ZTE Open: The First Firefox OS Based Smartphone is Here!

July 8, 2013 By ishayat Leave a Comment

Firefox is all set to compete with the likes of Android and iOS with its very own Firefox OS for smartphone. The first smartphone featuring the Firefox operating system, ZTE Open, will be available this week in Spain for only $90 (69 euros). Mozilla did say earlier that they are planning to release cheap Firefox OS featured phones but we weren’t expecting a $90 price tag. Let’s see if the first Firefox OS based phone is worth trying or not.

Firefox OS

The user interface looks quite similar to iOS and Android’s user interface. There are four main function buttons in the bottom of the screen to access phone, messages, email and browser. You can customize these icons if you want. Applications are also arranged on a grid style like we see on other smartphones and users have to scroll left and right to see other installed apps.

All the commons apps like music player, camera, photo gallery, video player, FM radio are available in the OS. Some third party apps are also available like Facebook, Twitter, Accu Weather, Poppit and other necessary apps can be downloaded from Firefox Marketplace. The app store is not filled with apps which is going to be a big challenge for Mozilla if they really want to compete with Google Playstore or Apple App Store.

Hardware

The ZTE Open comes with 256MB of RAM and 512MB of on board memory. It’s not good enough to run a phone without lag but this phone did quite well in the short test. All the installed apps worked quickly and the touchscreen was also good. It’s good comparing to the “Gingerbread” running phones. However, these are just entry level phones so don’t expect the high-end smartphone like smoothness from it.

Specs

The first Firefox OS based phone features a 3.5-inch HVGA TFT touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, 4GB microSD card and other common features like FM Radio, email reader and built-in Firefox web browser. Apps like Wikipedia, Time Out and Huffington Post are already available in the app store but you have to wait for a while to get all the popular apps from other stores.

Price and Release Info

Mozilla’s first Firefox OS based phone will be available at an attractive price tag of $90 (69 Euro) in Spain and Telefónica is launching the ZTE Open with another Mozilla OS based set from Alcatel called One Touch Fire. “This is just the beginning as we plan to bring a wide range of Firefox OS devices to our customers”, that’s what the CEO of Telefónica España, Luis Miguel Gilpérez said when launching the device. It’s not confirmed yet when Mozilla is planning to release them in other markets.

Some more Firefox OS based handsets are also on board and big companies like Sony and LG are currently working on it. If you are not interested to try the Firefox OS in an entry level handset, you can wait for the upcoming Firefox OS based high-end smartphones.

Month Recap: Gadgets Launched In February

March 1, 2013 By ishayat Leave a Comment

Before we start looking at the next month’s big tech events, let’s take a look at this month’s big and popular tech news. It was certainly a big month for us tech geeks as we saw some great gadgets like Galaxy Note 8, Asus FonePad, HTC One and PlayStation 4.

PS4 Unveiled

Sony officially unveiled the PlayStation 4 this month at its NYC event after months of rumors. The company announced the hardware specs of the next generation PlayStation and also showed the DualShock Controller 4 with some amazing features. The new PS4 comes with an 8-core 64-bit x86 AMD CPU, 8GB GDDR5 RAM, enhanced Radeon GPU and 6x Blu-ray drive.

We don’t have any specific release date yet but you can expect to get the PS4 in the Holidays 2013.

Galaxy Note 8

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Note 8 at the 2013 Mobile World Congress after lots of rumors and leaked pictures. It’s a tablet version of the company’s successful Note and Note II and is ready to compete with iPad Mini with its 8-inch display. The company didn’t reveal the tablet’s specs yet but it features 8-inch 1280×800 screen, 2GB RAM, 5MP rear camera and 1.3MP front camera. Another notable feature of this device is its S-Pen like other Note devices.

The company is yet to announce its availability and pricing details but you can expect to see an initial Q2 release in Asia and Europe only.

iPhone 5 leaked

A Chinese website has posted some leaked photos of the rumored iPhone 5S recently and they believe it’s a pre-production version of the next iPhone. Apple failed to protect it’s secret last time before the announcement of iPhone 5 so there is a fifty-fifty chance that these rumors are true. According to the rumors, we can expect to see the same taller screen, an improved camera with powerful LED flash, fingerprint sensor, full-HD display and color options like the latest iPod Touch.

Apple refused to comment on these rumors as usual so we have to wait for an official announcement to confirm these rumors.

Asus FonePad

Asus announced FonePad, a Nexus 7 like tablet with 3G mobile data and voice-calling feature at the Mobile World Congress this month. The new device looks like a combo of Asus’ docking PadFone mobile and the popular Nexus 7.

The FonePad features 7-inch IPS screen with 1280×800 display, Android 4.1 OS, Intel Atom Z2420 processor, 1GB of RAM, optional 8GB or 16GB internal memory, 3-megapixel rear camera, 1.2 megapixel front camera, voice calling feature and full 3G telephony support. The company is planning to release the FonePad between April and June in the U.K. and in Asia at the end of the June for $249.

HTC One

HTC recently unveiled the HTC One at an event earlier this month and called the new flagship smartphone a “game-changer” because of its “innovative features”. The company usually releases several phones using the same name but they decided to drop X or S from this device. The Taipei City-based company also decided to make this device their sole flagship smartphone for this year.

The HTC One features a 4.7-inch full 1080p HD Display with 468ppi, 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, 2GB of RAM, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS and a 2,300mAh battery. The flagship device will be available on Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T in the US next month and is now available for pre-order.

Chromebook Pixel

Google unveiled its premium notebook, at a San Francisco press event this month. The Chromebook features a 12.85’’ inch screen with 2560×1700 resolution and it’s also a touchscreen which is introduced in a Chromebook for the first time.

The Chromebook also features a 1.8GHz Dual –core Intel i5 processor, integrated HD 4000 graphics, 4GB of RAM and Chrome OS. But it’s not these features that attracted tech geeks, it’s the price, $1299 for the 32GB of flash storage and Wi-Fi version and $1449 for Wi-Fi, LTE broadband and 64GB of storage. It’s too much for a Chrome OS based device which is only good for using web-based apps and internet browsing.

ZTE Grand Memo

ZTE has announced the Grand Memo, a phablet with 5.7-inch screen at its MWC 2013 event this month. The flagship device features a big 5.7-inch screen with 720p resolution, 13-megapixel camera, 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, customized Android 4.1.2 and 3200mAh battery.

Looks like ZTE is trying to push the boundaries of phablet and is trying to grab some attention in the phablet arena. The smartphone will be launched in China soon and then in Europe.

5 Most Anticipated But Flopped Gadgets of 2012

September 22, 2012 By ishayat 11 Comments

Like every year, the year 2012 also started with the promise of many great devices that will rule the others. When the year is nearly at its end with almost all of those greatly anticipated products are now at the displays in the stores and in the pockets of the customers, it is the time to ask how many of those left the stores and made it to the pockets. With all those grand announcements and bold campaigning, there are many gadgets that failed to impress the customers. Here are the 5 gadgets that took the fall after the epic rises boosted by anticipation.

Nokia Lumia 900

The almighty Nokia Lumia 900 was this year’s flagship released by the Finnish phone makers. It came with the latest Windows Phone version of that time and yet it failed miserably to attract the attention of the customers. The update was promised to have more than 250 significant changes that will change the user experience and yet it was as locked as before. Therefore, it was less likely to be chosen by the customization lovers and on the other hand, the conservative ones already have iOS to satisfy their needs. Therefore, the only customers were the ones who wanted to try something new which is not practical to everyone’s budget and the result is obvious.

LG Optimus Vu

Samsung created this field and LG took the opportunity. LG Optimus Vu was intended to be a Galaxy Note competitor. It should be a moderate hit as there were no competitors other than the Galaxy Note, but it was lacking too many things to attract any attention from the Note. Firstly, it was Gingerbread which was late for that time. Secondly, the form factor was a bit odd. Not great for watching videos and not good for carrying either. And last but not the least, it does not have a microSD slot, another great shortcoming which would not be missed by a consumer who can consider this type of phones. The failure was too obvious to avoid.

Google Nexus Q

This is a great product with lots of features and yet there was no doubt that it would flop. The insane $299 price tag is enough to make this streaming device a flop as there was lots of alternative streaming device with more features with lower price tags. Even the Apple TV could not do well till its third generation lowered the price to $99. Despite its ‘audiophile-grade” amplifiers and features like NFC, the price was never right for the utility. Honestly, it is hard to find a reason to buy a Nexus Q and even if someone can, it is even harder to justify the price.

ZTE Grand X

It was presented as a gaming smartphone within budget. To be honest, NVIDIA Tegra 2 and GeForce ULP GPU are not enough to make it call a gaming smartphone at this time of the year. It might be called a budget gaming smartphone but still the price is higher than what the consumers are ready to pay for such phone. The look is too close to the Galaxy Nexus but the performance was not. Gaming smartphone that does not properly response to touches? A perfect recipe for flop.

PlayStation Vita

PlayStation Vita is one of the greatest failures in the history of Sony. The first and obvious cause is the shortage of games. The PlayStation Portable was also suffering from the same problem and yet it passed it time with a moderated success, but now that people know that developers are not interested, they are not taking the risk. The market of mobile gaming is already snatched away by the iPhones and iPods. There are too few people now days to buy a separate device for portable gaming where the iPhone can offer great games at a cheaper price. The difference in the collection is too much to be ignored. So a flop was almost inevitable.

Whether promotional failure or poor performance, these products could not keep up with the expectation of the consumers this year. In this dynamic market of complicated demands, the reasons to blame are too many and sometimes there are none but there are still flops. That is what makes the technology consumer market more interesting than the others.

Computer And You

Making Your Computer Experience Better