Nokia X3-02 is a mid-range smart phone. Price: ~$150

Apple & HTC have capital values a lot more than Nokia now. Nokia has tried and failed to touch the high-end market with touch screens like N97, N900, N8 & operating systems like Maemo, Symbian ^3 etc. They have come back to senses and thought to do what Nokia does best: A lower / middle budget market kingdom. LG & Samsung have been trying to do so for a while but they can’t beat Nokia in this range.

We are where we were 2, 3 and 4 years ago. Looking for the best Nokia cell phone under $200. Back in 2007, it was Nokia 6120 Classic, in 2008 it was Nokia 5320 Xpress Music & then came Nokia 5800. But its 2011 and Nokia has realized there are people who want touch screen usability without loosing the typing. This is where Nokia Touch & Type series comes based on the outdated S40 but revamped thoroughly for a touch interface.

Keep reading if you’re considering to buy one of these two ‘Touch & Type’ models: Nokia X3-02 and Nokia C3-01.

Both of these models have exactly same specifications except an extra LED Flash that C3-01 has alongside a steel body, both of which make it around $20 more expensive than its colorful sibling the X3-02 which has a steel back. I decided to buy a X Series model as it was thinner, colorful and a little less expensive. Moreover, I got a 4Gb Kingston SD Card and a decent A4Tech ear phone in the price of C Series model alone.

Here are detailed specifications and features of Nokia X3-02:

• Neat and well built, slim and lightweight, metal on the body
• 2.4" 256K-color resistive TFT QVGA touchscreen
• S40 6th edition UI
• 5 megapixel fixed-focus camera
• VGA video recording at 15fps
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Stereo FM radio with RDS, Visual radio
• Bluetooth v2.1 (with A2DP)
• Standard microUSB port (charging enabled)
• USB On-The-Go
• microSD card slot (32 GB supported, 2GB included)
• 3.5mm audio jack

First Hands On

It is really thin and light weight, at just 9.6mm but feels very comfortable at hand. The screen at 2.4” is a bit smaller for a touch screen phone but it does the job well. Although it has a 256K color profile, resolution and display quality is impressive. It has a TFT resistive touch screen, which means you’ll have to use very little force to press the screen as opposed to conduction in capacitive screen phones. Screen feedback is awesome, it vibrates right under your fingertip instead of vibrating at just one position.

Usability

I really missed the D-Pad in keys but the screen offers controls for editing text and navigation where necessary. Main Menu has easy to use Icons. Settings and applications sub-menus are bit irritating as they have only list view with big font size which cannot be changed.

Design & Form

X3-02 is a well built handset, no need to worry if it falls down accidently. Signal Strength and Battery Time are pretty good. It has a talk time of more than 5 hours over a 2G network when fully charged. Both SD card and SIM card slots are behind the steel battery cover. Top side has power adapter/ USB Cable connector and 3.5mm Audio Jack, bottom of the set has a loudspeaker, right side has a volume controller and an ‘unlock’ button. There are little press-to-open buttons on both sides to release the battery cover.

Camera

Camera quality is average as it doesn’t have a auto-focus and there is no LED Flash light in this model. Gallery view is very much improved and is better than older S60 models. The Zoom can be controlled by on screen magnifier icons which may seem irritating at first, again missing D-Pad but if Nokia had included a D-Pad, I would be using that instead of using the touch functionality. Smart decision by Nokia.

Messaging & Typing

It is a power messenger, it has ‘Conversations’ system instead of an inbox where messages from same contacts are shown as a conversation. Typing is a comfort and you can Type without looking at the screen as you’ve always did with Nokia phones BUT there is a little hurdle that you’ll need to cross. Keypad has a 4×3 button layout instead of a conventional 3×4 layout, that means the Asterisk, Hash & 0 key are the last column of keypad, it might take some time to get used to it but keys are really soft and well built. It handles all types of messages, SMS, MMS, Voice messages etc.

Music Player

Sound quality is nice but not the best, volume is a little low but it can be improved by using the built in equalizer options and a decent headset. It has a 3.5mm audio jack so you can connect it to almost any headphone you have. Music player doesn’t have a very impressive layout but its easy to use. Keypad has a dedicated music button which opens a popup to pause, play next or previous song. The included handset in box is a piece of crap.

Video Player & Connectivity

X3-02 has limited support for DivX videos but it can play up to 700mb DivX files. Another really impressive function is USB OTG (USB-on-the-go) function, which means you can connect your cell phone to any normal USB to explore its contents and even copy/move data around. It loves Nokia Ovi Suite so you won’t have any problems hooking it with your laptop. You can connect it using Bluetooth or Data Cable.

Internet Browsing & Games

Internet browsing is a charm as it supports Wi-Fi and 3G networks otherwise you can use EDGE/ GPRS. Screen is smaller for real time web use but is pretty fine for social networking and checking emails. Nokia has built in communication center with Facebook / Twitter applications pre-installed. There are few games, I tried to play Guitar Hero 2 but sucked at it. Other applications included a to-do list, stop watch, converter, notes and calculator with few other apps. You can connect to Ovi store to download many useful applications and games.

Conclusion

Overall it’s a decent phone or you can say best choice in this price range if you want a cell phone which is going to have a good market value unlike Huwei or Samsung touch screen cell phones. Plus, it has a layout and operating system we are used to with touch functionality and wifi.

Now some Eye Candy.

Here are some official Images from Nokia.

This is Nokia C3-01, Same Specs but different design & an extra LED Light.

Thank you for reading.

Like it and share it with your friends.

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-AFI

Contrary to the rumors, the new iPad 2 has been improved a lot internally. Faster processor, faster graphics, HDMI Full HD output, the 720p HD camera on the back, the frontal VGA camera… it’s quite a new beast.

Keep reading for complete specifications:

• Dual-core 1GHz A5 processor, which is “up to two times faster” than the previous version, Steve says.

• The graphics have been improved too. The GPU goes at nine times the speed as before.

• Same low power consumption as the A4.

• Built-in cameras for photos and video: One for frontal FaceTime videoconferencing and Photobooth (VGA resolution) and one on the back with 720p HD video capability.

• The cameras support the same exposure and focus control as the iPhones: Just tap where you want to focus for video and stills photography.

• It also has a built-in gyroscope, like the iPhone 4.

• They claim that the 25-watt battery’s life is 10 hours “on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music”. Just like before, but in a much thinner package. They also claim one month stand-by time..

• HDMI mirrored video output at 1080p Full HD (the Apple Digital AV Adapter cable costs $39).

The only thing that remains the same is the 9.7-inch 1024 x 768-pixel IPS display. We were looking to a higher pixel density just like the iPhone 4, but that’ll have to wait till the next generation. For those who were expecting Thunderbolt support, they will have to wait for a future generation. The Wi-Fi model still lacks a GPS, using Wi-Fi location services.

The Design

iPad 2 is really pretty. Thinner than the iPhone 4 and 33% thinner than the first generation iPad. That’s going from 13.4mm (more than a centimeter). iPhone 4 is 9.3 millimeters. Weight is going down too: From 1.5 lbs to 1.3 lbs. It also comes in two colors, black and white, “shipping from day one“.

When and how much?

The new iPad is coming on March 11 to the US, and 3G model will be available on both AT&T and Verizon. Internationally, the date is March 25 in 26 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and England.
The prices will remain the same. The Wi-Fi model will come for $499, $599, and $699 for the 16, 32 and 64GB models. The 3G will be $629, $729, and $829.

Apple yesterday unveiled its next generation iPad, Steve Jobs broke his medical leave for the event as he said he didn’t want to miss it. Though he looked frail in his signature black mock turtle neck and jeans.

“We’ve been working on this product for a while, and I just didn’t want to miss today,” Jobs told an audience that included bloggers and Apple enthusiasts. “Thank you for having me.”

Keep reading for serious buying advice, detailed insight and tips for your iPod Touch and iPhone too.

Excellent Pocket Computer

The day I got my iPod, I don’t feel like sitting on my laptop or computer. It has WiFi so everything I usually do including checking my emails, Facebook, Tweets, Tumblr etc. I can do all of this on iPod Touch. It has an excellent touch keyboard for chatting, There are apps for Skype/MSN/Yahoo so Text chat, voice calls and Video chat is no probs (Video Chat on Skype & FaceTime only). You can send files/ voice messages, share videos from YouTube & URLs, it handles all of them effectively and so smoothly that you’ll get horny.

Safari on iPod/iPhone is an excellent browser. It opens any kind of website almost flawlessly (except those Flash based websites but that doesn’t matter), For a test, I used Standard Chartered’s highly secured website to check my online funds, it worked like a charm. You can flip your iPod in portrait mode for a wide viewing angle and a better keyboard.

What else do you usually do on your laptop or computer? Watch Videos Online? Play Video Games? Listen to Music? It can do all of that effortlessly. I’m not praising the Apple device for nothing, It actually impressed me so much that I’m going to jump on your face and ask you to get one bitch.

Music and Video Player

Need to listen to that ‘My Music’ folder of yours on the go. Touch the shiny orange Music icon on Homescreen of iPod touch and you’re done. Shake it to shuffle and play next song (yes shake the ipod like real mindless shaking), Install the Nike App and it’ll count your footsteps as you run through the park on nice mornings to make them nicer. Be careful about mobile snatchers though, They will think its an iPhone worth thousand dollars.

Videos look absolutely candy on the pretty little high res LED backlit screen, You can use YouTube or VEVO Apps or drag any .mov, .avi, or H.264 videos in iTunes to sync it to your iPod OR use a decent video converter like ‘Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate 6’ to convert the HD videos or movies from any format that exists (including MKV) to iPod resolution and you’re good to go. I always have those Oscar Winning Shorts and Sweet Pixar Short Animations in my iPod to cheer up when I’m sad.

Tip: WiFi is a must have if you want to use iPod to its maximum potential or if you want to do more other than playing music or watching photos on it.

Gaming

I’ll update this section as soon as I’ve played some decent games. Honestly, I’ll have to jailbreak this sucker to play expensive games like GTA & NFS. So, there will be a new blog post on iOS games. Till then.

Applications

App Store is what makes iPod or iPhone a device that it is. With brilliant apps like Twitterific, Skype, Wunderlist, bing, Evernote, Dropbox, iBooks and thousands applications available to buy or download for free on app store. You’ll never get bored.

Tip: This is the perfect device to have while you’re going through a major breakup or heartache, Seriously!

So, in a nutshell it is a tiny computer that can entertain you for hours and days with its stunning 960 by 640 pixels Retina Display. You’ve got to have it to appreciate it, just like sex. It should be your first Apple device if you haven’t experienced anything Apple but have promised yourself to buy a Macbook Pro in future like myself or that dude sitting on the table next to me. Plus, now I understand why Apple is a bit on the expensive side. They set the standards that industry tries to reach out.

Have fun and don’t hesitate to ask anything regarding the iPod touch or tips to survive a breakup in comments, and before I goobye, here is some eye candy.

Bottomline: A Great Gadget.

Thanks for reading.

Aftab.

Sony has unveiled its new Playstation Portable we’ve been waiting for. Details later in the post but it has a ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor , 5-inch touchscreen OLED display (Resolution: 960 x 544), dual analog sticks, 3G, WiFi, GPS, a touchpad on rear side, the same accelerometer / gyroscope motion sensing as in the PlayStation Move, an electronic compass, and cameras on both the front and back. There you have it in your face. The NGP Next Generation Playstation Portable. Thank God it isn’t a phone.

Read on for images, specifications and more juice on the new device.

The new PSP will be featuring concepts like a new revolutionary user interface with integrated social connectivity, location based entertainment and converging virtual reality. Games will not come on a UMD anymore but Sony hasn’t yet disclosed the new media it will be using. The new UI will be called LiveArea.

Here are detail specifications of Sony’s New PSP launching in 2011 Holidays:

More official Images.

Goodbye Playstation Phone, No one wants you.

Click to Enlarge

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