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May, 2012 PayPal policy update for India

As per the latest email which i had received from PayPal, states that they are going to update the policy for Indian users. Basically the new policy states that PayPal from now onwards will consider 4.0% as the currency conversion fee instead of 2.5%. This policy is applicable not only to India but to many other countries also. You should also take it account the fact that PayPal does not accept the actual exchange rate which is prevailing instead it has it’s own exchange rate.

This means i will get less money when my PayPal balance is converted to Indian currency after this update.

Credits to Rajiv Gupta of EternalQuestions for this piece  of info.

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Prices slashed, LG Optimus 3D now at 20K INR

lg optimus 3dLG Optimus 3D can easily be considered as the big brother to world’s first dual core smartphone LG Optimus 2X. LG Optimus 3D was initially launched at a massive price tag of Rs. 32,000 and after several price cuts due to competition from HTC EVO 3D it finally settles at Rs. 28,000 for quite a sometime. LG at last decided to do a price cut for it’s first 3D smartphone and drops it’s price to Rs. 19,999. This deal is presently available only at Mobile Store that too at few selected outlets but don’t worry this will get spread to other stores also. Online Indian Ecommerce site Flipkart and Letsbuy still hadn’t updated the price of Optimus 3D

Also there is one more point to be noticed. LG Optimus 2X features Nvidia Tegra 2 based chipset which is somewhat unstable in terms of drivers or something and that is the reason there are hell lot of problems with Optimus 2X. Nvidia Tegra 2 is now not in production and hence Optimus 2X becomes extinct. But it’s big brother Optimus 3D features TI OMAP 4430 chipset which is also equipped with a dual core processor and a dedicated GPU. This chipset is much more stable and error free as compared to Nvidia Tegra 2. There might be some gap in the graphics performance of Optimus 3D and Optimus 2X with the performance of Optimus 2X on the higher side but the difference is negligible.

Competitors

Whenever discussing about a smartphone we should always carefully look at the competitors available at the same price range. Following are some of the competitors which are all dual core smartphones.  Some of them are now not readily available in the market but some shopkeepers do have old stock of these handsets.

=> Sony Xperia U

=> Sony Xperia Sola

=> Sony Xperia Neo L (Will be launched soon)

=> Motorola Atrix 2

=> Samsung Galaxy S Advance Will be launched soon()

=> LG Optimus 2X (Not in production)

=> Samsung Galaxy R (Not in production)

Spec Sheet

Screen / Display 3D LCD
Capacitive
16 Million Colours
User Interface (UI) NA
Display Size LG 3D UI
Display features Corning Gorilla Glass
Display Resolution 480 X 800 with 217 PPI
Primary Camera Dual 5 MP for 3D or Stereoscopic photos and recording
Secondary Camera YES
Video Recording 1080P at 30 FPS(2D)
720P at 30 FPS (3D)
OS Android Froyo 2.2
Android Gingerbread 2.3 after upgrading
CPU 1 GHz Dual Core Cortex A9
Chipset Texas Instruments OMAP 4430
GPU PowerVR SGX540
RAM 512 MB
Internal Memory 8 GB (5 GB available to user)
SD Card Slot Yes up to 32 GB
Colours Black
White
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Galaxy Note users in Europe gets Android ICS update

galaxy note ics update photoAs per the latest reports floating around the web world, Samsung had finally released ICS update for their Galaxy Note for their users in Germany. Here i am attaching the  screenshot in which a user is getting Over The Air (OTA) notification for the latest OS on his/her phone. The size of the update is approximately 319 MB and have some exclusive feature for Galaxy Note.

Various features include:

===> Android 4.0 TouchWiz interface which is designed by Samsung exclusively for their Galaxy series of smartphones.

===> S Note App which features advanced note taking and productivity tools. Click here to know more about S Note and S Memo apps.

===> S Memo Widget

===> Face Unlock

===> Snapshot tool

===> Photo Editor

===> Special dedicated level in Angry Birds Space android game

Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 had already been updated to the latest version of Android by Samsung. It’s another version I9100G which is the actual version available here in India has not been updated to latest version of Android till date. Though there have been some reports or we can rumours that I9100G users from some countries where it is available had already updated their phones to the latest OS but no such update by Samsung for it’s loyal Indian users.

The requirements for the ICS is on the higher side as compared to Gingerbread. It requires more RAM typically > 523 MB. But there no need to worry about any thing here as Galaxy Note boasts 1 GB of RAM

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What is so special in 9000$ OLED TV from Samsung ?

 

Samsung recently at an event in South Korea confirms the fact that they will be launching the all new 55 inch OLED based HDTV in the second half of present year in South Korea. This new OLED based TV was first showcased at CES 2012. At that event also it drew the attention of all because of it’s ultra slim design and vivid colours. According to Samsung this TV will be the premium of the premium TV’s. This directly indicates that Samsung is interested in capturing the high end TV market and is expected to launch it near Olympics, when the sale of HDTV’s is at peak.

samsung oled 55 inch

In South Korea the OLED TV is priced at 10.8 million WON which is approximately 9000$ in USD and Rs. 4.83 lakh in INR. But again the question is why the price of this TV is nearly double of the price of the present generation high end LED TV’s. The simple answer to this question is that this TV makes use OLED which stands Organic Light Emitting Diode. Presently the fabrication cost of an OLED is much higher that the normal LED or LCD. Due to this the overall cost of the unit rises.

However theoretically, once the mass fabrication of OLED starts than it would be cheaper to produce OLED than normal LED. OLED can even be printed on a paper using inkjet printer’s.

Advantages of OLED:

  • Once the mass fabrication of OLED starts than the production cost of an OLED panel gets reduced considerably.
  • OLED panel can be flexible which means in future we can roll our TV and keep it in our bag.
  • Viewing angles and overall brightness is better as compared to normal LED.
  • Power efficient.
  • Response time of an OLED can be as low as 0.01 ms and it’s refresh rate can be 100,000 Hz.

Disadvantages of an OLED:

  • Present way of fabrication quite costly
  • Theoretically life span of OLED is shorter as compared to present LED. Green OLED usually have more lifetime than a blue OLED. Companies are finding different ways to increase the lifetime of an OLED.
  • Balance of colours is unstable as the blue OLED has less lifetime as compares to other colour OLED.
  • Instability of Blue OLED are the one which is causing the major delay in the replacement of LCD with OLED.
  • Power efficiency of an OLED for a black or other colour display is much better as compared to LCD but for white colour the OLED consumer more power as compared to LCD.
  • OLED is sensitive to UV rays. They can lead to the permanent damage of display.
  • Outdoor performance of an OLED is not as compared to LCD
  • OLED is also very sensitive to water and it can easily damage your OLED.
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Sony Xperia U and Xperia Sola up for pre order at Flipkart

Sony’s all new Android Gingerbread based dual core smartphones Xperia U and Xperia Sola are now available for pre order at India’s most popular online shopping site Flipkart. The pre order price for Xperia Sola is Rs. 19,999 and for Xperia U the pre order price is Rs. 17,399.

The pricing for these smartphones look quite attractive to me as these both smartphones boasts the power of a dual core processors which had become extinct in the 20k bracket after Nvidia Tegra 2 based Samsung Galaxy R and LG Optimus 2X.

Xperia Sola

Spec Sheet

Screen / Display LED Backlit LCD capacitive screen with resolution of 480 X 854
User Interface (UI) NA
Display Size 3.7 Inches
Display features Scratch Resistant Glass
Primary Camera 5 MP
Secondary Camera No
Video Recording 720P HD at 30 FPS
OS Android Gingerbread
CPU 1 GHz Dual Core
Chipset NovaThor U8500
GPU NA
RAM 512 MB
Internal Memory 8 GB (5 GB available to user)
Colours Black
White
Red

 

Xperia U

Spec Sheet

Screen / Display LED Backlit LCD capacitive screen with resolution of 480 X 854
User Interface (UI) NA
Display Size 3.5 Inches
Display features Scratch Resistant Glass
Primary Camera 5 MP
Secondary Camera VGA Available
Video Recording 720P HD at 30 FPS
OS Android Gingerbread
CPU 1GHz Dual Core
Chipset STE U8500
GPU DB 8500
RAM 512 MB
Internal Memory 4GB
Colours Black
White
Exchangeable bottom covers white, black, pink and yellow

 

Photos Xperia Sola

 

xperia sola 1

 

xperia sola 2

 

xperia sola 3

 

xperia sola 4

 

xperia sola 5

 

 

Photos Xperia U

 

xperia u 1

 

xperia u