[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by msdivy

PS: Nokia gives 2 apps with WP7.5 (Nokia Drive & Nokia Maps), which is not available on non-Nokia WP7.5. Not sure if anybody will miss these apps.

That's a good thing. Currently, there is no free turn-by-turn navigation app available on Mango for India.

[kirantp]

Folks,

Any idea about the release date of Motorola Razr in India? I am looking forward to a cell phone that can better Samsung Galaxy SII and am sure Motorola Razr can do that.

Other alternate options to Galaxy SII or any Suggestions/inputs welcome.

Cheers,
Kiran

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by kirantp

Folks,

Any idea about the release date of Motorola Razr in India? I am looking forward to a cell phone that can better Samsung Galaxy SII and am sure Motorola Razr can do that.

Other alternate options to Galaxy SII or any Suggestions/inputs welcome.

Cheers,
Kiran

lots of RAZR discussion on the android thread. please see there!

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by kirantp

Folks,

Any idea about the release date of Motorola Razr in India? I am looking forward to a cell phone that can better Samsung Galaxy SII and am sure Motorola Razr can do that.

Other alternate options to Galaxy SII or any Suggestions/inputs welcome.

Cheers,
Kiran

well Razr certainly is better looking than S2 (for that matter, every other phone is much better looking than the chocolate slab that S2 is), but otherwise S2 trounces it in every other department. And Motorolas have bad reputation to boot as well!

If you dont want S2 and want only Android then wait for Galaxy Nexus. It will be pricy but the extra money wud be worth it. Otherwise if you are not too fixated on Android then consider the Lumia 800. Now that is an amazing phone!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by kirantp

Folks,

Any idea about the release date of Motorola Razr in India? I am looking forward to a cell phone that can better Samsung Galaxy SII and am sure Motorola Razr can do that.

Other alternate options to Galaxy SII or any Suggestions/inputs welcome.

Cheers,
Kiran

Here is one review of Razr.
Motorola Razr Review - Watch CNET Asia's Video Review

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Is there a quick (800 mhz+ 512 MB ram) candybar qwerty with/without a touchscreen that has a 320x480 display on atleast a 2.8-3" display?

Samsung Galaxy M Pro suits your requirements, but has still not been launched in India. You can consider this if you requirement is not urgent.

The existing Galaxy Pro is nothing to talk about.

SE Xperia Pro with slide out keypad is another option, as suggested by another member.

You could also consider the SE Xperia X10 mini pro, you can get this model at a throwaway price.

Rohan

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by joslicx

And Motorolas have bad reputation to boot as well!

Otherwise if you are not too fixated on Android then consider the Lumia 800. Now that is an amazing phone!

Err, now where is that coming from? Unfounded negative words my friend - please share any specifics you've been through, else you are welcome to refer to their low india sales record but their phones have been quite good, esp androids.

and honestly, this whole cutting edge hardware is WAY overblown. its like cars in a way. beyond a certain topspeed etc, one needs to go beyond the numbers and pick up a phone one likes, period. Not pick up an assembly of impressive statistics.

i would agree on the Lumia - the 710 though is what i'd recommend. the 800 is quite overpriced. My lumia thoughts -

so i gave it a 20min spin at the Nokia store at Ambi mall today. Here are my thoughts:
- The screen is gorgeous. Like unparliametarily gorgeous - the reviewers were serious when they said its hard to see where body begins and screen ends
- The bezel therefore is a bit bigger than it should have been.
- The WP7.5 live tiles is now less irritating with this godawesome screen - this one only had like 14-16 tiles so not many 'screens' to scroll. being a android/ios fanboi, "not' having homescreen with everything i want on tap was painful
- that said, the design is nice pleasing on eyes (font sizes etc) and the transitions feel 'good'
- the visuals are snappy. it feels snappy, dual core be damned.
- i would've liked it if they had done what HTC did - bring in sense. Donno if WP would allow it like WinMo did.
- the 800 has a lovely body & camera, but else the 10k (50% more) is tough to justify. plus it can't take micro SD
- the 800's camera less compared to iphone4. a couple of nokia and iOS fans were there to buy one - the iOSfanboi got hte nokia fanboi to buy the 710 because the camera optics weren't as tack sharp and the images were goddamned greenish tinged (of each other and of the display stand)
- it has a lovely battery life if it delivers as claimed
- the keyboard is a bit better than the GB stock keyboard (which ofcourse, can't hold a candle to iphone or the uber smart but not iOS-precise SwiftkeyX)
- the other feel of the OS was of being straitjacketed into "standard" M$ apps, which was NOT a good thing.

as i posted the american article the other day, a lovely phone for nokia buffs and the non-smartphone junta. truly nice stuff.

@rohan: Thanks Rohan. Now the only task is to convince the wife to take up the defy (who now says she'll accept any device that feels as good/better than the iphone) which seems rather uphill for the moment.

[Bluengel180]

IMO, apart from the AMOLED display and the better camera i'm wondering what the lumnia 800 has hidden up its sleeve to command a 15K premium over its cheaper sibling

Specs are EXACTLY alike

[murillo]

Dear members,

I am looking to buy a new smartphone which will be my first Android phone. After going through the options, I am really confused and seek your help to choose. I have detailed my requirements below. Please let me know which phone would suit me.

Budget: INR 15-20k
OS: Android 2.3 (better if upgradable to Android 4)

What is important:
Larger screen size
1 GHz processor
720p video recording/playback
External SD card slot
Fast Web performance
3G
USB connection between phone and PC
Good audio sound quality

How I will use the phone majorly:
Incoming/outgoing calls
Android apps
Click pics/record videos and upload to PC/cloud
Listen to music
Store and watch movies
Web browsing
Email, Web videos playback
Facebook, YouTube
A little bit of gaming

Based on above criteria, I have narrowed down to the below phones:
LG Optimus Black
Samsung Galaxy R
Sony Ericsson Neo V
Motorola Defy+

Out of these, I am more inclined towards Motorola Defy+, because:
- Not very common
- Fairly latest
- Ruggedness, especially water resistance
- Latest Android OS, Gingerbread
- Most of the reviews on Web are generally positive

I am not inclined towards others, because:
- Friends say they were not satisifed with LG phones in general
- Galaxy series is fairy commonplace
- Ruled out Sony Ericsson phones due to smaller screen sizes
- Optimus Black and Galaxy R are costlier than Defy+

I am on a tight budget and Defy+ is quoted at around INR 17.5k in online Web sites (listed price INR 17,470/- on flipkart along with free screen guard, universal pouch, multipin car charger, and free home delivery). I Will have to check out with dealers like The Mobile Store, Univercell, or Poorvika, where I look to trade-in my old mobile and see what they quote.

I will be using this phone for quite a many years. I am not a technical guy and will probably never do custom ROMs, rooting, etc. Please feel free to suggest any other phone if you think it matches my criteria. Or do you suggest that I wait for next year for more options in dual cores and Android 4?

Many thanks in advance for your valuable time and help.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Err, now where is that coming from? Unfounded negative words my friend - please share any specifics you've been through, else you are welcome to refer to their low india sales record but their phones have been quite good, esp androids.

well its the reputation of their service here in india. its quite bad (up there with Sony Ericsson in that respect. havent used any motorola phone so far so cannot comment on that aspect.

i would agree on the Lumia - the 710 though is what i'd recommend. the 800 is quite overpriced.
as i posted the american article the other day, a lovely phone for nokia buffs and the non-smartphone junta. truly nice stuff.

I'd buy the Lumia 800 just for the looks! It stands alone in the present smartphone crowd in that dept. None of the droids can match it really. my only peeve with it is the microSim they use. it means i cannot share sims with my other phones (maybe nokia went for it coz iphone also uses it and it would be easy for people in US to change from iphone to lumia but here in india iphone penetration is low n its a bad thing).

Most people out there dont use smrtphones to the optimum (well lets say, needs differ across spectrum - my case, i have a smartphone but all i use it for is for google maps while driving around, taking pics and to check football scores when not at home! for the maps i needed big screen and got the HTC Sensation). so if somebody's needs are this basic enough, then Lumia is great device. The OS is really good, interface is good and useful (I find tiles more useful than widgets or icons), its different from everything else out there these are all positives. WP7.5 is more battery efficient and more stable than Android. The fragmentation is not there which means updates would be easier and more stable. With Android there are 100 versions and its a nightmare for ODMs to support that (as an Engineer making mobile phones I am qualified to say at least this much )

I think Lumias are a great reboot for Nokia. I would have preferred a N8 with Lumia's platform - that would have been a killer phone. best camera, really good OS, Nokia's reliability. Maybe they'll come up with it next year.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Err, now where is that coming from? Unfounded negative words my friend - please share any specifics you've been through, else you are welcome to refer to their low india sales record but their phones have been quite good, esp androids.
and honestly, this whole cutting edge hardware is WAY overblown. its like cars in a way. beyond a certain topspeed etc, one needs to go beyond the numbers and pick up a phone one likes, period. Not pick up an assembly of impressive statistics.

I have used two Motorola phones till date. The first one was the mighty impressive V3i. Last year I got the Milestone XT, which was a huge disappointment. Except for android, there was nothing good about the phone. Battery life was bad, and the screen started giving issues in 4-5 months. Initially thought I got a defective piece, but then the Moto Service Center themselves admitted that these are common issues, and fixed it under warranty. Anyway, I exchanged the phone (after 6 months of usage) and got a HTC HD7, which is on WP 7.5.
Hope the Razr can repeat the magic this time as well.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

My lumia thoughts

Lumia 800 looks really nice, but it being Nokia’s first attempt with WP, I will wait for the next set of WP models from them. I hope to see a revival from Nokia with Windows OS!

[ms001]

Originally Posted by murillo

Dear members,

I am looking to buy a new smartphone which will be my first Android phone. After going through the options, I am really confused and seek your help to choose. I have detailed my requirements below. Please let me know which phone would suit me.

LG optimus 2x is now available for ~19k .
check it out .
It is dual core with 8 mp primary camera

http://www.flipkart.com/mobiles/lg/o...2-8652b3777063

[raj_5004]

Guys, I stay in Mumbai and I am using Vodafone Postpaid. I need to make a lot of calls to Pune. Now, Pune is considered as STD & I am facing quite hefty phone bills!

So, is there any plan wherein I can make unlimited free calls to one particular number in Pune or calls at a discounted rate? I dont mind another operator too, as long as it gives me cheap Mumbai-Pune calling. I need to call only one particular number & I dont even mind paying a small extra rental for it.

Can anyone help me? Thanks.

[driving_smartly]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Guys, I stay in Mumbai and I am using Vodafone Postpaid. I need to make a lot of calls to Pune. Now, Pune is considered as STD & I am facing quite hefty phone bills!

So, is there any plan wherein I can make unlimited free calls to one particular number in Pune or calls at a discounted rate? I dont mind another operator too, as long as it gives me cheap Mumbai-Pune calling. I need to call only one particular number & I dont even mind paying a small extra rental for it.

Can anyone help me? Thanks.

Even I am using Vodafone postpaid, But it is treated as local calls. Also i have activated All Locals call @ 30 Paisa, @ monthly rental of Rs 30/- and it gives me 30 paisa as well for calls made in pune (Got quiet a few relatives in pune)

Vodafone Mumbai offers unlimited calls to 1 local Vodafone number @ Monthly Rental of Rs 49/-.

Options available as per my knowledge

1. If possible you can buy a new Vodafone card (Mumbai) with a handset and activate the aforesaid unlimited scheme and give it to that person only for incoming that will do the job, but you have to recharge it for Rs 200 minimum once in 6 months to avoid disconnection.

2. If the other person has Idea Card in pune you can buy a Idea card(Mumbai) with per minute plan and recharge it with Rs 17/- Per month, you will get Idea to idea @ 10 paise including (Maharashtra)

3. If it is not a Idea card in Pune then you can recharge the Idea(Mumbai) with Rs 18/- it will give you local calls @ 30 paise including (Maharashtra)

4. Why don't you just drop down at one of the Vodafone Stores and get some suggestions regarding some cheaper plans and also you can activate Roam like home service, wherein whenever you are traveling any where in Maharashtra your call charges will be as per local Mumbai tariff plan.

Note: If someone has more suggestions kindly contribute as well.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by driving_smartly

Even I am using Vodafone postpaid, But it is treated as local calls. Also i have activated All Locals call @ 30 Paisa, @ monthly rental of Rs 30/- and it gives me 30 paisa as well for calls made in pune (Got quiet a few relatives in pune)

Hey, I have this activated, but I would have preferred something in unlimited for free for a small rental.

Vodafone Mumbai offers unlimited calls to 1 local Vodafone number @ Monthly Rental of Rs 49/-.

I have this plan activated for the said person's number. It was fine until she was in Mumbai. But now that she has moved to Pune and if I call her, although for me it is still free, for her, she has to bear incoming charges as she is in "roaming".

Options available as per my knowledge

1. If possible you can buy a new Vodafone card (Mumbai) with a handset and activate the aforesaid unlimited scheme and give it to that person only for incoming that will do the job, but you have to recharge it for Rs 200 minimum once in 6 months to avoid disconnection.

As said, she already has a Vodafone postpaid number & its a Mumbai number. Since she is in roaming, she would be charged for incoming also, isnt it?

2. If the other person has Idea Card in pune you can buy a Idea card(Mumbai) with per minute plan and recharge it with Rs 17/- Per month, you will get Idea to idea @ 10 paise including (Maharashtra)

This sounds good. So unlike Vodafone, Idea does not consider Pune as STD?

4. Why don't you just drop down at one of the Vodafone Stores and get some suggestions regarding some cheaper plans and also you can activate Roam like home service, wherein whenever you are traveling any where in Maharashtra your call charges will be as per local Mumbai tariff plan.

This is news to me, I will enquire about it. I did call up VF helpline, but they could not help me.