Nokia 808 PureView

MRP: 33899:

PROS

• By far the best cameraphone around
• Photos show the difference when really zoomed in on
• Typical Nokia call quality - brilliant
• Excellent battery life
• Bulky, but solidly built
• The white finish looks classy

CONS

• Bulky
• Low resolution display
• Web browser significantly inferior to similarly priced rivals
• Despite updates, the Belle UI looks very clunky
• Phone sits on the camera, when placed on a flat surface

Summary

The Nokia 808 PureView is possibly the best cameraphone ever made. Any feature above and beyond the camera is basically a bonus. Symbian won't really be the OS of your choice for your primary smartphone. However, if this were an indication of things to come, the next PureView with Windows Phone OS would probably make a lot of rivals go red in the face.

Platform: Symbian Belle FP1; Processor: ARM11 1.3GHz, 512MB RAM; Display: 4-inch AMOLED, 640 x 360 pixels; Storage: 16GB + microSD slot (32GB); Camera: 41MP with 1080p HD videos; Battery: 1400 mAh

Not surprisingly, the 808 PureView drew some mixed reactions, but surprisingly, none were taking the middle path. Some said it was the best camera phone around. Albeit with a few compromises, but also opined that “about what, in this world, do we not compromise on?” The other side said that this is a good camera with a phone bolted on to it, and will hang on to their cash tightly till something like this comes along with the Windows Phone OS for the rest of the time!

Design & Build
For all that it brings to the table, the 808 will not win any points in a slimness competition. At 13.9mm thickness, the 808 does have a big footprint. Maybe it is not to be blamed as much as we think, mostly because ultra slim phones have spoiled us over the last few years.

Weirdly, the phone does have decidedly different thickness at different points. To understand this, you need to flip the phone over and see how the camera sensor clearly sits on a higher platform than the rest of the battery cover. We understand that it takes space to fit in a monster 41MP sensor, Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash, but this creates another problem – the phone will rest on the camera’s territory when kept flat on a surface. Inevitably, the bit will get scratched quite badly, over time. Nokia will hopefully offer a camera cover accessory quite soon, or maybe they already do, but the sealed review unit that we received did not have that.

Now that we are here, let us speak about this part of the phone first, before moving to the front. The review unit we received was the white version, and the colour really stands out. The battery cover has a plain and thankfully, matte finish. No risk of scratches or fingerprints ruining the perfectly pearly look of the phone! The only niggle is that the phone’s battery cover is forced to deploy the “use nails to prise open” mechanism. Normally, we would have deducted points for that, but in this case, the 41MP sensor is reason enough for a reprieve.

The left spine remains completely clean, while the right spine gets the volume rocker, the traditional Nokia lock screen slider and the two-stage shutter key. Speaking of which, the shutter key is slightly on the harder side, and will mostly induce unaccounted for movement when taking a photograph. We may be nitpicking here, but you will be better off using the onscreen tap-to-click mechanism. The 3.5mm jack, micro HDMI and micro USB populate the top spine.

The 4.0-inch display on the front is surrounded by a slightly shiny black bezel, but the width on the sides has been well controlled, so as to keep the phone’s dimension in check. Unfortunately, the keys are still not touch sensitive, which is a bit of “an odd one out” situation in a mostly touch environment. However, they do respond well, and quite sure about the pressure you need to apply every time. We would have loved touch sensitive keys though.

Overall, excellent build quality. Once you move past the “it is thick” routine, you will appreciate how well put-together this phone is. Featuring typical solid and durable Nokia build quality, it has no inspirations from the world of glossy phones. The 808’s design feels very agreeable, despite the slightly bulky dimensions.

Features & Specifications
When the Nokia first announced the “808 PureView - 41megapixel shooter,” the news took a long time to sink in. Most looked onto it with a lot of skepticism, wondering how the Finnish company would manage to deliver good per-pixel quality from so many pixels packed into such a tiny space. Functionally, using the PureView’s camera is pretty much the same as using any cameraphone - you press a button that starts the camera up, you point, wait for focus, you shoot. However, what happens behind that plastic shell is a whole different story.

The camera UI has been designed to take full advantage of the ridiculously powerful sensor in the camera. The first thing to note is that you can either shoot in full resolution mode, which records images in 38 megapixels (if you select 4:3 aspect ratio, but 36 megapixels if you’re shooting 16:9). Mind you, Nokia’s claims of lossless zoom are not applicable in this mode, as, well, you cannot zoom when shooting in full resolution. Switching to PureView mode allows you to zoom to various degrees, depending on whether you choose to shoot in 8, 5 or 3 megapixels. Regardless of what mode you are in, you will have the option to dial in exposure compensation (up to 3 stops over and under), along with setting custom white balance, choosing a focus mode (infinity, closeup, portrait or automatic). These in themselves are more settings that you would find on most camera that have been slapped onto a phone (inside joke here is that this is a camera with a phone bolted to it).

Clicking on the little cog icon on top of the screen reveals a whole dearth of options. Here, you can choose between automatic shooting, scene and creative mode (configurable with up to three different settings under C1, C2 and C3). There’s not a whole lot you can tweak when shooting in auto mode, but the creative mode opens up a whole new world. Scrolling further down, you can select the resolution at which you want to shoot (PureView vs. Full resolution), aspect ratio (4:3 vs. 16:9). Moving further down, you can choose colour tones (between normal, sepia, black and white, and vivid), the kind of capture mode you want to use (normal, bracketing, interval and self-timer). Then there is the option to tweak the contrast and sharpness in slider form.

Nokia has never really been a part of the power game in the smartphone territory, but that isn’t to say that the 808 doesn’t have the grunt – it boasts of a 1.3GHz ARM11 processor. However, the only bottleneck is the 512MB RAM, which is a big surprise. We expected 1GB at least, considering the price and what this phone is meant to do.

For those of you who click a lot of photographs, the 808 is surely a phone you must be considering. To get you into action straightaway, the 808 comes with 16GB internal storage, with a card slot for 32GB more.

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New features and apps with a software update for the Nokia Lumia 800 and 710

A new software update for the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 starts rolling out that will bring some powerful new features to your device and access to new apps you will use again and again.

New functions

Two great new functions that come with this software update are Internet sharing (otherwise known as WiFi tethering) and flip-to-silence.

Internet sharing will allow you to share your mobile Internet connection over Wi-Fi with up to five other devices or computers. In effect, it turns your Nokia Lumia 800 or Nokia Lumia 710 into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.

As for flip-to-silence, well, you turn your phone face down, and all incoming phone calls and alerts will be silenced.

Camera Extras

As well these new features, the software update will also allow you to download some cool new Nokia apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace this July for your Lumia 800 or Lumia 710.

Chief among these are Camera Extras, which considerably enhances the camera capabilities of your device.

Install Camera Extras and you’ll have a range of new shot options:

• Smart Group Shot makes it easy to capture great group shots with just one attempt. With a single press of the camera button, five shots are taken and using advanced algorithms, you can select the best ‘face’ shot for each person in the photo.

• Action Shot allows you to take stunning images of movement and action. Take a burst of shots and you will be able to review them all one on top of another before you select the one you prefer.

• Self Timer lets you put yourself in the picture. Set the timer, then prop up the phone and then join your friends in the shot. Remember to say cheese!

• Panorama enables you to capture beautiful wide landscape images. The simple on-screen instructions guide you as you move your phone, while it stitches together panoramic images with precision alignment.

These are all amazing new camera features so we’ll be taking a closer look at Camera Extras on Conversations in the near future.

That’s not all…

Camera Extras feels like several apps rolled into one, but it’s not the only new app that will be vying for your attention once you’ve installed the software update.

• Contact Share lets you share and receive Business Cards by SMS

• Play To makes it possible for you to share pictures, videos and music from your Lumia smartphone to other DLNA –enabled devices on your home network. Play To is already available for all Lumia devices.

Getting the update

To recap, these apps (except Play To, which is already out) will only be available for your Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710 once you have installed the new Windows Phone 7.5 software update.

The software update is available during June and July 2012 and the apps will be rolled out globally by the end of July.

Get the update by connecting your phone to your computer with the USB cable and starting the Zune software on a PC or Windows Phone 7 connector if you have a Mac.

Full details are on the Nokia Lumia support pages.

If you have a Nokia Lumia 900 or Nokia Lumia 610, Internet Sharing and flip-to-silence are already available, and you can also get Camera Extras and Contact Share soon (Camera Extras is available right now if you’re in the US or China).

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Bharti Airtel, Idea plan to shift data traffic to wi-fi

Indian mobile phone companies such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and others are looking to shift a part of their data services to wi-fi hotspots, freeing up scarce 2G and 3G airwaves for mobile telephony.

Mobile phone companies are building wi-fi hotspots to accommodate growing mobile broadband data usage among consumers. "Spectrum is limited and all over the world carriers have offloaded data on to wi-fi, integrating it with existing networks while the back haul can be any medium - copper, fibre or LTE. It's pretty much part of the plan for us as well," said Bharti Airtel's president for consumer business K Srinivas.

Bharti Airtel has already set up more than 1,000 hot spots in top three cities across India where data consumption is very high, apportioning a greater proportion of its licensed spectrum for handling voice traffic.

A hotspot is any location that offers wireless internet access. A person carrying a wi-fi-enabled smartphone can access internet from a hotspot.

A senior executive at Idea Cellular added that most telecom operators were considering extensive wi-fi hotspot deployments since existing spectrum was exhausted by its current voice and data traffic. "Given the scarcity of spectrum, it is an option everyone is looking at," this executive said.

Mobile operator Aircel said this week that it would hold trials of improved wi-fi hotspot technology before the end of the year so that it is ready for commercial deployment by next year. This technology would allow automatic connectivity to a wi-fi device. At present, one has to latch on to a wi-fi network by keying in a pass code.

Aircel has been propagating use of wi-fi technology as it feels this will lighten the load on licensed spectrum. Also, since wi-fi services are usually accessed indoors, deploying hotspots can improve indoor data coverage.

"Service providers are looking at wi-fi as an alternative radio technology that will be deployed in parallel with their existing macro base-station network. This will make more spectrum available for data usage," said Cisco's chief technology officer Alex Zinin.

He said with spectrum being scarce in India, Cisco was giving phone companies an option to use wi-fi, which is unlicensed spectrum. "We're talking to several service providers about that (deployments)," added Zinin.

Some mobile phone companies are also considering using wi-fi to augment their existing mobile networks and to put them in high-density areas like shopping centers and stadiums.

"Wi-fi offloading is definitely a trend that is catching up. Wi-fi customers will be in public areas, at home, or in enterprises and considering that there are existing issues on pricing of spectrum and low uptake of data so far, so wireless makes good sense. There's definitely money to be made there," explains KPMG India's partner Jaideep Ghosh.

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Mobile phone SIMs in UAE must be registered

All UAE residents must register their mobile phone SIM cards in the next 18 months or have telephone services cut off, officials have warned.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said that all Etisalat and du customers must register their SIM cards with the government under the new ‘My Number, My Identity’ programme.

Everyone with a mobile phone must go to a du or Etisalat shop with their passport or national ID card to prove they still have their phone’s SIM, authorities said.“It’s up to the 


The TRA has said that while the programme is now up and running, it will likely be about 18 months before unregistered SIM cards will be cut off and that all du and Etisalat customers will receive notification of the programme either through text message or phone call.

“Registration will be a very easy process and there will be a number of reminders before any phone could be cut off,” the official said.

The company added in a statement that registration “prevents any unauthorised or criminal usage of SIM cards and helps in curbing legal or social violations besides reducing frauds that have been noticed during the last few years”.

And the TRA warned that sharing SIM cards can result in authorities holding the owner responsible for “unwanted consequences, including being held accountable for any improper conduct or misuse”.

The new scheme, the TRA said, will also help it track people who send abusive or threatening texts or make phone calls to intimidate people. It also said the scheme will protect customers from abuse of stolen or lost phones.

Saleh Abdulla Al Abdooli, chief executive officer of Etisalat, added registration provides necessary protection to subscribers and “enables them to procure all services easily”.

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Huawei Ascend D quad delayed again, the CPU to blame

This year's MWC saw some really exciting phones from Huawei - the icing of the cake undoubtedly being the Huawei Ascend D quad. The company's new flagship will use a homebrewed quad-core processor instead of an NVIDIA, TI or Qualcomm sourced chip.

However, sticking to its own chipset isn't the smooth sailing Huawei may have hoped, as the D quad has been delayed due to issues with the manufacturing of the processor. Huawei's vice president Yu Chengdong says that mass production of the phone will only start in August.

Huawei's R&D team has been told to increase its efforts on fixing the issue. Still, it will be at least until August (possibly even later) before the Huawei Ascend D quad will go on sale.

The delay will also affect the D quad XL (which is a D quad with a huge 2600mAh battery), but there's no info on when it will go into mass production.

Thanks to Oliver for the tip!

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Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8: It's Windows 8, only on a mobile phone

Windows Phone is finally living up to the name. Microsoft today announced Windows Phone 8, which replaces the old Windows CE core of Windows Phone 7 with the same kernel in its big brother, desktop Windows 8. That means big changes for a critically acclaimed platform that's been struggling in the market.

Microsoft's announcement comes at a developer's conference in San Francisco; we spoke earlier to Microsoft's Windows Phone senior product manager Greg Sullivan to get the scoop.

The new Windows Phone 8 will look and act a lot like Windows Phone 7.5, Sullivan said. You'll still have the live tiles and the same 100,000 apps. The home screen will be enhanced: you'll now be able to fill the screen with tiles if you like. The two existing tile sizes will be joined by a third, smaller tile. Tiles will be resizable, and the OS will be available with a wider variety of colors and themes.

But Windows 8 will be much more tightly tied to Windows Phone 8 than Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 were, something Sullivan called "bidirectional sharing." They'll share the same kernel, the same file system, and the same basic interface metaphor, Microsoft's new array of sliding tiles which it calls "Metro."

"There's a degree of synergy between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. There are also some key differences, which we'll also articulate. But there are key benefits we get from sharing both a core underlying technology infrastructure and a similar UX," Sullivan said.

The new OS will support three screen sizes: the existing 800 by 480, 1280 by 720, and 1280 by 768. Apps will automatically scale to fit, and developers won't have to create multiple versions, Sullivan said. And while he didn't promise any specific processors, he said the new kernel supports up to 64-core processors.

Windows Phone 8 is coming this fall, Sullivan said.

"We're saving the hardware announcements for closer to general availability this fall," he said.

A PC In Your Hand "The underpinnings of Windows Phone 7 are the primary reason we haven't had support for multicore chips ... it's why we haven't had LTE on CDMA, which requires IPv6, and why we haven't taken advantage of the latest generation of SOCs," Sullivan said.

That's all changing now. The new platform will support swappable SD cards for storage, IPv6 which enables CDMA/LTE phones on Verizon and Sprint, and NFC. The file system is now NTFS, and the OS supports enterprise-level, on-device encryption. A new Wallet app will combine mobile payments and the ability to store loyalty cards and tickets, like a mix between Google's Wallet and Apple's Passbook. Chase Bank will be the first major partner for Microsoft's wallet.

Device drivers will have a lot in common with Windows RT tablets, although Windows 8 has greater security so you won't be able to "arbitrarily connect devices," Sullivan said.

The programming tools are changing, too. While the OS will still support Silverlight for existing applications, that's on its way out for new stuff. Now developers can write native code, as well as XNA, C#, and HTML5. They can also now ue the full Microsoft .NET suite instead of the previous Compact Framework.

"The existing 100,000 apps will run unmodified on Windows Phone 8," Sullivan said. "But there will be a raft of new APIs."

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10 best mobile phones in the market

CHECK OUT THE LIST IN PICTURES

1. HTC ONE X (Rs 35,000)
Specs: Android v4.0; 4.7-inch display; 1.5GHz quad core processor; 1GB RAM; 32GB onboard memory; 8MP camera. 
Plus: Super Fast performance 
Minus: Battery

2. SAMSUNG GALAXY S III (Rs 38,900) 
Specs: 4.8 inch display; Android v4.0; 1.4GHz quad-core processor; 16GB onboard; 64 GB expandable memory.
Plus: Performance 
Minus:S Voice

3. SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE (Rs 32,500)
Specs: Android v2.3; 4.3-inch display; 1.2GHz dual core processor; 1GB MB RAM; 16GB expandable. 
Plus: Fast, features 
Minus: Almost none.

4. SAMSUNG GALAXY S II (Rs 27,500)
Specs: Android v2.3, 4.3-inch display; 1.2GHz dual core processor; 16GB, 32 GB expandable. 
Pros: Dual-core processor 
Cons: NA

5. APPLE i PHONE 4 (Rs 35,500)
Specs: 3.5 inch display; iOS; 16GB onboard memory; 1GHz processor.
Pros: Apple App Store 
Minus: iTunes Sync

6. BLACKBERRY 9900 (Rs 32,500)
Specs: 2.8 inch display; BB 7.0; 1.2GHz processor; 8GB internal; 32GB expandable.
Plus: Best BlackBerry smartphone 
Minus:Battery

7. HTC ONE V (Rs 18,000)
Specs: 3.7 inch display; Android v4.0; 1GHz processor; 4GB internal memory, expandable
Plus: Value for Money; 
Minus: NA

8. NOKIA LUMIA 710 (Rs 14,500)
Specs: 3.7 inch display; Windows 7.5; 1.4GHz processor; 8GB internal memory.
Plus: Good hardware 
Minus: No Bluetooth transfer.

9. APPLE IPHONE 3GS (Rs 20,990)
Specs: 3.5 inch display; iOS; 8GB onboard; 3.15MP camera.
Plus: Touch Interface 
Minus: Is Old

10. BLACKBERRY 9220 (Rs 10,990 )
Specs: 2.44 inch display; BB 7.1; 512 MB internal; 32GB expandable; 1450 mAh battery.
Plus: Affordable BlackBerry; 
Minus: No 3G

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Samsung S3

Good, but Not Great
A hi-decibel buzz in the tech world preceded the launch of Samsung's third version of its flagship Galaxy S phone. But the Galaxy SIII is not the eye-popping wonder that was expected. A 4.8-inch AMOLED display made of Corning Gorilla glass dominates the front, but the rear can be criticised as being 'plasticky'. Still, the SIII pips other Android phones with its 1.4 GHz quad-core processor which has a 1GB RAM, and some intelligent features. For instance, you can also call the person you are sending a message to, simply by bringing the phone close to your ear. Samsung calls this 'Direct Call'.


The SIII also sports a voice assistant, 'S Voice', that answers questions put to it, but it needs fine tuning. The eight megapixel camera (unfortunately without a dedicated button) is impressive and captures crisp images. Like the iPhone camera, this one too has an HDR mode for shooting in high-contrast lighting. The 2100 mAh battery is good. Buy it or not? Look at the price tag first.

+ve: Gesture controls, excellent camera, Android ICS, quad core processor
-ve: Plastic build, voice assistant needs fine tuning
Price: Rs 43,180

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HTC ONE X

Price: Rs 35,000

SPECS
DISPLAY: 4.7 INCHES
CAMERA: 8 MP AUTO FOCUS
PROCESSOR: 1.5 GHZ QUAD CORE
RAM: 1GB
STORAGE: 32 GB ONBOARD
CONNECTIVITY: 3G, WI-FI,
BLUETOOTH, A-GPS
WEIGHT: 130 GM
BATTERY: 1800 mAh

In the past couple of years, Samsung has managed to outshine HTC with an array of superb models handsets. But the Taiwanese company has hit back. While the world is still waiting for the next flagship Galaxy phone, HTC has launched its One X , one of the first smartphones powered by a quad-core processor.

Naturally, there was excitement at getting our hands on a quad-core chip. We soon realised that there were a lot of other things in the device that wowed us. The 4.7-inch display is beautiful, sharp, crisp and bright-it is undoubtedly the best 720 x 1080 pixels display. Surprisingly, even with such a big display the phone wasn't uncomfortable to hold. 

An 8 MP auto-focus camera was the icing on the cake. The camera interface looked different. We could also capture videos at different resolution ranging from 1080p to mms quality. A Unibody design with a microSIM card slot at the top. The One X is 8.9mm thin and weighs 130 gm only. Why We Fell For It: Best in class hardware blended with the latest software.

There are three physical touch keys - back, home and multitasking - below the display that makes it easy to use. Although we have already reviewed Samsung's Nexus, it's not yet launched in India. So officially, the HTC One X is the first handset with Android Ice-Cream Sandwich onboard. However, the interface is not what you would expect of an Android, as it comes wrapped in the customised HTC Sense user interface. To test the 1.5 GHz quad-core processor we had to use the smartphone to its optimum and even run a few benchmark tests. The device scored decently well on most of the tests and using heavy graphic applications or switching between applications were smooth.

The best use of the quad-core chip came while operating the 8 MP autofocus camera where it quickly managed to capture a shot and was ready for the next one. Pressing the camera key down for 15 secs made the phone click 50 images, the shutter sounding like a machine gun. This makes the camera perfect for capturing children or fast moving objects. Full HD videos too did not break the rhythm of this mean device. We didn't notice much lag at all.

Then there is Beats Audio to ensure a good music experience. While Google services and basic apps are usually a part of Android smartphone, the HTC One X has a lot many preloaded apps such as 7 Digital for music, Bollywood Hungama, Car, eBuddy XMS, Flashlight, mirror, Google+, movie editor, etc. HTC is also giving its One X users free access to 25GB storage on Dropbox for two years where they can backup all their data including music, images and documentation. Nothing new, but still a good value add-on. With the heavy usage and the juice guzzling processor, we were worried that the battery would die before the end of the day. But still the battery lasted a few hours beyond the day on a full charge.

IS IT TIME TO BUY?If you are still thinking of buying the Samsung Galaxy Note or Samsung Galaxy SII, hold on. We have something much better in our hands now, the HTC One X. However, Samsung is expected to announce its new Galaxy flagship smartphone in May while Apple should unveil the new iPhone in June, giving tough competition to the HTC One X.

WHAT ELSEHTC has once again loaded its SENSE UI on the device, which is better than the traditional Android interface. The SENSE UI lets users launch any four customised apps directly from the lock screen. The main app tray is divided into three-all, frequent and downloads. Three icons remain static at the top-search, play store and menu. And the notification bar has a clear shortcut and settings icon. Above all, the beautiful graphical representation has been used with the multitasking key for switching between the running apps or closing them.

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Almost 70,000 new mobile phone connections added daily in Middle East

Over 69,000 new mobile phone subscriptions are added every day across the Middle East, according to a new survey.

Middle East mobile subscriptions grew at a rate of 69,230 new connections per day in the first quarter of 2012, according to Ericsson's second Traffic and Market Report - On the Pulse of the Networked Society. The report revealed that a total of 6.3 million new connections were added across the region from January to March 2012, taking the total number of subscriptions up to 266.3 million.

According to the study, mobile subscription penetration in the Middle East stood at 96%, compared to 69% in China and 97% in North America. It was also revealed that total mobile subscriptions around the world are expected to reach nine billion by 2017, compared to six billion at the end of 2011. The report forecasts that 85% of the world's population will have internet coverage via 3G by 2017 and that mobile broadband connections will reach the five billion mark that year.

"These numbers are a clear indication of the tremendous potential for growth we're seeing in the Middle East," remarked Anders Lindblad, President and Head of Ericsson in the Middle East Region. "Although the region has matured over the years, as reflected by the penetration we're seeing, the mobile telephony market still continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, outpacing markets such as North America and Western Europe."

Global smartphone subscriptions to reach three billion by 2017

In the report, Ericsson also predicts that by 2017 half of the world's population will be covered by LTE/4G networks. Smartphone subscriptions will number around three billion in 2017 - compared to 700 million in 2011. Mobile data traffic (voice and data) is expected to increase by 10-15 times between 2011 and 2017, mainly driven by video.

Web traffic by mobile PCs and smartphones is foreseen to be dominant in the period, driven by the attractiveness of mobile broadband. Traffic generated by advanced Smartphones is growing rapidly and is forecasted to approach similar levels as mobile PC based traffic (in total) in 2017.

Lindblad added: "This data points to the Middle East's continuing evolution into, what we at Ericsson call, a Networked Society. We are fast reaching a point where everything that can be connected, will be connected and where mobile access to broadband will eventually become an essential service."

Mobile subscription penetration in the Middle East stand at 96 percent

Enlarge »

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LG Electronics: 'To not do phones would make us slow'

The South Korean electronics giant is sticking with the mobile phone business despite a series of tough quarters

The LG Optimus range of mobile phones

LG Electronics, South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, is losing ground in the mobile phone stakes even as it goes head-to-head with Samsung in the battle for the living room.

In 2011, LG's mobile devices business accounted for 22% of overall revenues, which totalled almost $49bn (£31bn). Late to the game in the development of smartphones, its mobile phones division ranked third globally in total phones sold in 2010 behind Nokia and Samsung – then in 2011 fell to fourth place behind Nokia, Samsung and Apple.

Kenneth Hong, the global director of corporate communications for LG, spoke with us about how and why LG is sticking with the mobile phone business despite a series of tough quarters.

An American living in Seoul, Hong has held this position since 2008.

LG's mobile phone division has been losing money for a while, but you keep at it. That's quite unusual.
KH: Not for Koreans. When was the last time you saw a Korean company give up on something? Seriously, I can't think of any.

So is that why LG is so persistent with the mobile phones?
KH: Well, we think it's a blip. We think it's a blip in our history. We don't think it's a trend of any sort. A lot of companies will have stumbled in one particular product line and recovered. At no stage of the five difficult quarters was there any ever talk of us getting out of the business.

Never?
KH: Never. It was just like, we stumbled, let's get back on track. I mean, it's such a huge part of our business that I don't think people even want to talk about it. It's not even part of the vocabulary to get out of the phone business. It's a huge driver for innovation. Because there are new phones every three months. There's a new TV every year. If you want to be an innovation company, you've got to stay in a business that requires constant development. That's the phone business. We're not developing new washers and dryers every month.

It's a leadership kind of area to be in. We want to be in it because we do consider ourselves to be an innovative company and to not do phones would make us slow.

So you think a lot of the innovation at LG is happening in the phone division?
KH: Absolutely. No question about it. Just because of the short time span that you are given to develop something new. In terms of displays, in terms of materials, composite materials, in terms of wireless technologies like LTE [for high-speed mobile broadband].

That stuff – you've got to come up with something new every couple of months. You've got to always stay on your toes. With TV we developed our new cinema screen TV for this year and we'll spend nine months marketing it. That's not the same thing. So yeah, it's critical for our long-term development.

What happened with the Optimus 3D phone?
KH: Still going. We actually introduced a part two this year [Optimus 3D Max]. Usually when you develop a sequel that means you're happy with the first one. But you see a need to keep developing it. That's similar to what I just said. 3D may not be our bread and butter, in phones, but it's a huge innovation driver. Go back to Apple, the Newton. They were the first company to have the tablet. And now who's the leader in tablets?

So it doesn't matter if nobody buys it right now because it's a driver for innovation down the road?
KH: There are people who are going to have this advantage just having been in this field for the future. That's kind of how we see 3D. It may not be mainstream today, but it will be. We're betting the entire TV division on it.

But part of that, we're carrying over and trying to leverage that knowledge over on the phones. And right now, as far as I know, we're the only company in the world that has two 3D phones on the market. One of our competitors tried it [HTC with the Evo 3D, which went on sale in June 2011], but I guess they didn't like the outcome, because they haven't said anything else about it this year. [The Evo 3D was discontinued in April 2012.]

We want to keep pushing. We sold a million 3D version ones. To us that's good enough. There's a million people who were interested; we're going to keep building on that number. People think it didn't sell very well – it was never meant to. It was a flagship in glasses-free 3D. It's an innovation driver for the future of 3D, which we already have assumed will not require glasses. How do you develop that no-glasses technology unless you're playing around with it at a smaller size?

I assume the division is trying to turn things around, trying to increase market share. What is going to do that? 
KH: Right now the bread and butter will be LTE. We're in a great market for LTE, Korea being one of the first four countries to roll it out [the US, Japan and Canada are the others]. So we're in a really good position to be developing this technology. Plus we've been working on LTE technology for many years beyond just cell phones.

But LTE for now is the big driver. Two years down the road it will be something different. We don't know. But right now there are three things that we're really pushing hard on. One is the LTE speed. Number two is the display. Our phone displays are really high-end, even better than Apple "retina". The third area that we're really focusing on is redoing all our design. We want our phones to have a certain look to them. Not like in the past where every phone had a different look. They all are going to start looking similar to the LTE 2 that we just announced.

Let 's talk about that phone, the Optimus LTE 2. It came about three weeks ago. It's sold about 150,000 in Korea in the last couple of weeks, is that right?
KH: That's including preorders. This is the version two of our first LTE phone. As far as we know, no other company has a version two of an LTE phone yet. If you look at the numbers in Korea, there's no question that LTE has taken hold. All our phones, starting this year, are going be LTE in Korea. We're not going to offer any phones that aren't. We already made that decision.

What about the rest of the word? What about Europe?
KH: It depends, because Europe doesn't have LTE region-wide yet. In markets where they do have LTE, it will be predominantly LTE phones, starting whenever they get LTE.

In the US?
KH: Not yet, because in the US LTE [coverage] is still spotty. It's not country-wide. I think in Korea it's 100% coverage already, but in the US with the three carriers, they're not compatible. If you have Verizon LTE it doesn't work on AT&T's LTE. They're totally different 4G services. At least in Korea we've got coverage nationwide. In the US it'll take a little bit longer.

So basically, when you're talking about the mobile phone division, the push is LTE. That's the plan going forward?
KH: LTE and display – the display is a big driver for us as well because, to be honest with you, when it comes to components, that's the one component that people have to look at every day. They don't have to look at the memory every day, they don't have to look at the battery every day, but they have to look at the damn screen every day. It's really an in-your-face kind of component.

via :the guardian

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Indian women use mobile phones for self defense

The capital of India New Delhi is the city that has the highest rates of violence against women. A new smart phone app has just come out on the market to help women protect themselves from attacks.

There is no other metropolis in the world’s largest democracy where there is more violence against women. According to police figures, every fourth rape happens in New Delhi.

"Women's safety is such a pressing issue, especially in Delhi. It's been crying out to be addressed," says Shweta Punj, one of the creators of the Fight Back app. "There has been a constant blame game. This kind of apathy and denial is frustrating and shocking. So that's why we wanted to tackle this issue in our own way. And because we believe in technology."

Shweta Punj created the app with Hindol Sengupta. They are both in their early 30s, both work as economic journalists, and both grew up in New Delhi.

A new app helps women feel safer in Indian cities

They started out with an open Internet platform called Whypoll five years ago. It was created to promote public discussion on controversial political and social issues. By creating the Fight Back app to make everyday violence against women more visible, they are tackling an important taboo head-on.

Tracking technology

The app makes use of GPS tracking to allow women to send out a signal should harm come their way.

"Say you're going out in the evening, you turn on the app. The moment you turn it on, it starts hunting for GPS data. So no matter where you go with the app turned on, the GPS tracker will track you," Hindol Sengupta explains to DW.

"If you ever feel threatened, all you need to do is take the cursor, then press (a button). That's it. Within five seconds, an alert is sent out to five pre-fed numbers of your friends and family, their email addresses and it also updates your Facebook wall, saying so and so needs help and is exactly here."

The app has existed for slightly more than six months now but so far only a few hundred women are using it. Sengupta says their “journey” has just begun and points out that the technology is complicated and takes up a lot of resources and it takes time to make improvements.

The app, which can be downloaded on the Whypoll page, costs 100 rupees (nearly 1.50 euros) per year.

Taking the issue seriously

The makers of the app don't only want to provide women with a means of protecting themselves. They want to create more social awareness and "put pressure on cities and state governments to take this issue far more seriously."

New Delhi has the highest rates of reported violence against women

“We think if they take it seriously, there will be more stringent punishment, which will deter men from behaving the way they do. Because I think there is absolutely no fear. They think they can get away with it," says Hindol Sengupta.

A new version of Fight Back that women with more simple mobile phones can also use is currently underway. In future, Sengupta and Punj hope to get the app working in India’s rural areas, where much of the country’s population still lives.

"We need to use technology to leapfrog many of our challenges and use technology to solve many of our social issues," says Sengupta.

Indian society is still very patriarchal and conservative. On a daily basis, many women are subjected to domestic abuse, sexual harassment, rape, and systematic repression. However, this abuse usually goes on behind closed doors and as many women lack the confidence to speak out, the public is not always aware of the extent of the violence.

As Punj says, the violence continues because "there is no conception of really getting justice. I think the only way to change that attitude is by instilling a little bit of fear."

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