Micromax Canvas Tab P690 Review: Only for Entertainment

Micromax Canvas Tab P690 Review: Only for Entertainment

February 9, 2016 Richard Gomez 7

Low-cost Android tablets are fairly common, but with 5-inch and 5.5-inch smartphones becoming increasingly common, the case for having yet another device in your life has become somewhat less clear. Devices like this are great for reading and browsing the Web on if you have one lying around, but chances are if you have a smartphone, tablet and laptop, the tablet is the most likely to be left behind.
Micromax has a new offering, the Canvas Tab P690, which is trying to find a space in users' lives. It has an 8-inch screen and offers cellular voice calling for those who might use such a feature. The cost is low enough to be tempting, and the company advertises loads of freebies in the form of physical accessories as well as software. Let's see what you might have to gain by owning one of these.
Look and feel
The Canvas Tab P690 looks rather nice at first glance. It isn't all that slim but it does have bold, distinctive lines including chiselled edges around the rear. The fr..

Micromax Canvas Tab P666 [year] Review

Micromax Canvas Tab P666 2025 Review

February 18, 2019 Richard Gomez 0

Lots of people think that phones with 5.5-inch and 6-inch screens are too big, but that hasn't stopped companies from pushing ever further. The Micromax Canvas Tab P666 is an 8-inch smartphone – or more accurately, an 8-inch tablet that can be used to make voice calls. We can't imagine why anyone might want to use it as a phone, risking public ridicule and sprained wrists – maybe the logic is that since you have a SIM card slot anyway for 3G data, you might as well be able to use cellular networks for voice and messaging as well. Ridiculous or not, the functionality is there.
That aside, the Micromax Canvas Tab P666 is an otherwise ordinary Android tablet with a low price and entry-level specifications. Let's see if it's worth buying.
Look and feel
The most unique thing about the Canvas Tab P666 is its design. The device itself is fairly slim at 7.9mm, but its weight and blocky shape aren't great in terms of grip and comfort. There are two metal strips running ..

Acer Iconia W4 [year]

Acer Iconia W4 2025

July 25, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Windows 8 has an identity problem. The Modern UI, with its big, bright tiles and touch-friendly apps still isn't useful for anything more than the occasional game. Microsoft's most recent updates seem to have been designed to make life easier for non-touch laptop and desktop users, making the traditional Windows desktop more prominent and consigning the Start Screen to the background.
We like Windows 8.1 on desktops and laptops, and like many users, we have adjusted to the lack of a Start menu. Once we're in the desktop, there's almost no need to ever deal with the Modern UI, but we don't mind dipping into it occasionally. On most laptops and hybrid ultrabooks, we often forget that the screens are touch-capable, and frankly, that isn't a problem at all.
Perhaps that's why Windows-powered tablets have all but disappeared from the market. Sure, we've got plenty of ultrabooks and hybrids with keyboards that either detach or fold away – but pure tabl..

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX review [year]

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX review 2025

June 5, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

In the fleeting moments I had with Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablet, I noticed one major thing: It lost a lot of weight. The engineers at Amazon managed to slim down their flagship tablet in every dimension.
(Also see: Refreshed Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet unveiled at lower price)
The new Kindle Fire HDX is lighter by 23 percent for the smaller model and 34 percent for the full-sized one. The slimmer profile is made possible by a new, lighter magnesium alloy body, a touch screen with fewer layers than before and a frame that is about one-quarter narrower all around the edge of the screen.
Add to that the company's claim that the processor is three times as fast as last year's Kindle Fire HD, and Amazon.com Inc. seems to have an attractive holiday gift option on its hands.
In my hands, at an event for reporters Tuesday, the weight reduction is noticeable. I own a year-old 7-inch Kindle Fire HD and find it chunky. Trying to read a book on it with one hand is like doing so ..

Acer Iconia B1-A71 [year]

Acer Iconia B1-A71 2025

February 25, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Acer created a lot of buzz when it announced its decision to jump into the Budget tablet segment with the Acer Iconia B1-A71, that it first announced during CES, and later, as reported by us, launched it in India at an attractive price of Rs. 7,999. Here's our review of the tablet.

Hardware/ Build & Design
The Acer Iconia B1-A71 is a 7-inch tablet, and accordingly comes in a compact form factor. However, the first thing that you notice about the tablet is that it's very apparent that it's made of plastic. The tablet is light-weight but feels flimsy. The hardware doesn't exude the feeling of durability, and if you put even a little bit of pressure on the screen, you'll see that it creaks and pushes through.
Talking of the design and construction, the front of the tablet has a big black bezel, and the screen peeps through it in a manner similar to a digital photo-frame. The top sports Acer branding at the middle and a VGA camera at the right side. There's a..

iBall Slide i7218 [year]

iBall Slide i7218 2025

July 30, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

iBall had launched a tablet device in September 2011 and now the company has launched a revamped version of its Slide with i7218. The newer version of the device runs on Android 2.3 though the user interface is similar to Honeycomb.
The i7218 is cheaper than its predecessor, as it comes with the price tag of Rs. 11,999 and will be competing with the likes of Reliance Tab 3G. When switched on, the device greets you with “Get ready to enjoy the ride”, so let's try and find out how is the ride of the new iBall Slide i7218.
Hardware/ Design
In terms of design, the 7-inch tablet is made primarily of plastic and has a metal-based side casing. Unlike the previous model's box like design, this one has a curved and lighter body. At the back is a 2.0 MP camera, with the speakers. The front has a VGA camera on the top and three capacitive touch control buttons on the right.
On the right side, is a Micro-USB port, a mini HDMI port, a USB port, 3.5 mm headphone jack and an external slot ..

Apple iPad 2: The emperor's successor

Apple iPad 2: The emperor’s successor

March 1, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Introduction:
The first iPad was a revolutionary product. There were naysayers galore, nobody was even sure it would work – neither a laptop nor a netbook, and there was no keyboard. Xxx years later, the iPad has sent the competition scrambling to produce tablets of their own.
So is there a tablet better than the iPad? Yes there is. The iPad 2.
These are interesting circumstances for a new version of the device. It's only competition is the first version of itself, which was so pathbreaking a device that it's a very tough act to follow.
With iPad 2, Apple has done what it does best with follow-up acts – they've kept it simple. Users complained that version 1 was too heavy for prolonged use, and carped about the lack of cameras. Version 2 is 30 per cent slimmer, 15 per cent lighter, and has two cameras. Under the hood, there is a new dual-core A5 chip, to make iPad 2 run a bit faster. As a bonus, there is a nifty smart cover. Lets take an in-depth look.
Hardware
The iPad ..

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

February 9, 2016 Richard Gomez 7

Don't let looks deceive you.
The new iPhones look the same as last year's models on the outside. But changes on the inside matter, from camera improvements to new sensors that enable quicker access to tasks.
I had only about 90 minutes to try out the new Apple products unveiled Wednesday – not enough time, given that Apple Inc. has a larger iPad, a new Apple TV device and new software for the Apple Watch, alongside the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. I wasn't able to test the new iPhone cameras in natural settings, for instance, to say whether pictures are really better with 12 megapixels, instead of 8 megapixels in the previous iPhones.
(Also see: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus With 3D Touch Display Launched)
But I was able to try 3D Touch, a new way to interact with the iPhone. You save a few taps by pressing and holding on an app icon to go directly to a particular function. Microsoft's Windows phones let you create shortcuts as home screen icons, but few people ..

Android 5.0 Lollipop Review [year]: A Sweet Upgrade

Android 5.0 Lollipop Review 2025: A Sweet Upgrade

December 15, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Android's sweet new “Lollipop” flavor brings security improvements and easier ways to view and respond to notifications. The new Google software for mobile devices even lets you lend out your phone without worrying about a friend circulating your naked selfies on Facebook.
I tested Lollipop on Google's new Nexus 6 phone, which comes out this week. I can only hope that as other phones get the upgrade over time, it will be as good as what you get on the Nexus.
It's a shame many phone manufacturers that use Android believe they have to tweak it extensively to make the software theirs and not Google's. Mucking around with it only confuses customers and steers app developers toward working on iPhone versions first, where there is more uniformity – and thus incentive to incorporate the latest features.
Assuming your phone maker is running Lollipop in its purest form, here's what you'll get:
Notifications
You used to have to pull down the notification tray from t..

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro [year] review

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 2025 review

November 25, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Is 12 inches too big for a tablet screen? We're about to find out. Samsung has decided that the world needs bigger tablets, and so we have not one but two 12.2-inch models from the Korean giant. As if their lineup wasn't expansive enough, these new models are the largest of a range of new Android tablets.
Samsung's lineup of tablets now extends from 7 inches to 12.2 inches. Factoring in the Galaxy Mega and Galaxy Note phones which have screens of up to 6.3 inches, Samsung really does seem to be trying every possible size.
The two biggest models, the Galaxy Tab Pro and Galaxy Note Pro, look identical and have nearly identical features, so it's easy to mix them up. The chief difference is the S-Pen, which has led to this confusing naming scheme. The S-Pen has been reserved for the Galaxy Note series of smartphones, so it probably seemed appropriate to name this tablet Note Pro.
Look and feel
There's no doubt about it; this thing is huge! It's also rather he..

Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro: First impressions

Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro: First impressions

October 22, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Is Microsoft's Surface a tablet or a laptop?
I'm not quite sure, but it is a lot easier to type on than an iPad.
The software company unveiled updates to its Surface tablet computers Monday at an event in New York, where I had a short amount of time to try them out.
It almost seems unfair to categorize the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 as tablets. Although they have touch-screen keyboards like regular tablets, they work best when attached to an optional cover with a keyboard on the inside.
The better one I tried was the Type Cover 2. In addition to coming in four fun colors – pink, purple, blue and black – that cover has backlighting, silent keys and a typing feel similar to that of a laptop keyboard. At $130, it is just $10 more than a Touch Cover 2, which doesn't have movable keys like real keyboards.
The slick wireless mouse designed for the tablets is helpful, too, as is the docking station created to go with the Pro version of Surface.
The result is something that..