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In a shift of strategies Blackberry has announced that they will be launching the BBM app on Android and iOS for free this summer. Available to users running iOS 6 and Android 4.0 ICS or higher, the free BBM app will bring the magic of BBm messaging to every handset.
On the outset, however, only the messaging and group features will be accessible for outside users, but by the end of the year, the company plans to bring about the coveted BBM voice, BBM channels, screen sharing and video capabilities.
Rumors of Blackberry (Previously Research In Motion) following this path have been around for years, and with an official statement form the company chief it looks like it is done.
Blackberry has also announced Channels. BBM Channels is a new way for BBM users to connect with the businesses, brands, celebrities and groups they are passionate about.
[toggle title=”Press Release”]BBM for iOS and Android to Launch This Summer
WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – May 14, 2013) – BlackBerry(R) (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB) today announced plans to make its ground-breaking mobile social network, BlackBerry(R) Messenger (BBM(TM)), available to iOS(R) and Android(TM) users this summer, with support planned for iOS6, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher, all subject to approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play. BBM sets the standard for mobile instant messaging with a fast, reliable, engaging experience that includes delivered and read statuses, and personalized profiles and avatars. Upon release, BBM customers would be able to broaden their connections to include friends, family and colleagues on other mobile platforms.
In the planned initial release, iOS and Android users would be able to experience the immediacy of BBM chats, including multi-person chats, as well as the ability to share photos and voice notes, and engage in BBM Groups, which allows BBM customers to create groups of up to 30 people.
“For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service. BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President, Software Product Management and Ecosystem, at BlackBerry.
BBM is loved by customers for its “D” and “R” statuses, which show up in chats to let people know with certainty that their message has been delivered and read. It provides customers with a high level of control and privacy over who they add to their contact list and how they engage with them, as invites are two-way opt-in. iOS and Android users would be able to add their contacts through PIN, email, SMS or QR code scan, regardless of platform. Android users would also be able to connect using a compatible NFC-capable device.
BBM has more than 60 million monthly active customers, with more than 51 million people using BBM an average of 90 minutes per day. BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps. Almost half of BBM messages are read within 20 seconds of being received; indicating how truly engaged BBM customers are.
Today, BlackBerry also announced BBM Channels, a new social engagement platform within BBM that will allow customers to connect with the businesses, brands, celebrities and groups they are passionate about. BlackBerry plans to add support for BBM Channels as well as voice and video chatting for iOS and Android later this year, subject to approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play.
If approved by Apple and Google, the BBM app will be available as a free download in the Apple(R) App Store(SM) and Google Play store. Additional details about system requirements and availability will be announced closer to the launch.[/toggle]
Panasonic is finally ready to take on the Android Ecosystem all over again, and they will launch their first device right here in India on May 16th. The Panasonic P5i is expected to run on a Quad Core Chipset clocked at 1.2 GHz, and will have a 5 inch HD display, an 8 MP main camera and a 2.1 MP front facing camera.
Funnily enough we had spotted Panasonic’s name during the launch of the Mediatek 6589 chipset, and the rumored specs of the Panasonic P5i manage to match those seen on the Canvas HD. Maybe Panasonic is getting ready to launch a budget phone in India?, or maybe its all hokum. Either way we will know when we make our way to the launch of the Smartphone on 16th May and get you all the details here on iGyaan.
Oppo is prepping to launch its flagship phone the Find 5 in India for a price of Rs. 27,445 for the 16GB variant and Rs. 31,259 for the 32 GB variant. The company made famous by the Apple lawsuit in china is now foraying into international markets with their Android powered smartphones.
The Find 5 has a 5 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors and 441PPI IPS pixel density with features technology that combines touch sensors like on the HTC One and LG Optimus G making the display float on top. Its screen is also protected by Gorilla 2 Glass and has the super slim 3.25mm bezel which makes it appear slimmer in profile.
The Find 5 features a 13-megapixel rear camera sensor which rivals that on the Xperia Z, Optimus G and Galaxy S4. The Sensor has Stacked CMOS technology with with HDR, it features an f/2.2 aperture, 4-layer coating and blue glass filters. The Burst mode enables100 photos at 5 frames per second .
The front facing camera has 1.9-megapixel resolution and will capture HD Video.
For hardware the Oppo Find 5 series has a Qualcomm APQ8064 Quad-Core processor clocked at 1.5GHz with the Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB RAM.
The Oppo Find 5 comes out of the box with Android 4.1.2 and their own custom UI, the handset will soon be updated to Android 4.2. Color options include a Black and a White version, and should go on sale in India in the coming weeks. Expect full reviews, with comparisons on iGyaan soon after.
The lack of Instagram on Windows Phone 8 is seriously taking its toll on the users and by the looks of it Hupstamatic is here to provide some relief. The app Oggl was shown off at Nokia’s London event with a WP8 UI, and presently it is unknown if this is a Lumia exclusive App or will be available throughout the Windows Phone 8 lineup of smartphones.
The app features several filters as seen on Hipstamatic iPhone app, including the famous food filter, and users can buy packs to upgrade these filters. Sharing is available on Oggl and the app will connect to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Nokia has launched the new Lumia 925 in London at a press conference today. While all Lumia phones till date have been plastic the new Lumia 925 has a completely Aluminum Frame. While most of the specs remain same and the phone has the same dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 1GB RAM and 8.7-megapixel OIS camera of the 920, the Lumia 925 is almost 50 grams (1.8 ounces) lighter than last year’s Lumia 920.
Even with the 8.8mm profile, there’s an identical 2,000mAh battery but the Wiless charging has been removed to accomodate the profile of the new Lumia 925. For those who are disheartened, an accessory cover can be had which will re-enable said wireless features. The colors include red, yellow, black and white. The Lumia 925 model also sports an 4.5-inch AMOLED screen with the resolution of the Lumia 920 (1280 x 768px) it will enjoy superior black levels thanks to the Amoled tech in the display.
The display also has Gorilla Glass 2, with ClearBlack tech and a high-brightness mode for improved outdoor visibility and hopefully the same hyper touch tech that lets you use the Lumia 920 with gloves on.
The Camera is the same 8.7-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, but Nokia has added another lens to make it a 6 Carl Zeiss Lens camera, this 6th lens element improves sharpness of images.
Lumia 925 Camera Samples
The Lumia 925 will launch in parts of Europe and China this June, priced at 469 euros (roughly $609 or INR 33500), India should see similar pricing and availability this summer.
[toggle title=”Read Press Release”]Nokia introduces Nokia Lumia 925
New interpretation of world’s most innovative smartphone captures the best low light images London, UK – Nokia today introduced the Nokia Lumia 925, a new interpretation of its award-winning flagship, the Nokia Lumia 920. The Nokia Lumia 925 introduces a metal design and showcases the latest PureView camera innovation, new features and third party applications coming to the Nokia Lumia range.
The Nokia Lumia 925 includes the most advanced lens technology and next generation imaging software to capture clearer, sharper pictures and video, including the best low light images. The Nokia Lumia 925 also introduces the new Nokia Smart Camera mode, coming as an update to all Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Nokia Smart Camera offers an easy way to capture ten images at once and edit the pictures with options like Best Shot, Action Shot, and Motion Focus for creating the perfect high quality image.
Nokia also announced Hipstamatic will arrive on Nokia Lumia smartphones, allowing people to share their high quality pictures with like-minded enthusiasts on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram.
“We keep innovating,” said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices. “We’re advancing experiences on Nokia Lumia portfolio whether that means great new benefits for an existing Lumia owner, or bringing new showcase devices like the Nokia Lumia 925.” The Nokia Lumia 925 introduces metal for the first time to the Nokia Lumia range, bringing appeal and unique benefits like increased robustness.
The polycarbonate back comes in white, grey or black. A wireless charging cover can be clipped onto the back of the phone to take advantage of Nokia’s extensive wireless charging accessories and ecosystem. Covers, sold separately, come in white, black, yellow, and red. Leading Nokia services, such as the HERE suite of integrated location and navigation services and Nokia Music for unlimited streaming of free music playlists, add to the great proposition offered by Nokia’s latest smartphone.
Sales are expected to start in UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and China in June, followed by the US and a number of other markets. The Nokia Lumia 925 will be priced around 469 EUR before taxes and subsidies. Country-specific pricing and availability will be announced locally.[/toggle]
The Facebook App on iOS just got an Update on their version 6.1.1 . The new update brings about a Photo Viewer button that lets you save or share an image you are viewing from your handheld, and also set is as you profile image, making handling of images a lot better on iOS devices.
A few other improvements include , enhanced “places editing” while checking in on the iPhone on Facebook and faster load times for Events which are compressed on server side and delivered to the handsets.
Facebook has seen a growth in Mobile Platform usage for its apps by almost 200% in the last year and the company expects these numbers to grow tremendously in the coming two quarters.
Google has unified its cloud services starting yesterday offering a total of 15GB of storage to people using multiple Google services. With the same ID now you get 15GB of total storage across the three services, giving a boost to those who use drive more vs email or vice-versa.
Businesses using Google Apps will see their storage increase from 25 Gb to 30 GB across the services.
This move from Google comes as no surprise, as the company aligns with their storage model and frees up a lot of space from those people who were not using services on either side of Drive.
This bigger number also makes the Google Service a lot more appealing than the lower free storage from say Dropbox.
What’s more Google’ has added significantly cheaper upgrade plans to Drive, starting $4.99/month for 100GB which would get shared across the services, removing the previous 25 GB Gmail upgrade limit.
These changes to Google Drive storage will roll out over the next couple of weeks.
Just hours before their official launch in London, Nokia’s Lumia 925 aka Catwalk has been leaked. Following along with the leaks of the past the design is fully metallic and appears to be much slimmer than the previous generation Lumia devices. The overall design of the back shell also appears to be a bit different compared to the existing Lumias, with the front to back taper towards the edges, The edges also appear to be more squarish compared to the usual rounding seen on Nokia phones.
Nokia will full Launch the phone in a couple of hours, so stay tuned for the specs.
Update : An image of the back panel has leaked too.
We just checked our inbox and a tipster just sent us a few pictures of the upcoming Micromax A111 Canvas Doodle. This is Micromax’s revision to the A110 Canvas2 and will feature interesting specs to boot. A 5.2 inch multitouch capacitive screen, along with a Quadcore Mediatek 1.2 GHz processor.
The Micromax A111 Canvas Doodle will also have 4 GB of inbuilt storage and 512 MB of RAM (seems like a misprint) according to images. The Main camera is an 8 MP autofocus camera and the secondary camera is a 2.1 MP snapper, Both should be capable of HD Video.
The main display is a 5.3 inch Hypersensitive display which is expected to be at least 1280 x 720p in terms of resolution.
If the images are carefully examined this looks like Micromax’s take on the Galaxy S4 with the UI quite identical to that seen on Samsung’s new flagship. The MRP. of the product has been set at Rs. 16,999 but should be available for under Rs. 15,000 when it is launched.
At just under 10mm the phone is fairly slim and according to rumors should feature a hypersensitive display capable of stylus input, hence the name “Doodle”. As per the packaging Evernote and Skitch are also preloaded on the smartphone for out of the box functionality
Previously leaked images have shown the Dual Sim slots, keeping in tradition of the Canvas series, the Canvas Doodle will also have dual sim capabilities, with possibly dual Active Sim cards.
Micromax has enjoyed a huge amount of success with their Canvas Series and this device by the looks of it will add to that success. Stay tuned for more updates!
Sony has just shown off a new prototype the E-paper Slate, which combines as the name suggests an E-Ink display and a Stylus to bring about digital classrooms. Packed with a 13.3-inch screen (1,200 x 1,600px) with an electromagnetic induction touchscreen for accessing menus and scrolling using a Stylus.
The device currently only supports a few file formats including PDF and is sized up at only 6.8mm thick with a light weight of 385 gms.
The Slate is also equipped with onboard storage of 4GB and an expansion slot that can enable increase in capacity for the student. If the need arises. The Battery life is also supposed to be marvelous with over 3 weeks of usage, incase of wireless networks being off. The Software updates will be pushed OTA thanks to Wifi connectivity along with the ability to pass along notes wirelessly.
The prototype is functional to the extent that the company will begin summer 2013 tests, for late 2013 availability for the the E-Paper Slate, In Japan atleast.
HTC has been flirting with Android phones from the beginning of the Ecosystem, But they only recently picked up pace thanks to the HTC One Series. The new HTC One, also referred to as the M7 is a beginning of a whole new design philosophy for the company. Does the HTC One feature all that is required to be the king of the robotic Jungle? Lets Find out.
Build Quality and Design
[pullquote_left]Ecstatic Expression on your Face![/pullquote_left]From the moment you handle the HTC One for the first time, you get this ecstatic expression on your face, you are wow’d by the design and simply amazed by the display. A shiver passes through your hands as you feel the Unibody design fit inside you hand almost perfectly as if it was designed for it.
The HTC One is cast from a single shell unibody Aluminum block, that curves at the back but is flat in the front. The two network bands that run across the back add network strength and aesthetic value to the complete mixture. Also embedded in the back is a subtle HTC logo.
The build, although very tough and robust, feels very damage friendly. The front has Gorilla Glass 2 , but does not have a lay on the table design, in other words if you lay the phone on the screen, the glass will touch the surface that you lay the phone on. The phone seems so metallic in-fact, that every time you hold it, you worry about it getting dented, if you nick it against a door or a table edge. The fear quickly goes away as you start to use the phone and realize how tough, and scratch resistant the back of the phone is.
The Design strategy infuses the technology they learnt in making the HTC Windows Phone 8 and a mix of their research and experience with metals in the past with their Desire series. The HTC One is a perfect balance, of build quality, design, aesthetic and that wonderful Awe factor it causes in you everytime you pick it up.
[pullquote_left]right fuse of external and internal[/pullquote_left]HTC has packed the HTC One with just the right amount of specs. Even when a product can never be ahead of technology, the HTC One is a right fuse of external and internal technology. Powered by a 2300 mAh non – replaceable battery, the HTC One carries a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Chipset with a wonderfully snappy QuadCore 1.7 GHz CPU. The Graphics are provided by a Adreno 320 GP which remains superior in terms of Mobile Graphics rendering. This intense capability is supported by 2GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of storage.
The Back features an Ultrapixel Camera which has a larger pixel size, making it sufficient at just 4 MP, and the front features a 2.1 MP snapper, both capture full HD video. The main camera is also assisted by an LED flash.
The Gorgeous front features a 4.7 inch 1920 x 1080p IPS LCD 3 display with an intense 469 ppi making is one of the highest pixel density phones in the market.
UltraPixel Camera on the HTC ONE
Ultrapixel is a word that does not exist in the dictionary, or at least that was the case before the HTC One. The camera comprises of a larger sensor and a larger size of the pixels that combine together to form the sensor. The camera combined with the software on the inside of the HTC One the is able to capture extremely high detail in an image. The large sensor and pixel size also opens up the sensor to low light subjects, allowing for better image quality in dim lighting conditions.
The images come out extremely sharp to about a 8×12 inch size, post which you will see degradation of the images.
We found that the Video Captured by the HTC One is wonderfully vivid and captured without any stutter, rolling shutter was at a minimum and almost no aliasing was seen in the video. The Autofocus keeps jumping in and out during video especially if you are close to your subject, this can be painfully bothersome while recording or even while playing back. This is however fixed by turning off Continuos AF during video capture at the cost of loss of focus.
The HTC Zoe feature within the camera is a wonderful add on, not only does it create beautiful timelines and videos demonstrating your photo groups it also allows you to modify pictures, remove photo bombers, and a lot more. This truly enables a social sharer to stay on top of his game adding just a right amount of usefulness.
We did a comparison of the cameras of the top smartphones, and HTC One performed excellently well in low light and landscape capture.
Here is where we begin to applaud HTC again, whether the BlinkFeed UI is useful or not, HTC with their new ONE has attempted to totally change the norm. While most companies just upgrade the UI, HTC revamps it time and again. They changed it with Sense 4.0 and now they changed it again with the new BlinkFeed on Sense 5.0.
[pullquote_right]practicality and ingenuity[/pullquote_right]A lot of previous owners will complain at the removal of features of the past HTC Sense UI. But, the new experience is a great mix of practicality and ingenuity. Blinkfeed on the HTC One is nothing more than an aggregator, it collects your favorite news streams, your Social Networks and even your connections to display them in a beautiful, seamless, Flipboard-esque interface which will also remind you of the Windows Phone UI.
App Drawer
Weather Widget
Phone Dialer
BlinkFeed
Keyboard
LockScreen
The information is clean and laid out quickly and beautifully, almost making you go back to it again and again. The other features of HTC Sense are also found in the UI, the Music App, Car Mode, Flashlight App, big chunky widgets and the oh so famous Weather / Flip clock widget are all there.
The HTC TV app is not currently available in India, and currently cannot be manually configured. The Power button does have an IR blaster inbuilt so it does function as a remote, but the functionality will be added at a later time. You should possibly be able download 3rd party apps to enable this feature soon.
The HTC One has a gorgeous 1920 x 1080p display, and honestly it looks absolutely stunning, even outdoors. The LCD3 technology with an IPS panel and extremely high pixel density set it apart for the mix. The Screen floats right on top with the touch panel, thanks to the fused display technology borrowed from LG, touching the HTC One feels like touching the elements of the display.
[pullquote_right]eliminates muffling[/pullquote_right]Watching Videos, playing games and other forms of media is fantastic thanks to HTC BoomSound, a wonderful thought of putting the Stereo Speakers in a forward facing manner, makes the audio extremely accurate and clear. It also eliminates muffling due to accidental finger touches and is easily heard especially while playing games.
The HTC One also contains a FM radio which does require a headset to be connected for reception. Audio from the included earphones is absolutely great and in the history of in box earphones, these have to be one of the better ones if not the best. Beats audio is available throughout the array of hardware that you can connect to the Smartphone.
Performance and Battery
The HTC One came out on top in terms of performance tests. The hardware is quite capable of handling all the tasks that you can throw at it with wonderful accuracy and flair. The chipset can handle, multitasking, heavy gaming and performance tasks with ease and still have power to calculate under formulas.
Benchmarks for the early developer build beat all scores of the market at the time. For reference the latest build of the HTC One scores a fantastic 12030 on Quadrant, without tweaks of any kind.
The phone does heat up a lot with extended use, which is normal for any smartphone, but the extended use of metals is what makes it uncomfortable to hold or even pocket.
Battery on the HTC One is wonderfully managed by the interface, when not in use (aka; standby) the phone barely drains at all unlike other Android devices, the Blinkfeed can be configured to refresh manually to even improve battery life a tad bit more. Often times we found battery life to be good enough to go on into day two.
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”Battery Life with 3G ON” icon=”icon-headphones”]Talk time : 5 Hours Standby : 48 Hours Gaming : 3.5 Hours Online : 6 hours Music 8 hours[/tab]
[tab title=”Battery Life with 3G OFF” icon=”icon-headphones”]Talk time : 6 Hours Standby : 54 Hours Gaming : 3.5 Hours Online : 6 hours (wifi) Music 8.5 hours[/tab]
[/tabgroup]
Phone and Networks
HTC has always been able to handle networks and phone capabilities in their devices, same is the case for the HTC One. The networks remained strong throughout and audio whether incoming or outgoing was crisp as ever. In our days of testing the phone, we had but only a few dropped calls, which can easily be blamed on the lack of network coverage.
HTC has kept it usual features for phone capabilities, loud ringer in the pocket, flip to mute etc are all included making handling of phone calls an easy recipe.
Conclusion
The HTC One is not a perfect smartphone, no smartphone is. But the HTC One, comes as close as it can to delivering a perfect balance between many elements that make up todays smartphone. It is a flagship so it is priced high, but with that price it brings about a sense of achievement, a sense of ownership and pride. A mixed bag of feelings and emotions emerge when you hold and use the HTC One for the first time. Most people cannot stop themselves from passing a smile when they first handle this behemoth of a device. A great phone, a wonderful crisp display enabling a joyful multimedia device and a performance warehouse of the tech junkie. Sure it lacks a lot of software patches and gimmicks, but in entirety of usage it lacks almost nothing.
It’s lonely at the top, or so Lamborghini would like us all to believe. In conclusion to Lamborghini’s 50th year celebrations, the Italian manufacturer unveiled the Egoista concept, which literally translates to “selfish” in Italian. Why is it named so? Well, because it only has one seat, that’s why.
The Egoista is very futuristically designed with one seat in the middle of the cockpit and is inspired by an Apache helicopter. Reports suggest that the extremely lightweight car is made entirely out of carbon fibre and the cockpit canopy may be removed to save weight. Power comes from a 5.2-litre V10 engine.
Designer Walter De Silva had this to say about the car, translated from Italian:
This is a car made for a single person, to have fun and to express their own personality. It is designed for people who want the most extreme and most special things in the world. This car represents extremes of hedonism; it is a car without compromise. In a word, it is selfish.
Some of the 350 Lamborghinis gathered at Sant’Agata Bolognese as part of the celebrations
The Egoista was revealed by brand boss Stephan Winkelmann at a dinner held to mark the end of the week-long drive by 350 Lamborghinis through Italy, organised in celebration of the marque’s 50th birthday. Another dramatic announcement was made at the ceremony, about the Lamborghini Urus SUV Concept going into production in 2017.
Lamborghini Urus Concept
At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, the truly extreme Lamborghini Veneno was revealed as an initial part of the firm’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Three examples of the 740bhp, 221mph road-going racer were sold for around £2 million each.
Yep, iGyaan is hiring and we are looking for a crack whip team. We have lots of positions open and are looking for the Best of the best of the best. If you think you got what it takes check out available jobs below and Apply Here : Work at iGyaan
Positions open
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Full Time Review Writer: (Positions Open : 2) : If you have worked with tech before, then we want you to work with us. Experience with reviews is a must, appropriate knowledge and a good sense of humor comes together. Needless to say Written and spoken english needs to be perfect for written and video reviews.
Remote Coverage (Positions Open : 3) : A lot of people write to us wanting a job, well here is your chance. If you cant come into the office, then we can have you write from home. The work is still the same, News coverage and original articles. Again needless to say, proficiency in english and a flair for writing is a must.
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Saavn, the popular Indian music streaming service, which boasts of about 10 million users globally, is all set to introduce an international music catalogue. The Music streaming service is planning to introduce English music early this summer, which will add to its existing collection of Bollywood, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Kannada, and Bengali songs.
This decision comes in the wake of the global reach of the app, and numerous feedback from the users. The Company also mentioned that out of its total global usage, 50 percent comes from iOS devices, while in India, over 60 percent comes from Android devices.
Saavn is working on a new feature called Celebrity Playlists, and Saavn V.I.P. which will put celebrities front and center.
Recently, Saavn has partnered with Shazam, a prominent music identification service, and as a part of the deal, Saavn’s music library was incorporated into Shazam’s database, allowing users to discover and tag latest Indian music and then listen to the song live on Saavn (mobile app). The partnership also allowed the users to share the music on various social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Saavn has incorporated many new features in the app, allowing users to create and save their own playlists and radio stations with their favorite songs. The service also allows the users to listen to the top 15 songs of the week. Using their existing Saavn account, users can access their starred songs, saved playlists, and radio stations.
Saavn is currently an aggregator and tracks live time the usage patterns of listeners and users, understanding their needs and their music listening behavior. This in the future could help to company give live time suggestions and playlist recommendations to listeners. For. eg. Considering you are driving back from work and listen to you driving playlist, the app could recognize this behavior and recommend you this playlist bast on you location movement or time of day. The company currently has no plans to integrate data into a useful feature like the above , but said that they will constantly evolve to provide better service to users.
The music streaming app is available on iOS, Android and Java platforms, where it can be downloaded for free.
Micromax has recently taken the budget smart phone market with their Canvas Series in India. The Micromax A115 Canvas 3D is another addition to the lineup. Cheaper than the Canvas 2 at launch, the Canvas 3D adds a 3D Stereoscopic Display into the mix. Lets see how it fares out in our full review.
Display in 2D mode
Build Quality and Design
The Canvas series of phones including the Canvas 2 and Canvas HD are nicely built phones from Micromax. The Micromax A115 Canvas 3D takes it one step ahead. The back of the device is now coated with a soft touch material that makes the phone seem more robust and easy to handle. While the whole chassis is made of plastic it is able to withstand a couple of drops and high intensity jerks.
In terms of design the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D will be easily spotted from a distance, the unique build and design will also set it apart for those who want slightly premium looking phones. The ID of the phone resembles more HTC devices vs their previous obsession with Samsung Design. The phone does not appear to be the strongest phone at this time or even price, however it is well-built , looks and feels good in the hand.
The insides are laden with the previous-gen Mediatek 6577 chipset, which in terms of performance lacks behind, in comparison to many of the other devices available at a slightly higher price. Inbuilt storage remains at 4 GB, but the minute you insert a micro SD card the internal storage combines with the card enabling up to 34GB of capacity (32GB card + 2GB onboard). The RAM on the Canvas 3D is lower than required at 512 MB and you will see the grunt of it during gaming and application usage.
The Micromax A115 Canvas 3D’s name comes from the 5 inch 480 x 800 px Glasses-Free Stereoscopic 3D display, which turns on in certain applications including the 3D YouTube videos, certain apps from the 3D HUB and Picture preview. The camera is a 5 MP camera that combines two individually clicked images to make a 3D image, unlike other 3D phones which have dual sensors.
The power source is a 2000 mAh battery pack and is capable enough, read the battery section below.
3D Mode
Micromax A115 Canvas 3D and its Use
[pullquote_left]Economies of Scale vs Economies of Fail[/pullquote_left] So, a 3D display in a budget phone, what does that mean? Essentially, there are only two ways a technology becomes cheaper. One; if a tech has reached its saturation point, and enough development and numbers produced to make the process work for it, to make it cheaper (Economies of Scale). Two; if the technology was not successful to begin with and the stocks and design frameworks liquidate (Economies of Fail?). Well, Glasses Free 3D on mobile phone may as well be a part of the latter, while many companies including LG and HTC tried to make Glasses Free 3D phones. They were just not appreciated by the world, and eventually that technology thrown out. Nintendo used the Glasses Free 3D on their portable gaming console and that just did wonderfully well. The fact remains that the 3D technology is still at far from becoming mainstream, simply because it just does not look that good.
So thanks to the effect of expensive phones with this technology not being successful, the technology became cheaper, cheap enough to get fitted inside an under Rs. 10,000 phone for users to enjoy 3D content. Unfortunately there is no ALL time 3D switch , or any form of 2D to 3D conversion engine.
The content on 3D is also decent enough and enjoyed once in a while, and not all the time. So at the end it only plays to the fact that you have 3D in your phone, but you will not use it a lot.
Camera and Multimedia
The camera on the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D is a Fixed Focus 5 MP camera, that has a software ability to capture 3D images. Unlike standard 3D cameras which have two lenses, the Lens on the Micromax Canvas 3D utilizes time shift and user movement to capture a 3D image. The images are half decent and truly may not pass off as 3D images, unless the user is professionally focusing on the angle and the distance of the shot from the first click. Video shot is also poor quality, and is not shot in 3D mode. You do not have auto focus or tap to focus what so ever, the phone does recalibrate white balance and ISO for every picture taken.
Multimedia performance is good, you can enjoy 3D content on the Micromax Canvas 3D without the need of glasses. The viewing angles improve once in 2D mode, but are not great in 3D mode. The Micromax A115 Canvas 3D also has good sounding audio from the main speaker as well as through headphones.
Basic UI navigation within the interface was fast and fluid, we did face a bit of lag and it seemed that the phone held back when it came to performance. While the Canvas 2 did really well for Micromax, the Canvas 3D has the same performance only reduced by the 3D display’s punch of the graphics card.
In the case of the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D, almost all games are downloadable and installable thanks to the storage on memory card option. But, even though the phone can download, install and run almost all games, only basic games will work perfectly on this phone. The Canvas 3D does not have the capability of performing in games like NOVA 3 and Modern Combat 4, simply because of the lack of power under the hood. See out Gaming Video below.
The UI remains mostly vanilla, with only the addition of basic things like quick toggles in the notification panel, and custom apps and icons. Every other UI element looks and performs vanilla with the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS, which comes as stock on the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D.
Phone call quality remained good throughout, with little or no dropped calls keeping the network strength in the high range. While the microphone and earpiece are great to use the Speakerphone is not as loud as some would expect.
Switching b/w Sim cards maybe still a problem, since both SIM slots don’t support 3G outright, only one fixed slot will run 3G at a time, creating issues in low or no network areas for that sim. You will get stuck on 2G or no data network on both sim cards.
Battery life
The Micromax A115 Canvas 3D has varied battery life as we demonstrate below, in normal usage the phone lasted a good 5-6 hours on talk time, add any online access etc., the battery life for talk time drops to just 3 hours.
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”Battery Life with 3G ON” icon=”icon-headphones”]Talk time : 5 Hours Standby : 48 Hours Gaming : 2-3 Online : 5 hours Music 7 hours[/tab]
[tab title=”Battery Life with 3G OFF” icon=”icon-headphones”]Talk time : 6 Hours Standby : 54 Hours Gaming : 3 Online : 5 hours Music 7 hours[/tab]
[/tabgroup]
Conclusion
While The Micromax Canvas 3D brings to the market which no other company is offering in the price bracket, one truly needs to understand the give and take for it. Does one really need the 3D feature? why not. If you are getting the same performance like other products in the price bracket and yet you get additional features, why would you refuse. For the sake of the argument, the A115 is as good as the A110 but with 3D powers.
If you want performance and gaming capabilities, you should seriously reconsider your price bracket, No, you cannot get a Samsung Galaxy S4 replacement in Rs. 10,000 not yet anyway.
More than anything the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D gives you yet another option in this wide array of phones in the market. If you were considering the A110 the A115 is another option to consider. In Our opinion Micromax has held back on their hardware capabilities and should have used the newer Mediatek Chipset instead of the outdated underpowered MTK 6577.
