The folks at BlackBerry have had a rough couple of years. After taking its time to launch a tablet and updated smartphone OS, some thought that the company was headed towards the graveyard. However, earlier this year, the company announced two new phones: the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10. These two smartphones are run off of the BlackBerry 10 operating system that has been rebuilt from the ground up.  I’ve had the past couple weeks to play around with the Z10, the full-touch, keyboardless variant of  the BlackBerry 10 ecosystem. Below is my in-depth review on the Z10′s hardware and software.

Hardware

Screen

The screen is one of the Z10′s strongest points. During my time with the device, I’ve found that the Z10′s screen is on par with my iPhone 5′s Retina Display and has proved to be quite enjoyable to use when watching movies, YouTube videos, as well as general web browsing. This is due to the Z10′s semi-spacious 4.2″ screen with a resolution of 1280×768, which brings it to a resolution of 356ppi. The screen is also relatively bright, which makes it nice for both high-light situations and low-light situations.

Design

I’ll be honest: I have a love-hate relationship with the Z10′s design. I do think that the Z10 features a clean and high quality design, and I’m a fan of the soft plastic finish that the device has to offer as well. The rear-end of the Z10 is pretty basic as it features a simple BlackBerry logo and a unique bumpy pattern. The top and sides of the device, however, are made out of a more rigid material. The front of the device houses the screen with relatively large screen borders. All of these design aspects come together to make the Z10 look basic, yet professional and classy.

Though the Z10 may look nice, the device, minus the screen, is completely crafted from plastic. This makes the device feel cheap and makes me wish that it had incorporated some sort of metal like what we’ve seen in the iPhone 5, HTC One and even the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

Camera

The BlackBerry Z10 has a surprisingly decent camera. It features a 8 mega-pixel sensor with 1080p video recording capabilities alongside a bright flash. Aside from the hardware, Z10′s Camera app makes your photos really shine. The app features numerous filters, scene settings as well as shooting modes. I’m a huge fan of the burst mode which is built into BlackBerry 10 as well as TimeShift. TimeShift snaps multiple photos automatically, and allows you isolate faces and go back in time with them. This allows you to get perfect group and action shots.

Software

Design And Features

BlackBerry 10 is a very interesting operating system in terms of design. It has a similar look and feel to that of HP’s WebOS due to its mostly button-less navigation and gestures. However, I think that BlackBerry has done a good job of making the OS easy and intuitive to use due to its many unique features such as BlackBerry Hub and the improved BlackBerry Keyboard.

BlackBerry Hub is a hub that shows all of your text messages, BBMs, emails, and social notifications in one place. When you first swipe into BlackBerry Hub, you’ll be able to view all of these notifications in one continuous list, though you can also single out feeds if you’d like. BlackBerry Hub is accessible from anywhere within the BlackBerry 10 OS, leaving you connected your family, friends, and coworkers at all times.

BlackBerry Keyboard is BlacBerry’s new and super-intuitive software keyboard. From the naked eye, it may look like any other mobile keyboard, but the changes become apparent when you start to use it. When typing, the keyboard will attempt to predict words for you. These words hover over letters on the keyboard, and can be selected by simply swiping up on them.

Since all BlackBerry 10 devices are completely free of navigation buttons, all actions are performed via different types of swipes and taps. For instance, if you want to close out of an application, all you have to do is swipe up from the bottom of the screen. When doing this, a small preview of the application will be moved to your device’s homescreen where it will reside with the rest of your recently used applications. If you’d like to open an application that hasn’t been recently used, just swipe to the right to bring up your full list of installed apps.

Ecosystem

The folks at BlackBerry have added all of the standard BBM messaging features to BlackBerry 10 that were offered in previous iterations of the OS. For instance, BlackBerry users can still send free text messages and voice messages back and forth. However, with BlackBerry 10, BBM has been enhanced to allow for free video calling and screen sharing between BlackBerry 10 users. This allows BlackBerry users to take their BBM conversations to a whole new personal level as they can share photos, documents, and whatever else is on their phone’s screen.

While the BBM ecosystem may be decent, the app ecosystem is lacking. Though the operating system launched with 70,000 apps, and recently announced that it hit 100,000 apps, none of them seem to be extremely good. Sure, the standard Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn apps may be decent, but as you get further through the BlackBerry Word store, you’ll begin to realize that some major apps and games that are available on iOS and Android are missing. For instance, Instagram, Netflix, Dropbox and Rdio amongst others have yet to make their way to the BlackBerry World for BlackBerry 10. As someone who uses all three of these services on a daily basis, I found it difficult to use the device nonstop over an iPhone or even Android smartphone since I use these apps often.

Responsiveness

BlackBerry 10 has been very good to me in terms of responsiveness. The device quickly responds to most touch-actions and quickly opens apps, documents and multimedia files. When multitasking, I’ve found that one can easily switch between apps without worrying about a stutter or other form of lag. The only form of lag I’ve found when using the BlackBerry Z10 is in the web browser. For instance, when loading and scrolling through web pages, I’ve experienced some stuttering and general slowness.

Bottom Line

While the BlackBerry Z10 may feature a promising new OS and a decent set of internal hardware, I cannot recommend the device at this time. This is due to the fact that BlackBerry 10 is missing some crucial third-party applications and the fact that the external hardware feels cheap on the device. However, if you’ve had your heart set on purchasing a BBM-capable device, then this may be your only modern option.

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Earlier this week, ZTE unveiled the Intel powered Grand X2 In smartphone at the MedPi conference in Monaco. As the name suggest, this handset is the successor of the popular ZTE Grand X In smartphone. This device packs a 4.5 inch HD display along with Intel’s 2 Ghz dual-core Clover Trail+ Atom processor. ZTE Grand X2 In runs on the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. It features a built-in Audio enhancement technology and Wireless Display (WiDi) which enables wireless streaming between connected media devices.

William Chhao, Terminal Director, ZTE France, said,
“We are proud to announce the ZTE Grand X2 In smartphone pursuing our multi-year strategic collaboration with Intel. The ZTE Grand X2 In is set to build on the success of the ZTE Grand X In, our first flagship smartphone in Europe to feature Intel Inside, and further increase ZTE’s growth in the high-performance smartphone market segment.”

ZTE Grand X2 In features a 4.5 inch HD display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 2 GHz Intel Atom Z2580 dual-core processor, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, 8 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and flash, full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 1 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, FM Radio, Bluetooth 2.1 + A2DP, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Google Play Store, DLNA, wireless charging capabilities, GPS, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, WiFi Direct and a 2000 mAh battery.

The Chinese mobile phone manufacturer is expecting that this handset will strengthen the company’s smartphone market share and brand awareness with consumers in Europe. ZTE Grand X2 In will be available in Europe from Q3 of 2013. The price of this handset is still a mystery. Stay tuned for more updates!

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Panasonic has finally entered the Indian mobile phone market with the launch of its Panasonic P51 smartphone. Panasonic has launched a number of smartphones in Japan and Europe, however none of those smartphones reached the Indian markets. The Panasonic P51 comes with a mid-range specs and it runs on the latest version of the Android Operating System. With the launch of this smartphone, Panasonic eyes 8% market share in the smartphone category in India.

Mr. Daizo Ito, President, Panasonic India, said,
“Panasonic has a great legacy of being the pioneers of innovation in every segment. Continuing with our legacy, we are now launching our innovative smartphone which will redefine the Indian smartphone consumer experience. India has always been one of our alpha markets in the region. We are confident that our product will provide the Indian consumer a great multimedia experience and the ‘best value for money’ proposition”.

Panasonic P51 comes with a 5 inch HD IPS display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with auto-focus and flash, 1.3 megapixel front-facing HD camera, 1 GB RAM, Dual-SIM capabilities and so on.

Other features include 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Google Play Store, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA Certified, HDMI support, Micro USB, USB 2.0 and a 2500 mAh Li-ion battery. This handset measures 144mm x 75mm x 8.5mm and weighs 135 gm.

According to the manufacturer, this handset is targeted at the youth as well as the premium executive class, who is always on the lookout for a better, faster and savvier smartphones on the go! Panasonic P51 comes with a price-tag of Rs.26,900 (approx. $490) in India. This handset will compete with the recently launched Nexus 4 smartphone in India.

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The wait is finally over! LG recently launched the much-awaited Nexus 4 smartphone in India. For the first time, LG has partnered with Google to manufacture the Nexus smartphone. This handset is the successor of the Galaxy Nexus, which was made by Samsung. The Google Nexus 4 packs a 4.7 inch display, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 8 megapixel camera and more. This handset will be shipped in india with the latest Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System.

Mr. Soon Kwon, Managing Director, LG Electronics India, said,
“LG Electronics is pleased to partner Google on the release of the Nexus 4 in India. With LG Nexus 4, consumers would be delighted by the perfectly balanced combination of style, function and power. The smartphone encourages consumers to explore a world of possibilities and also helps them balance between business and entertainment”

Google Nexus 4 features a 4.7 inch WXGA display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 2, 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with auto-focus and LED flash, Full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 1.3 megapixel front-facing HD camera for video calls, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, 3G Connectivity and much more.

It also comes with a 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio with RDS, 16 GB internal memory, no MicroSD card support, 2 GB RAM, Google Play Store, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, DLNA Certified, HDMI support, Micro USB, USB 2.0, NFC (Near Field Communication), Wi-Fi Hotspot functionality, up to 12 hrs of talk-time, up to 565 hrs of stand-by time and a 2100 mAh Li-ion battery.

This handset measures 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm and weighs 139 grams. The 16 GB variant of Nexus 4 is available in the US Play Store for just $349 (approx. Rs.19,000), however LG is selling the Nexus 4 in India with a price tag of Rs.25,999 (approx. $475). This handset will be available at selected LG exclusive brand shops, Multi brand outlets and speciality stores across India.

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A darling of NASA and of the general public, the Kepler Space Telescopes, dedicated to looking at extra-solar planets, may be soon ending its run. A recent hardware failure on the Kepler has led experts to give Kepler just one more year.

Artist’s rendition of Kepler Space Telescope

Kepler had four reaction wheels, which keep Kepler steady and able to focus unerringly at distant stars and planets. Kepler really needs three wheels to achieve this job, but has four just in case. Earlier, in July, 2012, one of these wheels had broken down, putting engineers slightly on the edge. Kepler, however, continued to function as well as it always did.

On 9th May, engineers found Kepler in automatic safe mode, since something was wrong. To their dismay, they found that one of the three remaining wheels had malfunctioned. Kepler’s days seemed numbered.

Kepler stares at faraway world, shielding its own cameras from the glare of the Sun. However, light from the Sun hits the craft (and, in fact, fuels it) and exerts pressure on it, called radiation pressure. No matter how small this is, this is enough to throw Kepler a bit off its line of sight. And this is where the wheels come in, ensuring that the photons are not the nuisance that they really are.

Engineers are scrambling for ideas to save Kepler. They are trying to use the boosters to compensate for the reaction wheels, but this won’t give the stability that Kepler enjoyed. Its planet watching days may be over.

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Apart from the unveiling of the Galaxy S4 Google Edition, the tech-giant has also launched a new unified, cross-platform messaging service for Android, iOS, and Chrome at the I/O 2013 event in San Francisco. This messaging service has been rumored from a long time and it was previously codenamed as ‘Babel’. For the first time, Google’s Hangout messaging app will be available on all smartphones and tablets running on the Android and iOS Operating System as well as on the Google Chrome browser running on your Mac, Linux and Windows computer.

Hangout allows you to send a text, photos and emoji to your friends. You can also video chat with up to 10 friends with this app. If your friends are not available when you try to reach them, they’ll see an alert next time they connect to Hangout. Similar to the Facebook Chat, this app lets you see whether your friends are online, when your friends are together in Hangouts, when they are typing or whether they have seen your message.

Once you see a notification on one device, Hangout will clear the notification from all other devices connected to your account. It also saves your chat history and shared photos by default, so that you can read your previous conversations anywhere anytime. You should also note that unlike Google Talk, Hangouts does not support invisible status. Google has also renamed the Instant Upload to Auto Backup, which helps you to automatically back up unlimited photos from your phone at standard size of 2048 pixels. The Hangout app is currently not available for Nexus 7.

[ Download Google Hangout on Android, iPad/iPhone and Chrome ]

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There are a large number of users, who are willing to buy the Galaxy S4 but hate the age-old TouchWiz UI. To solve this problem, Google recently announced the new Galaxy S4 Google Edition at the company’s I/O 2013 event in Moscone Center, San Francisco. This device is nothing but the immensely popular Galaxy S4 smartphone sans the ugly TouchWiz UI.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition will be shipped with a stock version of the most recent build of Android Operating System. Apart from that, it will directly receive updates from Google, instead of Samsung. Similar to the previous Nexus smartphones, the Galaxy S4 Google Edition will be SIM and bootloader unlocked. There are no changes on the hardware front.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition features the same 5 inch Super-AMOLED display with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution, 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, 13 megapixel rear-facing camera, 2 megapixel front-facing camera 16 GB internal memory, DLNA, HDMI out, Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 3G/4G Connectivity, 2 GB RAM, Wi-Fi Direct and a 2600 mAh Lithium-ion battery.

The Galaxy S4 Google Edition will come with a price tag of $649 for the 16 GB variant. This device supports LTE Connectivity and it is compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile. You’ll have to wait until June 26 to get your hands on this device. If you hated the original Galaxy S4 for its gimmicky features, then the S4 Google Edition is what you have been waiting for!

[ Image Credit ]

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If you are a frequent international traveller, then I’m sure your mobile phone bill burns a hole in your pocket. Last year, Vodafone India launched an International Roaming Pack for just Rs.1499 that offered 60% discount on international roaming on voice, data and SMS. This packs was quite popular among Vodafone users who travelled abroad.

Today, Vodafone launched a new International Roaming Pack which offers over 90% discount on data and approximately 64% on outgoing local and international calls. This pack will be extremely beneficial for people travelling overseas during this vacation season. Vodafone India is offering the new international roaming pack for a rental of just Rs.2499. This pack comes with a validity of just 30 days.

The benefits mentioned above are offered across 45 countries including UK, USA, UAE, Singapore and Thailand in partnership with select network operator in each country. You will be charged at standard international roaming charges, if you are connected to any other international operator’s network in these countries. You should also note that it is a non-recurring packs, which basically means that the operator will not auto-renew this pack after 30 days of usage.

To activate the International Roaming Pack, Vodafone subscribers will need to dial 111 their mobile phone. To know the operator on which the pack benefit will be applicable, send Pack ‘space’ Country to 111 or head over to this page.

Vivek Mathur, Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone India, said,
“At Vodafone, we like to stay closely aligned with customer requirements and constantly work to add value for our customers. There is an increasing need of customers to remain connected while travelling abroad and our latest international roaming pack enables our customer to do that. It guarantees affordable connectivity for our customers travelling to countries like UK, USA, UAE, Singapore etc.”

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Blackberry recently announced the new BlackBerry Q5 QWERTY smartphone. It is the company’s second QWERTY phone which runs on the BlackBerry 10 Operating System. The previously launched BlackBerry Q10 was a high-end smartphone, while the new BlackBerry Q5 is an entry-level device for the emerging markets. This handset allows you to access more than 100,000 apps from the BlackBerry World. Check out the complete specs below.

Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry, said,
“BlackBerry is excited to bring a new BlackBerry QWERTY smartphone, the BlackBerry Q5, to our customers in selected markets around world. The BlackBerry Q5 gives you the best of everything with its cutting-edge BlackBerry 10 functionality and a physical QWERTY keyboard. It is for youthful fans that are passionate, confident and bold, and it makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected.”

BlackBerry Q5 features a 3.1 inch LCD display, sporting a resolution of 720 x 720 pixels, Touch On Lens, 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, BlackBerry 10 OS, 5 megapixel rear facing camera with LED flash, HD (720p) video recording and playback, 2 megapixel front facing camera and much more.

Other features include NFC (Near Field Communication), microUSB, microHDMI-Out, 3.5 mm headset jack, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Assisted GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB internal memory, 32 GB expandable memory and a 2100 mAh non-removable battery.

The BlackBerry Q5 will go on sale from July in selected markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia (including the Asia Pacific region), and Latin America. This handset will be available in white, black, pink and red colors. The price of this device will be announced in the coming weeks.

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Nokia recently unveiled the new Windows Phone 8 based Lumia 925 smartphone. This handset is the successor of the company’s previous flagship device, the Nokia Lumia 920. It comes with the new Nokia Smart Camera mode which allows you to capture ten images at once and edit the pictures with options like Best Shot, Action Shot and Motion Focus. The Nokia Lumia 925 is made entirely of metal, instead of the shiny polycarbonate materials used in the previous Lumia smartphones.

Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices, said,
“We keep innovating. We’re advancing experiences on the Nokia Lumia portfolio whether that means great new benefits for an existing Lumia owner, or bringing new showcase devices like the Nokia Lumia 925.”

Nokia Lumia 925 features a 4.5 inch AMOLED WXGA display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, Gorilla Glass 2, 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, Windows Phone 8 OS, 8.7 megapixel camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), autofocus and dual LED flash, Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps, 1.2 megapixel front-facing HD camera, Nokia Smart Camera mode, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, 64 GB expandable memory and more.

It also comes with a 3.5mm headset jack, Office 365, Xbox Live, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, IE9 with HTML 5 support, 7 GB Microsoft SkyDrive cloud storage, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR, NFC (Near Field Communication) with SIM based security, Here Maps, Here Drive+, Wireless charging support, up to 55 hours of music playback in offline mode, up to 12.8 hours of talk-time, up to 440 hours of stand-by time and a 2000 mAh battery.

The Nokia Lumia 925 will be available in White, Grey and Black colors. This handset measures 129 x 70.6 x 8.5 mm and weighs 139 grams. The Nokia Lumia 925 will go on sale from next month in UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and China, followed by the US and other markets. This handset will be priced around €469 (approx. $600) excluding taxes.

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