Top 5 Value for Money Mobiles under Rs. 5000 – Dec’10

some decent value for money mobiles available in Indian market under Rs. 5,000.
Before starting I would like to let you know some essential facts of under 5K price range. This range is flooded with China clad Indian mobile manufacturers e.g. Lava, G-Five etc. No doubt these companies dominate under 5K segment but the major issue with these manufacturers is the quality. They add the features just for the hake of it and there is no perfection guaranteed. Normally I try to avoid these phones in the list compilation.
Getting a decent phone under 5K is definitely a tough job since manufacturers tend to compromise a lot due to budget constraint. But boy, don’t you worry. Hum hain na. Lets see what are the best available options in the market under 5K.
And yes, since 3G has entered India, I have tried to incorporate more 3G mobiles in the list.

Top 5 Mobiles under Rs. 5000 for December 10

1. Samsung Squash C5010 – Price in India : Rs. 3499

An entry-level 3G GSM mobile phone which weighs just under 81g. Supports a range of connectivity options including Bluetooth v2.1, 2G & 3G connectivity up to 384 Kbps

• 2.0 inches, TFT, 65K colors
• 1.3 Mega Pixels main camera
• VGA front camera for video calling
• MP3/AAC/FM player
• Java, 3G, email
• Social networking services
• Expandable up to 8GB

2. Nokia 2730 Classic – Price in India : Rs. 4149

Aesthetically beautiful 3G, up to 3.8 Mbps data transfer speeds, combined with Windows Live Messenger support lets you stay connected and keep up with mails with ease.

• 2.0 inches, QVGA, TFT, 256K colors
• 2 Mega Pixels camera
• Support For E-mail Attachments
• MP3 player and FM stereo radio with RDS support
• 3G, Java, Games, Opera Mini
• Expandable up to 2GB

3. LG GU285 – Price in India : Rs. 4529

Sports a 1.3 megapixel main camera and a VGA camera in the front for video calling. The LG Buzz GU285 is preloaded with all the SNS apps, Instant messengers and games. Its easy and quick Internet and Email functionality supports up to 5 email accounts with ease and the Scheduled SMS feature allows you to send a pre-typed SMS at a specified time and date.

• 2.0 inches, TFT, 256K colors
• 1.3 Mega Pixels main Camera
• VGA video call camera
• Expandable up to 8GB
• 3G, email

4. Motorola Starling EX115 – Price in India : Rs. 4749

Looks a bit like Samsung Omnia Pro. Features like is a Dual Sim, 3 Mega Pixel camera, 32 GB expandable memory (generally found in high-end phones), battery backup of 10 days standby and 3 hours talk time etc. makes it a great buy. No 3g though

• 2.3 inches, TFT 256K colors
• 3.2 Mega Pixels Camera
• Dual Sim (GSM+GSM), Qwerty
• Expandable up to 32GB

5. Samsung mPower TV S239 – Price in India : Rs. 4899

Last phone of the list is dedicated to our CDMA readers who are looking for an option to go 3G for a budget. Samsung S239 is a 3G CDMA handset which comes embedded with the MobiTV to get bufferless access to 50 Live Channels. Since It is developed on the OMH platform, can be used with any CDMA operator. 3G connectivity (up to 2.4 Mbps) is also well optimized for Tata Photon/Reliance Netconnect.

• 2.4 inches QVGA Display, TFT 262K Colors
• 1.3 Mega Pixels Camera
• 3G, Java, Games
• Expandable up to 16 GB

Please note that all the price are as on 5 Dec 2010 and can be changed later on.

Top Music Mobiles Under Rs. 5000

For some mobile users one of the main criteria for purchasing a new handset is the multimedia capabilities that the phone brings to the table. More often that not it’s the audio player that ends up being one of the main reasons for a handset being popular, other than the budget of course. With that in mind, here are a few multimedia handset choices for those with a budget of Rs. 5000.

Micromax X360 - MRP - Rs. 4999, Approx. MOP - Rs. 3775
The X360 is Micromax’s music phone that’s tied up with MTV for content. It’s a chic looking well constructed handset that’s also comfortable to use. Micromax has also included a 2GB microSD card with the handset that’s loaded with plenty of popular music, MTV reality show videos and wallpapers of popular VJs. The main feature is of course the Wolfson and Yamaha sound engine that the X360 is equipped with. This seriously enhances the over all audio output. It even has an 8 band graphic EQ for a further customization. The bundled handsfree is also quite comfortable to use. If you’re looking for a handset purely for calls, messages and kick-ass audio, the X360 is a really good choice.

The Good: Well designed
Excellent audio player
FM radio has good reception
Bundled 2GB card comes with plenty of MTV content
The Bad: Lacks Social Networking features,
No Email support,
Video playback didn’t work out too well
The Rating: 3.5/5

Intex IN 4495 - MRP - Rs. 4500, Approx. MOP - Rs. 3895
Intex’s extremely funky IN 4495 manages to easily incorporate a touchscreen display into an otherwise standard candy bar form. Like the X360, the IN 4495 also comes with both EQ presets and a customizable graphic EQ which make a significant difference to the overall audio output. The well placed 3.5mm handsfree port means you can opt to use your own earphones if they happen to be better than the ones bundled with the package. Like Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, the IN 4495 also has a drag and drop widget system for the desktop.

The Good: Well designed
UI is quite smooth and user friendly
Really good sound quality
FM reception was good
Good battery life
The Bad: FM radio had issues with earphones
Camera quality is bad
The Rating: 4/5

Karbonn Brings in a Battery of Phones

Amongst the low-budget multimedia phone companies, Karbonn has not hit the Indian market too well. Looking at the K10 and K560, you might just agree. They're now trying to counter that with quantity, as they plan on launching ten new phones with varied features and prices.

The specs of all the phones are not officially out, but in brief the Karbonn K111, K11 and K514 fall in the multimedia category while the Karbonn K550i, K424, K343, K316, are music phones. The Karbonn K451i doesn’t boast of any features apart from good battery life. We’ve found some specs from various sites on the K1414 and K25i.

K1414 looks pretty

K1414 is a touchscreen phone with access to Twitter and EBuddy services. The phone supports Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) and has the standard features of Alarm, PC Modem Adaptability and Stopwatch. Here’s a list of the specs for the K1414:

• 3.2-inch touchscreen WQVGA display with a resolution of 320 x 400 pixels
• GPRS
• Bluetooth with A2DP
• 3 Megapixel camera
• 62 MB memory expandable up to 16 GB

Although there’s no mention of the price, Flipkart has slapped a Rs. 4990 tag on it.

The K25i is a QWERTY keypad phone that has some social networking features. It has instant chat messengers like Yahoo! & MSN and has Java & Email support. The other specs are as follows:

• TFT Display Screen with QWERTY keypad
• GPRS/EDGE
• Bluetooth
• 2 Megapixel camera
• Memory expandable up to 8 GB through a Micro SD slot
• FM Radio

The phone is priced at Rs. 4550

Top 10 Youngest Internet Millionaires

Internet has proved to be a good place of investment for many entrepreneurs, young and old. Some of the young entrepreneurs have earned huge success in their projects and have become millionaires at an early age.

This list includes 10 such young entrepreneurs who have become millionaires on the internet.

10) Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith

Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith Tagged Inc. co-founded

Age: 28 years old
Project: Tagged
Wealth: $45 million

Tagged Inc. was co-founded by Harvard graduates and entrepreneurs Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith. Tagged.com was launched in October 2004 by Tagged Inc. and is privately owned.Tagged. com is a social networking site founded in 2004. Tagged is the subject of numerous customer complaints for sending deceptive bulk mail and is regarded as a phishing and spamming site and an "E-mail scam" by consumer anti-fraud advocates. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States

9 Jake Nickell

Threadless Co-founders Jake Nickell

Age: 28 years old
Project: Threadless
Wealth: $50 million

Threadless is a community-centered online apparel store run by skinnyCorp of Chicago, Illinois, since 2000. Co-founders Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart started the company with $1,000 in seed money after entering an Internet t-shirt design contest.

Members of the Threadless community submit t-shirt designs online; the designs are then put to a public vote. A small percentage of submitted designs are selected for printing and sold through an online store. Creators of the winning designs receive a prize of cash and store credit.

8 Alexander Levin

ImageShack Co.founder Alexander Levin

Age: 23 years old
Project: ImageShack
Wealth: $56 million

ImageShack is an image hosting website on the Internet. ImageShack has a subscription service, but the majority of their revenue is produced from advertising related to their free image hosting. The imageshack.us Alexa ranking as of September 25, 2007 is one of the top 40's. According to Nielsen//NetRatings , ImageShack was the fourth fastest growing web brand in July, 2006.

7 John Vechey

PopCap Games Co-founder John Vechey

Age: 28 years old
Project: PopCap Games
Wealth: $60 million

PopCap Games is a leading American casual game developer and publisher, based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka, and currently employs more than 180 people. Most of Popcap's games can be played free in a limited form, with the full version available for a fee.

PopCap’s flagship title Bejeweled has sold more than 25 million units across all major platforms. PopCap games are available for Web, PC and Mac, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, cell-phones, PDAs, iPod Classic, iPhone/Touch and other mobile devices.

6) Angelo Sotira

DeviantArt Co-founder Angelo Sotira Age: 26 years old
Project: DeviantART
Wealth: $75 million

DeviantArt (official typeset as deviantART; commonly abbreviated as dA) is an American online community with worldwide appeal showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. DeviantArt, Inc. is headquartered in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States. As of May 2009[update] the site consists of over 10 million members, over 81 million submissions, and receives around 105,000 submissions per day. The domain deviantart.com attracted at least 36 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study.

DeviantArt aims to provide a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works. Works are organized in a comprehensive category structure, including photography, digital art, traditional art, literature, Flash, filmmaking, skins for applications and others, along with extensive downloadable resources such as tutorials and stock photography. "Fella," a small robotic cat character, is the official DeviantArt mascot.

5) Andrew Michael

Fast Hosts founder Andrew Michael

Age: 29 years old
Project: Fast Hosts
Wealth: $110 million

4) Blake Ross and David Hyatt

Mozilla firefox project by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross. Age: 22 years old
Project: Mozilla
Wealth: $120 million

Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox has 22.98% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of August 2009[update] , making it the second most popular browser in terms of current use worldwide after Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which has 66.97%.

To display web pages, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine, which implements most current web standards in addition to several features which are intended to anticipate likely additions to the standards.

Latest Firefox features include tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (aka "geolocation") based exclusively on a Google service and an integrated search system that uses Google by default in most localizations. Functions can be added through add-ons, created by third-party developers, of which there is a wide selection, a feature that has attracted many of Firefox's users.

Firefox runs on various versions of Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and many other Unix-like operating systems. Its current stable release is version 3.5.3, released on September 9, 2009[update] . Firefox's source code is free software, released under a tri-license GNU GPL/GNU LGPL/MPL

3) Chad Hurley

Chad Hurley co-founder and Chief Executive Officer youtube

Age: 30 years old
Project: YouTube
Wealth: $300 million

Chad Meredith Hurley (born 1976) is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the popular San Bruno, California-based video sharing website YouTube. In June 2006, he was voted 28th on Business 2.0's "50 People Who Matter Now" list. In October 2006 he sold YouTube for $1.65 billion to Google.

Hurley worked in eBay's PayPal division—one of his tasks involved designing the original PayPal logo before starting YouTube with fellow PayPal colleagues Steve Chen and Jawed Karim.

Hurley is a user interface expert and was primarily responsible for the tagging and video sharing aspects of YouTube

2) Andrew Gower

Andrew Christopher Gower is a British games developer and co-founder of Jagex Ltd

Age: 28 years old
Project: Runescape
Wealth: $650 million

Andrew Christopher Gower (born 2 December 1978) is a British games developer and co-founder of Jagex Ltd, the company he founded with Paul Gower and Constant Tedder. He is noted for writing MMORPG RuneScape, with the assistance of his brother, Paul Gower and also a lead developer.

Jagex Games Studio (or Jagex Ltd./Jagex Software/JAGeX) is a producer of online computer games based in Cambridge, UK. It is best known for the three versions of its RuneScape MMO, as well as for having produced the FunOrb games site and developing the 'to be released' MechScape MMO. Jagex has over 350 employees, with all content development, management, and customer support provided 'in house'.

The company produces games exclusively written using the Java language, its name standing for "JAva Gaming EXperts". It has received a number of awards for its achievements and is one of the highest profile developers in the UK.

1) Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg Facebook Founder

Age: 23 years old
Project: Facebook
Wealth: $700 million

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984) is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur. As a Harvard student, he created the online social website Facebook with fellow computer science major students and his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Facebook is a social networking site popular worldwide. Zuckerberg serves as Facebook's CEO. He has been the subject of controversy for the origins of his business and his wealth.

Time Magazine added Zuckerberg as one of The World's Most Influential People of 2008. He fell under the Scientists & Thinkers category for his web phenomenon, Facebook, and ranked 52 out of 101 people.

Nokia C5-03 set to replace Nokia 5800XM

Nokia had announced C5-03 in October and this phone is now set for release in India at 10k price point. For long, 5800XM has been  one of the best low-midrange Symbian handset. After Nokia 5235 (8k retail price), the next best Symbian touch device is X6 which retails for 15k, and it doesn’t really justify the 14k+ price tag. C5-03 should fill that gap, which was taken care by old horse 5800XM. C5-03 doesn’t boast of any new features. Consider it as 5800XM v2.

First, let’s take a quick look at specifications:

Dimensions:

• Size: 105.8 x 51 x 13.8 mm
• Weight (with battery): 93 g
• Volume: 65 cc

Display and user interface:

• Screen size: 3.2" 16M resisitve touch
• Resolution: 640 x 360 (nHD)
• Symbian S60v5

Camera:

• 5 megapixel camera
• Video resolution: 640x480, 15fps

CPU/Memory:

• ARM 11 600MHz
• Internal memory: 40 MB
• MicroSD memory card slot, hot swappable, up to 16 GB

Data network:

• GPRS/EDGE class B, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296 kpbs downlink/177.6 kbps uplink
• HSDPA category 9, maximum speed up to 10.2 Mbps
• HSUPA category 5, maximum speed up to 2 Mbps

Connectivity:

• 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0
• USB 2.0
• 3.5mm AV

Battery:

• 1000mAh Li-Ion battery BL-4U
• 11.5hrs (2G), 4.7hrs (3G) talktime
• 25days standby (2G)
• 35hrs music playback
• 7.5hrs video playback

GPS:

• Integrated with A-GPS
• Digital compass
• Ovi Maps 3.0, lifetime free navigation license

When compared to 5800XM (which it is going to replace), C5-03 has:

• thinner and lighter and better looking build
• faster 3G
• better processing speed
• triband HSDPA
• less onboard memory
• no proximity sensor
• inferior camera, no camera flash and poor video recording quality
• smaller battery

When comapared to 5230, C5-03 has:

• thinner and lighter build
• faster 3G
• better processing speed
• faster triband HSDPA
• better camera
• 802.11 b/g (wi-fi)
• less onboard memory
• no proximity sensor
• smaller battery

As one can see, this phone is slightly inferior when compared to 5800XM but a better phone than 5230 in features. If priced at 9k, this phone can give a touch competition in the low-mid range market and it’s main competitors will be:

• Samsung  Galaxy 5
• Samsung Wave 525
• LG GT540 Optimus
• Samsung Galaxy 3
• HTC Smart

Uninor Celebrates Its 1st Anniversary With Exciting Offers

Uninor, the promising new telecom brand today announced the launch of its Special Anniversary Offers for existing and prospective customers. The Special Offers comes as a souvenir for the Uninor subscribers on the occasion of its 1st Anniversary celebration.

The operator has come up with  2 exciting new offers dubbed as “101 = 150″ and One Two Ka Three Offer. With 101=150 Offer Uninor prepaid subscriber will get Cumulative Talk time of Rs. 150 on a recharge of Rs. 101. Subscriber also get  A Daily talk time of Rs. 10 for each day for 15 days and Rs. 10 talk time is valid for one day and is valid till 12 ‘O’ clock in the midnight.

While “One Two Ka Three Offer” gives the customer the power of three free offers with any recharge of Rs. 50 and above.Wherein customers get 100,000 free SMS; 100 MB GPRS; and on one month caller tune subscription two more months added free.The Special Anniversary Offer is on till 10th December 2010.

Uninor which is celebrating its First Anniversary today has over 13 million GSM subscribers. The operator launched ist GSM services on December 3, 2009 in India. The Uninor launch event was the biggest single day Greenfield GSM launch ever in international telecom history!

Maxfone Mobiles Introduces Five New Mobile Handsets In India

Maxfone Mobiles has come up with five new handsets in Indian market.Maxfone Mobiles focuses on models with lasting Battery phones, Music phones, Internet phones, Business phones and Entry level phones with superior quality.All models of maxfone come with great features and looks at an affordable price range.

MQ01 – Qwerty phone

MQ01 is a Dual Sim and Dual Stand By phone. This phone is a dedicated qwerty phone for message lovers to create a speedy chat over the phone. Wireless FM Radio help to enjoy the music and FM Recording makes digital Camera keep you connected with your loved ones. Other features like LED Torch, Blacklist, Shaking the wallpapers, FM and MP3 make it a complete multimedia phone.

Its Bluetooth & Video Recording help you to share your picz, videos and songs with your friends. GPRS, WAP and MMS make you connected over the internet.This phone comes in stunning Black Color. This model is priced at approximately Rs. 2499 making it a complete value for money.

M301 – Long Battery Backup Phone

M301 is Long Lasting Battery Phone mobile comes with extra long battery life up to 30 days standby. This phone is very good looking with crystal glass keypad and Steel Back Cover. It support T-Flash and plays Loud Music. Dual Sim, Music player, Bluetooth, Camera, FM, MP3/MP4, Blacklist and Password Protected makes your phone secure. It has a good browsing speed. This multi feature model comes in Black color and is priced at Rs. 2199.

M201 – Big Battery Phone

M201 is the Long Battery Phone with 30 days battery backup and 1.8 “TFT Screen. This mobile handset offers the features like Camera, MP3, SMS, MMS, Expandable Memory upto 2 GB and Blacklist. This phone has Loud music with 3.5 MM Audio Jack. This phone comes in Business Sliver color and is priced Rs. 1999.

M101 Slim Phone

M101 is a Slim Phone with One Touch Wireless FM Radio, Call Timer, Call Waiting, Call Divert and Loud Ringtone. It support upto 2 GB Flash Card and 1.8 “ Screen Size. This handset comes in grey color and available at Rs. 1599.

M102 Entry Phone

M102 has 1.8 “ Screen Size and features like Sound Recorder, Torch, FM Radio, MP3, Blacklist. This is also a long battery phone with smart look. This phone comes in Black Front Color and White Back Color and priced at Rs. 1569.