Micromax Superfone A50 Ninja has become quite a phenomenon in the recent times. At 5K, this new unique android smartphone from Micromax, an Indian company, challenges the Samsung Galaxy Y (which is priced at 7.5K) directly in a bid to become the best-selling android phone of India. The main point of attraction of this phone is it’s built-in voice recognition app, AISHA, which basically is a desi counterpart of apple’s Siri.

Micromax A50 Ninja Specifications :

• 3.1-inches display of 240×320 resolution
• 2MP camera. (without flash)
• Android OS v2.3.6 Gingerbread
• 650 MHz processor
• Dual-SIM
• WiFi (with Hot-spot capability), Bluetooth 2.0, A-GPS
• Aisha – Artificial Intelligence Speech Handset Assistant

Micromax A50 isn’t really a ‘superfone’ considering the current availability of modern high-end smartphone, but it is indeed a ‘superfone’ when you forget about the higher-end ones and think about what else is up for sale at a price as low as 5K INR. The design seems pretty good to me. The ‘Aisha’ name alone, and the voice-assistant app with a feminine voice would attract a lot of male teenagers, I bet. At this price point, Micromax still kept WiFi, GPS and a decent screen size. Check out the unboxing and hands-on video of the superfone below.

How does it compete against Samsung Galaxy Y?

If you look at the specifications of the two, they’re very similar. However, the samsung counterpart features a faster 832 MHz processor. Micromax hasn’t said anything about the available RAM of this device, but it is known that it’s 212MB. Samsung Galaxy Y also features such low amount of RAM which is a downer. Otherwise, Aisha is as cool as Galaxy. ;)

GSMArena Specs Comparison – Samsung Galaxy Y vs. Micromax A50 Ninja

Moreover, the dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy Y costs near 10K, double the price of Aisha. So, A50 is actually a better option for the common budget-driven users, at the moment.

Buy Micromax Ninja A50 (Aisha) Online :

Rs. 4990 – Flipkart

I’ve decided to compile a list of Top 5 (in order of being most popular) theme effects for Symbian^3 (Nokia Belle) phones. Effects, along with video previews and download links after the break!

Chaos v3 Apocalypse by Bazy :

Download

Swift Effect by Jin Hao (Jin Hao Effects v6) :

Download

Xeon (full) by Allstar12345 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=O7LEBndgmII

Download

Leon by Allstar12345 :

[No Video Available]

Download

Zeon (update 1) by Allstar12345 :

Download

Don’t know how to install these cool effects in your phone?

Check this easy tutorial on our forum.

Changelog :

1. All widgets, the home screens and the grid menu items are rewritten in C++ to use less memory. This translates to about 5-10 MB less RAM used. Unfortunately, to get the RAM usage really low (no more than 10 MB), all the QML code must be rewritten in C++, which will take more time.
2. When the program is started for the first time (or for the first time after the upgrade), all application icons are cached for better load times later. So, the first start up is really long (it may take up to 5 minutes if there are a lot of applications). However, after that the start-up time should be a little bit faster than before.
3. The default (and minimal) number of home screens is 2 instead of 3.
4. The grid menu is changed from 3×4 icons to 4×5 icons to be more modern and to show more apps per screen.
5. Custom wallpapers can be used. They are shown after the built-in wallpapers and must be 640×640 pixels in size.  To see your custom wallpapers in Belle Shell, they must be placed in one of the following folders:   C:\Data\Images\Backgrounds (C:\Images\Wallpapers in Symbian built-in File manager)
   E:\Images\Backgrounds (E:\Images\Wallpapers in Symbian built-in File manager)
   F:\Images\Backgrounds (F:\Images\Wallpapers in Symbian built-in File manager)
   Please note that the built-in Symbian file manager shows these folders a little bit different as shown above.
6. There is new type of wallpapers: panoramic wallpapers. When you select the “Change wallpaper” command, you will see “Panoramic” as the last option. The panoramic wallpapers should be with size 1240×640 pixels (narrower may also work but not that good).
   There are 5 built-in panoramic wallpapers and you can add your own in the following
   folders:
   C:\Data\Images\Backgrounds\Widescreen (C:\Images\Wallpapers\Widescreen in Symbian built-in File manager)
   E:\Images\Backgrounds \Widescreen (E:\Images\Wallpapers\Widescreen in Symbian built-in File manager)
   F:\Images\Backgrounds\Widescreen (F:\Images \Wallpapers\Widescreen in Symbian built-in File manager)
   Please note that the built- in Symbian file manager shows these folders a little bit different as shown above.
7. The hardware keys (the menu key and the end key) can be captured by Belle Shell. By default in a new Belle Shell installation they are not captured.  To turn them on, go to the homescreen menu -> settings and turn on the option “Capture hardware keys”.
8. If the hardware keys are captured the long press of the menu key by default shows the default Symbian task manager. If you prefer another task manager, you must set it in the home screen menu -> settings. Tap the button bellow the “Task manager:” label and you will see a list of all installed programs. Select the custom task manager and it will be shown when the menu key is long pressed.
   Please note that most custom task managers also try to capture the menu key.
   To avoid problems, it is best to change the settings of the task manager not to capture the menu key and leave that to Belle Shell. Otherwise the behavior is unpredicted.

Personal Review by babu.rajiv :

I did try the app, and its amazing. Definitely better than the previous one.
Its much RAM friendly(it still consumes, but its better).
The option to add our own custom wallpapers, the panoramic walls are all great additions :D

The option to capture HW keys is the best addition. By just turning it on in the settings, you’ll be able to change the function of menu key to open up shell menu. The 4×5 menu icons are better. Looks modern, as the change logs from the developer states. :D

Here are some snaps from my phone. The snaps are taken using Striped Pro theme by daeva112 and his custom walls are used.

RAM Stats :

Memory stats on OFW :
30 mb (only 4 – 5 mb more than c6)

Download :

Download Belle Shell v1.05

Check out our forum thread for more information.

NOTE: This is NOT the Nokia Belle OS!

Huawei, a chineese multinational telecommunications & device manufacturing giant, is looking forward to increase the sales of its Android smartphones in India. The company recently released a few Android smartphones in India under the ‘Ideos’ and ‘Sonic’ series. As its a new entrant in Indian mobile phone market, it’ll take some time for it to gain people’s respect and recognition. Huawei has taken a few steps in implementing their pre-planned strategy to grow itself in India.

Huawei now wants to focus on marketing their devices. Most of the Indians get attracted (for the first time) to phones seeing their ads, rather than going on to websites seeing their reviews, a survey tells. Huawei’s marketing dept. has started to advertise their different products through online advertising, Google AdSense for now. An insider tells us, it’ll advertise their products on television too, eventually. If this strategy of theirs is successful, only then we’ll see Huawei phones in hoardings and banners on roads.

The below Android phones from Huawei are currently available for retail sale in India : (Price – high-to-low)

• Huawei Honor U8860
• Huawei Ideos X5 Pro
• Huawei Ideos X3 U8510
• Huawei Sonic U8650

Computers, laptops and even mobile phones have made data storage and communication easy. Everything we want to know or want to share with others is stored in one single device. This can be easily carried around and you can access your data and transfer it to any part of the world.

Wi-Fi (or wireless internet) technology has made the task even simple. There is no longer a need to install wired systems in all physical locations to gain access to high-speed internet. Wireless internet standards like the 4G LTE work even better than the wired services.

The ability to use internet on mobile phones, along with some awesome apps related to photo sharing and video downloading have literally bought the whole world in your hands. You can connect with people, share data along with pictures and video and carry out your business while eating or travelling.

 Benefits of technology for businesses

Thanks to wireless internet and smart phones who work with them, business operations have also become smooth. E-commerce, or online business is rising by the day. The world is witnessing the increased use of mobile banking as well.

Mobile banking makes use of smart phones along with technologies such as NFC (Near Field Communication) to deal in monetary affairs. Google wallet is an online payment portal and many telecommunications companies such as Orange have already come up with smart phones that can be used as alternatives to credit card machines and ATMs. It is even rumored that Apple will soon release a mobile phone with a wallet app, making use of NFC.

 Significant drawbacks of mobile banking

Though technology has made our life easier, the fact that all our financial information would be stored and transferred through our mobile phones concerns many people. Google wallet was once hacked! Plus, there will be less paper work involved which would make cross-checking impossible. Though we can trust machines when it comes to calculations, we can never have 100% assurance.

There is also the risk of malware that can infect any mobile phone. All of your information can be destroyed, which will leave you in a mess. Finally, there is ways the chance of physical damage in terms of theft or your device being lost.

 What are the possible remedies?

The most basic solution is the physical protection of your Smartphone. Do not leave it unattended and do not carry it along to places where crime rates are high.

Password protection is also necessary. Hackers are on a constant hunt all the time to penetrate people’s accounts, so password protection should be your priority especially in cases of financial information. Many people have the habit of keeping the same password for every account. You know what this means?

Though it may save your time and relax your brain, a hacker would only need to hack one of your accounts to discover the password for all of them! The best solution is the Multi-factor or the two-factor authentication.

 What is the Multi-factor authentication technique?

The Multi-factor authentication technique is a popular and effective means of securing financial information. Explained in simple terms, it is a two-step protection method. Two completely different types of authentication methods are used.

For example, you will have a password for your account. When you enter the password, the system sends you a text message or calls you. You can then enter a different code or provide voice authentication.

Another great method is to use fingerprints after the password has been entered. This biometric method is a great way to keep your data secure. There is also an option of enabling only a one step verification at time whenever you feel it is ok.

Many people will find it inconvenient and time consuming, but that should not be a reason to reject the option. You risk a lot when you do not go for multi-authentication.

 Multi-Factor authentication in smart phones

Android is a multitask Smartphone which includes many Google apps. Recently, Android phones with multifactor authentication feature have been released. You will receive text messages or calls to verify the first method.

Since people use Smart phones for all their activities, a security system that is highly effective will be nothing short of a blessing for them.

This is a guest post written by Shannen Doherty.

As you already know, ‘WazApp’ is a ported ‘WhatsApp’ client for Nokia N9 and other MeeGo/Maemo devices, developed by the great MeeGo community. The alpha version was firstly set to be released on May 1st, but it got delayed and now the developers are saying the release will happen real soon. EverythingN9 has posted a few screenshots of the alpha version of the app in-action, and the UI looks pretty good and neat-and-clean to me. Check out the screenshots after the break!

“It works flawlessly and is pretty cool. It also does everything a basic whatsapp client would do. There is definitely a lot of work that tgalal from maemo.org has put into porting this app. I am impressed by this app and tgalal deserves all the credit. Future updates will get group convos, picture sending, and video sending. Onto the app itself.”

Check out the ‘WazApp’ Hands-on Video

Official WazApp Website :

http://www.wazapp.im

Twitter Account of the Developer :

http://www.twitter.com/tgalal/

‘Blob’ is a paid blogger-client for Symbian, developed by Anand. This QT-based has a pretty-looking user-interface, and is good overall functionality-wise. With ‘Blob’, you can add, edit, remove posts and comments of your blogger blog, right from your Symbian smartphone.

• Read, edit, create and delete posts and comments in different blogs
• HTML5 enabled post viewer
• Add labels, set custom publishing date and time in posts
• Comes with one of the best and convenient rich text editor ever made
• Smooth, fast and clean UI

Changelog v1.0.1:

• Offline working ability with local drafts.
• There’s a new feature of clipboard manager, which stores your clipboard data for later access
• Text editing is more optimized (select text and apply formatting)
• An extended help section
• Optimized settings page
• Preview option in post editor
• UI optimization
• And a few dead bugs

Buy ‘Blob’ from Nokia Store

You may also try this free version of the app, which actually is a lower version that lacks post adding/editing support.

[Image Credits - SymbianTweet.com]

‘EyeEm’ does what ‘Instagram’ does on Android. It is an instant-photo-sharing app that also allows you to discover, edit and add cool effects to your photos and share them on various Social Networking sites, including, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, FourSquare and Tumblr. Another good thing about this app is that it’s totally FREE!

EyeEm is a photo sharing & discovery app that connects you with like-minded people through the photos you take.

• Edit: Take beautiful photos with 11 photo filters
• Share: Easily update your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare & Tumblr
• Discover: EyeEm is like a realtime photo search engine: simply take a photo and discover albums of topics, places and events
• Taking photos together: find people who take similar photos of the albums you contribute to

Based on your location and your activity, you’ll stumble upon new albums that are filled with photos from your friends and people around the world. It’s a whole new way of visually exploring what’s around you!

Download ‘EyeEm’ from Windows Phone Marketplace

[Picture Credit : symbiantweet.com/eyeem-instagram-like-app-for-nokia-lumia-smartphones]

It seems Nokia (in-association with AT&T is worth mentioning) has been successful in filling up NYC’s Grand Central train station with Nokia Lumia 900 ads. Just imagine you’re amidst the Grand Central station, and all you can see on your left, right, above your head, and below your feet is Lumia 900 ads! Nokia literally turned everything there into a Lumia 900 show-case. Walls, stairs, pillars, and even the large hoarding outside of the station had been painted in Lumia colors, as it seems. Kamal has snapped 60 pics of invidual ads inside and outside the station which you can check by visiting his SkyDrive Folder.

Nokia 808 PureView isn’t going to be released in the United States of America, yet the FCC folks got their hands on a PureView. Why? No Idea! Get Idea? Well, I think, that’s because of the predicted eventually result that’d be people using PureViews in the USA, despite not buying the phones from there. They would have to import it or bring it at their home-place using some other way. Anyway, after the break are a few more pics of the ‘real’ Nokia 808 PureView rather than a testing/prototype model that you’ve seen for months now.

[VIA - Engadget]

Three games (Incredible Circus, Dungeon Hunter 2 HD and Sparkle), two browsers (Symbian 8.2 and Opera Mini 6.5), one video player app (Nokia Trailers), facebook app (fMobi), PDF viewer (Smart Office), CNN App, WRC App, all running at the same time

by danchiriac

fChat is a free facebook chat client for Symbian and Nokia Belle phones. It’s simple user-interface and speed are what keeps it ahead of the rest of the competition. This new version (v1.01) sees various improvements in the client, and a few minor bug-fixes.

The fastest, coolest, simplest and the most beautiful chat for Facebook. You can chat with your online friends and you can also search offline friends and send messages to them too!

- Home screen widget
- Notification light when screen locked
- White and black theme!
- Adjustable font size!
- Audio alert!

Download ‘fChat’ from our forum.

‘Chroma’ is a brand new theme by Adelino with custom icons. Chroma packs a colorful wallpaper and vivid greenish UI elements to make your phone look alive!

Download this theme from our forum.

The SGS III will be available in two colors : Pebble Blue & Marble White

After keeping millions of users awaiting for months, Samsung has finally launched it’s flagship device of 2012, the next Galaxy, the Samsung Galaxy S III, in an event in London. The main point-of-attraction of this device is going to be it’s gigantic 4.8-inches 720p (1280×720) Super AMOLED Display, followed by a powerful 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Exynos 4 processor. Read on for more details!

Specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S III :

Screen:
4.8” Super Amoled HD display
Storage:
16/32/64GB depending on model, plus expandable MicroSD card
Cloud storage:
50GB Dropbox for two years
Colour:
Pebble blue or marble white
Battery:
2,100mAh (wireless charging optional extra)
Camera:
8MP rear; 1.9 MP front
Resolution:
720 x 1280 px (306ppi)
RAM:
1GB
Dimensions:
136.6 x 70.6 x 8.55 mm
Weight:
133g
Operating System:
Android 4.0.4
Processor:
Exynos 4 Quad (1.4GHz)

The Samsung Galaxy S III is amazingly slim, at just 8.55mm of thickness. It feels very big in the hands, due to the screen-size and overall design. It is currently known that SGS3 will go on-sale starting from the end of the current month, i.e., May, 2012. As they previously managed to ship 20-million units of the Galaxy S II, the S3′s predecessors, the company is hoping for even higher number of sales for this device. Looking at the benchmarks posted by Engadget, I can say, it’ll be ‘very’ hard for Samsung’s rivals to compete with the Galaxy S III with their present flagship smartphones. (Including Apple iPhone 4S, Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC One X)

Along with the Galaxy S III, Samsung has introduced several new features and services for it’s smartphone family, out of which, the most interesting thing is ‘S Voice’. It’s a mechanism to help the user interact with his/her smartphone directly in a ‘Siri’-like way.

The event organised by Samsung is still live at the moment in London, so check our site often for more details. ;)

Full Press Release

Nokia’s outgoing chairman Jorma Ollila said to Financial Times in an interview :

Tablets are an important one, so that is being looked into, and there will be different hybrids, different form factors [handset designs] in the future.

Ollila didn’t explain what would be the devices like, referred as ‘hybrid smartphones’ by him. Speculations are going strong that they’d be a somewhat a tablet-smartphone, i.e., more like the Samsung Galaxy Note. It is also expected that Nokia will bring a (or several, maybe) new tablet in the market, when Windows 8 is released later this year. But, one thing is clear from his sayings. Nokia is indeed looking to focus on tablets and different form-factors (including candy-bar, as those, with the keypads, are still popular among the masses) after recently being over-thrown from the #1 handset manufacturer’s throne by Samsung.

[Source]