Cheap phones sport Facebook,Twitter apps,24/7 social networking is no longer an expensive proposition Chat,socialise,switchThe INQ Chat 3G from Aircel has young written all over it. Right from its funky packaging to the features inside,this phone has a distinct identity that will surely appeal to young buyers.The phone sports a QWERTY keypad in black and red and is loaded with various social networking apps that let you connect easily to Facebook,Orkut,Twitter and even Skype. Users can customise the widgets and apps and stay connected through push mail. Moreover,there is a handy link in the picture gallery to directly view Facebook pictures and you can also instantly post any picture you click to various social networking sites.As if that was not enough,the INQ Chat 3G has the Switcher,a multitasking key placed on the right of the phone,which enables one-click switching between apps and sites. Click it and a list of selected apps,sites and functions like Facebook,Twitter,mail,Google maps,Contacts,Cricinfo,web browser or a running application like music player will appear in a row at the bottom of the screen so that users can select the app they want to switch to. Plus the phone gives you a single access point for all your emails,SMSes,Twitter and Facebook updates.The camera is decent with 3.2 megapixels and auto focus. On the flip side,the phone has no flash and the zoom is limited to 2 megapixels. So like many other phones the picture quality is just about passable.The MicroSD card slot is tucked away under the body cover,so getting to it can be a bit of a pain. The phone has a single slot for mobile charging,headphone and mini-USB data cable,but thankfully the phone gets charged whenever it is connected to a PC. The regular charger is another minus point,as its AC plug wont fit into most sockets popular in India. So you will have to hunt for the proper adaptor or just charge through the PC. Still,INQ Chat 3G is ideal for those who are constantly hooked to social networking sites and need to stay connected 24 The phones overall packaging,great display,vibrant design and interface make up for lots of lost ground.But,the phone gets slow when two or more apps are running simultaneously,it doesnt have a radio and the sounds are not exactly great. Plus,the keys take some time getting used to.However,for a price tag of just Rs 7,599 maybe you can get used to all this. The cutest oneI hate the word,but just cant think of anything better than cute to describe the soon to be launched Alcatel ICE3 pronounced Ice Cube. Initially,I thought theyd sent me a mascara box instead of the phone for review. It was only with a closer inspection that I realised that this was actually a clamshell model which opened up to reveal a full Qwerty keyboard and a 2.4 65k colour TFT screen. When switched on,the small LCD on the outer shell shows the time,flickers new messages,missed calls and battery status.The homescreen has a quick menu sidebar which gives you easy access to the contact list,messages and the browser. Interestingly,clicking on the right/left buttons on any of them shows more options,like bookmarks when you are on the browser. The full menu is on the right click button there are actually two left and two right buttons on both sides of the main cube button which gives you all regular menu settings as well as apps like FaceBook,the Opera Mini browser,Twitter,instant messaging and the like. In fact,all these apps can be moved to the homescreen too,an option that makes this an ideal phone for social networking junkies. Plus the phone also features E-mail POP3,IMAP4 to keep you linked 24The ICE3 also features a 2 mp camera on the outer shell,plus the option of easily sharing you photos with friends and contacts. The phone has a decent MP3 Player and a very sharp FM Radio. But the phone does not have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. In fact,everything from charging to download will have to be done through the single USB jack,which is both good and bad. While this leaves the phone body relatively unblemished with just one cavity,it also means you cant boost your music experience with a better set of headphones. The inbuilt memory is 80MB and phone can take in Micro SD cards of up to 8GB. The company claims its Lithium 850 mAh battery has a talk time of up to nine hours and a standby of 450 hours,but that will have to be put to test. The phone also features the now standard EDGE class 12 downlink,GPRS Class 12,WAP 2.0,Bluetooth stereo 2.0 (A2DP),USB 2.0 and JAVA MIDP 2.0.The width of the phone it is about a centimeter wider than the Nokia E series and BlackBerry will take some getting used to,and might even put off some prospective buyers. On the bright side,this also means you have more real estate on the homescreen. But the designers need to work on the display and fonts a bit as they remind me of an early generation Motorola.The ICE3 is cool with great performance and contemporary features,but is still a bit girlish for my taste. However,there is no doubt that the phone,Alcatels return to the Indian market,is great value for money at Rs 6,500.
