How to unlock a blackberry phone in 10 simple steps

We got a blackberry from US and didn’t feel the need to unlock the phone till my E51 refused to power up after a total battery drain. I was left with no cell phone situation – which trust me is a very bad condition in the era of smartphones and 3G on almost all carriers (even if I was going to be in home all day long). So the blackberry was taken out from its 6 month long hibernation and I was initially doubtful if it would even charge up for use. Thankfully, the blackberry didn’t let me down! Next step was to unlock the phone. There are several guys in India in every gully who claim to unlock US phones of any make/model/carrier. Few of them might just do it right but in most cases, they end up removing the basic software and corrupting...

Introducing the world of 3G to Indian mobile consumers–A review of 3G service providers and their tariffs

After mobile number portability it is now time for the telecom industry to woo the customers to the latest in the industry. Yes indeed, 3G is the talk of the town. With 3G available from all the major service providers both for their pre-paid and post-paid consumers, everyone can now experience ‘on the go’ internet experience from their smart phones. What remains to be seen is how the Indian consumers are going to embrace this technological advance. And this to a great extend will depend on the data plans and tariffs that the service providers will offer. I have compiled a list of major 3G service providers along with the details of their post paid charges (wherever available). Comparison of the tariffs and service Of all...

Verizon unleashes 4G with HTC Thunderbolt - A review of features and deals on Thunderbolt

The wait for 4G is finally over - Verizon has launched the 4G service with HTC Thunderbolt today! The 4.3 inch Thunderbolt is priced at $250 at Verizon wireless with a 2 year contract. The phone looks very cool and hopefully experiencing 4G on it would be cool as well. The only thing that bring a frown is the Android version in the mobile. With android already working on Ice cream Sandwich, this mobile only sports the Android 2.2 version (the version most widely in use today). Features: Android 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense 2.0 OS 4.3” TFT Touch screen, 8MP rear cam with LED Flash and 1.3MP front cam MicroSD expandable up to 32 GB 802.11 b/g/n wireless, 2.1 Bluetooth, 4G network Qualcomm® MSM8655, 1GHz, Qualcomm MDM9600 chipset...

Froyo (Android 2.2) is the most popularly used Android version!

Just after 9 months of its release, Froyo (Android 2.2) is the most widely used Android version in all of the Android devices. This version of the Android OS is popularly used in both mobile devices and in tablets. When  combined with the Android version 2.1, the overall popularity of the 2.x version swells to 90% on all the active Google devices. The disappointing part of this statistic is that the most recent version for mobile phones – Gingerbread has not even reached 2% in terms of usage. Also the honeycomb version which was exclusively developed for tablets is just 0.2% in use. Android Version Usage 1.5 3 % 1.6 4.8 % 2.1 29 %...

iPod 4 screen glitches following iOS 4.3 update - What to do about it?

  Just when the users with iOS 4.3 update in their iPhones / iPods are still to come out of the DST bug problem (well there has been no fix from Apple – restarting the device fixed the issue in most cases), the next issue has cropped up. Many iPod touch users are reporting weird glitches in their screen graphics following the iOS 4.3 update in their iPod. The glitches are more apparent in the lock screen and many users have also reported icon overlapping and other problems with pixel alignment. Hope Apple fixes the issues with the OS update soon – before the droid lovers have a field day with this! What should I do if I see the glitches in my iPod? The best thing to do if you see the glitches is to report it to Apple. They...

iPhone / iPod DST Bug–How to fix the clock

After Android went through the malware apps last week, its time for Apple to take the beating now. On Sunday March 13, while the clock must have moved an hour forward to adjust for the DST, Apple iPhones / iPads / iPods decided to go back by an hour due to a bug in the iPhone DST adjustments. Almost all iPhone owners relying on their phones to keep up with appointments and even waking up with its alarm, were alarmed to see that they were not on time! iSiC_XXIII, a twitter user vented his frustrations this way in twitter “Thanks iPod Touch and iPhone for making me late to work! DST is not working properly”. Seemingly there were no issues with most of the other phones including Android in adjusting themselves to the DST settings. The...

Apple iPad 2 vs Motorola Xoom vs Samsung Galaxy tab - A comparison of features, hardware and usability

Its Showtime for the tablet competitors Apple, Motorola and Samsung and for tablet lovers, it can’t get better than this. Gone are the days of Apple monopoly in the market. Now, the customer is the king and we have for the first time real competitors to consider when thinking about the latest in electronics market – tab. The release of iPad 2 (read the features and highlights here) had Samsung do some serious re-thinking about its price and features before launching it in the market. Also there were reviews on Motorola Xoom which showed that there were some areas of improvement when compared to the iPad2. However, with Android making its presence felt among users of wide ranges of age group and profession, it is customer oriented...

VMware view client App for iPad–next leap from RDP / VNC Citrix and Wyse apps in market

  One of the primary arguments that many people have against owning an iPad or even better the latest iPad 2 is that this 10 inch piece will never grow up in capacity to handle what their desktop / laptop can handle in terms of work. I must say that either these people are unaware of the business apps that are available in market or haven’t worked out how to use them to perfection. Yes I am talking about the VNC / RDP apps that are abundant in iTunes apps market. VMware has joined the bandwagon (in league with Citrix and Wyse) now making it bigger and better with their VMware view app for iPad.   RDP / VNC apps for iPad / iPhone / iPod As this post is not a review on the RDP and VNC (Virtual Network Computing) apps...

Android Malware Apps with Trojan Rootkit–Details of the Apps and how to protect your android from Malware Apps

Google has now come to face the biggest problems of open sourcing – malware apps are in circulation. These apps disguise themselves as if they are genuine and legitimate apps. More than 50 apps have been pulled from Android market after they were identified to have malicious code in them. Which means, if you download any of these apps, it will be automatically deleted from your phone. This malware attack has showcased one of the biggest weakness of Android OS – no app moderation. I had mentioned about the certificate errors that we were receiving on the market.android pages for most of the apps in my post on the Cricket apps for android. Furthermore, when you choose to download and install an app from the android.market website ...

The new iPad 2 (second generation iPad) features review and what is missing in iPad2

Lo and Behold! The much awaited gadget of the year – iPad 2, the second generation iPad was launched two days back and has put a full stop to all kinds of speculations about it. Steve Jobs (who still looks unwell) was clad in his trademark black turtleneck and blue Jeans to unveil the latest pride to the apple family.Being gadget freaks, that we are, we had our own set of expectations towards the next generation of this wonder gadget and was waiting eagarly to see how it was different from the generation 1 ipad. For all those who are still saying, this is a redundant piece of gadget which is just tossed in the market to do what an iphone / laptop does, consider this – Will you want to take your laptop out every time you travel...

Apple iPad features, hitches, prices and deals

Life takes a full circle” – I guess Apple iPad is another gadget that stands testimony to this saying. Moses came back with the 10 commandments inscribed in two tablet and the tablets became the means of communication. It has now, once again – only that this electronic tablet may not be sacred to the Vatican masses but it is demi-God for its users! The sheer beauty and style will mesmerize you. There has been several arguments made about ‘why I don’t need an iPad’ just as was the case with iPhone (read smart phones – coz  android phones is breathing down iPhone’s neck in terms of features and market competition). Even some of the ardent Apple customers needed persuasion to see the whole new cool way of doing things. For those...

Android OS Versions Comparison

Android OS started off as a small competition to the iPhone from Apple. But its popularity and market presence growth has been exponential in the recent days. Android sales has surpassed iPhones since the 3rd quarter of 2010 (with respect to the number of units sold) and there has been several comparisons made between the market competitors iPhone and Android. At the same time, Android also keeps releasing a new OS Update once in every 6 months. Since its modest version 1.0 in September 2008 to the most awaited version Ice-cream sandwich (expected in April 2011), there has been constant improvements in OS functionalities and features. I have given a pictorial representation of the various features in each of the Android OS since...

Top 10 exciting cricket apps for Android mobiles

After the Top 11 cricket apps for iPhone for the world cup season, its time for the top 10 cricket apps for android mobile users for the cricket world cup season. I must say that the choices of apps were more than what I actually expected (imagining the lesser ratio of apps in comparison to iPhone apps). While all the top 11 in iPhone Apps section for cricket were free apps, there are some paid apps in this post. Here goes the list: (The links go to the market.android page and it is indeed a shame that the certificate error has not been corrected .. grrr) Cricbuzz Cricket Scores & News Cricbuzz.com The best app for android users in terms of visual appeal,...

Top 11 cricket apps for iPhones for the World cup season

Cricket fever is on and here goes the top 11 cool cricket apps for iPhone users that will keep you updated every single moment! Within one weeks time since the love season, starts another exciting season for the cricket lovers around the world. The time of world cup.. the time we were awaiting for 4 years. As is the case in all the previous seasons, every country is trying to say why their team is the best since their past victories (if there was one) and why they are the favorites to lift the trophy this time. And as usual, we the fans are going to try to keep ourselves abreast with the latest news and scores wherever we are. The savior for our cricket thirst comes in the form of these iPhone Apps which is just the answer to stay...

Android vs iPhone - A fair, unbiased comparison of iPhone and Android

Many comparisons have been made between iPhone and Android phones, most of them biased towards one or the other. I have tried to bring out an unbiased comparison and truly enough not going to take any side and say either iPhone beats Android or Android beats iPhone. The purpose of this post is just to bring out a brief fair comparison which can be based to make a decision depending on what feature you want the most in your smart phone. Android iPhone Advantage Battery: Removable and Replaceable Battery replacements easily available in the market and if you are always on the move, you might as well have an additional charged up...