Wink XTS

As one of the first successful eBook readers, the Kindle by Amazon swept most readers off their feet with its petite size and super slim body. Moreover, with the large selection of books in Amazon’s online store, users could buy anything they wanted without spending time searching for it. Everything from business and investing to spiritual books can be located with the click of a few buttons. Still, some people wonder what the appeal of eBooks is in the first place. But imagine you’re on holiday and reading The Lord of the Rings, for example, which is over 1,000 pages long and is a good 3-4 inches thick. Not only will it take up space but will also add to the weight of your luggage. This is where eBook readers fit in. They are small, compact and can accommodate hundreds of books without adding to the weight when you’re traveling.

An Indian company, EC Media International, has launched an eBook reader called the . This device isn’t here to replace the Kindle, but it is an initiative by an Indian company to bring e-reading content to our local market. To make this possible, Wink will offer consumers a one-stop e-store, where the user will have access to a large number of eBooks (www.thewinkstore.com); from history texts to career guides to Do It Yourself (DIY) manuals; the company promises you’ll find it all in the Wink store.

The Wink reader is as thin as an everyday cellphone and comes with a 6-inch E Ink screen. A keyboard is placed just below the screen, while the buttons for navigating between pages are on the top left side of the device. However, unlike the Kindle, the Wink is devoid of navigational buttons on the right, so the user is forced to use only his left hand to hold the product. Moreover the keys are too small for comfort, so people with large fingers will definitely have issues using this device. Apart from its reading capabilities, the device is also capable of playing audio. You will find a pair of speakers on the rear of the device, which are capable of delivering audio quality that is surprising for its size. The rear is also home to a reset button along with a Power Off switch that is meant to be used when the Wink is not going to be used for a substantial period of time. Towards the bottom, you will find a standard USB port that is used to charge it and to transfer files to the device. A 3.5 mm headphone jack sits just beside it to let you connect headphones or desktop speakers. The SD card slot placed on top gives you the freedom to carry additional music and files. Another aspect to note is the rubberized back that provides good grip when held.

The Wink comes with a well laid out user interface designed to make navigating between menus easy. It’s quite self explanatory and gives you direct access to your music, library, Wi-Fi and system settings. However, what it lacks is operational speed. If there is anything that goes against the Wink it is the extreme sluggishness with which it operates. You’ll have to wait a few seconds for each button press to register. You also have direct access the Wink store site via the Wink Home menu, and this is where your patience with the product is tested even further. Navigating from one link to another takes more than a second, so browsing for books is a real hassle as you would need to wait to press the arrow keys as many times as it takes to actually get to a book. This is where a dedicated joystick and a faster screen refresh rate would have helped. Having said that, the Wink does come with two refresh modes – Full refresh and Quick refresh. The Quick refresh mode is basically meant to make page transitions snappier, but it still doesn’t quite impress with its speed. While the increase in speed is barely noticeable, there is a definite lowering of the refresh rate, whereby contents of the previous are visible for a while even after switching to a new page. This could make reading quite uncomfortable over time.

The Wink’s internet connection can only be used to browse the Wink store, and not to browse the web at all. However, it does have an email client that allows you to sync and read your messages, though at a snail’s pace. The Applications section is home to just one game, Minesweeper. However, playing it is a pain, thanks to the Wink’s sluggish refresh rate and grain-sized keys.

Performance is undoubtedly bad, but the overall usability is good thanks to the E Ink screen. Text and pictures appear crisp – this is probably the only thing that the Wink really shines at delivering. Text can be reflown in case it is too small and unreadable, but as expected, this doesn’t happen very smoothly either. There is considerable amount of lag when zooming or switching between pages. However, performance issues aside, the Wink is quite easy to work with. You also have a bookmark key that allows you to instantly mark important pages. You can also jump to any page by typing the page number into the ‘Go To’ dialog.

Ebook readers in general are not intended for everyone. The Wink and Kindle are aimed more towards bookworms who love reading. Unlike tablets and laptops, they offer a much higher level of comfort when it comes to reading, mainly because of the E Ink display technology that mimics real paper rather than LCD screens, which require light shining through them from the rear. However, taking everything into account, the Wink is a difficult product to recommend mainly due to its frustrating performance, which actually detracts from the pleasure of reading, unlike the Kindle, its most obvious competitor.

Having said that, however, one advantage that the Wink has over the Kindle is its ability to read EPUB files. In addition, the device comes with an SD card slot that supports an additional 16 GB of memory over the inbuilt 1.5 GB. Battery life is just about average and it fails to go beyond two days at a stretch. The Wink is a decent first attempt, but there many issues that need to be ironed out.

Dell Streak

The Dell Streak is a lot smaller than your average tablet and a lot bigger than a large touchscreen mobile phone. So the question is, just where does it fit in?

Dressed in all black, we have to admit that it’s quite a looker. It’s just 10 mm thick, which actually makes it a lot slimmer than quite a few smartphones. Weighing just 220 g, it’s comfortable to hold as well. It’s got 2.2 GB of internal memory and it also supports microSD cards of up to 32 GB. Although there’s a hot swap under the rear panel for the memory card, for some strange reason, the handset tends to auto switch-off if the panel is opened. The 3.5 mm hands-free port is located on one side, or rather the top of the device, since it’s typically supposed to be used in landscape mode like the Nokia N900. The volume/zoom keys, screen lock and the camera’s shutter release are also located on this side.

Dell’s first mistake is incorporating a proprietary USB/charging port (bottom) into the Streak. Since it’s pretty much a large mobile handset, it would have been a whole lot simpler on us if they went with a standard micro USB socket. Dell has gone with touch-sensitive buttons on one side of the display. A microphone is also located on the same side. A light sensor and front-facing VGA camera are located on the other side just near the phone’s speaker. Using this rather large device to answer calls takes a lot of getting used to, so we’d recommend using the hands-free instead. The large 5-inch touchscreen display sports a 480x800 pixel resolution, which makes it clear and easy to view even in the bright outdoors.

Dell’s second mistake is launching a device like this with an outdated version of the operating system. The Streak comes with Android 1.6 and we were told that it’s upgradeable to 2.1 (although we were unable to do so). Donut just doesn’t cut it anymore, and while Éclair has its flaws, it left 1.6 in its dust long ago. If you’re removing shortcuts/widgets from the desktop, there’s no click-and-drag-to-Trash option; you’ll have to select the icon and then select the menu button to remove the item. It allows you to create multiple desktops, and wallpapers can be set individually to each. The drop-down menus make it easy to access various options, notifications and settings.

We had a couple of issues with the UI. Firstly, multi-touch wasn’t a universal function. On any Android 2.1+ handset, Angry Birds would allow you to pinch zoom out so you can see just where you’re firing. Thankfully, the browser and image gallery allow for multi-touch zooming without a hitch. It still isn’t as smooth as the iPhone’s, but it’ll do. We expected a bit more in terms of speed from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz processor. It’s not a slow handset, but activating apps and opening menus wasn’t as smooth as we’d hoped. The keypad could also have been a little better designed. With the num pad on the side, it means your right thumb is going to have to do a bit of stretching. In portrait mode, the Zero and ‘O’ are too close together since the num pad moves above the QWERTY keypad. It’ll take some getting used to.

There was quite a bit of confusion while syncing Facebook and Google accounts with the device’s phonebook. Most contacts that were downloaded didn’t allow us the option of sending them text messages until we had synced them with those transferred from the SIM phonebook, which is strange.

The music player is pretty standard in functionality, and it’s loud enough to listen to comfortably in a crowded train. The problem is that neither the hands-free nor the device’s earpiece provide proper clarity on calls. The volume on calls was just too low most of the time. The device also features a voice recorder, but no FM radio. Dell has included an MP3 Store application with the Streak that lets you search for music files and albums to download for a fee. The media player has no frills, except that it allows you to create playlists on the go. Sadly, the device doesn’t support DivX or XviD formats, so you’re going to have to convert videos before you can play them on the Streak. Once converted properly and optimized for the resolution, though, the viewing experience is not bad at all.

Like any high-end mobile phone, the Dell Streak is also well equipped for connectivity. From 3G (HSDPA, HSUPA), EDGE and Wi-Fi to Bluetooth (just version 2.0) with A2DP and USB 2.0, it’s all packed into this device. The Streak also comes with support for Microsoft Exchange and regular POP/IMAP accounts. For added functionality for Exchange, Dell has thrown in the TouchDown App with Active Sync support. Browsing the Internet on the large screen is absolute bliss and the native Android browser works just perfectly for rendering pages in a convenient, easy to read format.

While the integrated Facebook widget worked out just fine, the one for Twitter refused to let us sign in. Images can be easily shared or sent to email accounts, posted on Twitter, Facebook, Picasa or Flickr with just a couple of easy clicks. The Streak also has a GPS module, but there’s no preinstalled application other than Google Maps. There really aren’t too many other extras thrown in that are worth mentioning. A sync option for your Outlook Notes and tasks is available, Voice Control (which incidentally works really well) from Nuance Technologies, and Google Voice Search are on board as well. Productivity app QuickOffice is also available.

The 5 megapixel camera on the Streak comes with a dual LED flash and features that include a few scene modes, white balance, multi-shot, self timer and flicker adjustment.  Image quality is not bad at all. Whether outdoors or indoors, colors remain quite vivid and the details are quite good for a mobile phone sensor. The Streak isn’t going to win any awards for its 1530mAh battery. Thanks to its large display, battery life is quite low. On an average, it ran for a little over a day and a half with just over three hours of talk time.

So here’s the Rs 35,000 question – should you buy the Streak or go in for a mobile handset like the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy S? The handsets offer the same functionality as the Streak does and more, especially with Android 2.2 on board. Stick to a handset, we’d say. Don’t forget that the Galaxy S also comes in a 16 GB capacity and it’s more convenient to carry around. The Dell Streak just doesn’t fit in. Had it come with Éclair and better preloaded apps, it could be worth considering. On the plus side, it’s still smaller than a standard tablet, so you could just hold it up to your ear to talk, but it’s really not worth the price when a smaller device that does more is easily available.

IBM talks up holographic Star Wars phones

Those wacky kids in the Star Wars universe had it figured out a long, long time ago. If IBM's recent predictions are any indication, we may finally be catching up.The company this week issued its yearly "Five in Five" list, which outlines bold technology predictions for the next five years. At the top of the list: holographic phones.The phones will beam holographic, 3D images of, one assumes, the person calling you. Also on the list, batteries that breathe air and cities that are powered by the heat of their own servers."All this demonstrates a real culture of innovation at IBM and willingness to devote itself to solving some of the world's biggest problems," IBM VP Josephine Chang told Bloomberg in an interview.