Kata T2: 8-inch HD Tablet at A Low Price

A lot of Android tablets have sprouted all over. At lower prices with seemingly good specs, you might get interested in grabbing one. 

The Kata T2 took my attention so I had to check it out.

The Kata T2 is and 8-inch tablet with a decent IPS display which primarily caught my attention. It has a good resolution of 768x976 and with good viewing angles all round. The screen is very responsive which is at par with similar products of the Big brands. It doesn't look and feel cheap at all.

Going further on its specs, it is running on Android 4.1.1 Jellybean with a 1.6 GHz dual-core processor and an independent Quad-core GPU (Mali-400MP) which gave it some plus points. It scored 10,000+ on Antutu Benchmark with ease.

 Performance wise, the feel was very fluid and responsive. The WiFi is strong as well as its Bluetooth function. Yes, it has Bluetooth unlike most tabs in the market. It is also OTG ready, so you can plug in your USB Broadband stick and your USB Flashdrives and maximize your tablet's functions. With regard to gaming, its quad-core GPU enables it to run most 3D games as well as HD games without any problem.This also goes for video playback, it can handle even HD movies and videos.

 Going on the outside, it has a textured back, with its 5-megapixel camera on the upper part and the two speakers on the back (left and right.) It has nothing special with the sound of the speakers, I find it a bit on the downside. Furthermore, on its left side you can locate the power and volume buttons. The power button has an LED light indicator which lights up red when it is plugged in and turns green when it is fully charged. I find it inconvenient having the power button on the left side though. At the bottom you can find the 3.5mm audio slot, AC slot (for the charger), the micro-USB slot, micro-SD slot and the HDMI port. In charging the unit, you can use either its AC-USB cable or its USB data cable.

 It has a 5MP rear camera but don't expect much about it. Still, tablets are not meant for taking high quality photos but its good enough for casual use. Here are sample shots taken indoors under room lighting conditions.

 As for the battery life, it can go 20-25 hours of moderate usage and 4-6 hours of movies and gaming. It varies on how you use it, still it is good with its 4100mAH Li-Ion battery.

Overall, the Kata T2 is very good if you are looking for a tablet not too small and not too big and packed with great graphics, specs and display. It just has some downsides on its internal memory, sound quality, and camera. It is only available with wifi, and no-3G for version for this unit.

Kata T2 Specs:

8" Full-Touch Display
1.6GHz Dual Core
Quad Core GPU
Internal: 8GB (RAM: 1GB DDR3)
External: Support microSD card, up to 32GB
5.0 Mega-pixel Camera
2.0 Mega-pixel Front Camera
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
GPS
Mini HDMI
Li-Ion 4,100mAh battery

Price: P 7,999 (On sale @ P 6,999)

Featured App: Dolphin HD browser

Looking for a another web browser for you android phone? Dolphin HD is one of the good apps that you might want to use. It offers fast browsing, good themes and great shortcuts.

You can set gestures to quickly go to your favorite websites. Example, set a gesture like a letter "a" to go to amazon.com. You can use many other gestures as you want.

Dolphin HD is available on the Android market. :)

The App Drawer

The App Drawer is the menu of all the Applications installed in your Android Phone.
In the default of Android Phones, it uses the TouchWiz Launcher which displays the apps in a paginated manner.

You can also install other Launchers available in the Android Market for a different look for your Android Phone.

Similarly, apps are available in the Android Market. Click Here
You can also locate the Android Market App in your phone. :)

The Home Screen

After the Lock Screen you will now be at the Home Screen. The Android Home Screen is your "desktop" in PC terms. You can place shortcuts to your apps, useful widgets, and folders.

You can add more home screens as you want, by default, it has 3 home screens which you can access by swiping to left or right of the screen. More screens, more space.

On top of the home screen is the notification bar, where you can see the time and other notifications. You can drag the bar down to expand it and you will see controls for the WiFi, Bluetooth, Ringer, and Screen-rotation.

The Lock Screen

After the boot process when you turn on your Android phone, you will be on its Lock Screen.
It is there by default to prevent unintentional activation of the screen. Basically it shows
a screen with sliding buttons which you need to slide in order to access the home screen.

In the lock screen you will see the date and time. You can also activate or deactivate silent mode. There are apps that can customize your lock screen, these are available in the Android market.

Android 101

What is Android? The word Android is often heard nowadays, it is not a robot but it is an Operating System (OS) by Google. The Android OS is designed to run on smart phones, phones that offer a wider variety of functions than the usual cellphone. Now it is also running on new devices like tablet PCs.

The Android OS had a series of updates (and still developing and improving), each version is named deliciously. The recent updates are the following:

2.1 - Eclair
2.2 - FroYo (Frozen Yogurt)
2.3 - Gingerbread
3.0 - Honey comb

The Android OS is performing very well, and is said to be competing with Apple's iOS.
Android also as a wide variety of applications to choose from which you can use according to your needs.

If you are planning to purchase a new cellphone, better get a smart phone like Android.
More things about Android on my next post. :)