waterproof and dustproof Xperia ZR

ony has announced a new smartphone in its Xperia line-up. Dubbed the Xperia ZR, it is set to be a waterproof handset and is equipped with a powerful camera, which seems to make the phone useful to those who might want to capture underwater video.

Visually, the Xperia ZR has quite a bit in common with the current Xperia Z and ZL, with the circular lock button on the middle of the side of the device, the volume rocker below that and a dedicated camera button near the bottom.

It sports a 4.6-inch HD reality display and is powered by Sony's own Mobile Bravia engine 2, which the company claims uses the same contrast enhancement technology that is present in Sony's range of Bravia TVs. The display panel is an OptiContrast panel, which is said to reduce reflections.

Sony's latest smartphone, the Xperia ZR

The Xperia ZR is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor by Qualcomm. It also has 4G LTE capabilities. The performance on the handset should be good thanks to the the powerful processor along with 2GB of RAM.

Other than being another typical high-end smartphone, the main selling point of the Xperia ZR is the IP55 and IP58 certification. This means that the handset is waterproof and dustproof; it can be kept submerged in up to 1.5 metres in fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

On the camera front, it is equipped with a 13 megapixel camera with Sony's Exmos RS for mobile sensor. This allows the phone to capture both videos and photos using high dynamic range (HDR). The burst mode on the camera can capture an unlimited number of images at 15 frames per second.

On the software side of things, one can expect the same things that is found in Sony's other high-end offerings, such as the Xperia Z and the ZL. It has Sony's own Walkman music player that gives access to all your downloaded music. There is also the Music Unlimited app, which gives access to a library of around 20 million songs. Similarly, the Videos Unlimited app gives access to a library of more than 150,000 movies and TV shows.

The Xperia ZR is expected to hit store shelves in Q2 of 2013 and will be available in black, white, pink and mint colour options.

LG Optimus L9 P765

While it might seem like LG is losing a little traction on the mobile front, it hasn’t stopped the company from launching new devices. The latest to hit India is the Optimus L9 smartphone and this is the P765 variant. It’s a neat looking device, but that’s never a good reason to make a purchase. So we put the L9 to the test and here are our findings.

Form Factor
As stated, the P765 looks good, but unfortunately, is not built the same. It’s light weight (125 g) and 9.1 mm in depth, making it easy on the hand and in the pocket, but the build quality could have been so much better. The rear panel feels a little on the cheap-ish side and, unfortunately, transcends throughout the handset. The entire chassis of the device feels a little low-end and will make you seriously wonder about the price tag. The Home button placed just below the display is very Samsung-esque but nowhere near as well designed. It’s embedded a little too much into the body, and being so narrow makes it a little difficult to access. On either side of the button are Android soft touch keys.

9 mm in depth

On the right hand side of the handset is a small power/sleep mode button that’s placed in a spot that’s easy to access. The volume rocker is on the left, parallel to the power button. The microUSB port is placed at the centre at the bottom of the handset and the handsfree socket at the top on the left. A 5MP camera with an LED flash is on the rear, with a VGA camera up front near the company logo. It was disappointing to see that LG opted to have the SIM (standard size) available via Hot Swap, but the memory card without the same advantage. The L765 comes with 4GB of onboard memory with the capability of expansion up to 32GB via microSD cards.

Home button could have been better designed

The 4.7-inch IPS touchscreen features a QHD (540 x 960) resolution, which is quite vibrant and quite legible in bright sunlit locations. We were impressed with the design, but not the build.

Features and Performance
Interface 
LG’s shipping the P765 with ICS (Android 4.0.4) running off of a dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM. There was a slight delay in some aspects of functionality, but overall, it handled functions very well. The UI was reasonably fluid, but with Jelly Bean, we’re sure there would have been a visible difference. The way things are currently, an ICS device launched in this price bracket sticks out like a sore thumb.

The Optimus UI has some very handy features

The Optimus UI has a few borrowed tweaks from the edition on the Optimus G handset. These include the QuickMemo function that lets you write details, phone numbers etc. on any screen with your fingers. It can be quite handy if you’re on a call and need to take down a telephone number or such. The memo can be left on screen while you go about your regular features, or it can be saved or shared via any medium available. In the Running Apps menu, you have an option to "Kill All" or access the Task Manager feature.

The App drawer allows for folder creation by simply dragging and dropping apps on top of each other. You can then name folders as you see fit. The Lock Screen also has a few widgets of its own, including a variety of clock interfaces with a calendar and a set of four frequently-used or quick access apps. You can choose which apps you would like to have on the lock screen.

In terms of Benchmarks, the handset performed adequately but didn’t quite stand out. Linkpak scores put it at 36 MFLOPS on Single Thread and 50 on Multi Thread, which is really nothing to write home about. Here are the NenaMark 2, Quadrant and AnTuTu scores:

HTC One Review

The next gen HTC One model is called just that, no ‘X’, no ‘+’ or 'S', just a simple number denomination. So far, the Taiwanese company hasn’t been faring all too well with devices like the HTC Butterfly proving to be way too pricey and the Windows Phone 8X and 8S models still remaining under the radar. This could be HTC’s big break back into the majorly relevant league, but the price of Rs. 42,900 (MOP) might still be a deterrent for some. So we’re here to tell you if the HTC One is indeed a handset worthy of consideration, price tag be damned, or if it’s just another fly by night, high spec'd smartphone that’ll be here today and gone tomorrow.

Form Factor
HTC’s sticking to its unibody design form even with the HTC One. The One is encased inside a zero-gap aluminium shell that, while definitely giving it a tres chic and elegant look and feel, also has a downside. For one, the metal body tends to make the handset a little slippery when it’s cold. Secondly, it also becomes rather hard to hold on to when the processor starts to heat up after excessive use. The curved rear of the handset also rests a little unstable on a flat surface and naturally feels wobbly if you’re trying to type with it resting on your desk. In your hand, however, it does feel quite comfortable.

Quite a looker this one

The perfectly-sized 4.7-inch Super LCD3 display with a full HD (1080 x 1920, 469 ppi) resolution makes for excellent viewing and was quite legible even in broad daylight. Thanks to Corning Gorilla Glass 2, you can be assured the screen will remain scar free to quite an extent, though fingerprints and smudges were still very much evident.

The power button also serves as an IR sensor

The speaker grilles located at the top and bottom of the display also adds a better tone to the overall design form. The light and proximity sensors are located on the left of the earpiece, with a little notification LED placed subtly under the grille. A 2.1MP HD ready camera (1080p @30 fps) with HDR is located on the right side. The volume rocker located on the right hand side of the handset and the power button on the top near the 3.5mm handsfree are quite flushed into the design, which can make them a little hard to use at times. A slightly more prominent protrusion might have been better here. On the left is the micro SIM card slot that can be extracted by using the HTC pin. A microUSB/MHL port is placed at the bottom. While the volume keys might be well-placed, the Power/Sleep key will work great for lefties but will require a bit of a stretch for others to access. Incidentally, the power button also doubles up as an Infrared transmitter so the handset can be used as a remote control.

Available in black, silver and red, the HTC One is truly an inspired design and sexy as hell!

Features and Performance 
Interface
Setup can work directly on the handset or via HTC’s set up website that lets you customise how you have the phone ready for use. It allows users to select apps to be downloaded, choose or create wallpapers etc. and transfer the whole setup to the handset OTA. Of course, you could just do it all via the handset like any Android device as well.

An all-new setup process via the web

HTC’s Sense UI has undergone a drastic change in version 5. It’s no longer as we remember it, but a few functions have managed to slip through so you won’t feel too much in the dark. We have to admit that it took a little while to grow on us, but once we familiarised ourselves with the layout, it was a pleasure to use. The new home screen called BlinkFeed works a little like FlipBoard and acts as a feed reader for all of the sites or topics you choose (for which there is a wide array). It’s neatly laid out for you as soon as you switch the handset on from sleep mode and will keep you constantly updated on all your favourite stuff including your Facebook and Twitter feeds. A little tab at the top allows you to customise this section and also select a specific feed to view if you wish. Our only suggestion to HTC would be to have this option constantly available while scrolling. But to keep it, simply double tap the Home option and you’ll instantly be transported back to the top. Each story is also easily shared via all available mediums.

Sense UI v5 definitely brings some great functionality to the HTC One

Version 5 of Sense UI also lets you create folders in the app drawer, making it much easier to access and sort apps. The weird thing was the Weather and Time widget that’s glued to the top of the BlinkFeed and App Drawer sections. We couldn’t seem to get rid of it and having two clocks displayed, at all times, on the same side of the display seemed fruitless. The dropdown notification menu could have also used a few docked toggle switches to make it easier to switch radios on or off instead of leading us back to the main settings menu.

As usual, Sense UI tries to seamlessly integrate your accounts in the Contacts menu and offers you the options of linking contacts on its own. This can save quite a bit of time.

There’s plenty to like here and with the rich colours of the full HD LCD3 display, the UI really comes alive.

Speed
Saddled with a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset, 2GB of RAM and available with 32GB or 64GB of on board memory (no expansion option), the HTC One proved to be one blazing fast smartphone. It’ll ship with Jelly Bean (v4.1.2) with an update to v4.2 to make it out later on. We’re hoping this will change and HTC will ship the handset with 4.2 when it launches at the end of the month. From accessing apps to quickly loading high quality games and overall super slick functionality, the One easily stands out from the rest.

We ran our usual benchmarks and the scores were through the roof. Linpak scores gave us a whopping 272.5 MFLOPs on a single thread run and hit the 600s with multi thread (averages). Antutu showcased the Galaxy S4 as the only handset to best the One, so we’re eager to see if that’s true. But we compared them to some of the devices we have tested recently, so do take a look at the Nenmark2 and Quadrant scores as well in comparison to the competition:

Sony Xperia ZL

The Xperia ZL is the non-amphibious cousin of the Xperia Z and is currently sitting comfortably without much worry from the competition. We say that because the only other phones close to it are the Lumia 920 and the Galaxy Note II. The Lumia 920 is not much of a competition, unless all you’re looking for is a good low-light capable camera, and the Note II’s size isn’t for everyone. This leaves the ZL sitting pretty at around Rs 36,000. One may argue that it’s best to put a little more and get the Z, which is more feature rich and comes with the tempting IP55/57 certification. But is it really worth it? How much has Sony really compromised with the ZL in order to make it more affordable? Let’s find out.

Design and build
Upfront, the ZL looks quite a bit like the Z, except for the wider ear piece grille and a front camera that finds a new home at the bottom of the handset – a first we’ve come across. The handset also features the same scratch-resistant and shatterproof glass along with the screen guard that comes pre-installed. The phone is heavier than the Z, at 151 g, and that’s because it’s a bit thicker as well, with a depth of 9.8 mm as compared to 7.9 mm of the Z.

Looks good and is built well too

The sides have mirror-finish plastic strips along with a similar button placement. The overall size of the ZL is much smaller than the Z, but Sony has kept the screen size the same. This gives the illusion of a larger screen since the bezel is shaved down quite a bit from all sides. The ZL also enjoys the addition of a cool-looking notification light at the bottom, which pulsates in different colours based on the type of notification.

The rubberised texture at the back offers very good grip

The rear panel has a very nice, grippy finish, which feels and looks a lot better than the Z. The textured back leaves your phone free from scratches and requires less upkeep. The camera, LED flash and speaker grille are placed in a similar fashion as the Z. The microSIM and microSD card slots are now placed at the bottom of the phone under a flap. Overall, we were impressed with the design and finish of the ZL and feel it’s a lot better than the Xperia Z in terms of ease of use and ergonomics.

Features
The display is exactly the same as the one on the Xperia Z, only a little brighter and with more vivid colours. The viewing angles are still pretty average and sunlight legibility is not the best. Sony still gives you the full HD resolution on the 5-inch panel, bringing the overall pixel count to 441 ppi.

The same slick user interface as before

The handset also uses the same Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core SoC along with a generous 2GB of RAM. The chipset consists of four Krait CPUs running at 1.5GHz each along with Adreno 320 for graphics. Sony gives you 16GB of onboard storage, out of which 11.7GB is usable. You also have the option to expand it via the hot-swap card slot. As far as sensors go, the Xperia ZL packs in a gyroscope, compass and barometer along with the other usual suspects.

Extremely powerful hardware under the hood

The interface is slick and fluid just like the Z. Along with the usual selection of Xperia apps, you even get Sony Music, which lets you stream or download thousands of songs across genres, both international and national. The biggest problem with this app is the lack of search function; you have to manually sort through albums or artistes, which is a real pain. The other app is Sony LIV, which streams local TV serials. The ZL also features an IR port that lets you use it as a remote through the bundled app.

Media
Audio quality is good thanks to the MH-EX300AP stock in-ear headphones. The headphones have a snug fit and produce deep bass while providing good noise isolation. Sound enhancements are present in the form of ClearAudio+, which automatically amplifies the sound, or you could fine tune the settings through a 5-band graphic equaliser along with features such as Clear Stereo, Clear phase, xLOUD and Dynamic normaliser – all of which are designed to boost frequencies and make your audio experience more pleasurable.

Media playback is good

The video player won’t read WMV, FLV and some AVI files, but everything else, including MKV files, work just fine. Video playback does not cause the phone to heat up as much as the Z did; it gets a little warm, but that’s about it. The speaker is quite a bit louder, although we noticed a bit of tearing even for alerts at high volumes.

Samsung preparing to rollout 5G by 2020

While 3G isn’t yet a rage and 4G is still at a nascent stage in India, the next generation of mobile technology is already said to be in the works. Samsung claims that it has developed the core technology of the fifth generation, or 5G network, and plans to make it available for consumers by 2020, reports Korea's Yonhap News Agency. Needless to say, we can expect 5G to allow much faster data access (streaming) compared to the current 4G networks. Reportedly, Samsung claims that 5G would allow customers to download an entire movie in less than a second.

5G in the works

The download and upload data speeds are likely to be up to tens of gigabits per second (Gbps). This is way higher than 75 megabits per second (Mbps) data transfer rate offered by 3G services. The company has currently tested the platform with 28GHz waveband to transmit data at a speed of 1Gbps. This was considered to be a Herculean task earlier. Samsung reportedly used 64 antenna elements to overcome the issue, which enabled the device to exchange real-time signals under the platform. 

3G and 4G wireless data transfers no more seem to be lightening fast. Samsung isn't the only one working on 5G technology. The industry (developed nations) has been vying for the next generation of technology. China and the European Union have been putting in efforts and, obviously, lots of cash into the development of the next generation mobile technology. Earlier in February, NTT DoCoMo had confirmed to have successfully conducted a 10Gbps wireless test in Ishigaki with the help of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Though it relied on frequencies and bandwidth outside the usual cellular service (11GHz band with 400MHz of spectrum), it showed the possibility of higher speeds than LTE and LTE-Advanced. NTT Docomo’s test used 24 antennas to maintain the link and hopes for similar speed in frequencies over 5GHz in mobile communication too.

It is still unclear whether the 5G technology will be reaching us in the next few years, but it is nice to know that 4G won't be the end to faster mobile data transfers.

XOLO launches Q700 quad-core smartphone

XOLO has launched its Q700 smartphone, its second quad-core offering, in the Indian market for Rs 9,999. The XOLO Q700 smartphone is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and runs on the Android Jelly Bean (v4.2).

The smartphone sports a 4.5-inch display with One Glass Solution (OGS) Technology, which, according to the company, makes the display extremely vibrant while making the touch experience of the device more responsive. It can play 720p videos too. The smartphone comes with 1GB of RAM. The XOLO Q700 is fuelled by a 2400 mAh battery. The XOLO Q700 sports a 5MP rear camera and a VGA front camera. The rear camera comes with BSI sensor technology, which delivers advanced imaging capabilities.

Company's second quad-core handset

Here's a quick look at the specs of the XOLO Q700:

• 4.5-inch qHD IPS display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels with 245 ppi
• Dual SIM (GSM+GSM)
• 5 MP rear camera with BSI sensor technology
• USB OTG v2.0 HS (Enabled)
• 4GB internal memory + expandable up to 32GB

XOLO is offering its Q700 smartphone in two colours – stylish Coffee Brown and Trendy Blue. The company plans to launch a full range of smartphones with quad–core processors under its new QCORE series.

XOLO has introduced XOLO Unlimited, which gives its users an access to three special apps – XOLO Switch, XOLO Secure and XOLO Power. XOLO Q700 will come pre-loaded with XOLO Unlimited and currently, it is exclusively available on Q700 only.

XOLO Switch:
Multitask with Multiprofile – XOLO Switch allows users to create up to four profiles with distinctive identity with different Lock screen, applications and wallpapers. They can change profiles with a flick. It offers ability to use same application with different identities; for instance, you can have different facebook or Gmail login in different profiles without the need of logging out from one account.

It also offers a Kids Mode, which is also a first for any android smartphone. The Kids Mode comes with parental controls and Kids tube, which filters user generated content for safer access.

XOLO Secure:
XOLO Secure offers enterprise level security to its users. It comes with following features:

• Complete control by single SMS
• Remotely lock and wipe phone data
• Cloud backup for SMS and call log
• Alerts on SIM change
• Remote lock
• Track device location

XOLO Power:
XOLO Power offers features that will allow its user to get more out of its battery by optimising the power consumption. It offers longer usage of battery by synchronising the data consumption. It comes with a Night mode to reduce power consumption. It also allows to "Detect and kill background apps by a single click" and "Real time CPU load analysis".

Nokia Lumia 625

Nokia seems to be rushing to expand its Lumia line-up. Reports are popping up of a new smartphone in the making, dubbed the Lumia 625. According to GSMInsider, it is set to sport a 4.7-inch screen, thus making it one of the largest phones in the Windows Phone 8 line-up. It will run on a dual-core MSM8690 Snapdragon S4 processor by Qualcomm.

The resolution on the display will be 800 x 480 pixels, which is disappointing considering the rather large size of the screen. The low resolution is especially puzzling considering the fact that unlike Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8 does have support for higher resolutions, including WXGA resolution (1280 x 768).

The Lumia 625 will be one of the biggest Windows Phone devices yet

Information about Nokia's other upcoming handsets – the Lumia 925 and 928 – have been revealed earlier. According to earlier reports, Lumia 925 will come with a slimmer, lighter aluminium body. Interestingly, the Lumia 928 and Lumia 925 are both said to have similar internals: a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, a 4.5-inch screen with resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage.

Both the Lumia 925 and 928 reportedly also have a camera with an 8.7-megapixel sensor and an f/2.0 aperture for good shots even in poorly lit conditions. Both the Lumia 928 and the Lumia 925 will be fuelled by a 2000 mAh non-removable battery.

We've also been hearing rumours about another Nokia phone called the Lumia EOS. This smartphone supposedly has a 41 megapixel camera, which makes it the Windows Phone version of the Nokia PureView 808. If this phone does exist, we expect it to have a better camera app and interface than the Symbian PureView 808, which left a lot to be desired. It'll be interesting to see what Nokia comes up with if it indeed has a phone that combines Windows Phone 8 with a 41 megapixel camera.