Author: Bharat Nagpal

#LetsTalkShop : Asim Warsi Talks Samsung Mobile India

Samsung has been leading the smartphone and tablet race for the past couple of years and this year they don’t want to be left behind. However, the company has been dealing with a lot of flack in India pertaining to the fact that they continue to make devices that are made entirely of Plastic or the fact that India does not see Snapdragon chipsets or LTE enabled devices.

As Vice President, Mobile & IT of Samsung India, Asim Warsi also heads the Korean company’s mobility division.

A difficult man to get hold of, Asim was kind and candid enough to meet us and answer some of our questions for everyone who has been asking them.

“The company is excited about the new Tab S devices because, it is a refinement of Samsung’s tablet series” – he said. Bringing attention, to the high resolution Super Amoled display, the company has managed to make for these devices.

Asim Warsi is very confident about the fact that going forward the company will have 4G devices, and introduced the Tab S series as their first LTE enabled tablets. He was eager to tell us that Samsung is working on a whole slew of 4G enabled devices, and we will see them soon enough.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Asim Warsi” author_title=”Vice President, Mobile & IT, Samsung India“]

We are working on a whole lineup of LTE devices in the coming months

[/quote]

Samsung may work out an arrangement in the near future to maybe offer options between 3G and 4G devices enabling the customer to make his own decisions at the time of purchase.

Asim Warsi says working at Samsung is not scary or daunting, especially not the way I (Bharat Nagpal) would describe it, he says that its a work ethic environment and driven company and hence they have reached where they have in such a short period. He says it’s not about Military Precision its about “Nuclear Precision”.

Watch the full video below for the juiciest bits.

July 12, 2014

Hands On with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4

Samsung has constantly held its position in the tablet market, a market where many have come and failed. The company has seemingly changed its perception toward the way they will devices going forward, and the first look comes from the new Tab S series of devices.

One thing that we appreciate a lot is that the Tab S 8.4 is a true little brother of the Tab S 10.5 where both slates have identical specifications from processor to display resolution and even the internal RAM and storage. What differs is the size of the screen and the battery capacity which are both reduced from the 10.5 incher to get the desired size needed for the Tab S 8.4 .

The display is just phenomenal, it’s like taking the display of the Note 3 and blowing it up to fit the size and then adding 4 times the pixels. Its bright, extremely vivid and beautifully saturated. It is also a pretty large Super AMOLED display, considering a couple of years back Samsung was dealing with issues manufacturing a 4 inch Super AMOLED panel with Full HD capabilities.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.4 comes with a 8.4 inch 2560 x 1600 pixel display that is simply awe-inspiring. The company is also calling it the highlight of the tablet as the usual features from the previous generation tend to follow suit.

The back panel on the Tab S 8.4 is also a “Smarter and Larger” version of what we saw on the Galaxy S5, even though it looks much more classier and cleaner on the tablets and especially so on the Tab S 8.4 in the titanium copper colour.

SPECIFICATIONS	GALAXY TAB S 10.5-INCH	GALAXY TAB S 8.4-INCH
BATTERY CAPACITY:	7,900(mAh)	4900(mAh)
DISPLAY	10.5-inch Super AMOLED display Resolution:2560 x 1600 pixels	8.4-inch Super AMOLED display Resolution: 2560 x 1600 pixels
CAMERA	Rear camera: 8-megapixel Flash: LED Front camera: 2-megapixel	Rear camera: 8-megapixel Flash: LED Front camera: 2-megapixel
RAM	3GB	3GB
PROCESSOR	Octa-Core Exynos 5 (A15 1.9 GHz & A7 1.3 GHz)	Octa-Core Exynos 5 (A15 1.9 GHz & A7 1.3 GHz)
INTERNAL STORAGE	16GB/32GB expanded up to 128GB	16GB/32GB expanded up to 128GB
SOFTWARE	Android 4.4 Kitkat	Android 4.4 Kitkat

July 12, 2014

Hands On : Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and 8.4

Samsung is ready to take on the iPad, yet again, with its new slew of tablets. The Galaxy Tab S is a reboot of what Samsung has been doing in terms of the overall feel of the tablets.

The new tablets are aimed at the Rs. 35-40 thousand price bracket, with pre orders already open on Samsung’s E Store.

The Tab S 10.5 and Tabs 8.4 both run on the Exynos 5 Octa chipset, have 3 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB storage capacities, infact both have almost the exact same specs except for the size of the screen. See the full details below.

Specifications	Galaxy Tab S 10.5-inch	Galaxy Tab S 8.4-inch
Battery capacity:	7,900(mAh)	4900(mAh)
DISPLAY	10.5-inch Super AMOLED display Resolution:2560 x 1600 pixels	8.4-inch Super AMOLED display Resolution: 2560 x 1600 pixels
CAMERA	Rear camera: 8-megapixel Flash: LED Front camera: 2-megapixel	Rear camera: 8-megapixel Flash: LED Front camera: 2-megapixel
RAM	3GB	3GB
Processor	Octa-Core Exynos 5 (A15 1.9 GHz & A7 1.3 GHz)	Octa-Core Exynos 5 (A15 1.9 GHz & A7 1.3 GHz)
Internal Storage	16GB/32GB expanded up to 128GB	16GB/32GB expanded up to 128GB
Software	Android 4.4 Kitkat	Android 4.4 Kitkat

In terms of look and feel these tablets are much nicer looking than expected, they feel premium and look the part. The Tab S is extremely slim at 6.6 mm and extremely lightweight at just 467 gms for the LTE variant 10.5 inch Galaxy Tab S.

Samsung has also cut down on the bloatware and offers some interesting productivity apps and services to the user out of the box – free of cost. The Tab S devices run Android KitKat 4.4.2 out of the box with a proposed Android L update shortly after the final release.

Initial impression of the screen will simply blow you away, the screen is very sharp and thanks to it being a Super AMOLED the colours look very alive and vivid.

Stay tuned for our full round up.

July 10, 2014

Breaking : Google Nexus 8 spotted on Indian Import Manifest

Is this the next Nexus tablet the Nexus 8 being shipped to India? The import database shows a Nexus 8 prototype (marked as being similar to Nexus 7) shipped from USA to Bangalore via Air shipment.

No information is let out on the specifications of the device, but here are a few things we do get to know, the Nexus 8 is real and will be 8 inches, the price is estimated to be between Rs. 18,000-20,000 keeping in mind previous similar leaks and final pricing.

The manifest makes the tablet as “similar to the Nexus 7” possibly to make it easier for customs to release the device with whatever fixed charges they might have for an already established unit.

In conversation with HTC’s Faisal Siddiqui , he was mum on their work in tablets, unlike previous occasions when HTC would continue to reinforce that “they are a mobile phone company”.

Either way, with an estimated under Rs. 20,000 price for the entry level variant , an 8 inch tablet built by HTC sounds more promising. Even more than the Google Nexus 7 of 2013

July 8, 2014
India’s upcoming floating Solar Farm

India is in a major energy crisis. With the population multiplying on a daily basis the need for cheap forms of electricity have become a must. India has large plans, whether politically invoked or not; we might be one of the first few nations with a large chunk of renewable electricity sources.

About five years ago large parts of the Thar desert in Rajasthan and surrounding areas was sanctioned for subsidised privately run solar farms. The land was practically given for free, and an energy reclaim of Rs. 5/ KW (8 cents approximately) was promised to the solar energy companies that were supposed to be set up.

The project is yet to see the light of day. However, sources tell us that the work is still underway.

Meanwhile, a new project in the southern state of Kerala is said to lead the Solar energy revolution in India, thanks to the abundance of sun and large water bodies. A new 50MW plant built entirely on 1.27 million square meter floating platform in Kerala is said already to be in the works. The plant has been approved by the NHPC and will get commissioned in October of 2014. (Yes this year).

This Solar Farm project will provide cheap and renewable electricity to about 18,000 homes. After the states announcement on building two lakh megawatt of solar power generation capacity, the price of barren solar usable land rose this quarter by tenfold, building a plant on water will be cheap for the government as well as the people enjoying the electricity.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”SP Gon Choudhury” author_title=”chairman of the Renewable Energy College”]

Each station would require around 3,000 square feet of space to generate 20 kilowatt of power. There are many water bodies that could be used for this

[/quote]

The total project is estimated to cost between Rs 350 crore and Rs 400 crore, the Renewable Energy College will assist in sourcing material till commissioning of the plant.
The first phase of this Solar Farm, estimated to cost Rs 35 lakh, has been fully funded by the ministry of new and renewable energy and is expected to generate around 12 kilowatt of power to begin with by October 2014.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”SP Gon Choudhury” author_title=”Chairman of the Renewable Energy College”]

The ecology of the water body is not likely to be affected much, and it will also reduce evaporation, thus helping preserve water levels during extreme summer. Solar panels installed on land, face reduction of yield as the ground heats up. When such panels are installed on a floating platform, the heating problem is solved to a great extent

[/quote]

The yield on these panels is expected to be 20% higher than land based solar power plants. The overall capital cost for such solar projects will be around Rs 6.5 crores per megawatt, which will bring down costs of electricity to Rs 7 / unit. This price will then be further regularised by the state electricity board.

With the large availability of Sun energy in the country, the future may finally hold a strong supply of electricity for everyone, everywhere!

July 7, 2014
Exclusive : Hands On with Gionee’s S5.5 KitKat Update

Gionee will be pushing out Android KitKat Update version 4.4.2 with the new Amigo UI to some devices in the coming days (as told to us by Arvind Vohra in our LetsTalkShop ).

The first two devices to get the said update are the CTRL V5 and Gionee Elife S5.5, while most owners of the V5 should already be getting update notifications, owners of the Elife S5.5 will soon get a notification for the proposed update.

We went hands on with the Elife S5.5’s Android 4.4 KitKat Update, and we can tell you, it is one major improvement. Apart from being a major overhaul in frameworks the new upgrade is at least twice as responsive and 50% lighter on the resources.

Here is a ChangeLog for the devices:

For the Gionee Elife Slim S5.5 and Gionee Ctrl V5

1. Android KitKat Update

2. New Desktop layout

3. Removed the World Cricket Champion and Real Football game

4. Added Du Speed Booster

5. Updated Amigo Paper with a brand New UI

6. Updated Game Zone with a New UI

7. Updated GioneeXender

8. Updated UC Browser

9.Updated NQ Mobile Security

10. Updated Kingsoft WPS

11. Removed Settings Shortcut from Notification Panel

12.Theme and Wallpaper will be reset to Default after System Update, but Data will not be Lost.

While you wait for the final KitKat update which should be a big download 800-900 MB in size, other devices including the Elife E7 and possible previous versions are also set to get Android KitKat in the coming weeks. As mentioned above, we did an update and the data remains safe, while some of the settings get reset, including the wallpaper, which you can reselect.

Stay Tuned for more updates.

July 2, 2014
Micromax Canvas Gold A300 Review
Micromax has recently transitioned into a newer dimension of phones, from bulky and dated phones running older versions of Android, the trend is now to get shapely, sleek devices with Android KitKat out of the box. The current flagship, aka the Micromax Canvas Gold A300, is a testament of that, and while the Canvas Knight was burning our desires (quite literally), the Golden boy here may have turned our mood around. Let’s see how it holds up.

Overview

[pullquote_left]The oddly questionable gold colour is far from that of the iPhone 5s[/pullquote_left]

The Canvas Gold A300 is yet another flagship Canvas phone from the company that promises a roundup of interesting elements. A good set of specifications, great build quality, design and good optics, giving it a big thumbs up on the premium look and feel. Even though most have called it a replica of the iPhone 5s in a bigger version, the oddly questionable gold colour is far from that of the iPhone 5s.

Hardware and Build

Running the Canvas Gold A300 is an Octa-Core Mediatek 6592T chipset clocked at 2.0 GHz tied up with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of Storage. 25GB of the 32 GB is available to dump your media, games and files. The rear camera is a 16MP shooter with a 5MP front camera which does an impressive job with selfies (see camera section)

The front has an impressive and vivid 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080p display this is surprisingly visible outdoors and has good viewing angles. The phone has dual SIM capabilities and can run data on 3g on both cards. The Sim slots comprise of a full size SIM slot and a micro SIM slot on either side of the device.

The phone is manufactured out of a “single billet” of aluminium alloy with slots for antennas in plastic on the rear of the device. The phone is readily available in two variants, a Gold+White and the Gold+Black, the only difference being the plastic inserts and the colour of the bezel.

Apart from the exceptionally golden – gold colour the phone has a pretty good design, and the metal is nicely finished to give a great feel in the hand. The beveled edges of the phone quite replicate the iPhone look, seen specifically iPhone 4 and up. The flat lay-on-the table design will be appreciated by owners quite a lot, although a fatter lip for the front would have given a strong protection to the screen albeit taking away a bit of the slim profile of the smartphone.

Phone and Networks

The phone is unique in many ways, instead of selection your data network, you can have data on either SIM, which is great. The weird combination of Sim card sizes may work for some people, especially if they don’t want to cut/get micro SIM cards vs. regular sized ones.

The networks are strong and audio in and out of the phone is impressive. The network remains positively active even during tower switches, and we didn’t see a huge problem with dropped calls.

The WiFi seemed a bit low to us, and in our initial tests seemed weak.

Multimedia, Display and Camera

For most media is playable on the Canvas Gold A300, and we found nothing to complain about, the audio could be a little bit louder in our opinion. The music output from the headphones is a lot more impressive when compared to any previous handset, the “flaming knight” included.

As far as the video playback goes, the display does a fantastic job, jitter-free vibrant video playback. The phone is capable enough and will deliver a good experience to most users.

The camera system is a good hardware and software upgrade, and the 16 MP sensor is big enough to give a noise free low light performance. The day shots are noteworthy and brilliantly saturated to give a larger than life photography experience. The camera app is simplistic and new features like 99 shot continuous burst along with tap-hold to track subjects actively will come in handy for video.

Video capture frame rates are slow to display on the screen, in fact when you are capturing video there seems to be a lag in the screen aka the viewfinder. But, we were testing a pre-production software and apparently this has been fixed in the final build. Video is captured at a resolution of 1920 x 1080p at 30fps just like many other handsets in this bracket.

Performance and Gaming

The Canvas Gold A300 is a star performer scoring great results on benchmarks and showing excellent performance in daily use overall. You will be happy multitasking on this handset as it can handle app switching very well and thanks to inbuilt RAM management the phone automatically drives resources to the active application. The apps in the background use the adaptive suspend from Android KitKat.

Thanks to all this software and management goodness, the gaming experience is excellent, with heat at a minimum. The device does heat up from around the camera with extended periods of use, however the minute you are done you will be happy to put the phone in your pocket and move out. Games have a superfluid experience along with excellent touch screen feedback and responsiveness.

Battery Life and Conclusion

The battery on the Canvas Gold A300 lasts a good full day of use, and thanks to KitKat and power management you will not be searching for the charger in a hurry. The bloatware on the Canvas Gold A300 has been brought down to a minimum, and most of the preloaded apps useful, those which are not required can be gotten rid of.

With a software update thanks to FOTA, the device may get Android L (hopefully) and with the company working to fix their service issues the Micromax Canvas Gold seems like a good overall product. With little or no complaints from the hardware and excellent UI including a new keyboard (Swiftkey) pre loaded for use, most will be happy with the device out of the box.

With more options in this price bracket including Gionee Elife S5.5, the Moto X and the Desire 816 it will mostly come down to user requirements.

Review Video

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Build Quality is Impressive
- Powerful Hardware
- Great Battery
- KitKat and FOTA Updates
- Cameras are sharp
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Strange Gold Colour
- No Lip around Display
- No Included Case
[/tw-column]
June 30, 2014
Exclusive : Micromax to launch a 6 inch Windows Phone Soon!

In our recent interview with Shubhodip Pal, CMO of Micromax, we learnt that the company is not making Windows Phone handsets as a one off, and we will see a Windows Phone flagship with a 6 inch display in the coming weeks.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Shubhodip Pal” author_title=”CMO, Micromax”]

Put it on Record! We will have a 6 inch Windows Phone in the coming months and will many more phones that you will hear about soon.

[/quote]

The company is ready to show a new product that will run on high end chipsets like Snapdragon 800 will have impressive camera sensors and displays and will also have impressive battery life, said Shubhodip in conversation with iGyaan.

We have heard rumours of a Rs. 25000 phone which houses all the aforesaid specifications, including a 2500 mAh battery along with a 16 MP + 8MP camera combination and 2 GB of RAM, all of which would make it a beast on the Windows Phone device sheet.

Micromax plans to have this device out to the consumer as early as August, with a new lineup of products that are said to compete with the “Flagships of the world”, i.e. HTC One M8 and Galaxy S5 by the end of this year. But Shubhodip claims that, it will only happen once they have delivered their “Promise” on service issues starting next month.

Watch the full #LetsTalkShop to get the details.

June 22, 2014
#LetsTalkShop : Shubhodip Pal talks Micromax Mobile

An Indian company that a few years ago not spoken of, a brand that most would not associate with, and a manufacturer that was looked down upon, today is one of the most prominent names in the market. It’s never easy when you are talking to the game changers, but the conversation always turns out to be amazing.

This week on #LetsTalkShop a lot is revealed about Micromax. Shobhodip Pal, who is the CMO of Micromax India, delves deep into the problems faced by the company, the relationships within and outside the organisation.

Shubhodip has been with Micromax for 19+ months and has seen, while being instrumental; the company emerge as one of the biggest names in the Indian smartphone and mobile race. One of the busiest men in the organisation Shubhodip always is pepped on energy and throughout the discussion was energised.

According to Shubhodip, Micromax has always and will continue to deliver platforms that they feel the market is ready for. After Android, Micromax felt that the time is right for Windows Phone and once the partnership was announced at the build conference, Micromax was ready to build windows phones and recently delivered the two most important products in the line up.

The company is working on many more products in the lineup of Windows Phone, as this is not a one off for the company, he said.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Shubhodip Pal” author_title=”CMO, Micromax”]

Put it on Record! We will have a 6 inch Windows Phone in the coming months and will many more phones that you will hear about soon.

[/quote]

Micromax has usually ignored Software updates, however; the company is working on rolling out software updates for all their recent phones and promises quick updates going forward thanks to a new software development team that has been assigned.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Shubhodip Pal” author_title=”CMO, Micromax”]

Micromax is working hard to roll out Software updates for most of its models July onwards, with the help of a dedicated team.

[/quote]

The company is also planning to set up software update kiosks across the country, where people can bring in their phones for 30-40 minutes and get an updated phone back. While it seems a little ambitious, Micromax is keen on delivering this and changing the now negative chatter around updates to a positive one.

For reaching as far as he has Shubodip, asks that you remain persistent and are not scared to roll up your sleeves. Are willing to go out of your way to make your organisation shine, and you will grow once you start to believe in the organisation.

The full interview is a must watch so head over to the video for the juicy bits.

June 22, 2014
Exclusive : Unboxing the Micromax Canvas Gold A300

Micromax today upped its market position by launching what the company is calling their “most premium” handset yet, the Micromax Canvas Gold A300.

The smartphone builds on the canvas series of devices and brings about a complete new design and build quality to the table. At first glance, the handset is a huge improvement over the previous generation of handsets and comes packed in a box that shows the new direction the company plans to head in.

The Micromax Canvas Gold A300 comes at a price of Rs. 23999/- making it the most expensive phone available from the company today. This handset comes in just a day after the launch of their first foray into Windows Phone 8.1 devices by the name of Micromax Canvas Win.

For the price (market price much lower: presently at Rs. 20,800), the phone offers a 1920 x 1080p 5.5 inch display with an IPS LCD panel. The Micromax Canvas Gold A300 also has an Octa Core 2.0 Ghz MTK6592 chipset, 2 GB RAM and 32 GB of storage.

The build and finish on the Micromax Canvas Gold A300 are impressive, and the device is a unibody device which lays flat on the table and has chamfered edges. Packing the optics is a 16 MP main camera and a 5 Mp front facing selfie booster, both will capture 1080p video at 30fps. The main camera is very impressive with a f/2 lens and excellent low light performance in our initial tests.

The Micromax Canvas Gold A300 will accept two SIM cards, one micro SIM and one full size SIM, both capable of data connectivity.

The device comes out of the box with Android 4.4.2 KitKat along with standard features like Mobile Hotspot, FM Radio and Micromax apps preloaded (which may not essentially be appreciated).

The display is stunning on the Micromax Canvas Gold A300 and has great visibility and colour reproduction, almost making the handset feel a notch above the price bracket it is available in. For now check out the video up top, and images below, and stay tuned for more.

Images

June 19, 2014

Amazon Fire Phone is a Go : 3D-like features, Live Recognition

Amazon at a press event, today, has announced possibly the most anticipated smartphone of the year, the Fire Phone. Dubbed simply the Fire Phone, all rumours of the smartphone being called a Kindle Phone have been put down, as the device features a 3-D, 4.7-inch high-definition display, aluminum buttons, a 2.2 GHz Qualcomm processor, Adreno 330 graphics, and 2GB of RAM

There’s also a 13-megapixel camera, a f/2.0 lens, and optical image stabilisation; letting the shutter stay open four-times longer than most cameras to counteract hand tremors when taking photos.

An impressive new service, built into the phone, called Firefly will let users recognise physical objects using the camera. Things including books, video games, food, household products and other items can be recognised with this “Firefly” and then be bought on Amazon instantly.

Anyone using Amazon services will be happy to know that there’s X-Ray for seeing information about what you’re watching, an AirPlay-like system for sending video to your TV, and the neat ASAP feature that caches video you might want to watch so it can start streams instantly.

For previous Prime users there is Prime Music, Prime Video, and more, while, for reading, there’s Amazon’s Immersion Reading, and WhisperSync for Voice.

Amazon’s Mayday customer service feature, already in use on tablets, will also be available on the Fire Phone. It includes 24/7 access to tech support in 15 seconds or less. The Fire Phone will cost $199 with a two-year contract, available exclusively on AT&T’s network for the time being. It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon’s website, and it will begin shipping on July 25.

No information or hope of the device hitting other markets soon but we will keep you posted.

Box Contents

Full Specifications

Size	5.5″ x 2.6″ x 0.35″ (139.2mm x 66.5mm x 8.9mm)
Weight	5.64 ounces (160 grams)
Processor	2.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM
Display	4.7″ HD LCD display, with 1280 x 720 resolution at 315 ppi, 590 cd/m2 brightness (typical), 1000:1 contrast ratio (typical)
Cameras	13 MP rear-facing camera, multi-frame HDR, auto focus, optical image stabilization, f/2.0 5-element wide aperture lens, LED flash 2.1 MP front-facing camera
OS	Fire OS 3.5.0
Storage	32 GB or 64 GB
Cloud Storage	Free cloud storage for all Amazon content, and photos taken with Fire phone
Battery	Battery size: 2400mAh. Talk time: up to 22 hours; standby time: up to 285 hours. Video playback: up to 11 hours; audio playback: up to 65 hours.
Video recording	1080p HD video recording at 30 fps (front- and rear-facing cameras)
Audio playback	Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio processing
TV and Video	Supports screen mirroring and Second Screen
Content formats supported	Audio: Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, PCM/WAVE, AAC LC/ELD, HE-AAC (v1 & v2), AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AMR-WB+, Audible Enhanced format (AAX); Video: MPEG4, VP8, H.264/MPEG4/AVC,MPEG4 SP, H.263,AVI,HDCP2.x, PlayReady DRM; Images: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, GIF87a,GIF89a; Viewable docs: PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, DOC, DOCX, Kindle (AZW), KF8, TXT
Sensors	Dynamic Perspective sensor system with invisible infrared illumination, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, barometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor
Location	GPS, Assisted GPS, GLONASS, Wi-Fi/Cellular location, and Digital compass
Cellular	UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), Quad-band GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 9 bands of LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17, 20), supports carrier aggregation
Connectivity	802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, up to 300 Mbps with channel bonding; Bluetooth 3.0 wireless technology; NFC enabled
Headphones	Premium, tangle-free headphones with remote and mic
Rating for hearing aids	M4, T4
SIM Card	Pre-installed Nano SIM card
Ports	Micro USB 2.0 3.5mm headphone
Warranty and Service	1-year Limited Warranty included. Use of Fire phone is subject to these terms
Included in the Box	Amazon Fire Phone with Fire OS 3.5.0 Premium headphones with remote and mic Micro USB to USB charging cable USB power adapter (5W) Quick Start Guide

June 19, 2014

Nike Finally Makes Nike+ Fuelband App for Android

Nike has finally answered millions of Android owners demands by making the Nike+ Fuelband App now available on Android OS.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Stefan Olander- Nike” link=”http://nikeinc.com/news/nike-fuelband-app-for-android-now-available#/inline/30666″]

With 30 million users, NikeFuel is rapidly becoming the universal measure of activity. Now, with the launch of the Nike+ FuelBand App for Android we’re delighted to help even more athletes get better, This is another important step in the continued growth of our powerful ecosystem of digital products and services.

[/quote]

Just like the iOS app, the Fuelband app on Android communicates with the fitness band via Bluetooth and syncs up your information. Any Android phone running Android 4.3 and UP and Bluetooth LE support can download and run this app, right now that list includes the Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One, Nexus 5 and the Moto X.

So if you were waiting to get your hands on the fuel band and the Android device in your pocket was the only hurdle, you might want to get to it. Now should we wait for the Windows Phone variant?

The app will monitor the same activity, and users can sign in using their Nike accounts or Facebook Logins, once you have your Fuelband registered to your account all you need to do is log-in from the same account to get up and running. Some of the features highlighted by Nike:

NikeFuel Daily Goal – Create a goal, edit and view progress toward that goal.

Sessions – Track deliberate periods of movement, such as workouts and games, by starting and ending a Session on the Nike+ FuelBand SE. Review session data afterward for a focused analysis of movement. Users can calibrate and share sessions via Nikeplus.com.

Move Reminders and Win The Hour – Users can set up Move Reminders on their Nike+ FuelBand SE so they will remember to get moving for five minutes out of every hour. The Nike+ FuelBand App allows users to track their success with Win The Hour stats.

NikeFuel Leaderboards – Compare data with friends and the community by using Nike+ Friends and the NikeFuel community.

Activity and Session History – Analyze past activity data to see progress and patterns.

NikeFuel Daily Goal Recognition – When a goal is achieved, an onscreen celebration will appear.

Automatic Syncing – Bluetooth LE seamlessly syncs Nike+ FuelBand data to a compatible Android handset.

Profile and Settings – View and edit Nike+ account information and Nike+ FuelBand SE device settings on the app.

June 18, 2014
Hands on with Micromax Canvas Win W121 And W092

Although it is not Micromax’s first foray into Windows domain, its is their first set of Windows Phone 8.1 Smartphones. The two devices 5 inch W121, and 4 inches W092 are both relatively lower end devices, and their prices below the Rs. 10000 bracket.

The Micromax Canvas Win W121 is their 5 inch handset with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 Chipset with 1 GB RAM 8 GB ROM, along with 32 GB storage expansion via MicroSD card. The W121 costs Rs. 9500 and features a much better build than its lower sibling, almost mimicking the “Pleather” seen on the Note 3. On the back of the W121 is an 8MP camera, with a 2 MP front facing camera. Overall the device is an impressive looking unit, when compared to many other phones available in this price bracket.

The OS seems build on the prototype units we saw, and Windows Phone 8.1 comes preloaded with many of the new features of the OS. For most using Windows as a main PC OS will enjoy the continued features that were earlier available on devices like Nokia Lumia.

The Micromax Canvas Win W092 is a lower end variant of the two and costs a significantly low Rs. 6500. The w092 comes with many identical specs when compared to the elder brother, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 Chipset with 1 GB RAM 8GB ROM, along with 32 GB storage. Whats different here is a smaller 4 inch display the 5 MP main camera and a 1500 mAh battery. The secondary camera also comes down to a mere 0.3 MP vs. the 2 MP on the bigger sibling.

Both the Micromax Canvas Win w121 and the W092 are expected to be available early July and we will keep you posted on further news.

June 16, 2014
Micromax to launch New Windows Phone based Canvas on 16th June
After our exclusive story on Micromax’s lineup of Windows Phone devices headed towards you, Micromax has today confirmed a launch for the same on the 16th of June. The even will be held in New Delhi and the flagship Canvas running Windows Phone is said to be scheduled for launch.

As previous information points out the new Canvas Windows phone will have :
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset.
- 2 GB RAM.
- 16 GB storage.
- 5 inch display (AMOLED rumored)
- 1920 x 1080p Resolution
- 16GB Storage
- microSD Expandability
- 13 MP main camera (Possible 4K video)
- 5 MP front camera (with Selfie Mode)
- 2500 mAh Battery
- Unibody Design
INVITE

The company has new heads that are set to launch the new products, and a new invite more or less confirms the news. The phone is expected to be priced at Rs. 25000 with an included flip-case and freebies for the initial set of buyers

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June 14, 2014
Exclusive : 7 Micromax Windows Phone Devices in the Coming Months

Recently Micromax was in the news for rumors around a Windows Phone device, well turns out they are not only true but there is more to the game. Sources close to iGyaan and top brass at Micromax confirm that not only is the company working on launching windows phone handsets, they will launch handsets ranging from Rs. 7000 and up to Rs. 25000 effective.

These 7 to 8 handsets will be launched within the next few months, and Microsoft is said to be pushing for the quick release and promotion of the handsets. There is long term tie up between Micromax and Microsoft, and the redmond based computing giant is interested in cross promoting the products for which Micromax has been well funded by Microsoft.

Sources also tell us that both companies have invested in design and most of the Micromax Windows Phones will be seen with a unibody design, with a lot of help provided by designers and engineers from Nokia. As of today, apart from Nokia no other manufacturer is manufacturing Windows Phone handsets as a global product. Micromax Windows Phones will be sold in India and overseas in existing Micromax markets.

Micromax has been eyeing the Windows Phone market since the beginning of the operating system, and the first positive step was the announcement of the Indian manufacturer as a partner at the Microsoft Build conference earlier this year.

New Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja will host the first round of launches of Micromax Windows Phone devices in the coming week, which might see more than one Windows Phone device from Micromax being launched. The flagship phone from the Indian manufacturer is said to have a 5 inch 1920 x 1080p display, 2GB RAM, a 13 MP + 5 MP camera combination, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset and is said to be priced at Rs. 25000 for a 16GB storage and expandability via micro SD.

Micromax’s flagship is expected to have a metal unibody design with Dual Sim capabilities and micro SD card expansion via sim tray style slots, as seen in the HTC One M8. The design of the phone is also said to mimic the HTC lineage with round edges and unibody structure.

We won’t know what will actually unfold until the new CEO announces the handsets, however it looks like the budget game might get really interesting going forward.

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June 12, 2014