Mobile Review: BlackBerry's new Q5 is smart and capable

BlackBerry launched its mid-range Q5 handset on Tuesday afternoon in New Delhi, at a price of Rs.24,990

Why is this handset a big deal? Because BlackBerry's revival rested on its all-new BB 10 software - but the only two BB 10 handsets that have been launched so far have been priced too high to make a difference to markets such as India. The Z10 came in at Rs.43k, and the keyboard-equipped Q10, at a staggering Rs.45k price that was universally criticized.
So while much of the world didn't get very excited about the Q5, India's mobile market has been very curious about it.
The Q5 is a much cheaper Q10. At just over half the price, it gives you almost a Q10-like experience: the same software, in a cheaper package. Where the Q10 felt premium and heavy, with aluminium touches, the all-plastic Q5 is lighter, but feels sturdy - and is in fact easier to hold than the Q10.
In deference to its much lower price, BlackBerry worked hard at distinguishing the Q5, starting with the keypad. It borrows the old Curve model's smaller but more-spaced-out keypad, making the Q5 look older than the Q10. Unlike other reviewers, though, I find I'm typing faster on the Q5's keypad.
The Q5's touch-screen has the same 3.1" square size and 720x720 pixel resolution as the Q10's, but uses LCD (instead of the Q10's more modern AMOLED), making it whiter if mildly less capable in bright sunlight. Yet I found the Q5 touchscreen easier to use, for there's more space under the screen, making it easier to swipe up - an action you use often, to get out of an app.
So the two are well matched. The Q5 is slightly slower, but doesn't feel sluggish. Both use dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors and 2 GB of memory, but the Q5 runs at 1.2 GHz against the Q10's 1.5 GHz. However, I didn't really load it with apps (there aren't that many BlackBerry 10 apps yet, anyway). Web browser performance on both handsets is terrible.
My one real disappointment with the Q5 is the 5 Mp (megapixel) camera, down from the Q10's 8 Mp. The resolution doesn't really matter, but the Q5 clearly has a cheaper sensor. Outdoor daylight shots are okay, but indoor or low-light shots are mediocre, noisy. There's poor comparison with, say, the HTC One's brilliant 4 Mp sensor, or even the old Phone 4's 5 Mp sensor.
My other disappointment is common to both Q5 and Q10 - the overwhelming touch metaphor. You can't even make or end a call, or speed-dial, without using the touch screen - which makes it a pain to call or answer when driving. The old "call end" button was a great way to exit apps, but now it's all touch. There's no "BlackBerry" key either, to give you quick, context-sensitive menu options on everything - for instance to quickly forward an SMS as an email.
Overall, though, the BlackBerry Q5 is very capable, and, compared to the Q10, very good value. It matches the Q10 on many counts, and if you can live with sacrificing the Q10's cooler look and feel, is the handset to buy. If you want to buy a BlackBerry!
And therein lies the rub. There aren't all that many BlackBerry loyalists. The Q5 isn't sexy enough to make users switch from Android or iPhone. It isn't cheap enough to get low-end-BB users to upgrade from their older Curve.
So we're back to the price. A Rs.25k price still doesn't give BlackBerry a market-saver in India. It desperately needs phones in the Rs.10-15k price range. Yes, there are those old BB 7 handsets, but they are, well, old.
Still, the Q5 is good value, and all the more so because BB 10 no longer requires you to pay for BlackBerry service. You just need a 3G plan. This isn't great for the company - BlackBerry loses some of its service revenue - but it's nice for the user. For now, this is the handset I'm going to be using.

Low-cost iPhone heading to emerging markets this year -- report

Apple plans to launch a new iPhone version designed exclusively for China and emerging markets that could be available in the second half of 2013, according to Digitimes' sources.

Apple is working on a low-cost iPhone for emerging markets around the world, a new report claims.
The company is working on an iPhone for China and emerging markets that would launch in the second half of 2013, Digitimes is reporting, citing unnamed sources in Apple's supply chain. Those sources say that the iPhone will have a large display, but will come with a revamped design and be much cheaper than the company's current handset.
That said, one part of the Digitimes rumor doesn't quite add up: the low-cost iPhone will have a larger screen than the iPhone 5's current 4-inch model, according to the sources. Considering that a larger display would make more sense in a higher-end product, it's possible that the sources are plain wrong -- a scenario that often times plays out with Digitimes' unnamed sources.
Still, this isn't the first time we've heard of the possibility of Apple launching a new, cheaper iPhone. Last week, Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston said he believes Apple could launch an "iPhone Mini at some point over the next three years to address the hundreds of millions of prepaid users worldwide that cannot afford the iPhone."
However, Mawston argues that the success of the iPhone 5 means Apple has no reason to launch a cheaper handset this year. Digitimes' sources say that the device they have seen will ship in the second half of 2013.
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek agrees with Digitimes' sources. He said recently that he believes a low-cost iPhone could launch this summer for $200 to $250 but that Apple hasn't given it the go-ahead so far because the company is concerned about the margin it would derive from the sale of a low-end handset.
It's not clear what a lower-cost iPhone might offer consumers. However, Digitimes' sources say that Qualcomm's dual- and quad-core Snapdragon chipsets could find their way into the device.
CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the Digitimes report. We will update this story when we hear back.

Smartphone touted as ‘remote for your life’

LAS VEGAS (AFP) - It can talk to your car, your refrigerator, water your plants and help you stay fit and healthy: the smartphone is become the consumer’s remote control for life.
That was the message delivered by dozens of firms at the International Consumer Electronics Show, where terms like “appification” were tossed around freely.
The hundreds of thousands of “apps” developed for mobile platforms such as Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone and showcased at the Las Vegas tech gathering are quickly taking a lot of functions that people or different devices used to do.
Nowhere was this more evident in the “connected home” zone of the world’s biggest technology show.
Samsung, the South Korean tech giant, showed a connected refrigerator which can stream music from a smartphone, while US appliance maker Dacor unveiled what it called the “first Android oven,” with a panel to check emails and the Web.
US appliance maker Whirlpool showed its lineup of smart appliances which can send a user a text message when the laundry is done. Whirlpool’s refrigerator can also stream music through an app, enabling a host to set a playlist for each course of a dinner party, for example.
“You don’t need to be friend on Facebook with your fridge, but it makes its use easier,” quipped Warwick Stirling, Whirlpool’s senior director of energy and sustainability. South Korea’s LG offered an integrated solution: one smartphone app which can remotely turn on a robotic vacuum or washing machine, or monitor something cooking in the oven.
An LG refrigerator, equipped with a touchscreen panel, can deliver a shopping list to your smartphone wirelessly, provided that the database is created in the appliance.
“You can control your life with a smartphone,” said LG’s Lisa Hutchenson.
French-based firm Parrot and Korea’s Moneual each showed off an app to allow smartphone users to keep their home plants watered, using a sensor which transmits information on temperature, light and humidity and alerts people when the plants are thirsty. The home thermostat, locks and lighting can be controlled with an app developed by Ingersoll Rand.
“The phone can be your remote control for your house,” said Matt McGovren, marketing manager for the maker of home equipment.
“Everything will be connected, even things not generally associated with smartphones, like locks.”
In the car, drivers can mimic their key fob functions to control their car, track, locate and monitor their vehicles with an app from Delphi Automotive, shown at CES.
And Ford and General Motors announced at CES that they will be launching efforts to help app developers create programs which be used in vehicles, some of which already can play streaming movies or music from mobile devices.
“Up to now, radio was the only entertainment in the car,” said Thomas Sonnenrein, of the German equipment maker Bosch. “Today we have a system shared with the Internet, the smartphone and the car” which “creates a lot of value.”
The health segment is exploding with apps which can monitor heart rate, blood sugar, distance traveled by runners and many other things seen in the CES fitness tech zone. The integration of the television and smartphone was a major focus at CES, with numerous smart TVs sharing with mobile phones and tablets. Not to mention the simple use of the device as a remote TV control.
Shawn DuBravac, chief economist at the Consumer Electronics Association, told the CES opening session that 65 percent of time spend on smartphones now is “non communication activities” such as apps for health, entertainment or other activities.
“We have moved away not only from telephony but from communications being the primary part of these devices,” he said. “So it is not just a communications devices, it is a hardware hub around which people build services... the smartphone is becoming the viewfinder for your digital life.”

Nokia 808 Pure view to be launched in India

After the global launch in February this year, Nokia 808 Pureview is all set to capture the Indian smartphone market on June 13. The phone has revolutionized the high-end mobile imaging technology with 41-mega pixel camera.
Nokia 808 Pureview, has already been appraised a lot globally and has received Best Mobile Device at Mobile World Congress 2012 and an award for Best Imaging Innovation for 2012 from the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA).
The smartphone is crafted with a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology and an ability to capture a high quality image, then zoom, reframe, crop and resize.
The Nokia 808 PureView also features full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom. The phone has Nokia Rich Recording facility that enables you audio recording of CD quality.
Dolby Headphone technology in the phone gives you an experience of personal surround sound with the headphone and Dolby Digital Plus for 5.1 channel surround sound playback.

Motorola launches two smartphones

Motorola has introduced two new mid-range Android smartphones - Defy XT and Defy Mini, in India. Sporting the water-resistant body, both these Defy series handsets come in candy bar form factor and feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 series processor. The Motorola Defy XT is a mid-range smartphone that will retail at the recommended price of Rs 16, 190 while the Defy Mini is the entry level Dual-SIM handset to retail at a recommended price of Rs 11, 490.
Perfectly suited for the Indian users and environments, both these handsets come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread running with the MotoSwitch 2.0 user interface. The new MotoSwitch 2.0 UI learns from the way user uses the phone and adapts to provide better options.