Samsung S8500 Wave

Specifications:

• 3.3" 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, WVGA (480 x 800 pixels), multi-touch input support, scratch-resistant glass surface
• Solid 10.9mm-thin metal body
• Bada OS with Samsung Apps
• ARM Cortex A8 based 1GHz CPU
• Quad-band GSM support with dual-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 2Mbps HSUPA
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity with WPS support, Wi-Fi tethering app
• Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, digital compass, Samsung Mobile Navigator
• 5 MP auto focus camera with touch focus, geo-tagging, face, smile and blink detection and LED flash
• 720p video recording at 30fps
• 390MB user available memory, 1GB Bada apps storage and 550MB messaging storage
• microSDHC card slot
• Standard microUSB port and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack, TV out
• Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording
• Webkit-based Samsung Dolphin Browser 2.0 with full Flash support
• YouTube client, Facebook and Twitter integration
• DivX/XviD video support

Samsung announced it's new Bada platform for smartphones and Wave is the first one to hit the market with this new OS.

Build:

With a size of 118 x 56 x 10.9 mm and weighing 118 grams Samsung S8500 Wave is very compact and light. It's aluminium body looks top notch and feels tough and durable. It features a brilliant 3.3" super Amoled display covered with scratch resistant glass. It houses a 5.0 MP camera with LED flash, 3.5 mm headphone jack, proximity sensor, volume keys, micro USB slot and a camera key. Over all build quality is near perfect apart from the fact that it lacks a cover for camera.

Display and Interface:

The best feature of Wave is it's brilliant Super AMOLED 16M-color capacitive touchscreen which cannot be matched by any other mobile phone apart from it's Android cousin Galaxy S. Bada OS is new but looks promising however applications are limited at the moment but Samsung App store looks promising. Multitouch, proximity sensor and accelerometer are great and work flawlessly. It is equipped with a 1GHz ARM processor it allows applications and games like NFS shift, Kroll and Asphalt to run very smoothly. Facebook, Youtube, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and Twitter are integrated and it also supports exchange Active Sync. One can install a number of applications and widgets from Samsung App store.

Wave offers a Webkit-based Samsung Dolphin Browser 2.0 which can have multiple pages opened at the same time and supports Flash.

Camera and multimedia:

Wave is capable of taking 5.0 MP pictures and recording 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. Camera features image stabilization, blink detection, smile detection, geotagging, ISO and white balance manipulation. Images captured by Wave are brilliant with very low noise level and high detail. 720p HD video at 30 frames per second makes Wave stand apart from it's competitors and is simply amazing.

Video player of Samsung Wave is best till date on a mobile device. It playes DivX/XviD, MP4, MKV files on 720P and displays subtitles as well. Music player is great and Wave comes with Samsung’s proprietary DNSe sound enhancement technology that lets you pick among Wide, Concert Hall. Music clarity, Bass enhancement and Externalisation. It also features 5.1 surround and music recognition and FM player. Sound quality is above par.

Connectivity:

It supports GPRS, EDGE and 3G with HSDPA (7.2Mbps) and HSUPA (2.0Mbps). The GSM/EDGE networking of course comes in quad-band flavor and the 3G in dual-band - 900/2100MHz. The Wave is the first mobile phone to support the new Bluetooth version 3.0. Naturally, A2DP is also supported. Samsung Wave is also one of the few phones that support the latest Wi-Fi 802.11 n connectivity standard. It also features Wi-Fi with WPS for a hassle-free way to pair a wireless device with your secured network. Wave can also turn into a wireless router for connecting up to three Wi-Fi clients that will use its HSDPA connection for Internet access.

Wave comes with the Samsung Mobile Navigator, which is based on the Route66 mobile application. It has voice-guided navigation, but the goodies come at an extra cost and one needs to subscribe to Route66 after the trial period. However, there are some free navigation software's available for download at Samsung App store.

Verdict:

Wave offers everything that a smart phone should have. It has the fastest mobile processor, a brilliant touchscreen, good multimedia features and good interface. It’s slim and solid, with perfect build and great performance. I feel it is perfect blend of everything for the price (INR 19000, MYR 1500) and is a great buy.

Review of Asus A42JK notebook

Asus recently launched the A42 series of notebooks for mid end segment offering perfect blend of versatile performance and value for money.

Specification:

Intel Core i520M processor with 2.4Ghz bus speed and turbo boost up to 2.93Ghz

• 4 GB of DDR3 1333Mhz dual channel memory/ upgradeable to 8GB
• 1 GB GDDR3 ATI mobility radeon HD5145 Graphics
• 500 GB 7200 RPM hard disk
• 14.0" HD 16:9 WXGA (1366 x 768) display
• Optical Drive: DVD Writer (Dual Layer, DVD-RAM Support)
• Wireless: IEEE 802.11 b / g / n
• Card Reader: 4-in-1
• 3 USB 2.0 ports/ HDMI / LAN/ VGA
• 6-cell battery
• Weight: 2.20 kg.
• Windows 7 Home premium preloaded

Build: A42JK feels rock solid and is built to last. Chiclet style keyboard’s wide anti-dust keys will continue to remain comfortable even after extended periods of typing. Altec Lansing speakers are clear and offer good sound quality with SRS enabled but lack loudness. There is no dedicated key for volume control and wireless on/off and one has to use the function key combination. Glossy display offers vibrant colors and brilliant output but angle of view is limited. With just 2.2 KG, notebook is quite light and easy to carry.

Features: A42JK comes preloaded with Windows 7 Home premium. You also get 1GB of web storage for 1 year free of cost. It's SmartLogon facial recognition feature recognizes you in varying light conditions. Multi-touch touch pad allows easy scrolling through web pages and pinch-zoom in and out of images. Sunken hinge design allows comfortable viewing angle. It offers quite computing with a auto adjusting fan speed.

Performace: A42JK has it all for everyday computing plus mid level gaming thanks to it's powerful processor and good graphic card. Although it's not a gaming notebook, but it can play most of the modern games with ease. CPU and GPU temperature never crossed 55 degrees even after 2 hours of gaming. Intel i5 520M CPU and 4 GB DDR3 memory ensure that you are never bogged down with lack of processing power and memory. Dual Core and four threads take multitasking with ease. Battery Life is average and with the six cell battery, one should expect three hours of WiFi surfing.

Pricing : With a price tag of around $800, this notebook offers perfect combination of work and play.

Verdict: I will highly recommend this notebook over similarly priced Dell 14R and Acer Aspire and HP models. Asus products are know for their build quality, durability and lowest failure rate among all brands.
Very few people know that most of the PC and notebook manufacturers (HP, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Sony, Gateway and Apple) do not make their products. Most of the manufacturing is done by ODM's (Original Design Manufacturer) like Quanta, Foxconn, Compal, Asus and MSI. iPad and iPhone are made by Foxconn and branded as Apple and HP sources from Quanta. Asus designs and makes all products in house and is know as the best manufacturer of PC motherboards and display cards.

General Elctions 2009: Navbharat Times

I have been closely following the election news from some news web sites like Navbharat times and also commenting on their articles as Dev, Singapore. What I find is that Indian media is biased and writes for a particular political party. I see some news articles with title which make me think about the declining standard of print media. How can a reporter quote a candidate from a specific political party as a donkey?

It's really sad to see the decline of one of the four pillars of Indian democracy. This particular news site gives breaking new like a "couple stuck in a kamasutra position" and generates cheap publicity. I am very much disappointed to see the poor condition of hindi print media. Being from Uttar Pradesh, hindi is my mother tongue and I read this hindi news site quite often. However, seeing the degradation of constructive reporting and poor editing, it has made me to switch back to English news sites.

What should India do after terror attack on Mumbai?

The media is calling this India's 9/11, public is in anger and and government is under pressure to take action. After nearly 60 hours, our special forces were able to wipe out some 10-12 terrorists taking control of India's financial capital. This brutal incident left nearly 200 people dead and 400 sevearly wounded. Home minister Shivraj Patil, Maharashtra CM Deshmukh and deputy CM R.R. Patil were forced to resign. A new federal agency to combat terror has been envised. Pakistan has been asked to send ISI chief to India and hand over 20 terrorists including Dawood Ibrahim and Masood Azhar.

Is this all this government can do and will we forget this incident as another act or terrorism that happens every month or so? This is sure that Pakistan will never accept its hand in this cowardly act. Pakistan media has already satrted blasting Indian government and media for its habit of implicationg false allegations on Pakistan everytime an act of terror happens in India. Pakistani Government has refused to send the ISI chief and insted are willing to send a high rank ISI officer.

Some Pakistani experts like Zaid Hamid has blamed RSS and BJP for framing the attacks with proofs like one of the terrorists was wearing a saffron band on his right hand. This saffron band called 'Kalawa' is worn by hindus as a symbol of their belief in god. I cannot understand how this so called self styled security analyst Zaid Hamid can make out that it is 'Kalawa' from so poor resolution pictures. This person goes on to add that he has evidences from with in Indian Intellegence that the names of two of the attackers are 'Amar Singh' and 'Heera Lal' and both are memebrs of Hindu terror organistaions namely Sangh and Bajrang Dal.

Now the question arises what should India do with the present situation. India cannot go on war as it will not affect Pakistan as much as it will affect us. Pakistan is already on the brink of distruction and its government is running on a loan of 7.6 billion USD from IMF. In my opinion India should give them back in their own style. Let the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) take care of this migrain as they did in 1971 when Pakistan was split in to two countries. India should launch covert operations against Pakistan by supporting Balochistan Libration army and join hands with USA to launch attacks on terrorist camps inside Pakistan. Increse diplimatic ties with China to ease up the Chinese support for Pakistan. In the mean while strenthen our armed forces and economy and install anti-ballistic missile shields in all major cities. If Pakistan still does not mend its ways then go for a all out war.

India's economy may slow

India's economy may slow more than previously estimated, the central bank said in a report, increasing expectations of further cuts in interest rates to encourage investment and consumption.
The economy may expand 7.7 percent in the year ending March 31, according to the median estimates of 13 research groups in September, the bank said. That's less than the 7.9 percent estimate in June, the Reserve Bank of India said in a report on the economy issued in Mumbai, before its quarterly monetary policy announcement tomorrow at 11:15 a.m.
Governor Duvvuri Subbarao this week unexpectedly cut the central bank's key repurchase rate by 100 basis points to 8 percent after pumping one trillion rupees ($20 billion) into the financial system since Oct. 11 by reducing lenders' reserve requirements. Subbarao can afford to ease borrowing costs as inflation risks have receded with the drop in commodity prices.
`Slowdown risks have heightened,'' said Mridul Saggar, chief economist at Kotak Securities Ltd. in Mumbai. `The Reserve Bank is right in changing its stance toward supporting growth, which is clearly faltering.''
The results of a survey of professional forecasters' conducted by the Reserve Bank last month suggest `further moderation in economic activity for 2008-09'' the bank said, without elaborating on the reasons for the slowdown.
India's key wholesale price inflation slowed to a four- month low of 11.07 percent in the week to Oct. 11. Crude oil prices have halved since their peak in July and the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities fell 18 percent this month.
`Temporary Slowdown'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the nation this week to be prepared for a ``temporary slowdown.'' India's $1.2 trillion economy grew a record average 8.9 percent since he became premier in 2004.
India's benchmark Sensitive index fell 3.9 percent to 9,771.70 today, extending a 51 percent decline since January. The yield on the key 10-year government bonds fell 5 basis points to 7.55 percent, while the rupee dropped 1.1 percent to 49.825 a dollar, an all-time low.
The decline in demand is already showing in India. The economy grew 7.9 percent in the three months to June 30 from a year earlier, the weakest pace since the last quarter of 2004. Output at factories, utilities and mines rose 1.3 percent in August from a year earlier after a 7.4 percent gain in July.
The central bank said its business expectations survey among manufacturers showed a 2.6 percent drop for the quarter ending Dec. 31, according to today's report.
While the central bank reiterated that containing inflation in India will remain a top priority, it noted that prices are easing globally because of a drop in food and fuel costs.