Lenovo ThinkPad YogaRs 112,418 & Rs 96,765lenovo jumped right into the ultrabook and hybrid segment with its Yoga notebooks and later, tablets. But not many would have expected to see the iconic ThinkPad get the Yoga treatment. Well, it has. Its 12.5-inch screen bends backwards all the way till it meets the back of the keyboard —and yet it's every bit the ThinkPad, built very tough and even a bit heavy. All that is signature about the ThinkPad is still there including the little red track point which ThinkPad users love. It's targeted at the enterprise and not for someone looking for a light, snazzy notebook.The magnesium alloy casing looks no-nonsense and the hinges that allow the screen to move all the way back 360 degrees seem really sturdy. The screen is a 400nit IPS panel with FHD resolution. It's a touch screen and is responsive enough though I did encounter the occasional lag. The keyboard on ThinkPads has been as iconic as the device itself, and it's pretty good on this laptop too. The battery lasts about six hours, but I didn't think this notebook is so ultra portable as to be the type you'd use without power nearby. There are two configurations, both nice and pricey. A Rs 112,418 and Rs 96,765. Both are running Windows 8.Sony Xperia C3 Rs 23,990how do you put together a smartphone for today's self-obsessed generation? You do it by outfitting the device with a 5MP front camera. Or that's what Sony believes as it rides the selfie bandwagon to add the Xperia C3 to its line. I'm not sure whether one would buy a Rs 23,990 phone to shoot selfies, but one never knows. I certainly do see Facebook flooded ad nauseam with selfies from both young and old. To be selfie capable, the C3 front camera has a 25mm wide-angle lens. That means you can take that cliche group shot with everyone fitting in, complete with their poses. You also have a soft LED flash so that you can take photos indoors without the unpleasant blue-white glare of a flash. Of course, it's not always easy to escape. There's a red eye reduction mode which didn't do too much. Nonetheless, it's a good front camera and helped by the timer plus dedicated camera button on the side, both which can get you that arm's length shot.The rest of the phone, including the 8MP rear camera, is average. Th specs are now offered by devices half the cost and the phone is a large 5.5 inch gadget that may be a bit awkward to hold just for selfies. But then, it's got something else going for it: good looks, if you manage to get the mint one, and great battery life that could cross over to the next day. The C3 is light and super thin, doesn't have a bad screen, and has a steely metallic strip accounting accenting it's good looks. It's just that it's fairly expensive for what it offers. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-10-2014)
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It's pretty safe to say that the one thing people have loved best about HTC’s flagship phones have been their design. A refusal to compromise on material and build quality have been the hallmark of more than one of HTC’s top-end offerings. But, of course, that means a great deal of expense, both for the maker and the buyer. So here’s an attempt to bring the cost down a bit and yet not cheapen the look and feel of the device. Say hello to the HTC One E8, affordable brother of the all-metal One M8. From the front, the E8 is signature HTC. It’s a look that’s still classy and pleasing even though we’ve seen it on several devices now. Same chamfered edges, slim bezels and fantastic sounding speakers on the top and bottom. Also, the same silly placement for the power button —up on top in the centre. I always forget and go looking for it. But for whiners like me, the screen wakes up and sleeps off with two quick taps. It’s on the back that the E8 looks different. It has a soft polycarbonate panel that makes it lighter, cheaper, and a little fond of oily fingers, even if I say so myself. But all that is a small sacrifice for many when it translates to a saving of about Rs 10,000. The M8 is Rs 43,299 as of this writing, and the E8 Rs 33,850. The E8 is a good-to-hold smartphone, on the biggish side but narrow and comfortable. The soft back gives it some grip, instead of being dangerously slippery like the M8 which has a satiny feel. When you turn it on, you’ll find a nice crisp screen. I didn’t like its auto brightness, but otherwise it’s a comfortable display in terms of colours and viewing angles. Text is crisp and clear. HTC’s Blink Feed, the magazine app that lets you see local content and your social networks, pulls out with a swipe from the left of the screen and can be swiped back when you’re done with it. HTC’s interface, Sense 6, is simple and well optimised with Android on the device. It’s easy to get used to and has its share of smart features such as a number of gesture customisations, without seeming overly gimmicky. It’s a clean and light experience. The E8 is also quite the performer. Not only does it score high on synthetic benchmarks, it works free of lag and stutter and does a good job of graphics. Lovers of gaming should have a good time. There’s only the faintest heating up. With the sound being as good as it is, consuming media is a good experience too. The keyboard on the E8 is pretty nice and supports trace input. If there’s one thing I’m disappointed with, it’s the camera. Although I’ve never been convinced by the 4 ultra pixel format, I think they may as well have stuck with that one. Although the photos wouldn’t zoom in and enlarge much, there’s something not quite right with the E8’s main camera. Acceptable in good light, it doesn’t quite stand up to the competition. It’s in low light though that things turn sour. Pictures in darker places are outright murky and just don’t look good even when you use the night mode or make adjustments. There are panorama and HDR modes but still, there’s the dark pictures in lower light to deal with. The E8 is a dual-SIM and uses nano cards. Call quality is good and so is signal reception. The battery is adequate for most of the day. Sony DSC RX100 MARK IIIFriends who know of my fondness for the Sony RX100 camera have their eye on my unit because they’re fairly certain I will buy the third generation of this popular product. I’m afraid they have a long wait because I’m not letting go of the original RX100. That doesn’t mean the Mark III isn’t a good camera — just that it’s expensive and not readily worth the “upgrade” if that means buying the camera all over again. The nicest thing about the RX100 is that it’s small enough to fit into a purse. And yet, its capabilities are surprising for its size. Those capabilities have obviously only improved with each new version, but not dramatically. With the Mark III and the RX100 original side by side, I find they’re almost the same size except that the Mark III is a millimeter or so thicker because it has a retractable electronic viewfinder. It doesn’t articulate in all directions, but it does pull out and also flips over so you can take a selfie, complete with a timer which gets activated in that position. Interestingly, it’s very different from its immediate sibling, the Mark II which was heavier and sported a horseshoe to fit accessories including a viewfinder. The new version has an F1.8-2.8 ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T1 (24-70mm) lens and a 20.1MP (effective) Exmor R CMOS sensor for better low-light shots.Its interface is familiar to Sony camera users and the rings around the lens can still be used for customised adjustments. Zoom is 2.9x and there are no interchangeable lenses. But there’s NFC and Wi-Fi.I wouldn’t recommend buying a fresh RX100 if you already have one of the previous models, but if you’re keen on a powerful camera that can fit into your pocket, think of spending Rs 54,990. At that price, you’ll get some DSLRs, but do you want one? (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 06-10-2014)
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It overflows right off my wrist but that doesn’t stop me from lusting after the Moto 360 smartwatch. There are other designs of smartwatches that wrap around the wrist like a band and don’t end up snipping a little chunk at the bottom so text can fit in, but the Moto 360 is still compelling to the extreme.First, it’s so familiar in its look – like a real watch. I’ve given up on them long ago, but I do believe, those of us born wearing watches still have that watch-glancing instinct. When you long-press on the watch face, you’ll find a bunch of options to change its look, so you can go as new-fangled or old-timer as you like.The screen, a big 1.5 incher, is about as big as my first phone was. It’s a bright LCD with a 320x290 pixels resolution. The screen really draws your eyes to it. To interact with it, you swipe or use your voice – Okay Google, or if you choose, set that to something else. There’s no little keyboard, so you’ll need to input things by voice. The text on each screen is nice and big and visible and that makes it usable by more people.The Moto 360 is based on Android Wear, Google’s platform for wearables, and works with any phone running Android 4.3 and above. It connects to the phone via Bluetooth and a sign-in to a Google account. Then there’s software on both devices to let the user get into the applications.And just like a real watch, the device has a real leather strap (changeable) and comes with either a metallic casing that’s either light or dark, the light looking more steely and masculine. The watch even comes in a round box. There’s a wireless charging dock so that there’s no fiddling with little micro USBs. The battery is a 320mAh and is intended to last the day, so you’ll need to get used to charging it when you charge your phone, perhaps.The Moto 360 has a whole 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal memory.What really brings the watch alive is Google Now. You get notifications and Google cards like weather, flight status etc and even your boarding pass – which of course will only be useful if the airport and airline supports it. An OK Google immediately activates search.Of course, the Moto 360 also does the usual tracking of steps and activity and heartbeat and so on. Smartly, it collects all the data to show you weekly stats and even measures “healthy minutes” which come about when there’s enough vigorous and sustained activity.Launched on Friday (5 September) in New Delhi, the Moto 360 will be available on Flipkart a few weeks down the line, along with the Moto X smartphone. No price has yet been announced but Charlie Tritschler, Senior Vice President Product Management at Motorola, hinted that the price would be acceptable to Indian buyers. Going by US pricing, it’s estimated to be about Rs 15,000. mala@businessworld.inmala.bhargava@gmail.com
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India’s largest mobile service provider Bharti Airtel has launched Wynk — a music application. That makes it the first Indian telecom operator to offer an Over the Top (OTT) mobile application in India. What this means is that for the first time, Airtel will be offering a service to users of all networks.This move ensures that it can keep up with the competition and ensure a steady rise in data revenues. The app that is available on the Android and iOS platforms, offers 1.7 million songs in eight languages — Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Punjabi and Bhojpuri. The advertisement free app runs primarily on subscription revenues. It will compete with Saavn (South Asian Audio Video Network) and Times Internet’s Gaana. It has priced its offerings at rates lower than both these applications.Wynk is available in three versions—free, Wynk Plus and Wynk Freedom. In the free version, users can stream songs of their choice online and listen to internet radio. With Wynk Plus, they can enjoy unlimited in-app song downloads and play music offline at Rs. 99 on Android and Rs. 60 on iOS. Airtel customers using Android phones can enjoy a special introductory price of just Rs. 29 on this. Wynk Freedom at Rs. 129 is available to Airtel customers in 3G circles using Android phones. That gives them unlimited streaming and download of music without incurring additional data charges.The move is the first bid by an operator to get back revenue that they are losing to OTT operators. Already, operators are losing to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Now for the first time an operator is looking to make the most of data that is travelling on its pipes. Says Srinivasan Gopalan, Director, Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel: “With the rise of smartphones in India, mobile phones have emerged as the most preferred platform to experience music on the go and accounts for almost 85-90 per cent of total digital consumption."The target consumers for Wynk are largely the youth. While data revenues are expected to rise, much of that could be while users are on a wifi network, reducing the data earnings of operators substantially. Airtel is banking on the rising demand for smartphones in the country.
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In a cellphone market that gets tougher and more challenging by the minute, we have a new entrant, the LG G3, which has recently made its way to India. The Other Korean Company has tried to give it everything it's got looks, software, specs, specs, specs. But they¡¦re housed in a nice design.I call the removable back of this phone plastic-fantastic because it looks like smooth cool metal. The look is a little reminiscent of the HTC One whose design is the subject of great admiration. The G3 is a big phone but good to hold because of the pronounced curve on the back and sloping sides. On the front, the device looks interesting because it has minimal edges, giving all the space to the screen. On the narrow metallic looking strip on the bottom has LG¡¦s logo looking neat and elegant. In fact the device on the whole is quite elegant.The most talked-about feature of the G3 is the screen. At the moment, only the OPPO Find 7 - featured here earlier ¡X has this screen resolution. There¡¦s a reason for that. Beyond a point, higher and higher resolution is barely detectable and its usefulness is debatable since nothing has been created to leverage it. Thinking back to the screens of the LG G2 and G Flip, I feel those were more than adequate and in fact quite wonderful. Those even had better viewing angles. But the G3's Quad HD display is a big talking point.Another feature that has people excited is the camera¡¦s laser focusing ability. Other than the flash and camera on the back panel, you will also see a little laser which is meant to home in on an object so the camera can focus sharper and quicker. The camera is quick all right and does a decent job, except where absolute low light comes into the equation, whereupon it¡¦s got the same challenges as all phones except those that particularly do something to work around low-light photography issues. And in this age of selfie mania (seeing as even monkeys take them), the camera software includes a neat trick where you raise your hand, palm facing camera, to tell it you want to take a selfie. Close your hand into a fist and you will activate the timer leading up to your esteemed selfie.As for the rest of the software on this phone, Android hums along nicely as it's bound to with all that powerful hardware fueling it. And LG's own interface and customisations work smoothly as these are light and invariably lag-free. At the same time, there's all the bag of tricks that one might expect today from a top end phone. You have the Knock feature with which you tap twice to wake up the screen; a series of taps to serve as a code to unlock the device; multi tasking and split screen, an interesting instant quick memo feature and a slide-out health section. There¡¦s also the entire gamut of smart features that let you use voice and gestures for various things. A Google Now-like feature learns your preferences and reminds you of relevant stuff such as things you wanted to buy from a favourite shop when you get there. So all in all, a lot of specs and features, for a lot of money.Next up: LG is rumored to be coming out with a stylus version of the G3. Huawei Ascend G750Shenzhen-based Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker. It's also a phone maker and it's playing for the budget segment that all companies are gunning for in India. Huawei's Ascend G750, also called Honor 3X on its pretty aquamarine box, has just become available in India at a price of Rs 24,990. For that price, it gives you a fair bit of value. But as usual, there are trade-offs.Just missing the "premium" look, the G750 is in black or white and at 5.5 inches, definitely a big phone. I saw the white version, which from the back, is distinctly plasticky. On the sides, a chrome trimming that looks pretty good. From the front, it looks, well, a bit Micromax-like. No matter. This phone has a 1.7GHz octa-core processor and it's a good performer, with 2GB of RAM to go with. It's still on Android 4.2.2 though and that's Jelly Bean, not KitKat. Huawei's interface, called the EmotionUI, is a light one, but stylises elements to suit itself and stand out differently. There's an interesting easy mode for the home screens that turn everything into Windows-like tiles with big writing indicating what's in them - Calendar, Calling, etc. I thought that very nice for people who've just switched to touch and trying to figure out what's where. I am fairly certain my mother would appreciate that ease of use.Other highlights include a 5MP selfie-friendly camera, paired with the primary 13MP shooter. The results are passable. The screen is a 720x1280 IPS display ¡V not high res but very usable and with good colours and viewing angles. The phone is a dual-sim and there's a 32GB micro-SD slot to add to the 8GB on board (approximately 4GB of which is usable). There's a 3,000 mAh battery which behaves itself just fine.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 22-09-2014)
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Logitech has announced the Logitech Type+, a protective case with an integrated keyboard for the new iPad Air 2. The new Logitech Type+ takes the design of our most popular thin, light and two-sided protection that helps guard your iPad from the accidental bumps, scratches and spills. And now it features an improved Bluetooth keyboard. The company has designed the new keyboard to replicate the typing experience and layout you would have on your laptop. This is made possible by optimizing the distance between its keys, and adding a dedicated row of iOS shortcuts that put navigation of your iPad at your fingertips without needing to reach out and touch your iPad’s screen. The Logitech Type+ keyboard also has an automatic On/Off feature; when the iPad is positioned upright, the Logitech Type+ automatically turns on, and when it’s closed, it automatically turns off. In addition, the auto-wake and auto-sleep feature turns your iPad off when you close the case and wakes it when you open the case so your iPad is ready anytime you need it. IT Leaders Reveal Harsh Realities 93 per cent of Indian CIOs and CTOs believe the job of keeping their enterprise protected is becoming more challenging, according to new research from Fortinet, a global leader in high-performance network security. Serious boardroom pressure to keep the enterprise secure has jumped almost one-third in the last 12 months, making security paramount and a primary consideration over other business initiatives. This and other findings come from an independent survey commissioned by Fortinet on 504 enterprise IT decision makers (ITDMs) in the Asia Pacific countries of Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea. This was part of a bigger survey of over 1,600 ITDMs, largely from 500+ employee organizations, around the world. All respondents were sourced from independent market research company Lightspeed GMI's online panel. Consumers Consider Cutting US-Based Internet Services Post-SnowdenOn the heels of Edward Snowden’s advice to switch from Dropbox, Facebook and Google to services that place a high priority on security and privacy, F-Secure is releasing survey results that show that many people are willing to do just that. The survey, which polled people in six countries, also shows that a majority of people have changed some of their Internet habits in recent months due to increased privacy concerns. In a recent video interview, whistleblower Snowden cautioned viewers, saying such major Internet services are dangerous and should be avoided. And in fact, 53 per cent of survey respondents said they’d be willing to switch from services like Google to other more private services to avoid search-based profiling. 56 per cent of people also said they have become more wary of US-based Internet services in the past year. 46 per cent of people said they would be willing to pay to be sure that none of their personal data transits via the US. And 70 per cent said they are concerned about the potential of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies in countries through which their data may be passing. FireEye Releases Report on Cyber Espionage Group The leader in stopping today's advanced cyber attacks, on Thursday (30 October) released a comprehensive intelligence report that assesses that an advanced persistent threat (APT) group may be sponsored by the Russian government. A Window into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations details the work of a team of skilled Russian developers and operators, designated by FireEye as APT28, that has been interested in collecting information from defense and geopolitical intelligence targets including the Republic of Georgia, Eastern European governments and militaries, and European security organizations, all areas of particular interest to the Russian government. This FireEye report offers details that likely link APT28: a threat group whose malware is already fairly well-known in the cybersecurity community with a government sponsor based in Moscow, exposing long-standing, focused operations that indicate government backing. The report includes malware samples compiled by FireEye that indicate that the developers are Russian language speakers who are operating during business hours consistent with the time zone of Russia’s major cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Flash Drive For SmartphonesADATA Technology, a leading global manufacturer of high-performance DRAM memory modules and NAND Flash application products, on Thursday announced the launch of UC330 Dual USB Flash Drive featuring dual micro USB and standard USB interfaces in India. Available in 8, 16 and 32GB sizes, the UC330 Dual USB allows one to share and backup data between PC, tablet, phablet, or smart phone at prices rivaling built-in storage found on some mobile phones. Along with a lifetime warranty and On-the-Go (OTG) USB compliance, customers who purchase the UC330 flash drive can also enjoy ADATA's feature-packed OStoGO and UFDtoGO software packages. Crafted of zinc alloy with a silver finish, ADATA's Choice UC330 Dual USB Flash Drive weighs only 3.6 grams and comes with a black end cap fitted with a strap hole so you can easily carry the flash drive on a lanyard, keychain or neck strap. As you use the rocket-shaped UC330, its cap fits on either side of its dual-headed USB. When not in use, stand it up on its end for easy storage on your desktop like a rocket awaiting lift-off. Manufactured with a special chip-on-board (COB) process, resulting in high water and impact resistance, your UC330 flash drive is engineered for utmost quality and reliability. To copy files to or from your mobile device, simply plug the UC330's OTG-compliant micro USB connector into your Android mobile phone or tablet. Then allow your phone to detect the UC330 and transfer your files at speeds much faster and more securely than a Bluetooth connection. When finished copying, disconnect the UC330 from your mobile device and plug the standard USB end of the dual-headed UC330 into your desktop or notebook PC. Use the Choice UC330 Dual USB Flash Drive to copy files just as easily from PC to mobile device also. Depending on how many music files, pictures and business documents you have, choose a UC330 Dual USB Flash Drive with 8, 16 or 32GB capacities.
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Ready To DialIf you're sick of the way your contacts list looks, try Ready Contacts on Android. It uses two styles to display the people on your list. One: you see squares with the people you connected with recently. Two, you swipe right to left to see your contacts in a rotating alphabetical sequence. This is rather slick looking and works pretty fast. But if your people don't have pictures, it's just a lot of black. There are some additional features when compared with default lists. You can choose to see the call history of whoever you're talking to, plus a line on what your last email was about. Useful, that! Contacts are readily searchable. An alphabet panel lets you jump to the needed place too. There are a few additional features that you'll need to unlock for Rs 189 if you want full functioning. Selfie The Lumia WayThe obsession with selfies continues. Check the Windows store for the Lumia Selfie app. What's interesting about it is that it lets you use the main camera and centers your face with beeps. That and a timer make it happen. The beeps didn't sound for me but I still managed to use the main camera well enough. You can always use the front cam, of course.This app auto enhances your picture. After that, you can swipe through about 20 filters and see how you look. There's vintage, lomo pop, black and white, and even an effect that puts you on the cover of a Lumia magazine. Choose what you like and finalise. You can even tamper with skin toning, smile, eyes, slimness and more, using a slider for each characteristic. The Lumia Selfie is free. Flipboard For Windows Phonesand finally, this most beautiful of apps has arrived on Windows Phones (8.1). Well, some of them, anyway. If you haven't seen Flipboard before, it's a beautiful magazine app. You choose content sources pick from categories, and even make your own magazines. On Windows Phones, it isn't quite the same as it is on iOS or Android. To start with, it doesn't quite flip. You have a different arrangement starting with some cover stories that you can scroll through in a card-based format. You can do all the other things you would on other platforms such as adding articles to your magazines, sharing, etc. You don't have widgets, but you can add a source as a home tile. On some phones, such as the Lumia 830, a Flipboard shortcut icon will lead you to the preloaded app. On larger Windows Phones, Flipboard looks great. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 17-11-2014)
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It wasn't that long ago that we saw the Xperia Z2 launched. And now already, here’s the Z3, shown off first at the IFA show in Berlin earlier just this September and already here in India. With all the Zs being turned out that rapidly, one can’t expect dramatic changes from one device to the next. And so it is that the Xperia Z3 is an iteration — but a good one. Sony has been going with a sharp straight-lined design for its Z smartphones for a while now. But with the Xperia Z3, Sony has let go of the sharp edges and has rounded them for a more comfortable grip. It’s interesting how Sony has managed to retain its signature look and yet make this change. A friend who saw the Z3 in my hand was instantly captivated with the “snazzy” gadget I was lucky enough to be carrying. I reminded her the gadget would go back soon enough. As with all big smooth smartphones, there’s some slipperiness, so new owners should watch it. Sony has done away with the beautiful purple colour option, but they have a bronze-gold that looks very elegant. The Z3 is of course, waterproof and dust proof like its predecessors, if you keep the flaps on the side firmly closed. That’s one of Sony’s USPs though personally I think too much is made of this feature. The corners have some shock absorption to them and the device is overall tougher. I was one of the detractors of the display on the original Xperia Z but now the screen is nice and bright and clear with natural colours and good visibility from all angles even though the resolution isn’t at the highest as is the case with other flagships. The sound on this device is rather nice through two front speakers, and really very good from the video you shoot using the device. You can connect the Z3 to your Playstation 4, though I wasn’t able to test this. You connect your phone wirelessly to the PS4, both being on the same Wi-Fi network, and your phone can be the screen for the PS4. You’ll need a controller and a dock. The Z3’s camera is very capable, specially if you work with the manual mode and get to know the camera. Low-light sensitivity is good so you can experiment with photos in varying light conditions. The 25mm ‘G’ Lens means wide angle shots. The ISO extends to 12800 and you have less noisy shots. There is a software stabilisation to get steady images. The camera software gives you lots of features including a timeshift burst, AR effect, sound photos and more. Video recording is 4K if you want it to be. The device does heat up a little while doing this though and may warn you. Sony’s interface and the applications they have on board don’t cause any glitches and lags with Android 4.4.4. It’s at heart a light interface and works pretty smoothly. Browsing, videos, gaming, is all a cinch. Battery consumption is one of the strengths of the Z3 and it has two levels of power saving to get the most out of that battery. If usage is light, you can actually get two days of juice out of it. Now to get to who the Z3 is for. Well, for those who have the money for flagship, of course. For those looking for a less expensive proposition there’s the Z3 Compact at Rs44,990 and the same specs in a smaller body. Fans of the Sony flagship who own the Z2 may not find the Z3 enough of a change, but anyone who owns the original Z1 definitely will. At Rs 51,990 the Z3 isn’t cheap — but then neither are the other flagship phones. Iball Slide WQ32 TabletYou'd think it was a run of the mill Android tablet until your eye falls on the Windows logo on this 8-inch tablet. It's plain and straight forward and at the same time doesn't look in the least cheap. It's worth considering for someone who particularly works with Windows and Microsoft Office, but lightly and on the go. The "Slide" tablet is Intel Atom-powered and Windows 8.1-based. You have to sign in with your Microsoft account and you store your files on OneDrive or transfer them via USB to other storage. You do have a micro-SD card for expansion by 64GB to add to the 16GB on board and a SIM slot as well. The 1280x800 pixel IPS HD display is really rather nice — clear and good with colours and angles. Responsive too. Sound however, is thin and tinny. The Intel Atom Z3735D 1.33GHz, processor and 2GB RAM keeps it moving along quite satisfactorily. There's a a 5-megapixel autofocus primary camera with flash and a 2-megapixel front camera. You have all the connectivity you need on this little tablet and can use it for presentations, connect to a USB drive etc. The battery, which is probably what makes the tablet a little heavy, lasts a good 8 hours. The Firefox PhonesThink absolute barebones when looking at a smartphone based on the Firefox operating system. Two phones, recently launched, by Spice Mobile and Intex, are so basic as to be almost feature phones. But the idea of these is to get at the first-time user who needs connectivity. Fire One Mi-Fx 1, from Spice, is a small easy-to hold handset with a plastic back and an extra silicon back cover. Lower your expectations to align with a price of around Rs 2,300 and you find that you have a workable device. It's a dual SIM, with micro SD slot and a passable battery. There's even a VGA camera on this handset. Firefox doesn't particularly stand out when you look at it. It's got a basic home screen and app icons much as usual. You have a bunch of pre-loaded apps and can access the Market place for a few more. You can get to the social networks, but, no Whatsapp. The Intex Cloud FX, the other Firefox entry, is very similar. A slightly lower specs sheet bit a slightly lower price as well, at Rs 1,999. Screen, sound, camera, are all terribly basic. Neither of phones has 3G connectivity.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 03-11-2014)
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