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Jan 15, 2013

In a special event today Facebook has announced Graph search which is a new way to sort through your list of friends and connections and Facebook.

Graph Search will appear as a bigger search bar at the top of each page. When you search for something, that search not only determines the set of results you get, but also serves as a title for the page. You can edit the title â€" and in doing so create your own custom view of the content you and your friends have shared on Facebook.

Graph Search and web search are very different. Web search is designed to take a set of keywords (for example: “hip hop”) and provide the best possible results that match those keywords. With Graph Search you combine phrases (for example: “my friends in New York who like Jay-Z”) to get that set of people, places, photos or other content that’s been shared on Facebook. We believe they have very different uses.

Another big difference from web search is that every piece of content on Facebook has its own audience, and most content isn’t public. We’ve built Graph Search from the start with privacy in mind, and it respects the privacy and audience of each piece of content on Facebook. It makes finding new things much easier, but you can only see what you could already view elsewhere on Facebook.

The Graph Search beta starts today. Go to www.facebook.com/graphsearch to get on the waitlist.

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If you cast your minds back a couple of weeks, you may remember my tentative pledge to take on the challenge of using a Windows Phone 8 device for an entire two weeks, in place of my beloved iPhone. This, on its own, is not much to shout about, but considering I had never previously acquainted myself with Windows Phone in any way, shape or form, I suspected my fortnight with the Nokia Lumia 820 would be one of trials and tribulations.

It all began on the 8th of January. I took the SIM out of my iPhone, and cut it completely out of my life. The first few hours were tough, to say the least, but, sensing it was merely the fear of the unknown, dived in head first.

The Device

In this case, Nokia was kind enough to provide us with a Lumia 820, and although it doesn’t offer as sharp a display, slick a form factor, or precise a snapper as the Lumia 920, it offers a fairly good representation as to the current state of play in the Windows Phone market.

Needless to say, it’s a capable handset, but it’s relentlessly mid-range. Almost as though it was meant to be high-end, but Nokia purposely crippled it in order to sway the market towards the flagship device. It makes perfect sense from the company’s point of view, but means the 820 is so very nearly a great device.

The cheap, plastic back cover, which pops off to reveal the microSD, SIM and battery housing, doesn’t feel nice to hold, but that’s not the main quibble. Much has been made of both Lumias’ abilities to operate through gloves, but if you’re wearing normal, wool gloves, holding the device is almost impossible. In short, it’s slippery, but since the back cover is removable, I presume it isn’t too difficult to pick up an alternative â€" preferably one with more friction than a bar of soap.

Aside from the cheap build, I have been very pleased with the Lumia 820. The display isn’t the best, nor is the camera, but if you’re not much of a photography enthusiast, this device will serve you just fine.

Interface

There’s no doubting Windows Phone 8 is pretty to look at, but what’s really compelling, is that it actually works. The resizable, Live Tiles adapt to your preferences, and having become accustomed to the uniform arrangements of iOS and Android (save the occasional widget), the versatile, aesthetically-pleasing look of WP8 served as a refreshing change.

There’s a slick finesse about the way Windows Phone 8 jumps in and out of apps, which makes it feel like a premium service. It airs off a sense of enthusiasm, and with Live Tiles constantly keeping you in the loop, it never seems to be taking a break, or sitting idly.

While Android and iOS are seen by many as fairly similar in terms of looks, Windows Phone 8 is vastly different to both. At first, I thought WP8 would be impossible to adapt to, but it’s not overly complicated at all. In fact, within half an hour, most of the functions felt like second nature, and all those reservations I’d previously had about leaving my iPhone were gone.

Apps

A few of you tweeted some general recommendations of apps, tips, and I have to say, you guys really helped me out. The first thing you notice when you make the leap from a platform like iOS or Android, is that Windows Phone is still rather bereft when it comes to app count. But whereas Oliver had a bit of a struggle finding anything noteworthy for his Lumia 800 last year, I found, with a little digging, there are plenty of gems out there.

Twitter is a service that depends on well-developed apps, and having used a bunch for iOS and Android, Windows Phone’s collection is certainly on par. There aren’t as many, but the few that do exist are invariably of the highest quality, and the one I ended up falling in love with was mehdoh. Pronounced “meadow”, and costing $0.99, it does everything you could want and more, allowing effortless sliding between mentions, timeline and messages.

In terms of games and general productivity apps, I ran into many, but the shortcomings of WP8’s apps are still, unfortunately, evident in places. For example, like an increasing number of people, I use my smartphone for banking. I can move money between accounts in seconds, which is great not only for management of funds, but means I can quickly empty my account if I lose my bank card. The Windows Phone Store has no banking apps whatsoever, at least there is none for my bank in UK, and while Microsoft continues its quest to beef up the numbers of apps, the company really needs to concentrate on plugging these basic holes, which can and will turn out to be deal-breakers to many. Yes I Know there’s a native Wallet Hub in Windows Phone 8 for purchasing store gift cards, managing coupons, credit cards, making transactions using NFC and more, but it isn’t exactly what I’m looking for.

So, on the whole, the WP Store has certainly improved dramatically, and if I didn’t do my banking on the move, I might even have said something crazy, like “Windows Phone is a viable alternative to iOS / Android”. While I cannot do that, and while you will almost certainly have to make one or two sacrifices in order to adopt the enticing Windows Phone platform, you should no longer approach the topic with the kind of fear I initially did.

Browsing

Browsing the Web on the mobile version of IE was a pleasure. The gulf between browsing on a larger device versus the iPhone should not be understated, and although the iPhone 5 offers a larger longer display over previous iterations of the iconic Apple smartphone, it is still, in my opinion, no match for the larger handsets on the market.

The quality of the display meant more zooming was necessary than I would have liked, but on the whole, I felt more compelled to browse the Web on the Lumia 920 than I ever have on an iPhone.

Verdict

To my surprise, I really didn’t miss my iPhone a great deal. Sure, this was helped dramatically by the fact I could still use iMessage on my MacBook â€" and I have to admit to missing a couple of my favorite games â€" but all in all, it was no real hardship.

The Lumia 820 was a pleasure to use â€" aside from the aforementioned niggles â€" so if you’re considering a Windows Phone 8 device, I certainly recommend you pick one of these up. If you want something high-end, then obviously opt for the 920, but if your budget doesn’t agree with your techie desires, this is a worthy alternative.

I cannot veil the fact that Windows Phone 8 will likely throw you an obstacle or two in the apps department, but the platform is stable, the devices are appealing, and I am rather excited about the possibility of Microsoft breaking the current two-horse race.

As for me, I’m strongly considering taking the plunge and grabbing a Lumia 920. I could go for more of this!

RP Rating: 7.5/10 (Loses for points for display, back cover texture, lack of apps, and general mediocrity in build quality.)

For discussion on this topic: Check out the threads on Facebook or Google+.

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Apple weren’t wrong when they first announced that there’s an app for just about everything on the iPhone. As it turns out, having a jailbroken iPhone just strengthens this statement tremendously. We keep seeing amazing new Cydia tweaks pop up every other day which just make your iPhone even more useful. Carnitine is yet another example of how jailbreaking can increase the usefulness of your iDevice.

Most of us run into situations where we launch an app and realise that we need WiFi for this one. For example, in my case, I never use YouTube on 3G thanks to the expensive data package by my cellular service provider. Carnitine comes handy in such a situation. It automatically turns on WiFi, when you access certain apps on your iPhone.

How it works is that it asks you on first launch of the app if it should enable WiFi every time you open it. If you allow it, it wouldn’t bug you again but automatically enable WiFi, which you would have had to do so from the Settings app otherwise. Not only would this save you from extra data costs, it’ll save you from a few extra taps. Best thing about Carnitine? It’s free.

One issue with the app, and we hope the developer takes this into consideration in the next release is that WiFI doesn’t turn off automatically after you’re done using the app. This can potentially impact your battery life if you don’t disable it manually by yourself.

Carintine will save you from situations sush as updating an app on 3G in the App Store and later regretting it. We highly recommend this tweak!

Carintine works with iOS 4 and above and is available for free from the BigBoss repository.

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We are invited to a number of launch events and we have almost attended all of them, and being in Pakistan we have always been part of launch events for devices that are about to be launched in Pakistan.

Thanks to Nokia Pakistan, for the first time ever, a new Nokia phone announcement was made from Pakistan at a global launch event held at Marriott Hotel, Karachi last week.

This was a media event held just for the traditional media, newspapers/magazines and online media (this is where we come in!). Sizzled Core, along with a bunch of other bloggers around Pakistan were invited to be a part of this grand event.

Nokia’s decision to choose Pakistan for the global launch of their upcoming devices was a clear sign of how important Pakistani market is for Nokia. Nokia envisions to connect the next billion people with the newly launched Nokia 110 and Nokia 112. Great presentations, and overview of how strong the telecommunications industry is in Pakistan, dance, music, fireworks… This was all part of the Nokia event.

Nokia has the biggest app store in Pakistan which includes 2,000,000+ weekly downloads on average! Almost all of media fro mPakistan is accessible on the Nokia Store â€" apps include: Geo, Aaj TV, Dawn News, Express Tribune, ARY News, Radio Pakistan etc.

Some really cool local applications are also available, such as Cricket, Ludo, Toffee TV etc. Islamic apps on the App store have millions of downloads. There are over 400 local apps, with 200+ Pakistan developers contributing to the Nokia App store which bring the download count of the Pakistani content to over 17 million!

These statistics and figures were shared by the three key speakers of the main event â€" Imran Khalid Mahmood, Saulo Passos and Calin Turcanu. The event had global and regional spokesperson from Nokia to share their thoughts on emerging markets and the new devices. Let’s take a brief intro to each of these speakers.

Imran Khalid Mahmood

Imran Khalid Mahmood is the VP, Near East, Nokia Corporation. In his line of duty he is responsible for heading the sales strategy for Nokia in this region. He is the frontrunner of all measurable KPIs and maintains a strict vigilance over them which are the main reason for Nokia’s success and popularity in this region.

Saulo Passos

Saulo Passos is the Global Director Mobile Phone Communications at Nokia, based in London, England. As part of the global Mobile Phones leadership team, his main focus targets the Next Billion strategy, a Nokia effort to connect more people to the internet, using a mobile device as the leading path.

Calin Turcanu

Starting from August, 2011, Calin Turcanu is the Head of Mobile Phones Business Unit, Nokia India, Middle East & Africa and overseessales, marketing and business development of Nokia devices in the region. Calin is actively involved in developing business strategies to ensure market success of key Nokia devices and strengthen Nokia’s brand presence in the region at the same time.

Remember the dance and music I mentioned earlier? Check out the photo below.

We’ll try to get a full video coverage for you to watch it as well. This performance was just before the Nokia team unveiled their new Nokia 110 and Nokia 112.

These new devices will be available in Pakistan and soon after into rest of the world, starting from the end of May. Prices of these new Nokia phones were one of them ain concerns by the attendees there. Nokia 110 is priced at Rs. 3800 and Nokia 112 will be available for Rs. 4000. Very affordable, isn’t it?

Nokia is continuously working on making the value rich features affordable to all price points â€" Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 are great examples of how even the entry-level Nokia devices don’t just offer optimized and affordable internet but at the same time flaunt a stylish design that will cater to a variety of lifestyles.

These devices will prove to be a true enabler in providing the people of Pakistan and the consumers from other growing economies with their first internet experience on mobile phone. Having internet on mobile phone opens up doors for new opportunities for the masses and helps them follow their dreams.

Now, we expect Nokia to make a bigger global launch announcement from Pakistan next time!

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Left: Nokia Lumia 920 â€" Right: Nokia Lumia 820

Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone device Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 are now available in Pakistan.

Both the smrtphones boost super fast dual core CPU and 1GB RAM while they run on Windows Phone 8.

Nokia Lumia 920 is bigger (4.5″) with higher WXGA (1280×768) resolution vs Nokia Lumia 820 with 4.3″ WVGA (800×480) resolution. Lumia 920 is IPS LCD (PureMotion HD+) while Lumia 820 is RGB AMOLED (CBD). Both come with Super Sensitive touch screen technology

Nokia Lumia 920 has 8.7MP BSI sensor PureView camera with Carl Zeiss lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) while Nokia Lumia 820 has a more standard 8MP camera with bit slower Carl Zeiss lens and no OIS.

Lumia 920 has a bigger non-user-replaceable 2000mAh battery while Lumia 820 has a user-replaceable 1650mAh battery.

Now about the price, Nokia Lumia is officially available in Pakistan with warranty for Rs 62,000 while Nokia Lumia 820 is available for Rs. 48,000 in Pakistan.

Here are detailed specs for both the Phones:

Nokia Lumia 920

• Best possible video and pictures with PureView camera, even with shaky hands or at night.
• World’s brightest, fastest and most responsive touchscreen â€" even if you are wearing gloves or have long fingernails
• World’s first smartphone with built-in wireless charging capabilities

Here are the rest of the specifications:

• Microsoft’s latest OS Windows Phone 8 running
• 4.5 inch 720p display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels & PureMotion HD+ display*
• New ClearBright technology makes this the brightest smartphone display ever
• IPS LCD capacitive multitouch touchscreen and Corning Gorilla Glass protection
• Super sensitive touch technology allows you to use the phone with almost anything
• Thickness: 10.7mm
• Weight: 185 grams
• 1.5 Ghz dual-core Krait processor with Adreno 225 GPU
• 1 Gb RAM with 32 Gb non-expandable storage& 7 GB memory through SkyDrive
• 8.7 megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p Full HD video recording
• PureView camera technology
• Floating Lens technology for better image stabilization and low light performance
• 1 megapixel front-facing camera
• Nokia Drive, Nokia Lens and offline maps besides other special Nokia apps
• Bluetooth 3.1, microUSB 2.0, USB-on-the-go, NFC
• Available in Black, Yellow, Red and Gray versions
• 2000 mAh battery with wireless charging
• Price in Pakistan: Rs. 62,000

(PureMotion HD+ is a new technology which enables blur free scrolling.

Nokia Lumia 820

• Windows Phone 8 OS running
• Thickness: 9.9 mm
• Weight: 160 grams
• 4.3 inch ClearBlack AMOLED display with a rather 2010 resolution of 480 x 800
• Multi-touch capacitive display
• Super sensitive touch technology which allows the screen to be used with almost anything
• 1.5 Ghz dual-core Krait processor with Adreno 225 GPU
• 1 GB RAM with 8 GB expandable memory via memory card slot
• 8 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, LED flash and 1080p Full HD video recording
• VGA front-facing camera
• Bluetooth 3.1, microUSB 2.0, NFC
• Available in Red, Yellow, Blue, Gray, Black, Violet and White colours
• 1650mAh battery
• Price in Pakisan: Rs. 48,000

Prices via Sense Applied

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