The Beginning: Understanding The Mobile Technologies Part-1

I started this blog to create a database of knowledge for people who seek answers. I have been associated with Samsung's Mobile R&D Center known as the Software Engineering Lab, India,  for past 2 years and previously with Microsoft as a Microsoft Student Parter 2009-2012. I  have learned quite a lot about Mobile Technology - not by training - but by individual effort and by utilizing the opportunities that were made available to me.

I have planned to write a series of blog-posts about Mobile Technologies. However, these blog-posts are simple and elegant answers for common questions. You won't find any of Samsung's or Microsoft's trade-secrets (if you are looking for one :P ). Moreover, these blog-posts are going to be about Mobile Technology in general not just about Samsung or Microsoft products.

So here are few of the blog-posts, i.e., the articles I am going to cover:

What is hacking w.r.t. Mobile Devices?
What is Firmware?
What is Flashing?
What is Rooting?
What is Jail Breaking?
and so on....


Hope you learn and enjoy the articles. Any feedback whether positive or negative are welcome. I would really love to learn from your experiences and my mistakes.

However, you need to understand that everything on this blog represents my interpretation and understandings and you are free to have your own opinion. Also, my interpretation and/or understanding might be wrong or at the very least a bit off-course in a few cases. Though, I try my best to make sure about the accuracy of my posts, I am human - just like you (I sincerely assume you are one :P), and hence prone to mistakes. I know for sure, I am not God (only He is free from mistakes) :)

This article was first published at My Main Blog - Aasthik - http://www.aasthik.com/2012/08/The-Beginning-Understanding-The-Mobile-Technologies-Part-1.html

Nokia unveils its Magic - A Smartphone with 41 MegaPixels Camera. Its called Nokia 808 PureView.

The Mobile World Congress 2012 has been a huge success with all the major players showing-off their innovations and products.At one hand we have HTC's and LG's Quad-core SmartPhones, on the other hand we have Samsung's Projector Cum Smartphone. But the most talked about gadget in the Mobile World Congress has been the Nokia 808 PureView - a SmartPhone which boasts a Camera of incredible 41 MegaPixels.

The Amazing Nokia 808 PureView with 41MP camera and 1.3 Gz processor and Nokia Belle OS

Nokia is known for its amazing Cameras, whether its N8 or N95, Nokia's Camera have often challenged even the best of the Digital Cameras. However, a superb 41 MP is really hard to digest!

We are indeed looking at an imaging flagship phone and a true successor to the N8. It's called the 808 PureView and it's expected to reach Europe in the next quarter for a price of 450 Euros. Before we move on to its craziest feature -- the camera, of course! -- let's run down the other key specs.

The Nokia 808 PureView with 41 MegaPixels camera!

The OS is Symbian Belle; the engine is a 1.3GHz single-core chip; the display is 4-inches corner to corner but its resolution is a Nokia-style 360 x 640 (nHD). There's 512MB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage that is thankfully expandable via microSD. A Pentaband modem increases the chances of getting a signal while globe-trotting, while data speeds will top out at plain HSPA 14.4Mbps. Now that Carl Zeiss-lensed camera: it handles continuous-focus 1080p, but is claimed to have an incredible sensor resolution of over 41-megapixels when shooting stills -- or 34-megapixels for 16:9 images. It uses some clever interpolation jiggery-pokery that condenses four or five pixels into one pixel, to produce a smaller file size for the output image. It's expected to arrive in May at a price of €450 and if you're curious, we've got a gallery of hands-on images and video for your viewing pleasure. Just follow the break for our first impressions.

Samsung finally launched Omnia W its first Windows Phone 7.5 Mango SmartPhone in India

After a long wait, just after the arrival of Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710, Samsung has launched Omnia W its Windows Phone Mango SmartPhone for India. Samsung Omnia W became visible (to the best of my knowledge) in the product list of Samsung's Official Indian Version of the website ( www.samsung.com/in/ ) at around 18:00  IST on 18th December.

Samsung finally lists Omnia W - the Windows Phone based Smartphone  in its website

The Samsung Omnia W (also known as the Samsung Focus Flash and GT-8350) is a SmartPhone running Windows Phone operating system 7.5 also known as Mango. The device features Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 SoC clocked at 1.4 GHz, 3,7-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 480x800 and 8GB capacity of internal storage.

Omnia W is the first Windows Phone Mango to be launched by Samsung in India. Though Samsung had launched Samsung Focus, Samsung Focus S, and Samsung Focus Flash in the UK/USA Market, it wasn't until 18th Decemeber that Omnia W finally appeared in Samsung's official website for India. Hence, Omnia W is Samsung's first Windows Mango Phone by Samsung for the Indian Market.

The Samsung Omnia W - Samsung's first Windows Phone 7.5 Mango SmartPhone for India

However, the product itself was not available in stores not even with the authorized dealers. Dealers and retailers are more excited about the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Note - the Android Tablet cum Phone cum NotePad.

The Awesome New Samsung Galaxy Note

Considering the fact that Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710 - the much awaited Windows Phone Mango phones from the one time King of the Mobiles, were launched just 4 days its a good move by Samsung to launch Samsung Galaxy Note and Samsung Omnia W at the same time. Not only this increases the competition but also gives users a wide range of products to choose from.

Nokia Lumia 701 and Nokia Lumia 800

Click on the above pic to have a better view of Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710

However, if you happened to have visited the Atta Market in Sector-18, Noida especially the Great India Palace or the Mobile retail shops opposite the Great India Palace you would have found stalls for each of the following phones:

1. Samsung Galaxy Note
2. Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710
3. HTC Sensation XL

We can easily assume that similar trend will be observed all over India.

So basically Nokia will be facing a tough competition. Lumia 710 (with approx market price 19000/- ) will be pitted against Samsung's Omnia W (with approx market price 19000/- ) while Nokia Lumia 800 (with approx market price 30000/- )will be competing against Samsung Galaxy S2 (with approx market price 29000/- ) and Samsung Galaxy Note (with approx market price 32000/- ). Also Nokia Lumia will additionally be competing with HTC Titan and HTC Radar.

To conclude its a great move by Samsung.

Nokia 700 - a mixture of Art and Technology, a must buy Symbian Belle Smartphone

A week ago, I bought Nokia 701 and I must say I am impressed. Though I plan to write a series of blog-posts about my experiences with Nokia 701 its time to write a few things about the younger brother - Nokia 700.

On November 13th, 2011, I went to meet Osama Azim, a classmate from BIT Mesra in the Atta Market, Sector-18 Noida. Its the same market where I first saw the Nokia 701. By the way, if you want to save a few bucks, I suggest you don't buy from market especially from authorized dealers. They charge much more, atleast INR 500/- to 1000/- more. You can buy your Nokia 701 or Nokia 700 from FlipKart.com or Letsbuy.com. These websites are selling stuff at comparatively reasonable prizes, and I have bought stuff from both of them.

However, I went to one of the Nokia's authorized dealers to have a look at Nokia 700. Just by holding the phone at hand, I was thinking "Why did I buy Nokia 701?" Then I realized that Nokia 701 has 8MP dual LED flash camera,secondary camera 8GB Internal Memory, Bigger Screen etc etc compared to Nokia 700's 5MP LED flash camera, 2 GB internal memory and smaller screen size. Needless to say that Nokia 701 is also the World's brightest phone in terms of nits. Its rated 1000 nits as opposed to 700nits of second raking LG Optimus.

If you have ever had a Smartphone, I want you to just check out Nokia 700. I am not suggesting you buy it, but just get a hold of it and you will be amazed. Its such a small, brilliant, light and smooth phone that you will instantly fall in love with. Nokia 700 has the same OS - Symbian Belle and same 1Gz Processor, and it feels awesome. I might buy Nokia 700 soon, if Nokia Lumia 701 or Nokia Numia 800 is delayed.

So, if you want a bigger screen and heavy gaming experience, and if you are into photography, Nokia 701 is the obvious choice. but if you want a real smartphone, with awesome features, stylish look and a very different experience Nokia 700 is the best!

Nokia 700 is one of the best gadgets I have seen, and I strongly recommend it. You can buy Nokia 700 in two colors - Cool Grey and White Silver from Flipkart.com at 16,500/- Only. If you go and look out for a Nokia dealer they'll charge more. I got my Nokia 701 at INR 16700/- while the dealer prize at Atta Market was 17,400/-

My experiences with Nokia 701 (Part 1) - The Nokia Ovi Suite Install and Update Problem to connect to internet using 3G

Hello Reader!

On 6th November after two weeks of extensive research (reviewing the reviews of blogs & websites about smart-phones) I decided against my younger brother's advice (which was to buy a Android phone, preferably  a device from Samsung Galaxy series) and bought Nokia 701 - equipped with Symbian Belle and the world's brightest phone in terms of 'nits' till date.

Why I preferred it over any other device will be discussed in another post. This post is about a problem that occurred when I wanted to connect to the internet by using the 3G services of my mobile.

First of all, since the package did not contain any CDs which might have contained an installer for Nokia Ovi Suite, I was a bit confused. Actually, since the phone has an internal memory of 8GB, Nokia decided to save a few bucks by dumping the software on the device memory itself.

1. Thus you can find the Nokia Ovi Suite installer in the E:\ Drive of your phone which is referred to as 'Mass Memory' by Nokia 701 .
2. You need to run the set-up.
3. Once the installation is complete, connect your device through USB and make sure your phone is in 'Dual Mode' for using 3G services (it is by default).
4. The Device Driver for the Phone will be installed followed by a connection with the Nokia Ovi Suite.
5. Click on 'Connect to Internet'

This process was quite easy and proceeded smoothly. However, after sometime the real problem began. The phone got disconnected and I tried to reconnect it. The Nokia Ovi Suite said it needed an update for further use. I let it update itself. But, it failed to update because there was no internet connection! The worst thing was the Nokia Ovi Suite has been programmed to exit, if you chose NOT to update it. This is really bad. They should have thought about it.

For update, I needed internet connection, and for internet connection I needed Ovi Suite to be connected to my device! It was a trap. I was stuck.

I needed some other internet device, but I had none. Imagine the situation. What would you do?

The idea struck me! And its simplicity was amazing. May be you have guessed it. May be not. So here are the steps to get your Nokia Ovi Suite getting updated and getting connected to the internet.

1. Uninstall the Nokia Ovi Suite.
2. Reboot the System (Preferred but not necessary)
3. Connect the device and reinstall the Nokia Ovi Suite
4. As soon as installation is complete, connect your device to Nokia Ovi Suite via USB.
5. Click on Tools -> Software Updates
6. Update Nokia Ovi Suite

So you see no you have the updated Nokia Ovi Suite 3.0 (which is displayed as 'Nokia Suite') and the internet connection you want!

I must tell you that the version 3 of Nokia Suite is much better. The Graphics and the functionality are much better than the previous version. I recommend you update your Nokia Suite ASAP.

P.S. The funny part is.... if you search (Google) for Nokia 701 or you search in the websites of major dealers you get info and image of Nokia WH 701 Stereo Headset!!