When I lost my Motoming A1200 a few months ago, I was so impressed with that phone that it wasn’t difficult deciding which would be my next cell phone, when I found that an advanced version was released : The Motoming A1600.
Well, it has more than fulfilled my expectations. This is one touch phone that’s packed with features. If you haven’t used the previous Ming A1200, the first thing you might notice about the Ming A1600 is it’s peculiar semi-transparent clamshell. It actually has the speaker embedded in it (with the trade-mark "M" embossed on it) and it looks as though there is no wired connection of the speaker to the phone.
That is until you watch it a bit more closely, you find two copper tracks running from the speaker , along the edge of the clamshell and into the phone. (My friends took some time to figure out where the speaker really was :P)
Another cool feature is that you can see the touchscreen even when the clamshell is closed, since it is semi-transparent. You can access limited functions in the closed position using the buttons on the side of the phone. For example, if you are listening to a song on the (pre-poaded) RealPlayer, you can increase/decrease volume, switch tracks etc. using these buttons. There are two more buttons, one for the camera and one for the voice commands. (I don’t find the voice command features in the phone THAT useful, or maybe I’m just not inclined to use them !)
Talking about the camera, it has a resolution of 3.2MP , 8X zoom with an LED flash. But thats just the beginning. There are settings in the camera that allow you to take 180° panoramic shots. (nature photography anyone?) You have to get used to it though: it works by "stitching" 5 photos that you take one after the other. There is a thin red marker that shows up on the screen which guides you to position the next shot. After taking all 5 shots, the camera "stitches" up the 5 pics in that order and you get one single 180° panoramic photograph!
Besides there are the other "standard" features that you will find in any other camera phone, like image adjustments and other tweaks. By the way, you can also do some video shooting with the cam and the length of the clip is limited only by the space you have on the memory card (2GB micro SD will be about an hour of footage).
The best feature that I like is, however, the a-GPS. The rectangular block that you see at the top centre is actually the GPS receiver. It works by establishing a direct uplink with all GPS satellites that will be avaiable above your area at any given time. It does not use your mobile’s carrier signal, unlike in some other GPS enabled phones. (For this reason, it doesn’t work indoors our in cloudy conditions, since it can’t get a clear uplink.) The GPS can tell you your exact location (lat./long.), altitude and your speed.
The phone comes pre-loaded with the latest maps of India (by mapmyindia.com) and an awful lot of landmarks (hotels, cinemas, malls, roads etc.) for each city in it’s searchable internal database. The GPS provides your real time position on the map. You can add your favorite locations too and SMS it to your friends. It gives you real time fastest or shortest route directions to any chosen destination. But it can’t distinguish between one-way roads and normal ones (as I have grudgingly found myself going into one-ways in the opposite direction many a times;) But this is ok if you keep an eye on the road signs too :P.
So in short, your phone is also your personal GPS navigation system and it doesn’t cost you a thing since it is network independent! (Drains the battery up if you use it unendingly so don’t forget to switch it off when you are done.)
The next best feature, which is actually an improvement over the previous model, is the Simple User Interface (SUI). In this mode, the interface is modified in such a way that you can comfortably use your thumb for all major phone functions. No need to reach out for the stylus every now and then. This feature is especially useful in a crowded Mumbai local train :) or whenever you want your other hand to be free. Besides, using the stylus really bugs me sometimes ;)
There is another interesting feature (which I don’t use much), called the Business Card reader.
The phone uses the camera to capture details on a visting card and stores the relevant details appropriately. But sometimes it confuses the fields, as in it stores the fax number into email id or some such silly thing, but works ok for the most part.
The other features in this phone include FM radio , RealPlayer, organiser, alarm clock, notes, bluetooth, email, pdf viewer, voice recorder......... - quite standard fare I would say. One takes for granted that these features will be present in phones nowadays!
As if these features were not enough, I also downloaded software like mobile phone browsers, chat clients and messengers. I recommed Nimbuzz for multiple-IM chats and messaging and Opera is a slick browser too.
I have been using this phone for a little more than six months now and the only negative thing that comes to my mind is the battery life. I have to reacharge it every night but I’m used to it now. I reckon battery life has always been a problem with Motorola phones :(
Besides the added features like the a-GPS consume a little more battery life. But I’m not really complaining.
All in all, if I am asked to choose between the i-phone and Ming A1600, I will go for the Ming without thinking twice!
But that of course is my point of view.............