Walka 7 Review

Today we finally got around to properly scrutinizing one of DStv Mobile latest handheld devices, the Walka 7. Truth-be-told it has been laying about for weeks (probably months) and I have no excuse for not getting to it sooner, but better late than never so here we go.

As some of you may already know this is a larger version of the DStv Mobile Walka and were going to dig as far as we can to help answer the question “...is bigger really better?”. But first a little recap DStv Mobile is an arm of Multichoice Africa (a well known digital satellite television provider) that specializes in providing means to view live satellite broadcast via a range of mobile devices – from your Apple iPhone to you Samsung Galaxy Tab, mostly independent of an internet connection. The Walka 7 is an upgrade version of the Walka, its name being derived from its 7 inches screen.

Out of the box, your Walka 7 will come with a charging USB cord and a charging base, a stand and a quick guide, earpiece excluded. You can put it on and start watching right away (assuming you’ve sorted out the subscription bit), but I strongly advice you fully charge it first which would talk about 4-5 hours give or take 30 minutes. Another thing worth noting is you should use the charger that comes in the box because pervious Walka chargers may not charge the Walka 7.

The Walka 7 stand has two groves built into it, one of the grooves is at a 45° angle and the other is at 60° angle. The device sits comfortable in either groove as long as it is placed on a flat surface. Sure beats that rubber suction bulb on the previous model – what were they thinking?

On a full charge it’ll playback for about 6 hours, which seems worth the charging wait. The device has a wide screen to allow 16:9 aspect ratio viewing but is not HD compatible. It’s just a ‘wider’ screen. Its full bouquet of 16 channels will appeal to some but not all types of consumers.

The device is significantly heavier than its predecessor, lacks the grip groves of its predecessor and you would probably get tired of carrying it about after half an hour, it also no lanyard hole. It seems that the Walka 7 wasn’t meant to be carried about, good thing it has a competent stand this time. This Walka model still uses a somewhat antiquated aluminium antenna to receive its transitions, even though most mobile devices today have embedded antennas. 

 The Walka 7 was meant for consumers who usually work long hours at desks, although for more actively mobile consumers like ‘students’ I would recommend the original Walka since it light weight and more mobile. The Walka 7 available at all Multichoice outlets and goes for NGN 18,900 (Eighteen Thousand Nine Hundred Naira Only).

So would you be getting a Walka 7 or will you pass? Let us know in the comment section below. Like us on Facebook by clicking HERE or follow us on Twitter by clicking HERE.

 

Nokia Asha 311 Overview - Hit? Or Miss?

I’m sure we all remember the days when Nokia was dominating the Tech Headlines with their extensive range of stylish and ground breaking mobile phones. That was till 2003 when the mobile phone industry took a detour in its approach to device design and functionality with Apples release of the iPhone. The era saw the rise of the Smartphone and consumers began to demand for mobile phones with more functionality and capabilities. This demand has also ushered in Android Powered phones and Blackberry devices. Nokia soon saw its market share in the mobile phone Industry steadily decline. Today Nokia is seen as the underdog of the mobile phone Industry. Oh! How the mighty have fallen. Most experts categorise Nokia among the likes of RIM - the Canadian phone manufacturer who has also seen its market share on a constant decline, and according to speculations maybe on the verge of bankruptcy. RIM has bet all its chips on the Blackberry 10 OS and the phones and tablets that will run it, but I digress.   

Nokia may be down but it’s far from out, and that’s what the Finnish mobile legend is intent on proving to the world. Nokia has been trying to compete in the smartphone market with its vast range of feature and high-end smartphones.

Nokia’s Asha range of mobile phones are feature phones that just about match up to basic entry level android smartphones, these devices usually have a significantly low price point but run on Nokia’s Series 40 Asha platform, while the Lumia range of smartphones are high-end Windows powered devices, in the same ranks and the Samsung Galaxy model phones and Apple’s iPhone. 

So here’s the scoop, the Asha 311 is a touchscreen device with a 3 inch screen and 56K colour pallet. It has 140MB of user accessible memory upgradeable up to 32GB via microSD card. It’s got a 3.2MP camera and it runs on the Series 40 Asha OS which supports Java and Series 40 web apps. You get the standard mid-range connectivity options such as 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It does have multitouch and a Corning Gorilla Glass screen, features usually reserved for high-end smartphones. Let’s not forget its rather flaunted data compression feature that shrinks transmitted data size resulting is faster loading Apps. With the Asha 311 you’ll get a pick of 40 EA games titles ranging from ‘ports’ of FIFA 12 to Need For Speed: The Run to The Sims. You’ll also get the regulars like Angry Birds, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

But however you look at it the Series 40 App offerings are light-years away from that of Androids Google PLAY and Apples App store. Another downside is it doesn’t have Adobe flash support which leaves you with a limited browsing experience and with only a 3.2MP camera without a flash these pitfalls tilts the Asha 311 into the low performance market, that said I’m not sure where to place the Asha 311.

 As a feature phone it could easily be said to be the best in the world, bit its NGN 19,000 (Nineteen Thousand Naira) price tag bumps it out of the feature phone spectrum and into the low-end Smartphone realm. Today you could get an Android Smartphone within that price range, and the Android platform has a world of Apps enriching your mobile experience in comparison to the series 40 platform. In my opinion the Asha 311 looks like a Smartphone, acts like a Smartphone but sadly it’s not. I don’t see the younger crowd that its marketing has been targeting in Nigeria readily adopting it because of these pitfalls. The free games offered are a quaint novelty but hardly an incentive. I feel this novelty will quickly wear off as the Asha 311’s short comings become apparent.

I would only recommend this device to individuals who refused to get on the Smartphone bandwagon, but need a device that can keep up with the times. Come to think about it, I think I have an aunt this would be perfect for, thank goodness it comes in pink!

So what do you think? Is the Asha 311 a Hit? Or is it a Miss? Don’t be bashful let you voice be heard in the comment section below, and remember every time you leave comment a household brand is saved from bankruptcy!

WhatApp 101 - WhatsApp User Guide [Updated April 2013]

Disclaimer
This guide was made with android users running WhatsApp Version 2.9 in mind, although not intended for iPhone and Blackberry users the same general principles apply and the information here is mostly transferable.

With the introduction of Blackberry Messenger a new era of instant messaging was ushered, but with the decline the hold of RIM (Research In Motion) on the Smartphone market share consumers have looked for an alternative and they found, WhatsApp. 

WhatsApp has been around for a while but only just recently gained popularity, but some people seem to be having a hard time understanding how it works. Here’s a quick guide to understanding how to get best out of the WhatsApp.

Adding Contacts

With Whatsapp you don’t need to send a friends request to chat with someone, the application scans you phone contacts and automatically populates your WhatsApp contact list with contacts saved on your phone that have installed WhatsApp at some point in time. It also updates the list frequently, so if a friend of yours just recently installed the WhatsApp they will be made available for you to chat with on WhatsApp automatically. Pretty neat, huh?

A person will only appear on your WhatsApp contact list if their number is saved on your phone. If your number isn’t saved on the recipient’s phone you may still IM them but your name will on appear on top of the chat box, rather your phone number will appear where your name should be.

WhatsApp Home Screen – ‘Chats’

WhatsApp home screen or Start-up screen is the page displaying all your recent chats with people in your contact list. To the top right corner you will see two icons, one shaped like a magnifying glass and the other a speech bubble with a plus sign. The speech bubble icon will give you a list of all your saved phone contacts that have installed and activated WhatsApp on their line, while the magnifying glass icon is to search the for mentioned list for a specific contact.

Updating your Display Image and Status Message

The WhatsApp ‘chats’ screen is also where you can access the main menu to change you status message and your display picture.

To change your status message press your potions key, then tap the status icon. You will be taken to a screen which will show you “Your currents status...” and a list of suggested and previously used status messages. To change your display image go back to the WhatsApp ‘Chats’ screen, press your options key, tap the ‘settings’ icon then tap ‘Profile’. You will be able to change your WhatsApp display image and ‘Name’, please note that your ‘Name’ is only visible to iOS devices.

Unlike on Blackberry Messenger recipients cannot save someone’s display image on to their phone.

Chatting

Chatting on WhatsApp is rather straight forward, just select the contact you want to chat with, type your message and tap the ‘send’ button. The message sending process has three stages, the first of which is indicated by the grey clock-like icon that appears momentarily at the bottom left area of your message bubble. This indicates that the message is waiting to be sent to the WhatsApp server. If this icon lingers it means you are experiencing poor data connectivity. The next stage is when this grey circle changes to a green tick, this means that the message has been successfully delivered to the WhatsApp server but not delivered to your recipient. If this icon persists your recipient may be experiencing poor data connectivity, or may have switched their ‘background data’ off – more on this in WhatsApp 201. The last stage is when the single tick icon becomes a ‘double ticked’ this means that the message has been successfully delivered to the recipients device, but does not necessarily mean that the recipient has read it.  

The grey bar at the top of the chat window gives a bit of handy information apart from the name and display image of the person you’re talking to. It tells you the last time your contact was active on WhatsApp and also if your contact is typing a message to you or is actively using WhatsApp, the grey bar would show ‘typing...’ on ‘Online’ respectively. 

Viewing a Contact’s Profile and Display Image

To view a contacts profile select a contact, while in the contact chat-window tap the contacts name and you will be taken to the ‘Contact Info’ tab, alternatively you can press your options key while in the contact chat-window, and tap ‘View contact’. Here you will be able to view the contact’s name (as saved on your phone), display image, status message, recent media that has been exchanged between you and the contact, and also the phone number or numbers the contact uses for WhatsApp.

To view the contact display image, simply tap the thumbnail of the contacts display image and it will be blow up to fit your screen, the recipient cannot however save someone else’s display image to their phone.

Sending Attachments (Pictures, Video, Audio, Location Markers & vCards)

In an active chat session you’ll notice an office pin like icon to the top right corner, this is used to send attachments. Attachments can be sent as pictures, video or audio. You can also send location markers that can be opened using Google Maps – more on this in WhatsApp 201.  The last type of attachments WhatApp supports are VCards. This enables you to send contact information from your device you another person. It’s a handy tool for introducing people or even setting up a blind date. Although some restrictions do apply while sending WhatsApp attachments, only video files smaller than 13MB can be exchanged via WhatsApp and with most smartphones capable of HD recording by default it makes this video sharing function practically useless. WhatsApp does not support PDF or Microsoft Office files, if you attempt to send this kind of file the application will crash.

Blocking Contacts

Due to WhatsApps very open contact adding functionality it allows you to block contacts that you do not want to chat with. While in a chat session with the contact you wish not to reach you any further press the options key, then the more icon, you should see the ‘block’ option, which will block all incoming messages from this contact, you can always unblock the contact the same way. To view your list of blocked contacts, go to the ‘chats’ home-screen, press your options button, then tap ‘settings’, tap ‘contacts’, then ‘Blocked Contacts’. Blocking a contact on WhatsApp will not stop the individual from calling your number or sending you a regular SMS (text) message.

This concluded our WhatsApp 101 Class. To continue head over to WhatsApp 201, where we will teach you how to tell if a contact has blocked you, discuss emoticons and more on location markers.