Lure of the Smart Phones
By Anoop Verma
Carrying along a cell phone, PDA and notebook is inefficient. You can lighten your load by picking up an all-in-one smartphone that can serve as an organizer, an e-mail device, a cell phone, and a multimedia system. Here are seven top picks for smartphones:
HTC Sensation
Crafted from high-quality metal, glass and plastic, the Sensation feels solid in the hand. The interface consists of a 4.3-inch, 960-by-540 Super LCD screen, which is incorporated with qHD display. Movies, videos and albums will look great. Inside the device we have 768 MB of RAM and a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor with an Adreno 220 GPU. The 8.1 mega pixels camera can record 1080p HD videos at 30 fps. For video calling, there is a front facing VGA camera. (Available at: www.flipkart.com Price: Rs. 29,600)
iPhone 3GS
This iconic device brings the vast resources of personal computing into your pocket. It is part phone, part portable media player and part Internet browser. As a 600Mhz processor powers it, there is a much higher performance ceiling for apps to hit. There is 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 480×320 resolution, VGA video recording, and a 3-megapixel camera for capturing friends and family. (Available at: Airtel and Aircel stores, Price: Rs. 19,990)
Motorola Fire XT
For social networking buffs, the Fire XT from Motorola proves to be a good option. The stylish looking Android 2.3 device enhances social networking experience by tools like video chat, email and Swype texting. There is a 2.8-inch touchscreen, and also a full QWERTY keypad. There are two cameras — a 5-megapixel auto focus camera at the back and a front facing camera for video calling. Connectivity is through WiFi, 3G and a host of other options. (Available at: www.flipkart.com, Price: Rs. 12999)
Samsung Galaxy S II
The first thing you notice about the remarkably attractive Galaxy S II is just how thin and light the phone looks. It measures 4.9 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by 0.3 inch thick. The 4.3-inch display is made out of scratch resistant gorilla glass and it uses Samsung’s Super AMOLED Plus display technology, which performs very well in bright light. The phone uses Android Gingerbread OS and also runs a Samsung-built overlay, TouchWiz 4.0. Powered by 1 GHz dual-core processor, the Galaxy S II can make apps, video, and web pages load lickety-split. It has an 8-megapixel camera plus a front-facing camera for video calls. (Available at: http://shopping.indiatimes.com, Price: Rs. 29,090)
LG Optimus 3D
If you really want to stand out from the crowd, then start toting a handset that delivers 3D content sans any glasses. Based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the Optimus 3D boasts of a Tri-Dual configuration, which means it is dual-core, dual-channel, and dual-memory. The device, powered by 1GHz dual core processor, offers a complete 3D experience. You can use it for not just watching 3D videos, but also use to record, view and share 3D content. The display of 4.3” can render 1080p output in 2D and up to 720p in 3D. The inbuilt software does a remarkably good job of converting 2D photos and videos into 3D in real time. (Available at: www.flipkart.com Price: Rs. 36,999)
HTC EVO 3D
The most standout feature of the HTC EVO 3D is its 4.3-inch, glasses-free 3D display. Powered by Android 2.3, the phone comes with dual 5 mega-pixel cameras to capture 3D video and images. So you can record the best moments of your life in colourful video and view them in 3D. Sharing is a breeze. Under the hood, the phone packs a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. There is WiMAX connectivity (including mobile hotspot support). In addition to the dual 5-megapixel camera, there is a forward facing 1.3 megapixel camera to enable video calling. (Available at: www.flipkart.com, Price: Rs. 35000)
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
This cute looking Android phone has a display of only 2.6 inches, which is tiny compared with similarly capable smartphones, and its QVGA resolution is much lower than what we generally expect from phones of its ilk. Yet the phone is highly useable, not only for its innovatively designed QWERTY keyboard, but also due to its messaging and social networking capabilities. The 600 MHz ARM 11 Processor is good enough for running most apps. We also have a 5 MP Primary Camera, a microUSB port, and a microSD card slot for cards up to 16GB. (Available at: http://www.homeshop18.com, Price: Rs. 9999)
