Gadgets leap ahead-this decade!

     Ipods,Iphones,wireless gadgets,smart phones…….we are all familiar with all these gadgets now,but 10 years ago these gadgets were not available.I don’t think anyone would have even thought about these wonders(now,these are no more wonders).Times Magazine released the 'Top 10 Best Inventions Of This Decade'.Many gadgets were listed in this.Of course,they don’t need any introduction but let us rewind these cool gadgets on the eve of a new year and a new decade.

Ipod[2001]:

     Before 2001,the only way for music lovers was the Walkmans which were not hand-sized.The invention of ipod by apple changed the situation completely.As this small portable media player had the capacity to store nearly 1000 songs,there were no boundaries to music fans’ joy.This is one of the best inventions of 2001.

Bluetooth (wireless) headset[2002]:

     If one wants to talk in a cellphone,he/she had to keep the cell phone very close to the ears.If we talk for alongtime,the hands would pain.As the phone gets heated,the effects of radiation also gets increased.Though there were earphones,the wires hanged which was not liked by all,very few liked it.The invention of wireless headset solved all these shortcomings.The wireless headset which was designed with the help of the technology used in Bluetooth was selected as the best invention of the year 2002.

Blackberry[2002]:

     Another wonder which was unveiled in 2002 was Blackberry phone.Now smart phones which serve business purpose are available from Rs.1500 onwards but……in 2002 that was not the case.Qwerty keyboard phones designed by RIM(‘Reasearch In Motion’) for business needs were a sensation at that time.Blackberry phones which had facilities like connecting to the internet,sending e-mails,chatting with just a press of a button changed the trend of mobile phones.As the Blackberry phones were costly,they remained far from an average person.

Camera phone[2003]:

     Now whenever we attend marriages we see many people around us capturing pictures with cell phone’s camera just like photographers.A mobile phone with a camera is very common thing these days but in 2003 this was a concept which became a super hit.The camera phones were first released in America.The extent to which they were successful was……80 million mobile phones were sold world wide in that one year itself.Things which were to be kept secret in celebrities’ parties became public with these camera phones.

Iphone[2007]:

     Portable media player,recording facilities,2 MegaPixel camera,multi touchscreen,Wi-Fi connectivity…….Apple company equipped all these features and designed another wonder in the name of iphone.This invention challenged Blackberry which was famous for providing options to the customers…….not only in options but also in beauty.The real smart phone craze started with iphone.Even today,all the world renowned mobile phone manufacturers design their smart phones similar to the iphone.Apple Inc. released the first iphone in market(America) at 6 P.M.on the 29^th of June,2007.To buy the iphone,many people in America waited in queue in front of the shops from the previous day’s night itself.

Ipad[2010]:

     Already Apple’s ipad has been described as the best gadget of this year.World’s first tablet PC.Following the foot steps of Apple,nine world famous companies hurried to release their tablet PCs.The facilities of the ipad were more than the facilities of a smart phone and less than that of a netbook.On the first day of their release itself 3 lakh people buyed these tablet PCs.Though it does not have features like USB connectivity,in-built camera,CD/DVD players which were it’s main drawbacks…….there is no doubt in saying that the ipad stealed the heart of many youngsters.

…….not only these,many other gadgets which made man’s work easier were invented in this decade.Virtualkeyboards,Global Positioning System(GPS)-which can guide us in unknown places,Google maps,Flexible T.V which can be folded and taken anywhere,3D Cameras,3D TVs,Pendrives,C.Ds,Micro SD cards,Internet…..not one or two…..thousands.All these inventions are reflections of man’s increasing command over technology.Like these many things which were considered impossible once upon a time,were made possible.Scientists are promising us a dream future by inventions like Electric car recharging stations,road embedded rechargers.If these wonders become true then not only in this decade even the coming decade will be ruled by gadgets!Let us hope that these dreams come true.

Nokia N8-Symbian phone

Introduction:

       Nokia has the reputation of manufacturing mobile phones which are standard and attracted mobile lovers all over the world.But the recent hits of other mobile phone manufacturers like Apple,Samsung,LG,HTC and some other legendary manufacturers in the form of smart phones like the Apple Iphone 4,Samsung Galaxy,HTC Desire has affected the sales of this Finnish handset manufacturer.
This has put Nokia in deep thought and Nokia has come with Nokia N8.To know more about Nokia N8,read this review
:Design and Construction:

       The design of the Nokia N8 will satisfy the Nokia fans and especially Smart Phones.Nokia is focusing on it’s minus point-the design of their phones.The edges are a special attraction and the metallic finish catches our eyes(anodized aluminium)!This Symbian phone looks great.

       The Nokia N8 features AMOLED touch screen supporting 16.7 million colours hence the display is awesome.This 3.5 inch touchscreen phone sports a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels.The display is scratch resistant.The display was visible in sunlight.The Nokia N8 features only one button located below the display which takes to the home screen.Built-in accelerometer to auto-rotate.

       The right side of the phone is equipped with dual volume button,camera button and a switch to lock.The left side has SIM Card,micro SD slots and USB port whereas the headphone jack(3.5 mm),power button and the HDMI port are placed on the top.

User Interface-The touch experience isn’t smooth but the User Interface is.The Symbian 3 Operating System has corrected the inconvenience of the Symbian S60.That said,it cannot be compared to the Android and iphone’s OS.Users can have a multi-tasking experience,thanks to the Symbian 3 OS!

Call quality and Messaging:

       The call quality is good-clear and loud.The loudspeaker is at the back of the phone,good sot but it takes time to get adjusted.

       Messaging on this phone is a good experience but those got used to the Android phones or the iphone will hate the experience.The Nokia N8 supports SMS,MMS,Email,Instant Messaging and Push Mail.You can get the Qwerty keyboard by turning the phone horizontally.There is room for improvement to give a better messaging as the input is a bit tough.

Camera:

       The 12 MegaPixel camera is marvelous.Generally we would expect a 5 MP Camera but this Symbian phone’s camera is a masterpiece.Even professional photographers wouldn’t expect more!The 12 MP camera  is better than even some mid-range digital cameras.The photo quality is extra ordinary.There is also a VGA Camera at the front for making video calls.The maximum resolution of the pictures is 4000 x 3000.There is also face detection and geo tagging features.There weren’t any blurs in the pictures taken with the Nokia N8.Videos can be recorded at 25 fps(frames per second).There is also photo and video editors.The videos taken are HD videos.The Camera has Carl Zeiss optical lens,Xenon flash and autofocus so that even a newbie won’t find any difficulties to use the camera,there are lots of options and apps for the 12 MP camera.
Multimedia features:

       Speaking about the multimedia features,the Nokia N series phones are always the front runners.And the same is applicable to the Nokia N8.The Nokia N8 has a Stereo FM Radio with RDS and FM transmitter.The music player supports numerous formats like MP3, WMA, AAC,eAAC, eAAC+,AMR,OMA DRM 2 and AMR.The speaker quality is also very good,so music listeners will be satisfied with the Nokia N8.Video player supports WMV,XviD,MPEG-4,H.263,H.264,ON2 VP6,VC-1,flash video and real video.The Nokia N8 also has very nice games which are very good considering that it is a touch screen phone.Other games can also be downloaded with Nokia’s Ovi store.

Connectivity:

Bluetooth v3.0 can transfer files at a good rate,the Bluetooth comes with A2DP,GPRS,Ovi maps 3(a geography teacher will like it),3G support,USB(v 2.0) to connect to the PC and to charge the battery.Wi-Fi connectivity.

Other features:

       Document editor to edit Word,Excel,PDF,Powerpoint files,Speed dial,three home screens,Organizer,Social Networking apps,multi tasking,Dolby Digital Surround System.The NokiaN8 is available in 6 color variants:White,Blue,Grey,Orange,Silver and Green.

Performance:

       The quad band GSM(850/900/1800/1900) performed well.The built-in GPS Navigator in the Nokia N8 worked well.Switching between applications was a bit frustration as the Nokia N8 became sluggish but it never hanged.The Nokia N8 offers a storage space of 16GB which is expandable upto 48GB with micro SD slot(large storage space).The BL-4D Baterry(Li-ion) equipped with the Nokia N8 has a talktime of 12 hrs(GSM) and 5h 50min(3G) and a stand-by time of 385 hrs(GSM) or 410 hrs(3G).The battery life is average for this price($500 approx).The battery had some flaws which Nokia said they will rectify.The performance of the browser was good but it took some time to load big sites.

Verdict:

       The Nokia N8 is a very good camera phone and offers lots of other features.The battery had some complaints.The N8 provides enhanced User Interface with the Symbian^3 OS.But while buying a mobile phone at this price it is better to think twice even though it is worth the cost.It is a high-end smart phone of the ‘N series’.

Lenovo Ideapad U160 notebook

       Lenovo is expanding it’s Ideapad U series models and now recently with the Lenovo Ideapad U160.It starts at $1050 and in India it is priced at Rs.42,000.The U160 has a11.6-inch display and available with Intel Celeron,Intel Pentium,Core i3 and upto Corei7.The lid of this notebook is not glossy and all the ideapad’s have check pattern on the lid and the Lenovo ideapad U160 is no exception to that rule.The U160’s LED display’s resolution is 1366 x 768 pixels.If you are going to buy this
you will be given choice for Operating System between Windows 7 Starter,Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Premium.Lenovo offers an optional DVD Burner with the Lenovo Ideapad U160.

      The U160 is ultra thin as it’s thickness is just 0.9 inch and the dimensions are 290 x 190.5 x 22.5 mm.It weighs 2.76 lbs with the 3 cell battery and when equipped with the 6-cell battery it weighs 3.1 lbs(very light).Lenovo promises 3.5 hrs of batter life for the 3-cell battery and the optional larger capacity battery promises upto 7 hours of run time.It has many ports like the two USB jacks,VGA,headphone,microphone and ethernet sockets as well as the HDMI port.

       The keyboard design is simple.The chiclet keyboard was nice but the touchpad was not likeable as it was small.Notably,there is no F12 key.Performance wise the Lenovo Ideapad U160 is one of  the best of 11.6 inch laptops..There is an integrated web camera located at the top of the screen.The laptop gets heated up quickly as though it was taken from an oven.There is no need to worry about the storage capacity as you can have a 250GB or 320GB or 500GD Hard Disk Drive and 4GB DDR3 RAM.

Features:

• Smile Dock(allows you to launch Lenovo utilities)
• Fingerprint reader
• Data recovery tools(Tools to recover data)
• Good battery life
• Active Protection System
• Built-in web camera-1.3 MP
• Light Sensor

Specifications:

• Display:11.6” LED Display
• Resolution:1366 x 768 pixels
• Dimensions:11.4” x 7.5” x 0.9”(or 290 x 190.5 x 22.5 mm)
• Connectivity :Wi-Fi,optional Bluetooth,LAN,WWAN(optional)
• Screenratio:16:9
• Available colors:Red,Brown,Black

       The Lenovo Ideapad U160 is handy for fashion lovers(it isn’t short of technology) and also for those who want to frequently check their e-mails and twitter updates.

Nokia X2-Music phone Part 2

       In the previous post,I gave the introduction and talked about the design and the Camera of the Nokia X2-00.In this post I will discuss about the multimedia features,calling,messaging and also features and specifications of this music phone and conclude the review.

Other multimedia features:

       The multimedia features are good for this budget.The music player is compatible with MP3,WMA,AAC,AAC+ and eAAC+  files.The sound quality is above par and surely the music lovers will have a great time. There are two stereo soeakers and stereo FM Radio with RDS.There is not need to use the headsets every time to listen to the radio as there is a built-in antenna.There is no document viewer.The phone doesn’t disappoint either game lovers as the Nokia X2 offers some exciting java games like City Bloxx,Diamond Rush,3D Rally,Bounce Tales,Snake III,Sudoku,Brain Champion and Block’d which are loaded.The NokiaX2 offers decent multimedia features!

Call quality and messaging:

       The quality of the calls was very good,the voice was clear and loud.This music phone can store upto 1000 contacts.There is no smart dialing feature in the Nokia X2.The Nokia X2 uses the Nokia messaging client 2and it supports SMS,  multimedia messages(MMS) and also e-mails.But as I said earlier typing was hard and naturally messaging was not easy.Nokia X2 also supports instant messaging.

Features:

• Form factor:Candybar
• 5 MegaPixel Camera with LED flash light
• Video recorder(QVGA)
• Dedicated music keys and dual stereo speakers
• Stereo FM and in-built antenna
• 3.55 mm audio jack
• Bluetooth v2.1with A2DP
• USB 2.0
• Ovi player and to Ovi store
• Instant messaging
• Quick access to facebook
• Opera Mini browser

Specifications:

• Dispaly:2.2” QVGA TFT color display
• Resolution:240x320 pixels,256k colors
• Dimensions:111 x 47 x 13.3 mm
• Weight :81 gm
• Internal memory:48MB
• Memory expandable upto 16GB with microSD
• Video recording at 15fps
• Games:Yes,8 games
• Connectivity:GPRS/EDGE,WAP 2.0,EDGE,GSM
• Battery:BL-4C 860 mAh li-ion
• Talk time:13h 60min
• Stand by time:540 hrs
• Color variants:Red on black and blue on silver

Box contents:Handset,BL-4C Battery,Charger,user guide and a headset.Surprisingly,there is no USB Cable which is a disappointment.

Conclusion:

       The NokiaX2 is lower mid-range phone which is worth the cost and this musical maestro is ready to take on the other mobile phones from it’s serious competitors.

Nokia X2-Music phone Part 1

       Nokia has announced the Nokia X2 in April and this phone hit the market in June this year.The Nokia X2 is the latest offering from Nokia.It is a mid-range music phone from this giant mobile phones manufacturer.There isn’t much of innovation in this phone’s design but it is loaded with a lot of multimedia features especially the music department,it is known that the X-series phones are music phones and the same is the case with the Nokia X2.The Nokia X2 is the cheapest phone
with a 5MP camera from Nokia and also the cheapest in the X-series.

 Design:

       The phone does not have stunning looks which can appeal the mass but the ergonomics of the phone are pretty impressive with a thickness of 13.3 mm and weighs just 81 grams.The Nokia X2 is somewhat plasticky in it’s looks which I think will repel the youngsters these days.

       The right side of the phone includes three keys viz. the volume keys,camera key and a microSD slot for expansion of memory upto 16GB.Whereas the left side features dedicated music keys and at the top of the phone is 3.55 mm headset jack,USB port and a port for the charger.the buttons on the keypad are a bit hard to type on.The screen size(2.2 inch) is also small which I think will not bother the users but if you may find it difficult while browsing.The Nokiais supported by the S40 User Interface.

Camera:

       Most of us are surprised to see a 5 MegaPixel Camera in this price range.But unlike the cheap 5 mp camera that come with the new handset manufacturers like Lemon,Spice and Maxx the quality of the camera is really good,that is the reliability of Nokia!The camera has a LED flash light with fixed focus.The quality of the pictures taken is amazing and the maximum resolution is 2592 x 1544 pixels.The Nokia X2 comes with noise reduction feature.The video recorder records videos at 15 frames per second and supports 3GP(H.263 nd H.264 codecs) and MPEG-4 formats at a maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and sorry to forget it features a 4x zoom(digital).

*To read the rest of the review click here-NokiaX2-music phone Part 2

How to edit PDF?

       Even an average computer user knows to change files to PDF format.But how to edit these PDF files.In this post,I am going to tell you how to edit the PDF files.
       First of all,download PDFFill PDF Editor.After downloading the PDFFill PDF Editor,the PDFFill Editor,PDFFill Tools,PDFFill PDF Writericons will appear on the desktop.
       You can edit pdf fileswithPDF Editor.You can also merge to PDF fileswith the PDF Editor.It isalso possible to arrange Header and Footer to the file.You can add watermark to PDF files which are created by "Add Watermark by text".
       If you want to convert pictures to PDF ,select "Convert Images to PDF".In the same way it also possible to chane PDF to pictures by clicking on "Convert PDF to Images".
Features like Rotate or Crop pdf pages,Reformat Multiple Pages,Add pdf information also come with the PDF Editor.
For more information and to download visit - http://pdffill.com/whatisnew.html

Micromax Q55-Slider Qwerty phone

       Micromax Bling Q55 is the latest addition to the Q series phones from this desi mobile phone manufacturer.The Micromax Q55 is sliding Qwerty phone with innovation.The Q55 reminds us of the Motorolla Flipout and the Nokia 7705 Twist!The Q55 is designed stunningly which I think will attract mainly the girls because of it’s feminine looks.The main attraction in the phone
are the diamond studded keys and the Qwerty keypad along with slide which is rarely available.The Qwerty keypad is larger than many other qwerty phones available today like the Nokia E71.

       The 2 MegaPixel camera is just satisfactory,but we cannot expect much at this price tag of INR 5,500 which is quite affordable.We have to slide the screen to take pictures or to capture videos.As is the case with qwerty mobile phones,typing is very easy so users to type messages(the phone supports both SMS and MMS) and surf the internet with the built-in Opera Mini browser.The qwerty keypad is a step ahead of the Micromax Q7.Users would take sometime to get adjusted to use this phone because of it’s subjective design.

       The multi format music player powered by Yamaha can play MP3,WAV,MIDI and AMR files.Music can be played on the background and it comes with many equalizers andFlight mode.There is also a video player.Social Networking features are the same like the Micromax Q7 with Facebook and instant multi messenger but are enough to be in touch with this world especially with friends.

Features:

Qwerty keypad

Diamond studded keys

Memory expandable upto 8GB(MicroSD)

Integrate media player powered by Yamaha

In-built FM Player

Dual sim feature

Dual GSM

Facebook and Multi Messenger

Opera Mini

2 MegaPixel camera

Technical Specifications:

Form	Clamshell type
Display	2.4” QVGA display
Resolution	320*420 pixels,262k colors
Phonebook	1000
SMS memory	300
Internal memory	20MB
External memory	Expandable upto 8GB(MicroSD)
Games	Yes
Connectivity	EDGE,GPRS,WAP,Bluetooth(A2DP
Wi-Fi	No
Battery	Lithium ion 850 mAh
Talk time	240 minutes
Stand-by time	7 to 8 days
Dimensions	70x70x16.3 mm
Weight	75 gm

       Handset,Battery,Charger,user guide,handsfree,USB Cable,sevice guide,warranty card,CD and pouch come with the box.

Let us wait and see how far the Micromx Q55 will be successful?

Ipod Classic features and performance

Features:

       As far as the improvements are concerned,the IPOD CLASSIC’s improvements over it’s predecessors are very few.The ipod Classic supports music,video playback,photos,video games and also podcasts.This MP3 player from Apple can play H.264 and MPEG-4 videos in MP4,M4V and MOV formats.It can play videos upto a resolution of 640 x 480at 30 fps(frames per second).The ipod Classic

doesn’t come with FM Radio and MicroSD expansion.The ipod Classic comes with three free pre-loaded games.As expected the ipod classic offers internet connectivity.The music shuffle function allows to engage or disengage shuffle function with a few clicks.The ipod Classic allows us to synchronize contacts and calendars and syncing is very fast in the Classic than the other versions.

Performance:

       The ipod Classic users should use itunes 7 or even latest version.Users can hours for video and 5 hours video playback with the 80GB Classic.You can store lots of songs,videos,movies,etc. on the ipod Classic and organize them easily.

Video playback:Excellent

Sound quality:Average

Battery life:Excellent

Storage capacity:80GB or 160GB

Tech specifications:

       The thickness of ipod classic 80GB is 10.5mm and the 160GB model is 13.5mm thick.The 80GB Classic comes at $250 and the 

160GB version is available at $350.

Bottom line:

   

   The ipod classic is perfect for those who are looking for a portable media player with a high storage capacity and for those who want a longer battery life than the other ipods available these days in the market.

Samsung Star Shines!

Samsung is ruling the touch screen market making it tough for the likes of Nokia’s and LG’s touch screen phones.In this race for the first place Samsung has launched the Samsung Star earlier this year.Samsung Star is intended to provide a great touch screen user interface for all of us waiting for
a touch screen experience at a reasonable price.

Design:

       The Samsung Star S5230 weighs close to 93 grams and it is very handy.Samsung Star is square shaped.It is good looking touch screen phone with a 3 inch display screen which can display 256k colours.Samsung Star has 6 buttons,3 buttons(call,end & back or home buttons) below the display and three(camera,volume up and down,lock/unlock) on the sides.The volume buttons are also used to scroll up and down easily.

The touch interface is easy and smooth.The home screen has widgets(left side of the sreen) which can be customized as per the user’s liking.The widgets include clock,weather,organizer,sites like facebook,youtube,etc.I bet,you will never run out of entertainment on Samsung Star.

Camera:
       Samsung Star features a 3.2 MP Camera.Pictures taken by Samsung Star’s camera are very nice,even those taken in the night time.We can even share photos taken with ease through community sites like Picasa,Photobucket and some other sites as well.There was no flash which disappointed many.Videos are captured at 15 fps,which is satisfactory.
Audio Quality:
       Samsung Star’s built-in audio player is above par.The drawback was Radio can be accessed only with headsets.I had  good experience listening to my favorite’s song on the Samsung Star which has ten audio settings.

Making Calls:

       The quality of calls made from Samsung Star is pretty nice,infact the best quality I have enjoyed ever.Even if the signals are not upto the mark,it didn’t show any affect on the quality of calls and the clarity of the calls.You can even make calls from a corner of a room inside a house.So,Samsung Star serves the basic purpose of what a mobile phone is meant for.

Messaging:

       Typing messages on Samsung Star is fun and easy.You can use three writing options,I prefer the full screen text input(Qwerty/landscape mode).To use the Qwerty keyboard for typing text,you can simply rotate the phone horizontally.It takes some time to get used to the landscape mode,the best way to type text.

Browsing:

       Speed of browsing is good on the Samsung Star though it doesn’t have 3G.You have to manually select the network to connect to the internet,which is quite easy.Viewing the webpages is very fast not like document viewing(which is very slow).Using stylus to click on the links is not ideal.

Performance:

       Samsung Star’s performance pleased many touch screen lovers.The User Interface was good and the phone was fast enough.The battery life was exceptional.Even,newbies can also use this fully touch sensitive phone without any problems.

Samsung Star Specifications:

Dimensions:104 x 53 x 11.9 mm(lengthxwidthxthickness)

Weight:93.8 gm

Internal memory-50 MB

Memory expandable upto 8 GB

Lithium-ion battery

13 h talk time and 579 h standby time

Connectivity:GPRS,WAP,BLUETOOTH,USB Cable

Messaging:SMS,E-mail,MMS/EMS

       The Samsung Star is a well built and designed touch screen phone for those who have a tight budget,Samsung Star performs well at this price tag than the other phones available.

Rupee symbol in PC !!!

We all know that a symbol has been designed for India’s currency(rupee-INR).Fordian Technologies of Mangalore has designed the symbol.But how to include it in the PC and use it in applications like MS Word,Excel…?Do like this:

• Go to http://blog.foradian.com/ .
• Select the Rupee_Font_Installer.rar in the rupee font version 3.0.
• Download the setup file in zip format.
• Extract the file into a new folder.
• Double click on Rupee_Font_Installer file (from the folder to which it has been extracted) and install it.
• Now,you  can use the new rupee symbol in any word processing software’s document.
• For example,if you want the rupee symbol in MS Word then open the document and select "Rupee Fordian" in the font box and then click on the grave accent(`) button which is above the tab button in the keyboard and you will get the rupee symbol.

• In this way you can get the rupee symbol and in MS Excel and other accounting softwares.

Notepad

MS Word

Lenovo G550 budget laptop

          The Lenovo G550 is the improved version of the Lenovo G530 which comes with a 15.6” LED display with an aspect ratio of 16:9(Lenovo G530 featured an aspect ratio of 16:10) and a resolution of 1366 x 768.It weighs around 6 lbs.The space of the hard disk is 320 gigabytes which is better when compared to the 250 GB hard disk space that the Lenovo G30 offers.The Lenovo G550 is equipped with a small 6 cell Li-ion battery.This laptop from Lenovo runs
about four hours on a single charge(moderate usage).

          As always,Lenovo designed an attractive keyboard and it is easy to type on it.Lenovo has managed to add a numberpad to the keyboard.The touchpad was very spacious making it easy to use but it was not very sensitive.The speaker volume of this Windows 7 PC was below par,so it is recommended to use the headphones to listen to music.The Lenovo features a Intel Graphics Media Accelerator(GMA) 4500m graphic card.Available with a intel Pentium dual core processor T4200(2.2 Ghz) and 3GB RAM,this PC is ideal for mid-range home users.The disappointing aspect is that it has only three ports with the ExpressCard slot and modemjack missing.

          The key features of the Lenovo G550 are VeriFace Recognition feature uses an in-built web camera to login and One Key Rescue system allows us to recover or repair the system and also to use the anti-virus.

          The Lenovo G550 of the “G series” comes with an impressive  price tag of $475(approximately) and one year warranty.

          

Sony Ericsson W580i quick review

Design-The size of the Sony Ericsson W580i is 3.89*1.85*0.55 inches and weighs 3.3 ounces.The form factor of the phone is slide.The edges of the phone are curved.The toggle buttons are circular in this Walkman series phone.Many Sony Ericsson phones do not feature dedicated keys to start a call and end a call,the Sony Ericsson W580i is no exception.Instead the two selection keys are used to start and end calls.Though
the Sony Ericsson W580i is not very stylish it is a well designed slider phone.

Display-Sony Ericsson W580i features a 2”(or 5 cm) QVGA display which can disply upto 262k colorswith a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels..It is possible to view the phone even under sunlight which is not the case with many mobile phones.The disappointing thing was the backlight time-out which is short and you can’t even set it but the brightness level of the screen was adjustable.

Camera-2.0 MegaPixel camera with 4x digital zoom.The Sony Ericsson W580i takes pictures in three sizes-VGA,2 megapixel and 1 megapixel.The quality of photos taken with this slider phone was good though there was some blur.But,the American manufacturer did not include flash and self portrait mirror in the SE W580i.

Multimedia-When it comes to entertainment Sony Ericsson mobile phones are always a great success.Sony Ericcson W580i comes with music playback option and FM radio.The phone supports polyphonic ringtones,MP3/AAC and MIDI audio formats.Speaking about the games,this multimedia phone offers a couple of games to play.

Connectivity-EDGE,GSM 850/900/1800/1900,Bluetooth v2.0,WAP 2.0

Performance-Sony Ericcson W580i performed well on all fronts.Especially,the call quality was excellent.The voice was clear,natural and loud.The audio quality was also good but it deteriorated a bit at higher volume level.The battery(Li-ion 900 mAh) life was decent providing 9 hours talk time and 15 days stand-by time.