Category: Mobile

Smartphone News and Reviews, Latest Cellphones, Accessories, New Launches, Specifications, Details with Image and Video from Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Moto, HTC, Xiaomi, Oneplus, Meizu, Sony, Lava, Micromax Yu Mobile and More.

Apple Owes 30% of Last Quarter iPhone Buyers to Android Switchers

Following the official announcement of its revenue and profits for the fourth quarter, Apple reported that one third of iPhone buyers during the quarter had been using Android devices before the switch. The company also claims this shift to be the largest ever since they started tracking people’s movements from one OS to another, three years ago.

Needless to say, Tim Cook is more than just glad about the news, especially in the light of the lukewarm response the new iPhones have received since their launch in September. Cook comments on the switch of so many users to iOS and says,

“That number is the largest that we’ve ever recorded since we began measuring it three or so years ago. It’s a huge number and we’re very, very proud of that number.”

No doubt this movement has been one of Apple’s goals for a while now and the company has left no stone unturned in achieving it. The recent ‘Move to iOS‘ app of the company which allowed users to switch their Android devices to iOS is one such attempt.

The fourth quarter ended on the 26th of September, which means it could include only two days of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sales. With the new iPhones not faring as well as Apple expected or would have preferred, it would be interesting to see Apple’s report for the next quarter. There will be more colourful bits of news for both Apple loyalists as well as haters once that report is made public. Hold your breath until then.

October 29, 2015
BlackBerry Priv: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

We’ve been hearing about it for a while now. BlackBerry will soon be out with the BlackBerry Priv and we will know if the company’s Android-powered gamble has paid off or not. Over the past few weeks, there have been a lot of rumours and leaks about the device that have revealed everything there is to it.

But now that we know what to expect, let’s see whether BlackBerry can bounce back with the Priv or not. Let’s have a look at what’s going for the Priv and what isn’t.

The Good

The BlackBerry Priv is the company’s last lifeline. BlackBerry is literally going all in with this one, which means that it will do everything it can to make sure the device is everything a BlackBerry fan (if there are any left) hopes for. This is a good thing. This means that the company will look to work on some key areas that were a problem with its previous phones such as having more native apps and freedom to customise.

This is also one of the reasons the Priv is the company’s first Android-powered device. BlackBerry knows that its own OS has been far too restrictive. Furthermore, every mobile brand (except Apple) has either adopted Android or has left the game. So, there really was’t much of an option for BlackBerry.

Let’s talk about the device now. Yes, it’s Android-powered, but it is very much a BlackBerry phone. Privacy and security is of major importance here and that’s what Priv stands for. The handset is a hybrid. It has a full touchscreen as well as a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This means the phone caters to both touchscreen fans as well as keyboard loyalists. And given that very few devices today offer a keyboard, this may just work in BlackBerry’s favour.

The phone looks sleek despite having a slide-out keyboard. It has the traditional BlackBerry feel to it and a bit of nostalgia is always welcome. From the promo of the Priv, the UI and overall functionality looks smooth, but one can’t judge everything from a video clip.

Finally, renders of the handset suggest that the Priv will have a curved display similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Edge series. Sure, BlackBerry is borrowing ideas here, but at least it’s open to trying something different.

The Bad

It has been a few years since BlackBerry has been in the game. In today’s world, a break of 2-3 years can be really bad. You have a number of new players today. Startups like OnePlus have done well to gain a fan base. The competition is fierce, to say the least. Can BlackBerry take them on?

Two years is enough for loyalties to change. No doubt there were and perhaps still are BlackBerry loyalists. But it is also safe to assume that BlackBerry has lost a lot (and we mean a lot) of customers over the years. So the company may not see sales of the Priv take off initially, as was the case with Z10, its previous handset. Sales of the phone will mostly rely on how initial customers take to it and by word of mouth. Yes, it is not easy to convince people to buy your product today. Especially when it comes to a smartphone.

The Ugly

It all boils down to the price, really. And from what we have heard and is pretty much confirmed now, the Priv will come with a not-so-modest price tag of $699. What’s more, the Indian pricing of the device is rumoured to be over Rs. 50,000. Now this is a serious gamble by the company. Many potential buyers were hoping that the Priv will be reasonably priced. Given that this is a comeback phone, one would have expected the company to focus on getting as many units out as possible. But at $699, we’re just not sure how many handsets will make it out of the stores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nO8EdLtJj0&feature=youtu.be

The price is especially ridiculous given that there are loads of other phones out there that are cheaper and provide better specs than the Priv. In case you’re wondering, the Priv is said to come with a Snapdragon 808 processor and 3 GB of RAM with 32 GB extendable storage. It features a 5.5 -inch curved display with a 1440×2560 pixel resolution and 537ppi. Finally, the Priv has an 18 MP primary camera and a 5 MP front. Now while the specs of the Priv aren’t bad, it certainly doesn’t deserve a Rs. 50,000 price tag.

But this is just what we feel right now. The phone will be out soon enough and so will the verdict. For now, you can leave your comments below on whether you think BlackBerry has a win with the Priv or not.

October 28, 2015
Tips and Tricks to Survive With a 16 GB iPhone

So you have a 16 GB iPhone and you don’t really know why. You just do. Or you might be planning to go for the new iPhone 6s series, but you’re not sure whether a 16 GB storage is worth it. Well, even we don’t know why Apple hasn’t already killed off the 16 GB variant. But the fact is that they haven’t and there are people around the world who have to deal with living with a 16 GB iPhone.

Moreover, it’s not really 16 GB, is it? It’s actually about 10 GB as Apple’s OS and pre-loaded apps like iBooks, Photo Booth and others eat up about one-third of your storage. So, considering all that, close to 10 GB is what you’re left with that you can actually call your own.

With new technology comes new, faster ways to fill up your limited storage. A single graphic-intense game like GTA can take up 1-2 GB of storage. An HD movie can take up to 5 GB. So 16 GB users feel the storage blues at least once a month. But don’t worry, we’re here to give you some tips and tricks on how you can easily manage with your 16 GB device.

1. HDR Comes With a Price

If you have an iPhone 4 or higher, you have the ability to take amazing High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. Yes, the images are crisp and spectacular, but heavy on your storage. What HDR does is that it combines multiple pictures at different exposures and then combines them to give you one great shot. This is what makes the camera in your iPhone one to beat.

But what HDR also does is that it saves the original picture as well, so that you can see and compare the detailing. Depending on whether the HDR has come out better or not, you can choose to keep the former and delete the latter, or vice versa. Either way, double photos take up double space, which is not good if you’re a 16 GB iPhone user. You can choose not to save your original photo if you know HDR images is what you want by going to Settings > Photos & Camera > Keep Normal Photo and unselecting it.

2. Thank God for Apple Music

Say what you may about Apple Music, but it is definitely a godsend for 16 GB iPhone users. One of the major storage eaters is music. We tend to store a lot of music because we need it for our morning office trips, exercising, studying, everything. And we tend not to realise that in our excitement to store every new song that takes our fancy, we eat up that precious storage space.

Along came Apple Music to save the day. The music streaming service that began three months ago lets you stream unlimited music and lets you add as many songs and albums to your library without taking a single megabyte.

To delete your stored music, head on over to Settings > General > Storage & iCloud Usage > Manage Storage > Music and left slide on artists you want to delete or delete them all together via All Songs. Once you’ve deleted all your songs, you can go nuts and start loading up your library with music from Apple Music that won’t leave a mark in your storage.

3. Get Religious

iPhone users have to practice a specific religion. This religion requires you to check in on your storage every once in a while, see the apps that are consuming a lot of storage, delete them, and download the app(s) again.

With a 16 GB storage, you can download any app you want. Go crazy with it as long as you remember to check back on them every once or twice a month. Apps like WhatsApp and Instagram take up a lot of space over time because of all media files that you end up downloading, or the hundreds of pictures you scroll through. When you find yourself approaching the 16 GB limit, head over to Settings > General > Usage > Manage Storage, find out whats bulking up and delete that app. You can always download the app again.

4. Don’t Let Your iPhone Download Without Your Permission

Apple tends to choose certain settings on your behalf. You may not even be aware of it until much later. One such setting is the Media Auto Download on WhatsApp, which is set on both Wi-Fi and Cellular by default. This means that any media file sent your way, be it in a group or individual, will automatically be downloaded to your media folder, whether you like it or not.

So, if you want to control the media you download, open WhatsApp and go to Setting > Chats and Calls > Media Auto-Download where you’ll find three separate options: Images, Audio and Video. You can then make the changes to each option accordingly.

5. iCloud’s the Limit

The best way to beat storage woes is to pay for it. Along with the launch of iOS 9, Apple also bumped up the storage offered on iCloud as well as cut the prices of its plans. You can now get 50 GB of cloud storage at Rs. 65 ($0.99) per month, 200 GB at Rs 190 ($2.99) and 1 TB at Rs. 650 ($9.99). That comes to around Rs. 650 a year for a the base tier, which is not bad considering a 64 GB iPhone would cost around Rs. 10,000 more. You can purchase more storage by going to Setting > iCloud > Storage and click on ‘Buy More Storage’.

To activate iCloud, all you have to do is go to Settings > iCloud and log in using your Apple ID. Once your Cloud is set up, you can choose the options like Photos, Mail, Contacts and Calendars that you want stored in the Cloud. Next thing you’ll want to do is go to Photos via settings and turn on the ‘iCloud Photo Library’ option so that your entire library gets uploaded in iCloud.

6. Stay Up-to-Date

By this we mean always be on the latest update. iOS 9 has made some neat changes and the company has tried to focus on storage solutions more than ever before. Apple also introduced “app thinning”, which is a combination of enhancements that result in apps taking only as much space as they need in the moment. With this feature, developers are working on improving their apps so that it doesn’t take up unnecessary space.

Apple has also reduced the amount of storage space required by the iOS 9 OTA update from 4.6 GB to 1.3 GB. The difference won’t show in your storage, however. iOS 9 doesn’t free up storage for users, but it does make updating your iPhone easier with lighter files over the air.

October 27, 2015
Apple Gets Sued Over iOS 9 Wi-Fi Assist Feature

It seems everyone loves to sue Apple left, right and center these days. And sometimes the lawsuits come from the most unexpected reasons possible. In one such case, a California-based couple has filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Apple for not informing iPhone owners of the potential data charges over Wi-Fi assist. The feature silently uses cellular data when Wi-Fi quality is poor. According to the plaintiffs, this feature has caused over $5 million in data charges to potentially affected customers.

Apple has a tendency to add new features and set defaults without informing users. This is part of Apple’s philosophy of deciding features for users so that they don’t have to, and letting them discover the features on their own, if they can. While most features do not actually dip into your pockets and are quietly working in the background, others can cost you, if you’re not aware of it.

Wi-Fi Assist was added in iOS 9 to ensure that you get seamless internet connectivity at all times. But apparently, the feature does more harm than good, according to some people. The exact damage is not known, yet. The lawsuit doesn’t mention the amount of charges incurred with W-Fi Assist, though the couple believe that it exceeds $5 million. In the off chance that the couple actually do win the lawsuit, this could be potentially problematic for companies like Samsung as well, who have also implemented similar Wi-Fi boosts.

October 26, 2015
Samsung and Xiaomi to Incorporate 3D Touch-like Technology in Future Devices
3D Touch is the new cool thing in town and everyone wants to have a piece of it. It is indeed true that the touch-sensitive feature has opened up new possibilties in the way your phones works for you. It is also a feature many gaming companies are excited to ‘tap into’. We had earlier reported that Samsung was in talks with Synaptics to bring the 3D Touch feature seen in Apple’s iPhone 6s series into its 2016 flagship Galaxy S7. Samsung plans on calling it ClearForce.

Now, fresh rumours suggest that Samsung is not the only brand looking to incorporate the pressure sensitive feature into its phones. Reports emerging from China tell us that Xiaomi too is interested in having this technology for its future flagship devices. This could be one of the reasons the expected Mi5 announcement has been delayed.

G for Games cited Weibo that said that Xiaomi is working on a 3D Touch-like feature for its upcoming devices. Whether Xiaomi is going solo on this project or is seeking help from Synaptics (as it did with the Mi 4c, which uses Synaptics’ ClearPad S3708 capacitive touch controller) is not yet known. Meanwhile, Synaptic claims that its ClearForce technology will be superior to 3D Touch feature.

ClearForce – What We Know So Far

For those unaware, 3D Touch enables the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to understand three distinct levels of pressure. This, then, enables new gestures such as Peek and Pop that lets you quickly see inside an app without actually having to open it. Users need to press the screen lightly to get a ‘Peek’ at a photo, email, web page or other content, and if pressed a little deeper, they can ‘Pop’ into the content itself.

ClearForce, on the other hand, is planning to take the feature up a notch. From what we know so far, the ClearForce technology, besides the expected 3D Touch functions, will have the ability to understand the difference between speed scrolling, zoom, gaming, texting and even operate photo editing tools by noting subtle variable pressure on the surface. Some of the new features, according to Synaptics, are as follows:
- Variable speed scrolling
- Picture zoom and panning
- Function preview and selection
- Continuously variable gaming control functions
- Unlock and wake up
- Right-side mouse click behavior (open contextual menus)
- Line thickness control while drawing (e.g., when writing Chinese characters and creating artwork)
- Image editing (brightness, contrast, saturation)
- Upper case and symbol selection (to bypass keyboard mode changes)
The rumoured tie-up between Xiaomi and Synaptics is not yet confirmed and we will have to wait and see for more information on that. Synaptics has also mentioned that it plans to work with other OEMs as well. So we could see brands other than Samsung and Xiaomi making use of ClearForce in the months to come.
October 26, 2015

Huawei Announces Availability of the Nexus 6P in India

The recently launched flagship Nexus phone, the Nexus 6P, will be available in India starting November. The phone has been up for pre-orders on Flipkart and other offline retailers since October 13. The response for the the Nexus 6P has been very positive and Huawei has ensured a smooth supply-demand cycle. The company will send out the smartphones in batches to be delivered across India from the first week of November.

The 6P features a 5.7-inch QHD touchscreen, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chipset, with 3 GB RAM, a 3450mAh battery, and a USB Type-C port. The camera sports a 12.3MP sensor with laser autofocus, dual-LED flash at the rear and a rather impressive 8MP on the front. This pure Android phone will run on the latest Marshmallow operating system.

The Nexus 6P is priced at Rs. 39,999 for the 32GB, Rs. 42,999 for the 64GB, and Rs. 47,999 for the 128GB variant. The handset is currently out of stock on Flipkart due to overwhelming responses. Have a look at the specs list below to know everything about the Nexus 6P.

Specs	Nexus 6P
Display	5.7-inch QHD Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Resolution	2560 x 1440 pixels, 518 ppi
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 810 v2.1
GPU	Adreno 430
RAM	3 GB
Storage	32 GB/ 64 GB/ 128 GB
Rear Camera	12.3 MP, laser autofocus, dual-LED flash
Front Camera	8 MP, 720p@30fps
Expandability	N/A
Battery	3450mAh battery
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac; Wi-Fi MIMO support; Bluetooth 4.0 LE; GSM bands 850/1900; 3G bands; GPS with AGPS; NFC, USB Type-C
OS	Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Price	Rs. 39,999 (32 GB)/ Rs. 42,999 (64 GB)/ Rs. 47,999 (128 GB)

October 24, 2015

HTC Exec Defends One A9’s Design: “It’s Apple that Copies Us”

HTC unveiled the One A9 a few days ago that brought a whirlwind of criticism for its apparent iPhone rip-off. There is no doubt that the One A9 is basically a slightly cheaper iPhone clone, at least in terms of design. And while HTC knew what it was getting itself into with its newest device, the company’s executive has come out with a statement in defense of the One A9.

A senior HTC executive said that it was in fact Apple who originally copied one of their designs for the iPhone 6. “We’re not copying. We made a unibody metal-clad phone in 2013. It’s Apple that copies us in terms of the antenna design on the back,” said HTC’s North Asia President Jack Tong.

The phone being referred to here is the HTC One M7 that came out a year before the iPhone 6. While it is true that the iPhone 6’s metal unibody design has certain likeliness to the M7, what Apple has done is create a phone that looks uniquely their own, just as HTC did with the M7 to M9 phones. Have a look at 2013’s One M7 below.

The One M7 was truly a beautifully crafted phone. It had a full-metal unibody design with a curved back and dual front-facing speakers. The company continued this design with the M8 and M9 as well, and rightly so. The iPhone 6 did copy some elements from the One M7, there is no denying that. Apple has done it before and will do it again.

It is a fact that companies borrow inspiration from each other almost always. But what doesn’t sit well with the new HTC phone is that the company has not even tried to make something different here. The HTC One A9 looks like the new iPhone 6 and 6s in almost every way.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news/content?id=20151022000093&cid=1102″]WantChinaTimes[/tw-button]

October 24, 2015

Nexus 5X: Unboxing and Hands On

As you all know, Google’s Nexus 5X was launched in India on October 13, 2015. We managed to get our hands on the 5X and did a quick unboxing and setup of the device.

The Nexus 5X comes with a 5.2-inch FHD display, USB Type-C which allows almost 4 hours of battery post a 10-minute charging routine, and is available in three colours – Carbon black, Quartz white and Ice blue.

It is further packed with a 2 GB RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chipset and OS Android Marshmallow 6.0. On the camera front, the device comes equipped with a 12.3 MP rear camera and a 5 MP selfie camera. The smartphone is capable of capturing 4K and slow-motion videos, making this phone the most advanced multimedia Nexus device to date.

The Nexus 5X is priced at Rs, 31,990 for the 16 GB variant and Rs. 35,990 for the 32 GB variant. We will have a full hands on review of the Nexus 5X soon.

Specification	LG Nexus 5X
Display	5.2-inch Full HD IPS (1920 x 1080 / 423ppi)
Resolution	1080 x 1920 pixels (~424 ppi pixel density)
Chipset	1.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
CPU	Quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 & dual-core 1.82 GHz Cortex-A57
GPU	Adreno 418
RAM	2 GB LPDDR3 RAM
Front Camera	5 MP with F/2.0 Aperture
Rear Camera	Up to 12.3 MP with F/2.0 Aperture
Storage	16 or 32 GB eMMC ROM
Expandability	NA
Battery	2,700 mAh (embedded)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.2 / NFC / Type-C USB
Operating System	Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow)
Price	Rs. 31,990/ Rs. 35,990

October 24, 2015

Samsung Officially Launches the Galaxy On5 and On7 Smartphones

Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about Samsung’s newest budget phones, the Galaxy On5 and On7. The devices were briefly listed in the companies website a few days ago and we understood some specs of the devices. Samsung has now officially launched the phones and here’s what we know.

The On5 and On7 are pretty similar to each other and are equipped with a 1.3 GHz 32-bit quad-core Samsung Exynos 3475 processor paired with a Mali-T720 MP1 GPU and 1.5 GB of RAM. The phones come with a really low 8 GB internal storage, but are expandable up to 128 GB via MicroSD slot.

The Galaxy On7 and the Galaxy On5 feature 5.5-inch and 5.0-inch Super AMOLED display, respectively. Another point of difference between them is the camera. The Galaxy On5 has an 8-megapixel rear camera while the On7 houses a 13-megapixel sensor rear, and they both sport a 5-megapixel front. Meanwhile, the On7 has a bigger 3000mAh battery compared to On5’s 2,600mAh.

Samsung has in all likelihood cut down on bloatware for the two devices seeing as it comes only with an 8 GB internal storage. However, even with reduced bloatware, an 8 GB phone will be a tough sell for buyers. One will have to wait and see how people take to Samsung’s new phones.

As far as pricing is concerned there has been no word on it yet, though the expected prices stand at $150 for the On5 and around $200 for the On7. The phones are expected to launch in markets outside China in the next few months.

October 23, 2015
Retractable Screen For iPhone That Act As Shock Absorbers During Falls

One universal flaw iPhone users all over have had trouble dealing with is the delicateness of their devices. No one is new to cracked or out an out shattered screens of these Apple devices. However, the company might have finally managed to find a solution for this.

In a patent called ‘Active screen protection for electronic device‘, Apple is looking at solving the problem of fragile iPhone screens. The idea is to attach a retractable tab to the screen. If the device senses a fall, the tab would deploy outwards creating a gap between the screen and the surface, reducing impact, and therefore, damage to the device.

Modern iOS devices have various components that are equipped with drop sensing technology. Apple has shown interest in the past as well for active fall protection but the required patented hardware is yet to be incorporated in the company’s lineup. The patent for active screen protection was first filed in April 2014, under Tyson B. Manullang, Stephen B. Lynch and Emery A. Sanford as its inventors.

In the meantime, Apple has been busy working on touch oriented technology like 3D Touch. Consequently, the new iPhones -6s and 6s Plus – come equipped with specialized Corning glass which provides support for this feature, while at the same time providing protection against scratches and breakage.

October 23, 2015
Huawei Replaces Xiaomi as China’s No. 1 Smartphone Manufacturer

Research firm Canalys reports that Huawei has replaced Xiaomi as the number one manufacturer of smartphones in China, a first for Huawei to have topped the ranking. While Xiaomi’s sales declined, Huawei’s increased by an 81% over the last one year. Though Canalys didn’t share the exact details, the firm says other details will be made available by the end of this month.

Both Xiaomi and Huawei have been warmly welcomed in the country as well, providing smartphones with impressive specs and price-tags friendly with the average Indian pocket. Huawei however has been more in news lately primarily because of one of the two latest Google Nexus smartphones. Nexus 6P is the device which is made by Huawei and has provided a high-end gadget to the smartphone industry.

Huawei Nexus 6P

Xiaomi on the other hand grabbed the limelight with its Mi 4c, which has similar specs as the other Nexus device launched recently, Nexus 5X, but at half the price. You can find the entire comparison here. While the two tech giants fight it out in the world, tell us your preference in the comments below.

October 23, 2015
Nextbit Robin- First of its Kind Cloud Storage Phone, Up For Pre-Order In India

Time to kiss those storage blues goodbye with Nextbit Robin -the first smartphone to offer cloud storage. The “cloud-first” smartphone, is now available for pre-orders in India, along with a bunch of other regions. The price of the phone is Rs. 26,000 ($399), which excludes shipping charges of Rs. 4,600 ($70). The phone will be officially released in August.

A startup made up of tech experts with experience of working in Apple, Google and HTC previously, Nextbit Robin is equipped with features sure to woo customers, the highlight of which is the cloud-based storage option. The phone promises no more storage woes by automatically backing up your data to the cloud, and therefore emptying the phone’s inherent storage.

Robin was initially put up as a Kickstarter project from where it received an immense response of $1,362,000 (about Rs. 8.9 crores) in terms of funding. The company’s goal had been no more than $500,000 or about Rs. 3.26 crores.

Nextbit Robin Mint

The specifications of Nexbit Robin include a 5.2 inch HD screen along with 1080×1920 p resolution. The plastic body of the phone has Qualcomm hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor on the inside. 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of in-built non-expandable storage are some of its other specs. The phone also boasts of a fingerprint sensor.

Nextbit Robin Midnight

In terms of the two cameras, the phone packs a 13 MP for the main camera and a 5 MP for the front camera. The battery is marked at a 2,689 mAh, and it has a USB Type-C port. The operating system is Android 6.0 Marshmallow. There are two colour variants for the handset: Mint and Midnight.

October 22, 2015
The iPhone May Lose its Home Button

There is no possibility that we’re getting a look at the next iPhone before the second half of next year, but why should that stop us from speculating about that one device everyone loves to hate?

Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster writes in a blog post,

“3D Touch may provide Apple with a way to eliminate the home button on the phone and use the additional space to make the screen bigger or make the device smaller. One barrier to this could be Touch ID, which is integrated into the home button currently. Apple would need to move the Touch ID reader to potentially the side of the phone to remove the home button.”

Could it be possible then? iPhone 7 is also expected to be smaller in design with negligible or no changes to the screen size. Additionally, Apple recently filed a patent which suggests that the company wants to put Touch ID behind the display instead of the side, same as what Munster mentions.

At the same time, there have been other patents as well which have hinted at not only keeping the home button but also adding new features and technology to it. The tech giant recently patented a way to use the Touch ID as type of a track pad. This feature would be able to identify the direction of your fingerprint movement and provide two user interfaces based on the movement of the swipe.

There is a 50% chance of Apple getting rid of its home button, if Munster’s speculations are to be taken into account.. Do you think Apple will actually do away with one of the most characteristic feature of its iPhone? Let us know in the comments below.

October 21, 2015
Specs of Galaxy On5 Accidentally Put Up Online, Reveal 5-inch Display

Images, specs and other details of Samsung Galaxy On5 were accidentally put up on the company’s official website. The On7 variant was revealed too but only with its user manual going up on the site. The listing has now been removed, but the images of the two phones are available online.

Galaxy On5 is an entry-level phone which comes with “an unprecedentedly thin frame and bezel”. It consists of a 5-inch screen with 720p resolution. Its physical measurements are 142.3 x 72.1 x 8.5 mm along with a faux leather back. A Exynos chipset with quad-core processor and 1.5 GB RAM are some of its other specs. Even though the phone comes with 8 GB of total storage, only half of it is available to the user. However, it does include a microSD card slot to ensure expandability to the user. The phone will run on the Android OS, but the Android version remains unclear at the moment.

In terms of the camera, On5 packs an 8 MP main camera capable of 1080p video recording, along with a 5 MP front camera. It’s a dual-SIM phone (microSIMs) with LTE connectivity (TDD and FDD). The phone is equipped with a 2,600 mAh battery which claims up to 13 hours of browsing on Wi-Fi, 11 hours on 3G, and 12 hours of video playback. The price of this smartphone in the country is expected to be Rs. 10,000.

The other smartphone to have been made official briefly on the Samsung website is Galaxy On7. This phone comes with a larger screen of 5.5-inches but the resolution is the same as On5, that is 720p. It packs a more impressive main camera at 13 MP along with faring better on the battery front as well with 3,000 mAh. The site didn’t mention any other specs except for a manual. Galaxy On7 is expected to be priced around Rs. 13,000.

October 21, 2015
Lenovo Launches its Vibe P1 and Vibe P1m Smartphones in India

Lenovo has launched its latest smartphones, the Vibe P1 and Vibe P1m, ahead of Diwali. The company is looking to get some early buyers going into the Diwali sale. And one of the reasons the phone could find potential buyers are the massive batteries that come with the devices. The Vibe P1 and P1m will come with 5000mAh and 4000mAh batteries, respectively.

Priced at Rs. 15, 999 for the Vibe P1 and Rs. 7999 for the Vibe P1m, the smartphones are exclusive to Flipkart. The Vibe P1 will go on sale from Tuesday while the Vibe P1m will see a flash sale from Wednesday. Registrations for the P1m start from today.

Lenovo Vibe P1

The Vibe P1 features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by a Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz with Adreno 405 GPU; 2GB of RAM and 32GB storage with expandable storage via microSD card. The device features a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front; dual-SIM with dual 4G LTE support.

The Vibe P1m, on the other hand, sports a 5-inch HD (1280×720) display. It is powered by a 64-bit quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Like the Vibe P1, the P1m supports expandable storage as well.

The Flipkart Big Billion Day offer helped Lenovo sell over 600,000 Lenovo and Motorolla phones in 3 days. The company will look to get some more numbers in with their newest devices during the expected Diwali sale. Another point in favour of Lenovo is that despite having such gigantic batteries, the devices are still slim and light.

October 21, 2015