Visually Touchwiz 4.0 on Android honeycomb is pretty much similar to what Samsung have it on their Smartphones lineup, but that doesn’t stand close to elevate the tablet experience anyhow! But keeping those things in mind, i would like to share my view on their Touchwiz 4.0 in Samsung Galaxy TAb750 with Android Honeycomb 3.1.

First Impression on Touchwiz 4.0UI on Honeycomb 3.1

As, you might be knowing that i got my tab with Vanilla version of Android 3.1, Honeycomb and when i updated it to Touchwiz UI 4.0, i felt an overall visual change and it felt a slightly faster than what it was before. Everything now had the white background replacing the dark black background in the vanilla version of Android.  It felt a lot more clean than what it was previously. But somehow i didn’t like the bottom Navigation bar which turned grey after the update, it was more beautiful when it was black. ( So, I made the necessary changes to make it black again! ) As i said, everything felt a little bit smoother than what it was before, flipping between homescreen is actually very smooth after the update. Icons turned to what i have on my galaxy S2 and now it also had the Music Hub, Readers Hub & Games Hub on the homescreen. It also included the Touchwiz UI 4.0 widgets like Transparent Time widget, Weather widget, Task Manager, Bookmarks, Agenda, Gallery, Contacts, etc. It left a good feeling at first.

Quick Panel on Touchwiz UI 4.0

First thing which was visible and actually useful on the Galaxy Tab750 was the notification Panel. They made it quite similar to the Notification Pull Down Bar in Samsung Android Smartphones powered with Touchwiz UI 4.0 on Gingerbread. It includes all of your toggle settings as on the Notification Pull Down Bar on Galaxy S2-Wi-fi, Notification, GPS, Sound, Auto-Rotation, Bluetooth & Flight Mode. They also made the font size a bit bigger on the Notification panel. Samsung calls it Quick Panel for their Touchwiz UI 4.0. Android Honeycomb’s Notification panel wasn’t that impressive and Samsung has hit the right spot with Quick Panel for me.

Notification Bar & Mini Apps Tray

Samsung didn’t announce this in the CTIA, but i wouldn’t mind any impressive addition anyways. They added a native screenshot button in the Navigation bar at the bottom, which now includes Back Button, Home Button, App Chooser Button & the Screenshot Button. It is a nice addition of course but somehow i don’t like it when i accidently press it and it captures the screen. I wish Samsung made it double tap to grab screens, i mean it’s too easy to press it accidently when you have it on your navigation bar, but that can be just me!

Well, the most impressive addition with Touchwiz UI 4.0 is the Mini Apps tray. A little arrow upwards at the center of navigation bar hides the Mini Apps tray and it includes-Task manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator & Music Player. Android does multi-tasking like anything you could ask for but this addition of Mini Apps tray takes Multi-tasking to another level. Think of a use case when you are surfing a website and need to calculate something or multiply some big numbers that you can’t remember, you’ll have to press the home button and open the calculator app on your tablet to multiply those numbers, but with mini apps tray, it overlays the apps on your present screen, so you can open the calculator on top of the webpage and see the numbers and directly calculate it on the calculator. Similar thing goes with Note Taking app or Pen Memo.

Similarly, if you are viewing something really important on your tab and need to change a track on your music player, you can use the mini apps tray. In real use cases, this thing come real handy.  But the most annoying thing with the App Tray is that it is not customizable. You can’t edit the apps on it and put the most frequently used apps on it. I wish customization of Apps Tray come with the next iteration of Touchwiz UI 4.0. What do you think?

Touchwiz UI 4.0 Apps 

As seen on Touchwiz 4.0 for Gingerbread, Samsung has introduced a lot of apps like Samsung Music Hub, Media Hub, Social Hubs, eBook Reader, Memo, Pen Memo, Photo Editor, and My Files. My files is an awesome file editor for Honeycomb Tablets. It is utterly simple yet functional file manger. And the most interesting part, whenever you plug in any USB drive using the USB adapter of your Galaxy Tab750, My Files automatically fires up and open the contents of your USB drive. Pretty convenient, right? With eBook Reader you can have a digital library on your Galaxy Tab750 and is almost identical to iOS iBooks App.

Pen Memo works nicely and it doesn’t need a stylus, your finger works much better to scribble your notes on it. It is actually very responsive to your fingers and you’ll be able to write, paint, type and do almost all the things you would ever want on your notepad. Memo Pic below is drawn using fingers.

Other little Application updates in Honeycomb

As a part of Touchwiz UI, 4.0 Samsung added Swype as optional text Input which is a huge plus for me. Swype is actually better than the stock Samsung browser. It also has a compact mode if you don’t want it to occupy the whole width, making it easier to use. I also prefer thumb keyboard on it-you need to install it from Android Market.

 Motion Settings

As seen on Touchwiz 4.0 for Gingerbread, there are motion settings for zooming and moving widgets around the screen. This is actually fun and apt for a tablet user.  Keeping two thumbs on either side and tilting up the Tab to zoom is nifty.

Well samsung did a great job in delivering a first Custom UI on any Honeycomb tablet ever, but somehow i still feel without this i would have not missed much. I mean i would have definitely missed the Mini apps tray, but then when it comes to Android 3.2, Honeycomb’s latest update, I guess it would be delayed in the pipeline due to up-gradation of TouchwizUI 4.0 to work with the latest update. Right now Touchwiz UI  4.0 is definitely better than Android 3.1 Vanilla version but things might change with later iterations of Android honeycomb and then we would be stuck. But for now, Touchwiz UI 4.0 has made Samsung Galaxy Tab750 a much better tablet and an irresistible device to miss. If you have any questions regarding Samsung Galaxy Tab750, let us know in the comments section. Do follow us to get the latest updates, Tips, Tricks, Tutorials & Reviews on the latest Gadgets around.

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I was too excited for the galaxy tab 10.1 and why not it’s the best Android Tablet out there. I say “best Android tablet”, coz few people will still argue that this can’t beat iPad 2. But to me, it beats iPad2 in a lot of daily use cases and iPad2 also beats Galaxy Tab 750 in few dimensions. I won’t go into detail of those as its out of scope for this writeup, but will surely come up with a iPad2 vs Galaxy Tab 750. So, i got the Galaxy Tab 10.1 wi-fi version from US. It was a difficult choice initially when i had to choose from Galaxy Tab 10.1 wi-fi and 3G and then the next choice was when i had to choose between the 16gb and 32gb versions. Well, my choices narrowed down when i got more familiar with the features of Galaxy Tab 10.1.

I thought, why do i need the 3G Version, I don’t want to make calls from this 10.1 Inch device anyways, all i wanted was to have wireless 3G on my tablet! But do i have any workaround for this? Wi-Fi Hotspot is a good alternative i thought! I mean i already have an Android smartphone which supports wi-fi hotspot and i use it frequently. So, it would serve the purpose for me if i get the wi-fi Tab 10.1? Isn’t it? Plus it would save me from the horror of maintaining two data connections, one for my smartphone and the other for my 3G Tab? So, i guess Wi-Fi Tab was the best option. And did i tell you that 3G tab wasn’t available in US, they had the 4G Tab with staggering speeds upto 41Mbps ( and people who got the 4G Tab also said that it felt faster than the wi-fi version ) but  we won’t see that in India soon. Well, in India you have Tab750 which is 3G enabled and you don’t have any Wi-Fi only version here for the Tab750, so we don’t have a choice anyways.

Next choice was to get the 16gb version or the 32gb version, it wasn’t so difficult after all, for the price difference between the 16gb version of Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 32 version of Galaxy Tab 10.1 was 100USD ( ~ 4600INR ), which is utterly not justifiable. ( Damn the iPad trend! ) But won’t I need that extra space on my Galaxy Tab? I mean,I don’t have the MicroSD Slot on this tab either so, I would be forever locked on 16gb ( ~ 11Gb available for user ). But then i realized there is USB Adapter for Galaxy Tab that supports USB On the Go feature ( similar to the one my Galaxy S2 ) and with the help of it, I would be able to plug in any USB Disk drive like Pen drives, External Hard Drives, etc and access the files on the Go. Well, that solves some problem, isn’t it? ( iPAd2 anyone? ) So, I finally placed the order of Galaxy Tab 10.1  Wi-Fi 16Gb Version with USB Adapter ( and some more accessories, I will cover that later ) and got it here in India through one of friend when he came to India.  ( This isn’t illegal, right? ) He is an Apple fan and iPad2 user, he insisted me to get the iPad2 instead and i asked him to just use the Tab though out your flight to India and he came up with “It’s not bad, it’s actually good!” And, that’s too much of a compliment to get from an apple user.

My first Impressions of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 aka TAb750 in India

When i got the tab, i was pretty much knowing it in-out thorough Youtube videos and others first impressions, but getting it hands on was a different feeling. I’ve used iPad2 earlier, and was surprised at how light this Tab 10.1 is! It is more taller than the iPad2 and is thinner than it as well. iPad2 felt more sturdy as the unibody design is great and feels great to hold on, this thing does not felt that strong, but is not below good by any standards and i highly object the cases where people said it feels a little cheap with it’s plastic type materials. You got to hold it to believe it, that it actually feels great and “LIGHT”! I don’t want to go into details of the dimensions and button positions as you would find a lot of info on that on various sites. IF you have some specific questions about the look, feel and design ask me in the comments section.

Screen, Music & Video Player

Browsing Experience

I wanted to check the browsing experience first so I used my Galaxy S2 to tether the Vodafone 3G to browse on tab and it was a different experience. I actually felt the need of a Tab then. I got speeds upto 8Mbps in New Delhi on Vodafone 3G using the Hotspot. And with Flash, it felt like real Laptop browsing. The stock Honeycomb browser looks like Chrome for windows and supports tabbed browsing,flash, autofill, etc.

Tegr2 Dual core processor at 1Ghz and 1Gb did the job to make the whole UI feel smooth. I didn’t feel it was super fast as Galaxy S2, but it didn’t lagged anywhere either. Transitions were smooth and i liked the honeycomb goodness. Playing HD games is a treat on this Galaxy Tab. I’ll come up with the best Games for galaxy Tab in a while. Stay tuned. I guess 10inch around is the idea size with the tablet. Samsung is flirting with almost all the screen sizes for tablets and now Galaxy Note with 5.5Inch Screen is another bet with Screen size on smartphones. Well, I guess Galaxy Tab 730, 8.9Inch won’t be bad either, but Tab 7.7Inches would be actually nice for it has HD Super AMOLED.

Multimedia Capabilities

Talking of Screen, 10.1 Inch multitouch screen is not only good for gaming, but does pretty well to satisfy your visual needs. With all round multimedia capabilities, it does pretty well when viewed from different angles, not good as galaxy S2 though. Initially it didn’t play all the video files i threw at it and i was actually disappointed. But, after i installed the Touchwiz 4.0 on this Galaxy Tab 10.1, it plays almost anything, 1080p also plays well, but without sound in the Samsung Video Player. ( You can install Dice Player from Android Market, it plays 1080p so smoothly as it supports HW acceleration. ) Built in speaker does pretty well and is loud enough. It sounds even nicer if you turn the 5.1Ch Option in the stock Samsung Galaxy Tab Music Player. Although i liked the interface of Default Honeycomb Music Player with those 3D Cards effects, stock Samsung Tab Music Player did a better job with Equalizer and Effects. I used Bluetooth to transfer some of my fav songs to Tab to check out the Music player as i didn’t had the patience to reach home, plug it into the computer to transfer or Sync my Tab to it. And i felt the power of Bluetooth 3.0, it didn’t show the speed with which it transfers, but my 5mb Songs took less than 5secs.

Video chat on Galaxy Tab

I wanted to try out the Video chat on this thing, and fired the Skype client from Android Market only to stand disappointed as Skype on android yet doesn’t have Video calls for Tablets or Honeycomb version. I went back to the old trusted Google talk to try it out, and it was nice. Microphone did well to catch my voice in a noisy room as well. Front camera is 2Mp and gives great quality on Video calls.  I also tried video calls on other clients and it was okay.

Battery Life on Galaxy Tab

I was actually surprised with the battery of this Tab, I mean i get 1 day battery with moderate use on my Galaxy S2, but this seemed to have lasted a day with more than heavy use. Galaxy Tab 750 comes pre-installed with 7000mAh battery which is not replaceable. But i don’t think, with those battery life figures, you would ever need a spare battery. Specs says 9hours of continuous video playback and is almost true, this time.

PC & Connectivity Options to Kies

What else, I reached home and i installed a lot of games and apps for my needs and personalized it to the core. I also installed the Touchwiz 4.0 for my Galaxy Tab 10.1 and things suddenly changed. Stay tuned for detailed review for Touchwiz 4.0 for Galaxy Tab 10.1. Connecting it to my Laptop at home was easy as well. I mean, connecting it though USB was just plugging the USB cable and Kies recognized it instantly. I missed the Kies Air somehow.

Price & Best Buy Options

Galaxy Tab 750 is now available in India at all the Samsung Smartphone outlets at a price of 34,000INR and you’ll get it at around 33,500INR or 33,000INR if you are good at bargaining. It is also available at most of the big Online Stores like Flipkart with a price tag of 34,990INR. I guess you know, where to buy it from. In the box you’ll get

- Galaxy Tab750 -3G 16Gb Version

- Data Cable

- Charger

- Earphones ( Similar to the one you get with Galaxy S2 )

- USB Adapter ( Good Addition by Samsung India )

- Instruction Manuals

- Samsung sling bag ( You’ll have to ask for it – It doesn’t come in the box! So, do ask for it. )

Well, thats all for this long review, i was too excited to write about this, but don’t want to make it a long baoring post. So, will keep things interesting and informative for you. Thank you for reading this, if you have any questions for Galaxy Tab, do ask me through comments section. Watch this space for further exciting Tips, Tricks, Reviews and Tutorials for your Galaxy Tab 750. Do follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates,

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• 10.1 inch WXGA multi touch TFT LCD display – 1280×800 Resolution
• 1Ghz Dual-Core NVIDIA Tegra 2 “mobile super chip” for heart-warming graphics
• Android 3.1 (HoneyComb) for faster transition between different applications
• Samsung Touchwiz UX 4.0 – Live Panel, Mini apps & Clipboard
• 3MP rear camera with auto-focus & LED Flash – 720p ( HD ) video Recording
• 2MP front camera for video calling
• 1GB RAM
• 16/32/64 GB ROM – Internal memory
• HSPA+ – 21Mbps
• Bluetooth 3.0 – Speeds upto 21Mbps
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n – Dual band support ( 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz )
• Wi-Fi Direct Certified
• Buitl-In 7000mAh Battery – Upto 9hrs video/72hrs Music
• USB 2.0 – Supports USB on the Go ( Plug in any pen drive or memory card )
• a-GPS
• 3.5 mm Stereo audio jack
• Samsung’s Social, Readers & Music Hub Pre-loaded – Although official spec sheet says Music Hub pre-loaded, I won’t trust this as they don’t have this service in India and it’s also not there in Samsung galaxy S2.
• Polaris Office Pre-loaded – Creating & Editing Office Documents
• Adobe Flash 10.3  ( comes pre-loaded with Adobe Flash 10.2 )
• Multi format audio/video player – Full HD ( 1080P )Video Playback Support
• Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Ambient Light sensor, Digital compass
• Weighs just 565g

Samsung Galaxy Tab750 – MRP – 36200INR

Samsung Galaxy Tab730 – MRP – 33900INR

Don’t Panic, this is the MRP, Maximum Retail Price of new Galaxy Tabs. Display price would be around 2000INR less and you would get Galaxy Tab750 for ~33500INR if you choose to wait for a couple of weeks to subside the huge demand at the launch. Availability of Galaxy Tab750 is expected by the 2nd week of next month, that is September 2011. With iPad3 launch expected around the same time, do you find it worth the price? do let us know in the comments section. If you have any questions related to Galaxy Tab, do ask us.

You can follow us on Facebook & twitter for further updates, tips & tricks, best apps, games, customization, rooting, tutorials, themes and best buy options for Galaxy Tab750 & Galaxy Tab730.
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So we already have seen quite a no of variants of Galaxy tab 10.1 around the world. Now samsung is going to launch another variant of Galaxy Tab 10.1 especially for Indian market – Galaxy Tab 750. Although i’m overjoyed with this annoucement but this variant thing is confusing me.
Anyways expect this Samsung Galaxy tab 750 to be 3g version with both white and grey color available in both 16 & 32gb versions. All other things should be the same as of the global Samsung Tab 10.1.

What else, yes it has got a staggering 6860mAh battery to give you a battery life of 9hrs-impressive. Btw, did i tell you that this power packed tqblet is the thinnest tablet in thw world with just 8.66mm measurements-comparable to pencil’s thickness & yet it is lighter than iPad2.

Well there is a lot to reveal by Samsung India on its launch on Aug 10th. And guess what, they are streaming it live for all of us. You can watch the live streaming of launch of Samsung Galaxy Tab750 on Aug 10th from 12pm to 2pm. You can watch it here below and the streaming will start at 2PM IST. Don’t Miss it.


Have any question about the Galaxy Tab750 for India, shoot them in the comments section.
To know about price of samsung Galaxy Tab750 and best buy offers stay tuned. I’ll update you with price and availabilty of Galaxy Tab750 in major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune & kolkata. There will also be pre-booking of Galaxy Tab 750 starting from today with attractive offers like free Samsung stick and sub-woofer mentioned above. Following the trend of Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone, you might also get exciting offers from vodafone. MRP of Samsung Galaxy Tab750 is expected to be around 34550INR( but that is my speculation to say the least – samsung will reveal price of Galaxy Tab750 in the launch today ) So dont miss the launch.

Stay tuned for further updates on Galaxy Tab750, exciting offer, best buy, pre-booking offers and latest news and reviews of Galaxy Tab 750 for India. You can follow me on
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But before that, here’s a small comparison of KE7 and KE8 firmware. It’s from a user who just flashed KE8 firmware and was using Litening Rom on KE7. Here’s what he has to say after using it for a couple of hours.

By jojo2peter from XDA

- When wifi is turned on, and doesn’t have any signal, the wifi icon disappears and the H,3G etc. Signal appears.

- Right after i’ve flashed the KE8 rom, samsung apps suggested me to install “a new update”. Has been a camera update from the 8 of June (yesterday). Didn’t notice any improvements yet. (how do i get info about the cam firmware? dont wanna look for the code now

- the phone seems to be smoother, and there are more animations (i gues, i don’t know, maybe the animations had been removed in the litening rom)

- while i’m typing this, the brightness changes the whole time between bright and dark… Maybe because my thumb is flying about the sensor. It switches only between 2 brihtness values, maybe its a bug.

- after 3 hours of being in standby, it still had 100%. Also it ain’t getting hot while browsing or using other light apps. Maybe the battery has been improved

Didn’t notice more than that. My screen have never beem yellow and the wifi bar bug is still there, also the awaking bug.

I only disagree on his Lockscreen Delay bug, It’s not there at all. It’s like my SGS2 senses when i need to unlock it. Other than that, it’s more fluid and fast. Battery life seemed to be more improved as well.
Okay, without making you to wait more for it, lets jump on to download links and then install it on your own Galaxy S2 to report back what it is like.

Download Untouched Copy of KE8 Firmware Straight from Samsung Servers

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Password : gadgets.apnafundaz.com

KE8 Kernel : Download

Do let us know how it behaves on your SGS2? And if it feels any different than KE7 or whatever firmware was on your phone. If you are unsure on how to flash it with Odin, follow this tutorial of flashing through Odin, just use the whole dot tar file instead of kernel file in the tutorial and flash it as PDA. Don’t select Re-Partition. And if you face any problem, let us know though comments section. Do join us on Facebook & twitter for latest updates,

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Warning : You must understand that rooting requires flashing and if not done properly might brick your phone and render it useless. It might or might not break your warranty. You should take responsibilty of what your are doing to your phone. And if you don’t understand anything, do ask us in the comments section and make sure you understand each part of it completely before you flash your phone. Read the whole tutorial completely and make sure you understand everything before proceding.

Step by Step guide to Root Samsung galaxy S2 with CF Root & Latest & Original KE8 Kernel
——————————————————————————————————————-

You’ll Need :
——————————————–

- CF Root for SGS2 v3.6 with CWM3 ( XW_XEU_KE7 Kernel ) : Download

- KE8 Kernel : Download

- KE8 Kernel zImage File : Download

Step by Step guide to Root Indian SGS2
————————————————————————————-
- Extract the CF-Root-SGS2_XW_XEU_KE7-v3.6-CWM3.zip to get CF-Root-SGS2_XW_XEU_KE7-v3.6-CWM3.tar. ( Do not Extract this dot tar file to get the zImage )
- Extract Odin3-v1.85( both exe & ini file ).
- Run Odin3-v1.85 with administrative permissions by right clicking on it and running it as an Adminstrator.
- Select PDA checkbox and click on the PDA button.
- Now browse to & select CF-Root-SGS2_XW_XEU_KE7-v3.6-CWM3.tar that you just extracted in the first step.
- Now turn off the phone and start it in download mode by pressing & holding Volume Down Button + Home Button + Power Button simultaneously.
- Connect your SGS2 to computer using USB cable.
- You’ll see connected and COM Port info in the Left side of Odin3 ( top left & bottom ). If it doesn’t show, your phone is not recognized and perhaps the drivers are not installed.
- Just make sure Repartition is NOT checked.
- Click on the START Button & wait for the falshing to complete.
- If everything went fine you’ll see a sucess message in the message window on the bottom left and your phone will reboot.
- Your phone is now rooted.

But wait, you still need to flash the original KE8 Kernel back. ( I already told you the benifits of KE8 kernel! ) And don’t worry, you won’t loose CWM after flashing the original kernel. Plus, this will also remove the Yellow exclamation triangle with a warning at the boot up. But it does NOT reset the custom kernel flash counter. You’ll need the KE8 Kernel zImage for this and this time you need to extract the zImage from dot zip file. Don’t get confused with the CF Rooted kernel and KE8 kernel.

Flash Stock KE8 Kernel to remove Warning triangle at the Boot Up :
—————————————————————————————————————
- Extract KE8 Kernel zImage to get the zImage file.
- Put the zImage file on the root folder of Internal SD Card. ( do not put it inside any folder of Internal SD Card. )
- Repeat the steps for flashing the kernel with Odin3 but with SamsungGalaxyS2-KE8kernel-zImage.tar file instead of CF-Root-SGS2_XW_XEU_KE7-v3.6-CWM3.tar.
- After rebooting your phone, go into CWM and select Flash Kernel, and select the zImage from KE8 kernel you previously put on your SD-card. The kernel will flash and the device will reboot.
- The Yellow Warning triangle will not be shown anymore, but you’ll have CWM. And in future if you select to flash your kernel with CWM Flash Kernel Option, it won’t increase the custom kernel flash counter.
- Enjoy your Rooted Samsung Galaxy S2 with latest KE8 kernel.

If you have any questions, do ask us in the comments section. Rooting will help you make a lot of things possible on your SGS2. We will discuss the benifits of rooting in another post. And if you have any other question regarding your Samsung Galaxy S2, don’t forget to ask us. And do join us on Facebook & Twitter.

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If you are going to buy Samsung Galaxy S2 or have recently bought it from somewhere, you need to check if you have a non-faulty unit on your hands which is free from manufacturing defects or not? There have been many complaints for Yellow tint in the SAMOLED plus screen which is one of the main features on Samsung Galaxy S2. You can also get a defective unit where your screen might have Dead Pixels or Stuck Pixels. These are super annoying, i tell you! And with something like SAMOLED Plus screens, you are going to even notice a single Dead Pixel.
And more over, there are issues like Pink spot in Camera, Lock Screen Wake UP Delay, Heavy Banding on Gradient colors which are software related, still you need to know what you are getting.

Here’s a quick list of things you need to check just after you buy your Samsung Galaxy S2,

- Heavy Banding on Colors
——————————————————-
This is somewhat disappointing but again a software issue and i won’t recommend you to ask for a replacement if you get this issue on your SGS2. There is a heavy banding of colors in a gradient image wherever on your phone. It’s like ruining the whole joy of SAMOLED plus screen. You would normally see such banding on 16bit colors, but this one is should be 24-bit dithered colors.
To check for it, you need to browse to this webpage to see the amount of gradient on your phone,

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php

I guess, this has been improved to a level in KE8 firmware but it’s still there and you can’t help but expect a software solution from Samsung in the Next Android 2.3.4 Update.

- Dead Pixel & Stuck Pixel Test
——————————————————-
To check for the deal pixel or stuck pixel on your device punch this code in the dialer ( Use Samsung Default dialer ),
*#0*#
It would pop up a LCD Screen Test Menu on your screen, like the screenshot below. It itself contains a lot of test. You can do all of them but the top three would ensure that there are no dead or stuck pixels. Dead or stuck pixels would be always black dot on the screen no matter what color you choose.

- Pink Spot Camera Test
——————————————————-
You need to fire up the awesome camera on your new Galaxy S2. Try taking a picture of completely white paper. If you notice a pink spot in the center of the pic, ( You need to look closely! ) then theres a chance that your phone has the pink spot issue. Don’t panic if it has. It’s a software issue and it has been wiped out in the latest firmware release (KE7 for global & KE8 for Generic Indian Versions ). So, if you have the Pink Spot issue, replacing it with other handset won’t help your condition. Check in the Settings -> About Phone -> Build Number. If it’s not KE7 or KE8, you will most probably get a update when you connect it with your computer. Check out the Video Below to understand the Pink spot issue.

- Yellow Tint Test
——————————————————-
This is actaully not an issue, if you ask me. It is over hyped by tech blogs and few people who think they will always use this phone in a dark room. If you don’t know how to look for this, you would probably never come to know, that it was even there. You need to turn SGS2 brightness to zero and then open any gray pic or web page ( or even the notification bar does the trick ) and now take your phone into dark. And look at the lower left of the phone, you might notice a slight yellow tint. Yes the keyword is slight yellow tint. Well, i couln’t find it yet on my phone. But if it’s there on your phone, you might find it if you visit this web page, ( specifically created for this test )

http://fiddle.jshell.net/qFxsC/1/show/

Post your screenshots if you find the Yellow tint on your SGS2. People who got the Indian SGS2 are also claming that there is a slight yellow tint, so i can’t say that Indian SGS2 might not be having this problem. And if it really has then it might have to do something with SAMOLED Plus Screen. Anyways, it won’t affect your daily life usage of the phone for any matter.

Okay enough of Testing with the phone. Go and enjoy your new phone. Or if you planning to buy one, check out the best buy options in New Delhi for buying Indian Version of Brand New Samsung Galaxy S2 with Proper warranty and Bill in New DelhiWill post some more tips and tricks to get the most out of it. Stay tuned for more exciting stuff for your New Galaxy S2. And in between, if you have any doubt or facing a problem doing something on your phone. Let us know, we will solve it for you. Ask your questions in the comments section. Do join us on Facebook & twitter to get regular updates,

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Okay, there has been a lot of confusion regarding how Samsung Galaxy S2 would launch and start rolling out to the Retailers here in India. When Samsung Launched Galaxy S2 in New Delhi on May 25th, they said it would be available with Vodafone for first week from June 3rd 2011 to June 9th 2011 exclusively and then other retailers can sell it across India. Even the Pre-booking at Letsbuy ( referred by Official Samsung Site ) said, it would ship only after June 9th. But somewhere, something went wrong and it all started rolling out in India from June 2nd in Mumbai and Pune, with random retailers for around 30500INR. Infact till date Vodafone is clueless about Samsung Galaxy S2( it might be only at my Vodafone Store ). And soon after that almost everywhere in India it was readily available for around 30500INR. And to add to confusion, Letsbuy started shipping on June 4th 2011.

For your Reference the Indian Version of Samsung Galaxy S2 is having,
Maximum Retail Price – MRP = 32890INR
Maximum Offer Price – MOP = 30500INR
Display Price – DP = 29900INR

Well nothing to worry on our side. We are getting what we need( i guess we need higher discounts & at the earliest, Isn’t? ) and we didn’t even want Vodafone to brand the phone in whatsoever way they wanted. And yeah, vodafone & Letsbuy were selling it at MRP 32890INR with some accessories like HDTV adapter, Car Charger, Screen Protector & Protective Case and vodafone was offering Free 1Gb 3G data for 6months. And with what users have got from Letsbuy, they are not at all satisfied with the Accessories provided by them.

Well, if you are still looking to buy Samsung Galaxy S2 then i’ve got some good news for you. I can arrange the Best Deal for you. But it’s only available in New Delhi. Sorry. And it needs to be Group buy to get a price lower than 29500INR. Else, Let me know in the comments if you want to buy it for 29500INR in New Delhi. And if all of you are interested in a group buy, i can confirm it to be 29300INR for now and if members increase, the price might come close to 29k or even lower. Totally depends on the no. of buyers. First slot has 4 members in the group buy, who are going to buy it tomorrow evening. If you want to add yourself in that group buy, let us know in the comments and if you miss this group buy, we will arrange another group buy for the total no of members.

For Best Buy Samsung Group Buy in New Delhi on June 7th 2011-Evening : First Batch
————————————————————————————————————

( * = If any of the member drop from the deal, price would be 29500INR
** = If any member drop out, this can not be guaranteed. )

[ Update ] : If you are having problems in leaving a comment below, you can mail your confirmation at Manishalexin@apnafundaz.com. Don’t post any confirmation after 11:59AM IST – June 7th 2011

[Update 2 ] : This is now closed! The retailer is in no mood to negotiate as for the high demands for this handset. He is easily selling more than 10 Samsung Galaxy S2 in a day and that too at a Price of 30500INR.

If you have any questions regarding this or the Samsung Galaxy S2, let me know in the comments section. I’m just trying to get the best deal out of hotspot dealers. I’m not a dealer or anything related and m doing this just to help you guys get a good deal. Nor m trying to rip off any other deal that you might be currently interested in. You are free to do anything you like. You can ask the hotspot dealer i’ll recommend for buying or any other about this price and if he agrees let us know. We will try to push them even further.

Hope you get a good deal. I’ll soon publish my first Impressions of the Indian Samsung Galaxy S2. BTW, theres no NFC on my unit or any way i can check if the NFC ( NXP chip ) is there. I don’t want to rip my new SGS2 apart yet. But soon, enough that will happen as well.

This all started by a huge mistake or i should say mis-understading between similar names of the Xperia X10 Mini ( 2010 Xperia Series ) with Xperia Mini ( 2011 Xperia Series ) and similarly Xperia X10 Mini Pro with Xperia Mini Pro. But a rather popular blog about Xperia Series ( Xperiablog ) took it to greater heights and made a post on their blog about New Xperia Mini & Pro ( to be launched ) will not support Multi-touch just based on that single comment by SE Rep at their Youtube Channel. This was so un-professional from Xperiablog team.
Anyways, Sony Ericsson Rep had to stop this rumor from spreading which might affect their sales by a huge margin, so they did comment on the Xperiablog to clarify things and point out the mistake or confusion created by that comment. Here’s a screenshot of what he said on the Xperiablog,

Official Review Video that confirms Xperia Mini & Pro Supports Multitouch

Xperia Mini & Pro will launch with Facebook Inside Xperia that makes it a great social entertainer. Read more about it here.
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Lets get down to all of Facebook Inside Xperia, one by one,
- Facebook Single Sign on
When you first turn on your phone and set it up for your first use, it would ask you for your Facebook username and Password. You can always skip this and set it up later as other settings at the Startup of your phone. Single sign on would mean, you need not put in your username & password for facebook for accessing it anywhere on your phone. Not in Timescape, not in Gallery, not in calender not in Phonebook, not in Music Player. But you would obviously need to enter your Facebook userid and password if you decide to use any third party Facebook App from Android Market. Although, this is nothing ground breaking, but would surely simplify users experience.

- Contact Sync with Facebook
Many third party android phonebook apps and even the Social Phonebook on previous Xperia Lineup had the Facebook Contact Sync. But Sony Ericsson has made it more engaging this time by not only syncing Facebook pics & Status updates, it would also sync your friends Pics, Interests & their Birthdays. And this isn’t it. Check out the Screenshots to get a better understanding of what i mean.

You can see more your friends in the your Contacts now. You can view all your friends album in the contact details, with all other friends tagged in that album. You can directly tag them or even add a comment to your Friends pics right from your phonebook. This will also include another field in Contact details, where you can view the Interests of your Friend. It is collection of feeds of the pages and Likes by your friends. So, this time around Phonebook got more use to it. You just won’t find a contact in your phonebook to dial him, you would probably spend a few minutes to check out on what is he/she is upto these days?

- Calendar Sync with Facebook
Facebook Events & Calendar is now synced with your Android calendar. You simply can’t miss any of your friends birthday, and you would have no reason to miss it. With Facebook events & calender being synced, it would mean you get a more efficient and managed calender on your phones.

- Facebook LockScreen Notifications
LockScreen is evolving more and more these days and many manufacturers have decided to put up Missed calls & SMS notifications on the Lockscreen to make it more useful for users. With Facebook Inside Xperia, SE decided to put up your Facebook notifications right next to these Missed Calls & SMS notifications on the LockScreen.

- Facebook Albums in your 3D Android Gallery
Your 3D Android Default gallery is already linked up with your Picassa Album, but Sony Ericsson also manged to put your
all Facebook Albums in the 3D Android Gallery. It will include all your Facebook Albums incuding the ones you Uploaded
through your phone and the ones you are tagged in. You can even see the comments on your pics and add comment to it in a similar way you did at the Phonebook for your friends.
Although, you can’t view your friends pic in the same 3D gallery, you’ll have to go into the Phonebook and look into the Contact details to get their all Facebook Albums. I wonder how much of SD Card space will it consume, if i decide to view
all my friends albums? Heres a screenshot of it,

- Music player Like-button
Sony Ericsson is first manufacturer to make it possible to like music tracks at the click of a button. It is a bit complex to what i understand, not on how users will use it, but how the services are used to make it work. They have added a Facebook Like button, in the music player and while listening to your fav music, you can simply click on this like button to post an update on your facebook. This would post a link in your facebook wall about the song, and if any of your friends like what you are listeneing to they can comment on it and you can have direct access to those comments on your music player itself. Clicking on the link can sometimes directly enable them to listen to the music you are/were listening to, of course that depends on the music type free/paid. If they like to buy it or want to know more about the song, they can click the link which will direct them to a new TrackID webpage designed for this service only, where you can learn about a song or even buy it from the PlayNow Arena.

- Media Discovery Widget
If you are familiar with the Flimstrip at the bottom of the new Official Facebook app, you might find this widget similar. This does exactly the same thing as flimstrip on bottom of the latest update to Android Facebook app. It will show you the music & Videos that your friends have shared or recommended in their wall. This is pretty handy.
Everything your friends shares on his wall like Youtube, Lastfm, Spotify and similar services appear as feeds with no of comments on this Media Discover Widget. You also get to access all the comments on those links and you can even add yours.

To be fair, the integration is pretty hidden, so you just have FB adding content to the gallery, contacts app and calendar. And you don’t really have to use it. Sony Ericsson is smart enough to put toggle to each function listed above so that you can turn them on and off and use the only ones you like. There is lot to experience than to read about it. This time the integration is pretty neatly done. It’s pretty non intrusive as i said, you have the possibility to turn specific features on or off as you like. This time around, it’s not just about posting updates to facebook, it’s more engaging and more fun. You know what your friends are upto, exactly the way Social Networking is meant to be. And by integrating the Like button in Music player is a bold step to merge their Strengths in Media & Entertainment with Android and making it more social at the same time.

To better Understand these, features heres a short video demo on Xperia Arc about the Facebook Inside Xperia, do let us know what do you think about these features on your phone and how would you use it. For now, enjoy the video,

Adding a ‘like’ button in the media player is a first, but I am not sure how many people really will want to post on Facebook what they like – or do so very often. This also gives some fuel to rumor mill & myths like,

- All the Pics i take will automatically be uploaded to my Facebook Account.
- All the music i hear will automatically be posted to my Facebook Wall.
- It will eat up my battery running in the background.
- It will again make the Android updates slow and will not get updates beyond Gingerbread in Xperia Arc & Play
- It will slow down the general performance of my Xperia Phone.
- It will also come to Xperia X10 with Android 2.3, Gingerbread Update. ( I wish this was true! For now, it’s not true,
hope SE changes it’s mind! )

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