Prakash Advani's Blog » Gadgets and Deals

HTC Android phones: Wildfire, Legend and Desire

Prakash — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:42:22 +0000

What happens when a Taiwan ODM (Original Device Manufacturer) starts making their own phone? Result is you get good value for money, it start selling well and as a result they also get sued!

For those who came in late, ODMs are the actual manufactures of the device sold by the likes of Apple. ODMs actually make the devices and these are branded and sold by the big MNC brands.

HTC is an ODM for many big brands. For example they manufactured the Google Nexus One for Google which is similar to HTC Desire. They have now been releasing their own phones.

They are so successful, that Apple sued them for patent infringement cause they enabled multi-touch on their phone and actually did a better job than Apple did on its iPhone.

HTC the number 1 brand as per GSMArena, has launched some nice phones to give customers a choice:

HTC Wildfire
HTCL Legend
HTC Desire

Here is whats common between them:

5 Megapixel Camera
LED Flash
3G with HSDPA for upto 7.2Mbps download speeds (network dependent)
Wi-Fi
Stereo Bluetooth
GPS receiver
FM Radio
Touch screen with Multi-touch support
Proximity sensor
Accelerometer
Optical Trackpad
Flash Player
3.5mm standard audio jack
Unlimited phonebook (limited by memory)
MicroUSB
Limitations: No front video camera for video conferencing. No Qwerty keyboard.

All of them Run the latest Linux based Android 2.1 and are expected to be upgradable to 2.2 this quarter.

Android 2.2 will add:

HTML 5
Flash 10.1 support
Faster speeds due to JIT compiler

Now here is the main difference between the three:

Features	HTC Wildfire	HTC Legend	HTC Desire

Display Type	TFT	AMOLED	AMOLED
Display Resolution	240×320	320 x 480	480 x 800
Display Size	3.2 Inches	3.2 Inches	3.7 Inches
Internal Memory	384 MB RAM	384 MB RAM	576 MB RAM
CPU	528 MHz Qualcomm	600 MHz Qualcomm	1GHz Qualcomm
Weight	118g	126g	135g
Price	$379/Rs. 15,000	$495/Rs. 21,000	$659/Rs. 26,000

The main difference between these phones are processor speeds, display quality and the price. The Legend and the Desire sports an AMOLED display which is the latest LED display, which is razor sharp. The Desire also sports a slight larger display of 3.7 inches with the highest resolution. It also bundles a 4 GB MicroSD Memory Card. The processor speed is not so important if the OS works well and you don’t need to run too many apps simultaneously.

Here is my suggestion:

If you want an Android phone but not willing to shell out a bomb, the Wildfire is your best bet. Since the Wildfire is the latest amongst these, it also has some newer features.

If you don’t have budget constrains and wants to show off to your iPhone friends, then go in for the Desire. Its will also do justice in video playback capabilities. The Legend is ofcourse for people who want the best of both worlds: Lower cost than desire but with better display than the Wildfire.

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Android crosses iPhone OS Market share

Prakash — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:29:11 +0000

Android has overtaken Apple OS (iPhone,itouch,iPad) to be number 2. Blackberry RIM is still Number one, however they are quickly loosing marketshare to Android.

RIM’s BlackBerry OS at 36 percent;
Android at 28 percent;
Apple iPhone OS at 21 percent.

Hybrid drive to provide a cost effective alternative to SSD

Prakash — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:43:21 +0000

Our plain old hard drive is getting increasingly replaced by SSD, now Seagate is soon going to announce Hybrid drives (Momentus XT) which take advantage of both these technologies to give you the best of both world. Here is a summary.

Hard Drives (spinning Disk drives)

Advantages:

Lowest cost per GB
Easy availability
Fairly reliable

Disadvantages:

Not drop proof
Generates Heat
Slower than SSD
Consumes more power than SSD

Solid State Drive (SSD)

Advantages:

Fastest speeds today
Drop proof, as there is no moving parts, hence rugged enough to be used in extreme environements
Low power consumption, so increases your battery life
Light weight so reduces weight of your portable device

Disadvantages:

Most Expensive

Hybrid drives:

Advantages:

Uses both SSD and spinning disk drive
Gives cost advantages of spinning disk drive
Provides performance of SSD
Dynamically moves more often accessed file from spinning section to SSD

Disadvantages:

Still not drop proof like the SSD
Power consumption will be higher than SSD

Read full review and speed tests.

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Best Buy is not best anymore

Prakash — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:11:44 +0000

Best Buy is firing its employee who made this funny video comparing iPhone 4 with HTC Evo. Perhaps Apple didn’t find the video funny and is pressurising Best Buy to take action.

Here is the scoop. The video has already had 2.3 Million views and growing rapidly. Its funny

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Building a media center with Ubuntu + XBMC + Zotac

Prakash — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 06:19:19 +0000

If you want to build a Media Center PC to play your movies, music and photos on a high definition TV. Here is a simple way to build so.

Step 1

First get the tiny Zotac Media Center PC.

Step 2

Install Ubuntu, which is very easy just download from Ubuntu.com and follow the simple instructions. You can install via CD or bootable USB pen drive which is faster.

Step 3

After you install Ubuntu, install XBMC. XBMC (XBox Media Center) is the coolest media center on Ubuntu.

Following these steps:

Go to Accessories – Terminal.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc

It will ask for your password, once that is done, close the Window.

Then go to system-administration-synpatic

Search for “xbmc” (without quotes).

Check this package, select mark for installation and then click Apply. It will now install this package.

After that go to Applications-Sound and Video-XBMC.

If you want to try XBMC on a regular Ubuntu system follow step 3.

If you are a bit more adventurous, these are things you can try.

1. Buy a Zotac board and build your own box, here you can add blueray disk or a 3.5″ 2 TB hard drive. The Zotac PC supports only a 2.5″disk, so you are limited to lower capacities.

2. Add a remote control.

3. Made XBMC your default window manager.

Nice you tube video.

Zotac with Ubuntu

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Apples iPad Profit margin: 52 percent

Prakash — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:59:58 +0000

To all the people rushing to buy an iPad, you should know that Apple makes as much as 52% profit margin on the iPad. The devil is in the details.

BOM (Bill of Material) for iPad.

16GB iPad with WiFI costs US$270 which retails for $499. The margins go up further if you add a 3G Module or high capacity.

Here is the link for a detailed breakup.

Expect other vendors to launch products to compete with iPad with more aggressive pricing.

Marvell has already announced a $99 tablet!

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Laptop/Camera bag ideas

Prakash — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:03:44 +0000

I have used over a dozen bags from LowePro, Case Logic, Samsonite, Belkin, Hush Puppies to name a few known brands. I have also evaluated Targus, Swiss Gear and some other brands in detail.

I have founds that a few are well designed to carry laptops while others are well designed as professional camera bags. I have come across very few bags which are well suited for both. As a matter of fact most IT professionals, specially the young ones are buying Digital Camera. After the laptop their next purchase is usually an expensive gadgets (iPhone/iPad) or high end cameras.

Remember bag is no more an accessory to carry your device, it provides security to the customer that all his/her devices are going to be safe in this bag.

For me, my bag is my office while I am travelling. I use the bag to carry a laptop, sometimes a second laptop/netbook for demos. Brochures, Business Cards and CDs. I also carry a camera with a lens and other accessories.

Here is my wish list for what a bag should do. Also I have found that most of the bags do a few of these well but not all of the following:

Stroller backpack: Strollers are good to use when you have lots of stuff to carry around and don’t want to strain your back. The challenge is to make the bag light weight at the same time able to have a stroller. Solution: Explore alternative material like titanium/carbon fiber for stroller.
All terrain stroller wheels: The stroller wheels should be big ones which can work in difficult terrains. I have used bags, where the stroller is designed only to be used in offices/hotels and not designed for outdoor use. You may not always have a smooth train specially if you go outdoor for photography. I am currently using a bag which has silicon wheels, lets see how that goes.
Weight Bearing Capacity: Some of the bags that I have used, give way once you put all your things. Most of the bags don’t publish their weight bearing capacity so you don’t know how much you should or should not load. Solution:Publish the Weight Bearing Capacity.
Solar Panel: I saw some bags which had solar panels on the top, these are nice for emergency charging of cellphones and other devices. They are also environmental friendly.
Laptop Slot: Since the bag is primarily going to be used to carry a laptop, the slot must be well padded from all sides include the base. It should also not directly face the stroller metal bar as this could damage the laptop.
Impact resistant base: The base should be designed to be able to take a small amount of impact/drop from a desk in case that happens.
Mobile phone/mp3 player slot: Many people user their mobile phone as an Mp3 player, the bag should have a slot to put these. This should be easy to drop it as air travellers need to quickly drop their mobile phones at airport security.
Removable Laptop Sleeve: The bag should have a laptop sleeve, so people can remove the laptop from the bag and yet have some protection. This is useful for airport security or if customer just want to take the laptop with him/her without taking the entire bag.
iPad Compartment: Many customer already have a second device (Netbook) or will invest in a iPad like device. The bag must have a compartment for a second device such as a second laptop which is required for demos, second netbook or an iPad.
Removable laptop battery case: in one of the bags that I used, it has a little case for laptop battery which was removable. This is a nice feature and can have Velcro to strap it inside the bag.
Removable Camera Compartment: There should be a compartment to carry a digital camera with some accessories or an SLR. This should be removable so customer doesn’t have to carry multiple bags when he/she wants to keep the bag but move around with the camera.
Adjustable pockets for accessories: Many people need to carry additional accessories/lenses, etc. The bag should have a pockets which should be adjustable to carry one big device or a few small ones.
Water bottle/drink slot: A few bags have them, while others don’t. While travelling people want to carry water or their favourite drinks.
Key ring hook: A key ring hook is a nice feature, so people can secure the keys inside the bag. A few bags have them, however a few of them have key-chains inside, which one needs to use to use the hook. Its better to just provide a key hook so people can use what ever key-chain they want to use.
Secure compartment: Bags usually have a place to store your passports/cash but they need to be secure enough so people trust them and use them to keep their cash and other important document.
Slots for Brochures, pens, business cards are given and found in most bags.
Phone Slot: People still prefer to keep their phones in their pocket, but at times they need to keep their phones away like at Airport Security. They bag should have slot where they can keep their phone away at the same time have easy access.
Sleeve for Luggage: Some bags have a sleeve which can be used to attach your laptop bag to the luggage, this makes it easy if you have to carry two bags.
Not just black! I have see so many nice bags, but all that they have is a black colour. I know black is the corporate colour and many business laptops are black too but its time to experiment with more colours.

I must now like to admit, that after writing this article I came across Crumpler bags. They were able to satisfy most of the requested features but not all. I will write my review once I check them out.

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New Plug Computer 3.0

Prakash — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:35:19 +0000

After clocking 10,000 + Units of the Plug Computer, Marvell is releasing Plug Computer 3.0.

For those who came in late, Plug is a small lower powered computer which can do those nightly downloads, uploads, data captures, image captures from web cams and more.

What new?

2.0 GHz
1 Watt power consumption
Gigabit Ethernet
Wifi
Bluetooh
SD Card
eSata
Runs Linux

The affordable Olympus Pen

Prakash — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:43:33 +0000

Olympus has been bringing Micro Four-Third cameras to the market faster that expected. After the E-P1 and E-P2, they have now released E-PL1 which is cheaper by US$ 200.

Here are the specs.

Kit includes 14-42 Zoom lens
12 MegaPixel
2.7″ LCD
HD Video support
List price US$ 599

E-PL1 has a few advantages over E-P2:

Dedicated REC button
Magnified live view button
Up to 14x live view magnification
Lighter low-pass filter
Built-in flash

E-P2 advantages over E-PL1:

Two control dials
More direct-access buttons (including ISO and white balance)
Superior image stabilization system
AE/AF lock button
Orientation sensor
Larger, 3.0″ LCD
More substantial construction
1/180 sec flash sync speed (rather than 1/160)
Maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 sec (rather than 1/2000)
Maximum ISO of 6400
Virtual level display
Built-in stereo mics/speakers
Optional wireless remote
Electronic View Finder (EVF) bundled, in EPL-1 it is optional

Detailed comparison of all the three models at DP Review.

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USB 3 is here

Prakash — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:00:04 +0000

USB 3 devices have finally started showing up in the US and expect them to be more widely available everywhere else in the world, later this year.

USB 2 has been around, but with serious bottlenecks. Its slow and gets slower when you connect multiple peripherals. Is USB 3 going to solve the problem? It looks promising. What is USB 3 all about?

10 times faster than USB 2.0 with 5Gbps.
USB 3 is bi-directional so its much faster. In USB 2 data can flow only in one direction at a time.
Realistically you should get 3 times faster transfer speeds for external drives.
Backward compatible with USB 2. If you connect to older systems, you will still be able to use, but at slower speeds.
More power. Since more and more devices are being powered by USB, USB3 provides more power to adequately power those external hard drives.
Linux is the first operating system to support USB 3, and yes Microsoft has followed by including support in Windows 7.

The first place where USB 3 has started showing up is in external hard drives. If you are looking for one, you should consider USB 3. To get USB 3 performance, you will need USB 3 port on your computer, which is lacking in most of the PCs/Laptops sold today. However you can buy a hard drive with a card for your PC/Laptop.

From Amazon: 1 TB USB 3 external desktop hard drive with PCIe USB 3 adaptor.

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