Author: Preetish Gumber

Samsung Launches Galaxy S5 in India with True Octa Core Processor

Samsung today launched its first flagship product for this year, the Samsung Galaxy S5. However, the company has not revealed any pricing of the product. Alongside, the Samsung Galaxy S5, the company has also launched three of its newly launched wearable devices; the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and the Gear Fit.

The Galaxy S5 is IP67 Dust and water Resistant, which means; it can be used in rain, and wet condition, but keeping in mind it is not water proof. The Galaxy S5 also features a heart rate sensor, located just below the back camera and next to the new layout led flash. It also offers a Fingerprint Scanner, providing a secure, biometric screen locking feature and a seamless and safe mobile payment experience to the users.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a 5.1 Full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The Galaxy S5 is powered by a true Octa-Core chipset which Samsung India failed to elaborate more on, but we believe it to be the Exynos 5422 (Octa-core application processor Quad 1.9 GHz + Quad 1.3 GHz) processor with Heterogeneous Multi-Processing and has XMM6360 for HSPA+ connectivity.

This new Galaxy is packed with a 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of storage which is expandable to 128 GB via MicroSD card. Just like the global variant it has a 16 MP camera with an enhanced menu and user interface that allows users to take, edit and share photos. The Galaxy S5 offers the world’s fastest autofocus speed of 0.3 seconds. The new Selective Focus feature allows users to focus on a specific area of an object while blurring out the background. Most importantly, the Galaxy S5 also is capable of shootin 4K videos.

The device is packed with a 2800 mAh battery which is removable if required. Samsung has introduced a Ultra Power Saving Mode which turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features to minimize the battery consumption. During the keynote, the company said if the S5 is at 10% battery level and if you switch on the Ultra Power Saving Mode, the device will further be active on standby for 24 hours.

Stay tuned, as we will share more details as soon as we get them. Moreover, going through the leaks, the device is expected to launch around the price tag of Rs. 51,000. Even though our earlier reports pegged the price down to Rs. 41,000 it seems the company will be selling it much higher.

March 27, 2014
Facebook Acquires Oculus VR For $2 Billion

Mark Zuckerberg and his team are following up their Whatsapp acquisition with another big acquisition of the virtual reality company Oculus VR for $2 billion in stock and cash.

Confirming this through a Facebook post, Mark Zuckerberg said “I’m excited to announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we’re in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you’re actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it’s different from anything they’ve ever experienced in their lives.

Oculus’s mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won’t be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there’s a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We’re going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can’t wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.”

It is clear that Facebook will run Oculus as a seprate entity all together after the Acquisition. Zuckerberg called out virtual reality as one of the computing platforms of the future following desktops and mobile. Stay tuned for more information on this acquisition!

March 26, 2014
LG Smart Bulb Launched for Android and iOS devices

The LG Smart Bulb is the LG’s first smart light-bulb, which is compatible with Android and iOS devices. This is similar to the Bulb launched by Philips some time back.

It is not clear if this smart bulb will be available for other markets, but for now, it has been launched in Korea at a price which converts to roughly Rs. 2000. LG claims that the Smart Bulb can work with devices running a minimum of Android 4.3 and iOS 6.

On the inside, it has a 10W LED bulb and can run for more than 10 years if used five hours a day, Claims the company. The LG Smart Bulb can connect to smartphones via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and even flashes when its connected device receives a call, or if music is played within the same device.

March 24, 2014
Samsung Galaxy S5 To Launch in India On 27th March

Samsung is all set to launch the Galaxy S5 in India on 27 March 2014. The global availability will still be 11th April, but the smartphone will be launched in India prior to that.

Including India, Samsung Galaxy S5 will launch in 150 countries all together. However, it is not clear if this launch will also include, the new range of wearable devices from the company.

The Galaxy S5 is IP67 Dust and water Resistant, which means; it can be used in rain, while swimming etc, but keeping in mind it is not water proof. The Galaxy S5 also features a hear rate sensor, located just below the back camera and aside to the flash light. It also offers a Finger Scanner, providing a secure, biometric screen locking feature and a seamless and safe mobile payment experience to the users.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a 5.1 Full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The Galaxy S5 is powered by a 2.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU, Snapdragon 800 chipset and Adreno 330 GPU.

This new Galaxy is packed with a 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of storage which is expandable to 128 GB via MicroSD card. The Galaxy S5 sports a 16 MP camera with an enhanced menu and user interface that allow take, edit and share photos. The Galaxy S5 offers the world’s fastest autofocus speed up to 0.3 seconds. The new Selective Focus feature allows users to focus on a specific area of an object while blurring out the background. Most importantly, the Galaxy S5 also is capable to shoot 4K videos.

The device is packed with a 2800 mAh battery which is removable if required. Talking about the battery, Samsung has introduced a Ultra Power Saving Mode which turns the display to black and white, and shuts down all unnecessary features to minimize the battery consumption. During the keynote, the company said if the S5 is at 10% battery level and if you switch on the Ultra Power Saving Mode, the device will further be active on standby for 24 hours. Connectivity options include WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2), Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE / ANT+, USB: USB 3.0, NFC and IR Remote.

Other features like S Health 3.0, the new Galaxy S5 offers more tools to help users stay fit and well. It provides a personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behavior, along with additional tools including a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and a new, built-in heart rate monitor. The new S Health app can sync with Samsung’s Gear line of wearables, including the Gear Fit fitness band, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, and it offers guided coaching and feedback while you work out.

The User Interface on the Galaxy S5 have also changed, with focus on icons, you will not see many tabs in this phone as all of it is mostly icons. Talking about the fingerprint scanner, it requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner which might be difficult to do so holding the 5.1 inch/145 grams device with one hand. However, Samsung has reportedly tied up with PayPal to secure purchases using the fingerprint scanner which was first seen on iPhone 5s.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be available in new colors like charcoal Black, shimmery White, electric Blue and copper Gold. Samsung has not shared any price information, but it should out really soon. We will bring you the latest, so stay tuned!

March 24, 2014
Nokia 220 Dual SIM Feature Phone Launched For Rs. 2749

The Nokia 220 Dual SIM phone was launched at the MWC 2014 along with the Nokia X series, and is now available in India at Rs. 2749.

The Nokia 220 features a 2.4 inch QVGA LCD display and sports a 2 MP camera. This feature phone supports expandable storage up to 32 GB via a microSD card, has Bluetooth and supports Micro USB charging. This dual-SIM phone allows users to take advantage of the pre-loaded Twitter and Facebook applications. Nokia proudly says that the new Nokia 220 has been built after seeing the success of the Nokia 110 budget phone.

The Nokia 220 Dual SIM is packed with an 1100 mAh battery, which should deliver up to 15 hours of talktime and up to 24 days of standby time. This device measures 116.4 x 50.3 x 13.2 mm, while weighing 83.4 grams. The Nokia 220 is available in five color variants; Black, Yellow, Red, White and Cyan.

It seems that Nokia has no plans to launch the single SIM variant in India, which was also launched at MWC alongside this Dual SIM variant.

March 22, 2014
Australia Detects Two Objects Measuring 79 Feet, Could be Parts of MH370

Several days and searches later, when many countries came up negative in their search for the MH370(The Malaysian Airlines flight which went missing about 10 days ago) it seems that we may finally have a positive lead to locating the missing aircraft.

No information, or debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been found ever since it disappeared on March 8. This has been one of the largest search efforts in the aviation history , but at the same time, what concerns everyone is what happened to those 239 people in the plane.

Australia had sent aircrafts and a navy ship to a particular area in the southern Indian Ocean to determine whether two large floating objects spotted by a satellite are pieces of wreckage from the Malaysian jet MH370.

Satellite imagery analyzed by experts shows two objects of big sizes around the southern Indian Ocean, said John Young, general manager of Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority. This was spotted about 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth.

Here’s the statement that Abbott gave to Parliament:

I would like to inform the House that new and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean. The Australia Maritime Safety Authority has receive information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search.

Following specialist analysis of this imagery two possible objects of the search have been identified. I can inform the House that a Royal Australian Air Force Orion has been diverted to attempt to locate the objects. This Orion is expected to arrive in the area at about this time. Three more aircraft will follow this Orion for more intensive followup search.

I’ve spoken to my Malaysian counterpart, Prime Minister Najib Razak and informed him of these developments. I should tell the House and we must keep this in mind, the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370, but I did want to inform the house of this potentially important development.

It is not clear if this information is true or not, but it is important to follow up leads as the aircraft is missing since two weeks and was carrying 239 passengers.

March 20, 2014
Skype Update For Android Promises Less Battery Drain
Skype has updated its App for Android, and with the new Skype 4.7 update, the company has introduced new levels of battery savings.

To make this possible, this update has turned off the message notifications in group chats by default, it can be changed for users who would like to continue using it. The company says that this is the beginning, as it expects to further improve battery usage in future updates of this mobile application.

This version also includes the following fixes:
- Workaround for the KitKat bug which caused a runaway process when the camera was synced in the background.
- Fix for audio and video calling on tablets that do not have Bluetooth.
- Now lists your Windows Live Messenger contacts in the Skype (default) view, not just the All contacts view.
Users can download the update starting today in the Play Store. It will be available for the Kindle Fire family of tablets later this month.
March 20, 2014
Oppo Find 7 has a 2K Display and a 13 MP Camera that click 50 MP Images

Oppo has officially unveiled the long rumored and much awaited smartphone the Find 7 at an event today in China. Two variants of the Find 7 have been announced, the Find 7 and Find 7a. The Find 7 has been launched at a price of 3498 Chinese Yuan and has a 5.5 inch Quad HD display with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, 538 ppi with Corning gorilla glass protection and a Touch-on-Lens technology.

The Oppo Find 7 is powered by the new 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC processor along with Adreno 330 GPU. This new smartphone runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean along with company’s own skin Color OS 1.2. It has a 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB internal memory which is expandable upto 128 GB.

The USP of this device is the 13 MP camera, which has a Sony IMX214 sensor with a six element lens and f/2.0 aperture. Furthermore, the device uses softwares to enhance the images upscaling them to a 50 MP size and an image resolution of 8,160 x 6,120 pixels. The camera on the Find 7 is capable of shooting RAW images and 4K video. The secondary camera is a 5 MP with f/2.0 aperture.

The Find 7 has a 3000 mAh battery which can be charged upto 75% in just 30 minutes, this is possible with help of the 7-Pin VOOC fast charging technology.

The Oppo Find 7 and the Find 7a share alot in common, but the Find 7a is a lite/mini variant of the Find 7. The Oppo Find 7a has been priced CNY 2,998 and will go on sale in China starting Thursday.

The Oppo Find 7a sports a 5.5 inch full-HD IPS display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with pixel density of 403 ppi. The device is powered by a 2.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and runs on runs Color OS 1.2, which is based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

It is packed with a 2 Gb of RAM and 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable via MicroSD card. The Find 7a is equipped with a 13 MP Sony Exmor IMX214 sensor with LED flashlight, while there is no word on the front camera. It packs a 2800 mAh battery with Rapid Charge technology.

March 20, 2014
Micromax Canvas Knight A350 Benchmarks Result

Micromax launched Canvas Knight on 5th March 2014, this new smartphone is the latest addition in the vast Canvas series from the company. This new smartphone is the first Octa-core device from the company and is now available at a price of Rs. 19,999.

The Canvas Knight sports a 5 inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a pixel density of 443ppi. The device is powered by a 2 Ghz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592T processor and is equipped with 2 GB of RAM and comes with 32 GB inbuilt storage which is non expandable.

The Canvas Knight offers dual-SIM support, runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and is packed with a 2350 mAh battery. The device is equipped with a 16 MP rear camera with OmniVision CameraChip sensor and M8 Largan Lens,and a secondary 8 MP front facing camera.

Lets check the Benchmarks scores for the Micromax Canvas Knight:

Micromax Canvas Knight Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Micromax Canvas Turbo

Quadrant Standard 11768 8407 4718

Nenamark 2 57.7 fps 56.4 fps 33.9 fps

AnTuTu 29469 16887 15557

Coming to the benchmarks, we compared the scores side-by-side with the Micromax Canvas Turbo and the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2.

Starting with Quadrant Standard, the Canvas Knight scored 11768, and left behind Canvas Turbo and Grand 2 with scores of 4718 and 8407 respectively. Coming to AnTuTu benchmarks, the Canvas Knight scored 29469, and others scored 16887 and 15557. Next up, we checked the graphics, Nenamark 2 scored 57.7 fps on the Canvas Knight, whereas, it scored 56.4 fps on Grand 2 and 33.9 fps on the Canvas turbo.

March 20, 2014
Moto X is Now Available in India, Starts at 23,999 INR

Ok Google Now- Where is my Moto X? The famous always aware smartphone has been launched in India in partnership with Flipkart. The sale of the Moto X has begun at a starting price of Rs. 23,999.

Motorola probably has no plans to bring the 32 GB variant in the Indian market, for now the 16 GB variant is available in Black and White and can even be delivered using “in a day delivery”.

Other color options which include Red, Blue and Turquoise are on Pre-order and are estimated to be available by the second week of April. The higher price variants include the wood back Moto X in either Walnut or Teak finish. And Unlike the US we only get two pre made Back Finishes for a price of Rs. 25,999.

The wood back Moto X will also be sold along with the other color options, which is by the second week of April. alongside the Moto X itself, Flipkart has also introduced three new launch day offers, which include 70% discount on accessories, Rs. 1000 cash back when the handset is bought with a 6 months EMI option and 10 lucky people will get 100% cash back.

Flipkart has said that the Moto X is available in limited quantity, and they expect the units to sell out really soon, Stating similarities to what happened with the Moto G.

Moto X features a 4.7 inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The device is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon processor coupled with a 2 GB of RAM. The device comes with a 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable.

Moto X sports a 10 MP rear camera with a LED flashlight and a 2 MP secondary front-facing camera. Moto X is expected to be available with Android 4.4.2 out of the box. Hit the source link below to get your hands on one now.

March 20, 2014
Sony Launches Xperia T2 Ultra With 6″ HD Display at 25,990 INR

Sony has launched a new member in its Xperia range of smartphones, the Xperia T2 is a huge 6 inch smartphone which will be available starting March 20 2014 for a price of Rs. 25,990.

The Sony XperiaT2 Ultra sports a 6 inch HD display (720p) with TRILUMINOS and Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 for mobile. It is also powered by a 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 400 processor and runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The handset is packed with a 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage which is expandable upto 32 GB via microSD card.

Sony’s new Xperia T2 Ultra is equipped with a 13 MP rear camera with Exmor RS and LED and a 1.1 MP front Facing Camera with Exmor R sensor. The camera app brings features like Collage, Background defocous, timeshift burst etc. This Dual SIM active device has features like, NFC, Bluetooth etc along with access to Access to Sony’s “one-touch” ecosystem of 132 NFC connected accessories.

Sony also promises a good battery life on the new Xperia T2 Ultra thanks to its 3000 mAh embedded battery with Battery STAMINA Mode. Stay tuned for our hands on with this device shortly.

March 19, 2014
Apple Replaces Entry 2nd Gen iPad with 4th Gen iPad

Apple has dropped the old iPad 2 from its range of tablets as an entry level tablet and replaced it yesterday with the relatively recent Apple iPad 4th Generation.

Doing this has not decreased the availability of the different variants, as the company has brought back the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display as the new entry-level full-size tablet at $399 for the Wi-Fi only variant. This relaunched 4th generation iPad comes with Retina Display and the new lightning connector.

The 16 GB iPad 2 was selling for 28,900 INR and 37,900 INR for the Wi-Fi and cellular models respectively. You can expect the new variants to be sold at the same price tag.

March 19, 2014
Moto X to launch in India on Wednesday, Starts at 23,999 INR

The Motorola Moto X will go on sale starting 19 March 2014. Same as the Moto G, this phone will also be launched in partnership with Flipkart.

Flipkart mentioned in a tweet that Moto X will be available starting Wednesday, at a price of 23,999 INR. Flipkart further revealed that the Moto X smartphone will be available in five color options, while the wood back version will be available for 25,999 INR. This can further mean that this phone will not be available through the famous Moto Maker service by the company.

The Moto X features a 4.7 inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The device is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon processor coupled with a 2 GB of RAM. The device comes with a 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable.

Moto X sports a 10 MP rear camera with a LED flashlight and a 2 MP secondary front-facing camera. The Moto X will be available in India starting tomorrow, but it is not clear if 16/32 GB variants will be available. The Moto X is expected to be available with Android 4.4.2 out of the box. Stay tuned for more information!

We’ll be selling 5 colour variants priced at Rs. 23999. The wood back versions will be priced at Rs. 25999. #MotoX #MotoOnFlipkart

— Flipkart (@Flipkart) March 18, 2014

March 19, 2014
Dropbox Acquires Zulip, a Workplace Chat Service

Dropbox has recently acquired a startup company, the workplace chat solutions provider Zulip. The company is still testing out its applications in a beta phase, which allows users to share private and public messages with co-workers.

With Zulip, users can share public messages, conversations between co-workers appearing in streams related to a particular issue or topic in discussion. Several layers of sub-sections can be created as well, allowing for more detailed conversations.

The company says its features will help users in finding conversations that are important. Other features include search, keyboard shortcuts, code syntax highlighting, drag and drop file uploads, group private messaging, email alerts for missed messages, and image sending.

This is not official yet, as both the companies have not issued statements, but a private email circulated by Zulip to its customers read, ‘Dropbox is acquiring Zulip.’

[quote text_size=”small”]

We have some news for you, but you gotta keep it secret. Can you do that? Alright, sweet, Here’s the deal: Dropbox is acquiring Zulip. We’re incredibly excited about working with an awesome group of people on a problem with huge scale, at a company that’s as passionate as we are about helping people work together efficiently.

[/quote]

March 18, 2014
Microsoft To Launch Office For iPad on 27th March in San Francisco

Satya Nadella was recently appointed as the CEO of Microsoft, and he is now all set to host his first press event as a CEO. Microsoft has scheduled an event on March 27 2014, which will be a special cloud- and mobile-focused event.

According to reports, Microsoft is all set to launch the Office for iPad. Having said that, the Office app for iPad should not be any different than the Office for iPhone which was launched last year. The features and the user interface is expected to be the same as seen on the office app for iPhone.

This event will work as a warm up for the upcoming events, Microsoft has also scheduled the Build conference next month followed by another anticipated launch of a new version of Windows.

March 18, 2014

	Micromax Canvas Knight	Samsung Galaxy Grand 2	Micromax Canvas Turbo
Quadrant Standard	11768	8407	4718
Nenamark 2	57.7 fps	56.4 fps	33.9 fps
AnTuTu	29469	16887	15557