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Salman Khan Registers “Being Smart” Mobile Phone Brand, Bhai-Phone Inevitable!

Indian celebrity and “Being Human” clothing brand owner, Salman Khan, has registered a new brand under the name of “Being Smart” towards an inevitable launch of Smart Phones for the entry – mid ranger market.

The phones are being made to compete against Chinese smartphone makers, with the likes of Xiaomi and Oppo. Salman has approached several investors for his venture and is building an operational management team that may be headed by an executive with leadership experience in Samsung and Micromax. One person with this exact background is Mr. Vineet Taneja, who had left Samsung Mobile India, to join Micromax informatics where he headed the mobile division till last year. Many have also blamed Mr. Taneja for the downfall of the Micromax’s popularity in the smartphone market, which dropped from the radar during Vineet’s tenure.

However, all the details of the company are not out yet, and whether this results in a launch of smartphones is also not clear. According to the reports, the proceeds from the venture, just like other brands by Salman, Being Human clothing and Jewellery, will be directed to charity and social work carried out by Khan’s Being Human Foundation.

At Present the Indian mobile market is the third largest in the world, and new mobile phone brands are exceedingly eying India for increased profits and market share. However, the market is tough and held strongly by big brands like, Lenovo, Samsung, Apple, Oppo and Vivo in the Offline and Online space, while the likes of Moto, Xiaomi, Le-Eco and OnePlus in the online only space.

The specifications and details of the phones, along with price brackets are unknown at the moment. But if Salman does get investors on board, which should not be a problem. Expect a barrage of “Bhai-Phones” in the Indian Market. We wonder if they will run on Android or Bhai OS :

March 9, 2017
Moto G5 Plus To Launch on 15th March as Flipkart Exclusive

A lot of people are eagerly waiting for the launch of the Moto G5 Plus in India. Flipkart and Moto both, have been teasing the launch of the phone over their social media platforms, and now have officially announced that the phone will be a Flipkart exclusive. The Moto G5 Plus was announced at MWC 2017 and comes with a complete redesign of the G Series. An all metal body along with some serious upgrades on the inside the phone will start selling 15th March onwards and shipping soon after.

While no details of pricing are available, the Moto G5 plus is expected to launch around the Rs. 15000 price bracket, much like last year’s Moto G4 Plus. Also much like last years launch, the company will only sell the Moto G5 Plus initially and later launch the Moto G5, and possibly a “Play” variant down the line.

The Moto G5 has a 5-inch LCD display, while the G5 Plus has a bigger 5.2-inch screen, both of which have a 1920 x 1080 px resolution. The optics on the Moto G5 consist of a 13-megapixel Sensor along with an Aperture of f/2.0 with phase detect autofocus with a 5 Mp front camera, the G5 Plus, however, gets a 12-megapixel f/1.7 camera with dual-focus pixels and can record 4K video, while the G5 is limited to 1080 p Full HD. The Moto G5 Plus too has a 5 MP front camera.

The Moto G5 Plus gets a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 2.0 GHz octa-core CPU and 650 MHz Adreno 506 GPU. Stay tuned for more updates.

March 8, 2017
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Get a Flat Rs. 10,000 Price Cut

Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus have received a significant Rs. 10,000 price cut on all its variants and all colours. The iPhone 7 which was originally selling for Rs. 60,000 for the 32GB variant is now available for Rs. 49999 for the same variant and the price changes apply for all variants all the way up to the 128 GB iPhone 7 plus which originally sells for Rs. 82000 but is now available for Rs. 71999. This also includes the Jet Black colour which was on high demand at the time of the launch of the iPhone 7. The deal however does not include the iPhone 7 Plus at 256 GB which still remains pricey at Rs. 92000.

This news comes in wake of ever growing rumours of Apple’s next iPhone which, as a tenth anniversary upgrade, is expected to have some radical changes to design and technology. iPhone’s have usually never received price cuts in India, however, since this trend started in 2016, it has helped Apple move huge number of handsets and achieve record high sales for a phone segment which is now leads. This may possibly be the best time to grab an iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with the next upgrade a good 6 months away, your shiny ( or matte) iPhone can be bought for a good discount. The deal also appears to be a limited time offer.

March 6, 2017
This is The Best Look At The Galaxy S8 So Far

Samsung has made a lot of official announcements for the launch of the Galaxy S8 and possibly the S8 Plus, the phones that will mark a comeback after a 6 month lull for the company. The phones are expected to launch on March 29th, and if leaks are anything to go by the phones are going to be pretty impressive.

This is what a phone looks like… until 03.29.2017. #UnboxYourPhone https://t.co/xBXi484N5g pic.twitter.com/RgbFfwUCvJ

— Samsung Mobile India (@SamsungMobileIN) March 1, 2017

Samsung is working on a design that will stretch the display on both sides making the screen to body ratio of the phone pretty impressive, and near the 90% mark. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 plus will also have the latest Snapdragon 835 along with 4 GB of RAM and 64 Gb of onboard storage with microSD expandability.

I think this is what you’ve been waiting for. pic.twitter.com/FvYfsLOy0R

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) March 1, 2017

The company may not launch the S8 with dual cameras, and keep that feature an exclusive for the Galaxy S8 Plus. A new image leaked by evleaks points to what is possibly the best look yet at the new Galaxy S8 . If we merge Samsung’s teasers with the image tweeted by evleaks, the similarities are uncanny. Check out the merged image below.

March 1, 2017
Lenovo Confirms Launch of Moto G5 Plus in India March 15th

Lenovo has just sent out invites for the launch of the Moto G5 plus in India, while the invite doesn’t say much, we had already reported that the phones will be launched in India mid march. The Moto G5 and G5 Plus run Android Nougat out of the box and, the regular G5 has a Snapdragon 430 processor, while the G5 Plus gets a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 2.0 GHz octa-core CPU and 650 MHz Adreno 506 GPU.

The Moto G5 has a 5-inch LCD display, while the G5 Plus has a bigger 5.2-inch screen, both of which have a 1920 x 1080 px resolution. The optics on the Moto G5 consist of a 13-megapixel f/2.0 system with phase detect autofocus with a 5 Mp front camera, the G5 Plus, however, gets a 12-megapixel f/1.7 camera with dual-focus pixels and can record 4K video, while the G5 is limited to 1080 p Full HD. The Moto G5 Plus too has a 5 MP front camera.

We expect these phones to launch around the Rs. 15000 price bracket, stay tined for more info. You can follow the full MWC launch story here.

February 27, 2017
Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus Launched with Metal Body

Lenovo launched the Moto G5 and Moto G5 plus at MWC 2017, the revision to the popular Moto G series phones now sport an aluminum unibody design along with pricing that can excite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo6bFoC_3f8

The Moto G5 and G5 Plus will run Android Nougat out of the box and, the regular G5 has a Snapdragon 430 processor, while the G5 Plus gets a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 2.0 GHz octa-core CPU and 650 MHz Adreno 506 GPU. The G5 has a 5-inch LCD display, while the G5 Plus has a bigger 5.2-inch screen, both of which have a 1920 x 1080 px resolution.

The optics on the Moto G5 consist of a 13-megapixel f/2.0 system with phase detect autofocus with a 5 Mp front camera, the G5 Plus, however, gets a 12-megapixel f/1.7 camera with dual-focus pixels and can record 4K video, while the G5 is limited to 1080 p Full HD. The Moto G5 Plus too has a 5 MP front camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASpz0-PrQXs

The Moto G5 is available in 16GB or 32GB of storage capacities with support for microSD cards up to 256GB. The G5 Plus will have options between 32GB or 64GB with expandability unto 256GB. Depending on the model you either get 2 GB, 3GB or 4 GB of RAM. Both the Moto G5 and G5 plus will support dual-SIM capability along with VoLTE. The Moto G5 has a removable and replaceable 2,800mAh battery while the Moto G5 Plus gets a sealed 3,000mAh battery.

Features on the phones include Moto Display for notifications, and the Moto gestures, just as other Moto phones.Both the Moto G5 and G5 Plus will get the Google Assistant when they launch later this quarter.

The Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus will launch worldwide including India in March in with two color options that include the fine gold which is almost identical to the Moto M and the Lunar gray color.The Moto G5 will start at €199 (Rs. 14000) with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, while the G5 Plus will set you back Rs. 15000 with 2GB RAM and 32GB of storage.Motorola is expected to launch these phones in India Mid-March, stay tuned for more info.

February 26, 2017
Nokia Re-Launches The Nokia 3310

This ends the Rumors , the Nokia 3310 is finally back and with all glory in a brand new avatar. The new colorful 3310 keeps the iconic design hues of the popular Nokia 3310 that sold 126 Million units back when it was launched. The 2017 Nokia 3310 works on the Nokia’s Series 30+ , with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, supports expanded memory via a microSD slot.

The new Nokia 3310 is not a weighted power tool, like the earlier edition. The re-design is a lighter, smaller and thinner unit which looks more refined yet keeps the rugged polycarbonate exterior.

The phone is missing the original Snake game, but is replaced by a modern Snake game. What are the features you ask? the Nokia 3310 has a standby time of 31 days, and a talk time of 22 hours. The Nokia 3310 will now have a 2 MP camera with LED flash along with an FM radio and a Micro USB Charger, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The phone is expected to go on Sale in Q2 2017 for a price of 49 euros ($52/ Rs. 3500).

February 26, 2017
Samsung Galaxy S8 To Go On Sale April 21st, LG G6 on March 10th

The Samsung Galaxy S8 will be an important phone not only for Samsung fans, but also for Samsung. The company has had a bad half year, with the Note 7 blowout, barely in the rear view mirror for the South Korean company, the word looks on to the S8 and S8+’s arrival.

According to new reports Samsung will launch the phone on March 29 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 along with supposedly the larger Samsung Galaxy S8+ will go on sale on April 21st in certain parts of the world including the US market, UK and UAE. The Indian counterpart is expected to arrive early may according to our Samsung sources.

Samsung has put in motion a large marketing plan and their largest push promo budget yet, to make the Galaxy S8 a success. In India, the company will finally look for Brand Ambassadors for the flagship phone, signing on celebrities that target the youth.

The news report from a Korean publication suggests that Samsung will have ample supplies of the phone to have sales steady by May – June 2017. The company has reportedly invested large sums of capital in battery design and management making the phone safe, which will be explicitly demonstrated during their global launch. Samsung’s new phones have also raked in the largest order of Snapdragon 835 chips from Qualcomm limiting supplies for other brands like LG and HTC.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ with different screen sizes – 5.7-inches and 6.2-inches respectively. The phones may feature their new Assistant Bixby and 6GB of RAM as standard. The S8 and S8 plus will also be available with upto 256 GB of storage and microSD expandability like the S7 edge, along with IP68 or better water resistance. Wireless charging and new wireless charging accessories are also expected.

A new leak has also shown off the New Gear VR from Samsung which comes with a remote controller built into the body. The Gear VR is expected to be priced at US $ 199 in India retailing for Rs. 14999.

LG will try to one up the Samsung Galaxy S8 by launching the LG G6 as early as 26th Feb at MWC in Barcelona with the phone hitting the markets by 10 March. The company has already teased some features of the LG G6 including an all new design, QuadDAC support FullVision display and the LG UX 6.0 running Android 7.1.

Tipster Evan Blass also recently leaked the image shown above, which are from case manufacturer Speck showing both the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8 in their full render glory.

February 23, 2017
HTC One X10 Leaked to be Priced Around Rs. 15000

iGyaan recently got hold of some information about an upcoming HTC phone, with a single mug shot and settings panel details which can be seen here. The design shows a thick chrome outer, and a screenshot of the settings panel shows a different model. However, new images show the HTC One X10 with similar specifications, with a Helio P10.

The phone is expected to be priced between 1680 Yuan and 1200 variant for two different variants, the phone is expected in India however starting Rs. 14,999 for the budget variant. The HTC One X10 will run on the MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10, at 1.9GHz CPU on octa-cores along with Mali T860 GPU.

Expect the phone to run on 3GB of RAM and 32GB of Storage with expandability via microSD and a 16.3-megapixel main shooter along with a 7.9-MP secondary front camera.

February 20, 2017
Review : Samsung Evo Plus 256 GB microSD

Samsung has a whole lot of memory and media options available, from SSDs to microSDs, Samsung also supplies Nand flash cards to most Smartphone manufacturers. The new Evo Plus cards are available in capacities ranging from 16GB to 256GB and boast impressive speeds of 90MB/s + for Reads as well as writes making them not only ideal for playback of high res media files but also a fantastic option for Professionals who need to capture high quality 4k footage.

Price

The cards range in price from Rs. 500 for the 16 GB variant all the way upto Rs. 9900 for the 256 GB variant of the card.

Build

The Micro SD card features a temperature resistance rating of -25° to 85° Celsius, and can survive in seawater for upto 72 hours making it extremely resistant and resilient in storing your data safely. The Evo plus card from Samsung does have magnetic and x-ray shielding allowing you to secure your data from the airport scans.

Speed

While the smaller size variants from 16 GB to 128 GB storage capacities are rated for 80 MB/s Reads and only 20 MB/s writes the 256 GB card really shines with high speed card access. Making this ideal not only for smartphones with 4k video recording capabilities, but also for devices, like the GoPro, DJI Osmo and drones that use microSD and capture 4K footage.

While our actual tests show much lower speed than the rated 95MB/s Reads and 90MB/s writes, the overall result is still impressive for a 256 GB microSD card.

Conclusion

The 256 GB Samsung Evo Plus is a solution not for the faint of heart, with a hefty price tag of Rs. 9,900 the 256 GB Samsung Evo Plus will definitely put a big hole in your pocket but will also give you storage and speeds that you need to access the storage. With media storage mediums getting cheaper and cheaper the Samsung 256 GB Evo Plus which retails for Rs. 13999 is now available for Rs. 9,900. It is a high quality well built reliable and resilient card and does not throw up any read/write errors on devices and gives the speeds that are required.

February 17, 2017
iPhone 8 Leak Shows that the Smaller iPhone will have a Bigger Screen and No Home Button

New leaked design renders from KGI securities show that the iPhone 8/ iPhone X, which will possibly be the next iPhone from Apple, and also the 10th anniversary iPhone from the company, will have a larger screen in the same form factor.

The iPhone 7 has a 4.7 inch display with an IPS LCD panel along with the home button below the display. The iPhone 8 however will feature a 5.15 inch OLED panel according to the information in the image and will hide the home button behind a bar of fiction keys, much like the touch bar on the latest MacBook.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states that the real size of the display will be around 5.8 inches however the display area will be only 5.15 inches while retaining the iPhone 7 form factor. The next iPhone much like previous leaks suggest will hide the home button and fingerprint scanner in all entirety being the OLED panel allowing for a larger appearing display.

The reports also mention Apple may also completely do away with touch ID for an alternative form of verification like facial or iris recognition, which was seen on the Galaxy Note 7 ( oh, the Galaxy Note 7, how you are missed !) . It seems unlikely that apple will kill possibly the most used thing on iPhones, i.e the touch ID.

However, this will not be the only iPhone launched in 2017, but, one of the 3 phones that launch this year. The other two will be identical in design and screen dimensions like the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus, possibly with improved specifications.

February 17, 2017
Samsung South Korea Leader Arrested for Bribery

Samsung’s vice chairman Lee Jae-yong has been arrested in South Korea for charges of bribery and of hiding criminal proceeds and violating laws pertaining to transferring assets abroad. The court had found him guilty in January of 2017, but a warrant for his arrest was made only yesterday for the remaining charges.

The rationale for and the necessity of (Lee’s) arrest is acknowledged considering the new charges and additional evidence collected- Said the court

The charge of significant proportions putts Lee Jae-yong for bribing the South Korean President Park Geun-hye $38 million for allowing special privileges to Samsung as a brand. The stories of Samsung being a company that has its roots stuck with bribery have been around since the time the founder of the company was charged with illegal business practices.

It just seems that the company cannot catch a break, failed Note 7, massive losses in the stock market and now this. The fy16-17 for Samsung has really not been good.

February 17, 2017
Nokia will pay Homage to the 3310 and Launch the Nokia 3 and 5 at MWC 2017

Nokia is planning to relaunch the Nokia 3310 phone with a price tag of €59 according to new reports. The company will launch the 3310 as a reminder of the legacy of the brand and what values it holds close to itself. The phone will be a dumb-phone aka feature phone and will be a newer enhanced Nokia 3310.

HMD Global Oy, the manufacturer behind the return of Nokia will also launch the Nokia 6 to the world, from an exclusive China only launch. The Nokia 6 will launch for €249 with a full HD, 5.5-inch display, Snapdragon 430 system-on-chip, 4GB of RAM, and 16 MP camera with storage at 32 GB. However, the company is planning to launch the Nokia 5 with a 5.2 inch 720p display with the same Snapdragon 430 chipset and 2 GB or RAM along with a smaller sensor 12 MP camera.

The Nokia 5 will also be cheaper by about € 50 priced at €199. The Nokia 3 will be an entry level Android phone and will initially sell for €149, dumbing down specifications further to match the price tag. While the entry level return of Nokia does look rather dull. The relaunch of the iconic Nokia 3310 surely has us excited.

Nokia has the launch event set of 26th February in Barcelona, and all will be disclosed then.

February 14, 2017
Moto G5 and G5 Plus to Be Cheaper and Made out of Metal

Lenovo Owned Moto is gunning for the glory of their best selling handset as the prepare the revision for 2017. The Moto G5 and G5 plus said to succeed the Moto G4 and G4 plus and to be launched at MWC 2017 will bring about a lot of changes for the category hit.

Lenovo will reduce the pricing in certain regions of the Moto G5 and G5 Plus. The Moto G5 will be available in 2GB + 16GB for 189 Euro and 3GB + 16GB for 209 Euro which is considerably lower than the 240 Euro price for the Moto G4. What is interesting is that Lenovo may do this by supplementing the Snapdragon chipset with a cheaper Mediatek chipset, a move that may not go down well with the fans of the Moto G series.

Previous leaks tell us that the Moto G5 will have a 1.7 aperture equipped Sony IMX362 primary camera sensor with PDAF and a 5.2 inch 1080p display with a 3000 mAh battery. Images show that the fingerprint sensor will remain in the front along with an all metal unibody design, which is much like the Moto M. The Snapdragon chipset might still be in play in sensitive markets like India, however, prices may be increased.

The Moto G5 launch is said to happen on Feb 26th and the phone is expected to launch in India a week post the MWC announcement. Expect pricing to fall well under the Rs. 15000 price mark.

February 14, 2017
HTC Leak Shows an iPhone 3G Lookalike Budget Android

HTC is working on a new smartphone for select markets including India. A new leak from our tipster shows a front design which is scarily identical to the iPhone 3G. What is interesting is that the phone has no buttons or fingerprint sensors in the front. Which is unlike HTC, who like putting a physical home button or a fingerprint sensor on the front of their devices. We can spot the power button and volume rockers to the right of the handset.

The tipster also claims that the un-named HTC phone has low-end specs with just 2GB RAM and 16GB storage alongside a MT6735 chipset and a 3000 mAh battery. However the cameras include a 16 MP main camera and a 7 MP front facing camera. While its difficult to ascertain whether this is just a test device or a development device, If you look closely at the bottom left of the image you can see a case which is very identical to HTC design for their Desire series of their phones.

The bottom chin of the phone holds the HTC logo and is missing any physical or touch capacitive keys.

HTC India reps have refused to comment on the the device. However, the company had confirmed that they will launch some budget ended devices in coming weeks at their previous event in India. The new unnamed device could be HTC working towards more entry level phones.

The phone is expected below the Rs. 10,000/ US $ 150 price for markets like India, China, Bangladesh etc. Take this with a pinch of salt while we dig more.

Update : We found the following info about the phone. The Model number is a37dj dugl and it is running on Android 6.0 with the January 5, 2017 security patch.

Thanks Anonymous.

February 8, 2017