Why Low Cost Cellphones Are Popular?

Globally, low-income families feel hard to afford expensive cellular-phones so the phone making companies have to come up with different options for such people as well. for this reason, every manufacturer comes up with a budget phone while it makes super smart phones. Generally, people and especially the wealthy class think that low-priced cellular phones are not up to their taste as compared to the expensive cellular phones. They believe that it is a marketing tactic of companies to sell older and revamped products at standard prices but it is not true at all. Consumers can now easily purchase contemporary gadgets with advance technology like touch screen, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, high resolution camera, 3D video games, music player and office tools at very low costs.

Presently, cell-phones made in China are widely used nearly in the whole world, especially they are extensively used in the countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Honk Kong and Sri Lanka etc. In Pakistan, the low cost cell phones are popular and the main reasons behind this:

• In the present inflationary circumstances, it is very much difficult for the people to manage their budget. These low cost cell-phones help them out to manage their budget and also provide them features of lofty cost cell-phones in term of network, communication and entertainment.
• In western countries companies in order to keep up a correspondence with their employees they provide them facility to get smart phones on installments bases that help them to manage their income/salary, unfortunately lack availability of this facility is found in Pakistan. So, the employees of Pakistani companies procure low cost cell in order to go hand in hand to not only manage their salary but also fulfill their mobile inevitability.
• Illiteracy rate is also one of the major factors behind that because more than 40% of Pakistani population is illiterate and they are unaware about the use of new technologies and features like cloud computing, 3-G, Wi-Fi and so on. Buying expensive smartphones even if they can afford it is of not much use to them.
• Unstable economic conditions and street crimes (i.e. mobile snatching activities) are the leading issues that force Pakistani people to purchase low cost cell phones.

In a nutshell, the low-cost cell phones are popular because these mobile phones are not only providing bundle of huge and modern technological services just at half price plus it also come up with the problems of Pakistani people as mention above.

Legitimacy of Mobile Operators Prize

In past few weeks, a mobile network provider started an SMS quiz competition which was said to have prize money of RS. 10 million. But it was something that is actually far from reality – many mobile users suffered. Just for a proof, we contacted with them and came with their remarks such as: “companies are playing with our hard earned money, never given away a single prize, I scored 85195 points for no prize given, wasted thousands of rupees, this is a waste of time and money” and so on and so forth. From mobile users’ experiences, we could surely say that there is no legitimacy of prize schemes of mobile operators in Pakistan. On the other side, it is also pretty much certain that company makes huge money from these frauds.

Everything is obscure since the highest score is unknown to user. You will only know your score only so if you score the highest point the company may say that your score is low than many. And what makes it interesting to know is: to score higher please play the quiz again. More to this, there are no words for the date of lucky draw. For example if you have participated in lucky draw scheme you may not be sure of lucky draw. When we asked one of the mobile users rather suffers, who said that company never told me when the lucky draw will actually held. Instead they keep saying the more entries are the more chances of winning (Jitni Ziada Entries Utny Ziada Jitny K Mowaqy).

If there is something that really exists below the landscape then everything should have been kept transparent. Like the quiz should have been played in real times – users can see the live scores so that one who wins is clearly ranked on top. Or if there is a prize money or lucky draw the date of prize giving must be known. PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) and government of Pakistan must react on these schemes to inquire the real objectives and if found any unfair action, these schemes should be instantly stopped.

How Much Does a Mobile Cost to User

Coming back to your visit to abroad, say UK there will be two options in front of you that whether to use current service there or use the home network of the destination. However, for first option, you will have to see the current mobile network working at destination and if they say yes, they will charge you for roaming. In most of cases, it has turned out to be not working. Therefore, at the end of the day it is always worth knowing that how much does your mobile cost.

In most of abroad countries like USA, UK, Canada or UAE the network service providers offer free mobile devices while signing a service contract. However if you choose a more extensive handset, the cost of mobile phone will also start appearing in the contract from anywhere in between $20.00 and $500 or more. Often mobile users consider this purchase as the only cost they will have to pay, however this is not the case. For choosing a plan, it makes sense to sign a minimum service contract, which will be 2-years plan at least. However, for any reason if you choose to end the contract, an unduly high fee will be charged. Each network operator provides its own data transfer and airtime plans. Some providers have a single package that covers data transfer, talk time and texting while others have specific plans for making calls only. Regardless of what provider you choose, you will be at least paying a cost $80 per month being a user of mobile operator. And this cost is all exclusive of taxes and surcharges.

For AT&T and Verizon data transfer charges are imposed on top of your monthly mobile bill. Both offer their users with unlimited data transfer plans where AT&T offers pay per usage option in addition to unlimited data plan. Verizon will end their pay per usage plan by the end of this year. So these data transfer plans add another cost of between $15 and $80 to your monthly mobile bill. This means that the upper total you can maximum expect will be $580 per month ($500 for contact and device, $80 for data transfer plan). So make sure you are the person who always needs to be stay connected online. For some users this is an extra mobile cost they unconsciously pay for what they hardly use. Finally paying an extra cost of this kind just for the sake of updating your Facebook status might not be worth it.

Most Expensive Mobiles In The World

World has been changing day by day and so is the behavior of consumers also moves on with more and more innovations in mobile technologies such as their connectivity, operating systems, multimedia and other cellular communications like 4G networking. Some people look for smart features and functionalities while for others, functions do not bother. Read more about most expensive mobile phones below:

5.Vertu Signature:
Vertu Signature is a luxurious cellular phone with Symbian mobile OS and graded as fifth most expensive in the world. The leading model of Signature launched by Vertu, a British manufacturer is a complete luxury experience. Earlier, Vertu was a division of Nokia however Nokia sold 90% of Vertu shares in June, 2012. Signature is hand-made and its price is $83,000 USD for regular model. With its special concierge button, user can render concierge service for whole day. It contains 5 tiny pearls of ruby bearings.

4. Vertu Diamond:
Another Vertu handset is at number fourth in most expensive mobile phones in the world and is another type of luxury handset. Its price is $ 1,02,660 USD and made by diamonds and platinum. Diamond comes in different colors such black, blue, brown, red, yellow and tan. The phone also has scratch resistance glass feature. Considering its nice design the phone is mind-blowing.

3. Vertu Cobra:
Another Vertu phone comes at number third. Beside its cobra look its price is of $2,70,400. The phone was previously at number two in most expensive mobiles of the world. In its internal feature, it is obsolete phone featuring 1MB internal memory and no touch screen. The design was made by a French designer “Boucheron”. With its 439 rubies and a few diamonds, it has been emerged as 3rd most expensive mobile phone.

2. Gresso Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot:
Second rank has been given to $1 million mobile phone Gresso Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot. Other names of phone are “Gresso” and “Las Vegas Jackpot”. Although phone is rich of luxury and mind blowing in design but specs are not the same. Whole phone has been made by 180 gm of Gold and each key is individually polished by hand.

1. Crypto Smartphone:
The first place has been taken by Crypto Smartphone, costing $1.3 million USD. The design was created by Peter Aloisson and it is embedded with Windows CE. The phone has robust encryption technology which means it will one of the most secured Smartphones in the world. The front end is enriched with 50 diamonds of different colors.

Pakistan’s Cheapest Android Tabs

1. APEX Froyo Tablet PC:

Apex tablet supports 3G Network and enables Wi-Fi connectivity with 256 MB speed. It contains OS Android 2.2. It has 2 GB built-in memory and support Micro SD card about 32 GB. This tablet has got 7 inch display touch screen and 1.3 mega pixels camera.

It supports external USB Drive/Mouse/Keyboard and also connects headphones. 10.0 Flash can help you in surfing those websites which contains videos, games, rich internet applications, data presentations and other multimedia experiences.

The cost of this Tablet is 8,000 PKR.

2. Archos 28 Internet Tablet:

It has 2.8 inches touch screen and a lighter weight so that you can easily carry it in your pocket wherever you go. Archos 28 Internet Tablet has Wi-Fi connectivity and features 2.2 android OS with a high speed processor. It has Flash 10 so you can surf the internet and play and download your favorite games on it.

It supports USB connectivity and you can transfer any files through this. With 4GB built-in memory save your data simply.

Archos has the great option of playing all types of audio formats, you will love playing your music without any problem. It also plays the popular video formats that are MPEG-4, H.264, WMV/VC1, motion JPEG, MPEG 2 codecs with AVI, MP4, 3GP, MOV,MKV, FLV, RM and ASF extensions.

It just costs 10,490 PKR.

3. CHERRY NEO 8 Tablet PC C8NV

Cherry Neo 8 has 1.2 GHz processor with 4.0 Android OS. With 8-inch touch screen and 800 x 600 screen resolution, this black tablet looks pretty good. It has built-in stereo speakers, microphones, WLAN, and 4 GB memory. It has slots for USB, Micro SD card, headphone, MIC and AC Adopter Battery.

In markets the price of this tablet is 14,600 PKR.

4. I-Robot Android Tablet PC:
With Google Android 1.6 OS and 128 MB speed you can surf, chat and play video games on this tablet PC. It has 7” touch screen and 2 GB hard drive expandable to 32 GB. It supports MS office documents and communication software. It support MP3 audio and 3GP and AVI video formats.

The stand by time is 4 hours. It costs 15,000 PKR.

5. Ainol NOVO 7 Advanced Android 2.3.4

Ainol NOVO 7 Advanced has Android 2.3 operating system with 512 MB speed. It has an awesome 8GB Built-in memory and you can add up to 32 GB micro SD card.

It has 7 inches high resolution touch screen with 0.3 mega pixels front camera and 2 mega pixels back camera. It enables Wi-Fi connectivity; you can surf up to 7 hours. It has stand-by time of 25 days, play games up to 8 hours and music for 24 hours.

You will get USB cable, headphones and remote control with this tablet in 19,000 PKR.

Android, An Operating System

The source code of Android operating system is open source that means it is freely available to anyone. One must not be confused thinking that Android is a hardware platform, it is a software platform. All the applications of android are not meant to run on all the mobile phones using the Android OS. Android is though open source but there are few applications in android which are closed source like Google applications (Gtalk, Gmail, Maps, etc.).

Android is an operating system running Linux parameters. Though it is based on Linux, it should not be confused both being the same or closely same. It relies on Linux v2.6 for its basic system functionalities. These functionalities include functions like memory management, process management, security, driver model and network stack. The major reason for choosing Linux was the fact that it is already open source and it supports shared libraries which are used in android. Source code of open source applications can be easily acquired from source.android.com/download.

The first version of android was named Android 1.1 which was made available in February 2009. After that there was series of versions releases like Android Cupcake 1.5 in April 2009, Android 1.6 Donut on September 2009, Android 2.0 Éclair in October 2009, most awaited and rumored edition Android 2.2 Froyo (WI-fi hotspot functionality introduced) in May 2010, Android 2.3 Gingerbread in December 2010 and Android 3.0 Honeycomb (video talk introduced) in May 2011. One must note that android development can be only done on Ubuntu and MacOS X. All the applications are programmed in Java language. The first publically available was the snake game.

HTC G1 was the first retail android phone launched on October 22nd 2008. And just within two years Android became the world’s most popular smart phone’s platform. It sets the new records by capturing the 59% of the Smartphone market share in January 2012. Currently there are 675,000 apps in the Google Play (Android Market) and it has reached the milestone of total 25 billion downloads. There are total 500 million androids devices active and 1.3 million devices are being activated every day.

Apple iPad mini

Apple iPad Mini has been introduced to compete the smaller sized tablet PC’s like Samsung Galaxy Note and Google’s Nexus 7. Samsung’s popularity is irksome for the Apple especially after the success of its flagship product Samsung Galaxy S3. Apple is also keeping a keen eye on the growing partnership between Google and Samsung (two of its main rivals in the market). Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire is also gaining some good market shares. With the holiday season coming fast, Apple is in no mood to let things out of its domain without a tough fight. To maintain its superiority in the market, iPad Mini is sure to bring a lot of Apple fans back to where they belong.

The customers can choose iPad Mini Wi-Fi or iPad Mini Wi-Fi + Cellular. These two versions have some major differences. 2G, 3G, 4G connectivity support has been taken away from iPad Mini Wi-Fi only whereas the other version has all of these features. Through iPad Mini Cellular, we can make a call just like any other smart phone so this version of iPad has dual functionalities; a powerful gadget with the functions of a Tablet and a powerful smart phone with the functions of making calls and sending text messages. All other built-in Apps of iPad have also been included in Mini.

The price of Apple iPad Mini is a bit higher than its competitors’ products. As Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Google’s Nexus being available in just $ 199 in the international markets and Rs. 19000 to 20000, iPad Mini has a bigger price tag starting from $ 329 (32,500 Rs.). This is may reduce its demand in the market but Apple is confident in getting higher sales as Apple’s products are known for their reliable quality.

Best Android Tab In Pakistan

1. Google Nexus 7:

It has 7 inch display with 1280 x 800 resolutions. This tablet is designed for game lovers because it has Tegra 3 Quad Core processor that works faster than anything. You can download more than 60,000 apps, watch videos and movies, read e-books and surf much more.

Google Nexus 7 has the latest Android 4.1 OS and comes with all your favorite Google apps. It has a 1.2 mega pixels front facing camera. Stand-by is about 300 hours with 10 hours of web browsing and 9 hours of video HD playback.

Read About Google Nexus 7

2. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

It is a Dual Core Processor with 1 GB speed, makes your work simpler and faster. Android 3.1 OS helps you in multi-tasking with the wide range of apps.

This tablet is very thin about 8.6 mm and has 10-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolutions. The rich graphics will make your videos and photos look real.

It contains 3-mega pixels camera and a front facing 2-mega pixels camera for video chat. It has Wi-Fi connectivity and it provides you the Reader’s Hub through which you can read many e-books, magazines and newspapers. With Music Hub you can search and listen thousands of popular songs. Other accessories you can use are headphones, keyboard case or desktop dock.

Read About Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

3. Asus Eee Pad Slider SL 101:

It is featured with NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 1.0 GHz Dual-core Processor which is speedy and Android 3.2 operating system with Adobe Flash Player makes your browsing much easier. Connections become stronger with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

The slider is really cool, you can slide it and use keyboard whenever you want. It has built-in 1 GB memory and you can store up to 32 GB. It has 10-inch wide display screen with 1280 x 800 resolutions.

Asus Eee Pad Slider has 5 mega pixels rear camera and 1.2 megapixel front camera. You will love using it.

4. Sony Tablet S:

Sony tablet S has 9.4-inch display screen with 1280 x 800 resolutions. The best feature is rear view camera about 8 mega pixels camera and front view 1 mega pixel camera. It has a splash proof design, which protects the tablet pc from splashes.

Its processor is NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad Core 1.4 GHz. It is great for playing games and watching movies. 1 GB RAM and external memory up to 64 GB make you save a lot of stuff. You can listen and watch unlimited songs and movies through the Sony Xperia playlists.

It has many built-in applications and slots for card reader, headphones and stereo 3.5 mini jack.

5. Acer Iconia Tab A510:

It has Android OS 4.0 version and NVIDIA Tegra Quad-Core 1.3 GHz processor. It has good speed and internal memory is about 1 GB expandable up to 32GB. Asus has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and has slots for USB drive and headphones.

With 10-inch display and 1280 x 800 resolutions it has good graphics too. It contains 5 mega pixels camera.

Wikipedia

There are many third party versions of Wikipedia in the android market but the official version was released recently by Wikipedia. Within in a few months of its launch it become the top downloaded application.

Wikipedia android is a great aid for learning as it can present the text in 280 languages hence making it a place of learning for everyone. The voice recognition function in Wikipedia allows smooth searching for user moreover you can also save the entire page to read it later in offline mode. It is a user friendly version to make learning easier. Wikipedia android application also has a map which automatically detects your current location and lists the article related to your location. It is a free application to download.

Android Applications

Collins English Dictionary

While reading articles on Wikipedia Android mobile application or while sitting in class you come across an unknown English word and you do not know its meaning or pronunciation. Collins English Dictionary is particularly designed for this purpose to give you extra confidence as you go. It is the best pocket dictionary out there.

Collin English dictionary is paid application. Its cost is £18.59. There is a free version of Collin English dictionary as well but it is in American English and it also doesn’t give as much comprehensive meaning as paid version.

NASA App

The official NASA App is perhaps the best application available for learning on Google Play. It brings the information about all the NASA missions, their current status and milestones. NASA App also provides a link to the official YouTube channel of NASA where users can watch videos of discoveries of NASA. The photo gallery in NASA App contains the exclusive moon and space photos. There is also complete detail of the missions carried out by NASA, their research in the missions with a complete photo gallery and its report.

NASA App is a free application and is ads free as well so users can use it with out an hassle.

Google Sky Map

Google Sky Map is absolutely amazing and among the very best and most downloaded applications on Google Play. It allows user to move his phone around, above his head in a circular motion or just move it out from the window towards the sky. Your phone will act as windows to the stars it will capture the stars and will show you on your mobile screen in exactly same order as they appear in the sky but obviously more clear than they appear in the sky. If you are confused about what you see on your mobile screen or curious what star it is then all you need to do is just to click on that part and this magnificent application will tell you details about it. There are also filters for searching in case your screen is crowded with too many objects. The best thing about this application is that it is free and it doesn’t require data connections either.

Best 5 Android Phones

1. Samsung Galaxy Y S5360

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 is one of the most cost effective android phones manufactured by Samsung, a highly reputed mobile manufacturing company.

Price:
Its price is only Rs. 11,950.

Specifications:
Samsung galaxy Y comes up with all the basic specifications that are required in a good smart phone. Despite being low budget phone processing speed is not compromised. It is built with the 832 MHz single core processor. It is beautifully slim, light weight and stylish phone weighting only 97 gm with a dimension of 104 x 58 x 11.5 mm. It has 2 mega pixel camera with the feature of Geo tagging, camera result is good and worth taking pictures. Internal memory of the phone is 160 GB and it supports SD card up to 32GB.

All these specifications at extremely cheap price will make Samsung Galaxy Y number one in our rankings.

2. Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300

In 2012 where Samsung released expensive models like Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note they also released some cost effective phones as well to entertain their customers who cannot afford expensive phones.

Price:
Samsung Galaxy Pocket is the cheapest android phone manufactured by Samsung to date. It costs only Rs. 10,800.

Specifications:
Samsung Galaxy Pocket has the same specifications as that of Samsung Galaxy Y with same processing speed. It has smaller touch pad in size than Galaxy Y. There are complains about this phone that it often hangs up but that should be acceptable by user at such a price range.

3. HTC Explorer

HTC is known for the quality expensive phones also enters in the race of manufacturing cost effective smart phones by releasing HTC explorer.

Price:
It is the cheapest android phone released by HTC which costs only Rs. 10,100.

Specifications:
It has latest android version v2.3 (Gingerbread). Despite the low processing speed was not compromised, it comes with the single core processor 600 MHz Cortex A5. It has a strong web browser with HTML support. It has built in GPS. Its camera is 3.5 mega pixels with face detection feature though it is reported that camera result is poor but acceptable. It is available in a variety of colors like Active Black, Active Navy, Metallic Black, and Metallic Navy.

4. Huawei Y200

Huawei Y2oo is on 4th place in our cost effective android phones rankings.
Price:
The Price is Only Rs. 11,999.

Specifications:
Huawei is far better phone compared to the price tag on phone. It is the only android phone which boots in 5 sec and charge in 90 minutes. It comes with android version OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread). It has 3.2 mega pixel camera with an excellent result. Its processor is of 800 MHz with 256MB RAM and 512 ROM.

5. LG E400 Optimus L3 Price

LG E400 is stylish and slim and most economical release by LG.
Price:
Its price is Rs. 14,600 PKR.

Specifications:
This recently released phone has OS v2.3 (Gingerbread). It has one GB internal storage and 3.15 mega pixel camera with auto focus and geo tagging feature. The processing speed is of 800 MHz with 256MB RAM and 512 MB ROM.