Posted on

Nokia N900 Internet Tablet – A sneak Peak

Nokia is going to launch its 700$ Tablet the N900 in October 2009 . Many in the media  have projected it as a totally new device, but the truth is it is an highly upgraded version of its N800 and N810. Unlike the previous model Nokia has added the “phone”  features to the Nokia N900. The earlier version Nokia N810  also had Maemo Linux OS (2008 version)  and most other features except the main feature of a phone.

Nokia N900 a highly refined Nokia Internet Tablet
Nokia N900 a highly refined Nokia Internet Tablet

So now additionally you can use this device as a phone and also it comes with A-GPS. The Maemo OS 2009 , is also refined and more features have been added. Though many have complained the device is too big,  it is actually not that big. It has almost similar dimensions of the Nokia N97 and matches Iphone 3G in Length and width. But its thickness is almost 2 cm (20 mm).

Here are the dimensions of N900 compared with Nokia N97,Apple Iphone 3Gs , Nokia N810  and Nokia E71.

N900 Dimensions
N900 Dimensions

The dimensions are given in mm as height x width x thickness

Nokia N900 – 110 x 59.8 x 18 (19.5 max)
Nokia N810 – 128 x 72 x 14
Nokia N97 – 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 (18.2 max)
Iphone 3Gs -115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3
Nokia E71 – 114 x 57 x 10

As you would have noticed the N900 will occupy a smaller footprint than the N810 as its length and witdth have been reduced considerably. But added thickness is the only concern. But then  the device makes it up with so many features and a Mobile version of Linux.

The increase in thickness can be attributed to 5MP camera (Carl Zeiss lens) and Full Qwerty keypad.

In terms of weight (in grams) it definitly is heavy.

Nokia N900 – 181g
Nokia N810 – 123g
Nokia N97 – 150g
Iphone 3Gs – 133g
Nokia E71 – 127g

Once a device gets a full touch screen, the looks factor subdises considerably. Most times you cant notice big difference between various Full Touch devices except in dimensions. So N900 looks almost like N97 including the dimensions.

Technical Specifications and Features
This is where N900 scores against its competitors and is almost similar to N97 except for the OS. Actually I did not notice any major difference between N900 and N97 in the features section.

N900 being run on Linux (Maemo on Linux) supports wider range of Audio and Video codecs, also comes with Mozilla powered Maemo browser. And its browsing capabilities resemble a ultra mini Netbook. Also has a bigger battery than the Nokia N97. Has inbuilt memory of 32 GB and 256 MB RAM (+768 MB Virtual Memory). Also the tablet runs on a faster processor than Nokia N97.

Other Main features of the specifications include

* 3.5″ Bright WXGA 640*480 resolution screen
* Graphichs Accelerator with OpenGL support
* Bluetooth version 2.1
* Mini USB.
* 3.5 mm Audio jack.
* GSM,GPRS,EDGE and 3G Support.
* HSPA, maximum speed up to 10 Mbps (DL), 2 Mbps (UL)
* WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g
* 5MP Camera with Carl Zeiss Opticals.
* aGPS with Maps
* Supported Email protocols: Mail for Exchange, IMAP, POP3, SMTP
* Flash,AJAX,RSS,HTML,xHTML support in Web Browsing.
* Office Suite,Adobe PDF reader and typical Nokia apps.
* Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263
* Video streaming: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263 in .avi, .mp4, .wmv, .asf and .3gp containers
* Music playback file formats: .mp3, .wma, .aac, .m4a, .wav
* FM radio / Tuner
* TV out with free cable

Posted on

Best Touch screen phones and good alternatives to Iphone

Well there have been so many new Mobile launches in the recent past with focus on providing the full touch screen UI. Both Samsung and LG have come up with quite few of them. And HTC has come out with improved models and finally Nokia has finally entered this segment. If you don’t want to be tied to a network and don’t want pay a hefty price (as much as $800 as in India for 16GB version), you should definitely consider one of the alternatives listed below. I have also included the price (as of Aug 2009) for a better understanding.

All the below phones don’t need a contract and are sold unlocked by Manufacturers at the mentioned price.

Samsung STAR – Rs 9500 or $210

Samsung’s basic full touch screen phone Samsung STAR is priced at $200 or Rs 9500/- . It has a music player, Camera ,FM and lots of free games. It has very slim look, but since this is based on Samsung’s proprietary OS, customizations and free apps are limited or Nonexistent.
Also the STAR 3G a 3G version of Samsung STAR is available for Rs 2000 more.

Nokia 5800 – $ 400 or Rs 18000

Nokia’s first full touch model a candy bar phone with all the features of S60 and 8GB memory with load of music and entertainment features. This model has many freeware apps written in Symbian and Java. But the main source of discontent is its inconsistent UI, where Nokia haven’t polished the innards of the Navigation. But this phone has a powerful OS which allows lot more customizations. Expect the newer firmware to improve the performance and tweak the UI.

Nokia 5530 –Rs 12000 or $230
A bare bone version of the Nokia 5800 express music phone minus the 3G and 8GB inbuilt memory. This phone will definitely capture audience as this is to be priced at 230$ or Rs 12,000.

Samsung Jet – Rs 20,700 or $450

Samsung Jet is the latest and heavily loaded Samsung Full Touch screen phone and it boasts the fastest processor among all the present generation phones at 800MHz ( Remember the Intel P3 processors ?? ) . It has 5 MP camera, Music player, FM, Games,Divx Player etc. Also it has very good metallic look. It is priced at Rs 20,700 or $ 450 . Again this runs on Samsung’s proprietary OS.

LG Cookie – Rs 9000 or $200

One of the cheapest Full touch screen phones in the market, LG Cookie is a value for money product with a good 3.2 MP camera , FM radio and supports up to 8GB memory card.

LG Arena – Rs 20,100 or $450

LG Arena is a fully loaded phone from LG with almost all the features of the Samsung Jet and more. It has inbuilt memory of 8GB expandable upto 40GB memory. 5 MP camera , Dolby digital Video , 3G video calling, wifi , 7.2 Mbps HSPDA connection, A-GPS and 3.5 mm Standard audio jack. But the OS is a proprietary OS.

Samsung Pixon M8800 – Rs 22,000 or $ 500

Samsung Pixon is a 8MP camera cum Full touch screen phone with a vivid 3.2 inches display apart from the usual functionalities like Music, Video, Movies, GPS, wifi etc

There are other higher end phones which will be covered separately in another article.

Posted on

Samsung Marine aka Samsung Xplorer B2100 – Full Specification and Review

Samsung Marine B2100 Xplorer - Rough and Tough outdoor phone
Samsung Marine B2100 Xplorer - Rough and Tough outdoor phone

Samsung India unveiled its new phone ‘Samsung Marine’  a phone built for standing the abuse just like US marine corps. It is touted to pass the standards set by US Dept of Defence and Military.

Samsung showcased this phone in the recently concluded Mobile world, where  onlookers were allowed to through the phone from a height of few feet into water. The phone also boasts shock proof, dust proof and water proof packing. It is first of its kind in the mobile market especially for India. This phone could find use in many walks of life and also for those who carelessly drop their phone.

Samsung Marine B2100 Xplorer - Rough and Tough outdoor phone
Samsung Marine B2100 Xplorer - Rough and Tough outdoor phone

The phone also has USB support, Music Player , 1.3 Mega Pixel camera and expandable Memory support upto 8GB and the phone will be available for a retail price of around Rs 7000  ( 140$).

Download User manual of Samsung Marine aka Samsung B2100 Xplorer aka Samsung Outdoor phone here.

Download

GENERAL 2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Announced 2009, March
Dimensions in L x W x H – 113 x 48.9 x 17.4 mm
Weight 102.8 g
DISPLAY Type TFT, 256K colors
Size 120 x 160 pixels, 1.77 inches

Ring Tone/Music – Vibration; Polyphonic(64), MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone Yes
Phonebook 1000 entries
Inbuilt Memory 7 MB
Card slot microSD (TransFlash), up to 8 GB
DATA GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
No 3G and WLAN.
Bluetooth – v2.1 with A2DP(music)
No Infrared
USB v2.0
Camera -1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, flash
Video – 15fps
SMS and MMS support.
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games Yes + downloadable
Colors Red, Black
GPS No
Java Yes, MIDP 2.0
– Shock, water and dust resistant (IP57, MIL-STD-810F)
– Water proof up to 1 meter and 30 minutes
– Anti-shock materials (urethane)
– Noise cancellation with dedicated microphone
– Flashlight with dedicated key
– MP3/e-AAC+/WMA/WAV player
– MPEG4/3GP/M4V player
– Voice memo
– Stopwatch
– T9
BATTERY Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh
Stand-by Up to 600 h
Talk time Up to 9 h