HTC Thunderbolt Review !!

I have been using HTC Thunderbolt since April 2011 and it is definitely THE King of Smartphones. I had a choice between Thunderbolt and iPhone and finally decided to purchase the Thunderbolt running on the Verizon 4GLTE network. Just a quick note here, Verizon's 4GLTE network is definitely super fast and data transfer, videos, music streaming is smooth with absolutely no buffering. Here are some of the Pros and Cons of HTC Thunderbolt

 PROS:

1) Screen Size: 4.3 inch screen is neither too big nor too small and reading or making notes on the phone is quite easy without straining your eyes. Remember, you can zoom in and zoom out on any article and it auto fits itself to the screen. I find this feature very helpful (This is not possible on my Galaxy Tab, where if you zoom, you then have to scroll left, right, up and down to view the article). Screen size is also perfect for making video calls using Skype, Tango, Google Hangouts !!!

 2)4G LTE: This was supposed to be the first phone capable of connecting to Verizon's 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. There is no doubt that Thunderbolt and 4GLTE form a potent combination delivering high speed data transfer, fast streaming of movies and music without having to wait. I have actually watched some live sports events through websites and there is hardly a time when I would see "Buffering" during the video. This is, again, possible due to Verizon's network but Thunderbolt is the first phone to take advantage of LTE.

 3) Camera: 8MP back camera and 1.3 MP front camera makes this a great smartphone to have. The camera quality is amazing and I have already taken thousands of photos through my phone. Here is an example of a picture I took at sunset.

I have taken quite a few videos with the phone as well and here is an example of a live sporting event. It might not be the best when compared to a better CAMERA, but it is definitely one of the best among the current smartphones. iPhone didn't have a 8MP camera in April 2011. The front and back camera is a great feature to have especially during video calling. The picture clarity is amazing and I use Skype very often through HTC Thunderbolt.

 4) Android Market: This is an ever growing area for Android phones with loads and loads of apps for almost anything that you need. Android team does their bit by even providing some good training materials for people who want to write code for Android apps. I have been using the following apps regularly; Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Mashable, Engadget, TOI, Entrepreneur, Foursquare, Viber, SKYPE, LinkedIn, Google + and many more. Android application development will surely provide one of biggest opportunities for programmers to make money as Android phones already have the highest market share and it keeps growing everyday!!! I would recommend the SwiftKey X keyboard for anyone with Android smartphone. This is probably the best Android Keyboard App in the market with Artificial Intelligence capabilities!!

 Just to round off with some more great features, HTC Thunderbolt is now running 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS. This is again up-gradable to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). When I purchased this phone, it was running Android Froyo (2.2) version which was now upgraded to Gingerbread (2.3.4). The phone comes with 32GB, yes, 32GB SD card installed in addition to phone memory. That is a lot of storage space on a smartphone. Most of my apps are now stores on the SD card freeing up my phone memory.

 CONS:

1) Battery: There has been a vast improvement in the battery through the OS upgrades but still connecting through 4G LTE network does consume a lot of battery. If you are going to be connected to 4G all the time, I am sure you'd have to charge your phone at least twice a day. Ice Cream Sandwich OS upgrade might improve the power management capabilities, but currently it is surely a concern.

2)SD Card slot: Most of the Thunderbolt owners have a hard time opening the phone to remove the SD card. There is no real need to remove the card but if someone really wants to transfer information from the card without using the wires, it'll take you some time to get the card out.

3) Heavy: Thunderbolt is slightly heavier than iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S II but I don't think it's a big issue personally !!

 From my point of view, I will definitely recommend this phone. The price has reduced considerably and unless you want Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy S II, there is no other competing phone with so many features along with the ease of usability !!

Chris Martin Career Stats

Chris Martin scored another duck (4-12-11), his 30th career duck (0) in 90 innings. A world Record. This career graph shows................

Tornado trouble !!



June 1st,2011 !! As seen from my window !!  Tornado Clouds



Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

Tablets are flavor of the season and 2011 will see almost all of the major tech companies selling them from $200 (Zenithink 10.1” Android 2.1) to $1099 (ASUS Eee Slate). While Ipad was first to come out with the tablet in 2010, Samsung’s Galaxy tab had managed a good share of the market as well. After researching for almost 2 months I decided to purchase the Galaxy Tab. Having used it for over a month now, I am more than happy with my decision. Here’s a quick round up of why I personally like the tab from an end users functional perspective without talking about the technical specifications.

Ease of use: There is absolutely no reason to actually have a user manual. The Galaxy tab is easy to use even if one has not used an android device before. You have all the apps on the screen if you need, adding more apps to the main screen is as easy as dragging it from the main menu. Hold on to an app for a while and drag it to the bin to delete. Though I have seen an android device before, I think the layout and structure will be very easy for anyone using it even for the first time.

Quick Startup: It is much quicker to even switch it on (you don’t have to switch it off) and start using everything as compared to a laptop. My laptop usage has reduced considerably. Skype is still better on a Laptop along with remote desktop connection, but I can do everything else on the tab.

Huge Android Market: Access to the android market has definitely increased the sales of the tab. It gives the user thousands of apps to choose from and most of the free ones are great as well.  Some of which I access daily are GTalk, NDTV, Financial Times, Facebook, Twitter, NY Times, Weather Channel, Bus and Subway Map and some more. The ease with which one can get information even while travelling is surely a big plus. The bus map app is a personal favorite as I know exactly when I need to walk down and catch the bus on time. I can at least avoid waiting in -20 degree Celsius temperature for a bus.

Screen size and Tablet Size: This is a big advantage. Most of the above features are available on the DROID phones and I am assuming they will be there on the other smart phones. But this size (7 inch screen) makes it much better to use most of the applications. You’ll struggle to read news or other information on your phone and you’ll have to keep zooming for Facebook or Twitter or even for your email. The other advantage is that the tablet size is just apt enough to hold in one hand and light enough in terms of weight.

FLASH PLAYER: There is a reason to mention this in capital letters. I tested my galaxy tab by watching Cricket (India – SA ODI series) and Tennis (Australian Open 2011) Live and it worked very well. This was one factor that made me purchase the galaxy tab initially against the Ipad. You cannot watch or play any flash related media on Ipad. Most of the sports events that I watch will stream via a website with a flash player and it would make no sense for me to buy an Ipad on which I cannot view these events.

Camera: Another factor that differs from the Ipad. Ipad as we know does not have a camera as of now. Ipad 2 might have a camera or two but the first version definitely has none. Galaxy tab has a rear and a front facing camera and so far I have enjoyed the camera quality. The video recordings look quite clear and sharp for a tab.

These are some of the reasons why Galaxy tab works better for me as against the Ipad. I am sure Ipad has its share of users who can do a lot with it as well. I believe apple will lose some of its market share to these android powered devices at least until it comes out with the Apple Ipad 2.