Category: iGyaan

Everything Exclusive to iGyaan

#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
Amazon Lends a Lifeline to Blackberry

Just when we though that Canadian handset-maker Blackberry was counting its last days, they have come up with some exciting news. It looks like the former mobile giant is attempting a comeback, with a little help from Amazon. BlackBerry announced on Wednesday that when it launches BlackBerry OS 10.3 this fall, the Amazon app store – and its 240,000 Android apps – will come with it.

In an attempt to solve the app deficit that BlackBerry users are facing, the Canadian handset-maker has entered a licensing agreement with the Amazon Appstore. The deal will also allow BlackBerry to bundle Amazon Appstore on its devices. The company will provide access to two app stores BlackBerry World and Amazon Appstore when the BlackBerry 10.3 OS reaches the public in September-October 2014.

With the availability of Amazon Appstore on BlackBerry 10 devices, the company can meet two essential needs – greater app availability for its smartphone users and enhanced productivity solutions for enterprises. BlackBerry users can also access video and music through a number of popular third-party services available on Amazon Appstore and BlackBerry World.

Interestingly, BlackBerry 10 users (on BlackBerry OS 10.2.1) can also install third-party app stores like Amazon Appstore and 1Mobile Market through their websites and install Android apps through them.

With this move, BlackBerry is heavily expanding the app selection for its handsets, allowing for easy installation of Android applications in an officially-sanctioned way. And as Amazon lends BlackBerry a lifeline, the e-commerce company also announced its own foray into the smartphone market with the unveiling of a rumored 3-D mobile device called Amazon Fire.

June 21, 2014
Moto E Contender, The Lava Iris X1: Full Review
The Moto E is one tough nut to crack. Other Android phone brands despise it. Companies like Micromax and Lava and others were taken aback by the spectacular performance of the Moto E and the huge appreciation it has received in India.
Lava X1 is Lava’s challenger to the Moto E, and we’ve already had a hands on with the device. Now we take a detailed look into the phone to see how it scores up against its competing low budget KitKat devices.

Design, Hardware and Build:

Design though “inspired”, is good to the eyes. Especially the touch panel

The phone is another Lava phone with iPhone-esqe design features, using a lot of plastic. The device is light to hold in comparison to the Moto E, which is heavy on weight and features. The back cover looks extremely flimsy, but Lava provides a flip cover in-box and that is one good point about the Iris X1.

The screen goes to sleep when the flip cover is closed. The volume rocker buttons are marked on the cover and can be easily pressed, so they’re quick to access when traveling. The only issue with the flip cover is its affinity to attract dirt. Lava has provided three microphone openings for active noise cancellation.

Unlike the Moto E, the X1 can be appreciated as it has the power button and the volume rockers on right and left side respectively, which is much simpler to use.

Another attractive feature is the capacitive touch buttons at the bottom of the screen. These buttons are invisible in the bezel and light up when you need them.

Display and Multimedia:

The text is good to read on X1 even at 281 pixel density.

The 4.5 inch screen on the device is an IPS display. The resolution of the screen is 854 x 480 pixels. The display is capable of good color reproduction. The blacks are predominant on the display, and that gives a pretty saturated color. The viewing angles are a bit of a disappointment as the screen tends to dim down when viewed from the side.

2 finger multi touch is disappointing.

The display only supports two finger multi-touch. This flaw makes gaming on the device no fun. The display also has a matte feel which doesn’t feel all that smooth.

The videos and images look good on the display. Though sometimes, the videos tend to get choppy. Even games like Candy Crush Saga and Subway Surfers had a jerky performance.

Camera:

The X1 holds a 8 mega pixel auto focus camera with LED Flash. The image is captured using a BSI sensor. The secondary camera is a 2 megapixel shooter. The camera is decent for the price point. It is definitely better than the five megapixel shooters that are dominant at this specifications range.

The camera shoots videos at a maximum of 480p which maybe a downer for many.

Phone and Battery:

The X1 is powered by 1800 mAh battery. Lava claims it gives a standard talk time of about 9 hours 45 minutes. The phone would last you a whole day on regular use.

The phone keypad is pleasing to the eyes and easy to use.

Android and UI:

Simplistic KitKat is the best thing LAVA did.

The operating system running on the Iris X1 is a fairly unhampered Android KitKat OS with minimum bloat-ware. The only add-ons are an FM radio, a torch and the Office suite. This basic look gives full customizable options in the hands of the users.

Performance and Gaming:

The phone has a 1.2 GHz Broadcom quad core processor. It is supported by a 1 GB RAM and 4 GB ROM. Even with a quad core processor, the phone has several lags and might get annoying after a while. The phones normal functions are decent, but the multimedia performance needs a performance boost.

Conclusion:

The Phone is a decent try but Lava needs to buck up on the performance issue.

Lava seems to have come out with the device in a haste, and they could have worked more on it. Of course, the company lacks the innovation capability and years of experience that Motorola Mobility has. The phone has a good look, and the untampered Android KitKat is its strength. Lava does have to learn some lessons from the X1 and hopefully the X2 (if it ever comes out,) will have fewer of X1’s flaws and more of its fortes.

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Capacitive Touch Buttons
- Active Noise Cancellation
- Good Design
- No Bloatware Android KitKat
- Flip Cover
[/tw-column]

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

BAD THINGS
- Two Finger Multi Touch
- Low Processing Powers For Gaming
- Plasticity Feel
- Price High for Segment
[/tw-column]
June 21, 2014
Nokia Releases the New ‘Z Launcher’ App

These are hard days for Nokia. Once the largest phone vendor by a staggering margin, Nokia has sold its devices and services business to Microsoft and will now try different sectors as it looks toward the future. The company tried something similar by launching an app called Z launcher, a truly novel home screen replacement for Android phones.

Launched on Thursday, this screen app is able to accomplish this by dynamically changing the most frequently used apps throughout the day. Z Launcher is also able to include your contacts and frequently visited websites into the mix and making it a more complete experience.

At the top of the screen are the time, date and the upcoming calendar event. Tapping the time will open Android’s clock app and tapping the calendar event will open the phone’s Calendar app. The remainder of the screen is dedicated to just a few apps, contacts and web pages.

Five static shortcuts appear at the bottom of the screen, while the majority of the launcher screen is occupied by six additional shortcuts. These items lead to a combination of apps, contacts and web pages that you open most often.

If Z Launcher does not offer the apps you are looking for, you can easily bring them up by accessing a feature called Scribble. Scribble works by just drawing the first letter or two of the app or contact you want to access. It then instantly brings you to the proper selection. This virtually eliminates the need to tap, scroll, and hunt for the application or contact you are searching for.

The Z launcher is a very nifty offering from Nokia and it has the potential to completely change the way you use your phone. Smartphones are all about apps, plain and simple. With the Z Launcher, your most used apps take center stage and everything else is a few short swipes away.

It’s currently available only to a limited number of users in a rough alpha release. And while the alpha should run on many Android phones, Nokia has only tested it on the Nexus 5 and the recent Galaxy S models.

June 20, 2014
PlayDrone Discovers a Serious Security Breach in Google Play

By developing a new tool called PlayDrone, Jason Nieh, professor of computer science at Columbia Engineering, and PhD candidate Nicolas Viennot reported that they have discovered a crucial security problem in Google Play – the official Android app store where millions of Android users get their apps.

PlayDrone uses hacking techniques to find a way around Google’s security to download Google Play apps, and then recover and analyse their sources. It scales down by simply adding more servers and in this way, it manages to compile over 880,000 of the 1.1 million free apps it downloads.

An image of the secret keys discovered by PlayDrone

While analyzing this, it was found that developers often store their secret keys of their app’s software similar to username and password data, which can be further used to steal user data or resources from entities such as Amazon and Facebook.

Even the “Top Developers” promoted by Google Play have included these vulnerabilities in their apps. These vulnerabilities can affect users even if they are not actively running the Android apps.

This tool, Playdrone, not only revealed this security loophole but also used it to provide insight into Android apps and improve the quality of Google Play. For example, the tool also found that roughly 25 percent of all free apps on Google Play are clones of other apps. This information could be used to help Google crack down on cloned content, which would be great news for developers who are creating original apps. Google Play has more than one million apps and over 50 billion app downloads.

It also performed an analysis of the 10 best rated and 10 worst rated apps on the Google Play store, and found that even the worst-rated app has over a million downloads. Google is now using the techniques to scan all the apps for such problems to prevent this from happening again in the future.

June 19, 2014
The 5 Major Differences Between Slingshot and Snapchat

We’ve known that Facebook has been working on Slingshot for the last six months. The app has just went live on Google Play. Along with that, they officially announced it on their Facebook page and also released a new promo video announcing availability of Slingshot for both Android and iOS.

If there were any doubt that Facebook will be taking on Snapchat, the public launch and availability of its new Slingshot app has now confirmed it.

The free app lets you take a quick photo or video, mark it up with colorful drawings, caption it with big white text, and then send it off to your chosen contacts. But when you receive your first message, you realize that this app is something completely different. Rather than just copying Snapchat feature by feature, Facebook is putting in a rather intriguing twist to the messaging trend by focusing on a more social aspect. So, we decided to list 5 things that make Slingshot different from Snapchat.

1. The Social Factor

When an app comes out of the Facebook oven, there is not even a slight chance that there can be anything lacking in its social media element. Slingshot does not solely rely on your Facebook friends list for contacts. Accounts are tied to your phone number, which you must verify before you can start using the app. Once you have verified your account, you can search for friends from your contacts list, Facebook or look up individuals by user name.

2. No Approval Needed

Slingshot allows you to search for people you know and there isn’t one central contacts menu where you can easily view all your connections. And, unlike Snapchat, there is no approval process for adding connections. Anyone can send messages to anyone whose information they might have. Facebook says an approval process is necessary because users can simply choose to ignore the message they don’t want to see. You can also choose to ignore all messages from individual users by hiding them.

3. No One-Sided Sharing

One noteworthy aspect of the app is that it won’t allow you to see a new picture messages unless you send one of your own back. Facebook says the reason behind this is to take the pressure off users to constantly read and send messages. With so many mobile apps competing for people’s attention, Slingshot’s ability to self-perpetuate engagement could be the key to traction. One friend doesn’t have to do all the work to entertain others, who consume without creating, breaking the chain. With Slingshot, the conversation never dies because the last message is always waiting to be unlocked.

4. Better Camera quality

Launching Slingshot immediately takes you to the app’s camera. The selfie button toggles between the device’s front and rear-facing cameras, and holding down the shutter button allows you to record a video. Slingshot’s overall camera quality is better than Snapchat’s, even when you zoom in. As with Snapchat, you can add drawings and text to the photos and videos you send in Slingshot but both features feel far more elegant and give you much more control in the latter.

5. Customized Text

Text is limited to 140 characters, but can be repositioned on the image. Unlike Snapchat’s text, which always remains the same size and at the same place, Slingshot’s text will get bigger when you drag it down from the top of the screen. The drawing tool is also far more advanced than Snapchat’s — you can adjust both the color and the size of the brush. Dragging along the color bar selects a color, dragging left or right changes the brush size, moving the tool right makes the brush smaller and moving it left makes it larger.

June 19, 2014
More Rumors Surface About Apple’s iPad Air 2 And iPad Mini 3

Rumor has it that we might witness the launch of two iPad variants this year. Following the iPhone 6, which regularly appears in pictures in mockup form, an iPad Air 2 mockup has also leaked in similar images.

The images reportedly show the final design of the iPad Air 2, with dimensions, design, ports, camera and button placements supposedly an exact replica of the device which is supposed to launch later this year.

Leaked Images of iPad Air 2 by GSMArena

The speculation started last week. According to the South Korean news agency, about 6.2 million LCD displays to be installed in the iPad Air 2 will enter initial production from June to September this year.

Not much is known about iPad Air 2, apart from rumors that it will come with the Touch ID fingerprint security feature that is going to be standard on all next-gen Apple mobile devices. This same technology will be available for the iPhone 6 and iPad Mini 3, both of which are also rumored to be under development.

Touch ID was one of the biggest innovation Apple brought to the iPhone 5S. Basically a fingerprint scanner used to lock your phone securely, or buy apps at the press of a button, its brilliance comes from how easy it is to use.

Leaked Image of iPad Air 2 by GSMArena

There are a number of rumors going around the internet that suggest the iPad Air 2 may not follow the path of the last two iPad releases. There are some reports of minor changes in the camera as well. It is said that it will be raised from 1.2 megapixels to 1.5 megapixels, while the rear-camera will be upgraded from 5 megapixels to 8 megapixels. Quite possibly the iPad Air 2 will come installed with Apple’s newest A8 processor, which the iPad Mini 3 will reportedly share.

Apple tends not to announce devices under development until shortly before release. Given the fact Apple has not given any new information regarding the iPad Air 2, it is difficult to confirm if such a device even exists. The same can be said of the iPad Mini 3, which is the fabled replacement of the current iPad Mini with Retina Display, more commonly dubbed as the ‘iPad Mini 2’.

June 19, 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
Lenovo Launches Two New Laptop-Tablet Hybrids In India

Lenovo has launched two new laptops/tablet hybrids in India – Lenovo Yoga 2 and Flex 2. First, let’s have a look at the Lenovo Yoga 2.

It is a new addition to the Yoga line of Lenovo laptops is a Laptop-Tablet hybrid and features a 13.3-inch Full HD (1920×1080) LED Backlit display with 10 finger multi-touch support.

The many phases of the Lenovo Yoga 2

It is powered by a 4th-gen Intel Core i7 4500U quad-core processor running at a clock speed of 1.8GHz. Yoga 2 runs Windows 8.1 operating system and Intel HD 4400 Graphics. It has 8GB of RAM and comes with 500GB of Solid-State Hard Drive coupled with 16GB of SSD for faster performance.

Yoga 2 supports Intel 7260 b/g/n Wireless network card, Bluetooth 4.0 and is powered by a 6-cell 50 Watt Lithium-Ion battery. Lenovo claims that the battery will last 8 hours of usage after a full charge. The hybrid is 0.68-inch thick and weighs around 1.5kg. The screen on Yoga 2 can be rotated all the way to 360 degrees so that it can be used as a tablet.

Coming to second device, the new hybrid in the Flex series of Lenovo is the Flex 2 which features a larger display than the Yoga 2. Flex 2 is equipped with 14-inch Full HD (1920×1080) display. It can be used as a laptop and also supports 300 degree rotation for use in “stand mode” which is introduced for touch-based use or watching movies. It also features the 10-point multi-touch display. Users can choose between an Intel processor or an AMD A8 APU on the Flex 2. One model comes with Intel Core i7 processor with NVIDIA GPU while the other comes AMD A8 APU with Radeon M230 GPU.

The 300 Degree rotation feature of the Lenovo Flex 2

The Flex 2 comes with 1TB of HDD storage but users can buy the upgraded versions which features up to 256GB SSD as well. It supports Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0 and microHDMI as well. Lenovo promises 6 hours of battery life on the Flex 2. Even though the company claims that Flex 2 is designed for users who are light-travelers, it weighs almost 2 kg which makes it even more heavy than the Yoga 2 hybrid.

Both the hybrids are based on Windows 8.1. The devices will be available at all Lenovo Exclusive stores, multi-brand outlets and other retail stores. Yoga 2 has been priced at Rs 59,990 while the Flex 2 costs Rs 41,900.

June 18, 2014
Is Flipkart Getting Ready to Launch its Own Range of Tablets?

The recent round of rumors are that Flipkart is gearing up to launch a range of tablets under its own private label, DigiFlip. The label already sells a number of accessories under the same label, including earphones, portable speakers, laptop accessories, etc. This move would be huge step for the company to set up a tight race against E-commerce giant and arch-rival Amazon, which already sells tablets, apart from e-book readers under its Kindle brand.

Apparently, Flipkart has tied up with MediaTek to build its tablets that have been acquired from manufacturers based out of China and Taiwan. While pricing and hardware specifications would be key to the success of these tablets, it also remains to be seen whether Flipkart can weave in its primary online retail offerings that include e-books among other categories and make the tablet as a tool to access its services.

Though, the company is tight-lipped about this new venture, it will be worth noticing how it differentiates itself in an already crowded tablet market space. In India, more than 4 million tablets were shipped last year making it one of the biggest tech segment in the market. The tablet market is right now ruled by likes of Samsung, Micromax and Apple.

Flipkart has been working continuously to gain more customers and sales. Few months back, Flipkart took over Myntra.com and online shopping store. If done right, Flipkart can easily take the throne and become the domestic Amazon.

June 18, 2014
All That We Know About Amazon’s Secret Smartphone

Amazon is said to be releasing its first ever Smartphone today at an event in Seattle, where it will finally show off what it’s been working on for past year. The event will see a new addition in Amazon’s gadget family, which currently consists of Kindle Fire Android-based tablets, Kindle line of e-readers and the very recent set-top box called Fire TV. This new Smartphone will be the latest component of the retailer’s hardware family.

Rumors have been insisting that the Amazon Smartphone has been in the works for quite a while. They’ve also talked about its unusual features such as the multi-camera gesture-tracking system and a pseudo-3D eye-tracking interface.

Some of the earlier rumors suggested that Amazon would team up with HTC in order to produce a joint-effort smartphone. It had been said that talks between the two had been ongoing since June 2013 and that anything could change at any given moment. While more recent rumors also suggest Amazon has built its phone in-house, the HTC partnership still remains a possibility.

Amazon released a teaser video two weeks back that doesn’t show the device in question, but it does depict users interacting with a device. They talk about how it “moves with them” and there are shots of them tilting their heads back and forth to see how the product responds. It gave us a basic understanding of how its 3D effect might work.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is building a phone with a 3D screen back in May 2013. This report said that the device will use a retina-tracking camera, and 3D hologram-esque imagery would appear to float above the device’s display. But, we’re not entirely sure how it would look and work when used physically.

The device is said to be equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC, with the display being a 4.7-inch 720p panel and 13MP rear-facing camera, a 2MP front-facer which seems unequipped to compensate with 3D technology.

Amazon is also said to be expanding its hardware family with its secretive think tank called Lab126. This is apparently where Amazon engineers come up with innovative gear that leads to features like the Amazon smartphone’s expected multi-camera gesture-tracking and parallax pseudo-3D system.

Some rumors suggested that the phone may be given away for free to current Amazon Prime subscribers, but Amazon shot those down pretty quickly. We don’t know if or when we’ll see the device launched, but one thing we know for sure is that Amazon will always have it in stock.

June 18, 2014
BlackBerry’s Comeback : New Z3 to Launch in India Next Week
It’s been a hard two years for Canadian phone-maker Blackberry. And now, as part of an efforts to regain its lost status, BlackBerry Ltd is all set to launch its latest Z3 smartphone in India next week, on 25th June. The phone is likely to be priced below Rs.12,000 which will set it directly in competition with likes of Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Microsoft and Micromax.

The same device was launched in Indonesia earlier this year, the full touch screen device was priced at IDR 2,199,000 (USD 190 or INR 11,500) and is the most affordable device powered by the latest BlackBerry 10 operating system.

BlackBerry has already started sending out press invites to media houses for the launch event on 25th June. We have no doubt about the fact that the recently unveiled BlackBerry 10 OS-based Z3 will be the star of the event next week. BlackBerry Z3 is the first smartphone to come out of the partnership between BlackBerry and Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, which is popularly known for its relationship with Apple Inc.

BlackBerry has been a laggard in the global smartphone space, including India as it failed to keep up with the competition and has lost a significant market share in the past two years. But the latest launch is an effort to win back some of its lost market share in India where it once was on top of it smartphone sector.

Blackberry’s new Z3 fashions 5.0-inch qHD (960x540p) and is newly updated with OS (v10.2.2) powered by a 1.2GHz snapdragon dual-core processor with huge 1.5GB RAM and 8GB inbuilt storage (expandable up to 32GB). It is also backed by a 2500 mAh battery which is non-removable. The budget Smartphone is also equipped with 5.0-megapixel camera with flash, 5x digital zoom, image stabilization, and full HD video recording ability and a 1.1-megapixel fixed-focus front camera.

Recently, many Android KitKat OS powered low-cost devices have hit the market since the launch of Moto E such as Unite 2, Canvas Engage A019, Canvas A105, Lava Iris X1 and Xolo Q600s. Celkon Campus A35K also just released last week for just INR 2,999. It is touted as the cheapest KitKat OS based smartphone in India.

Indian market is furiously expanding in the budget Smartphone segment, mobilizing big players to cater to this segment. With Blackberry also joining the competition, market will become more intense. Besides India and Indonesia, BlackBerry would gradually introduce the Z3 in five other countries including the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Key Features
- OS: BlackBerry 10.2.1 OS
- Dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400
- Dimensions: 140×72.8×9.26mm
- Weighs 164 grams
- 5-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) 220ppi
- 1.5GB RAM
- 8GB expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card
- 5MP rear/ 1.1MP front Camera
- 2,500mAh Battery
[poll id=”9″]
June 18, 2014
Android Vs Firefox OS : Beginning of the New ‘Low-End Phone’ Era

Celkon debuted its Campus A35K this week, it joined the ever growing club of affordable Android KitKat Smartphones in India. With a price tag as low as Rs 2,999 in an exclusive partnership with online marketplace Snapdeal.com, this device does indeed have quite a proposition on its hands, but how well will it work? Let’s find out.

The front surface is a 320 x 480 pixel display of 3.5 inches in size. The device itself is enclosed inside a 119mm x 63mm x 10.7mm body and its overall weight comes up to 102gms. A 1GHz processor powers it from within, gaining what little assistance it can from just 256MB of RAM. Touted as the cheapest Android KitKat-operating system based Smartphone, the handset has dual-SIM slot and supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, and AGPS connectivity options along with 3G connectivity. It comes equipped with a disappointing 1400mAh battery, but then again we can’t complain much considering the face that its priced so cheap.

Android KitKat is the latest version of the Google-owned operating system. While the market is flooded with devices based on the previous generation of JellyBean OS, handset makers are now focusing on launching devices with Android KitKat.

The price segment this phone caters to is still ruled by the old world feature phone. The new entrant is said to be eliminating most of these buttons phone soon.

Also, Indian phone makers Intex and Spice have decided to bring Mozilla’s Firefox OS to India. Intex calls its device the Cloud FX. The company said that the phone will be priced around Rs.2000, thereby bringing the Smartphone experience to the last group of people untouched by it. Spice on the other hand has just given a July release timeframe and announced that its phone will be a dual Sim device.

This may bring a revolution in the low-end phone segment mobilizing bigger players to enter that arena. If any one device in this segment works, there is a possibility of new trends in this segment. With major companies like Google and Facebook investing in initiatives to connect the massive unconnected population with internet, operating systems like these which facilitate cheaper devices which will further lead to more global interconnection.

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
Huawei Is All Set To Launch Ascend Mate2 4G in USA

Huawei Technologies Co. has been surrounded by controversies in USA about security concerns raised by lawmakers in Washington. But they believe it can trounce all that as it makes a larger push in the U.S. and tries to build on its successes elsewhere. While Apple and Samsung dictate the all-inclusive Smartphone market with a mutual market share of 46 percent, Huawei has a minor lead among the rest, with about 5 percent, recent data suggested.

Keeping up with the market’s pace, Huawei is all set to launch Ascend Mate2 4G, a mid-range Android phone touted as a reasonably priced substitute to high-end phones such as Apple’s iPhone 5s and Samsung’s Galaxy S5.

The Mate2 will go for $299 and will be sold directly by Huawei. It will work on AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s networks, but not on Verizon or Sprint. The new Mate2 is missing some of the features found in the iPhone or the S5, but it does well on the basics. In addition, it works with 4G cellular networks, while many cheaper devices are attuned only with the slower 3G networks.

The phone is huge, with a screen measuring 6.1 inches diagonally. The company says it’s targeting a few types of customers, such as those who watch a lot of video and those who need a big screen for heavy-duty email and other business functions. Further, it is equipped with impressive 3,900 milliamp-hour battery, allowing you to stream videos for almost 16 hours at a stretch.

The device also fashions 13MP rear camera and 5MP front one, which means sharper selfies and better video calling. The screen resolution is 1,280 pixels by 720 pixels comparably lower than the most Android phones.

Huawei has started taking orders, with phones starting to ship within the week. The Mate2 won’t equal a high-end phone, but it offers a lot for about half the price. That’s quite impressive for a phone of this size. It’s not a good deal if you’re already getting expensive phones at a subsidized price of $200, but it’s one to consider if you’re looking to get away from contracts and subsidies.

June 16, 2014