Students can now use technology not only to excel in their studies but also to employ their time in a better way.

Here, The Mobile Indian has compiled five must have applications that are available on Android Market for students. All these apps are free of cost.

Wikipedia

This application does not need any introduction. It is one of the most used reference sites in the world and is being referred to by practically everyone. If you need to quickly look up a term or want to know something in detail, just go through the app.

The Wikipedia app on Android has more than 20 million articles in 280 languages, and is the most comprehensive and widely used reference work humans have ever compiled. You can save articles to read later or offline, search articles nearby, share articles using Android’s ’share’ function, or even read an article in a different language.

Mobile World Congress seems to be happening this week and not next, judging by the amount of ‘pre-announcements’ which have hit the newswires over the past few days. Now it’s LG’s turn with an entire new series of phones, named the L-Style Optimus L3, L5 and L7.

LG has had fun littering its official Facebook pages with references to the new L-Style range recently, mainly by capitalising the ‘L’ in various words, and now we’ve finally got to see what the fuss is all about.

Although the phones will make their official debut at Mobile World Congress, along with the complete spec sheets, LG has provided a few details on the new devices through a press release.

The L3 is the baby of the bunch with a 3.2-inch touchscreen and a 1500mAh battery, plus Android Gingerbread.  The L5 and L7 though, will both come with Android 4.0 pre-installed, bringing the pair bang up to date.

The L5 will have a 4-inch screen, while the L7 gets a 4.3-inch display, and all three models have what LG calls ‘floating mass technology’, which means the screen is mounted much closer to the glass to give the impression that the display is ‘floating’ on its surface.  Each phone is also more square than traditional Android smartphones, a design which LG has continued with the Optimus Vu tablet/smartphone hybrid.

Each phone has a leather back cover and a metal chassis too, so they should feel great in your hand.

Here in Europe we’ll be getting the L3 in March, and the L5 and L7 will follow sometime between then and the summer.  LG’s 2012 line-up is looking very interesting so far and we’re keen to see what else the company has in-store for us over the coming week.

Canonical, the company behind the Linux based Ubuntu operating system, has unveiled an Android version of the operating system. The new Ubuntu Android app will enable any multi-core Android smartphones docked with a keyboard and monitor to offer a full desktop experience. The new solution will be showcased at the Mobile World Congress which is to be held later this month in Barcelona, Spain.

When the smartphone with Ubuntu is connected to a computer, a full Ubuntu desktop will appear on the latter’s display. It’s exactly the same desktop that you will find on any computer running Ubuntu OS, and includes certified applications, from office productivity to photography, video and music.

With the app, you can also share data and services between the Ubuntu and Android environments. So, Android applications such as contacts, telephony and SMS /MMS messaging are accessible from the Ubuntu interface. All data created using the Ubuntu OS on PC can be accessed through the smartphone at any time, docked or not.

While Ubuntu is marketing it as an enterprise tool to reduce cost and management for the IT teams, which will need to manage only the phone while offering desktop experience as well. It will be of equal importance to home users in reducing the cost of computing.

Ubuntu offers a range of native applications and excellent support for web browsers like Chrome and Firefox. The desktop can also include Windows applications, using thin client and desktop virtualisation tools.

With a range of dual core and quad core Android phones in the market, it makes perfect sense as it will unlock the full potential of the power of these phones.

What is also great is that fact that Intel and Nvidia are working on brining affordable dual core Android handsets to the market. This will make it even more lucrative for users to use this Ubuntu and Android combination.

Hardware requirements for installing Ubuntu on Android includes support for HDMI and USB, which is a standard features in high-end handsets planned for 2012.

Motorola has done a similar thing with its lapdock, however it is a dedicated hardware that one needs to buy.

On the contrary with Ubuntu Android, the total investment apart from the phone will be in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the computer that one prefers.

Official press shots have surfaced online which showcase the forthcoming Ascend D1 Q from Huawei.

The images come via GSMArena and reveal what looks to be a high-end smartphone with a sleek form factor and attention to detail in component design. The display appears to be 4.3-inches or larger and the red on black design is reminiscent of the HTC Sensation XE, although the shape of the device points more towards the iPhone 4/Samsung Galaxy school of design.

The Ascend D1 Q is anticipated to be the first device of Huawei’s flagship Diamond range of handsets. Running Android 4.0 out of the box and widely expected to be powered by the  Nvidia-produced quad-core Tegra 3 processor, the unit is set to propel the Chinese manufacturer into the very top-end of the smartphone market.

It is being speculated that Huawei are looking to launch at least two Diamond handsets at MWC next week, however, only details of the Ascend D1 Q have surfaced so far. Additionally, a 10-inch version of the MediaPad is anticipated alongside hardware and software upgrades to match the device’s larger display.

Panasonic made its intention to re-enter the European smartphone market clear around November last year, then sent out a preview image of its first new phone in December. At the time it didn’t have a name, but now, almost on the eve of Mobile World Congress, Panasonic has released more pictures and all the new specs.

It’s named the Eluga, which apparently stands for ‘Elegant User Gateway,’ and is Panasonic’s first European phone since 2006. It’s a good-looking device too, with a 7.8mm thick chassis which weighs just 103 grams. That’s slimmer and lighter than a Samsung Galaxy S II.

It’s blessed with a 4.3-inch touchscreen and a qHD resolution of 960 x 540, plus it’s powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor from Texas Instruments. There’s 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot to boost this figure.

On the rear of the device sits an 8 megapixel auto-focus camera, which also records video, however Panasonic hasn’t stated at which resolution. The Eluga is also waterproof to IP57 standards and other features include NFC connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1, DLNA and GPS.

The Eluga will initially use Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread as its OS, but Panasonic promise an update to Ice Cream Sandwich will be coming in the spring. According to The Telegraph, the Eluga will be priced at around £400 when it goes on sale in April, and that the company will continue to produce high-end devices in the future.

Expect more information on the Eluga next week.

In a pre-Mobile World Congress announcement, ZTE has unveiled two new Android phones, both of which will run the very latest version of the software.

Essentially beating almost every other manufacturer out the gate, these two new phones are confirmed to run Android 4.0, rather than 2.3 Gingerbread with the promise of an update in the near future, as has been the fashion recently.

So far, Ice Cream Sandwich is available for a few phones such as the Galaxy Nexus, plus several tablets including the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.

Of the two devices, it’s the PF200 that’s the most interesting to us here in the UK. Equipped with a 4-inch touchscreen with a qHD resolution, that’s 960 x 540 pixels, a 1.2GHz processor and an 8 megapixel camera, it’s up there with the current top-of-the-range devices from Samsung and HTC.

Other features include DLNA certification, NFC connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS, a video call camera and in selected markets, 4G LTE support.

While this will inevitably change during Mobile World Congress, ZTE is known for its competitive pricing, meaning the PF200 could turn out to be the bargain of the year when it goes on sale.

The second phone from ZTE is the N910, but it’s going to be a CDMA-only device, so won’t be coming to the UK in this form. It has a 1.5GHz processor, a 4.3-inch screen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution and a 5 megapixel camera.

Last week, ZTE announced it would be launching its Light Tab 2 tablet in the UK under its own name, so there’s a strong chance the PF200 could also appear this way too. We’ll find out more at Mobile World Congress.

Launched in November last year, the Samsung Galaxy Note has caused quite a splash, being both lauded and vilified by critics. The device boasts a massive 5.3-inch touchscreen with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, Google Android Gingerbread, and a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, plus the unusual S-Pen stylus for note-taking, annotations and all sorts of other pen-based activities.

Having sold more than a million worldwide, and a million in its home country of South Korea, Samsung is rightly proud of its giant creation; and it appears it’s not going to be a standalone device for much longer either.

Spotted on an invitation to a Samsung Developer event at MWC is a reference to the Galaxy Note 10.1, a name which shares similarities with the Tab 10.1, where the figures refer to the screen size. So is it a typo? Sources say no, digging out a casting call for a TV ad that would feature a teen student using a Galaxy Note 10.1 as further proof.

Samsung loves making as many iterations of a single device as possible, so it’s not that surprising it would take the Note’s special feature – the S-Pen – and add it to a much larger device. If this is the case, the new tablet would also need the special software applications suited to the S-Pen installed too.

With the potential for a screen as big as 10-inches, we doubt this Note will be another smartphone/tablet hybrid, and will instead be closer to Samsung’s Tab range than the Galaxy smartphones.  t’s also possible we’ll see versions in other sizes too.

Despite not holding a press conference during Mobile World Congress, Samsung has promised some new devices, of which the Note 10.1 could be one. We’ll find out as soon as 27 February comes around.

Research In Motion (RIM) is set to release its new PlayBook tablet with BlackBerry OS 2.0 on February 21, according to a report. N4BB, a media website, claimed to have received confirmation from its sources that the final version of the major update for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is due next week. The BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0 is expected to bring new set of features including the much awaited Android App Player that allows loading Android Apps .

The PlayBook Tablet OS 2.0 updated was rumoured to arrive on February 17 but recent developments hint that bit more testing is required. Hence RIM’s BlackBerry Tablet OS development team aims to release the final version of the update on February 21.

RIM demonstrated the BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0 at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 last month. Its most awaited feature is the Android App Player which creates a sandbox to run the Android Apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Apart from that, the Unified Inbox experience with full Rich-text email composing, Inbox management tools, etc. will exist natively.

The PlayBook will have a new Contacts app with social networking blend to integrate/link the user’s accounts in one place. PlayBook can also be used as a remote control through the BlackBerry Bridge connection and act as a keyboard or mouse.

Most importantly, the BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0 will bring native email support for the users to get emails on the tablet instead of fetching it from BlackBerry smartphone using a BlackBerry Bridge.

If you wish to try out the BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0 beta, then you can follow our guide to officially install it on your PlayBook Tablet.