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List of Top LTE-Capable Budget Smartphones (Under 10K)

4G LTE is considered to be roughly 10-20 times faster than 3G standards. With the popular carriers embracing 4G LTE and offering attractive tariff plans, smartphone makers have come out with handful of budget devices with LTE support.

Want a future-proof smartphone but don’t have the budget to shell out for a high-end device? We are listing the top 4 LTE capable Smartphones under 10K:

1. Yu Yureka – Rs. 8,999

In terms of hardware the Yureka is pretty great, in fact the closest devices in terms of hardware cost double. Cameras are a high 13 MP and 5 MP combination. At the front it has a 1280 x 720p 5.5-inch display. On the inside is the intriguing Snapdragon 615 CPU + Adreno 405 GPU combination, which is decent considering the price. For our full review of the device, click here.

2. Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G – Rs. 9,999

Xiaomi’s blockbuster Redmi series has been flying out of Flipkart’s shelves rapidly since its launch. Redmi Note is available in two variants, one is 3G, while the other one is the 4G LTE compatible variant. The 4G variant, made for India, has dual-band support for both TDD-LTE 2300 MHz (Band 40) and FDD-LTE 1800 MHz (Band 3).

3. Lenovo A6000 – Rs. 6,999

Lenovo A6000 is India’s cheapest 4G enabled handset. The smartphone was first showcased earlier this month at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and India is the first market in which it has been released. Up front, the Lenovo A6000 features a 5-inch HD (720×1280-pixel) IPS screen, which is smaller than the 5.5-inch screen on both Micromax’s Yu Yureka and Xiaomi’s Redmi Note.

4. Nokia Lumia 638 – Rs 8,299

Microsoft also jumped into the 4G game back in December with Lumia 638. Specs on the smartphone include a 4.5 inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) ClearBlack LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3, a 1.2 Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 400 SOC chipset along with 1 GB of RAM. Optics will just include a 5 MP rear auto focus camera. On the memory front, there’s an 8GB of internal storage with microSD card compatibility (up to 128GB). Powering the smartphone would be a 1830 mAh battery while the OS on board would be Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim update.

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SPECS	LENOVO A6000	XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 4G	YU YUREKA	Lumia 638
Display	5 inch HD IPS	5.5 inch IPS LCD	5.5 inch HD	4.5 inch IPS LCD
Processor	1.2 GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 410	1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400	1.5 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615	Quad-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400
RAM	1 GB	2 GB RAM	2 GB	1 GB
Storage	8 GB	8 GB	16 GB	8 GB
Expandable Upto	32 GB	64 GB	32 GB	128 GB
Main Camera	8 MP	13 MP	13 MP	5 MP
Front Camera	2 MP	5 MP	5 MP	–
Battery	2300 mAh	3100 mAh	2500mAh	1830 mAh
Operating System	Android 4.4	Android 4.2	Cyanogen OS 11	Windows Phone 8.1
Price	Rs 6,999	Rs.9,999	Rs.8,999	Rs 8,299

January 18, 2015

SmartBand Talk and Sony SmartWatch 3 Get a Price Tag for the Indian Market

After showcasing SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk at the IFA Berlin in September 2014, the Japanese manufacturing company has finally brought both the two devices for Indian consumers. The devices are listed on the official website of Sony India. The SmartWatch 3 is tagged at Rs. 19,990, while the SmartBand comes at a price of Rs. 12,990.

The price listed for the SmartWatch 3 is for the black variant. There is no word on the availability and price for the stylish steel edition. At the given price tag, this Sony smartwatch is one of the most expensive wearables in the country running on Android.

Sony SmartBand Talk

Taking a look at its specifications, the Sony SmartWatch 3 sports a 1.6-inch 320×320 square display. The device runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core processor paired with 512 MB of RAM and has 4 GB of internal storage capacity. The 420mAh battery of the device is enough to last a couple of days. The connectivity options include NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. Along with that, the watch is secure from water and dust.

The company said that the straps of the smartwatch are interchangeable, and users can attach straps of different colours with the main watch unit.

On the other hand, the SmartBand Talk boasts a 1.4-inch 296x128p e-ink curved display. The band allows handsfree calling. Like the smartwatch, it comes with exchangeable wrist straps that give it a trendy look. The device is waterproof and can last for 3 hours on a single charge. The connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.0 LE and NFC.

January 17, 2015
India and US to Collaborate for the Digital India Initiative

Just days before President Obama’s visit to New Delhi, India and US have agreed to collaborate together for implementing the Digital India Initiative to boost e-Governance and e-Commerce.

The Government of India initiated the Digital India Program to help integrate the people of India and the Government for effective governance. It aims to reduce paperwork for the citizens by providing Government services electronically. This also includes providing high speed internet connectivity to rural areas. Digital India includes three core components, digital infrastructure, digitally delivered services and digital literacy. It is stated to be completed by 2019.

During the two day meeting of the US-India Information and Communications Technology (ICT), concerns were raised by the Indian Delegation, led by RS Sharma, about the refusal of a large number of visas of Indian skilful workers. The meet also stressed to expand the economic opportunity, create jobs and empower the citizens.

January 17, 2015
Motorola Acknowledges Nexus 6 Defect, Offers Replacements

Recently, there have been numerous reports of defective Nexus 6 units being shipped to customers. Multiple buyers around the web have been reporting that the Nexus 6’s back cover is coming unglued.

According to various Reddit posts, this is due to defective batteries that are expanding, causing the back cover to raise from its housing. Picture by a Reddit User.

According to various Reddit posts, this is due to defective batteries that are expanding, causing the back cover to raise from its housing. Disgruntled users have reported the issue on social networks such as Twitter and Google+ and on Reddit forums.

@ChrisCannon396 We’re seeing a few — bad luck to get two! Do you need help getting this one replaced?

— Motorola Support (@MotorolaSupport) January 11, 2015

Motorola, which manufactured the Nexus 6 for Google, has acknowledged the issue and has said that it has come across a number of users who’ve reported the issue. The company is even ready to offer replacements to affected users.

Several users have been asked to get in touch with the customer care team to get their units replaced. Some noticed the issue when they took their device out of the box, while others took time, saying the battery expanded over time.

January 17, 2015
This New 3D Display Doesn’t Require 3D Glasses

Until now, the 3D technology was entirely dependent on the supporting glass. Now an effort has been put by Australian researchers that eliminates the need for 3D glasses. A team of researchers have created a new kind of display that produces 3D effect without the need for the special glasses.

According to the scientists, the technology uses a sophisticated laser system that throws laser beams in different directions. These scattered laser beams form an angular resolution in a way that the left eye sees a whole different picture from the right one. The technology leads to a 3D effect and allows viewing from various angles.

Researchers have successfully tested the first prototype of this 3D technology together with the start-up firm TriLite Technologies. It has the modest resolution of five by three pixels. Now, the team is heading towards the second prototype to get a clearer picture of the same. A professor of the research team Jorg Reitterer stated about their innovation, “We are creating a second prototype, which will display colour pictures with a higher resolution. But the crucial point is that the individual laser pixels work. Scaling it up to a display with many pixels is not a problem.”

The present 3D movies use the same trick of exhibiting two different pictures for both eyes. However, with the newly-developed display, users can experience the same effect with multiple images. The research team says that to encounter 3D effect, there should be a certain gap between the screen and the viewer. If the display is positioned to close or too far, viewers will only get a standard 2D image.

Research team says that the new video format required for the particular display is ready, and they are waiting for the second prototype to finish successfully. The gadget is scheduled to launch in 2016.

This newly-developed display is a sign of advancements in 3D technology. With the screen coming to consumers, entertainment will become more wholesome.

January 17, 2015
Google Might be Planning its Own Mobile Payment Solution

Apple’s Apple Pay mobile payment system was unveiled last year on the same day we saw the Apple Watch, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus for the first time. With Apple Pay all you need to do for paying at stores is bring your phone near the payment sensor, and that’s it, your payment is done. Apple Pay is available on both, the iPhone 6 as well as the iPhone 6 Plus.

Now it seems like Google is also looking to add the popular feature in its portfolio. NFC-based payment system is said to eliminate plastic money (credit cards) for hassle free payments. The Android maker is reportedly in talks to acquire Softcard, the a mobile payment company, and subsequently launch its own NFC-based payment system.

Softcard, formerly known as ISIS, is a joint venture of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T

Softcard is a joint venture of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T which has been going through a rough patch lately. Softcard earlier this month laid off about 60 employees and has been in a consolidation phase. According to TechCrunch, hundreds of millions of dollars apparently were sunk into the company by all three carriers.

Apple, right now, enjoys the monopoly of owning its own NFC-based payment system. Looks like we’ll have to wait a while to see Google’s retaliation.

January 17, 2015
Elon Musk Plans to Connect Everyone with Space-Based Internet

If you ever hear an audacious, game-changing technology initiative, there is a high possibility it’s the brainchild of Elon Musk. After taking on spaceships and electric cars, Elon plans to create a vast network of satellites which will provide high-speed internet, that will benefit the rural folks untouched by the internet.

Elon spoke of his plans at a SpaceX conference in Seattle where the company is starting a new office. He said that he wants to establish his space internet system as a rival to fibre optics. Light waves travel 40% faster in the vacuum of space than through optical fibre cables. Musk will be opening a new office in Seattle and he plans to go on a hiring spree for space and aeronautics professionals to boost his efforts.

Elon’s Space X is the most successful private space enterprise.

These internet beaming satellites will be placed in an orbit 750 miles (1207 km) above the Earth’s surface. The traditional communication satellites are placed in a geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of up to 22000 miles (35400 km). Elon says that by placing the satellites closer to the earth’s surface, the electromagnetic waves would have to travel a smaller distance and hence provide faster internet. He adds that with his technique, instead of sending data packets over long terrestrial networks like undersea cables, they can be bounced off various satellites. The data packets would be sent directly to satellites where they will bounce off multiple satellites before reaching the one closest to the destination.

There are many efforts, currently being undertaken to connect the last three billion who are still oblivious to the internet. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org and Google’s Project Loon are some of those initiatives. The Internet is making us globally connected and will help boost global cooperation.

The plan is to create a vast network of satellites which beam internet directly to the consumers

As of now, this project sounds too audacious, even for Elon Musk. He says that this initiative will cost about $10 Billion, but once established, his company will use it as a revenue source to build a city on Mars. He also doesn’t have the rights to the spectrum to build the service as of yet. So it remains to be seen how he takes this plan forward.

Elon’s bold connectivity plans doesn’t end at connecting everyone on Earth. He wants to set up a communications infrastructure on Mars too. His company is actively working on prospects of establishing a Martian colony in the coming future. You have to give credit to Elon Musk; he wants to make sure that even though people would be living in a settlement on Mars, they would not be devoid of their favorite websites.

January 17, 2015
Facebook is Testing a Voice Transcription Feature for its Messenger App

Facebook’s standalone Messenger app is an important part of the company’s offering with 500 million Messenger users sending billions of messages everyday. The company has been focusing a lot on stickers lately, even releasing an app solely dedicated to applying stickers to your photos.

However, now it seems like Facebook is shaking things up. The company is planning to add a new voice transcription feature for its Facebook Messenger. As announced by David Marcus, Head of Facebook’s Messenger team, this feature allows users of the Facebook Messenger app to read transcripts of voice messages instead of listening to them.

So, now when you send or receive a voice clip, you’ll see a text preview of the message. Both sender and receiver can see the text, unless you decide to turn it off.

Unfortunately, most of us won’t see the feature any time soon. Marcus wrote on the Facebook Post :

Today we are starting to roll out a small test that helps people read the voice clips they receive instead of having to play them out loud. Our plan is to test this feature at a tiny scale for now and we’re looking forward to seeing what you think of it before making the experience more widely available.

The transcription is automatic, and will hopefully become a more widely available feature in the future, though that isn’t guaranteed at this point.

January 17, 2015
Moto 360 Gets Premium Leather Bands Courtesy DODOcase

The Moto 360, one of the best looking smartwatches available right now, is getting sexier with new premium leather bands by DODOcase. The San Francisco-based startup which is famous for its iPhone and iPad cases, collaborated with Motorola to make these bands.

A few months back, Motorola added brown leather to the black and stone coloured Horween leather options, but it seems that didn’t work out. DODO’s leather bands are made from premium Pergamena leather. They are available to order directly from Motorola’s online store in four different colors – red, blue, tan, and green.

The DODOcase leather come in eco-friendly colors died using materials safe for the environment. You’d have to shell out $59.99 for the leather bands. That’s a significant premium over the $29.99 price of Motorola’s own Horween leather straps, and quite close to the $79.99 that Moto charges for the available metal bands for the Moto 360.

If you are curious about how this premium Pergamena leather are made, then watch the video below:

January 17, 2015
This Tiny Chip by Justin Timberlake Promises an Amazing Music Experience

It’s good to see entertainment professionals engaging in technological innovation. We saw Dr.Dre managing his multi-billion dollar audio equipment company, then we saw Ashton Kutcher working on some amazing tablets and notebook for Lenovo. Now Justin Timberlake has partnered with a company called AfterMaster to boost the quality of the audio on any device.

AfterMaster takes any music you are playing and tunes it in real time to give the best possible audio output. The company has partnered with ON Semiconductor, who has put AfterMaster’s technology on a chip. This chip can be embedded in TVs, headphones, laptops and all other gadgets.

The chip can be embedded in almost any device capable of playing media.

It’s not just music that gets a boost in quality, the company claims that any audio, video, audiobooks and other forms of media also benefit from their technology. It makes their audio louder, clearer and closely resemble studio-based sound.

Justin Timberlake is the co-owner in this enterprise, and he will surely increase the brand value of this product. AfterMaster sounds like an amazing technology that can transform the way we listen to music. Right now the company is looking for electronics manufacturers who’d be willing to induct the AfterMaster chip in their devices. Now this is a kind of technological innovation that gets us excited.

January 17, 2015
HTC’s Next Flagship is All Set to Take Centre Stage at the MWC

Leading the race, HTC has sent out the invitation for its big event at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, announcing March 1st as the day on which we’ll see “what’s next” from the Taiwanese company. As per usual, the invite doesn’t reveal much, just that HTC will be unveiling something new.

The invite also shows a bright star in the background with the tagline “Utopia in Progress”, the first ambiguous hint at what to expect. MWC is shaping up to be a particularly big show and HTC is the first amongst major Android phone makers to set a date and time for its next big launch.

The current flagship device from HTC, the One M8, launched in March last year and marked a big change for the company. The expected HTC One M9, which also refered as ‘Hima’ is said to feature a 1440X2560 QHD screen, 3GB of RAM and an Octa-core Snapdragon 810 CPU.

It has also been reported that HTC might enter the wearable industry this year. We won’t be surprised if HTC decides to debuts the wearable device it’s been reportedly working on for sometime now.

January 17, 2015
Microsoft Suspends Support, No Further Updates and Assistance for Windows 7 Users

Microsoft’s former version Windows 7 is an addictive one. It has all the necessary features and most important of all, it’s user-friendly. Even after the roll out of Windows 8 a couple of years ago, there are many people across the globe who still rely on updates and support for Windows 7. However, Microsoft seems to think otherwise. The US-based company has decided to retire the 5-year-old operating system still prominent on more than half of the desktop population running Windows.

The announcement read that Windows 7 users will neither get new updates nor any help related to the OS. Nevertheless, according to a publishing daily, the company will continue to patch security vulnerabilities until 2020. The suspension of support to Windows 7 will make way for the forthcoming Windows 10.

The up and coming Windows 10 is one of the most anticipated operating systems by the company. The new OS is expected to come with a ton of features and is said to integrate Cortana onto the desktop. The update will release late summer this year.

January 16, 2015
Qualcomm And Virgin Mobile Team Up to Lead the Internet Race

A sustainable, high-speed internet is the demand of the digital era. The world has entered into the 4G zone, but the need for speed never dies. There’s still a need for improved, high-speed global Internet access which can be offered to people at cheap rates. Qualcomm, a semiconductor manufacturer, has moved ahead in this direction and is venturing with British multinational brand Virgin Group to build a structure that would offer global internet access at express speed.

The top giants are aiming to fly a constellation which will have a total of 648 satellites. Some of the satellites will be launched by the Virgin’s own spaceflight unit, Virgin Galactic. The company is presently developing a satellite delivery service called LauncherOne, along with some vehicles that will revolve in the sub-orbit of Earth. These vehicles have been named SpaceSpace Two.

The fleet of satellites will cost somewhat between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. The telecom brand is saying that these satellites will not only facilitate users with lightening speed Internet, but will also provide the world with an option of superior telephone services. Presently, the proposal is under review with OneWeb and the company will soon come up with its verdict. The OneWeb system will build a spacecraft that will be positioned in the orbit of Earth. Both companies, Virgin Mobiles and Qualcomm, plan to fund the project with an undisclosed amount.

OneWeb said that the forthcoming project will extend the networks of mobile operators globally through which they can reach around 3 billion people in far-flung areas.

Following year, Google started a research and development project called Project Loon, under which the internet search engine sent balloons 20 miles up in the air. Through these, users of the service could connect to the balloon network using a special Internet antenna attached. These signals travel from one balloon to another and then to the base stations and later circulate to the global Internet. Project Loon was well received, but at times, the balloons witnessed some crash incidents.

If OneWeb accepts the investment proposals of the producers, Qualcomm and Virgin will be the front runners in the race of top Internet providers. With the satellite-based internet, accessing broadband will be fast and hassle-free.

January 16, 2015
The Simpsons Are Back! This Time, on Minecraft

Fox Broadcasting Company’s hit satirical family sitcom, the Simpsons has become a household name all over the world. The show depicts the American Suburban lifestyle through frenzied family of Simpson family which includes Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

Now, Microsoft is preparing to bring Simpson family, as well as 19 more characters to life in Minecraft’s cubic world next month. The pack contains the playable characters which will be released in late February for $1.99. The customizable models of the characters lets Homer keep his trademark potbelly and Marge her blue, beehive hair in the pixelated, polygonal forms.

Microsoft acquired Minecraft for $2.5 billion in September and has teamed up with Twentieth Century Fox to transform the characters of Springfield to textured cubic blocks for Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Minecraft is an award winning sandbox independent video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus “Notch” Persson and later developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang since 2009. Minecraft has become one of the most popular video games in history, with over 100 million downloads since its launch.

January 16, 2015
Now, Purchase an Apple Iphone6 by Vodafone with Zero Down-Payment

Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in India in the October of 2014. The devices received acclaim for their features such as continuity and Apple Pay, but also drew flak for issues such as “bendability” in the iPhone 6 Plus. The devices are priced for the premium segment so they are out of reach of many. If you really wanted to own Apple’s latest flagship, Vodafone is giving you an option to own the device that is light on your pocket.

In the open market, the 16GB variant of the iPhone 6 comes for Rs 53,500 and the iPhone 6 Plus is priced at Rs 62,500. But Vodafone is offering the handsets for a monthly EMI of Rs 3,599 for both the iPhone variants. The period of EMI is 24 months. The monthly EMI includes handset cost, local/STD calls, local/national SMS and 3G data and applicable taxes.

The best part about this deal is that there is zero down payment for the 16 GB variant of the iPhone 6.The iPhone 6 Plus though is available for a down payment of Rs 8,490.

Vodafone India has launched tariff plans today where the customer can make calls, send SMS and access 3G data bundled with an iPhone starting at Rs. 2,099.

The company has also offered deals with a 12 month EMI option or upfront cash payment. Vodafone has also offered an additional cash-back offer of Rs 3,000 for all models of the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5s.

January 16, 2015