A 42-inch Full HD LED TV for Rs 32,000? Yes, the latest VU Edge is available for that much
Since there are TV’s now available with Ultra HD displays available in the market, we were wondering when we would see a price drop or affordable big size Full HD TV screens. The prices from big brands have come down a bit, but those are nowhere near the price at what VU is giving its latest LED TV at.
Called the VU Edge this is the latest LED TV by the California-India based company. This LED TV measures 42-inches diagonally and supports Full HD 1080p video. With the on-board USB the users can easily play movies and music with ease. There is no need for a multimedia hub for these purposes. Over that, the VU Edge also has 3 HDMI ports and composite jack to connect most devices.
Devita Saraf, CEO, Vu Technologies, commented, “This TV magnifies the visual experience of entertainment while introducing many industry firsts in India. It comes with the A+ grade rating which only 15% of TVs in the world have passed. We take pride in launching the Vu 42’’ Full HD Edge LED TV in the country, heralding the new era of upgraded technology in televisions.”
This flat panel’s dynamic contrast ratio lies at 10,00,000:1 with 6.5 MS response time. For Sound, the VU Edge 42-inch LED TV has twin 8 W RMS speakers hidden at the back. This LED TV can be picked up for Rs 32,000 from Flipkart.
Tech Specs VU 42-inch LED TV
Panel Grade – A+ Grade Achromatic Panel
Backlight source – Edge-lit LED
Resolution – 1920 x 1080
Brightness – 500
Dynamic contrast ratio – 1000000:1
Viewing Angle (Horiz / Vert) [degrees] – 178° / 178°
Response Time – 6.5ms
Microsoft Cortana might make its debut in India sooner than you think
Earlier this year lot of Indian hearts got broken when Microsoft decided not to bring its virtual assistant Cortana to India with Windows 10. However, reports have emerged from camp Microsoft that Cortana might come to India very soon. The latest statement released by the computer OS leader states that Cortana will be available to Windows Insider Program participants in Australia, Canada and India. Yes, that is correct the test phase for the virtual assistant Microsoft Cortana will start in India as well.
With the launch of Windows 10 on July 29, Microsoft Cortana will be available in seven countries – USA, UK, China, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. India is not on the map, but at least the smart VA will be available to WIP members in India. This just makes us wonder how fast can they bring Cortana to India. We reckon it will be before this year ends. Keeping our fingers crossed.
LG launches G4 Stylus for Rs 24,990 in India
The Korean smartphone maker LG has finally launched the G4 stylus in India. The smartphone comes with a stylus pen and has been priced for Rs 24,990. The device will be available in Metallic Silver and Floral White colour options.
Speaking about the smartphone, Deepak Jasrotia, Business head, LG Mobiles India, said, “The G4 Stylus is a perfect example of what we mean by a premium smartphone experience without a premium price. This smartphone not only delivers performance, but also looks great while doing so. At LG, we are always committed towards providing a great value to our consumers and with G4 Stylus we are doing exactly that.”
The LG G4 stylus features a 5.7-inch HD IPS display with 1280×720 pixels resolution. The smartphone offers dual SIM functionality and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system. Powering the smartphone is a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor paired with 1GB of RAM. The inbuilt storage of the device accounts to 16GB which can be expanded further via microSD card.
The smartphone flaunts a 13.0-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5.0-megapixel front facing camera to facilitate video calling. The smartphone offers 4G, LTE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC as connectivity options and houses a 3,000 mAh battery.
Google updates its Play Books app for Android introduces new features
The search engine giant Google has rolled out an update for its Play Books for Android. The update brings along hosts of new features which enables the user to sync their notes, highlights and bookmarks to different folders in Google Drive.
The users just need to enable the ‘Save notes, highlights and bookmarks in Google Drive’ in the Settings menu in order to save the notes on the Drive. The Play Books will generate a folder in your Google Drive account and let the users to fill in notes and highlights at the time of reading.
These notes can be edited as any regular Google Doc. The update has also introduced few tweaks in the UI of the app. The Read Now screen will highlight the read books in a vertical format. The app also provides a new way to find out new books based on their choices and area of interest. The app will also offer the free samples of the selected books.
Yahoo rolls out Livetext – Video Messenger app for iOS
Yahoo has rolled out a new video messing app which will enable the users to send a short live video with a text that do not have an audio. The app called as “Livetext – Video Messenger” is presently, available for iOS only.
As soon as the user enters the text, a live video starts and when your contact enters the chat then the user can see the person on screen. The app works on data and WiFi connections. It was first launched in Hong Kong last week and is available in more than 20 languages. The company states that the app is designed to provide a real conversation where the user feels that the person is sitting next to him.
The app only allows person to person video texting and presently it has no support for group messaging. Along with this, the user cannot make any calls using this app. The app is free for download and you can add your friends through their contacts or by their Livetext IDs.
The app is said to be compatible with Apple devices running iOS 8.0 or later.
Samsung announces 4G enabled Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 and Tab S2 9.7 with Octa-core SoC, 3GB RAM
The South Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung has expanded its Tab S series with the announcement of Galaxy Tab S2. The tablets comes in two display sizes, one features an 8-inch Super AMOLED display with 2048×1536 pixels resolution and the other flaunts a 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display with 2048×1536 pixel resolution.
Both the tablets are powered by an Octa-Core Exynos 5433 (1.9 GHz ＋ 1.3 GHz) processor clubbed with 3GB of RAM. The inbuilt storage of the devices stands at 32GB/ 64GB which can be further expanded up to 128GB with the help of the microSD card. The tablets run on Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system and also consist of a fingerprint scanner.
The Galaxy Tab S2 comes equipped with an 8.0-megapixel camera at the rear end and a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera for video calling. The connectivity options in the tablets include 4G, LTE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and houses a massive 4,000 mAh battery.
The tablets will be available in Black and White colour options. The company has not yet divulged the pricing and availability details of the devices.
Kiwi Camera Android App Video Review
This is one of the finest Android free camera app available on the Google Play Store. Kiwi Camera app has some good artistic filters. Check out the full video of the Kiwi Camera app review.
Xiaomi announces Mi TV 2S and Mi Water Purifier
We for one, never even in our wildest imagination thought that Xiaomi would make water purifiers one day. But seems like, the company has plans to flurry into other consumer electronics sections as well. The company has introduced the Mi TV 2S and Mi Water purifier in Beijing, China.
Xiaomi says, “Mi TV 2S is top of the range among 4K TVs. At an event held in Beijing, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun unveiled Mi TV 2S for a price of RMB2999 (US$483). He announced Mi TV 2S (Theatre Edition) which comes with an independent sound system for RMB3999 (US$644). He also announced the Mi Water Purifier that goes on sale for RMB1299 (US$209). Both devices will be available through Mi.com in China starting July 28.”
Xiaomi Mi TV 2S is a premium 48-inch 4K TV that is 9.9mm thin. The TV has a UHD display, which is from Samsung. And it is powered by a 1.4GHz Quad-Core processor and all this runs on the MStar 6A928 chipset. For graphics a Mali-760 is also on board and it comes with MACE-Pro4 UC+ picture engine. The display can render 4K at 60fps and supports H.265 10-bit hardware decoding. Mi TV 2S (Theatre Edition) comes with a subwoofer, soundbar and incorporates the latest Dolby sound technology. The minimalistic design of the television is very impressive.
Xiaomi first ever Mi Water Purifier comes with many neat features. This water purifier can purify up to 76 barrels of water per day. It has the reverse osmosis technology and employs four step RO filtration. This purifier has a 400-gallon RO filter that enables higher water flow rate.
Mi Water Purifier is also a smart device, which can be monitored via the Mi Home app. This app allow users to monitor real-time filter effectiveness and even reminds the user to change filters, which can be purchased directly from within the app.
InFocus M350 Review: A nice budget smartphone with 2GB RAM
InFocus mobiles are a popular smartphone brand in South India. They are slowly trying to capture a piece of the pie up north as well. We have seen few good devices by them in the past and one of their most recent launches is the M350 android smartphone. They passed one unit to us to run through our test bench and this is what we found out about this nifty little device.
Design
The InFocus M350 is available in white, black and golden colours. We received the black unit for review and quite liked it’s built. The phone’s black back panel is grippy and one can hold the phone nicely. A silver metal trim runs around the sides of the phone, which adds to the show.
The InFocus M350 has a 5-inch display. This HD IPS capacitive display comes with 16 million colours. This mobile is 10.6mm thick and weighs 146g. Which might seem a little heavy on papers, but we did not mind the bulk at all. It is very comfortable to use, even with just one hand.
Under the rear removable plastic panel, there is a non-removable battery, two Micro SIM card slots and a Micro SD card slot. The power button is located on the right side of the phone while the volume key is located on the left. The USB port is located at the bottom of the phone and the 3.5mm headset jack is positioned at the top of the mobile phone. The speaker vent is situated on the back’s lower part. The primary camera is on the top right (rear) of the mobile phone, which comes with the LED flash.
Performance
The InFocus M350 has a 1.5GHz Quad-Core processor that comes with 2GB of RAM. Together they try to make the applications and services run as smoothly as possible. The users also get 16GB of internal memory (12GB available) to store files. And there is also the option to add up to a 64GB microSD card to amass additional documents. All this runs on the MediaTek MT6732 chipset that is 64-bit capable.
For graphics a Mali-T760 MP2 GPU is also on board. There is also HTML5 for browsing. The primary camera of INFocus M350 comes with auto focus function and can capture 8-megapixel still images. For selfies, there is also an 8-megapixel secondary camera. The rear and front camera captures very decent pictures, but it struggles a bit in low light. Macro shots on the other hand were quite good.
The phone did not break a sweat when we played power hungry apps and mid-end games on it. But, when it comes to graphic hungry games the phone lagged a bit. Also, the game loudspeaker volume could have been better. Talking about which, we faced no problems when it came to audio and call quality on the InFocus M350. Screen, image and video quality is also above average and we quite liked what we saw.
Coming to its battery life, the InFocus M350 has 2,500 mAh non-removable battery inside. It worked for 17 hours straight after a full charge (under nominal use). We tested the phone with Quadrant and it managed to score 9,872 points, which is a nice score for this mobile phone that falls in the mid-segment of smartphones.
Verdict
The InFocus M350 has some great features in it. This mobile phone has an impressive display and the mobile screen is smudge resistant. It comes preloaded with MeituPic, Dropbox, WPS Office, Facebook apps etc. The experience was quite smooth throughout. Only if instead of the Android 4.4.4 KitKat, the company would have given Android 5 Lollipop, the deal would have been drool-worthy. One can get this smartphone for Rs 7,999 at any online retail store.
Pros
- Quite affordable
- Call quality is pretty clear
- Distinctive design
- Underpowered rear speaker
- Average battery life
- Non-removable battery
- Old OS
- Network supported: 3G and 4G LTE
- Display size: 5-inch HD IPS capacitive display
- Operating system: Android 4.4.4 KitKat
- Chipset: MediaTek MT6732, 64 bit
- CPU: 1.5 GHz Quad-Core processor
- GPU:Mali-T760 MP2
- RAM: 2GB
- Memory: 16GB internal memory (12GB available) & add up to 64GB via microSD card
- Camera: 8MP rear camera and 8MP secondary camera
- Dimensions: 5×10.6mm
- Weight:146g
- Battery:2,500 mAh (non-removable)
ASUS unveils the latest ASUSPRO ADVANCED BU201 and BU401 Ultrabook
Asus is a well known brand in the PC and smartphone circuits. They have just launched the ASUSPRO ADVANCED Ultrabook series in India. It has two different models under the category that is ASUSPRO ADVANCED BU201 and BU401 Ultrabook. Both, the Ultrabooks are available in dark grey colour and have spill resistant backlit keyboard, which provides visibility at all times.
Mr. Peter Chang, Regional Head, South Asia & Country Manager, System Business Group, ASUS India said, “We are very actively working towards satiating the requirements of every genre of computing which includes gaming, personal and official. Our latest launch of the ASUSPRO ADVANCED Ultrabook range is aimed at aiding modern businesses and their computing requirements. It enables users to work without worries and personifies our promise to inspire and power businesses.”
The ASUSPRO Ultrabook series features the ASUSPRO Business Center. They have a one-stop security and manageability solution, which is specially designed for small businesses. These Ultrbooks also have the Intel vPro processor that offers better control over networked computing assets and fingerprint scanning.
ASUSPRO BU201 Ultrabook
This Ultrabook has a 12.5-inch glare resistant display. This display has a matte screen surface that prevents unwanted reflections and helps reduce eye fatigue. It has only 1.27kg weight. The device 180º hinge opens flat to provide a 360º view to the users. The notebook also offers the SensePoint point stick that simulates the functions of a regular mouse.
The company has priced the ASUSPRO BU201LA-DT006P at Rs 85,999.
Tech Specs of ASUSPRO BU201 Ultrabook
- Colour: Dark Grey
- On board processor: Intel Core i5-4210U Processor, 1.7 GHz (3M Cache, up to 2.7 GHz)
- Operating System: Windows 8.1 Professional (64bit)
- On board Memory: 4GB
- Storage: SATA 500GB 5400RPM, 2.5-inch Hybrid HDD
- SSD: 8GB
- Display: 5-inch LED Back-lit, Slim 400nits, Full HD display
- GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4400
- Finger Print: Yes
- Wireless: 11bgn + Bluetooth 4.0 (Single band)
- LAN: 10/100/1000 Mbps
- Card Reader: SD, MMC and SDXC
- USB Port: 3x USB 3.0
- Interface: 1x Headphone-out & Audio-in Combo Jack, 1x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert, 1x VGA Port (D-Sub) and 1x mini Display Port
- Audio: Built-in speaker, Built-in array microphone and Sonic Master
- AC Adapter: 65W AC Adapter
- Battery: 32WHrs, 2S1P and 2-cell Li-ion Prismatic Battery Pack
- Weight:27 Kg (with 2 cell battery)
- Colour: Dark Grey
- On board processor: Intel Core i5-4210U Processor, 1.7 GHz (3M Cache, up to 2.7 GHz)
- Operating System: Preload Windows 7, 64 bit Professional (upgradable to Windows 8 64bit Professional)
- On board Memory: 4GB
- Storage: SATA 500GB 5400RPM, 2.5-inch HDD
- SSD: 8GB
- Display: 14-inch LED Back-lit, Ultra Slim 250nits, HD display
- GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4400
- Finger Print: Yes
- Wireless: 11bgn + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual band)-Intel WIDI
- LAN: 10/100/1000 Mbps
- Card Reader: SD, MMC and SDXC
- USB Port: 3x USB 3.0
- Interface: 1x Headphone-out & Audio-in Combo Jack, 1x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert, 1x VGA Port (D-Sub) and 1x HDMI
- Audio: Built-in speaker, Built-in microphone and Sonic Master
- AC Adapter: 65W AC Adapter
- Weight:64 Kg (with 4 cell battery)