iberry Auxus AX02

The Rs. 10,000 price point has seen the rise of quite a few tablets in the past year from brands such as iBall, Mercury, Beetle, Viewsonic and Reliance to name a few. In trying to break the price barrier, some of these devices compromise on features such as build, battery life, camera and the power under the hood. Until now, these devices ran Android version 2.2 or 2.3.

We have finally seen the rise of budget tablets running Google’s latest operating system, Android 4.0 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich), with ICS tablets hitting the streets from iberry,Zync, Micromax and HCL in India.

Today we have amongst us the iberry Auxus AX02 tablet running ICS. Has this budget tablets finally outdone the competition or has it skimmed off on too many features?

Look and FeelOn first impressions, the device is very well built. It has a black plastic body that feels really well built for its price point. The matte finish is nice and refrains the device from becoming a fingerprint and dust magnet.

The front of the device houses the 7-inch display that boasts of a resolution of 480x800. The front also has the 0.3MP camera and a home button. The rear-facing snapper is 2MP. In terms of connectivity, all the ports are at the bottom of the device. The device has a mini USB port, mini HDMI out, a headphones jack, microSD card slot, DC in and the power button. That may seem like a lot of ports but they are neatly laid out. On the top of the device (when held in landscape mode) is the volume rocker.

Switched off, you could easily mistake this device for any other 7-inch budget tablet, as there is nothing new here to distinguish it from the crowd.

Features and PerformanceStraight out of the box, the device runs on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU and has 1GB RAM taking it beyond the competition that offers 512MB RAM and runs on Android 2.3. The touch screen is capacitive in nature, eliminating the need of a stylus. The capacitive screen on this device has a lot better response and is smoother than what the competition has to offer. Finally, a good touchscreen on a budget tablet.

Playing Angry Birds, Pool Master Pro on the device was a fun experience. The touchscreen response was nice, graphics were smooth and the audio was surprisingly good.

Browsing the web on the device was a good experience. The keyboard is smooth and easy to type on, web pages rendered nicely and the overall experience was better than the Android 2.3 budget tablets we’ve seen so far.

The iberry Auxus AX02 claims 1080p video playback support and we were more than happy to put this claim to the test. We ran two 1080p trailers in .MP4 format on the device and they ran absolutely smoothly without any jitters. The display though crisp lacked brightness. The device cant boast of great viewing angles as well.

The rear of the device has a 2MP camera that takes pictures in a maximum resolution of 1600 × 1200. The images from the camera aren’t exceptional and very average. The same can be said for the front facing camera. It is a 0.3MP camera and can shoot stills in 640x480. The videos from both the cameras are very poor with a very low frame rate.

The device also comes with a mini USB to full USB adaptor enabling the device to connect to a 3G dongle to connect to the Internet. The device however isn’t perfect. It lacks a slot for a SIM card and doesn’t have Bluetooth either. We can live without a SIM card slot but the lack of Bluetooth leaves the device handicapped when trying to connect to third party peripherals.

With average use, the device lasted us under a day, which is expected from a device in this category. You can expect the device to last for 4 to 6 hours at a stretch depending on your usage.

The device comes with a file manager, which is nice as it enables seamless transfer of content from your Mac/PC and the device.

Since this tablet is one of the first budget tablets to run ICS, we will give you a quick run through the OS. The interface is a lot like Honeycomb without all the bugs. There is a simple and quick access to the settings and all the apps and widgets are neatly laid out.

The settings give you access to a variety of features such as data monitoring (if you use the internet via a 3G USB dongle), back up and restore and more. The interface is very smooth and snappy and the improvement over Android 2.3 tablets is startling.

The only drawback to the new OS is that apps downloaded from the Google Play Store automatically show up on the home screen. This can get a little irritating especially if you are a hope page customization freak like us. Thankfully, this feature can be manually disabled via the settings.

VerdictOverall, the iberry Auxus AX02 is a good performer when compared to the competition in the same price range. It is one of the first Android ICS tablets and outperforms Android 2.3 budget tablets in all the benchmark tests. The lack of Bluetooth is the biggest downer of this device. The 1080p MP4 playback was smooth and games like Angry Birds Rio and Pool Master ran smoothly on the device. If you are in the market to pick up a tablet in the Rs. 10,000 this tablet should definitely be on your list.

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Five Android smartphone alternatives to the iPhone's Retina Display

Size has always mattered but today, so does the resolution! Gone are the days when a smartphone was just a device that fit in your pocket, had a 3-inch display, made calls, and did a little a bit of multimedia and gaming.

Today, it’s all about the display on your device -- how big it is, what’s the resolution, how do movies and games look on it, so on and so forth. If you thought that HD displays on the little device in you pocket was a dream, we suggest you wake up and look around. In the recent past, quite a few smartphones with 720pHD displays have seen the light of day. Not only do these smartphones have large and gorgeous screens but pack in a lot of power under the hood as well.

Today we bring you a list of 5 top smartphones with 720pHD displays that will make your jaw drop. Think of these devices as Android alternatives to the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S’ Retina Display.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

First up we have the flagship device that shows off Google’s latest operating system, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.  The Galaxy Nexus has a tear drop design, is really large but fits well in one’s hands. The device is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 processor and has 1GB of RAM. The device has 16GB internal memory but no expandable memory card slot, which is a downer. It has a 5MP rear shooter with the ability to shoot video in 1080p and a 1.3MP front facing camera.

The device was expected to launch in India sometime in March; but we are still waiting for an official release date. The device, however, has found space at some local stores.

The details of the display are as follows:

• Screen Size: 4.65-inches
• Screen Type: Super AMOLED
• Screen Resolution: 1280x720
• Pixel Density: 316

You can pick up a Galaxy Nexus for Rs. 30,000 approx.

 

HTC One X

The HTC One X was a showstopper at the MWC 2012 and there are quite a few reasons why! The device boasts of a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.5GHz and a ULP GeForce GPU. The device runs on Android 4.0 ICS straight out of the box and is surprisingly light at 130gms. The device has 32GB (26GB available to the user) storage and 1 GB of RAM, but no expandable storage.

The details of the display are as follows:

• Screen Size: 4.7-inch
• Screen Type: Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touchscreen
• Screen Resolution: 1280x720
• Pixel Density: 312

 

You can pick up the HTC one X for Rs. 37,899 approx. Also read our detailed hands on with HTC One X here.

 

Sony XPERIA S

One of the first devices to hit the store shelves from the time Sony has taken over “Sony Ericsson” brand name, the Sony XPERIA S caught our eye at the MWC 2012. Recently launched in India, the device runs on a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and has the Adreno 220 GPU. The device has 32GB internal storage with no expandable options and 1GB of RAM. The device runs Android v2.3 Gingerbread platform but is upgradable to Android 4.0 ICS.

The details of the display are as follows:

• Screen Size: 4.3-inches
• Screen Type: LED-backlit LCD
• Screen Resolution: 1280x720
• Pixel Density: 342

You can pick up the Sony XPERIA S for Rs. 32,549 approx.

 

Samsung Galaxy Note

The largest and heaviest device on our list the Samsung Galaxy Note weighs 178gms. The device is large enough to fit in your jeans pocket but people will look at you for all the wrong reasons. Plus, the device looks like a mammoth if you hold it next to your ear while talking.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Note is powered by a dual-core 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and Mali-400MP GPU. The device currently runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS but will be upgraded to Android 4.0 ICS. The device also comes with an S Pen Stylus that can be used with a variety of utility apps.

The details of the display are as follows:

• Screen Size: 5.3-inch
• Screen Type: Super AMOLED
• Screen Resolution: 1280x800
• Pixel Density: 285

You can pick up the Samsung Galaxy Note for Rs. 32,700 approx. Read a detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy Note here.

 

LG Nitro HD

The device hasn’t yet hit  the Indian shores. The LG Nitro HD is a slim and light device weighing in at 127gms. The Nitro HD is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion processor and Adreno 220 GPU. The device has an 8MP rear snapper with the ability to shoot video in 1080p HD. It currently runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread but will be updated to Android 4.0 ICS.

The LG Nitro HD has 1GB of RAM and 4GB internal storage, expandable to 32GB via a microSD card.

 

The details of the display are as follows:

• Screen Size: 4.5-inches
• Screen Type: AH-IPS LCD
• Screen Resolution: 1280x720
• Pixel Density: 326

The iPhone 4 (also read the iPhone 4 review)  was the first device that brought a groundbreaking display. The iPhone 4 has a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 640x960. That’s 330 PPI. Apple launched the iPhone 4 with the “Retina Display” way back in 2010. It has taken the competition almost 2 years to match the pixel density. What must be noticed is that all the smartphones mentioned on this list have crossed the 4-inch screen size mark.

On our list, the Sony XPERIA S is the only smartphone that beats the iPhone 4’s PPI. The XPERIA S has 342 PPI whereas the iPhone 4 has 330 PPI.

UTV Indiagames launches IPL Cricket Fever for Android, iOS and Java

UTV Indiagames has launched IPL Cricket Fever, the official IPL season 5 game, which features all the nine teams, and is available across platforms on Android, iOS, and Java.

Speaking on the launch of the game, Vishal Gondal, CEO, UTV Indiagames said, “Year on year the craze for IPL is only increasing! Cricket enthusiasts want to live, eat and breathe the tournament. The official IPL game gives them the opportunity to do just that! They can enjoy playing the game with the original players with original teams as and when they like. The game last year did millions of downloads, this year with added features, intuitive touch controls and ultra-realistic animation we see this game performing even better.”

IPL Cricket Fever features three game modes – Quick match, Powerplay and IPL Tournament. According to UTV Indiagames, the “IPL Tournament” mode allows you to play the entire IPL schedule, with 3 customizable difficulty modes.

Special effort has been made to give IPL Cricket Fever an intuitive control mechanism for touch devices, and users will be able to play a wide variety of shots, and bowl a variety of balls, naturally.

Apart from a real-time leaderboard of the real IPL, players of the mobile game will also stand a chance to win the mobile ‘Man of the Series’, or, the player with maximum number of wins during the current IPL season (4th April – 27th May). The winner will get a Volkswagen Vento ‘IPL Edition’ car.

Find the game download links below:

• iPhone 
• iPad
• Android 
• Java 

Sony Xperia S officially launched in India at Rs. 32,549

Sony has officially launched its latest Xperia S smartphone in India with a price tag of Rs. 32,549. The Sony Xperia S is first Sony-branded smartphone in India after the company took took over Ericsson's mobile business last year. According to online retailer Flipkart, the device is expected to arrive in the market this week.

Sony had introduced the Sony Xperia S at theConsumer Electronics Show event held earlier this year. Speaking of specifications, the Sony Xperia S comes with a 4.3-inch TFT touchscreen, Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS (promised to be upgraded to the latest Android 4, Ice Cream Sandwich), 1.5 GHz Qualcomm dual-core processor, 12.1 MP camera, It also comes with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. On connectivity front, the device supports NFC, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi.

With a price tag of Rs. 32,549, the Sony Xperia S competes with the likes of HTC One X and Samsung's flagship smartphone, Galaxy S II. The Sony Xperia S came into the limelight after Sony conceded that some of the Xperia S devices were experiencing a display issue, where a yellow tint appears on the screen after the temperature of the phone gets too high.

Mass Effect 3 multiplayer DLC available for download

Mass Effect fans rejoice! If you were done with the single player campaign and were about to put down your controller after playing a bit of multiplayer, you may want to think about picking it up again. The free multiplayer DLC (downloadable content) for Mass Effect 3 is available for download from today. The Resurgence Pack will offer two maps called Firebase Condor, which takes players to one of Palaven's moons, and Firebase Hydra, which brings gamers to an abandoned quarian colony.

Apart from the maps, new weapons, consumables and characters can also be unlocked through reinforcement packs via the game's multiplayer store.

The new weapons include the Striker Assault Rifle, Kishock Harpoon Gun and Geth Plasma SMG.

The new unlockable characters include Asari Justicar Adept, Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard, Batarian Soldier, Batarian Sentinel, Geth Engineer and Geth Infiltrator.

The new consumables that will be available in the game are as follows:

• Strength Enhancer - Applies a melee damage boost for one mission
• Targeting VI - Applies a headshot damage boost for one mission
• Stabilisation Module - Stabilises weapons while firing and moving for one mission
• Shield Power Cells - Shortens shield recharge time for one mission

The Resurgence Pack will be available on the XBOX Live Marketplace, PSN Store and Origin from today for free.  If you are one of the mortals who have refrained from picking up Mass Effect 3, you can read our review of the game here. 

3G versus 4G: Airtel tariff plans compared

While telecom operators are striving hard to popularise their 3G services in India, Bharti Airtel has gone one step further by launching the latest 4G services in the country. The telecom giant today announced the launch of wireless broadband services based on fourth generation wirless technology in Kolkata circle. Airtel now plans to bring 4G in Bengaluru as well.

With the latest 4G services, users can now access the Internet, video conference and download online content at a rate several times faster than 3G services, which is still in its nascent stage in the country. Interestingly, Airtel has priced its 4G data plans competitively as compared to its 3G services in the Kolkata circle. We bring you a detailed comparison between Airtel's 3G and 4G tariff plans (Kolkata circle). Read on.

Airtel 3G

Airtel is providing 3G services through a roaming arrangement with Vodafone Cellular in Kolkata. The minimum 3G data plan start at Rs. 9 for 10MB (validity 1day). The highest data plan goes up to Rs. 1,250 for 12.5GB (post-paid). Airtel offers a range of 3G data plans, categorised as Sachet, Standard, FlexiShield and High Value. Airtel also provides volume based charging packs. Moreover, the company gives video calling service at 5p/sec , which is valid on local, STD & roaming. Airtel's 3G services are available for both prepaid and postpaid customers.

Apple announces OS X Nyan, beta available to developers now

Just weeks after announcing OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has revealed OS X Nyan. While this new version has the same features as the yet-to-be-released upgrade of Mountain Lion, Nyan sports a brand new look, with Nyan cat wallpaper and soon a fully reskinned OS X experience. While the design isn’t finished, Apple has released a version with the new features and a wallpaper which may or may not be changed in final release.

The new version will continue to merge Apple’s apps and features from the iPad/iPhone to your Mac, such as Messages, Notes, Reminders, Game Center, Notification Center, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring. More features include a rainbow dock, rainbow top-bar, and rainbow themes for iLife, iWork and other software, such as iTunes. It’s insane, but also a reminder that Apple’s design is foward-thinking.

Tim Cook told The Verge that criticism for the new version of OS X is “just unfair” and that it will “not be changing anything.”

He also stated that “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye”

The beta will be available via the Mac Developer Program from today, while it has a set release date for Summer 2012. It’s exciting to see that Apple can do no wrong. We love it. 5/5 Will buy again.

The full press release can be found below:

Apple Releases OS X Nyan Developer Preview with Over 100 New Features

CUPERTINO, California—April 1, 2012—Apple® today released a developer preview of OS X® Nyan, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, which brings popular apps and features from iPad® to the Mac® and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Nyan introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay® Mirroring. Nyan is the first OS X release built with iCloud® in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. The developer preview of Nyan also introduces Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac. The preview release of Nyan is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Nyan from the Mac App Store™ in late summer 2012.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Nyan things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Nyan comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

The developer preview of Nyan features the all new Messages app which replaces iChat® and allows you to send unlimited messages, high-quality photos and videos directly from your Mac to another Mac or iOS device. Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Starting today Lion users can download a beta of Messages from www.apple.com, and the final version will be available with Nyan. Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your devices. Game Center lets you personalize your Mac gaming experience, find new games and challenge friends to play live multiplayer games, whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone®, iPad or iPod touch®.

Nyan presents notifications in an elegant new way, and Notification Center provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps. System-wide Share Sheets make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Twitter is integrated throughout Nyan so you can sign on once and tweet directly from Safari®, Quick Look, Photo Booth®, Preview and third party apps. Nyan also introduces AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream of what’s on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV®.

More than 100 million users have iCloud accounts, and Nyan makes it easier than ever to set up iCloud and access documents across your devices. Nyan uses your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime® and Find My Mac. The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.

Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed.

Nyan also has features specifically designed to support Chinese users, including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari. Nyan makes it easy to set up Contacts, Mail and Calendar with top email service providers QQ, 126 and 163. Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to leading video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo makes microblogging easy.

Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch™ APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.