Nokia Lumia 720 review

Nokia's Lumia handsets are coming thick and fast. They all run on the Windows Phone 8 operating system and the 720 comes in the middle of the pack, with a midrange spec by Nokia standards, but attention to detail and a feast of add-ons nudges it closer to the high-end than many manufacturers. 

It's on sale now for around £280.

Design
Whatever their price and spec, Nokia's Lumia handsets share a commitment to solid build quality and the 720 is no exception. The polycarbonate unibody design feels tough and absolutely without flex. While you can't open it to get at the battery, there are slots in the side and top for microSIM and microSD memory cards. Buttons on one side include volume rocker, power/sleep and camera shutter, with 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port on top and bottom respectively. At just 9mm thick it's easy to slip into the pocket and it's fairly lightweight too at 128g, certainly more so that its higher-specced (and considerably higher priced) cousin, the Lumia 925

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Virtually the whole of the front is covered by a sheet of tough, scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass that protects the 4.3-inch IPS touchscreen. It's less-than-HD resolution of 800x480 pixels, which boils down to 217 pixels per inch, won't set the world alight, and falls way behind the best, such as the Galaxy S4's 1,920x1,080-pixel screen, or even the similarly priced Google Nexus 4's 1,280x720-pixel count. It's actually the same as the screen on the Lumia 620, which you can pick up for around half the price, which is a bit disappointing. Still, it's sharp, clear and bright (which helps a lot when viewing in sunlight), and displays movies, websites and pics very well.
It's responsive too, and you can set the sensitivity to "high" which allows you to use it with gloves, something we've seen on other Lumia handsets as well as Samsung's Galaxy S4 high-ender.

 Software and features
The Windows Phone 8 software takes a bit of getting used to after Android or iOS, but it's so simple, the learning curve is really very short. It's easy to move the tiles from the apps menu to your scrollable home page. It's easy to resize them as well, and active ones, such as your People tile that alternates pictures of your contacts in an ever-shifting mosaic, or the weather tile that gives constant climate updates, are welcome.

 No, the Windows Marketplace doesn't bear comparison with Google Play or Apple's App Store, but it has many essentials like Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and Netflix, even if it too often gets frustrating when you can't find some other favourites. Still, it has 140,000 apps now and it's growing steadily -- it may be the last platform on developers' lists, but at least the apps are being created, eventually.

 Performance
The dual-core 1GHz processor backed by 512MB RAM is distinctly mid-range these days, especially with many handsets now providing a full 1GB or more of RAM. But while it might feel a little underpowered on an Android handset, Windows' streamlined architecture means you don't really notice any slowdown in general use. Apps open smoothly, albeit just a wee bit sluggishly when compared to more powerful engines, as do web pages and HD games (not that you have a huge range to choose from on Windows) play smoothly. It delivered an AntuTu performance benchmark rating of 7,628, which puts it behind some dual-core handsets like the HTC One SV but ahead of others like the Sony Xperia T.

Nokia has an exemplary package of extras as standard, including HERE Maps with its range of views including standard, satellite, public transport and traffic maps. You can download maps and use them with HERE Drive turn-by-turn satnav, even when you don't have a Wi-Fi or network connection, all for free. You can even download the new City Lens app, which we recently saw demonstrated on the top-end Lumia 925. This shows local businesses and points of interest using augmented reality -- hold your phone's camera up and it will overlay details about what's nearby. Nokia Music is also a big plus, with free downloadable playlists of popular tunes.

Camera quality
The 6.7-megapixel camera is a step up from the 620's five-megapixel model and comes with Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, a good-sized F1.9 aperture, LED flash and autofocus. That's a pretty decent spec on its own and you can add further features thanks to Windows Lenses -- bits of downloadable software that add additional functionality such as Smart Shoot, which takes five rapid shots so you can choose the best one. Other Lenses include Panorama for wide-view shots, Cinemagraph, which allows you to add moving elements to still pictures, and Bing Vision, which lets you scan barcodes and QR codes as well as books, CDs and DVDs.
Picture quality is very good, easily up there with most eight-megapixel types, with sharp edges and accurate colours. The video camera made a decent show of itself too, recording 720p video at 30fps and the 1.3-megapixel camera on the performs well with Skype video calls in low light conditions.

There's 8GB of memory on board, which is a good start, but unlike many Windows handsets you can also add more via microSD card -- up to 64GB. This being Windows of course you also get 7GB of cloud storage free of charge via SkyDrive.
The good-sized 2,000mAh battery held up very well, delivering a good day-and-a-half of regular use.

Conclusion
The Nokia Lumia 720 is a solid mid-range phone but with better than expected build quality, a better than average camera and a good range of Nokia extras including HERE Maps and Drive satnav, plus Music and the Microsoft Office suite. You get a lot for your cash, and it's worth checking out if you've only been considering yet another Android handset.

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Review nokia Lumia 620

The revamped Windows Phone operating system has been doing its bit to dispel Nokia's waning image, as is the wide and varied colour scheme of the new Lumia 620, a lower end Windows Phone 8 handset that comes with a range of retina-searing coloured cases.

It's on sale now for around £220, which means it's competing with the likes of the HTC Windows Phone 8S and lower end Androids like the Orange San Diego, HTC Desire C and Sony Xperia Miro.

Design
The all-plastic case is a bit of a faff to get off -- you have to push down on the camera lens while pulling up on the bottom edge -- but if you can be bothered, you get the chance to switch between a variety of bright colours, with yellow, lime green, cyan, magenta, orange, white and yes, black, all on the menu. Each also has a different colour on the inside, so you get a two-tone effect around the screen when you clip it on.

It feels sturdy enough though (that workhorse ethic comes in handy sometimes) and the bright, glossy colour schemes will certainly help it stand out among the forest of black slabs on the table when you meet up with your mates.
In contrast to some of the minimalist handsets we've been looking at recently there seems to be a surfeit of buttons, with a volume rocker, camera shutter and power/sleep button all on one side. That's your lot though, with the only other extras a microUSB power/sync slot at the bottom and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top.

 Screen quality and performance
A single sheet of glass covers the front, with the three Windows buttons (start, back and search) beneath the 3.8-inch touchscreen. That's a fair bit smaller than the Lumia 820's 4.3-inch or the 920's 4.5-inch. It's just about big enough to do all the things smartphones should -- like providing a good-sized onscreen keyboard and enough space to pinch-to-zoom, but you wouldn't really want it any smaller. It offers a resolution of 800x480 pixels -- certainly not up there with the HD best but none too shabby for all that. It's bright and vibrant, and has no problem sharply rendering small text and photos online. The ClearBlack filter also apparently helps cut down on glare, giving it an even better appearance.

 The dual-core 1GHz processor is backed by 512MB RAM, which is decent enough, but a long way from the quad-core power of the Google Nexus 4 or HTC One X+. As a result, it's efficient, with occasional signs of lag, without that "just think it and make it so" aspect of the fastest handsets. Still, the dual-core power is pretty impressive for a lower-end handset, and it doesn't let the side down. Our AnTutu performance benchmark test turned in a result of 7,266, which puts it on a par with the HTC Windows 8S in terms of raw power.

 Cameras and image quality
The 5-megapixel camera has an LED flash, autofocus as well as touch focus and a range of scene settings. As with other Windows 8 handsets, all the available functionality isn't built in, but you can add different "lenses" from the Windows Store -- so far, there are about 50 available, and most of them are free. Smart Shoot lets you take five shots in quick succession so you can choose your favourite, Panorama does what it says on the tin and Bing Vision scans barcodes, QR codes, book, DVD and CD covers for searching.

 Picture quality isn't bad -- you can get nicely crisp images with sharp edges but colour balance tends to be a little off, with a bit too much saturation and it struggles a little with detail both indoors and out. It can record video at 720p HD resolution and the VGA camera on the front makes a decent fist of rendering your features for video calls.

 Extra features
Even in this price bracket, you can't say that Nokia skimps on features. Extras include a Groupon app, which searches your local area (or wherever you happen to be) for special deals and offers. There's also the Nokia City Lens augmented reality app, which uses the phone's camera to flag up local info and allow you to easily call businesses or tag them for later. Cleverly, you can tilt your phone to take you from street to map view, and get a better look at what's available locally.


You also get the full Office suite for creating and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs and NFC's on board too, so you're ready for tags and mobile payments, though there's no wireless charging option like you get with the higher end Lumias.
Nokia Drive offers free sat nav based on Nokia Maps, which isn't quite the full Google shilling, but seems to make a better fist of it than Apple's effort did, and Nokia Music gives you free online access to an awful lot of music which you can also download.


It comes with a rather generous (for the price) 8GB of memory on board, and you can boost that by a further 64GB via microSD card if you feel the need.
The 1,300mAh battery isn't exceptional but it seemed to do a decent enough job nonetheless, keeping the Lumia 620 going for a good day and a half of steady use.

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5 Sikap yang Menjadikan Anda Sukses dalam Mendapat Uang Lewat Blog

Beberapa hari lalu saya menginformasikan bahwa saya harus memiliki wawasan bisnis dengan membeli 9 buah buku bisnis. Salah satu buku yang menggetarkan saya adalah buku Marketing Muhammad karena menjelaskan secara gamblang rahasia sukses nabi Muhammad dalam memenangi persaingan pasar.

Rahasia sukses ini terdiri dari 5 sikap yaitu jujur, ikhlas, profesional, silaturahmi, dan murah hati. Setelah merenungkannya, saya memahami bahwa konsep ini berlaku pula untuk mendapat uang lewat blog. Berikut ini adalah penjelasannya yang bisa membantu Anda sukses dalam mendapat uang lewat blog.

1. Jujur

Semua blogger yang tujuannya mendapat uang lewat blog punya harapan mendapat uang atau dolar dengan jumlah yang banyak. Namun, bagaimana apabila hasil yang diharapkan tidak juga muncul? Padahal telah banyak kiat, tips, dan cara yang digunakan.

Dalam menghadapi keadaan di atas, banyak blogger yang tidak berputus asa dan terus menggali pengetahuan, sehingga pada akhirnya muncul solusi bagi permasalahan mereka. Ada pula blogger yang kemudian menyerah dan beralih ke bidang lain (berhenti ngeblog).

Tak sedikit pula blogger yang kemudian memilih menggunakan jalan pintas dengan mendobrak dinding etika. Mereka berlaku tidak jujur, seperti:

• Menjelekkan pesaingnya
• Membesarkan produk secara berlebihan yang sebenarnya tidak mencerminkan keadaan sesungguhnya
• Menyajikan data yang bohong
• Melanggar syarat dan ketentuan dari program yang diikutinya (curang)

Apa dampak tidak jujur?

Karena jujur merupakan peraturan sosial yang tidak tertulis, maka hukuman bagi yang tidak jujur juga bersifat sosial. Contoh-contoh hukumannya adalah dijauhi, diacuhkan, dan yang paling parah dimasukkan dalam daftar hitam oleh para blogger atau penyedia program monetisasi.

Jadi, dari pemaparan di atas, sudah jelas bahwa jujur adalah sikap pertama yang harus dimiliki para blogger yang ingin sukses make money blogging.

2. Ikhlas

Sikap ikhlas akan membentuk pribadi blogger yang tidak lagi memandang materi sebagai tujuan utama. Namun, lebih terbuka terhadap semua keuntungan, baik bersifat materi maupun non materi.

Seperti kita ketahui bersama, ngeblog dipilari oleh membuat konten bermutu, membangun jaringan, promosi, dan monetisasi. Melakukan keempat pilar ini tidak semudah membalikkan tangan karena membutuhkan banyak energi dan waktu lama.

Namun, bila blogger sudah memiliki sikap ikhlas, mereka akan senang (tanpa beban) melakukannya karena memang keuntungannya bukan berupa materi. Contohnya bisa saja seperti ini:

• Ikhlas membuat artikel popular karena memang artikel yang Anda buat akan bermanfaat bagi blogger lain sehingga membantu blogger bersangkutan menjadi lebih baik.
• Ikhlas membalas komentar dan melakukan kunjungan balik.
• Ikhlas membacklink tulisan blogger lain tanpa takut penurunan page rank atau trafik
• Ikhlas men-support produk atau jasa yang dimiliki blogger lain tanpa meminta bayaran.

3. Profesional

Sikap profesional sangat penting dalam ngeblog. Sikap ini menjauhkan diri dari rasa malas, tidak mau berusaha, dan hanya mau menerima saja (tanpa mau memberi).

Sikap profesional juga membuat seorang blogger selalu cermat dalam setiap perbuatan yang dilakukannya, karen ia percaya bahwa hari esok harus lebih baik daripada hari ini. Dengan demikian, memicu semangat untuk terus berusaha mengejar target yang diinginkan.

Pada akhirnya, sikap ini akan membawa sang blogger pada pemanfaatan waktu dan sumber daya yang semakin efektif dan efisien.

4.Silaturahmi

Silaturahmi menjadi jembatan yang menghubungkan seorang blogger dengan blogger lain. Selain itu, silaturahmi juga menjadi dasar dalam membina hubungan baik, tidak hanya kepada pelanggan, pengunjung, kolega, namun juga pesaingnya. Poin pentingnya, dengan silaturahmi seorang blogger dapat membangun jaringan yang tidak terbatas dan tentunya saling menguntungkan.

5. Murah Hati

Terkadang, setelah mendapatkan kesetiaan pelanggan, seorang blogger cenderung memanfaatkan kesetiaan tersebut untuk mendapatkan keuntungan yang lebih banyak. Dalam hal ini, sang blogger tersebut tidak bermurah hati sehingga menghancurkan hubungan yang sudah terjalin.

Penting diingat, murah hati dapat menjaga siapa pun dari melakukan tindakan pembodohan dan pemanfaatan orang lain.

Kesimpulan

Jujur, ikhlas, profesional, silaturahmi, dan murah hati adalah sikap-sikap sukses untuk mendapat uang lewat blog.

• Jujur menghasilkan kepercayaan dan loyalitas
• Ikhlas menghasilkan ketenangan dalam aktivitas ngeblog
• Profesionalisme menghasilkan kesungguhan dan dedikasi tinggi
• Silaturahmi membentuk jaringan kerja yang tidak terbatas
• Murah hati menjaga diri dari memanfaatkan orang lain dan sombong.

Dengan menggabungkan kelima konsep di atas secara menyeluruh dan berkesinambungan, saya yakin trafik dan uang akan “mengejar” kita (bukan kita yang mengejar trafik dan uang).

Apakah Anda memiliki sikap lain untuk sukses mendapatkan uang lewat blog? Mohon sharing di bagian komentar.

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