HTC is well known for making some of the best looking Android smartphones. The original One (M7) and One (M8) received a lot of appreciation in the past for their exquisite uni-body metal design, but since the past few months the company has not been doing good business. The company announced the all new One M9, an update to the One M8, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year along with some variants including the One M9+ and the One E9+. To much surprise, the company never brought the flagship device to India but announced its larger sibling, the One M9+. This was probably due to the fact that M9+ offers a larger 5.2-inch display with a finer 2K (2560x1440) resolution, a different processor and a fingerprint scanner as well. Now the M9+ has the same design as the original flagship with a full metal body and a brushed aluminum finish which certainly looks premium. While it is still a uni-body design, it has a new two-tone colour finish including gunmetal gray, silver gold and amber gold options. The power button has been moved along with the volume keys all of which have been redesigned as individual units on the right edge. The display with its high-end resolution offers a great experience as it is sharp and produces great colours. The fingerprint scanner on the M9+ is just like the one seen on the iPhone 6/6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S6 as it is placed right under the display splitting the BoomSound equipped loudspeaker into two. The scanner is responsive and smooth and also acts as alternative to the on-screen home key apart from letting you unlock your device. The biggest difference however is at the core, while the One M9 runs on the latest Snapdragon 810 processor, the M9+ runs on a 2.2GHz 64-bit octa-core MediaTek processor. This is the first time HTC has used a MediaTek chip for a high end smartphone. Other hardware features include 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage, a 20MP rear camera which is backed up by a 2.1MP secondary lens for re-focusing and a dual-tone flash just like last year’s One M8. The front camera has a 4MP resolution to click your selfies. The handset runs on the latest Android Lollipop version with the company’s latest Sense 7 UI layer on top. The new UI is quite similar to the last version but now focuses more personlisation features as it brings in themes and options to change your icons, fonts and so on. The new feature certainly spruces up the whole experience on the device. Daily tasks are buttery smooth and all the apps run without any issues. Stressing the device does lead to heating and since it is a metal based device, you do get to experience that at some point or the other. Battery life is very standard as you get a day of backup of normal usage and heavy usage leads to about half a day. HTC flagship devices have been criticised in the past for not having the best camera quality even after having some innovative features. With the One M9+, HTC has used the same duo-lens arrangement with 20MP camera sensor along with a secondary lens with 2.1MP resolution. Most of the features and modes have been pulled out from the last year’s One M8 and just like Sony and Samsung smartphones, the camera app gives options to download more modes. While the camera app does run smooth and taking pictures is very quick, somehow the quality of the pictures is not very impressive. There is loss in details and colors seem washed out on some occasions. The re-focusing feature works well but pictures taken in this mode are of lower resolution, however there is an option to shoot at the full 20MP resolution, but that means compromising on the refocus feature. The One M9+ is a bit of a mixed bag and yet again, HTC doesn’t give anything unique to convince you to buy the smartphone. While it does offer a premium design, there is nothing else that sets it apart from the competition. At this price a better option would be the Samsung Galaxy S6.
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Windows dominates the personal computing space and when Google announced the browser based Chrome OS back in 2011, their move seemed very ambitious. Instead of targeting the large share of the computing market, Google carefully planned to sell its OS to organizations that require a light OS for daily tasks like schools and offices. Since the launch, the OS has evolved and even the number of Chromebooks has increased and Google is now looking sell the Chromebook to the everyday notebook user. Speaking of which Google announced two new Chromebooks for the Indian market last month, one made by Nexian and one by Xolo. The Nexian Chromebook is a simple and neat looking notebook with a rounded finish and a nice leather strip on the lid that gives it a nice feel. It comes with a decent 11.6-inch display which has a matte finish keeping all the glares away. The keyboard is comfortable and offers a good feedback, and the touchpad is also smooth and responsive. Overall it doesn’t feel bulky and is as portable as any other 11 or 12-inch notebook. Since Chrome OS is not a heavy system, the notebook runs on very basic hardware, something that you would see on a smartphone. The hardware of the Nexian Chromebook includes a Rockchip quad-core processor with 2 GB RAM and have 16 GB of internal storage which can be expanded further as there is an SD card slot. This is a good addition as you get an option to store files like music and photos. There are also two USB ports and even an HDMI port in case you want to connect a projector or a larger display. The prerequisite for the Chromebook is internet connectivity and a Google account as everything runs on the Chrome browser. There is a store where you can install apps, which basically add an icon to your app tray and when you open an app it takes you to the web link, like YouTube or Google Sheets. All the apps work great and the notebook is perfect for someone who’s primary need is to access the internet and light office work which can be achieved through Google Docs. Google has been working on the OS and plans to bring in updates every six weeks. The recent most update brings in support for Android apps and Google Now cards. There is also an offline mode where you can save your mails or drafts made in Google Sheets which get saved in your Google Drive and get synced once you connect to the internet. Since there is internal storage and an option to plug in a USB drive and an SD card you can also store your music, photos and maybe one or two movies. There are no heating issues since it a simple fan-less design. The most promising feature here is the battery as you get about 5-6 hours of juice and about 7 hours when you are not connected to Wi-Fi. The Chromebook seems to have a bright future and could be used as a simple PC for home usage. At 12,999 the Nexian Chromebook is definitely value for money, but is the Indian consumer ready for it? At a similar price one can easily get a fully featured Windows notebook which will offer much more in terms of productivity. For now, the only suitable place for a Chromebook would be in classrooms, small organizations and offices.
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It seems that almost every Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker has its eyes on the Indian market especially since brand like Xiaomi and Lenovo have established their business in the country. The latest entrant is Phicomm, which announced its debut smartphone called the Passion 660 on Wednesday (3rd of June). The company also announced an exclusive partnership with Amazon.in to sell the smartphone online. The Passion 660 sounds like any other affordable Chinese smartphone but at a price tag of Rs.10,999 it offers a respectable list of features. The looks might not be very appealing but with a thickness of 7.3mm and a weight of just 110gms, it is one of the lightest smartphone around. The hardware also sounds interesting as the Passion 660 comes equipped with a Snapdragon 615 processor which is Qualcomm’s latest octa-core processor. Other features include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage a 5-inch full HD display, a 13MP rear camera, NFC, dual SIM card slots and support for 4G LTE as well. The Passion 660 seems to stand up against the recently announced Xiaomi Mi 4i which offers almost similar features at a price which is a tad higher. It is surprising to see small scale brands bringing interesting devices to the table while big names like Samsung, Microsoft, HTC, LG, etc. are still struggling to keep up in the low and mid range segment of smartphones. Agreed, that Indian smartphone consumers have finally went on to embrace the likes of Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei and so on, but with such a crowded market, it might be difficult for Phicomm to cope up even after offering a feature rich smartphone at a low price.
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The internet is flooded with amazing pictures but do you really need a high-end DSLR to get that brilliant shot? Today anyone with a decent mobile phone has the ability to shoot pictures, and then there are some who are taking smartphone photography to the next level. Now you might not be able to afford a high end DSLR, but one can still capture some amazing pictures using a point and shoot camera or even a smartphone. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to photography, but here are some tips and suggestions to improve your photography skills. FramingAs soon as you power up your camera or open the camera app on your smartphone, the first thing you usually do is frame your subject. Choosing the orientation is very important, so make sure you shoot more of horizontal shots as it covers a wider area and looks more natural to the human eye. Shooting vertically makes sense when you are clicking portraits or trying to shoot a tall subject to fit in your frame. Keeping your lines straight is also vital; just try getting things like buildings or poles or even the horizon in a straight line. FocusKeeping your subject in focus is one of the most important things because a picture with the subject not in focus is as useless as a picture which is blank. Every camera and smartphone these days offer a simple auto-focusing system which automatically understands where to focus, this is always accurate but there are certain instances where the focus might not be correct. You can use the different focusing modes like macro, which helps in focusing on subjects that are really close or the landscape/infinity mode which gets almost everything in focus. There are several cameras and even some smartphones that offer an option to adjust your focus manually. ExposureAs the name suggests, exposure is simply letting light fall on the camera sensor which travels through the lens. A combination of certain settings help you control the amount of light that reaches the sensor. Some of the high end devices do give the user an option to control all of these settings (ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture, etc.) but most of them let you control just one or two of them while leaving everything else to the camera to decide. Understanding and learning to control exposure settings can drastically improve the outcome of your pictures. ZoomSmartphone cameras offer digital zoom which means that it only magnifies into the same frame. This leads to pictures that are full of grains, low on details and not very sharp. Thus, rather than zooming in, you should try to move in and then take a shot. Cameras that offer optical zoom are much more effective as they change the focal length by moving the lens in and out. FiltersNot just smartphones, but the new generation of cameras have started coming up with built in filters to completely change the tone and colours of your pictures. A better option would be to apply filters and effects after you have taken proper shot of your subject. This assures that you always have a raw copy of your picture which you can always edit in different styles. Post ProcessWith an array of apps and softwares at your disposal, you are free to edit your pictures the way you want. However, try not to overdo with the editing. It is a good habit to start with basic editing like adjusting your exposure, contrast, colour correction and sharpness. Once you get the hang of it, you can proceed further and experiment as per your liking.
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Micromax announced a subsidy brand in January called YU with the launch Yureka, a sub 9K smartphone running on Cyanogenmod, a tweaked version of Android which offers a lot of customizations. The brand has been trying to compete against the mob of Chinese smartphone makers that have been flooding the Indian market. Their recent attempt is sub 7K smartphone called the Yuphoria. The construction includes a metal frame in the middle and a soft removable plastic cover at the back. The back also includes a large ring with camera lens in the middle and an LED flash on the edge of the ring. Underneath the back cover there is the removable battery, two SIM card slots and a microSD card slot. The display measures at 5-inches with a respectable 720p resolution protected with Gorilla Glass 3, making it one of the few devices to have such protection. The quality of the display is sharp but not the best on colours and offers a slightly warmer tone. Since there are no capacitive keys, the only hardware buttons are for the volume and lock which are fairly large and easy to access. The overall finish of the device feels good and the built is sturdy for a smartphone costing Rs.6,999. On the hardware front the handset features a Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory which can be expanded further. There is an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera and a 2230mAH battery to juice the device. The handset also supports 4G network as one of the two SIM card slots supports LTE band. The handset runs on Cyanogen OS 12, custom version Android Lollipop 5.0 which feels very similar to stock Android along with some customization settings via themes and other features like Truecaller integration and a backup app called Baton. The software experience is promising as everything runs smooth, although it starts going slow once you start filling it up with apps. There are instances when the smartphone tends to heat up, like when gaming for longer periods, which has been issue with almost all the smartphones running on a Snapdragon 410 chip. The camera performance is not the best when compared to other smartphones. There is a custom camera app which a bunch of filters and settings but when it comes to the quality of pictures, it is not up to expectations. The colour saturation feels low and somehow you don’t end up with very sharp pictures. Does the Yuphoria justify the price? Yes, it is definitely value for money with minor compromises. There are a bunch of other smartphones with almost similar specifications and performance capabilities but the USP of the Yuphoria lies with Cyanogen OS which has been famous among the Android power users.
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Every year a number of new products are unveiled at the annual international information and technology show, Computex, in Taiwan. This year, the show saw some interesting announcements from a number of brands with the local player Asus unveiling a large variety of products at the show. ZenWatch 2Asus announced an update for its Android Wear device, the ZenWatch, with two variants this year. The large model comes with a 41mm watchface and a 22mm band, and a second one which features a 37mm face with an 18mm band. Both of the watches come with an OLED display protected with a 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 and is crafted exquisitely just like the previous gen ZenWatch. It also comes with an IP67 rating which means that it can sit in up to 3.28 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. Other features include a new magnetic charging system and a crown that should offer some functionality. There has been an update in the battery life as well and the ZenWatch 2 will be offered in silver, gunmetal and rose gold with rubber, leather and metal straps available. ZenFone SelfieWith a decent success in smartphone market, Asus introduced a brand new smartphone aiming for selfie enthusiasts called the ZenFone Selfie. The smartphone is exactly the same as the ZenFone 2 series but houses a 13MP camera with laser guided auto-focus right above the display. There is also a change in the hardware as this time Asus went in for a Snapdragon 615 processor rather than going for an Intel chip. The ZenFone Selfie will be coming in variants with 3GB of 4GB RAM options and a of course a variety of colours. ZenPad tablets and moreA new tablet series was also shown off under a brand new name called ZenPad. There are two variants, the ZenPad S 8.0 and the ZenPad 8.0. The former one sports an 8-inch 2K (2560x1440) resolution display and runs on an Intel Atom Z3530 64-bit quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16/32GB internal storage, microSD card slot, 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The ZenPad 8.0 is a much more affordable version with an 8-inch WXGA IPS display and is powered by an Intel Atom x3-C3200 quad-core processor with 1GB/2GB of RAM and 8GB/16GB internal storage, microSD card slot, 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera and on Android 5.0 Lollipop. Along with the tablets a very interesting swappable back cover was shown off for the ZenPad tablets which enhance the productivity of the tablet by adding six speakers to the tablet to give DTS-HD 5.1 Surround Sound. With its battery back panel you can also add 14 hours of extra battey. Zen AiO with RealSense 3D cameraTwo sleek and attractive all-in-one PCs were shown off, the Zen AiO (Z240IC) comes with a 23.8-inch display, USB 3.1 Type-C connectivity and Intel's RealSense 3D camera technology. There is also a 21.5-inch model, AiO (Z220IC), which skips the 3D camera. The design seems inspired from the Apple iMac with an aluminum shell with an "Icicle Gold" colour. On the hardware side you can get as high as an Intel Core i7 processor with up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, SSD storage, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M graphics card.
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We have finally started to accept and adopt DTH for television entertainment and are on the verge of abolishing the cable. The next big thing, however, is online video streaming services where a monthly subscription gives you access to a variety of television programs and movies via the internet. India has not been very lucky when it comes to online video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or HBO Now mainly due to two reasons. Firstly the average broadband internet speed and even mobile data services in India have been horribly slow and secondly the population of people who consume international TV shows and Hollywood movies is substantially low. YouTube is probably the most consumed video service in India with over 70 million users a month and paid services like BoxTV and BigFlix have not been doing very well. The newest brand to enter into the Indian market is Hooq, a joint venture between Singtel, Warner Bros and Sony Pictures which has already started its beta program and plans to bring the service to consumers sometime later this month. After launching the service in Philippines and Thailand, the service will come to India at a low cost of just Rs. 199 to view all the content. Speaking of which the company claims that it already has a catalogue of over 15000 titles which includes Indian and international TV shows and movie titles from Hollywood, Bollywood, South India, Korea, Japan and Thaliand. The company also said that anything that is uploaded on YouTube, will not be a part of Hooq’s catalogue. Some of the partners that will be providing content will include Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, Dreamworks, Miramax and a bunch of Indian studios including, Yash Raj Films, UTV Disney, Rajshri, Reliance, Shemaroo, Sri Balaji, AP International, Whacked Out Media and more. Coming down to the app, it has a fairly simple interface with movie and TV show titles available in different categories and languages. The best part is that the app lets you store up to five movies or TV episodes that can be viewed in offline mode i.e.; no need of the internet. There is also an option to reduce the quality (resolution) of the videos in case you are slow on connectivity or using small mobile device. The app also offers a resume feature which lets you continue playing from where you left off. With support of up to five devices and two simultaneous streaming, the app sounds quite promising. But is it really the video streaming service that you should look out for? Well, the catalogue is actually quite low, while there are a few good titles to indulge in; there is a huge scope to provide a larger quantity of titles. The connectivity is not very seamless as there were instances where the app would randomly disconnect even when you have a fast and stable connection. The service is in its early stages and should gain momentum once it is rolled out commercially. Hooq CEO, Mr. Peter Bithos has also confirmed that the company is in talks with a number of network providers and plans to bring in special coupons and sachet packs in the near future.
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The age of the connected car is here. And you know it’s truly arrived when a legendary hunk of Stuttgart engineering comes with intelligence baked into it. From the frameless door that rolls up its windows when you shut it, to the screen that sits on the dashboard to give you everything from navigation to movies, Mercedes Benz CLS 250 is filled with sensors and cameras to make for a high-tech ride. The recently announced 4-door coupe is, above all, lavishness packed into an exquisite design. The front grill is iconic thanks to the diamond-patterned mesh, and the headlights have a story of their own. Each headlight consists of 36 LEDs which automatically twist and turn to give the widest area of illumination on the road; this is a useful especially when the car is about to make a turn. There are also a lot of cameras fitted on the front, back and around the ORVMs to provide a full 360-degree view around the car on the in-dash display. Along with the cameras, the range of sensors all around the car send in alerts almost every single minute of your drive. That can get annoying if you’re not ready for a lot of information, but it doesn’t take long to get used to. The interiors are swanky, though low-roofed, and comfortable to the extreme. Mercedes has crafted the inside with wood and soft fabric around the large and spacious cabin. The leather seats are comfortable especially the front ones which can be adjusted easily via a knob system to adjust the height and placement of the base, back and the headrest. The dashboard console is something out of a sci-fi movie including a number of controls and a large display sitting on top for the infotainment system, which is now a standard for all new Mercedes cars. The display shows you maps and navigation, a top 360-degree view of the car while it’s moving, audio controls, connectivity features and more. A clever feature allows the system to be paired to your smartphone via Bluetooth and then use the mobile data to access the Internet, quite handy when you want to look for the closest gas station, but it also means you would require a fast Internet connection with ample amount of data. You can also read and send email and have your SMS read out, call people, play your music and so on. Apart from Bluetooth there are two full-sized USB ports to charge your devices and also to connect to the music system. Speaking of which, the CLS 250 comes with a standard set of 14 high quality Harman Kardon speakers throwing out 610 watts of audio power that transforms the car into a live music concert. Some of this means you need to be sitting in front, of course. Apart from the entertainment and comfort, the CLS 250 comes with a lot of other clever tech to make your ride safer and more intuitive. Firstly there is the ‘Attention Assist’ system that sends in vibrations to the steering and sets off an alarm to make the driver more alert in case he is feeling drowsy. Then there is the ‘Adaptive Brake’ system which along with the ABS (Anti-lock brake system) senses the drivers reactions and automatically applies a certain amount of brake to avoid accidents and collisions. The most exciting feature of all though, is the Active Parking Assist with PARKTRONIC. This smart feature allows you to park the car automatically, without the driver having to steer or accelerate, and yes it is accurate. The car, through its sensors and cameras, detects if there is enough parking space. Once it does, you only need to push a lever to tell the car to start parking, and with amazing accuracy the car automatically steers and accelerates to park itself. Coming to the raw details of the car, the CLS 250 comes only in a 4-cylinder, 2143cc diesel variant. The engine comes with an automatic seven-front speed and two-rear speed gearbox which is very nimble. For those who want all the control in their hands, the car comes with paddle gear shifters on either sides of the steering, giving you that F1 experience. The engine is surprisingly quite and you don’t feel the grunt when you are sitting inside, but with a power output of 204bhp, it is not a slow car at all, in fact it can go 0-100km/h in just 7.5 seconds. The CLS 250 is an extraordinary experience that puts together comfort, luxury, power and safety thanks to all the engineering and advanced technology used by Mercedes. If money is no bar, this could be your car. (The authors are Mala Bhargava and Kunal Khullar) (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 15-06-2015)
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