Using the NVIDIA Shield

I had been to the "launch" of the NVIDIA Shield here in Dubai along with other media, bloggers and gamers. Since then, I had hoped to get a chance to play with it for some time, if not acquire one for myself. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it with both hands and did so with great joy.

Just to give you guys a quick run down about what the Shield is - imagine, if you will, an android phone - say an HTC One - and add a PS3-type controller to it. Supersize the processor and RAM and remove bloatware - et voila - you have yourself a Shield. 

(image source: nvidia.com - its a nice wallpaper if you fancy 1920x1080)

More information on the product, here. I will add this link at the bottom of the post, so please read through :). 

Still here, THANKS! :)

So, that was then. Recently, I got my hands on it for a bit over 2 weeks for all I could play madness on the go. I played a LOT and NVIDIA have a dedicated gaming-store-portal-section thingy on the Play Store. I saw games of all genres, but racing and Shoot em ups really excite me on the go. Its easier to start a short game, finish it and restart any other time. Games with story lines and stuff need concentration and so I avoid them. That said, GTA was loaded on the Shield and that really got my interest. It has a unique way of presenting the games to you, see below

(image source: forbes.com)

Graphics are phenomenal. You will not believe that you are playing on a small mobile phone screen, the depth and saturation are quite good. The sound really supports the experience, whether you play in-ear or use the on board speakers that pack quite a punch for a personal gaming device. Now because the Graphics are inherently NVIDIA - thanks TEGRA - you feel no lag, and it really blazes through some of the heavier games that tend to lag on a conventional smart phone. Games like FIFA, Madden, NFS (all available on the Play Store) are really cool to try on the Shield. What really interested me but could not try is Screen Casting - you can mirror your gaming experience onto a big screen. See this:

 (image source: gamefront.com)

How this is done, is through MiraCast. You can also play PC games using the Sheild to power and control the game while you use MiraCast to project the display on a large format screen. Curious? Read here on the NVIDIA website for more information. There are a whole range of games you can do that with including Batman, Borderlands 2, Elder Scrolls V and so on.

The controller is something you get used to if you come from a history of playing only on the XBox. But for you Playstation fans, the controller is something you should feel right at home with. The grip is Xbox-esque - meaty and rubberised for better comfort, while the button layout is much nicer (I did like PS for that).

 (image source: shield.nvidia.com - again a nice 1920 x 1080 wallpaper)

Are you a true gamer? Then this device is for you. There are plenty of ways to get your hands on one of these bad boys, so pick your poison and log right into the true mobile gaming experience!

As promised, more information on the product, here.

Why I am using HTC's One Mini and BlackBerry's Z10 at the same time

I have, for the past few weeks, been using the BlackBerry Z10 and the HTC One Mini as my devices for primary usage. They are both fantastic devices and complement each other beautifully. I have been using them at tandem and here is why I will recommend the combination of these two handsets to you.

OS:

(photo credit: engadget.com)

The BlackBerry features the QNX based OS 10 that their new range of handsets have - the Z10, the Q10 and the Q5. There is also another in the process - the Z30 which will be a Phablet and a much awaited device. This device in conjunction with my BlackBerry PlayBook makes a mean pair by themselves! The Android OS does provide for some applications that do not exist on the BlackBerry. Both are extremely stable OS', and I am happy to use them. Both are frugal in their use of the battery while providing for smooth user experience on the handset.

(photo credit: pcadvisor.co.uk)

Applications:

The BlackBerry has access to some standard yet very useful applications that are well integrated into the OS like Skype, Whatsapp, LinkedIn and FourSquare as well the one key piece that is hard coded into their system - The Hub. These are the primary applications I use in addition to using it as my primary phone for text and calls. 

The HTC does duty for all the other data heavy applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Path. I also use all my Google services from there. I have games on the phone as well thanks to the wide range available on the play store. I use the tethering option on that handset a lot since I am on the move a lot and HTC provide LTE on that handset. 

User Experience:

The "slide to use" method is not new to me. I have used it on the Windows Phone, and I have used it on my PlayBook as well. Which is why, using the BlackBerry Z10 is something I am familiar with and I fit right in with nary a niggle. I love the keyboard on this. I will go on to say that this is probably one of the better predictive touch keyboards I have used. Even better than Swype or so on. Camera duties on the blackberry are limited but I don't have a complaint since it is way better than the previous camera's BB have used in the past and is definitely a good camera phone. It is not a professional camera and does not pose as one with superfluous customisations that I may or may not use. I have taken a few good photographs from the BlackBerry. I was facing some issues with the screen - it would pocket dial, go to settings and do stuff rather accidentally - but some setting changes later, and this was resolved. 

The UI on the HTC One Mini is quite nice. I had liked the UI on the One but not the size. The One Mini is a good size for a phone and anything larger would rather be a tablet then a phone. The display is nice, the games work well with touches not being that sensitive but quite responsive. I like the sound on the HTC and I know my son loves it too. He always brings me the HTC when he needs to watch videos on youtube.

Overall value:

I find the overall value of using two phones that complement each other as well as the HTC One Mini and the BlackBerry Z10 very satisfying and I will recommend this to people who are constantly on the move and live off their laptop/tablet combination from coffee shops and other locations with no reliable wifi. 

Review: MSi GX60 - AMD powered Gaming Laptop

It has been a while since I reviewed a laptop so please let me know in case you are looking for information not already covered in this review.

Overview:

I got a chance to use the MSi GX60 thanks to AMD. AMD have put their Trinity Processor, the A10, in this machine, and they wanted me, as a gamer, to put it through the gruesome bashing that I normally delegate to my laptops. Just kidding. They did, however, want me to share my opinion about the machine. So here it is.

Hardware & Appearances

This is a good looking machine. Excellent build quality, great functional layout, good quality of material all come together well to make this machine well rounded in the looks department too. Matt finishing everywhere, reduces glare. A nice brushed finish makes it nice to hold, although you are not going to lug that thing without a mini crane. 

The Matt finishing also complemented the Non-Glare 15.6 Screen on the machine that improved the display quality and overall look of the machine. 

The Keyboard looks nice, and being backlit is a good touch. The fact that a mechanical keyboard is now in a laptop is evident when you use the machine. It was amazing. It, however, does not help the weight of the machine. Neither does the graphic card, nor the battery charging pack. All of this weighs almost two times a regular 15.6 laptop (I lie, it is probably more).

All the bells and whistles for lights, turbo fans for optimum cooling are touch enabled switches that are quite cool to use. The design of the laptop, even though it is a gaming machine, makes it convenient to use for longer hours since there is no heat to the palm rest. 

Software

MSi had bundled some of their bloatware into the machine, which I conveniently ignored, while I took to installing steam and origin so I could get to my gaming instantly. It came pre-loaded with Windows 8, and I was quite happy working with it. Given the hardware capability, running almost any software at optimum efficiency is nto a problem. I was running Steam, Origin and Adobe Suite trial version all simultaneously without any lag or strain on resources. Photoshop would run in the background while I played Left 4 Dead 2 and more recently Battlefield 3. Played and Finished by the way :P

What is it built for

It is built, not for portability - that is for sure, but for performance that can be carried around since, lets face it, carrying around a monster Desktop Setup is not that simple. This one is. Even though it is heavy, it is still all in that laptop form factor making it a useful designers machine that can be carried for on-client-premise work, gaming on the go. IT is built for performance, with its mechanical keyboard, APU/GPU setup, big battery, large matte screen, and good speaker system. The internal hardware is pretty amazing too.

Verdict

This machine can replace your now-obsolete desktop and become the powerhouse HTPC you have always been looking to buy. What is an HTPC? Read this!

This machine is your office Dell on steroids making sure that you can keep doing multiple things simultaneously and give you delusions of grandeur! :)

For more information about the GX60, click this link.

Toys for Rich Boys

I recently had the privilege to try out some cool toys that I would not even consider buying for myself purely from the point that they are way out of my reach financially. That does not take away from the fact that someday, I will own one of them, each, hopefully. It does not belittle the fact that these products are awesome if you take the price tag away from them and they lie very firmly on top of my wishlist.

These toys are the Parrot Zikmu Solo speaker system and the Parrot Zik bluetooth headset. Both products are placed in the Wireless Music range of products offered by Parrot USA and are exemplary samples of how technology, design and application and bring the best out of any device. If you wish, you can skip to reading about these products by clicking one of the links above. You could, however, read on about these products here.

I got the Zikmu Solo 3 weeks ago. In white, this product is all sorts of awesome. Just to behold. Gorgeous design, slender, stylish. One would be hardpressed to believe that this product actually houses a true 2.1 Surround Speaker System including a well placed Woofer that produces excellent low frequency sounds without jarring the sound or the ears! Positioning the Zikmu Solo and configuring it accordingly via the Android App (I did not have the iPhone for long), ensures you get the best quality of sound at all times. What I was most astounded by: The MULTIPLE ways of connecting with this device and the different sources it could pick up! There was Bluetooth, which is fairly straightforward. Then there is NFC for an instant Bluetooth connection. In addition to this, I could play off the home network shared music library from multiple sources - laptop, media centre or network drive! I thought that was quite cool. I could do this only on my media centre until I discovered this device. 

Quality of music was clear. Does not matter what level you were listening at - high or low - the clarity of being able to listen to every instrument on the piece of music you are listening to is ever present. There was no jarring, no over powering bass lines or squeaky tones for treble heavy songs. Every song is in perfect moderation. For your listening pleasure.

At a price point of around AED 3700, this device seems well worth the coin you spend on it, if you can afford it. You will not be let down by the sound, this I believe.

I received the Parrot Zik headset yesterday, and I have been using it since. First of all, for a device that has just one button, pairing it was simple. The controls are simpler still. Basic gestures to Pause/Play, Next, Previous and Volume Control feel like something I could swear, I saw on a Sci-Fi show. 

Sound quality is exactly like the Solo albeit channelized into the two sides of the headset for a balanced aural experience. The noise cancellation works well, and the microphone could pick up even my slightest whisper. I had it paired to my BlackBerry Z10 - it was good enough, although the website suggests it is built for Apple devices. 

Costing around AED 1700, this is way out my reach and although I would LOVE to own one of these, I don't think I could spend that kind of money on a glorified Bluetooth headset. 

Having said that, under different circumstances, I would not be making that complaint! :)

If you are keen to buy these awesome products, do pop by Parrot's UAE online store and pick one up :)

Make your TV the next HE-MAN

Everyone watches TV. In some form or the other. 

There are multiple ways for a person to watch TV today - Internet has become an important source for daily consumption - whether YouTUBE or Netflix or something like that. In these scenarios, getting a smart TV with in built applications is a useful investment in case this is your first TV or if you are changing your TV after a long time. 

What if you just bought a non-Smart TV, like me, and want to watch my daily dose of HIMYM or The Big Bang Theory? You either buy a decoder from du/Etisalat/Carrefour, find the right place to tune into and voila, you are watching TV. But this is still only the "newer" content. What about older episodes? Download them from the internet (everyone does this) and watch them on your laptop/computer. You could, however, get a WD TV Live Media Centre, and it will serve you a lot of good if your interests are limited to only movies, music and tv shows. Read more about that here. 

One more but - But if you are like me, and love gaming, then just a SMART TV and/or a Media Center is not going to be enough. You need some serious power.

I had the good fortune of being able to do JUST that. I collected parts from various places and put together a Home Theater PC - shortened to HTPC. I can now watch my movies / tv shows, listen to music, surf the internet, stream online content, video conference, and PLAY FULL HD games - all on my 32 inch Sony TV :)

All you need is the power to compute what I put into it. The list and the reasons are put below:

1. The case - you need something with space and breathing room. I chose the CoolerMaster SNIPER - AMD Black Edition. It is spacious and has superb expansion capability. It is tough, large, and good looking. Here is the CoolerMaster website gallery for you to drool over. Here is a side profile of the case: 

2. The Motherboard and CPU: You need a motherboard with some sort of oomph, but does not burn a hole through the pocket. The ASUS F2A85-M PRO motherboard was a good pick since it supported the APU Chip from AMD and has on board HD graphics and 2.1 Surround Sound support. I had the AMD A8 chip, and it has enough compute to run some cool games at mid-spec without any GPU. Here is the spec on the motherboard. Read more about the A-Series of APUs from AMD here.

3. The RAM: Now I had the choice to pick up some cheap RAM. But would I? No chance. So I scouted around. And I looked around some more. I spoke to a friend who said that he had bought some RAM for himself by GEiL. I looked it up, and the Veloce type of RAM looked pretty cool. So I requisitioned 8GB for myself and installed this in my machine. I may up the ante someday but so far 8GB is alright. Here is the website to look up the information about the RAM I am using.

4. The Drives: For my HDD - I picked up a standard 500GB Seagate Hard Drive. Someday I will get a Western Digital Black drive, but that is someday. For my Optical Drive, I chose to install a Buffalo Internal Blu-Ray drive. Now my machine can retire my intention to buy a PS3 because I was thinking of buying one for the BluRay only. I managed to get my hands on an 8X Writer which meant that if ever I wanted to, I could back up my entire PC onto BluRay discs. The Buffalo Blu Ray has given me an opportunity to watch Avatar, The Avengers and many other movies in 1080P on my screen without havnig to worry about how would I play it! :) More information on the BluRay Writer, here. It is a PDF so right-click to save it if you please :)

5. The other important appendages; Cooling and Power. I bought CoolerMaster for both since the product was best suited for the case I had with me. Now the Bronze 650W Power Supply I have is enough to power the mother board, up to 4 drives, and a single GPU with no hassle. The Heat Sync for the APU was also CoolerMaster, and I went for one that would keep the temperature low while keeping noise to a minimum as well. The Fan/Sync combo works wonders and I am able to get a lot of work out of that A8 APU.

6. THE GPU: Initially, I had a HIS RAdeon 5670 HD Graphics Card - powered directly by the mother board. It's good enough to play some older games, and even play movies at 2HD (read: 2160x#) resolutions but not for serious gaming post 2012. SO I immediately traded in for an older unit of Radeon built 7990. Now I can kick some alien backside in Crysis 3 at max settings and not break a sweat. Loving the graphic love.

I could connect the PC to a Home Theater for better sound effects, but my son like poking holes int he speakers, so I decided to keep that on hold till I can tell him why he should not do that.

If you like this setup, let me know and I can hook your HTPC up in a week, save you some money and give you the pleasure of having a home built monster for your media and gaming. I also intended to buy a Logitech Wireless TrackPad Keyboard, but I had enough Wired Gaming Keyboard and Mice - so I gave up on that idea.

Check out the public photo album of my HTPC here on Facebook.

Share your feedback with me about what you thought of this build.

Thanks for reading.

If you love TV, then this one is for you

This past week has seen me coming home a new method of getting entertainment on my TV.

In case you did not know, I do not have any cable TV connection. I only live off the internet and a connection to my laptop via HDMI. My laptop was my media centre and a source for me to download my new stuff and watch. The setup was simple: Connect laptop to always-on power and internet, connected to USB Direct Storage of 1TB and connected to Buffalo LinkStation Live 1 TB via the network.

Enter the WD TV Live Media Center. When I got this new little device, it made things simple :)

My Direct Storage was already full and dying and all new data being downloaded went straight to the LinkStation via the network. Connected to the same network as my LinkStation, my laptop performed dual duties of downloading AND playing the media at the same time. This loaded on usage time and reduced performance, slowly and steadily. 

With the WD TV Live   however, life became so much easier. A small device that blends with my TV, but replaced my laptop in media viewing duties, which is most of the time. It supports almost all file types and performs at FULL HD when needed. Audio is transmitted through HDMI and are capable of Surround Sound. It supports analog AV out through a 3.5mm jack as well. There are 2 USB ports that  support AC powered and Self Powered USB Storage devices. This small device also connects to the network wirelessly and you can view youtube videos, use your netflix account or use one of 10 other services for online content. 

Truly this device is exceptional in terms of functions. The user interface is so SIMPLE that it is easy to get used to and quite frankly, when I return it, it will be missed :(

Here is a video for you to get an idea of what the device does..

Samsung Media Forum at Grand Hyatt, Dubai.

Here on day 1 for the Samsung Media Forum.

• spoke about pushing boundaries on all display products and telecomm products

• trebled growth in the region

• lead the industry in introducing smart tvs, smart home appliances with remote management for washers and refrigerators

• claim to understand the market, and provide a better learning environment using better technology

• redefining tvs, home appliances, cameras and smarter phones and location devices

First the visual displays:
• Samsung leading the tv market for 7th year with 30+% market share

• key trends for tvs in Middle East
- larger screen sizes - 46" tv standard
- integral part of the living
- smart tvs growing 130% than normal tvs, since customers need more from tvs
- dual screen devices using tablet and mobile phone as interfaces

• f8000 LED tv
- quarter inch bezel, gorgeous display, brilliant depth of image
- intelligent viewing: beat picture quality
- better video streaming at lower bandwidth
- quad core processor
- applications
- new smart hub
- motion controlled
- voice control
- smart touch control - use touch to write channel number. No more numbers
- social networks, photos from multiple sources and large number of apps

Evolution kit for 2012 model SmartTV
- upgrades to latest features of SmartTV
- fastest processor
- more apps

Large format tv: 85" UHD TV
- one connect port kept aside from the frame reduces clutter
- sound quality of 2.2 channels
- large format does not distort HD content bit converts to UHD
- available from Q2

• Samsung developed Smart Play for seamless connectivity between smart devices and smart tvs for multiple content using one source, or transfer content from smart device to tv easily

Notebooks, Ultrabooks and Touch Monitor all launched as part of the Series 7. Newer cameras that are smarter and better connected with Samsung mobile devices.

More information as I get this from the PR team here.

Posted via email from partha's posterous

Gaming with MSi and AMD

This is not going to be very technical. So if you are expecting a lot of spec related information in this, you will not. You are better off going to tomshardware.com or something.

Now that we got that out of the way.

I have always loved AMD. When they took over ATI in 2006, I loved them even more. They went and made Radeon so much more than what it was and for this, I am truly thankful that they bought a company and improved it rather than completely devastate it.

As far as gaming is concerned, I am more of a PC gamer. I love the click-ity click of the mouse and the tap-ity tap of the keyboard when I game. It is better than the vibration feedback of a console joystick. Very soothing to my ears. Which is why I love AMD. Now, until a few years ago, my gaming was limited to something my cheap as hell laptop could provide, which included some old school Prince of Persia, NFS Underground run on low graphic setting and the Incredible Hulk running around with a certain lag that could be achieved by running the game on a machine sans GPU. Come 2011, I managed to acquire a gaming laptop that was still running legacy ATI Radeon graphics with the HD 5650 and a Phenom II X4 processor. This was my first true gaming laptop and I could finally run NFS on max settings and Hulk could now bound across buildings the way he is supposed to 😊.

But running these on a laptop was not really something that is very effective. Let’s face it; the battery and the keyboard are not exactly top notch on this Acer. As far as gaming goes, a handful of brands really understand the value of quality spec. MSi is one of these brands. AMD Middle East offered me a chance to try out their APU+GPU combination on a MSi machine - the GX60 and I jumped at the opportunity.

I took the machine home and so excited was I that I forgot to video the unboxing. I immediately booted up Windows 8, installed Battlefield 3 and waited until my Resident Devastation machine (aka my son) was asleep, so I could start my gaming 😊

Once he was snoring into the night, I booted up the machine again, logged into my Origin account and hit Play Campaign on BF3. Now EA have made this game with excellent graphics and gave me the chance to see that the machine running the AMD Radeon 7970HD with their A10 APU was really up to scratch on graphics. I had on my standard definition Stereo headset, my Razer Orochi and big bottle of water to help me through the night.

Once the game was booted up, I immediately tweaked Video to ULTRA. It was worth it. MSi’s anti glare screen made looking into Blackburn’s face less troublesome than it did on my Acer. It was at midnight with no lights on, barring the screen. Burning through the game was effortless as I was supported by the SteelSeries keyboard that was provided by MSi.

But the high point was the fact that the machine kept pace both in heart and soul. Graphics and processing were both top notch with game loads between saves and scenes were cut down phenomenally compared to the Acer. The game did not lag on ULTRA settings, in fact it was a pleasure running the laptop at full resolution and 60Hz. Gorgeous depth of colour, and no strain on my eyes trying to make out where the enemy was.

I wish I could have played Assassins Creed on it, but what the hey, I tried BF3, finished the game and enjoyed myself thoroughly! 😊

Thanks AMD.

Posted via email from partha's posterous

Microsoft will show Advertisers in UAE something new

IMAGINE DUBAI 2013

Come and discover the Next Chapter in Advertising at IMAGINE DUBAI where Microsoft will explore the ideas, innovations, and people that are helping to reshape digital.

Register today to :

- Discover and demo Windows 8 Adds in Apps

- Explore Skype and the new MSN

- Find out who the MSN and Skype users really are from our regional market research

- Hear from creative strategists and marketers on how they see the future of digital advertising

And much more. This half day will inspire you with compelling sessions, lots of demos and fun competitions to win amazing prices!

Register now – seats are limited

Click here for the link

(sorry for the cut pasted event info but it best describes, in a nutshell, what the event is about)

This event is open to all people who are looking for newer advertising avenues and improved focused visibility.

Do write to me in case you need any more information about who is speaking and all that. I also have a time table in case you want to be there for demos and some particular sessions.

Cheers,

Partha

srinivasan.partha@gmail.com

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#driveanxf - I did

Jaguar and Land Rover Middle East have always captivated my attention with their awesome cars. These are machines that I have always dreamed of driving.

In November last year, I participated in a competition with the hashtag #driveanxf, which essentially put me in to the draw for a chance to drive a Jaguar XF for a weekend. I won and subsequently, I was handed the keys to the Jaguar XF for the weekend of 14th November to 17th November. Stop whinging - here in Dubai our weekend is Friday and Saturday, and it was an extended weekend with Thursday thrown into the fray that week.

I built myself up to the day. Watched videos like this one here:

and this one here:

It really was something to see the videos and I was really thrilled, because I believed that I would experience the thrill they talk about in those videos. I know - there was no commentary in the first one - but there was a voice in my head! :P

Come the day I had to get the car, and they had me signing my soul off to take it for the weekend. I did so with a smile on my face:

Once the mandatory paper work was completed, they took me outside and had me sit in the car, while I was briefed on what came with the car and all the little bits and tricks associated with the car.

There was a lot and boy, OH BOY, was I thrilled to experience it. Look at me, still smiling like an idiot :P

Every bit of talk through introduced me to the technology that made me want the car more and more. My favorite bit? This:

I know that is a lot - but it really is my favorite bit about the car, aside from driving it. But I will get to that in a bit :P

Once I got the car, we went for a spin in the night; my wife, son and I. Tried out all the delights of night driving and enjoyed Dubai by night. This car was such a joy to ave in the city with its 3.0L engine. No stress, no hassles, just pure cruising. If needed, I could just floor the pedal to let the "Cat out of the bag" but that was not needed as it was a slow night and we were all smiling.

The car handled so well - a big change from my Renault Logan (you think), but it made me want to hold on to the car for as long as I could. The steering so responsive, so light, so welcoming despite the growling jaguar staring at me from the wheel. I rarely had to move my hands from the comfort of the steering, since almost all the controls were on there for me to use.

The following day, we got ready to go around UAE as I wanted to experience the car in as many elements as I could - cruising on the highway, climbing up hills, and city driving.

We installed my son's car seat in the back, and put the baby-on-board sign on in the rear windshield and we were ready to go but not before my wife got these photos:

We took off to Ras Al Khaimah via Sharjah, Ajman, and Umm Al Quwain, making sure we covered as much ground as we could. In the Jaguar XF, it was hardly noticeable the way we were covering ground. It was effortless and when we DID reach RAK, I was pleasantly surprised to find we had done so in perfectly planned fashion. In time for lunch! :P

Once lunch was taken care off, we headed to Fujairah. This leg of the journey had us in the city for some time, in the hills for a lot and in stop and go traffic when we had to cross into Fujairah for dinner. So far the drive was so effortless, I could have taken off to Abu Dhabi and not felt a thing. Cruise Control, light steering, mapping systems, great fuel efficiency, large tank, comfortable driving position, enough driving assists to make driving safer - all these contribute to this feeling!

But we had had enough for the day. This is when the adventure actually started. On the new Fujairah highway, there are no fuel pumps and this, coupled with the increasing confidence I had on the Jaguar XF led us to be nearly stranded on the new highway, where we literally drove till the last liter was nearly over and we could get some fuel. Thank God for small mercies, there was a small fuel pump down the road and we managed to get enough fuel to get back into the city. Once we got the fuel, my wife wanted to fly some more, so I opened up the Sun Roof and allowed her to do so. while we were parked, that is.

Once we got back home, we returned to a peaceful night of sleep, and the next day, we took the extended family out for a spin and a day of relaxation. We never did get to going to Abu Dhai or Al Ain but 6 Emirates out of 7 is not a bad achievement in a single day. So I was happy with the days events.

The car outlived my expectation and has changed my desire to own American Muscle (sorry Dodge / Chevy) to now aiming to own European class - especially the Jaguar XF.

Thanks to Al Tayer motors and their agency for making this a reality for me. I will be back as a potential customer some day.

OH and in case you were wondering, you can read up on the specifications and more information about the car on this link: www.jaguar.com/me/en/xf/models_features/models/premium_luxury ; I had the 3.0L Silver version of this particular model.

One last thing: Please go and like the Jaguar facebook if you want a chance to #driveanxf like I did. The link: https://www.facebook.com/JaguarMENA

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In a Galaxy not so long ago...

Even with a name like Galaxy, Samsung builds phones that are nothing alien to a tech lover. I was first introduced to the Galaxy range of Smart-phones a little over 3 years ago. I used them then, and liked them a lot. This was in India. Now I am in Dubai, and Samsung refuse to shy away from the Galaxy name chain. Why change a winning formula. 

They launched the first of the "Galaxy S", the frontrunner of technology in it's age, in June 2010. In May 2011, the S2 really took the market by storm and introduced some technology that was by far the best in the time zone then. Even today, it is a strong contender for mid range phones. 

Let's circle back to recent history. The Galaxy S3 was launched in May 2012. The phone has created quite a buzz around it with TouchWiz and the large screen. A few other features unique to the handset were also the talk of the town, but, if we bring it down to the hard fact, it is a smart-phone. So how smart is it, really?

Form

while most things are micro, there is nothing micro about the phone

The phone is large. Considering I was instantly upgraded from a 3.7 inch screen to this 4.8 inch screen, yes it was larger than I was used to. This, in no way, is a downside to the phone. It does not make you wish you were Mr. Fantastic. Regular size hand and large phone - is not a problem. Your thumb will be able to access across 2/3rds of the screen so a two handed approach to using the phone becomes mandatory. This will upset the people who wish to text while driving, or are used to a single hand approach to texting on their smart-phone.

The phone is made with lightweight ABS which is a form of plastic. The build on this phone is rather cheap and you do feel plastic-y holding the phone. Slight taps reveal a slight hollowness and this makes it worse. The back comes off and the plastic-y nature of the material used is further revealed. 

That is where this feeling ends, because the technology used for the phone is top notch. The back comes off to reveal the big battery (2100mAH) and the slots for the Micro Sim and the Trans-Flash or Micro SD memory card. The memory in built is about 16 GB including the 2 GB sorted out for applications and processes. You can expand the memory up to an additional 64 GB.

The problem for me is that the phone is about the same size as the competition but it was not nearly as comfortable to hold as the other phone. Call me fussy, but that was a big downer. 

There is a micro USB adapter that doubles as a charging and connection spot.

Display

be prepared to shield your eyes in the dark

The S3 comes with a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 720x1280 HD with a colour depth of 16 Million Colours. Pixel Density is 306 Pixels per Inch which is still quite high and gives you a much clearer picture in collaboration with the above specifications.

The display is quite vibrant and I did quite enjoy watching movies on the wide-screen format in Full HD. With no lag, the screen was quite sharp, and had the colour depth as expected from a hand held device. The use of the screen in the day time was hardly a problem. I am in Dubai, and the sun is out shining most of the time and boy it is bright. In that kind of brightness, using the S3 was hardly a problem. Enough detail and I never had to squint even once.

In the night, however, you would be well advised to use auto brightness, because the screen can blind you with its glare. I kid you not. That screen is bright and not even at full brightness. I normally keep my screen at 75% and I had to tune it down. Flashlight, anyone?

Camera
any more and the camera comes with a phone...

The camera is excellent. Great depth, good point focus, excellent modes. It is all fairly standard. Why does this get better than the others? The interface is probably one of the best I have seen. Combined with good hardware, this makes the entire process of using the camera quite nice.

Photography is intuitive for a regular user. Focus on faces, 1080p HD video with simultaneous photo capture, burst mode allows you to take 8 photographs within 3.3 seconds, best picture selection - all these are great because the interface is very precise and allows easy navigation through all the modes and is fun to use.

Interface

I have been harping about the interface in my previous section and therefore this section needs more elaboration. The TouchWiz interface is a step up from the previous versions and quite frankly is a breath of fresh air. That said, the mobile is slightly counter-intuitive. For my podgy fingers, the touch was all sorts of mishap prone. Touch one thing and something else would get activated.  

A couple of the features in the interface were really neat, my favourites included Raise to call from a message, swipe in the contact zone to either message or call, and Smart Stay.

Check out this video for more:

Sound

The speaker is small and rather discreetly positioned to look like a small metallic block placed near the camera. It does what it has been designed to do efficiently. It kept up with the bass on Metallica's King Nothing and the smooth sounds of the flute that my son likes every now and then! So, well done Samsung. My son keeps coming back for an Encore!

Performance

it is no slouch.. make no mistake..

It obediently opened all the apps I needed just so I could "try" to overload it. I could not - I tried and failed.. it multi-tasked with ease. Camera, Gallery, Music, Browser, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Path.. I thought this would kill it.., but no.. it just egged me on and I happily completed all the tasks I set out to do on all the apps.

There is enough juice in the battery for a Social user to last upwards of 20 hours and a heavy work user close to 12-15 hours. This is not scientific though, so don't hold me to it.

My Verdict

It is a good device. The competition does outweigh it in terms of design and certain function, but if you are used to the bloatware that Samsung stuff into their phones, then you will be a very happy camper with the S3.

With that said, have a look at this video where you will be introduced to a whole bunch of Samsung original accessories that make using the S3 so much more fun. This is where Samsung win.

Posted via email from partha's posterous