The Android Invasion

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I N T E L L I G E N T | C O M P U T I N G
C H I P
Supplement to CHIP March 2011
TR AC IN G TH E
S U C C E S S O F
AN D R O ID
We ta k e a lo o k a t wh a t
th e p la tfo rm o ffe rs a n d
th e wa y a h e a d
AN D R D ip
AP P -I N E S S
D i sco ve r fre e a n d
p a id a p p s to su it
yo u r e ve ry n e e d
_ The
m
Android
Invasi on
HOW GOOGLE CHRNGED THE Sf Yl RRTPHONE
RMD TRBLET PC LRMDSCRPE
D E U IC E S O N
TH E H O R IZO N
A sn ea k p e e k a t th e d e vi ce s
th a t a re e xp e cte d to be o u t so o n
G EAR IN G U P FO R
TH E R E U O LU TI O N
E xp lo re yo u r An d ro i d d e vi ce to
u n d e rsta n d th e fu ll p o te n ti a l
o f th e p la tfo rm
P LU S : B U ILD R P R O m iS IN G C AR E E R IN IT,
R FFO R D AB LE B IO N IC AR fYl FO R TH E D IS AB LE D
Network 18
FOREWORD O
I've always been
one to stick to the
PC for work, and
I've never been
too comfortable
with the idea
of working on a
one, but Android
changed that.
I
recently upgraded to a smartphone, and for
anyone looking to do the same, there has never
been a better time to make the switch. Not too
long ago, Symbian was the dominant platform, and
while RIM and Apple both have great operating
systems, they're restricted to the BlackBerry range
and iPhone respectively. That's where Android
came in and offered me something more in tune
with my individual requirements.
I wanted a robust device that would help me
manage personal and professional matters when I
was on the move. That was what prompted me to
consider the Android platform, and I eventually
went with the Sony Ericsson Xperia xlO Mini Pro.
There are many new technologies that Android
brings, but most importantly for us users, it gives
us choice. Android has been readily adopted by the
world's leading phone manufacturers. What's more,
there are Android phones for every budget. Even
tablet PCs are now running on Android. Such is the
power of Google's open-source mobile platform.
My new phone has become my lifeline. I blog,
read e-books, connect and network, watch movies,
work, write my diary, maintain schedules, and even
play games, all on one device. I've always been one
to stick to the PC for work, and I've never been too
comfortable with the idea of working on a phone,
but Android changed that. With back-up solutions,
easy syncing, and effortless Internet connectivity,
working on-the-go is a breeze. Thanks to the
thriving online community, even rooting my phone
and tethering was fun to try out. And with strong
developer support, you will always have great apps
available to add more value to your Android device.
Mine, being a mid-range device, does miss out
on some features, like multi-touch and pinch-to-
zoom, but there's still so much on offer that non-
Android phones at this price range simply cannot
match. Then again, who knows what would be in
store for me when I am ready for my next change!
KAMAKSHI S
[email protected]
CONTENTS
GOING ANDROID
6 TRACING THE SUCCESS OF
ANDROID
A look at how the Android platform has
grown and what it has to offer.
8
THE LONG ARM OF
ANDROID
The portability and flexibility of Android
gives end users more choice
10 SAFE BROWSING ON YOUR
ANDROID DEVICE
Android offers many online features
Here's how you can use them securely.
13 GET THE COMPLETE
ANDROID EXPERIENCE
Service providers are introducing plans
to help flesh out the Android experience.
SHOPPERS' STOP
EQ 10 THINGS TO KNOW
ABOUT ANDROID
Here's what sets Android apart from
other mobile platforms.
ES IN FOCUS: SAMSUNG
GALAXY TAB P1000
An indepth analysis of the most popular
Android tablet in the country.
EH AN ANDROID FOR
EVERY POCKET
There's an Android device for every
budget across all popular brands.
ED BUSINESS AS USUAL
Apps to help you get the job done on
the move.
E3 MAKE YOUR PHONE YOUR
BEST TRAVEL BUDDY
From navigation to vacation planning,
there's an app for every travel need.
EE LEARNING FROM YOUR
ANDROID
Make your Android device your study
and revision partner.
E3 ANDROID APP-INESS
The Android Market is brimming with
apps. Here are some of the best.
M GET GAMING WITH
ANDROID
Keep the gamer in you awake with
these gaming apps.
E2 ANDROID DEVICES ON
THE HORIZON
Devices that will hit the market soon.
DO IT YOURSELF
E3 LET ANDROID POWER
YOUR NETBOOK
Before you buy an Android device, get
the feel of it on your netbook or laptop.
E3 GETTING TO THE ROOT OF
YOUR ANDROID
Rooting your Android is really easy if
you know your way around it.
E3 EXPAND YOUR NET BY
TETHERING
Use your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot for
Web access on your computer.
TECH TALK
40 GIVE YOUR CAREER AN
ANDROID JOLT
Android app development is a serious
and lucrative career option.
42 ANDROID APP
DEVELOPMENT 101
With the right tools and knowledge app
development can be quite easy.
45 INDIA'S FIRST UBUNTU
DEVELOPER DAY
A look at the Inagural Ubuntu Developer
Day in Bangalore,
46 MCA: BUILD A
CAREER IN L-T
Engineering is no longer a must for a
promising career in IT.
48 A BIONIC ARM FOR THE
DISABLED
An innovative bionic arm that is
surprisingly affordable.
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61 GOING ANDROID
FROM PROTOTYPE TO PHENOMENON
TRRCING THE SUCCESS
Starting from a vague mobile
application development firm to
Google's next big thing, Android has
subtly changed the face of computing
on the go. We take a look at what
made the tide turn in its favor in a
strong and competitive market.
BY KAM AK5HI 5
W
ith smartphones becoming the fastest
growi ng mobile phone segment and
tablet PC market touted to see massive
growth this year, the Android platform stands
fi rml y in the center of the revolution. J ust as the
mobile platform space was settling into clear seg-
mentations, Android has made the industry sit
up and take note. What is it that makes Android a
stronger contender in a space which boasts of big
players like Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, Apple's
iOS, Symbian and Linux? We look back and trace
the route Google took to revolutionize the face of
mobile computing.
> HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Way back in 2005, a start-up company named
Android, which was developing mobile applica-
tions, was acquired by Google. A Linux-based
mobile device OS was developed as a flexible,
upgradeable system, and released as the Android
platform in 2007. The project has been backed by
the Open Handset Alliance, which features over 80
hardware, software, and telecommunications com-
panies to help make the movement interoperable
and platform-friendly.
N THE CURRENT SCENARIO
Three years later, the technology is all set to give
the industry leaders a run for their money. A com-
GOING ANDROID 17
OF RNDROID
According to Roberta Cozza, Principal
Research Analyst at Gartner shares, "Android
sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 continued
to be driven by broad availability of many
high-end products from HTC (Desire range,
Incredible and EVO), Samsung (Galaxy S) and
Motorola (Droid X, Droid 2). Symbian's market
share dropped further in the fourth quarter
of 2010 to 32,6 percent or 32.6 million units.
This allowed Android to overtake Nokia's
Symbian unit sales during the fourth quarter of 2010. However, the
Symbian 05 is also used by Fujitsu and Sharp as well as in legacy
products from Sony Ericsson and Samsung, This aggregated volume
kept Symbian slightly ahead of Android."
Roberta Cozza, Principal
Research Analyst, Gartner
parative analysis fr om Gartner reveals that in the
smartphone segment, Androi d has seen a sales
growth of 888.8 percent fr om 2009 to 2010. How-
ever, the report states that the OS wi l l have to wait
until 2014 to take over the current market leader,
Symbian, which is down, but not completely out of
the scene.
#>APP'S THE WORD
The greatest advantage of using an Androi d- pow-
ered smartphone is that it isn't "l ocked" by some
service provider or tel ecomm network. This means
that you can downl oad what ever you want, pick
a servi ce provi der of your choice and opt for an
I nternet surfing data plan that suits your pocket.
Moreover, accessing its kernel root (as a superuser,
through a process called rooti ng) and pl ayi ng
around wi th the fi rmware is completely legitimate
(not recommended, unless you know what you
are doing). The pl atform also allows you to legally
tether your phone, making it a Wi-Fi hot spot for
your laptop or PC to access I nternet wi th ease.
i f you don't have the desire to do a fi rmware
based upgrade, but want to use the features that
are available, you can turn to the Androi d Market.
The Market has an app for everythi ng that you can
do wi th your Androi d devi ce and the availability
of apps is not really l i mi ted to the Market. There
are several resources you can turn to but be sure to
Rajarshi Sengupta, Executive
Director, Deloitte India
Rajarshi Sengupta, Executive Director from
Deloitte&loucheConsultingIndiaPvt. Ltd.
says, "Android is considered to be one of the
key products in the smartphone market,
competing with iPhone and expected to
compete with the product that comes from
the Nokia-Microsoft agreement. It has fared
well in the market." However, while she does
agree that the style adapted by the Android
Market offers a good selling prospect for
apps, the control that Google exercises over it cannot be overlooked.
"Yes, the open nature of the Android Market has helped boost
sales, but recognize that an Android phone also comes with the
governance rules that Google dictates. So while the open platform
in contrast to the more proprietary iPhone from Apple has helped,
the overall application governance needs to be understood better."
When asked about the effects of piracy that governs the Android
Market today, she quips, "It's not more or less than any other form
of piracy."
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
| 8 GOING RNDROID
FLEXIBILITY WITH ANDROID
THE LONG RRfYl
•F RNDROID
Android has made a huge impact on the smartphones space in the
global market and is currently the operating system of choice for tablets
competing with the iPad. The popularity of the Android platform arises
from its flexibility, something no other OS has managed to achieve.
BY KUSHAL MAMOOWALA
Androi d pl atform, wi th the four latest versions
being released wi thi n the span of just over a year.
Each update di ffered slightly fr om its predecessor,
but the hardware requi rements remai ned almost
the same, gi vi ng manufacturers the ability to pro-
vi de OS upgrades to handsets wi th older versions.
I ni ti al l y created for touchscreen smartphones,
Google has now moved on to tablets wi th Androi d
3.0 Honeycomb bei ng thei r fi rst tablet-specific
operati ng system wi th support for hi gh perfor-
mance hardware.
OPEN SOURCE
By provi di ng the source code of the operating sys-
tem to manufacturers and also designing a software
devel opment kit (SDK) for application developers,
Google has sort of outsourced its tasks and still
pleased developers by gi vi ng them the freedom of
personalizing and customizing Androi d. They have
gone a step further by l etti ng users "r oot" thei r
Androi d device, which gives them superuser pri vi -
leges like access to admi ni strati ve rights, system
changes and running scripts that would generally
be blocked for the standard user. This allows devel-
I
n late 2007, there were rumors of Google work-
ing on the GPhone, a smartphone design wi th
their own OS, which was supposed to compete
wi th Apple's iPhone and Nokia's new smartphone
series. What we got instead was the revelation of
the Google Androi d operati ng system as an open
source pl atform for developers and the Open Hand-
set Alliance, whi ch then consisted of 34 members,
including mobi l e handset makers, application
developers, mobile carriers, and chip makers.
# THE OPEN HANDSET ALLIANCE
The Open Handset Alliance, wi th Androi d as its
flagship software, is a business alliance that now
consists of 80 fi rms that aim to pioneer Androi d
and open standards for mobi l e devices. What
this means is that Androi d as an open source
pl atform could be modi fi ed and tweaked to
suit hardware and handsets manufactured by
multiple mobile phone manufacturers,
thereby exponenti al l y increasing the
presence of Androi d as an operating
system in the mobile phone market.
The compatibility of the Androi d plat-
for m to run on di fferent chipsets
wi th di fferent hardware is
the pri me attri butor to
its flexibility.
# FREQUENT
UPDATES
Googl e has set a trend
of frequentl y updati ng its
opers and coders to run their apps even i f they
require elevated privileges.
HI THE GOOGLE CLOUD
Al ong wi th the ability to customize almost every-
thing, Google has i ntegrated its operating system
into the Google cloud. Wi th default apps for Gmail,
Google Maps, Google Docs and other Google fea-
tures, users are able to vi ew and edit their tasks
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
GOING RNDROID
and work on their handset, which then automati-
cally syncs wi th their Google account. What the end
user gets is a simple, easy-to-use i nterface which
accompanies them wherever they go and omits the
need to manually transfer files and other data. I n
addition to these default apps, the Androi d market
has been fl ooded wi th apps fr om developers that
can do almost anythi ng. Some of these apps are
dependent on the Google cloud as wel l and others
have syncing abilities of thei r own, maki ng both
Androi d phones and tablets the most sought after
devices in today's market.
>A LITTLE TOO FLEXIBLE?
While the fl exi bi l i ty of Androi d has been its biggest
selling point, the openness does bring wi th it a few
drawbacks. Manufacturers have taken advantage
of Android's mi ni mal hardware requirements and
devel oped smartphones and tablets wi th vari ed
hardware performance to suit all budgets. Whi l e
Android might run smoothly on a cheaper phone, it
is hard to tell how some apps wi th a higher CPU load
or power requirement would perform. The Androi d
market limits the installation of certain apps based
on the device being used, but thi rd party apps can
still be installed without any regulation.
There is also the risk of security, which is per-
fectly exempl i fi ed by the Soundminer app. Security
researchers devel oped Soundminer as a worki ng
spyware app that is disguised as a voice recorder.
Soundminer runs silently in the background and
listens for PI N or Credit Card numbers during your
phone calls. The application records this i nforma-
tion, converts the recordi ng into a number and
relays it over the network to the developer. It can
even recogni ze numbers typed on the vi rtual key-
board and voi ce-acti vated I VR systems. Another
instance of the gaping hole in the Androi d Market
is the Angr y Birds Vi ral app. A mobile security
expert used the popular Angr y Birds game to dis-
guise a Troj an virus and had no trouble getti ng
it onto the Androi d Market. Al though it was only
developed to demonstrate to Google the gaps in
their security, the app brings to light how easy it
would be for thi rd party developers to access per-
sonal i nformati on.
§ OTHER DEVICES
Along wi th its widespread presence in smartphones
and tablets fr om manufacturers like Motorola, LG,
HTC, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, Androi d has also
been adapted to run on e-readers, netbooks, por-
A release from Embedded Alley Solutions states, "The Development
System enables development of Android-based intelligent devices
targeting applications in domains beyond mobile handsets,
Delivery of the Embedded Alley Development System enables
both systems and applications developers to extend the reach of
Android to encompass multimedia, Mobile Internet Devices, digital
video and home entertainment, automotive, medical, networking,
instrumentation and industrial control."
table medi a pl ayers
and even TVs. Barnes
& Noble, Entourage,
Spri ng Desi gn and
PocketBook have all
used Androi d to power
certai n aspects of
thei r e-readers such
as Wi-Fi or 3G technol-
ogy. Acer and Toshiba
have al ready manu-
factur ed netbooks
that are powered by
Androi d and Samsung
and Philips have used
Androi d 2.1 on thei r
music players. There is
also speculation about
Androi d-powered
I nternet tel evi si ons
fr om Sony and NCPG.
# SOMETHING
FOR THE FUTURE
The acquisition of a small Cal i forni an start-up
called Embedded Al l ey Solutions by Mentor Graph-
ics has raised a few eyebrows. Embedded Al l ey
Solutions specialize in Linux and Androi d tools and
have devel oped the Embedded Al l ey Development
System for Android-based devices.
What this means is that the Androi d pl atform
could possibly be tweaked to run on home appli-
ances, such as telephones, navigation systems and
even I nternet refri gerators. Only ti me wi l l tell how
far Google's Androi d net wi l l eventually spread. ®
nook
UMESOUBU
The Barnes & Noble Nook is
one of many e-readers that is
powered by Android.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
10
SECURING YOUR ANDROID DEVICE
SAFEGUARDING
Androidopensupa whole worldof possibilities,from social
networking and Web browsing to downloading apps and
exchanging email, all on-the-go. But before you go on an app
downloading spree, make sure that your Android device and the
datainit are protected and taken care of.
BY KAM AKSHI 5
w:
#
^ rill a 5:14
Enter name for situation:
| Home
Select the application(s) you want to protect while
this situation is active:
m Liitalt
L_ J
p i Gallery •
• Messaging
•
Music
•
Phone
•
Search
xt Settings
I
I V Add
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| 1
Apps like Seal help you password-
protect applications on an
individual level.
Wi th most people l i vi ng thei r personal
and professional lives on thei r smart-
phones, it's not j ust the data that has
been fed into these devi ces, but also fi nanci al
transactions and communi cati on links that can
be vi ol ated. Whi l e Androi d has not seen too many
securi ty scares, the massive number of devices
and hi gh number of un-scanned
apps that make their way into the
Androi d Market real l y make you
thi nk about how safe your data
is. Here are some things that you
need to watch out for, and a list
of apps that can help you secure
your data.
# THINGS TO WATCH
OUT FOR
There are certai n bits of i nforma-
ti on on your smartphone that
can become a target for viruses,
worms or other mal ware. First is
your personal data, emai l , text
messages, notes and contacts.
Next are your personal and profes-
sional account details like emai l
set-up, social networki ng details,
and schedules. Your Wi-Fi network
settings and onl i ne banki ng and
tradi ng website details are also at
risk. Mal ware is capable of send-
ing text or mul ti medi a messages,
maki ng premi um phone calls, or
uti l i zi ng your funds to buy apps.
F| SECURITY AT THE ROOT
The Androi d OS does feature solid security archi-
tecture at the kernel l evel . The kernel is pro-
grammed to sandbox applications fr om each other,
which means that i f an application wants access
to details like network access, reading or wri ti ng
data, and personal contacts, each request is made
expl i ci tl y and only on granti ng permission, wi l l
they be made available.
I f you do grant access to a mal ware app, then
the security mechanism is of no use, so you need
to exercise more caution and keep a tab on what to
downl oad to your phone. You should also be care-
ful when updating an installed app because it is at
times as good as installing a new app.
F| WHAT ARE YOU UP AGAINST?
Androi d apps can be targeted by a virus that can
corrupt the data on your phone, spyware that can
read critical data like credit card details and pass-
words wi thout your knowledge, or apps can act as
nuisance-ware or adware that interrupts the nor-
mal worki ng of your phone.
{§ SAFE BROWSING
Al though you can avail help fr om antivirus apps,
you should also exercise caution when you go on
to the Androi d Market and downl oad an app for
your phone. Firstly, make sure that the app comes
fr om a l egi ti mate source. Even though the Market
is considered a l egi ti mate source, the apps that go
up are not real l y screened, merel y signed by the
makers. Read through the comments posted by
other users. I f it sounds fishy, it's wi se to gi ve it a
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
GOING ANDROID 11
YOUR INTERESTS
^lookout
If you want to secure your device from
hacks, an app like Lookout can be very
useful.
miss. If you wish to go ahead, the next thi ng to do
is visit the developer's website. Most developers
who take their apps seriously woul d have a dedi-
cated space to promote it. Finally, check the type
of permissions the apps requi re for installation.
For example, i f a game app is tryi ng to access your
contact i nformati on, which is ideally not requi red,
it is recommended to avoid it.
# PROTECTING YOUR
COMMUNICATION ROUTES
One of the easiest techniques to i nfi l trate your
Androi d device's security is through the Wi-Fi or
VPN (vi rtual private network) settings. Al though it
is advisable to use SSL or HTTPS encrypti on when
using an unprotected Wi-Fi hotspot, many emai l
providers don't support encrypti on. Therefore, it
is better to use a VPN network that offers better
encrypti on supported by your mobile phone ser-
vice provider. Even though you can keep your data
traffi c option off when not in use, you can opt for
apps like WiTopia or the free Hotspot Shield and
services like Free Shield VPN (http:/ / go.chip.in/
qnwbi ) that offers increased safety for your VPN.
(§1 APPS TO GUIDE YOU
There are apps can help you protect exi sti ng
data as wel l as help you safeguard your future
downloads. You can secure your Androi d devices
(FroYo and above) wi th unl ocki ng options, like
using a numeric PIN, a password or a graphical
pattern. However, a Uni versi ty of Pennsylvania
research reveals how smudges on your screen can
actually make hacking your graphical password
quite a cake walk.
You can start off wi th a free app called Androi d
Protector, which can assign passwords to protect
details like your text messages, Gmail accounts,
contacts details, schedulers, I nternet and Wi-Fi
settings, and photos. I f you are looking for some-
thi ng a bit more secure, you can pick the Seal app
(Rs 122.19), Carrot App Lock Pro
(Rs 68.18), or app protector pro
(Rs 90.46). These apps also offer
lite versions so that you can try
before you buy the app.
I f you wish to have an app
that backs up and restores your
data, helps you track your miss-
ing or stolen phone, and scan an
app for mal ware, the fr ee ver-
sion of Lookout Mobi l e Security
or MacAfee's recentl y acquired
WaveSecure are ver y good
options. However, WaveSecure
does not provi de antivirus sup-
port, but both applications can
help you lock or wi pe data off
your devi ce remotely.
I f you are l ooki ng for tools
that can help you scan the apps
for you before downl oadi ng
them to your devi ce, you can
tr y the beta versi on of Norton
Mobi l e for Androi d, or the Free
or Pro (Rs 454.10) AVG apps. ©
McAfee WaveSecure j
9
WaveSecure
gip
5
Backup
Backup contacts, SMS and call logs
Upload Media
Upload photos and videos
«
Restore
Restore contacts and SMS
A
Lock Down Phone
lock the phone now! (You can unlock it
with your PIN)
V
Wipe Now!
Wipe all contacts, SMS, call logs, photos,
videos and memory card
An antivirus can not only protect
you from malware, but also come to
your rescue if you lose your device.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
| 12 GOING RNDROID
WHAT THE INDUSTRY LEADERS HAVE TO SAY:
T
he hi gh vol ume
of data bei ng
exchanged over
Andr oi d power ed
devi ces is enough
for mi schi ef makers
to tr y and siphon
off cri ti cal data
and use it to thei r
advantage. As the
Andr oi d Mar ket
doesn't real l y guar-
antee security, it is
advisable to protect to be cautious when headi ng
onl i ne vi a your mobi l e devi ce. We spoke to Vi noo
Thomas, who is the Technical Product Manager at
the McAfee Labs, and the vi rus research lead wi th
McAfee Labs Bangalore. Here are his thoughts on
the securi ty issues pertai ni ng to the Androi d plat-
form:
®What kind of security threats has the
Android platform seen? How serious can
these get?
© Last year saw a couple of notable viruses that
targeted the Androi d pl atform. There were a cou-
ple of viruses which woul d accept every i ncomi ng
call wi thout users knowl edge, causing battery
drai n. Then there was a vi rus known as the Fake
Pl ayer Codec, whi ch woul d send SMSes to a pre-
mi um rate number wi thout the user's knowl edge,
whi ch resul ted in i nfl ated monthl y bills. There
have also been vi ruses whi ch send a copy of them-
selves to everybody on the i nfected user's address
book vi a an MMS. In I ndia, an MMS costs Rs 5, so
i f you have 100 contacts, it results in di rect Rs 500
i nfl ati on in your monthl y bills.
Lately we also had a hi gh profi l e Androi d vi rus
by the name of Geinimi, whi ch poses as a l egi ti -
mate app and is the fi rst known Androi d mal ware
in the open that displays botnet capabilities. So
once the mal ware is installed on a user's phone, it
has the potenti al to al l ow the attacker to remotel y
control the devi ce. The app can pull out all contact
i nformati on, read, send or del ete SMSes, make a
phone call, install an app, and launch browsers
© What is the nature of protection that
a user can adopt?
© At MacAfee, we have our target set at three
thi ngs. First is the enterpri se or the end user
level, where the protecti on is in terms of fi l teri ng,
management or j ust good anti vi rus security. The
next l evel is to work wi th devi ce manufacturers,
l i ke Sony Ericsson or Noki a to embed securi ty
into thei r phones, so that security software comes
bundl ed and peopl e don't have to wor r y about
buyi ng or i nstal l i ng anythi ng. The thi rd l evel
comes in the for m of a partnershi p wi th tel ecomm
provi ders or banks. We work wi th them to ensure
that peopl e who subscribe to thei r services such
as mobi l e banki ng, have to go through certai n
securi ty measures to access these services.
® What kind of support do you provide
for Android users?
© There is fami l y protecti on software that you
can use on your Androi d devi ce. I f the tablet is
being used by kids, parents woul d be able to moni-
tor thei r onl i ne acti vi ti es inside and outside the
house, they could block browsi ng of inappropriate
websites based on categori es, and they woul d be
able to block I nternet access for parti cul ar ti me
periods.
In terms of mobile security, we have an anti vi -
rus opti mi zed for mobile devices. You wi l l be able
to scan attachments and appl i cati ons. I f some-
thi ng is found malicious, you can get it cleaned
or quaranti ned. I t also offers protecti on against
phishing and offers safe mobile browsi ng.
© Can you use any McAfee product on
an Android or are there specific prod-
ucts?
© We have a couple of MacAfee products that
work not j ust on the Androi d, but the Symbian,
Appl e iOS and the Wi ndows CE pl atforms. Tradi-
tionally, MacAfee had MacAfee Mobi l e Security for
smartphones and tablets, and then we expanded
to MacAfee Family Protecti on for Mobiles, where
we are not j ust provi di ng security, but also al l ow-
i ng parents to do URL fi l teri ng, safe search and
I nternet usage reporti ng.
Last year, MacAfee acquired WaveSecure, which
al l ows us to manage mobi l e devi ces better. So in
addition to security, you wi l l now be able to back
up and restore data on your mobile, and you wi l l
be able to locate and track a lost devi ce. You can
also per for m a remote lock and wi pe all the data
in case your devi ce is misplaced. ©
Vinoo Thomas, Technical Product
Manager, McAfee Labs
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
GOING RNDROID
VALUE ADDED SERVICES
GET THE COfYlPLETE
RNDROID EXPERIENCE
While Android devices are selling like hot cakes and 3G services now
up and running, we look at the various value added services that are
being offered by the popular telecomm service providers.
BY KAM AKSHI 5
W
What good is an Androi d phone i f you
can't real l y surf the I nternet and down-
load apps of your liking? Here's a look
at what the maj or tel ecomm servi ce provi ders
have to help you enj oy your Androi d experi ence to
the ful l est.
#VODAFONE
Whi l e Vodafone has the Vodafone Live and Voda-
fone Mobi l e Connect services on offer for i nternet
surfi ng, Vodafone Live wi l l not work wi th your
Androi d devi ce. The Vodafone Mobi l e Connect
works wi th a prepaid and a post paid plan.
Whi l e it is a zero rental plan for prepaid users,
postpai d users can pick between a Rs 299 pl an
that offers 2 GB of fr ee surfi ng, a Rs 499 plan that
offers 4 GB of fr ee surfi ng, and a Rs 699 plan that
offers unl i mi ted surfing.
Vodafone supports tetheri ng, so you can freel y
use your Androi d phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot to
connect your l aptop or PC to the I nternet. The
connecti on takes 4 hours to activate on a prepaid
account and 24 hours on a postpaid one.
AIRTEL
Ai rtel offer s Ai rtel Live servi ces for WAP and
GPRS-enabled handsets and a mobi l e I nternet
pack that offers up to 2 GB of fr ee surfi ng at rent-
als of Rs 99, but the servi ce is currentl y available
for Blackberry, Apple iPhone and Wi ndows Mobi l e
6.5 powered smartphones only.
Whi l e thei r customer servi ce is unclear about
extendi ng these servi ces to Androi d- powered
devices, Ai rtel does have its own app store called
the App Central, whi ch features more than 71,000
apps segregated under 25 categories, which can be
downl oaded to over 550 compatible devices.
#AIRCEL
I f you plan to buy a Galaxy Tab, then Ai rcel is all
set to sell you a pretty package. For a pri ce of Rs
29,500, you get the gadget, plus a 3 GB fr ee plan
for 3 months for prepai d users, or a 1 GB fr ee plan
for 6 months for postpai d users. You also get a 2
GB memor y card and a l eather case. However,
thei r customer care is not too clear about extend-
ing I nternet support to other Androi d devices.
N TATA DOCOMO
Whi l e Tata Docomo has been maki ng claims of
goi ng 3G for a long ti me, there is still no trace of
the company del i veri ng on that promi se. Whi l e
you can use the Tata Photon Wi-Fi pocket router
for I nternet connecti vi ty on your Androi d devi ce,
you wi l l have to wai t a l i ttl e l onger for any data
plans for your devi ce on the go. i f not, mobi l e
number portabi l i ty is always an opti on.
K| REDIFF NG
Whi l e you can confi gure 10 emai l accounts on
your BlackBerry phone, Redi ff NG enables you to
do the same on your Androi d as wel l . At j ust Rs
50 a month, you can do all that on your Symbian,
J ava, and Androi d powered smartphones.
The servi ce enables you to por t data across
phones, so even i f you do change your mobi l e
phone, your setti ngs and emai l s remai n i ntact.
The annual plan wi l l cost you Rs 600. ©
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
things to know about
AN D R O ID
If you're considering a switch to
an Android-powered smartphone
or tablet, here are a few tips and
pointers on what you can expect
from your device.
BY KUSHAL MAMOOWALA
IT'S OPEN FOR
EVERYONE
Androi d was designed and
developed as an open source,
ful l y customizable mobi l e
phone pl atform; the fi rst
of its kind. This means that
manufacturers can custom-
i ze thei r phones however
they want and design any
type of applications without
many restrictions.
GOOD SOFTWARE NEEDS
GOOD HARDWARE
Due to its ease of availability,
developers have taken to manu-
facturing handsets and tablets
running on Android. However,
all devices have di fferent hard-
ware configurations and if the
hardware cannot match the
software, it wi l l not gi ve you
the best Androi d experience.
IT'S GONE 3D^
Androi d 3.0 (Honeycomb), the
latest version of the OS, was
recentl y unveiled by Google.
At the offi ci al launch of Hon-
eycomb, Google displayed its
3D capabilities wi th the Google
Maps and YouTube apps, assur-
ing users that the company
has done quite a bit to ensure
3D works well on the platform.
This could usher in big changes
in the mobile phone market-
place.
IT CAN TETHER
Androi d has taken pairing
devices to the next level.
Tetheri ng your Androi d
device wi th your PC means
you can use your service
provi der's I nternet plan
wi th your computer. With 3G
services hi tti ng the market,
tetheri ng your mobile and
PC could see a great reduc-
tion in I nternet service sub-
scriptions.
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP
MAKE SURE IT'S
THE LATEST VERSION
In the space of one year, Google
made four revisions to its OS -
Cupcake (1.5), Donut (1.6), Eclair
(2.0/ 2.1), FroYo (2.2)
and Honeycomb (3.0).
With such rapid
updates to the
OS, manufactur-
ers are fi ndi ng it
hard to develop
hardware and
modi fy the OS to suit
their latest handsets.
IT CAN RUN
MULTIPLE TASKS
Androi d is able to run
multiple applications at
the same ti me regardless
of whether they are sys-
tem apps or apps from the
Androi d Market. Androi d
users benefit greatly from
this discrepancy, as they
can receive notifications,
listen to music, or even
record GPS data without
keeping the application
open.
IT'S ALL IN THE
GOOGLE CLOUD
Androi d phones
don't sync wi th
your computer
because they
don't have to.
Your contacts,
calendar and mail
are all backed up in the great
Googleplex. What this means
is that any changes or entries
you make to your Google-based
organi zer wi l l automatically
appear on your Android phone.
NOT ALL APPS ARE
VERIFIED
It's safe to install or buy apps
fr om the Androi d Market,
but a simple change in your
phone or tablet's security set-
tings can let you install apps
fr om unveri fi ed sites. What
this means is that not all the
apps you use are veri fi ed by
Androi d and could do more
harm than good.
APP INCOMPATIBILITIES
As menti oned earlier, all
phones have di fferent hard-
ware setups. A di fference in
resolution, processor speed
and RAM means that an app
that runs perfectl y fi ne on
one Androi d devi ce mi ght
not work as well on another.
Developers need to consider
modi fyi ng thei r apps to suit
di fferent devices.
IT CAN REMOTE WIPE
Google has added a remote
wi pe feature wi th Android
2.2 (FroYo). This remote wipe
feature enables users to
program the device to auto-
matically wi pe its memory
clean in certain-conditions.
I f your phone is lost or sto-
len, a simple SMS, fai l ed
password entry or a change
of SIM Card can tri gger the
wipe. It's up to you.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
In Focus: The Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000
Will SamsungliveuptothehypecreatedaroundtheGalaxy TabP1000? We
takealook at oneof themost awaitedtabletstohit theIndianmarkets.
BY 5HAYNE RANA
S
amsung's hi ghl y anticipated Galaxy Tab actu-
ally managed to get itself here legally before
Apple's iPad, and brought wi th it quite a bit of
confusion when it comes to choice. The Dell Streak
didn't impress me and I had my doubts about the
Olive Pad, the only two other tablets in I ndia to
make it out in an offi ci al capacity. Here's my take
on the whol e 'Tabbing' experience.
0 FORM FACTOR
1 bel i eve that the 7-inch display, protected by the
hardcore Gorilla Glass pane wi th a 600x1024 pixel
resolution is about the ri ght size for a tablet. It
allows for easy handling and storage. Samsung's
gone wi th a set of touch sensitive keys bel ow the
display. At 380 grams, it's a tad on the heavy side
wi th a screen lock/ power button on the same side
as the volume/ zoom keys, mi cro SD card port (1GB
on board memory wi th support for 32GB cards)
and standard SIM card slot. The 3.5mm handsfree
socket is located on the top.
A set of built in speakers, which seemed loud
enough for audio, but oddl y l ow for calls, are
located at the bottom on either side of the propri -
etary Samsung USB/ Charger port at the bottom.
This was the fi rst thing I disliked about the device.
Aesthetically, I found the Tab an easy devi ce to
work wi th purely fr om the design perspective.
0 FEATURES AND PERFORMANCE
Here is an indepth analysis on the features and
performance offered by the tablet.
INTERFACE
I'm not a fan of Samsung's TouchWiz UI, so I swapped
the UI wi th another fr om the Androi d market. The
Galaxy Tab is powered by an ARM Cortex A8 1 GHz
processor wi th PowerVR SGX540 graphics for added
support. It's running on Androi d 2.2 aka Froyo out
of the box. Most of the UI navigation is quite seam-
less, but there are moments when you'll be wonder-
ing i f there is a 1 GHz processor running the show.
The three axis Gyro makes accelerometer-based
functi onal i ty fr om games to screen rotation quite
smooth, but there's just that hint of lag. The multi
touch zoomi ng is as responsive as the iPad's. Sam-
sung's also thrown in a Task Manager to kill all
background running apps or the specific ones you
want. Using the normal on-screen keypad was a
breeze, but Swype on a l arger display, although
requi ri ng you to stretch quite a bit to trai l words, is
still a speedier way to get the j ob done.
MEDIA
Aside fr om the 5.1 audio channel support, the Gal-
axy Tab also comes wi th Samsung's DNSe audio
enhancement wi th a set of EQ presets and an
eight-band customizable graphic EQ setting. Audio
Effects like Bass Enhancement, Wide and Concert
Hall settings are also provi ded. The Tab's audio
player is sure fi re winner. The cherry on top is of
course vi deo codec support for AVI files (DivX and
XviD), which enables you to simply drag and drop
your favori te movies on the ample storage space for
instant playback.
The 7-inch display is great for vi ewi ng videos,
however games and quite a few other apps are still
to be upscaled for this genre of Androi d devices.
Unlike the iPad's opti on to stretch games/ apps to
fi t the screen, the Tab allows you to play or access
apps in the native resolution the app as designed
for. This means they'l l open only in the middle of
the screen. There are many e-readers preloaded on
the Tab. An e-book application similar to Aldiko's
app allows you to i mport e-books off of your mem-
ory card, but I could not fi nd an option to download
any books fr om a website. The fonts and page colors
can be adjusted and the overall layout is extremely
conducive for easy reading. But changing pages is a
slow and l aggy process, the lack of a smooth transi-
ti on is very evi dent. The Readers Hub application
is also an e-book reader powered by Kobo, but one
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP
that allows you to download content off the Web. A
Zinio magazine reader and a newspaper reader by
PressDisplay are also available.
CONNECTIVITY
The Galaxy Tab, is capable of making and taking
calls, messages and sending and receiving emails
from your standard POP and IMAP accounts, and
also plays nice with Microsoft Exchange services. It
supports 3G with HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps or typical
EDGE speeds for now. Like any Android device run-
ning Froyo, you can use the Tab as a Wi-Fi hotspot
and Samsung's All Share application allows you to
hook up to a DLNA supported device to transfer
and/ or stream media. Everything you'd expect
from a high-end Android handset can be found on
the Tab, from social networking with Facebook,
Twitter and Google syncing for your phone book
integration, to standalone apps and Google Talk. It
also supports Google Voice Search and tethering.
The native browser, irrespective of the boost
with Flash 10.1 support, turned out to be a bit of a
disappointment. When I compared it to the iPad's
browsing experience, the Galaxy Tab fell drastically
short on speed even though functionality was a bit
more. Pages tend to be laggy while scrolling and
there always seemed to be a jerky break when mov-
ing through screens. Unfortunately, it was s similar
experience with Opera's new beta mobile browser,
even if rendering was a lot faster.
The Galaxy tab also comes with GPS capabilities
supported by A-GPS. Samsung hasn't included any
software with this device like it would with others,
namely Route 66 Navigation. You'll have to stick
to Google Maps or use the Layar browser for an
augmented reality GPS-enabled search. Of course,
there's Bluetooth 3.0 and all the goodies that it
comes with, including A2DP is supported, and of
USB 2.0.
CAMERA
The 3 megapixel autofocus camera comes with an
LED flash, face and smile detection, a few scene
modes, geotagging and video recording (720x480 at
30fps) are all present. A forward-facing VGA cam-
era is also present for self portraits and video call-
ing. I found the pictures to be as good as any other
3 megapixel camera. Indoor images with light gave
focused pictures. Outdoor images weren't too bad
either, although excess sunlight did make portions
of the image a bit over exposed.
BATTERY LIFE
The Galaxy Tab managed to give a relatively high
battery life. With a single charge I used it for Web
and calls for two full days, with an average talktime
of over 4 hours 40 minutes. That's quite impressive.
0 THE BOTTOM LINE
I've become quite the fan of tabbing in general even
though the Web browsing or gaming experience
was not as fluid as the iPad's. ©
GOOD
Weil designed, Comes
with DivX and Xvid
support, Samsung DNSe,
5,1 surround, Flash 10.1
support, Camera quality is
quite decent
BAD
Web browsing is not fluid,
Laggy eBook readers,
Proprietary USB/ Charging
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
POPULAR ANDROID DEVICESIN EVERY PRICE RANGE
An Androi d For
Android devices are available in a range of shapes, sizes and prices.
Manufacturers have developed Android smartphones and tablets to
suit every budget and serve a range of needs.
BY KUSHAL AMOOWALA
M
anufacturers have captured every level
of communi cati on and computi ng by
devel opi ng Androi d-based smartphones
and tablets to fi t a wi de price range. This ensures
the popul ari ty of Androi d amongst users wi th
budgetary constrai nts as wel l as big spenders.
The di fference between a cheap smartphone and
an expensi ve one is pri mari l y in the hardware,
wi th the cheaper devices havi ng a weaker proces-
sor, less RAM and l i mi ted storage space. But these
di fferences are negl i gi bl e when it comes to basic
usage. It is only noticeable when the devices are
used to run multiple, memory heavy apps or apps
that requi re hi gh performance. Here's a look at
some popul ar Androi d smartphones and tablets
that fi t into di fferent budgets.
quick browsing. With Wi-Fi, e-mail and a good cam-
era, both devices wi l l service a user's basic needs.
Rs 10,000 - Rs 15,000
The Samsung 15801 Gal-
axy 3 at Rs 13,300 is
an entry level Androi d
smar tphone r unni ng
Androi d 2.1 Eclair. A
3.2-inch touch screen, 3
megapi xel camera and a
few unique features like
DivX/ XviD compati bi l i ty
and Kinetic scrol l i ng gi ve
it an edge. The Sony Erics-
son Xperia X10 mi ni pro, on
the other hand, is a pocket
rocket. It runs Androi d 1.6
Donut and supports 2.1 Eclair.
Wi th a ti ny 2.55-inch screen, slide out QWERTY
keyboard and 600 MHz
processor, it packs quite
a punch at Rs 14,245.
Other smartphones
that fi t into this cat-
egory include Acer
beTouch E130, Vi d
eocon Zeus,HTC
Wi l dfi r e and
Sony Ericsson
Xper i a X10
Q SMARTPHONES
The Open Handset Al l i ance includes companies that
manufacture smartphones for
a diverse group of consumers.
Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000
For people l ooki ng to spend as
l i ttl e as possible on a smart-
phone without expecti ng some-
thi ng real l y flashy, there are
the Mi cromax Andro A60 and
the Spice MI300. Pri ced at Rs
8,599 and Rs 9,990 respectively,
both devices support Androi d
2.1 Eclair and are 3G ready for
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP
t ver y
Pocket
smartphone, and the HTC Desire gives you a
lot for its Rs 23,490 price tag. It has a speedy
1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, large
AMOLED screen and HTC's Sense UI with mul-
titouch support. It boasts an excellent Web
browser and i ntegrated social networki ng ser-
vices. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, priced Rs
24,995, is also armed wi th a Qualcomm Snap-
dragon processor. It combines stylish looks
wi th killer specs, and wi th Androi d 2.1 and a
huge 4-inch display, it is perfect for those who
want a simple yet robust devi ce that's also
good looking.
Other smartphones wi thi n this price range
include the Motorol a Milestone, HTC Legend
and Acer A1 Liquid.
Rs 15,000 - Rs 20,000
The LG Optimus One P500, pri ced at Rs. 15,000, is
the cheapest phone in this price range. It is a stan-
dard no fri l l s 3.2-inch Androi d 2.2 smartphone wi th
a moderately clocked CPU and ample RAM to gi ve
you a bit of freedom wi th your apps. The Garmin
Asus A10 has a smooth and elegant appearance
wi th a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen, a 5 megapixel
camera, and runs on Androi d 2.1 Eclair. It gives spe-
cial i mportance to maps and navi gati on powered
___ by Garmin, for which it has a
— • — ^ powerful processor and long
battery l i fe. It is reasonably
priced at Rs 18,990.
Other smartphones that
fi t into this category include
Dell XCD35, Motorol a Cliq
and Motorol a Backflip.
Rs 25,000 AND ABOVE
In the highest price range, there is the popular HTC
Desire HD, pri ced at Rs 26,990 and Samsung 19000
Galaxy S, at Rs 31,500. The Desire HD is a robust
phone wi th a 4.3-inch LCD display, 1 GHz processor
and 8 megapixel camera. It runs Androi d 2.2 and
wi th 1 GB storage, plus microSD extendible mem-
ory, it gives you enough room for videos, music,
images and tons of apps.
The Samsung Galaxy S car-
ries a 4-inch super AMOLED
display wi th a resol uti on
of 480x800 pi xel s, whi ch
makes vi ewi ng movi es and
Web browsi ng an absolute
pleasure. The 5 megapi xel
camera allows HD vi deo
recordi ng and it has an
i ntegrated social hub and
other apps to exploit its 1
GHz processor and 16 GB
internal memory.
Other products in
the hi gher end of the
market i ncl ude LG
GW620, Samsung 17500
Galaxy, Acer Liquid E
Ferrari, and HTC HD7.
S 3
Rs 20,000 -
Rs 25,000
Movi ng into the higher price
range means you woul d
expect much more fr om your
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
Rs 30,000 - Rs 35,000
The Dell Streak 7 features Nvidia's Tegra 2 dual core
processor, 512 MB RAM, and comes bundled with 16
GB of storage space. Wi th 4G compatibility, vi deo
a dual booti ng tablet wi th a choice to boot either
Androi d or Windows 7 and a quick switch between
the two. The 10-inch display is the biggest a tablet
has featured, and it even has two USB 2.0 ports, a
mi ni VGA port and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabil-
ity. At Rs 38,000, the one feature missing is 3G
compatibility. ©
Rs 35,000 AND ABOVE
Viewsonic's Vi ewpad 10 is the closest a tablet comes
to bei ng a netbook. Powered by an I ntel Atom
N455 processor and 1 GB of DDR3 RAM, it houses
a 16GB Solid State Drive and a 1.3 MP camera. It is
calling capability, a 7-inch WVGA multi-touch dis-
play and 5 megapixel camera it can service a high
end user's every need. Pri ced at Rs 34,990, it com-
petes wi th products like the Viewsonic Vi ewpad 7
and Samsung's Galaxy Tab P1000.
2.2, it is a 7-inch tablet phone, which is sleek and
attracti ve. It comes wi th features such as multi
codec media players, dual cameras for
vi deo calling and 3G support. A 600 MHz
Qualcomm processor wi th 512 MB RAM
and support for up to 32 GB memory
enable it to run smoothly and also allow
I nternet browsi ng, vi deo streami ng,
social networki ng, and GPS.
Rs 25,000 - Rs 30,000
At Rs 29,000, the Samsung Galaxy Tab
runs Androi d 2.2 on an ARM 1 GHz Cor-
tex processor wi th 512 MB RAM and 16
GB of internal memory. The 7-inch TFT
LCD display gi ves you a crisp vi ewi ng
experi ence, be it for readi ng, vi ew-
ing vi deos, or watchi ng movi es. It's
fast, effecti ve at multitasking and has
admirable mobile and wireless network
connectivity.
Q TABLETS
The cheapest tablet in the market, the Wespro
ePad at Rs. 7,999, costs far less than most Androi d
smartphones and as the technol ogy improves more
l ow cost tablets are expected. Here's a look
at some of tablets available in the I ndian
market.
Rs 20,000 - Rs 25,000
At Rs 23,990, the OlivePad VT100 fits snug-
gly into this price range. Running Androi d
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP
ANDROID APPSFOR BUSINESS USERS
Business As Usual:
Apps to Stay Connected
Here are someappsthat will helpyoukeepupwithwork andconstantlystay
connected whenyou'retravelling.
BY KAM AKSHI S
W
ith the androi d OS maki ng its presence
fel t ver y strongl y, smartphones have
today become a popul ar computi ng
devi ce when on the move. When work demands
that you constantly stay connected, some apps can
come make l i fe a bit easier. Here are some Androi d
apps to help you get the j ob done.
6 DOCUMENT SUPPORT
You mi ght have to check documents or spread-
sheets qui te frequentl y even on the move. I f you
are not keen on edi ti ng on your Androi d devi ce
and j ust requi re a vi ewer, then there are several
fr ee document vi ewers to choose fr om, such
If you tend to meet lots of pople, you can
save their contact details in real time with
a card reader app like CamCard.
as Documents To Go Versi on 3.0, OpenOffi ce or
Thi nkFree Online. However, i f you wi sh to edi t
documents on the go, you wi l l need a good editor.
Whi l e you can opt for the freel y available GDocs
i f you want your Androi d phone to sync wi th
Googl e docs, you cannot open these fi l es di rectl y
fr om your i nbox or SD card. Moreover, you can
onl y used simple Word or text fi l es and vi ew PDFs;
nothi ng more. Whi l e GDocs is a popul ar app, there
are several such fr ee apps on the Androi d market
that offer connecti vi ty wi th Google Docs.
I f you don't mi nd i nvesti ng in a robust app for
your Androi d devi ce, then you can pick between
Qui ckoffi ce Connect Mobi l e Suite, the OfficeSuite
Pro and the Documents to Go package. These
suites are paid and al l ow you to create documents,
spreadsheets and presentati ons and vi ew PDFs.
The most recent versions also extend support to
Offi ce 2007 formats and syncing wi th Google Docs,
but do not cater to Open Offi ce formats.
I f you are l ooki ng for ZIP fi l e support along
wi th inbuilt File Manager support, you can opt for
ei ther OfficeSuite Pro or the Qui ckoffi ce Connect
Mobi l e Suite. Whi l e Qui ckoffi ce Connect Mobi l e
Suite woul d cost you Rs 453, Documents to Go and
OfficeSuite Pro are pri ced at Rs 680.
Q BUSINESS CARD READERS
i f you meet lots of peopl e duri ng the course of
work and have many vi si ti ng cards to handle, it
can be cumbersome to track numbers down when
you real l y need to get in touch. I nstead, you can
get a business card reader app that works wi th
your Androi d phone.
These apps use your camera to scan the card
and help you to store the contact details as wel l as
a copy of the card on your phone. The most popu-
lar business card reader apps are Mobi Reader,
CamCard {Wester
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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
Worl dCard Mobi l e, and
CamCard.
Whi l e none of the
appl i cati ons are fr ee of
cost, you can pick up the
l i te versi on of CamCard,
whi ch can be upgraded
later. Most of these apps
can read details like name,
phone numbers, emai l
addresses, web l i nks and
postal addresses wi th ease.
They also enable you send
emails and access company
websites di rectl y. The apps
also offer mul ti - l anguage
support, wi th some offer -
ing languages like Chinese,
J apanese, Korean, Finnish,
French, German, Hungar-
i an, I tal i an, Nor wegi an,
Portuguese, Spanish and
.wedish, among others.
Al though you may have
occasi onal hassles wi th the
character recogni ti on, especi al l y i f the pi cture
is taken under i mproper l i ghti ng, and wi th busi-
ness cards wi th heavy background colors, most of
them work quite wel l in stori ng accurate data on
to your phone.
Worl dCard Mobi l e is pri ced at Rs 271, whi l e
Mobi Reader woul d cost you Rs 471. CamCard
comes in two versions; the BCR Western pri ced
at Rs 316 that reads languages using the English
typography, and a Business Card Reader versi on
pri ced at Rs 543 for compl ex languages like J apa-
nese, Korean and Chinese.
Q CLOUD SHARING
For those who are constantly on the move, a cloud
appl i cati on to help synchroni ze data between
your computer, your Androi d devi ce and the
I nternet is essential. Whi l e most cloud apps are
fr ee of cost up to a parti cul ar data storage l i mi t,
what you need to consi der before settl i ng on an
app is the usage and types of fi l es that you wi sh to
work wi th. There are several options that you can
choose from, of whi ch Dropbox, Zumodri ve and
SugarSync are the most popular.
I f you are used to LogMel n on your desktop, you
can continue using the servi ce wi th your Androi d
devi ce too. The LogMeI N I gni ti on for Androi d
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
My Dropbox
— 90 Bytes modified 3 months ago
i dropbox_parser.html
^ 39.2 KB modified 2 months ago
dropbox_parser.zip
2.0 MB modified 2 months ago
DropboxMobileAPI.pdf
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Refresh Help Settings
It may not be possible to carry all you
data with you, and that's where a cloud
service like Dropbox can help.
s
costs Rs 1,351.
To use the cloud effecti vel y, you need to be
si gned up for the servi ce on thei r websi te and
i nstal l the correspondi ng appl i cati on on your
desktop. The fi nal step is to get the app on your
Androi d devi ce.
Whi l e most servi ces offer 2 GB of fr ee data
storage, SugarSync offers you 5GB of fr ee space.
You'll have to upgrade to a paid plan to increase
the cloud storage space.
Whi l e Dropbox works best for document files,
you'l l need edi tor apps to use the servi ce effec-
tively. Zumodri ve is equal l y easy to use, but works
better i f you wi sh to sync your iTunes music
l i brary on your phone through the cloud.
I f syncing photographs is what you're l ooki ng for,
Google Picasa is a better app. And even for Picasa,
you woul d fi nd a pl ethora of options to pick from.
Q CODE MEMOS
Pl anni ng your schedule ahead can help you
accomplish everythi ng you pl anned for the day,
and i f you have to keep track of your schedule on-
the- go or need to share your devi ce wi th anybody,
Contact i nfoi mati on
Apps like WordCard Mobile not only store
data off visiting cards, but also use tools
like Google Maps as locators.
SHOPPERS' STOP
having a password protected code memo is the
perfect app to have on your Android device. There
are several free options to pick from depending
on what you need.
You can opt for a notepad style Ultra Notes
app, but if you need your data to be password-
protected, you can use the Ultra Mate private
diary app. You can opt for the 01 Safe app to save
critical data like account numbers, passwords and
other confidential details.
I f you need something that is printer friendly
as well, Wizard Memo is a good option. Make sure
you pick a strong master password and remember
it too, or all your precious memos will be locked
up for good.
Q TETHERING YOUR PHONE
If you have a 3G network connection and an unlim-
ited Internet surfing plan on your phone, you
can extend that connectivity to your PC as well.
While you can tether your Android device using
Bluetooth, USB cables or Wi-Fi, you may have to
fidget around with Android versions below 2.2. If
you don't really have the patience or time to do it,
getting an app would be a better option.
EasyTether - Se
Make sure Internet works on your
smartphone and select the operating
system installed on your computer:
^Wi ndo ws 7/ Vista/ XP/ 2000
$ Mac OS X 10.4+
Ubuntu 10.4+or Fedora 12+
Do not confuse EasyTether with any
built-in USB tethering or modem
support your smartphone may have.
This particularly means you should
not enable Mobile Broadband
Connect (Verizon), I nternet sharing
(Sprint) or similar built-in options if
you want to connect via EasyTether.
If you are wary of rooting your phone and
still want a decent free tethering app,
EasyTether can come in handy.
While PDAnet is one of
the most widely used teth-
ering apps, and it does pro-
vide you with a free trial,
you wi l l have to buy it to
use all of its functionalities.
It costs $23.95 (roughly Rs
1,087) and is not officially
available on the I ndian
Androi d market). Other
apps which do not require
root access to your phone to
tether include EasyTether,
which is priced at Rs 452.
There are some free apps
that can help you convert
your rooted phone into a
Wi-Fi hot spot, like Barncle
Wi-fi Tether or Wireless
Tether for Root Users.
However, you'll need to
check with your service pro-
vider if tethering your device
violates any of the terms and
conditions of your usage plan,
moreso if you have an unlimited
tion on your account. ©
W m f f l S m m •
01 Safe - Edit Entry
Openlritents homepage
While a private diary will help you
secure sensitive data, you can use apps
like 01 Safe for critical data values.
Internet connec-
Barnacle Wifi Tether
St op
Associ at e
Download
4.13 MB
192.85 kB/s
Upload
1.00 MB
3.59 kB/s
A rooted phone can be tethered with even
more ease. Free apps like Barnacle make
tethering a breeze.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
ANDROID APPSFOR TRAVELERS
Make Your Phone Your
Best Travel Buddy
All set to hit the road for a long overdue vacation and well deserved break?
Here are some tools to help reduce the stress of planning your travels.
BY KAM AKSHI 5
@ backtrack
| Search where/ when...
T
•
List View
J L
Th e B a ckTra ck a p p re co rd s tra ve l d a ta
in re a l tim e wh e n yo u tra ve l.
W
hether you're pl anni ng a weekend
getaway or a long holiday, you woul d
usually pick a spot that you are yet to
explore. And i f you have your Androi d device wi th
you, you can pretty much enjoy your ti me without
getti ng lost or requi ri ng local assistance.
Q TRAVEL MATES
The fi rst thi ng you need is an app that can help
you plan your vacati on and help you make the
requi red bookings. If you are
looking at taking your fami l y
along for the trip, it is always
sensible to plan your bookings
wel l in advance. Two popular
travel portal s, Tri p Advi sor
and Cleartrip, have apps for
Androi d. You can book and
cancel trai n/ fl i ght tickets,
make enquiries on your PNR
enquiries, and book hotels too.
I f you are travel i ng to a new
place, being able to navigate
the area is essential. There are
several applications that can
come to your rescue. One such
application is Zomato. You can
browse for as many as 11,000
restaurants across six cities
in India, including Delhi-NCR,
Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata,
Pune and Chennai. Addi ti on-
ally, your Androi d devi ces
come loaded wi th Google Maps
and Google Latitude for point to
point navigation.
Z O m d t O l Delhi/NCR •
G lo b a l Vi lla g e
Greater Kailash(GK) 2, Delhi W W W i ^' u r
Cuisines; Continental, North Indian, Italian
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If yo u wa n t to sa vo r lo ca l cu isin e s, th e
Z o m a to a p p is a n ice p la ce to sta rt.
Q LISTS
When you are all excited about a trip, there is a
chance that you may skip some details or forget to
pack an essential item. There are many apps that
help you organise your tri p more effi ci entl y. The
free Packing List app comes wi th pre-created lists
depending on the kind of tri p you're about to take.
I f that isn't good enough, you can generate your
own to add up all the things to need to carry. I f you
need something more comprehensive, you can opt
for the Vacation Planner, which is priced at Rs 45.
Another checklist of considerable i mportance,
especially i f you are taking kids or the elderly along
is a fi rst aid list. You can purchase the very useful
First Ai d Checklist app priced at Rs 44.97. The list
consists of over 140 fi rst aid items that you could
need when you are traveling. You can also add and
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP
F e a tu re d P h o to s
— ' — ~
wlss
FCIIL
Sharing photos with your loved ones can
be very easy with Picasa on your device.
edit entries as per your requirements. You wi l l also
fi nd a trekki ng and baby planner fr om the same
developer at the same price.
QTRAVELOGUES
Most people enjoy keeping a detailed travelogue to
keep a track of all their holiday escapades and like
sharing them wi th their loved ones. I f you are look-
ing for a detailed travel j ournal app, then the free
backTrack Personal Travel Log is a good opti on to
use. It's convenient because it records your j ourney
automatically al l owi ng you to enj oy your holiday.
You can browse though the entries in your free
ti me in a list or detailed map vi ew. You can also
map the app to your calendar to make chronologi-
cal entries. If you love taking lots of pictures, then
you can a pick a tool to sync your photographs to
be uploaded to your PicasaWeb account onl i ne.
One such tool is the Picasa Tool Pro. It can help you
clear space on your memory card and back up your
pictures online too.
I f you enjoy bl oggi ng, you can use the Wordpress
for Androi d app. You can post blog entries wi th
pictures offl i ne, and publish them onl i ne when you
have Web access. You can also keep a track of post
comments and site stats. You can manage multiple
blogs that are linked to a single account.
0 TOOLS
If there is one thing that you should not be caught
without whi l e camping or on a trek, it's a Swiss
army kni fe. Similarly, there are some tools that can
come to your rescue when you least expect it. The
most essential app you need whether you are trav-
elling or not is the free Where's My Droid app. The
app makes your phone ri ng when a text message
wi th a predetermi ned keyword is sent to it even i f
it is in silent mode. There are also several Androi d
apps that help you prolong your phone's battery
l i fe. One such app is the Ultimatejuice!, which is
priced at Rs 180.
I f di recti ons can cause confusion, you need a
good compass tool too. You can get the augmented
real i ty 3D compass app 3D Compass Pro priced Rs
90. It also has a free version called 3D Compass that
you can tr y before you buy. Another must-have app
when you're travel l i ng to a new place is the free
TeslaLED Flashlight. It uses the flash of your cam-
era as a handy makeshi ft torch.
I f travel l i ng to a new place makes you feel lin-
guistically inadequate, a good translation tool that
helps you wi th pronunciations wi l l come in handy.
You can opt for Google Translate app, which works
wi th more than 50 languages. It not only supports
text-to-speech and voi ce inputs, but also doubles
up as a dictionary.
Q BOOKS
I f you have your luggage all stacked to match the
permissible weight l i mi t, and you like reading when
you travel, making place
for bulky books can get
ti resome. I nstead, you
can look for apps like
Al di ko Book Reader or
the Kindle for Androi d,
which provides you wi th
an e- book reader and
enables you to download
fr ee and paid e-books,
and even newspapers
(with the Kindle) to your
Androi d devi ce. Whi l e
both apps are fr ee of
cost, you can opt for
the premi um version of
the Al di ko Book Reader,
pri ced at Rs 136. Whi l e
you can read ePub and
PDF formats, the Mi cro-
soft Reader-specific LI T
fi l es may not work on
these readers. ©
The Aldiko Book Reader app is ideal for
reading on-the-go to pass the time.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
ANDROID APPSFOR STUDENTS
Learning From Your Android
There are Android apps that cater to a student's every need, from formula
sheets and periodic tables to note-taking and organizers. Students can
install these apps to increase their productivity, knowledge and have
everything they need at their fingertips.
BY KUSHAL MAMOOWALA
T
here are many aspects to studying, such as
note-taking, studying, and exercising, and
they all come wi th speci al i zed tool sets,
each wi th additional costs and practical di ffi cul -
ties. Most people don't real i ze how powerful their
smartphones really are, and how diverse the appli-
cations available for them are. It's often hard to
find the right applications for the j ob, so to get you
started, here are some incredible Androi d applica-
tions that every student should consider installing.
Create new note
S B 2 ® © 12:54 PM
Search
Evernote offers a clean, simple layout to
take down and organize your notes.
Q HELP WITH
NOTES
Ther e are several
notepad-styl e apps out
there, but Evernote
takes the cake wi th its
ability to sync wi th an
online account and your
desktop PC. The app
enables you to j ot down
notes on your phone or
tablet as text, photos or
even voi ce recordi ngs.
You can make di fferent
'notebooks' for di fferent
subjects and you can
even add tags to each
note. Best of all, it's com-
pletely free and runs on
Androi d 1.5 and above.
Catch is similar to Ever-
note, except it lacks a
desktop application. It
does have another great feature, however, which
is its social media integration. With Catch, you can
share your notes wi th fri ends via Twi tter or Face-
book, somethi ng that every student would fi nd
extremel y handy when exams are looming.
Other note-taki ng apps include Documents to Go,
Note Everything, and Take Note.
Q ACADEMIC AIDS
Everyone knows how tedious it is to remember
formulae and equations. You can get Android apps
that do these for you to ease your mind and get
your answers faster and easier. RealCalc is a ful l y
featured scientific calculator, which looks and
operates j ust like the real thing. It provides result
history, unit conversions, percentages, ten memo-
ries, hex/ binary/ octal, tri g functi ons in degrees,
radians or grads, engi neeri ng and fi xed- poi nt
display modes, digit groupi ng, and a built-in help
module.
Formulas Lite is a simple, easy-to-use app that
helps you refer to collections of the most important
formul ae of maths, physics and chemistry. A simi-
lar tool specific for chemistry is Perfect Chemistry
Lite. It helps you balance chemical equations and
gives you details about di fferent elements, chemical
compounds, and much more. There is also Calculus
Tools that helps you wi th calculus and finds deriva-
tives, computes defi ni te integrals, arc lengths and
plots graphs of functions. It also includes integral
tables and a custom keyboard.
£ READERS
There are pl enty of Androi d apps that serve as
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
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RealCalc turns your Android into a
fully functional scientific calculator.
readers. There are a handful of apps that take read-
ing and col l ecti ng your readi ng materi al to the
next level. MultiReader is a voice reader that can
speak several languages, gi ve you access to online
libraries, and run several popul ar fi l e formats.
WordPlayer is a similar book reader, whi ch lets
you download fr om amongst millions of books in
seconds, or load fr om your memory card. Its page
navigation, bookmarking, speech and customizable
settings make reading a breeze. For those that like
to fi nd their materi al online, InstaFetch lets you
save complete web pages to your Androi d devi ce for
offl i ne reading. Turn your phone into a scanner to
copy that library book that you can't rent out wi th
DroidScan. You can save files as PDFs and it even
corrects your al i gnment and contrast to gi ve best
results.
0 ORGANIZERS
Students are often overworked wi th assignments,
projects, homework and getti ng them done before
the deadline can be quite di ffi cul t. Thi nki ng Space
is a mi nd mapping app for Androi d that lets you
create visual mi nd maps to organi ze your activi-
ties and ideas. It's great for summarizing lectures,
taking notes, and planning tasks. CoursePro is an
app that lets you easily track all your assignments,
work finished, work due and how you're progress-
ing towards your results. It helps you keep track
of homework wi th a simple to-do style list, custom
list your assignment types and grade wei ghts,
and track your report card wi th a custom grad-
ing scheme. The Demo version limits you to four
courses wi th fi ve assignments each, and the ful l
version costs around Rs 300.
There are also apps that manage your active pro-
fi l e to your preset settings. PhoneWeaver changes
your profi l e depending on the ti me or your location
and battery l i fe to make sure your phone doesn't
ri ng in class or die on you when you're on the go.
Sweet Dreams is another similar profi l e manage-
ment app that alters your phone settings to avoid
unwanted calls according to your filters based on
location, movement or sound.
Q INFORMATION
Wi ki Droi d is a Wi ki pedi a app that allows you to
research anythi ng you need conveniently on your
phone. You can start your research or get more
i nformati on on a topic bei ng discussed wi th its
easy-to-use i nterface and simplistic design. The
free version is ad-supported and the pro version
at Rs 100 is ad- free and
enables you to vi ew saved
articles offl i ne.
Col orDi ct Uni versal
Dictionary is a useful dic-
ti onary app. It's more than
j ust a di cti onary; it's a
thesaurus, bible di cti onary
and forei gn-l anguage dic-
ti onary all rol l ed into one.
You can search words and
idioms in several diction-
aries at once and it works
offl i ne. A similar vocabu-
l ary app is SAT Vocabulary,
which gives you more than
4,500 words and definitions
to help prepare for SAT
exams that students aspir-
i ng to study abroad must
appear for. For general
knowl edge, you can tr y
apps like Worl d FactBook
and General Knowl edge
eQuizBook. ©
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH2011
Current GPA:
Math 4.0 94.2%
homework 91.0%
homework 1 98.0%
homework 2 86.0%
homework 3 89.0%
quiz 99.0%
qutz4 92,-0%
quiz 2 99.0%
Physics 3.0 85.0%
homework
CourePro has custom grading schemes
which allow you to track your GPA.
SHOPPERS' STOP
ANDROID APPSFOR ENTERTAINMENT
Android App-iness
When you're tired, bored or just need to kill some time, you shouldn't have to
look any further than your Android phone or tablet. Here are some great apps
that will keep you busy and entertained.
BY KUSH AL M AMOOWALA
W
hether you're an avid movi e buff, a
music lover, or enj oy messing around
wi th photos, you can grab plenty of fun
Androi d apps that wi l l keep you entertai ned. But
wi th over 30,000 apps now available in the Androi d
Market, fi ndi ng the real gems can take a whi l e.
Here are a few apps for your consideration as far as
entertai nment is concerned, and best of all, most
of them are free!
Q MEDIA PLAYERS
RockPlayer is the best al ternati ve to the default
Androi d media player. This app supports vi rtual l y
all the popular vi deo formats. The only disadvantage
of the free lite version is that it supports advertise-
ments so i f you don't want any distractions whi l e
watching your favori te videos, you can buy the ful l
version for Rs 500. The app comes in three versions
and produces best results wi th devices wi th power-
ful processors. For a media player that plays videos
and music, look no further than Meri di an Media
Media Information
Audio: mp3 [48Q00Hz®2ch]
Video: mpeg4 [624*352@0Kbps]
file: avi [358075KB]
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•plaiting instructMte.
Rock Player can play audio and video files and has features
like phone status, file info display, and subtitles.
Player. It is fr ee and offers advanced features like
subtitles, fi l e ratings, ID3 tags and gestures. Other
popular media players include Actl Vi deo Player,
Pandora KMPlayer and YXFlash.
©VIDEO STREAMING
The fi rst site anyone would think of when it comes
to vi deo streami ng is YouTube, and of course,
there's an app for it, but i f you want to stream
TV shows longer than 10 minutes, then TV Shows
Stream is the app for you. The application searches
over the I nternet for hundreds of TV show links
that you can play di rectl y on your device wi th ful l
screen support using Megavi deo and other host-
ing services. The search results are shown in an
intuitive and easy-to-use interface. The lite version
comes wi th 12 preselected shows and the ful l ver-
sion at Rs 180 gives you unlimited access.
Stream Media Player and Full TV episodes are
two other vi deo streami ng apps that are worth
their relatively cheap price tag.
Q MUSIC
TuneWiki is a media player similar to RockPlayer,
but lacking the vi deo playback functi on, which it
more than makes up for wi th its advanced music
features. It has a very nice interface, is stable, sup-
ports ID3 tags and gestures and can stream any
music fr om onl i ne sources (various onl i ne radio
stations, for example). It also displays the lyrics to
a song using a nice overlay.
I f you prefer to listen to your music via internet
radio, you can choose fr om Winamp's Androi d app,
which streams music fr om Last.fm, Shoutcast and
FM Radio, which provides you wi th a wi de range of
genres and channels to choose from. Also worth a
mention is Shazam. I f you're listening to the radio
or watching TV and you come across a song that
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP ••
you really like, just let Shazam gi ve it a hear and
it wi l l i denti fy the song and gi ve you more details,
including lyrics.
0 SOCIAL NETWORKING
There is a wi de array of Facebook and Twi tter apps
spread across the Androi d market, but there are a
few apps out there that really stand out. Wi th the
increasing number of social networki ng websites
hi tti ng the netscape, it is best to have an app that
can update all your di fferent profi l es wi th just one
simple push, and that's exactl y what Tweetdeck
does for Twitter, Faceb ook, Buzz and Foursquare.
There's also HootSuite, which does the same, but
wi th only Twi tter and Facebook. For fr ee mobile-
to-mobi l e messaging and free VoI P calling, there
are apps like Nimbuzz and WhatsApp. The biggest
advantage of apps like these is that they are com-
patible wi th other operating systems as well.
PicPush is a unique social networki ng app that
allows you to automatically share your pics and
videos across all popular media services. It gi ves
you a convenient one-touch service for uploading
media to Facebook, Photobucket, SmugMug, Picassa
and Twitter.
H B 10:00 PM
•
Me • ••••
I call that WIN
Tom Dolina also commented on
Alan Bedenko's photo.
@buffawhat The ui is very
good. Seesmic what?;)
nyergler
B
update: Apparently those on
custom rooted ROMs can adb
to uninstall the original google
search app then re-download
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Twe e tD e ck co m b in e s yo u r so cia l n e two rk
p ro file s in to o n e p a ge, g i vi n g yo u u p d a te s
fro m all si te s in o n e sim p le wi n d o w.
Q IMAGE EDITING
AND PHOTOGRAPHY
For the amateur photo edi -
tor or those that like to mess
around wi th photos of them-
selves and their fri ends, apps
l i ke PhotoFunia or PicSay
wi l l gi ve you endless hours
of entertai nment. They are
packed wi th options to distort,
col or- correct, add word bal-
loons, titles and add graphics
to your pictures. For the pro-
fessionals, there's Photoshop
Express, which enables you to
make professional changes to
your images.
Another popul ar app for
avid photographers is Camera
360, which turns your devi ce
i nto a professi onal camera
wi th an impressive set of fea-
tures like touch focus, zoom, f o r y o u a n d e v e n g i v e s y o u vi d e
fish eye, photo symmetry, back- ' V' cs a n d c o n c e rt i n f o rm a t i o n ,
ground sceneries, and more.
Q MISCELLANEOUS
There are thousands of other apps that you can
install on your Androi d devi ce to keep yoursel f
busy. There are apps that can gi ve you i nformati on
on events taki ng place in your city, like Gigbox,
which gives you details of upcoming music concerts
and festivals near you. Gamecenter is a very useful
app for gamers, hi ghl i ghti ng the latest vi deo game
news for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, etc. It is the ultimate
vi deo game app equipped wi th trailers, cheats, vi d-
eos and reviews. Then there are remote apps that
allow you to use your Androi d devi ce as a remote
for your PC and your media player. Gmote, VLC
Remote and Remote for iTunes are just a few of the
many remote apps.
The list of apps for your entertai nment is end-
less and you could spend hours browsi ng the
Androi d Market to fi nd apps that suit you. Many
apps have free 'lite' versions and a ful l paid version,
so you can test them out before you buy them. Also
keep in mi nd that most apps requi re an I nternet
connection, either a data plan on your SIM card or
a Wi -fi connection, so make sure you have access to
the I nternet to get the most out of your apps. ®
A i S f f i C 11:09
Tag (1/ 1)
T i k T o k
K e$ ha
Album
Animal
Genre
Pop
Tagged
8 J ul 2010 11:08
0
Tour Info
©
V
YouTube Video
Recommendations
S h a za m id e n tifie s u n k n o wn so n g s
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
ANDROID APPSFOR GAMERS
Get Gaming With Android
With the Google Android gaming platform becoming so commonly used
by gamedevelopers, therearelotsof great gamestochoosefrom. Youcan
flingvengeful birdsat thievingpigs or strategizewithfriendsonlineto
take over the world.
BY KU5HAL MAMOOWALA
E
veryone has probably pl ayed a game on
thei r phones at one ti me or another. Mobile
phone gami ng has been revol uti oni zed
by the advent of multi-touch screens and hi gh
performance portabl e devices, maki ng the gam-
ing experi ence far more i nteracti ve and fun. The
Androi d gami ng pl atform gi ves devel opers an
easy scaffol di ng to build thei r games around, so
the onl i ne market is fl ooded wi th new games and
updated versions everyday. Here are some of the
must-haves in di fferent gami ng genres.
© ARCADE GAMES
Angr y Birds is one of the most popular games for
touchscreen devices. I ni ti al l y devel oped for the
iPhone, it was quickly modi fi ed to run on multiple
operati ng systems, including Androi d 1.6 and up.
Slingshot your birds around the level to kill all the pigs. Who
would have thought physics could be so much fun.
A simple touch-based game that features challeng-
ing physics-based gamepl ay wi th hours of replay
value, it trul y tests your patience and determi na-
tion.
There are other games that also expl oi t the
moti on sensitivity and touch i nterface of your
device. Abduction and Doodle J ump are two games
based on a simple moti ve of upward movement.
The obj ecti ve is to progress upwards on pl atforms
by ti l ti ng your devi ce l eft and ri ght to control
your character. Basketball Shot and Paper Toss
are games that requi re precision fi nger swiping to
throw balls i nto a basket. These games are a sure
hit wi th people of all ages.
©ACTION GAMES
Tank Hero is a fai rl y simple game that involves
control l i ng a tank to obliterate the enemy. It has
an i nnovati ve vi rtual gamepad for navi gati on, a
simple tap for fi ri ng ammunition and lots of chal-
l engi ng levels. Compatible wi th Androi d 2.1 and
upwards, it is fr ee and promises newer features
and levels in the future.
Crazy Snowboard is an action game that wi l l
keep you on the edge of your seat, wi th intuitive
controls and tap-based tricks. It is compatible wi th
Androi d 2.0 and up and runs fai rl y smoothly on
most devices.
Another sports action game that is quite popular
is Reckless Racing. It has a single player campaign
as wel l as a multiplayer mode. The off-road racing
relies on power-sliding and opposite lock, making
every race feel like a sequel to The Fast and the
Furious.
Al so check out Sniper, Let's Golf and Guns 'n'
Glory for other great action based games.
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
Play notes, chords and choose your
instrument on a virtual piano with xPiano.
0 PUZZLE GAMES
For those who prefer a bit of brain teasing, there
are games like WordSearch Unl i mi ted and Chess
for Androi d that are hits amongst Androi d users.
They're both fr ee and wi l l run on any Androi d
device. The Moron Test is a uniquely testi ng game
that questions your IQ and attentiveness. The free
version allows you to play only the fi rst level and
the paid version gi ves you three more levels.
Al chemy is a game that requires you to make
more than 300 complex elements by combining the
four basic elements - fi re, earth, water and air. It is
a challenging game that keeps you gri pped. It runs
on Androi d 1.5 and up.
Also check out Unblock Me and Bubble Buster
for more mind bending fun.
Q CASUAL GAMES
For the casual gamer who prefers to kill ti me wi th-
out getti ng too drawn into a game, there are apps
like xPiano, RD3 Groovebox and Guitar Solo that
gi ve you the opportuni ty to create some music of
your own. You can play notes, gui tar chords and
drum beats and even record it as reference for
later. Apps like Ai r Control, Tetri s and Untangl e
Me are basic logic games that test your organi za-
tional skills. Al though there is a hi gh score to con-
tend for, the games have a cal mi ng effect and are
perfect for unwi ndi ng or keeping you busy when
you're in a wai ti ng room or on the bus.
Q CARD GAMES
Solitaire comes wi th a col l ecti on of di fferent for-
mats of the game made famous by Windows, includ-
ing regular, spider, free cell and for ty thieves. I t is
compatible wi th all versions of Androi d.
Live Holdem Poker Pro allows you to play Texas
Hold 'em Poker onl i ne wi th millions of Poker Pros
and begi nners. Wi th features like live chat, tour-
nament mode, personal avatars and vi rtual money
to earn, Live Hol dem Poker is the perfect fi x for
gambl i ng enthusiasts. There is also Real Blackjack,
whi ch gi ves you strategy tips and sharpens your
counting skills for the real deal. You can also cus-
tomi ze your game to add a vari ety of rules to make
it a challenge.
Q ONLINE MULTIPLAYER GAMES
The bi ggest advantage of Androi d gami ng is that
you can collaborate and compete onl i ne wi th other
real players and some games have harnessed this
opportuni ty to the ful l est. Armored Strike Online
gi ves you an array of tanks, weapons and terrai n
to battl e wi th. The onl i ne mode pits you against
other users and adds features like zoom and in-
game chat and statistics like player rankings and
a l eaderboard. I t can be installed on any Androi d
operati ng system and an i ni ti al purchase gi ves
you endless fr ee updates.
Uniwar is an onl i ne multiplayer strategy game
in which players take turns building thei r army
and fi ghti ng against each other using the strengths
of their units whi l e taki ng advantage of the terrain.
You can j oi n several games
to increase your player rat-
ing. I t also has a campaign
mode wi th a worl dwi de
l eaderboard. Al though it is
a paid app, it is trul y worth
the small price of Rs 250.
The Great Land Grab is
a novel , real - worl d game
whi ch uses your GPS to
detect your l ocati on. The
idea of the game is to cl ai m
the land (vi a GPS) that
you are l ocated in. As you
travel , you can cl ai m more
land or tr y to grab the land
owned by someone else.
You can purchase l awyers
and bui l di ng permi ts to
buy other parcels of land
near you and bui l d stores
on your land. It's a great
way to travel and see new
places around you.
Other mul t i pl ayer
onl i ne games include Pool
Break Pro and a virtual Uniwar offers online gaming, which
Pictionary style What the means you can play against real
Doodl e?® P
l a
V
er s
'
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
SHOPPERS' STOP
UPCOMING ANDROID DEVICES
Android Devices
On The Horizon
WithmorecompaniesjoiningtheOpen
Handset AllianceandwithGoogle'snew
Android3.0Honeycombrelease, thereare
someexcitingnewdevicesthat areabout
tohit themarket. Thesesmartphonesand
tabletsaregoingtotakethemarket by storm.
BY K U S H A L A M O O W A L A
The screen is the same size and resolution as the
Xperia X10. The QWERTY keypad on the X10 has
been replaced by a slide-out game controller,
and it runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. With a
BRAVIA Engine powering the screen and a 1 GHz
processor, it promises a smooth and clear gaming
experience. There are already some games avail-
able on demo devices and will soon be available on
the Android Market.
G
oogle released Android 2.3 Gingerbread
in December 2010, and 3.0 Honeycomb on
J anuary 26, so manufacturers are yet to
release their new smartphones and tablets run-
ning these operating systems. With an updated
user interface, support for extra large screen sizes
and improved power management, Gingerbread
will give manufacturers the choice to make smart-
phones with larger screens and better resolutions
and offer higher performance hardware and utili-
ties. Honeycomb, on the other hand, is optimized
for tablets with support for multi-core processors
and 3D graphics. It also offers tabbed browsing and
syncing with Google Chrome. Here are a few sup-
ported devices that will be
here soon.
Q SONY ERICSSON
XPERIA PLAY
With the success of the
PSP and PS3, it was only a
matter of time before Sony
made a PlayStation phone.
With the recent reveal of
the latest Xperia series
phone called Play, they've
done just that. The phone
was launched on the Feb-
ruary 13 at the Mobile
World Congress 2011 and
is expected in India soon.
MARCH2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
SHOPPERS' STOP • •
O MOTOROLA XOOM
The Motorol a Xoom tablet was unvei l ed at CES
2011 this J anuary and when Googl e reveal ed its
new Androi d 3.0 Honeycomb OS, it was showcased
on the Xoom as wel l . It runs on Nvi di a's Tegra 2
pl atform, wi th a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of
RAM, and 32 GB of on-board user memory, plus an
SD card slot. The display measures 10.1 inches, and
it packs a 1280x800 resolution display. Honeycomb
has i ntegrated 3D carousels for music, YouTube,
and Googl e Books, and the Xoom has i ntegrated
the navi gati on buttons i nto the touch i nterface.
The Xoom and Androi d 3.0 looks to be a wi nni ng
combi nati on. Motorol a is said to rel ease the
tablet on February 17 at an esti mated price of
$700 (approxi matel y Rs 32,000).
0 LG OPTIMUS 3D
LG has fol l owed up on the success of its Opti-
mus phone wi th the Optimus 3D.It has a 4.3-
inch gl asses-free 3D display, whi ch is qui te
effecti ve for games and movi es and you can
even fi l m your own 3D vi deos using the dual
camera setup on the back, whi ch you can later
vi ew on a 3D TV vi a its HDMI port. It runs a dual-
core 1 GHz OMAP 4 processor, dual-channel RAM,
has dual 1080p cameras, and a 4.3-inch 800*480
screen. It has a paral l ax barri er to create the 3D
effect, whi ch means you no l onger need those
annoyi ng 3D glasses. The Optimus 3D is powered
by Androi d 2.3 Gingerbread and is ti pped to begi n
shipping in the second quarter of 2011.
Q MOTOROLA ATRIX
Motorola's new Atri x is being touted as the world's
most powerful smartphone. It runs on Androi d
2.2, wi th HTML5 support, on a dual-core processor
wi th 1 GB of RAM. It also boasts a browser that's
twi ce as fast as any competi ng Web browser. The
shocker though is
that it docks into a
laptop. The Atri x
Webtop Appl i ca-
ti on docks your
phone into a lap-
top and uses it to
power the laptop.
It also docks into
an HD dock that
has thr ee USB
ports and an HDMI
por t, enabl i ng
connecti ons to a
keyboard, mouse,
speaker s and
HDMI -compatible
moni tor. There is
still no i nforma-
ti on on an I ndia
rel ease date or
pricing. ©
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
p L I • • IT YOURSELF
RUN ANDROID OFF A USB DRIVE
LET ANDROID POWER
YOUR NETBOOK
just likeyoucanget alivebootableLinux OSonyour systemwithout any
installation, Androidcanhelpyoudothesameonanon-touchscreen
device.Read on toknowhowyoucancreatealiveAndroidOSset right
c ice!
BY K A M A K A S H I S
I
f you have heard enough about the Androi d
pl atform, but are wary about i nvesti ng in an
Androi d- powered devi ce, here is one way you
can power up your netbook or laptop wi th a non-
touch version of Androi d.
This version, the Androi d x86, is equi val ent to
Androi d OS version 1.6 (there is a stable release for
version 2.1 and an unstable one for versi on 2.2 as
wel l ), whi ch was ori gi nal l y called "patch hosti ng
for Androi d x86 support".
This proj ect was ori gi nal l y created as a patch
for non- compl i ant systems to be a part of the
Androi d technol ogy movement. It offers support
for I ntel chipsets to run the pl atform on devices
• B f l i M H H H i
C Distribution Select Distribution 3 J "-Select Wtrsxxi-- 3
Welcome to UtfetaiiQj the Universal Netboot Installer, Usage;
1. Select a distribution and version to download from the list above, or manually specify files to
load below,
2. Select an installation type, and press OK to begin instating.
Diskimage pi o 3 j
r~Show All Drives (Use with Care)
Type: (use Drive ~~~3
£>rive:
* 3 „ J 2 L _ j Cancel [
Plug in your USB device and start UNetbootin. Load the ISO and
select the device to mount the Android OS.
The system is extremely light and boots
up without any delay on an Intel Core 2
Duo-backed system.
like netbooks and tablets, especially those using
Atom processors. Thus you can enj oy Androi d on
your Wi ndows XP, Vi sta, or Wi ndows 7 powered
netbooks and laptps too.
©THE REQUIRED TOOLS
Once you have deci ded to take Androi d on a dry
run, you'l l need a USB dri ve wi th at least 256 MB
of free storage space. It is advisable to back up any
data on it so that this becomes a dedicated boot-
able devi ce for the Androi d OS.
tNext, you need to arrange for the Android X 86
setup files. Go to http://go.chip.in/nlotp, and save
the "android-x86-1.6-r2.iso" file listed under the
Stable Release section. Alternatively, you can use
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
DO IT YOURSELF | 2fl
the Version 2.2 bridge to mount. For that download
the " android-x86-2.2-generic.iso" file instead from
the Stable Release section.
Next, mount the ISO fi l e to create a l i ve boot-
able USB dri ve. Go to http:/ / go.chip.in/ lndnf and
save the Wi ndows version of UNetbooti n. Now, you
can proceed to turn your USB into a Live Androi d
OS boot source.
Q SETTING UP THE USB DEVICE
Once you have all the requi red tools set up, pro-
ceed to converti ng your USB dri ve into a bootable
Live USB dri ve. Plug in your USB dri ve and run the
UNetbooti n application. Select the "Di ski mage"
opti on and browse to and load the ISO fi l e. Next,
set the type to "USB Dri ve" and select the USB
dri ve fr om the drop down menu. Click OK, and
your live bootable USB is ready for use.
After all the fi l es are copi ed, you wi l l be
prompted for a reboot. You can click Reboot to
launch the Androi d OS ri ght away or you can use it
through the flash dri ve when requi red.
Q BOOTING UP THE SYSTEM
I f you want your system to boot into the Androi d
OS, you must change the boot sequence. For that,
start your PC and enter the BIOS menus. Set your
flash dri ve as the booti ng dri ve. I f your system
doesn't support booti ng fl ash dri ves, you can
di rectl y burn the ISO fi l e on to a CD and use the
CD as a live OS instead.
On booti ng, select the Live CD, and select the
"Run Androi d x86 wi thout i nstal l ati on" opti on.
Being light, it takes l i ttl e ti me to load up.
0 SURFING ON ANDROID
The Androi d x 86 extends support to cameras,
Wi-Fi, and more. Al though it has been tested on
several pl atforms wi th positive results, it may not
work fi ne wi th every setup. For instance, we tri ed
using the setup wi th a Dell laptop. The camera and
recorder worked fi ne, but the Wi-Fi opti ons did
not work. Moreover, it requi res a SD card to save
data; it doesn't real l y save or pick up anythi ng
fr om your hard-dri ve. Any apps you i nstal l wi l l
be available for the current session only, and you
wi l l not fi nd them on reboot. Al though Androi d
does offer a decent surfi ng experi ence, it is not
recommended that you i nstal l the OS on your
hard disk. ©
ftndroid-x86 L i ue & I n s t al l at i on CD 1. 6- r 2
Li ue CD - Run flndroid-x86 wi thout i n s t al l at i on
M
U' J B SSI - y j S L j ^ggl V. B
LI'JHLI) ~UH'MIJ MUilzt 9j • HHHH
i j j Sau iubilii 'iyi iwo
Select the 'Live CD - Run Android-x86 without installation' option
and proceed to load the OS on your system.
The OS comes with a set of pre-existing apps and widgets. Since it
doesn't support Wi-Fi, you might not be able to do much.
Just like in a regular Android device, you can customize the intro
screen with widgets.
»
(S535
ffl 11:27 PM
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
•• IT YOURSELF
GAIN SUPERUSER ACCESS
GETTING TO THE ROOT
OF YOUR ANDROID
Thebiggest advantageofusing a smartphone with an open source OS is
the level of customization you can have with it, that too without too much
professional help. Rooting your phone will help you get started. Here's a
quick guidetohelp root your Android device.
BY KAM AKSHI S
HA tJ 10©' $ 10:05 AM
Application settings
U n k n o w n s o u rc e s I
Allow install of non-Market applications ®
M a n a g e a p p l i c a t i o n s
Manage and remove installed applications
R u n n i n g s e rv i c e s
View and control currently running services
D e v e l o p m e n t
Set options for application development
To start rooting, you must give access to
the external application. For this, keep the
'Unknown sources' option checked.
U
nl i ke j ai l breaki ng, rooti ng is a perfectl y
l egal and wel l promoted process, whi ch
comes wi th several benefi ts. For starters
you can upgrade the fi rmware on your phone to
house the latest operati ng system. However, i f you
are a new user, fl ashi ng your memor y even wi th
adequate back up may not be such a smart thi ng
to do.
O WHAT IS ROOTING?
In the simplest of terms, 'rooti ng' means getti ng
'superuser' pri vi l eges on your Androi d devi ce.
Whi l e the ter m rooti ng
is not new for Li nux
users, it means gai ni ng
ri ght to script on the
kernel shell. It is similar
Wi ndows admi ni strator
ri ghts in Wi ndows, who
can control every run-
ni ng aspect that the OS
offers. For most phones,
this root access is not
real l y encrypted so root
access gi ves you com-
pl ete access to ever y
aspect of your OS.
©WHY ROOT?
Wi th a rooted phone,
you can uni nstal l
ROM appl i cati ons that
AS
2 0
'
Development'
i H B O 21:14
•Hi l l
U S B d e b u g g i n g
Debug mode when USB Is connected
S t a y a w a k e
Screen will never sleep while charging
A l l o w m o c k l o c a t i o n s
Allow mock locations
After collecting the required tools, prepare
your phone for rooting by enabling the 'USB
Debugging' option.
you don't need, but once these apps have been
removed, you cannot reset your phone to fac-
tory settings for damage control . So when you do
remove an app, make sure that you know it wi l l
not hamper the regul ar worki ng of your phone,
i f upgradi ng the OS versions gi ves you the j i tters,
you can use apps that need root access to perform
exclusive functi ons like tetheri ng.
©HOW IS IT DONE?
For this demo, we woul d be rooti ng a Sony Erics-
son Xperi a X10 mi ni pro that has been upgraded
to Androi d 2.1 Eclair. The procedure to root the
same phone for Androi d versi on 1.6 is the same.
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
DO IT YOURSELF | 2fl
However, after every fi rmware upgrade, you wi l l
have to root your phone. Make sure you back up
your data after every root process.
0 WARMING UP
I f you wi sh to start wi th a fi rmware upgrade on
your phone ri ght fr om the vendors, vi si t http:/ /
go.chip.in/ siuty. Downl oad, i nstal l and update
your phone using the upgrade offered. Next start
your phone, go to 'Settings | Applications'. Check
on the 'Unknown sources' opti on. Proceed to the
Devel opment sub menu and turn on the 'USB
Debuggi ng' opti on.
0 GATHER THE TOOLS
Apart fr om the updates for your phone, you need
to install you phone drivers and the SuperOneClick
tool . You can get the phone dri vers fr om the Sony
Ericsson PC component fr om http:/ / go.chip.in/
rel xm, and you can downl oad the SuperOneClick
tool fr om http:/ / go.chip.in/ lxevg.
I nstal l the phone dr i ver s and pl ug
in your phone to your PC wi th the USB
cable. Unzi p the contents of the ZI P fi l e
and you're ready to start wi th the rooti ng
process.
0 ROOTING THE DEVICE
Once your phone is connected to your PC, make
sure that the dri vers load up and your system
recogni zes the devi ce. Start the SuperOneClick
application and click Root.
i f it throws up any errors, tr y rooti ng the
phone again. I f the app goes i nto a loop instead,
j ust restart the USB Debuggi ng mode on your
phone whi l e it is still connected to the PC. Once
rooted, your phone wi l l spot a superuser app. You
can now go ahead and expl ore.
0 BACKING UP DATA
Once you have rooted your devi ce, you may want
to upgrade the fi rmware to the latest versi on of
Androi d. It is advisable to back up all you data on
to your SD card wi th a reliable tool . One such tool
is Ti tani um Backup Pro.
Pri ced at Rs 270.22, you woul d also need the
BusyBox app to help you back up your fi l es. Apart
fr om these, you'l l need a tool to back up your
messages. You can use Backup to Gmail, whi ch is
pri ced Rs 90.25 and can back up all your messages
and send them to your Gmail account. ©
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OS Version Check failed! J " S T
Automatic version check failed, h your OS version 2.0 or higher?
SuperOneClick v1.5.5 ideally roots Androi d v1.6. This phone was
runni ng on v2.1, whi ch is automati cal l y detected by the application.
i ppl i l l l l l
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Once the OS version is verified, click Root to proceed wi th the
rooting. If it loops the process, restart the USB Debugging option.
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Testing! ;
a An *su' command wilt now be send to your phone. You might have to
J ill seSect Aiiew in Superusec.
After rooting, the Superuser icon is made available to your phone.
You mi ght have to give the application 'su' rights to proceed.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
g n DO IT YOURSELF
HOW TO TETHER YOUR ANDROID DEVICE
EXPAND YOUR NET
WITH TETHERING
With the advent of 3G and unbelievably fast Internet speeds from mobile
serviceproviders, tetheringisgoingtobeabighit withAndroidusers.
Share your service provider's 3G speeds wirelessly, by USB or by Bluetooth;
thechoiceisyours.
BY K U 5 H A L M A M 0 0 W A L A
It gets a l i ttl e more complicated when you tether
wi th Windows XP. First, you must download a con-
fi gurati on fi l e tetherxp.i nf and save it on your PC.
When you connect you devi ce to your PC wi th the
USB cable, Wi ndows XP's New Hardware Wi zard
wi l l open and ask to install dri vers for your new
device. Here, you must manually select and install
the confi gurati on fi l e you have downloaded, which
then confi gures XP to support USB tethering wi th
your Androi d device. It is also worth noting that at
this point, Mac does not support USB tetheri ng.
Turning your FroYo devi ce into a Wi-Fi hotspot
is much quicker and easier. As long as your mobile
phone servi ce has a data plan, all you have to do
is go into the wireless and network settings and
confi gure your device to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot. You
can leave it as an open access point or even assign a
WPA2 PSK password to restrict access. The advan-
tage of portabl e Wi-Fi hotspot tetheri ng is that
more than one devi ce can use your I nternet at the
same ti me. It is also easier to tether for Windows
XP and Macintosh users and other cellular devices.
0 TETHERING WITH ECLAIR
OR EARLIER
Androi d operati ng systems before FroYo did not
have a built in option for tetheri ng, but that doesn't
mean you cannot do it. There are many ways in
which you can still tether your device for I nternet
access, either by using tetheri ng apps, rooti ng your
device, or using a proxy server.
Google has added tetheri ng as a feature to
Android 2.2 (FroYo).
T
etheri ng basically means using an I nternet-
enabled devi ce as a modem for another
device, general l y a notebook or a PC. What
this means is that you can ditch your broadband
servi ce and tether your Androi d devi ce wi th your
PC and use it a modem, sharing your mobile I nter-
net service between your phone and your PC.
0 TETHERING WITH FROYO
Most Androi d devices in the market today run on
Androi d 2.1 Eclair or 1.6 Donut and only recently
have newer products runni ng on 2.2 FroYo been
i ntroduced. I f you are using an Androi d FroYo
devi ce, tetheri ng wi l l be pretty easy as it is a
built-in opti on in your
wi rel ess and network
settings. Al l you have to
do is choose fr om teth-
eri ng it via USB cable or
turni ng it into a Wi-Fi
hotspot.
Tetheri ng wi th your
USB cable is simple i f
you're runni ng Wi n-
dows 7, Wi ndows Vista
or Linux. The Androi d
user's gui de gi ves you
simple, easy to fol l ow
instructions and confi g-
urations to setup your
devi ce for USB tetheri ng.
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
DO IT YOURSELF | 2fl
TETHERING APP THAT NEEDS ROOT
ACCESS
Androi d Wi-Fi Tether is an app that turns your
device into a Wi-Fi hotspot wi th one simple tap.
There is a fai r bit of confi gurati on to be done
before you can get there though. First, you have to
get root access to your device, a fai rl y complicated,
multi-step process that uses an unoffi ci al Androi d
add-on, which can turn your device into a brick i f
applied incorrectly. You can read the 'Getting to
the root of your Androi d' article in this issue to get
better i nformati on and directions on rooti ng your
Androi d device.
Once you have rooted your phone, you must
download and install the Androi d Wi-Fi Tether app,
which is available at 'http:/ / go.chip.in/ wifitether'.
Note that the app is made specific to your device's
hardware and so a di fferent version must be down-
loaded for di fferent devices. This app can now turn
your devi ce into a Wi-Fi hotspot and clients can
connect via ad-hoc Wi-Fi mode or by Bluetooth to
get access to the I nternet.
Although this process is free and doesn't require
any extra software or messing wi th your com-
puter's settings, you can do serious harm to your
Androi d device i f something goes wrong.
TETHERING BY PROXY
If you are not confident enough to root your device,
you can tr y using the Proxoi d app to tether your
phone via USB. Proxoid turns your Androi d devi ce
into a proxy server that your computer uses to
make I nternet requests.
The app is currently free on the Androi d Market,
but to get access to your device's I nternet connec-
tion, you need to install the Androi d SDK or devi ce
drivers onto your computer, tweak some of the
settings, and then confi gure your browser to use
a proxy server whenever you want to tether. You
can downl oad and install the Androi d SDK fr om
the Androi d for Developers page or get a modi-
fi ed versi on for Proxoi d fr om http:/ / go.chip.in/
proxoid-sdk. Once installed, connect your devi ce
via USB and set it so that the USB debugging option
is turned on.
Now you must confi gure your browser to use a
proxy server to connect to the I nternet. Proxoi d
uses the server name "l ocal host" and port "8080".
You also need to run a batch fi l e named "start-
tunnel .bat" in the "proxy- adb" folder. Once the
proxy settings have been done, all you have to do
is run Proxoi d on your devi ce and check "Start
Proxoi d". This method
is compl etel y fr ee and
rel ati vel y easier than
rooti ng your devi ce,
but it does requi re
i nstal l i ng the Androi d
SDK software on your
computer and changing
your browser's proxy
settings each ti me you
want to tether.
TETHERING APP
WITHOUT ROOT
By far the easi est
method for tetheri ng
is by using the PDANet
app. The free version of
the app gives you access
to all basic websites and
gives you l i mi ted 14-day access to secure (https)
websites. The ful l version is currently priced at $24
(approx Rs 1,125).
You can fi nd both versions of the app on the
Androi d Market and you wi l l also need to install
the PC software fr om the PDANet websi te. Once
you have i nstal l ed the app and the software, all
you need to do is make one small adj ustment
to your phone's setti ngs by checki ng the "USB
debuggi ng" opti on in your device's devel opment
settings. Now connect your devi ce to your com-
puter, run the PDANet app, and select "Enable USB
tether".
There is also an opti on
for Bluetooth tetheri ng i f
you wi sh to tether your
devi ce wirelessly. Now run
the PDANet softwar e on
your computer, ri ght-cl i ck
on the icon in the system
tray, select "Connect" fr om
the pop- up menu, and
you're ready to surf.This
is the quickest and easiest
method for tetheri ng, but
i f you want access to secure
sites such as onl i ne bank-
i ng and credi t card pay-
ment pages, you wi l l need
to spend approxi matel y Rs
1,200 to buy the ful l versi on
fr om the PDA Net website.
j ® 10:03 A M
jS X& E , -. . . . . . . . . mm&mmmmmm
w —i Fin d a R estaurant in yo u r area
^ E S Ads by AdMob
S ta rt/ S to p P ro x o i d
Proxy currently off. Select to switch on.
•
P o rt
©
Listening port. Current value: 8080
V /
U s e r-A g e n t fi lte r
User-Agent filtering. Current value:
Replace with dummy
•
Proxoid helps share your Android device's
Internet connection with other devices.
©j - f MJMet
I d 9 :5 8 A M
Version 2.16
PdaNet is currently turned off.
Please turn it on before
connecting from the computer
end.
<D Help
PDA Net is the easiest way to tether
your device via USB or Bluetooth.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
AO TECH TALK
CAREERS IN APP DEVELOPMENT
GIVE YOUR CAREER AN 4
While there aremany great appsthat havebeendevelopedfor smartphones,
this is clearly a market with lots of growth potential, especially as
smartphone functionality continues to evolve. And with growing demand for
apps comes anincreaseincareer opportunitiesfor mobileappdevelopers.
BY K U S H A L M A M O O W A L A
Salil Bhargaua.CEO and
spokesperson, Jump Games
M
obile app devel opment is
qui ckl y turni ng i nto one
of the hottest I T sectors.
Androi d is currentl y the second
hi ghest selling mobi l e phone OS and
gai ni ng popul ari ty accordi ng to a
study fr om Gartner Inc. Gartner also
claims that $15.9 bi l l i on is expected
in end-user spendi ng in 2012 al one
and mobile apps wi l l soon dri ve hard-
ware sales, adverti si ng spending and
technol ogy innovations.
In addition, Android's open source
code enables devel opers all over the worl d to put
thei r programmi ng skills to use and devel op thei r
apps individually. Several app and game devel op-
ment companies have sprung up in the recent past
and developers are quickly growi ng in numbers in
I ndia and all over the worl d.
Googl e and the Androi d websi te al ready pro-
vi de users wi th a software devel opment kit (SDK).
Appl i cati on programmi ng is general l y done in
J ava and the advent and adopti on of HTML5 i nto
Web browsers and mobi l e Web browsers means a
sound knowl edge in HTML5 and J ava is critical for
future Androi d app developers.
It is vi tal to understand the user experi ence as
these apps are much more user dri ven than tradi -
ti onal softwares.
We spoke wi th Salil Bhargava, CEO and spokes-
person for J ump Games about the prospects of
mobile phone app devel opment.
® How much growth have
you seen in the recent years
in the mobile app market?
Has the growth of tablets
also added to the enthusi-
asm?
© There has been a si gni fi cant
gr owth in the mobi l e i ndustry,
which has also had a positive impact
on the mobi l e app industry. The
smartphone segment has seen an
exponential gr owth in the consump-
ti on of mobile apps in the past couple
of years. The growth of tablets has defi ni tel y added
to the enthusiasm, wi th compani es like Appl e
and Googl e launching tablets that offer iOS and
Androi d apps respectively.
®How much has the Android phenom-
enon influenced this growth?
© The Androi d phenomenon has had a significant
impact on the growth of mobile apps, wi th a lot of
devel opers focusing on the Androi d pl atform to
l everage thei r product offeri ng.
®How much app support do you pro-
vide to Android users?
© We bel i eve that it is a very key market for us
and so we make sure that every game we develop
at J ump Games is also available on the Androi d
pl atform. Androi d is vi tal in terms of our product
strategy and roadmap goi ng forward.
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
TECHTRLK 41
MDROID JOLT
®Considering that an open source OS
has frequent version upgrades, is it diffi-
cult or easy to adapt to the changes of a
popular app?
© Adaptation to changes and upgrades is an ongo-
ing process for any mobile app as the pl atform for
which it has been devel oped evolves. Wi th business
and technol ogy trends changing on a regul ar basis,
it is i mperati ve to keep updating your app to meet
the market requi rement.
@ When you have apps which have
been a major hit across platforms, is it
more difficult or easier to maintain their
popularity?
© It is both actually. Whi l e the popul ari ty of the
app wi l l help in getti ng the extra push in acquir-
ing new users and thereby keeping the app up the
popul ari ty charts, it is also an ongoing process to
keep updating the app (it could be by adding new
features, additional levels, new game modes, etc)
to retain user interest and keep them comi ng back
for more.
Wi th companies i ntegrati ng social networki ng,
navi gati on and documentati on apps i nto thei r
devices, there is a lot of scope for other apps and
games to be i ntegrated as wel l . Developers that
stay abreast of the latest technol ogi es and i nno-
vations could make thei r apps stand out fr om the
rest of the pack. ©
TOP 10 APP CATEGORIES FOR 2012
• Location-based services (LBSs) - Location is one of the main
enablers that deliver services to users, and Gartner expects the total
user base of consumer LBSs to reach 1.4 billion users by 2014.
• Social networking- Social network platforms are sucking in
increasing amounts of network traffic. They are becoming portals,
transit hubs and cloud storage for increasing amounts of messaging
and e-mail traffic, videos, photos, games and commerce.
• Mobile search- Visual search is usually related with product search
to enable price comparisons or to check product information. This
would allow users to take actions based on the result, like making a
call or reservation, buying a ticket, placing an order, and so on.
• Mobile commerce- Over the next 24 months, Gartner expects the
emergence of uniquely mobile functions, such as the ability to "check
in" to a store to add items to a shopping cart simply by taking a
photo of an item or bar code in the physical store.
• Mobile payment - In order to get consumers on board, payment
solution providers need to address ease-of-use for users and ease-
of-implementation for customers without compromising security.
• Context-aware service- Context-aware applications provide
improved user experiences by using information about a person's
intentions, history, environment, schedule, connections and
preferences to anticipate their needs and proactively serve the most
appropriate content, product, or service.
• Object recognition (OR) - High-end devices have increased sensor
and processing capability to enable sophisticated applications
recognize the user's surroundings, including objects of interest.
• Mobile instant messaging(MIM) - Gartner expects MIM to attract
consumers to new types of unified communication (UC) clients,
provided by over the top (OTT) service providers such as Skype.
• Mobile e-mail - Gartner expects mobile e-mail users worldwide
to increase from 354 million in 2009 to 713 million in 2014.
E-mail addresses are personal and potentially very sticky, thus
provide carriers, e-mail service providers and OTT players with an
opportunity to lock in consumers.
• Mobile video- Devices with larger screens offer the ideal platform
for video consumption and wi th careful marketing and consumer
education. Gartner believes that carriers and content providers
would be able to drive mobile video usage in the coming years.
©
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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH2011
42 TECHTRLK
DEVELOPING ANDROID APPS
GEAR UP: ANDROI D A
With the constant rise in the number of tablets and smartphones powered
by Android, switching to app development in the Android space makes sense.
Moreover, since the OS is based on another open-source operating system,
Linux, migrating might not be as cumbersome as you may have imagined.
BY K A M A K A S H I 5
A
ndroid has become a ver y exci ti ng plat-
for m for budding devel opers to chal l enge
thei r J ava skills. Al though the technol ogy
is quite recent, its success has been boomi ng to
say the least.
Wi th a pl ethora of apps al ready available on
the Androi d Market and users fl ocki ng to buy
Androi d-based devi ces, now is the ri ght ti me to
put your J ava skills to good use. Here's all you
need to know about Androi d:
Q OPEN-SOURCE
Since the technol ogy is proj ected as bei ng open-
source, you can modi fy the source code for any
personal use wi thout any l egal vi ol ati on. The
operati ng system i tsel f is a code combi nati on of
C and J ava, j ust l i ke Linux, whi ch is also coded
mai nl y on C.
As a devel oper, you can contri bute not j ust to
app devel opment, but also to devel op add-ons and
plug-ins that can help the system become a bit
more robust.
THE OPEN HANDSET ALLIANCE
What makes Androi d a better envi ronment for
application devel opment is the open handset alli-
ance that Googl e has entered i nto wi th 80 tech-
nol ogy and mobi l e compani es. Not onl y can you
switch between phone and port data wi th ease,
but as an app developer, the number of downloads
for your app can also gr ow wi der because the
technol ogy is in its ori gi nal for m across devices.
Whi l e there are thi ngs l i ke for m factor and
hardware composi ti on to wor r y about, the com-
patibly issues are i roned out by the Androi d SDK
itself, as the rel evant compati bl y packages are
made available in the source code by default.
THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
As knowl edge of modi fi cati on to the source code
of the OS is i rrel evant whi l e you devel op the apps,
you don't real l y need to master C.
You onl y need to be profi ci ent i n J ava,
because the OS features a modi fi ed J ava Runtime
Envi ronment cal l ed as the Androi d Execution
Envi ronment, thus maki ng its i nstal l ati on and
upgrade process conveni ent.
However, there are certai n preset gui del i nes
that your app needs to fol l ow i f you wish for it to
run on the target devices wi th ease.
GARNERINGTHE ARMOR
Once you have deci ded to take the Androi d road
to app devel opment, you wi l l real i ze that the SDK
is desi gned to make the process as comfortabl e as
can be. To start off, you woul d need the Androi d
SDK and AVD Manager to uti l i ze the latest tools or
pl atform.
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
I l-l_l I • nui \ -T-rf
»P DEVELOPMENT 101
Sachin Pandit
Begin wi th the standard Androi d SDK package.
You can install it fr om http:/ / developer.android.
com/ sdk/ index.html dependi ng on the OS of the
system that you need to devel op your app. i f you
are confused about whi ch I ntegrated Devel op-
ment Environment (IDE) to use, you can settle for
Eclipse.
To run the Eclipse IDE, you woul d need to
equip your machine wi th Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede)
or greater and the Eclipse J DT pl ugi n, J DK 5 or
J DK 6 (j ust the J RE al one woul d not work) and
the Androi d Devel opment Tools plugin. You wi l l
fi nd the Eclipse tool s at http:/ / www.eclipse.org/
downloads/ .
Whi l e there are many packages that you
can use fr om the site, the one recommend on
the Androi d Devel oper for um consists of the
fol l owi ng utilities:
• Eclipse IDE for J ava Developers
• Eclipse Classic (versions 3.5.1 and hi gher)
• Eclipse IDE for J ava EE Developers
Other IDEs that you can opt for include Apache
Ant 1.8 or later, IntelliJ or Emacs. However, the
Androi d SDK is not compatible wi th Gnu Compiler
for J ava (gcj ).
Once you have all the tool s in place, you
need to check your computer's hardware
profi l e before you start the codi ng process.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
44 I tCMTHLK
SETTING UP YOUR SYSTEM
The Androi d SDK, its speci fi ed plug-ins and IDEs
can work fi ne wi th Wi ndows, Mac OS and Linux
operati ng systems whi ch support 32-bit applica-
tions. It can work wi th Wi ndows XP (32-bit), Vista
(32- or 64-bit), or Wi ndows 7 (32- or 64-bit), Mac
OS X 10.5.8 or x86, Ubuntu Linux versi on 8.04 or
later, or Lucid Lynx, whi ch comes equi pped wi th
the GNU C Li brary (gl i bc) 2.7 or later.
You wi l l requi re between 195-600 MB of fr ee
space for the tool s, apart fr om the requi red
tool s menti oned in the previ ous section. Al l the
speci fi ed tool s can be found at http:/ / developer.
android.com/ sdk/ index.html.
CRACKING THE CODE
Once you have your system set, you need to start
devel opi ng your app. You can ei ther devel op a
standalone uti l i ty app or a servi ce that runs in
the background.
I f you are pl anni ng to contribute to make the
source code to the Androi d OS better instead, you
can ei ther send forth reports or send bug fixes, or
add to the tool s and uti l i ti es in the for m of plug-
ins, services and apps. For details on how you can
contribute to the open source proj ect of Androi d,
vi si t http:/ / source.android.com/ index.html
The apps that are compati bl e wi th Androi d
devi ces need to work effi ci entl y in the Androi d
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A sample code on the Android SDK and an emulator that helps you
see what you have coded in real time.
executi on envi r onment, and hence the fi rst
requi rement is that it needs to be compi l ed in an
.APK fi l e format.
Whi l e this is a mandate, another mandate is to
code the requi red mani fest fi l es wi th the requi red
details. These mani fest fi l es wi l l help make the
app available onl y for those devices whi ch ful fi l l
the requi red hardware, OS version, and for m fac-
tor values.
Whi l e these mandates have to be fol l owed by
you as an app devel oper, the offi ci al forum has
also put up certai n practices that can help you
make your app more effi ci ent and hence more
popul ar when you put it on the Market.
These practi ces include desi gni ng apps that
don't drai n the battery, have a good response
ti me, and don't crash. For more detai l s, you
can vi si t http:/ / devel oper.androi d.com/ gui de/
i ndex.html .
The process for putti ng your apps up for sale
or fr ee di stri buti on is expl ai ned in detai l in the
arti cl e ti tl ed "" i n this issue.
TESTING YOUR FINAL PRODUCT
Like ever y other software that you code, it is a
good practi ce to test your product on the codi ng
l evel (whi te box testi ng) and also wi th sample
values once the app is ready (black box testi ng).
The SDK and Eclipse IDE provi de you wi th a strong
set of tools to not onl y test your apps, but to also
debug them wi th effi ci ency and ease i f you detect
any code errors on fi nal testing.
When you carry out black box testi ng on your
app, you can fi gure out a simulation on how the
app woul d run on your target user's devi ce. Thus,
you can not onl y avoi d unwanted forced shut
downs of your app, but you can also create regu-
lar fi xes and patches i f your app has devel oped a
runti me error reported by users after it has been
released.
SHARING SUCCESS
I f you fi nd it di ffi cul t to code and need some
i nspi rati on to continue your app j ourney, there
are several reference libraries, vi deo tutorials and
bl og posts that can come to your rescue. These
include devel oper tips and talks wi th successful
app makers, and they wi l l keep you updated on
new features and plug-ins that can help you code
your apps better. ©
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
I C(_n iHLft 13
A GATHERING FOR UBUNTU DEVELOPERS
India's First Ubuntu
Developer Day
Inaneffort tounify developersand opensourcepartners, Canonical hosted its
inaugural UbuntuDeveloper Day inBangalore.
BY K A M A K S H I 5
Jon Melamut, VP Product and Sales, OEM Services, Canonical delivered
the keynote speech at the event.
Wi t h the meteori c rise in i nterest sur-
roundi ng Androi d technol ogi es, it was
the turn of another Linux based oper-
ati ng system to take the spotl i ght. The end of
J anuary saw India's fi rst inaugural Ubuntu Devel-
oper Day. Canonical, whi ch provi des Ubuntu solu-
tions worl dwi de, launched the fi rst ever Ubuntu
Devel oper Day in Bangalore. There were several
presentations for technol ogi es, including Ubuntu,
Ubuntu uTouch and Ubuntu Enterpri se Cloud.
There were also demonstrati ons on pl atforms like
the Ubuntu Netbook Edition, Ubuntu Light, and
Ubuntu 10.10.
"We were ver y pleased wi th the i nteracti on at
the event and the opportuni ty to update this ver y
i mportant audience for Ubuntu," said J on Mela-
mut, VP Product and Sales, OEM Services, Canoni-
cal. He went on to add, "We were expecti ng around
200 people, so to get at least a 50 percent increase
on our forecast shows the popul ari ty of Ubuntu in
a key country like I ndia wi th its huge potenti al for
users and developers on open pl atforms." ©
The day long event saw many enthusiastic Ubuntu developers coming together. The question-answer sessions saw a healthy exchange of ideas.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
46 TECHTRLK
CAREERS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
MCA: BUILD A CAREER IN IT
If youdidn't get intotheengineeringcollegeof your choice, don't losehope.
Youcan opt for anMCA degreeinsteadandstill haveabright career inIT.
BY P R I Y A N K A T I L V E
M
CA, or Master of Computer Appl i -
cati on, is a post graduate degr ee
that is qui te popul ar amongst those
wi th I T backgrounds as wel l as those new to
the fi el d. It's an extensi ve three- year mas-
ters program di vi ded i nto six semesters that
grooms you i nto a ful l - fl edged IT professi onal .
The course is devel oped in sync wi th the latest
trends in IT and covers areas like software devel -
opment, systems management, systems devel op-
ment, systems engi neeri ng, application software,
management i nformati on systems (MIS), hardware
technol ogy, networki ng, etc.
WHY MCA?
After havi ng successful l y compl eted the MCA
course, a student can establish a career as a Soft-
ware Programmer, Software Engineer, Software
Developer, Systems Anal yst, Software Appl i cati on
Archi tect, Software Consultant, etc.
Thi ruvengadam P, Leader, Human Capital Advi -
sory Services, Del oi tte in I ndia says there is a
heal thy demand for MCAs in the i ndustry. "An
MCA is a person who has either a skill of devel op-
ing a system i nto proper code or can be trai ned
and devel oped in any area of IT, l i ke testi ng,
programmi ng, etc. A person who has certai n
l i mi tati ons of getti ng into good qual i ty engi neer-
ing colleges could opt for MCA as it gi ves them a
defi ni te career opportuni ty. After three years of
MCA, you woul d defi ni tel y have a j ob. They can
further do additional courses to enhance thei r j ob
prospects and qual i fi cati ons."
Gaurav Sharma, who compl eted his MCA fr om
Uttar Pradesh Techni cal Uni versi ty in 2006 and
now works as Senior Software Engineer wi th SAIC
I ndia, agrees wi th hi m, "You start worki ng in
the thi rd year of MCA itself, so it actually comes
to two years. You save one year and earn money
as wel l . Since you've done masters in computers,
you are supposed to be already groomed in terms
of techni cal and professi onal aspects. Most com-
panies don't gr oom thei r MCA freshers on how to
deal wi th the client. It's all expected fr om them."
He states further, "Steppi ng i nto the market
havi ng a MCA degree opens many doors for you.
You can go for research work, pure devel opment,
support and mai ntenance, application enhance-
ment, testi ng, and even teachi ng. I n MCA, you are
supposed to study 36 subjects in an el aborati ve
manner. These 36 subjects help you choose your
subject for research and teachi ng and for devel op-
ment. I n MCA, you need to compl ete two profes-
sional trai ni ngs, which gi ve you a very clear idea
about the current market trends. So havi ng pri or
knowl edge in the area you'l l be worki ng in helps
you in searching for the ri ght j ob."
WHO CAN CHOOSE MCA?
It's a degree anyone can pursue regardless of thei r
educational background. Gaurav says, "I wanted
to do somethi ng in my career whi ch is rel ated
to the computers. I have done B.Sc. and I wanted
to do a professi onal course that woul d gi ve me
good exposure to computers. As I had no IT back-
ground, MCA proved to be a very good pl atform
for me, because the fi rst semester gave me ample
ti me to bri dge the gap."
On the other hand, Thi ruvengadam P feels that
MCA is also a great and easy opti on for those who
could not get into engi neeri ng. "MCA is an easier
opti on. Engi neeri ng has problems associated wi th
it in terms of fees, the ability to get into the ri ght
institution, and so on. The number of people who
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TECH TALK 47
have got the basic skills like numerical analysis
and aptitude can opt for MCA instead of engineer-
ing, which focuses on l earni ng a lot more than
what is required for coding in the IT industry. Also,
the private institutes that offer courses similar to
MCA have tie-ups wi th companies for placement,
which is good. So before opti ng for an institute,
you should check their records, credentials, place-
ments, etc."
GROWTH PROSPECTS
"An MCA fresher starts as a programmer and
acquires additional skills as they i nteract wi th
thei r teams. They woul d move on to becom-
ing analysts, architects or senior programmers
and, in the long term, even proj ect managers.
However, they could hit the ceiling in terms of
growth because of thei r non- engi neeri ng back-
ground, but i f they are smart enough, they can
easily surpass it. It all depends on thei r skills,"
Thiruvengadam P says.
Gaurav agrees. "The very fi rst advantage is that
MCA is a masters degree that helps in building your
career. For instance, i f you have completed B.Tech
or BE, after a particular stage, your growth can
stagnate, so i f you want to be a proj ect manager
or head of a particular department, you won't be
given preference. At that stage, you would need to
take admission in some distance l earni ng course to
be the eligible for that post. But wi th a MCA degree,
you have the advantage of havi ng the requi red edu-
cational experience. So according to me, MCA is a
complete package."
QUALIFICATIONS AND ENTRANCE
EXAM
There are many institutes that offer MCA courses
across I ndia, and these courses are accredi ted
by the Al l India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE), New Delhi. It's a post graduate course and
a candidate has to appear for a wri tten entrance
exam. Candidates have to secure 50 percent or
above in their Bachelors or equivalent degree. Some
universities may also require the candidate to have
studied mathematics during graduation.
There are two kinds of entrance exams - one
is the common entrance exam like NIMCET con-
ducted by the NITs, whi l e institutes l i ke the
Symbiosis (Pune), Birla I nstitute of Technol ogy
(Ranchi), etc. conduct thei r own entrance exams.
Addi ti onal l y states like Madhya Pradesh, Orissa
and Maharashtra also conduct thei r own common
entrance exams. Even though there are di fferent
entrance exams, the content is more or less the
same. It tests the candidates for mathematical,
logical, analytical, basic computers and general
knowledge.
Gaurav has a word of advice for those wanti ng
to pursue an MCA degree. "Work hard in the fi rst
and second semester, because the study method
and preparation mechanism for exams is very dif-
ferent in MCA. These two semesters are the foun-
dations of your degree. Students should normal l y
start prepari ng for the entrance exam of MCA in
the years of graduation itself. Elite institutes offer
a very good envi ronment to study and handsome
empl oyment opportunities through campus place-
ments. I f non-I T students study the basics of C, C++
(or any other computer language), it wi l l work to
thei r advantage, since many universities include
these languages in their entrance exam." ©
SOME INSTITUTES OFFERING MCA
• Delhi I nstitute of Advanced Studies, New
Delhi
• University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu.
• ICFAI University, Tripura
• Fergusson College, Pune
• Annamalai University, Chitambaram,
Tamil Nadu.
• Apeejay I nstitute of Technology, Noida,
Uttar Pradesh.
• Bangalore I nstitute of Technology,
Bangalore.
• Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra.
• 5IES College of Management Studies,
Nerul, Navi Mumbai
• Sinhgad I nstitute of Management and
computer application, Pune
• Veermata J ijabai Technological I nstitute,
Mumbai
• I nstitute of I nformation Technology and
Management, New Delhi
• Nirma I nstitute of Technology,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi,
Uttar Pradesh.
• MET I nstitute of Computer Science,
Bandra, Mumbai
• Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU)
INTELUGENTCOMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
48 TECHTRLK
INNOVATIONS
A BIONIC ARM FOR
THE DI SABLED
Robotic prosthetics can be life changers for those with physical disabilities,
but such technology demands a hefty price, which not many can afford.
Nitesh Kumar J angir shows us an economical alternative and explains the
working of his robotic bionic arm.
BY K A M A K A S H I S
NI TE S H K U M A R J ANGI R
Ni t esh hol ds a B.E. i n E l ect r oni cs &
Communi cati on E ngi neer i ng f r om RGPV
Uni versi ty of Technol ogy of Madhya Pradesh,
Bhopal . His other proj ects i ncl ude i nfr ar ed
music transistor, PLCC wi th mi crocontrol l ers,
DTMF control l ed UMV, automati c CCTV, and
automatic currency checker. An avid roboti cs
enthusiast, he has attended trai ni ng programs
in Texas I nstruments 32-bit mi cr ocontr ol l er
and several others as wel l .
P
hysical disabilities are hard to cope wi th,
especi al l y i f you've been used to l i fe wi th
normal motor skills. Whi l e prostheti cs is
the way forward, the huge costs mean that it isn't
the most vi abl e opti on. However, Nitesh Kumar
J angir fr om RGPV Bhopal has desi gned a roboti c
bionic arm wi th advanced sensors, whi ch is not
onl y useful but also economi cal for peopl e wi th
disabilities.
His proj ect has been entered into various com-
peti ti ons, including Prayas at I I TB, I I T KGP and an
i nternati onal conference at Ni rma University. It
has also cleared round one of the I ntel Embedded
Challenge.
>THE IDEA
Al though it is not rare to fi nd disabled peopl e
wi th arti fi ci al limbs, the numbers are still rela-
ti vel y small because of the hi gh price and cost of
mai ntenance. Ni tesh expl ai ns, "Prostheti cs gi ve
new l i fe to a person wi th physical disability, i f a
person loses his arm in an accident, an arti fi ci al
body part is a boon to them. "
He goes on to add, "Devel opment in the fi el d of
prosthetics has been goi ng on for a long ti me and
many peopl e are using these arms, but these are
still out of the reach of many people due to their
hi gh cost and unavai l abi l i ty of proper resources,
so peopl e who can't afford them remai n handi-
capped. This l ed me to devel op my bionic arm,
whi ch is of l ow cost and can work l i ke costly
prosthetics."
MARCH 2011 > INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT
>THE GENERAL IMPACT OF
THE PROJECT
Whi l e an arm equi pped wi th compl ex neural
networks or arti fi ci al i ntel l i gence technol ogi es
can be most conveni ent, they are also expensi ve
to develop. Tal ki ng about his creati on, Nitesh
explains, "Thi s roboti c arm works on the gal vani c
response of the human body. Due to the response
of the skin and muscle tissue to these external
and internal stimuli, the resistance can vary.
When correctl y calibrated, the galvanic skin
response can measure these subtle di fferences.
The galvanic skin response, known as GSR, is
highly sensitive to emoti ons for some peopl e. I
have used this concept for this proj ect, where I
have calibrated this arm to the human body. It
is not j ust a simple robot arm wi th embedded sen-
sors, but it can also i nti mate the wearer about the
temperature of objects. The idea was to design an
arm similar to those made using neural technol -
ogy, but only cheaper".
>THE DESIGN
Nitesh describes what is requi red to work such
a compl ex system. "The system requi res ei ght
el ectrodes, foot Opamp, one ATMEGA16 mi cro-
control l er, fi ve servo motors, one LM35, one LCD
screen (whi ch I used fr om my Nokia 3310 handset),
one Bluetooth or i nfrared- based wi rel ess control
and one GSM modul e."
A working module of the artifical arm,
which is powered by a mobile phone.
The entire setup of the bionic arm, including all the required
components and cicruitry.
>THE WORKING
The system consists of two components, the bri -
quetti ng machi ne and a crushing machine. Nitesh
elaborates, "The mai n functi onal i ty of thi s arm
depends on gal vani c response of skin. Galvanic
skin response, also known as el ectro dermal
response (EDR), psycho gal vani c refl ex (PGR), or
skin conductance response (SCR), is a method of
measuri ng the el ectri cal resistance of the skin.
There has been a long hi story of research on elec-
trodermal acti vi ty, most of it deal i ng wi th spon-
taneous fluctuations. This product takes galvanic
skin response as input for the product and faci l i -
tates movements."
"To measure this response, I have desi gned
a ci rcui t wi th el ectrodes and a power ful ampl i -
fi er using an operati on ampl i fi er. Thi s ampl i fi er
increases the sensitivity of the signal to somethi ng
that can be easily evaluated for decision maki ng.
The data is fed to a mi crocontrol l er unit accord-
i ng to the predefi ned condi ti ons and data comes
fr om a galvanic response meter devi ce, whi ch wi l l
move the servo motors connected to this mi cro-
control l er uni t."
He adds, "The muscle re- i nnervati ons proce-
dure allows the re- routed nerves to gr ow into the
chest muscle and di rect the signals to the roboti c
arm through the surface el ectrodes. A power-
ful sensor like LM35 helps to detect temperature
vari ati ons. Dependi ng on the use of mi crocon-
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INSIDER SUPPLEMENT < MARCH 2011
50 TECHTRLK
trol l ers, the count of servo motors can be al tered,
but fi ve motors is requi red for the basic hand
movement mechani sm. The most i mportant part
of the system is to program the mi crocontrol l er in
accordance wi th the GSR inputs. This is achievable
using wi navr (for avr series). A single servo motor
can normal l y move up to 1.5 kg, so a combi nati on
of fi ve can easily carry out the work wi th usually
associated wi th the worki ng of an arm.
> PRACTICAL APPLICATION
The usefulness of this proj ect is very evi dent, and
needs no further rei terati on. However, you cannot
qual i fy its success unless it has been tested in real
l i fe situations. Nitesh agrees and says, "For check-
ing it's practi cal i ty, I went through a long process
of testi ng. Thi s i nvol ved vi si ti ng hospitals and
testi ng it on real patients. My prototype uses three
movements (upper, l ower and hand gri p) that can
work effi ci entl y wi th a power supply of 9 volts. For
more movements, more servo motors and switch
mode power supply needs to be added."
"Each arm needed to be speci fi cal l y crafted for
the person it was tested on. After i ni ti al di ffi cul -
ties and wi th a l i ttl e bit of practice, they found the
system very hel pful . As per out test records, our
system scored 70 percent in handl i ng abilities,
and 74 percent rel i abi l i ty, wi th a response ti me of
4 milliseconds. He added."
While this is a prototype of the arm, it
provides near accurate data recordings.
> FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY
Nitesh remi nds us that one of the i mportant fac-
tors consi dered for the proj ect is its fi nanci al
vi abi l i ty. "The cost of this product depends upon
the confi gurati on that is requi red. Mi ni mum cost
wi th essential functi onal i ti es is between Rs 8,000
and Rs 10,000, whi ch is quite economi cal . This is
because we used simple technol ogy and cost effec-
ti ve components." ©
A visual interpretation of a bionic arm
attached to a severed human hand.
The complex circuitry helps to generate movements and reflexes
that are senstive to temprature changes.
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