Monday, January 31, 2011

Top 5 Android phones below 10,000

The recent surveys done by top research firms like Gartner point to the growing popularity of the Android operating system (OS). Worldwide, the shares of Android OS have jumped and it is now the second most popular OS after Symbian, as per Gartner's third quarter smartphone data released in November 2010.

The reason for the immense adoption of Android can be attributed to it being an open source operating system that is preferred by handset manufacturers. Plus there is the Android market that houses more than 200,000 apps. Indian manufacturers are cashing on big time in the Android platform and are coming up with new and cheap handsets to cater to the Indian user's taste and sensibility.


We picked top five phones running on the Android platform and are priced below  10,000 that give value for money. 

1. Samsung Galaxy 5 

Running on Android 2.1, the Samsung Galaxy 5 features a 2.8 inch display touchscreen with 240x320 pixel resolution. The phone is powered by a 600MHz processor. It has Samsung's proprietary TouchWIZ UI. The phone has access to the Android market, thus you can download huge number of apps through this. Connectivity wise, the phone scores with packing in 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS support. With an internal memory of 170MB, the phone comes with a 2GB microSD card. The memory can be further expanded to 16GB. It packs in a 2MP camera and its powerful battery gives a long talk time of 9.5 hours.
Price:  8,869 

2. Spice Mi-300 

Having got itself the update from Android 1.6 to 2.1, the Spice Mi-300 has brought itself out of the initial criticism that it faced without the OS update. Sporting a 3.2 inch capacitive display screen, and supports 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth for connectivity, it has a 5MP camera with LED flash option. It comes with 150MB internal memory that can be extended up to 32GB with a microSD card. The battery supports a talk time of five hours.
Price:  9,000 

3. Dell XCD28 

The Dell XCD28 features a 2.8 inch resistive touchscreen and runs on the Android 2.1 operating system. Powered by a 600MHz processor, the device has a 3.2MP camera. The phone weighs just 100 gram and has 256MB of RAM and ROM each. Connectivity wise, the phone has 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. It ships with an internal memory of 200MB that can be extended up to 16GB.
Price:  7,999 

4. Huawei Ideos U8150 

The Android 2.2 run phone from Huawei has just been released in India in partnership with Aircel. Ideos has a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen with screen resolution of 320X240. A 3.2 MP camera is present at the rear of the phone. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS. Powered by a 528MHz processor, the phone can function as a Wi-Fi router for eight devices. The memory of the phone can be increased up to 32GB using a microSD card. With the Aircel tie-up, a postpaid subscriber of Aircel is granted 2GB of free mobile data every month.
Price:  8,499 

5. Micromax Andro 

The first Android phone launched by Micromax, the Andro A60 is a full touchscreen smartphone that runs on the Android 2.1 Eclair OS. The phone has a 2.8 inch resistive screen with an auto focused 3.2 MP camera. Powered by a 600MHz microprocessor, the phone comes with an internal memory of 150MB and can be expanded up to 32GB using a micro SD card. Connectivity features of the phone include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The Andro A60 also packs in an Accelerometer and Gravity sensor for playing the Android-platform based games. The device includes FM radio and is powered by a 1280 mAh Li-ion battery. 
Price:  6,699 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Free International Calls from PC to Phone with Google Talk and Talkster (GTalk-to-VoIP)

Free International Calls from PC to Phone with Google Talk and Talkster (GTalk-to-VoIP)

Free internationalcalling service is hard to come by, after all, commercial telephonecompanies or phone communication operators need to pay connection fee to receiving called party's providers no matter the calls are made to land line, cell phone or satellite phone, and regardless of it's a trunk, toll or VoIP calls. Lots of sites that offer free worldwide phone calls has now defunct, e.g. AllFreeCalls. Most established PC-to-Phone or VoIP operators such as MediaRing gives free calls to limited countries or destinations as promotion to attract users.

There is another opportunity for free international phone calls in from PC to phone style, by using Google Talk, and Talkster integration with GTalk2VoIP. The partnership, using ad-supported business model, allows callers from anywhere worldwide in every countries free international, long distance and group conference calls by leveraging on Google Talk. And callers able to call to more than 30 countries supported by Talkster's network completely free, or partially free (caller portion) for anywhere else in the world.

The free international calls by dialing from GTalk instant messaging client is especially beneficial to areas with strictly regulated VoIP and telecom practices, such as India, Africa and Middle East countries such as United Arab Emirates, where using Talkster through GTalk2VoIP will let people communicate freely between mobile phones, landlines and PCs, even in countries not currently supported through Talkster's ad supported free calling service.

To take advantage of free international calling via Google Talk via Talkster, follow these steps:

  1. Run Google Talk desktop client. Download and install Google Talk if you haven't.
  2. Click on the Add button on Google Talk to add contacts into Google Talk, as the same usual way.
  3. Type in the phone number of the person you want to call in the following format:

    complete-full-phone-number@talkster.gtalk2voip.com

    The complete full phone number must include country code and areacode. For example, a telephone number in UK will have the following phone number assigned in GTalk: 442071234567@talkster.gtalk2voip.com, or for USA, 12125551212@talkster.gtalk2voip.com.

    Adding Talkster Free Call Number in Google Talk

  4. A confirmation instant message will be sent by Talkster for instructions together with a local Talkster call-in number on how to place the free international calls for both calling party and called party. Typically, Talkster assigns a local Talkster number for calling party (the person you want to call) in their country, which allows he or she to incur only cheap local call charge (which may be free in some countries).

    Talkster Local Call-in Number

  5. To place the free international call to your friend, click on friend's number in the Google Talk Contact List.
  6. Click on the Call button to start the call.
  7. Talkster will dial out to the calling phone number from Google Talk.
  8. When the calling party answers, there is 10 seconds for caller to check to see if he's available to talk, and to instruct the answering party to hang up and callback using the caller's local Taskster phone number in that country.
  9. Wait while the calling party hangs up and calls back using the Talkster local number for the caller. Ensure that the calling party knows this number, else send the phone number to him or by email or IM. If the phone number is a mobile phone number, an SMS with Talkster call-in number will be sent to the cellphone too. The call recipient or the calling party must calls back in for the international call to be connected.

    Note that Talkster uses Caller ID to recognize who to connect the call to, so Caller ID must not be disabled or suppressed.

  10. As soon as the 'original calling party' calls in, Talkster and GTalk2VoIP connect both caller and called party into an international call where talkers can talk as long as you want for free.
  11. When finished talking, just end the call. Users are welcome to call as often as possible.

Currently, Talkster has local numbers in more than 30 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.

Calling fixed line, landline, mobile, cell or any phone number of supported international destinations or countries from Google Talk via Talkster and GTalk2VoIP integration is always free, and no credit card, no sign-up and no registration required, no catches, no limites, and no conditions attached, and free usage is unlimited. Users can can call as often as you like and talk as long as you like. More information at gtalk2voip.com.

Thanks http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/07/04/free-international-calls-from-pc-to-phone-with-google-talk-and-talkster-gtalk-to-voip/

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Top 5 mobile trends for 2011

Today we are on the verge of a time when app-capable non-PC devices will out ship PCs. The mobile sector will be the main growth driver, with mobile voice revenue advancing at a 8.1 percent CAGR in India during the 2010-15 period (in contrast to 2.7 percent for Asia-Pacific as a whole) and mobile data service revenue growing at a 27.3 percent CAGR during the same period. What ruling the picture today are mobile phone and its close cousin, mobile apps. Technologies like 4G and LTE, Near Field Communication (NFC) will witness increasing amount of hype in 2011, and as a result of it, the use of mobile/social/location combinations will soar. Adding to it, recent industry reports from InMobi and Synovate have revealed that consumers are showing a greater inclination towards receiving mobile advertising and marketing messages. So what are the fresh mobile trends that the coming year has in its store for us? Here are the five that topped our list. 


1. More personalized mobile marketing:



Thanks to the popular portable smart devices and advances in wireless technologies, mobile marketing is increasing quickly. Short message is regarded as one of the most efficient modes of mobile marketing. While mobile advertising boosts communication with consumers, the messages without a required permission from users cause privacy violations. But the adoption of more translucent and permission-based marketing will increase the credibility of mobile as an effective marketing tool.
2. Mobiles will turn into "electronic wallets" replacing credit cards:



The day is not too far when you'll be purchasing your goods using your phone as a credit card. Mobile micropayments will soon make us pay from mobile-turn-electronic wallets. One of the key advantages of mobile payment is that it will make the transaction much quicker and secure than the credit card readers or any written form. Recently, Google made an announcement that in its next release of Android 2.3 or "Gingerbread", there will be support for NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. Nokia's C7 handset also has an NFC chip included, which will be activated in 2011. Adding to it, Apple?s next iPhone is also likely to come with NFC. NFC is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10 centimeters distance. 


3. Apps vs. HTML5, the war will go on:



According to Forrester, it's not a question of "either/or" when it comes to a choice between apps vs. the mobile Web, but both. While for regular users of services like banking and brokerage apps will be on demand, the Internet will remain the retreat for more occasional information and needs. However, despite great opportunities offered by the new HTML, apps and app stores continue to rule mobile content, as the availability of basic functions of an app even without a stable data connection makes it more appealing for customers.

4. Mobiles will join the 3D bandwagon:



Being integrated in almost any device, 3D technology is the talk of the town today. As of now, a few mobile manufacturers have started experimenting with 3D technology, but they still have to go a bit further to create a sophisticated 3D mobile device. This year, the market is likely to see more such experimentation. In India, Spice Mobility has already introduced a phone with 3D capabilities. LG has also tossed its hat into the ring. It showcased its 3D mobile concept at CES 2011. 


5. The concept of Green Mobiles will get momentum:



In a bid to appeal to the environmentally conscious consumers, some mobile vendors are developing handsets that are eco-friendly. Following its "GreenHeart" mantra, Sony Ericsson has made Sony Ericsson Elm, a handset made from recycled plastics and free of hazardous chemicals. It comes with a low power consumption charger, reduced packaging and some eco-aware apps. Another interesting fact is that it comes with an e-manual on the phone instead of a printed guide. We have other mobiles like LG's GD510 that comes with the facility of solar charging. Given this move, we expect other vendors to go down a similar route.