BlackBerry Curve 9320 vs BlackBerry Curve 9220

Research in Motion today announced the 3G variant of recently released BlackBerry Curve 9220 in the form of Curve 9320. Apart from the 3G connectivity, the new Curve 9320 also includes a few other improvements over the non-3G version.We have compiled a quick specs comparison to help you with the differences between these two smartphones. BlackBerry Curve 9220 is currently available for Rs. 10,990 in the Indian market, while Curve 9330 is expected to launch next month between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 14,000.

Samsung Galaxy Pocket: Review

Samsung has been attracting quite a bit of attention in every mobile category: budget phones, smartphones and even feature phones. A latest addition to its Android budget phone category is the Samsung Galaxy Pocket.  The device is pocket friendly in the literal sense, sporting compact looks and feeling light in the hands. But is it pocket friendly in terms of the value-for-money factor? We find out in our review.

Hardware
The Galaxy Pocket is light as a feather at a mere 97grams and the compact design allows for a snuggly fit in your palm. Despite having a plastic body, the device feels good to hold and does not look tacky or cheap. It sports a simple curved-edge design and has a 2.8-inch full touch screen, with capacitive Menu and Back buttons on either side of a physical Home button.

There's a 2MP camera at the back, with the device speakers. The Micro-USB port that allows both charging and transferring of data, is located on the top, adjacent to the standard 3.5mm headphones jack. The left houses the volume rocker, while the power button rests on the right side.

Taking off the back panel requires a little effort, which then reveals a battery that needs to be removed to access the SIM slot. The device came concealed in a box with a power adapter, a data cable, a pair of headphones and a quick-start guide.

Display
The Galaxy Pocket has a 2.8-inch TFT capacitive display supporting a pixel resolution of 320x240. It's needless to say that a 2MP camera will not produce great quality images. Pictures do seem dull but still look better in daylight than in low light conditions. The device does not have a front facing camera. Full brightness levels can get strenuous on the eyes.

Software/ Interface
The pocket friendly smartphone runs on Android 2.3 and is powered by an 832MHz processor underneath. Multi-tasking on the device felt really smooth and it is quick to respond. There are three customizable home screens and the device has Samsung's TouchWiz UI on top.

There's more than enough room to store apps, photos, music and videos with the phone's 3GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD card slot

Apart from the Google Play Store, Samsung's own app store is also present to download and use apps. There's Polaris Viewer to manage media and documents as you go, and a Social Hub app that manages your social networking apps and makes communication through messages and emails easy.

Performance/ Battery life
The Galaxy Pocket comes with a 1200mAh battery that delivers a good performance. A moderate user can use the device for an entire day on a single charge.

Typing on the device can become quite a task in portrait mode unless you are blessed with tiny fingers, thanks to a full QWERTY keyboard crammed into a 2.8-inch screen. Landscape mode feels more comfortable though. We tested it amongst friends with different sizes of hands and those with slightly large or thick fingers just couldn't get the alphabets right.

The speaker audio quality isn't that great, but then that's the case with most budget Android phones. The bundled headphones, however, do a good job of enhancing the sound quality. There's a 5.1 sound option that works only in earphone mode and offers crystal clear audio. The FM experience was good, but you can choose to set only 4 stations at a time. However, you can listen to all available frequencies.

The device works well on Wi-Fi and the web browsing experience was decent. It does not support Adobe Flash Player 11 but comes with built-in Flash Lite. YouTube videos played smoothly with slight pixilation. The latest iteration of Angry Birds worked without any lags or crashes. Slicing and dicing in Fruit Ninja was pretty smooth as well. More recently launched apps for Android like 8bit Ninja worked alright with respect to gameplay, but it was a pain to read in-game text on the screen which appeared quite distorted.

Apps optimized for the device, available via the Samsung Apps store, also worked decent enough. We downloaded some gaming apps like Run Kelvin, Ballance and Animal Puzzle, all of which turned out to be really simple in terms of both interface and gameplay offering a lag-free experience. DJ Master Mix, an audio app offering a collection of remixed songs, worked great too.

The store also features exclusive apps from EA and Gameloft. While it was exciting to see a trial version of Assassins Creed, even before we could get acquainted with the game, it quit the trial version and prompted us to buy it, which was very disappointing.

Verdict
So is the Galaxy Pocket really worth pocketing? If this would be your first Android, then yes you could go for it. Feature wise, the phone is pretty basic, which is in line with one's expectations from a budget phone. The small size and lightweight could prove both a boon and a curse depending on the size of your hands. The device is very responsive with no lags whatsoever. For a price of Rs. 8,150, the Galaxy Pocket would be a decent investment.


Don't forget to visit our photo gallery for more pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Pocket.

ProsCompact and lightweight
Great storage capacity

Cons
Poor camera
On-screen keyboard feels cramped in portrait mode

Price: Rs. 8,150

Ratings
Design: 3
Display: 3
Camera: 2.5
Performance: 3
Software: 3
Battery life: 3
Ecosystem: 4
Value for Money: 3
Overall: 3

Samsung starts rolling out Galaxy S II ICS update in India

As consumers wait for Galaxy S III release in the country, Samsung India has started rolling out the Ice Cream Sandwich for its predecessor Galaxy S II. The update is now available over-the-air as well as via Samsung Kies.The update is over 220MB in size, so it is recommended that consumers download the update using Wi-Fi network otherwise they might incur significant data charges.
Update changelog

• Platform upgrades Android 2.3 Gingerbread to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• Face Unlock
• Mobile Network Data usage function is added
• Usability of multi-tasking and some applications is improved

Released last year, Samsung Galaxy S II is company's one of the most popular smartphone so far and over 20 million units of the smartphones have been shipped till now.

Facebook lining up Face.com acquisition?

Reports in the Israeli media suggest that Facebook is lining up yet another acquisition, that of Tel Aviv-based based Face.com.

Face.com describes itself as "the world's largest and most accurate face recognition platform". It offers apps that scan photographs on Facebook, Twitter, and other popular sites, and offers to tag them with detected faces. Face.com also offers an API that lets developers use Face.com's face detection technology in their own applications.

While Facebook has had auto-tagging of its own for a while, it could well be lining up a move for Face.com to take the technology to the next level. Another theory suggested is Facebook might be interested in just the domain name, with face.com being a convenient short for facebook.com.

Israel-based blog Newsgeek reports Facebook is willing to shell out between US $80 million and $100 million for Face.com. Before you think that is too much money to spend on just a domain name, remember Amazon bought Junglee.com for a reported US $230 million way back in 1998.

Face.com's Facebook app Photo Tagger doesn't seem to be very popular, with just 3000 Monthly Active Users (MAU) reported by AppData. The lack of popularity of its apps might add weight to the theory that any potential acquisition by Facebook would just be for the domain name, but do not discount Face.com's underlying technology.

Even if its own apps haven't set the world alight, Face.com's technology is highly regarded by the developers. Its API is used in a wide-variety of third-party mobile apps, and had been used to discover over 18 billion faces as of February 2011. Earlier this month, Face.com launched a mobile app of its own called KLIK, that uses face recognition technology to help people tag photos with their Facebook friends in real-time. The app is highly rated, with an average of 4.5 stars, indicating high customer satisfaction.

Face.com said there's "nothing new to share" when contacted by The Next Web to comment on the latest rumours.

Exclusive: Hands-On With BMW’s Most Advanced Infotainment System

By Damon Lavrinc

 

BMW has released details on its refreshed 2013 7 Series flagship before it goes on sale late this summer. But while the new drivetrains, mildly updated exterior and reworked interior are nice, what’s more impressive is the latest iteration of BMW iDrive. And we’ve got an exclusive hands-on with the system.

While the hardware underneath has gotten a mild spec bump, the central display and its resolution remains unchanged. According to BMW tech boffin, Rob Passaro, “This is more of a performance update and reskinning, with additional features. Think of it as iDrive 4.X.”

Current BMW owners will notice the enhanced graphic capabilities, particularly when scrolling through menus, zooming in and out of the maps, and the quick rendering of traffic, point-of-interest data and a new set of sub-menus available throughout the system.

The spit and polish BMW applied is particularly evident with the laser-like animation as you scroll through selections and the more responsive control through the central iDrive knob. Passaro points out that the smooth transitions are “where you get that perception of quality” and after playing with the system, it feels notably more luxurious — as much as a navigation system can.

The standard split screen setup is still present, but there’s a new set of online widgets that display local weather and a three-day forecast, along with new Panoramio integration that sources images of your destination or current location. More useful is the Street View implementation that allows you to see exactly what destination you’re navigating to, complete with Google-sourced images that can be panned and zoomed.

3-D buildings are also included in the update and range from simple gray slabs to more detailed graphics of major buildings and landmarks — particularly useful for getting your bearings in an unfamiliar city.

The integrated user manual also gets an update, complete with short animated videos that take a high-level view of the various functions, and for new 7 Series buyers its yet another reason to avoid cracking the owner’s manual.

Prospective owners will also be happy to note that you can now pair two mobile phones simultaneously, including full address-book implementations, whereas before, only one phone could be used as the primary device. And thankfully, BMW has finally nixed the “CD” button flanking the iDrive controller, opting to replace it with a button labeled “Media” — far more appropriate for a modern vehicle.

Finally, BMW will begin offering a fully digital instrument panel in place of the traditional gauges you’d find behind the steering wheel. The new display provides the standard engine, speed, fuel and temperature gauges, but now includes the ability to scroll through media functions and display current call information. Additionally, if you toggle between the different driving modes (Sport, Sport +, Comfort and Eco Pro), the gauge color and information changes to suit the driving behavior. It’s all very cool, but U.S. consumers won’t get a crack at the new display until next year.

Check out the video above for a comprehensive walkthrough of all the new features.