Author
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
Bigger brother to the Smart PC 500T, the Smart PC Pro 700T is the one with the power. It runs the full version of Windows 8 and you can install all the regular desktop applications if they’re compatible with Windows 8. And to make them work well, we have an Intel Core i5 1.7 GHz processor. Opinions vary on the looks of this 11.6-inch ultrabook-laptop hybrid. I think it doesn’t have charisma, but others call it “handsome”. I’ll say it looks businesslike dressed in grey-black. The bigger issues are with the ergonomics. First, it’s rather heavy for its size. All the weight is on the tablet side. When you use it as a laptop on your lap, that feels a bit strange at first. What feels even more odd is that the rounded ridge at the base of the screen sticks out enough to feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, even though the tablet is the heavier piece, it’s comfortable to hold. Putting that flat on your lap and using its S-Pen to write is a joy, and is how I wrote this review. Coupled with the exceptionally intelligent handwriting recognition supported by Windows 8, it can be a very fast and smooth way of getting things done on an everyday basis. The powerful processor ensures there’s no lag when working, including when changing orientation. The full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel screen is fluid and responsive. The keyboard is nice enough. There are all the ports you need, but the peculiar thing is that some are placed on the top of the tablet when you’re in laptop mode. That only pulls on an already top-heavy device and also makes it awkward if you have a very short cable. Thankfully, the tablet docks more securely into the slot than is the case with the 500T and there is no danger of it falling out.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 25-03-2013)
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It's difficult to see the all new Z10 separately from BlackBerry's troubles, past, present and future. Whether this smartphone from the once king of smartphones will bring the company unequivocally back into the game, no one can say for sure. All the same, BlackBerry users have been waiting to see what the new operating system, BlackBerry 10, and refreshed hardware is like, and India happens to be one of the first few countries to receive the top-tier Z10, though it does so at a price of Rs.43,490, a sum people feel is unreasonable for a company that many feel doesn't command the same brand value it used to two years ago. But, setting aside that backdrop, let's look at the Z10 and what it brings, specially to ex or existing Bold, Torch and Storm users. Quite Business-likeMany people's first reaction when they hold the Z10 is that it's been iPhone-ized. It is indeed close to the iPhone 5 in size at 4.2 inches. It's also got the same straight lines and is made to be held comfortably and used with one hand. It's light though heavier than the iPhone which isn't necessarily a bad thing as many people like to feel some reassuring solidity. The back of the Z10 is a soft grainy material which prevents slipperiness. The front however, is glossy. It's a professional-looking understated device with no look-at-me styling but some definite substance. The buttons are all easy to find and made with some care. The power button is on top and the volume rocker, with an extra multipurpose button in the middle is on the right. There isn't a physical -or virtual- home button. This is because the interface is all-swipe. As far as hardware goes, the Z10 now catches up with the rest. A New ExperienceThose who are already accustomed to touch interfaces, specially gesture-based ones like Windows 8, will not think the BlackBerry 10 OS much of a revolution. Windows 8, even on a PC, uses swipes everywhere. Android too has multiple screens that make swiping a daily affair. Also there are apps and customizations that put in menus that can be accessed with a thumb-swipe. But older BB users will definitely find BB10 a whole new experience specially since whatever touch BlackBerry had all this while was poorly executed. The BB10 interface is very fluid, in contrast. It's smooth and although there's a learning curve involved, as long as you know you need to swipe around, you'll discover what you need fast enough and become used to it. There are also tutorials to get you started. The fluidity built into the new OS is something BlackBerry has really worked on. You'll see it in small touches all over the place as you swipe to open up or move across the home screen and other parts of the phone. The feel is of everything being integrated into one whole and this is something BlackBerry refers to as Flow. Any time you're in any application, you can smoothly swipe up to use the "Peek" feature to see what sort of messages are waiting for you, either in mail or your social networks or messengers. This happens without interrupting anything you're doing, even watching video. The powerful 1.5 dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and 2GB of RAM make sure there are no lags or compromises to the flow and navigation. It's All In The HubBlackBerry's communication philosophy is still very much the same. With BB10, it's the heart of the whole system and centralized in the BlackBerry Hub. All your messages, whether they're text, BBM, Facebook, LinkedIn or email, appear as notifications on the main screen. Swipe on the right to see the list of channels and further to see the messages collected in the Hub. For some, all communication arriving in the same bucket can be overwhelming. For others, it's just what they want. You can touch the source you want to look at and ignore the rest, keeping it for latter. You also have other filters such as those that let you sort mail by what you've received today, for example. And then there is in fact some finer level management you can to in the Hub Management options from where you can turn off certain sources altogether. You can always get to the Hub to see your messages, whatever else you were doing - which was probably reading your email anyway. The notification light lets you know when your attention is needed. Communication really is the main application on this phone and it's a great option for those hyperconnected people who are focused on quick responsiveness throughout the day. BBM is very much part of the mix and now a special data plan for it is no longer needed. You just start your BBM account and get on the messaging circuit. You can now also voice or video chat on BBM and this will work fine depending on your internet connection. You can add people to the messaging by inviting them from the menu strip. Not being a previous BlackBerry user, I found it easy enough to start using all my mail and messages on the Z10. I particularly enjoyed the video embedded into BBM options and found it far clearer and easier than any other video chats I've done so far, including Skype and FaceTime. The sound on the Z10 is a little low, which is odd for a device focused on communication, but I found it fine when pushed up to max and faced on distortion. Still An App GapThe BlackBerry World store isn't exactly brimming over with compelling apps you absolutely must have. BlackBerry insists that apps are flooding in from excited developers, adding to the 70,000 they already have, but the results are not exactly top-notch or even inexpensive. When it comes down to experiences with apps, it's quality that matters over quantity as both Microsoft and BlackBerry are discovering. The Android app ecosystem too is yet to catch up on quality and security not just sheer numbers. But a counter argument is that BlackBerry users (the segment that BlackBerry likes to call "BlackBerry People") are perhaps not the sort who really want very many apps in the first place. What they need is already on the device - business messaging and email. In fact, we do need to consider some of the other special features that add to the onboard productivity experience on the Z10. Best On BlackBerryIf you're focused on communication, there are many things that are still best on the BlackBerry compared with other smartphones and platforms. I already mentioned the ease of email, messaging and voice and video chat and how it's all in one place and yet always reachable. But there are other things too. You can also use a new feature, Screen Share on the Z10. This works from within video chat and let each person see the screen of the other person's Z10 (and future BB10 based phones). The existence of this feature plus the ease with which it's usable would make it quite an asset for business users. Another new feature on BB10 is the Story Maker. It's an application that lets you create a movie in simple steps. It's specially designed for mobile so it's not complex and editing is easy and also lets you put in professional touches such as titles and credits. Sharing is equally easy. It's a nice way to create quick demos or overviews for business use. And then there's BlackBerry Balance, which is a feature meant to separate your personal and work spaces. A swipe gets you from one to the other and you access your work content using a password and your office IT people can easily use the work space to ensure that content is secure and can even be wiped off without losing the personal stuff if needed. There's also BlackBerry Remember which integrates content with Evernote. The virtual keyboard, another unique feature, on the Z10 has been designed for users who have been addicted to the original physical QWERTY keyboard but want to make the switch to touch. It's bold and high-contrast, so it's easy to see. But to make it quick to type on, you have a highly predictive text recognition much like the one found on Swiftkey, familiar to Android users. The keyboard learnes from your input (so watch your mistakes) and offers up a word that you swipe up to make it float to the text area. It takes a while getting used to and isn't as fast as the original and nor does it let you look away - you need to be looking at the screen. Personally, I found the switch difficult because I use Swype and Swiftkey Flow and even handwriting on Android handsets. The handset with the real keyboard, Q10, is of course, still awaited though I have handled it and seen that it is much closer to the older BlackBerrys. One-trick CameraCameras have become a critical part of any smartphone today. The Z10 has an average 8 megapixel shooter, able to give decent enough pictures in daylight at 3264 x 2448 pixels,.The focus method is annoying though. You tap to shoot but you drag the square to focus except that very often the photograph takes itself in the process and you end up with an unfocused shot. Apart from this quirk, there are some basic settings to play with and even a few effects. For lovers of Instagram, that's only on Android and iOS for now. The Z10 camera has one neat trick called Time Shift up its sleeve. When taking a group shot, you have some before and after images extrapolated to select the best one. This "best shot" feature is already on many other phones, but the implementation on the Z10 is more interesting. The secondary camera is a 720p@30fps 2 megapixel. In sum, you don't buy this smartphone for its camera as is the case with some others, but you do get a better camera than with older BlackBerrys. The Z10 has an 1800 mAh battery, which may be just about enough to see you through a work day, but only just. If you're a super communicator, you'll surely need extra support such as a handy charger always or even a portable power pack. The battery is removable - with the back flap opening very easily - so you can even keep a second battery or replace it altogether after a long time of use and any signs that the battery is getting less effective. The Z10 supports NFC and this may well become useful as the whole area of mobile payments begins to hot up as it seems to be this year. If you're an existing user, migration to this new device may be a bit cumbersome but here I'm going by reports from others rather than my own experience since I wasn't a BB user. After some 18 months of working on a new operating system, suffering huge losses in market share and brand value, BlackBerry should really have come back with a portfolio of devices ready to ship instantly everywhere, specially in the US where the tone is set for perception about the company, and at different price points to capture users. Unfortunately, there's one expensive device that may see older users upgrade but will not likely draw Android and iOS users away. The Q10, keyboard based BB10 phone, is still at least a month or two away and loses BlackBerry some much needed momentum and marketing buzz. One also has no idea whether the Q10 will be priced attractively or not. At this point, it would have been better to come back with a leap forward not just with a catch-up smartphone, excellent though it is. But BlackBerry may surprise us yet. As we quiz dealers, they say the Z10 is out of stock with demand from BB fans mounts. mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 25-03-2013)
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The beautiful news reading magazine app Flipboard couldn't have gotten any better, but it just did. I've always thought Flipboard was all by itself, enough of a reason to buy the iPad. It's pretty good on Android as well, but best on its original home where it was practically the first app I would recommend to new owners of the tablet.Everyone's got some reading to do, whether for work, hobbies and interests, or just to keep up with what's happening. Even with the original Flipboard, you could collect your reading material in read-later apps like Instapaper or Pocket. But with the most recent update, you can actually create a magazine in minutes. And this ability is more powerful than it looks because you can create a quick package that looks compelling, to share with others on social networks. Nothing stops you from curating your own content either -- as long as it's searchable, find it and make your magazine.Touch to CreateAll you need to do to create your magazine is curate. Search for topics, look at favourite sources or select stories from your social streams. You can even use a bookmarklet via browsers on a laptop or PC to send stuff to your magazine. In the Flipboard app, you just press the plus button to add a story to your magazine, which you can name and describe. This lets you put in whatever lines you think will compel your potential readers to look at your magazine. You can promote a selected story to become the top story, with its associated photo becoming the cover. Once you're done, you just tap the arrow to share your magazine. You can also choose to keep magazines private, collecting material for yourself for later reading. If you haven't used Flipboard before, you should know that you can pull in content from practically anywhere including Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram and even Google Reader, which Google has announced it will shut down but feeds from which you can continue to access in Flipboard.Powerful SharingI know every app these days includes sharing to social networks. But when you add that to a whole package of content, which could include videos and podcasts if the content does, so easily created and so attractive looking, it's a powerful capability. If we were to look at a few use cases, consider how easily you could search for news or articles about one of your products and share that to your Facebook page. Or think how easily you could create a small collection of articles on a subject in which you're trying to establish your influence and share that on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you enable push notifications, you can see comments on content from those in your networks as and when they happen or read them later from the Activity tab. Either way, it should be a conversation starter if you're looking to engage on topics of similar interest with others. You can even email a Flipboard link via email, and it goes out with an image. You can pick content from anywhere and since credit to the original content producer is right there -- in fact, the links are regular Flipboard additions -- there should be no copyright issues looming up ahead though people will be taken aback to find their content popping up all over the place.Read it laterInstapaper and Pocket have been two apps that are most popular for later reading. Every app worth its salt allows for a send to Instapaper or Pocket ability. But the fact that you can now save content in a nice format means there's some competition for services like Instapaper. Flipboard continues to be competition for Zite, another app that works with the "personalised magazine" concept but focuses on reading rather than curating. Discovering more content on the new Flipboard is also crafted into the app. The search itself supports hashtags and specific keywords and delivers results in magazine style. Within the pages of a magazine, you will also find sub sections and lists of sources or people that you can add to your reading collections. Many Flipboard readers are also featured in their own section when they post content.All n all, Flipboard has grown to be a richly featured app on the iPad and iPhone. The new features are yet to make their way to the Android version, but they probably will soon enough.(mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com)
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Recently Google upped and announced it was going to shut down its RSS feeds service, Reader, and that's that. Users have up to July to get used to it or whistle Dixie. I was as upset as many others who rely on Reader, specially as the basis of beautiful news apps. I still am most annoyed but at the same time a little amused at how one can get so indignant at losing something one never paid for or earned in any way. I was taken aback with their announcement but earlier this year I had already gone through similar experiences though it was not with products that are as important to me as Google Reader is. The first was a photo editing app that gave my pictures a beautiful finish. Jazz was filed with presets customised and saved for my use. And then came an update and off they went. The app no longer gave the same results and I all but had to abandon it much to my sorrow. But then I contacted the developer and clamored for the lost features. He said the app was most powerful now but to me that wasn't the case at all. After some discussions, he said he would give the missing controls back — and in a few weeks, he did. I was overjoyed, not only at getting my app but at being heard. Thousands of people would feel the same if Google listened and gave us back Reader. True, someone else will come up with a solution if Google doesn't and perhaps a better one, but Google will go on to the next thing having changed the loyalty of many users including influencers like Om Malik who is annoyed enough not to try out Google’s new note taking app, Keep. Marco Arment, maker of Instapaper says it's all business and every company has the right to do what works for them and while that's true, I think users that are loyal are as important, specially when you have so many products and new projects. Buy-in and just plain buy would happen more readily if users had a background of trust, not betrayal to go upon. Another service that turned the tables on me was a social analytics startup, Crowdbooster. After serving up a weekly diet of flattering numbers in my email, it decided to go paid. Nothing wrong with that, and Crowdbooster did it elegantly enough, offering deals to switch over. I might have if it had been important enough for my work but ended up saying goodbye pleasantly and forgetting about Crowdbooster.Google could have done a Crowdbooster.on us, giving us the choice to pay or go find something else to do but I suppose that was too much trouble.As I write this, I get email from my blog hosting service with apologies for some unexpected downtime and reassurance that they're fixing the problem right away. That's the small but important sort of thing we take for granted. But really, it's something that goes a long way towards building trust. A company's gotta do what it's gotta do, but there's a way to do it.By say, August, all but those who depended on Reader, including many bloggers, will have forgotten about Reader. All will be forgiven. Some of us will always wince when we hear the word, Reader.(mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com)
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Asus’ Vivobooks bring affordable touch world of everyday notebooks. Windows 8 certainly has put new life into notebooks. For instance, did we think touch screens on laptops would arrive so soon and be within the reach of average customers and not just those who have no end of money to spend on new electronics? I certainly didn’t think there was any chance of owning a touchscreen notebook anytime soon and yet, my next is definitely going to be a touch device.But all that’s on the inside. Externally, the Asus Vivobook S400 is a big but light 14-inch laptop. The lid is what I like to think of as “aluminum silk,” smooth, metallic, cold and businesslike. The Asus logo glints even more metallicly in the centre. On the sides, the Vivobook is teardrop shaped, but thicker than you’ll see on ultrabooks and the Macbook Air. There are a lot of ports there – three USB ports, HDMI, VGA, SD card reader, Ethernet port, and headphones slot. The bottom of the laptop is made of that soft rubbery plastic that has become most popular these days. It’s nice to touch, but may pick upsome oil spots. The Vivobook is not an Ultrabook. It still has a hard disk (500GB) though it also has a 24GB SSD (the type of drives found on ultrabooks) to make it boot up faster, which it does. The device has 4GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5-3317U (Ivy Bridge) driving it all. The touch screen is not the brightest or most vivid, but it’s responsive and doesn’t suffer from compromised viewing angles. It’s a mid-range screen, by all accounts. I suppose it’s partly that the fact that you can use a touch screen and do so fluidly, has you forgiving the fact that it isn’t a brilliant looking screen. The keyboard could have certainly been made better by giving the keys more leeway to move as keys that are too depressed into the chassis are obviously harder to type on. The trackpad is perfectly adequate. There’s an 11-inch sister Vivobook, the S200. The Vivobooks cost Rs 59,999 and Rs 39,999.Samsung's Ativ Smart PC 500TThe Ativ Smart PC 500T is an 11.6-inch tablet-laptop hybrid costing Rs 53,990. As a tablet, it’s large, landscapey. Don’t expect to curl up with it as with a Kindle. But, you can use it to browse the web and see the whole page in portrait mode. There’s a lot of screen space, so it’s also interesting for creation work, especially since you have an S-Pen with it.The blue-grey textured lid is of the same plastic as the Galaxy Note II. The keyboard is metallic silver. I found the slot for the tablet to dock a bit iffy and although it may not drop out when you lift the open laptop, it can fly right out when the tablet is closing. The tablet and keyboard kept disconnecting.The screen, a 1366 x 768 p has good colours and contrasts. There’s 2GB of RAM and a 64GB hard drive. You have a USB 2.0 port, HDMI, and SD card slot. The dock has additional USB ports. The battery on the tablet lasts about 10 hours.There’s an 8MP camera with flash and a secondary 2MP. It runs on an Intel Atom processor, which means you can run applications like Photoshop but it’s slower than Core-I devices. But then, it also costs less.
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Huawei Media Pad 7 LiteThe flood of budget tablets continues with a 7-inch tab from China-based networking and telecommunications equipment and services company, Huawei, called the Media Pad 7 Lite.Actually it isn’t that light after all, but it’s just 30 gm more than the Nexus 7 which is 340 gm and no one complains about that tab being heavy. The iPad Mini is much lighter at 308 gm, but then it’s also twice the cost.The MediaPad has a matt aluminum and matt plastic back giving it a bit of solidity and the feel that you’re holding something of worth. Users have become quite sensitive to the backs of smartphones and tablets and getting a good feel from running one’s fingers over them has become a way of deciding that you have something of quality and worth in your hands. Much as one would feel while touching the fabric of a shirt one wants to buy.It seems Huawei wants this to be a landscape tablet, for that’s how the device starts up, really taking its time to do so. When it does, you see that the screen is not bad at 1024 x 600 pixels, despite a low density of 170 ppi. It’s bright and has good contrasts in colours. Viewing angles are fine too. Flipping through its screens, I found Huawei hadn’t bothered to put very much on the device either by way of apps or widgets.Now that can be either good or bad, depending on whether you want to install your own stuff or go with what’s chosen for you regardless. Huawei also hasn’t put very much “skin” or user interface elements. Again, some people like that and some just don’t. So on this tablet, you get a plain Android 4.0 experience. Yes, that’s Ice Cream and not the more exciting Jelly Bean. It’s working on a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 single core processor with 1GB of RAM. It didn’t do very well on the benchmarks I ran on it and finally just decided to hang altogether while downloading the final one. Even so, it’s better than many 7-inch tabs I’ve seen; just a little stuck now and then.This 7-incher lets you make calls and use a 3G card for data. You can increase its 8GB of storage with a micro SD card. There’s a 4100 mAh battery, but you can’t see it as it’s sealed in the unibody. There’s the usual quality of camera seen on budget devices – 3.2 megapixel main and 0.3 megapixel secondary. The MediaPad 1080p HD video playback at 30 frames per second. It costs between Rs 12,999 and 13,700 depending on where you buy it from.Many people love the 7-inch size for tablets and if you’re thinking of one, you have lots to choose from and here I would say compare specs and prices because there aren’t very dramatic prices. If you compare with the iPad Mini, it’s Rs 21,900 for the 16GB model. Google’s Nexus 7 tablet is Rs 19,000 though you may find better prices online.The XPad X720 At this rate, small tablets are going to be free soon. Some of them hardly cost anything now. The elusive Aakash has some fresh competition in the form of a 7-inch tablet called the XPad X720 from Simmtronics. It costs just Rs 4,600 for a capacitive 480 x 800 screen, Android 4.0 and a 1GHz A08 Cortex processor. The tablet is fine. It's not badly made or unresponsive or otherwise badly troubled. Yes, it's value for money.Like with the Aakash and some other low-cost tablets, the Xpad is meant to appeal to students but it does have possible applications in organisations in which a portable device is needed for designated tasks. The Xpad won't be the ideal gizmo to use, especially outdoors, but it's likely to be usable in many situations. It has the specs of a midrange smartophone in the body of a tablet -- 512MB of RAM, 4GB of thermal storage with expansion to 32GB possible with a microSD card and a data card. Simmtronics allows owners of the Xpad to use various wifi hotspots such as those available at Cafe Coffee Day for free. The X720 doesn't have 3G capability on board but a dongle can be used. There's only a front facing 0.3mp camera for a video call and a 2800 mAh battery -- which is actually better than on mid-range phones. The tab is to be available at major gadget stores and online.
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When will this madness end?” tweets a tech enthusiast on my network. He’s talking about the impossibly large phones being launched on a weekly basis. He’s from the camp that believes “Phablets” are an outlandish concept that neither allow you to use the device with one hand nor fit in pockets. I tell him it isn’t ending soon. Joshua Flood, Senior Analyst with ABI Research, the technology market intelligence firm, thinks the starting point for phablets was really Samsung’s Galaxy S III, not the Note. The super seller’s 4.8-inch screen changed peoples’ perception about the optimum size of phones as the larger screen enhanced the experience for users who love carrying “everything” with them and are happy to read their mail and news, watch videos, and check their social networks on the go. It’s the same reason Apple kept the iPad large, until it caved in and brought out the Mini and stretched the iPhone a bit. People just want to do more and don’t find tiny screens enough. Smaller screens are for those who still primarily use their phones for calling and haven’t yet expanded their activities to match a phone’s capabilities. No wonder 83 million phablets were shipped in 2012, an increase of 4,504 per cent from 2011. And for this year, ABI Research predicts it will be 150 million phablets and this will be 18 per cent of all smartphones. You can see the trend from the ads around you. But that’s worldwide. In India, there’s another trend taking root. Low-cost phablets are invading the market and from the collection I’ve seen so far, they offer a surprising amount of value for money. Take the Canvas 2 from Micromax which I’m using occasionally these days. It’s slim, light and runs on a 1.2GHz dual core MediaTek MT6577 processor with Android 4.0. The screen isn’t high-end, but it more than does the job. Browsing is fine. The camera is an 8MP but again, not what you’d get on other top phones. Overall, it’s usable. And all it costs is about Rs 10,000. A large phone, dual-sim at that, and it costs one fourth of what the most-coveted ones do. For those who can’t afford the 40k phones, a device like the Canvas 2 is amazing. Phones in the low and mid-range from the bigger companies cost more than this super phone. So Micromax went ahead and launched the next version of its Canvas line, the Canvas HD, with a quad core processor and a top notch IPS screen and under Rs 15,000. Not just that, Micromax plans to launch another 30 phones this year. There’s a joke going around that what Samsung did to Apple, Micromax will do to Samsung. Micromax claims to have sold more phablets than Samsung in Q4 and is confident it will beat them, given a little more time. While that may or may not be true, it’s a fact that Samsung has had to join the race and just after Micromax’s launch, released a 5-inch dual core phone too – with a display not as good as Micromax’s 1280 x 720 either. In a sense, it’s ironic that Samsung had to launch the Galaxy Grand Duos in a category which it was responsible for beginning. Obviously, it’s going to be a big war, with the beneficiaries being the consumers. Not only will students and anyone not ready to shell out close to half a lakh on phones find they have affordable options, the entire pricing structure may have to adjust to this new reality. So far, the second tier or mid-range phones have actually tended to be the least value for money, costing as much as Rs 25,000. But now, the 5-inch force offers more than this segment of Rs 15,000 to 25,000 does and many who didn’t consider large phones until now, may do so. If the phablet army wants to keep up its advantages though, it will have to figure out setting up service for repair or replacements. They also need to consider pushing Android updates which are important in the absence of “skins” or signature interfaces, special features and apps. Given these, there are always some fairly powerful apps on Google Play that could make the device useful for work as well. The government might well want to consider backing an Akaash phablet, for that matter.mala(at)pobox(dot)com,(at)malabhargava on Twitter(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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A flutter of excitement greeted the arrival of the HTC Butterfly as it alighted in India and was introduced to a small gathering of the tech media in Delhi. The folks at HTC correctly figured that reviewers would instantly clamour for units to get a closer look, and they arranged for everyone to get their hands on what is surely one of the most gorgeous looking phones I’ve ever seen. To zoom in on what makes the Butterfly so breathtaking — it’s the 1080p x 1920 HD Super LCD3 display, gazing crisply back at you with a pixel density of 441 ppi. That is the most spectacular screen out there so far and it shows right away. Someone asked me if laymen could really tell the difference if there are more pixels. I have to say, yes; the experience is that much more pleasing. And as for comparing with other phones, regular phone users don’t need to be doing that in any case. But what has been equally breathtaking is the price of this smartphone. It’s upward of Rs 46,000. While the iPhone and many other top-tier phones hover around the same price point, consumers feel HTC is not in a position to command such a high price perhaps, without enough of a differentiating factor. Other pixel-perfect screens are coming soon, after all, and so is the World Mobile Congress show where God-knows-what specs may be sitting on a slew of phones. Still, the Butterfly is an extremely elegantly designed gadget. If you look closely, you’ll see the styling and detailing that’s gone into it, that too, using material that spells sophistication from the moment you see and feel this smartphone. The back, slightly curved for better ergonomics, is made of material similar to that of the HTC 8X. It’s smooth and soft and slightly rubbery. The front is, of course, that gleaming screen — slightly reflective though. All along the sides is a deep red dotted strip, adding a further touch of class to the device. The buttons are also carefully stylised. A few problems though, because nothing is perfect. The main power button is centre top and takes some getting used to. The slots for the cable, sim, etc. are covered with a flap that you must prise open and that’s not very easy to do frequently. But other than that, it’s a marvel of design as they have been able to put so much power into a form so very thin. Yes, thinner than the iPhone. This is a 5-inch phone and, given its specs, could have got away with being clunkier, but clunky is the last thing it is. HTC has managed to find the right width to make sure the Butterfly is comfortable to hold. Also Read: Tushar Kanwar's review of HTC ButterflyFor one-hand users, if you have a longish hand, you could reach across the screen, but in my experience, super responsive touch screens aren’t made for being swiped with a thumb like a mini windshield wiper. The Butterfly neither feels nor looks as big as it is, while at the same time, giving you enough screen space. That’s why, thankfully, the reluctance to put it in the phablet category. The 8MP camera on this phone isn’t a specialist in any particular aspect of photography, but it does take very nice pictures. Of course, one of the reasons they look that good is because of the screen, but even transferred elsewhere, they’re pretty sharp. The colours are very pretty and there’s enough detail. It doesn’t have any low light special abilities but does a pretty good job of macro. An annoyance is the lack of a dedicated camera button. It also has a 2 MP wide angle front facer and a great feature which lets you set a timer for self shots. The sound is pretty good all around, including on calls. Beats audio is included but the headphones are regular. Still, Beats makes a difference to them and the sound is full. As of now, it’s recommended for those who have the money and want a truly powerful premium phone plus the pleasure of always looking at a lovely screen. The Butterfly is classy beyond a doubt. There are other smartphones coming though, including the M7 from HTC and the Xperia Z from Sony. mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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Living with the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga for the past few weeks has been nothing short of a luxury. While I knew that this Ultrabook-tablet hybrid has a screen that bends 360 degrees, it’s only when I started using it that I fully realised how it was possible to work or digitally entertain myself in a variety of situations, some of them pretty much horizontal. While there have been many hybrids and convertible form factors changing the good old laptop, the Yoga, which won some awards at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, is special because of its very strong hinges. How these would fare over the years, one can’t say, but they’re sure to be repairable in any case. For now, what I can say is that the screen’s flexibility, quite like a yogi really, lets you use it like a regular laptop, a tablet on a stand, in tented TV-like mode, and folded right over as a tablet. Those are the advertised positions. When you use it, you figure that there are actually many in-between screen positions to fit the way you like to sit or recline with your gadgets. I even tried it out as a tummy-top with the screen at exactly the right angle for me to watch some videos. The fact that there’s no fiddling and clicking into place, no danger of the screen dropping away from the keyboard, means that you use it all the more confidently. BLACKBERRY Z10 AND Q10: BlackBerry Z10 launching in India on 25 Feb and the Q10 coming later are the new BlackBerrys, finally complete with a re-thought smooth operating system. Communication is a thumb-swipe away for the hyper-connectedDELL INSPIRON 15Z ULTRABOOK: This budget laptop is light and thin and comes in brushed aluminum. With Windows 8 and an optional touchscreen variant, its big sound and screen (15 inches) is ideal for those who want to do more than just work.MICROSOFT’S SURFACE PRO: The Surface, yet to surface in India and not doing as well as expected elsewhere, has just turned Pro, getting the full Windows 8 treatment instead of the more limited RT. It also has a pen and a 1920x1080 screen.The IdeaPad is otherwise beautifully built. When you hold it, you immediately feel that this is top-notch gadgetry. It looks matte-finish metallic and feels soft. There’s even an orange version. But, as is the case with all these softened materials, any finger oil goes straight on to it, and no matter what you do, there’s always some on one’s hands by default. Luckily, they’re wipeable, with some effort. The inside is a grainy matte material as well but somewhat less prone to fingerprints, which is a good thing because your palms rest on the ample space reserved for them. One has to think of the hybrids that have come out so far more as Ultra- books with a secondary function of a tablet. As an Ultrabook, it’s slim and light and doesn’t have that teardrop shape that everyone has copied from the MacBook Air. In fact, nothing has been copied from Apple’s designs here, and that itself is rather refreshing. The keyboard is comfortable even though the keys are shallow. My only problem with it was that the Shift, Enter and other keys on the right were close together and sized differently from the ones I’ve been used to, causing me to keep pressing Enter instead of Shift. And that, when my own primary laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad. Another problem that I faced is that when you touch the screen, it tends to move a little although this depends on your choice of angle. As a tablet, as expected, it’s too thick and heavy to compete with the standalone tablets of the world, because obviously you’re holding a tablet-plus-keyboard, not just a tablet. Together it’s 1.54 kg. A big problem here is also that the keyboard is exposed to more abuse than usual as you put the device down on a surface or your lap. It’s also not natural and comfortable to feel a keyboard on the flip side of a tablet. Perhaps they should explore some kind of retractable thin cover that can slide over it at the touch of a button. But that’s just an idea for the IdeaPad. There are two versions of the Yoga. This, the 13-inch, runs on Widows 8 Pro and costs Rs 84,290. The 11-inch Yoga runs Windows RT (the lighter but more limited version of Windows) and costs Rs 61,790.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is over 45 years old. This year, the show was the target of a lot of moaning and groaning, though over 150,000 people did attend it in Las Vegas. One thing people cribbed about was that many of the big tech companies were not there — at least not directly. Apple and Google have their own shows. And Microsoft, which until last year had a key presence at CES, exited the show, though Windows 8 was present everywhere. Nokia and Research in Motion weren’t there directly either. RIM will be launching its BlackBerry 0S and devices later this month at its own event. Much is showcased at CES that never makes it to the market, so many question the true relevance of the show. While it is true that individual gadgets and devices may not turn up on the shelves soon, if at all, the broad trends can be seen between the lines, as you’ll see from this selection of devices and technologies. Television Takes CenterstageVery much as expected, CES, which isn’t essentially a smartphone show, had a feast of other tech, showing the world what could be coming in the future. Samsung showed off a suite of innovative TVs, one of which is actually quite decidedly curved. The OLED technology used in this prototype uses colours by illuminating them directly with electricity. Think of it as the next step up from LCD and plasma. But what’s with the curve? That’s supposed to make for an immersive panoramic viewing experience while actually aligning the image more precisely, making it more life-like. Looking at a landscape, for example, is supposed to feel like you’re surrounded by it. This beautiful TV is too expensive to make and even more so to buy, so it won’t be in the market anytime soon. Considering it’s Apple that’s always lauded as the best designer of products and a TV set of some sort being launched by the company sometime in 2013 is often talked about, it’s interesting that Samsung has come out with beautifully designed and feature-filled TVs. They’re thin and almost bezel-less and described as ‘floating’ by those who’ve seen them. Among them was a 110-inch 4k ultra high definition TV, another prototype. Very crisp and clear, obviously, it hangs on an easel and can be tilted. In their 55-inch KN55F9500 OLED TV, Samsung has brought in a new multi-view feature. Yep, you can watch two shows or videos at the same time. While that’s interesting, it also means you have to wear headphones and glasses. Whether that’s being socially anti-social or alone together, you can decide. All agree that this piece of tech will pop up in TVs soon enough but no announcements on that yet. On its Smart Hub, the smart TV interface, Samsung has developed features to help users navigate, discover and view content more smartly. The TVs will face-recognise users and will recommend content. Using voice recognition and gestures (already present in Samsung’s Smart TVs), users will flip through panels of content and become better couch potatoes.Sony’s 2013 Flagship: The Xperia ZPeople were very excited about the Sony Xperia Z even before CES. Many have asked me if I could confirmThe Xperia aesthetic is quite elegant to begin with and now it’s a whole 5 inches of clean-cut lines and slightly rounded corners on a 7.8 mm thin glassy phone. Sony dubs it the ‘Omni Balance’ design because everything is in parallel lines and precise. The Z has a beautiful 1080 x 1920p screen. Pixel density is 443ppi. It’s tricked out with Sony’s Mobile Bravia 2 technology, which is when the phone senses the environment you’re in and adjusts the screen for better viewing — not just brightness. the final price which, of course, I can’t as it’s not yet on the market. Everyone is seeing the Z as Sony’s answer to the wildly popular Samsung Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5. That would mean it would need to have something unique and interesting about it. And it does. Incidentally, if the phone drops into water, it isn’t the end. The smartphone won’t even turn off, but emerge out of the experience unscathed — as long as you don’t leave it in there for more than 30 minutes. It’s also dust resistant. To make good use of that screen is a 13 megapixel camera, believed to be the standard for 2013. This has a few tricks up its sleeve too. You can shoot HDR or high dynamic range videos, not just photos. This means greater depth and evenness. The camera also auto selects scenes depending on what it’s seeing — one setting for text, another for face, etc. That large 5-inch bright screen is going to gobble up battery, so you have a 2330 mAh non-removable battery on board. But, and here’s another trick, you have a new ‘Battery Stamina’ technology which optimises battery life by shutting off apps when the screen is off. You can control this, of course. I can’t say whether this goes beyond some of the Android apps that help you prolong battery life. One will have to wait for a review unit. Another thing to be checked out is how the Xperia Z works with NFC. I know everyone’s been talking about NFC since forever, but it’s been shown to work well with things like tapping the phone on headphones to turn the music on, for example. Other specs on the Xperia Z include a 1.5 GHz quad core Snapdragon S4 processor with 2 GB RAM. So it’s not only Sony’s first almost-phablet but its first quad core as well. There’s a microSD slot to expand the 16 GB storage by another 32GB. It runs Jelly Bean 4.1 which should hopefully be 4.2 by the time it arrives, bringing with it some nice additional features. The Xperia Z will be in India in March. The black and white versions will be available but one can’t say for sure about the other colours as it seems colours don’t sell as well as they do in other countries, a fact that continues to shock me. We don’t have a price yet but there’s no reason for it to cost less than the phones it’s competing with. One Large PhabletThe other phone being talked about — if one can call it a phone — is Huawei’s huge 6.1 inch whatever. Of course, seeing how fond I am of large screens, I’m sure to like it, but 6.1 inches is pushing the envelope a bit if you want to keep the gadget in the smartphone category. But no one defines the boundaries of the new genre of super large phone-tablets, so there’s nothing to stop a company from trying what it wants. Huawei’s Ascend Mate was also much anticipated before the CES show and it actually dwarfs the Note II, being just an inch short of what everyone agrees are tablets. And yet, it looks light and thin. The Mate has a lovely big 1280 x 720 pixel LCD IPS display with approximately 241 ppi density. And it’s a powerful gadget running on a 1.5 GHz quad core processor with 2 GB of RAM and a huge 4050 mAh battery. It has a light interface on top of Android 4.1 and a collection of preloaded apps. It has an 8 megapixel, 3264 x 2448 pixel camera and a secondary 1 megapixel one. But mostly, it’s just large. Tablets Size Up For CESLast year, CES was awash with tablets, all vying to compete with the iPad. The rest of the year saw the tablet-isation of the computing world. Tablets also clashed head on with laptops and desktops, with tablets winning. Now tablets are trying to find differentiating attributes as they also compete with each other. So guess what some of them decided to do at CES 2013? They go into size overdrive. Lenovo showed off a huge Table PC called the Idea Centre Horizon. It’s a whole 27 inches of touchscreen, which becomes multitouch when laid flat and a Windows 8 touchscreen when vertical or tilted. This is a beautiful screen and really shows off Windows 8 but, of course, you’d have to wonder how you’d use it. One idea is for a family to play games together on it. Another is for it to be used in the workplace when several people need to look at or work together on something graphical. Asus and Vizio also showed large Windows 8 tablets, or rather, all-in-ones. Two-Faced PhoneThe Russians have come up with a fascinating concept for a two-screen phone. And when you see thedesign you see the sense of it. Why should the back of a phone be doing nothing? One may as well put it to use in some way. The YotaPhone has a regular Android screen on the front while there is an e-ink screen on the back. With a single gesture, like a shortcut, you can enable certain information on the back screen. For example, you could display a map and keep it there while you do other things on the front screen. The same can be done with a boarding pass or ticket. It’s only a thought but a good one. Flexi ScreenThere has been talk of a flexible screen from Samsung for a while now. And at CES 2013 it debuted. Using OLED on a plastic form, Samsung has come up with a bendable phone which could be in widespread use in the future. It looks as bright and nice, but is still a concept to be developed. If you’re wondering what problem a flexible screen is trying to solve, then think of how much you’ve wished for an unbreakable phone. Rolling up the phone could also mean you could fit a bigger screen on a more portable form. The flexibility also has implications for being able to show information in different ways.Cold ConnectLots of smart appliances, robots and home security gadgets were showcased at CES. Simplicikey, for example, is an app which lets you remotely control who comes into your home by letting you give permitted people a code to get in. Another device lets your plant send you a message when it needs to be watered. And then, from Samsung, which rather dominated at CES, there’s a smart fridge. T9000 includes integration with Evernote (so you can look at what you want to remember), and read-only Twitter. I’m not sure Indian homes are ready for Evernote-ready fridges, but then the Evernote-ready fridge doesn’t have an announced launch date yet either.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 28-01-2013)
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