So
you own an Android
handset and harp the level of customisation you can achieve with the
device among your iPhone owning friends. But, there is a catch.
Neither you are comfortable rooting your device or installing custom
ROMs, nor have the required expertise. No need to feel disappointed
though as there are tons of apps available on Android market, which
let you customise almost everything in your device. Custom diallers,
SMS clients, homescreen launchers, lock menu, you just name it and
it’s there in the market. Installation is pretty easy too. You just
need to download the app and customise it after automatic
installation and that’s it! However, today we are going to talk
about four best homescreen replacements you can get for your phone.
Here is our list of the best.
1.
GO Launcher EX
Price:
Free
Requirement:
Android v2.0 minimum
Developer:
GO Dev Team
GO
Launcher EX is a recently developed launcher by Go dev team and if
you go by the sheer number of customisation options available, it’s
the best we have seen so far. The GO dev team is already famous for
their Go dialler, Go keyboard and Go SMS client and addition of a
homescreen replacement actually completes the customisation scene.
The Go launcher nearly levels on extremes of customisation so
much that you can actually spend hours over it to get right mix of
everything according to your taste without getting bored. There are
so many preference selections available ranging from Display, Screen,
Dock, App Drawer, Operation, Advanced, Theme settings etc that the
developers have scored one fan in us already!
Download
Task
killer has been provided inbuilt with the launcher, available in some
5 sizes, you can use according to your screen real estate. Hence, no
need to drain your battery by keeping a taskmanager running all the
time when GO taskmanager can do the same with just one tap, any time.
2.
SPB Shell 3D
Price:
Rs. 768.47
Requirement:
Android v2.1 minimum
Developer:
SPB software
Download
If
you are a 3D FX fan, then you can also check out SPB Shell 3D
homescreen replacement. Touted as next gen UI, the application shell
relies on a 3D homescreen engine to generate amazing effects, along
with smart folders, 3D widgets and plethora of other customisation options.
The 3D engine runs like a charm and live screen animation
creates a truly wowing experience. However, this customization option
will set you back by Rs. 768 as this app is available in paid version
only.
3.
LauncherPro
Price:
Free (Rs. 179.39 for Plus version)
Requires:
Android v2.0 minimum
Developer:Federico
Carnales
With
more than 5 million downloads, this app easily counts among the most
downloaded from the Android Market. Boasting of a slick interface and
tons of features, the app is available in both paid as well as
slightly stripped down lite version.
Download
Launcher
Pro comes armed with features like screen panel management,
scrollable widgets with third party app support, transition effects
and so on. Scrolling between screens is a breeze, even with lots of
apps on screen panels. The app is tried and tested by millions of users now, who swore by its stability and ease of use. Still, as a
precaution, you can also backup all your settings to SD card if
something does awry.
The
LauncherPro is a free app but you'll have to shell out Rs. 179 if you
want to go for the Plus version.
4.
ADWLauncher
Price:
Free (Rs 149.80 for EX version)
Requires:
Android v2.0 minimum
Developer:
AnderWeb
If
LauncherPro doesn't excite you enough, you may check out ADW
launcher, which has established itself as a worthy alternative. ADW
launcher heavily stresses on the wow factor to attract the users who
are more into enjoying the aesthetics of UI.
Download
Hence,
if you want some UI which does your bidding with snap of a button,
then ADW launcher isn't for you. ADW comes across as somewhat more
customisable than LauncherPro but the biggest advantage of ADW
launcher is the huge amount of themes available for it. It's more
configurable than LauncherPro -- but having said that, most of the
preferences make no sense at all unless you first read the guide. ADW
also has gestures; as in you can swipe up or down on the home screen
to launch apps or make calls. You can't swipe icons like LauncherPro,
though.
The
ADW Launcher is available for free from Android Market for free.
There is an EX version available too, which goes for Rs 149.80 and
adds more transition effects and more app drawer styles.
Google has ended the year 2011, with a great achievement; It has crossed the 400,000 active apps milestone in theAndroid Market, according to Distimo, an organization providing valuable insight into the app store market for developers, carriers and device manufacturers. Market has almost 100,000 active publishers, contributing to that total. The application store has marked the 200K and 300K available apps milestones in April and August 2011, respectively. The percentage of free applications has grown consistently and now the proportion of free apps has reached about 2/3rd of the total apps.
On top of it, Google Android Market has almost reached a second milestone as well. It has approximately more than 100K publishers active, creating more and more apps for Android users. The average app count published by each developer is coming to about 4.1. It is interesting to note that Google is taking all efforts to maintain the cleanliness of the Market by removing many apps that infringe copyrights or malware that trigger various privacy issues to Android users.
Spice is having a field day launching affordable Android smartphones in the Indian market. Following closely on the heels of Mi-350, it has now come up with Mi-350n variant of the device in India. With Android powered, dual-SIM handsets, Spice seems to be targeting those consumers who are using two connections on two different phones but don’t want to buy smartphones for both the numbers. Spice Mi-350n here appears as a natural choice for those looking for smartphones in entry level segment, but don’t want to compromise on performance either.
Spice Mi-350n features an all new design, visibly different from its predecessor. Major hardware specifications include dual GSM network support, Android Gingerbread (v2.3.4), 3.2MP camera with autofocus and DVD quality video recording @30fps, Mediatek MT6573 chipset with 650MHz ARM11 processor and 200MHz GPU for graphics acceleration.
A quick look at Mi-350n’s tech specs:
Pros
· Dual-band GSM and single band 3G support
· Dual GSM (2G+3G) network support; Dual standby
· 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
· 3.5" TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen
· 650MHz ARM 11 processor; Mediatek MT6530 chipset; 200MHz GPU
· Android OS v2.3.4 (Gingerbread)
· 3.2MP autofocus camera, front camera; face detection
· DVD quality videos@30fps video
· MicroSD slot (up to 32GB)
· Wi-Fi
· GPS with A-GPS
· MicroUSB port (charging)
· Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR
· Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
· FM radio
· File manager preinstalled
· SpiceGang and tons of other apps
· Accelerometer and proximity sensor
· Battery 1400 mAh Li-ion
Cons
· No flash for camera
· No support for Adobe Flash in web browser
Look n feel
Mi-350n is an entirely new design and virtually shares no similarities with its older sibling other than size of display screen. Build quality appears to have improved from the previous model. At 116 x 61 x 12.75 mm, Mi-350n is a bit smaller than Mi-350, but weights about the same. Major part of the device is made of plastic with side spines having rubbery finish to enhance grip. The regular plastic battery cover has been replaced with a metal one, in an attempt to add some oomph to the phone, but succeeds only partially while adding unnecessary weight to the device.
The front panel is dominated by a 3.5 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen. Below it are three hard keys for accessing options, home and back. Multimedia control keys have also been rejigged. The volume rocker has been moved to right side panel, while USB port can now be found on the left spine, under rubber flap. Thankfully, a dedicated camera button is still there, which makes operating camera a breeze. Front camera and proximity sensor have been moved to top right corner, above the display screen. Lock/power button has been placed on top, along with a 3.5mm audio jack.
Coming to the back, the 3.2MP camera comes without flash this time too, but autofocus has been added to cheer things up. The display screen is a fingerprint magnet but you can reduce that by using scratch guard screen protectors, which are common now.
The TFT LCD display has maximum resolution of 320x480 pixels. The images appear crisp with vibrant colors. Screen legibility in sunlight is good. Removing the battery cover reveals a 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery, promising good battery backup. The SIM card and microSD card slots are not hot-swappable.
OS and UI
Mi-350n comes loaded with Android Gingerbread v2.3.4. The UI has been extensively revamped and is more user friendly. The home screen comes with four control buttons – dialler, contact, messages and menu at the bottom.
Dragging down the notification panel reveals the power tools for controlling Wi-Fi, Data connectivity, Airplane mode, GPS and Bluetooth. However, you can also access detailed SIM management settings by going to the settings menu.
Long pressing the homescreen reveals menu to add shortcuts, widgets, and folders or change wallpapers. Live wallpapers are also supported and a few come preinstalled on the device too. More wallpapers can also be downloaded from Android Market if the default ones bore you.
Tapping on the menu key on the homescreen takes you to the menu. You can browse through the menu by swiping horizontally across the screen. The apps are listed alphabetically by default.
Overall, the new UI impressed us somewhat but we felt that same old 650MHz ARM 11 processor appeared to be overburdened at some junctures. Maybe it’s time for Spice to pump up its devices with more powerful hardware.
Voice and txt
SpiceMi-350n is a dual SIM phone and can support two GSM (one 2G and one 3G) networks. Though, only one SIM remains active during a call and the other one appears online. You can select the default SIM for calling, sending SMS and for data connectivity by going to the settings option in main menu or through notification bar. The phonebook uses main memory to save the contact details so you can store virtually unlimited numbers in your phonebook.
Pressing the dialler button at the bottom of the homescreen opens the call menu, which also bears an all new look. The dialpad opens by default, with contact list in the background. Dialling a number reveals further six options namely - mute, hold, speaker, contacts, conferencing and dialpad, for ease of access. You can go back to homescreen anytime during a call by pressing the back key. The active call menu can be retrieved again from the notifications bar. Proximity sensor automatically switches off the screen during a call, avoiding unwanted inputs and saving you some juice.
The SMS menu is a typical Android. SMS and MMS are listed as threads in the menu. To send a new SMS, you just need to tap the compose message button provided on the top of SMS menu. Clicking on an existing SMS will open the touch keypad for typing new SMS. You can also copy the text from an SMS and paste it on any other menu or application across the OS platform. Adding Multimedia content like pictures, videos or sound clips automatically turns SMS into an MMS.
Data connectivity and Internet browsing
The handset comes equipped with all options to keep you connected. The handset is 3G enabled and can be used as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. HSDPA/HSUPA speeds of up to 7.2Mbps/ 5.76Mbits are supported by the device. You can also hook on to Wi-Fi network and exchange files with other devices through Bluetooth, a feature which only become available with Android Gingerbread version. A microUSB port has also been provided for charging and USB tethering purposes.
The stock Android Web browser takes care of all your Internet browsing needs and loads pages with blazing fast speed. The browser UI is pretty simple and you just need to punch in the website’s address to get going. The continued lack of Flash support in the browser doesn't raise morale. This limitation forces users to watch streaming video content only on apps like YouTube and Vuclip.
Tabbed browsing is supported and the pages can be zoomed in/out tapping on the screen itself. Pinch and zoom feature is also supported though.
Coming to video calling, Skype video call is not supported yet so you'll have to make do with voice calling and hat only.
Apps and utility
Coming to applications, this one comes with loads of them preinstalled. Tons of apps, ranging from Google app suite to Yahoo messenger, BSE/NSE stock news, Facebook, Ibibo farms, Rail Yatra, Spice Gang etc come preloaded on the device. You can add further to the collection by going to Android Market. Removing stock apps is not possible, so love them or hate them; you'll have to keep them either way until of course you decide to root your handset someday. (Not advisable though as it voids warranty of your handset)
Being an Android device, you must log in with your Google account credentials to activate Google App Suite and download apps from Android Market. Facebook and Ibibo, Nimbuzz and Gtalk chat clients also come preloaded to take care of your SNS needs.
Utility apps include calendar, calculator, stopwatch, timer and voice recorder. You also have a fully functional file browser and app manager to tidy up the device and remove outdated applications.
Camera
Spice Mi-350n comes armed with a 3.2MP auto focus camera with maximum image resolution of 2048x1536 pixels and 3X zoom. The photo quality is good as you can see in sample pictures.
However, lack of flash limits the usability of camera in low light conditions. To make matters lighter though, some goodies like geotagging and face detection have been thrown in. You can access the camera either by going to main menu or directly by pressing the camera key on left spine.
The camera interface is pretty easy to understand. You can zoom in/out of the frame by tapping on the screen itself. We have seen many handsets with volume keys doubling up as zoom keys but Spice has still not taken any cue it seems.
You can jump to video recording mode by tapping on the switch provided on the camera menu. Videos are recorded in high quality DVD resolution (720x480 pixels) at 30fps. The samples shot during the review came out to be very nice, though slight pixilation was found while recording at maximum zoom.
Multimedia
On to the last leg of this review, The Mi-350n comes with all new music player, with new icon set and interface, adding some freshness to the device here. The songs get automatically segregated on the basis of artists, albums, songs and playlists once you plug in your SD card. Making custom playlists is also possible.
Sound quality is good both on the headphones as well as on the loudspeaker. You can further adjust the audio quality of handset by enabling equalizer settings and bass boost from the music player options menu.
The 3.5mm audio jack gives you freedom to use headsets of your choice with the device. The device also comes equipped with FM radio with plain-Jane interface. There is an automatic search option, which configures all available FM stations automatically for you. There is no internal antenna so you need to plug in your headset to start radio.
Verdict
We were expecting something really radical from the device in the course of our review but Spice Mi-350n came across as essentially a repacked version of the earlier model. Still, it inherits the same solid hardware specifications with some improvements in camera department, with a new UI of course. Continued lack of flash content support in browser and LED flash in camera is not appreciated, but with its price (There are very few decent Android powered handsets available in sub Rs 8,000 price range), Spice Mi-350n surely cuts a deal.
Gartner report confirms that 52% of all smartphone sold globally in third quarter of 2011 were Android powered. Definitely, it will be the king of smartphone world by 2012. There are lots of reasons to quote why Android is better than other mobile operating systems.
Wider choice:Competition is driven by creating more options to choose from; and that’s what the idea upon which Google capitalized. If you want to use iOS, you are bound to buy Apple product. If you want to buy Symbian OS, you are bound to buy Nokia phones. If you want to use BlackBerry OS, you are bound to buy BlackBerry phones. But if you want to use Android OS, you have a wider range of brands available, including Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, Micromax, Spice and more. Even within brands, choice is wide with products that differ in price, screen size, processor, color etc; the result is escalating customer base.
More apps: The Market app comes pre-installed in Android phone, which acts as a gateway to a huge pool of both free and paid apps to choose from. Users can download and install multiple apps on their phones by just a few clicks to serve their time-to-time needs. This makes it analogous to Apple.
Enhanced web surfing experience: Android Webkit browser is capable of providing lightening fast web browsing experience. On android based phones, the browser lets users experience the full Web and easily flip through other open applications, making it much PC-like. Other than Webkit, multiple browsers including Firefox, Opera Mini and Dolphin are available on Android Market. Android version 2.2 and above have Adobe Flash support, which enables users to play Flash videos embedded into websites.
Software flexibility: With other operating systems, there is limited scope for tweaking and customization. Android plays in an open environment. Along with apps on Android Market, the OS enables users to download many apps from places like online forums or developers’ websites.
Android is moving fast: The platform has demonstrated astounding pace of development. In a small span of just 4 years, 9 versions of Android have been released, with 17 updates in all. Users can install the latest updates, as and when they are released to keep their device state-of-the-art. Note the fact that Apple has just released its iOS5 and BlackBerry just touched its OS7.
Availability at lower price: Smartphones with iOS or BlackBerry OS are often placed in a higher price category, which is revolting many price sensitive customers. Android-based smartphones are available in a wide price range from Rs. 6000 to 35,000
Android takes you to Google Age: We are living in Google-age. Android phones make all Google services including Google Search, Gmail, Gtalk, Google Maps, and YouTube handy to us. And more Google apps are available free in the Android Market.
No more viruses on your phone: Android devices are protected from the viruses, though not faultless. It can be attacked by malwares but your data are free from the deadly viruses that can corrupt your system and applications. You just need to install anti-malware application to keep your phone away from malwares. An interesting info; iOS holds the record in OS being hacked and Android remains UNHACKED after 3 or 4 years of trying.
57,200,000 hits in 0.17 seconds is what you get by searching 'Root your Android' keyword on Google. Tons of websites are offering rooting guides in detail for your specific phone model and developer hotbeds are getting queries upon queries from aspiring 'rooters' about how to root their specific device make. So what is making people go for rooting their stock Android despite knowing fully that it invalidates handset warranty and can turn their device into an expensive paperweight? We tried to delve deeper into the phenomenon.
What is rooting?
Rooting an Android device basically means gaining super-user access to the file system. Android OS is based on Linux and shares same file directory structure. The root folder in a Linux system holds files critical to system and any changes to these files may make the system unstable. Hence, access to this folder is blocked by default. While you can run any command as a root user by typing 'sudo su' into terminal on a PC, you can't run sudo command on your Android smartphone as it is locked by the device manufacturer. As a result, installing custom themes, fonts and applications that require super-user permissions is not possible until you root your smartphone.
Risks
Besides obvious benefits, rooting has its demerits too. Though the process itself is not illegal, rooting voids the warranty of your handset, which is major spoiler for many. Most of the droid owners try rooting only when the device warranty gets expired. However, hackers have made even this part easy as now there are tools available through which you can unroot your phone by flashing it with original ROM, resetting device’s default state, if any such need arises. And it is highly unlikely that the service center guys would ever come to know whether your device rooted or not.
Possibility of ruining your handset also runs high if you don't follow the instructions properly. There are numerous varieties of Android devices available in the market nowadays from an array of manufacturers. Each of them tops up the basic OS with their own user interface and goodies, making them somewhat different from each other. Hence, the method of rooting different devices is also differs. One wrong step and you can end up with a locked device, reviving which can prove to be quite a task. This is the reason why rooting is not for recommended for everybody.
Another concern is that your data security may also be compromised as malwares can take control of phone if you go on installing applications on a rooted device carelessly.
If you keep a busy schedule and don't have time to play with your device, then rooting is certainly not for you. Still, for the curious kind, who finds technical jargon alien but still want to taste some real freedom with their Android devices, some really cool rooting apps are available which make rooting as easy as counting 1 2 3.
Why root?
All said, the benefits of a rooted handset still outweigh all possible hazards. Once rooted, you can turn your smartphone into a super-smartphone by unleashing its full potential. For starters, you can overclock your processor to make it faster, remove unwanted preinstalled apps, install custom ROMs (customised Android OSes), enhance battery life and signal strength, and of course install apps which require root access. Furthermore, you can also upgrade your device to latest Android version in case your device is not officially eligible for update. Though you can still use FOTA to get device updates in case you are not using a custom ROM, but you'll most likely lose root access, requiring you to root the device again. The re-root method may differ because of the possible security patches installed by update to thwart any rooting attempt and changed OS version.
Ever since I bought Samsung Galaxy Ace, I’ve been trying the pre-loaded Google Voice application to surf web with voice command, but results haven’t always been accurate. Therefore, I started exploring hundreds of voice recognition apps available in Android Market in order to find a reliable one. And still, I am in confusion, though I found some really good personal assistant apps that can obey my commands. I’m sure; some of you must be in similar situation – searching for responsive voice recognition app! I have tried few voice recognition apps and pleased to inform you about few high quality apps.
Google Voice:
Typing queries using small keyboard of mobile devices can be difficult. So, Google rolled “Google Voice” to make search easier in mobile phone. Personalized search feature is available on devices running on Android OS v2.2 Froyo or higher. You can set the preferred language, block offensive words, and other settings. The benefit of personalized search is that Google will associate your voice recording with your Google account in order to display result with high accuracy.
One thing frustrating about Google Voice is its very slow transcription capability and limited accent in its data base. It does not catch sound easily. You have to speak bit-by-bit to make the app understand what you want to convey.
I was trying Google Voice and the responses were:
I: call Ayush
Google Voice: Do you mean “I use”,
I tried several times, but it could not understand. Finally I tried a different name from my contact list.
I: call Vrinda
Google Voice in action: calling Vrinda
In my perception, Google Voice does not catch words properly.
Vlingo Virtual Assistant:
Give voice command to open apps, email contacts, search the web, or update status on Facebook – Thanks to Vlingo. Just tap Vlingo widget and speak! Its voice recognition speed and accuracy is impressive, though not faultless.
Koememon:
Koememon is amazing voice recognition app. The best words to credit this app are “just speak your memo and it will convert it into perfect text. But it can be used only for making notes. It is not possible to command phones with the apps. But the transcription quality is extremely good. For making voice to text notes, I will give it 4 stars out of 5.
Iris
Inspired from iPhone feature Siri, a team of Android developers led by Narayan Babu built a clone of Siri, called as Iris. Interestingly, name Iris is backronym of Siri.
“Voice Search” and Text- to Speech (TTS) library should be pre-installed on the Android phones to get voice command feature of Iris. Iris is currently in an Alpha testing state. When you ask the correct questions it can perform simple tasks such as making call & typing text to someone, search something on web, look up a contact and have conversations on varied subjects such as Philosophy, Culture, History, and Science to general conversation. Iris is expected to perform better on Ice Cream Sandwich Android version.
A good example how Iris work
I: call John
Iris: shall I call John
I: Yes
Iris in action: calling John
Edwin
Edwin is a speech to speech application. It can h it can help you tweet, send message, surf the web, make calls, and more merely by voice commands. The app gives list of commands to help you do the action correctly. The app supports English as the source language and can translate to Spanish, Italian, French, and German. But you require speech synthesis data and TTS apps on your device to use the features.
Edwin is great! It offers great functions and is truly your personal assistant. It performs mathematical calculations and conversions. The app is also ready to define the terms and spell words for you. It can act as your guide to find location and get direction, if GPS in on. It performs hardware functions such as checking status, enabling and disabling of airplane mode, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It will also adjust brightness of the display of phone as per your preference. The app is happy to launch applications such as Gmail and Camera, and tell you time & date. All these features make it superior to other siblings.
Spice Mobiles, over the years, have carved a name for themselves by launching innovative and affordable handsets in the Indian handset market. The latest addition to its range of affordable Android based smartphones is Spice Mi-350. The device, intended to target first time smartphone users, provides customers an affordable yet performance loaded choice.
The device boasts of rugged build, Dual GSM network support, Mediatek MT6573 chipset with 650MHz ARM11 processor and 200MHz GPU for graphics acceleration, 3.2MP camera with DVD quality video recording and Android Gingerbread (v2.3.3). With such specifications, the device, no doubt, towers over its competitors.
A quick look at Mi-350’s tech specs:
Pros
·Tri-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
·Dual GSM (2G+3G) network support; Dual standby
·7.2 Mbps HSDPA support
·3.5" TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen
·650MHz ARM 11 processor; Mediatek MT6530 chipset; 200MHz GPU
·Android OS v2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with custom Spice UI
·3.2MP autofocus camera, front camera; Geo-tagging, face detection
·DVD quality videos@20fps video
·MicroSD slot (up to 32GB)
·Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
·GPS with A-GPS connectivity
·MicroUSB port (charging)
·Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
·Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
·FM radio
·File manager preinstalled
·SpiceGang and tons of other apps
·Accelerometer and proximity sensor
·Battery 1500 mAh Li-ion
Cons
·No LED flash for camera
·No ambient light sensor
·No shutter key for the camera
·No support for Adobe Flash in the web browser
Looks n feel
From the first looks, the device looks quite sturdy. Measuring 118 x 60 x 13.4 mm and weighting 135 grams, Mi-350 is quite a handful. The black coloured device has a glossy front panel, with a 3.4 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen much of it. Below the screen are three hard key buttons given for accessing option, home and back functions. Going with hard keys in era of touch buttons appeared odd. Front camera and earpiece could be found on the upper left corner of the device. A metallic ring runs around the edges, accentuating the look of the device.
The spines are bare, except a volume rocker and camera key provided on the left panel. Power/lock key has been placed on the top, along with 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB charging slot. Battery cover has a rubberised finish, which is quite conducive for good grip on the handset. Loudspeaker grill and 3.2MP camera has been placed on the upper half of back panel. Build quality of the phone is good but the screen is prone to getting scratches. Proximity sensor has been incorporated as well, which deactivates the screen during calls and saves battery life, but there is no ambient light sensor.
The TFT LCD display has maximum resolution of 320x480 pixels. The images appear crisp with vibrant colors. Screen legibility in sunlight is good too. The touchscreen responds beautifully. Removing the battery cover reveals a 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery, promising good battery backup. The SIM card and microSD card slots are accessible only by removing the battery.
OS and UI
Mi-350 is the first Gingerbread running smartphone in Spice’s arsenal. It comes with custom Spice user interface. Three buttons – dialler, menu and messages, have been given at the bottom of the homescreen. Small dots, representing the homescreens appear on the either side of these touch buttons and can be used to navigate through the screen panels. Alternatively, you can also swipe horizontally across the screen to change homescreen panels. The notification bar has been further bolstered by addition of power buttons for WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Data Communication and Accelerometer sensor. You can also select the default SIM to make calls and send SMS from the notification bar itself. However, you can also access detailed SIM management settings by going to the settings menu.
Long pressing the homescreen reveals menu to add shortcuts, widgets, and folders or change wallpapers. Live wallpapers are also supported and the 12 come preinstalled on the device. Alternatively, you can download more wallpapers from Android Marketplace if you don’t like the default bunch.
The menu is also side scrollable and you can rearrange the menu icons by long pressing the screen.
650MHz ARM 11 processor does its job well and can handle multiple applications with ease, adding to the fluidity of Gingerbread user interface.
Voice and txt
Spice Mi-350 is a dual SIM phone and can support two GSM (one 2G and one 3G) networks. Though, only one SIM remains active during a call and the other one appears online. You can select the default SIM for calling, sending SMS and for data connectivity by going to the settings option in main menu or through notification bar. The phonebook uses main memory to save the contact details so you can store virtually unlimited numbers in your phonebook. Same goes for storing SMS and MMS too.
Pressing the dialler button at the bottom of the homescreen opens the call menu, which is divided into four tabs – phone, call log, contacts and favourites. The dialpad opens by default, with recent call list in the background. Dialling a number reveals further six options namely - mute, hold, speaker, contacts, conferencing and dialpad, for ease of access. You can go back to homescreen anytime during a call by pressing the back key. The active call menu can be retrieved again from the notifications bar.
Smart dial feature is also available and alphanumeric search can be used to look for contacts. Proximity sensor automatically switches off the screen during a call, avoiding unwanted inputs and saving precious battery charge.
The SMS menu is a typical Android affair. SMS and MMS are listed as threads in the menu. To send a new SMS, you just need to tap the compose message button provided on the top of SMS menu. Clicking on an existing SMS will open the touch keypad for typing new SMS. Long pressing on an SMS will open the SMS management menu, where you can forward, edit or delete the selected message or the whole conversation thread. You can also copy the text from an SMS and paste it on any other menu or application across the OS platform. Adding Multimedia content like pictures, videos or sound clips automatically turns SMS into an MMS.
Data connectivity and Internet browsing
The handset comes equipped with all forms of connectivity modes to satiate your needs. For starters, the handset is 3G enabled and can be used as a mobile WiFi hotspot. HSDPA/HSUPA speeds of up to 7.2Mbps/ 5.76Mbits are supported by the device. Furthermore, you can also hook on to WiFi network and exchange files with other devices through Bluetooth, a feature which only become available with Android Gingerbread version. A microUSB port has also been provided for charging and USB tethering purposes.
The stock Android Web browser takes care of all your Internet browsing needs and loads pages with blazing fast speed. The browser UI is pretty simple and you just need to punch in the website’s address to get going. However, the lack of Flash support in the browser cannot be justified in a Gingerbread device. This limitation forces users to watch streaming video content only on apps like YouTube and Vuclip.
The browser supports tabbed browsing and the pages can be zoomed in/out tapping on the screen itself. You can further add the website to bookmark list, or share the link with your friends through SMS/Email.
Apps and utility
One thing is for sure that Spice Mi-350 comes preloaded with truckloads of apps. Tons of apps, ranging from Google app suite to Yahoo messenger, BSE/NSE stock news, System Info, Facebook, Ibibo farms, Rail Yatra, Spice Gang etc come preloaded on the device. You can add further to the collection by going to Android Market or remove the ones you don’t like by going to the Apps manager in main menu.
We have become used to the presence of Google apps on Android devices now. The Mi-350 doesn’t deviates and comes preloaded with Gmail, Google maps and Google search apps. Having a Google account is mandatory as you won’t be able to download access Android Market and download more apps. Facebook and ibibo and Gtalk chat clients also come preloaded to take care of your SNS needs.
Utility apps include calendar, calculator, Stopwatch, Timer and voice recorder. You also have a fully functional file browser and app manager to help you with house cleaning.
Camera
For shutterbugs, Spice Mi-350 comes armed with a 3.2MP full focus camera with maximum image resolution of 2048x1536 pixels and 8X zoom. The photo quality is very good as you can see in sample pictures.
Close shot
Long shot
While in motion
Indoor shot
However, again on the downside, lack of flash limits the usability of camera in low light conditions. To sweeten the deal though, some goodies like geotagging and face detection have been thrown in. You can access the camera either by going to main menu or directlyby pressing the camera key on left spine.
The camera interface is pretty easy to understand. You can zoom in/zoom out of the frame by tapping on the screen itself. You can jump to video recording mode by tapping on the switch provided on the camera menu. Videos can be recorded in high quality DVD resolution (720x480 pixels). The samples shot during the review came out to be very nice, though slight pixilation was found while recording at maximum zoom.
You need to plug in a microSD card to start shooting though as the camera uses SD card memory as default storage space.
Multimedia
Finally, we come to last leg of our review – the multimedia performance. The Spice Mi-350 comes with stock Gingerbread music player. The songs on SD card get automatically segregated on the basis of artists, albums, songs and playlists. You can make your own playlist by going to the playlist menu.
Sound quality is good on both the headphones as well as on the loudspeaker. You can further adjust the audio quality of handset by enabling equalizer settings and bass boost from the music player options menu.
The 3.5mm audio jack gives you freedom to use headsets of your choice with the device.
The device also come equipped with FM radio. The interface is pretty much plain. There is an automatic search option, which configures all available FM stations automatically for you. There is no internal antenna so you need to plug in your headset to start radio.
Playing Raging Thunder on Mi-350
Verdict
The Spice Mi-350 definitely packs quite a bang for bucks. It has solid built quality, lines up good hardware specifications, and backs it all with smooth performance with Android Gingerbread. Lack of flash content support in browser and LED flash in camera are definitely a dampener; but the price of the device wins the ultimate battle. There are very few decent Android powered handsets available in sub Rs 10,000 price range and The Spice Mi-350, with all its features is definitely recommended for consumers looking for their first Android touchscreen experience, but is apprehensive in venturing into uncharted territory by burning a hole in their pockets.
