LG optimus black

Are you in the market for an Android smartphone? Good luck. There has never been a time that we can remember where there has been so much competition, with a multitude of new handsets all jumping up and down for your attention. The Optimus Black joins over a dozen other Android phones to launch since the beginning of the year, so does it have what it takes to catch your eye?

Design

Physically speaking, the Black is a very eye-catching model, especially as you turn it over in your hands and find the angular battery cover on the underside. LG does a good job of disguising the stiff plastic battery cover as being something metallic, with its smooth finish and its dark charcoal colouring. Though we like the look of the raised angles on this surface, we do wish LG had smoothed and rounded the edges a little further; for us the Optimus Black is a little uncomfortable to hold with its corners digging into our fingers and palms.

Differentiating the Black from the dozens of other smartphones in the world today, LG opts for a new display technology it calls NOVA. This screen uses the same in-plane switching technology we've seen in other recent LG releases, but it adds increased brightness to the mix to improve the visibility of the display under direct sunlight. LG reports that the NOVA display shines at 700 nits, or at least 50 per cent than its nearest competitor (the iPhone 4). The result is clearly apparent outdoors on a bright day, though this won't make a huge difference when you're indoors. Given that most people will want to set their display brightness to its lowest level for battery saving, it's strange that LG didn't include an easy option for adjusting screen brightness in its customised software.

The appearance of the display is good, but it hasn't blown us away. Colours look fairly natural, but the contrast of the screen is somewhat jeopardised to achieve the brightness. Next to the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Black's blacks look dark grey, in fact we prefer the image we get out of the LG Optimus 2X better than that of the Optimus Black.

User experience

As we mentioned when we reviewed the Optimus 2X recently, LG's modified Android user interface is a vast improvement on previous releases. The user experience is consistent across LG's range this year, so these comments hold true for the Optimus Black as much as they do for the 2X.

The LG Android workspace contains up to seven pages for widgets and shortcuts with static, customisable shortcuts bar at the bottom. When you pull down the notifications curtain you'll find quick settings buttons for connectivity options and a fixed music player fragment for quickly controlling your tunes. The apps drawer options allow you to choose when you want your apps listed in one long horizontal list, like stock Android, or in horizontally ordered pages, like the iPhone.

On the whole, the user experience works well, though it lacks the silky smooth animations we've seen from more powerful phones this year. Swiping between home screens and app pages is fine, but it can feel a little sticky at times. Scrolling speeds are fine in other apps, like the address book and Gmail.

An interesting extra to note is the inclusion of a "Gesture" button on the left-hand side of the phone. Holding down this key activates gesture-based navigation in certain parts of the phone. For example, tilting the handset to the sides while holding the key will scroll from one home screen to the next, or flick between images in the gallery. This is a pretty neat party trick, but it is terrible for accurately navigating your phone. The Gesture has a "G" written on it, which we assume stands for gimmick as much as it stands for gesture control.

Camera

LG packs a 5-megapixel camera into the Optimus Black, including a single LED flash and the standard image adjustment settings. The photos we've taken with this camera are fine for a phone, but they won't be winning any awards. Like the phone's display, the camera's image sensor leans too hard towards the white, blowing out brighter areas of our photos and washing out the colours. The auto-focus works fairly well, so your photos should be sharp, even if the colour reproduction feels wrong.

Performance

Unlike its Optimus siblings, the 2X and 3D, the Optimus Black is a single-core handset with a 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3630 processor and a slightly older PowerVR SGX530 graphics unit. This combination doesn't hold back the Black too much, though you can feel the difference between using it and the dual-core Optimus 2X and Samsung's Galaxy S II, both of which have a much smoother feel throughout the user interface.

Web browsing is good on the Black; pages load as quickly as your connection will allow and it doesn't struggle too greatly with complex elements on full-size sites. The phone is compatible with Adobe Flash, so web videos will play within the pages you are viewing and web-based games will work too if the controls are set up for mobile devices.

Video playback is also good, though there is a limit to what the Optimus Black can handle. LG includes native support for DivX, XviD, WMV and MP4 files, but we found that the 1GHz processor struggled with our 720p test files. Also, while it would render our MKV test file, the results stuttered and were unwatchable. Also, there is no HDMI port to share your videos with friends on your TV. There is a Wi-Fi sharing option, however, if you have a DLNA-compatible device hooked up at home.

Battery life is one standout from our testing, even with the super-bright display. Though the Black will chew through battery at a standard rate while in use, its standby power consumption is great — discharging only a couple of percentage points overnight, for example. Against our standard usage tests, the Black would last for up to two working days and need a charge on the second night.

Overall

The Optimus Black is a solid smartphone, but one that could get lost in this increasingly noisy market. Its unique features, the NOVA display and its gesture controls are both a bit gimmicky, adding something to the smartphone experience that doesn't actually improve the experience in most common use cases. The enhanced outdoor screen visibility will appeal to some, but we'd prefer a richer image over a brighter image any day of the week.

Source -Cnet.com.au
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SA inflation figures rise in June 2011

The poor in South Africa are having to tighten their belts faster than the wealthy, according to economist Tendani Mantshimuli from Liberty Group, because they spend a higher proportion of their incomes in the most affected food and transport categories.


That’s as the SA Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee or MPC meets in Pretoria to decide whether or not to raise the repor rate which have been static all year at 5,5%.

Food Prices

Consumer inflation moved back upwards to 5% in June 2011, at levels last seen in March 2010 said Ms Mantshimuli in a Summit TV interview. Usually rising inflation leads to the MPC raising rates to reduce buying – but the rate is now being driven more by cost of producing goods than purchases rising quickly.


"It’s bad news for the consumer and particularly for those in lower income categories where they face inflation of around 6.5%," said Ms Mantshimuli. "Trade unions are currently making wage demands in double digits because workers face this inflation on a daily basis."


Ms Mantshimuli said some categories with lower imported inflation based on the rand like high end electronics saw inflation reversed, but pointed out that lower income categories on a daily basis were not buying big screen TVs but were faced with rising transport costs, food and medical expenses, and administered prices like electricity that were not going to come down.


"We’ve seen a levelling in international food prices," said Ms Mantshimuli. She hopes that might help the poor going forward, but the rand is currently weaker than in 2010 when it served as a cushion.


With wage hikes in double digits raising the possibility of second and third round inflation, the reality was new jobs were not being created – and many had already lost their jobs – so there wasn’t much income left after costs to spend for many South Africans.


"The debt to disposable income ratio is not coming down as fast as we would have hoped to see," said Ms Mantshimuli, "the problem for many is working current debt levels down."


She felt the biggest problem was rising prices of necessities, with no increases in employment.


"Companies facing consumers are not going to see a lot of demand coming through in the figures – either financed by credit cards or disposable income – as consumers are still wary and there’s also the National Credit Act. We are not going to see a boom in consumer demand unless we see a change in employment, and I don’t see where that is going to come from.


"Even if there was an improvement in the second half, that’s not going to translate immediately for all those that lost their jobs."


Ms Mantshimuli expects only slightly better growth in 2012 with stabilisation of retrenchments, and the creation of a few formal sector jobs that would absorb some new entrants into the market.


The slight relief in the economy meant saving for retirement by South Africans – in the spotlight recently for being at an all-time low – was now inching up slowly as reflected in slightly lower savings policy lapse rates.


"It’s not like the height of the recession – we are meeting customers half way to keep their policies in the books reducing payments, rather than having them start all over again later on."


Although she believes we are going to breach the 6% upper limit of the inflation target, Ms Mantshimuli says it’s likely South Africas will now see an unchanged interest rate stance through to 2012.


"With the last MPC meeting I was of the opinion at the end of 2011 we would see an increase, but given the growth and sovereign debt problems in Europe and low growth in the US and at home the consumer is under too much pressure. Increasing interest rates would kill whatever nascent growth we are seeing."


Source -BusinessDay.co.za
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Dry petrol pumps in SA affecting economy

As petrol stations begin to run dry and hospitals gear up for a possible medicines shortage, now hospital, refuse collection and transport services may be crippled as municipal workers decide whether to join the strike.


The petrol shortages are now becoming serious.


Most petrol stations phoned by The Star this morning reported that their tanks have run dry.


Ahmed Ismail who has a service station in Selby said he ran out two days ago.


“It looks like we have no hope of getting any petrol soon. We have been given permission by Engen to source petrol from independent suppliers but there too, we are on a waiting list,” he said.


The station was losing a “lot of money” every day, but he would not disclose how much.


The owner of a petrol station in Clayville, Midrand, however, said he was doing good business.


Peter Matshikiza said as soon as he heard about the impending strike, he ordered his supply from an independent supplier.


“I have been in this business for 20 years, so I know what to expect. My tanks are full. The oil companies don’t know how to pre-empty the strikes. I am the only station for kilometres around whose tanks are full. I am a businessman. I can’t just fold my arms and wait for the strike to end,” he said.


Other stations which have run out, or are about to run dry within the next day, are in the City and Suburban area, two in the Barry Hertzog area, at least one in each of Parkview, Newclare, Betrams, Malvern East, Glenvista, Auckland Park and Modderfontein.

Petrol Pump

One petrol station owner, who asked not to be named, said he got a delivery in the middle of the night, so he would be okay for the next few days.


“The situation is worsening,” said Fuel Retailers’ Association (FRA) CEO Reggie Sibiya this morning.


Yesterday afternoon the FRA approached the Department of Energy for help after contingency plans to keep petrol stations stocked continued to fail. Sibiya said the department was expected to approach the Department of Labour to see if they could influence a speedy negotiation to prevent further economic losses.


“We hope their political influence with the unions will help an agreement to be reached,” said Sibiya.


Drug supplies at Gauteng state hospitals are not yet affected.


This morning Simon Zwane, spokesman for the Gauteng Department of Health, said the province buys medicine in bulk from pharmaceutical companies which then it to the department’s depot.


“From there we would then use our vehicles to distribute the medicine to clinics and hospitals. So far we are okay, we have enough supplies. We have not been affected yet because with a strike you will never know and we many not get the supply we were waiting for.


“If they continue for a long time, we would have to get contingency plans in place, go there and collect the medicine ourselves,” Zwane said.


Spokeswoman for Clicks, Susann Caminada, said their medicine supplies were okay. “We have not been affected at all but we are monitoring the situation to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of medication to all our stores.”


This morning South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) leaders were due to meet to decide whether a further 220 000 workers across the country will down tools in solidarity with their metalworker and chemical industry brethren.


According to Samwu spokesman, Tahir Sema, the central executive committee meets to debate, analyse and formulate a decision on whether to join the strike.


“The decision will only be taken if all other avenues are exhausted. This is not something our union takes lightly. Strike action is always a last resort,” he said.


The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) spokesman Castro Ngobese said the union welcomed Samwu to join the strike.


“Samwu are our allies and it is now the bargaining season. If they join it gives us the numbers to force the employers to meet our demands,” said Ngobese.


The strike has been marred by reports of intimidation and violence against non-striking workers, but one business association yesterday won a court order preventing workers at more than 55 factories from coming within 60 metres of the premises.


The Plastic Converters Association SA (PCASA), applied for the order at the end of last week at the labour court. According to the PCASA CEO, Johan Pieterse, the order comes after violent outbursts at several of their members’ factories left non-striking workers forced to flee.


“We agree with their right to strike, but they are destroying property and we have a right to be protected,” said Pieterse.


PCASA has members across the country and, if any strikers come within 60m of their factories, they face prosecution.


This morning Numsa spokesmen were unaware of the court order, and were unwilling to comment on it.


The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu) joined the strike on Monday, with striking petroleum depot workers preventing the petrol from being delivered to stations across the country.


Ceppwawu also organises in the pharmaceutical sector.


Ceppwawu represents 70 000 workers across the country, and according to its first deputy president, Peter Rapoo, the petroleum, chemical, pharmaceutical and fast moving goods industries are most affected by the strike.


It was also reported that the largest independent union, Solidarity, will join the strike in protest of massive pay hikes for Sasol executives, further exacerbating the petrol crisis.


The Numsa strike began after negotiations throughout the month of May broke down, as workers continue to demand a 13 percent wage increase, a ban on labour brokers and a two-year wage agreement.


Ceppwawu has also provided a list of demands, sharing the wage increase and labour broker ban, but also calling for a minimum wage of R6000 per month and better maternity leave. - Shain Germaner, Anna Cox and Botho Molosankwe.


Source - iol.co.za
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NFC is the new mobile payment solution

Mobile payments to hit $670bn

Juniper Research this week released a new study saying the transaction value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and near field communications (NFC) transactions will reach $670 billion by 2015, up from $240 billion this year according to Tech Crunch.

It's further reported that during the next 18 months, 20 countries would start deployment of NFC payment systems and services and transactions from those services would be in the range of $50 billion by 2014.

Mobile makers such as Nokia and Samsun

g are also starting to integrate NFC chips into smartphones.

NFC payment Device

Mobile payments analyst Bob Egan of the Sepharim Group, however, told Macworld that the number of NFC customers in the US will be quite small for the next few years, “fewer than eight million customers making less than one transaction per week,” says The Independent.

Analyst Jack Gold agrees and adds that a wide roll-out of NFC payments could be three or more years away in the US.

In one of the more recent developments in the field, Google revealed its Google Wallet and Google Deals services in the US, and the search giant had large retail partners on board, which include Citi, Subway, Mastercard, Sprint, Macys, and Walgreens according to domain-b.com.

Various partnerships are advancing globally between telecoms and other stakeholders in the payments industry to take advantage of the burgeoning demand.

These initiatives are racing against time, since cashing in on the fast growth will rely on building a usable payments ecosystem, reports American Banker.

Source - itweb.co.za
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Rica compromised by fruad

The Regulation of Interception of Communication and Provision of Communication Related Information (Rica), the deadline of which was last Thursday, has been compromised by unscrupulous traders who are selling pre-registered SIM cards to cellphone users.


Labelled as defeating the objectives of Rica, network providers and the government on Monday said it was illegal and against the law, and that perpetrators deserved to face the full might of the law.


The Tshwane traders, some based in Sunnyside and others in Arcadia, have been selling pre-registered SIM cards for about R20 a card for weeks now, residents in these areas say.




They have also allowed cellphone owners to by-pass the registration process which requires that they produce IDs and proof of residence to be put on the cellular network data base.


“This action could constitute fraud,” police spokesman Warrant Officer Duane Lightfoot said.


Although cases of pre-registered SIM cards were still negligible at this stage, police would be working with network operators to investigate cases of traders selling such SIM cards, he said.


On a walkabout on the streets of the two areas on Monday, a Pretoria News team bought an already-registered SIM card and also established that some traders had even run out, owing to high demand.


In Sunnyside, all traders – both in formal shops and on the streets – pointed the team in the direction of Asma Cellulars & Electronics.


Assuring the team that the SIM card was legitimate, a worker in the shop said: “I have registered the SIM cards in the business address so we are prepared to take the blame if anything happens.”


Another worker opened a sealed starter pack and instructed the ’News staffers to insert the card into their phone and said they should dial the network numbers to check for registration, which proved it was registered in terms of Rica.


But business owner Touhidur Rahman denied any knowledge of the selling of unlawfully registered SIM cards, blaming staff at the shop for this.


“I am busy and I’m never at the shop,” he initially said, but later on during an interview he said: “We get the SIM cards from network suppliers and cannot be blamed for receiving SIM cards that have already undergone the Rica process.”


In Arcadia, the team was directed to a business along the main street, which had run out of pre-registered SIM cards.


According to the Rica Act: “…any customer who sells or in any manner provides an activated SIM card to a person, other than a family member, and the person who is to receive the SIM card must, immediately upon the sale or provision of the SIM card, provide the relevant electronic communication service provider with the full names, surname and identity number of the customer… “


Individuals are required to produce their green bar-coded ID or temporary ID certificate or passport.


For proof of residence, Rica registration requires either the user’s bank statement, municipal rates statement, cellphone or retail monthly statement.


“Nobody – be it a service provider or anyone – can sell a SIM card and connect a customer without the customer producing the required documents.


“If they do so they are breaking the law,” Department of Communications spokesman Tiyani Rikhitso said.


The pre-registration of the SIM cards messed up the government’s goal – to ensure that cellular operators had detailed information of all their clients, to enable the interception of cellphone communications if there is reasonable suspicion of crime; and to curb organised crime.


Vodacom’s head of media relations Richard Boorman said: “Vodacom does not condone the sale of SIM cards pre-registered for Rica.” The registration of multiple SIM cards was allowed as many people used multiple mobile devices although it was limited to 100 per individual.


MTN’s Chief Corporate Service officer Robert Madzonga said customers who sold already activated SIM cards to others were required by the law to notify MTN of the change of ownership to allow the company to update Rica information.


“MTN has lodged a complaint with the police to investigate these type of Rica transgressions, and will work with the authorities as permissible in law,” he said


Source - Pretoria News - iol.co.za
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Rica Coming into effect in SA

South Africans who do not have their SIM cards registered by the end of the day on Thursday will have their cellphone numbers deactivated.

Rica is the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act, which came into effect on July 1 2009 and requires the details of all telecommunication users to be registered.

The legislation aims to assist law enforcement agencies in tracking criminals using telecommunications services for illegal activities.

Tiyani Rikhotso, spokesperson for the communications ministry, likened South Africa's need to implement Rica to that of India, where telecommunications services were intercepted in order to decipher threats by terrorists to bomb locations during this year's Cricket World Cup.

Mobile companies Cell C, MTN and Vodacom say they have registered more than 90% of their customers. An estimated 2.7-million South Africans will be disconnected from their cellphone networks on Friday.

Telkom has reportedly said that all 8ta customers had complied with Rica requirements.

Engineering News reported on Wednesday that mobile operators had spent more than R500-million on the Rica process, to ensure that subscribers were registered before Friday's deadline.

Karin Fourie, public and media relations manager at Cell C, said it was too soon to determine the possible financial impact of the cut-off. However, "there will be many last minute registrations ... Customers who missed the deadline will want to be reconnected ... and many customers might use this opportunity to join our network," she said.

Rikhotso said cellphone companies and the government had embarked on extensive campaigns to try to reach as many South Africans as possible, with Rica stations at cellphone and other retail stores, spaza shops and in taxi ranks.

It costs nothing to register a SIM card to comply with Rica, but registrants are required produce an identity document and proof of residence.

Customers who do not have a permanent residence are expected to provide a written letter from their landlord. Registrants in rural areas may also present a letter from a school, church or shop near to where they live or receive post. An affidavit with a police station stamp will also be accepted.

Eddie Moyce, a customer service executive at MTN, said that the database in which the Rica information is stored is secure and can only be accessed through a subpoena, thus ensuring customers' privacy.

Those who miss the deadline will have six months to reactivate their numbers, which will take up to 24 hours after registering through the Rica process.

However, failure to register within six months could result in customers losing their cellphone numbers permanently.


Source - Sapa
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