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With hordes of inexpensive Android phones coming our way each day, I think it is my duty to inform the uninformed about the perils of a resistive touchscreen - the kinds that some of those cheap Android phones are employing these days. Long story short - Resistive screens were a thing of the past where input on a touchscreen was performed using a thick tooth-pick like object called stylus. The popularity of capacitive screens soared after its use in the iPhone in 2007. Capacitive screens are designed to work well with fingers, not pointy sticks. They also support multi-touch gestures. Since then, all the phone makers have either been trying to do two things - still make resistive screened phones with a tweaked UI that works better with fingers (classic example: the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic). But now most makers have moved on to using capacitive screens in their phones as well. Resistive screens are now finding their way into cheaper phones under Rs. 10,000. While we're not arguing that resistive screens are horrible and absolutely unusable with fingers, the smoothness offered by the capacitive ones is quite noticeable. Don't believe us? Walk into any big electronic store where they let you demo cell-phones (like a Croma or E-Zone), and try out say...the LG Optimus GT540 and the LG Optimus One P500. Make sure that you swipe between home-screens and do other stuff like typing out a long text message. I bet my life (no wait, my helmet) that you are bound to find a superior experience with the capacitive-screen driven Optimus P500. Lastly, Android, as a mobile operating system, was designed with finger usage in mind, not a stylus. Some might argue that resistive screens offer great value for money since they're cheaper. But when the difference is barely of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 at most, I believe paying the extra is absolutely worth it. For example, the Micromax Andro A60 sells for Rs. 6,700 while the Samsung Galaxy 5 is for Rs. 8,900. No prizes for guessing which has what kind of screens. As of now, there a couple of such rotten eggs in the market that we have no other option but to bring out to the firing squad: Micromax Andro A60 Dell XCD28 LG Optimus GT540 LG GW620 Acer beTouch E110 HTC Tattoo Source: Techtree

Some important FAQ's from the point of view of consumers for Mobile Number Portability Everyone waiting with excitement for MNP launch in their respective circles. I thought some FAQ on important issues at one place will help all. So drafted this. I know there is a separate MNP thread but some critical information gets lost in so many posts and also some questions are not answered there. Hope you all find this useful. Will update this if something more comes to attention. Thank You and enjoy MNP. When is MNP being launched in my circle. Mobile Number Portability has been launched across India on 20th January 2011. For Official Confirmation of this, See Here http://www.rimweb.in...post__p__216104 In What circumstances my request for MNP may be rejected? -A period of 90 days has not expired from the date of porting if you have ported your number earlier. -A period of 90 days has not expired from the date of activation of your current number even if it was not ported earlier. -There are some outstanding dues by way of pending bill or bills. -There is a pending request for change of ownership of number. -The mobile number to be ported is sub-judice. -Any court has passed an order prohibiting the porting of the concerned number. What exactly is meant by outstanding dues. Outstanding dues will mean the amount by way of actually generated bills as on the date of your request for MNP. Suppose if your Billing Date is 7th of each month and you make a request for MNP on 15th of that month, outstanding dues will mean the amount of your bill generated on 7th of that month. The subsequent amount of your usage and rent till the time of actual number porting will have to be paid by you to your existing operator later on as and when the final bill is generated. However this amount is not considered as outstanding. You are only supposed to pay it. If you don't, then even after MNP, your number can be de activated by the new operator based on complaint by your existing operator. I am a very old mobile subscriber and in the earlier days there was a lot of deposits to be paid for STD, ISD. I have such deposits with my existing operator. Can i adjust it against my outstanding so as not to wait for a refund. You cannot. However as per the TRAI Quality of Service norms, your existing operator is supposed to refund you all the deposit within a period of 60 days from the date of closure. I am a CDMA subscriber and want to switch to a GSM Service. My friend is having GSM Service and wants to switch to CDMA Service? Is it possible? Yes. You will be able to switch from CDMA>GSM as well as GSM>CDMA.But you will need a GSM Handset if switching from CDMA and CDMA handset if switching from GSM. I am swiching from CDMA to CDMA and have an official handset from my current operator. Will the same handset work with the new operator. If you are having an OMH (Open Market Handset) Sim CDMA handset, it will work with the new CDMA service provider. For other handsets it is a grey area. TRAI in its Mobile Number Portability Regulations has mentioned the following as one of the reasons for rejection of MNP request. "there are subsisting contractual obligations in respect of which an exit clause has been provided in the subscriber agreement but the subscriber has not complied with such exit clause:" There are lots of CDMA handsets sold at cheap rates by operators. You pay as less as Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 for them. However we all don't care to read the fineprint of terms and conditions. If the terms and conditions says that the handset is the property of the operator, then you will be stuck there as the operators will interpret the above TRAI clause as per their convenience and say that the customer needs to return the handset back to them. I am a postpaid subscriber but would like to be prepaid one with the new operator. Yes you can do that. You can also be a postpaid subscriber from prepaid. I am a prepaid subscriber and have a good amount of balance in my account. Will it be carried forward to new operator. No. You will lose your prepaid credit balance with the existing operator. I have a lot of add on packs like SMS, Onnet free talktime etc. Will it be carried forward to the new operator of my choice. Unfortunately No. You will have to select a fresh plan of your choice from the new operator. For how long my services be disrupted. Your services will be disrupted for not more than 2 hours on the day of actual porting. Even this will be mostly done between late evening to early morning hours to cause least inconvenience. Your phone will remain operational on all days while your MNP request is under process. I am interested in switching to a new operator of my liking. What do i need to do? -Send an SMS: PORT<space>Mobile Number (that is to be ported) to 1900. For ex. PORT 1234567890 -Your existing operator will immediately provide you with a 8 digit alpha-numeric porting code that you need to submit to the operator you wish to opt to along with relevant documents. -The unique porting code will be valid for 15 days for all service areas except Jammu & Kashmir, Asaam & North East Licensed areas where the validity of the Unique Porting Code allocated to a subscriber will be 30 days from the date of request OR till such time the number is ported out, whichever is earlier, irrespective of the number of requests the subscriber makes. - You need to submit the documents to operator of your choice within this time frame. -Your number will be ported to the new operator within a maximum time frame of 7 Working days. For Jammu & Kashmir it will be maximum 15 Working days. What Documents are required for porting the number to a new operator? -Duly Filled Customer Application Form of your new operator alongwith the UPC (Unique Porting Code) details. -Your Adress Proof and Identity Proof. -Copy of last bill paid to your current operator. I made a porting request to the new operator but now changed my mind and do not want to shift. What to do? You can cancel your porting request to the new operator within 24 hours of submitting the application but the porting fees of Rs 19 (If you had paid) will be non refundable. I will port from say Reliance to Tata Docomo. I understand that my number remains the same but if i surrender my number in Tata Docomo, what happens to the number? Once you surrender your ported number, it will again revert back to the Original Operator for issue to a new customer. I stay in Gujarat but now will be shifting to Mumbai Soon. So i guess it makes sense to port my number to a Mumbai Circle Telecom Operator. Currently you can only port your number to an operator within your telecom circle. Inter Circle portability is not allowed yet but is on the radar of the govt. and will happen ultimately. Can i use the same SIM Card of my current operator after i port to a new operator. No. Your Operator will issue a new Sim Card to you. You can continue to use your current operator's Sim card even after you give the portability request but only till the time of actual porting. Once porting is done, insert the new sim card. I am sick of those unwanted marketing calls and already registered with the Do Not Call Registry. I guess even after porting i will have peace of mind as my number remains the same. Picture is not completely clear yet but some operators are saying that you will need to re-register for Do Not Call Registry. If your new operator has an option in the CAF form for activation of DND, select it otherwise activate it after porting. Is there any charges for this? TRAI has mandated maximum of Rs. 19/- for MNP request to be paid to your new operator. However your new operator has the option to waive it off. I fulfill all the criteria for porting my number still my porting request was rejected by my current operator/i am facing technical glitches wherein my current operator has de-activated my number but new operator is not activating hence i cannot make or receive any calls/What to do if i have any complaints regarding my MNP porting process? You should first try lodging complaints with your current/new operator for resolution of your MNP porting related complaints. If still there is no resolution, you can always complain to Deptt. of Telecom OR TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). Officially neither DOT or TRAI has announced any procedure/contact details for people wanting to complain regarding MNP Process/issues. However, you can lodge your complain on the following public e-mail of DOT & TRAI. Deptt. Of Telecom ddgpg-dot@nic.in TRAI ca@trai.gov.in What Precautions i should take so that my porting request is not rejected? During Generating The Port Out Code: Ensure that the SMS you are sending for generating the Porting Code is without any signature. Many people put default signatures in their SMS. Some of the Operators are intentionally blocking the Generation of Port Code and you may receive messages like, "Can not process Your Request, Please Try After Some Time". In such cases, lodge a complaint with the Customer Service of Your Operator and wait for resolution. While lodging the complaint, be firm and tell your Operator that unless your complaint is processed in a reasonable time frame, You will take the matter further by lodging Complaints to DOT and TRAI. Before Proceeding to New Operator With Port In Request Ensure that there is no pending request for Change of Ownership of your number with the current operator. Ensure that you have already paid of your last generated bill to your current operator if you are a post paid customer. Check that 90 days have passed from the date when your services was activated with the current operator. If you have converted your Postpaid to Prepaid with your current operator, ensure that 90 days have passed from the date of activation of Prepaid. (Though this is not uniform and debatable) Do not give Port In request to more than One Operator with the same UPC Code. If you have received any free handset with time commitment or are under some scheme with your current operator which mandates you to fulfill certain obligations, Clarify with your current operator what you need to do so that your contractual obligations are fulfilled and port out will not be rejected. While Going to New Operator For Port In Ensure that your Unique Porting Code and Mobile Number is Correctly Filled in the Necessary Forms. During The Porting Process If you are a Postpaid Customer and a fresh bill is generated while the porting process is going on, Pay it off immediately preferably in Cash at the Operators Outlets, So it reflects immediately in your account.

iWEBLEAF Comes With Cheapest 3G Data Card At Rs. 1300 While experts are saying there will not be any tariff war on 3G market in coming days, 3G device market is already heated up. Latest and cheapest addition comes from iWEBLEAF, as they are selling 3G data card(USB modem) at an unbelievable price tag of Rs. 1300! Compared to market’s average price of 3G data card Rs. 2500, iWEBLEAF’s 3G data card which comes at half of that certainly will draw attention and lure more users to try highspeed wireless internet services on 3G network. Interestingly, this is not another piece of Made-in-China gadget, rather it is made by two engineer students of Bhubaneswar’s Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Chandrasekhar Panda and Saswat Swain. iWEBLEAF 3G HSDPA Data Card can offer upto 7.2Mbps download speed (HSDPA) and 384kbps upload speed. It also supports 2G network – GPRS/EDGE. It comes with genuine IMEI number and a SIM card slot, to use with any GSM operator. It also has a microSD card slot to double the device as 4GB pen drive. Currently it is supporting data/sms/call function with USB 2.0 interface and can be used on any Windows (200/XP/Vista/7) or Mac system. The device will autoinstall all required drivers and softwares, which includes a mobile TV application which offers 150+ channels, including three Odia channels, including the OTV, ETV and Naxatra TV free of cost without using any TV Tuner or any additional gadgets. Not only that it can be used as WiFi Hotspot which can support upto 300 computer and 30 mobile phones at a time. All these come with warranty of 18 months. Though the young innovator duo think that this cheap data cards with WiFi hotspot facility can bring a broadband revolution in villages, I personally feel without any affordable 3G data plan that can not be achieved. It should be remembered that Reliance, latest 3G operator in town says there will not be any tariff war on 3G market. These students have already wrote letters to the President of India, Prime Minister of India, Chief Minister of Orissa and also to the Department of Science of Technology, Orissa but unable to get any positive response from the state government. Courtesy : Telecom Talk

Google's annual Zeitgeist reveals India's top web searches for 2010. Interesting. Top ten fastest growing search terms 1. irctc login 2. micromax mobile 3. youtube videos 4. fifa 5. facebook 6. cricket live score 7. twitter 8. way2sms 9. samsung mobile 10. zedge Top ten list for the most popular search terms 1. songs 2. facebook 3. google 4. youtube 5. yahoomail 6. gmail 7. yahoo 8. nokia 9. orkut 10. irctc Top ten list for fastest rising people 1. aruna shields 2. sonakshi sinha 3. zarine khan 4. lalit modi 5. neha sharma 6. shakira 7. katrina kaif 8. sachin tendulkar 9. lady gaga 10. salman khan Top ten list- Most Popular Movies 1. kites 2. endhiran 3. dabangg 4. 3 idiots 5. harry potter 6. ravaan 7. veer 8. my name is khan 9. twilight 10. rajneeti Top ten list- Most Popular Brands 1. nokia 2. samsung 3. airtel 4. micromax 5. dell 6. maruti 7. vodafone 8. apple 9. sony ericsson 10. hp Top ten list- Most Popular How To 1. get pregnant 2. kiss 3. impress a girl 4. improve spoken english 5. reduce weight 6. gain weight 7. tie a tie 8. create a website 9. make money 10. meditate

I spoke to Mr. Chandrasekhar Panda who is one of the two innovator behind this product. Sharing here for everyone. -The product is ready and they will be manufacturing it here in India. It is tested on many networks like Aircel, Tata Docomo and should be compatible with all networks. They are actually using it for a month now. -Not yet available in retail market. They are in talks with Futuregroup and if it succeeds, the product will be available across the country at all Big Bazaar and Ezone. They are expecting the results in the next 10-15 days. -They are not intending to sell it Online. -The report on Telecomtalk is wrong regarding the upload speed of 384kbps. The device is actually giving upload speeds of upto 1.6 Mbps. -The Wi-Fi Hotspot Function is Secured with WEP Encryption. -The Call function can be used when you connect the modem to either a PC or Laptop with the help of Headphones. You can make and receive calls. -In the 150 Channel TV Application, they have integrated channels which are having web streaming. Most of the Channels are Indian and includes even some pay channels. -They are planning to increase the no. of channels to 300. The Application has a feature wherein the user himself can add a channel from a Webstream. -While this device is for GSM, they are also developing a Product for CDMA 1x. The price range may be around Rs 500. They are not sure about EVDO support on this device but it may be incorporated.