https://mashable.com/article/reliance-jio-launch-tariff-plans-india
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Reliance Jio launches 4G network in India, offers unlimited free voice calls
Jio's network is being touted as the largest 4G LTE deployment anywhere in the world, Ambani said, adding that the network is also "future proof" with baked in support for upcoming 5G and 6G network technologies. Jio's 4G coverage is available in 18,000 cities in the country, and over 200,000 remote areas. The company aims to extend the coverage to 90 percent of India's population by next year.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Motorola Moto 360 (1st gen): Smartwatch with a blend of style, functionality and price
The Moto 360 is an Android Wear-based smartwatch made by Motorola Mobility. The appearance of the watch stands out with a round watch face in a solid-built stainless-steel case which is IP67 dust/water resistant. It doesn't support SIM-based mobile communication but has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi options to pair and synchronize with a smartphone. As one of the first Android Wear products to hit the market, it was first announced in March 2014 and subsequently released in September that year in the US and elsewhere.
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| Moto 360 (1st gen) |
The watch is available in various colors like black, cognac leather, stone grey, champagne metal, natural metal, champagne, dark metal, and light metal.
Setup
Setting up the device is simple. Before powering up the device for the first time, charge it till 100% using the provided Qi charging dock or cradle and the wall charger. Install the Android Wear app on your smartphone and pair it with the watch using Bluetooth and / or Wi-Fi.
Display
The touch screen display consists of a 1.56-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 320 x 290 pixels (~205 ppi density). The 16M color screen displays pretty crisp and vivid colors and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
Calling
As the smartwatch doesn't include a built-in speaker, it doesn't allow to speak over the device itself. It, however, does show notifications for incoming calls and let you receive or reject calls directly from the display. To carry on the conversation, you have to use your phone. This is useful though when you are driving with your phone connected to the vehicle's infotainment system.
Messaging
The messaging application displays Short Messaging Service (SMS) messages on-screen. If you have other messaging apps installed, like WhatsApp, the messages can also be displayed.
Performance
The watch runs Android Wear OS on a 1.0 GHz Cortex A8 CPU over a Texas Instruments OMAP 3 SoC (system-on-chip) with 512 MB LPDDR RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. It handles most tasks smoothly, sometimes with a little lag and seldom the system hangs with auto or hard restarts.
Audio Quality
The device doesn't have an in-built speaker.
Microphone
An in-built microphone allows you to use voice commands to perform a variety of tasks - including doing a web search.
Camera
The device does not feature a camera.
Internal Storage
The internal memory of 4GB provides storage for installing a fair number of apps from the Google Play Store.
Expandable Storage
There is no option for additional storage.
Battery
One major component of a wearable device is the battery as that is what keeps it going. The smartwatch is powered by a non-removable 3.8V Motorola WX30 SNN5951A 300 mAh Li-ion battery packed into the casing. This is in contrast to Motorola's claim of a 320 mAh capacity battery as revealed by a teardown by iFixit. The watch charges inductively by resting it on the included charging Qi charging cradle. The charging cradle accepts a micro-USB which is also included in the box. The battery charge lasts just about a day with a conservative amount of use. The battery life could be better.
Connectivity
The Moto 360 smartwatch allows synchronization with a smartphone via Bluetooth 4.0 LE with aptX codec support. It also synchronizes with the smartphone via Wi-Fi. There is no option for cellular connectivity through a SIM card.
SAR (Specific Absorption Rate)
The highest SAR value for this smartwatch is 0.44 W/kg. The SAR limit for a wrist-worn mobile device set by the FCC is 4.0 W/kg.
FCC ID
The FCC ID for the device is IHDT6QC1 and the reports are available here.
Warranty
The product comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty on the device and 6 months of warranty on the accessories.
Conclusion
The smartwatch has been performing well over the last 12 months and still got the looks. Sometimes the apps do hang, and the system abruptly reboots. I have seen the battery life deteriorate pretty fast over this period. The look and feel are still attractive. The connectivity to the smartphone is frequently lost and I have had to reset the watch and pair all over again several times. The 2nd generation of Moto 360 is already available which I have not tested.
January 28, 2022 Update: I have owned the Moto 360 (1st gen) for over 6 years now. Over the last 3 years many apps on the device have stopped working and synchronizing with Android phones. Lately, the phone has stopped completing the startup process and is unusable. So, I let it go.
The product homepage at http://moto360.motorola.com/
The user manual is available here at ManualsLib, here at B&H and here at the FCC ID database.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Panama Papers: Information leak from a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca
2.6 terabyte leak of Panamanian shell company data reveals "how a global industry led by major banks, legal firms, and asset management companies secretly manages the estates of politicians, Fifa officials, fraudsters and drug smugglers, celebrities and professional athletes."
Coverage at ABC: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/explained-what-are-the-leaked-mossack-fonseca-panama-papers/7270690
Coverage at The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/panama-papers
Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers
Edward Snowden on Twitter wrote: Biggest leak in the history of data journalism just went live, and it's about corruption.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Music I'm listening to in 2015
Here is a quick log of the music albums that I have been listening to this year.
- Recovery / Eminem
- DJ Doll Remix / Harry Anand
- East West Metro / Apaar Bangla
- Ghoonghat / Pankaj Udhas
- RD Burman Reinvented / DJ Suketu & friends
- Boonoonoonoos / Boney M.
- Noy / Chandrabindoo
- Deewana / Sonu Nigam
- Mohabbatein (Motion Picture Soundtrack) / Jatin Lalit & Anand Bakshi
- Konvicted / Akon
- Rajanigandha / Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma
- Hell Freezes Over / Eagles
- Raastey / Shraddha Sharma
- Universal Music
- Katy Hudson / Katy Hudson
- Beatles for Sale / The Beatles
- Tuccho / Cactus
- Onekdin Por / Kabir Suman & Anjan Dutt
- Cowboys from Hell / Pantera
- Hanji / Bally Sagoo
- Proper Patola / Diljit Dosanjh
- The Times They Are A-Changin' / Bob Dylan
- Born This Way / Lady Gaga
- Ammonia Avenue / The Alan Parsons Project
- Lal Matir Sorane / Silajit Majumder
- The Very Best of Shafqat Amanat Ali / Shafqat Amanat Ali
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Nokia 206 RM-872: Basic feature phone which moderate performance
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| Nokia 206 |
It's been nearly a year since I got my hands on the Nokia 206 (Model RM-872) which is an entry-level mobile phone. I will write my experience with the phone and what I learned about it in this post.
I ordered this on Flipkart where it was retailing for Rs. 3,580 inclusive of all taxes on 23 October 2014 and received it just the next day, which was pretty impressive. While it comes in 5 colors - black, white, cyan, magenta and yellow - my unit is black. Flipkart had listed this phone as Nokia Asha 206 which is an error - the 206 is not an Asha device.
The GSM phone is highly compact, comes with a 6.1 cm (2.4 inch) QVGA display, a 1.3 MP read camera, 32 MB RAM, dual-SIM support and a 1200 mAh removable battery. Inside the box is also an AC-11 travel charger, a headset and a setup guide.
Setup
Setting up the device is easy. Just remove the back cover, remove the battery, lift the mini-SIM holder and place a GSM SIM card into the slot, place the battery back again and then put the back cover on into position. You can optionally insert a microSD card in the slot under the back cover and a second SIM card in the slot at the left edge of the phone. Then after you have charged the battery, you are good to start the phone using the power button.
Display
The 6.1 cm (2.4 inch) QVGA TFT 65K color display is bright, images are clear and the size is okay at this price point. It displays at 240 x 320 pixels with a 4:3 ratio (~167 ppi density). The home page displays a set of short icons to applications and calendar appointments along with the data and time and other information.
Keypad
The keys on the keypad are smooth with large letter - good for the elderly and people with sight problem. The keypad features predictive text input using the T9 dictionary for easy typing.
Calling
With its dual-SIM support, it lets you carry a second phone number within the same device. You have the option to set a default SIM for services like outgoing calls, text messages, multimedia messages and data connections. It also lets you select a combination, like you can select SIM1 as the default for outgoing calls and messages while SIM2 can be the default for data connections. There is also an option for the phone to ask you which SIM to use every time.
Making, receiving or rejecting calls on this phone is a breeze with the intuitive user interface. It also allows putting a call on hold, dialing a 2nd number and setting up a multiparty conference call, call forwarding, call waiting, and muting. It also stores the phone numbers of recent received, dialed and missed calls.
The phone book lets you store up to 1000 phone numbers along with the name, an image and other details of the contact. Setting up speed dial numbers lets you make phone calls by pressing a single button on the keypad.
I like the way that Nokia lets you turn on and off the keypad lock swiftly by pressing the Menu + * key combination. This is easier than most phones from other manufacturers.
Messaging
The messaging application supports both Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). The predictive text works fine and is helpful.
Performance
The phone runs on Nokia's Series 40 operating system which fares well on the performance front. Apps like Facebook and WhatsApp are slow, but they work.
Audio Quality
In-call reception audio quality is very good, and I haven't come across people complaining about the audio they receive on the other side. The volume of the sound is low but the quality is good.
Camera
The device packs in a 1.3 mega-pixel primary camera on the back with no flash. The camera allows you to shoot both still photos and videos. The images are 1280 x 960 pixels. Videos are stored using the Common Intermediate Format (QCIF) at 10 fps. The image quality is okay.
Media Player
The built-in media player can play videos formats (MP4, H.263 and WMV) and most audio music formats including MP3, WAV, WMA and AAC. The media library can automatically categorize songs based on artists, albums, and genres if the audio files have the information filled in.
FM Radio
The phone has an FM radio receiver which lets you play radio stations. The headset acts as an antenna for the radio signal reception so it should always be connected to the phone for the radio stations to play.
Web Browsing
The phone has a built-in XHMTL web browser named Nokia Xpress which features Unicode-support. It renders the pages well even though the screen is small for most web pages nowadays.
The phone has a built-in e-mail client that lets you configure multiple email accounts.
Internal Storage
The 64 MB internal memory storage is pretty low on the upfront but when you come to think of it, what huge data would you want to store on a basic phone like this.
Expandable Storage
DONE The phone accepts a microSD or microSDHC to extend the storage up to 32 GB for storing multimedia files.
Battery
The phone comes with a 1200 mAh 3.7V Nokia BL-4U Li-on battery. The user manual states the battery backup is for up to 20 hours of talk time and up to 680 hours of standby time under optimal conditions. My experience with the battery backup is good - I haven't used the phone regularly as it is not my primary device. On an average the battery can last 4-5 days with regular use.
Connectivity
The mobile supports and operates on the cellular EGSM 900-800 Mhz 2G network. It supports up to 85.6 kbps on GPRS and 236.8 on GPRS. It also has Bluetooth v2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR). There is no support for USB or NFC.
Software Updates
Software updates to the phone can be done wirelessly over the air. There is also an option for the phone to automatically check for new updates.
SAR (Specific Absorption Rate)
SAR value for this phone when tested for use at the ear is 0.93 W/kg.
FCC ID
DONE The FCC ID for the device is NCC CCAF12DG0440T3 and the reports are available here.
Warranty
DONE The product came with 1-year manufacturer warranty on the device and 6 months of warranty on the accessories out of the box.
Conclusion
DONE Overall, it is a pretty decent phone. The build quality is good, and the display is large. It runs smooth with apps hanging sometimes which may be due to the low amount of memory. This is perfect for elderly people who find it difficult to operate smartphones.
Update June 2020: The phone is still working and operational, but the functions now run very slow. The body is hard and has survived several drops. I finally let it go.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Google officially ends forced Google+ integration on YouTube
Google said it will no longer require Google+ accounts to use any of its products, and it will continue to strip Google+ integration out of all of its products. The YouTube blog announced that "in the coming weeks," comments will no longer require Google+; as of today, comments made on YouTube won't show up on Google+, and vice-versa.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/google-officially-ends-forced-google-integration-first-up-youtube/
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 (SM-T311): A tablet with steady performance
The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is an 8-inch Android-based tablet computer made by Samsung Electronics, and it is part of the 3rd generation of their Galaxy Tab series. Other tablets in this series are the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 (7-inch) and the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 (10.1-inch). This series of tablet computers were showcased in the Mobile World Conference in 2013.
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| The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 (SM-T311) |
There are three variants of the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, out of which we focus on the SM-T311 in this post. I expect the other variants to have similar performance standards based on their respective features.
- Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 SM-T310 - Wi-Fi only
- Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 SM-T311 - 3G and Wi-Fi capable
- Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 SM-T315 - 4G/LTE & Wi-Fi capable
I ordered the SM-T311 in midnight black in May 2014 when it was retailing in Flipkart for Rs. 22,499 inclusive of all taxes. The delivery was quick, and I had the device in my hands in two days. The box includes the tablet with the battery built in, a travel charger, a USB cable, and the user manual.
Setup
Setting up the device is simple. Just insert a SIM or USIM card into the appropriate slot on the left side, optionally insert a microSD card in the provided slot. Charge the battery if needed and you are good to start the tablet computer.
Calling
The SM-T311 is one of those few tablets that accepts a SIM card to make voice calls over 2G or 3G GSM networks. Making, receiving or rejecting voice and video calls on this phone is a breeze with the intuitive user interface. It also allows putting a call on hold, dialing a 2nd number and setting up a multiparty conference call, call forwarding, call waiting, and muting. It also stores the phone numbers of recent received, dialed and missed calls.
Performance
Running Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) and later Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) on the 1.5 GHz dual core Samsung Exynos 4212 CPU with 1.5 GB RAM, the tablet handles all tasks smoothly. Multitasking using the Multi Window Panel is effortless and apps run flawlessly with no visible lag or crashes.
Display
The touch screen display consists of an 8-inch WXGA TFT screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The 16M color screen displays pretty crisp and vivid colors and is responsive to all touch and gestures.
Audio Quality
In-call reception audio quality is excellent, and the device plays music at amazing clarity.
Camera
The tablet carries a 5MP auto-focus primary camera with LED flash that can take 1.3-megapixel photos and HD videos at resolutions up to 720 x 1280 pixels at 30 fps. The image quality is fair. There is also a 1.3MP front (or selfie) camera. The camera also allows automatic GPS tagging of captured images.
Internal Storage
The 16 GB internal memory provides enough storage a large number of apps to coexist.
Expandable Storage
The tablet accepts a FAT-formatted microSD or microSDXC to extend the storage up to 64 GB for storing multimedia files. Loading the 64 GB microSD with audio, video, and document files of various formats showed no noticeable lag and the device has been able to handle the file-load smoothly.
Battery
As one of the major factors in a mobile computing device, the tablet is powered by a non-removable Samsung T4450E 4,450 mAh Li-ion battery built into the casing. The battery packs enough juice to last a long time even with heavy use. It takes about 5 hours to do a full charge from zero.
Connectivity
The tablet supports a single SIM card on GSM 2G and / or HSDPA 3G networks. On the WLAN front it supports Wi-Fi 802.11 on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. It also has Bluetooth v4.0. For wired PC connectivity using USB 2.0, it accepts a MicroUSB data cable which is also provided in the box.
PC Connectivity
Synchronizing with the PC is possible using Samsung's Kies PC Sync software which can be used to manage media libraries, contacts and calendars on the tablet. Windows Media Player can also be used to synchronize media files. The tablet needs to be connected to the PC using the MicroUSB data cable.
Security
The tablet allows various ways to unlock, including the following:
- Face unlock
- Face and voice unlock
- Pattern unlock
- PIN unlock
- Password unlock
SAR (Specific Absorption Rate)
SAR value for this phone when tested for use at the ear is 0.535 W/kg and when worn on the body is 0.666 W/kg. The SAR limit set by the FCC is 1.6W/kg.
FCC ID
The FCC ID for the device is A3LSMT311 and the reports are available here.
Warranty
The product comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty on the device and 6 months of warranty on the accessories.
Conclusion
If you are looking for an Andriod-based tablet computer right now, go ahead and get it. The user experience is flawless, and the apps run like a breeze.
March 13, 2021 Update: After various forms of usage over the last ~7 years, I finally let it go. The device is still working though it has gotten slow, and many apps won't work on it anymore. It has never visited a service center, so you see that the hardware has been very reliable.
The MouthShut rating is 3.59 out of 5 based on 1,295 user votes.
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