LG officially launched Optimus Vu in Korea

There had been rumors about the likes of a Galaxy Note Model from LG and these rumors have turned out to be true. LG has officially launched 'Optimus Vu'  in Korea and it has almost everything that was in the rumors.

The specs of the Optimus Vu include a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8660 processor with Adreno 220 GPU, 32GB internal memory, 8 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash, 1.3 megapixel front camera, LTE, HDMI, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct and T-DMB and a 2,080 mAh battery. 

It has a pixel density of 256PPI which comes pretty close to 285PPI of Galaxy Note. It comes with  5-inch IPS display with a 1024 x 768 resolution, which gives it an aspect ratio of 4:3. Due to the 4:3 aspect ratio, the Optimus (90.4mm) Vu is wider than the Galaxy Note (83mm), which will make it even more difficult to handle. It is marginally thinner (8.5mm) than the Note (9.7mm) but that's not going to matter much when you hold it in your hand.

The phone will launch with Android 2.3 Gingerbread but will soon be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich

Price of Samsung Galaxy Tab drops to INR 14,500!

Price of Galaxy Tab in India had been one of the reasons for its limited sales. However, the introduction of low cost Smartphone-tablet-PCs have resulted in price drops in tablets of major players and Samsung is no exception.

Samsung Galaxy Tab P1010 is now available in Indian Markets for just Rs. 14,500/-. If you don't believe the news you can check out Letsbuy.com. Click here to go to the page.

The Key features of the tablet include:

• Android v2.2 (Froyo) OS

• 1 GHz Cortex-A8 Processor

• 7-inch TFT Capacitive Touchscreen

• 3 MP Primary Camera, 1.3 MP Secondary Camera

• Wi-Fi Enabled

• 16GB Internal Memeory/Expandable Up to 32GB/MicroSD

• Calling Not Available

As you can see that the main drawback of this Tablet is that calling facility is not available in this tablet. But so is the case with most low-cost Android tablets in the market. So if you are looking for a Tablet-PC and not a Tablet-Smartphone this tablet is for you. Otherwise, Reliance 3G tab [priced at INR 12,500/- ] is always an option, if budget is a constraint for you.

The First Real Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich launched.

World's First Android 4.0 Ice cream Sandwich Tablet

The first real Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has been launched. While many companies had earlier announced their plans to launch Ice-cream Sandwich tablets as soon as possible and some had even shared their plans and dates, another unheard company has already launched its Android 4.0 tablet.

The best part its priced at just US $89.


Following are the specifications of the tablet:

Model Ainol Novo7 Paladin CPU Ingenic JZ4770 Xburst; 1GHz; GPU: GC860 Operating System Android 4.0 Ice cream Sandwich RAM 512MB NAND Flash 8 GB Shell Material Plastic Screen Size 7 inches Touch-Screen Capacitive Resolution 800X480 Visibility Angle 150 degrees GPS No Extended Card Support TC Card upto 16GB Camera No Gravity Sensor Yes Multi-touch Yes HTML 5 Support Yes Flash Support Not right now Android Market Yes YouTube Yes Bluetooth No Video 1080P, AVI/MOV/MP4/RMVB/FLV/MKV Music MP3/WMA/WAV/APE/AAC/FLAC/OGG Email and Browser Yes, built in Wi-Fi   802.11 b/g/n 3G  Not built in, support 3G/WCDMA dongle Earphone Interface 3.5mm Battery 4000MAh Language Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Spanish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese Other Applications  Office, Browser, Gallery, Clock, Calculator, Calendar, Task-killer, Gmail Product Size 187 x 111 x 12mm  Extend Port 1 x TF card port;1 x MINI USB port; 1 x 3.5mm earphone port Package Including 1 x Earphone;1 x USB cable;1 x Manual
I do agree that it has its shortcomings. But at $89 its a marvelous piece of innovation!

Differences and relationship between CPU and GPU

The CPU or Central Processing Unit is where all the program instructions are executed in order to derive the necessary data. The advancement in modern day CPUs have allowed it to crunch more numbers than ever before, but the advancement in software technology meant that CPUs are still trying to catch up. A Graphics Processing Unit or GPU is meant to alleviate the load of the CPU by handling all the advanced computations necessary to project the final display on the monitor.

Originally, CPUs handle all of the computations and instructions in the whole computer, thus the use of the word ‘central’. But as technology progressed, it became more advantageous to take out some of the responsibilities from the CPU and have it performed by other microprocessors. In the days before GUIs, the screen was simply a small grid with each box having an 8bit value that corresponds to a character. This was relatively very easy to do for the CPU, but GUIs have greater resolutions with each pixel having a 16bit or 32bit color value.

GPUs where originally developed to render 2D graphics; specifically, to accelerate the drawing of windows in a GUI. But as the need for 3D and faster graphics acceleration grew, the GPU became faster and more specialized in its task. GPUs are now generally floating point processors that can easily crunch geometric computations along with texture mapping tasks. Most GPUs have implemented MPEG primitives to make enhance the playback of videos; some even have the capability to directly decode HD video data, taking another task away from the CPU.

Hardware wise, GPUs and CPUs are similar but not identical. If we looked at the very building block of each, the transistors, we can see that most GPUs already rival CPUs in transistor count. The specialized nature of GPUs means that it can do its task much faster than a CPU ever can, but it is not able to cover all of the capabilities of the CPU. Multiple GPUs can also be employed to achieve a single goal much like the dual core CPUs currently available. ATI’s Crossfire and NVidia’s SLI allow users to connect two identical GPU’s and make them work as one.

Summary:
1. CPU is the brain of the computer the GPU is only meant to complement it.
2. GPUs are specialized and cannot replace the function of a CPU.
3. CPUs can perform the functions of a GPU but at a much slower speed.
4. GPUs can rival CPUs in transistor count.
5. GPUs can also work in tandem just like the CPU’s multi core capability.

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!!