Category: Brands and Companies

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Iron Man-Themed Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge Handsets Arrive This Month

After their formal introduction at MWC 2015, Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge instantly became one of the most sought-after devices. They received a record of 20 million unit orders within a week of their launch. Over the years, Samsung has become a company that is known for experimenting with unique variants of its products. Carrying on the trend, Samsung affirmed that they will be releasing a limited set of Avengers-themed Galaxy S6 Edge, starting off with an Iron Man themed handset.

Samsung confirmed on Monday that Iron Man themed Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will be launching by next month and will be based on Iron Man’s standard red and yellow suit colour. Though Samsung Mobile Exec, Young Hee, did not mention where and at what price.

Avengers: Age of Ultron one of the most-anticipated films of 2015 broke the world record by making over $40 million in IMAX theatres in just 12 days of release.

Meanwhile, Samsung and Marvel teamwork resulted in a free app called ‘Battle for Avengers Tower’ that uses Samsung Gear VR headset. You can check out the 360-degree video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdTm7Vpape0#action=share

To read more about Samsung’s Flagships, click here.

May 5, 2015
Samsung to Provide Chipset and Displays for Apple’s Upcoming Products

It looks like the world’s biggest rivals in the tech world will soon be announcing major collaborations. According to the grapevine, Samsung will be manufacturing Apple’s core chip for the next iPhone as well as displays for other Apple products. This unexpected alliance was formed when Apple Chief Executive agreed to tone down the battle of patent suits against Samsung, thereby leading to this association.

Samsung will be budgeting $14 billion dollars for setting up new plants and equipment for manufacturing Apple’s newest device parts. Samsung had used the latest SoC for their flagship Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. The chip uses 14nm technology whose standards are matched by Exynos 7420, Samsung’s home made processor. The 14Nm chip is more powerful than the 16Nm chips that are standardly used in the company’s handsets.

But from this partnership, Apple’s former partners like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Sandisk may get a significant blow. TSMC used to manufacture chips for all the previous models of the iPhone and SanDisk was given the responsibility of memory chips for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

There are no official confirmations from both the tech power houses, but if true, we may soon see something very different from this alliance. Although Samsung is manufacturing Apple’s new chipset, the Korean company will continue to make its own smartphones.

May 5, 2015

Panasonic India Launches Eluga L 4G in India Priced at Rs. 12,999

Catching up with the emerging smartphone market, Panasonic has today launched its first 4G smartphone in India. The Eluga L 4G will be available at all major online and offline stores at a price of Rs. 12,999.

The Managing Director of Panasonic India Manish Sharma said –

Panasonic India has now signaled a big leap in its product portfolio by bringing better specifications and features in the newly launched Eluga L which not only caters to the fast developing technological needs in the market but is also priced reasonably. With the company’s recent success in the smartphones category and the mobility landscape rapidly evolving today, the new device will surely match the needs of our fast evolving consumers in the country.

The new Eluga series handset holds a thickness of 6.1mm and features a uni-body design. It is light at 131 grams. The 5-inch (1280×720 pixels) HD IPS display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass from back and front. The processor powering the phone is a 64-bit quad Quad-core Snapdragon 410 clocked at 1.2GHz. The Adreno 306 GPU caters to the graphic quality, along with 1GB RAM. The Eluga L 4G runs on Android 4.4 KitKat. The onboard storage space of the device is 8GB, which can be extended up to 32GB via Micro SD card.

On the camera front, the phone has an 8MP primary camera with autofocus and LED flash. A 5MP secondary shooter sits on the front for capturing selfies. For now, there is no details about its battery capacity. The dual-SIM device supports 4G and 3G network. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. There is just one colour option available in the smartphone – Radiant Blue.

The smartphone has to compete with Xiaomi Mi 4i and ZenFone 2 ZE550ML in the similar price range.

Here’s the spec table of Panasonic Eluga L 4G:

Specifications	Panasonic Eluga L 4G
Display	5-inch HD IPS (1280×720 pixels)
Processor	1.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 410
RAM	1GB
Memory	8GB, expandable up to 32GB
Camera	8MP rear, 5MP
Battery	Not Mentioned
Operating System	Android 4.4 KitKat
Price	Rs. 12,999

May 4, 2015

Microsoft’s Future Smart Glass Might be Able to Read Emotions

To remain interesting, wearables are continuously being upgraded. They have a massive potential, and major tech companies are constantly looking to improve their last offering. From smartwatches to smart glasses, possibilities of technology seems only limited till the emotional spectrum. Recently, it seems that Microsoft may have overcome this barrier. The US technology giant, known for making its mark in the computing world, have recently been awarded a patent for a smart glass that would be able to detect or interpret emotions of people within its range.

This patent, filed as ‘a wearable emotion detection feedback system’, was originally filed in October last year and has been announced this week. By judging different variations in speech rhythm and amplitude, choice of words, type and speed of gestures,eye focus and body posture, the glass would be able to determine the emotion of a single person or a group, without them knowing about it. It will use sensors like depth cameras and a microphone under the nose bridge to pick up the audio and video information about the subject.

According to Wall Street Journal, its uses were not specified, but one can imagine it will come very useful during interrogation questioning where devices would be able to measure changes in the person’s body temperature or pick up small shifts in the voice tone. According to the patent, this device can communicate with another same device, thus allowing the share of information. This also gives the user a 360-degree view, and can be used in gaming or security work.

Again, the possibilities seem endless. Let’s wait and watch how Microsoft takes this innovation forward.

May 4, 2015
Motorola Announces a Massive Rs. 5,000 Discount on Moto 360

Just a few days back, Motorola’s Moto 360 got a price cut on Google Play Store. The same is now reflecting on Flipkart where both the leather and steel variants are available at discounted prices. Motorola has cut the price of Moto 360 smartwatches by Rs. 5,000, bring them down from Rs. 17,999 to Rs. 12,999 (leather) and Rs. 19,999 to Rs. 14,999 for the steel version.

It should be noted the price slash is not permanent and the discount is applicable till the stocks last. The leather version is available on the online store from long, whereas the steel model was added just recently.

Launched in India in September last year, the smartwatch has got critical acclaims in the Android wearable segment. It sports a 1.65-inch display that has Gorilla Glass protection. The water-proof Moto 360 runs on Google’s Android Wear OS and offers voice control. It is powered by a TI OMAP 3 processor along with 512MB of RAM and 4GB internal memory space. The 320mAh battery of the device can keep it running for up to 12 hours, as claimed by the company. The Moto 360 comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and sensors like pedometer and heart-rate monitor.

The smartwatches are available in black and silver colour options. Click here to buy now.

May 4, 2015
Micromax Yu Schedules a Yureka Clearance Sale Before YUphoria’s Arrival

Micromax’s Yu Yureka is back for its online sale again. Yu Televentures, a subsidiary of Micromax, announced that the smartphone will be available on Amazon India without any registrations, this Wednesday and Thursday. The company took to its social networking site, Twitter, to announce the flash-less sale. The tweet did not mention the amount of units available.

Not many days ago, Micromax took to Twitter to announce Yu Yureka’s successor, dubbed as YUphoria, which is expected to be the next big hitter from the company. Yu’s next flagship arrives on 12th of May. The open sale of the Yureka is a clear indiction that the company has begun prepping for its next blockbuster smartphone.

No registrations, no time limits. Yureka open sale on 6th and 7th May. Are you ready to Play God? pic.twitter.com/kYWCQK6pkV

— YU (@YUplaygod) May 2, 2015

The smartphone was traditionally sold in a series of Flash sales that required pre-registration. Exactly a month ago, 30,000 Yu Yureka handsets went out of stock in 7 seconds.

This proved to be quite tedious for potential buyers. This sale may prove to be an excellent opportunity for people who have not had success with the flash sales.

The Yu Yureka is a natural preference since it offers top-notch specifications at a budget price of Rs. 8,999. The 5.5-inch device runs on Android-based Cyanogen OS 11 and features 4G LTE connectivity. Along with a 64-bit 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC, 2GB RAM, and 2500mAh battery, Yu Yureka offers an impressive 13 MP rear camera.

Check out our review here:

May 4, 2015
Along with a Stylus, Next iPad Will Come with Advanced Features like NFC and Force Touch

The idea of including the hand-held Stylus accessory was never supported by Steve Jobs. But things have taken a different route altogether from Steve’s ideologies. We earlier came across KGI Securities’ prediction of Apple planning to bring out a stylus accessory for its future iPad. Now, a person familiar with the next iPad has reaffirmed this fact.

According to the source quoted by Apple Insider, the Cupertino-based tech giant is building an all-new iPad with a 12.9-inch display. Temporarily titled as ‘iPad Pro’, the tablet will feature a brand new set of features like a Stylus, NFC radio, and many more used in the Apple Watch and the latest MacBook.

If the source is to be believed, then Apple may embed NFC radio in its next iPad, allowing it to serve as a payment receiving terminal for Apple Pay. Another added benefit of NFC is simplified pairing, which could help connect the speculated stylus as well. There are also speculations of the stylus being connected through Bluetooth, but nothing can be confirmed as yet.

The inclusion of Force Touch indicates, that the future iPad would be smart enough to sense the difference between a deep tap and a soft tap. It opens a space of possibilities for new commands and combinations.

The USB-C port is the latest development included by Apple on the 12-inch MacBook. The compact, universal USB port is fast and connects to all your devices whether phone or charger. The iPad Pro is expected to have both the new USB-C port and the standard Lightning connector.

Another major feature to beef up the upcoming device is the next-gen A-series processor. There is no wording on the exact version of the processor, but considering the other high-end features, the processor will also be the latest.

For now, these are just reports and the final product may pack some different features from what are anticipated. For confirmation, we will have to wait for an official announcement.

May 4, 2015
Asus ZenFone Devices in Line to Receive Android Lollipop This Month

Google’s latest operating system Android Lollipop with Material Design components is making its way to more smartphones this month. The handsets to mark themselves in the list of updated Lollipop devices are the ZenFone series phones from Asus like ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5, ZenFone 6, ZenFone 5 LTE and PadFone S. The update will roll out in different weeks of May for the devices.

Asus stated on its consumer forum –

We’ve sent the new version for the final verification and we expect to release the upgrade soon. We would request the kind consideration and understanding of our customers with regards to any inconvenience caused by this schedule changing.

The latest OS is expected to hit ZenFone 5 LTE in May first week, whereas the ZenFone 4, the ZenFone 5 and the ZenFone 6 may receive it by mid-May. The PadFone S is speculated to be last to find the Lollipop update on the handset.

The Taiwanese equipment manufacturer was supposed to roll it out in April, but some technical glitch kept the company away from making it public for the listed handsets.

Considering the changes that will come with Android 5.0 Lollipop, users will experience improved natural touch screen interactions. Besides that, the new Android update lets users have a look at the notifications on the lock screen itself and facilitates dismissing them without unlocking it. All in all, it offers users a pure, bloatware-free and seamless Android experience.

May 4, 2015

Unboxing and Hands On | LG G Flex 2

A month after announcing the LG G Flex 2, LG has finally declared the availability of the latest flagship from LG’s line up of smartphones in India. This phone comes with an improved four side curve design and a high-resolution display. Here, we will be unboxing the LG handset and giving a quick hands on review.

The 5.5-inch full HD Curved P-OLED display phone is powered by the latest 64-bit Snapdragon 810 Octa-Core processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM. It operating system runs on Android 5.0 with LG UI 3.0. Camera specifications include a 13MP primary camera with dual-LED flash and a front-facing 2.1MP camera. In terms of unique features, the LG G Flex 2 has a fast laser autofocus camera that works by measuring the distance between the subject and the lens using a laser beam. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart Ready 4.1, LTE support, USB 2.0 and NFC. The phone is available in Silver Titan colour and 16GB variant for now and is priced at Rs 54,990.

LG G Flex 2 Specs:

SPECIFICATION	LG G Flex 2
Display	5.5-inch full HD 1920×1080 Curved P-OLED display
Processor	64-bit Snapdragon 810 Octa-Core processor
RAM	2GB
Internal Memory	32GB
Expandable Up To	2TB
Primary Camera	13MP with Advanced OIS+, LED Flash, 4K Video
Secondary Camera	2.1MP
Operating System	Android 5.0.1 Lollipop OS with LG UI 3.0
Price	Rs. 54,990

Check out the Unboxing video below:

Want to know how the new phone fares against the old version? Check out our hands on with the LG G Flex here.

May 2, 2015

Apple Admits Tattoos May Cause the Watch Problems

Who would have thought that the proper working of Apple’s newest product, the Apple Watch, will depend on if you have tattoo or not? A few days back, several reports had surfaced of tattooed Apple Watch owners facing trouble with their new purchase. Just like the Bendgate fiasco, it sounded like a tech glitch, which was made to sound bigger than it actually was. However, Apple has posted on its official blog that users sporting tattoos may face difficulty in operating the smart watch’s key feature – the heart-rate monitor.

Apple said the watch works on a technology called photoplethysmography that bombards the wearer’s skin with green LED and infrared light in order to follow the blood flow between heart pumps.

The official Apple support page reads:

Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance. The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.

The only solution Apple has to offer for now is that by connecting the Apple Watch wirelessly to external heart rate monitors via Bluetooth, the wearable can bypass the sensor reading from the tattooed area.

The tattoo problem is not only being faced by Apple Watch users. Similar fitness wearables that use the same technology, have been reported to malfunction a little when worn on a tattooed hand.

May 2, 2015
Xiaomi’s Next Flagship Rumoured to Come in Two Variants, Mi 5 And Mi 5 Plus

A few days ago Xiaomi unveiled its new smartphone, the Mi 4i, at a grand event in New Delhi. One lakh registrations went up and 40,000 units were sold out within 15 seconds. Now, reports from Gizmochina claim two more new devices will be joining the company’s line-up later in June. These devices are larger copies of the Mi 4, expected to be named Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus.

40,000 units of the Mi 4i went out of stock in 15 seconds.

The claimed specs of the devices were leaked on the Chinese social media site, Weibo. The Mi 5 is touted to have a 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 1440×2560 pixels. It is believed it will be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with either 3GB or 4GB RAM and will be juiced by a 3,000mAh battery. Its camera specification includes a 16MP primary camera.The device will also be infused with fingerprint technology.

Its larger cousin, named as Mi 5 Plus, will feature a 6-inch screen with 4GB RAM, 32GB internal memory and a 16MP primary camera. No details were revealed about its processor, display etc. Xiaomi has yet to reveal the date of release, but reports mention that the two handsets will be out in June.

Knowing Xiaomi’s track of getting “inspired” by everything that Apple does, we won’t be surprised to see the upcoming flagship in two variants.

May 2, 2015
Counterpoint : Samsung Stays Steady on Top in India; Micromax Faces a Steep Decline

According to the Q1 2015 reports by Counterpoint Technology Market Research, Samsung remained the the lead as India’s champion in terms of growth and market share. The company has recently faced absurd challenges, in Asia particularly, but its condition improved enough to win over the Indian market from Apple and Micromax.

Reports of the Q1 2015 showed Samsung India grew 2.1% over the last year. Samsung led the overall mobile phone market and the smartphone segment during the quarter with market shares of 18.2% and 27.8% respectively. This figure is still below the 33% growth from the previous year. But, with a sale of 82.4 million handsets within the first three months of the quarter, Samsung captured 24.5% of the market share.

According to the report, Samsung has used its distribution prowess to sell-in during the quarter as it executed aggressive smartphone launches during the quarter including the Tizen-based Z1.

One of the reasons why Samsung boomed is that the Korean company launched its flagship Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge at the end of the quarter in April.

Micromax ended their quarter with 15.3% market share that served as a decline on the yearly basis as well as on sequential basis. Although, it still managed to secure the second place, the report commented that Micromax’s new brand Yureka with the launch of its first Cyanogen powered LTE smartphone Yu started off well, but will need more models across different price brackets to match the scale of Xiaomi and Motorola.

May 1, 2015
BlackBerry Leap Set to Arrive in India on May 7

BlackBerry bounced back into the touch segment with the launch of Leap at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015. The Canadian firm didn’t go for a flagship, instead revealed another conventional piece to join other devices in the mid-range segment. The same smartphone is now arriving in India on May 7. The Leap is a refreshed version of the BlackBerry Z3, which launched last year and was priced internationally at $275 (approx. Rs. 17,500).

Coming to the specifications of the device, BlackBerry Leap sports a 5-inch HD screen with 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM 8960 powering the phone. It has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory onboard. It comes with a MicroSD card to extend the storage space up to 128GB. The 9.5mm thick device runs on the company’s own BB OS 10.3.5, which has Siri-like Assistant to help users.

On the camera front, an 8MP rear shooter is fitted at its back along with a 5MP front camera. A 2800mAh battery fuels up the phone for well over a day, claims the company. The price and availability details will be announced at the launch.

May 1, 2015
It Costs Less Than $84 to Make an Apple Watch Sport Edition

The finest luxury Gold Edition smartwatch by Apple comes at a whopping amount of $17,000. The lowest version starts at $349, and the price goes up with the higher the model you choose. But do you know the heavily tagged Apple Watch costs just 24% of the retail price to the company?

The research firm IHS did a teardown of the Apple Watch Sport and discovered that one unit of the Sport is worth 24% of what buyers pay for it. It is less than one-fourth of the price and costs the Cupertino-based tech giant a mere $84 (approx.). The firm quoted it as the lowest price set by the company for any hardware as other Apple products are traded much higher than their manufacturing cost.

As per IHS estimates, the 38mm Watch has the OLED display as its priciest part that is coated with Ion-X cover glass. The whole arrangement of display and protection provided by LG costs $20.50. The second most expensive part of the watch is the A1 processor manufactured at the company’s plant itself. All other components cost below $10, except the electro-mechanical apparatus.

As the cost is estimated on the basis of teardown, the expenses such as licensing, logistics, R&D, and other noticeable costs have not been taken into account.

The expense table of the 35mm Apple Watch Sport by IHS is given below:

May 1, 2015
Micromax YU Announces the Arrival Date of its Next Smartphone ‘YUphoria’

Yureka by Micromax subsidiary YU managed to create quite a hype. It was the first Indian-origin smartphone that could stand in the marketplace flooded with Chinese and Taiwanese electronics. Now, YU is again geared to triumph over the smartphone market with the release of its next device YUphoria.

A while back, YU took to Twitter to announce the launch date of YUphoria which speaks of the device coming on 12th of this month. The tweet reads:

The moment of YUphoria is coming. Have you blocked your calender? pic.twitter.com/1ypEzM2lEb

— YU (@YUplaygod) May 1, 2015

The handset is expected to be another blockbuster by the company, with better specifications than Xiaomi Redmi 2. To sum up the information we know about YUphoria till now – it will boast the Android Lollipop version of Cyanogen OS, making use of the company’s exclusive partnership with Cyanogen. A 64-bit processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB onboard memory will be equipped to the handset. Other details have been kept under wraps.This was also the company’s first phone to get a crowd-sourcing name.

Further information on pricing and availability will be known at the launch event itself. Keep checking back for updates.

May 1, 2015