The iPhone Killers

We finally have phones that kick the iPhone out of the picture

Finally, after almost a year and half of the launch of the iPhone, I am ecstatic to see a couple of phones that do have the right to be termed iPhone killers. Catching upto the iPhone was hard, especially cause of the beautiful touch screen and the multitouch interface that took everyone by storm. Where the iPhone failed was in terms of performance and high end features. The price of the iPhone in India just made it a more niche device. It gave the iPhone a demand in the India market as it is in human nature to want something that they cannot have. Being into Technology i loved the iPhone and hated it for my own reasons. After playing with my fair share of phones till date, i personally believe that currently there are two phones that can be termed as iPhone killers as of now. 

1. Samsung Omnia - The Omnia i900 from Samsung is a great device. It looks like a modified, upgraded iPhone and has a great finish. The phone has a 624Mhz processor with 128MB RAM. It comes loaded with Windows mobile 6.1 and samsung has integrated there own touch interface onto it too. The Samsung interface has larger icons that add to the user friendliness a lot. It has a beautiful 3.2" display which is great for browsing the net or watching DivX videos onto it. The phone doesn’t have a 3.5m audio jack, but the bundled hands free takes care of that issue. The sound output is above average, not too loud. What’s impressive is the sound clarity of the sound. The phone runs fast, but if too many programs are open it tends to become somewhat sluggish. An issue is that it doesn’t have a stylus slot, the stylus has to be kept hanging on the side and this could lead to scratches on the phone. The auto rotation feature of the phone also has an issue. It rotates with an animation, this gets irritating in a while, thankfully you can switch it off. It comes with a5MP autofocus camera with flash which takes good quality snaps. Thanks to the image stabilizer that images are not blurry. The camera gives lot of setting options also. It records video in 640 x 480 pixels resolution too. It comes with 8/16GB onboard memory and Samsung has bundled a 16GB microSDHC card along with the phone. The phone is loaded with features - It has Bluetooth with A2DP, WiFi, 3G, GPS, TV-out and even FM Radio. It doesn’t use a standard microUSB port, rather Samsung’s proprietary port for charging and hands free .Selling in the market currently at a price of 33,000 for the 8GB Variant, the Omnia is an amazing device, much better than the iPhone in terms of looks and functionality. For those looking at a plain touch screen device that gives more power in their hands, the Omnia is simply a great phone. 

2 . Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - The Sony Ericsson Xperia is the true iPhone killer in all respects. Other than its weight and larger dimension, the Xperia has no other drawback compared to the iPhone. In my opinion it even surpasses the Omnia in terms of performance. Even thought the Xperia comes only with a 528 MHz processor, the 256MB RAM makes it run faster than the Omnia. It runs the same Windows Mobile 6.1 OS, though it features a unique new thing called X panels. These are more or less skins for the main screen with different themes, but they are interesting. The phone’s main plus point is its Arc Slider keyboard. The keyboard is great, though it takes a while to get used to. The phone comes with a stunning 3” display which has better resolution that the iPhone’s screen. Like the Omnia the Xperia is also loaded with features to the brim, it has 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth with A2DP, GPS, FM Radio and even comes with a 3.5mm audio jack.  The phone comes with a 3.2MP camera which takes great images, though some people might feel that now with phones coming with 8MP camera, 3.2MP is passé. The sound output is great and the use of metal on the body makes the phone feel great in hand. Expected at a price point of Rs 36,000, the Xperia comes with 400MB onboard memory and is expected to come with a 8GB card bundled in the package


Nokia has also announced their first touch screen phone the Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic. It features a 3.2” touch screen display, a 369Mhz processor with 128MB RAM, 81MB internal memory and 8GB card included,3G, WiFi, Bluetooth with A2DP, GPS, FM ,TVout and even a 3.5mm audio jack. Sad to a certain extent that even it comes with a 3.2MP camera, but it would have symbian series 60 OS and a microUSB slot. The price point is expected to be between 25 – 30k. The initial reviews and videos make the 5800 seem like an impressive phone, so perhaps Nokia also has an iPhone killer in their hands.

Selling Online - a dilemma

First of all, i am so sorry for not being able to post from the past month, i was caught up in a few things so didn't really had the time...
Now however, i would be posting regularly.... :)

Karan

Online Sales

One of the things that I have come across a lot while trying to sell thing online is that no matter how low you price a thing, people would offer you a lower price. You put up a thing for sale at a so and so price which you think is the best price for your second hand product due to its condition and working order. Of course this price is just slightly higher than what you would be getting if you sell your product in the local market. But as soon as you put it up for sale, you notice two things for sure.
a) Loads of people would say, what a great price the product is being sold at here
b) There would always be a group of people who would say something like “ Oh I just brought something like this last week, else I would have bought it from u”

Now, here comes the interesting part, even thought the price has been mentioned to be a great one for the product, the offers that you start receiving would be of a lower value. They would be easily 1000 to 2000 below the price you mentioned, with a small statement next to it “this is what I can offer, if interested please tell me”.

Perhaps it’s the mentality of the Indian consumer that one has to bargain no matter how good the price is, or is it just that they believe that the other person is trying to cash in over his second hand product and it’s not actually worth the price he is selling it for.
Now, why would the seller who is getting a higher price in the marker that being offered, sell it online?

I always prefer to sell things online myself, as the person on the other end can check the product before buying, satisfy himself then pick the product if he fancies. But all this lowballing of prices has made me wonder if it is even worth selling online, especially in India.
When an internet savvy person like me is having second thoughts about selling things online due to this scenario, where does a simple person stand????

Going Glossy >>

Too much Shine

Love glossy shiny gadgets?? read on >>

Working with a Lifestyle and tech magazine gives me access to a lot of shiny new gizmos and from the past few months I have been noticing that more and more manufacturers are just pushing out products with glossy exteriors. At first I though that maybe this is just so that large devices such as TV’s that need to be put on a wall or on a table and then just be controlled via remote would give the place a classy look. It would stand out thanks to the shiny surface and attract attention easily. Fine, I understand and that is the only point that I can think of that makes sense in practical life.

But this is also true that Shiny glossy things makes one want to touch the shiny surface and just get a feel of the surface. This is where the problem starts, the glossy exterior attracts fingerprints, dust and scratches as much as it attracts attention. People tend to touch these shiny objects and once a couple of fingerprints get embedded, say bye bye to the device’s shiny look. In terms of TV’s and DVD players etc, I can understand, you just clean the surface off with a soft damp cloth and the exterior regains its smooth glossy texture. But what these manufacturers are doing now a days is totally uncanny.

Pick up any new device… be it phones, notebooks, net books, gaming consoles hell even LCD monitors now come with a glossy panel. Yes they look very nice…. Yes they look very shiny.... but only as far as the protective plastic cover is on them. Take it off and Walla your shiny new device is subjected to huge noticeable fingerprints. The general human perception is like I said… if its shiny one would want to touch it. So why handheld devices such as phones and notebooks are being pushed out with glossy panels. They would be kept in hands, and they would get tons of fingerprints on them…. Personally, I have started to get irritated with it… take the notebook out of the case, use it for a while, and then before keeping it back, wipe the fingerprints off so that the next time you take it out, it looks neat and shiny as ever. Why make the glossy panel in the first place if I would be spending half my time just cleaning it….

It gets worse in case of Cell phones, Phones from various manufacturers are also getting glossier by the day. It was one thing that you can save the display screen from scratches and fingerprints using a Scratchguard, but now what ? I have usedquite a few glossy phones myself and frankly speaking I kept cleaning them after every call I made and every sms I sent… I have to be extra careful because these phones are demo units and have to be sent back, but what about an average consumer, would someone spend so much time to clean a phone?

What worse that any scratches on devices with glossy panel stand out like a nasty scar. Think of it, a nice shiny surface, but there is a small line in a different color and without the shine… How bad it would look..

So what’s the best part… Get Scratchguard, screen guards or protective covers…. That would be effective for a while, but no matter how hard you try, your beloved device would get a fingerprint or scratch sooner or later during usage… I just Hope that the manufacturers would reconsider going glossy on every damn thing that they can churn out.. The consumer now is smart and knows that maintaining glossy panels is pain… that Is why more and more people are going for matte finish devices…. I wouldn’t deny the market for these shiny toys is not present, its present at a large scale, but once the shine fades away under scratches and fingerprints, it just feels plain sad seeing the once lively device so dull and scratched.