HTC Mozart gets a huge price drop at Flipkart, now available in India for just Rs 16,499

Wow. Here's a quick heads up everyone. I just literally woke up to an email from Flipkart reminding me that HTC Mozart is finally in stock. To my surprise, HTC 7 Mozart is now available for just Rs. 16,499. I bought Mozart around 4 months back for a price  > 24,000 Rupees so this price reduction makes me both happy and sad at the same time. I have to give it to HTC though, remember the promise of cheap Windows phone 7 device? Well, it's now already available in mid range category and in near future, we might see more mid range WP7 devices in the market. I, in my mind, have no doubt that at this price - HTC Mozart is the best phone your wallet can buy. Close your eyes and buy this beauty. It's also available with an Option to pay cash on delivery (I love Flipkart!). This is the cheapest price available both offline and online so better hurry up and  grab the device before they change their mind. We currently don't have confirmation if it's an official price directly from HTC or it's just flipkart. I expect it to be a price drop directly from HTC since an Indian digital store called Sosasta also sold Mozart at nearly the same price, but it's out of stock now. We'll keep you updated on prices of WP7 devices in India. For those of who follow the blog regularly, Dell Venue Pro went for a similar price reduction some time back.

By Rahul Mathur

Is your HTC Mozart randomly shutting down & unable to connect to Wifi? You are not alone.

I bought my HTC Mozart couple of months back. Undoubtedly, it's the best phone I have ever had a chance to lay my hands upon. It was just the right size in comparison to HTC HD7, another contender. Until 3 weeks ago, my HTC 7 Mozart went bonkers. It suddenly failed to connect to Wifi. Wifi connection worked fine initially for weeks and suddenly, most notably (later irrelevant) it happened after the 7392 update. So I went back to the previous firmware without any issue thanks to the Zune software. I tried to connect again and it gives me the same old ' incorrect password ' error. Now all other portable devices like mobile, iPod, etc face absolutely no problem connecting to a secure Wifi connection. Some people are stuck with ' cannot reach wifi connection ' error. I contacted @winphonesupport on twitter and tried all the steps recommended but to no avail. I even posted in Microsoft support forum and this is exactly where I discovered that I am not alone with the problem and 7392 update has nothing to do with it. Forum is filled with similar queries that have no solution. Even twitter is filled with Mozart 7 owners having random issues like lockscreen being stuck, random shutting down, etc. So, Microsoft has no clue - no surprise because it's HTC that's guilty. What's the solution then? Well, @HTC tweeted back and suggested that I go to their service center,which is in another city, and get it fixed. Not possible for me, at this moment.

Why is it just the Mozart devices getting this error? There seems to be a serious flaw in these devices. I have four twitter friends in India with Mozart and all of them have encountered one of the problem mentioned above. It's plain sad. Most of you probably have no idea of how difficult it is to get Mozart in India. Online retailers don't have it in stock. None of the store in my state even had a single piece of Mozart. It shows how unpopular Windows phone is actually in India. All I want is HTC to give me a device that actually works and to my knowledge, none of the HTC 7 Mozart device being sold in India is annoyance free.

If you are encountering similar problems, please post in comments below and tweet back to @HTC to make them aware of this problem. I sense a mass widthdrawl if we can make enough noise.

By Rahul Mathur

Detailed overview of officially available Windows Phone devices in India

The exponential growth of the mobile phone market over the past few years is largely due to the wide variety of handsets available. The handsets differ in their hardware, their design, their working and most importantly the Operating System. Every OS has its ups and downs. Some have more ups and some more downs. Most of the Major OSes have an App Store that allows you to install/buy new apps that help improve the functionality of the device. Microsoft’s latest OS- Windows Phone 7 Operating system, has a thriving ecosystem with a variety of handsets from various manufacteres and a growing App Store. So when it comes to deciding which WP7 phone you want you’d have to make some decisions.

All WP7 phones work in the same way due to certain restrictions by the folks at Redmond.Microsoft has forbidden OEMs to customize their handsets thus eliminating the problem of fragmentation but unfortunately not leaving much room for manufacturers to differentiate their handsets. So as a customer you will be treated to the following irrespective of the handset.

1. A minimum of a 3.5” screen of WVGA resolution (800x480p)

2. A 1GHz Snapdragon Processor

3. 512 MB RAM and a minimum of 8GB of storage.

4. A 5MP auto-focus camera with a LED flash capable of 720p video recording and also a 2 step camera button.

5. 25 GB of free storage in Microsoft’s cloud, i.e. Skydrive.

Here’s a list of handsets and their prices in India and/or their unsubsidized prices.

1. HTC Mozart

The HTC Mozart is a quality handset with a cheesy namefrom the Taiwanese manufacturer. With a sleek brushed aluminum unibody it is a tough cookie. It also comes with a 3.7” S-LCD screen which claims to be more power efficient and much better viewing angles and contrast. It comes with HTC’s hub and Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancements. The camera is advanced to 8MP and comes with a powerful Xenon flash but performs worse than what is found in the Trophy and other handsets.

With 8GB inside and no microSD card slot you might find the memory a bit low. But as a handset it is quite flawless and there are no problems with updates that some phones have faced. Call quality is again reported to be quite decent with not much trouble catching signals. Battery life is said to be decent and might take you through a whole day’s of use

In India the official price is Rs. 26,000 and the unsubsidized price in the US is $550.

Rating in different sites:

Cnet: 3.5/5

TechRadar: 3.5/5

Engadget: 7/10

2. HTC HD7

The sequel to the widely successful HTC HD2 is this mammoth handset. With a massive 4.3” LCD screen it is definetly not meant for those with tiny hands. Unfortunately the screen is not to sharp or of good contrast and viewing angles.(A model with a S-LCD screen is coming exclusively to AT&T). It comes with a 5MP camera with dual LED flashes and kick stand (which doesn’t protect the lens). The Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancements make it an excellent device to watch movies on. HTC’s hub provides some nice apps.The memory on this device is 8 or 16GB depending on which you choose or is available. Performance is reported to be up to the mark of other handsets. Call quality is said to be decent but signal strength might suffer a bit if you hold it ‘wrong’. There have been no problem whatsoever with updates. The battery is questionably small. It appears to be incapable of carrying through the day without a recharge in the middle

It’s price in India is a whooping Rs.30,000. Outside it is available unsubsidized at $840.

Rating in different sites:

Cnet: 4.0/5

TechRadar: 4.0/5

Engadget: 6/10

3. Dell Venue Pro

Dell and Windows aren’t exactly a new combination. With certain hot notebooks under their belt, Dell’s consideration of WP7 wasn’t exactly a surprise. Dell’s first WP7 phone has a few cool features making it a good choice. With a potrait-keyboard and 4.1” 480x800 AMOLED display and end-to-end glass it is definitely one of a kind. However, unlike HTC handsets there is no sound enhancements of any sort and the camera fits the minimum requirement. There are two models 8 and 16 GB. Battery life is quite good and will be enough to last a day or so depending on the usage. Call Quality is reported to be good with no problems of any sort. There are no issues of the phone getting bricked while updating to NoDo. 

//Rahul- Certain firmware issues are reported constantly though and Dell hasn't released a fix yet.
It costs a sky high Rs.34,900. Letsbuy on the other hand, offer DVP at just 23,999!
Cnet: 4.0/5

There are just three devices officially available in India and none of the above three devices have been marketed well (probably not even marketed at all!) so there is no surprise that Windows phone hasn't picked up in India. Another contributing factor would be lack of marketplace availability in India. Marketplace is supposed to launch this fall along with Mango update.
We will continue to provide you more information on Windows Phone devices making an entry into India. Do let us know what you think of our overview.
- Sameer Ramesh 

By Rahul Mathur