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Shutdown of Windows Marketplace and My Phone Service Notification

kurosaki — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:53:03 +0000

Dear Windows Mobile 6.x customer,

Microsoft will be discontinuing the My Phone service for Windows Mobile 6.x. We will also be discontinuing the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site. Because you may be affected, please review the details below:

Windows Marketplace for Mobile Web Site To Be Discontinued

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site at http://marketplace.windowsphone.com will no longer be available starting on July 15, 2011. After July 15, 2011, you will no longer be able to browse, buy or download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x phones via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile service will continue to be available on your phone, however. You will continue to be able to browse, buy and download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x on your phone.

My Phone To Be Discontinued

On August 7, 2011, the My Phone service will stop saving content from phones to the My Phone service. If you rely on the My Phone service to back-up the content on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone, you will be affected.

Starting on August 7, 2011, Microsoft will begin moving your My Phone content to Windows Live SkyDrive. SkyDrive is Microsoft’s free online storage service that helps you access and share your files such as photos and Microsoft Office documents. Contacts, calendar entries, text messages and photos will be moved to SkyDrive for you. Once moved, you will be able to access this content by logging into SkyDrive using the Windows Live ID that you used to register for the My Phone service.

Other content types, including videos, music, documents and favorites will not be moved from My Phone to SkyDrive for you. If you want this content, you must save it from the My Phone service to your local PC.

On October 6, 2011, the My Phone web site at http://www.microsoft.com/myphone will no longer be available. On this date, you will no longer be able to log in to the My Phone service to access your content stored to the My Phone service. Microsoft will continue to store your My Phone content for one (1) year. Physical copies of your content can be shipped to you upon request until October 5, 2012.

Take Action

To learn more about the My Phone service shut-down, including information about your content moving to Windows Live SkyDrive and how to save other content to your local PC, please visit this web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2557520

Microsoft is committed to making this transition easy. In the meantime, we want to sincerely thank you for your use of Windows Mobile 6.x.

-The Windows Phone Team

Garmin to purchase Navigon

kurosaki — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:02:41 +0000

Garmin plans to acquire Navigon leaked out earlier this month. GPS giant will bring the smaller German company under its wing beginning in late July. Pending regulatory approval, the deal would have Navigon, one of the largest GPS brands in Europe, functioning as a subsidiary of Garmin, which has a much stronger presence in North America. Companies were unable to reveal any financial information, though previous estimates priced the deal in the “mid-double-digit million” Euro range. Navigon says it’s not ready to share any details concerning the acquisition, but we’re unlikely to see major effects in the US, where the company has smartphone apps but hasn’t sold dedicated GPS devices in several years

Garmin® Ltd. Announces Signing of Agreement To Acquire Navigon® AG

Schaffhausen, Switzerland and Hamburg, Germany /June 14, 2011/Business Wire – Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) and Navigon AG announced today that Garmin Ltd. and the shareholders of Navigon AG have signed an agreement for a subsidiary of Garmin to acquire privately-held navigation provider Navigon AG (“Navigon”).

“This acquisition is a great complement to Garmin’s existing automotive and mobile business. Navigon has invested significantly in the European automotive OEM business, and we feel that we can rapidly expand our automotive OEM footprint and capabilities through this transaction,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “With Navigon, we are also acquiring one of the top-selling navigation applications for the iPhone and Android platforms – something that we expect will help drive revenue for the combined company going forward. Combining Navigon’s and Garmin’s strength also improves our competitiveness and standing particularly in Europe.”

Navigon is headquartered in Germany. In addition to its automotive OEM and navigation application for smartphones, the company has an estimated seven percent share in portable navigation devices (PNDs) in Europe. In regards to PNDs, Navigon’s products are known for their compelling design, performance, and innovative software features.

“We look forward to sharing expertise, technologies, and relationships between Navigon and Garmin in order to serve more customers, expand product offerings, and lead the market in hardware and software innovation,” said Egon Minar, CEO of Navigon. “Our two companies each bring complementary strengths to the table, but what we share is a passion for customer satisfaction through innovation.”

Navigon will operate as a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction will not be released.

The 3D Innovation, Gimmick or Game?

mohseen lala — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:31:54 +0000

Forget HD (high definition) TV, the future is 3D. So we are led to believe by major entertainment and electronic companies. If a practical and budget concise view is taken towards the whole 3D trend, it honestly seems like a complete gimmick.
First of all it should be noted that 3D technology itself is an amazing piece of innovation, the problem is with its implementation. Also a major problem with 3D is that it has almost no compatibility with any modern existing technological standard, as a result users have to fork out extra cash to enjoy their 3D TV’s or game consoles. Speaking of extra peripherals, the following is a list of major reasons certain 3D outlets should be avoided, and also a list of 3D outlets that you should consider using if you do truly enjoy 3D.
3D CINEMA: the biggest craze for 3D content right now is in the form of movies, and this is a double edged sword. Some movies are certainly excellent when viewed in 3D, their storyline, shooting format and genre lend themselves very well to 3D technology (Transformers 1,2,3, Avatar). Unfortunately Hollywood disagrees, a majority of movies are coming out whether or not they would fit into the 3D realm of movie watching, a crying shame really. What’s worse is the cost, you have to fork out extra cash for those gigantic and awful looking 3D glasses to watch a movie that would have been perfectly suited to either IMAX or plain 2D.
3D TV: 3D TV is another piece of gadgetry made to suck your wallet or purse dry, most users are dismayed when they realize the only piece of 3D media they will be able to watch on their TV’s are 3D DVD movies and games, which require the purchase of 3D compatible games. Watching 3D DVD’s usually requires the extra purchase of a compatible DVD player, glasses and of course the actual screen. So just save your money and purchase a nice big HDTV, you will much better off as a result.
3D Games: 3D Games are generally worth the cost, especially if you are buying the Nintendo 3DS, whether or not to buy 3D compatible games for a Playstation 3 Depends on how big a fan you are of the game in question, but over all 3D gaming is a good way to spend your money as a 3DS fan.
3D Phones: There are only two 3D phones in the market right now, the LG Optimus 3D and HTC EVO 3D, both phones are definitely worth buying, particularly the LG Optimus 3D as it comes with 3D TV OUT, which means you transfer your 3D content to a 3D TV. It also shoots 3D video.
So there you have it, 3D cinema is only worth it if the movie compliments a 3D avenue, otherwise it a gimmick.
3D TV is a complete gimmick, requires a dozen or so peripheral and extras to work. Please avoid. 3D gaming is worth it on the handheld Nintendo 3DS, otherwise it depends on the game being played. 3D phones are definitely the future of 3D, as they do not require glasses or any other peripheral. So in short 3D games are good to go, so are 3D mobile phones. Otherwise 3D is still just a gimmick.

A Review: Huawei Ideos

mohseen lala — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:37:12 +0000

Now the Huawei Ideos is being touted as the cheapest Android phone on God’s green earth, while this statement is true for the time being, one should not assume a cheap price tag will automatically equal a terrible smart phone experience.
First we should note the excellent build quality, Huawei have worked closely with Google to insure this is a phone the search engine can stand behind proudly. The Idoes is built from a strong combination of plastic and steel, and it is finger print resistant. Call quality ranges from good to average, and the loudspeaker is adequate enough without being extremely loud.
Battery life unfortunately is not one of Ideos’s strong points, it barely manages to pull off 5 hours on average use, most users will be charging it daily. The browser lacks Flash and Multi-touch, please keep in mind this phone costs no more then $100 contract free, as such the browser is very adequate indeed.
Here is a list of basic features that the Huawei Ideos comes with:
2.8 TFT capacitive touchscreen,
256K colors
240 x 320 pixels

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 900 / 2100 / AWS
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 / 1700
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth 2.1 (AD2P)
microUSB 2.0

Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Proximity sensor
Swype input method

3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels

Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo)

Processor:
528 MHz ARM 11 processor
Adreno 200 GPU
Qualcomm MSM7225 chipset

Memory:
200 MB storage
256 MB RAM
512 MB ROM

Messaging: MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM (all in threaded view)

Others features:
Stereo FM radio (RDS)
GPS/A-GPS
Digital compass
Google Search, Maps, Gmail, Talk
MP3/WMA/eAAC+ player
MP4/H.263/H.264 player
Organizer
Photo viewer/editorVoice memo/dial/commands
Predictive text input
So in short, the Huawei Ideos is a good, cheap, smart phone that does not compromise more then it has to. It makes the perfect smart phone for first timers or users on a budget.

A Review: Huawei Ascend

mohseen lala — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:27:53 +0000

The Huawei Ascend is average smart phone, no real bell and whistles, but it does have a good build quality, nice design and comes running the Android 2.1 (Eclair).

Some smart phones, despite being cheap, generally perform well, the Huawei Ascend is not really among them. It has some serious call quality issues, voices tend to sound both muffled and squeaky, the loudspeakers output volume is low even on its highest setting, so overall call quality leaves a lot to be desired.
The battery life is another downer with the quoted 7 hours of battery life highly over stated, actual times are close to 4 hours, it’s even worse on 3G.
The web browser fortunately on the other hand is Android so at least it isn’t to crappy, there is no Flash support or even Multi-touch, but pages do render fast enough and text re-flow is relatively smooth. Another major problem with the Huawei Ascend is that it does not have a normal 3.5 mm head phone jack. Instead it has a 2.5 mm jack, which means you either need a special set of earphones, or an adapter.
Here is a basic list of features that the Huawei Ascend comes with:

3 inch screen 256,000 colors
3.2-megapixel fixed-focus camera
320 x 480 pixels
Android 2.1

Music Player (MP3, AAC+, WMA, WAV)
Video Player (MPEG4, 3GP,)
FM Radio (RDS)

CDMA 800, 1700, 2100, 1900
EV-DO Rev.A,
Bluetooth 2.1 AD2P
WI-FI
microUSB

Web browser WAP2.0/HTML/xHTML

Processor: 600 MHz, 256 MB RAM / 512 MB ROM.
microSD, microSDHC (16GB)

These are the basic set of features available on the Huawei Ascend, so what makes the Ascend worth buying? The simple answer is its price tag. It costs only $150 unlocked, but frankly you should consider buying the Huawei Ideos, a review of which will be coming up shortly.

A Review: ZTE Blade

mohseen lala — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:23:37 +0000

Front and Back View

Here is a question; Which is the cheapest Android phone with the best features? The answer is the ZTE Blade, also known as the Orange San Francisco.
Most cheap smart phones have a miserable 320×240 resolution with a 3 inch display with and support for only 265 thousand colors.
The ZTE Blade has a Amoled screen and support for 265 thousand colors, your weren’t expecting that were you? It has a 600 MHz processor, 512MB RAM and 160 MB of memory plus optional 32 GB of storage.
All of the above costs one $100 dollars, this makes slightly more expensive then the Huawei Eidoes but the specs of this phone would easily make it worth $200 dollars.
Specifications:

2G: GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G: HSDPA 900 / 2100

Dimensions: 116 x 56.5 x 11.8 mm
Weight: 110g

Screen: AMOLED or LCD capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors, 480 x 800 pixels, 3.5 inches
Inside: Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Multi-touch input method

Operating System: 2.2 (Froyo) Android
Storage:160 MB storage, 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
Processors:600 MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset

Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.1 AD2P, WI-FI, WI-FI Hotspot, 3.5 mm Headphone Jack, microSD card slot.

Features:
Digital compass
SNS integration
MP4/H.264/H.263 player
MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player
Google Search, Maps, Gmail
YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration
Organizer
Voice memo
Predictive text input
GPS-A GPS
HTML Browser
JAVA MIDP 2.0
Stereo FM radio with RDS

So the ZTE Blade is quiet a whopper at only $100 isn’t it? There are some problems that should be noted before purchase though. The reason it is so cheap is because it is being sold on contract by the telecommunications company Orange, this phone is exclusive to Orange. In an effort to of sett the cost they have crammed the ZTE blade with tons of useless and expensive applications, not to mention a custom browser and music player. Both of which look ugly.

You can easily get rid of all the “bloatware” from the ZTE Blade by switching to native the Android home screen or simply re-loading the OS, you can either go for the older 2.1 (Eclair) or the newer 2.2 (Froyo).
The ZTE Blade has very few problems, almost all problems are a result of Orange tinkering with the OS, a fresh install should have the phone up and running in no time at all.
This is the only Smart phone at a $100 in the market with a AMOLED screen and strong video playback, it is your best bet for a good smart phone experience that will not break the bank.

The Galaxy Tab

mohseen lala — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:33:32 +0000

Tablet computers, they are the craze of town. Everyone wants to or already owns a tab, they might not be a good as a Netbook, ergonomically easy to hold or even cheap for that matter. But if you must have one, give the Samsung Galaxy P1000 Tab a try.

Specification:
2G:GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G:HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100

Dimensions: 190.1 x 120.5 x 12 mm
Weight: 380 g

Screen: capacitive touchscreen,
16M colors
Size 600 x 1024 pixels,
7.0 inches
Gorilla Glass display

User Interface: TouchWiz UI
Internal: Multi-touch input method
Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
Three-axis gyro sensor
Touch-sensitive controls
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Swype text input

Features: Social networking integration
Digital compass
Full HD video playback
Up to 7h movie playback
TV-out
MP4/DivX/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
Organizer
Image/video editor
Thinkfree Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration
Readers/Media/Music Hub
Adobe Flash 10.1 support
Voice memo/dial/commands
Predictive text input
GPS
JAVA MIDP 2.0
HTML Browser

Peripherals:
Primary 3.15 MP with 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus and LED flash.
Secondary 1.3 MP camera.
USB 2.0
Bluetooth 3.0 with AD2P
WI-FI

Internal memory: 16/32 GB, optional microSD card slot

Processors: ARM Cortex A8 processor, 1 GHz processor; PowerVR SGX540 graphics, 512 MB RAM.

Operating System: 2.2 (Froyo) Android

Battery: Standard battery, Li-Po 4000 mAh with 28 hours (2G) and Up to 25 hours 30 min (3G).

The Galaxy tab is a cheaper and more capable alternative to the traditional iPad, as it has a SIM card slot, so it can be used easily as a wireless phone.
Games and Apps look very good on the screen, everything looks clear and crisp and with 7 hours of video playback you won’t be charging you Tablet often.
Unfortunately not everything is dainty on the Galaxy, there are some issues to keep in mind. First major problem are the viewing angles, trying to view the screen form any angle other then face to face is a nightmare. Secondly there is no FM radio or USB Host support. Thirdly images appear to ghost because the LCD display is has a rather slow response.
Speaking of images, all photos in the Gallery are downsized. Also for people who enjoy music via loudspeakers, the ones on the Galaxy Tab are rather low. Finally there are some Apps that are incompatible with the resolution, but games like Angry Bird and Tank play flawlessly.

In short the Galaxy tab is a very good and cheaper alternative to the iPad, or even iPad2 as they both lack Flash while the Galaxy Tab does have Flash. Also the Android market easily rivals the AppStore in terms of Apps and their quality.

iPad, Was it Worth The Hype?

mohseen lala — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:26:13 +0000

The iPad2 is out, and its selling at $499. But let us take a look at the original the first true Pad, the original iPad.

The iPad was truly minimal in terms of features and outstandingly expensive. It was simply a large iPhone, actually the iPhone was better… You could make calls with it.
The iPad lacks external memory upgrades, true multi-tasking, powerful battery life, Flash support (how did they ever miss that!). As a matter of fact, the iPad was simply hype. For cash strapped iPad fans, here is a cartoon to illustrate a point you should keep in mind when buying the iPad 2.
It seems like Samsung and other companies took what was missing form the original iPad and capitalized on it, my personal favorite being the Galaxy Tab. As a result the iPad 2 seems to be their equivalent, no their leader. Hmmm, that must be a first time experience for Apple. Suffice it to say that Apple have lost the Pad contest, even with the iPad 2 in tow. Whether it be in terms of features, the Ipad has lost tot he Galaxy Tab, in terms of power it loses to the Motorola Xoom. In terms of OS its a tie between Android and IOS4.

So here is our lesson, the iPad and iPad 2 are not very good Tablets to buy now, unless your rich and wish to make a fashion statement, there are much better alternatives. Keep searching and good luck.

A Review: Google Nexus S (S)

mohseen lala — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:25:55 +0000

Made by Samsung for Google this is the search engine giants flagship smart phone out there.

Its feature include:
2G network 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900.
3G network 850/ 900/ 1700/ 1900 / 2100.
Super AMOLED screen capacitive touchscreen.
Oleophobic surface.
Contour Display with curved glass screen
480/800 pixels 4.0 inch screen.
Android Gingerbread OS and UI (operating system, user interface).
Accelerometer for UI rotation.
Three-axis gyro sensor.
Wifi.
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support.
USB.
5MP auto focus camera.
Video recording 25 frames per second at 720 pixels.
Internet browser.
MP3 player.
MP4 video player.
DIVX/AVI video support.
Document viewer.

Keeping in turn with googles obsession for innovations, the Nexus S sports a new
Oleophobic surface and Contour Display with curved glass screen, both are firsts on a mobile phone device.
Hailing the new Android Ginger bread OS and coming with a full suit of Google apps such as Gmail, Docs, Google maps and many others this phone is a perfect mobile Google device.
The phonebook comes with unlimited entry and photocall feature so were are well stocked in that department.
Running on a ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor there are no lags or breaks its all smooth as cream.
The phones texting features are multiple and all are well endowed with the phone handling any form of text output
Coming in only black your not exactly spoiled for choice color wise.
Oddly enough the phone lacks a radio player and memory card slot, so you are stuck with mp3 music and the in-built 16 GB memory.
All in all another great, expensive phone for you to splash on.

A Review: The Samsung Champ (C3300K)

mohseen lala — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:19:15 +0000

A phone for beginners to the touchscreen world and relatively cheap coming in at 90 dollars unlocked, the champ is a perfect phone for any 10 year old or someone on a very short budget but wants a touchscreen that can do the basics.

Its features include:
2G GSM 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900 network.
TFT resistive touchscreen.
256 K colors.
240/340 pixels. 2.4 inch screen.
Bluetooth version 2.1 with A2DP support.
FM radio.
MP3 player.
Video player.
Java support.
Internet browser.
Social networking support.
1.3 MP camera.
15 frames per second video recording.
USB port.

The Samsung Champ has a special version of the Samsung TOUCHWIZ OS, called TOUCHWIZ LITE. The menu lay out is a flat iphone style with big icons, and the main menu has up to to seven home screens each available with only one widget, with exception of the last two which can house up to four widgets in the same pane.
The browser is extremely sluggish thanks both to its lack of 3G network and software build. It has a bare bone video player that plays 3GP and MP4 videos only at the screen’s native resolution. The phonebook is limited to a thousand entries, with all available fields provided for.
Internal memory is limited to 30 MB, so getting a memory card is a no-brainer. The phone can support unto 8 GB.
Keeping in mind its price tag, this phone made of very cheap plastic and dropping it will be the last thing you do.
The ace up its sleeve is its music capabilities, with 3d sound effect and big album art display, the phone is your all in one portable music solution.