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Micromax Canvas Knight A350 Unboxing and Hands On

The Micromax Canvas Knight is a sequel to the Micromax Canvas series of devices, and on paper it does not seem to disappoint. With a set of good specifications and impressive design along with build quality to match the aforementioned, the phone has been all the rage in the market since its launch last week.

Box contents

The Micromax Canvas Knight A350
Snap on Back Panel
Flat Cable USB
Flat Cable Earphones
USB wall Charger
Additional Ear tips
Sim Removal Tool
Documentation and Warranty

Specifications

Price	Rs 19,990/-
Chipset	MT6592T Mediatek
CPU	OctaCORE 2.0 GHz
GPU	MALI – 450 MP
Camera Primary	16 MP
Camera Secondary	8 MP
Display	5 inch 1920 x 1080p
RAM	2 GB DDR 2
STORAGE	32 GB
Battery	2350 mAh

Initial Impressions

The first thing that one should consider is that the Micromax Canvas Knight is running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is a far cry from the standard Android 4.4 KitKat seen on many of todays launches. The Canvas Knight is designed well, subtle Micromax branding and flat design cues make it look a lot more elegant. The Glass back and front add to the design and remind us of the iPhone 4/4s designing. The front is laden with a 1920 x 1080 p IPS display of 5 inch size with excellent viewing angles and vivid brightness especially outdoors.

The front also has an 8 MP camera which sort of takes on handsets like the Gionee E7 (even though they are a different spec set), the rear has a 16 MP snapper, of which not a lot of detail is present, it does however manage a full HD video. The battery on the inside is a 2350 mAh which seems a lot less than needed for a OctaCore chipset and in our initial tests we did find the handset heating a bit from the earpiece region. Whether this will affect battery life performance or not is unknown.

The Canvas Knight A350 seems like a promising product from the company, check out the hands on Images on top and stay tuned for the Video Unboxing and Full Review.

March 18, 2014

Xiaomi Confirms 5.5 inch Redmi Note in a Teaser

Xiaomi’s latest Redmi phone was spotted online a couple of days back thanks to a leaked image. The company has now confirmed in an official teaser that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.5 is headed for the Chinese markets.

The addition of the “note” moniker could mean that the device may come with a stylus, or not as the teaser doesn’t indicate either. What is confirmed is the 5.5-inch screen supposedly of 720p resolution and the octa-core processor (1.4GHz or 1.7GHz).

The phone is expected in the market for a price of around US $ 200 or approximately Rs. 12600. The phone goes up for pre order on the 19th of March for those in China, and the others may need to wait.

March 16, 2014
WhatsApp’s VOIP functionality for iOS Leaked in a Screenshot

During WhatsApp’s recent Facebook acquisition, CEO Jan Koum hinted that WhatsApp may get voice call functionality by the summer. This new leaked screenshot of the App’s upcoming update for iOS shows off those supposed calling capabilities, designed to work along with iOS 7’s design layout.

The camera button on the top also hints at video call functionality. WhatApp will allow free voice calls and video calls with your friends on your WhatsApp list over Wifi and Cellular.

It is also rumored that this functionality comes via Skype or using Skype’s voip technology as Facebook currently integrates Skype calling within its chat windows.

With this feature WhatsApp may become the single point of social networking that everyone has been looking for. Now if only they could work out their battery drain.

March 16, 2014
Nokia’s Refocus App comes to all Lumia Phones on WP8

Own a Nokia Lumia phone running Windows Phone 8? Its time to hit the App store and download the Nokia Refocus app. The app was earlier thought to be reliant on the Pure View Camera tech. But it appears that Nokia has made the App available to all.

How the picture can be refocused is reliant on the apps ability to scan the area, a Focus Sweep while you hold the camera steady. The phone camera and app will then capture multiple images at various focal lengths and combine into one dynamic image which can then be refocused later. Sort of like the Lytro camera.

In other news it looks like the new HTC One (aka M8) will also have this functionality inbuilt.

March 14, 2014
LG’s G3 may come with the Quad HD Screen that Samsung Galaxy S5 Fans Wanted

Samsung’s recent launch of the Galaxy S5 left a lot of people disappointed due to the lack of the rumored 2560 x 1440 display aka the Quad HD display. However, LG might be one up again this year with the upcoming G3.

Thanks to the User Agent Profile found by known tipster @eveleaks, the LG G3 will have a QHD display or 2560 x 1440 or 2K. Its also known that the LG D850 is set to launch soon, with the D800 being the code for the G2, the D820 was the code for the NEXUS 5 and the D830 was the code for G Pro 2 launched earlier at MWC. It is assumed that the D850 will be the LG G3.

LG seems to be moving fast in releasing the G3 and supposedly wants to bring it out in June vs the September launch cycle to battle competition.

Other confirmations lead us to believe that Samsung will also launch the 2K Galaxy S5 later this year.

March 13, 2014
Xiaomi’s next Budget Phone with Octa Core Mediatek Chipset bounces online

Xiaomi’s new Redmi handset is supposed to be a sequel to their previous budget phone, has now finally been spotted online. The sub Rs. 10,000 / US $130 handset supposedly is called the Redmi aswell thanks to the red android buttons on the front of the handset.

It’ll feature a 5.5-inch, 720p IPS display), as well as Android 4.2.2, 1GB of RAM and an octa-core processor coming in two versions: 1.4GHz and 1.7GHz.

Designed to be sold for China Mobile the handset will be unlocked to 3G, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA option and CDMA 2000.

The Camera bundle includes a 5 MP front camera and a 13 MP main shooter. There is 8 GB of storage and 32 Gb expandability for the handset that comes with just 1 GB RAM. The Redmi will still miss out on LTE whereas other manufacturers are now gunning for LTE handsets in the sub 10,000 price bracket.

March 13, 2014
Instagram updates Android App, is now Faster and More Responsive.

Instagram’s latest updated Android app may come as a great welcome to selfie fans on Android. With version 5.1, Instagram has cut the footprint of the app in half, while making the app faster. Profile pages, for example, now load twice as quickly. The buttons have also been rearranged to make the app easier to navigate on different sized handsets.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Instagram” link=”http://blog.instagram.com/post/79272915088/android-update”]We’ve worked to make sure that Instagram feels native and at home on any Android device, We’ve simplified our visuals throughout our app, making use of valuable screen space for small devices and feature phones and rearranging our design to keep buttons within easy reach as you navigate the app on a larger device.[/quote]

The Update did not however bring the much desirable “Lux Tool” that came out for iOS users earlier this week. This slider lets users define the saturation of Range in their images. The company does claim that the Android App will get the “Lux Tool” soon.

March 13, 2014
Google Translate for Android, Brings the Love for Handwriting in 13 new Languages including Punjabi, Gujrati and Arabic

Google’s latest translate app update will offer a lot of help to travelers and locals of the middle east and South Asia including India. With handwriting recognition added in 13 new languages including Arabic and Persian as well as Indian dialects like Gujarati, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. You’ll also find support for Bosnian, Cebuano, Hmong, Maltese, Mongolian and Somali.

Google is constantly updating their language tools and it becoming easier and easier to communicate with people of a different language thanks to these updates. With handwriting support added, those from India who cannot type can now scribble directions to the nearest bar on this app. Lovely!

March 13, 2014
New HTC One Sold on Ebay for $500

The revision to the HTC One aka the new HTC One or the HTC M8 was purchased by a lucky bidder on popular bidding website eBay for a meager price of $500 box packed in Verizon packaging.

Considering a number of leaks of the handset in the past, the box gives more details than required of the handset all set to launch on the 25th of March.

According to the box, the handset features a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 chipset, a 5-inch 1080p display, microSD slot for expandable memory and 32GB internal storage, a 5MP front-facing camera, UltraPixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, a Nano-SIM slot and 2GB of RAM.

The Ultrapixel camera in question is bound to be an 8 MP variant with 4k video recording as per sources. The phone will run Android 4.4 out of the box with the latest iteration of Sense UX.

March 13, 2014
Macklemore Shows how to use a Toilet like a real man on Instagram

In this very educational video, famous Singer Macklemore shows how to use a toilet seat.

He writes in his caption :

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Macklemore” link=”http://instagram.com/p/lcsYsJwK59/”]ITS TIME THAT US MEN STARTED RESPECTING TO THE BASIN THAT OUR QUEENS SIT ON! LETS RAISE THE NEXT GENERATION TO HAVE BETTER AIM SO WOMEN DONT HAVE TO PEE & POOP ON OUR PEE!…and IM NOT TRYING TO POOP ON YOUR PEE EITHER! BASICALLY, TO ALL THE FRAT GUYS AND SHITTY DADS, QUIT FUCKING UP THE DEUCE SESH FOR THE REST OF US! BUMP THIS CUT IN ALL AIRPORT BATHROOMS AND FOOTBALL GAMES! FUCK A DRUNK DAD PISSING ON THE GROUND, AND A FRAT BRO TOO HAMMERED TO HANDLE HIS DANGLER! MAN UP AND LEARN DONG CONTROL!…IM OUT!!![/quote]

Interesting way to educate!

March 13, 2014
The Amazing Spider Man 2 is the Sequel most have been Waiting for

The new Amazing Spider-Man movie is coming out this year, and Gameloft is simultaneously working on a game to launch along with the upcoming movie.

This game will be the successor to the Amazing Spider man launched in 2012, which is still available on Android for just 6 INR , and also available on iOS for 390 INR. The Amazing Spider Man 2 game will be available soon for download on Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms.

The Amazing Spider Man 2 Game by Gamloft, has been teased in a trailer which can be seen above. The game is expected to launch after the movie launches, which will be in May 2014.

[quote text_size=”small”]Web-sling through a free-roam Manhattan in the ultimate playground, as Spider-Man rushes to save New York City from the chaos of a disastrous crime wave. Combined with an original story inspired by the film, the stage is set for Spidey’s greatest battle against film villains Electro and Green Goblin, as well as other iconic foes![/quote]

The Amazing Spider Man 2 is expected to bring better graphics in the game compared to what users have seen on the previous The Amazing Spider Man game. No information on what price this game will launch at, but it is confirmed for May 2014.

March 12, 2014
Dong Nguyen May Bring ‘Flappy Bird’ Back

Flappy Bird has enjoyed ample of attention ever since its demise on the App store and Play store. Creator Dong Nguyen, decided to take the game off the stores because it was to much for him. As per his interview with the Rolling Stone, he said “I was just making something fun to share with other people.”

[quote text_size=”medium”]I couldn’t predict the success of Flappy Bird[/quote]

On February 9, a new tweet was seen on Nguyen’s account. Reading ,”I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.” This tweet not only marked the end of Flappy Birds from stores but also worried players who were addicted to this game. Having said that, this message was retweeted more than 1,45,000 times.

Dong Nguyen says he never wanted that fame, he could not take it. However, after removing the game he says: ” I can’t go back to my life before, but I’m good now.” He has turned all offers down, that have come across to purchase this game. When asked if he will bring the game back in the stores ? “I’m considering it,” Nguyen said.

Irrespective of when Flappy Bird will go live again, it will surely be a success for both ends. Android users can still download the game(unofficially), but iPhone users still cannot reach it. If the game does return, it will bring joy back to the lovers, and to Dong Nguyen as he was apparently earning $50,000 per day with this game.

March 12, 2014
LG G Flex Review

LG has been an underdog in the mobile industry for quite some time. However, last year brought about a new beginning for the Korean manufacturer especially in the mobile space. LG broke the traditional association of “cheap products” when they successfully chased the market with a product like the LG G2.

The new G Flex is the company’s latest marvel and a first of a kind phone at that. The first phone with a curved display, a curved body and a curved battery. The G Flex is also capable of handling reverse tension of upto 40 kilograms and then returning to original state.

Specifications

[row cols_nr=”2″ bg_color=”e0fce0″]

[col size=”6″]

Display

Chipset

Battery

Camera

RAM

Storage

Price

[/col]

[col size=”6″]

6 Inch

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800

3500 mAh

13 MP main / 2.1 MP Secondary

2 GB

32 GB

Rs. 63000 / USD 899

[/col]

[/row]

Build Quality and Design

The funny thing about the build quality of the LG G Flex is that on one hand, it has a brilliant build and design : it is the first curved phone, which flexes and returns to its original position. It also has great tensile materials that allow it to do that flex thing it does, including LG’s patented Plastic OLED (POLED) tech. However on the other hand, the phone is purely plastic, front to back, the Plastic Display adds to the plastic nature making the phone look : well not so premium.

[quote text_size=”small”]Curved and Flexible makes it unique![/quote]

The G Flex however due to its design can be mishandled quite a lot. It has a very damage resistant design, including the Gorilla Glass (er.. plastic) front, the self healing paint finish on the back that does a pretty decent job. You can however scratch the back if that what you are trying to do, dropping the phone on concrete can have bad repercussions.

Performance, Display & Multimedia

The G Flex is a refreshing change for Android devices, just like the G2 the G Flex is responsive and fast and hold down on the lag quite a lot. Apart from daily chores, it does a brilliant job in handling heavy games and performance apps, especially a few architecture and calculation apps we tried.

Even benchmarks are not a problem for the G Flex and you will find it hovering in the top range of the spectrum of devices. The graphics performance also takes a leap as it saves up on the lower 720p display. The limitation of the new “POLED” tech restricts the screen resolution to 720p and may be upped in the G Flex 2.

For the time being the display is pretty fantastic, the vivid colors and exceptional brightness put it in the top their in our list. If you ignore the resolution which effective is pretty alright, considering the size of the display you are bound to hold it further away. You will not notice the lack of 1080p, and if you do its purely an irritation in the mind .

Multimedia is a brand new experience, it fun even, simply because the curved display adds a strange magic to the viewing experience. The curve is pretty good and noticeable and anyone holding the device is impressed when viewing videos . The inbuilt sound may not be the top notch sound you would expect .

The G Flex captures and plays back 4k video, which allows you to zoom into videos without loss of resolution. A new tech also allows you to zoom into the sound of the area you zoom into. LG calls it Audio Zoom and shockingly it works well.

Camera

The camera on this handset seems less polished than one would expect. Images are shabby, and mostly end up shaky. The lack of image stabilization also shows its dark side. Unlike the G2 the G Flex seems to have a slow and shabby shutter and mostly translates to less sharp images in the end.

That all being said, its not a complete failure and one can really take pictures by being careful with the handset. On the plus side the sensor captures unaltered 4K video which is simply too good to talk about. Talk about portable Ultra High Def, the camera is highly capable and manages excellent video. There is some software stabilization which may not be very well appreciated but, applying stabilization in post works great and you can even select your areas from the 4k footage to make a nice 1080p video with the right kind of detail. Its like a lossless zoom in video. 4k Video is the future of mobile camera tech, we saw that at MWC, and the G Flex embraces it really well.

[quote text_size=”small”]G Flex embraces 4k Video as it’s the future[/quote]

Phone Networks and Battery Life

The G Flex is a great phone too, with an excellent grasp on network towers the G Flex is able to get network where most phones failed. We used the G Flex primarily while traveling for MWC and while most people struggled with network problems, we were pretty happy.

Battery life was also excellent, also possibly due to a great network antenna. The 3500 mAh battery is not only good on paper but also in real life usage. LG has managed processes and its display really well ensuring high battery life. Great apps like the power saver enhance the battery considerably and come out of the box. Oh and did we mention that he battery is curved!

Conclusion

The LG G Flex is a new age smartphone, it has all the matching pre requisites and it is a one of a kind device. It is not only curved, it flexes! The hardware is on the low side when compared to higher end of the spectrum, 720p display vs an 1080p and 2 GB of RAM vs 3 GB. However, those specs are arguably not needed.

While the performance of the phone is really on the happy side, the camera especially for stills is the sad side. Video, especially 4k is good and the phone networks are solid and battery excellent. The G Flex is large and not easily handled with one hand, even with large ginormous hands.

The G Flex brings in a new category, bendable phones, while its a step into the future we are not quite there yet and a long time from it. The design is unique and one of a kind, the build nice and resistance splendid. Honestly if LG made this phone slightly smaller we would have been happier, at 6 inches its more a mini tablet. So bring on the G Flex Mini and we we be happy soldiers.

Even though its priced high, its a new technology and may be worth the value for those who become first movers.

March 11, 2014
Goophone Clones The New HTC One Even Before It’s Launched!

Remember Goophone? The company that cloned the Samsung Galaxy S5 within 2 days of its launch? Well, they’ve bettered themselves by launching their version of the all new HTC One, even before it’s been announced!

Goophone hasn’t shied away from using the purported codename of the real All New HTC One, M8. HTC is due to announce its 2014 flagship on March 25th whereas the clone has already been listed and can be ordered by anyone willing to purchase it. In a sense its Goophone’s own successor, as it cloned the HTC One last year as well.

As can be expected with all the other Goophone clones this latest clone only resembles the HTC M8 in physical appearance but its internal hardware is quite different. At first glance you might be fooled into thinking that it is the real deal from the front view as it appears to have a similar design as the original device. The back part of the device bears the Goophone brand which announces that it isn’t an HTC device.

Of course the Goophone wasn’t able to pull off the rear dual cameras that are widely expected of the upcoming flagship HTC device. Also for a price of $229 we are certainly not expecting high quality metal to be covering up all the parts that are under the hood of the phone.

Specs-wise, the GooPhone M8 is similar to the GooPhone S5, as it comes with an eight-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.7 GHz, mated to only 1 GB RAM. Other specs include a 5-inch, 1080p display, a 13-megapixel non-Ultrapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front camera, 16 GB expandable storage, a 2,800 mAh battery, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box.

March 7, 2014
Nokia Lumia 630 Press Render Leaks

The rumored Nokia Lumia 630 is thought to be one of the first handsets to run Microsoft’s incoming Windows Phone 8.1 OS and it was shown off today in a leaked press render.

The phone has been leaked through the @evleaks Twitter account, and is a traditional press-style glamor shot of a phone apparently named the Lumia 630. Pictured in five different colors, it’s shown running Windows Phone 8.

Some of the notable feature here include a lack of fixed hardware controls on the front of the device. Rather, the new version of Windows Phone will allow for the inclusion of on-screen prompts for the usual back, Windows, and search commands.

The leaked shot also shows that the Nokia Lumia 630 lacks a camera flash and, in a first for a Windows Phone, a physical camera shutter button.

Not much is known about the handset at this point, but according to one of the images posted on Baidu, the Lumia 630 will feature a 4.5-inch display with a decent enough resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. Under the hood with be the mid-range Snapdragon 400 processor accompanied by 1GB of RAM.

March 7, 2014