute channel. Meanwhile, Lastmintute.com has shifted its deals-based strategy in line with mobile. Interestingly, some executives hold the view that mobile channel is no longer as price sensitive as it once was.

3.  Email is not dead and is supported through the mobile channel.

Many brands still find that email is an essential marketing tool and is becoming even more relevant with mobile. As much as 38% of emails are opened on a mobile, compared to 33% on a desktop. But as with everything it depends on the market. While email marketing is gaining traction in the US, UK, China and Brazil, in India just 17% of users access email on their mobile device.

4.  Ancillary products represent a big opportunity for the mobile channel.

By combining low payments, contactless technology and impulse purchases based on location, there is potential for brands to deliver new revenue streams. However, some executives interviewed in this report were tentative about whether mobile transactions really have potential to take off. According to Hard Rock Café (one of many featured case studies) it will depend on educating consumers. In the first phase mobile payments are likely to be for smaller amounts such as room service. EyeforTravel research also finds that a fifth of consumers would make a purchase of $200 via a mobile phone, increasing significantly in China to 43%. Of course, serving new channels requires investment and the big challenge will be for travel executives in 2014 to use social media and mobile to add to revenues and not simply divert it.  Given the growing numbers of outbound travellers from BRIC nations, their mobile needs could be worth exploring. 

5.  Heavy mobile users have the most spending power

We often think of the mobile consumer as being from the younger generation but in fact older consumers (45+) are heavy users of mobile technology in both developed and BRIC nations. In China, however, smartphone penetration is much higher among 16-24 year olds.

6.  The multichannel environment means that social and mobile should never be thought of as two separate entities

Using social and mobile together is the most effective way to acquire data, drive engagement and growth. After all, consumers in the developed world spend about a quarter of their day on social networks. So combining this with the immediacy of mobile is a powerful tool for brands. In another report case study HotelTonight, a mobile-only OTA, reveals how it used a combination of mobile app install ads and Facebook offers, to ensure that its advertising spend was distributed among the most reliable prospects.

7.  One size doesn’t fit all       

While there are lessons to learn from other brands, the temptation to believe the growth in social and mobile is a worldwide phenomenon and that solutions can be applied with a broad brush, must be avoided. Marketers must define their own individual integrated mobile-social media strategies and then focus on their own key markets.  Mobile payments may take off in the UK, for example, but this is very unlikely to happen at the same pace in Russia where the payment infrastructure customers cannot use their credit cards online.

For more in depth, informed and surprising insights turn to the EyeforTravel Social Media and Mobile in Travel Distribution: Online strategies, consumer and industry trends 2013 report.

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September 18, 2013
Latest Update: September 18, 2013 10:16 am

A campaign against "selfies" is urging runners at the Hong Kong Marathon not to take pictures of themselves with their mobile phones after a pile-up at this year's event, organisers said Tuesday.

The crush was reportedly triggered after a woman stopped to take a picture of herself at the start of her race.

Organisers ruled out a complete ban on mobile phones as impractical, but said they were using Facebook, television and radio to promote the anti-selfie message in the run-up to the next event on February 16.

"It is almost impossible to ban competitors from bringing their mobile phones," William Ko, chairman of the marathon organising committee, told AFP on Tuesday.

"What we've been trying to do is to get the message across to take care of yourself and to take care of other runners.

"For the race itself we will have officials to hold some message boards to remind people not to take photos at the start, on the route or at the finish because it is dangerous."

The annual marathon event, which started 18 years ago and is sponsored by Standard Chartered bank, includes half-marathon and 10-kilometre competitions as well as the full 42.2 km marathon distance.

The pile-up in February 2013 happened at the start of the 10-kilometre race after a woman competitor dropped her phone as she was trying to take the snap, according to local media.

As she bent to pick it up runners behind her tripped over her, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported at the time, including Hong Kong triathlete Joyce Cheung Ting-yan, who went on to win the women's 10k despite her fall.

Standard Chartered chief executive Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng has called on organisers to stop competitors taking photos of themselves to avoid carnage at the next event.

"The problem was that a number of runners were trying to take self-portrait pictures using their smartphones. What we are trying to do is to encourage people not to do that," the SCMP Tuesday quoted Hung as saying.

Arrangements for February's races were announced Monday, with organisers saying the total enrolment quota would be 73,000 — 1,000 more than in 2013. - AFP Relaxnews, September 18.

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South Koreans can now sign up to protect their Samsung Electronics Co.Galaxy S4 phones from sudden dunks into water.

South Korea’s SK Telecom Co.,  in partnership with a local startup, is testing technology to make smartphones waterproof, and the Galaxy S4 will be its first candidate. The country’s largest mobile carrier said it will provide free coating services to 30,000 users of the smartphone.

The smartphones will be sprayed with a type of carbon gas that will coat the device with a thin, invisible barrier, blocking infiltration of water into the device, Irene Kim, a spokeswoman for SK Telecom said by phone.

It may be a challenge, however,  for SK Telecom to prove to its customers that the splash-proof coating service is more than just a marketing gimmick. Samsung has already released waterproof versions of its mobile phones, one of the latest being the Galaxy S4 Active, which the company says can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes in one-meter deep bodies of water.

Exposure to water for up to 10 minutes would be endurable for gas-sprayed phones, SK Telecom’s spokeswoman said. But “intentional,” and “repetitive,” drowning of the phone can damage the quality of the coating that keeps the device waterproof, the company said in a separate statement Sunday.

However, strong water-resilience –if proven–could be appealing to those who prefer rugged versions of electronic devices.

The spraying of protective gas for water resilience is a technology that can be extended to a number of devices beyond smartphones, Ilim KO, the company behind the technology, says.

The coating service is currently limited to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 LTE-A models that support the latest wireless communications technology, although SK Telecom has plans to expand the service to other smartphones.

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Sony wowed us last year with the introduction of its Xperia Z phone. Instead of the plasticky, chunky bodies of its previous phones, the Z had a stunning all-glass design and was among the first top-end smart phones to provide full protection from errant liquid-splashes. 

With a four and a half star score and our much-coveted Editor's Choice award to its name, the Z didn't make it easy for its successor to impress. With a few key tweaks, including a ridiculously powerful quad-core processor, a new aluminium band around the edge and a 20.7-megapixel camera, the Xperia Z1 is ready to show its older brother who's boss.

At £600, it's certainly not competitive when it comes to affordability, but Sony is hoping its impressive spec sheet will make the Z1 a worthy purchase.

It's available now on a range of plans. You can get it free from £29 a month on a two-year contract, or SIM-free from £550. 

With its sleek glass front and back and new aluminium frame, the Xperia Z1 is an undeniably beautiful piece of kit. The waterproof design helps keep it safe from all manner of liquids that would put an end to most other phones and its screen is better than ever. Its searingly mighty processor also makes it the most powerful phone I've ever tested. 

With its sleek glass front and back, the Xperia Z1 is a beautiful piece of kit.

It's not perfect though. Although it has the same screen size as the Samsung Galaxy S4, it has a bigger body, making it a little cumbersome. Some of Sony's software tweaks aren't particularly welcome either, and will almost certainly slow down the time it takes to receive updates.

Finally, although the camera has seen an impressive bump to 20 megapixels, the images it produces aren't anything special. If you're after a phone with enough juice to tackle any task you're likely to throw at it, you'd be wise to opt for the Z1, but there are various other options to consider.

The Galaxy S4 should certainly be at the top of your list -- it's extremely powerful, has a brilliant screen and a camera capable of producing beautiful results. The S4 Active has similar specs but, like the Z1, has a waterproof body, protecting it from the elements. Alternatively, the all-metal HTC One not only looks superb, but it too has a Full HD screen and powerful quad-core processor.

With only a glance, you might not immediately be able to tell much difference between the Z1 and its predecessor. It's roughly the same physical size, the sticking-out power button is in the same spot and the Sony and Xperia logos sit in the same place. The noticeable difference is the addition of a dedicated camera shutter button and an aluminium band around the edge.

The use of metal gives the phone a noticeable, luxurious feel as well as apparently strengthening it. The previous Z had slightly harsh edges, but the rounded aluminium feels much more comfortable. The downside is that the similar aesthetic makes it difficult to really show off that you have the latest technology in your hand. You'll likely have to actually point it out if you want someone to notice, and in my experience, "look at the metal parts on my phone" is a pretty awful conversation starter.

It maintains the same glass front and back which looks every bit as beautifully stark as it did on the previous model. Although they're toughened, any glass will scratch and break if you treat it brutally enough. You'll want to keep it in a case if you're clumsy, not to mention always carry a cleaning cloth to polish the fingerprints off.

It maintains the same glass front and back as the previous model.

Like the Xperia Z, the Z1 is completely waterproof, surviving at a depth of 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes. Even if you're not a diver who likes to Tweet among the corals, waterproofing for a phone is undeniably handy. Ever dropped your phone in the bath, splashed something on it in the kitchen or taken a call in the rain? The Z1 will cope fine with all of that.

It achieves total waterproofing by covering its main ports with rubberised flaps. It improves over the Z, however, by waterproofing the internal chamber of the headphone jack, meaning that it doesn't need to have its own cover. You'll no longer have to unclip a flap each and every time you pop in your headphones and, crucially, you don't have to worry about re-sealing afterwards -- something I found rather annoying on the Z.

With a 5-inch screen, it was bound to be a big blower, but the Z1 doesn't do itself any favours. It has a very wide bezel around the display, meaning that the body is very large. It's noticeably bigger than the Galaxy S4, even though they have the same size screen. The wide bezel also doesn't look particularly good -- it's worlds apart from the razor-thin bezel on LG's new G2 smart phone.

If you're looking for a phone to easily slide into your pocket, this isn't it.

If you're looking for a phone to easily slide into your pocket, this isn't it. Make no mistake -- it's a big chap. I suggest going hands on in a shop before you buy if you're concerned about its size.

The Z1 maintains the 5-inch screen size as well as the Full HD resolution of its predecessor. Sure, that's not an improvement for a new generation phone, but when you've already packed in a ludicrous amount of pixels into your phones, there's not really much room for improvement. Plus, anything more than 1080p in a device of this size would be completely redundant as your eyes can't physically make out the pixels at such a high level.

Sony reckons there have been improvements though. It now boasts the 'Triluminous' display technology that Sony plonks into its high-end TVs, which apparently improves colour and brightness. While that's mostly marketing nonsense, there's no denying that it's a great screen.

Side by side with the Galaxy S4, it doesn't have the same eye-popping colour saturation, but I actually preferred the Z1's more natural tones -- the S4 can be over the top at times. It's incredibly sharp, with even the smallest text looking crystal clear and the snow flurries and mountain ridges on my favourite test video were displayed with breathtaking clarity.

It's bright enough to scorch out your retinas too, once you ramp it up, but still manages to maintain colour tones. Viewing angles aren't brilliant though. Although the image itself doesn't distort when viewed from the side, colours become washed out and blacks turn into more of a grey shade.

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63% of adult cell owners now use their phones to go online, a figure that has doubled since we first started tracking internet usage on cell phones in 2009. In addition, 34% of these cell internet users say that they mostly go online using their cell phone. That means that 21% of all adult cell owners now do most of their online browsing using their mobile phone—and not some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer.

“A majority of the public now owns a smartphone, and mobile devices are playing an increasingly central role in the way that Americans access online services and information,” said Aaron Smith, a Senior Researcher at the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project. “For many, such as younger adults or lower-income Americans, cell phones are often a primary device for accessing online content—a development that has particular relevance to companies and organizations seeking to reach these groups.”

These are findings from a national telephone survey conducted April 17-May 19, 2013 among 2,252 adults ages 18 and over, including 1,127 interviews conducted on the respondent’s cell phone.  Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.  The margin of error for all cell phone owners (n=2,076) is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.  The margin of error for cell phone owners who go online using their phone (n=1,185) is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

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Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Sony Xperia Ultra might steal the limelight when it comes to screen sizes, but what if you're not a 'Droid fan?

Check out the Nokia Lumia 625. Its 4.7-inch screen is the biggest you'll find with Windows Phone on board. Better yet, it can use 4G data networks for super speedy downloads. At £200 on pay as you go, it's among the most affordable 4G phones around right now.

The Lumia 625 is available now and you can get it free from £26 a month on a two-year contract, or SIM-free from £310. 

If screen size above all else is important to you, you need 4G data speeds and you fancy swiping around the colourful tiles of Windows Phone, then yes. It's the biggest Windows Phone device to date, with plenty of room for photos and videos. Make no mistake though -- the 625 is a budget phone with specs to match. 

Its 4.7-inch screen makes it the largest of Nokia's Windows-based phones.

The low resolution display doesn't impress and the dual-core chip struggled at times with more demanding tasks. The camera also isn't good enough for anything more than the most casual of tasks and the Marketplace still receives apps long after Android or iOS.

Still, Windows Phone is simple and quite fun to use, and with its affordable price tag and 4G gubbins, the 625 is a fair option. Alternatively, check out the Acer Liquid E2 -- although the screen is slightly smaller, it has a decent processor, loads more apps and a similarly affordable price.

Its 4.7-inch screen size makes the Lumia 625 not only the largest of Nokia's Windows-based phones, but the largest Windows Phone device from any manufacturer currently. That naturally means that the device itself is on the chunky side.

It measures 133mm long, 72mm wide and comes in at 9.2mm thick. That's longer and wider than the Lumia 920, but slightly undercuts its thickness. At 159g, it knocks almost 30g off the 920's weight, too. If you want a phone to slide more easily into your jeans then you'd be better off looking at the Lumia 620 or even splashing out slightly more on the 720 -- its smaller size makes a surprising difference when you hold them in each hand.

Visually, there's no question that the 625 is part of the Lumia family.

Visually, there's no question that the 625 is part of the Lumia family. Its rounded edges and brightly coloured plastic body give it the same toy-like aesthetic present on most of Nokia's current phones. It's fairly attractive -- assuming you appreciate bold colours -- and is more suited to a party with cheap vodka in paper cups than expensive bubbly in crystal glasses. If you want a Lumia to match your sleek suit, you might be better off with the aluminium-clad Lumia 925.

The stiff, one-piece plastic back means the 625 feels very sturdy. There are none of the usual creaks and clicks when it's squeezed that you might find on cheaper big phones. The volume, camera and power buttons have a satisfying click to them, too. It won't survive a three-storey drop, but it's unlikely to crack in two if you plonk it on your desk too aggressively.

Around the edges you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro USB port. Pop the case off -- a very awkward thing to do -- and you'll find slots for your SIM card and microSD card. I should note that you can't install apps to the microSD card. The phone has 8GB of storage, which is plenty of room for the essentials, but if you plan on storing a lot of music then you'll need to save it to an external card.

The stiff, one-piece plastic back means the 625 feels very sturdy.

The Lumia 625 might be a lot bigger than the regular 620, but Nokia hasn't seen fit to increase the pixel count with it. It has the same 800x480-pixel resolution, but as they're spread over such a large area, it results in a pixel density of only 198 pixels per inch. Even up against the Lumia 620 (245ppi), that doesn't impress and against the Nexus 4's 320ppi, it's pretty laughable.

Unsurprisingly, fine text isn't very sharp. The Windows Phone tiles, while usually crisp and clear, have a fuzziness to their edges that's hard to ignore, particularly if you've spent much time with higher resolution devices. While the sheer size of the display gives plenty of room for videos and photos, the low amount of pixels means that high resolution pics lack the same eye-popping clarity you might hope for.

Its colours aren't awful but they really don't have the same richness seen on other Lumias. For the relatively affordable price, it's about what you should expect though. If you want a big screen to enjoy YouTube clips and the odd bit of Netflix and don't want to spend a lot, it'll be fine, but if you're after rich videos and luscious-looking movies, you won't be impressed.

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Let your feet do the talking: The shoes with a built-in phone (Picture: Solent)

Being seen with the latest mobile phone has become as important to fashionistas as the latest designer labels.

Now designer Sean Miles has found a way to bring the two together.

For his Christmas collection, the 42-year-old ‘upcycled’ old handsets and incorporated them into Christian Louboutin heels, Miu Miu gloves and an Alexander McQueen clutch bag.

The gloves, worth £1,000, have a microphone built into the little finger and an earpiece in the thumb and his £2,500 ‘Walkie Talkie’ shoes have a phone in the sole.

Operator O2, which estimates there are 70million unused mobile handsets nationwide, provided the phones for the collection.

‘Fashion and technology can go hand in hand and I hope my creations for this innovative project will get people to notice what can be done with old phones,’ Mr Miles, from Windsor, Berkshire said.

‘If we can combine the best of fashion while also recycling gadgets we can be trendsetters in more than one way.’

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First-time buyers are turning away from Android as Apple’s three-year-old iPhone 4 was the top model for feature-phone switchers in the last three months, according to the latest numbers from Kantar Worldpanel.

Proving once again that the U.S. smartphone market is a very, very different animal.

“Android’s decline in sales is  due to its decreasing share of first-time smartphone buyers, a key consumer group in the US, as over half of the market still own a featurephone,” Kantar’s Dominic Sunnebo said.

Android, of course, has a massive global market share lead, with 80 percent of smartphone sales worldwide — especially in developing markets such as China, where Apple’s iPhone is seventh. But American buyers showed again that they still love Cupertino’s shiny white and black devices.

Apple’s smartphone market share increased to 43.4 percent in the three-month period ending July 13, up from 35.6 percent in 2012's equivalent quarter. Windows Phone also jumped up a half a percentage to 3.5 percent market share — a small number, perhaps, but still a healthy 17 percent year-over-year increase. Android dropped, however, from 58.7 percent market share to 51.1 percent.

And that’s with no new devices from Apple in about a year.

“Between July 2011 and July 2012, 52% of customers that bought an Android device previously owned a feature phone. Over this past year, that number has declined to 46 percent,” Sunnebo said. “iOS, on the other hand, has maintained its share of first-time smartphone buyers over two years (43 percent). The iPhone 4 in particular, has seen its share of purchases among first-time buyers increase, from 9 percent in July 2012 to 15 percent in July 2013- making it the top model among this consumer group.”

Sunnebo sees good things ahead for Windows Phone as a result of Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Nokia’s handset business.

Nokia still represents seven percent of feature phone sales, and those buyers will be upgrading at some point. In addition, Nokia has already shown strength with Windows Phone in European nations such as Italy, where it achieved 13.1 percent of new phone sales, and Mexico. In the U.S., the Nokia brand is nowhere near as strong, but Windows Phone’s appeal to first-time buyers, Sunnebo says, will help Microsoft and Nokia.

Of course, Apple is also planning to unveil new iPhone models — and possibly more — on September 10 in Cupertino. With new models for the Christmas buying season, Apple will likely be able to increase its U.S. market share even more. And, with a cheaper iPhone 5C, perhaps even make a dent in those more price-sensitive developing markets.

Kantar’s data is derived from 240,000 conversations with consumers annually in the U.S. alone, and tracks actual customer purchases of phones rather than shipments.

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Samsung Galaxy Trend Duos S7392 Mobile Key Features :

4 inches WVGA Capacitive TouchscreenDual SIM SupportAndroid v4.1(Jelly Bean) OS3G, Wi-Fi enabledExpandable storage Up to 32GB3 Megapixel Rear camera with Video recording

Technical Specifications for Samsung Galaxy Trend Duos S7392 Pre-loaded Apps:Google Play for downloading games/music/appsInside the Mobile box:Handset, Battery, Charger, Headset, Data Cable, User ManualOthers:Phone Book, SMS Memory, Alarm clock, World clock, Stopwatch, Calculator

Samsung Galaxy Trend Duos S7392 Price in India : Rs.8,490.

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The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.

Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

View the original article here

The Indigenous mobile making company, Micromax is out with yet another mid-range tablet that has stunning features. Micromax is leaving no stone unturned in coming out with latest Funbook models with best of features and looks at affordable range.

The all new Funbook P255 is tablet with 7 inch capacitative touchscreen built on Android v.4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich OS. It is powered by 1.2 GHz Cortex A8 processor. The screen displays the content in 800 x 480 pixels resolution. The tablet bears the latest slim design that looks elegant and comes in classic black color. The tablet also flaunts Dual camera with a 2 MP camera in the rear and a 0.3 MP VGA camera in the front that can support online video chats.

The Micromax Funbook P255 tablet is available on Infibeam at price Rs. 4,899.

Key Features

View the original article here

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.

Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

View the original article here

Powerful hardwareSpaced out keysNice battery lifeScreen's aspect ratio odd to enjoy videosRelatively hard keysNon-removable battery

BlackBerry surprised many with the announcement to offer smartphones on two different versions of the BlackBerry mobile operating system. The company will continue to offer as well as support the BlackBerry 7 OS based devices. Meanwhile, we shall see more BlackBerry 10 OS devices and the most recent one being the mid-range BlackBerry Q5 with touchscreen display and four row Qwerty keyboard.

The BlackBerry Q5 follows the arrival of the BlackBerry Q10 and obviously points at the Q-series of BlackBerry 10 OS devices with Qwerty keyboard. Apart from the physical keys, BlackBerry has also added touchscreen display to let the user enjoy the new user experience of the BlackBerry 10 OS.

The BlackBerry Q5 is slotted bit higher than the usual Google Android and Windows Phone 8 operating system based smartphones. At the same time, the BlackBerry Q5 will be competing with loads of smartphones with either of the aforementioned operating systems on it.

BlackBerry Q10 is powerful device targeted at the professionals that seek productivity with the ease of typing. Now the BlackBerry Q5 is aimed at the new generation youth folks seeking decently powered device with most recent features. BlackBerry India provided a retail unit of the BlackBerry Q5 model number SQR100-3 with BlackBerry 10.1.0.2342 OS build pre-installed on it.

Design

At the first instance, the BlackBerry Q5 body design appears quite similar to that of the BlackBerry Q10. The company does put in efforts to differentiate its top tier products from mid-tier ones on the physical appearance, design and materials used. For starts, the BlackBerry Q5 at 120 grams is about 20 grams lighter than premium finish bearing BlackBerry Q10 weighing 139 grams.

One of the visible differences is the keyboard layout the display treatment. The BlackBerry Q5 has the IPS LCD display with the BlackBerry logo just between the keyboard and the display. It carries more simplistic design with rounded corners and slimmer look giving profile. The Qwerty keyboard covers almost half the area than the screen and still has some plastic layer to space in its chin - for the operator branding in other countries.

BlackBerry is known to experiment with the Qwerty keyboard and same is visible in the Q5. This handset features slightly spaced out individual keys without the stainless steel fret-board lines. In the front side, the Qwerty keyboard is the only oppressed part of the phone and rest area is consistently flat. The individual keys from Q to Y have surface tilting towards left side and the keys Y to P have towards the right side. Such keyboard design has been implemented considering the constant typing needs of the users. However, the keys are bit hard compared to that on the Q10. Rapid typing with slight pressure ushers the tak-tak sound from the keyboard.

BlackBerry has placed the speaker is located at the bottom of the phone where the front side panel appears to be meeting the back panel. Most important difference between the Q10 and the Q5 is the back panel construction. The Q10 has a glass weave bearing back panel cover that gives access to the SIM slot, memory card slot and the battery. But the BlackBerry Q5 has a plastic back panel which can't be removed. Indeed, it has a non-removable battery.

The SIM card and the memory card slots are located at the up of the left side of the device and a flap is provided to protect those slots. BlackBerry has tried its best to accommodate the flap in the smooth curve of the side so that it does not pop open at slight brush. However, one is required to use nails to open the flap and correctly insert the memory card and a micro SIM. Here is where most will miss correct instructions to insert the SIM and memory card.

The power key is located on the top center, appearing in metallic with the silver coloured outlook. The volume control keys rest on the right side with the voice control activation key in between.

BlackBerry Q5 does have several changes in terms of physical design but certainly feels great to the hand for those have been using Nokia's Qwerty devices. The matte finish of the back with metallic BlackBerry logo gives decent grip to hand and makes it comfortable to hold. The BlackBerry Q5 has minimalistic like design which certainly does not make it appear downright cheap.

Display

One of the major differences between the Q10 and Q5 is the display. The BlackBerry Q5 has a 3.1-inch IPLS LCD display panel supporting two finger touch. By default, this display supports the odd 720x720 native pixel resolution and thereby giving a 1:1 appearing aspect ratio. The display has been constructed to support decent viewing angles and big enough to enjoy the BlackBerry 10 OS interface.

BlackBerry Q5's display packs pixel density of 329 pixels per inch and thereby appears great for reading text in emails, chats, and social network updates. It is crisp enough to keep the icons from tearing off but certainly does not offer the best when it comes to brightness. However, it goes without saying that the screen has been adjust to be more of text friendly and provide readability.

Hardware

BlackBerry has done no drastic compromise on the hardware unlike many other Android based smartphone makers. The company still believes in delivery same software experience on its range of devices with obvious exceptions of select features.

BlackBerry has packed a dual-core 1.2 GHz clocked Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 mobile processor in Q5, which is slightly under-clocked that the Z10 and Q10. However, BlackBerry has used 2 GB RAM even in the Q5 which makes us think that it will the basic denominator for RAM for the BlackBerry 10 OS.

The BlackBerry Q5 features the Adreno 225 graphics chip that makes the phone capable of running most recent games and fair level of graphics details. Unlike the BlackBerry Q10, the Q5 has only 8 GB of on-board storage space out of which some gigabytes are reserved for the system updates. Thankfully there is a memory card slot provided to add more storage. There is no dedicated camera or BlackBerry Messenger key.

BlackBerry has also added Near Field Communication Chip to make the phone connectable to several compatible accessories and services out there.

Operating System and Apps

BlackBerry has noted all the issues existing in the first version of the BlackBerry 10 OS and fixed them. The proof of which is the BlackBerry 10.1 OS loaded Q5. The gesture driven BlackBerry 10 OS will give a fresh user experience for the BlackBerry 7 OS users. It will take just about a day to get familiar with the Qwerty keyboard shortcuts and the touchscreen usage simultaneously.

Lock screen carries the clock along with the notifications on the right panels with small app favicons with numbers below it. On the bottom right corner is the camera shortcut which needs to be pressed for three seconds to launch the camera directly. That time delay beats us for we think a dedicated camera key would have been better. The three row and four columns of the app icons is neatly laid out to leave the room for the call icon in the left corner and camera icon on the right.

BlackBerry has tossed couple of names for the user interface experience such as Peek, Flow and Hub. These user experiences are aimed to deliver better multi-tasking on the BlackBerry 10 OS. The Peek is basically a simple gesture - swipe from bottom of the screen and hold will show you the Time on the top and new notifications for different messages/email on the left side in a bar. Peek is meant to take a quick peek at the notifications and then continue using the app or window.

The Flow allows seamless transitions between several open apps and the different parts of the OS with simple touch and gestures. Whatever app is currently being used, one can simply do a swipe gesture from bottom centre of the screen to take a peek at the existing notifications on the right side of the icon grid. A swipe gesture from left to right reveals the BlackBerry Hub - the unified inbox that collects email headers, SMS, BBM chat notifications and Social Network updates.

The bottom to the center swipe gesture on the screen minimises the running app and turns it into an "Active Frame" icon in a grid lay out. This Active Frame gives a snapshot of whatever is happening in that app and a small x button on the right corner of the frame to close it. Basically, it is the multi-tasking view of the BlackBerry 10 OS.

For those who find the Hub pretty cluttered with all kinds of updates, can simply tab on the BlackBerry logo bearing Hub icon at the bottom left corner. That will reveal the list from which user can choose to view one of the several items - Notifications, BBM, Text Messages, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and Calls. This list view also gives more clear access to the user for viewing only emails or BBM updates.

The Instant Action feature makes one use the keyboard the best way to cut down the steps for simple tasks such as making a call to a specific person or sending a text/email/BBM message. Users can simply start typing "call xyz" and universal search bar will automatically appear with the list of relevant contacts for you to choose the correct person. Similar input method is to be followed for composing email, sending SMS or even Twitter/Facebook update.

BlackBerry Messenger has been redefined to appeal and support video calling over WiFi and network as well. The BBM experience has been made smoother and richer along with the support for apps with BBM integration.

If you wish to bookmark a flagged email, link, screenshot, date, or any other thing with one single broad topic, then Remember is the app for you. It enables better management of information in different apps or format in a folder for easy access and better organization. The several pre-loaded apps are seriously helpful for the productive work while some can be easily downloaded - such as Skype. The Maps app is the total odd one out and is not as impressive as the other apps. Pre-loaded apps includes Calculator, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Foursquare, Adobe Reader, Nobex, TuneIn Radio, Newsstand, Maps, Calculator, Compass, Weather, File Manager, Box, and Docs To Go.

BlackBerry's native web browser has been a lot improved than the one offered on the BlackBerry 7 OS based devices but still does lag at times. It does not provide smooth experience as the rival mobile web browsers such as mobile Safari. Pages load quickly and also allow pinch-to-zoom for better reading experience. Not to forget that the browser also integrates sharing so that the particular page can be shared over the BBM and social networks easily.

The status bar on the top also hides the Shortcut tray that can be pulled down by the downward swipe from the top of the screen. It has the Rotation Lock, Bluetooth, WiFi, Alarm and Notifications options. Tapping on either these buttons enables or disables the respective options.

Contacts app pulls in the information including numbers from variety of sources - email accounts, BBM and social networks. However, one has to invest some time in joining the contact entries of same person. Once that effort has been put in, it pays off in the long run because each contact will reveal its full details along with all possible information available from that person including emails as well as social network updates.

Though most popular apps are available in the BlackBerry App World, not all would be happy with the lack of the most popular apps already available on Android and iOS platforms. Overall experience of the BlackBerry 10.1 OS is hiccup free and smooth but it does appear bit slow when compared to the BlackBerry Q10.

Camera

BlackBerry Q5 has a 5 megapixel camera at the back with LED flash and autofocus. This camera is technically capable of recording full 1080p HD videos at 30 frames per second. The secondary 2 megapixel camera in the front is quite useful for a BBM Video Calls or video chat over Skype in 720p HD format.

The lack of camera button will puzzle every first time user for capturing an image. Actually one is supposed to adjust the reticle for focusing and then capturing the image. The reticle can be dragged around to shift the focus area and the autofocussing is not as fast and responsive as many Android devices.

The camera app has options located the three vertical dot box. It further takes to the options - Shooting Mode, Scene mode, Flash and Aspect Ratio. The Shooting Mode offers Normal, Stabilization, Burst Mode and HDR. The Scene mode has Auto, Action, Whiteboard, Night and Beach or Snow. All these options can be used appropriately to get the best possible image output.

The Gallery app has been integrated with the Picture Editor that can be used to tweak certain aspects of the images such as the colour, brightness, saturation, contrast of the captured photo right on the device itself. Not only that, the user can also add filters such as Black and White, Lomo, Antique, Sepia and more. These image editing capabilities can make a normal looking image bit interesting to be shared over the social networks or BBM.

Multimedia

The BlackBerry Q5 offers great support for the variety of the audio-video formats. The smartphone supports lossless audio formats such as WAV, eAAC+ and FLAC natively and thereby keeps the audio files happy. The native music app lacks software equalizer. The music app is like the Google Music app - simply promoting the music service from the company. Even the video player also supports variety of video formats including the DivX and Xvid. However, it would be really cumbersome to watch normal videos and files with the odd aspect ratio bearing display and those black stripes in every video would bug anyone.

BlackBerry has not offered built-in Radio but there is an audio port is located on the top of the phone. That means you can load your favourite music. There is something called Story Maker that basically creates a mash-up of the videos and photos on the phone by adding effects, transitions and sound track to make it a cool video.

Battery

With the powerful hardware, we obviously expect to enjoy the apps and BBM for hours on the BlackBerry 10 OS. New Peek, Flow and multi-tasking features do take some toll on the battery life eventually.

BlackBerry has packed 2180 mAh battery in the Q5. Even with the fair usage involving couple of calls, texting, using BBM, listening to music, social networks and basic browsing, the large battery managed to push the run time to just about a day. Rest we blame on the network congestion.

The auto-brightness feature needs to be more responsive in order to conserve the battery usage. Only part we feel bad is that the battery is non-removable. It also charges up fast in just about two hours roughly. There were no issues with the call quality but it was not the best out here. The BlackBerry Q5 certainly has the edge when it comes to battery life over the high-end devices.

Final Thoughts

Let's get this one thing clear - the BlackBerry Q5 is a mid-range offering with decent battery and relatively better mobile operating system. The BlackBerry Q5 can be purchased for roughly around Rs 24,500 in India. The toughest part is that it competes with not only the new but also the last year's flagship Android devices - right from Galaxy S III to Nexus 4. In front of them, the BlackBerry Q5 does fall short in several areas.

Many would contest the comfort of BlackBerry Q5's keyboard as some love little spaced out keys instead of tightly packed ones. When compared against the Q10, this is certainly the more affordable and powerful BlackBerry smartphone one can move to from the mid-range curves. Provided the powerful hardware, it is certainly in for long run. Offered in Black, White and Red colours, the BlackBerry Q5 may not have that style quotient but certainly the shortcuts would make up for loads of things. One should never miss out on the battery life either.

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Good displayGesture controlsBattery back upUSB access bugToo many preloaded appsNot enough RAM to run high end games

Though subtle in nature, but Indian handset manufacturers in the year 2013 crossed the sacrosanct Rs 15,000 price line. Desi manufacturers like Micromax and Spice launched their flagship phones around Rs 18,000-19,000 price range - putting their devices head on with mid range devices of MNC brands. Obviously, the underline theme of new age desi phones is not price but quality. In light of changed phenomena, I also reviewed the Spice Pinnacle FHD - the flagship phone of Spice.

The Spice Pinnacle FHD was launched some time back in India for Rs 16,990. For the price, it brings decent features like 1.5 GHz quad core processor, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB onboard memory, 32 GB of expandable storage, 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera, and 2100 mAh Li-Po battery.

This is a very good feature set if not the best for the said price. But the underline question always remains - Does it perform likewise?

We had thus used the Spice Pinnacle FHD Mi-525 for around a fortnight and here what we have found about the handset.

Design and Display

Among Indian handset manufacturers, Spice is always hailed for its device's design. The Pinnacle FHD is no aberration either. IT has a beautiful shinning back panel which is not slippery at all. A metallic strip runs around its edges but it is thickest at the bottom and the upper portion while on the sides the metal strip looks like a thread. Overall, the Spice Pinnacle FHD looks gorgeous from the back side while it's looking average from the front.

Though it sounds heavy at 175 grams but it is quite thin with just 9.3 mm thickness.

In the Pinnacle FHD, the volume rocker is on the left hand side, while the power button is conveniently placed on the right. The micro USB cum charger port is at the bottom while the 3.5 mm jack is at the top. However, microphones are not properly placed the makes it difficult to hear the callers.

There is no proximity sensor either as a result of which the screen does not go off automatically while you pick up a call, hence unintentional dials occur.

It is one of the few handsets in its price range to come with a full high definition (1920x1080 pixels) resolution. The combination of full HD resolution and 5 inch screen size makes it a perfect device for entertainment.

Operating system and user interface

The Spice Pinnacle FHD comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. As of now this is the latest Android version in India so no complaints here.

However, it has a modified user interface and a lot of features. Especially, its gesture controls have been glorified during its launch. To be specific, the smartphone offers nine types of gesture controls of which one is for unlocking. Are these of any help?

Yes, they are. You can choose any gesture (like the word L, M, or a circle) for 10 basic applications like Bookmark, Contact, Messages, Mag, Gmail label, Music playlist, Settings, and even Whatsapp. Moreover, you can choose in any person from contact, or any Gmail label (inbox, starred etc), or any Whatsapp contact. You then have to set a particular gesture for each of these shortcuts that will help you to directly go to the particular app while unlocking. For apps like music, you do not need to unlock at all; just do the gesture you have set for the music playlist on the locked screen, and the playlist will start. Also, you do not need to unlock to change the track; just set a gesture for 'Next' action in the settings so even if your handset is locked, you can do the Next gesture on the locked screen to change tracks (of course if you have started the playlist first).

However, there Pinnacle FHD suffers from one security issue. Unlike other Android smartphones which are to be unlocked first to access the USB storage, the Pinnacle FHD gives access to turn on the USB storage as soon as you connect it to a PC via the USB cable, irrespective of whether the phone is locked or not.

Memory

The Spice Pinnacle FHD comes with decent 8 GB ROM out of which around 5 GB is available for users. There is a 32 GB micro SD card slot in the handset as well.

Processor and Performance

The Spice Pinnacle FHD has the quad core Mediatek MT6589 processor that has 1.5 GHz clock speed. It has also a very good looking 1 GB RAM. The combination works fine most of the time but a bigger chunk of the 1 GB RAM is always occupied by unnecessary apps stuffed in the phone. As a result, at a time a around 330 MB of RAM remains available which is not sufficient for heavy games Modern Combat.

Also sadly it cannot play some graphics intensive games which is very surprising. In fact, it is curious to note that while it played the Blood and Glory: Legend, which is considered a very graphics intensive game, very easily, the Pinnacle FHD stuttered while playing very ordinary looking Stick Cricket which even very low end Android smartphones play without any issue. Similarly, we had to keep the graphics of recently released Riptide GP2 at the lowest.

But it has nonetheless a very good 14192 score on Antutu benchmark which is even better than that of Micromax Canvas 4 (12697) which too has the same processor (which shows the unreliability of benchmarking to some extent).

Camera

The Pinnacle FHD has an 8 megapixel rear camera which can record full high definition (1920x1080 pixels) videos at 30 frames per second. It is assisted by dual LED flashes.

There is a decent 2 megapixel camera in the front which is also good but may sound puny in an age where Indian handset manufactures (including Spice) are bringing handsets with 5 megapixel camera.

The camera app is the stock Android app and you won't have any problem. Here are some sample pictures that would give you a decent idea of its camera capability.

Battery

The Pinnacle FHD has a 2100 mAh battery that claims to provide seven hours of talktime and 362 hours of standby on 2G network. As far as our experience goes, with around an hour of gaming, few minutes of calling and browsing over WiFi, the handset managed to stay for a full day. As far as standby goes, the handset consumes only 30 per cent charge in around 16 hours which is decent.

Connectivity

The Pinnacle FHD has dual SIM connectivity and has WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and micro USB port. It has GPS with A-GPS support like most other Android smartphones. It has Proximity Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, G-Sensor as well.

Though most of the said connectivity options worked without any issue, the unit we have been provided has some serious issues with proximity sensor that as I said earlier creates problems while calling; for instance, the display does not locks automatically while calling which trigger unintentional dials.

Conclusion

There is no dearth of decent Android smartphones in today's world above Rs 10,000. Thus at Rs 16,990, the Spice Pinnacle FHD has lot of adversaries to take care of that includes popular Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro, Sony Xperia L, Xolo X1000 etc.

The Spice Pinnacle FHD though has good display, internal storage, latest operating system, and a decent quad core processor, it falls a bit short when it comes to RAM and hence does not perform as some of its peers can do. Its gesture controls are innovative and user friendly but at the same time Spice needs to remove the USB bug that allows anyone to access to the file stored inside the phone by just connecting it to a PC; no need to unlock the phone at all.

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