Third Generation Superstar

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>It's a rare phone outside of the one from Cupertino that can command the same level of hype, rumours and intense anticipation. But the Samsung Galaxy S III is no ordinary phone, the latest in a super hit series of poster child Android devices. Does it deliver, though? And is it THE Android device to own for 2012? Well, what are you waiting for? Read on and find out!<br><br>Sleek and slim at just 8.6mm thick, the S III claims to be "designed for humans" and while I'm the first to roll my eyes at this piece of hyperbole, it is rather grabb-able despite its size. And it is really lightweight for its size as well, but the choice of plastic around the back makes it feel a little … plasticky and cheap. That said, so did the S2, and we all know insanely well that did! The rear cover opens up, letting you swap out the battery and access the micorSD card slot, features that are fast becoming a rarity in large unibody-design phones.<br><br>All in all, the S III seems to be built to draw your complete attention to its massive 4.8-inch, 720 x 1280-pixel touchscreen. It's a stunning piece of eye candy — colours are rich and deep and it packs in a truckload of pixels for a screen this large. The new minimalist TouchWiz overlay on Android 4.0 mostly keeps out of the way and keeps the overall experience blazing fast. Samsung has brought some software tricks to the table which really show off the massive beast that's under the hood, such as Pop up play, which lets you play windowed HD video on top of another application, sort of like picture-in-picture. S Voice is much like Siri, works better with Indian accents in general but lacks personality. The Smart Stay feature, which watches your eyes (via the camera) to check whether you're looking at the screen, is a bit hit-and-miss, as is the rather untamed auto-brightness sensor. And then there are a couple of neat (though bordering on gimmicky) motion gestures.&nbsp; But you've got to give it to Samsung; they're innovating on usability rather than just packing in the latest and greatest hardware.<br><br>There's just the small matter of a phone that recently preceded the S III. Priced significantly lower than the street price of the S III, the HTC One X offers a similar feature set, resolution and screen size, and Samsung's software additions aren't enough to out-and-out steamroll the competition. The One X has the edge in pricing and build quality, the S III the advantage in pure grunt, battery life and memory expandability. The race for the top Android has never been this tight, but the best part is that you can't go wrong with either; they're both that darn good!<br><br>Rating: 9/10<br>Price: Rs 43,180<br>URL: http://bit.ly/LX7P0E<br><br></p> <table style="width: 600px;" align="center" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Eyeing A Beauty</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="/businessworld/system/files/images/July/Apple-MacBook-Pro-mdm.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 6px;" height="128" width="200">Marry the power of the latest Intel processors with the instant-on responsiveness and petite form of the Macbook Air, and you begin to see why the new MacBook Pro is such a desirable laptop. Add to that a 'Retina' display that packs in an unprecedented 2880 x 1800 pixels - that's 3 million more pixels than an HDTV, 256 GB of fast flash memory and upto 7 hours of juice, and you have a potential dream machine for mobile professionals. Can't wait to get my mitts on this baby!<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>URL:</strong> http://bit.ly/MxEtFc<br><strong>Price:</strong> Rs 1,52,900 onwards</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <table style="width: 600px;" align="center" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Classy Apparel</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="/businessworld/system/files/images/July/Targus-Versavu-iPad-1-mdm.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 6px;" height="200" width="200">iPad folio-type cases are a great way to protect your investment while staying classy, and the new Targus Versavu Rotating Case &amp; Stand for iPad (3rd-Gen) has a neat little trick up its sleeve - the hard shell encasing the iPad rotates all the way around, allowing the iPad to stand in either three portrait or three landscape orientations. You also get an elastic stylus holder on the front of the lid and magnetic lock/unlock feature, which are nice, but I'd have much preferred a little less bulk and slightly better iPad protection.<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>URL:</strong> http://bit.ly/MEQ3C4<br><strong>Price:</strong> Rs 3,249</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>technocool at kanwar dot net<br>twitter@2shar</p>