Samsung today released the Galaxy Grand Prime in India. The phone is being touted by Samsung as a Groupfie friendly phone which means that it will let you take wider selfies with more folks in the picture.
The phone comes with a 5 MP qHD (960×540) PLS TFT display. The phone has a width of 8.6mm, which brings it in the slim line-up of phones. It is powered by 1.2 GHz Quad Core processor. The RAM on the device stands at 1 GB and has 8 GB internal storage that is expandable up to 64 GB. The device is powered by a 2600 mAh.
The star of the phone is the 5 MP front camera. The camera has a wide 85-degree view for taking wide selfies or groupies. The back camera on the device is an 8 MP shooter.
The qHD display is a disappointment considering many phones in this price range offer 720p or full HD display. There could have been more power under the hood too. Samsung had a good plan in hand for a group friendly phone for the festive season where people actually want to take lots of photos, but they cheapened out on the display and processor which can turn against them. Considering the unfavorable opinions received in the market by Samsung it should have made a better effort with this phone.
The Parrot Zik 2.0, a follow up to the Bluetooth and noise cancelling Zik, have some new features and a slightly different shape. The aptly named Zik 2.0 weigh 270g, which is 17 per cent (or 55g) lighter than its predecessor.
It recovers all the original features, especially the large trackpad which this time is made of a soft-touch leather exterior. The right earcup has gesture controls for playback and volume, with NFC and the removable battery on the left side.
The headphones have no exposed metal, but still retain their touch and gesture ability. It retains the dual, near-ear sensors; one of which recognizes when the headphones are on your head (to pause and play music when you take them on and off) and the other, a bone-conduction sensor, picks up voice vibrations so it knows when you’re speaking, which helps with noise canceling during phone calls.
Parrot said the headphone has been redesigned from the ground up to address user feedback, and the most immediate difference you’ll notice is a weight loss. Parrot also tweaked the headphones’ overall battery life, which was addressed by giving users the ability to choose how they want to use them. Each mode comes with its own battery life rating. There’s Flight Mode, which gives listeners up to 18 hours when plugged in via wire. There’s Eco Mode, which gives seven hours of the noise-cancelling effects. And for those who want to go all out on features over Bluetooth, you’ll get up to six hours.
There’s a ‘Street Mode’ which is quite interesting. The headphones, using some of the built-in microphones, reinserts some of the surrounding ambient sound back into the headphones. This could be beneficial if you’re walking on a busy street, so you can still hear the traffic, or as Parrot points out, you can hear your own voice in your ears while talking on the phone.
With Zik 2.0, Parrot has leveled up the internal tech with a higher-grade DAC (digital-to-analog converter), which it says creates cleaner sound, as well as better noise cancelling and a new app that allows you to customize the way you want your music to sound with advanced EQ settings, in addition to adjusting how much noise-cancelling you want.
Zik 2.0 comes in six colors and is set to be available in November on the Parrot website and at Apple and Brookstone retail stores at $399.
Cosmos, till recently was a term, we used to describe the contents of the universe. Then Neil Degrasse Tyson came in this summer and gave us an epic new show by the same name. Now a team of four college and high school students from the U.S have created a browser that lets you connect to the internet without a data plan.
Cosmos is a one of a kind browser. When the user enters a URL, the browser sends it through SMS to a web service. The web service is made using Twilio and Node.JS. The service then loads the website and takes out all the scripts, images, CSS and sends it back to the device in one or more text messages.
The makers of the browser were able to get it on Play Store in less than a month. They have asked the users to be cautious while using the browser as it has some bugs since the app is still in its starting stages. The biggest hitch with the browser is that the pages take a while to load and when they do they are devoid of all the features, like images and scripts that makes web browsing interesting. Also, a user has to deal with many text notifications while using this browser.
You might want to get a reliable text plan to get the best out of this browser as it sends data through SMS. The app is currently only available to U.S. users to prevent overloading the infrastructure. But as it gets better, and gains users, there might be an expansion.
As the browser is just starting up, we’ll let the bugs slide as this sounds like a great way of bringing internet access to people who can’t afford it. At a time when major companies are planning drones and balloons to bring internet to the masses, a ground level effort like this is appreciated. We’d love to see where this Cosmos will lead us.
Apple’s latest generation of phone is here, the iPhone 6 is the next big change after Apple’s iPhone 5 was launched two years ago. However a lot has happened in the smartphone market space since then.
Android has taken major lead thanks to diversification and availability, and smartphones have become much cheaper. A few companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus have emerged to show that cheap phones don’t have to be bad quality or bad spec’d, and that they too can create major hype.
So amidst all of this smartphone tension, where does today’s iPhone 6 stand and is is worth your major moolah. Let’s find out!
Overview
Just like every iPhone release, this one was riddled with issues as well. Apple managed to sell 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices overnight since it went on sale and a lot of people had major issues in getting to the online Apple store. Then there is this crazy #bendgate phenomenon, and just like Apple’s #AntennaGate this one has the whole world talking about bending iPhones. People are confused and some assume that a bending iPhone is a feature of the new iPhone, just like the G Flex.
[pullquote_left]iPhone 6 is Unaffected by the Bendgate Issue[/pullquote_left]
Apple has received just a few complaints over bending iPhone 6 plus’ and the whole story seems like a media frenzy, also it does not affect the iPhone 6 at all. All bendgate theories aside, Apple has managed to improve on what was already an excellent handset. People wanted a bigger iPhone and Apple delivered two sizes. People asked for better battery and the Cupertino giant may have a winner on that as well, but hardware is not the only factor. Apple has tied in iOS 8 brilliantly and the end user experience may just be what you have been looking for.
Build Quality and Design
Apple has chosen to go with a treated Aluminum just like every year, however this year it’s thinner and strengthened at the hip using stainless steel and titanium inserts. The iPhone however, is presumed to be easily dented or nicked at the round edges just like the case of the first generation. The front glass is rounded to the edges giving the phone a massively premium outlook and a great in-hand feel. Expect almost all manufacturers to follow this in the upcoming handsets.
Looks wise the iPhone 6 is much more good looking in person than in images and video. It feels excellent in the hand and thanks to the new rounded edges, the phone will stay in your hand much longer. Everyone who has seen it, has appreciated its looks. The Golden color especially has been improved over the past generation gold.
Camera Module is Protruded
The camera module sits above the whole body of the phone, which makes it prone to scratches, however the super hard sapphire lens, makes it really difficult to do so. The Apple official case tucks the camera module in just a tad bit to add a layer of protection and not bulk. The leather case is really appreciable and well made, much more so than last generation cases.
Hardware
Procession on the new iPhone 6 happens on the new Apple A8 Chipset and it is the first chipset to include 2 Billion transistors. Which is really impressive if you factor in the size of the A8 die i.e 89mm2. The increase in the performance is based on a 1.4 Ghz CPU and a hexa core GPU. The front has a larger 4.7 inch display which is an Apple iPhone first along with a larger resolution of 1334 x 750 px, retaining Apple’s retina requirements.
The Battery is bigger on the iPhone 6 with a 1810 mAh unit in tow, non-replaceable as usual, you also get the same 8 Mp and 1.2 Mp camera combo. However improved lenses and sensor promise better imagery and we agree. There is also an NFC module on the inside, but it is only for payments and not for information bumps. Apple Pay is not available in India, in fact it won’t be for a while so it really may not be relevant. However if you are in the US, this may simplify payments for you significantly, especially if all you carried was a credit/debit card.
Performance
Performance is easily noticeable out of the box; the iPhone 6 is snappier, opens apps faster and renders objects quicker. The graphics information is about as accurate as mentioned and games that will take full advantage of the GPU will truly shine in the coming days with extra detail and nag-less gameplay.
Multitasking has taken a major bump up, thanks to iOS 8 which is much lighter and handles multitasking better, but the hardware also plays an important role and improves it, resulting in a flawless experience overall.
Gaming, Display and Multimedia
The iPhone 6 is by far the best gaming experience on a smartphone, the visual elements truly shine out in gameplay, and since all games are designed around Apple’s hardware on the iPhones, they run at best possible settings resulting in the best possible output, and therefore the best possible gaming experience.
[pullquote_right]The Display shines on the new iPhone 6[/pullquote_right]
Display is Vivid
The new bigger 4.7 inch display truly leverages the OS experience, you still get to use the phone with one hand, and once you have used “reachability”, the first question you will ask is “why hasn’t anyone else done it before?”. It makes sense and it works really well. Apple should have stuffed in a larger resolution display on the iPhone 6, but the current resolution is very good. There is zero pixelation on screen, text looks excellent, viewing angles are really wide and outdoor visibility is top notch, basically the same as you would expect from an iPhone, but better.
The speakerphone is definitely louder and more defined, however it’s no “boomsound” speaker setup and it’s no where near as great as a stereo setup. Why Apple choses to use a single speaker after 7 years of inception is beyond us, when they could have easily done a stereo setup with this iPhone. Audio output from the 3.5mm headphone jack is still the best from any phone ever and bundled with a good set of headphones makes for the best on the go sound experience.
Camera
240fps at 720p is going to be the best fun you have had with a Camera, be sure to get at least the 64 GB variant if you intend to use this. The best usage is outdoors so that you don’t get random tube light flicker. The one major let down this year was the lack of 4K video, and now that the storage was bumped up to 128GB it would have simply made sense, as the sensor and chipset is very capable and with the iPhone 6 Plus OIS would have meant excellent video.
There is a major improvement in the new autofocus capabilities of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 misses the OIS from the 6 Plus which is a major pity, because there is no real reason Apple should have left it out.
The new autofocus is laser fast, and the new lens setup is better for macro. The iPhone usually has great background defocus and close up capture capability as it is, the new iPhone 6 camera improves that by a handful. You also see sharper pictures, highly improved HDR and color correction, and perfectly saturated colors. Thanks to the excellent image processing you get ideally one of the best pocket cameras today. It is also the most used camera in the world and that is just going to become bigger.
Samples:
HDR
Focus Test
HDR Outdoor 2
Close Up Focus
Low Light
Phone and Battery life
Network performance is a definite improvement on the iPhone 6, the signal strength has improved tremendously and audio quality in phone calls is definitely up there in the Top 3. The lack of a 3G toggle in the settings panel in iOS 8 troubles users indoors, because you are now unable to switch to a stronger 2G signal. The iPhone 6 however does that by itself now more than ever, which works great for us.
Battery life has seen a major jump since the iPhone 5s, which had appalling battery life. Newer chipsets, a slightly larger battery and iOS 8 tweaks are all to thank for a bump in battery which will go an easy 18 hours, meaning a full day without the need of a recharge. Apple’s extreme battery life chart is a bit off from actual usage delivering upto 7 hours on 3G talk in normal usage.
iOS 8
Apple ties in the operating system beautifully, and especially thanks to iOS 8 and hand-off, get ready to get a multi device experience like no other. While your phone rings, you can set it up so that every device on the same iCloud account rings too, whether an iPod touch or an iPad and even another iPhone will ring and you can answer the call on either. Best case example, you put your phone on charge and are working on the iPad, you can now receive a phone call on that. The same will apply to MacBooks and iMacs on Yosemite, which will receive calls and texts allowing you to not switch screens when you don’t need to.
Reachability Demo
iOS 8 also takes good advantage of the bigger displays, widening side panels in landscape and allowing you to use a zoomed in view for larger icons and text. iOS 8 also uses Apple Pay which may become the future of payments (when it’s available globally anyway). Simple things like reachability and the new improved keyboard only add to the experience of the bigger screens. Typing is definitely faster, and as mentioned before, the OS is quicker and lighter on its feet, therefore improves the usage experience tremendously.
Conclusion
[pullquote_left]The Best Your Money Can Buy![/pullquote_left]There is no major innovation from Apple this year, and most have constantly asked me for one. Once Apple Pay comes to India and the rest of the world, there is a high chance that iPhone 7 will be out by then / or iPhone 6s or whatever they call it. The iPhone 5s in terms of performance, usability and camera/optics was essentially one of the best phones of last year. The two issues, poor battery life and a small display irked many users and Apple has addressed those two beautifully in this release. What else has improved? The design and the overall appeal of the phone, the rounded edges on the display feel wonderfully natural and invite you to slide your finger on the new phone. Big improvements on the performance front and the Touch ID sensitivity also really improve the experience.
iPhone 6 with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5
Should you buy this if you own an iPhone 5s?
If you want a bigger screen, a bigger storage capacity or even better battery management and can afford buying a new phone, don’t think twice.
What is different between the Nexus 4 and the new iPhone 6?
The question is flawed somehow, because of the sheer distinction in the kind of products. A 2011 Honda Accord and a 2014 BMW 5 Series Sedan are identical, they both have a 2 Liter engine, 4 wheels, 5 passenger capacity, Air-conditioning and even similar interior equipment. If you go into more detail they even have identical length and width, and if you add Rs. 5 lac (US$ 7000) worth performance parts to your purchase of the Accord you can make it run faster than many sports cars. So why is the BMW more expensive and more appreciated than the Accord? If you answer that question the same is applicable to the above question.
If you can afford it, the iPhone 6 is fortunately or unfortunately the best smartphone experience today, and once you get to use it and understand how it simplifies your life, you truly appreciate its experience. The experience which is again fortunately or unfortunately enjoyed best with more Apple products in your daily use scenario. Even as a standalone phone, only a minor user-share have disliked the iPhone experience, and those who left iPhones a few years back, would be delighted to now bounce back onto the bandwagon.
GoPro’s have taken us from being mere spectators of awesome action sports to first person observers. Watching the huge repository of GoPro videos on the internet, you can almost feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins. They are incredibly convenient and using them in drones is letting people get movie-like aerial shots for their home videos. Now GoPro is taking its pocket-sized badass cameras to the next level.
The company’s latest offering, the Hero4 lineup builds on the legacy and comes with great new upgrades. On the top of the line-up is the Hero4 Black, which comes at a price of $499. It shoots 4K video at up to 30 frames per second giving you some incredible eye-popping visuals. Apart from that, it shoots Full HD (1080p) at 120 frames per second so you can play with some slow-motion action shots. And of course, it offers 12-megapixel photos for folks who want a selfie at an epic destination.
Hero4 Silver comes with a touchscreen display.
Next in line is the GoPro Hero4 Silver, priced at $399. Most of its specs are similar to the Hero4 Black apart from the fact that it shoots 4K at 15 fps. The feature that will entice most customers to get this device is the built-in touchscreen LCD screen. For other GoPro models, you need to buy this additional screen for $80.
Last, but not the least, is the GoPro Hero. It costs a mere $130 but lets you shoot 1080p at 30 fps and 720p videos at 60 fps so you can still get great footage off these. It also lets you take 5 MP images at five frames per second.
To offer pure, effortless adventure shooting, the cameras shoot on MicroSD cards and work 40 meters underwater. With these, underwater shooters can say goodbye to the massive and expensive camera housings, they need to carry underwater with the risk of them getting destroyed.
There is also a phone application called GoPro app which can be used to control your camera remotely, view and share your content, and watch the GoPro Channel. Using this app you can turn your phone into a remote viewfinder for your camera. There are multiple kinds of accessories that you can buy for all your action shooting needs. Though they will set you back $20 to $80 per accessory. The new Hero line-up will be ready for shipping by October 5th, just in time for you to get one to capture the Diwali fireworks.
Check out the amazing visuals shot from the new generation GoPro’s:
Hewlett-Packard promised fall would be the season of new, affordable Windows laptops. Keeping their word, the company announced the HP Stream 14-inch Notebook. The Stream series is HP’s version of the low cost Windows laptop, meant to compete head to head with Chromebooks on price, but still offer the powerful operating system.
This Intel Celeron-powered Stream will have an 11.6-inch HD non-touch display and 32GB of eMMC flash memory for storage. The company also unveiled a 13.3-inch touch-optional SKU that goes for $230, and 7 and 8-inch Stream tablets priced at $100 and $150, respectively.
The 11.6- and 13.3-inch notebooks are both fan-less designs with HD displays. The 11.6-inch Stream and the 14-inch model announced earlier this month have non-touch displays. Touch is optional on the 13.3-inch model, but HP did not reveal how much that feature would add to its cost.
The 13.3 inch model also is available with optional 4G connectivity, and as a value add, HP is including 200 MB of free data every month for the life of the device. As another value add, HP is offering one year of free Office 365 personal, which includes 1 TB of online storage and 60 Skype minutes per month.
Battery life is listed from HP at 8:15 for the 11.6 inch model, and 7:45 for the 13.3 inch model. The HP Stream laptops are available in several colors, and will be priced at $199.99 for the 11.6 inch model and $229.99 as the starting price for the 13.3 inch model.
Festive season is here and every smartphone maker is gearing up to bring their flagship devices to India. With new phones pouring in, old phones have finally started getting some serious price drops. Heading into the holiday season, there are always some excellent smartphone choices to look into and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. So whether you want to gift it to your brother, sister, father or husband, with these top budget-friendly phones, you never can go wrong.
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5. Micromax Canvas Nitro A310
The Canvas Nitro A310 is a well built phone with good specs. It comes with a Mediatek Mt6592 Octa Core Chipset clocked at 1.7 GHz on all eight cores. The phone also has 2 GB of RAM and a Mali 450 MP2 GPU. The Nitro runs on a 2500 mAh battery and has 8 GB of inbuilt storage, out of which roughly 5.2 GB is available to the user. The device has a great screen and battery for its price bracket.
Specs
Canvas Nitro A310
OS
Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
Processor
Octa-core 1.7 GHz Mediatek MT6592
Display
720 x 1280 pixels, 5.0 inches (~294 ppi pixel density)
Storage
8 GB internal, expandable up to 32 GB
RAM
2 GB
Battery
2500 mAh battery
Camera
13MP rear and 5MP front
Buy Now
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4. Xiaomi Redmi 1S
The Redmi 1S just like the Xiaomi phones in the past has built a burning desire in everyones hearts to own the phone, it comes with an impressive price tag and a good spec sheet. The performance on the phone is excellent and everything just seems to be too good to be true. The phone is good looking, well built and supported with respect to the OS and UI, with the added advantage of cheap accessories and quick updates one really can’t complain. For the price you will not find a better device, even if you add another Rs. 4,o00.
Specs
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
OS
Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean)
Processor
Quad-core 1.6 GHz Snapdragon 400
Display
720 x 1280 pixels, 4.7 inches (~312 ppi pixel density)
Storage
8 GB internal, expandable up to 32 GB
RAM
1 GB
Battery
2000 mAh battery
Camera
8MP rear and 1.6MP front
Buy Now
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3. Asus ZenFone 5
Asus has launched some great, and reasonably priced phones recently. Asus’s ZenFone 5 has a lower price tag, better hardware and superior performance all around. The 8GB model is available for under Rs. 10,000. It is a no brainer if you want buy it for your mother or sister because it is a beautiful handset too.
Specs
Asus ZenFone 5
OS
Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.4.2 (KitKat)
Processor
Intel Atom Dual-core 1.6 GHz
Display
720 x 1280 pixels, 5.0 inches (~294 ppi pixel density)
Storage
16 GB internal, expandable up to 64 GB
RAM
2 GB
Battery
2110 mAh battery
Camera
8MP rear and 2MP front
Buy Now
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2. Motorola Moto G (Gen 2)
Motorola recently launched the second generation of its blockbuster Moto G. The device was much awaited and comes with considerable improvement over its trendsetting predecessor. The 2nd Gen Moto G has a 5.0-inch 720p HD IPS display made out of Corning Gorilla Glass. Other improvements to the G include two front stereo speakers and an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing one. One of the best feature to come with the 2nd generation device is the external SDcard slot.
Specs
Motorola Moto G (Gen 2)
OS
Android v4.4.4 (KitKat)
Processor
1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, Quad Core
Display
720 x 1280 pixels, 5.0 inches (~294 ppi pixel density)
Storage
16 GB internal, expandable up to 32 GB
RAM
1GB
Battery
2070 mAh battery
Camera
8MP rear and 2MP front
Buy Now
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1. Xiaomi Mi3
Xaiomi has just announced that they will ship large number of Mi3’s this festive season. The company has chosen the path of flash sales for their smartphones because of short supply and massive demand for their products. The heavy demand for these devices has led to Flipkart’s website crashing down. The Xiaomi Mi3 is encased in a solid brushed aluminium shell and laden with Gorilla Glass 3 in the front. Mi3 carries a Snapdragon 800 chipset with quad cores clocked at 2.3 GHz, a full HD 1920 x 1080p IPS LCD display made by Sharp or LG, 2 GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a whopping 3050 mAh battery.
Specs
Xiaomi Mi3
OS
Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.4.2 (KitKat)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad-core 2.3 GHz
Display
1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
Solar energy has the potential to power the civilizations of tomorrow. It is one of our best bets to save the species from the menace of fossil fuels and help us breath fresh air again. The race to perfect this energy source is getting fierce. A new technique could answer the question about solar energy that everyone asks; “what to do when there is no sunlight?”
A team of researchers led by Michael Grätzel at the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at EPFL, Switzerland have figured out the elusive answer to the query. The team has created a solar cell that takes the energy from the sun and converts it into hydrogen that can be used to power fuel cells that light up the house when the sun doesn’t shine. The team has published the research in the journal Science.
nickel and iron as catalysts in its two ‘water-splitting’ electrodes
The secret ingredient in the process is a new material called Perovskite. It was discovered in 2009 and is said to absorb light much more efficiently than silicon. The most astounding feature of this technique is the device’s ability to store 12.3 per cent of the sun’s energy in the form of hydrogen. In comparison, the accepted benchmark for efficient solar-hydrogen converters is 10%, so this technique is the most advanced yet. The device is also cheap to produce as most of its ingredients are available abundantly on the planet. Along with the Perovskite, the device uses nickel and iron as catalysts in its two ‘water-splitting’ electrodes.
Solar cells are judged for efficiency in four criteria’s. Firstly it should be efficient, which the device is, secondly it should use cheap materials for production. The third criteria is abundance of raw materials, that is also in the positive. The device only lags in the fourth criteria, reliability, which is a rather important aspect of the solar cells. Currently, the perovskite is not as efficient as silicon and degrades much faster than silicon. The researchers are trying to address the issue by adding a layer of carbon to the surface.
This seems like a great new advancement, and hopefully, it will have a chance to reach the market before being trashed by the powerful interests. Apart from making solar energy 24/7, it is a double-edged sword that can even power the economy of tomorrow.
Huawei has introduced two new devices, the Honor 6 smartphone and Honor T1 tablet in India priced at Rs 19,999 and Rs 9,999, respectively. The budget-friendly tablet and slightly-pricey smartphone will be sold exclusively through Flipkart 6th October onwards.
The Huawei Honor 6 runs on Android 4.2.2 KitKat with Emotion 2.3 UI and is powered by a Huawei Kirin 920 octa-core processor and comes with 3GB RAM. Huawei Honor 6 sports a 5-inch full-HD display (1920x1080p, 440ppi) with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with a 3,100mAh battery.
The Honor 6 smartphone comes with 16GB internal storage variants and a microSD card slot (supports cards up to 64GB). In terms of connectivity options, the Huawei Honor 6 supports 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.
The MediaPad Honor T1 tablet sports an 8-inch HD IPS display. Powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB RAM, the tablet comes with 8GB storage. It sports a 5MP rear camera and comes with a 4,800mAh battery. The tablet runs Android 4.3 with Huawei’s Emotion UI.
Last week, Huawei had also launched the Honor 4 Play smartphone priced at approximately Rs. 7,900. The Honor 4 Play smartphone offers dual-SIM support and features a 5-inch HD IPS display with a 720×1280 pixel resolution. The smartphone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat paired with its native Emotion UI 2.3.
The Honor 4 Play features a 64-bit 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) processor, coupled with an Adreno 306 GPU (320MHz) and 1GB of RAM.
The Blackberry Passport, which was launched just a few days back in the international market, has now been launched in India. The device has a one of kind square display and flaunts top of the line specs.
The smartphone will be available for pre-order from today at BlackBerry exclusive stores and Amazon.in. The folks who book the Passport between today and October 10 will get a gift voucher worth Rs 5,000 on Amazon as well as 5,000 frequent flyer miles on Jet Airways.
The 4.5 inch square display is the USP of the device
The most prominent feature of the device is the 4.5 inch square display. It has a display resolution of 1440x1440p and a pixel density of 453 ppi. It features a 10 point multi-touch and is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The device also comes with three-row QWERTY keyboard that gives users more typing accuracy and is also touch-enabled. It’s responsive to touch so the user can scroll web pages, flick to type or slide along the keys to move the cursor.
It is powered by a 2.26 GHz Snapdragon 800, quad-core processor and has 3 GB RAM, equivalent of the Note 4. The internal memory stands at 32 GB and is expandable up to 128 GB. The device also has NFC for mobile payment and file transfer.
The Passport runs on BlackBerry’s new BlackBerry 10.3 operating system and also features a Siri-like voice assistant. The device is priced at Rs. 49,990 and is competitive and justified for the features it offers. The phone might easily find customers in the corporate or government sectors or even from folks looking for a different mobile experience.
The Moto 360 was the single most awaited wearable this year. On its launch, the device found a lot of customers willing to get their hands on it. But one of the major issues with the much sought after device was its battery backup. Some users even claimed that the device didn’t even work for an entire day. An iFixit teardown also found that the battery was less than what was claimed by Motorola. Motorola released an update recently to address the issue, and it seems to be working.
The Moto 360 comes with 1.56 inch LCD display along with 4GB of internal storage and 512 MB of RAM. Its power source is a 320 mAh battery and has been the cause of worry for the device owners.
Several owners of the Moto 360 on Reddit have claimed that the battery performance has dramatically increased following the new update. Some have even claimed that the dreaded ambient light which drained most of the juice is also performing well.
The usual complaint was that the battery wouldn’t last a day, but users are now reporting that the issue has also been solved to an extent. But it is still a software based tweak and can be affected by future updates. But as of now it is a necessary update that will give a full day’s worth of functionality of the device.
The Moto 360 will be arriving on Flipkart around the first week of October, and this seems like a good news for potential customers. The folks who were reconsidering their Moto 360 purchase can now stop. But the update is still software based. Motorola needs to find a way to extend the battery life further, otherwise it will add to the menace of chargeable devices one needs to take care of at the end of a work day.
The recent news of email hacking and unethical intrusion of personal accounts by foreign governments has spooked the Indian Government. The government has approved a proposal by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) to establish a secure and encrypted email service for government officials.
The government had previously instructed the officials to use the email service provided by NIC for official correspondence. It had also issued a directive to not forward official mail to personal email accounts. This was done to prevent leaks of sensitive government data to third parties.
Now the government wants to bring the official secure email service to five million officials. The service is currently available to one million officials DeitY is in the process of expanding it. The budget for the project is Rs.100 crores, and it will be utilized to expand infrastructure and ramp up security of servers.
The Budget will be utilized to expanding infrastructure and beefing up security of NIC servers
The National Information Center (NIC) will be responsible for the delivering the service. It will handle email service for all departments except the Ministry of Defense which has its own secure email service. The External Affairs ministry too might get its own secure service as it deals with sensitive diplomatic correspondence.
The Edward Snowden revelations last year about the secret data-mining program by US intelligence agency to monitor worldwide Internet data led to these developments. Governments around the world are looking for ways to secure official communication and preventing data theft. Recently a Russian gang leaked a massive password database of millions of email accounts and this also led the government to take these measures.
Microsoft is all set to launch its new upgrade of the Windows operating system, the Windows 9. The company has already sent out invites for tomorrow’s event. They promise to reveal “What’s next for Windows and the enterprise.” It is certain that it will be the Windows 9, and most likely it will be the release of a early developer version known as the ‘Technical Preview’.
Earlier rumors have pointed out that the new update may come at a price. However, it was also said that it will be cheap, not more than $20. A report from Indonesian online publication Detik said earlier this week that President of Microsoft Indonesia Andreas Diantoro has confirmed this particular Windows 9 feature.
According to Diantoro, the Windows 9 upgrade will be available free of charge to all existing Windows 8 users once it’s released. It is said that users will be able to easily install the Windows 9 update after downloading it from Microsoft website, which is how Apple’s OS X updates have been rolled out on Macs for a few years now. To make it more easy, some of the recent Windows 9 leaks did say that Microsoft already has a tool in place that will allow users to easily get software updates.
It’s not clear whether other Windows users who are on older versions of the OS will get any other special offers. Even the actual price of Windows 9 has not yet been revealed. It is also said that Windows 7 users may have to pay a bit more than the others.
The company is expected to roll out the “Windows Technical Preview” at the event or soon after, so that developers and enterprise customers can test the number of changes the company has made. The recent rumors and leaks have suggested the addition of a new Start Menu, a virtual desktop feature, and a Notification Center.
Microsoft is also expected to fine-tune its desktop user interface to improve and flatten the traditional icons along with some changes in the taskbar for Cortana integration and the virtual desktop. Other changes are expected to come on a regular basis. The Windows Technical Preview will be available until the operating system is complete and ready for release next year.
Samsung today launched the Galaxy Alpha in India. The design of the Alpha incorporates a metal frame that encases the phone. This design feature was carried on to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The phone comes with almost the same features as the Galaxy S5. So we test the specs of both devices to check out which one would be the better device to buy.
So overall the only major difference between the Galaxy S5 and the Alpha is the LTE capabilities of the Alpha. The Galaxy S5 starts at Rs. 35,489 on Flipkart and comes cheaper than the Alpha. If you are looking for good value for your money, we suggest you get the S5 itself considering the severe shortage of 4G connectivity in India.
Also the S5 gives you upto 128 GB of expandable storage whereas the Alpha lacks the feature. So if you were looking for a premier device, the S5 is still a valid purchase. The Galaxy Alpha sure gets style points, but that’s never good enough.
This was a bad week for Apple. The technology giant had to face massive social media bashing for news that their new iPhone 6 Plus has the tendency to bend in tight pockets. Apple’s biggest competitors like Samsung, LG and HTC got together with some brutal take downs of Apple’s latest flagship in an event dubbed “bendgate”. Adding to the woes was the faulty iOS 8.0.1 update which caused issues in the new iPhone and had to be withdrawn. But it seems like these dark clouds have a silver lining.
Consumer Reports (CR), an American magazine known for its scientific testing methods and unbiased reporting has put the iPhone 6 Plus to test. The magazine has an extensive testing facility where they test the products.
The magazine had previously tested the Apple iPhone 4 which also garnered negative reception because of its antennae issue. For the iPhone 6 test, CR brought the phone and its competitors for a comparative test. The results seems to be working in favor of Apple.
Through its torture testing CR found that iPhone 6 Plus was actually stronger than what was purported. Apple’s biggest phone yet took 90 pounds of pressure to bend while its smaller sibling, the iPhone 6 and HTC One (M8) gave up at 70 pounds.
Deformation
Case separation
HTC One (M8)
70 pounds
90 pounds
Apple iPhone 6
70 pounds
100 pounds
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
90 pounds
110 pounds
LG G3
130 pounds
130 pounds
Apple iPhone 5
130 pounds
150 pounds
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
150 pounds
150 pounds
The tests also found the toughest phone in the market and it turns out to be Samsung’s Note 3 which faced 150 pounds of pressure before giving up. CR also said that Apple uses the same techniques to test their phones but their machines only go up to 55 ponds.
Overall, the testing seems pretty genuine based on their testing process. This is a good news for Apple at the end of a terrible week. Though it is also good news for LG G3 which seems to be much stronger than the metallic bodied HTC One (M8.) Now it is up for the market to decide how it is going to approach the new iPhones.
