Windows Phone 7.5 Mango v/s Android v2.3 Gingerbread

2012 promises to be the year of Windows Phone. Since its launch about a year back, the mobile OS from Redmond has seen meteoric rise in the form of acceptance and praises. Then with the new friendship formed between Nokia and Microsoft, the mobile platform has the sky as the limit. Nokia

is expected to launch its first WP7 phones, Lumia, in another week or so, in India. The mobile OS has conveniently positioned itself as the third most popular platform, overtaking Blackberry. So, we decided to take Windows Phone 7.5 Mango (in Samsung Omnia W) and Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread (in Sony Ericsson Arc S) out for showdown against each other, to help you decide which mobile platform to invest on, this holiday season.

The factors that we shall consider in this article are design, ease of use, connectivity options, social media integration, messaging capabilities, navigation and browsing usage, and also a few more points that are critical in an overall smartphone experience.

Messaging

Mango has a very integrated messaging system that can make connecting with people a very pleasurable experience. One very innovative approach is you can take your conversation to any messaging protocol you please. For example, in the messaging app, you can easily switch between SMS, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger to chat with a friend. It's seamless and the complete conversation is visible in the same thread.

The Android has separate apps for SMS, Facebook chat and Google Talk. Separate protocols mean you shall have to switch between them as and when required.

It is unfortunate that both the platforms have integration with only their own IM services. Of course, you can add additional IM protocols with third party apps.

I like Windows Phone's way of handling emails: just swipe to the right to see lists of unread mails; repeat to see flagged emails. Mango also implements a color highlight on the subject of unread messages in the All message list, but the Unread list is simpler. Additionally, whether you use Exchange emails or free service providers like Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo, one single client handles them all and gives a very unified experience.

On the other hand, I need to use a separate Gmail app to access emails on the email server. Of course, I can also configure Gmail on the regular email client, but then I lose all the important functionalities like accessing labels, archiving, and even email threads.

Both the mobile platforms allow basic functions like forwarding, replying to emails, downloading attachments and viewing them. However, I noticed that Windows Phone uses much less data as compared to Android to download the same emails.

There is no push email on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango unless you are using the exchange server. Similarly, even Android doesn't have push email unless you are using the Gmail app. So, both the platforms stand almost equally on that aspect. However, it is possible to specify in the Android's email app how often would one like to query for emails. Microsoft has given no such flexibility on Mango.

Social Media Integration

I used to always regard Blackberry to be the most socially integrated mobile operating system. Then I picked up a Windows Phone.

Windows Phone's contacts app (called People) is divided into various sections - recent, all, and what's new. The recent tab has a little grid of 8 tiles, depicting the last 8 people contacted - either via a phone call, sms, IM, or even a post on the Facebook Wall. What's most interesting is the "what's new" tab that lists out latest updates from all your contacts, from Windows Live, Twitter & Facebook, at the same place. Don't worry about getting overwhelmed because WP7 also allows you to filter the updates according to social networks.

What more, it is also possible to club a couple of contacts in groups and follow just their updates on the Groups app.

In contrast, Android forces you to open separate social networking apps to follow your contacts' updates and interact with them. Additionally, while Android has an option to 'favorite' the contacts, it doesn't allow you to create multiple groups for different types of contacts, like Best Buddies, Family, Colleagues etc.

Unarguably, the deep social media integration in Windows Phone is its one of the best selling points.

Connectivity

Both Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and Android 2.3 Gingerbread have EDGE, 3G and WiFi connectivity options. They also allow you to create a personal wireless hotspot and use the 3G network to access the Internet. However, Android has the option to be connected as a drive on the computer. Windows Phone doesn't allow that luxury. Windows Phone necessitates the use of the Zune software to 'sync' the content. Personally, I think that's a huge disadvantage.

One simple problem I myself have faced is, while I can sync songs with my Mac because I use iTunes, I can't copy pictures on the phone since I don't use iPhoto. Rather, I use Adobe Bridge to organize my photographs. In contrast, Android allows complete access to the phone's directory structure.

Multitasking

Both Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and Android 2.3 Gingerbread allow multitasking. But here's something interesting I unearthed. Android's multitasking is very dependent on the phone's hardware. For example, if I loaded a web page on Android's browser, and then moved away to reply to an email, the page shall start reloading when I come back to that application. Then again, I faced that phenomenon a lot on the Arc S and HTC Sensation XE, but not on Samsung Galaxy S II.

Multitasking with Windows Phone was a more pleasurable experience. After I opened 6 tabs on the Internet Explorer browser, the pages stayed open and loaded even after being away from that app to reply to a plethora of messages, watching a video and posting updates on Facebook for over 2 hours. Now, that is the kind of multitasking I'd expect out of a smartphone. This is something I really like about the Blackberry OS too.

Home screen & Widgets

As we all know, Android has a great way of notifying live updates to the user with the help of beautiful widgets on the home screen itself. Windows Phone also does something similar, but using live tiles. While both the options give truckloads of information to the user, Android trumps Windows Phone a bit because it's much easier and more aesthetic to swipe left to right for more live information, than having to scroll pages' worth of tiles.

At the end of the day, it just boils down to personal preference.

User Interface

There's not much to compare in terms of the interface. Windows Phone 7.5 Mango looks extremely stylish and sexy. The operating system is very stable and brings smile to the face every time you pick up the phone.

Sadly, I can't say the same for Android. In the last 3 years, the OS has surely matured and grown by leaps and bounds. But when compared to WP7, it looks clunky, old and outright ugly. No matter of customization can make someone drool over Android's interface. Compared to that, WP7 hardly needs to make an effort.

Apps

This is one department Android can knock out Windows Phone hands down. There is practically no competition here. And this could be one major reason for the users to shy away from the beautiful OS Mango.

Maps & Navigation

May I be allowed to say that Bing Maps is a useless piece of software? Period. Forget about turn-by-turn navigation, it doesn't even allow you to search for locations and get directions.

In contrast, Google has recently launched a new version of Maps that even helps you navigate inside a building! Add to that the rich database of locations and business, and free voice guided turn-by-turn navigation and it can't be tough to point out the winner even by the most technologically challenged man.

If you really need navigation, then you must wait for the Nokia Lumia devices being launched later this week. They pack in powerful Nokia Maps which are as good as Google Maps, if not better.

Notification System

Again, you will either like it, or hate it, on the Windows Phone. There is no centralized notification system on WP7. Microsoft expects you to keep an eye on the tiles in the home screen to figure out what kind of notifications you need to attend to.

In Android, the notification system had been beautifully implemented right from Day 1. Even Apple was forced to mimic it in their latest version of iOS 5. It's functional, beautiful and awesome to use.

Other specialties

Windows Phone has out of this world integration with Xbox Live, letting you play games, manage your profile and interact with your friends on-the-go. It also has MS Office available for free, that allows you to create, view and edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents. SkyDriveisMicrosoft's alternative for Dropbox that makes storing and sharing files a breeze.

On the other hand, more of our lives get entangled in the world of Google, and no mobile OS shall ever integrate with Google services better than Android. 

Operating Systems on video

                                      Windows 7.5 Mango

                                      

                                       Android 2.3

Read more »

Virtual keyboard for iPad

The future products are now here, we thought that writing on desk or any other surface that we watched in the all movies will be the future, but now it is here and everyone can use it. Product called Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard will project your virtual keyboard on any surface and you will be able to write text on your iPad tablet, iPhone or even on your desktop computer with this amazing laser keyboard. You can even choose sound of virtual keys. This really small device comes with built in 700 mAh rechargeable battery which life is about 3 hours. Connecting virtual keyboard to any electronic device with bluetooth receiver is easy. Cube Laser virtual keyboard supports many devices and many operating systems such as Windows XP/Vista/7, iOS, Blackberry Tablet OS, Android 2.0 and higher, and of course Mac OS, only thing you need to have is enabled bluetooth connection on your device. Price of this virtual keyboard is not cheap, but it is not too expensive. For price of $169 you get amazing red virtual keyboard on your desk. You can buy and find more details about Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard here.   

Read more »

Samsung to launch Galaxy Tab 11.6 tablet in 2012: Rumor

It's been an interesting year for Samsung, marked by ongoing court battles worldwide with Apple over similarities in its Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets to iPhone and iPad products. The South Korean firm even had to revise its Galaxy Tab 10.1 design in Germany hoping to sidestep a sales ban in that country.

Now, news is beginning to emerge that Samsung might in fact beat Apple at its own game by releasing a retina-display tablet first. According to an exclusive by BGR, trusted sources have revealed Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy Tab 11.6 tablet at the Mobile World Congress in February 2012.

The rumored tablet is said to feature a 11.6-inch retina display with an eye-popping 2560x1600 pixel resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and despite the bigger screen it will reportedly be only "barely larger" than the current Galaxy Tab 10.1 model thanks to a thinner bezel design.

It will be one of the first Samsung devices to utilize the recently announced Exynos 5250 dual core processor clocked at 2.0GHz, and taking full advantage of that hardware prowess will be Android's 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich mobile operating system. Other things like internal storage or connectivity were not detailed, but it is likely the new tablet will continue on from where the Galaxy Tab 10.1 left off in terms of features.

Two particular functions mentioned in the report included Android beam, which will enable easy synchronizing of media with the Galaxy Nexus smartphone through Near Field Communications (NFC), and a wireless docking mode that will compete with Apple TV, AirPlay and more. Samsung declined to comment on the rumors.

Read more »

HP webOS now as an open source project

After months of uncertainty HP has finally come to a decision on the future of webOS: the operating system will live on as open source. Suddenly this weekend's final $99 TouchPad fire sale is looking more tempting. In a press release announcing the news, HP said it will continue to be active in the development and support of the mobile platform, and detailed a few operating principles to get the project on track like pursuing "good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation."

"webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable," said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. "By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices."

HP also will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the open source community. The move could have an interesting effect on the market as smartphone manufacturers look to diversify away from Android. Most will probably take a wait-and-see approach, however, as Windows Phone is currently the more likely candidate to take off as the No. 3 smartphone platform. The good news is that HP has already put enough webOS devices out there to get open source developers interested in tinkering with the platform.

HP has previously said that there's a great deal of interest from manufacturers on the platform. Although it would seem the company couldn't get a reasonable offer for it, at least they are giving it a chance to take off on its own with the help of the open source community. It remains to be seen if developers respond to this last ditch effort to keep webOS alive or if the operating system will continue to fade into irrelevancy.

Read more »

Apple store employees earn $278 per hour for the company

New estimates from Asymco’s Horace Dediu indicate that each Apple store employee generates about $278 per hour in revenue for the company. These findings are based off of data that Cupertino publishes about its retail segment and are cataloged at ifoAppleStore.com.

An average Apple store generates over $100,000 per employee per quarter. In 2010, revenue on average was $481,000 per employee. A retailer like JC Penny only generates around $124,000 per employee per year.

Using these metrics and others, Dediu was able to calculate that each visitor to the Apple store generates about $45 in revenue. There are over 250 million visits per year, and already 222 million in the first three quarters of 2011.

Data also shows that there is one employee for every 2,500 visitors per quarter. Assuming that an employee works for 360 hours per quarter, this breaks down to around six visitors per hour or one every 10 minutes.

The statistics are pretty incredible and it seems the sky is the limit for Apple retail stores. The company opened their newest store at Grand Central Terminal in New York City earlier today. In typical fashion, the entire terminal was packed with Apple fans anxious to be part of the experience. The Grand Central Terminal Apple Store is now the fifth Apple store in New York City and will likely become the flagship location.

Read more »

Samsung flexible transparent tablet

Samsung has released a concept video showing what the future of mobile phones and tablets could look like. The clip opens with a ringing phone which is then rolled out and turned into a video conferencing tablet as others look on in amazement.

The remainder of the half minute clip shows potential uses for such a device in multiple scenarios using augmented reality. One scene shows the user snapping a photo of text on a restaurant menu which then shows a 3D image of the dish. Another scene demos a translator app where both participants can speak into the tablet on opposite sides of the transparent screen. The tablet correctly translates and displays the conversation in each user's native language.

The technology in the clip is still several years away but it’s interesting to see how tech companies envision the future. Some aspects, like augmented reality, have been around for several years but have yet to make a huge impact on mobile devices.

Samsung has shown us working prototypes of flexible AMOLED displays earlier this year and Nokia demoed a flexible phone prototype in October.

Although, as impressive as these real-life displays are, creating something like we see in the video from Samsung still presents some challenges as the physical hardware like the processor and memory has to reside somewhere.  Additionally one must wonder how the display would be powered if there are no visible batteries inside the transparent panel.

watch the video here 

Read more »

Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1-inch tablets

Motorola Mobility and Verizon Wireless have announced the addition of two new tablets on the Verizon 4G LTE network. The Droid Xyboard (stylized DROID XYBOARD) tablets will be available in 10.1-inch and 8.2-inch displays later this month.

Both tablets are powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and include a coating of Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the IPS display. There’s also a front-facing 1.3 MP camera and a 5 MP rear shooter as well as an infrared port that works in conjunction with the Dijit app. Dijit allows the tablet to double as a universal remote control complete with programming guide for TVs, Blu-ray players, DVRs and other consumer electronics.

As is the case with their non-LTE counterparts, the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition, the Xyboard tablets will initially ship with Android 3.2 Honeycomb but will be upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich when it becomes available.

The Droid Xyboard 10.1 will be available in three different storage capacities: 16 GB for $529.99, 32 GB for $629.99 and 64 GB for $729.99 all with a new two-year service agreement. The 8.2-inch model will be available in 16 GB for $429.99 and 32 GB for $529.99 with the same two-year contract. Customers who purchase a Droid Xyboard will need to subscribe to a mobile broadband data plan starting at $30 monthly for 2 GB of data.

Additionally, customers will receive $100 off a Droid Xyboard tablet and $50 off select accessories for a limited time when purchasing a Droid Razr, including the newly announced white model, with a new two-year service agreement.

Read more »