Microsoft introduces online store on Snapdeal
The tech giant Microsoft has entered into partnership with Snapdeal. As part of this association Microsoft will be introducing its official online store to Snapdeal. This will enables the customers to purchase wide variety of Microsoft products like PCs, smartphones and tablets online easily.
Speaking about the same, Sharlin Thayil, Group OEM Director Microsoft India, said, “Increasingly consumers are going online to shop for a number of things, including mobiles, devices, software and accessories. We therefore see tremendous opportunity in delivering MS products and services through our online store to these customers. Our latest store on Snapdeal will help us reach more such customers and offer excellent choice, value and service that customers expect from Microsoft stores.”
The store will allow Microsoft to manage its products selection, promotions and launches according to the needs and requirements of the users. Before introducing this store, Microsoft has also introduced a similar store with Amazon India as well.
Tony Navin, Senior Vice President, Electronics and Home at Snapdeal, said, “We are pleased to be partnering with Microsoft in opening their online store on Snapdeal. This unique, self-contained store built by Snapdeal will allow users seamless accessibility of Microsoft’s unified portfolio of phones, tablets, PCs and Microsoft software, all from the comfort of their homes,”
WickedLeak Wammy Note 4 with 13MP camera, Octa-Core SoC launched at Rs 14,990
The domestic smartphone manufacturer WickedLeak has launched Wammy Note 4 a successor of the last year launched Wammy Note 3. The company has priced the device for Rs 14,990 and it will available in Black and White colour options. The manufacturer is also offering an optional Aquaprotect Water Resistant Technology at Rs 1,500 which will help in sustaining the smartphone for more than 30 minutes in water.
Talking about the device, Aditya Mehta, CEO, Wickedleak Inc. Said, “Following the success of Wammy Note 3, we are proud to introduce Wammy Note 4 smartphone. Wickedleak has always believed in providing the best specifications at the best price. With Wammy Note 4, we bring the high end smartphone experience in the price of a mid-range device.”
The WickedLeak Wammy Note 4 features a 5.5-inch Full HD display with 1920×1080 pixels resolution. The device offer dual SIM functionality and runs on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system which is upgradable to 5.0 Lollipop. The smartphone is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. The internal storage of the device stands at 16GB which can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card.
The Wammy Note 4 sports a 13.0-megpaixel rear camera with LED flash and 5.0-megapixel front facing camera for clicking selfies. The smartphone packs in a 3,250 mAh battery and offers 4G, LTE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS as connectivity options.
Gionee Elife S7, A Super Slim Smartphone with the latest Android Lollipop OS (Review)
Gionee have launched some great mobile phones in India. Last year we saw the Gionee Elife S5.5 from the brand and it was a wonderful device. Now they have recently launched another version of the mobile phone. This is the Gionee Elife S7, which is a fabulous smartphone to work with.
Design
The Gionee Elife S7 is available in black, white and blue colours. We received the black unit for review. The Elife S7’s body is supported by a U-shaped frame made from aviation-grade aluminium magnesium alloy. This frame curves gently at the four corners. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 over it. The mobile phone is extremely sleek, it is just 5.5mm thick and has 126.5g weight. The Elife S7 has a 5.2-inch FHD SUPER AMOLED display and is very comfortable to use with just one hand.
The battery is non removable, so the users cannot replace it by themselves. The Elife S7 can accommodate two Micro SIM cards. The SIM slot is on the left side of the mobile phone. The power button is located on the right side of the phone along with the volume key. The USB port and a 3.5mm audio port are located at the bottom of the phone. The primary camera is on the top left (rear) of the mobile phone, which comes with the LED flash. A neat pair of headphones also come in the box for music lovers.
Performance
Gionee Elife S7 has the 1.7GHz octa-core processor that comes along with 2 GB of RAM for applications and services. The users also get 16 GB of internal memory to store files but there is no slot for a memory card. All this runs on the Mediatek MT6752. For graphics a Mali-T760MP2 is also on board.
The primary camera of Elife S7 can capture 13-megapixel still images and 1080p videos. For selfies, there is an 8-megapixel secondary camera. The camera app has a lot of good features, which comes with many options. These include a fairly professional mode that allows control over the exposure, ISO, white balance, aperture and focus.
There is also a Magic Focus mode that allows precise control over the area of focus after photos have been captured. Another exciting feature is the Chameleon feature, which allows a user to capture any colour through the camera and apply it on to the theme and system interface. The camera captures really detailed pictures and is also a fast shooter, but in low light and dark areas, it becomes a bit sloppy. The 8-megapixel front camera, on the other hand, needs sufficient amount of light for a good click.
Music apps and video galleries ran beautifully. Talking about which, the audio quality is very fine. The supplied headphones get the job done and one can hear the beats clearly. Screen, image and video quality is above average. The place where the phone stresses a bit is gaming. You can’t play games for too long on the mobile phone because the phone gets slightly warm while playing.
Moving on to its battery life, Gionee Elife S7 does manage to stay awake for a long duration. With 2700 mAh battery inside it, we did give us between 24 to 27 hours after a full charge (under nominal use).
We tested the phone out with Quadrant and it managed a score of 15,927 points, which is a pretty good score for this mobile phone.
Verdict
Gionee Elife S7 is definitely built for the masses. The voice quality is very good and a user can easily hear stuff without any problem. We did like the looks and the slim design of the phone. It has some great features too, which are appreciable. It has the latest Android Lollipop 5.0. The Gionee Elife S7 can be picked up for MRP Rs 25,999. One can also get the mobile phone for Rs 22,500 (MOP) at any online retail store.
Pros
Excellent performance
Brilliant screen
Exceptional battery life
Cons
Battery not removable
Cameras could have been better
No slot for memory card
Gets heated up while playing games
Telecom Minister Prasad asks telcos to put their act together, asks them to offer quality services to consumers
If you often face network connectivity and call drop issues with your existing telecom service provider, then this news would bring in some hope. Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had yesterday asked mobile operators to walk the extra mile to reinforce their systems as they have enough spectrum to provide telephony services without interruption.
Telcos, who fail to do so, might face disincentives in the coming days. The minister has asked sectoral regulator TRAI to suggest a disincentive mechanism to tackle the call drop problem, but he didn’t revel what kind of disincentive would be involved—financial or otherwise.
In a PTI report, he was quoted saying, “…this argument I don’t appreciate, enough spectrum is available, what is important for them is to reinforce. (This) call drop issue needs to be addressed by the operators, whether BSNL or private ones because consumers want no call
drops. Now I would appreciate if telecom operators earnestly addressed this problem.”
The minister also tried to put industry’s concern over installation of mobile towers to rest by saying this: “I have already spoken publicly about this campaign on the tower issue and I want to repeat that there is no tangible evidence of any harmful effect. Therefore, call drop allegations and campaign against tower installation can’t go hand in hand.”
Mobile Data to get costlier for Vodafone, MTS Users in Delhi
After the March spectrum auctions, telecom analysts and experts were predicting a hike in the call and data charges, and boy, they were so right. While Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were the first ones to announce increased mobile data tariffs, now even Vodafone and MTS have joined the league.
A PTI report reveals that both Vodafone and MTS have increased mobile data tariffs for 2G and 3G services in Delhi NCR; only the percentage hikes are different. Vodafone has increased prepaid data tariffs by up to 47%, the MTS postpaid consumers would have to pay more for mobile data packs.
Earlier, Vodafone users were paying Rs 1,255 for the 3G pack of 10 GB data, but now they’d have to pay Rs 1,847 for the same. The price of the 1GB 3G pack has also been increased to Rs 297 from Rs 255. The regular 1GB 2G pack will now cost Rs 195 against the previous Rs 175.
As per the PTI report, Vodafone has also made changes in most of the prepaid plans and has also reduced validity of various packs.
Oppo Neo 5 with 8MP camera, quad-core SoC launched for Rs 9,990
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has launched the latest smartphone of the company dubbed as Neo 5. The company has priced the device for Rs 9,990 and it will be available in the colour options of Crystal White and Sapphire Blue.
Speaking about the smartphone, Tom Lu, CEO, OPPO Mobiles India said, “Apart from urban India, OPPO is focusing on rural markets as well as Indian market’s major population lies in rural areas which are a huge market in itself. OPPO Neo 5(2015) will target consumers who expect superior specifications at decent pricing. Out target is to reach out and cater to each segment in the market. We are excited to introduce Neo 5 for our young and energetic customers, a Smartphone series which has generated great response in the past.”
The Oppo Neo 5 features a 4.5-inch display with 854×480 pixels resolution. The smartphone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system based on ColourOS. The device is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. On the storage front, the smartphone offers 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.
The smartphone flaunts an 8.0-megapixel rear camera with BSI sensor and LED flash. It also offers a 2.0-megapixel front facing camera to facilitate video calling. The device houses a 2,000 mAh battery and offers 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS as connectivity options.
iBall mSLR Cobalt4 smartphone with interchangeable lens launched at Rs 8,499
The Indian smartphone manufacturer iBall has expanded its Cobalt series with the launch of mSLR Cobalt4. The company has priced the device for Rs 8,499 and offers lens mount and four lenses with it. The four lenses include a zoom lens with 8x zoom, a fisheye lens with a 175-180 degree viewing angle, a macro lens with 10x magnification and minimum object distance of 10-15mm, and a wide-angle lens with a 130-degree viewing angle. The firm will also be offering a free pouch and a cleaning cloth with the smartphone.
Speaking about the device, Sandeep Parasrampuria, Director, iBall said, “We are very excited with our newest launch which revolutionizes and redefines smartphones. With mSLR Cobalt4 the users shall be mesmerized on the Smartphone’s Camera with detachable lenses. The Multiple options of the lens shall snap great pictures and change the way photographs are captured on the smart phones! Its again heartening that we are the first in India to launch a product with this technology.”
Talking about the specifications, the iBall mSLR Cobalt4 flaunts a 5-inch qHD display with 960×540 pixels resolution. The dual SIM smartphone runs on Adnroid 4.4 KitKat operating system. Powering the smartphone is a 1.4 GHz octa-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The internal storage of the device accounts to 8GB which can be expanded up to 32GB using microSD card.
The iBall mSLR Cobalt4 comes equipped with an 8.0-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash and a 3.2-megapixel front facing camera for clicking selfies. The device packs in a 2,000 mAh battery and offers 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS as connectivity options.
Google slides updated gets Chromecast support
The search engine giant Google has updated the Slides with Chromecast HDMI dongle support. The update will enable the users to wirelessly stream presentations to the bif screen.
In order to use this feature the users just need to open up a presentation in Google Slides and go near to the Chromecast device and just simply hit the cast button. The smartphone or tablet of the user will act as a remote control at the time of streaming the content. It will let the users to advance the slides, view speaker notes and stay on track with the built in timer.
The iOS users will aslo be able to use the Chromecast for presentations as its app for iPhone and iPad supports AirPlay. Google rolled out a material design update to Google Slides last year.
Micromax Canvas Hue 2 with octa-core SoC, 2GB RAM available online for Rs 11,736
The domestic smartphone manufacturer Micromax has expanded its Canavs series with the addition of Canvas Hue 2. The company has not yet made any official statement about the device but it is available online with a price tag of Rs 11,736. As per the Mumbai based retailer Mahesh Telecom the device flaunts an aluminum body and comes in Black colour.
Talking about the specifications, the Micromax Canvas Hue 2 flaunts a 5 5-inch AMOLED display with 1280×720 pixels resolution. The device offers dual SIM functionality and runs on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. The smartphone is powered by a 1.7 GHz octa-core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. The internal storage of the device accounts to 16GB which can be expanded using microSD card.
The Micromax Canvas Hue 2 sports a 13.0-megapixel snapper with LED at the rear end and a 5.0-megapixel front facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front the smartphone offers, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and packs in a 2,000 mAh battery.
Yahoo will be holding its first Mobile Developer Meetup in India
Yahoo will be organizing its first Mobile Developer Meetup in India soon. The event will take place in New Delhi on June 24 and in Bangalore on June 26. Yahoo Meetups are an opportunity for mobile app developers and innovators to get together to learn and discuss important issues.
At the forthcoming Meetup, the mobile app developers will have their first look at the Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite. This is a new suite of facilities that is designed to help the mobile app developers to measure, advertise, monetize and improve their mobile apps. The Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite is a powerful mixture of technology and data from Yahoo, Flurry and BrightRoll.
Speaking about the upcoming meetup, Jarah Euston, VP of Analytics and Marketing, Flurry (owned by Yahoo), said, “India has a vibrant, rapidly growing app developer community. As a mobile-first company, we understand the need for app developers to have a strong mobile analytics and monetization engine. The Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite can help developers build their app businesses, monetize and create better experiences for their users, to stand out in today’s crowded app market.”
Throughout the meetup, the Flurry team will share key insights and trends from the app universe, both at a global and at regional level.