Samsung Galaxy Y - Low cost Smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy Y, since entry level doesn’t necessarily mean a subpar device, and such devices often sell by the boatload. The Y stands for “young”, and means an affordable handset for teens or emerging markets in the sabout 8000 INR price .


Some of the Galaxy Y’s specs are marginally better than the Galaxy Mini, for example, like a slightly faster 832MHz processor and less weight, but the camera is 2MP vs 3MP in the Mini. The biggest improvement actually seems to be the Android OS version – we are running Gingerbread on the Galaxy Y.


We also have a design that is not your typical cheap black plastic handset, but is this an event enough to earn big sales in the low-end Android range, considering it's always crowded down there? Read on the review to find out...

In the box:


Samsung Galaxy Y handset
2GB microSD card
Wall charger
microUSB cable
Warranty and instructions leaflets


Design


The outer appearance of the Samsung Galaxy Y stand out with a silvery back cover and chrome-like rim around the screen half – only the front is black. Alright, one for the design team here, since it found a cheap way to break away from the mould.

Moreover, the battery cover has tapered edges and is dotted like snake skin, which make the phone easier to hold. The phone is very small, and gets lost in larger hands, but the 0.45” (11.5mm) thickness is just enough for a good grip. Needless to say, working it with one hand is not an issue, and your thumb reaches everywhere.

The basic 3” LCD display has 240x320 pixels of resolution, but it is fairly bright, and the viewing angles are decent. A slightly larger screen with better resolution would have managed to set it further apart, since now it sports a display equal to the previous lowest of the low from Samsung. Even at that small size, the interface still looks grainy due to the crappy resolution.

Front	Buttons below the display

The power/lock button on the right, and the volume rocker on the left are easy to feel, and get pressed with soft but distinct travel. We have a microUSB port at the top covered with a protective flap.

Price in India : INR 8000/-

Nokia Lumia 710 goes on sale today

Nokia doesn’t have many Windows Phone devices. In fact, its first one, the Nokia Lumia 800 only hit the market recently. Well, it looks like the phone isn’t going to be so lonely anymore. Nokia has announced that starting today, the Nokia Lumia 710, which was unveiled at the same time as the Lumia 800, will be available for purchase. The phone will be available in select countries (US still yet to be determined, but we’ll probably find out after the T-Mobile/Nokia event) starting with Taiwan today.


Other countries that will be selling the device include Singapore, Russia, Hong Kong and India. Let’s hope it won’t take too long to reach our shores. Specs of the Lumia 710: 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB of RAM, 3.7″ 800 x 480 display, 8GB of internal storage, 5-megapixel rear camera, Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), 3G HSPA+ connectivity, and a 1,300mAh battery.

Nokia Lumia 710 Windows Smartphone Technical Specifications:

• 3G, WCDMA (HSPA+) / Quadband GSM (900/1800/1900)
• 3.7” inch (480 x 800 Pixels) ClearBlack AMOLED Display
• 1.4 GHz SIngle Core Processor + 512MB RAM
• 8GB Memory
• 5 Megapixel Camera (28 mm wide angle) with LED Flash, 720p Video Recording and Autofocus
• Xbox Live Hub for Gaming and Zune Player for Music
• Wireless 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth v2.1
• Integrated A-GPS receivers with Nokia Maps
• Facebook integration with phonebook
• Stereo Fm Radio
• Nokia 1300 mAh battery
• Talk time up to 455 Minutes
• Standby time up to 400 Hours
• Dimensions: 119 x 62.4 x 12.5 mm
• Weight: 125.5 gm

Nokia Lumia 710 Box Packs Includes:

Handset, Stereo Headset WH-208, Nokia Battery BP-3L, Charger AC-10, Charging and Data Cable CA-190CD

Designed for the low-end market, don’t expect this Windows Phone to cost a bomb when it hits our retail outlets.


Expected price : 16,600 INR ($332)
Buy Nokia Lumia 710 from Flipkart.com

Samsung Champ And Samsung Omnia Lite – Samsung Smartphones Priced Relatively Low

India is going to have upgraded Samsung smartphones. Samsung Champ andSamsung Omnia Lite B7300 are making waves in the market for their great functions combined with low price.

Samsung Champ has already become the centre of attraction for its cost as it is the cheapest smartphone available in India and touchscreen facility that usually is not found at such low cost. Samsung Omnia Lite B7300 will be mid priced hanset.

At the launch of these handsets, Samsung divulged that these phones have been specially designed by keeping Indian market in mind, as the people here want best at a low cost. Samsung mobiles did the same, they are offering the best with Samsung Champ and Samsung Omnia Lite at a relatively low cost, as compared to its competitors in the mobile market.

Samsung Champ is priced at Rs. 4,100 for facilities like QVGA 2.4 touchscreen, 240×320 pixels display, 1.3 MP camera, 8GB expandable memory and muc more.

Whereas, Samsung Omnia Lite costs, Rs. 17,000 for TFT resistive touchscreen at 3 inches screen size and 240X400 pixels display, 250 internal memory and microSD expandable support of 32GB.
Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 professional Operating system will be pre-loaded on Samsung Omnia Lite and 800Mhz processor that will help faster processing on this handset.

Here are some of the features of the Champ.

• GSM / GPRS / EDGE
• 2.4-inch touchscreen display
• Li – Ion 1000mAh battery with 12 hours talktime and standby time of 660 hours
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• Internal storage of 30 MB and MicroSD card slot with upto 8GB
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
• Music player and FM radio
• Video formats support: MPEG4 and H.263
• Audio format support : MP3
• 3D sound effects
• Dual speaker
• 3.5mm headset jack

Nokia E61

Thin is still in, but those of us who wanted a sleek and slim design in a smartphone, especially one with a QWERTY keyboard were out of luck until the Motorola Q came out on Verizon a few months back. What if Windows Mobile isn't to your liking, or you prefer a GSM world phone to Verizon's US-only offering? You were out of luck until Nokia surprised us with the sexy and capable E61 this summer. The E61 has it all: brilliant and roomy QVGA display, solid smartphone OS, WiFi, Bluetooth, a full QWERTY thumb keyboard and push email support including BlackBerry Connect, GoodLink, Seven and Visto. WiFi is particularly yummy since BlackBerries, Palm Treos and the Motorola Q all lack WiFi.

The E61 runs Nokia's S60 3rd Edition on Symbian OS 9.1 and comes with full PIM applications, email client, a superb web browser and applications to read, edit and create MS Office documents. Not only that, it looks really, really good and measures only .55" thin. In the US, the Nokia E61 is offered by CompUSA, Tiger Direct, some independent T-Mobile dealers (such as Skylight Wireless in the Dallas Metroplex area who supplied our review unit) and importers. Importers generally sell it for a truly affordable $350 unlocked with no contract while CompUSA sells it for considerably more. The E61 is a quad band world phone with EDGE and Euro-3G (not compatible with US 3G). You can use the phone with any GSM provider, which means Cingular and T-Mobile in the US. Since the E61 is a business phone, it does not have a camera, but the newer E61i adds a camera. The E61 is available in several localized versions for different countries and languages. All have full support for English but the QWERTY keyboard on the Middle Eastern one is bilingual with both English and Arabic in the case of our Middle Eastern review unit (which came with both English and Arabic manuals). The Spanish version adds a few non-English characters (this is the one that's generally cheapest and easiest to find on eBay as of this writing). So if you're buying sight unseen, check with the seller to see which version they're selling. Cingular is rumored to release the Nokia E62 later this year, which is the same as the E61 but it deletes WiFi and 3G.

Display: 16 million color 320 x 240 (QVGA) display. Screen size diagonally: 2.8 ", landscape orientation.

Battery: Nokia BP-5L Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1500 mA. Claimed talk time on GSM networks: 4.3-9.5 hours. Claimed standby: 13-17 days.

Performance: Texas Instruments OMAP 235 MHz CPU. 64 megs of flash memory for storage and typically 22.5 megs RAM available for running programs after boot.

Size: 4.6 x 2.74 x .55 inches (117 mm x 69.7 mm x 14 mm). Weight: 5.08 ounces (144 g).

Phone: GSM quad band world phone supporting the 850/900/1800/1900MHz bands with GPRS, EDGE and UMTS on the 2100MHz band for Europe.

Camera: None.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and Pop-Port jack. Mono headset included but will output stereo to Nokia's optional stereo Pop-Port headsets. Voice Recorder, Music Player (MP3) and RealPlayer included.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b /g and Bluetooth 1.2.

Software: Contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, Office suite (read and write Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents), PDF viewer, Navigator GPS application (requires optional Bluetooth GPS), Pro Golf Contest 2, memory card manager, Java VM, Messaging client (SMS, MMS, POP3 and IMAP email), Nokia PTT (Push To Talk), web and WAP browsers, voice recorder, Gallery, Converter, Calculator, File Manager, RealPlayer, Flash Lite, Zip Manager, theme manager, application manager, Transfer (transfer contacts, calendar and some phone settings to or from another S40 or S60 phone), music player, clock, printer managment app.

Expansion: 1 miniSD slot. 64 meg card included.

Nokia N97

Part of the company's high-end N series of multimedia computers, the N97 trumps all previous models with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard and a tilting 3.5-inch touch screen (anyone else reminded of the AT&T Tilt or Sony Ericsson Xperia X1?). Yes, there's the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, but the N97 includes phone capabilities and is designed for the "needs of Internet-savvy consumers."

For example, the smartphone provides easy access to a number of social-networking sites, and the Web browser supports streaming Flash videos. The N97 also introduces something Nokia calls "social location," which uses the capabilities of the integrated A-GPS sensors and electronic compass to automatically update users' social networks, or let them share their location via photos or videos with friends.

The Home screen can be personalized with widgets of favorite Web and social-networking sites. Finally, the N97 is fully compatible with Nokia's Ovi Internet services, which include the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and the N-Gage gaming platform--though these services have yet to fully launch in the United States.

The Symbian-based smartphone also features a music and video player, a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and a whopping 32GB of onboard memory that can be expanded with a 16GB microSD card.

The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone is HSDPA-capable handset, but it currently supports only the 900/1900/2100MHz bands (AT&T's 3G network runs on 850/1900MHz, while T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100MHz). There is integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, however.

The Nokia N97 is expected to ship in Europe during the first half of 2009, with an estimated price of 550 euros ($695). As Crave reader UKStory1355 humorously and astutely noted in our blog post yesterday, "Like it matters to U.S. citizens; we won't see it for 18 months, anyway," there is no official word on when we'll see the N97 stateside. Heck, we're still waiting for the Nokia N96.

Of course, there's always the possibility of buying the smartphone unlocked, and who knows? Maybe Nokia will surprise us.

Obviously, the Nokia N97 takes a jab at other popular touch-screen smartphones, namely the Apple iPhone 3G, T-Mobile G1, and Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm, but will it succeed? It certainly has the substance and style to take on the big boys, but will it go the way of the Xperia X1, in which the lack of a U.S. carrier and a high price tag will severely limit its adoption in the States?

Either way, we think that the Nokia N97 looks like a pretty sweet device, and we're looking forward to having some personal hands-on time with it. Above is a Nokia-produced video of the N97. I'd love to hear your initial thoughts