LG has been slowly and steadily expanding its Android smartphone lineup and the latest offering in the Indian market is the mid-range Optimus Sol (E730), which we tried it out to see if its worth the asking price.

Design:

The first thing to notice when you pick up Optimus Sol is how slim it is. The phone’s width is just 9.8mm and the fact that it has a compact design, makes it easy to hold in one hand. The front is occupied with a huge 3.8-inch display along with earpiece and a camera on the top and touch-sensitive menu, home and back buttons at the bottom. The lock/power key is placed on the top of phone along with the microUSB port and 3.5mm audio jack, volume buttons on the left and loudspeaker and main 5MP camera unit at the back.

One gripe on the design front is the choice of a glossy back. The glossy plastic makes it highly susceptible to scratches.

Display:

Optimus Sol comes with a 3.8-inch Ultra AMOLED display supporting WVGA (800×480) display. LG says their choice of AMOLED panel is better than the regular AMOLED panels and we tend to agree. The colors look vibrant with deep blacks and great viewing angle, even in direct sunlight.

Performance:

The phone runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread OS) and just like every other manufacturer, LG too, has their own user interface overlaid on the stock UI. We wouldn’t say the UI as revolutionary but is definitely smooth and simpler to use. Users can add up to 7 home screens, add widgets and features an improved app drawer with a revamped notification bar that comes with few shortcuts. The browser has also got a revamped tabbed browsing interface.

LG also pre-loads the phone with some of their own apps like RemoteCall assistance, LG Smart World app store, SmartShare to share and stream content via DLNA etc.

The phone boasts a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM which seems more than adequate for most operations.

LG’s promised release of Android 4.0 later this year will also help the phone to further improve the performance.

Multimedia:

Optimus Sol features a 5MP rear-facing camera that takes decent pictures. However, the camera fared badly in low light situation as there is no flash. Users can shoot images in various shooting modes or adjust various other settings. As for the video, it is able to record videos in up to 720p HD resolution.

Multimedia playback is fairly satisfactory with the default video player capable of playing 720p mp4, DivX files without any conversion. Optimus Sol supports MP3, wav, AAC and WMA formats on the audio front that produces a good quality playback on the loudspeaker and headset.

Battery:
Optimus Sol sports a 1500mAh battery and with a moderate usage of calls, music and video, we managed to get about a day’s usage, which is decent going by today’s smartphone standards.

Conclusion:
LG has some work to do when it comes to high-end offerings but in case of Optimus Sol, it sits nicely in the mid-range segment. Priced at Rs. 17,000, the phone is Rs. 1,000 cheaper than its closest competitor – Sony Xperia neo V and the fact that it is bound to get an Android 4.0, makes the LG device more lucrative.

Rating:
Pros: Sleek, Good Performance, Price
Cons: No camera flash

Symantec has a segregated range of security solutions based on users needs. You’ve got Norton Antivirus to fulfill the basic need of virus protection; Norton Internet Security that goes a step further to protect from viruses and phishing attacks and; Norton 360 that promises an all-round performance protecting users from virus, tuning up their PCs and the free cloud storage. We recently got our hands on the latest update for the Norton 360 and this is what we think.

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There is an Android tablet at various price points and though big companies are trying to lower the price of their tablets, it is the Indian companies who have rolled out cheap tablets. One such company is Zync that may not be well known in the tablet market but it managed to grab some eyeballs last month when it became the first company to launch India’s first Android 4.0 tablet. The Zync Z990 made its way in the market running the latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS and carrying a price tag of just Rs. 8,990. We managed to get an in-depth look at the tablet and this is what we think.

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Western Digital’s WD TV range has gone through quite a few iterations since its inception in 2008. However, couple of things remained constant all these years – impeccable file format support and lack of Wi-Fi. Of course, the WD TV Live Hub added Wi-Fi support but it needed a compatible USB dongle to make it work. But behold the new WD TV Live that comes with the built-in Wi-Fi. We recently tested it and this is what we think.

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We are big fans of Just Mobile here at Tech Ticker. The company is known for creating accessories that are not only useful but are aesthetically pleasing as well, complementing the shiny Apple gadgets. Their latest accessory to attract the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners is the Highway car charger which we took out for a spin to see if it’s worth for your car’s dashboard.

Design is one of the elements Just Mobile puts a lot of effort in and the Highway, no matter how small and limited in use, has been designed after some thought. The company calls it as a “chic in-car charger” and we tend to agree. The device comes in dual toned design with matte black finish that goes into the cigarette lighter socket whereas reveals only the diamond-tread aluminum head. The aluminum head also sports a small LED signifying the status of the charger. In fact, Highway has been awarded Good Design and iF Product Design 2012 awards for its simple design.

Highway is a car charger and it works as intended but there are few things that set it apart from the competition. For instance, Highway’s USB port delivers an output of 2.1A which is perfect for charging high-powered gadgets like iPad. For devices like iPhone and iPod touch the output will help the gadget to charge faster.

Another peculiar thing about Highway is the built-in fuse. Integrated fuse enables gadget protection from unexpected power surges.

Highway has a normal USB port, which means the accessory is not exclusive to Apple devices only. We hooked our Galaxy S II, Nexus S and all charged up pretty fine. However, since Just Mobile predominantly targets the Apple audience, Highway is bundled with a coiled Apple-certified charging cable.

Just Mobile has priced Highway at $34.95 plus shipping charges and although it is expensive for a car charger, Highway brings in some interesting features that are generally missing in another car charger.

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Rating:
Pros: Design, 2.1A USB port output
Cons: Slightly expensive

Huawei may not be renowned as Nokia, Samsung or Sony Ericsson in the mobile space but the Chinese company is trying hard to prove its mettle. They have launched some decent Androids in the market and with the launch of Cloud-based devices, the company is reaffirming its stance to grab some market share.

We had Huawei’s cloud-enabled Ideos X3 and this is what we think.

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Backing up of all the important and sensitive data is a good thing. However, this good habit also leads many to create a backup of backups, just in case to be certain if the original and backup got corrupted or compromised, their files will remain still safe. While, it’s not a thing to condone but it creates a problem of redundancy and clogging up unnecessary storage which you could have used it for something else. To address such issue, SanDisk has comes up with a Memory Vault flash drive that promises to keep the data intact for up to 100 years.

Packaging:
SanDisk bundles the Memory Vault with a USB 2.0 microUSB cable, a quick start guide, writeable labels for the Vault and a storage pouch.

Design:

Memory Vault is a flash drive but don’t think of it as a conventional looking USB flash drive. It has a rectangular soap-like design and boasts a metallic casing that not only makes it look premium; it adds to the durability as well. The metallic chassis also adds to the drive’s weight and features a rubber at the bottom for grip, an LED light on the top and a USB port on the side. Overall, the SanDisk Memory Vault sports a clean design and is built to survive the harshest of conditions.

Performance:
The rugged physical structure is just one aspect of the product. In fact, the magic lies inside which SanDisk touts for reliability. SanDisk calls it the Chronolock technology which does the work in combination with the proprietary ASIC controller, non-volatile memory and a system firmware to tie the two together. Now as you would imagine, it’s virtually impossible for anyone testing SanDisk’s claim of protecting data up to 100 years, they have illustrated for the curious how they achieved this conclusion. SanDisk has a detailed explanation on this page.

Since it functions like a normal flash drive, we didn’t face any compatibility issues with Windows OS and Mac OS X. As for the speed, the Memory Vault displayed a satisfactory performance with read speeds ranging in between 15-17MB/s and write speeds hovering around 3-5MB/s.

SanDisk targets Memory Vault as a device to backup content but we were surprised to find SanDisk didn’t bundle any backup software. Of course, drag-and-drop is the easiest method but a tool where a user has an option to backup the content segregated on the basis of images, videos etc. could be useful.

SanDisk’s Memory Vault drives come with something called as “Preserve-only” mode. What this mode does is that it disables writing on the disk and will make it as “read-only.” This according to SanDisk is done to extend the lifespan of the flash memory. However, we see a few issues cropping with this feature. First, is that SanDisk does not explicitly mention the number of read and writes that can be done on the Memory Vault before it activates Preserve-only mode and secondly, even if it did activate, there seems to be no way of deleting the content since it basically locks up the device. Perhaps, if SanDisk would warn users before the activation of Preserve-only so that a user would be ready to store the most valuable data to him on the drive.

Conclusion:
SanDisk has priced the 8GB Memory Vault at Rs. 3,499 and 16GB at Rs. 5,499, which may seem an awful lot but the fact that it helps protecting your graduation images or your first child’s birthday pictures for more years possibly than any other backup solution.

Rating:
Pros: Build Quality, Data retention up to 100 years
Cons: Limited Storage options

With smartphones getting smarter and tablets getting more portable and powerful, consumers have started consuming content on these portable devices more than on a PC, HDTV or any other multimedia device. However, these devices are restricted by one major barrier – storage space. Kingston tried to solve it by releasing the Wi-Drive but let’s face it; in the age of HD movies 32GB isn’t enough. That is why Seagate has come up with GoFlex Satellite which works similarly to Wi-Drive but boasts a storage space of half terabyte (500GB).

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Smartphones are getting smarter, however, to keep them running uninterrupted manufacturers are bundling batteries that last for a day or two. One may argue that this is fine, as generally phones can now be charged via USB port of PCs or laptops. However, it can be sometimes annoying if you are in the middle of an important call and the battery dies.

This is where a high capacity battery comes in handy. One such manufacturer of high capacity batteries for smartphones is Mugen Power. A familiar name for aftermarket batteries. This time we are testing the Mugen Power 3900mAh extended battery for Nexus S i9020T.

The standard battery of Nexus S is rated at 1500mAh that lasts for somewhere around 16-20 hours on 2G. But the extended battery by Mugen Power is a whopping 3900mAh, that’s more than twice the stock Nexus S battery.

The extended battery comes in a standard packaging with a battery door with NFC chip integrated. The battery door is pretty average without anything written on it unlike the stock battery door that mentions Google and Samsung on the battery door. As compared to stock battery door, this one looks pretty average. The battery door does not hamper any of the phones functionality like the camera or the buttons. It fits snugly to the phone and is available in white and black colours.

Adding the extended battery to the phone makes the Nexus S bulky, however the phone fits in to the hand pretty nicely. If you are using any protective case for Nexus S, then of course, you will not be able to use it with the extended battery.

On the performance front, Mugen Power requires you to calibrate the battery. Calibration includes charging of battery for 12 hours multiple times in order to achieve the optimum rated capacity. If you plan to use both the stock battery and the extended battery, Mugen provides an Android app to swap the batteries easily.

The battery delivered an uptime of almost 2.5 days with EDGE connectivity on, moderate calls, using phone applications and few minutes of gaming. This is indeed a good performance by this battery that makes you go on with the smartphone without worrying about the charge.

Mugen Power has priced this battery for Rs.5,318. A bit costly, but a great utility for people who use their phone more and want days of connectivity without re-charging.

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Android tablets are available aplenty but when Sony announced their offerings in the form of Tablet S and Tablet P, we were intrigued by their unique form factor. And since Sony released the Tablet S in India, we had a thorough look to see if its worth compared to other competitive devices.

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