Get’em Cheap

With so many phones in the market,companies know that only a standout design or a really unique feature will get them the eyeballs and subsequent sales. The Alcatel Ice3 OT880 too vies for head-turning rights with a shape that is somewhere between oblong and oval. Actually,it looks like the box in which a rather stylish goggle has been packed,though in a smaller scale. This also means the phone is a bit girlish,like its predecessor,the square-shaped ICE3.

Still the OT880 give some good value for money. It comes with a slide-out QWERTY keypad and 2.4 inches of full touch display. The homescreen has links to phonebook,dialer,messages and menu. Alongside is an icon,very similar to the Android UI,which lets you bring in the full menu. In fact,the interface reminded me of some Linux operating systems of the recent past.

All the standard social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter are there on the menu,along with an RSS reader and e-book reader. However,flipping through the menu you realise that the phone is a bit sluggish and has to be really prodded around. However,this is a good phone to surf the Net with due to the keypad and the inbuilt Opera 4.2 mini browser. The phone lets you add multiple email ids and shows all mail in a single inbox. Users can also chat with friends using the inbuilt IM app.

There is a 2 mega pixel camera with a video recorder and image editor. The sound quality is good and there is FM Radio with RDS to play around with. The phone can store up to 1,000 contacts with an end user memory of 70MB and capability to use Micro SD cards of up to 8GB. The company claims the 850 mAh Lithium battery can give a standby time of up to 500 hours and six hours of talktime.

But the biggest feature of the phone has to be its price. At Rs 5,500 this has to be among the cheapest phones with a touchcreen as well as slide-out QWERTY keypad. And considering the other features on offer,the OT880 is real value for money.

Nandagopal Rajan

Sound Affair?

If you are one of those who forget to turn off your mobile phone before getting into a crowded theatre,you should probably think twice before picking up the new MC 100. Because,if the “evil space aliens” don’t get you,the disgruntled movie watcher by your side surely will.

Let’s not have any doubts about this – this new phone from the Movil stable is no pushover when it comes to sound. Equipped with a formidable 3D-Yamaha power amplifier,it could easily be the loudest one around,with battery life capable of sustaining its dual role as a music powerhouse.

However,what the phone accomplishes in terms of volume,it seems to lose – to a certain extent – in quality. Beyond a certain point,the music becomes jarring,almost unbearable. If you are looking at listening to Mozart,Beethoven or even Norah Jones,for that matter,anything from the Nokia XpressMusic range should be a better option. But if it is Reshammiya or the latest song from Dabbang that interests you,the MC 100 may be just what you need.

What’s more,it supports most music formats — including MP3,Midi and Wave — and with expandable memory of up to 8 GB,you have virtually unlimited space to store your music files.

In other respects,the MC 100 scores moderately. Equipped with a sturdy metallic body,dual SIM capability and an e-book reader for folks who don’t mind reading Moby Dick on a miniscule cellphone screen,it has everything that the average mobile user may want.

The touchscreen is nothing to write home about,but it is not too bad for a mobile phone in this category. Though it has an onscreen sidebar like the Samsung Corby Plus,using the facilities therein could be a little hard for the first-time user.

The MC 100 further boasts of a 3.2 MP camera,and it is quite impressive. Photographs taken in abundance of light are clear and show no signs of pixelation. But once darkness sets in,the images become grainy,even undecipherable at times.

Among its other features are GPRS,Bluetooth,MP4 video and a phone book capable of accommodating 1,000 entries. Priced at an affordable Rs 4,499,it comes with a 12-month dealer’s guarantee.

A suggestion? The ‘Warning: Very loud sound’ note on the phone box should be accompanied with a skull and crossbones symbol.

Jimmy Jacob