Google Maps and Android phones can help track Indian trains

Table of contents

Android: A game changing OS
Re-discovering Android through 3G 04
Why Android is the culture for the future 06
How Google Maps and Android phones can help Indian Railways 08
the secret behind the naming of android’s Ice Cream Sandwich 10
Android overtakes Opera to become no 1 mobile browser 12

The best Androids money can buy
HTC One X Samsung S III, Who is Android king? 14
Sony Xperia launches three new phones in India 16
Galaxy S III has Siri clone, 50 GB free Dropbox storage 17
Motorola Atrix to be available for Rs 22,990 in India 19
Reliance launches CDMA tablet for Rs 12,999 20
Android-based media tablets: Do these have a future? 21

Awesome Android Apps
Why every Android user should get the new Facebook app 24
Feedly: The personalised magazine app for Android users 26
Fight aliens MIB III style on your Android device 28
Instagram now available on Android smartphones 29

Android in India
RCom, Google tie up to market Android devices with 3G connection 31
Samsung launches updated Galaxy Tab, interactive TV in India 32
iPhone 4S a flop; Samsung, HTC cash in on let down 33

Re-discovering Android
through 3G
Switching from a regular data connection to 3G
on your Android is like switching from a regular
phone to a smartphone.

S
witching to a smart phone from a not- navigating Google Play (the app store formerly
so-smart phone is always an epiphanic known as marketplace), or whipping out your
moment. And if you are a regular Google phone to read everything from emails to arti-
user (who isn’t these days?) watching how an cles.
Android phone so seamlessly integrates with
your Gmail, YouTube and other Google experi- The one thing that can kill the entire experience
ences is in a word, epic. though, is a slow net connection. Believe me
there is nothing more frustrating than click-
Spend a few days playing with your phone and ing on a link and then waiting. And waiting.
it will only be a matter of time till you start And waiting for it to open. And then woe betide
wondering how you got through life without you if you are reading an article that opens on

another page. With 3G, your Android just opens up to you.
You can play games, use facebook, twitter, in-
Most data connections unfortunately don’t give stragram and do it all in real time. With a good
you the kind of connectivity speeds you need to smartphone, you can probably even do without
fully enjoy your Android experience. You may a laptop. Laptops are for work, smartphones, on
have ‘unlimited data’ but you end up wasting a the other hand, are the key to life in the digital
whole lot of time just waiting for things to load. age.
And downloading apps from Google Play be-
comes more frustrating than anything else. They’re handy, they’re powerful and they can do
everything from helping you navigate a strange
Remember the time when you would surf on a city to helping you figure out where all your
56k Modem and wait for pages to load so that friends are and what they are doing.
you could get on with life? Well, without 3G,
mobiles are pretty much like modem’s. To make And you fully begin to realise the potential of
optimum use of all that your Android smart- your Android phone and just what a fiendishly
phone offers– you need a good net connection. clever little device you have on your hands. It’s
like an epiphany all over again.
And when you switch from a regular data con-
nection to 3G the difference is almost as stark
as when you first switch to a smartphone from a
regular phone.

Why Android is the culture
for the future
While iOS might stand tall in American markets,
markets like India than need customization or an
indigenous approach will always look towards Android.

W
hen it is about smartphones it is al- Fragmentation remains another challenge with
ways about three things: device cost, 70% of developers still using an older version of
applications and ease of use (read the Android operating system, Gingerbread.
operating system).
In the ease-of-use department, there are die-
Reading the reams of copy around the recently hard fans for both. An Apple fan boy will tell
concluded WWDC 2012 (the Apple develop- you that Android feels amateur and an Android
ers conference), one can’t help but admit that fan boy will argue that the web integration of
iOS has an advantage among developers. Most the Android experience is peerless.
of them still prefer to code for Apple because
the revenue per user on the platform is greater. But when you move to devices shipped across

geographies the story of economics, market still evolving.
share and therefore a culture for the future
shows a shape, that looks very much more like a Most handset makers in the country will offer
Droid than an Apple. a range of products across price points. Market
leader Samsung for instance has 18 products on
Fundamentally, to succeed in today’s world of Android across different price points and holds
complex technology a platform has to be open 46% of the smartphone market. Indian lan-
and free. Letting market makers decide how guage features and apps are also gaining a lot of
they want to develop, price and introduce a traction.
product will determine the success or failure of
new technology. Google has, by letting android It is therefore likely that in the future the grow-
remain open, created a multitude of options for ing markets are the ones that will determine
growth markets. When ‘touch’ is the revolution, developer involvement. While iOS might stand
users will want some form of it in their technol- tall in American markets, markets than need
ogy lives. They will move up the value chain, but customization or an indigenous approach will
slowly. Android gives you that ladder. Across always look towards Android. And in that
phones and tablets. search lies the new culture of smartphone use
through android.
For instance let’s take the Indian market. The
Indian smartphone market is expected to grow
to about 18 million units in 2012. It is however
a complex heterogenous market where users are

How Google Maps and Android
phones can help Indian Railways
This automatically updated train running information
will not only be a boon for passengers but also for the
Indian Railways as they would be able to track the
position of all trains with a good deal of precision.

Prithwis Mukerjee

I
have been a laggard with smartphones but the countryside. Only after passing the last
last month I finally bought an Android station before my destination, did I finally get
phone and, within days, I got a tidy return down from the bunk feeling rather smug about
on my small investment— two extra hours on this new technology.
the upper berth of an overnight train! How ?
This simple technology can be used to track the
If you are travelling alone at night, in an AC movement of all trains across the entire coun-
compartment you have no way of knowing try. How ?
where you are at any point in time and the need
to climb down every now and then to check the Every Android phone is associated with a spe-
station that you are passing through is painful. cific Gmail ID and using this Gmail ID one
Instead, what I did was to lie on the bunk and can “check-in” into “places” defined in Google
switch on Google Maps on my GPS-enabled Latitude. Usually these “places” are hotels, res-
Android phone and watched the blue arrow that taurants and other businesses defined by their
showed me (and the train) as it snaked across respective owners and once someone “checks-

in” into a place, this information is available to places can be done away with.
“friends” on the Google network.
Finally, and perhaps the most important, is how
We first create a special Gmail ID to represent a to handle the return trip. The down train would
specific train— say IR12302@gmail.com for the have a different train number but since the
Howrah Delhi Rajdhani — and use this ID to Gmail ID with which an Android device is regis-
register an Android phone. Next, we define each tered cannot be changed easily we need to have
of the 219 stations on the Howrah-Delhi route two Android phones per rake and only one, cor-
as a “place” in Google Latitude. For this specific responding to the train number that is actually
gmail ID, IR12302@gmail.com, we define these running, must be active while the other should
219 stations as places where check-in is auto- be switched off. So a pair of rakes that support
matic. Finally, we give this phone to the guard an UP and DOWN train service would need four
of the the Howrah Delhi Rajdhani or tether it Android phones, two of which, located in differ-
securely in the guard’s cabin. ent rakes, will have the same GMail ID.

Now as the train travels across the country, the The SIMRAN project of the Indian Railways
Android phone will automatically check into has a similar goal but it needs its own dedicated
every station that the train is passing through hardware and software. Reportedly, the pilot
and anybody who defines this specific Gmail ID project needs an investment of Rs 100 crore
as a friend will know the last station where this plus annual maintenance costs. In contrast, at
train has checked-in and when. Rs 7,500 per phone and four phones per pair
of trains, this approach can use the free Google
The immediate benefit is that once the stations Maps service to track the top 100 trains in the
are defined as places — and a place once defined country for an investment of Rs 30 lakhs or at
can be used for all trains passing through — and 0.3 percent of the cost!
the Gmail ID for each train is set up, then the
train running information becomes automati- Google Russia has collaborated with the Rus-
cally available in the public domain with no sian Railways to create an unique application
further effort. that allows anyone to take a virtual ride from
Moscow to Vladivostok on the Trans Siberian
This automatically updated train running infor- Railway. I am sure that if the Indian Railways
mation will not only be a boon for passengers were to embark on this project, Google India
but also for the Indian Railways themselves, as would be glad to help in this regard.
they would be able to track the position of all
trains with a good deal of precision from any- Many years ago, before the era of the ubiquitous
where in the country. Moreover, if this facility is cellphone, I had come across an FMCG compa-
extended to goods trains, then corporate ship- ny that tried to track the position of its trucks by
pers will be able to track their consignments if giving food coupons to the drivers that could be
they know which train their goods are booked redeemed at selected dhabas across the country.
on. The idea was that as a driver “checks-in” into a
dhaba and uses the free coupon to pay for food,
However, there are few loose end that need to the dhaba owner would not only get the money
be tied up. First, one can only track a friend and from the company but in return would report
to be friend, as in any social media, one’s friend the position of the consignment — as evident
request must be accepted by the target. This from a code number on the coupon that was be-
means that for each train id, e.g. IR12302@ ing redeemed — back to the company.
gmail.com, someone must accept friend re-
quests from anyone who wants to know where That elegant idea was perhaps ahead of its time.
the train is — but this can be automated as well. But today, with Android phones and Google
Second, Google Maps already identifies railway Maps, this idea can be easily implemented not
stations but does not allows people to “check- only in the Railways but for any other trans-
in” into them. If this is allowed then the task porter as well.
of defining all train stations again as business

the secret behind the naming of
android’s Ice Cream Sandwich
Whilst tech journalists curse Google’s new Android
codename, everyone else wonders what ‘ice cream
sandwich’ means and find themselves unaccountably
craving dessert.

Suw Charman-Anderson

W
ith the new version of the Android OS
slated for release in October or No- For those of us not familiar with an ‘ice cream
vember, Android fans and tech writ- sandwich‘, it turns out to be a dessert made of,
ers everywhere are wondering what on earth unsurprisingly, ice cream sandwiched between
Google were thinking when they decided on its two wafers, biscuits/cookies or cakes. And it
codename: Ice Cream Sandwich. seems that Googlers have a long-standing rela-
tionship with them: business product manager
Clearly Eric Schmidt isn’t keen on the name. At Hunter Walk wrote a tribute to the “It’s-It” ice
the Salesforce Dreamforce 2011 conference, he cream sandwich on sale in the Google canteen
mentioned it with wrinkled brow, pulled face in 2006.
and a noticeable tone of disdain. So why go with
such a bizarre name? Whatever the reason — if, indeed, there even
is a reason — for Ice Cream Sandwich, Google
We know that Google has a sweet tooth. Previ- aren’t the only ones with a penchant for pick-
ous codenames included Eclair, FroYo (a brand ing playful, bizarre or downright ill-fated code-
of frozen yoghurt, rather than an obscure Hob- names.
bit), Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

Adobe Photoshop’s developers picked a string Apple Museum:
of entertaining codenames: Photoshop 2.0 was
Fast Eddy, followed by Merlin, Brimstone and In the early days of Apple, the codenames were
Tiger Mountain. Photoshop 4.0 was known as all female names, mostly the names of the
Big Electric Cat and, for those in the know, a daughters of the engineers who were working
secret splash screen could be summoned which on the product.
featured Becky (short for Big Electric Cat), the
moggie in question. Later, different types of apples were used, but
The White Rabbit, Adobe Photoshop splash when the teams ran out of apple types, they
screen had to find new names. Hence after a couple of
years the codenames were items from popular
culture or products the engineers liked (such as
beer).

A couple of them backfired, however. The Power
Mac 6100 was codenamed Piltdown Man, the
8100 was Cold Fusion, and the 7100, squished
in between them, was Carl Sagan.

Piltdown Man was a famous hoax from 1912 in
which bone fragments were presented as the re-
All Photoshop’s secret splash screens, from ver- mains of an unknown early human. The lie was
sion 4.0 onwards, feature Becky — also known exposed in 1953 when the bones were revealed
as Udo — hidden somewhere in their illustra- to have belonged to an orang-utan and a mod-
tions. In Strange Cargo, (Photoshop 5), users ern human. Cold Fusion was a supposed room-
could access the splash screen by holding down temperature nuclear fusion process that was
Ctrl/Alt (or Command/Option on a Mac), going reported by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley
to the Help menu and choosing About Pho- Pons in 1989, receiving a lot of very excited
toshop. If you typed ‘burp’, Becky would appear media coverage. Their experiment was later dis-
from inside the floating cargo crate. Type her credited as they stood accused of “incompetence
nickname, Udo, and she would miaow. Even and delusion”.
the latest version, 12.1, pays tribute to the Big
Electric Cat, showing The White Rabbit painting Sagan was so upset that his name had been
her portrait. used alongside these two debunked ‘discoveries’
that he formally protested, said Lukas Foljanty,
The open source community is also quite keen founder of The Apple Museum.
on quirky codenames. The Ubuntu operating
system community, for example, has come up Apple hoped that codenames would reduce the
with a series of idiosyncratic, alliterative ani- damage that leaks about new products could
mal names for each new version. They started do. Consumers were well known for putting off
with Warty Warthog, Hoary Hedgehog, Breezy buying decisions if they thought that an upgrade
Badger and Dapper Drake, before moving to a was in the pipeline. But when the iMac was
roughly alphabetical series. developed in 1997, Apple moved towards using
code numbers for new products. The MacBook
Whilst they managed to get creative with Jaunty Air, for example, was simply known as M82.
Jackalope and Karmic Koala, the letter O clearly Apple have, however, kept names for their OS X
a lot of thought to come up with Oneiric Ocelot. software upgrades, possibly to make marketing
“Oneiric” means “of or relating to dreams or easier.
dreaming”. It’ll be interesting to see if they have
the nerve to stick with the alphabetical ordering In the grand scheme of product codenames, it
through P and Q to X, Y and Z. seems that Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t all that
weird. Although, whichever way you look at it,
Apple, as one might imagine, has a long and it’s still a bit of a mouthful.
colourful codename history. According to the

Android overtakes Opera to
become no 1 mobile browser

Android’s mobile phone browser Robot, has
overtaken Opera to become the world’s number
one mobile web browser.

A
ndroid’s mobile phone browser Robot, otherwise have seen Apple climb to the number
has overtaken Opera to become the one spot. And TNW says, “considering the nu-
worlds number one mobile web brows- merical advantage that Android has over Apple
er. TheNextWeb, which reported the statistics — there are now more than 300 million Android
based on data from statcounter, said the data devices worldwide, that’s up 250 percent — the
which plots the use of mobile Internet browsers fact that the iPhone ranks so closely shows
over the last twelve months, shows significant that its users are proportionally more likely to
growth from Android, which had only just over- browse the Web than Android owners.
taken BlackBerry to fourth place one year ago.
BlackBerry’s share of Web browsing continue to
Apple’s iPhone and iTouch users have been plummet, while Nokia has also seen its browser
categorized as separate metrics, which would account for less Web browsing over the period.

The best Androids
money can buy

HTC One X

Samsung S III

Who is Android king?
Is the HTC One X still the most superior Android
phone despite the Samsung S III? We do a
preliminary comparison

U
p until the launch of the Samsung S III Design:
last week, most experts agreed that the
HTC One X was the undisputed “king” Samsung Galaxy S III
of the Android Operating System. In fact some The Galaxy S III is a good looking phone on the
die hard HTC fans said it was even superior to front and the sides, but the design is not ‘revo-
Apple’s flagship iPhone 4S. lutionary’, as we had hoped it would be. It’s an
evolution of the S II, more than anything else.
So how does the Samsung S III match up? The One thing we really appreciate is that despite
folks over at Tech2in, decided to pit the two its super slim design, Samsung has still kept the
phones against each other spec for spec, and battery removable and have shaved off as much
this is what they came up with: of the bezel as possible, making it manageable.

The HD Super AMOLED screen is great, but HTC One X
we wished they would have gone with the ‘Plus’
variant, instead. Connectivity wise, Samsung One of the party pieces of the One X camera is
has you covered with thrown in everything ex- its new burst mode and the short time it takes to
cept the kitchen sink. activate and capture a picture. The Tegra 3 SoC
may not be the fastest in terms of CPU power,
HTC One X but when it comes to processing graphics, it’s
We love the way the One X is put together. The clearly in a league of its own.
polycarbonate shell feels strong and premium
and it gives it a very nice feel, which is impor- The main issue when we reviewed (that’s hope-
tant to any handset. The screen may not be Su- fully fixed with the latest update) the phone was
per AMOLED, but the HD LCD 2 produces very the battery life, which, given the larger fabri-
good colours and since it’s a tiny bit smaller, the cation process of the SoC, isn’t too good. Just
pixel count is more dense as well. like the S III, it’s also packed to the gills with
features, so there’s only one way to tell, which is
Features: better, by heading over to the charts.

Samsung Galaxy S III Let’s just clear up some of the doubts you’re
The rumoured 12MP camera didn’t make it to probably having about the scores. Like we men-
the final product. Instead we get the same 8MP tioned before, Super AMOLED may give you
shooter, but with a BSI sensor to help with low richer colours when it comes to accuracy, but
light photography. The faster processor has the LCD 2 technology is better than the PenTile
also allowed them to add burst mode, which matrix used in the S III, as the sub-pixels are
captures a series of snaps in quick succession, more densely packed.
allowing the consumer to then select the best
one out of the lot. The bottom line

We also have a Siri-like voice assistant that Samsung’s latest flagship comes across as a
helps you automate mundane tasks. Samsung clear winner and we haven’t even included the
have shifted their focus on making the S III unique features present in the S III, like Smart
more intuitive and adaptable to your style of stay, S Voice, Smart alert and many more. We
personal usage style. Whether they’ve succeeded cannot say for certain without testing the S III,
or not, can only be determined once we have a if it’s better than the One X or not, but all the
go at it, so we’ll reserve our judgement on that evidence points that way.
till then.
By the time the phone launches, i.e at the end
Overall, the S III might not be the ‘holy-grail’ of the month, the One X could get a price cut
everyone was waiting for, but it’s certainly a making it a very viable option. I guess it all boils
worthy successor of the S II. As for the design, down to how you feel from the moment you
that’s purely subjective, but I, for one, only have first hold the phone. After all, a mobile phone is
an issue with the rear of the phone, which looks a very personal device. We would recommend
way too bland and the arrangement of the LED you get a feel of both devices before making the
flash and speaker grill just seem off. Ohh and, buying decision, since they are both very good
did we mention they are still using plastic for handsets on paper; the rest is your personal
the entire body? taste.

Sony Xperia launches
three new phones in India

S
ony has unveiled three devices in its The company’s smartphones, which operate on
iconic Xperia series in India. the Android OS, are shipped to India from its
manufacturing units in Japan, China and Mex-
Priced between Rs.17,399 and Rs.25,449, the ico. The devices have been bundled with Tata
Xperia U, Xperia P and Xperia Solar were DoCoMo teleservices.
launched in Bangalore today. “Our new devices
are a sign of the brand’s commitment to Indian “Partnering with Sony Mobile will enable us to
users, especially youth, young professionals and provide customers with a compelling proposi-
upward mobile who would like to stay con- tion – that of accessing free data services (up to
nected and access a range of services in voice, 3GB) on Tata DOCOMO platform, making for
data and digital forms,” Sony Mobile marketing a new and invigorating mobility experience on
head Prasun Kumar told reporters at a product Xperia Sola,” Sunil Tandon, head of non-voice
preview here. services, Tata Teleservices to Telecom Lead.

“The Xperia smartphones have been designed Tata DOCOMO has introduced a gaming service
around user experiences of listen, watch, play called “Let’s Play on Android” – that lets users
and create and share to improve their personal, play premium Android Games on Xperia Sola
professional and social life. The Sola smart on a very attractive monthly subscription of Rs.
phone boasts of ‘floating touch’ for accessing 99 only.
web services by holding any finger on the screen
to open the links,” Sony mobile managing direc- This exclusive package of games “GAMETANI-
tor P. Balaji said in a statement. UM” consists of 30 premium games worth more
than Rs.2000/-.

Galaxy S III has Siri clone,
50 GB free Dropbox storage
Samsung launched its Galaxy S III last night in
London. Here is everything you wanted to
know about the phone.

S
amsung launched its Galaxy S III last 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and is powered by
night in London and the phone is causing Samsung’s quad-core microprocessor and has
a huge buzz all over the Internet. Thanks 1GB RAM.
to the hype before its launch and the excitement
after there are a few things we all know about But now we have some more details of some
the phone. We all know for instance, that it has other cool and lesser known features of the
a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display screen phone that seem to have wowed tech pundits.
with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and
comes with an 8 megapixel rear camera with It seems that Samsung has done some serious
flash and a 1.9 megapixel front camera. work on it’s rear end cameras. The camera is 8
megapixel which matches up to both the iPhone
We are also fairly certain that the device is 4S and HTC One X. As CNET points, Samsung
super light as it weighs 133g and is only 8.6 mm has taken some inspiration from HTC One X
thick. And finally we know that it runs Android which lets users choose their best shot from a

bunch of shots. However it seems that Samsung lows data to be transferred for those users who
has outdone HTC as CNET points out: have Ice-Cream Sandwich on their phone by
just touching.
The implementation is different, though; the
Samsung smartphone will automatically sug- And if all this was not enough incentive to buy
gest the best image for you based on a few the phone, the latest reports are that Samsung
factors including smile detection and facial has announced that that every consumer that
recognition. buys and registers a Galaxy S III smartphone
will get free 50GB cloud storage from Dropbox.
Samsung has also launched the device with Siri
like voice command program called S Voice. This is double of what Dropbox is giving HTC
Now Siri is iPhone 4S’s popular voice command One series owners, however just like HTC, the
app that has gained quite a lot of popularity. free storage will only be valid for two years.
Will S Voice manage the same level of interest?
And in another piece of exciting news for fans of
In terms of appearance, it would seem that new the device, it turns out that the popular iPhone
phone looks bulky but is way lighter and this app Flipboard will be available on Android as
seems to have impressed several tech gurus. well.

The Verge’s Vlad Savov writes, The main takea- AllThingsD reports that Previewed on Samsung
way when you first pick up the Galaxy S III S III today, Flipboard is coming to Android
is that it’s surprisingly light…the sensation of phones soon,” the company said on Twitter,
holding it is one of weightlessness. It almost pointing users to a page where they could pro-
feels hollow. We’re not huge fans of this, we ap- vide their email to get further updates.
preciate a bit more of a reassuring heft.”
Flipboard is an article, and news aggregation
The one thing that seems to have got some criti- app that is quite popular on Apple’s iPhone and
cism is the plastic rear body of the phone. Tech iPad devices. But hopefully Flipboard will won’t
websites had been buzzing with rumours of a be restricted to Android devices which only run
ceramic or metallic finished rear but Samsung on Ice-Cream Sandwich.
has continued with plastic and it hasn’t gotten
them rave reviews. The phone will be available on 29 May in the
UK, and is scheduled for a summer release in
The Galaxy S III also boasts of a cool feature the US. The release date for India has not been
called the S beam which allows users to trans- announced. Fingers crossed that Indian con-
port files upto 1GB to another S III without sumers won’t be short changed with this phone
using Wi-fi or data Internet. This seems to be an like in the case of the Nexus!
expansion on Android’s Beam, an app which al-

Motorola Atrix to be available
for Rs 22,990 in India
The Atrix is expected to take on other smartphones
that feature similar prices, such as the Galaxy R as
well as the LG Optimus 2X.

T
he Motorola Atrix 2 aka the Motorola 4G 1GHz dual-core processor
Atrix 2 is available for purchase through 8GB Internal Memory expandable up to 32GB
online retail sites, Saholic and Letsbuy using a MicroSD card
for a price of Rs. 22,990. With the handset mak- 1GB RAM
ing a quiet appearance in the Indian market, it 8MP camera with auto focus, LED flash and
is expected to take on other smartphones that 1080p video recording capabilities at 24fps
feature similar prices, such as the Galaxy R as VGA front facing camera
well as the LG Optimus 2X. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v 2.1+EDR, USB
2.0
For those of you who have no idea what this 3.5mm audio jack
handset is about, here is a look at its highlighted aGPS, eCompass, Light and Proximity Sensor,
specifications: Accelerometer
1735mAh battery
Android 2.3 Gingerbread Dimensions are 66 x 125.9 x 10.49mm
4.3-inch qHD display with a resolution of Weighs 147g
540×960

Reliance launches CDMA
tablet for Rs 12,999

R
eliance Communication has launched The tab was launched in Chennai, Bangalore,
India’s first CDMA tablet, priced at Hyderabad and Pune on Monday.
Rs.12,999.
Times of India quoted Reliance as saying that
The 7-inch capacitive touch screen Tab with the tablet would be supported by the company’s
Android 2.3 OS (operating system) from Reli- CDMA network across 22 circles in over 1000
ance Communications comes with a 512 MB towns in the country.
RAM and micro SD external storage. Weighing
397 grams, it has a 2 MP rear camera as well as The Hindu said that music director Anirudh
a front camera. Ravichander of ‘Kolaveri Di’ fame launched the
Tab in Chennai.
The company, which launched 3G Tab last year,
is offering a free 4 GB SD card with the CDMA
version. The device supports up to 32 GB stor-
age.

Android-based media tablets:
Do these have a future?
Worldwide media tablet shipments in the second
quarter were driven by continued robust demand for
Apple’s iPad 2, which saw shipments reach 9.3 million
units, representing a 68.3% share of the worldwide
market (up from 65.7% the previous quarter).

T
ablet computing is growing at a fast for Apple’s iPad 2, which saw shipments reach
clip. Worldwide media tablet shipments the 9.3 million unit mark, which makes up
rose by an incredible 88.9 percent on 68.3% of the worldwide market, up from 65.7%
a sequential basis and 303.8 percent year on the previous quarter. Research in Motion en-
year in the second quarter of calendar 2011 (Q2 tered the media tablet market in Q2 2011 with
2011) to 13.6 million units, according to data its PlayBook product, grabbing a 4.9% share
from the International Data Corporation (IDC) of the market. Apple’s strength and RIM’s
Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader entrance meant bad news for Android-based
Tracker. media tablets, which saw its collective share slip
to 26.8%, down from 34% the previous quarter.
The worldwide media tablet shipments in the
second quarter were driven by robust demand Based on this strong performance in the second

quarter and an improved outlook for the second research director, Mobile Connected De-
half of the year, IDC raised its shipment forecast vices. “We expect major vendors to offer their
for 2011 to 62.5 million units, up from a previ- current-generation black-and-white eReaders
ous projection of 53.5 million units. for less than $100 by the holidays,” Mainelli
said. “We’re also expecting Amazon’s much-ru-
Looking forward to the second half of 2011, moured, colour LCD-based device to ship later
IDC expects Android to cede additional market this year. Because we expect it to run a custom-
share in Q3 2011 — dropping to 23% — before it ised version of Android that ties its use to Ama-
starts growing its share again in Q4 2011 — go- zon’s content services, we expect the device to
ing up to 25.9% — and beyond. In addition to more closely resemble Barnes & Noble’s Color
continued demand for Apple iPads, IDC expects Nook than Apple’s iPad 2. As a result, our cur-
many consumers sitting on the fence going for rent plan is to count it as an eReader, and that
$-99 TouchPads as a result of HP’s decision to will also help drive shipment numbers.”
end production of its tablet product. IDC ex-
pects close to a million TouchPads to ship into “eReaders are also gaining traction with a
the channel before the end of the year. combination of increasing function and afford-
ability, as well as greater device and content
As a result, WebOS’ worldwide market share availability,” added Song. “The strong first half
is forecast to reach 4.7% in Q3 2011. However, performance and an improved view of eReader
with no clear plan to license or sell the OS to positioning helped boost our outlook for ship-
other vendors, IDC expects the WebOS market ment volume.”
share to shrink back to zero by Q1 2012.
Media tablets are defined as tablet form factor
eReaders experienced a seasonal dip, down 9% devices with color displays larger than 5 in. and
sequentially, to 5.4 million units while year-on- smaller than 14 in., running lightweight operat-
year growth was 167%. Amazon led the market ing systems — such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s
with a 51.7% share, followed by Barnes & Noble Android OS — and can be based on either x86
with 21.2%. With product refreshes and follow- or ARM processors.
ing strong Q2 2011 sales, IDC expects eReader
shipments to grow significantly through the In contrast, tablet PCs run full PC operating sys-
holiday season, reaching a total of 27.0 million tems and are based on x86 processors. Media
units for the year, up from a previous projection tablets support multiple connectivity technolo-
of 16.2 million units. gies and a broad range of applications which
differentiates them from single purpose–fo-
“Media tablet shipments grew at a solid pace cussed devices such as eReaders.
in the second quarter, led by continued strong
demand for Apple products,” said Tom Mainelli,

Why every Android user should
get the new Facebook app
Sheer speed, quick photo uploading and a beautiful
design make Facebook’s new Android app a must
download on the Android market.

Shruti Dhapola

F
acebook has done a damned good job app is now pulling away with 58.3 million Daily
with something for once – their latest Active Users (DAU).”
Android app, released on 15 December is
amazing, especially when compared to the bug- I updated Facebook on my Samsung galaxy S
gy thing they had released earlier. This probably IT-9003 , after two weeks of ignoring Face-
explains its runaway popularity. Popular tech book’s pleas.
site TechCrunch, reporting the phenomenon
said, “The Android app was launched in Sep- There were several reasons I had been resisting
tember 2009 more than a year after its iPhone the Facebook update. The most important one
sister and has been playing catch-up ever since. being that the first app kept crashing. It loaded
Both are developed internally by Facebook. This slowly, looked bad in terms of design, and
week the two were briefly tied, but the Android frankly speaking, didn’t look anything like the

site. Also for some reason, the opening page had What also helps is that the app looks exactly
an unappealing photo bar at the bottom which like the website. It means that a new user won’t
highlighted the latest photos shared by my have to worry too much about learning how to
friends. Plus when the user logged in, the first navigate the app, a problem that I felt was very
thing that opened was never the news stream evident in its previous iteration.
but an odd homepage Facebook had created
for the app. For me the main problem with it’s But speed is the main reason I love this app. I’ve
design was that it was not minimalist. Instead, already mentioned that I have very little RAM
Facebook had used ugly square icons for drop- and memory to spare. When compared to the
downs like friends, lists, etc. Nor did it help that average newsreaders apps on my phone which
it kept showing me ancient notifications. There crash very often, the new Facebook app has not
I was getting excited that somebody had liked crashed and caused me to press the task man-
my status, when it was in fact last week’s news. ager button as yet. It’s surprisingly fast with no-
Nothing puts a user off more than receiving old tifications too; I say surprising because most of
notifications. the time my phone has no Internet connection.
Also, I have found that I can upload images in
In fact when I had first bought the phone, I de- less than ten seconds, despite complaints to the
leted the first Facebook app I had downloaded contrary in the Android market user reviews.
because it kept crashing ever so often. I wasn’t
even keen on trying to update status messages Facebook chat, which I think is still the buggi-
from my phone nor was did I feel like upload- est chat ever released, is also surprisingly not so
ing pictures, primarily because it was a pain to buggy on the app. Messaging is actually faster
keep the app running for long. The next down- on the app; unlike the site where chat often
load didn’t make for a great experience either, crashes. In addition to the site app, I download-
even though the number of times it crashed ed Facebook Messenger, which is way better
was lesser. But the slow loading speed, meant I than the chat on the website. Chatting on the
rarely used it. actual website is a pain if you don’t have a fast
enough connection; as you will find that friends
After the update however, I have started using will often disappear in the middle of a conver-
Facebook on my phone a lot more. This despite sation, and you’ll only receive their messages a
the fact that I don’t have 3G on my phone and couple of hours later.
it has a bare minimum memory of around 4gb.
The app loads really quickly, much faster, in I can’t comment on how popular Facebook Mes-
fact, than the website does on my computer! senger will be in India, primarily because it will
have to compete with Google Talk, What’sApp,
The timeline is also already active on the new and BBM which are the major instant messag-
Android app, a feature that was made available ing apps used in the country right now. For now
for the iPhone app much later (on 18 Decem- what has proved to be a big hit for me is the of-
ber). In terms of design it is truly beautiful. ficial app for the site.
All the lists appear on the right-hand against
a black drop down menu, sort of like the new Overall Facebook has a done great job with their
Google bar. (I can overlook the Google rip-off Android app and I wouldn’t be surprised if the
because it’s so pretty. ) Facebook app grows faster than any other app
on the Android market.

Feedly: The personalised magazine
app for Android users

Feedly is one Android app highly recommended for
those who need their daily dose of news, videos and
other random stuff online.

Shruti Dhapola

M
umbai: An app is a more personalised that I do end up using often however is Feedly,
mode of browsing the net on your which sychronises a user’s personal RSS Feeds.
smartphone. We’ve gone from typing Despite many who believe that RSS will soon
www.com on our desktops to opening a news die out because of the app boom, I’d still recom-
app with just a touch of our finger. Every major mend Feedly and here’s why.
news website or newspaper, now has its own
app; websites are passé; the app is more impor- Easy Synchronisation: It’s easy to merge
tant. with Google Reader RSS feeds if the user is
logged into their Google account via their
Personally even I though I’ve downloaded many phone. For those who’ve not used Google reader
news apps on my phone, I don’t find myself before and therefore have no feeds to synchro-
browsing through all of them. The one app nise, there’s no need to panic. Once Feedly

opens, the user only needs to touch the little feeds.
RSS icon on the left hand side (also the Feedly
icon) and a drop down menu will appear. The With Feedly, it’s quite easy to manage that
menu gives the user several options. The user constant swarm of new feeds. When one opens
can just type the name of their preferred news a link, there’s a pencil shaped icon on the top
source into the search bar and Feedly will do right-hand pane. The user can click that and the
the rest. For instance if one types Reuters, the article is saved for later reads. All saved articles
numbers of feeds that come from Reuters are can be then viewed via the dropdown menu box
displayed. There’s also a tiny people icon to which is accessed by tapping the Feedly icon on
the right which displays the number of people the left-hand side.
who’ve subscribed to that particular feed. Just
touching the feed link will display the latest Design and aesthetics: The app market is
news from that site. Tapping the little plus on shallow; an app’s design can make a big differ-
the top right hand corner will add it to your RSS ence to user experience. Feedly’s design is quite
feed. easy on the eye with a minimalist user interface.
The dropdown menu also has a nice design,
Feedly also gives bloggers the option of sync- with an all black background with white text.
ing their Tumblr RSS feeds into the app. It also Each of the feeds also has a tiny personalised
comes with certain preloaded sections under icon next to it.
categories like Technology, Photography, Gam-
ing etc. These can however be switched off by When the app loads, the first news story on
going to advanced settings. the feed covers the whole page, with an image,
headline and excerpt, but it doesn’t look unusu-
Feedly’s biggest advantage, in my view, is its ally large on your phone screen. The user, then
ability to aggregate different kinds of content. has to slide right for more stories from the feed
From blogs like Tumblr to web comics to vid- each of which appear in similar fashion.
eos, to regular news, it works well with content
which may not always be text based. Most importantly the font is quite readable in
normal view. The font size can be increased by
No need to open another web browser: clicking on the zoom options that appear with
For those who’ve downloaded Google reader the post. Currently the design has two theme
app on their Android device, the pain of using options; white and black. Personally I prefer the
that app is truly experienced when trying to white background theme, since the text in the
click on a complete news story. Google Reader black theme appears in grey and is not that easy
redirects the user to the link via the Internet to read.
browser. Which leaves you wondering why
there’s a Reader app which forces you to use a Sharing options: Sharing posts that we like to
broswer on your mobile phone. read is an important part of the whole app expe-
rience and with Feedly there are several ways to
Thankfully Feedly does no such thing. The do it. On the top right-handside of each article
user clicks on the story, and the complete story is a simple dropdown menu button which will
opens within the app. Feedly does ask the give a user all the options to share. The user can
user to go to the website to view the story, but also email an article to a bunch of friends at the
doesn’t open the website in a different applica- same time, by going to the advance settings and
tion. With this app, the user doesn’t need to adjusting CC and BCC settings.
keep shifting to other applications.
Overall Feedly is quite a useful app since you
Save and read later: Smartphone users are can tweak it so much to your personal needs
likely to have so many news apps that one might and maintain access to content for which apps
think that there are too many apps, too much are not always available. For those don’t want to
news available and not enough time to read all spend too much time browsing through differ-
of it. Similarly, RSS feeds can be hard to man- ent apps Feedly is highly recommended.
age, especially when a user subscribes to many

Fight aliens MIB III style
on your Android device
If you have an Android device, you can get a taste of
what it would be like to run your own MIB agency
thanks to the new free for download MIB III game.

A
lways thought that Will Smith and but users can make in-app purchases for weap-
Tommy Lee Jones had the coolest movie ons and the further advance into the world of
jobs ever? Despite the obvious hazards the Men in Black.
of helping tentacled aliens give birth, and other
life threatening side effects of policing and regu- In the game, you get to create your own MIB
lating earths resident alien population, being agency where you will train agents and assign
an ‘agent’ has obvious perks. The clothes and them to missions. You also get to play with
shades certainly don’t hurt. And then there are those awesome MIB weapons like the the Neu-
all those gadgets. So. Damn. Cool. ralyzer and the Noisy Cricket. Agent J and K are
not included.
And now if you have an Android device, you can
get a taste of what it would be like to run your Like in the MIB III movie however, there is
own MIB agency, thanks to a free game released some time travel involved. You will flit between
by Gameloft. According to Cory Gunther of An- 1969 and 2012 New York, fighting aliens across
droid Community, “Honestly the controls aren’t the city. The game can be played in one person
the best and the feel and play reminds me a lot mode, but has an element of social interactiv-
of The Sims, but the graphics are cool and hey, ity. You can invite your Facebook friends to play
it’s free.” and can ask them for help during fights against
particularly powerful aliens.
The game is a freemium title so it’s free to play,

Instagram now available
on Android smartphones
Instagram, one of the most popular photo editing and
sharing app available for iPhone and iPad users is
now finally available on Android smartphones.

A
ndroid users have reason to rejoice. In- was voted as the best app for Apple and a dedi-
stagram, one of the most popular photo cated community has been built up around it.
editing and sharing apps available for
iPhone and iPad users is now finally available However as TheNextWeb has pointed out in this
for Andoid as well. While Android already has post, searching for Instagram in the Google app
a ton of other photosharing apps such as Little- store is a bit like looking for a needle in a hay
Photo, PicsArt, Lightbox, etc there has been still stack. Apparently it is still buried buried deep
a lot of yearning for Instagram. in the search results and requires some diligent
and dedicated trawling around. (Also watch out
Last month, the app had crossed 27 million for fakes!)
downloads on the iPhone. Instagram allows
users to add various innovative filters to photo- Is this one more nail in the coffin of Apple fan-
graphs and share them with others. In 2011, it boy snobbery?

RCom, Google tie up to market
Android devices with 3G connection

To reveal the distinctive affiliation between Reliance
and Android, RCom has introduced the Reliance -
Android “BLUE BOT” advertisement campaign
across various platforms

N
ew Delhi: Reliance Communications initial commitment to invest between Rs 25-30
(RCom) today said it has entered into crore in promotions. Through this collabora-
an exclusive partnership with Google to tion RCom will offer an exclusive free 1GB usage
market all devices built on Android platform for per month 3G plan to all Android device users,
two years in India with its 3G connection and the statement said.
other facilities.
RCom said that it will introduce expert custom-
“In line with the rapid growth of smartphones er care, carrier billing, exclusive applications
in the country, Reliance has collaborated with and content in addition to Android experience
Google to catapult the change by providing new zone at Reliance retail outlets across the coun-
experience to device users in terms of try. To reveal the distinctive affiliation between
peed, coverage and app (applications) ecosys- Reliance and Android, RCom has introduced
tem across segments,” RCom’s Group Head the Reliance – Android “BLUE BOT” advertise-
for Brand and Marketing Sanjay Behl said in a ment campaign across various platforms, the
statement. statement .

Market sources said that RCom has made an

Samsung launches updated Galaxy Tab,
interactive TV in India

B
ig things are in store for the geeky and TVs. An add-on Smart Evolution Kit will enable
not-so geeky gadget lovers in India! new features on the TV as and when they be-
Samsung Electronics has announced come available. Prices for the Indian market are
plans to launch a smart interactive television expected to be Rs 80,000 onwards.
in India. The product was unveiled at the 2012
South West Asia Regional Forum held in Bang- The smart interaction is available on the com-
kok. The futuristic television sets allow users pany’s 2012 flagship smart TVs, including the
to control them through voice or motion com- LED ES8000 series, LED ES7500 series and the
mands, which means users can turn the TV plasma E8000 series.
on or off, activate select applications or search
for select content in a web browser – without Zee News said meanwhile, that the price of
touching the remote. the smart TVs would range from Rs.45,000 to
Rs.2.65 lakh.
The Economic Times reported that the S8000
LED Smart TV features a built in camera with Samsung also announced an update to the Gal-
microphone, voice control, gesture-based con- axy Tab, called the Galaxy Tab 2 310. Featuring
trol and face recognition. Thanks to the built in a 7-inch screen, 1Ghz dual-core processor and
camera, users can also have face-to-face video the latest version of the Android OS, it weighs
chats over Skype. just 345 grams and still retains support for 3G
and voice calls using a standard SIM slot. It is
ES8000 is also the first in a series of upgradable expected to be priced at Rs 23,300 in India.

iPhone 4S a flop; Samsung,
HTC cash in on let down
Apple faces a tough battle in India, the world’s second-
biggest market for mobile phones with more than 850
million subscribers, where smartphones account for just
over 5 percent of the total mobile handset sales.

A
sian smartphone makers have a chance blow to ambitious plans of many competitors.
to exploit a rare letdown from pacesetter
Apple after the new iPhone 4S failed to Shares of Samsung Electronics, HTC and LG
wow fans and investors, leaving Android rivals Electronics, who all make phones using Google
better placed to grab market share. Inc.’s Android operating system, ended up on
Wednesday.
The iPhone — introduced in 2007 with the
touchscreen template now adopted by its ri- These companies could now aggressively pro-
vals— is the gold standard in the booming mote their flagship high-end models ahead of
smartphone market, and its sales have dealt a Christmas, potentially helping boost sales in the

most crucial shopping season. are a bigger story, because they represent the
best answer Apple has to its strategy for emerg-
“Apple no longer has a leading edge, its cloud ing markets and the low end of the smartphone
service is even behind Android; it can only sell market,” said Ovum analyst Jan Dawson.
on brand loyalty now,” said Gartner analyst KC
Lu in Taipei. Even before the low-cost phone, Apple was set
to exponentially grow its China business as it
“Users may wait to buy the next iPhone, if they stitches deals with operators in the world’s larg-
can’t wait, they may shift to brands with more est mobile phone market, home to more than
advanced specs.” 900 million subscribers.

The new iPhone 4S is identical in form to the Apple faces a tough battle in India, the world’s
previous model, disappointing fans who had second-biggest market for mobile phones with
hoped for a thinner, bigger-screened design of more than 850 million subscribers, where
a product that had not been updated for more smartphones account for just over 5 percent of
than a year. the total mobile handset sales.

While the device’s high-tech wizardry such “Very aggressive pricing in the higher-end cat-
as voice commands — for sending messages, egory of smartphones is unlikely in India in the
searching for stock prices and other applica- near future, primarily because the volumes are
tions — caught the attention of many analysts, it not strong enough to justify that kind of play
might not be enough to make it a must-have for in that segment,” said Deepak Kumar, research
consumers. director at IDC India.

“Major concerns for Samsung had been that its TOP SELLING SMARTPHONE
smartphone momentum will decelerate with
Apple’s new iPhone, but that’s now less of a con- Phones based on Google’s Android, which is
cern as the new iPhone failed to excite many,” available for free to handset vendors such as
said Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola, have a great-
Investment Corp in Seoul. er combined market share than Apple’s iPhone,
which is still the world’s No. 1 selling smart-
Shares of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC phone.
rose 0.6 percent in a weaker Taipei market,
while Korean rivals Samsung and LG climbed “There are still many consumers who don’t have
1.7 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, in a the iPhone experience, and Apple still has a lot
broader Korean market down 2.3 percent. of markets and carriers to enter, so when there’s
a new model with better specs, it helps to lift
MID TO LOW-END STRATEGY shipments,” said Ming-chi Kuo, analyst at Con-
cord Securities in Taipei.
However, Apple’s move to price the iPhone 4S
from $199 in the United States, and analysts’ es- “The iPhone 4S targets users who are expiring
timates of lower price points in major countries, on their two-year 3GS contract.”
could help the company expand in developing
markets such as Asia, Samsung’s backyard. Globally, iPhone shipments rose 9.1 percent in
the second quarter while Nokia’s plummeted
Apple is cutting the price of the older iPhone 4 more than 30 percent, handing the top spot to
to $99, and said an even older 3GS model will Apple with a market share of 18.4 percent, ac-
be available for free to customers who sign a cording to IHS iSuppli. Samsung, whose ship-
long-term contract. This might allow Apple to ments grew faster, is coming on strong with a
take a bite out of a low-end market it had es- market share of 17.8 percent.
chewed.
The lukewarm reception of the new phone hit
“The continued sales of the iPhone 4 and 3GS shares in Apple’s suppliers.

Taiwan’s Hon Hai, Apple’s biggest supplier, was however, as a cheaper price would allow sales to
down 1.9 percent, while casing company Fox- expand at a faster pace.
conn Technology fell 6.9 percent. Camera mod-
ule maker Largan Precision shed 6.6 percent. “The demand is still there from users upgrading
from iPhone 3GS because it’s two generations
“The casing companies should be the most-hit, behind,” he said.
correcting from the previous rise, because the
market has expected a metal case for the new In Japan, the country’s second-largest mobile
iPhone,” said Mike Fang, a fund manager of carrier KDDI will sell Apple’s new iPhone, end-
Paradigm Asset Management. ing rival operator Softbank’s highly profitable
reign as the sole provider in Japan.
Fang did not expect iPhone shipments to drop
on the disappointment over its appearance

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