Category: Tech

Latest Technology News, Alternative, Bio-Tech, Medical, R&D and Innovations

Apple Upgrades MacBook Pro with Retina Display to Better Processors

Today Apple refreshes its premium MacBook Pro with Retina display lineup, bumping up the CPU speeds and RAM, as well as dropping the prices of the high-end models.

Prior to this upgrade the base version of the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display featured a 2560 X1600 resolution at 227 pixels per inch retina display, 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3L RAM, and 128GB of PCIe-based flash storage and it had a price tag of $1,299. For the same price this model now comes with a 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5 chip and 8GB of memory.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display features dual-core Intel Core i5 processors up to 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz and 8GB of memory, up from 4GB in the entry-level notebook. The 13-inch model can also be configured with faster dual-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 3.0 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.5 GHz.

The top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display has a new, lower starting price of INR 179,900. The 15-inch model features faster quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.7 GHz, 16GB of memory, up from 8GB in the entry-level notebook, and can be configured with quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.0 GHz.

“People love their MacBook Pro because of the thin and light, aluminium unibody design, beautiful Retina display, all day battery life and deep integration with OS X. The MacBook Pro with Retina display gets even better with faster processors, more memory, more affordable configurations and a free upgrade to OS X Yosemite this fall.”said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

iLife and iWork come free with every new Mac. iLife lets you edit your favorite videos with iMovie, create new music or learn to play piano. iWork on the other hand, allows productivity apps, Pages, Numbers and Keynote, which make it easy to create, edit and share stunning documents, spreadsheets and presentations. OS X Mavericks, the world’s most advanced operating system, also comes free with every new Mac. With more than 200 features, OS X Mavericks is designed for ease of use while taking full advantage of the powerful technologies built into every Mac, including core technologies designed specifically for notebooks to boost performance and improve battery life.

MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Pro are available today through select Apple Authorised Resellers.

The pricing is as followed:

Description	Price
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory, 128GB of flash storage and Intel Iris graphics.	94,900 (inc VAT)
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory, 256GB of flash storage and Intel Iris graphics	109,900 (inc VAT)
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.8 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 8GB of memory, 512GB of flash storage and Intel Iris graphics	129,900 (inc VAT)
The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.4 GHz, 16GB of memory, 256GB of flash storage and Intel Iris Pro graphics	144,900 (inc VAT)
The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.7 GHz, 16GB of memory, 512GB of flash storage, and Intel Iris Pro and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics	179,900 (incl VAT)
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available with a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 4GB of memory, Intel HD Graphics 4000 and a 500GB hard drive	78,900 (inc VAT)

This update to the MacBook Pro line comes ahead of the release of OS X 10.10 Yosemite, which is scheduled for release this fall, and brings a number of new features to users, including much closer integration between Mac and iOS devices.

July 30, 2014

Gunnar Optiks Review : Do You Want Or Need It?

Today’s scenario do not let you escape the eye strain of screens, displays, LCD, AMOLED and what not. Result is, all that gaming, cellphone and television takes a toll on your eyes. Issues like dry and itchy eyes, headaches among others are becoming a common complain from tech related workforce. Gunnar Optiks hopes that you’re willing to drop some bank on making your eyes more comfortable. The company says their glasses can save the stress on your eyes caused by constantly looking at the screen and possibly save you some eye life.

Gunnar offers you a variety of glasses, ranging from usual display glasses to 3D and gaming glasses too. The gaming and display glasses are almost identical. They come in various designs to suite your frame and taste. The downside is that you can’t really try them before you buy the glasses. But you do get to choose from a variety of styles and sizes they offer.

Intercept Computer Eyewear

The glasses range roughly from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 5000 in Indian market. The one we got for review are Regent and Intercept computer eyewear and Gliff 3d glasses. These are very comfy glasses and have a metal frame and the strain reduction glasses have yellow tint on them. The yellow tint do hinder with the your surroundings as well as the overall white balance of your view.

So, if you’ve been viewing TV or playing your PlayStation a lot lately, wearing these glasses will, give a completely different hue that sort of tends to take away from original experience initially. After you have worn them for a while, you will go oblivious to its their existence on your head. Although again, the yellow tint may not be liked by some folks, but the glasses do reduce the strain on your eyes to quite an extent. If you are on screen for more hours than you sleep, these glasses will certainly help you reduce the effect on your eyes and help gi your eyes an extended shelf life.

As far as the 3D glasses are concerned, they are very impressive. 3D glasses by Gunnar are much better than the ones you get at the movie theaters. They don’t darken up the whole view, they are light weight, and are really comfortable when compared to the usual 3D glasses. They give an actual 3D experience with better depth and clarity without compromising the picture quality.

Gunnar Intercept Gaming Eyewear

Futhermore, there is not a big market for these product right now. In a normal day scenario, if you are not spending a lot of time on screen, you may not require these products. But, as we said earlier, if you spend more time on screen than you sleep, these might be worth a try. Honestly, the only downside here is that you will end up spending a couple or more thousand bucks for these glasses. But if you do get to save your eyes, it will be an automatic payback in long run.

The end decision is obvious, need vs want. We can’t tell your accurate efficiency as there is no way we can measure it. But, it is surely a good bet if you are looking for a product that helps counter the heavy strain you subject our eyes to.

July 29, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 Sells Out for the Second Time Within Minutes on Flipkart

Xiaomi has created a huge wave in the Indian smartphone market by bringing in a high-end handset at a low-end price. Xiaomi is the top smartphone manufacturer in China which went from zero to the fifth position in just four years. After creating a success story back home, they have launched their devices in the Indian market, which have stirred up a storm, even before the users could get a unit in their hands.

The first time, when Mi3 went on sale last week, it was sold out within 40 minutes of its availability. A reported 100,000 people registered for the phone before the day of sale on July 22. On the day of sale, Flipkart ran out of their entire inventory within a record 39 minutes and also managed to get the website to its knees.

The Xiaomi Mi 3 went on sale again via the website today at 2PM IST. However, same as the last time it sold reported 10,000 units within half an hour, 23 mins to be exact. The Flipkart page of the Xaiomi Mi3 thanked buyers for ‘tremendous response’ and also notified that next date for sale will be on 5 August while the registration for the next sale will start at 6PM IST today.

The Xiaomi Mi 3 runs a highly tweaked version of Android 4.4 KitKat, with MIUI version 5 on top. It comes with a 5-inch full-HD LCD display (1080×1920 pixels) offering a pixel density of 441ppi; a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (MSM8274AB) processor; 2GB of RAM; Adreno 330 GPU; 16GB of inbuilt storage; 13-megapixel rear camera; 2-megapixel camera, and 3050mAh battery.

Xiaomi also launched its latest flagship smartphone, called the Mi 4, at the company’s “The Journey of a Piece of Steel” launch event along with the Mi Band, a budget fitness tracker priced at just $13 (roughly Rs. 790).

July 29, 2014
Cortana Humiliates Siri in a New Commercial

Microsoft today launched a new commercial flaunting the power of their new virtual assistant Cortana by pitching it against Apple’s renowned Siri. The commercial cleverly demonstrates Cortana’s functionality while taking advantage of Siri’s shortcomings.

Titled ‘Happy Anniversary’, it shows a narrator giving certain commands to a Nokia 635 (with Windows Phone 8.1) running Cortana, and an Apple iPhone 5S running Siri. The narrator first asks the phones to remind him to wish his wife a happy anniversary the next time she calls, for which Cortana schedules an event-based reminder. He then asks both virtual assistants to remind him to buy roses the next time he comes near a flower shop, for which Cortana again schedules a reminder. Siri is unable to complete either of these tasks, as event-based reminders are still not part of Siri’s vast feature list.

Cortana’s voice interations are better than Siri and Google Now

Lastly, Cortana automatically provides the narrator with a traffic update, prompting him to leave if he wants to reach his destination on time. Again, Siri lacks this kind of functionality.

Siri ends the video by saying “Now that’s a real smartphone”. Ouch.

Microsoft will be introducing Cortana along with their Windows Phone 8.1 update. While it has been years since Apple and Google introduced their Siri and Google Now offerings respectively, Microsoft believes Cortana has some major advantages over the two. Microsoft also said this when they were releasing the Zune, hopefully Cortana would help Microsoft correct that error.

Microsoft says it has designed Cortana to feel more human-like than Google Now or Siri. It is currently the only virtual assistant that allows you to set reminders based on phone calls. A real human like interaction is possible with Cortana and Microsoft believes it is their biggest advantage over the two rivals.

Microsoft is clearly doing a good job building hype around the release of their latest Windows Phone 8.1 update. But is Cortana really better than Siri? Well, you be the judge of that.

By Pranav Arora

July 29, 2014
Panasonic Set to Launch the Eluga Series in India

Panasonic India are all set to launch their Eluga series of smartphones in the country. After a lot of teasing, the company has finally sent out invites for the launch event scheduled to take place on Wednesday, the 30th of July.

It is unclear whether the launch will include any new set of smartphones, or if Panasonic are only reviving the Eluga series that they launched in the European market in 2012. That series included the Eluga DL1 and the Eluga Power. It was later discontinued due to poor response. It is rumoured that this series will include a better chipset (SoC), and a higher quality display.

The company is currently promoting their latest P and T series of smartphones in India. Only last week, the company unleashed a trio of dual-sim smartphones – Panasonic T41, P41 and P61, priced at Rs. 7,990, Rs. 11,990 and Rs. 14,990 respectively.

The T41 features a 4.5” IPS display, with 512MB ram and 4GB inbuilt storage. The P41 features a 5” IPS display, 1GB ram, and 8GB inbuilt storage. Lastly, the P61 features a 6” IPS display, 1GB ram, and 16GB inbuilt storage. All three run on a quad core processor clocked at 1.3GHz.

The invite describes the Eluga series as “Elegance for a new generation”, which doesn’t give us any hint as to what segment Panasonic will be targeting with it. However, if the smartphones are decently specced and reasonably priced, Panasonic could have a winner on its hands. They could steal some valuable market share from renowned competitors at the reasonably priced range. We expect more than one smartphone to be revealed, so they may even target different sections with different markets.

By Pranav Arora

July 29, 2014
5 Cool Messaging Apps You Could Use Other Than Whatsapp

Staying connected in a meaningful way makes us happy and sharing our thoughts, emotions and stories is what makes these connections rich and real. In a world where everything is moving too fast, messaging services offer you a way to connect and express yourself instantaneously.

We are listing 5 messaging apps that might change the way you stay connected with your loved ones:

1. Path Talk

The new app includes a handful of features that are not available on most of the popular messaging apps, including one called ‘Ambient Status’ that automatically detects what you’re doing and shares that with others in your network. For example, the app uses geo-location on your phone to determine when you’re nearby another friend, in transit, or even working out. The app will also alert friends if you’re listening to music and what song you’re playing. All of these Ambient Status updates happen automatically, and can be altered in settings if users don’t feel comfortable with the app sharing on their behalf.

2. Telegram

Telegram is a messaging service combining the speed of WhatsApp with Snapchat’s ephemerality and advanced new security measures. Telegram feels in many ways like a straight-up clone of WhatsApp, from its green double-checkmark read receipts to its cartoonish wallpapers. There’s also the usual gamut of messaging app features including the ability to see a friend’s online status and attach photos, videos, your location, contacts, and documents to messages. But where it lacks in originality, Telegram makes up for it in speed and security features.

3. MessageMe

Message Me is a mobile free messaging app with a lot of visual features and personalization. It allows people to send SMS text messages and make voice calls to their friends for free, same as most instant messaging apps. One of its more popular features is the ability to draw or “doodle” on photos, making it easy to annotate and share images. When someone shares an image with you, you can draw right on top of it, dashing off a hand-scrawled comment or caption before passing it along to your own pals. That feature, plus the ability to grab images and other media from the Web and quickly share them in an SMS message to your friends and family, has made MessageMe a popular download since its launch.

4. Mezy

Mezy is a new social messaging app where friends post messages (photos/videos/text) to a location on a map. When a user’s followers go to the location chosen by the user, the message is unlocked and able to be seen and commented on by others who have discovered it. Users can post a mezy anywhere in the world – not just their current location. When a follower enters the geographic location, the mezy then appears in their feed. No one else can see a mezy unless they have been granted access.

5. Voxer

Voxer is commonly known as a “walkie-talkie” or “push-to-talk” app because when you click on its little talk button, you can send an instant voice message or multimedia message to a pal. The message is either instantly played through your friend’s phone speakers if their phone is turned on and the app is running, or it is received as a recorded message like voicemail. Voxer also enables text and photo messaging, like most mobile messaging apps do. It also enables VOIP voice calling like Skype does, and group messaging. Voxer is free for individuals and works with Android and iOS devices. A business version also is available with extra features for a fee.

July 29, 2014
Apple to Buy Radio Curation App Swell for $30 Million

In the year of acquisitions, Apple’s latest is a $30 Million purchase of a Radio curation service called Swell. The report was brought out by Recode which said that Apple is close to buying the service.

Swell is a Radio and podcast compiler app which is currently available to iOS device users. It is a great service which is often compared to Pandora but for talk radio. The service offers access to major talk radio content providers.

It is said that under the clauses of the agreement, the team behind Swell will also come work for Apple. Apple might want to utilize their talents to better their own streaming service which is one of their least appreciated products. Swell’s app developers were also working on an Android version of their app, but with this acquisition, that project is probably out the window.

Apple has been seen this year going on a spending spree with a major Beats Audio purchase and other such smaller ones. In total the company has completed about 30 plus acquisitions in the past nine months. With this latest purchase of Swell, the app will now be taken down from the app store by the end of this week. It might be reintroduced with the new iOS 8 release.

July 28, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 vs Moto G : Lets Fight!

Both Motorola and Xiaomi aimed big with the launch of these amazing devices. Xiaomi Mi3 is elegant with amazing specs and attractive pricing, while Motorola provided a great deal with the Moto G, which broke all sales records when it launched. We understand that Xiaomi Mi3 offers way betters specs, but since both the devices come within the same price range, we thought it was important for them to battle it out.

Xiaomi is expected to take on most of the market with the launch of Mi3 because of the simple fact that the newly launched flagship device runs Snapdragon 800 and available at the price Rs. 13,999.

Xiaomi Mi3, as a solid unibody product looks fantastic and the built quality is admittedly amazing. Overall feeling of the device is great. On the other hand we have the Moto G with its replaceable back panel and an array of color options for back panels.

Talking about specifications, Mi3 is equipped with a 1920X1080 px 5.0 inch display. While, the Moto G has a 720X1280 px which is at 4.5 inches. On the inside of Xiaomi Mi3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chipset at 2.3 GHz. It also get Adreno 330 GPU where as with the Moto G, from the same price bracket, you get a quite a different set of specification. You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 at 1.2 GHz with the Adreno 305 GPU, which is comparatively a disappointment.

In terms of RAM, the device comes with 2 GB, where as the Moto G has a 1 GB. While the internal storage of both the devices is 16 GB. What’s interesting in Mi3 is the powerful 3050 mAh battery while the Moto G sports a 2070 mAh one. We know Moto G has a phenomenal battery life, but we are yet to test out the Mi3 battery life which is expected to be pretty impressive as well.

In terms of camera, the rear of Xiaomi Mi3 fashions a 13MP camera with a 28mm lens which also a wide-agle lens camera. It has dual LED flash and 1080p recording capability. Whereas Moto G is again dwarfed with its 5MP camera and its 720p video recording capabilities with no fancy camera features.

The game changer is the OS both of the devices run on. The Mi3 runs on Android 4.4.2 which has been customized with MiUi5 which actually very different from what you see in Moto G. Moto G’s Android version is almost a stock Android interface with a couple of things added by Motorola. Motorola will also be fast enough to give you updates. It comes with Android KitKat out-of-the-box, nowadays. It is a possibility that it will get the Android L update as soon as Google launches it.

The Mi3 is 8.1mm in thickness, where as Moto G is a little hefty at 11.6mm. Moto G weighs 140 g where as the Mi3 comes at 145 g. The look, the feel, impressive specs and of course the attractive pricing, definitely puts Xiaomi a step above Moto G. If you were planning on getting the Moto G, you might want to reconsider.

July 28, 2014
Top 6 Apps Exclusively Available For Android Users

1. Swift Keyboard

Don’t like Apple’s on-screen keyboard? Tough luck, you can’t change it! Most flagship Android phones are coming out with the swype keyboard; however if not available the swift keyboard app can be downloaded. This feature enables you to swipe across the keyboard; and once you get the hang of it, it’s incredibly fast. It is however, expected that iOS 8 will be launched with this feature.

2. ES File Explorer

ES File Explorer gives you the ability to control your Android device just like a PC. You can manage your files and applications, kill unwanted tasks and upload files and folders to your favorite cloud service. This app however is not available on iOS

3. Cover Lock Pattern

The Lock Screen is another bit of iOS many people would like to customize, and once again on Android there are all kinds of apps that Apple owners can only envy.

4. Link Bubble

Imagine you find an interesting link on Twitter. Link Bubble will let you click on it and then load it in the background while you continue using Twitter. Once you close the app, the link will be available for your viewing pleasure. It can be tough to remember all the cool stuff you see online, so Link Bubble makes it easier for you to keep track of everything.

5. Tasker

Tasker contains more than 200 actions and triggers that let you control various aspects of your device. Tasker could well be the poster child for Android apps: it’s a little intimidating at first, but the things it can do are incredible.

6. Avast Mobile Security

In addition to keeping your Android handset free of malware, Avast Mobile Security and Antivirus lets you lock specific apps so other users can access them without your permission. It is one of the best security software for your phone.

July 28, 2014
Xiaomi Issues MiUi Update to fix some Mi3 Issues

Xiaomi seems to be pumped up about its new Mi3 sales in India, and the company is hell bent on proving that they are here to stay. The new MiUi update comes just days after the initial batch of phones were sold in India. This update addresses some of the crashing issues that people have been facing, along with other bug fixes and add ons.

The new MiUi update adds a new “saver” feature in data usage, which will allow users to possibly save on data costs. The MiUi update also adds a new version of Block and optimises the online music page.

The file is 592 MB in size and will essentially do a software re-flash, so is recommended that you back up your data before you proceed.

The Xiaomi Mi3 competes with the flagships for a price that is considered lower than mid range. The Mi3 is powered by a Snapdragon 800 chipset and features a 1920 x 1080p display, has a 3050 mAh battery and comes with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. MiUi comes on top of Android 4.4 Kitkat and hopeful the company will issue the next version of Android, currently known as Android L.

For more details on the Mi3, read our review here.

July 27, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 Review : Get it Now!
The era of saying, “that’s a Chinese phone” in a negative manner may have finally ended, and that will be purely thanks to the fact that a lot of Chinese manufacturers are ready to put that norm to rest.

With Gionee taking the market horses by the reins last year, Xiaomi is the latest player and is ready to play in the heated battle zone with the right approach for India.

OVERVIEW

India is the most price sensitive market in the world, one of the largest markets for Mobile Phone users, even those who switch handsets frequently. The country is flooded with manufacturers and brands trying to reach a level of excitement in the mobile space. With the Xiaomi Mi3, the Chinese manufacturer hit the right note with Indian buyers, by simply launching the product. There was a huge demand for a good budget phone; However Xiaomi dissolved their overheads by launching the product at a marvellous price of Rs 13999/- for the 16 GB variant.

The stocks are very limited, and only those who preregister can buy the phone. Every few days the phone will go on sale on shopping website Flipkart, making it excruciatingly difficult to own one right now. What makes it more painful is the long list of dealers who have multiple accounts on Flipkart, waiting to snatch this phone, just so that they can sell for a markup.

Is the handset really worth all that worship? Let’s find out.

BUILD QUALITY AND HARDWARE

Let’s say this, finding a phone this well made, for this price, is practically impossible. The Xiaomi Mi3 is encased in a solid brushed aluminium shell and laden with Gorilla Glass 3 in the front. Possibly one of the only phones with a reinforced micro USB port, the Xiaomi Mi3 has held no bars in design and build quality.

The rigid frame also gives it fantastic looks and the rounded sides and edges relate to the fit in the hand, and it all feels great. Each time you pickup the Mi3 the first words out of your mind would be “No way this costs only Rs. 13999?.

Hardware wise, the Xiaomi Mi3 is pretty top notch, unlike its latest version; the Mi4, the 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. Apart from that you get the Adreno 330 GPU and Bluetooth 4.0 LE along with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.

Just putting the parts together will cost you more than a phone. However someone at Xiaomi has the right contacts with suppliers.

ANDROID AND MIUI

The Xiaomi Mi3 in India comes preloaded with Android 4.4.2 out the box, which is skinned with MiUi, a very iOS like skin which does not contain an application drawer. The UI is fast and snappy and offers a lot of customisations including themes which can be downloaded from the Mi Store. The Mi3 will give full access to the Play Store and allow for launcher downloads as well as launcher replacement if so be the case.

The UI is snappy and not laggy at all, the phone has good multitasking capabilities and will blaze through the live applications, despite few software glitches, that may often cause slowdowns and crashes.

PERFORMANCE AND GAMING

The phone is a beast for the price range. It does not break any records as per say, but is truly top notch in its price bracket, in fact pretty much compares to phones in double the price bracket. The phone runs through mostly all our tests and scores good results in our benchmark tests.

Test

Score

Quadrant Benchmark 20376

Antutu Benchmark 30537

Nenamark 60.0 FPS

As far as gaming is concerned, the Mi3 can handle anything that is thrown at it, basically, any game that exists on Android will run on the Mi3, which is mostly thanks to the heart of the handset being a Snapdragon 800 – one of the most stable chipsets when it comes to apps and software.

We gamed on the Mi3 extensively and found it to be seamless and smooth, although the 16 GB runs out, and it runs out fast. You would be better waiting for the 64 GB variant if gaming is your bit because space is tight.

The Xiaomi Mi3 is excellent in day to day use and offers excellent performance, whether its running apps or multitasking, you will not be disappointed.

MULTIMEDIA AND CAMERA

The Xiaomi Mi3 has a beautiful display with excellent viewing angles and a full HD resolution. Xiaomi has gone as far as calling it a “retina” display, because the panels are made either by LG or Sharp, both of which supply to Apple for the iPhone.

The display is big and bright, and you will enjoy consuming media on this phone, the audio is excellent out of the 3.5mm jack, and you will be happy with the overall experience. The onboard speaker is not overly loud, but can be adequate, of course, which could be different for different folks, we would have liked a better speaker though.

The camera is the best in class, with a 5 element lens and f2.2 aperture, the 13 MP shots are right on the money. The colours are accurate, and images are perfectly sharp. Low-light performance is excellent, and video is good. The front camera is good for 2
MP shots which will more than suffice for the selfie nerd in you.

PHONE AND BATTERY LIFE

Phone networks are strong, and network performance is good where we tested (Delhi/NCR and Mumbai), the phone supports 3G networks mostly globally and without issues in India. There is no 4G/LTE and expecting it would be inappropriate.

Battery life is impressive thanks to a well balanced chipset, which helped us get through almost two days without a recharge on the 3050 mAh battery pack.

Talk Time 6-7 hours

Music 19 hours

Internet 10+ Hours

CONCLUSION

Just a few months ago, Motorola broke the bank in India by launching the Moto G in this price bracket using a similar sale strategy (the Flipkart way). Now Xiaomi seems to have this in their pocket for the Xiaomi Mi3 and possibly for the Mi4 in the near future. There are several complaints, already of handsets with faulty Sim card trays, heating issues and handsets that refuse to boot or get charged.

Around 35-service centres will offer, support and Flipkart has a brilliant reverse pickup for faulty and dead on arrival products. So device and support “should not be” a problem. However, there is no clarity on who is behind the sales, an Indian partner or the company itself? How dedicated are they and how serious do the consider one of the larger mobile markets?

With confirmed news of the new Mi4 coming soon, and OnePlus showing interest in India, the Mi3 may be a miss for some. However for those who need a phone now, it doesn’t get any better than this. If you were considering a last generation Nexus 5, this overthrows that with half the price. Get the drift? Now get the phone!

Buy Now

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Excellent Build
- Uber Hardware
- Stunning Looks
- Android 4.4 and MiUi
- Excellent Performer
- Great Battery
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- No Official Company to find
- Flipkart only Sales
- Limited Units
- Faulty on Arrival Units
[/tw-column]
July 27, 2014
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 inch : Benchmarks and Hardware

Samsung reincarnated Galaxy Tab Series with two powerful devices variants: Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and 8.4. Samsung has beefed up the processor, improved the screen and managed to make it even thinner. We tested Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s performance and hardware muscles and here’s what we found:

Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has an impressive line-up of core components. At the heart of this ultra-thin tablet lies a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa SoC, which has eight cores (four running at 1.9GHz, four at 1.3GHz), 3GB of RAM, a base storage allocation of 16GB and Mali-T628 MP6 graphics.

To test benchmarks, we started by running Quadrant Standard on the device. The device performed well up to its hype and got an impressive score of 25,553. The score is quite higher than Galaxy Note PRO 12.2, which stands at 17,396.

Following up, we ran AnTuTu Benchmarks on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The device scored 34,270, which is again pretty impressive. While the 8.4 inch variant of Galaxy Tab S lags slightly behind its bigger brother. Also, we ran the device through NinaMark 2 and the tab scored 59.8fps. The number is a little low as compared to other devices available in market such as Asus Nexus 7 and Sony Xperia Tablet Z. The multitouch score of the device was 10 which makes it a wonderful device for QWERTY typing.

Check out our full benchmark and hardware test video of Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 above.

July 26, 2014
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 : Benchmarks and Hardware

Following up the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, we tested the smaller variant: The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4. One thing that we appreciate a lot is that the Tab S 8.4 is a true little brother of the Tab S 10.5. Both slates have identical specifications, from processor to display resolution and even the internal RAM and storage. What differs is the size of the screen and the battery capacity which are both reduced.

Same as its bigger brother, the 8.4 Tab S variant has a phenomenal display. Running through the Quadrant Benchmark, the device scored 18,362 which little low from its big brother’s score that is 23,553. Anyhow, 8.4 Tab S scores much better that many of the devices in the same price bracket.

Next up is Antutu benchmark, the device scored 29,559 in this test, again lagging behind the 10.5 variant which scored 34,270. Along with that we also ran the device through NinaMark 2 Test scoring 59.1 fps which is quite similar to the 10.5 Tab S which scored a 59.8 fps. Same as the bigger variant, 8.4 variant is also 10 finger multi-touch.

Check out our full benchmark video of Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 above.

July 26, 2014
Images of the Upcoming Moto X+1 Leaked

The coming up flagship device of Motorola seems be to their worst kept secret. Earlier the phones specifications and some photos were revealed and now once again, Android Police has leaked photos of what they claim is a pre-production model of the Moto X+1.

However, the device in the picture has one distinct factor and that is the aluminum frame around the device. It is said that the silver-colored segmented ring around the phone’s sides is made of aluminum, like the HTC One family, though the metal build doesn’t extend to the front or back.

This device seems to have bigger screen than its predecessor (5.1-inch screen) with no capacitive buttons, which roughly matches various reports, along with a loudspeaker beneath the screen. The back has a Motorola logo set into the wood, in what appears to be plastic, which differs from the wood backs on the Moto X. The two white dots on either side of the circular camera module are said to be dual LED flashes. Like the Moto X, there is no MicroSD card slot.

The wooden finish rear confirms the earlier report that the flagship device will offer more than 25 customization options, including wood and leather finishes. Furthermore, earlier rumors suggest the Moto X+1 will sport bumped up specs in every respect starting with a new 5.2-inch, 1920 x 1080 resolution screen. The phone could also have a faster Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 24GB of storage. A higher spec 64GB model has also been rumored to come with a microSD card slot not found on the regular model. Camera-wise the Moto X+1 said is to feature a 12MP rear sensor coupled with a 5MP front snapper.

In general, the hardware seems to be a reasonable upgrade from the Moto X, although the leaks so far have failed to mention whether or not the device will include a natural language processor. This is the chip that enables the Moto X’s touchless voice controls, which allow you to access Google Now without even touching the phone while the screen is turned off. It was billed as one of the major features to launch with the Moto X, but it’s unclear if we’ll see the same type of functionality in the Moto X+1. Motorola is rumored to unveil the Moto X+1 in August as it did with the Moto X in 2013.

July 26, 2014
Bose and Beats Make Noise Over Patent Infringement

Beats, the headphone maker bought by Apple for $3.2billion in May this year, is being sued by rival Bose over claims it has infinged patents on noise-cancellation technology. US audio giant Bose claims that it has lost out on sales and profits because Beats has breached five of its patents connected to blocking out background noise when listening to music on its headphones.

Bose is also attempting to stop Beats’ headphones, which sells over hundreds of pounds each, from being imported into the US from China, where they are made by Fugang Electronic. Bose alleges Beats is undermining its 50 years of research into how to block out background noise when listening to music through ear pieces. It claims Beats’ high end headphones, which can sell for $400 or more, use technology developed by Bose.

In the filing, Bose describes how Amar Bose, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded a research programme to work on the problem of background noise after a particularly noisy flight in 1978. For almost 50 years, Bose has made significant investment in the research, development, engineering, and design of proprietary technologies now implemented in its products, such as noise cancelling headphones,” it stated.

Bose has been a long-time player in the high-end headphone market, focusing on quality over style. Beats grew as quite the opposite — with flashy, stylized and equally expensive products with a sound that had not been particularly well-received. Despite the sound issues, Beats took less than six years to become the dominant player in the premium headphone industry with 64% of the market.

July 26, 2014