Panasonic launches Eluga Switch reversible 4G smartphone at Rs 19,990
The smartphone manufacturer Panasonic has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of Eluga Switch. The company has priced the smartphone for Rs 19,900 and it will be available in Gun Metal Grey colour option. Along with this the company is also providing a premium JBL headset with the sales pack. The USP of the smartphone is its switch mechanism which enables the users to speck even when the device is held upside down.
Speaking about the smartphone, Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Panasonic India said, “We have been successful in building an exhaustive and robust range of smartphones in India, starting April 2013. As our presence in the market has expanded significantly and to get the best of this growing segment, the Eluga Switch is our answer to the consumer’s demand for a Panasonic engineered premium smartphone. As we see immense growth opportunities in the Smartphone segment, we have introduced the Switch which synthesizes Panasonic’s flagship Japanese technology with preferences of the Indian consumer into one, easy-to-use, seamless smartphone.”
The Panasonic Eluga Switch features a 5.5-inch Full HD display with 1920×1080 pixels resolution protected by Asahi Dragon Trail Glass protection. The smartphone is powered by a 1.5 GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 processor pared with 2GB of RAM. The internal storage of the smartphone accounts to 32GB which cannot be expanded any further. The runs on Android 5.0 with the reversible UI and sports a 13.0-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8.0-megapixel front facing camera for clicking selfies.
The connectivity options of the smartphone include 4G, LTE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS NFC, USB OTG and packs in a 2,910 mAh battery.
SanDisk enters into the portable SSD market with a family of high-performance drives
SanDisk is a global leader in flash storage solutions. They have now entered into the portable SSD market with a family of high-performance drives, which include the SanDisk Extreme 900 portable SSD and the Extreme 500 portable SSD.
These powerful solutions are best for photographers, videographers, creative professionals and tech enthusiasts. These drives aim to move huge files at a remarkable speed, which saves time of the users. The new family of SanDisk Extreme Portable SSDs also feature SanDisk SecureAccess software with 128-bit encryption to secure files.
Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager – India & SAARC, SanDisk said, “As a recognized leader in developing solutions for professional photographers and videographers, we designed this game-changing family of offerings to provide our customers with even greater speeds and capacities to keep up with rapidly increasing demands for high-quality content. Whether a professional or amateur, this level of portability, speed and capacity is exceptional, and we believe it will transform the way people create and produce high quality video content—ultimately saving them time and money.”
SanDisk Extreme 900 portable SSD
SanDisk Extreme 900 portable SSD is the world’s fastest line of Type C-based portable SSD. It is available in up to 1.92TB space. This new drive features transfer speeds nine times faster than a portable hard drive.
The SanDisk Extreme 900 portable SSD has a compact, durable aluminium case. With superfast speeds of up to 850MB/s, this drive dramatically reduces wait times, instantly accelerating user work flow regardless of file size. These new drives come with both USB Type-C and Type-A cables to provide the ultimate flexibility when working between systems.
The SanDisk Extreme 900 portable SSD’s will be available in Q3 with capacities of 480GB at Rs 35,990, 960GB at Rs 53,990 and 1.92TB at Rs 89,990. It features a three-year warranty.
SanDisk Extreme 500 portable SSD
The SanDisk Extreme 500 portable SSD is small in size, but delivers more than four times the speed of a regular portable hard drive. The new pocket-sized drive allows users to transfer big videos and photo libraries at up to 415MB/s. It is available in up to 480GB capacity. The SanDisk Extreme 500 portable SSD features a sleek black finish with unique rubber bumpers and a metal ring that easily clips into a bag. This new portable SSD features both temperature and impact-resistant materials.
The SanDisk Extreme 500 portable SSD’s will be available worldwide in capacities of 120GB at Rs 8,490, 240GB at Rs 12,990 and 480GB at Rs 22,990. These also come with a 3-year warranty.
Microsoft is expected to launch its Office 2016 on September 22
One of the most popular tech giant Microsoft is now speculated to release the final version of its Office 2016 on September 22. Microsoft is progressively releasing updates and improved programs to match up its new Windows 10 operating system. Their platform is the most widely used operating system in the world. The new Office 2016 will be offering many astounding features that will enhance the user experience for Windows 10 consumers.
Microsoft had earlier informed that the new suite will be launched in September. But details from the in-house documents attained by a German website has now specified the date of the launch of the latest Office 2016 for its users.
A report on Windows Central says that Microsoft already released the Mac version of Office 2016 in July and later that month it also launched the Office Mobile apps made for Windows 10 tablets. There have been some preview versions of Office 2016 suite.
Office 2016 will come with collaborative features for business users. The leaked report notes that the new suite will come with updates for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Skype for Business, Project, Visio, Access and Publisher.
Microsoft is also expected to release its Office Mobile apps for Windows 10 mobile smartphones users later this year.
NGO’s can use Facebook’s Donate Now button to raise funds
Who said Facebook is all bad? Facebook has added a way for NGO’s to raise funds through its website using the donate now button. This button will enable non profit organisations to raise funds from the followers on its Facebook page. It comes in the form of call-to-action button and donators can click and follow the on screen instructions.
Facebook for Business post says, “We are excited to introduce a new “Donate Now” call-to-action option on both link ads and Pages. Now, it’s easier than ever for nonprofits to connect with people who care about their causes and encourage them to contribute through the website of their choice,”
Facebook has only kept this button alive for NGO’s. No one besides them would be able to use this service. Once the user clicks on the donate now button, the user is taken to an external site and Facebook does not ask you for any sort of details.
It is a great move by the social networking giant, if you ask us. Recently a pet rescue NGO in New Delhi is facing cash crunch and they had to shut down their emergency services. Services like these from Facebook would have definitely helped them to raise some funds. Great move Facebook!
Vivo X5Pro Review: A stylish sleek flagship smartphone
Vivo, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is also trying to carve a niche for themselves in the ever growing Indian smartphone market. They recently launched the X5Pro and we got to spend some time with it. We quite liked the device as it does remarkably in most sectors starting from the design. Here is our two cents on the device.
Design
The Vivo X5Pro is available in black and white colours. We received the white unit for review. The Vivo X5Pro body is supported by a U-shaped frame made from aviation-grade aluminum magnesium alloy. This frame curves gently at the four corners. The mobile phone is sleek, it is just 6.4mm thick and has 151g weight. The Vivo X5Pro has a 5.2-inch FHD SUPER AMOLED display and is very comfortable to use with just one hand. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 over it.
The battery is non removable, so the users cannot replace it by themselves. The smartphone can accommodate two SIM cards, one is micro and second one is nano. The SIM slot is on the right side of the mobile phone. The power button is located on the right side of the phone along with the volume key as well. The USB port is located at the bottom of the phone, while the 3.5mm audio port is located at the top of the device. 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 comes in the box for music lovers.
Performance
Vivo X5Pro has a 1.5 GHz Octa-Core processor that is partnered with 2GB of RAM for applications and services. The users also get 16GB of internal memory to store files. Over that, there is an option to add up to a 128GB microSD card where users can also store files. All this runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615. For graphics an Adreno 405 is also on board.
The primary camera of Vivo X5Pro 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 consist of, autofocus, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama and HDR. The camera captures really detailed pictures and is also a fast shooter, but in low light and dark areas, it does become a bit sloppy. So we recommend using the flash in low light and dim areas. The 8-megapixel front camera also 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 warm while playing.
Moving on to its battery life, Vivo X5Pro does not manage to stay awake for a long duration. With 2,450 mAh battery inside it, we did give us between 20 to 22 hours after a full charge (under nominal use).
We tested the phone out with AnTuTu Benchmark and it managed a score of 32,858 points, which is a pretty good score for this mobile phone.
Verdict
Vivo X5Pro left us with a mixed bag of emotions. While the phone is great to look at the front camera and the heating issue was a bit of a deal breaker. On the plus side, the voice quality is very good and the user can easily hear stuff without any problem. As said before, we did like the looks and the slim design of the phone on which the phone heavily banks on. It has its Funtouch OS 2.1 layered over Android Lollipop 5.0 that gives a distinct feel to the user interface. The Vivo X5Pro can be picked up for Rs 27,980.
Pros
- Good performance
- Great AMOLED screen
- Neat design
- Battery not removable
- Gets heated up while playing games
- Average battery life
OPPO unveils its new R5s smartphone with 3GB RAM
OPPO, the Chinese smartphone maker is trying hard to carve a niche in the Indian market with its inexpensive yet sturdy smartphones. They have just unveiled an upgraded variant of R5 smartphone, called OPPO R5s. This smartphone will be available in white colour. The OPPO R5s measures 148.9×74.5×4.85mm and weighs 155 gram.
On the specification front, the OPPO R5s has a 5.20-inch full HD (1080×1920 pixels) AMOLED display. Powering the smartphone is a 1.5GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor paired with 3GB of RAM. The on board storage of the mobile phone accounts to 32GB, which can be expanded by using a microSD card. This smartphone runs ColorOS 2.0 based on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. For graphics an Adreno 405 is also on board.
The OPPO R5s sports a 13-megapixel rear camera, which comes with LED flash and Sony IMX214 sensor. There is also a 5-megapixel front camera. This mobile phone houses a 2,000 mAh battery. This smartphone also features VOOC charging technology. The device supports two SIM cards that work on 4G LTE or 3G. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
The OPPO R5s will be available soon across India. The price for this one will be approx. Rs 15,000.
Techs Specs of OPPO R5s
- Network supported: 4G LTE and 3G
- Display size: Full HD 20-inch AMOLED display
- Operating system: ColorOS 2.0 based on Android 4.4 KitKat
- CPU: Octa-Core 1.5GHz processor
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
- RAM: 3GB
- Memory: 32GB (memory can be expanded via microSD card)
- Camera:Rear camera 13MP and secondary camera 5MP
- Battery: 2,000 mAh
- Dimensions: 9 x 74.5 x 4.85mm
- Weight: 155g
Zebronics brings the latest Companion 6 wireless mouse & keyboard
Zebronics has expanded its portfolio by bringing in a new gadget duo. They have brought the latest in series of wireless keyboard and mouse called the Companion 6 to India. It offers wireless capabilities with 2.4GHz transmission. This newest wireless range brings in comfort and functionality at work.
Mr. Pradeep Doshi, Director – Zebronics says, “At Zebronics we are always looking for ways to make life easier and the all new wireless combo- Companion 6 complements this by offering freedom, mobility and simplicity. It’s sleek and user friendly design with superior performance at an affordable price point makes Companion 6 an irresistible combination.”
The company has priced the Companion 6 wireless keyboard and mouse combo at Rs 899.
Companion 6 Keyboard
The Companion 6 is designed with a slim and sturdy metallic base to relieve stress and also to prevent injuries. While using the wireless Companion 6 keyboard, the users can rest the palm and can also make two-level height adjustment. This makes your companion comfortable even after long hours of use. The UV coated layout and the keys also extends the durability of the surface.
The keyboard allows instant access to a variety of common applications and tasks. The Rupee key is also available on this keyboard. There are power management options like the power indicator, which indicates the battery voltage when low. It supports sleep mode to save battery as well.
Companion 6 keyboard comes with a spill-resistant structure that avoids damage caused by accidental spills and makes cleaning easy.
Tech Specs of Companion 6 Keyboard
- Wireless range of 10 meters
- Nano dongle
- UV coated layout and keys
- Power indicator will be on (when the battery voltage is too low)
- Comes with Rupee key
- Sleep mode for power saving
- Top mounting battery slot
- Mouse with ergonomic and aesthetical design
- Wireless range of 10 meters
- Nano dongle
- Plug and play
- Compact, lighweight and easy to carry
- Unique On/Off switch (to reduce power consumption)
Airtel tied up with Uber and will provide free Wi-Fi to its rider
Bharti Airtel and Uber have announced a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership in India. Now across India, Uber riders can pay for their trips using the mobile wallet service – Airtel Money. The first one in India to enjoy free high-speed internet from Uber, powered by Airtel 4G. This service will soon be rolled out for Uber riders all over India.
Srini Gopalan, Director – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel said,“Our partnership with Uber is directly in line with our commitment to offer innovative and relevant services for our customers. Now, Uber riders can enjoy the convenience of paying through their Airtel Money wallets, while also experiencing the power of blazing internet speeds with Airtel 4G on the move. We are excited that Uber has chosen Airtel to fulfill its telecom needs, and look forward to supporting the company’s rapid growth across India.”
Amit Jain, President, Uber India said,“We are thrilled to join forces with Airtel to deliver solutions that elevate the Uber experience for riders and drivers throughout India.This unique partnership is built on our shared visions and strengths of broad, reliable networks and connecting people to their world, anytime, anywhere. Airtel is leading the way for wireless connectivity, and as our telecom partner, will help us in our quest toward transforming urban mobility for hundreds of millions of commuters in India.”
Uber is the first technology partner to officially launch Airtel Money and this will provide rider with free payment option. New Uber riders who recharge their Airtel Money wallet will get up to Rs 500 for free. This scheme is there for a limited time only. Starting from Mumbai, every Uber cab in India will soon be equipped with free WiFi, powered by Airtel 4G. Seems like, Uber and Airtel plan to attract more consumers towards high-speed internet and easy transportation.
Indian-origin Canadian Anmol Tukrel claims to have a better search engine than Google
At just 16 years of age, an Indian-origin Canadian citizen named Anmol Tukrel has designed a personalised search engine. Is this search engine accurate? Read on to know more about it.
Anmol Tukrel had designed the new search engine, which is 47% times more accurate than Google. The search engine was designed as part of his high school project and also as the part of the project it had to be submitted to Google Science Fair, which is a global online competition open to students aged 13 to 18 years.
He claims that his search engine is better than Google because it shows most relevant content regarding account location or browsing history. His search engine also tries to understand context and meaning. It took him a few months to design this project and approx. 60 hours to code the search engine.
Anmol Tukrel says, he thought he would do something in the personalized search space. It was the most genius thing ever. But when he realised Google already does it, he tried taking it to the next level.
Some reports say that to test the accuracy of the search engine, Tukrel limited the search query to this year’s articles from the New York Times. Anmol Turkrel’s search engine is about 21% more accurate on an average.
If that is the case, this kid’s future does seem very bright as Google might just pick him up. We have seen Google picking up young talent like him pretty early and getting them on the roles so that no one else scoops them away.
Delhi Police launches SMS alerts service to avoid traffic jams and accidents in the city
To control the ever problematic traffic menace in Delhi, the city’s traffic Police on Friday launched a free SMS alert service for the people.
This service can be subscribed to by sending and SMS with S (Space) DTP (Space) (your name) to 9811452220, the service will then start within 24 hours. The police will then send you information about traffic jams, vehicle breakdowns, water logging, accidents, road blocks, or traffic diversions. And to unsubscribe the service one has to send and SMS to the same number.
Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said “This is an attempt to provide traffic information to commuters before they embark on their journey. The Delhi Police’s traffic unit will work in tandem with associates across the city who will contribute by giving information on traffic concerns. They want to maximise the use of the digital platform to become a smarter police force. This service was run for a few months on trial basis in 2012 also through a private company to test its viability.”
This free SMS alert service is being launched in association with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, who provided bulk SMS service free of cost to the Delhi Police for this purpose, initially for a period of one year, under the Mobile Seva initiative of the government.
The Delhi Police had been doing the same through updates on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The Prime Minister of India, in his address to DGsP/IGsP of states, had called for introduction of it as “SMART” policing. We think this is good move by the Indian Capital’s traffic cops and if successful, should be followed by other states and cities as well.
Lenovo A2010 4G LTE Dual-SIM smartphone gets launched at Rs 4,990
The Chinese smartphone maker, Lenovo has just launched its latest smartphone called the A2010. This smartphone is from their very successful ‘A’ series in India. Lenovo A2010 will be available in black and white colour variants.
Mr. Sudhin Mathur, Director- Smartphones, Lenovo India said, “An Indian consumer is evolved and willing to move with the world. We at Lenovo are looking to bridge the gap between the latest technology and an Indian consumer by offering innovative and future-proof devices easily available to the masses at an affordable price. Lenovo A2010 is a step in this direction.”
The Lenovo A2010 has a 4.5-inch TFT-LCD display. The smartphone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system and comes with dual-SIM support. Lenovo A2010 supports the two available 4G LTE bands in India i.e. FDD 1,800MHz (Band 3) & TDD 2,300MHz (Band 40). It is powered by a 64-bit 1GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6735m processor coupled with 1GB of RAM.
The on-board storage of the Lenovo A2010 accounts to 8GB that can be expanded further via microSD card up to 32GB. The device features a 5-megapixel rear camera with advanced LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Lenovo A2010 features 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and USB as connectivity options. The device houses a 2,000 mAh battery to keep it alive.
The company has priced the Lenovo K3 Note at Rs 4,990 and it will be available exclusively on Flipkart, as far as online sales are concerned. The registrations for the sale have already begun on Flipkart. The Lenovo A2010 (black version) will go on sale on 3 September, 2015 at 3pm.
Techs Specs of Lenovo A2010
- Network supported: 4G LTE
- Display size: TFT-LCD 4.50-inch display
- Operating system: Android 5.1 Lollipop OS
- CPU: Quad-Core 1.0GHz processor (64-bit)
- Chipset: MediaTek MT6735m
- RAM: 1GB
- Memory: 8GB internal memory & add up to 32GB via microSD card
- Camera: Rear camera 5-megapixel and secondary camera 2-megapixel
- Dimensions: 50x 66.50 x 9.95mm
- Weight: 137g
- Battery: 2,000 mAh
Moto G3 review: Staggering battery performance at an affordable price blew us away, did we mention its waterproof too
The segment of phones around the 10K mark has been a heated one since a year or so now. Mostly because people of tier 2 and 3 towns in India have a budget around that, when it comes to smartphones purchase. Also, then there is the reasoning that the youth wants to upgrade a phone after 1-2 years of use, so why spend more. Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure that this segment of mobiles phones is where all the action is.
Moto G3 also known as Moto G third gen is one of the latest launches in the segment. We got our hands on this 4G ready device and have been playing around with it since a little while now. Here is our review of this neat little smartphone that provides the perfect bang for your buck. Read on to know more.
Design
Motorola has been an innovator since day one. Let’s not forget they are the ones who introduced the world to the wonders of mobile telephony. The Moto G3 is not a fabulous, nevertheless a good device to look at. It has its own set of design features that sets it apart from the others. We got the white version to review and at first we thought, gosh this smartphone will get dirty easily. However, to our astonishment it does not. If you manage to put a smudge on the back panel, you can easily wipe it off. Thanks the light grooves on it. All the muck just goes away with a light wipe of a cloth.
The front of the Moto G3 sports a 5-inch HD display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Above that the users get a front camera with proximity sensors and at the bottom Motorola has placed the loudspeaker. The power and volume keys are located on the right of the phone, while the charging port is at the bottom and the audio jack is at the top. As said before, we are great admirers of audio jacks on top as one can slide the phone in the front trouser pocket and connect the headphones to listen to music without any worry.
A rounded silver rim runs on the sides of the Moto G3. The back panel holds a 13 MP camera right in the middle that has a silver trim around it going down an inch with the Motorola logo on it. The logo has a slight indent that makes the user hold the phone in a better manner. Remove the back panel and you will find 2 SIM slots and a microSD card slot. The battery cannot be removed on this phone. You ask why? That’s because this phone is water proof. You can drop it in water and nothing will happen to it. Just remember not to keep it there for more than 30 minutes or water will start to seep in.
Performance
The Moto G3 is a phone that is not the best performer out there, but can run easily with the big boys. Under the hood Moto G3 has a Qulacomm Snapdragon 410 chipset that has a 1.4 GHz Quad-core cortex A53 CPU and 2GB RAM on it. For storage users get 16 GB memory, out of which only about 11.8 GB is available for use. If you need more, you can install a microSD card on it (up to 32 GB).
We ran few mid to high-end games on it and the phone did not flicker. It managed most of them well. Heating was a bit of an issue with some games, nonetheless it would cool down quickly once you shut them off.
Moto G3 has a 13 MP rear camera with auto focus and dual LED flash. This camera is a treat to work with. The colour reproduction is great and one can easily take good HD videos at 30 FPS. The front camera has a 5 MP sensor on the Moto G3, which is not bad either. We quite loved clicking images indoors and outdoors. For low light we used the flash and results were pretty good.
We tested the Moto G3 with Antutu benchmark and it scored 24,068 points. Not bad for a phone at this price. The phone comes with Android 5 Lollipop OS and its native apps. If you are shifting from a previous Android phone, then you might feel some things are missing as this is just the native and basic OS skin supplied by Google. However, the Play store is now overflowing with thousands of apps to take care of all your needs. If you want a feature on the phone, we are pretty sure you will find the right app for it there.
Verdict
The screen of the Moto G3 is the department where we felt the phone could have done better. The response time is a bit low and colours could have also been better with deeper blacks. Motorola has added few neat features on the Moto G3. Some worth mentioning include the double downward flick. This turns on the flash light. Another gesture one can do is to quickly open the camera when in standby mode. Just swoop flick the phone away from you and it turns on the camera. For this to happen swiftly one would need to practice a little.
All this is good, but what really blew us away is the impressive battery life. The 2,470 mAh battery lasted for almost 48 hours straight with normal daily calling and Wi-Fi on. Now that is what we need from a mobile phone. This phone is worth every penny spent on it. This is our recommendation of the month and one can pick this water proof marvel with closed eyes.
Pros
Excellent battery life
Inexpensive
Good Cameras
Cons
Screen not the best
Slight heating issues
Performance
The Moto G3 is a phone that is not the best performer out there, but can run easily with the big boys. Under the hood Moto G3 has a Qulacomm Snapdragon 410 chipset that has a 1.4 GHz Quad-core cortex A53 CPU and 2GB RAM on it. For storage users get 16 GB memory, out of which only about 11.8 GB is available for use. If you need more, you can install a microSD card on it (up to 32 GB).
We ran few mid to high-end games on it and the phone did not flicker. It managed most of them well. Heating was a bit of an issue with some games, nonetheless it would cool down quickly once you shut them off.
Moto G3 has a 13 MP rear camera with auto focus and dual LED flash. This camera is a treat to work with. The colour reproduction is great and one can easily take good HD videos at 30 FPS. The front camera has a 5 MP sensor on the Moto G3, which is not bad either. We quite loved clicking images indoors and outdoors. For low light we used the flash and results were pretty good.
We tested the Moto G3 with Antutu benchmark and it scored 24,068 points. Not bad for a phone at this price. The phone comes with Android 5 Lollipop OS and its native apps. If you are shifting from a previous Android phone, then you might feel some things are missing as this is just the native and basic OS skin supplied by Google. However, the Play store is now overflowing with thousands of apps to take care of all your needs. If you want a feature on the phone, we are pretty sure you will find the right app for it there.
Verdict
The screen of the Moto G3 is the department where we felt the phone could have done better. The response time is a bit low and colours could have also been better with deeper blacks. Motorola has added few neat features on the Moto G3. Some worth mentioning include the double downward flick. This turns on the flash light. Another gesture one can do is to quickly open the camera when in standby mode. Just swoop flick the phone away from you and it turns on the camera. For this to happen swiftly one would need to practice a little.
All this is good, but what really blew us away is the impressive battery life. The 2,470 mAh battery lasted for almost 48 hours straight with normal daily calling and Wi-Fi on. Now that is what we need from a mobile phone. This phone is worth every penny spent on it. This is our recommendation of the month and one can pick this water proof marvel with closed eyes.
Pros
Excellent battery life
Inexpensive
Good Cameras
Cons
Screen not the best
Slight heating issues Karbonn launches Aura 9 Android smartphone with support for 21 languages at Rs 6,390
The domestic smartphone manufacturer Karbonn has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of yet another budget smartphone dubbed as ‘Aura 9’. The company has priced the smartphone for Rs 6,390 and it will be available in White and Navy Blue colour options.
Talking about the specifications, the Karbonn Aura 9 features a 5-inch IPS display with 854×480 pixels resolution. The dual SIM smartphone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. Powering the device is 1.2GHz quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM. The internal storage of the smartphone stands at 8GB which can be expanded up to 32GB using a microSD card.
The Karbonn Aura 9 smartphone sports an 8.0-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5.0-megapixel front facing camera. The smartphone packs in a massive 4,000 mAh battery and offers 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS as connectivity options. The device has support for 21 languages and also offers Gesture Control to access apps with the screen locked.
Kingston launches the stylish HyperX Cloud Core II Gaming headphones in India
Kingston is slightly new to the gaming headset world. But, that has not stopped them to launch yet another good looking headphone in the form of HyperX Cloud Core II. These headphones are specially built for the professional gamers, musicians and music lovers. These headphones are designed to produce unsurpassed sound quality.
The Kingston HyperX Cloud Core II features a USB sound card audio control box that amplifies audio and voice for an amazing Hi-Fi gaming experience. The headphone’s audio and microphone volume control lets the users adjust not only the sound volume, but also the mic volume. The keys also enable a user to easily toggle Surround Sound 7.1 or the mic sound on and off. These smart headsets also let you figure out where your enemy is in the game and strike before he sees you coming.
The company says the Kingston headphones provide a user with unique style, ultimate comfort and rugged durability. These headphones have a wide, padded headband that offers comfort to a user. The closed-ear design ensures users hear every note clearly.
With the headset, one can get a spare pair of ear cups (cloth or faux leather), USB controller cord with volume control, a detachable microphone, a dual 3.5 jack adapter and a bag to carry all these things.
The HyperX Cloud Core II Gaming Headphones are available at Amazon for Rs 8,999.
Tech Specs
- Wearing Style: Around Ear
- Colours: Available in black-red and white-pink
- USB Audio / 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound
- 53mm Drivers
- Leather or Velour Ear Pads
- Detachable Microphone
- Compatible With PC, PS4 and Xbox One
GUESS tied up with Martian to bring its first GUESS CONNECT smartwatch to India
GUESS is well-known for recreating fashion and lifestyle products. They have partnered with Martian Watches (a California based award-winning developer of fashionable smartwatches) and have just announced the debut of its latest wearable tech timepiece called the GUESS CONNECT. This fashion chic smartwatch line is designed for both men and women.
The GUESS CONNECT smartwatches will feature Martian’s dual mode functionality. This Martian module would sport a microphone and clear audio speaker as well. The GUESS CONNECT smartwatches will also allow users to connect to their smartphone’s resident voice command app. With this feature, the users can give voice commands, talk and listen, and respond to texts and emails directly from the watch.
The buyers will be getting free iOS and Android App with the watch. By using this free iOS and Android app, users can customize which notifications are received on the watch. They can create unique vibration patterns to distinguish between alert types and can easily recall the most recent notifications with just a tap of the watch glass.
The company will be launching the GUESS CONNECT smartwatch in India by this October. The price will be announced soon.
Technical Specifications
- Analog quartz watch with Japanese movement
- Upper command/lower select pushers
- Noise-Cancellation Microphone
- Directional Personal Speaker with adjustable volume
- OLED display
- Bluetooth® 4.0 chip (classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy)
- RGB LED light
- Adjustable Vibrating Motor
- Free iOS/Android app for settings & features
- Dual power sources: 3-5 days of use time & analog watch battery for up to 2 years
- Charging via micro USB.
Make in India: Lenovo and Motorola to start local manufacturing of smartphones in India
Lenovo and Motorola have just announced that they will start the local manufacturing of smartphones in Sriperambudur, Chennai. Both, Lenovo and Motorola will generate a capacity of 6 million units.
Chen Xudong, President MBG Group, Lenovo and Chairman Motorola Mobility Operating Board, said “Lenovo is not new to manufacturing in India. We recognized the potential of India and we invested in PC manufacturing several years ago. Lenovo’s investment in the new manufacturing plant represents the potential we see in the Indian market and our long term commitment to our customers. In the past ten years, our brand has grown manifold in India. We are excited to expand our presence and tap into India’s competent talent pool that will enable us to develop cutting-edge products for our customers across the world.”
The campus will house 1,500 workers for manufacturing lines, quality assurance, product testing, etc. Both the companies will have separate manufacturing lines at the same facility. The Lenovo and Motorola brands have returned to manufacture in India to support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Both the companies have started integrating the manufacturing and supply chain operations.
Let’s see, how well this will work for both of them in the near future. Hopefully the prices of the smartphones will come down further after this move.
Micromax Canvas Tab P690 Review: A good looking tablet at Rs 8,999
Micromax, the smartphone and tablet manufacturer has got yet another tablet in the Indian market that is in the budget segment. Called the Micromax Canvas Tab P690, we got to review it recently and this is what we could make of it.
Design
The Micromax Canvas Tab P690 is available in metallic grey colour. The tablets grey metal back panel is grippy and one can hold the tablet nicely. This back grey metal is extended to the side panel that gives this tablet the edge over others. There is also a white Micromax logo on the back, adding to the whole show. Overall, the design is pretty competitive and gives this one an expensive look.
The Micromax Canvas Tab P690 features an 8-inch LCD IPS display. This LCD IPS display is ideal for reading e-books and one can even watch movies on it as the colours look real on the screen. The tablet is not that heavy, it has only 318g weight and it is 7.8mm thick.
The power button is located on the right side of the tablet along with the volume key. The SIM and microSD slots are placed a little away on the same side. Both, the USB port and a 3.5mm headset jack are located at the top of the tablet. The primary camera is on the top left (rear) of the tablet. A neat pair of headphones also come in the box that take care of the users resonance needs.
Performance
At this level performance does matter. The Micromax Canvas Tab P690 has an Intel Atom 1.83GHz Quad-Core 64-bit processor that comes with 1GB of RAM. Together they try to make the applications and services run as smoothly as possible. This tablet has 8GB of internal memory of which only 3.81GB is free for users to store files as the rest is taken by the operating system and default apps. However, there is the option to add up to 32GB microSD card to store additional files.
The Micromax Canvas Tab P690 sensors list includes accelerometer sensor, proximity sensor, gravity sensor and ambient light sensor. The primary camera of the tablet can capture 5-megapixel still images. For selfies, there is a 2-megapixel secondary camera. The picture quality was not up to the mark but the Macro shots were quite good.
We were able to play most apps and mid-end games on the tablet without any hassles. But, the tablet hangs a lot while playing high-end games and one can’t enjoy the game at this level. We faced no problems when it came to audio and call quality on the Micromax Canvas Tab P690. The supplied headphones are really nice. Screen, image and video quality is also above average and we quite liked what we saw.
Moving on to its battery life, the Micromax Canvas Tab P690 has 4,000 mAh non-removable battery inside it. But, it can barely stay awake for a full day. We tested the tablet with Quadrant and it managed to score 12,976 points, we were expecting a bit more.
Verdict
The Micromax Canvas Tab P690 looks good and it is built for the youngsters. It has the Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS, which can get upgraded to Lollipop OS. It comes with a lot of preloaded apps. The experience was quite smooth throughout. One can get the Micromax Canvas Tab P690 for Rs 8,999.
Pros
- Quite affordable
- Stylish compact design
- Decent performance
- Average battery life
- Camera without flash
- Comes with Android KitKat OS
- Network supported: 2G and 3G
- Display size: LCD IPS 8-inch display
- Operating system: Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS
- CPU: Intel Atom 83GHz Quad-Core processor
- RAM: 1GB
- Memory: 8GB (memory can be expanded up to 32GB via micro SD card)
- Camera: Rear camera 5MP and 2MP secondary camera
- Dimensions:8 x 120.5 x 7.8mm
- Weight: 318g
- Battery: 4,000 mAh (non-removable)
YU Yureka Plus Review: A stunning smartphone at an affordable price
Yureka brand by the Indian handset maker Micromax was written off by many at the start. However, the handset maker is doing decently well and the market is slowly waking up to them. The latest smartphone from their house is the Yu Yureka Plus. Want to know about it a little more? Read on.
Design
The YU Yureka Plus is available in white and moon dust grey colours. We received a grey unit for review and quite liked it. The Yureka Plus’s body is supported by a rubberized plastic frame, which is curved all over and has rounded corners. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 over a 5.5-inch display and is very comfortable to use with just one hand. The phone is very light and easy to use.
At the back of the mobile phone, we have a removable plastic panel that fits well with the frame. Under this removable plastic panel, there is a removable battery, two Micro SIM card slots and a Micro SD card slot. At the back, you will also see the camera lens. The power button is located on the right side of the phone and the volume rocker key is located on the left side. The USB port is located at the bottom of the phone and the 3.5mm headset jack is located at the top of the mobile phone. A neat pair of headphones also come in the box.
Performance
The Yureka Plus has a 1.5GHz Octa-Core processor that comes along with 2GB of RAM for applications and services. The users also get 16GB of internal memory to store files. Over that, there is the option to add up to a 32GB via a microSD card. All this runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615. For graphics an Adreno 405 is also on board. The smartphone features HTML5 for browsing. Other features include Gyroscope sensor, Accelerometer sensor, Qualcomm’s quick charge technology and Cyanogen 12.
The primary camera of Yureka Plus can capture 13-megapixel still images and 1080p videos. For selfies, there is a 5-megapixel front camera. The camera captures very decent pictures but in low light and dark areas, the picture quality was not desirable. The camera requires sufficient amount of light for a beautiful snap. A feature worth mentioning here is that the rear camera can autofocus and also comes with a LED flash.
Games, music apps and video galleries ran extremely well. But, the mobile phone heats up really fast. We faced no problems when it came to the audio and call quality on the Yu Yureka Plus. The supplied headphones get the job done and one can hear the beats clearly. Screen, image and video quality is above average.
Stepping towards its battery life, the YU Yureka Plus does not manage to stay awake for a long duration. With 2,500 mAh battery inside it, it worked for 18 hours after a full charge (under nominal use). We tested the phone with Quadrant and it managed to score 23,304 points that puts it right in the middle of the stack.
Verdict
The YU Yureka Plus has good voice quality and also has some great features in it. It has the latest Android Lollipop 5.0.2 with Cyanogen 12 and some excellent apps such as Audio FX and YUniverse browser. The skin enhances everything from the security to the UI design. The experience was pretty much smooth throughout. The company has priced the Yu Yureka Plus at Rs 10,999.
Pros
- Quite affordable
- Decent performance
- 2GB of RAM
- Neat Design
- Average camera performance
- Average battery life
- Phone heats up really fast
Creative launches its latest EP-600m high performance earphones in India
Creative is a leading worldwide manufacturer of digital entertainment products and they are trying to bring good products to the Indian market. They have just launched the Creative EP-600m. These high performance ear plugs feature noise-isolation, dynamic bass and clear audio playback.
The company says that the Creative EP-600m deliver amazing well-balanced audio playback powered by a pair of 10mm Neodymium drivers. This headset also comes with inline microphone, which supports voice pick-up for calls. So, one can easily switch between their calls and music playback. The Creative EP-600m not only ensures maximum sound isolation, but also provides comfort for hours of listening.
The company has priced the Creative EP-600m headset at Rs 799.
Micromax Canvas Selfie 2 and Canvas Selfie 3 smartphones make their debut in India
Micromax is trying to bring decent mobile phones at affordable price for youngsters in India. They are continuously bringing good Android mobiles one after the other. And now, they have just launched two new smartphones in the Canvas Selfie range, which are Canvas Selfie 2 and Canvas Selfie 3. Both the smartphones offer a perfect combination of innovation, style and performance with the premium front and rear cameras with various shooting modes.
Mr. Vineet Taneja, CEO, Micromax Informatics, said, “With over 93 million selfies being captured every day, people today take and retake pictures of themselves until it mirrors perfection and what they want the world to see them as. Keeping this in mind, we have created our Canvas Selfie range which has received tremendous response from our young consumers with Canvas Selfie. Taking the selfie craze to the next level, we are proud to announce the two new smartphones which are ideal for the users delivering fantastic images and equipping them with great beauty editing tools to look their best always.”
Micromax Canvas Selfie 2
The Micromax Canvas Selfie 2 flaunts a 5-inch FWVGA IPS display. The device runs an Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system. Powering the smartphone is a Quad-Core 1.3GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The on-board storage of the smartphone accounts to 8GB that can be expanded further via a microSD card.
The new Canvas Selfie 2 sports a 5MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The smartphone comes with the Face Beauty mode, which lets the users balance facial features, soften complexions and remove skin blemishes. The smartphone offers 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth as connectivity options and it packs a 2,000 mAh battery (non-removable) to keep it alive.
The company has priced the new Micromax Canvas Selfie 2 at Rs 5,999 and will be available for both online and offline consumers by August 22.
Micromax Canvas Selfie 3
The Micromax Canvas Selfie 3 comes equipped with a 4.8-inch HD Amoled display. Powering the smartphone is a Quad-Core 1.3GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The on-board storage of the smartphone accounts to 8GB that can be expanded further via microSD card.
The Micromax Canvas Selfie 3 sports an 8MP front camera with Blue Glasses 5P Largan Lens and an 8MP rear camera. Both the cameras tag a LED flash (each) with them. The device also features beauty mode, gesture, panorama, night shot, one key shot and 78 degrees wide angle selfie. Micromax Canvas 3 also comes with a Bluetooth enabled Selfie stick.
The smartphone will be available in five funky back and front colours, which consist of Blue, Green, Purple, Sky Blue and Yellow. This smartphone offers 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth as connectivity options and houses a 2,300 mAh battery (non-removable).
The company has not yet revealed the price of Micromax Canvas Selfie 3, but it will be available for the Indian consumers by the last week of August.
Tech Specs of Micromax Canvas Selfie 2- Q340
The Micromax Canvas Selfie 3 comes equipped with a 4.8-inch HD Amoled display. Powering the smartphone is a Quad-Core 1.3GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The on-board storage of the smartphone accounts to 8GB that can be expanded further via microSD card.
The Micromax Canvas Selfie 3 sports an 8MP front camera with Blue Glasses 5P Largan Lens and an 8MP rear camera. Both the cameras tag a LED flash (each) with them. The device also features beauty mode, gesture, panorama, night shot, one key shot and 78 degrees wide angle selfie. Micromax Canvas 3 also comes with a Bluetooth enabled Selfie stick.
The smartphone will be available in five funky back and front colours, which consist of Blue, Green, Purple, Sky Blue and Yellow. This smartphone offers 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth as connectivity options and houses a 2,300 mAh battery (non-removable).
The company has not yet revealed the price of Micromax Canvas Selfie 3, but it will be available for the Indian consumers by the last week of August.
Tech Specs of Micromax Canvas Selfie 2- Q340
- Android 5.0 Lollipop OS
- 5-inch FWVGA IPS Screen
- CPU: Quad-Core 1.3GHz processor
- RAM: 1GB
- ROM: 8GB (expandable via microSD card)
- 5MP Rear Camera with OV Sensor (OV5648) and 4P Lens
- 5MP Front Camera With OV sensor (OV5670) and 4P lens
- Camera with face detection, HDR mode and face beauty mode
- Battery: 2,000 mAh
- 8-inch HD AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla glass 3
- CPU: Quad-Core1.3GHz processor
- RAM: 1GB
- ROM: 8GB
- 8MP Rear Camera with Blue Glasses 5P Largan Lens
- 8MP front camera with Sony MX179 and LED flash
- Camera with Gesture, Face beauty, panorama, night shot and one key shot features
- Bluetooth enables selfie stick
- Battery: 2,300 mAh
Guessing game is over, the next gen of Google mobile OS is called Android Marshmallow
About time the search giant Google revealed the final consumer name for its next generation of mobile operating system. Google has finally given the name Marshmallow to its new operating system for smartphones. The company revealed the name on its developer’s blog along with the final SDK version of the operating system.
Jamal Eason, Product Manager, Android said “Today with the final Developer Preview update, we’re introducing the official Android 6.0 SDK and opening Google Play for publishing your apps that target the new API level 23 in Android Marshmallow,”
There will be some new features added to the operating system that will enable the smartphone makers to easily incorporate things such as fingerprint scanner or an upgraded doze power saving mode.
Jamal also added “Classes for detecting and parsing bar codes are available in the com.google.android.gms.vision.barcode namespace. The BarcodeDetector class is the main workhorse — processing Frame objects to return a SparseArray<Barcode> types.”
We for one are looking forward to the Marshmallow upgrade. Reports do suggest that the phones from Motorola’s camp and Nexus series will be the first to get the upgrade followed by the rest in the coming months.
Fitbit rolls out its universal app for Windows 10 platform
The manufacturer of wearable activity tracker Fitbit has introduced its universal app for the Windows 10 platform. The company stated that the app is compatible with PCs, laptops and tablets.
Speaking about the app, James Park, CEO and Chairman, Fitbit, said, “With the new Windows 10 app, we worked closely with Microsoft to give Windows users an even easier way to access, utilize and interact with the information that matters most to them, across all their Windows devices, to further support them in their fitness journey.”
The new Fitbit app for Windows 10 also offers support for Cortana’s voice commands and Continuum. The app is designed to allow the users to have a personalized interaction related to their health and fitness across various Windows 10 devices. The app also enables the users to track their steps, activity, exercise, sleep, weight and food.
The Fitbit app also delivers notifications and the activity updates are highlighted on the Live Tile. The dashboard of the app gives detailed information related to users’ daily routines, and quick actions enabling activity tracking and logging. The users can also sync the Bluetooth across various Windows 10 devices.
BlackBerry launches P’9983 Porsche design luxury smartphone for Rs 99,990
BlackBerry has introduced a new Porsche Design luxury smartphone in India dubbed as ‘P’9983’. The smartphone was originally announced last year in September and comes with a price tag of Rs 99,990. The smartphone has various colour elements and a hand-wrapped leather back cover. The device also has an exclusive keypad crafted with glass like keys along with a graphite stainless steel colour frame.
Speaking about the new smartphone, Hitesh Shah, Director – Sales and Distribution, at BlackBerry India, said, “With the launch of the new P’9983 Graphite from BlackBerry, we bring a unique stylish smartphone combined with the superior productivity and ultimate security experience of BlackBerry 10 technology for our Indian consumers. This new smartphone is custom-built for power professionals aiming to make a style statement while not willing to compromise on effective communication and collaboration.”
On the specification front, the BlackBerry ‘P’9983’ features a 3.1-inch OLED display with 720×720 pixels resolution. The smartphone runs on BlackBerry 10 OS and has touchscreen navigation with full QWERTY physical keyboard. Powering the device is a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon (MSM8960) processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. The internal storage of the device accounts to 64GB which can be expanded up to 128GB using a microSD card.
The smartphone flaunts an 8.0-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a 2.0-megapixel front facing camera for clicking selfies. The connectivity options of the smartphone include 4G, LTE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooht, NFC, Micro HDMI, GPS and packs in a 2,100 mAh battery.
YUFit Fitness band review: A cool rubberized fitness tracking wristband at an affordable price
The new generation of people are not getting enough time for fitness activities as their schedules are usually very busy. So, in order to stay fit and healthy, one can easily get a fitness wearable. These bands are getting very popular among the masses these days.
One such fitness tracker came to us in the form of YUFit Fitness band. This band acts as a personal trainer who will always be with you. We spent a good few days with it and this is what we found out.
Design
The YUFit Fitness band is only available in black colour option. To be frank this fitness band has a plain look. The YUFit fitness rubberized band comes with an adjustable strap that can fit on any wrist. This strap has an aluminium clip, which enables the users to adjust its size according to their wrist. Thanks to the rubber body one does not need to worry about sweat or water seeping into the tracker. The OLED display on the top of the tracker provides real-time notifications in a convenient and handy way. The display panel has a plastic covering on top of it, which ensures protection of the device from scratches. The YUFit band does not weigh much, which makes it comfortable to wear all the time.
Tap the device once and the YuFit band comes to life. The touch-sensitive smart key on the tracker helps users to navigate across few pre-set options such as steps taken, calories burnt and more. The activity tracker is right in the middle of the strap and can be easily removed for a quick charge. To charge the device, this activity tracker has two tiny pins under it. The device boots up very quickly and charges up fast too.
Performance
The YUFit Fitness band comes into action when the user downloads the YUFit app on their smart devices. One has to download another app called HealthifyMe for it to functiona fully. This app helps users keep an eye on the calories they are consuming with the help of its database that includes Indian snacks and food. The app is compatible with most Android smartphones and will show you things like calories burnt and distance travelled. The smart band also shows the time besides alerting users about incoming messages and calls.
The YUFit app uses Bluetooth to sync the info between the phone and the band. So one ends up using a wee-bit extra power of the smartphone as well. Users can set goals and work towards them. Battery of the device was good and we rarely had to charge it.
Verdict
Overall, the experience with the YUFit Fitness band was not that bad, and we quite liked it. Consumers can get the YUFit Fitness band at Rs 999, which is quite affordable. There are many other fitness tracking bands in the Indian market, but having an OLED display at this price along with good features makes this fitness piece worth buying.
Pros
- Quite affordable
- OLED display panel
- Real-time notification alerts
- Decent battery life
- Limited to Android
- Less accurate
- Low-range Bluetooth antenna
Google Drive enables users to launch files directly using web viewer
The search engine giant Google has now rolled out a feature which will enable the users to launch files directly from the Google Drives web viewer. As per a report by Engadget, the users who have a viewer on their browser can open a file by right clicking on the file in order to preview it. Along with this, the users can access the ‘Open with’ option from the drop down menu to see the apps they can use.
Prior to this, the users were only able to launch the files within the applications on the PCs or Mac from the Google Drive folder.
The users are required to have Google Drive installed on their computer in the latest version which is v. 1.23+. After this the users just need to sync their files, which will help them in accessing the contents of the Drive’s contents in a faster manner.