Canon EOS 700D review
Canon EOS 700D is the 'flagship' device in company's entry-level consumer DSLR range. Canon has included some creative features as well as a very responsive capacitive touchscreen to make sure this camera appeals to first time users as well as those looking for an upgrade. Bundled with the camera is the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 stock lens. So how does it work, let's find out.
In the box
- Canon EOS 700D body
- LP-E8 rechargeable battery
- AC adapter kit ACK-E8
- Manual
- Warranty card
- USB cable
- Hand strap
- 512MB SD Card
- Software CD
- Canon EF 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lenses
Image Quality
I have been using a very high-end DSLR as my primary camera for about a year now, so I didn't have high expectations from the entry-level Canon EOS 700D, but the image quality on the camera was surprisingly good.
Most of the low-light photos taken with the kit lens were shot anywhere between ISO 800 and ISO 1600, and I was worried about the images being slightly noisy. However, the camera handled these very well and the noise was barely noticeable, though images over ISO 3200 did show a bit of noise. If you want, you can take up ISO Settings up to 12,800 in the snapshot mode and 6400 in video mode, but I would really not recommend that. Canon also let us use their prime 28mm f/1.8 lens for some shots, and I was very happy with the way this worked.
The Canon EOS 700D performed well in most situations, indoors as well as outdoors, and the lens also kept up with it. A few shots in the gallery were taken with the prime lens, specifically for getting the lights to look like stars, but with the bundled 18-55 lens too I managed to get some interesting shots.
Video
One of the things that stood out for me when I had read the Canon EOS 700D press release of the new kit lens was the silent motor, and I really wanted to give it a shot. In scenes where you depend on the autofocus, you usually get the motor's hum, and then have to come back and edit that out in the movie.
Battery Life
The battery on the Canon EOS 700D is rated at 400 shots and my testing gave similar results. On a four day trip across Hong Kong and Taipei, I did not need to charge the battery once, even though I was shot videos and a number of delayed-shutter shots, which can be battery intensive. The LP-E8 is the same battery that shipped in the previous generations, hence getting a spare battery is not an expensive affair in case you propose to shoot a lot of pictures.
Price
- Rs. 53,995 for body only
- Rs. 59,995 for body and 18-55 lens
- Rs. 39,995 for the prime 28 mm f/1.8 Lens
- Good noise control
- Quality video and sound capture
- Lightweight body
- Responsive touchscreen
- Not a big upgrade from the previous generation
- Viewfinder not bright enough
- Build/ Ergonomics: 3.5
- Features / Performance: 4
- Image Quality: 4
- Video: 4
- Battery Life: 4
- Value for Money: 4
- Overall: 4
While
Google is expected to release the next version of its mobile operating
system, Android 4.3, next week, a leaked copy of the OS for Nexus 4
devices has already appeared online.
Although it's known that Android 4.3, which would continue to be referred as Jelly Bean, will be a minor update and won't bring major user-facing changes, it still offers some incremental updates.
According to a hands-on video uploaded by Android Central, the update will increase the touch responsiveness of the Nexus 4.
The new update will bring an additional feature to the phone's dialler suggesting phone numbers from your contacts as you dial by matching digits or looking up names. It also adds an option to add pauses while calling a number.
Android 4.3 also seems to brings a new Wi-Fi setting, 'Scanning always available' which will allow apps to get location data through Wi-Fi even when Wi-Fi is set to off and not being used for data access.
As revealed in previous leaks, Android 4.3 also offers a new updated Camera app that features a new arch based menu that makes it easier to control and switch camera settings.
In addition to these, the update brings the OpenGL 3.0 graphics standard for better 3D rendering for visual effects in apps and games, and Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) support, through which devices running the OS will be able to sync with low power wearable devices like health monitors and smart watches.
The update also offers a new Notifications history menu which keeps a log of all notifications and the app responsible for them.
Alleged screenshots of an early version of Android 4.3 running on Samsung Galaxy S4's Google edition variant had also appeared online, in June. The screenshots had suggested changes to the Camera app. We had earlier seen the same camera app when a Nexus 4 running Android 4.3 was spotted at the Thailand Mobile Expo last month.
Although it's known that Android 4.3, which would continue to be referred as Jelly Bean, will be a minor update and won't bring major user-facing changes, it still offers some incremental updates.
According to a hands-on video uploaded by Android Central, the update will increase the touch responsiveness of the Nexus 4.
The new update will bring an additional feature to the phone's dialler suggesting phone numbers from your contacts as you dial by matching digits or looking up names. It also adds an option to add pauses while calling a number.
Android 4.3 also seems to brings a new Wi-Fi setting, 'Scanning always available' which will allow apps to get location data through Wi-Fi even when Wi-Fi is set to off and not being used for data access.
As revealed in previous leaks, Android 4.3 also offers a new updated Camera app that features a new arch based menu that makes it easier to control and switch camera settings.
In addition to these, the update brings the OpenGL 3.0 graphics standard for better 3D rendering for visual effects in apps and games, and Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) support, through which devices running the OS will be able to sync with low power wearable devices like health monitors and smart watches.
The update also offers a new Notifications history menu which keeps a log of all notifications and the app responsible for them.
Alleged screenshots of an early version of Android 4.3 running on Samsung Galaxy S4's Google edition variant had also appeared online, in June. The screenshots had suggested changes to the Camera app. We had earlier seen the same camera app when a Nexus 4 running Android 4.3 was spotted at the Thailand Mobile Expo last month.
Samsung has launched the Galaxy Tab 3 range of the tablets, namely the Galaxy Tab 3 211, Galaxy Tab 3 310, and Galaxy Tab 3 311.
The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3 211 was announced in April. Under the hood, Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 211 is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM. The 7-inch screen has a rather disappointing 1024x600 resolution at a paltry 169ppi. The tablet will be available in 8GB/ 16GB storage options, expandable by another 64GB via microSD card. Connectivity options on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB and A-GPS/ GLONASS. The tablet runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is priced at Rs. 17,745.The 8-inch Galaxy Tab 3 310 and Galaxy Tab 3 311 are powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. They come loaded with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. The tablets have a 8-inch WXGA TFT display with a resolution of 1280X800 pixels. Available in 32GB and 64GB variants, the tablets also offer expandable storage up to 64GB via a microSD card. The tablets come with a 4,450mAh battery. The device runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2 and come pre-loaded with Samsung applications and services such as Samsung Hub, ChatOn, S Translator, S Travel, Pop up Video and WatchON.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 310 is the Wi-Fi version of the tablet priced at Rs. 21,495 and Galaxy Tab 3 311 is a Wi-Fi + 3G tablet that will be available for Rs. 25.725.Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 311 and 310 key specifications
The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3 211 was announced in April. Under the hood, Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 211 is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM. The 7-inch screen has a rather disappointing 1024x600 resolution at a paltry 169ppi. The tablet will be available in 8GB/ 16GB storage options, expandable by another 64GB via microSD card. Connectivity options on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB and A-GPS/ GLONASS. The tablet runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is priced at Rs. 17,745.The 8-inch Galaxy Tab 3 310 and Galaxy Tab 3 311 are powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. They come loaded with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. The tablets have a 8-inch WXGA TFT display with a resolution of 1280X800 pixels. Available in 32GB and 64GB variants, the tablets also offer expandable storage up to 64GB via a microSD card. The tablets come with a 4,450mAh battery. The device runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2 and come pre-loaded with Samsung applications and services such as Samsung Hub, ChatOn, S Translator, S Travel, Pop up Video and WatchON.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 310 is the Wi-Fi version of the tablet priced at Rs. 21,495 and Galaxy Tab 3 311 is a Wi-Fi + 3G tablet that will be available for Rs. 25.725.Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 311 and 310 key specifications
- 8-inch WXGA TFT display with 1280X800 pixels (189ppi)
- 1.5GHz dual-core processor
- 1.5GB RAM
- 32GB, 64GB internal storage, expandable by up to 64GB
- 5-megapixel rear camera
- 1.9-megapixel front facing camera
- 4,450 mAh battery
- Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
- Weight: 314 grams (Galaxy Tab 3 310)
- 3G (Galaxy Tab 3 311 only): HSPA 21Mbps DL, 5.76Mbps UP, Quad 850/900/1900/2100
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz)
- Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0
- 7-inch WSVGA TFT display with 1024X600 pixels (169ppi)
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB, 16GB internal storage, expandable by up to 64GB
- 3-megapixel rear camera
- 1.3-megapixel front facing camera
- 4,00 mAh battery
- Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
- Weight: 302 grams (Wi-Fi variant)
- 3G: HSPA 21Mbps DL, 5.76Mbps UP, Quad 850/900/1900/2100
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz)
- Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0
BlackBerry has launched the BlackBerry Q5 in India at a price point of Rs. 24,990.
The BlackBerry Q5 is the second hardware keyboard (QWERTY) equipped smartphone running the new BlackBerry 10.1 operating system. The smartphone was first showcased at the BlackBerry Live Conference, in May 2013.
Just like the company's flagship phone BlackBerry Q10, the Q5 sports a 3.1-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720X720 pixels. However, the screen on the Q5 is an IPS LCD one, unlike the Q10 which sports a Super AMOLED screen.
The BlackBerry Q5 is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor along with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone packs in 8GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded by up to 32GB via microSD card. The phone sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front shooter on board. The smartphone also comes with 2,180mAh battery.
The smartphone will come in three colour options - Black, Pure White, and Pure Red and Pink. The company has said that it will offer EMI schemes for the BlackBerry Q5.
BlackBerry has been criticised for pricing its smartphones on the higher side. However, the company is currently offering its Z10 and Q10 smartphones in India. The company recently started offering an exchange scheme to push the sales of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. Under this scheme, customers can avail a discount of up to Rs. 11,000 on purchase of a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.
In addition to this, the company also introduced new EMI schemes for its flagship BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and its entry-level offering, the BlackBerry Curve 9220.BlackBerry Q5 key specifications
The BlackBerry Q5 is the second hardware keyboard (QWERTY) equipped smartphone running the new BlackBerry 10.1 operating system. The smartphone was first showcased at the BlackBerry Live Conference, in May 2013.
Just like the company's flagship phone BlackBerry Q10, the Q5 sports a 3.1-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720X720 pixels. However, the screen on the Q5 is an IPS LCD one, unlike the Q10 which sports a Super AMOLED screen.
The BlackBerry Q5 is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor along with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone packs in 8GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded by up to 32GB via microSD card. The phone sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front shooter on board. The smartphone also comes with 2,180mAh battery.
The smartphone will come in three colour options - Black, Pure White, and Pure Red and Pink. The company has said that it will offer EMI schemes for the BlackBerry Q5.
BlackBerry has been criticised for pricing its smartphones on the higher side. However, the company is currently offering its Z10 and Q10 smartphones in India. The company recently started offering an exchange scheme to push the sales of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. Under this scheme, customers can avail a discount of up to Rs. 11,000 on purchase of a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.
In addition to this, the company also introduced new EMI schemes for its flagship BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and its entry-level offering, the BlackBerry Curve 9220.BlackBerry Q5 key specifications
- 3.1-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 720x720 pixels, 329ppi
- 35 key hardware keyboard
- 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Processor
- 2GB RAM
- 8GB Internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
- 5-megapixel rear camera
- 2-megapixel front facing camera
- BlackBerry 10.1 OS
- 2180mAh battery
For years, BlackBerry was prominently known as a device maker that
focused on the enterprise segment. With cutthroat competition from the
likes of Apple, Samsung and other handset makers that made Android
devices, BlackBerry made a move for the emerging markets, leveraging its
messaging platform and making economy devices under its Curve series
targeted at youngsters.
The company's Curve series did exceedingly well and gave BlackBerry a share in the Indian market. In 2013, a time when BlackBerry is reinventing itself after a massive overhaul led by BlackBerry 10, the company is launching new devices across different segments. After BlackBerry Z10, its full-touch smartphone, and BlackBerry Q10, a premium hardware keyboard equipped device, it's now looking at capturing the mid-range segment with the new BlackBerry Q5.
Unlike its two BlackBerry 10 predecessors, the BlackBerry Q5 doesn't feature premium materials, sports inferior hardware specifications and less internal storage, but runs the same OS and delivers the same software features.
After being widely panned for the pricing of its first two BlackBerry 10 smartphones, will BlackBerry be able to capture the attention of the Indian consumer with the Q5? We try to find out in our review.
Build/ Design
The BlackBerry Q5 doesn't resemble the company's Curve series smartphones, a major reason for which is the inclusion of a bigger 3.1-inch touch enabled display. The phone is taller and less curved, and looks more playful than the BlackBerry Q10, which has a more serious appeal targeting business users. However, the Q5 also looks more plasticky, which is fair enough since BlackBerry's aim was to cut costs.
Just like the Q10, the front of the BlackBerry Q5 features a square screen that measures 3.1-inch on the diagonal and the 35 key keyboard in addition to the 2-megapixel front facing camera, the notification LED and an array of sensors, sitting above the display.
The keyboard reminds us of the BlackBerry Curve phones, except that the keys on the BlackBerry Q5 are arranged in a more linear fashion and are spaced out. The keys offer good tactile feedback and are large enough for convenient and quick typing. Unlike the Q10's keys that are soft to press, the Q5's keys produce a 'clickety' sound and offer a great typing experience.
Unlike legacy BlackBerry devices, the Q5 does not include any extra hardware keys for navigating through the phone, or for accepting and rejecting calls, giving the display area more space. Also, since the BlackBerry 10 OS relies a lot on swipe gestures, there's plenty of room to swipe into and out of the screen.
The BlackBerry Q5 doesn't come with a non-removable back cover, though at first glance it was hard to realise this as there's demarcation between the back and front panels.
On the right side of the phone, you will find the Volume rocker keys with a Mute key sitting between. The keys are made of plastic and feel a little cheap, though they offer good tactile feedback.
There's a flap that covers the Micro-SIM and the microSD card slot located at the left hand side with the Micro-USB port. We found the flap to be a little flimsy and even after closing, the flap did not get tightly secured with the phone.
The Power/ Screen-lock key, 3.5mm headset jack and a secondary noise cancellation microphone sit at the top of the phone, while the speaker outlet and the primary microphone are located at the bottom of the phone.
Turning towards the back, the BlackBerry Q5 features a plastic panel with matte finish. The BlackBerry logo in silver sits at the middle, while the 5-megapixel rear camera lens and an LED flash are at the top left. The back is prone to smudges.
Display
The BlackBerry Q5 offers a 3.1-inch (diagonal) square shaped screen. Unlike the Q10 that comes with a Super AMOLED display, this one is an IPS LCD screen that offers a resolution of 720x720 pixels and pixel density of 329ppi. The screen packs in few more pixels per inch than the iPhone 5 (326ppi) and text, images and videos appear extremely sharp and clear. It offers excellent viewing angles and good sunlight legibility.
However, the screen's 1:1 ratio makes watching videos feel awkward as most HD videos have a 16:9 ratio, and appear smaller. We also compared the screen with that of the Samsung Galaxy S III, and found it to be less bright. Perhaps this is a deliberate move from BlackBerry in a bid to conserve battery life.
Overall, due to its small size and awkward screen ratio, the BlackBerry Q5 is not great if you want to primarily use the phone for accessing multimedia content.
Software/ User Interface
The Q5 has a hardware keyboard and runs BlackBerry OS 10.1, just like the BlackBerry Q10. As we mentioned in our Q10 review, BlackBerry has made some changes to the operating system (when compared to what we saw in the Z10) in order to add support for the QWERTY keyboard and include some new features that make full use of the hardware.
The Q5 comes with BlackBerry OS 10.1, which is a small yet important update to the first version of the OS but the basics remain almost the same and you can have a detailed look at the operating system in our BlackBerry 10 OS review.
In terms of the look and feel, the updated OS looks pretty similar to its earlier version. The OS on the Q5, though, is a little different than what we saw on the Q10, and doesn't include the new dark theme in native applications like the call logs and contacts screen, though it's still present in the system-wide sharing menu. The phone features smaller active frames in the running apps panel of the home screen. The navigation remains the same incorporating all the swipe gestures we have seen earlier in BlackBerry 10 on the Z10 and the Q10.
Unlocking the screen takes you to a list of app icons arranged in a 4x3 grid. You can swipe to the right to continue exploring them or to the left to go to the BlackBerry Hub that collates all your messages, emails, WhatsApp and BBM chats, Facebook and Twitter notifications, Voicemail, call logs and even PIN to PIN messages.
After opening an app, the only way to close it is to swipe from the bottom of the screen and you'll see that the app gets minimized to a small pane that offers a preview of the app's screen or even acts like a widget offering key information from the app. All these active panes or frames are displayed in a screen panel between the Hub and the app icon lists. This panel can have a maximum of 8 active frames and on Q5's display you'll need to swipe down to see all of them. Swiping up from any screen gives you a peek into your notifications, though it's still not detailed and just comes with the number of unread items and the red and white star if there are new items. Swiping up and immediately swiping to the right takes you to the BlackBerry Hub.
BlackBerry OS 10.1 offers some additional functions on the BlackBerry Q5 and Q10. The phone offers Instant Action, which is a sort of advanced universal search (Mac users, think Spotlight) combined with actionable commands, making full use of the phone's keyboard. You just need to start typing what you want to do on the home screen and the phone gives you options to complete the task in addition to a list of search results that feature the keyword.
For example, if you start keying in 'tweet' followed by what you want to post on Twitter, the phone will give you a compose window within the search for posting the same without going to the Twitter app in addition to search results that contain all emails, reminders and other content that features the word 'tweet'. Similarly, the phone offers actions for writing mails, SMS, BBM messages, playing music and videos, Facebook status updates and setting a reminder or jotting a note in the Remember app though the feature along with search results.
We found this to be very convenient and a great way of getting to what we wanted.
Just like the legacy BlackBerry OS versions, BlackBerry 10.1 also offers keyboard shortcuts and even lists them in some system menus. The OS offers about 200 such shortcuts. For instance you can use the 'T' key to go to the top of the list and 'B' key to get to the bottom. Similarly, you can go to the next message in the BlackBerry Hub by pressing the 'N' key, reply by pressing 'R', and reply all by pressing 'L' among others. Combine that with the physical keyboard and hard-core BlackBerry users will feel right at home.
While the BlackBerry Z10 keyboard offered a unique way to input text through a touchscreen, the Q5, just like the Q10, offers a more conventional mode. You can configure the phone to show three word predictions while entering text, although the option is not turned on by default. It also learns new words and offers them as suggestions when you type. We observed that it was able to catch Hindi words typed in English ('Hinglish' if you will) over our course of using the phone.
The software experience offered by the BlackBerry Q5 is similar to the Q10. You can read our detailed review of the BlackBerry Q10 to know about other changes and improvements that the BlackBerry 10.1 OS brings to the table.
Camera
The BlackBerry Q5 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front facing camera. The phone's camera app comes with limited number of settings. It offers three shooting modes namely, Still, Video and Timeshift. In the Still mode the phone offers options to shoot in Normal, Stabilisation, Burst and HDR modes. There's no Panorama mode.
The rear camera of the BlackBerry Q5 is equally competent at recording videos and supports recording resolutions up to 1080p.
The front camera is good for video chats and for clicking self portraits. Overall, the Q5 is good for casual photography.
Performance/ Hardware
The BlackBerry Q5 features a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, and 8GB of internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card, which is a significant upgrade on the legacy Curve devices.
With BlackBerry 10.1, the overall experience of navigating through the interface was impressive. The phone is extremely responsive and we did not experience any lags while opening apps, navigating the menu, browsing the web on the phone's native web browser and even playing games such as Angry Birds Star Wars, Beach Buggy Blitz and The Odyssey.
The BlackBerry 10 user interface offers a user interface that's extremely fluid. Gone are the days when your BlackBerry phone used to reboot after installing and even updating individual apps. You'll not see the spinning clock or hourglass on your screen and wait for your phone to perform its assigned task with the BlackBerry 10.The native web browser comes with Adobe Flash and renders web pages swiftly.
We were able to play full-HD clips, with most formats including MOV and AVI being supported natively, though some formats like MKV did not play. Videos do tend to look a little odd due to the screen's awkward 1:1 ratio.
The speaker outlet on the phone delivers good quality sound at high volume levels thanks to the placement of the speaker outlet, though it's a little inferior compared to the BlackBerry Q10.
Call quality was very good and the phone is able to latch on to cellular networks even in weak signal areas. We also got HD Voice at certain times with our mobile operator, Airtel.
The phone lacks FM radio functionality, which will surely disappoint many, especially in our Indian audience. We were also able to transfer images and other content using NFC between the BlackBerry Q5 and the Samsung Galaxy S III, easily.
Unlike its more expensive cousins, the BlackBerry Q5 does not feature a micro-HDMI port.
The BlackBerry Q5 comes with a 2180mAh battery, and in our usage, it lasted us more than a full workday. We charged the phone in the morning, and with medium to heavy usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two email accounts, playing some music, gaming, taking some photographs, Twitter notifications, BBM and WhatsApp chats, the phone lasted a good 13-14 hours.
It's worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern.Verdict
The BlackBerry Q5 is a great keyboard equipped smartphone. In fact, it's the only smartphone in the price bracket that comes with a hardware keyboard. Having said that, it becomes a little difficult to recommend this phone to anyone who is not looking for a QWERTY keyboard and doesn't make heavy use of messaging features majorly because of what's being offered by other handset makers at this price point. However, the device will definitely appeal to BlackBerry fans looking for a cheaper alternative to the Q10.
BlackBerry is targeting a different demographic with this phone. It's not business users, but young professionals and college students who are being eyed by the company. Unfortunately for the company, these customers are extremely price conscious and want full value for their money. With BBM's declining popularity, and the fact that it's even available on OS 7 phones (soon to be available on iOS and Android as well) that are priced much cheaper, there's little chance that people will buy this phone just for its messaging capabilities.
There's no doubt that the Q5, despite being a mid-ranger, offers all major features with an operating system that's extremely responsive. There's no software fragmentation here, unlike other platforms, and the Q5 runs all apps that the Q10 can. However, it's worth pointing out that a lot of BlackBerry 10 apps made for the Z10 have still not been optimized for the Q5 and the Q10, and are not available in BlackBerry World, yet.
The BlackBerry Q5 also comes with plenty of power under the hood, so you don't experience the slightest of lag. Of course, the swipe gestures that are part of the OS might take some time to get used to but once you get hooked to them, it's difficult to go back.
As we mentioned earlier, at a price of Rs. 24,990, we feel that the phone is a little overpriced especially when one looks at what's available in the market at the same price point. BlackBerry 10 is also lacking in terms of the available apps on the platform.
If you're fine with a device that doesn't have a physical keyboard, you should check out devices in the same price range such as the Nexus 4, the Galaxy S III and the HTC One X. You can even look at the Nokia Lumia 720, which is a great phone that costs less. If you want a QWERTY device and don't want to spend a large amount of cash, you could consider BlackBerry OS 7 devices like the Curve 9320 and Curve 9360, which are still selling and will continue to be supported by the company.
Price: Rs. 24,990
Pros
• Excellent physical keyboard
• Good performance
• Great battery backup
Cons
• A bit overpriced
• Lacks good third-party apps
• Screen's 1:1 aspect ratio is a bit awkward
• No FM radio
Ratings (Out of 5)
- Design: 3
- Display: 3.5
- Performance: 4
- Software: 3
- Battery Life: 4
- Value for Money: 3
- Camera: 3
- Overall: 3.5
The company's Curve series did exceedingly well and gave BlackBerry a share in the Indian market. In 2013, a time when BlackBerry is reinventing itself after a massive overhaul led by BlackBerry 10, the company is launching new devices across different segments. After BlackBerry Z10, its full-touch smartphone, and BlackBerry Q10, a premium hardware keyboard equipped device, it's now looking at capturing the mid-range segment with the new BlackBerry Q5.
Unlike its two BlackBerry 10 predecessors, the BlackBerry Q5 doesn't feature premium materials, sports inferior hardware specifications and less internal storage, but runs the same OS and delivers the same software features.
After being widely panned for the pricing of its first two BlackBerry 10 smartphones, will BlackBerry be able to capture the attention of the Indian consumer with the Q5? We try to find out in our review.
Build/ Design
The BlackBerry Q5 doesn't resemble the company's Curve series smartphones, a major reason for which is the inclusion of a bigger 3.1-inch touch enabled display. The phone is taller and less curved, and looks more playful than the BlackBerry Q10, which has a more serious appeal targeting business users. However, the Q5 also looks more plasticky, which is fair enough since BlackBerry's aim was to cut costs.
Just like the Q10, the front of the BlackBerry Q5 features a square screen that measures 3.1-inch on the diagonal and the 35 key keyboard in addition to the 2-megapixel front facing camera, the notification LED and an array of sensors, sitting above the display.
The keyboard reminds us of the BlackBerry Curve phones, except that the keys on the BlackBerry Q5 are arranged in a more linear fashion and are spaced out. The keys offer good tactile feedback and are large enough for convenient and quick typing. Unlike the Q10's keys that are soft to press, the Q5's keys produce a 'clickety' sound and offer a great typing experience.
Unlike legacy BlackBerry devices, the Q5 does not include any extra hardware keys for navigating through the phone, or for accepting and rejecting calls, giving the display area more space. Also, since the BlackBerry 10 OS relies a lot on swipe gestures, there's plenty of room to swipe into and out of the screen.
The BlackBerry Q5 doesn't come with a non-removable back cover, though at first glance it was hard to realise this as there's demarcation between the back and front panels.
On the right side of the phone, you will find the Volume rocker keys with a Mute key sitting between. The keys are made of plastic and feel a little cheap, though they offer good tactile feedback.
There's a flap that covers the Micro-SIM and the microSD card slot located at the left hand side with the Micro-USB port. We found the flap to be a little flimsy and even after closing, the flap did not get tightly secured with the phone.
The Power/ Screen-lock key, 3.5mm headset jack and a secondary noise cancellation microphone sit at the top of the phone, while the speaker outlet and the primary microphone are located at the bottom of the phone.
Turning towards the back, the BlackBerry Q5 features a plastic panel with matte finish. The BlackBerry logo in silver sits at the middle, while the 5-megapixel rear camera lens and an LED flash are at the top left. The back is prone to smudges.
Display
The BlackBerry Q5 offers a 3.1-inch (diagonal) square shaped screen. Unlike the Q10 that comes with a Super AMOLED display, this one is an IPS LCD screen that offers a resolution of 720x720 pixels and pixel density of 329ppi. The screen packs in few more pixels per inch than the iPhone 5 (326ppi) and text, images and videos appear extremely sharp and clear. It offers excellent viewing angles and good sunlight legibility.
However, the screen's 1:1 ratio makes watching videos feel awkward as most HD videos have a 16:9 ratio, and appear smaller. We also compared the screen with that of the Samsung Galaxy S III, and found it to be less bright. Perhaps this is a deliberate move from BlackBerry in a bid to conserve battery life.
Overall, due to its small size and awkward screen ratio, the BlackBerry Q5 is not great if you want to primarily use the phone for accessing multimedia content.
Software/ User Interface
The Q5 has a hardware keyboard and runs BlackBerry OS 10.1, just like the BlackBerry Q10. As we mentioned in our Q10 review, BlackBerry has made some changes to the operating system (when compared to what we saw in the Z10) in order to add support for the QWERTY keyboard and include some new features that make full use of the hardware.
The Q5 comes with BlackBerry OS 10.1, which is a small yet important update to the first version of the OS but the basics remain almost the same and you can have a detailed look at the operating system in our BlackBerry 10 OS review.
In terms of the look and feel, the updated OS looks pretty similar to its earlier version. The OS on the Q5, though, is a little different than what we saw on the Q10, and doesn't include the new dark theme in native applications like the call logs and contacts screen, though it's still present in the system-wide sharing menu. The phone features smaller active frames in the running apps panel of the home screen. The navigation remains the same incorporating all the swipe gestures we have seen earlier in BlackBerry 10 on the Z10 and the Q10.
Unlocking the screen takes you to a list of app icons arranged in a 4x3 grid. You can swipe to the right to continue exploring them or to the left to go to the BlackBerry Hub that collates all your messages, emails, WhatsApp and BBM chats, Facebook and Twitter notifications, Voicemail, call logs and even PIN to PIN messages.
After opening an app, the only way to close it is to swipe from the bottom of the screen and you'll see that the app gets minimized to a small pane that offers a preview of the app's screen or even acts like a widget offering key information from the app. All these active panes or frames are displayed in a screen panel between the Hub and the app icon lists. This panel can have a maximum of 8 active frames and on Q5's display you'll need to swipe down to see all of them. Swiping up from any screen gives you a peek into your notifications, though it's still not detailed and just comes with the number of unread items and the red and white star if there are new items. Swiping up and immediately swiping to the right takes you to the BlackBerry Hub.
BlackBerry OS 10.1 offers some additional functions on the BlackBerry Q5 and Q10. The phone offers Instant Action, which is a sort of advanced universal search (Mac users, think Spotlight) combined with actionable commands, making full use of the phone's keyboard. You just need to start typing what you want to do on the home screen and the phone gives you options to complete the task in addition to a list of search results that feature the keyword.
For example, if you start keying in 'tweet' followed by what you want to post on Twitter, the phone will give you a compose window within the search for posting the same without going to the Twitter app in addition to search results that contain all emails, reminders and other content that features the word 'tweet'. Similarly, the phone offers actions for writing mails, SMS, BBM messages, playing music and videos, Facebook status updates and setting a reminder or jotting a note in the Remember app though the feature along with search results.
We found this to be very convenient and a great way of getting to what we wanted.
Just like the legacy BlackBerry OS versions, BlackBerry 10.1 also offers keyboard shortcuts and even lists them in some system menus. The OS offers about 200 such shortcuts. For instance you can use the 'T' key to go to the top of the list and 'B' key to get to the bottom. Similarly, you can go to the next message in the BlackBerry Hub by pressing the 'N' key, reply by pressing 'R', and reply all by pressing 'L' among others. Combine that with the physical keyboard and hard-core BlackBerry users will feel right at home.
While the BlackBerry Z10 keyboard offered a unique way to input text through a touchscreen, the Q5, just like the Q10, offers a more conventional mode. You can configure the phone to show three word predictions while entering text, although the option is not turned on by default. It also learns new words and offers them as suggestions when you type. We observed that it was able to catch Hindi words typed in English ('Hinglish' if you will) over our course of using the phone.
The software experience offered by the BlackBerry Q5 is similar to the Q10. You can read our detailed review of the BlackBerry Q10 to know about other changes and improvements that the BlackBerry 10.1 OS brings to the table.
Camera
The BlackBerry Q5 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front facing camera. The phone's camera app comes with limited number of settings. It offers three shooting modes namely, Still, Video and Timeshift. In the Still mode the phone offers options to shoot in Normal, Stabilisation, Burst and HDR modes. There's no Panorama mode.
The rear camera of the BlackBerry Q5 is equally competent at recording videos and supports recording resolutions up to 1080p.
The front camera is good for video chats and for clicking self portraits. Overall, the Q5 is good for casual photography.
Performance/ Hardware
The BlackBerry Q5 features a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, and 8GB of internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card, which is a significant upgrade on the legacy Curve devices.
With BlackBerry 10.1, the overall experience of navigating through the interface was impressive. The phone is extremely responsive and we did not experience any lags while opening apps, navigating the menu, browsing the web on the phone's native web browser and even playing games such as Angry Birds Star Wars, Beach Buggy Blitz and The Odyssey.
The BlackBerry 10 user interface offers a user interface that's extremely fluid. Gone are the days when your BlackBerry phone used to reboot after installing and even updating individual apps. You'll not see the spinning clock or hourglass on your screen and wait for your phone to perform its assigned task with the BlackBerry 10.The native web browser comes with Adobe Flash and renders web pages swiftly.
We were able to play full-HD clips, with most formats including MOV and AVI being supported natively, though some formats like MKV did not play. Videos do tend to look a little odd due to the screen's awkward 1:1 ratio.
The speaker outlet on the phone delivers good quality sound at high volume levels thanks to the placement of the speaker outlet, though it's a little inferior compared to the BlackBerry Q10.
Call quality was very good and the phone is able to latch on to cellular networks even in weak signal areas. We also got HD Voice at certain times with our mobile operator, Airtel.
The phone lacks FM radio functionality, which will surely disappoint many, especially in our Indian audience. We were also able to transfer images and other content using NFC between the BlackBerry Q5 and the Samsung Galaxy S III, easily.
Unlike its more expensive cousins, the BlackBerry Q5 does not feature a micro-HDMI port.
The BlackBerry Q5 comes with a 2180mAh battery, and in our usage, it lasted us more than a full workday. We charged the phone in the morning, and with medium to heavy usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two email accounts, playing some music, gaming, taking some photographs, Twitter notifications, BBM and WhatsApp chats, the phone lasted a good 13-14 hours.
It's worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern.Verdict
The BlackBerry Q5 is a great keyboard equipped smartphone. In fact, it's the only smartphone in the price bracket that comes with a hardware keyboard. Having said that, it becomes a little difficult to recommend this phone to anyone who is not looking for a QWERTY keyboard and doesn't make heavy use of messaging features majorly because of what's being offered by other handset makers at this price point. However, the device will definitely appeal to BlackBerry fans looking for a cheaper alternative to the Q10.
BlackBerry is targeting a different demographic with this phone. It's not business users, but young professionals and college students who are being eyed by the company. Unfortunately for the company, these customers are extremely price conscious and want full value for their money. With BBM's declining popularity, and the fact that it's even available on OS 7 phones (soon to be available on iOS and Android as well) that are priced much cheaper, there's little chance that people will buy this phone just for its messaging capabilities.
There's no doubt that the Q5, despite being a mid-ranger, offers all major features with an operating system that's extremely responsive. There's no software fragmentation here, unlike other platforms, and the Q5 runs all apps that the Q10 can. However, it's worth pointing out that a lot of BlackBerry 10 apps made for the Z10 have still not been optimized for the Q5 and the Q10, and are not available in BlackBerry World, yet.
The BlackBerry Q5 also comes with plenty of power under the hood, so you don't experience the slightest of lag. Of course, the swipe gestures that are part of the OS might take some time to get used to but once you get hooked to them, it's difficult to go back.
As we mentioned earlier, at a price of Rs. 24,990, we feel that the phone is a little overpriced especially when one looks at what's available in the market at the same price point. BlackBerry 10 is also lacking in terms of the available apps on the platform.
If you're fine with a device that doesn't have a physical keyboard, you should check out devices in the same price range such as the Nexus 4, the Galaxy S III and the HTC One X. You can even look at the Nokia Lumia 720, which is a great phone that costs less. If you want a QWERTY device and don't want to spend a large amount of cash, you could consider BlackBerry OS 7 devices like the Curve 9320 and Curve 9360, which are still selling and will continue to be supported by the company.
Price: Rs. 24,990
Pros
• Excellent physical keyboard
• Good performance
• Great battery backup
Cons
• A bit overpriced
• Lacks good third-party apps
• Screen's 1:1 aspect ratio is a bit awkward
• No FM radio
Ratings (Out of 5)
- Design: 3
- Display: 3.5
- Performance: 4
- Software: 3
- Battery Life: 4
- Value for Money: 3
- Camera: 3
- Overall: 3.5
HTC has announced the HTC One mini, a compact version of its flagship smartphone, the HTC One.
The HTC One mini features the same design as that of its elder sibling, the HTC One. However, the phone's front and sides sport polycarbonate/ plastic, while its back is made of aluminium, unlike the HTC One which is made entirely from aluminium barring the glass display and some inserts.
The HTC One mini also features the same BoomSound speakers, though they're smaller compared to the ones featured in the HTC One. The HTC One mini is also stripped of chamfered edges that we had seen in the HTC One. It also doesn't offer an Infrared Blaster.
The HTC One mini sports a 4.3-inch S-LCD3 display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels and pixel density of 341ppi.
The phone is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and has 1GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage but doesn't feature any external expansion options.
The smartphone runs Android 4.2 with HTC's Sense 5 UI layer on top, and includes HTC BlinkFeed, that delivers social updates, news updates and photos directly to the home screen of the phone.
The HTC One mini sports the same UltraPixel Camera (with a 4-megapixel lens) that the HTC One boasts of. It also features HTC Zoe and Video Highlights imaging features. The phone offers a 1.6-megapixel front facing camera for video calls and self clicks. It's powered by an 1800mAh non-removable battery.
The HTC One mini will be available in Glacial Silver and Stealth Black colours, in select markets from August, with a global rolled out starting September. There's no information in the pricing or availability of the device in the Indian market.HTC One mini key specifications
The HTC One mini features the same design as that of its elder sibling, the HTC One. However, the phone's front and sides sport polycarbonate/ plastic, while its back is made of aluminium, unlike the HTC One which is made entirely from aluminium barring the glass display and some inserts.
The HTC One mini also features the same BoomSound speakers, though they're smaller compared to the ones featured in the HTC One. The HTC One mini is also stripped of chamfered edges that we had seen in the HTC One. It also doesn't offer an Infrared Blaster.
The HTC One mini sports a 4.3-inch S-LCD3 display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels and pixel density of 341ppi.
The phone is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and has 1GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage but doesn't feature any external expansion options.
The smartphone runs Android 4.2 with HTC's Sense 5 UI layer on top, and includes HTC BlinkFeed, that delivers social updates, news updates and photos directly to the home screen of the phone.
The HTC One mini sports the same UltraPixel Camera (with a 4-megapixel lens) that the HTC One boasts of. It also features HTC Zoe and Video Highlights imaging features. The phone offers a 1.6-megapixel front facing camera for video calls and self clicks. It's powered by an 1800mAh non-removable battery.
The HTC One mini will be available in Glacial Silver and Stealth Black colours, in select markets from August, with a global rolled out starting September. There's no information in the pricing or availability of the device in the Indian market.HTC One mini key specifications
- 4.3-inch S-LCD3 display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels
- 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Processor
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- UltraPixel camera with a 4-megapixel lens with BSI sensor and LED flash
- 1.6-megapixel front facing camera
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5
- 1800mAh battery
- 132x63.2x9.25mm
- 122grams
Lenovo's new Ideapad A1000 tablet
is now available at company's online store for Rs. 8,980.The latest
Ideapad tablet is the latest addition to the existing Ideapad tablet
range that includes Lenovo Ideapad tablet A2107 and Lenovo Ideapad
tablet Lynx K3011.
The A1000 is powered by 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek 8317 processor with 1GB of RAM. It comes with SIM support for voice calling. The tablet sports a 7.0-inch display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels and also includes a 3,500mAh battery that the company claims could deliver around 8 hours of Wi-Fi browsing. The tablet runs the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. It also includes a front 0.3-megapixel camera to handle video chats. The tablet also features Dolby audio enhancements with dual stereo speakers. The tablet also includes a 4GB storage.
At the price, Lenovo Ideapad A1000 will face competition from the likes of the Asus MemoPad priced at Rs. 7,999, Acer Iconia B1 at Rs. 9250, Micromax Funbook Talk available at Rs. 6,800 and iberry Auxus AX03G with a price tag of Rs. 8,499. The budget tablet segment has seen a number of tablet vendors entering the Indian market and launching tablets with a price tag of sub-Rs. 10,000.
Lenovo announced the Ideapad tablet range running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
Few days back, Gartner's survey showed that Lenovo surpassed HP to become the world's largest PC vendor and reclaim the top spot that it captured last year.
Lenovo Ideapad A1000 key specifications
The A1000 is powered by 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek 8317 processor with 1GB of RAM. It comes with SIM support for voice calling. The tablet sports a 7.0-inch display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels and also includes a 3,500mAh battery that the company claims could deliver around 8 hours of Wi-Fi browsing. The tablet runs the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. It also includes a front 0.3-megapixel camera to handle video chats. The tablet also features Dolby audio enhancements with dual stereo speakers. The tablet also includes a 4GB storage.
At the price, Lenovo Ideapad A1000 will face competition from the likes of the Asus MemoPad priced at Rs. 7,999, Acer Iconia B1 at Rs. 9250, Micromax Funbook Talk available at Rs. 6,800 and iberry Auxus AX03G with a price tag of Rs. 8,499. The budget tablet segment has seen a number of tablet vendors entering the Indian market and launching tablets with a price tag of sub-Rs. 10,000.
Lenovo announced the Ideapad tablet range running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
Few days back, Gartner's survey showed that Lenovo surpassed HP to become the world's largest PC vendor and reclaim the top spot that it captured last year.
Lenovo Ideapad A1000 key specifications
- 7.0-inch 1080p capacitive touch display with resolution of 1024x600 pixels
- 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek 8317 processor
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- 0.3-megapixel front camera
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- SIM support
Microsoft has launched dedicated native apps for Outlook Web App for iOS, available for iPhone as well as iPad.
Through the app, enterprise users will be able to get email, calendar and contact functionality that they get in Outlook Web App on their web browsers, provided they subscribe to Office 365 that includes Exchange Online support.
Microsoft says that the apps will also offer additional capabilities that are only possible through native integration of the app with mobile devices.
The app can be downloaded from the App Store and after signing in with their Office 365/ Exchange credentials, users can switch between Mail, Calendar, People and Options by tapping on the icon in the bottom left corner of the app. The button brings up a navigation screen that features Windows Phone/ Windows 8 like tiles for Mail, People, Calendar and Settings. In fact the Calendar tile is a live-tile that features details related to upcoming meetings.
The same button when pressed for a longer time brings voice input, which can be used for giving commands for performing actions like opening the calendar and writing a new email.
The app icon also offers a badge for unseen mails in addition to push notifications that the app offers for new mail.
The mail inbox in Outlook Web App for iPad offers a two-column view, taking advantage of the iPad's bigger screen real estate, displaying the list view and reading pane with the folder pane collapsed.
The inbox in the iPhone app offers a one-column list view and features controls to switch to the folder pane and reading pane. The app offers a touch optimised user interface with support for gestures like tapping and swiping.
In addition to these, users can read and create Information Rights Management (IRM) protected email in the app. The app also displays out-of-office messages and other MailTips in the header of the compose section, in addition to apps like Bing Maps for Outlook.
The app also offers offline use functionality allowing users to read, delete and flag messages, and compose new messages or reply to messages in their inbox. They can also view and edit calendar and contacts offline.
The Calendar in the iPad app offers day, week, work week and month + agenda views and allows users to swipe from day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month. The calendar app for iPhone offers day, month and agenda views. The app also offers full delegate access to the calendar, and access to multiple and shared calendars.
The app also offers contact integration of Outlook contacts with the iPhone's caller ID. The ability to sync these contacts to the device can even be controlled by the company's IT department.
Outlook Web App for iOS also offers remote wipe capability enabling IT departments to delete email and calendar data in the app from the device in the event that the device gets lost or the user leaves the organisation.
Apple has long been
rumoured to enter the TV space, either with a television set of its own,
or a TV service with support from the big networks, or, indeed, both.
While wait for the mythical Apple TV - the television - continues, a new
report has disclosed some rather interesting details of Apple's TV
service.
According to a report by Jessica Lessin, former reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal, Apple's TV service will come with a feature that will allow users to skip ads. The feature will appeal to new generation of users who have grown up with DVRs that let you record content and, thus, skip ads when actually sit down to watch the show.
Naturally, the TV networks are not thrilled with the idea, but, the report claims, Apple plans to offer monetary compensation for any loss of revenue that may result from the ad-skipping. Based on the report, the initial response from networks doesn't seem to be very positive, though the negotiations are likely to continue for a while.
The report also confirms a few other murmurs we've been hearing for a while, like the discussion between Apple and the networks and cable companies have been going on for over a year now. Apple is said to be seeking rights for a service that would allow users to watch live and on-demand TV content. Apple may deliver this content via the existing Apple TV, any other set-top box, or its rumoured television set.
The report claims the discussions have been "highly secretive" and CEO Tim Cook and Senior Vice President Eddy Cue held talks with some media companies as recently as last week at a conference in Sun Valley.
According to a report by Jessica Lessin, former reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal, Apple's TV service will come with a feature that will allow users to skip ads. The feature will appeal to new generation of users who have grown up with DVRs that let you record content and, thus, skip ads when actually sit down to watch the show.
Naturally, the TV networks are not thrilled with the idea, but, the report claims, Apple plans to offer monetary compensation for any loss of revenue that may result from the ad-skipping. Based on the report, the initial response from networks doesn't seem to be very positive, though the negotiations are likely to continue for a while.
The report also confirms a few other murmurs we've been hearing for a while, like the discussion between Apple and the networks and cable companies have been going on for over a year now. Apple is said to be seeking rights for a service that would allow users to watch live and on-demand TV content. Apple may deliver this content via the existing Apple TV, any other set-top box, or its rumoured television set.
The report claims the discussions have been "highly secretive" and CEO Tim Cook and Senior Vice President Eddy Cue held talks with some media companies as recently as last week at a conference in Sun Valley.
With the update, WhatsApp is also changing its monetization model for the service on iPhone. It will now offer the app as a free download, however, new users will be charged $0.99 every year after getting one year of free access to the service, similar to how the service is offered on other platforms. Existing users of the WhatsApp iPhone app, though, will get the service free for life.
With the iCloud backup functionality, users will now have the option to backup their message history to iCloud, Apple's cloud service. To activate the iCloud backups, users will need to enable 'Chat Backup' through their WhatsApp settings. This would essentially allow users to restore their chat history from iCloud if the delete and reinstall the app on their device or install the app on a device on which they're signed in with the same Apple ID. Users will be prompted to restore from iCloud, while setting up the app.
Support for sending multiple pictures has also been included through a new image interface that comes up after the user selects the first image that is intended to be sent.
The update also includes URL schema support for third-party apps. This means that apps can contain a link or button that directly opens a WhatsApp chat with a contact. If the third-party app wants to add sharing using WhatsApp, the developer can use the Document Interaction API to send media to WhatsApp contacts and groups.
iOS doesn't feature WhatsApp integration in its system wide sharing menu, so individual apps can add the functionality through the API. As WhatsApp gains more popularity, more developers would want close integration with it.
What's New in Version 2.10.1
- multi-send UI: can send multiple photos at the same time
- URL schema support for 3rd party apps
- iCloud chat history backup and restore: WhatsApp > Settings > Chat Settings > Chat Backup
Indian cyber-security sleuths have issued an alert for those using the
popular 'Window XP' as operating system in their computers and laptops
and advised "immediate" upgrade of software against hacking attempts.
Software giant Microsoft had announced that it is going to stop support services to 'Windows XP' OS from April 8 next year and according to cyber-space authorities monitoring the Indian internet systems, the decision will have a direct effect for the all the users working on the same OS.
"The end of support of Windows XP Operating System means that Microsoft will not provide security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support and any online technical support for the Windows XP. In the absence of patches and security updates for the Windows XP OS, the computer systems would be at greater risks and could be easily compromised by the hackers.
"There would also be compliance issues due to un- supported and un-patched components in the IT infrastructure which may result in non-compliance and suspension of certifications by the certifying and auditing organizations.
The software vendors and hardware manufacturers will also stop support for Windows XP on their new versions and models," the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CeRT-IN) said in its latest advisory to computer users in India.
"It is recommended that all the users and organisations using Window XP OS in their environment should immediately plan for upgradation to the latest available OS according to their requirement and test software applications well before April, 2014," it said.
According to officials, the maximum of Indian computer and laptop users operate on Windows platform and after the recent declaration, users should keep themselves informed about the new and secure OS available in the market.
Microsoft had initially released Windows XP OS in August 2001. The current release version of Windows XP is called the Windows XP Service Pack 3.
Since then, three successor versions of client based OS namely Windows Vista in November 2006, Windows 7 in July 2009 and Windows 8 in August 2012 were released by Microsoft.
The latest client based OS available from the Microsoft stable is Windows 8.
Software giant Microsoft had announced that it is going to stop support services to 'Windows XP' OS from April 8 next year and according to cyber-space authorities monitoring the Indian internet systems, the decision will have a direct effect for the all the users working on the same OS.
"The end of support of Windows XP Operating System means that Microsoft will not provide security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support and any online technical support for the Windows XP. In the absence of patches and security updates for the Windows XP OS, the computer systems would be at greater risks and could be easily compromised by the hackers.
"There would also be compliance issues due to un- supported and un-patched components in the IT infrastructure which may result in non-compliance and suspension of certifications by the certifying and auditing organizations.
The software vendors and hardware manufacturers will also stop support for Windows XP on their new versions and models," the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CeRT-IN) said in its latest advisory to computer users in India.
"It is recommended that all the users and organisations using Window XP OS in their environment should immediately plan for upgradation to the latest available OS according to their requirement and test software applications well before April, 2014," it said.
According to officials, the maximum of Indian computer and laptop users operate on Windows platform and after the recent declaration, users should keep themselves informed about the new and secure OS available in the market.
Microsoft had initially released Windows XP OS in August 2001. The current release version of Windows XP is called the Windows XP Service Pack 3.
Since then, three successor versions of client based OS namely Windows Vista in November 2006, Windows 7 in July 2009 and Windows 8 in August 2012 were released by Microsoft.
The latest client based OS available from the Microsoft stable is Windows 8.
When you think about flip phones, perhaps the first phone that comes to
mind is the Motorola RAZR. While the phone became very popular at the
time, it's now passé. But if a rumour is to be believed, Samsung
is working on a flip phone that
will be based on Android.
According to a Korean site, DDaily the South Korean handset maker is all set to launch a flip phone with numeric keypad running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean soon. Reportedly, the company will first introduce the device in its home market i.e. South Korea and would be a low-end device. The phone is dubbed as Samsung Galaxy Folder and comes with model numbers SHV-E400S/ SHV-E400K.
The DDaily quotes a Samsung Electronics official saying that the Samsung Galaxy Folder will be released in August and would also support LTE.
While a Japanese blogging site, Blog of Mobile, reveals some specifications of the Galaxy Folder. Allegedly the Galaxy Folder flip phone will be based on the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and will be powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. The screen resolution is expected to be 480x800 pixels and would be a WVGA display. This report also claims a August release date.
However, it's not clear if the Samsung Galaxy Folder will combine a touch screen with the physical keypad, or abandon touch-based input completely.
If the Samsung Galaxy Folder is launched globally, then we can expect flip phone lovers to get a credible option after a long time as now the market is dominated by touchscreen devices. In fact even phones with physical keyboards/ keypads have seen a decline in numbers with companies like BlackBerry launching Z10 and Nokia releasing Asha and Lumia range of devices with focus on full-touch support rather than physical keyboards. It will be interesting to see whether Samsung can revive the flip phone era or the device will be a victim to the dominant touchscreen segment.
According to a Korean site, DDaily the South Korean handset maker is all set to launch a flip phone with numeric keypad running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean soon. Reportedly, the company will first introduce the device in its home market i.e. South Korea and would be a low-end device. The phone is dubbed as Samsung Galaxy Folder and comes with model numbers SHV-E400S/ SHV-E400K.
The DDaily quotes a Samsung Electronics official saying that the Samsung Galaxy Folder will be released in August and would also support LTE.
While a Japanese blogging site, Blog of Mobile, reveals some specifications of the Galaxy Folder. Allegedly the Galaxy Folder flip phone will be based on the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and will be powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. The screen resolution is expected to be 480x800 pixels and would be a WVGA display. This report also claims a August release date.
However, it's not clear if the Samsung Galaxy Folder will combine a touch screen with the physical keypad, or abandon touch-based input completely.
If the Samsung Galaxy Folder is launched globally, then we can expect flip phone lovers to get a credible option after a long time as now the market is dominated by touchscreen devices. In fact even phones with physical keyboards/ keypads have seen a decline in numbers with companies like BlackBerry launching Z10 and Nokia releasing Asha and Lumia range of devices with focus on full-touch support rather than physical keyboards. It will be interesting to see whether Samsung can revive the flip phone era or the device will be a victim to the dominant touchscreen segment.
A Chinese institute claimed to have successfully developed a
100-megapixel camera which could produce high-resolution imaging in the
fields of aerial mapping, disaster monitoring and intelligent
transportation systems.
The IOE3-Kanban camera was developed by the Institute of Optics and Electronics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences making it China's highest pixel camera, CAS said in a statement.
The camera is capable of producing images with 10,240 x 10,240 pixels, the statement said.
Moreover, it is small and light, with its widest part measuring only 19.3 cm, state-run Xinhua quoted the statement as saying, adding that it can be used at temperatures ranging from minus 20 degrees centigrade to 55 degrees centigrade.
Its high sensitivity and high dynamic range (HDR) features mean it will be useful in high-resolution imaging in the fields of aerial mapping, city planning, disaster monitoring and intelligent transportation systems, the statement said.
Intelligent transportation system is aimed to provide innovative services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management, enabling various users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and 'smarter' use of transport networks.
The camera is equipped with advanced optical systems, camera control systems and high-capacity data recording systems, and it has proven successful in a recent trial use as a part of a national aerial remote-sensing system, it said.
The institute also developed an 81-megapixel camera during the 10th Five Year Plan period (2001-2005), and the latest achievement took the researchers two years to develop.
A megapixel is one million pixels, and is a term used not only for the number of pixels in an image, but also to express the number of image sensor elements of digital cameras or the number of display elements of digital displays.
The IOE3-Kanban camera was developed by the Institute of Optics and Electronics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences making it China's highest pixel camera, CAS said in a statement.
The camera is capable of producing images with 10,240 x 10,240 pixels, the statement said.
Moreover, it is small and light, with its widest part measuring only 19.3 cm, state-run Xinhua quoted the statement as saying, adding that it can be used at temperatures ranging from minus 20 degrees centigrade to 55 degrees centigrade.
Its high sensitivity and high dynamic range (HDR) features mean it will be useful in high-resolution imaging in the fields of aerial mapping, city planning, disaster monitoring and intelligent transportation systems, the statement said.
Intelligent transportation system is aimed to provide innovative services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management, enabling various users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and 'smarter' use of transport networks.
The camera is equipped with advanced optical systems, camera control systems and high-capacity data recording systems, and it has proven successful in a recent trial use as a part of a national aerial remote-sensing system, it said.
The institute also developed an 81-megapixel camera during the 10th Five Year Plan period (2001-2005), and the latest achievement took the researchers two years to develop.
A megapixel is one million pixels, and is a term used not only for the number of pixels in an image, but also to express the number of image sensor elements of digital cameras or the number of display elements of digital displays.
After hitting rumour mills a number of times, the successor to HTC
Butterfly, HTC
Butterfly S has finally
reached Indian shores.
The yet to be announced HTC Butterfly S smartphone has been listed on company's official website. However, there is no word when HTC may launch the device.
Earlier, HTC unveiled Butterfly S in Taiwan and it was speculated that the company would launch the device in developing markets soon that includes India.
HTC Butterfly S sports a 5.0-inch Super LCD 3 display with a pixel density of 440PPIs and the display also features Corning Gorilla Glass 3. On the hardware front, the device is powered by a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. It would run the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 UI on top. The HTC Butterfly S much like the HTC One, comes with a 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera with the Zoe camera software feature and the rear camera supports full-HD video recording. It also has a 2.1-megapixel front camera with an 88 degree wide-angle lens.
The device supports single SIM and would use a micro-SIM rather than the regular sized SIM. On music front, the device boasts off the HTC BoomSound feature with dual front stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers and Beats Audio.
Connectivity options include NFC support, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi. The company has included a 3,200mAh battery that the company claims would deliver 29 hours of talk time and 544 hours of standby time. HTC has added the tagline, "Impressive style meets long-lasting stamina" to its HTC Butterfly S smartphone on the official site, highlighting the battery strength of the device.
Earlier we reported about HTC allegedly working on a 6.0-inch device, the One Max. The company is said to be working to expand its One series of smartphone globally. If the rumours are true, this would be the smartphone with biggest display from HTC and would be up against Samsung's Galaxy Mega series and Sony's Xperia Z Ultra smartphone.
The yet to be announced HTC Butterfly S smartphone has been listed on company's official website. However, there is no word when HTC may launch the device.
Earlier, HTC unveiled Butterfly S in Taiwan and it was speculated that the company would launch the device in developing markets soon that includes India.
HTC Butterfly S sports a 5.0-inch Super LCD 3 display with a pixel density of 440PPIs and the display also features Corning Gorilla Glass 3. On the hardware front, the device is powered by a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. It would run the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 UI on top. The HTC Butterfly S much like the HTC One, comes with a 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera with the Zoe camera software feature and the rear camera supports full-HD video recording. It also has a 2.1-megapixel front camera with an 88 degree wide-angle lens.
The device supports single SIM and would use a micro-SIM rather than the regular sized SIM. On music front, the device boasts off the HTC BoomSound feature with dual front stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers and Beats Audio.
Connectivity options include NFC support, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi. The company has included a 3,200mAh battery that the company claims would deliver 29 hours of talk time and 544 hours of standby time. HTC has added the tagline, "Impressive style meets long-lasting stamina" to its HTC Butterfly S smartphone on the official site, highlighting the battery strength of the device.
Earlier we reported about HTC allegedly working on a 6.0-inch device, the One Max. The company is said to be working to expand its One series of smartphone globally. If the rumours are true, this would be the smartphone with biggest display from HTC and would be up against Samsung's Galaxy Mega series and Sony's Xperia Z Ultra smartphone.
Samsung has launched the Galaxy S4 mini smartphone in the India for Rs. 27,990.
Although the smartphone is positioned as the compact version of company's flagship phone, the Samsung Galaxy S4, it's essentially a premium mid-range phone just based on the same design language.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 mini features a 4.3-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) Super AMOLED display, with a pixel density of 256ppi.
The smartphone is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core processor along with 1.5GB of RAM. It offers 8GB of internal storage of which 5GB is user accessible. The internal storage can be further expanded by up to 64GB with the help of a microSD card. The phone runs Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) with Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX layer on top.
The Galaxy S4 mini features an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel HD front facing camera. The camera of the phone also supports additional features like Sound&Shot. Apart from this, the images clicked through the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini are automatically gathered and saved according to the user's timeline, geo-tagging information, or a specific event to create a photo album.
The S4 mini is powered by a 1,900mAh battery. Samsung will be offering the Galaxy S4 mini smartphone in two colour options - White Frost and Black Mist.
While the phone brings some of the premium software and hardware features of the Galaxy S4 including Group Play, S Translator and S Health, we're not sure if the phone has been priced right. One can buy quad-core processor phones with bigger screens, such as the HTC One X, LG Optimus G and even Samsung's own Galaxy SIII at around the same price point.
Samsung Galaxy S4 mini key specifications
Although the smartphone is positioned as the compact version of company's flagship phone, the Samsung Galaxy S4, it's essentially a premium mid-range phone just based on the same design language.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 mini features a 4.3-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) Super AMOLED display, with a pixel density of 256ppi.
The smartphone is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core processor along with 1.5GB of RAM. It offers 8GB of internal storage of which 5GB is user accessible. The internal storage can be further expanded by up to 64GB with the help of a microSD card. The phone runs Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) with Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX layer on top.
The Galaxy S4 mini features an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel HD front facing camera. The camera of the phone also supports additional features like Sound&Shot. Apart from this, the images clicked through the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini are automatically gathered and saved according to the user's timeline, geo-tagging information, or a specific event to create a photo album.
The S4 mini is powered by a 1,900mAh battery. Samsung will be offering the Galaxy S4 mini smartphone in two colour options - White Frost and Black Mist.
While the phone brings some of the premium software and hardware features of the Galaxy S4 including Group Play, S Translator and S Health, we're not sure if the phone has been priced right. One can buy quad-core processor phones with bigger screens, such as the HTC One X, LG Optimus G and even Samsung's own Galaxy SIII at around the same price point.
Samsung Galaxy S4 mini key specifications
- 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display
- 1.7GHz dual-core processor
- 1.5GB of RAM
- 8GB internal storage, can be expanded by up to 64GB via microSD card
- 8-megapixel rear-facing camera
- 1.9-megapixel HD front-facing camera
- 1900mAh battery
- Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
The buzz around BlackBerry A10, company's upcoming all-touch smartphone, has intensified over
the last week. First we saw partial specs being leaked, followed by a purported picture of the smartphone. Now, we seem to have hit the jackpot, as someone has posted what seems like an internal BlackBerry slide detailing all specifications of the phone.
The slide, posted at the forums of BlackBerry-focussed website CrackBerry.com, reveal that the BlackBerry A10 will come with a 5-inch OLED display that will sport a resolution of 720x1280 pixels, translating to 295 pixels per inch. It is said to be powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Pro CPU alongside a quad-core GPU and 2GB RAM.
The smartphone will reportedly come with 16GB internal storage, with an option to add another 64GB via microSD card. The slide says BlackBerry A10 will feature an 8.0-megapixel rear camera and a 2.0-megapixel front shooter. Connectivity options will include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, NFC, Micro-USB, Micro HDMI, and DLNA.
The phone will include a host of sensors including ambient light, proximity, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and altimeter. It is said to be powered by a 2,800mAh battery and sport 140.7 x 72 x 9.4mm dimensions. The phone will supposedly come in two variants, with the Verizon (CDMA) variant being 9.7mm thick.
BlackBerry A10 will reportedly run on the yet to be released version 10.2 of the BlackBerry OS.
Earlier on Tuesday, BlackBerry launched the Q5 in India. The QWERTY BlackBerry Q5 comes with a 3.1-inch display and carries a price tag of Rs. 24,999.
the last week. First we saw partial specs being leaked, followed by a purported picture of the smartphone. Now, we seem to have hit the jackpot, as someone has posted what seems like an internal BlackBerry slide detailing all specifications of the phone.
The slide, posted at the forums of BlackBerry-focussed website CrackBerry.com, reveal that the BlackBerry A10 will come with a 5-inch OLED display that will sport a resolution of 720x1280 pixels, translating to 295 pixels per inch. It is said to be powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Pro CPU alongside a quad-core GPU and 2GB RAM.
The smartphone will reportedly come with 16GB internal storage, with an option to add another 64GB via microSD card. The slide says BlackBerry A10 will feature an 8.0-megapixel rear camera and a 2.0-megapixel front shooter. Connectivity options will include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, NFC, Micro-USB, Micro HDMI, and DLNA.
The phone will include a host of sensors including ambient light, proximity, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and altimeter. It is said to be powered by a 2,800mAh battery and sport 140.7 x 72 x 9.4mm dimensions. The phone will supposedly come in two variants, with the Verizon (CDMA) variant being 9.7mm thick.
BlackBerry A10 will reportedly run on the yet to be released version 10.2 of the BlackBerry OS.
Earlier on Tuesday, BlackBerry launched the Q5 in India. The QWERTY BlackBerry Q5 comes with a 3.1-inch display and carries a price tag of Rs. 24,999.
Pee power! In a world first, UK scientists claim to have developed a novel method to charge mobile phones - using human urine.
Scientists working at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have described the "breakthrough" finding of charging cell phones using urine as the power source to generate electricity.
"We are very excited as this is a world first, no-one has harnessed power from urine to do this so it's an exciting discovery. Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets," Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos from University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, an expert at harnessing power from unusual sources using microbial fuel cells, said.
"One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine. By harnessing this power as urine passes through a cascade of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), we have managed to charge a mobile phone. The beauty of this fuel source is that we are not relying on the erratic nature of the wind or the Sun, we are actually re-using waste to create energy," said Ieropoulos.
He said so far the microbial fuel power stack that scientists have developed generates enough power to enable SMS messaging, web browsing and to make a brief phone call.
"Making a call on a mobile phone takes up the most energy but we will get to the place where we can charge a battery for longer periods. The concept has been tested and it works - it's now for us to develop and refine the process so that we can develop MFCs to fully charge a battery," he said.
The Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is an energy converter, which turns organic matter directly into electricity, via the metabolism of live microorganisms, researchers said.
Essentially, the electricity is a by-product of the microbes' natural life cycle, so the more they eat things like urine, the more energy they generate and for longer periods of time; so it's beneficial to keep doing it, they said.
The electricity output from MFCs is relatively small and so far we have only been able to store and accumulate these low levels of energy into capacitors or super-capacitors, for short charge/discharge cycles.
This is the first time we have been able to directly charge the battery of a device such as a mobile phone and it is indeed a breakthrough, researchers said.
Scientists believe that the technology has the future potential to be installed into domestic bathrooms to harness the urine and produce sufficient electricity to power showers, lighting or razors as well as mobile phones.
The study was reported in the Royal Society of, 'Chemistry Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics'.
Imagine waking up one
morning, checking your email and learning that you've just inherited
the tag of the richest man in the world. Not by a small margin either,
but being told that you are a million times richer than the next man in
the list. That's exactly what happened with a PR executive in
Pennsylvania, CNN reports.
Chris Reynolds received his monthly PayPal statement and got the shock of his life when it indicated a balance of $92,233,720,368,547,800.00. That figure is a little north of $92 quadrillion. To put that in perspective, the richest man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has a net worth of $72,000,000,000 as per Forbes' 2013 estimates. In other words, his new found 'fortune' made Reynolds over a million times richer than Carlos Slim.
Of course, the riches didn't last long. Reynolds logged onto this PayPal account and discovered that the balance was exactly what he last remembered - a grand total of zero. Reynolds got in touch with PayPal who admitted that the statement was a mistake, and offered to contribute an unspecified amount to a cause of Reynolds' choice as compensation.
"This is obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr. Reynolds understood this was the case," PayPal told CNN.
When asked what he would have done if the piles of cash had been real, Reynolds said, he "probably would have paid down the national debt."
Chris Reynolds received his monthly PayPal statement and got the shock of his life when it indicated a balance of $92,233,720,368,547,800.00. That figure is a little north of $92 quadrillion. To put that in perspective, the richest man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has a net worth of $72,000,000,000 as per Forbes' 2013 estimates. In other words, his new found 'fortune' made Reynolds over a million times richer than Carlos Slim.
Of course, the riches didn't last long. Reynolds logged onto this PayPal account and discovered that the balance was exactly what he last remembered - a grand total of zero. Reynolds got in touch with PayPal who admitted that the statement was a mistake, and offered to contribute an unspecified amount to a cause of Reynolds' choice as compensation.
"This is obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr. Reynolds understood this was the case," PayPal told CNN.
When asked what he would have done if the piles of cash had been real, Reynolds said, he "probably would have paid down the national debt."
The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked social networking site Facebook to
upload a disclaimer on its home page that children below the age of 13
years cannot open an account on it.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru asked Facebook to not allow children under 13 years from opening an account.
Senior advocate Parag Tripathi appearing for Facebook assured the court that the site "will upload the disclaimer on its home page that children 13 years can not open the account".
"You (Facebook) can write on the home page in bold letters that children below 13 are not allowed. There is no harm in doing this," the court said.
The court also asked the central government to tell it as to what law it had for the online protection of children from being abused throught the social networking sites.
The judges also asked the government to inform them on provisions in the law related to a minor using a social networking site.
"In India what is the law for a minor to use Facebook? Is it 13, 16, 18 or no law? What is the requirement under Indian law for Facebook?," the court asked from the central government's counsel who in turn told it that in US the age to use social networking sites is 13 years.
"You don't have a law for protection of minor on social networking sites? You are behind the time...the world has gone much ahead," the court said.
The court was hearing a plea that said minors were allowed to open an account with social networking sites, including Facebook, which was illegal as Indian laws don't permit it.
The public interest litigation was filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party ideologue K.N. Govindacharya.
Appearing for Govindacharya, lawyer Veerag Gupta told the court that the recent incident in Gurgaon where a police found children involved in a sex and smoke party was the latest outcome of the non-compliance of guidelines by Facebook.
He added that hundreds of minor children gathered through Facebook for the party.
He said that Facebook and Google did not even have any email account to lodge complaint about minors misusing social networking sites.
Facebook also filed a reply on the plea and said that its terms and conditions "specifically prohibit children under 13 years of age from registering a Facebook account and using Facebook services".
"The condition forbids users from providing any false information on Facebook, creating an account for anyone other than him/herself without permission, or creating more than one personal account," the reply added.
Minors can only share content with friends, friends of those friends, and network (such as the school they attend, whereas adult can share content with all the Facebook users, the reply said, adding that the site has different privacy settings for minors.
Google, in its reply, said that before opening an account with social networking sites, one had to open an email account and for opening that he or she had to mention the age and if the user was below 13 years, he could not open an account with social networking sites.
It added that Google had already put in place a plethora of steps on the issue of safe usage of Internet.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru asked Facebook to not allow children under 13 years from opening an account.
Senior advocate Parag Tripathi appearing for Facebook assured the court that the site "will upload the disclaimer on its home page that children 13 years can not open the account".
"You (Facebook) can write on the home page in bold letters that children below 13 are not allowed. There is no harm in doing this," the court said.
The court also asked the central government to tell it as to what law it had for the online protection of children from being abused throught the social networking sites.
The judges also asked the government to inform them on provisions in the law related to a minor using a social networking site.
"In India what is the law for a minor to use Facebook? Is it 13, 16, 18 or no law? What is the requirement under Indian law for Facebook?," the court asked from the central government's counsel who in turn told it that in US the age to use social networking sites is 13 years.
"You don't have a law for protection of minor on social networking sites? You are behind the time...the world has gone much ahead," the court said.
The court was hearing a plea that said minors were allowed to open an account with social networking sites, including Facebook, which was illegal as Indian laws don't permit it.
The public interest litigation was filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party ideologue K.N. Govindacharya.
Appearing for Govindacharya, lawyer Veerag Gupta told the court that the recent incident in Gurgaon where a police found children involved in a sex and smoke party was the latest outcome of the non-compliance of guidelines by Facebook.
He added that hundreds of minor children gathered through Facebook for the party.
He said that Facebook and Google did not even have any email account to lodge complaint about minors misusing social networking sites.
Facebook also filed a reply on the plea and said that its terms and conditions "specifically prohibit children under 13 years of age from registering a Facebook account and using Facebook services".
"The condition forbids users from providing any false information on Facebook, creating an account for anyone other than him/herself without permission, or creating more than one personal account," the reply added.
Minors can only share content with friends, friends of those friends, and network (such as the school they attend, whereas adult can share content with all the Facebook users, the reply said, adding that the site has different privacy settings for minors.
Google, in its reply, said that before opening an account with social networking sites, one had to open an email account and for opening that he or she had to mention the age and if the user was below 13 years, he could not open an account with social networking sites.
It added that Google had already put in place a plethora of steps on the issue of safe usage of Internet.
Apple and Samsung have renewed their agreement related to sourcing of mobile processors, if a new report is to be believed.
According to The Korea Economic Daily, Apple has signed a new deal with Samsung under which the latter will supply processors for Apple's iPhone, starting 2015. The report cites industry sources to inform that the agreement was signed on July 14, and that Samsung will produce the new chips deploying the 14 nano FinFET technology for Apple's iPhone 7 which is expected to release in the second half of 2015.
Samsung has produced chips for Apple's iPhone since it was first introduced in 2007. It still manufactures the Apple A6 processor that powers the iPhone 5. However, it was reported that Apple was cutting Samsung from A7 production as the two companies were at loggerheads after their rivalry in the smartphones segment and patent disputes across the world. Apple signing a new deal with Samsung comes as a surprise as it was believed that the former was cutting its reliance on the South Korean company.
In fact, the news comes shortly after it was reported that Apple had signed a three year agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company(TSMC) and its partner Global UniChip to make its new A-series chips built through 20nm, 16nm and 10nm process nodes. The report had cited industry sources to inform that TSMC would commence production of the Cupertino giant's A8 processor in small quantities in July 2013, and increase production capacity after December. It also said that a part of the chip maker's capacity would be used for manufacturing new Apple A9 and A9X processors.
The Apple A8 processor is expected to power a new iPhone which is expected to release in early 2014, while the A9 and A9X chips are likely to power new iPhone and iPad products.
Another report by The Wall Street Journal had reiterated that Apple had indeed signed an agreement with TSMC, citing unidentified TSMC executives as source. It said that the move was the latest in a series of efforts by Apple to lessen its reliance on parts produced by Samsung, however, it added that Samsung would remain Apple's main supplier of high-resolution screens, memory chips and processors used in mobile devices through next year.
According to The Korea Economic Daily, Apple has signed a new deal with Samsung under which the latter will supply processors for Apple's iPhone, starting 2015. The report cites industry sources to inform that the agreement was signed on July 14, and that Samsung will produce the new chips deploying the 14 nano FinFET technology for Apple's iPhone 7 which is expected to release in the second half of 2015.
Samsung has produced chips for Apple's iPhone since it was first introduced in 2007. It still manufactures the Apple A6 processor that powers the iPhone 5. However, it was reported that Apple was cutting Samsung from A7 production as the two companies were at loggerheads after their rivalry in the smartphones segment and patent disputes across the world. Apple signing a new deal with Samsung comes as a surprise as it was believed that the former was cutting its reliance on the South Korean company.
In fact, the news comes shortly after it was reported that Apple had signed a three year agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company(TSMC) and its partner Global UniChip to make its new A-series chips built through 20nm, 16nm and 10nm process nodes. The report had cited industry sources to inform that TSMC would commence production of the Cupertino giant's A8 processor in small quantities in July 2013, and increase production capacity after December. It also said that a part of the chip maker's capacity would be used for manufacturing new Apple A9 and A9X processors.
The Apple A8 processor is expected to power a new iPhone which is expected to release in early 2014, while the A9 and A9X chips are likely to power new iPhone and iPad products.
Another report by The Wall Street Journal had reiterated that Apple had indeed signed an agreement with TSMC, citing unidentified TSMC executives as source. It said that the move was the latest in a series of efforts by Apple to lessen its reliance on parts produced by Samsung, however, it added that Samsung would remain Apple's main supplier of high-resolution screens, memory chips and processors used in mobile devices through next year.
It seems HTC is working on its first
6.0-inch device, the One Max. Online publication, mobilgeeks.de has revealed the leaked specifications of the device.
The rumoured specifications include a 6.0-inch 1080p display and a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 graphics chip and 2GB RAM. The device will supposedly feature an UltraPixel rear camera that has been used in the HTC One, with a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and would pack a 3,300mAh battery. The device is likely to be available in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB, though storage would not be expandable.
The report also claims that the device would be a dual SIM phone and would be LTE compatible. Much like its predecessors, the HTC One Max is also expected to come with Sense 5.0 UI layer on top of the Android operating system.
Looking at the sheer size of the rumoured HTC One Max, it is being speculated that it would be a serious rival to the Samsung's Note Series that has been doing well in terms of sales since its launch. If true, this would be the first phablet from the stable of HTC.
The Taiwanese handset giant has been rumoured to be expanding its 'One' series and the HTC One Max can be considered to be a part of this expansion.
The Mobilegeeks.de also claims that HTC is all set to release the One Max and One Mini in September. However, it is also being said that HTC has no plans to release any new phones this calendar year.
Earlier, HTC One Mini was spotted again in fresh photos with supposedly confirmed specifications. The HTC One Mini is rumoured to be powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 for graphics and 1GB RAM. It could sport a 4.3-inch 720p display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It is also expected to feature the 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera found in the HTC One along with a 1.6-megapixel front camera. It would run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the latest Sense 5.0 UI layer on top. The device will come with 16GB storage of which 12GB will be user-accessible.
The rumoured specifications include a 6.0-inch 1080p display and a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 graphics chip and 2GB RAM. The device will supposedly feature an UltraPixel rear camera that has been used in the HTC One, with a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and would pack a 3,300mAh battery. The device is likely to be available in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB, though storage would not be expandable.
The report also claims that the device would be a dual SIM phone and would be LTE compatible. Much like its predecessors, the HTC One Max is also expected to come with Sense 5.0 UI layer on top of the Android operating system.
Looking at the sheer size of the rumoured HTC One Max, it is being speculated that it would be a serious rival to the Samsung's Note Series that has been doing well in terms of sales since its launch. If true, this would be the first phablet from the stable of HTC.
The Taiwanese handset giant has been rumoured to be expanding its 'One' series and the HTC One Max can be considered to be a part of this expansion.
The Mobilegeeks.de also claims that HTC is all set to release the One Max and One Mini in September. However, it is also being said that HTC has no plans to release any new phones this calendar year.
Earlier, HTC One Mini was spotted again in fresh photos with supposedly confirmed specifications. The HTC One Mini is rumoured to be powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 for graphics and 1GB RAM. It could sport a 4.3-inch 720p display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It is also expected to feature the 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera found in the HTC One along with a 1.6-megapixel front camera. It would run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the latest Sense 5.0 UI layer on top. The device will come with 16GB storage of which 12GB will be user-accessible.
Looks like more people are now accessing the Internet from Samsung
smartphones compared to the ones accessing it through Apple's iPhones,
which marks a reversal in smartphone Internet usage patterns.
According to a new report by web analytics firm StatCounter, users accessing the Internet from Samsung phones account for 25.47 percent, overtaking iPhone users by a difference of less than 1 percent. Internet usage from iPhones was at 25.09 percent, followed by usage from Nokia users at 21.96 percent and from BlackBerry users at 3.62 percent.
It's worth pointing out that these figures are based on a sample methodology. The StatCounter code is installed on more than 3
million websites globally that allows them to track usage. According to the company these sites cover various activities and geographic locations and record over 15 billion page views to these sites, every month.
Last year, Nokia led the pack in terms of mobile Internet usage from its phones, registering a usage of 28.05 percent, followed by Apple which saw usage of 25.43 percent and Samsung on 19.46 percent.
This essentially indicates that Internet usage from Samsung phones witnessed a rise of almost 6 percent implying that more Samsung users are browsing the web from their devices. Most Samsung smartphones are powered by Google's Android operating system.
It's worth pointing out that in countries such as UK and US, Internet usage from iPhones is still more than usage from Samsung phones. While 54.84 percent of all mobile Internet usage in the US was from iPhones, only 18.3 percent was from Samsung phones. Even in the UK, Apple leads with a usage share of 47.97 percent while Samsung's share was 20.45 percent.
In terms of mobile browsers, Android leads with a share of 29.06 percent, followed by Safari (iPhone and iPod touch only) which had a share of 24.98 percent. Opera was in the third place registering a share of 16.06 percent. Chrome for Android's share was 3.23 percent.
Talking about mobile operating systems, the report reveals that Internet usage from Android was at 37.93 percent, followed by iOS which was at 25.09 percent and Nokia's Series 40 platform at 13.43 percent. Windows Phone's share was still pretty low at 1.4 percent, behind BlackBerry which was at 3.46 percent.
According to a new report by web analytics firm StatCounter, users accessing the Internet from Samsung phones account for 25.47 percent, overtaking iPhone users by a difference of less than 1 percent. Internet usage from iPhones was at 25.09 percent, followed by usage from Nokia users at 21.96 percent and from BlackBerry users at 3.62 percent.
It's worth pointing out that these figures are based on a sample methodology. The StatCounter code is installed on more than 3
million websites globally that allows them to track usage. According to the company these sites cover various activities and geographic locations and record over 15 billion page views to these sites, every month.
Last year, Nokia led the pack in terms of mobile Internet usage from its phones, registering a usage of 28.05 percent, followed by Apple which saw usage of 25.43 percent and Samsung on 19.46 percent.
This essentially indicates that Internet usage from Samsung phones witnessed a rise of almost 6 percent implying that more Samsung users are browsing the web from their devices. Most Samsung smartphones are powered by Google's Android operating system.
It's worth pointing out that in countries such as UK and US, Internet usage from iPhones is still more than usage from Samsung phones. While 54.84 percent of all mobile Internet usage in the US was from iPhones, only 18.3 percent was from Samsung phones. Even in the UK, Apple leads with a usage share of 47.97 percent while Samsung's share was 20.45 percent.
In terms of mobile browsers, Android leads with a share of 29.06 percent, followed by Safari (iPhone and iPod touch only) which had a share of 24.98 percent. Opera was in the third place registering a share of 16.06 percent. Chrome for Android's share was 3.23 percent.
Talking about mobile operating systems, the report reveals that Internet usage from Android was at 37.93 percent, followed by iOS which was at 25.09 percent and Nokia's Series 40 platform at 13.43 percent. Windows Phone's share was still pretty low at 1.4 percent, behind BlackBerry which was at 3.46 percent.
The Xperia Tablet Z is Sony's attempt at making a comeback in the tablet
segment after its previous attempts with Xperia Tablet S and Tablet P.
The tablet is based on the company's recent flagship phone the Xperia Z
in terms of design as well as software and is without doubt one of the
sleekest devices available in the market. Is it the best tablet that
money can buy at this point in time? We try to find out.
Build/ Design
At 6.9mm, Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest tablet around - iPad fourth generation is 9.4mm thick, in case you are wondering. Sony engineers have done a commendable job, packing in all the power into such a sleek device. It weighs 495 grams and for a 10-inch tablet the weight to dimensions ratio of the device makes it easy to carry. The tablet follows the same OmniBalance design that we've seen in the Xperia Z and sports a rectangular shape with subtly rounded corners. The front of the tablet is dominated by its 10.1-inch TFT display surrounded by a Black bezel. There's minimal Sony branding above the display at the left hand side, while the 2.2-megapixel front facing camera is placed at the middle.
Just like Sony's Xperia Z smartphone, the tablet is water and dust resistant and all ports on the device are covered with plastic flaps for protection.
Looking at the edges, on the left side you'll see a round aluminium power/ screen-lock button. The button protrudes out and some might draw parallels with the crown of a watch. We also saw this in the Xperia Z, though it's much smaller this time. Just below the button, you'll find a volume rocker key that is made of plastic. Despite being thin, the volume rocker offers good tactile feedback. Contacts for docking the tablet are also present on the left side. If you look carefully, you'll also notice a flap that hides the 3.5mm headphone jack, above the power button.
There are no ports or buttons on the right hand side. However, the tablet features four small speaker outlets, two of which are located at the bottom edge, while the other two are located on the left and right edge.
Coming to the bottom edge, besides the two speaker outlets, a Micro-USB connector port hides behind one flap, while the micro-SIM and microSD card slots are covered by another flap at the other end of the edge. The micro-SIM slot features the same tray that we saw in the Xperia Z smartphone. The plastic SIM card tray has to be pulled with the help of a fingernail by the user.
There are no controls at the top but you'll notice an Infrared blaster on closer inspection.
As with other devices featuring protective flaps, you'll need to take care when you open them or plug cables, as it's not very difficult to break them.
The back is made of plastic and sports a matte finish. The quality of plastics used here is better than what we've seen in products from rival brands. But our only gripe with it is that it's a smudge magnet. You'll see some silver Xperia branding at the centre and the 8-megapixel rear camera lens at the top right corner, flush with the tablet.
Overall, we feel that the Xperia Tablet Z has been designed really well and is a looker for sure, especially considering the fact that it's designed to be water and dust proof. However, the rectangular shape and sharp corners might not appeal to everyone when it comes to everyday use.
Display
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z features a 10.1-inch TFT screen that has a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels and pixel density of 225 pixels per inch. While it might not match up to the pixel packed displays of the iPad and the Nexus 10 tablet on paper, the HD screen renders text and images well, and colour reproduction is accurate. Text looks extremely crisp, while app icons and images look sharp. Images and videos look great thanks to the addition of Sony's BRAVIA Engine 2 technology.
The tablet offers good viewing angles and under sun visibility was also satisfactory, during our use of the tablet. However, it's not the brightest display that we've seen.
Software/ User Interface
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sony's own custom user interface layer on top.
The lock screen has been borrowed from the Xperia Z smartphone complete with the unlocking gesture resembling the motion of your finger through a set of window blinds. The lock screen also offers shortcuts to directly unlock and initiate the Walkman (for playing music) and the Camera app. You can also unlock the screen by double tapping it. If you set a password or PIN the tablet offers you an option to immediately lock the screen when you press the lock button or to wait for some time. This is handy when you want to keep a short screen lock time but also want to have uninterrupted access.
The tablet's UI features three Android capacitive buttons, namely, Back, Home and Task switcher, that are placed at the bottom left corner similar to old Honeycomb/ Ice Cream Sandwich tablets.
Unlike the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, the tablet's onscreen controls and status indicators for network signals and battery, are at the bottom left instead of the centre, and the notification panel and quick access settings (for Wi-Fi, Screen rotation, brightness, notifications, Airplane mode and shortcut to settings) are located at the bottom right. The same bar also features two shortcut keys, one for access to small apps and another to launch the Universal Remote app. Unfortunately, there's no toggle for Bluetooth or mobile data and the tablet doesn't include a toggles widget.
At the top, there's a bar that features shortcuts for Google Now and Google voice search in addition to four other customisable shortcut slots, similar to the Quick launch shortcut bar that exists in Microsoft's Windows operating system (the desktop one). At the right hand side on the same bar, you'll find a button for the App launcher and another one to modify the home screen, change the theme and wallpaper or add apps and widgets.
The Xperia Tablet Z offers themes that change the colour scheme of the phone along with the home screen and lock screen wallpaper. You can choose to add up to seven home screens or even reduce the number to one. These can be populated with app shortcuts and widgets.
Sony bundles its Walkman music player app, and a gallery app that it calls 'Album'. In addition to displaying pictures on the phone, the app also allows users to connect to online services like Facebook and Picasa and view their online pictures. It also includes a built-in photo editor. The tablet also features Sony's own software keyboard that works well.
For web browsing, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z bundles the Chrome browser. Since Chrome doesn't support Adobe Flash player, the phone is not capable of playing Flash videos even if the Flash plugin is side-loaded.
Sony has also includes additional apps including a Back up & restore app, a Notes app, TrackID (a Shazam like music recognition app), Socialife (brings social network feeds), PlayNow, Smart Connect (which lets users set an event when an accessory is connected to the phone), Xperia Link (to share Internet connectivity with Sony devices), Wisepilot (for navigation) and a lite version of OfficeSuite that allows users to view Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Our review unit also featured links for installing Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited services and PlayStation Mobile. All these content services are not available in India and we're not sure if these shortcuts are included in the retail units.
Sony has tried to include some India-focussed content on the tablet with apps like Sony Liv and Sony Music. Indian users can download free songs from Sony Music's international as well as local catalogue for 6 months and Sony Liv gives lifetime access to free streaming of popular TV programmes from Sony's India channels. Our review unit did not feature these apps so we did not get a chance to give them a spin. However, Sony has confirmed that these apps come pre-loaded on retail units available in the market.
Although the tablet doesn't offer voice-calling functionality, it does come with a Messaging app for sending and receiving text messages. We found this useful as certain networks require you to send a text message for activating or renewing data plans or for checking data usage.
Another useful app is the Remote Control app that allows you to use the tablet as a remote control for almost all your devices including your TV, Cable/ Satellite box, iPod dock or even a projector. Besides the pre-programmed options, you can even make the app compatible with your device by simply allowing it to learn the functionality from your device's remote. We tried programming the app to our set top box and it worked in a jiffy.
As we mentioned earlier, the tablet also offers Sony's small apps, which can run on top of other running apps, similar to LG's QSwipe apps and Samsung's pop-up play. Sony ships seven of these small apps, namely Calculator, Timer, Notes, Remote, Voice Recorder, Clip Manager and Browser, plus more small apps can be installed via the Play Store. We wish Sony had included a Video player small app as well.
Camera
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z features an 8-megapixel rear shooter. The camera app is feature rich, having Superior auto, Normal, Video, Burst, Picture Effects, Sweep Panorama and different Scene selection modes.
The Superior auto mode doesn't let you customise granular settings barring that of the Resolution and Timer. The normal mode allows you to tinker with settings like Exposure value, White balance, ISO, and others. The camera also includes image and video stabilisation modes so that pictures and movies do not get affected even if your hands are not steady. The camera interface is similar to that of the Xperia Z smartphone but it misses out on a few things including an HDR video recording mode.
The tablet's camera takes decent pictures outdoors in daylight but indoor pictures turned out to be a bit grainy. Colour reproduction was pretty accurate and colours did not look oversaturated. Taking pictures in the dark however, isn't a great experience as the tablet does not come with a flash.
The images taken through the camera did not miss on details though we had issues with focusing at certain times, which was a little delayed.
The Xperia Tablet Z can capture 1080p video at a frame rate of 30fps. You can also take still shots of 1-megapixel resolution while recording video. In our tests, the tablet took decent videos and the stabilisation mode worked as promised.
The tablet also features a 2-megapixel front facing camera that is also capable of recording 1080p videos. We were able to click decent quality pictures, indoors. The videos shot using the front camera also turned out to be good.
Overall, we feel that though a large tablet like the Xperia Tablet Z is not really meant for taking photographs, Sony has done enough with the camera to take care of your needs in case of a 'shutter-bug emergency'.
Performance/ Battery Life
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, and an Adreno 320 chip for processing graphics. There is 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable by another 32GB via a microSD card.
With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the overall experience of navigation through the interface was impressive, thanks largely to Project Butter and all the power under the hood. However, at times, we did experience minor lags while swiping across home screens, and launching apps. We did not encounter any issues while playing games, scrolling web pages or switching between apps.
We were able to play full-HD clips, and all formats including .MOV and .AVI were natively supported by the tablet. The four speaker outlets on the tablet deliver good quality sound at high volume levels but the loudness could have been better. The tablet also supports ClearAudio+, which gives the sound more clarity while playing music and offers Equaliser presets for personalising sound output. The tablet also offers FM radio functionality.
The tablet comes with a giant 6000mAh battery, and we were not very satisfied with the backup that it delivered. We were able to get around 5 hours of HD video playback, with the display on full brightness levels which puts the Xperia Z tablet somewhere in the middle when compared to other Android tablets. Did Sony go too far squeezing the tablet impacting the battery life? Perhaps.The standby time with multiple email accounts configured and push notifications on was decent though. With intermediate usage during the day including some casual gaming, web browsing and playing videos, the tablet was able to easily last a full day. It's worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level.
Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern. Sony also offers a STAMINA mode, which as per the company can improve the standby time by automatically shutting down battery-draining apps whenever the screen is off and starting them up again when the screen is back on. All our testing was done with the STAMINA mode turned off, which is the default.
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z comes with NFC, which can be used to beam files to other NFC enabled Android devices via Android Beam, and receive information from NFC tags.
Verdict
At a price of Rs. 46,990 the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is an expensive offering from the Japanese electronics giant. The tablet packs in a large number of features, a unique design and high-end specifications, but recommending it over the latest generation iPad (3G+WiFi) that costs a similar amount, is a bit difficult. The Apple iPad still offers access to a more evolved ecosystem when it comes to tablet optimised apps and content. Though you'll get access to Google's Movies and Books stores with the Xperia Tablet Z, the iTunes Store is a step ahead as it also offers a large collection of music titles at attractive price points. Tablet-optimised Android apps are also far and few when compared to the iPad.
If you're looking for a tablet that offers business features, then you could also consider the HP ElitePad 900, that costs less than the Xperia Tablet Z and runs Windows 8, a full-fledged desktop operating system.
Price: Rs. 46,990
Pros
Ratings (Out of 5)
Build/ Design
At 6.9mm, Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest tablet around - iPad fourth generation is 9.4mm thick, in case you are wondering. Sony engineers have done a commendable job, packing in all the power into such a sleek device. It weighs 495 grams and for a 10-inch tablet the weight to dimensions ratio of the device makes it easy to carry. The tablet follows the same OmniBalance design that we've seen in the Xperia Z and sports a rectangular shape with subtly rounded corners. The front of the tablet is dominated by its 10.1-inch TFT display surrounded by a Black bezel. There's minimal Sony branding above the display at the left hand side, while the 2.2-megapixel front facing camera is placed at the middle.
Just like Sony's Xperia Z smartphone, the tablet is water and dust resistant and all ports on the device are covered with plastic flaps for protection.
Looking at the edges, on the left side you'll see a round aluminium power/ screen-lock button. The button protrudes out and some might draw parallels with the crown of a watch. We also saw this in the Xperia Z, though it's much smaller this time. Just below the button, you'll find a volume rocker key that is made of plastic. Despite being thin, the volume rocker offers good tactile feedback. Contacts for docking the tablet are also present on the left side. If you look carefully, you'll also notice a flap that hides the 3.5mm headphone jack, above the power button.
There are no ports or buttons on the right hand side. However, the tablet features four small speaker outlets, two of which are located at the bottom edge, while the other two are located on the left and right edge.
Coming to the bottom edge, besides the two speaker outlets, a Micro-USB connector port hides behind one flap, while the micro-SIM and microSD card slots are covered by another flap at the other end of the edge. The micro-SIM slot features the same tray that we saw in the Xperia Z smartphone. The plastic SIM card tray has to be pulled with the help of a fingernail by the user.
There are no controls at the top but you'll notice an Infrared blaster on closer inspection.
As with other devices featuring protective flaps, you'll need to take care when you open them or plug cables, as it's not very difficult to break them.
The back is made of plastic and sports a matte finish. The quality of plastics used here is better than what we've seen in products from rival brands. But our only gripe with it is that it's a smudge magnet. You'll see some silver Xperia branding at the centre and the 8-megapixel rear camera lens at the top right corner, flush with the tablet.
Overall, we feel that the Xperia Tablet Z has been designed really well and is a looker for sure, especially considering the fact that it's designed to be water and dust proof. However, the rectangular shape and sharp corners might not appeal to everyone when it comes to everyday use.
Display
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z features a 10.1-inch TFT screen that has a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels and pixel density of 225 pixels per inch. While it might not match up to the pixel packed displays of the iPad and the Nexus 10 tablet on paper, the HD screen renders text and images well, and colour reproduction is accurate. Text looks extremely crisp, while app icons and images look sharp. Images and videos look great thanks to the addition of Sony's BRAVIA Engine 2 technology.
The tablet offers good viewing angles and under sun visibility was also satisfactory, during our use of the tablet. However, it's not the brightest display that we've seen.
Software/ User Interface
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sony's own custom user interface layer on top.
The lock screen has been borrowed from the Xperia Z smartphone complete with the unlocking gesture resembling the motion of your finger through a set of window blinds. The lock screen also offers shortcuts to directly unlock and initiate the Walkman (for playing music) and the Camera app. You can also unlock the screen by double tapping it. If you set a password or PIN the tablet offers you an option to immediately lock the screen when you press the lock button or to wait for some time. This is handy when you want to keep a short screen lock time but also want to have uninterrupted access.
The tablet's UI features three Android capacitive buttons, namely, Back, Home and Task switcher, that are placed at the bottom left corner similar to old Honeycomb/ Ice Cream Sandwich tablets.
Unlike the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, the tablet's onscreen controls and status indicators for network signals and battery, are at the bottom left instead of the centre, and the notification panel and quick access settings (for Wi-Fi, Screen rotation, brightness, notifications, Airplane mode and shortcut to settings) are located at the bottom right. The same bar also features two shortcut keys, one for access to small apps and another to launch the Universal Remote app. Unfortunately, there's no toggle for Bluetooth or mobile data and the tablet doesn't include a toggles widget.
At the top, there's a bar that features shortcuts for Google Now and Google voice search in addition to four other customisable shortcut slots, similar to the Quick launch shortcut bar that exists in Microsoft's Windows operating system (the desktop one). At the right hand side on the same bar, you'll find a button for the App launcher and another one to modify the home screen, change the theme and wallpaper or add apps and widgets.
The Xperia Tablet Z offers themes that change the colour scheme of the phone along with the home screen and lock screen wallpaper. You can choose to add up to seven home screens or even reduce the number to one. These can be populated with app shortcuts and widgets.
Sony bundles its Walkman music player app, and a gallery app that it calls 'Album'. In addition to displaying pictures on the phone, the app also allows users to connect to online services like Facebook and Picasa and view their online pictures. It also includes a built-in photo editor. The tablet also features Sony's own software keyboard that works well.
For web browsing, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z bundles the Chrome browser. Since Chrome doesn't support Adobe Flash player, the phone is not capable of playing Flash videos even if the Flash plugin is side-loaded.
Sony has also includes additional apps including a Back up & restore app, a Notes app, TrackID (a Shazam like music recognition app), Socialife (brings social network feeds), PlayNow, Smart Connect (which lets users set an event when an accessory is connected to the phone), Xperia Link (to share Internet connectivity with Sony devices), Wisepilot (for navigation) and a lite version of OfficeSuite that allows users to view Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Our review unit also featured links for installing Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited services and PlayStation Mobile. All these content services are not available in India and we're not sure if these shortcuts are included in the retail units.
Sony has tried to include some India-focussed content on the tablet with apps like Sony Liv and Sony Music. Indian users can download free songs from Sony Music's international as well as local catalogue for 6 months and Sony Liv gives lifetime access to free streaming of popular TV programmes from Sony's India channels. Our review unit did not feature these apps so we did not get a chance to give them a spin. However, Sony has confirmed that these apps come pre-loaded on retail units available in the market.
Although the tablet doesn't offer voice-calling functionality, it does come with a Messaging app for sending and receiving text messages. We found this useful as certain networks require you to send a text message for activating or renewing data plans or for checking data usage.
Another useful app is the Remote Control app that allows you to use the tablet as a remote control for almost all your devices including your TV, Cable/ Satellite box, iPod dock or even a projector. Besides the pre-programmed options, you can even make the app compatible with your device by simply allowing it to learn the functionality from your device's remote. We tried programming the app to our set top box and it worked in a jiffy.
As we mentioned earlier, the tablet also offers Sony's small apps, which can run on top of other running apps, similar to LG's QSwipe apps and Samsung's pop-up play. Sony ships seven of these small apps, namely Calculator, Timer, Notes, Remote, Voice Recorder, Clip Manager and Browser, plus more small apps can be installed via the Play Store. We wish Sony had included a Video player small app as well.
Camera
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z features an 8-megapixel rear shooter. The camera app is feature rich, having Superior auto, Normal, Video, Burst, Picture Effects, Sweep Panorama and different Scene selection modes.
The Superior auto mode doesn't let you customise granular settings barring that of the Resolution and Timer. The normal mode allows you to tinker with settings like Exposure value, White balance, ISO, and others. The camera also includes image and video stabilisation modes so that pictures and movies do not get affected even if your hands are not steady. The camera interface is similar to that of the Xperia Z smartphone but it misses out on a few things including an HDR video recording mode.
The tablet's camera takes decent pictures outdoors in daylight but indoor pictures turned out to be a bit grainy. Colour reproduction was pretty accurate and colours did not look oversaturated. Taking pictures in the dark however, isn't a great experience as the tablet does not come with a flash.
The images taken through the camera did not miss on details though we had issues with focusing at certain times, which was a little delayed.
The Xperia Tablet Z can capture 1080p video at a frame rate of 30fps. You can also take still shots of 1-megapixel resolution while recording video. In our tests, the tablet took decent videos and the stabilisation mode worked as promised.
The tablet also features a 2-megapixel front facing camera that is also capable of recording 1080p videos. We were able to click decent quality pictures, indoors. The videos shot using the front camera also turned out to be good.
Overall, we feel that though a large tablet like the Xperia Tablet Z is not really meant for taking photographs, Sony has done enough with the camera to take care of your needs in case of a 'shutter-bug emergency'.
Performance/ Battery Life
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, and an Adreno 320 chip for processing graphics. There is 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable by another 32GB via a microSD card.
With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the overall experience of navigation through the interface was impressive, thanks largely to Project Butter and all the power under the hood. However, at times, we did experience minor lags while swiping across home screens, and launching apps. We did not encounter any issues while playing games, scrolling web pages or switching between apps.
We were able to play full-HD clips, and all formats including .MOV and .AVI were natively supported by the tablet. The four speaker outlets on the tablet deliver good quality sound at high volume levels but the loudness could have been better. The tablet also supports ClearAudio+, which gives the sound more clarity while playing music and offers Equaliser presets for personalising sound output. The tablet also offers FM radio functionality.
The tablet comes with a giant 6000mAh battery, and we were not very satisfied with the backup that it delivered. We were able to get around 5 hours of HD video playback, with the display on full brightness levels which puts the Xperia Z tablet somewhere in the middle when compared to other Android tablets. Did Sony go too far squeezing the tablet impacting the battery life? Perhaps.The standby time with multiple email accounts configured and push notifications on was decent though. With intermediate usage during the day including some casual gaming, web browsing and playing videos, the tablet was able to easily last a full day. It's worth pointing out that we had turned off Wi-Fi and auto-brightness, and the phone was hooked to a 3G network with the screen brightness at the highest level.
Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern. Sony also offers a STAMINA mode, which as per the company can improve the standby time by automatically shutting down battery-draining apps whenever the screen is off and starting them up again when the screen is back on. All our testing was done with the STAMINA mode turned off, which is the default.
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z comes with NFC, which can be used to beam files to other NFC enabled Android devices via Android Beam, and receive information from NFC tags.
Verdict
At a price of Rs. 46,990 the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is an expensive offering from the Japanese electronics giant. The tablet packs in a large number of features, a unique design and high-end specifications, but recommending it over the latest generation iPad (3G+WiFi) that costs a similar amount, is a bit difficult. The Apple iPad still offers access to a more evolved ecosystem when it comes to tablet optimised apps and content. Though you'll get access to Google's Movies and Books stores with the Xperia Tablet Z, the iTunes Store is a step ahead as it also offers a large collection of music titles at attractive price points. Tablet-optimised Android apps are also far and few when compared to the iPad.
If you're looking for a tablet that offers business features, then you could also consider the HP ElitePad 900, that costs less than the Xperia Tablet Z and runs Windows 8, a full-fledged desktop operating system.
Price: Rs. 46,990
Pros
- Brilliant HD screen
- Good build quality
- Sleek
- Dust and Water proof
- Steeply priced
- Battery backup could've been better
Ratings (Out of 5)
- Design: 4
- Display: 4
- Performance: 3.5
- Software: 3.5
- Battery Life: 3
- Value for Money: 2.5
- Camera: 3
- Overall: 3.5