BSNL Penta T-Pad WS802C.

It's a season of tablets and there seems to be a new budget tablet being launched every other day. However, even in the midst of all these tablets, BSNL's Penta T-Pad WS802C looks like an interesting option for a number of reasons.

Most tablets that have launched in India so far are either 7-inch tablets or 10-inch options, with the only exception being Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, which has 8.9-inch screen. BSNL's Penta T-Pad WS802C is a bit different in this regards as it sports an 8-inch screen. Also, this tablet comes at a very interesting price point. Priced at Rs. 14,699 Penta T-Pad is placed exactly in between the entry level tablets and high-end tablets. So let's explore whether this tablet is a good buying option or yet another also-ran?

Design/ Hardware

BSNL's Penta T-Pad is an ivory white tablet 8-inch tablet, which looks an interesting tablet on first glance. However, the moment you hold the tablet in your hands, the first thing that one notices is its weight! It is on heavier side, which means that you cannot hold it in your hands for longer durations. 

The front of the tablet consists of four physical buttons and a camera to the right of the display (while holding the tablet in landscape mode, which is the preferred mode, based on the markings on the button). There is a mic on the right panel along with the microSD card slot, HDMI, USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, reset button and charging port. The USB port can be used to connect an external hard drive or mouse/keyboard to the tablet.

The volume rocker and the power button are placed on the top panel and the SIM slot is on the bottom panel. The top buttons are quite small and unless you have slender fingers, you may have to struggle a bit with these. Overall, this tablet looks decent without being great. The build quality seems sturdy. As mentioned earlier, the way keys are placed it seems more apt for using in the landscape mode than a portrait mode.

Display

Most of the other tablets in the same price are 7-inchers and the extra one-inch was quite handy while watching movies/videos and even surfing the net. The Penta T-Pad comes with a display of resolution 800x552 pixels and one of the brightest screens amongst budget tablets, as long as you stay indoors. The viewing angels are average and so is the under-sun visibility. We found e-books reading on the tablet to be an enjoyable experience. On the downside, the screen is a fingerprint magnet.

Software/ Interface

BSNL's Penta T-Pad comes loaded with Android Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0.3) and the tablet is quite responsive and smooth. In the budget tablet category, this tablet is able to provide best Android experience that we have had so far.

The tablet comes pre-loaded with some interesting apps such as ES File Explorer and Task Manager, Facebook, LinkedIn, FreeNote, Photo editor, Yahoo messenger, Skype, Movie Studio, Polaris Office, Radee PDF Reader, UTPlayer, VidTrim and MobiVision. These apps are handy for users who would want productivity and entertainment from their tablet.

Camera

Penta T-Pad comes with a 2MP rear camera and a 0.3MP front facing one. On the face value, we were not expecting the camera too be anything to rave about but this was the surprise element of this tablet. The image quality of both the camera was good. Even for pictures clicked in low light, the image quality was decent. However, on the downside the rear camera does not have auto-focus.

As this tablet comes with Skype pre-installed, one can use the front camera for video calls. The image quality on the video calls was decent.
Performance/ Battery Life
The moment you switch on the tablet, you are greeted by jarring opening sound, which is really irritating and there was no option to turn it off as well.
Powered by a 1GHz processor, this tablet feels quite smooth in terms of performance. We did not encounter any crashes while working on this tablet and multitasking was comfortable - perhaps the first budget tablet we can make these statements about
Penta T-Pad comes with a native Android browser and Opera Mini browser. The browsing experience on both was breezy but the Android browser had a slight edge in terms of performance
This tablet scores high on the entertainment as the quality of audio and video played is good. However, the earplugs that come with the tablet can be uncomfortable if used for a longer duration at a stretch.
One can make voice calls with the help of this tablet too but it is locked only to BSNL and as the SIM that was provided by the company did not work, we could not test the voice calling feature or the 3G connectivity.
BSNL Penta T-Pad WS802C comes with a 3000mAh battery but we had a disappointing experience. Our unit struggled to hold charge for any considerable duration of time. However, based on reports across the web, the problem could be limited to just our unit, and users can expect around 6 hours of backup with normal usage.
Verdict
There are plenty of affordable tablets that are currently available in the market but most of them are unable to provide a good experience but BSNL's Penta T-Pad is an exception in this regards. The only major disappointment for this tablet is its weight. Other than that, it is good value purchase especially for the early adopters in the tablet category!
Price: Rs. 14,699
Pros

• Runs on ICS
• Responsive
• Good display for a budget tablet

Cons

• Slightly heavy
• Battery issues (could be specific to our unit)

Ratings
Design: 3/5
Display: 3/5
Performance: 4/5
Software: 3.5/5
Battery Life: 3/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Camera: 3.5/5
Ecosystem: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Chinese school replaces books with iPads

A high school in China has equipped its senior students with iPads in a bid to replace books and help students in their studies, China Daily reported.

Jinling High School in downtown Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, has provided 30 students with the Apple tablets to reduce the burden of school bags from at least five kg to less than one kg while saving book expenses by thousands of yuan a year.

According to Modern Express newspaper, 21 public primary and middle schools in Nanjing are planning to promote the use of iPads or laptops.

The cost of the equipment would not be borne by students.

As iPhone 5 pre-orders sell out, Samsung Galaxy S IV rumours emerge.

Just three days after Apple took the wraps off its latest smartphone - Apple iPhone 5, there have been murmurs about Samsung getting ready to unveil its Galaxy S IV. If the reports in The Korea Times are to be believed, then Samsung will be showcasing its new flagship device in February 2013. The website claims that both Samsung officials and its local part suppliers have confirmed that it is 'ready' to launch the next Galaxy S smartphone at the Mobile World Congress 2013.

Furthermore, the smartphone is expected to go on sale starting March. Samsung Galaxy S IV will be the most powerful smartphone offered by the Korean consumer electronics giant. A Samsung official has also told The Korea Times that, Samsung Galaxy S IV may have a 5-inch flexible OLED display and it will definitely use LTE networks. It will sport Samsung's Exynos processors and quad-core chips.

Currently, Samsung Galaxy S III is being powered by a combination of Exynos and Snapdragon processor depending upon the region. No further details in regards to specs or pricing of Samsung Galaxy S IV are known so far.

It is noteworthy, that Samsung had announced its Galaxy S III smartphone in May 2012 and has managed to sell 20 million units in just three months post its launch. Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich and the Jelly Bean update for the same is expected to be rolled out in October.

Bangalore: ISRO to launch 58 missions in 5 years.

Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up to launch 58 missions in the next five years, informed ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan. In a press conference held here on Monday to discuss ISRO’s future plans, Radhakrishnan said two of the future missions would be commercial. “India’s first 50 space missions were achieved in 27 years and the next 50 in 10 years -- between 2002 and 2012. Our aim now is to undertake 58 missions in five years,” he said.

Radhakrishnan said the budget for the current year was Rs 6,700 crore, 36 per cent of which would be allocated for launch vehicles, 55 per cent for communication, remote sensing and navigation satellites and 9 per cent for science missions like Astrosat, Mars Orbiter and Aditya. He said the missions would include PSLV C20 with Saral satellite, which would be assembled in 20 days at Sri Harikota with the tentative launch date fixed for December 12. GSAT 7 and INSAT 3D, which were communications and meteorology satellites, were almost complete, he added. He said that the launch of Indian IRNSS satellite was planned in early July, 2013, on the PSLV C22.

Referring to the developmental delays in the GSLV D5 indigenous cryogenic engine, Radhakrishnan said ISRO was learning from previous errors and strengthening the fuel booster turbo pump. “There are two more tests with the cryo stage, which will be completed by November. We will have a flight test in January-February, 2013,” he added.

The next five years would also see huge capacity addition in terms of transponders to meet the demand of 156 transponders, mostly from DTH companies. “ISRO will also create a National Database for Emergency Management and focus on other remote sensing databases in order to assist the government in planning,” Radhakrishnan added.

Sunita Williams 'run, bike and swim' in space. Watch Now.

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams set yet another record as she completed a triathlon in space by running, biking and "swimming" along with athletes during the Nautica Malibu Triathlon held in Southern California over the weekend.

 

"A big shout out to our astronaut strength and conditioning folks, who were really interested in this and who got this whole workout together," Williams said, thanking the NASA Exercise Lab staff and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, CNN's medical correspondent who trained with Williams before her launch and completed the race in Malibu.

 

"Thanks everybody for your support and ideas about health and fitness and how important it is for humans and getting us back into long-duration spaceflight. I'm happy to be done. It wasn't easy, and I'm sure everybody in California's very happy to be done too," she said from the International Space Station on Sunday after she crossed the orbital finish line.

 

Williams, who is the US commander of the Expedition 33 crew aboard the space station orbiting Earth about 240 miles (386 km) overhead, used exercise equipment that included a stationary bike, treadmill and strength-training machine specially formulated for weightlessness to simulate the triathlon experience in space.

 

After "swimming" half a mile, biking 18 miles, and running 4 miles, Williams finished with a time of one hour, 48 minutes and 33 seconds, she reported.

 

The space station has its own treadmill and stationary bike, which use harnesses and straps in place of gravity to keep astronauts from floating away.

 

To simulate the swimming portion of the race, Williams used the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) to do weightlifting and resistance exercises that approximate swimming in micro-gravity.

 

Meanwhile congratulating Sunita, NASA's flight director in Mission Control termed it "critically important" to understand human physiology and ways to keep oneself physically fit and strong in the orbit.

 

Exercise is mandatory for all astronauts, because without it spaceflyers' muscles and bones would deteriorate in weightlessness.

 

 

 

 

Trouble for iPhone 5? Samsung to sue, HTC wants it banned..

According to a Korea Times report, Samsung is also going to file a patent complaint against Apple’s new iPhone. The report says,

“It’s true that Samsung Electronics has decided to take immediate legal action against the Cupertino-based Apple. Countries in Europe and even the United States ― Apple’s home-turf ― are our primary targets,”said an industry source.

Apple’s new iPhone is out tomorrow but the Cupertino tech giant’s flagship device could face an import ban if tech company HTC gets its way.

HTC wants the new iPhone and the current 4G LTE iPad banned, because its says Apple infringed an LTE patent owned by HTC. According to The Register, “Apple is subject to an ongoing investigation by the the International Trade Commission (ITC) under Judge Thomas Pender, after Taiwanese company HTC filed a complaint in August 2011.”

ZDNet reports that ”HTC filed this lawsuit against Apple for infringing on two patents it owns for LTE connection methods.  HTC acquired the patents from ADC Telecommunications Inc in April 2011.”

 The new iPhone is likely to come with 4G internet with LTE or Long Term Evolution, which is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.

According to this Bloomberg report, ITC judge, Pender has refused to quash HTC’s patents as invalid, stating that “I don’t care if they bought these patents to sue you or not. They are a property right.”

Bloomberg’s report also says, that initially HTC had alleged that Apple violated five of its patents which it acquired from Google. But “Pender threw out that part of the case, saying HTC didn’t have adequate ownership control under the terms of its agreement with Google. “

For all the latest iPhone 5 rumours Click here.

Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820: How they look, work and feel

Nokia launched two smartphones yesterday — the Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820, both of which will run on Windows 8 OS. So what are the key features of the two smartphones? We take a quick look.

First, let’s look at the technical specifications of both smartphones.

Nokia Lumia 920: This is, of course, Nokia’s flagship device. As far as technical specifications go, this has a curved 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ screen. A dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU with 1 GB RAM, 32 GB disk space and 7 GB storage in the cloud with SkyDrive for users.

Nokia also promises a bigger 2,000mAh battery which is expected to last 10 hours with 3G. The Lumia 920 has NFC, integrated wireless charging and an 8.7 megapixel rear PureView camera with HD video. The phone also has “Super Sensitive Touch,” which will let users handle their smartphone even while wearing gloves.

 

Nokia Lumia 820 : This is the less pricier version. The smartphone has polycarbonate unibody with a 4.3 inch screen. It is also NFC enabled with an 8 megapixel PureView branded camera. This smartphone will also support wireless charging. The 1GB RAM and dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor will ensure that there is little lag. It has 8GB space (expandable upto 32 GB) and 7 GB in SkyDrive.

Tech specifications aside here are a few new features of the Windows 8-Nokia Lumia smartphones:

Augmented reality with Nokia’s City Lens app: This means that users can now point their Lumia smartphone cameras to restaurants, hotels, etc to find out reviews about the place.

JBL speakers with wireless power-charging: Nokia has teamed up with JBL to produce special speakers that can be used to wirelessly charge the Lumia smartphones. Users can also play music from the phone, using NFC. You’ll have to buy this separately.

Wireless charging: This is Nokia’s biggest innovation as far as smartphones go. The wireless chargers come in all shapes, sizes and colours. They’re all Qi-compatible, which means users can choose any wireless charger. The three kinds of chargers available are: Wireless Charging Plate, Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy and Wireless Charging Stand. According to the official site, none of the wireless charging devices will be included in the sales package. Users will probably have to buy them separately.

Windows and the Tile system: The Lumia 920 and 820 are also major investments for Microsoft, which is probably why CEO Steve Ballmer and Joe Belfiore, manager of the Windows Phone Program were present at the launch. Belfiore pointed out how the new Windows 8 system for mobile could be easily personalised by users with the tile interface, which is definitely something new.

The most exciting bit is of course that Windows 8 finally has screenshots. Yay. The bad bit: users can’t upgrade Windows 7 phones nor will all apps written for Windows Phone 8 run on Windows 7. Lack of backward compatibility is a big downside.

The price and the shipping date of the smartphones has not been revealed as yet.

                                                            

Sourav Ganguly ready to become India coach.

Retired former skipper Sourav Ganguly is ready to make the leap from the commentary box to the cricket field… but this time as coach of the national cricket team..

“Obviously, I have interest in coaching but only time will tell what can happen in future. If the BCCI feels that I can be a good coach, I will be ready. I feel I can create a difference in terms of the ability, form and development of the players. That will be the way for me to repay the game,” Ganguly told news channel Aaj Tak.

Ganguly has been known to favour foreign coaches but he now believes it is the right time for an Indian to take over— someone who knows the inner setup.

“Different captains and different coaches brought in the culture within the team where the players believed they could do well abroad. But Indian cricket is well aware of the modern techniques now. Don’t forget we won the World T20 in 2007 and the CB Series in 2008 under Lalchand Rajput,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly brought the best out of his team on foreign soil when he was captain. And with a lot of questions being raised about Duncan Fletcher’s ability to do the same, the BCCI know who to call in case they feel the need for change.

Android, Apple capture still more U.S. smartphone users.

Android remains firmly on top, but Apple's iOS also saw a boost in market share over the three months ended July, says ComScore.

Android and Apple continue to bite bigger hunks out of the U.S. smartphone market.

As of the three months ended July, Google's mobile OS held a 52.2 percent share of the market, a gain of 1.4 points from the prior three months, ComScore said today. In second place, Apple's iOS grabbed 33.4 percent of the market, up 2 points from the prior period.

That left the rest of the top five platforms still spinning down the drain.

RIM's BlackBerry OS took third place with a 9.5 percent share, down 2.1 points from the previous three months. Microsoft's Windows Phone took home 3.6 percent of the market, a loss of almost half a percentage point. And Nokia's Symbian trailed with just 0.8 percent of the market, down half a percentage point.

For the first time, Samsung's Galaxy S3 surpassed the iPhone as the top-selling smartphone in the U.S., according to Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley. The analyst's retail checks found increased demand for the S3 but lighter sales for the iPhone 4S last month. A dip for Apple's flagship phone isn't a surprise, though, as iPhone buyers typically delay purchases in advance of a new model.

Apple today sent out invitations for a September 12 event in which it's expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone.

Among mobile phone manufacturers, Apple enjoyed the biggest gain in market share, winning almost 2 points to give it 16.3 percent of the market, ComScore noted. But the iPhone maker remained in third place behind Samsung and LG, which grabbed 25.6 percent and 18.4 percent of the market, respectively.

 

Nokia Windows 8 Phone launch

Nokia and Microsoft announce new Lumia handsets running Windows Phone 8 at a special event in New York.