2012 Smartphone Tech News Update: Samsung Galaxy Y Duos S6102

It got around the block quickly enough that entry-level Androids are big money earners. Not that Samsung needed the heads-up. They've had a foot in that door for as long as we can remember. As of late, their Galaxy Y series have taken over from the likes of the Galaxy Gio, Mini and the Fit to offer affordable smartphones for youths and emerging markets.

    
Samsung Galaxy Y Duos

At one point an almost exclusive Nokia territory, the low-end market is now fair game for cheap smartphones and the Galaxy Y Duos doesn't have to try hard to make itself comfortable.

The Galaxy Y Duos builds on the single-SIM Galaxy Y with a slightly larger screen, a higher-resolution camera, larger capacity battery and, most importantly, an extra SIM slot. The latter will, of course, be its key selling point in emerging markets, but here's what else is on offer.

Key Features

• Dual-SIM (dual stand-by)
• Quad-Band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
• SIM switch in notification area
• 3.14" 256K-color QVGA TFT touchscreen
• 832MHz ARMv6 processor, 290MB of RAM
• Android OS v2.3.5 (Gingerbread) with TouchWiz UI
• 160MB of internal storage, hot-swappable MicroSD slot, 2GB card included
• 3.15 MP fixed-focus camera with geotagging
• GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Document viewer
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Swype text input
• MicroUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth 3.0
• Social network integration

Main disadvantages

• Low screen resolution limits choice of apps
• Fixed focus camera
• No secondary camera
• No camera flash, no dedicated camera key
• QVGA video recording @24fps is pretty low
• No Adobe Flash support

The Galaxy Y Duos is aimed at entry level smartphone enthusiasts who want to make the best out of a limited budget. This dual-SIM droid is based on the original Galaxy Y - which in turn was a cut above the usual dumbphone.

We guess the two won't directly compete with each other: the dual-SIM smartphone will probably reach a different demographic. A package like the Galaxy Y (single SIM) is a more short-term affair - a phone to learn the basics with before moving on to something more advanced.

A dual-SIM phone on the other hand is the sensible choice for the budget-conscious - a typically older audience that's not as keen to upgrade ever so often. On the other hand, teens too will probably enjoy the flexibility of mobile plans that two SIM cards provide.

Anyway, Samsung have a solid dual-SIM track record but what we're interested in is how two phone lines are managed and operated in an Android environment. The first thing you'd notice is the lack of dedicated SIM management key and hot-swappable SIM cards. On the other hand, a handy SIM switch is integrated in the Android notification area and a SIM manager tops the settings menu. Quad-band support on both SIM cards and dual-band 3G are of course more than welcome.

  
The Galaxy Y Duos at HQ

But enough spoilers - let's see how the Galaxy Y Duos handles its two jobs, a smartphone and a dual-SIM phone.

Retail package

The modest retail package of the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos is hardly a surprise considering the low price. You do get a standard microUSB cable and charger, along with a 2GB microSD card complete with an SD adapter.

What the package omits is a set of headphones - you'll have to get them elsewhere if you want to enjoy the music player or the FM Radio on the phone. This may be a region-specific thing though, judging by user feedback to our original Galaxy Y review.

  

The retail box of the Galaxy Y Duos

Design and build quality

The styling is the usual Samsung, there are minor differences to the single-SIM Galaxy Y. The most notable is an elongated Home button, as opposed to the square Home key of the original. The chrome-like front frame is more prominent but it doesn't fit so well with the rest of the phone's design - particularly the rubbery rear. On a positive note, the build is quite good.

The 3.14" TFT display of QVGA (240 x 320) resolution is at the bottom of the food chain in terms of specs, and, we're afraid, the real-life image quality reflects that too.

  
The Galaxy Y Duos up front

Images are highly pixelated, while the low contrast and inadequate brightness make it uncomfortable to use on a bright sunny day. Here's the full rundown below.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
HTC Sensation XE	0.23	172	761	0.64	484	752
Nokia 701	0.64	619	964	1.12	1022	905
LG Prada 3.0	0.19	184	993	0.81	835	1031
Samsung S7500 Galaxy Ace Plus	0.27	239	873	0.6	528	888
Samsung Galaxy Y Duos	0.34	272	808	0.64	538	842
Samsung Galaxy Y	0.40	247	624	0.72	471	625
Apple iPhone 4S	0.14	205	1463	0.52	654	1261
Samsung Galaxy Nexus	0	112	∞	0	247	∞
Motorola RAZR XT910	0	215	∞	0	361	∞
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II	0	231	∞	0	362	∞
Samsung Galaxy Note	0	287	∞	0	429	∞

Below the screen is the usual arrangement of a physical Home button and two capacitive Menu and Back keys. They light up only when touched and otherwise stay out of the way. Above the display there's an earpiece and a proximity sensor to disable the touchscreen during calls. What the phone lacks is a front-facing video-call camera.

  
Controls and sensor around the display

Near the top, on the right side of the Galaxy Y Duos, which is the usual place in Samsung phones, is the power/lock button.

  
On the right side of the device

The left side features a lanyard eyelet and a single-piece volume rocker with good feedback.

  
The left side

At the bottom of the Galaxy Y Duos you'll find the microUSB port for charging and data transfers and the microphone pinhole.

  
Bottom of the phone

There's a 3.5 mm headphone jack at the top.

  
At the top

The battery cover is plastic (as is the case with most Samsung phones these days) but looks durable and feels nice to the touch. The rubbery finish ensures good grip.

The 3.15 MP camera lens is centrally placed at the top and there's a loudspeaker grille on its right. A Samsung logo is stamped underneath the camera lens and grille.

  
The rubbery back has good grip

Removing the back panel is easy enough and reveals the 1300mAh Li-Ion battery, which is quoted at 360h of stand-by and up to 9h of calls in 3G. The Galaxy Y seems to easily go through a day and a half of heavy testing with the two SIM cards always on stand-by. We'll be back with a detailed battery test over the next few days so keep watching this space.

   
Under the hood

Update, May 3: We're done with the battery tests and the results are quite good. Our final endurance rating is a little over two days. Note that we used two hours of 3G talk time per day along with an hour of browsing to arrive at that number (usually we assume an hour each of 3G talking, web browsing and video watching a day). If we plug in the 2G talk time result into the equation, the endurance gets close to three days.

The Samsung Galaxy Y Duos S6102 proved to be a capable runner in our battery race. Considering people looking at a dual-SIM phone will likely use it mainly for talking, the Y Duos will easily last for a couple of days on a charge. We didn't test the video playback battery life as our test videos wouldn't run (the Y Duos supports only low-res videos and it wouldn't be fair) and it's not a phone likely to be used for movie watching.

You can read more about the battery life on the Galaxy Y Duos over at our blog.

Placing both SIM slots inside the battery compartment, Samsung must've thought the Galaxy Y Duos users won't need to often change SIM cards. By comparison, Nokia's recent dual-SIM devices have a hot-swappable side-mounted SIM slot, but these are basic feature phones for markets where handset sharing isn't unusual.

  
The Samsung Galaxy Y Duos held in hand

While not extravagant or necessarily pretty, the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos is a compact and straight-forward device. It costs little and looks durable enough to survive the occasional knock and drop.

It's easily pocketable and makes single-handed operation trouble free. Considering you get two phones in such a friendly shape and size, there's little to complain of.

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Turning Of The Bones of Famadihana Festival (people, culture, event and tradition)

According to Malagasy belief, people are not made from mud, but from the bodies of the ancestors. Hence they hold their forefathers in high regard. They also believe that unless the bodies decompose completely, the dead do not leave permanently and are able to communicate with the living. So until they are gone forever, love and affection is showered on them through theFamadihana festival. Famadihana, also known as ‘turning of the bones’ is a festival celebrated every 2 to 7 years. The main motive behind the festival originated from the belief of the local people that the dead return to God and are again reborn. Dead people are highly respected in the local communities as they are considered to be directly related to God. It is interesting to note that the festival is not an ancient practice of Madagascar. Its origins cannot be traced beyond the seventeenth century.

The party begins even before the exhumation, with the attendees (“mourners” does not seem to be the right word) gathering to drink and dance to a live band that will continue to play for almost the entire ritual. Music is a very important part of the ceremony. The jaunty sound of the mainly brass instruments has been described by one observer as “distinctly reminiscent of the ragtime music that was the precursor to jazz in New Orleans.”

During the dry bones festival, the corpses are removed from the tombs and re-wrapped in new shrouds, to prevent the deceased from feeling cold in their resting place. This kind of re-dressing takes place after dreams of the departed are recounted by some of the members of the family and thanks given for the blessings they have bestowed from the spirit world.

The burial tomb is constructed with much care and it is considered to act as the link between the dead and the living. The relatives of the dead dress themselves well and go to the tomb to see the remains of the deceased. Relatives, friends and other near and dear ones are invited to the event.

Before the re-dressed bones are put back to their respective burial places, they are carried several times around the tomb. This is to make the souls of the departed familiar with their eternal residence, otherwise there are beliefs they may roam and terrorize the villagers afterwards.

The festival also consists of animal sacrifices and various traditional forms of celebration. The meat of the slain animal is distributed among the relatives and the friends. There are traditional song and dance performances which are performed by the family members or from the favorites of the razana (the dead).

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2012 Google Android smartphone update: Galaxy S III gets 9 million pre-orders

Korea Economic Daily is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S III has received over 9 million pre-orders from 100 carriers around the world. This information comes courtesy of a Samsung official who remains anonymous.

Whichever way you look at it, that's an impressive figure. We knew the Galaxy S III was going to sell big but these numbers are much higher than what we would have bet on. It's predecessor, the Galaxy S II, took 10 months to ship 20 million units and the Galaxy S III took two weeks to reach almost half of that. Also, these are pre-order figures, not shipments, and are almost as good as actual sales figures.

Looks like Samsung has another winner on their hands. Obviously, this does not bode well for rivals such as HTC and LG. And even though this figure is nowhere close to the iPhone 4S pre-orders, Apple should be feeling the heat as well, especially considering the 9 million figure excludes Apple's key market, the US of A.

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The World's Top 10 Highly Developed Countries: Who are they?

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries according to their development levels from “very high” to “low.” Countries are placed based on life expectancy, education, standard of living, child welfare, health care, economic welfare, and population happiness. Formulas are used to factor all the variables and determine the scores of countries. Critics have cited the HDI as inaccurate or vague, but coming up with top ten highly developed countries list on my own opinion would have been very subjective and probably badly ranked. Thus, I have simply listed the first ten countries on the HDI and displayed their scores, while providing explanations. Enjoy.

10. Sweden
Score: 0.904

The socialist and largely liberal European country of Sweden (officially the Kingdom of Sweden) is led by Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt and is about the size of the US state of California (or Spain if unfamiliar with the CA) and has an approximate population of 9.3 million with the capital and largest city being Stockholm. The Swedish people are rated as one of the happiest in the world and have high marks in income ($35,876 GDP per capita, and a regular GDP of $485 billion), life expectancy (80.9 years), and education. In addition, the country has very low unemployment and poverty rates, has equal and free access to health care, and has been one of the most active supporters of environmental sustainability today and pushes for other countries to “Go green.” Sweden also serves as a major tourist destination for millions of international travelers, as the country has a long and rich history.
 

9. Germany
Score: 0.905 Score

 The Federal Republic of Germany, or Germany, has the largest economy in the European Union, and one of the largest populations at 82.2 million, as well as its bustling capital and economic center of Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel is the head of a government with a people of very high education standards, with a nearly 100% attendance rate and 99% literacy rate. Germany thrives in industry and manufacturing and is a major exporter of electrical and engineering products, such as cars (Volkswagen anyone?), and are renowned globally for their skilled work force. The GDP is $3.5 trillion and GDP per capita is $40,631, and poverty rates are low, although the unemployment rate is about 7%. Germany also, like Sweden, is a prime tourist destination for its historic beauty, and the wonderful people (aside from Adolf and the Nazis back in the 1930-40s) have a life expectancy of 79.4 years. 
 

8. Liechtenstein
Score: 0.905

 The Principality of Liechtenstein is one of the smallest and least populated countries in the world, with a landmass of just 160 square kilometers (62 sq miles, about the size of Washington, US) and a population of 35,000. Even so, this parliamentary democracy manages to have one of highest GDP per capita’s in the worlds ($141,000) and has virtually zero debt, poverty, and unemployment rates, while having prominent literary and education ratings. Liechtenstein has very low taxes imposed on its citizens and is a center of investment from countries and the wealthy. If ever feeling the desire to travel to this rather interesting country, visit the capital of Vaduz, where you can view the huge Vaduz castle, home to the prince and his family, while also getting acquainted with the city’s 5,100 inhabitants. 
 

7. Ireland
Score: 0.908

 The Republic of Ireland has a relatively small population of 4.5 million, is a parliamentary democracy, and its capital is Dublin. Ireland has a very high literacy rate of 99% and high education standards, as well as a strong life expectancy of 78.9 years. It also has a well balanced infrastructure, with a GDP of $203.89 billion and a GDP per capita rate of $45,497. The country is ranked #7 for its press freedom, economic freedom, and political freedom it offers to the public. Ireland was in the process of rapid economic growth and development when the global recession began in 2008. Ireland than experienced negative GDP and accumulated massive debt, being rated as one of the five European “P.I.I.G.S.” (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) and losing two points on the Human Development Index Scale. Still, the Taoiseach (or Prime Minister) Enda Kenney is collaborating with EU leaders (France and Germany) to relieve this problem and continue developing forward.
 

6. Canada
Score: 0.908

 Canada is, geographically, the second largest country next to Russia and shares the longest international border in the world with the United States. Canada is governed by a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy and keeps it ties with the United Kingdom close, being one of the few countries with two anthems (“O Canada,” the national anthem, and “God Save the Queen,” the Royal Anthem) with Queen Elizabeth II being the Head of State. The country is very economically advanced with a GDP $1.758 trillion and GDP per capita of $51,147. It has an intelligent population with high education and literacy rates, and a large percentage of the population is even bilingual or trilingual (English and French are the official languages, but Spanish doesn’t hurt). Canada is known for its free health care system (on top of an 80.7 life expectancy) and poses minimal taxes on the 34.7 million inhabitants. And of course, it is a great tourist destination, as you can visit the world-renowned waterfall of Niagara Falls, or the capital of Ottawa, or maybe even the historical landmarks at the largely French-rooted city of Quebec.
 

5. New Zealand
Score: 0.908 

 New Zealand is a small and relatively remote group of islands and was one of the last islands to be discovered and settled by humans. Thus, it contains a beautiful landscape and flourishing animal life and biodiversity that attracts flocks of tourists annually. New Zealand is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy that also recognizes Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State and in their national anthem, while John Key is the Prime Minister. New Zealand has one of the highest living standards and happiness ratings in the world, and tends to be a strong advocate for peace and environmental sustainability, banning nuclear weapons and protecting its diverse wildlife. The country’s GDP is $157.877 billion dollars, with a GDP per capita of $35,374 for its population of about 4.3 million. Its education, literacy, and health standards are all very high with a life expectancy of 80.2 years. Of course, New Zealand is a hot spot for travelers looking for beautiful topography and biodiversity, and while you’re there you can stop by the wonderful city where Jamie came from: Wellington (pictured).

4. United States of America
Score: 0.910 

 The United States came a long way from its beginnings in 1776, beating the British in the American Revolution (with a lot of help from the French) and declaring its independence, and now, after removing the Native Americans, fighting a Civil War, dealing with the Great Depression, and engaging in two World Wars, the US has emerged as the most powerful country in the world, with a GDP of $15 trillion (the largest in the world) and a GDP per capita of $48,147. The US is a representative democracy (republic) and a manufacturing giant and a major importer and exporter of goods and a trading partner with every major country. The US is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world (the state I live in, California, has a 50% Asian, Latin American, and African American population, out of almost 40 million people.) However, all this aside, the US loses points because, out of a population of nearly 315 million, there is a 15% poverty rate, 9% unemployment average (and in some states up to 14%), and international critics argue that American education standards fall behind the rest of the world. Also, the US loses points in health because, while life expectancy is relatively high at 79 years, obesity rates are skyrocketing, with up to 33% of adults at obese levels, and similar rates for children. On top of all this, America is spiraling through massive debt and dragging other countries down through the decrease of trade caused by the global recession. 

3. Netherlands
Score: 0.910 

 Also known as the United Netherlands or Holland, the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, while also being a representative democracy. The Netherlands has very high educational and literacy standards, while having low poverty and unemployment rates, and is led by its Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Throughout its history, the Netherlands was one of the key founders of the EU, NATO, OECD, AND WTO and is a called the “world’s legal capital,” hosting five international court systems. The country’s GDP is $832.160 billion and has a GDP per capita of $49,950. In May of 2011, the Netherland’s 16.7 million people were ranked as the happiest in the world, with a stable economy, guileless government, low taxes, beautiful cities such as the capital of Amsterdam, and a healthy life expectancy of 79.8 years.

 2. Australia
Score: 0.929

 Officially the Commonwealth of Australia, this island/continent has the world’s 13th largest economy, with a GDP of $918.978 billion, and the 5th highest per capita of $40,836. Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy with some of the highest rankings in the world in the categories of quality of life (the people are very happy), health, education (nearly a 100% literacy rate and extremely high percentages of enrollment and college graduates), economic freedom, and finally civil liberties and protection of human rights. The 22.7 million inhabitants enjoy a country striving for a stable government, content citizens, peace, and sustainability and protection of wildlife and biodiversity (of which Australia has a lot of), and a life expectancy of 81.2 years. Of course, Australia is a fantastic place to visit and experience its rustic wildlife and beautiful cities such as Sydney.

1. Norway
Score: 0.943 

 And #1, crushing the runner up by almost double the rating is Norway, or the Kingdom of Norway. This country of almost 5 million is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with extremely high education standards and a very low poverty and unemployment rate, with a life expectancy of 80.2 years. Norway was a pivotal founding member of NATO but rejected joining the EU, but continues to have good relations with neighboring European countries. Norway is also a founding member and now huge donator to the United Nations as well as helping found the Council of Europe, and is an active member of WTO and OECD. Norway has one of the largest reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, freshwater, and hydro-power in the world and is a major exporter of oil. Norway is internationally recognized for its universal health care, advanced schooling systems, and a distinguished social security system. For all these reasons, the Kingdom of Norway ranks number one on the United Nation’s Human Development Index.