February 2010

Motorola Quench aka CLIQ XT

by Paul Joseph February 28, 2010 Featured

Motorola QUENCH is the latest Android based handset from Moto and it runs on Android  1.5 and comes with the MOTOBLUR feature that gives you quick access to all personal information in one screen.It syncs contacts,photos, emails, messages, Facebook updates ,  Twitter updates and lots more. The 3.1 inch display was pretty responsive and the phone comes integrated with SWYPE technology for easy text input.There is also a touch sensitive D-pad which was pretty cool ! The 5 megapixel auto-focus camera comes with a LED Flash.The rich multimedia features such as audio and video playack are also worth a mention. The Quench does GSM Quad band with additional tri-band 3G support .There’s Bluetooth , WiFi ,aGPS, USB and microSD expansion.It is powered by a 1420 mAh battery . Here is a hands on video from MWC 2010 Mororola Quench Specifications Talk and Standby Time 2 6.5 hours / 13.5 days Bands/Modes WCDMA 850/1900/2100 (for Global) WCDMA 900/1700/2100 (for US), GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (Category 7/8), EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12, AGPS Weight 123.5g; 4.4 oz Dimensions 59.4mm x 116.7mm x 12.3mm Size ~ 790cc OS Android 1.5 Battery 1420 mAh Connectivity Bluetooth 1 2.0, 3.5mm, USB 2.0 HS, Over the Air Sync (OTA); Wi-Fi Display 3.1 inch display 320 x 480 pixels (w x h), 65k TFT Messaging/Web/Apps MMS,  SMS, Email (POP3/IMAP embedded) IM (Embedded), Audio AAC, AAC+,  AAC+ Enhanced,  AMR NB,  MIDI,  MP3,  WAV,  WMA v9 Video Playback — H.264, H.263, MPEG at 24fps at HVGA resolution; Capture — H.263, MPEG at 24fps at HVGA resolution Camera 5 megapixel, auto-focus, digital zoom, LED flash Browser Android HTML Webkit Memory Removable Micro SD card (included); Supports 32GB MicroSD (optional) Form Factor Touch screen smartphone Antenna Internal / Antenna diversity (2 antennas to enhance reception) Address Book/Calendar MOTOBLUR (content delivery service) aggregates Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Gmail; Syncs your work contacts, email and calendar Location Services aGPS, Turn by Turn directions, Google Maps, E-Compass Motorola Quench Price and Availability Motorola QUENCH is expected to hit the shelves next month.In the US the phone will be called the CLIQ XT with MOTOBLUR and will be sold exclusively through T-Mobile starting from March.Price is not yet revealed yet we can expect it to be around $400-$500 or Price in india might be under Rs.25000 if it eventually comes to India ! Similar Posts: Motorola Motus is officially launched as the Backflip at CES Share/Save

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LG Windows 7 Phone Series prototype shown off

by Paul Joseph February 28, 2010 Featured

Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman showed off the much rumored LG Windows 7 Series Smartphone during a live tech show to Engadget. The device is a QWERTY slider with a fairy large AMOLED screen. It also incorporates a 5MP camera with led flash. The Camera can reportedly do 720o video recording .The device has dedicated hardware camera, volume, and power buttons in addition to the back, home, and search buttons as specified by Windows Phone 7 Series standards. Specific details regarding the processor powering the device were not available but as dictated by Windows 7 Series standards , we expect to see atleast 1Ghz Snapdragon processor. They have managed to get it on video too . Source Handsets powered by Windows Phone 7 Series are expected to hit the market before the holiday season. But this is the first time we are seeing a prototype from  a handset manufacturer. Since there is a lot of time left before this one goes for sale , we can expect a lot of changes. But one this is for certain , this phone is really thin considering the fact that it has a QWERTY too The device we saw at MWC 2010 was a internal prototype hardware ! Similar Posts: None Found Share/Save

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Samsung Solid Extreme B2100 gets Tortured by Girl in Video

by Paul Joseph February 28, 2010 Featured

You must have heard about the Samsung Marine the robust outdoor phone from Samsung and it is sold as the Solid Extreme B2100 in the UK. The folks at 3g.co.uk have posted a funny video in which a Girl does a torture test of this phone by dropping it into water and throwing it on the ground. Does the phone survive the test ? Watch the video to find out In the video the phone is dropped into water , thrown from a height , dumped in a glass of water and even the noise cancellation feature is tested towards the end. And is anyone out there using this phone ? We would love to hear about it ! Similar Posts: Samsung Marine B2100 outdoor mobile phone Share/Save

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Airtel App Central – Airtel’s own App Store

by Paul Joseph February 28, 2010 Featured

You must have come across Google ads since few days displaying advertisement of Airtel App central and wondering what is it? App central is Airtel’s own app store offering wide varieties of Apps that claims to convert your basic mobile phone into a smart phone easily. As of now there are over 1250 applications available in the app store. If you are worried about the charges of the application available in-house, then there are are free apps for you including paid ones. Here is what Airtel have to say about its App store: The Airtel App Central has over 1250 apps available for download across 550+ devices categorized under 25 customer categories – both free and paid applications. Customers can choose from India Specific Apps – religion and devotional Apps such as Ayyappa the God to Bhakti ki Shakti where our customers can express their devotion to Maa Durga to Qibla which allows our customers to calculate the direction from anywhere on the globe to the holy city of Mecca. Old local favorites such as Book Cricket and Gilli Danda stage a comeback in a Mobile Avatar along with other Games and Apps around popular festivals such as Holi, Diwali, etc. To experience the Airtel App Central, all you need to do is, visit Airtel Live on your ‘gprs supported’ Airtel mobile phone and browse into App Central or SMS app to 54321 (toll free) to receive the URL. Similar Posts: None Found Share/Save

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After Bangalore, BSNL Launches its 3G Services in Thiruvananthapuram

by Paul Joseph February 27, 2010 Featured

Earlier this week, BSNL launched its 3G services in Bangalore in the presence of the telecom minister – A. Raja. After the successful rollout in Bangalore, BSNL have now launched its high speed data transfer 3G services in Thiruvananthapuram but this time it was Sashi Tharoor (Minister of state for external affairs) who was being invited to launch the services. New subscribers opting for 3G services can get started by purchasing a 3G SIM from any retail outlet by paying Rs. 59 or the existing BSNL mobile subscribers can migrate to 3G services just by sending an SMS “M3G120” to 53733. You can also apply for BSNL 3G services online . You can refer our earlier post for BSNL 3G tariffs and also have a look on FoneArena’s review of BSNL 3G services . BSNL announced 3G services for Kerala back in January Similar Posts: Enjoy 3G Speeds with BSNL in Kerala from Today Confirmed: 3G coming at the end of this year in India BSNL Providing Free Incoming Video Calls for 3 Months BSNL Launches 3G Services in Chennai, India. What Will be the Fate of 3G services in India? Share/Save

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FoneArena is one of the most influential gadget blogs in the world

by Paul Joseph February 26, 2010 Featured

FoneArena is one of the most influential independent gadget blogs in the world  ! According to folks at Konector who published a recent report on Top gadget blogs attract over 40 million visitors. FoneArena is one of the top 3 most influential blogs  ! The Konector report names the most influential independent gadget blogs and bloggers; Releases essential data & details for marketing, advertising and PR professionals worldwide NEW YORK – February 24, 2010 – The top 150 independent gadget blogs attract over forty million visitors a month, according to The Top Independent Gadget Blogs and Bloggers. The report compiled and published by Konector, the first company to use detailed audience analysis to rank the top blogs, provides marketing, advertising and PR professionals with key data and stats on the most influential blogs they should target to promote their brands online. Understanding the focus and reach of these influential tech blogs is essential for companies focused on brand promotion and reaching their target demographic. “Forty million visitors a month is a huge number, and what’s more these are decided views,” notes Brett Norval, Konector senior analyst. “Three of the most influential blogs ReadWriteWeb, MakeUseOf and FoneArena in India each receive well over a million unique visitors a month, and the majority of people accessing these sites have made an active decision to view the blog. They are not driven by curiosity or advertising. They have a genuine interest in the content which is why they are an important audience to reach,” Norval explains. “Technology companies can get their brands in front of those targeted consumers from the get-go, and then reap the benefits from being able to monitor the conversations on a regular basis, gather all the feedback and – so – measure the real success of their marketing campaigns.” But it’s not about footfall. Marketing, advertising and PR professionals must connect with quality audiences of influencers who will accept and amplify their message. To achieve this Konector uses a unique methodology to measure the quantity and quality of visitors. “When ranking the blogs we focus on three main criteria – reach, frequency and interaction,” says Kingsley Maunder, a director at Konector. “We therefore use our proprietary Online Impact Factor to measure how many people visit a blog, how often they visit that blog, the time spent on the blog and how active they are once they get there.” What separates the top influential gadget and technology blogs from the others? Many of the leading gadget blogs are keenly focused on a specific topic and a select audience. These topics can range from USB devices, to VoIP, tophotography. However, Konector found that the majority of top blogs share a focus on mobile and mobility. “Mobile phone blogs like Daily Mobile,Pocketables, MobileWhack and Concept Phones attract a large readership base,” Maunder says. “This is most likely due to the pervasiveness of mobile devices, and the confusion created by the sheer volume of mobile brands and services consumers can choose from. Audiences clearly gravitate to blogs that can cut through the noise.” At the other end of the spectrum MSearchGroove, Mobile Industry Reviewand Wireless and Mobile News, websites that cover the latest news, analysis and events impacting the mobile industry, are also gaining in popularity. MSearchGroove, for example, has built a solid following of executives and influencers by providing analysis and commentary on mobile search, mobile advertising and social media. “Mobile is no longer about technology. From healthcare and education to advertising and augmented reality (AR), mobile sits at the center acting as a catalyst for improvement and innovation,” notes Peggy Anne Salz, MSearchGroove Founder and Chief Analyst. “To keep pace with this change – or even lead it — companies naturally need to connect directly with a Long Tail of blogs and bloggers. Konector effectively identifies the sites that matter most in the industry, and I am proud that MSearchGroove, a knowledge resource and thinking space for the mobile industry, is among them.” “Focusing on a particular target market is a successful strategy,” Norval says. “FoneArena, for example, has done particularly well to capture the huge Indian market, and is consequently one of the top three gadget blogs in the report.” Targeting a specific age demographic is also key. “CrunchGear,UnwiredView.com and Daily Mobile are among the blogs that appeal to the 18-35 year old market. Mobile Industry Review, PreCentral, and BGR have a greater impact on the 35-50-age-group.” Another factor that differentiates the leading blogs from others is their use of social media to spread information. “The majority of bloggers use Twitter to connect with their audiences and raise profile. Some sites, including Scobleizer,Tracy and Matt’s Blog, Techielobang and Tech65.org, also use Facebook and YouTube to reach readers,” Maunder says. “Their use of social media has huge advantages for marketers. Technology companies can also work with bloggers to promote their products on popular social networks, significantly increasing brand awareness.” About the Top Independent Gadget Blogs and Bloggers report: The Top Gadget Blogs and Bloggers report provides marketing, advertising and PR professionals with key data and stats on the most influential gadget and technology blogs they should target to promote their brands online, helping them understand: * Which blogs have the most impact in gadgets * Which bloggers have the most impact on their audience * Which bloggers have a captive audience most suitable for their target market (by demographic and location) * Which bloggers promote and review products and services most suitable for their brand The Top Independent Gadget Blogs and Bloggers report will also give marketing, advertising and PR professionals additional insight into promoting their brands on social networks, including YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, giving them an opportunity to increase their exposure to this wider audience. A detailed overview of the report, including sample pages can be found at http://www.konector.com/topblogsoverview/topblogsingadgets About Konector: Konector is the first company to use detailed audience analysis to rank the top blogs in order to provide marketing, advertising and PR professionals with the confidence to know which blogs and bloggers have the greatest influence to promote their brands online. Thank you all for reading FoneArena ! Similar Posts: None Found Share/Save

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India Budget 2010 : Mobile Phones and Accessories to get cheaper

by Paul Joseph February 26, 2010 Featured

The Finance Minister of India just presented the Union Budget for 2010-2011 and some good news on the mobile  front.  Mobile phones and accessories are bound to get cheaper. To encourage the domestic manufacture of mobile phones accessories, exemptions from basic, CVD and special additional duties are now being extended to parts of battery chargers and hands-free headphones. The validity of the exemption from special additional duty is being extended till March 31, 2011. Looks like the Government wants to encourage domestic manufacturing of cellphones and accessories. 3G will soon become a reality and government expects to raise around Rs.36000 crore from 3G auctions which are starting soon. But sadly there is no change in VAT on mobile phones which is pretty high in stats like Maharashtra. Similar Posts: None Found Share/Save

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Booth Babes at MWC 2010 : Photo Gallery

by Paul Joseph February 25, 2010 Featured

At MWC 2010 we spotted not only phones and interesting gadgets but also some beautiful ladies  at the various booths .  And the probability of visitors entering a booth depended on how interesting the models were. When it comes to shows like these ,  brands always love to have the best faces market their products and it does pretty good for their publicity . Here are the Booth Babes of MWC 2010 Models at NTT Docomo’s booth where we saw the separable phone At Samsung booth This was a footballer in her jersey . We have no idea what she was doing at a Mobile booth Ask any MWC 2010 attendee about CBOSS , they would surely recognize the name, not for some ground breaking product but for the attractive models in Hall 8. And by the way CBOSS is Convergent Business Operations Support System and offers IT solutions for end-to-end automation of telecommunications companies ! Redline Communications Access – makers of the Netfront browser and promoters of the ELSE phone gave away margherita sprays after lunch. They decided to get a bit spooky ! A model at Mobile King – a company which specializes in Mobile Entertainment – hope you know what we mean ! Let us know in the comments which of the above is your favorite ! Similar Posts: Video : Samsung TouchWiz 3.0 UI running on Samsung Wave LG Mini GD880 Announced At MWC SanDisk Releases 64GB Flash Drive for Mobiles! Windows Mobile 7 Event All Set-No Adobe Flash in 7! Motorola Quench Announced! Share/Save

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Symbian version 4 UI Videos

by Paul Joseph February 25, 2010 Featured

Some interesting screenshots and videos of the upcoming Symbian^4 platform have emerged and looks like Symbian is going in the right direction with Symbian 3 and 4 Symbian^3  was recently released by the Symbian Foundation during MWC 2010 in Barcelona The signal and battery indicators are present on one side and looks like there is support for variable size widgets . The photos application looks cool Watch the videos for more FoneArena has learnt from a reliable source that these videos were designed to be loaded on the Symbian 4 devices which will be announced later this year Similar Posts: None Found Share/Save

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Hands On

by Paul Joseph February 25, 2010 Featured

Here is a treat for all you Sony Ericsson fans — an exclusive Hands On of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 running on the Google Android platform. It’s the first Android phone from SE and it’s a pretty good effort ! We are sure most of you have been eagerly waiting for this phone ever since it was announced last year. After having played with it during MWC 2010 , the 4 inch display is gorgeous and the Timescape feature is interesting. The 1GHZ Snapdragon CPU means that its pretty fast . The 8.1 Megapixel Camera with LED flash does take some good pictures .  Timescape lets you access Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and you can track updates from all your friends. There’s MediaScape for organizing your media such as photos , music and videos and there is even Face recognition for photos. On the connectivity front , it’s got Wi-Fi, Bluetooth , A-GPS , HSDPA and a microUSB connector. Memory is expandable via a microSD slot and not some proprietary junk. Finally Sony has managed to cram in a 3.5 mm audio jack. Talking about battery life , we were told that it gives about 1.5 days of runtime and excessive use means it will last a day The phone runs on Android 1.6 and there is no information if there will be an upgrade to 2.0 Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Hands On Video Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Photo Gallery Hope Sony Ericsson launches the X10 at an affordable price in India. We expect it to be around Rs.35,000 — 40,000 Similar Posts: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is Official — First Android Phone from SE Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro Announced! Sony Ericsson Robyn aka XPERIA X10 Mini Leaked Nexus: Sony Ericsson’s New Custom Android UI Sony Ericsson Rachel Rumours! Share/Save

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