Get Access To Everything With The Dell Venue

Dell has tested their luck using the Windows platform in the Dell Venue Pro. This handset had the Windows Phone 7 platform inside it. It was successful for them, but Dell understood that this is not the Desktop or laptops they were dealing with, this is smartphone market and here windows platform will have to work much harder to establish monopoly like they did in  the computer market. That’s why dell has thought to go with Android OS for the Dell Venue. It has lots of similarities with the Venue Pro. But there are some significant performance upgrades. The Dell Venue Pro had a sliding keyboard but the Dell Venue does not have anything like this with it. Now let’s discuss about this great device. I will try to focus on some of the great features it has. I hope I will be helpful for you to decide whether you want to have this device in your possession or not.

The Dell Venue has chosen the Android™ 2.2 as its Operating System. Which is the right thing to do for the time being as the Android Market is growing bigger and bigger and making its place stronger than ever. It has a strong processor for running it. It’s 1GHz QSD 8250 Processor will be great for the phone as it will make the phone faster, smoother and easier to navigate. It has 512 MB RAM on it which will make sure that you never have to face the message that, ‘Your Memory  IS Running Low’.  The combination of the processor and RAM will make it a great phone in the smartphone world. Its connectivity options are standard though. As it has GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE Class 12, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSUPA 5.76 Mbps. But its display will amaze you on your first look. It offers a 4.1 AMOLED Display having a resolution of 800×480 pixels and a 24 bit – 16M colors. You can’t move your eyes from the display, as it will for the first time other than the iPhone 4’s Retina Display offer a crystal clear display. You will have great entertainment facility with this device. Your gaming and multimedia experience will be great. You will be able to surf the internet with ease. No more zooming in and out, as the whole web page can now be fitted in the large display of the dell venue. It has an 8MP camera with Autofocus compatibility. It also has 4x Digital Zoom capacity. This will allow you to take great snaps with the device. You will find a dedicated camera key for taking smoother snaps. The video quality of the camera is also great as it allows video capture at 30 fps. It has huge storing capacity of upto 32GB. Now you will be able to move along with all your favourite movies and videos. You will also be able to synchronize your device anytime you want with the PC. For quick access, you will be able to use the USB Mass Storage mode as there is USB Support. You can use the Wi-Fi hotspots for downloading data other than cellular data.   Built-in A-GPS will help you to use location services of many applications like the Google Maps. With this device you will be able to download thousands of applications that are waiting for you in the Android Market.

I like this device from my very first look. If you really  want to use something special for a while, Then I will definitely recommend you to have this device in your possession. As with it you will find limitless freedom and opportunities. That’s what we all want from our smartphones, Don’t we?

Why Sony Ericsson is not going after Windows Phone 7

When Windows Phone 7 was released, several mobile phone manufacturers jumped aboard the Microsoft bandwagon to provide the world with the earliest devices running the new platform. Among these manufacturers were HTC, LG, Samsung and Dell. Sony Ericsson decided not to go after Windows Phone 7 for a variety of reasons.

Limited software development resources

Sony Ericsson is currently on the road to recovery from a very dark stage where it was facing enormous losses in the smartphone business. Thus it does not have as much resources for software development as its rivals. This was particularly obvious during the recent Xperia X10 upgrade drama where their flagship was updated to an outdated version of Android (2.1) after a series of delays.

Thus if Sony Ericsson would go after Windows Phone 7, its existing Android lineup, which isn’t in a good position anyways, would suffer even further. Along with that its future phones, such as the Xperia Arc would also suffer at the hands of lack of development and this would put a pressure on the profits of the company.

Sony Ericsson and its history with Operating Systems

Sony Ericsson does not have a particularly rosy history with mobile phone operating systems. It had previously supported UIQ and Windows Mobile, both of which turned out to hit the trash can sooner than later. Along with that it also had Symbian phones in its lineup which also went nowhere. Thus Sony Ericsson had one of the most diverse portfolios previously regarding smartphone operating systems.

This meant that Sony Ericsson had a very diverse range of software developers, out of which many were specialized only in certain platforms. There was no common approach for them and Sony Ericsson went with a mixed approach with all Operating Systems instead of concentrating on a single one and as a result its device quality took a large hit. These devices were competing with much more focused solutions and as a result Sony Ericsson started a downhill slide.

Hardware development requirements

Unlike with Android, Sony Ericsson cannot recycle its previously developed hardware for use with Windows Phone 7. A reason for this is that Windows Phone 7 requires a predetermined number of buttons and it has other restrictions on smartphone manufacturers as well which would require additional resources in product development. Thus Sony Ericsson would opt for releasing more devices with Android rather than coming up with a single half-baked device for Windows Phone 7.

The advent of similar smartphone jacks and their applications

Recently, smartphones have started adopting similar ports across different manufacturers. Examples of these ports are MicroUSB and 3.5MM headphone jacks. MicroUSB ports are used for powering the devices as well as being a gateway for data transfer while 3.5MM jacks are used for outputting audio to devices such as earphones and stereos.

Perceived benefits to consumers

There are several benefits of using common connectors across different mobile phones for consumers. First of all interoperability between accessories increases such as chargers, data cables and headphones from one manufacturer can be used with other mobile phones which increases consumer satisfaction and reduces their expenditure on accessories.

Along with that traveling consumers with multiple phones are able to reduce the bulk of their transport carrying cases by halving the number of accessories that they have to take with them. Along with that a standardized smartphone charger may come in handy as it may not be difficult to find a charger for your smartphone while on the go.

Environmental aspect of chargers

Smartphone manufacturers have said that standardized smart phone charges help a lot in reducing e-waste of discarded chargers and although they may be somewhat correct, standardized chargers do not lower total production of smartphone chargers significantly. A reason for this is that even if a phone uses a standard charger, it will still need to include another charger in the retail box.

A reason for this is that not every consumer has got a similar charger in his/her home and not including a charger would cause discomfort to users as they would need to pay extra for something that is usually included in the retail box. And as customized mobile phone retail boxes are currently not viable for production, companies would still need to include chargers in every mobile phone that they sell.

Compatibility of earphones

Smartphones today chiefly use 3.5mm audio jacks which have always been popular on other electronic devices such as computers and MP3 players. The advent of these jacks has made it possible for consumers to use their own headphones with their smartphones instead of being restricted to the company’s proprietary phones, which several users may not prefer for a variety of reasons.

Why smartphones went for microSD cards instead of other formats

Mobile phones nowadays are almost universally using microSD for the storage of additional data onto them instead of other formats that were used previously. Examples of these formats may include MMC, miniSD, Memory Stick Duo and M2.

Reduced power requirement

A chief advantage of microSD cards over other larger cards such as SD cards was that they consumed only a fraction of the power as other cards. This property did not particularly help in other applications such as in camcorders as they already had much larger batteries and power savings from microSD cards were not that noteworthy. However, in smartphones this power draw was a substantial portion of the load on the battery and microSD cards helped improve battery life significantly.

Small size

Along with reduced power requirement, microSD cards also were quite a lot portable than other competing standards such as SD cards. Although this portability did not have an effect on the weight of the devices, the devices using microSD cards could be made much more thinner and microSD cards did not get in the way of other components within the phone such as smartphone displays.

Although the size of SD cards is an advantage in cameras due to the easier handling requirement of them, this advantage is negated to quite an extent with smartphones. A reason for this is that camera memory cards are swapped much more often than in mobile phones and if they used microSDs, the chance of losing a card would increase greatly which is not that much of a concern in smartphones.

Becoming a de facto standard

MicroSDs became popular as most of the mobile phone manufacturers decided on using them in their phones. An exception to this rule was Sony Ericsson which was always bent on using Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick technology in its cellphones. It created the Memory Stick Micro (M2) card specifically for use in Sony Ericsson phones and was a direct alternative to microSD cards.

However, as the popularity of the MicroSD standard kept increasing, Sony Ericsson found its proprietary card equipped phones to be at a big disadvantage in regards to the competition and started adopting microSD cards in some of its phones, starting with the Sony Ericsson K850i in 2007. In mid-2009, Sony Ericsson announced that it had completely dropped support for M2 and that all of its future phones would support microSD.

Capacitive displays and the creation of touch screen only phones

When the iPhone was unveiled, people were extremely skeptical regarding its lack of a keyboard. They feared that the usability of the device would take a huge hit and the device would fail. However the device succeeded hugely, with people noting that the lack of a keyboard was not that big of a turnoff. There were several reasons for this but most importantly it was due to the capacitive display that the iPhone had come out with.

Increase of responsiveness

Capacitive displays needed just a slight touch to register an action which was a huge departure from resistive displays, which needed a definite press in order to function. This made the usability quite a bit better and improved the usability quite a bit. An action always needed one touch instead of multiple presses, which was common in resistive touchscreens.

Along with that capacitive displays did not need to have an elastic top layer like resistive displays. Due to this, high quality glass finishes on displays became common which reduced the risk of internal screen layers being damaged. Also, the displays were quite smooth in their finish which ensured that the speed of touchscreen usage also improved by quite a bit.

Inclusion of Multi-touch

Another main feature of capacitive displays was its ability to detect multiple touches on the screen simultaneously. This helped in several applications as pictures could be zoomed in and out using pinch gestures which were a very convenient feature. It also helped in typing as multiple fingers could tap different keys at an instance and typing speeds improved considerably.

Multi-touch also helped in gaming and navigation software as we no longer needed to limit our on-screen interactions to single touches. Along with that the dependency on styluses also reduced heavily due to this characteristic as fingers became just as responsive as a stylus.

HTC HD2 as a predecessor of today’s smartphones

The HTC HD2 was released in November 2009, running Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional. The device brought along several new features to the smartphone world such as a faster processor and much larger display. After the release of the HD2, and due to its success, smartphones of the day started evolving into phones with much larger displays and faster processors.

Latest hardware is important in the eyes of the consumer

Analysts were initially skeptical regarding the extremely modern hardware. They did not think that consumers could justify paying a premium for a device with a faster processor and that the improvements would not be that noteworthy. Along with that they felt that bringing a capacitive display would be useless as Windows Mobile needed a stylus to function satisfactorily.

However HTC debunked their theories by adding a version of HTC Sense over the default UI so that thumb operation improved drastically. Along with that the newer processor was able to carry out multiple tasks very efficiently and became one of the main selling points of the device. As some applications still needed a stylus to be used comfortably, HTC started selling a first-party stylus as well.

Large display size

People initially believed that the 4.3 inch display would hinder the portability of the device by quite a margin. As it was the first phone with such a display, people did not have any prior experience with smartphones of its size. When the phone was released, some people did indeed find the size to be too big, while some others thought it was a worthy trade-off for the larger display.

However with the immense sales of the device, it became clear that people did not find the size to be that big of a problem to deter them from buying the phone. This led to the creation of several new smartphones with 4.3 inch displays such as the Motorola Droid X and the HTC Desire HD.

How it influenced future smartphones

The HTC HD2 influenced the future smartphones in a number of ways. It brought along faster processors and larger displays to the smartphone world which was a trend that has caught on with the public. Along with that it also showed that UI customizations can improve the overall experience of a smartphone considerably and companies should invest time and resources in it. As a result other companies have come out with their own skins such as Sony Ericsson with its UX skin for Android for improving the device usability.

The Next Generation Gaming Console- PSP 2

Playing video games has always been great fun. Video games have touched the hearts of millions. Whether you are a child or an adult, video games can be the best form of entertainment for you. Gaming consoles are pretty handy to manage your restless child. The earliest gaming devices were huge in size. But day by day they are changing their physical forms. From the earliest gaming consoles to the recent, you will find one single change in common. That is reduction of size but ensuring more versatility. Smartphones have offered a great scope for playing games as they are portable and you can play games while moving around but there are lots of limitations also. That deprives you from the full satisfaction of playing games.  The hottest gaming consoles like the PlayStation offers full range of gaming experience but they are not portable.

As portability is the demand of the generation, developers have come up with great ideas to deliver great portable gaming devices. Like Sony did earlier, they have once again taken the main responsibility to deliver the master piece. Sony have delivered great portable gaming console named Play Station Portable or popularly known as PSP. But gamers now want to have more freedom while playing games which compelled Sony to get back to the drawing board and bring out a new gaming device that has more freedom for the gamers. This made the platforms for the PSP 2( Some are also calling it as NGP)

Key Specifications

• Processor – Quad core ARM Cortex A-9
• Display -5″ multi-touch OLED (12.7 cm)
• Screen Resolution: 960 x 544
• Dimension – Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm
• Multi-touch trackpad
• LPDDR2 512MB RAM (1GB devkits)
• 16GB flash + SD Slot
• Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth
• 3 -Axis Accelerometers
• 3-Axis Gyroscope,
• Cameras On Front And Rear
• Dedicated Buttons For Gaming
• GPS

As you can see that PSP 2 supports the 3G network connectivity, now it will be much easier for you to download Games, Musics and Videos. The Earlier version only supported Wi-Fi connectivity and it offered limited downloading options . As Wi-Fi is useless, until you are within a Wi-Fi Hotspot. But with the 3G support you won’t have to face that kind of difficulties as you can download what you want from any where. 

If you take a close look at the key features you will find that Its CPU is great for a portable gaming console. The Quad Core ARM Cortex A-9 processor will ensure that you face zero disturbances caused by lags while you are deeply involved in your games.  A display size of 5 inch ensures a great gaming experience together with superb video quality. The touchscreen is made of OLED technology and it will consume far less battery power than the earlier. It has dedicated memory of 512 MB. That will ensure a smoother UI for you. As you have seen that it has both Front and Rear facing cameras, now you will be able to capture images and share it with your friends and family using the super fast 3G network. Its motion sensors are great for motion sensitive games. There are 6 motion sensors in total, three for the Accelerometer and the other three for the Gyroscope. You will be surprised to know that Sony says via their spokesman that the PSP 2 or NGP will be more powerful than the PS3. Can you imagine a portable device being stronger than a fully dedicated gaming console? It also has flash memory of 16GB that will ensure great storage of Games, Videos and Musics. The built in GPS will help you in locations services.

Overall, PSP 2 can satisfy all your desires from a Gaming console. I really mean it and you will be able to see that it will give gaming consoles a tough fight. Now let’s see what happens when this device comes out of the shed. I know from my heart that this gaming console will win the hearts of millions with its greatest gaming facility.

Android’s live wallpapers and their applications

Live wallpapers have now become a defining feature of Android. They were added to the operating system in the 2.1 version of Android, which is also known as Éclair. Live wallpapers are home screens that can be customized and instead of being a simple background image, they can be customized to become interactive.

Bringing a very different user interface

Live wallpapers were brought to Android at a time when other operating systems, specifically the Apple iPhone were stuck with outdated user interfaces regarding background images. In iOS, Apple had not even added the ability to change the background images, let alone add interactive ones.

Live wallpapers also caused quite an interest from the developers’ community. Many websites have sprung up offering personally created live wallpapers which sometimes require a fee or are sometimes free. This feature has thus promoted further interest in Android and remains one of the most sought after customization features of Android.

What Live Wallpapers contain

Live wallpapers can be customized to take advantage of several inbuilt features of the device it runs on, such as the accelerometer, microphone and even the light sensor. This has brought several possibilities to the wallpapers that can be created. One example would be the Koi Fish Pond in which there is a pond in which there are several fish. If you touch the screen at one place, the fish feed will drop over there and all the fish will swarm around the feed.

Another example of live wallpaper would be a background that has falling snow flakes. If you tilt the phone, the falling snowflakes will respond accordingly and move towards the ground even if you tilt the phone. However, such a feature is only possible in phones which have a built-in accelerometer in them.

How Nokia’s domination of the dumbphone market helps its smartphone ambitions

Nokia has historically always been a very strong contender in the lower priced handset market. One of its phones, the Nokia 1100, has sold over 250 million units to date and is the bestselling consumer electronic device ever produced. Nokia has a complete monopoly in the lower segment of the mobile phone market in several developing countries.

Unparalleled brand recognition

Nokia’s immense reach in the mobile phone market has allowed it to reach a level of brand recognition that is unparalleled in several parts of the world. For several people from developing countries, the word mobile phone is synonymous with Nokia. This consumer recognition has helped Nokia in promoting its smartphones along with its cheaper dumbphones.

Due to this brand recognition, Nokia is one of the biggest benefactors of brand loyalty. For several people, upgrading from a dumbphone to a smartphone means purchasing another Nokia. In the developing countries, where mobile phone reselling is common, people prefer to purchase Nokia handsets as they are the only ones with relatively high resale values.

Targeting the newer devices at owners of older Nokia phones

Nokia has advertised its phones to those who have owned its previous handsets, which may usually be dumbphones. As several people have already had the experience with Nokia’s cheaper sets and have experienced their ability to keep functioning after extended periods of time, Nokia markets itself as a producer of long-lasting phones with high durability.

This advertising means that people from low earning brackets are ready to part with their precious income for a better phone, especially if it from Nokia. If the smartphone would be from another company, the person may not think it is worthwhile to purchase the device as he would not really be sure if the device would last him long enough. And as people from lower earning brackets are less informed about other smartphones, they prefer to stick to their tested brand instead of taking chances.

Why the PlayStation Suite is a great thing for Android gaming

Sony recently announced a software framework called the PlayStation Suite which will be a way to deliver games onto devices of multiple platforms including Android. This platform would be an application store for games and would lead to higher quality games being released on Android. With the current video game lineup of Android lacking in terms of advanced video games, PlayStation Suite will take Android to new heights.

Completely hardware neutral

A significant step in the popularity of the PlayStation Suite would be its availability to consumers. Sony has, against all expectations, announced that the framework will not require Sony or Sony Ericsson hardware to run. This means that any phone meeting certain hardware requirements and having at least version 2.3 of Android can run the Suite without a hitch.

Although the games will require the usage of Sony’s special triangle, circle, square and cross buttons, there will be an on-screen overlay of these for non-Sony equipment. This would mean that while the hardware from other manufacturers will not have dedicated buttons, the games would still be compatible on it using the touchscreen controls.

Bringing a unified platform to developers

Developers are at a loss in the current Android Market as they have to compete with all the different types of games in the Android Market which also contains several lackluster personal creations. If Sony provides them with a unified platform for targeting their games mainly to gamers, developers will increase investment in the area and bring out better games.

Sony will also monitor the games to see if they meet a minimum quality requirement before allowing them onto the market. This will enable the games in the store to run on most devices that are running Android. Along with that Sony will also recognize the hardware that meets the minimum requirements of the framework, which will enable the developers to concentrate on the quality of games rather than their compatibility.

Strong brand recognition would also help Android

Bringing the PlayStation name to Android would be a great thing as Sony has already established its name in the video game arena. Apple has the relatively unknown Game Center in its iOS operating system, and while Microsoft does have the Xbox Live in the Windows Phone 7 OS, there are currently very few games in it.