Nokia C7 Astound Review and Specifications

T-Mobile brings Nokia C7 Astound to US, a Symbian smart phone offering by Finnish Cellular giant Nokia. Nokia C 7 Astound is an interesting move, and it is apparently one of the few last Symbian gadgets by Nokia Corporation. Nokia has established a good reputation with their Nokia N8 camera phone which Nokia claims is the best camera phone of the world right now, Nokia has definitely injected some of their N8 expertise into C7.

Apparently Nokia fused  Nokia C6-00 and Nokia N8, added a dual LED flash on the back and boom!!! came out Nokia C7 Astound. C7 is fully capable of shooting 720p HD video, and it's also got On Demand Web TV plus GPS.Nokia has been in love with Qt development platform for quite a while now, we know the "relationship" became more fiery after Nokia's acquisition of Troll Tech, the software company that gave birth to QT.Nokia C7 Astound is powered by Symbian^3 Operating System, everybody's well aware Symbian's future is a huge question mark now. The fog seems to be dissolved(and unleash a not so favorable result for Symbian) after Nokia shaking hands with Microsoft and agreeing that Nokia will create hardware for Microsoft Windows Phone 7.
Wi-Fi quality is expected to be good, but I don't have real user stories related to it yet. I hope we'll get a good deal of reviews soon. Maybe this phone will be a choice for people annoyed poor battery life of high end smart phones.

C7 contains a 680 MHz processor, and dedicated hardware for graphics with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support. C-7 Astound also contains Accelerometer Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Compass (Magnetometer Sensor).Looking at standard 3.5 mm jack I sometimes think why, why in the world were mobile hardware vendors inventing their own audio out connectivity standards? This nice touch phone won't be complete without a stereo bluetooth, in an age of wireless everything :) therefore Nokia has wisely included stereo bluetooth to the package.
The capacitive touch is pretty good than previous Nokia offerings, but still AMOLED display is not comparable to many Samsung Super AMOLED based devices.

OVI store is definitely present in this device, and maps are there as well. But the raw processing power inside this small stainless steel box is insufficient in my opinion. You know dual core smart phones like LG Optimus 2x, and Samsung Galaxy S2, Motorola Atrix are making the competition tough.

Specifications of Nokia C7 Astound

Screen Resolution	360 x 640
Screen Color Depth	24 bit
Screen Size	3.5
Display Technology	AMOLED
Device Size	117.3 x 56.8 x 10.5[2] mm
Weight	130 g
Display Touch Technology	Capacitive Touch
Maximum User Storage	350 MB
Mass Storage Memory	8 GB
NAND Memory	1 GB
SDRAM Memory	256 MB
WLAN	Wifi 802.11b/g/n
GBPower Management	2.0mm Charger Connector
USB ChargingBattery model	BL-5K 3.7V 1200mAh
GSM Talk Time	up to 9.6 hours
WCDMA Talk Time	up to 5.3 hours
Handsfree, audio out	3.5 mm

Price of Nokia C7 on T-Mobile USA is yet to be decided, its not listed on T-Mobile web site on time of this writing. But Amazon is selling unlocked Nokia C7 in $209.
What is the Price of Nokia C7 in Pakistan?
Price of Nokia C7 in Pakistan is 29000 rupees at the moment. This price of Nokia C 7 was quoted on a phone call, maybe if we go to market by ourselves we could get a deal around 27000/27500/28000. This was the price of brand new Nokia C-7 with one year warranty.


Concluding Suggestion:
Price of unlocked Nokia C7 Astound was $389 on time of this writing, which makes me think if you're spending $389 on a Symbian phone then why not get a better HTC Windows Phone 7 or Motorola Android phone by adding just $100 and spending a total sum of $499? Its nothing that would create thrill in market, its just another smart phone. So just wait for couple of months, and let the prices come down.
Apparently Nokia's somehow pulling itself together with models like Nokia E5, Nokia C3-00, Nokia X2-01, Nokia C6 which is pretty interesting though.


More blog posts you may find interesting:

• Review and Specs of Nokia C6-00
• Nokia C3-00, and Samsung Corby Line Up The Mid Range Hot Shots
• Personal Review of Samsung Vibrant T959 And Specifications

Personal Review of Samsung Vibrant T959 And Specifications

Samsung Vibrant is an Android based Smart Phone from Samsung, it is a Galaxy S series phone. Samsung Vibrant was bought up as an iPhone competition in 2010, although iPhone 4 is clearly a winner over Samsung Vibrant.
Note: T-Mobile is now offering Samsung Galaxy S 4G, an upgraded version of Samsung Galaxy S

Last month my cousin came back home for a vacation, he bought me a Samsung Vibrant also known as Samsung T 959. Before proceeding with the writing, I want you to know that I am so in love with this Android based smart phone. Samsung Vibrant is also known as Samsung Galaxy S, which is also written on the back flip of the set. Inside the package you'll get two back colors, my cousin got one black and one burgundy right now I have burgundy on.

Buy Samsung Vibrant Unlocked!!!

Samsung Vibrant is without a doubt comparable to Apple iPhone 4, although Apple iPhone4 wins the competition.
A Galaxy S Phone running on Android 2.2(what? you thought bio-gas?)
When it first came in my hand, it ran Android 2.1 but later on Samsung issued update to Android 2.2 Froyo which I installed. Android Froyo has got a few UI improvements, but the biggest change I noticed is battery. Previously my precious Galaxy Smartphone hardly survived 4 hours of active usage after a full recharge, but after installing Android Froyo it's battery life is more than doubled. The Android app store is definitely strong rival to Apple's much established iTues based App Store which sells mobile applications to iPhone and iPad users.

The Android 2.2 OS on my Samsung Vibrant runs very smoothly, the performance is not quirky the way it was with BlackBerry storm in early days.
Email and Calendar

Powered by the latest Android platform, this Samsung Vibrant is a smart phone fully integrated with Google Mobile Services. You're now at one with your Gmail account, Google Maps, YouTube videos and more. Emails are a breeze You create an event in your calendar, and as soon as the Vibrant gets connected to Wifi/3G data network it will save everything online, so that where ever you have Google stuff configured, you can access all your calendar.
Samsung Vibrant was released by TMobile on its networks in August 2010, and after almost 9 months it still is a highly regarded phone in the market.
Look and feel, touch, Display, Camera:

Samsung Vibrant has got a very slim design, and its a pure pleasure in your hands. Also the good thing is its capacitive touch, which gives it a clear edge over Nokia phones with resistive touch.
More over, the display is awesome and crisp. Although its not as good as compared Windows Pone 7 based HTC HD 7 which I recently got my hands on. HD 7 has an awesome high resolution display(4.3"), it's got a camera as well but the picture quality is no where closer to Samsung Vibrant. I think if samsung had put a flash Samsung Vibrant this Galaxy S phone would have been too awesome. Adding a front facing camera would definitely double the delight.
Samsung Galaxy S2:
Yes you read it right, there's a new version almost done and it will hit the markets within months of this publication. Samsung has already previewed the thing on many forums. It's gonna be a dual core beast, along with some new Samsung software called Samsung Hubs which is a trick on Korean Samsung's behalf to leave Taiwanese HTC behind. My experience with Samsung Vibrant has been very good, another friend of mine bought an HTC Desire phone but something went wrong with the gadget's hardware. End of the day my friend sold only the display in 15000 rupees which is roughly $190.

Next question will be Samsung Vibrant price in Pakistan and India?
Well, I took my Samsung Vibrant for sale last week to Hafeez Center, and I got an offer of 25000 rupees. A few people were selling new Samsung Vibrant on hafeezcenter.pk for price around 44000 rupees. My cousin bought new Samsung Vibrant for a price of $499 from TMobile last year, shortly after the release.
And I just checked out T-Mobile is still selling Samsung Vibrant T959 for $499. Amazing, truly amazing stuff this gadget has survived so many months on ever rapid mobile electronics means it has got the guts.
We still have a lot of ordinary mobile phones(Nokia 1210) around in Pakistan, I think that will not change any soon because people don't know how to make the most of these beasts therefore they keep comparing state of the art machines like Samsung Vibrant with cheap Chinese replicas.

Specifications

Specs of the Samsung Galaxy S include the following:

• Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• Cortex A8 Hummingbird, 1GHz processor
• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G (1700/2100 MHz) with HSPA+ 21Mbps support
• 4 inch WVGA (480×800) capacitive Super AMOLED touch display
• Integrated 185MB of memory and microSD card (16GB included)
• 5 megapixel camera without flash
• Front facing 1.3 megapixel camera
• Dedicated, touch-sensitive Home, Menu, Back and Search areas
• Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
• Integrated GPS receiver
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 3.0
• 1650 mAh battery
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Dimensions: 4.82 x 2.54 x 0.39 inches and 4.16 ounces

Next Generation iPad, Apple iPad 2

A Third Thinner, Twice faster CPU, 9 times Faster Graphics, Say Hello To the iPad 2

I love Steve Jobs, for the being the tech rebel and the creative revolutionary he is. I pray for his health and life from the depths of my heart, and whenever I see a video or an image of Steve or read anything related to his work I say "Long Live Steve Jobs". And I am so happy to know that he himself addressed the opening ceremony of Apple iPad 2.

Buy Apple iPad 2 From Amazon

Apple iPad 2 is a device a third thinner than the original iPad (let's call it papa iPad), it has got one front facing camera and one back camera. iPad was 13.4 mm thin, iPad 2 is 8.8 mm thick. Surprising thing is that Apple iPad 2 is even thinner than the Apple iPhone 4.
Apple iPad 2 is not only thinner, its lighter as well. It weights only 1.3 pounds, where papa iPad was 1.5 pounds.

Apple iPad is powered by Apple A5 processor, which is a dual core processor. Apple A5 is a new chip designed by Apple's chip wizards, that means it will run twice as faster than papa iPad.
The Apple iPad 2 also contains a much much, much much much much much much much powerful graphics chipset, BTW that's 9 times faster.

Apple iPad 2 also contains a Gyroscope, which is a piece of engineering already found in iPhone and iPod touch. With this thing, the iPad 2 will be able to perform auto rotating of the content.
And just FYI, here are the stats related to sales of papa iPad...

15 Million iPods were sold in just 9 months... Therefore the revenue of Apple from iPad was $9.5 from iPad alone. And all the Motorolas and all the Samsungs couldn't do anything about it.
And hell yes, the iPad 2 will be running iOS 4.0. Which will most likely be updated sooner(I think in March or April 2011), with this I can pretty much guess what next generation of iPhone (iPhone 4GS?)will look like.
There is a value addition bundled in as well, there's this things called the SmartCover,

I know by the time you reached this point in the post, a question will be buzzing in your head "Will this thing be available in India/Pakistan?" Well I don't know the status in India, but for Pakistan our legendary PTA will do its best to delay the device and destroy it in containers while waiting for a decision of its fate. Same as they did with iPad Touch, by saying "Its a wifi enabled device, we can't let it come inside that easily" whereas all the new laptops on block are by default wifi enabled devices God damn it!!!

Buy Apple iPad (First Generation iPad)

I think this beauty will be available in Pakistan soon, and it will be priced somewhere between 50000 rupees  beyond.
I hope Apple iPad 2 in Pakistan will be available soon, and I hope the price of Apple iPad 2 will be reasonable, well who knows what happens :) although we don't see many iPad in Paksitan in fact Samsung Galaxy Tab was offered by a network provider I guess Mobilink or maybe UFone, but it didn't work out well.
I wonder when Samsung will come out with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, 3, or maybe 4 cause most probably that would be capable of competing with Apple iPad 2. Although I got some doubts about HP's upcoming WebOS based tablet, because WebOS is eco system is supposed to bloom further because WebOS will be shipped on all HP machines by default in near future.

Turn Off Monitor/Display of your Laptop/Desktop In Windows Application With Source Code

How Can I Turn Off My Laptop's Display Whenever I Want?

I recently felt the need to turn off my laptop's monitor on my will, but you know there ain't such a button on almost all laptops. (Not interested in tech stuff? scroll down directly to Download, and get the executeable) So I tried to search around the internet for some utility, sadly speaking I didn't find any such thing. But you know I'm a programmer after all, therefore instead of searching a trust-worthy utility, I sought a do it yourself code example. I found the example here on code project:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/display_states.aspx

The code needed to turn your monitor off/on is literally a one liner. All you need is one line, and your monitor will be powered off as soon as you run the .exe file. Here's the code friends:

#include <Windows.h>
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
        SendMessage(HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MONITORPOWER, (LPARAM) 2);// this c++ code will turn the monitor off
return 0;
}

You will be wondering, how the monitor/display will be turned back on? The good news is Windows handles that part automatically. Whenever we turn off display with this cut throat application of ours, moving mouse or pressing a key will bring the monitor back to life. Although broadcasting another message will fire the display up, but we don't need that I think. Still, here's the code:


SendMessage(HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MONITORPOWER, (LPARAM) 1);

Take this piece of code to any C++ IDE of your choice(of course Windows duffer!!!), just compile build and your very own application to turn off the monitor will be ready.
Place the executable anywhere you want, create a shortcut on desktop, whenever you'll click it the monitor will go dark.


And if you don't wanna do that, just download the ready to run executable of this cut throat advanced bleeding edge top class wonderful awesome @#%$#%&~!^&%$#@+ app that can shut down your PC or Laptop's display/monitor whenever you want here !!!

Download

Instructions:

1. Just place the .exe file anywhere in your system, double clicking it will turn off the monitor you may create a shortcut on desktop, or pin it to task bar for easy access (details below).
2. Moving the mouse, or pressing a key on keyboard will turn your system's display back on.

Please keep that in mind:

• This utility does not open any network communications port
• This utility does not read/write any kind of files to/from your computer's hard disk
• This utility does not read/write anything to/from Windows Registry.

Therefore, if the file you download tries to do any of the above, the file is not original and someone has tampered with it.

Making Things Even Better (Value Addition):
There's a very cool Windows 7 feature which I've used to make things even better on my laptop.
The feature goes like you can access the shortcuts pinned to Windows by pressing Windows Button + a number. The leftmost minimized program or pinned shortcut will be activated by pressing Windows + 1, second left with Windows + 2, so on and so forth. For example see the snap shot of my current Windows Toolbar

The yellow numbers aren't found originally in the interface, I've annotated the snap shot on purpose. Right now, if I will press Windows Key and then press 2 key(not from num-pad) the Windows Media player which is second from left will be maximized. Similarly, Windows 5 will cause Google Chrome to open up. Windows 8 will maximize Ms Paint. I have pinned the .exe file of our cut throat power off display application to Task bar. Therefore, if I will press Windows key + 1 display of my laptop will be turned off.


Technical Explanation:
How Windows Works
Basically we need to understand the architecture of Windows applications to get the core of what's happening in this single line of code.
In a Windows environment, we don't interact with any application directly. Instead whenever we perform an action we are talking to Windows Operating System, the OS takes our command/action and passes it over to an application depending on the location of the action/command/event. 


For Example:


Like if you click in a Ms Word window, following will happen:

1. Windows OS will catch the message 
2. It will see that currently the window associated with Ms Word was active
3. It will pass over your command in form of a message to Ms Word
4. Each and every Windows based application contains a "Windows Message Message Pump" loop, which keeps watching for incoming messages from Windows OS
5. In this case, the message pump inside Ms Word will catch the message that "user clicked somewhere".
6. Then Ms Word will handle the message what ever way it wants to.
7. 
   
8. If an application has not handled a certain message, the message will simply have no affect on its health and the application will just discard the message.

People writing code for .Net platform (usually) don't know these things, but that's the basic Ms Windows architecture, and its not going anywhere any time soon. The "Windows Message Pump" plus WndProc method is alway in there.


Where does SendMessage() fit in?
SendMessage is found in User32.dll, and its a Win32 API call(scary bare bone stuff for .Netters).
In this program we are broadcasting a message, which is not intended for any specific application. Like the fishermen broadcast help requests on radio. We are just saying "Hey anybody out there, I am sending  a WM_SYSCOMMAND which is related to SC_MONITORPOWER with a value of 2". Luckily there is a portion of Windows which is handling this message, its the same part which turns your display off after a certain amount of time.
This function call won't affect anything else on your system, cause no other application is consuming this message.
So, in the end, your display is powered off so that you can sit back and relax ;)


DISCLAIMER: There is no guarantee or warantee that this program will work as specified in this post. Author will not be responsible for any damage due to use of instructions provided in this post.