MWC 2015
Mobile and wireless companies showcased their
newest devices at the Mobile World Congress, which was held in Barcelona
between March 2nd and 5th.
Some of the most innovative gadgetry seen at
this year's edition...
SMARTPHONES TO LOOK OUT FOR...
At MWC 2015, Samsung previewed its new S6 Edge
a handset that boasts of a display that wraps around both sides.The device is
fronted by a 5.1-inch (2560x1440px) quad-HD super AMOLED display and a 5MP
camera that's capable of wide-angle shots even in dim environments. Its 16MP
rear snapper boasts of the same capabilities along with the ability to launch
in less than a second and with optical image stabilization (OIS) for blur-free
shots.J Those who prefer to rough it, might want to keep an eye out for the
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua. It is a mid-range smartphone with a 5-inch (1280x720px)
tempered glass display, and carries an IP658 rating. This means it is dustand
waterproof in 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes so you can shoot photographs
using its 13MP5MP waterproof rearfront camera in the pool or a thunderstorm.J
For music lovers, there's the Alcatel rs, there's the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3
with JBL audio enhancement, dual front-facing speakers and the DJ-esque
OneTouch Mix music app that lets you mix two tracks and even add sound FX in
real time. The Idol 3, which will be available in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes
also sports a “reversible“ design, which means you can answer a phone call even
if you hold it upside down.J And for the first time, a mid-range Microsoft
Lumia model was launched in two sizes with single, or dual SIMs, and with
support for 4G networks and running with support for 4G netw the Windows Phone
8.1 OS. The handset is also guaranteed to receive the Windows 10 the Windows 10
upgrade later this year. The Lumia 640 sports a 5-inch scratch-resistant
touchscreen, while the Lumia 640 XL comes with a 5.7-inch display and a larger
3000mAh battery as opposed to the 2500mAh on the former. Additionally, the
640XL includes a 13MP rear snapper with a Carl Zeiss lens while its smaller
sibling is equipped with an 8MP camera. Both devices come with a year's free
subscription to Office365 Personal, 1TB OneDrive cloud storage, and 60 minutes
of Skype calls every month.
HTC
VIVE
While HTC launched a successor to its flagship
One series the M9 its virtual reality (VR) headset, called the Vive, was
the real head turner (no pun intended). The product a result of a tie-up with
gaming company Valve allows the wearer to roam freely in a virtual world. The
outside of the headset and the hand controllers are packed with sensors that
sync with two small transmitters that need to be placed in the room.
These transmitters help the Vive compute the
user's position to a degree that allows him to reach out and grip objects in
the virtual world with accuracy .
Couple Full HD visuals with a 110-degree viewing
angle, and wearers can literally walk through a post-apocalyptic landscape,
pick up objects, check them out from different angles, whirl around to see what
they left behind, and more.
At the moment, the prototype Vive requires to be
tethered to a powerful rig.Final versions may not include as many wires and
we're sure there'll be many interested developers who'll build games supporting
this tech.
XIAOMI
YI
A drenalin junkies have been jumping off cliffs,
diving with sharks, and moto-crossing on the maddest of terrains for quite a
while. GoPro let the rest of us couch potatoes live these daring feats vicariously
through their head and handle-bar-mounted cams. Now, Chinese mobile giant
Xiaomi is stepping into this adventure territory with their own rugged snapper
called Yi.
The 72g shooter equipped with a 155-degree
wide angled lens, backside-illuminated (BSI) Sony sensor, digital image
stabilization, built-in Wi-Fi and 64GB storage is capable of shooting Full HD
video at 60fps and 16MP still photos even in low light, and can survive
underwater dives of up to 40m (130 feet). The device will ship only in China
(for now) at an extremely budget price of around 399 Yuan (`4,000). Sadly,
there's no release date or pricing for India yet, but keep your fingers and
toes crossed.
SECURE
PHONES
Smartphone security has moved beyond the
passcodes, pattern unlock, and even fingerprint scanners. Fujitsu displayed a
prototype with iris authentication to unlock the device. The handset uses an
infrared LED and camera atop the display that scans eyes to find a matching
iris pattern.
The ZTE Grand S3 showed off similar abilities.
It uses its front-camera and EyeVerify's Eyeprint ID tech to scan and match the
patterns of the blood vessels in the whites of the eye. This capability, which
is equivalent to a 50-word password, could be used for secure payments and
access to protected business apps. Taking security to the highest level was
Silent Circle's Blackphone 2 and Blackphone+ a smartphone and tablet that
uses OS-level `virtual boxes' to keep personal and official data separate,
while also encrypting calls, video chats, and file transfers.
Chip makers Qualcomm, on the other hand,
launched the Snapdragon Sense ID 3D Fingerprint Technology, which uses sound
waves to penetrate the outer layers of the skin, avoiding error-inducing dirt
and grime, to scan (in 3D) the ridges and pores on the finger. This detailed
surface map, according to Qualcomm, will provide stronger fingerprint
authentication.
SANDISK
ULTRA MICROSDXC
Look wise, it doesn't qualify as droolware, but
the SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card Premium Edition is amazing technology
nonetheless. It boasts of a 200GB storage capacity; can transfer up to 1,200
photos a minute; is magnet proof, X-ray proof, shockproof, temperature proof
and waterproof. To put it in perspective, it can carry around 20 hours of Full
HD videos, or around 41,000 MP3 songs. The $400 card will cost more than most
smartphones when it ships later this year, but what you get will be a 10-year
warranty and the assurance that your digital data will stay safe even if your
phone is lying at the bottom of a swimming pool after surviving a 16-foot drop
at the poolside.
LENOVO
VIBE SHOT
Lenovo is not the name that comes to mind when
you talk about digital cameras. Well, all of this is set to change when the
company launches its new Vibe Shot smartphone that the company previewed at
MWC.
The dual-SIM, 4G (LTE) device sports a 5-inch
Full HD IPS display and is packed with a 1.7GHz Snapdragon octacore processor,
3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, and a 2900mAh battery .
But what make this smartphone stand apart are its
camera credentials. The Vibe Shot boasts of a 16MP rear camera with infrared
auto-focus, tri-colour flash, optical image stabilization, 16:9 BSI sensor, as
well as an 8MP frontfacing camera.
Its frame holds dedicated photography controls,
including a two-stage shutter release button release button that's usually
found only on digital cameras.
What you also get is a Settings slider that lets
you choose between Smart and Pro modes.
The latter, which is what the Vibe Shot is all
about, displays photo settings such as exposure compensation, ISO, white
balance and focus modes. Initial test pictures with the shooter displayed
plenty of detail, while its triple-LED flash worked like a dream in low-light
conditions. The iPhones and Lumias better start watching their backs.
TP-LINK
TOUCH P5
How do you make Wi-Fi routers seem cool? Hah!
Simply add a touchscreen. TP-Link's Touch P5 sports a 4.3-inch capacitive
display with unbreakable toughened glass. What you also get is support for
802.11 abgnac networks, dualband functionality with maximum speeds of up to
600Mbps over 2.4GHz and 1300Mbps over 5GHz; a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 port to
connect a printer and storage; a built-in media and print server, guest network
access and WPS wireless security encryption.
Its `tap and slide' interface will allow users
to access functions like wireless configuration, print servers, file sharing,
WPS matching and media server settings for home entertainment services.
Ashutosh Desai and Savio D'Souza TOI7MAR15
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