As part of the Digital India campaign, Google is all set to bring high-speed wi-fi to 100 of India’s most crowded railway stations by the end of 2016. A country which has about 13 million people spread across 7000 stations would definitely do well with better internet connections serving about 10 million people every day.
Woes of bad internet while travelling is something all Indians are familiar with. This move to high-speed internet even on railway stations would be a big relief if materialised. These plans would be executed by Indian Railways and RailTel working together in collaboration. The announcement was made yesterday at Google’s Mountain View campus in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Google promises to ensure a speed decent enough to stream HD videos. Additionally, the company plans to extend its services to 400 stations over time. Who knows if the reality of high speed internet for the entire country is just around the corner?
After the success of Xiaomi Mi 4 earlier this year, it can be easily assumed that the company’s Mi 5 will also go the Snapdragon way when it comes to the chipset. Electronic industry analysts like Pan Jiutang had earlier predicted March, 2016 as the release date for Mi 5. However, he has changed his views to December this year, provided Qualcomm manages to supply its chipset in time.
The newest Xiaomi addition to the smartphone industry is expected to have a display of 5.2 inches along with a 1080 x 1920 resolution. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC is most likely to accompany a Kryo CPU core and a GPU of Adreno 530. The front camera will be of 8 MP and the main camera is expected to be of 16 MP. All of these along with a 4 GB RAM, a Type-C USB port and Android 5.1.1 are likely to be part of the package.
We all love to see a good old fashioned cat fight between Apple and Samsung. The mud-slinging between the two smartphone giants has been going on for a while now, and recent news has seen Samsung doing most of the slinging. Samsung recently trolled the Apple launch by having Galaxy S6 Edge+ show up in the Google Search engine top advertisements when people were searching for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Samsung also took to Twitter, posting images that clearly mocked the event while the event was taking place.
In a latest attempt by Samsung to get customers to shift from the iPhone to its Galaxy phones, the company is offering to pay the monthly installments for your Galaxy phone for the rest of 2015. This offer, however, is restricted only to the US. The discount applies if you buy a Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, or Galaxy S6 Edge+ on an installment plan from T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, or US Cellular. This means you’ll get up to $120 off on the price of any of these phones if you buy one under a carrier installment plan from now until October 9th. AT&T users, however, will not be able to take part in this promotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgmhi0Vi9oo
Moreover, Samsung is throwing in an additional $100 Google Play gift card for those users who switch from iPhone. The announcement comes just after the new iPhone 6s launched in stores. Clearly, Samsung is trying to curb the sales of the latest iPhones that is expected to create a new sales record for Apple. Samsung also released a TV spot recently that highlighted all the things the latest Galaxy phones can do that the iPhone can’t. The name of the ad is cleverly similar to the iPhone tagline: “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone”. All we can say is grab your popcorn and brace yourself for an entertaining fight.
With only a day to go before the reveal of Google’s Nexus smartphones, the leaks continue. We just did a roundup of everything we know of the Google event so far with some rumored specs for each of the flagship phones. Now we have more to tell. Imgur recently leaked images of a Nexus 6P presentation which basically confirms everything we know and a little bit more.
The slides discuss everything from design to specs, and one of the specs that caught our eyes in particular is the massive battery that’s fit into the Nexus 6P. The smartphone will come with a 3450mAh battery that should last you a pretty long time. Clearly, Google has been focusing on battery life this time around. For a little perspective we would also like to point out that the other recent phablets such as the Samsung Note 5 and the iPhone 6s Plus come with a battery of 3,000mAh and 2,750mAh, respectively. Other slides focus on camera, features of Android Marshmallow, and fingerprint sensor.
Other features that are revealed show that the phone will feature a rear-mounted fingerprint reader, a 2560 x 1440 display, a Snapdragon 810 processor, and USB-C. The phone has an all metal body and a large 5.7-inch screen. As earlier reported, the phone will come in four colours – black, white, silver, and gold.
The launch of the Nexus smartphones will take place on the 29th of September in San Francisco.
PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley, against the backdrop of campaigns like Digital India and Make in India, has the whole country aflutter with hopes of potential developments in the Indian tech scene. Aimed at promoting the spread of tech-literacy all over the country, the visit includes Modi meeting the CEOs of tech giants. Needless to say, the development of events led to some important announcements.
Google: Modi met Google CEO Sundar Pichai yesterday and discussed plans on introducing Wi-Fi connectivity across 500 railway stations in India, with speeds good enough to stream HD videos. Modi said that Google plans on covering 100 stations by the end of 2016. “We are expanding our public Wi-Fi hotspots. For example, we want to ensure that free Wi-Fi is not only there in airport lounges, but also on our railway platforms. Teaming up with Google, we will cover 500 railway stations in a short time,” he said. Pichai also announced that Google will roll out 11 Indian languages for Android users to type in next month.
Microsoft: Satya Nadella announced that Microsoft would use its cloud services in India. “We believe low cost broadband connectivity coupled with the scale of cloud computing and the intelligence that can be harnessed from data can help drive creativity, efficiency and productivity across governments and businesses of all size. This is turn will create global opportunities for India,” Mr Nadella said.
Qualcomm: Qualcomm announced a 10 billion rupee venture capital fund for startups. The company also announced the set up of a lab in Bangalore for product innovation. “We share Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy,” Qualcomm executive chairman Paul E Jacobs said.
Paul E. Jacobs talks about Digital India
Tesla:
A significant part of the first day of the PM’s visit to Silicon Valley was spent with two CEOs, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Apple’s Tim Cook. The meeting with Musk was structured with the aim of securing company’s “Powerwall” invention for the Indian tech world. Powerwall is a long term storage device for solar energy capable of bringing “energy to hitherto unserviced areas of India”. This innovation is expected to include more than just solar energy, and hopes to explore alternative energy sources as well.
PM Modi with Elon Musk
Apple:
Tim Cook, the CTO of the company, spoke about India and said, “India has a special place in the heart of every Apple employee for the simple reason that Steve Jobs, when he was young man, went to India for inspiration and it was what he saw in India that infused in him the desire to create Apple.”
Apple sees immense potential for app development in the country, especially for young entrepreneurs in the field. Following the example of China, where the company has managed to give rise to about 15 lakh jobs, Apple’s involvement in India seems a huge leap for the Digital India campaign.
Facebook:
After a one-on-one meeting with Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, Prime Minister Modi shared the stage with him for a 50-minute discussion on technology, social media and Digital India. Zuckerberg mentioned how India has shaped Facebook’s history by providing a market of millions of netizens all connected through the social media platform. The PM made a comment good humouredly and said, “We used to have elections every five years. Now we have them every five minutes.”
Zuckerberg showed his support for the Digital India campaign by updating the picture on his Facebook page with a tri-coloured display picture.
The PM returns from Silicon Valley on 30th September with immense promise for the country in the realm of internet and technology. A sense of anticipation would perhaps be natural at this juncture as we await the execution of these plans. If seen till the end, a larger proportion of the country’s population would have access to internet services and those already using the internet would have smoother, faster services. Hopefully the UN is listening next time it decides to conduct a poll of internet services in the country.
Here’s some exciting news for today – Google has an event on the 29th of September 2015 where they will be releasing the new Nexus phones along with revealing more details about Android Marshmallow. Google will reportedly reveal the new Chromecast and a partnership with Spotify.
Here are a few details about what we know about the upcoming products so far via public reports and rumours.
Nexus 5X
Firstly, the LG Nexus 5X is expected to come with a bigger 5.2 inch display and a 1080p resolution. The second feature that has been suggested by leaked images, is a support for fingerprint scanners. On the camera front, the Nexus 5X seems to provide a protruding camera, however it is one that will have an increased 13MP sensor. Apart from that, there could also be a 5MP front camera. This handset is rumoured to be powered by the Snapdragon 808 processor with a 2 or 3 GB RAM along with storage options that are expected to be 16GB and 32GB. The smartphone might also come with a USB Type-C.
Nexus 6P
The next device which is the Huawei Nexus 6P will come with a new design, if reports are to be believed. The leaked images show a rectangular frame with curved edges and a flat metal pack, and is expected to come in four colour variants of silver, black, white and gold. The phone will also come with a new fingerprint scanner but a smaller display of an estimate 5.7 inches. The Nexus 6P could be powered by Snapdragon 810 and can come with a 3GB RAM. The storage of this device is expected to start at 32GB and go all the way up to 128GB. However, the camera seems to be lower in quality with an 11MP sensor at the rear but a rather impressive 7MP on the front.
Android Marshmallow
The other exciting thing that is going to be announced at the event is the launching of Android Marshmallow. Google is expected to give us a date for the release of this version. Let’s see whether Google has anything else to add apart from what we know.
Chromecast Second Gen & Audio
Google is also expected to release two new chromecast devices – the second gen chromecast and the chromecast audio. The new Chromecast second gen is expected to come with a new rounder looking design, thereby doing away with the whole ‘dongle’ look. Other upgrades include faster WiFi and something called Fast Play. The Chromecast Audio, on the other hand, supports every feature that a music lover might need, like podcasts, radio, and a multi-room audio. This device is also rumoured to partner with Spotify and thereby enhancing its features.
That is all that we know till now. So stay tuned and we’ll bring you all the latest updates from the Google evnt on the 29th of September 2015.
A collaboration between Stratasys’ Education, R&D departments and MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab has led to a breakthrough in the realm of printing. Because 3D printers were simply not fancy enough, developers decided to create a 4D printer which allows the printed objects to change their physical state with the right temperature as stimuli.
A self-folding object created with 4D technology.
Creating self-assembly technology for large scale structures is the underlying goal for this research and its results. The project is led by Skylar Tibbits, Self-Assembly Lab Director and trained Architect, Computer Scientist and Artist, and has showcased to the world Tibbits’ first 4D printer. It comes equipped with Stratasys’ Connex multi-material 3D printing technology.
The 4-D technology, developed by Georgia Institute of Technology and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) enables 3D structures to fold themselves from components that were previously flat or folded for various reasons. Though this technology is not commercially available yet, it seems to hold tremendous promise in manufacturing with least energy consumption. It’s okay for you to go ahead and get excited about the possibility of a sci-fi-inspired-world of self-automated and shape-shifting objects now.
Over the past few months, Microsoft has been leaking images of its two new flagship phones – the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL. The handsets will be launched on the 6th of October in New York City, along with the Surface Pro 2 and Microsoft Band 2
Now apart from these devices, Microsoft also plans on bringing out a new budget device called the Lumia 550. The Lumia 550 is rumored to have a 5-inch display, 1GHz processor, and 5-megapixel camera. The lumia 550 will look to replace other 5xx models such as the 540.
Some slides of what appears to be a Microsoft presentation in Spanish were posted in Forever Nokia Latin America’s Facebook page. The slides reveal a whole bunch of specs and features for the three new Lumia phones. The slides also show that the phones (except the 550) will feature a version of Windows Hello, which is Windows 10’s facial recognition technology.
According to the slides, here are the specs for the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL. These specs also match the earlier leaks that have been floating around.
Lumia 950
Display: 5.2 inches, QuadHD
Processor: Qualcomm 6-core Snapdragon 808
Camera: 20MP PureView rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and dual flash; 5MP HD front camera
Storage: 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage
Battery: 3,000 mAh, with rapid charging via USB-C
Lumia 950 XL
Display: 5.7 inches, QuadHD
Processor: Qualcomm 8-core Snapdragon 810
Camera: 20MP PureViw rear camera with OIS and triple LED flash; 5 MP front camera
Storage: 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage
Battery: 3,300 mAh, with rapid charging via USB-C
The Lumia 550, on the other hand, reveal specs that suggest the handset will aim at the low-end market. According to the slide, the Lumia 550 is set to have the following features:
Lumia 550
Display: 5 inches, HD resolution
Processor: Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon 1GHz
Camera: 5MP rear autofocus camera with flash; 2MP front camera optimized for Skype
Microsoft will also look to incorporate other Windows 10 features such as Cortana, OneDrive cloud storage, and others. No details on the price or release dates of the phones have been revealed yet.
Epic Games, the developer behind Unreal and Gears of War has come out with a Matrix-like virtual reality shooter game called Bullet Train, designed for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The game was demonstrated at the Oculus Connect 2 conference held in Hollywood.
Bullet Train succeeds in not making one feel queasy as is the case with fast paced virtual reality action games. The game is developed using Unreal Engine 4 and uses Oculus Rift’s Touch controller for the gameplay. The Touch controllers give you “Hands” with which you can grab any nearby weapons (and there are many to choose from) and start shooting away.
By Matrix-like we mean that players can slow down time to avoid getting hit by bullets or to catch bullets and missiles in mid-air and fling it back at the enemy. In other words, you pretty much get to play as Neo, which is what Nick Whiting, lead programmer at Epic Games was going for with Bullet Train. Indeed slow-motion is a big part of the game. The game is set at a train station and players get to frantically teleport around the station (in slo-mo), shooting wave after wave of enemies.
Teleportation is used to travel around rather than walking as it seemed like the best way to move without motion sickness. Whiting described the game as everything one could want from a simple shooter game. “You’re badass,” says Whiting of Bullet Train’s appeal. “You’re shooting people, you’re teleporting, you’re slowing down time. It’s a little bit insane. But it’s fun. And that’s what we wanted to make, because we’re a game company.”
One of the biggest selling point of this game is the ability to interact with the environment. The game provides a very life-like experience especially when you cock a gun and feel it click into place with the Touch’s haptic feedback. “We built this very physical world and then you can’t ask people not to play with it,” says Whiting’s partner Nick Donaldson.
It’s always better to see something to get an actual idea of what is being talked about. Here’s a little peek at what Bullet Train looks like.
Android fans have spoken. The Move to iOS Android app that was launched by Apple recently was received like a cold slap by Android users. Now an Android developer has come out with a hilarious reply by creating a ‘Stick with Android’ app.
A developer named Jonatthias released the app on Google Play Store and this is the app’s description:
“Everything about Android is designed to be easy. That includes sticking with it. With just one step, you can keep your content automatically and securely on your Android device with the Stay on Android app. No need to save your stuff elsewhere before staying on Android. The Stay on Android app securely keeps you away from switching to another (worse) platform.”
Clearly, the description wages an all out war to take down the apparently insulting Move to iOS app. The Stick with Android app doesn’t do much except show a single button on screen that says “Click here to stick with Android” which, when pressed, lets the user stick with Android. And it’s as simple as that.
However, the hilarity does not end there. The app has an almost perfect 5 star rating in the Google Play Store whereas the Move to iOS app currently has a 1.8 rating, which is perhaps more to do with the existence of the app rather than the functionality of it. This practically useless app is one of the best rated Android apps at the Store.
As usual, the best part about an app like this is the user reviews. Click here if you want to download the app for a quick giggle.
Samsung’s newest addition to the Note family comes not as much of a surprise. Especially after all the leaks and Samsung setting precedent with its S6 and S6 edge. Samsung has found the right mix of hardware, software, build and design for devices this year.
Does the Note 5 fit right in? Let’s find out.
Overview
Without changing much, Samsung has made major changes to the handset. The new Note 5 is a positive step ahead for the company, taking in major feedback from its consumers and acting upon it. The Note 5 is priced at Rs. 53,900 for the 32GB version and Rs 59,990 for the 64GB variant. Samsung has used the same design philosophy as seen in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge along with the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus for the new Note. Bringing in a totally new and young look to the otherwise bold and business handset.
Build Quality and Design
Samsung wins this year for good looks, as the company has finally reached a point where its handsets are the most impressive looking mainstream Android devices in the market. The Note 5 is no less, although, personally, we feel the Galaxy S6 edge and edge+ remain at pole position when it comes to looks. The new Galaxy Note 5 comes in a close second, thanks to its extensive use of glass and metal. Gorilla Glass 4 on the back and the front, the rear glass tapers in to the edges, putting the edge display design on the back of the Note 5.
The new S-pen also has a new design and mechanism, however is riddled with major issues. The build is sold and feel of the handset exceptional, and even though the phone looks fragile it can take a whole lot of beating. The metal alloy frame is solid and protects the Note 5 well and adds to a major premium look and feel, that the predecessors were lacking.
16 MP, 5312 x 2988 pixels, optical image stabilization, autofocus
Rear Camera Video
2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps,
Front Camera
5 MP
Front Camera Video
1080p at 30fps
Battery
Non-removable Li-Po 3000 mAh battery
Operating System
Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop)
Connectivity
SIM: Nano-SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, NFC
Type-C reversible connector
Miscellaneous
Fingerprint sensor, S- PEN stylus
Price
Rs.53,900 for the 32GB variant; Rs 59,900 for the 64GB variant
Operating System
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 runs on what is possibly the best version of Samsung’s skin called “TouchWiz”. This version turns out to be the best so far simply because it is the least invasive. We saw the same OS on the S6 edge and edge+. The one on the Note 5 however, is optimized for the new S-Pen.
Although most of the menus are familiar and seen before on Samsung devices, some S-Pen features are new. The ability to take a note while the screen is off is the best of the lot of new improvement. When the screen is off, simply pull out the S-Pen to enable this feature. The colours are inverted, the screen remains dark and the pen line is white.
Other features include the Slick UI elements, use power buttons to increase or decrease screen font size. The S-Pen will give previews, just like before, and now the pop ups are super smooth.
Display and Multimedia
The new display is identical to the previous devices in terms of the resolution however the 5.7 inch size is larger than before and hence reduces the PPI to 518. The screen is bright, all 600 nits, and easily visible outdoors.
The new set of speakers and microphones make the audio experience really good, the inbuilt speaker is loud and crisp with good amounts of mid tones and whatever bass levels you can achieve from a downward facing speaker on a smartphone. The earphone jack boosts audio well and you well get a lot of volume through earphones, whether included or otherwise.
Since the hardware is top notch, you can expect it to smoothly sail through any media you may throw at it, no lag whatsoever in playback.
Camera
The camera is magic, is what we felt about the S6 and. the Note 5 is no less. In fact the Note 5 is no more either – the exact same camera, the exact same lens setup, the exact camera software and the exact capability as well. The f1.9 aperture lenses are wide and capture a lot of information in the 16MP and 5MP images on the back and front respectively.
The camera app is impressive too and offers a lot of manual control, the pro mode rules in this department too. You can manually adjust any camera setting before you start to capture, or during your capture. Optical Image Stabalization (OIS) works well too and you will mostly get really good pictures or video. Unless you are trying really hard not to. The problem with the camera is, that it will get confused with colours in low light situations, over saturating the reds and browns.
Samsung finally has a camera that puts the iPhone down, however Samsung is missing out on Apple’s image processing and colour algorithms, which unfortunately work better. Compared to previous gen iPhones, the Note 5 will also do 4k video and do it well. Video is smooth, crisp and looks fantastic.
S Pen
“Pen Gate”, something that haunts everyone at Samsung today. The S Pen on the Note 5, when inserted the wrong way in, will not only get stuck inside the Note, but will also damage the sensing mechanism of the display. Basically rendering your phone into a regular non-Note Samsung device.
The only fix according to Samsung – “Don’t put it in backwards.” However, it’s not so simple. In a beautiful world people wouldn’t have cared, and 99.99% people won’t be stuffing their S-Pen backwards. But now that it’s a known phenomenon, chances of it happening are a lot more.
Samsung is not very friendly with repairs of such an accident and it might end up costing you several thousand to get the Note 5 fixed / replaced. Not a pretty sight.
The, new design of the pen however is sleek and much appreciated. The responsiveness of the new pen on the Note 5 is highly improved over the previous generation Style. The click out mechanism is slick and works well, the girth of the pen is still too low and will not replicate the experience of using a real pen. Even though from a software aspect the handset does do that.
Phone and Battery Life
The battery is large and you will easily get a full days worth of use. If you do not you can always charge it with a fast charger and get on with your life. Although 3000 mAh is enough, and lasts us a whole day it may vary for different usage case scenarios. Turning off things like “double click home to enable camera” will save your device from enabling the camera in the pocket and overheating to a toasty 60+ degrees. Pro Tip : Keep this feature off.
If you can manage to keep the phone from turning on in your pocket all the time, it works great and will last a long time. If you are using the camera, the phone will get hot but has no real adverse affects on the performance or the battery life of the handset.
India, initially gets the single sim variant, which works across the spectrum for 4G LTE and 3G as well as 2G, so you have all networks covered. Signal strength is decent although indoors it appears to be weak. Honestly, we can’t tell if it’s a network issue or a device issue.
Audio quality in the phone call is mighty impressive, although the earpiece speaker gets a bit too bassy at times. You also have excellent noise cancellation built in and a extra volume more for those hard to hear conversations. “You What”?
Additional Features and Roundup
The new Galaxy Note 5 has all the Samsung tricks up its sleeve. Fast charging, Wireless Fast charging and an impressive and large battery too. You will also get Samsung Pay which is fantastic and works across the world with basically any existing magnetic stripe card reader.
The Note 4 came with an edge variant, and we are happy that Samsung didn’t pursue that dream on the Note 5. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5, is a beautiful looking, robust handset that can outperform almost everything in the category. Samsung has figured out the balance between beauty and brawn and made it work exceptionally well for the new Galaxy devices.
Putting the edge on the back of this massive device, gives a more reassuring hold to this otherwise slippery looking handset. The colors and materials give it the richness it needs and the hardware gives it the punch. Just do not put the S Pen in backwards and you are golden.
It gets top marks, but for a top price, making the Galaxy Note 5 from Samsung the best business Android Phone in the market, and the only in its class.
Mobile payment seems to be the next big thing getting users excited in the tech world. It refers to transactions, under specific financial regulations to ensure safety, using a mobile device. The latest company to be in news related to this tech development is Samsung, creating headlines with Samsung Pay.
The newest service of the company has been launched in its home country of South Korea less than a month ago, and the company claims it has already witnessed transactions amounting to $30 million. This amount is spread across 1.5 million transactions. They were made by people who were active throughout the course of last month, many using the service every day. The device mainly used for it was Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
Earlier, Google Wallet has been a noticeable name in the realm of mobile payment. Apple is yet to introduce the service and there is little official news available about its launch. It would be interesting to see Samsung Pay pitted against other tech giants and the way in which market responds to it outside Korea.
Blackberry revealed that the hardware revenue for 800,000 smartphones consisted of an average selling price of just $240. Apple will make more money than that in just one day. Needless to say, things seem beyond bleak for Blackberry.
In a fresh attempt to pull itself together, Blackberry earlier announced its plans to launch an Android phone, the first of its kind for the company. Previously codenamed as Venice, Blackberry Priv (short for ‘privacy’) was confirmed yesterday as the official name of the smartphone. Priv is expected to bring the best of both worlds by coupling the latest Android technology with exclusive Blackberry features.
The phone is expected to feature a 5.4-inch quad HD display. The camera is will possibly be a 18 MP, with a Snapdragon 808 processor, a 1.8GHz core and 3GB of RAM.
So far, we only had leaked images to go on with. But just yesterday, Blackberry CEO John Chen made an appearance along with Priv in a BNN Canada video. Now we know for a fact that the newest Blackberry smartphone will have a big display which is curved at the edges, reminiscent of Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and S6 edge+.
A little over five years ago, Blackberry had blown the world of instant messaging off its feet with its Blackberry Messenger. It’s time the company made a similar breakthrough again. It will be the launch of Blackberry Priv which would determine whether or not Blackberry is able to reaffirm its position in the tech world.
Apple is all set to create another record with the launch of the iPhone 6s that began on Friday. The sale of the latest device is estimated to fall between 11 to 13 million this weekend. Foursquare and Swarm are working together to find out the foot traffic at Apple retail stores across the world based on the information from their apps.
“Based off of early indicators, we predict that launch day traffic will be about 360 percent higher than preceding weeks. This likely means that iPhone sales will surpass previous records, in the 11 to 13 million range.” A report cited.
Sometimes it takes only one new feature to get Apple loyalists around the world excited about a launch. And the Force Touch feature in the latest iPhone devices is the clear winner. This feature, among others, is set to take the sales of the iPhone to an unprecedented new high. Other features also include iOS 9, hugely improved camera (both front and back), faster processors and better connectivity.
Other than a robot in Sydney, the general crowd lining up are pretty much all human. Meanwhile, Apple stores around the world are readying their shops for the potential crowd lining up outside. Here’s a video of store employees setting up iPhone displays in Japan on Thursday night.
If Apple does manage to sell between 11 to 13 million units this weekend, they would top last year’s iPhone 6 that managed 10 million units in its opening weekend. Furthermore, a 13 million sales weekend would represent a 30% increase in sales.
The pre-orders for the iPhone 6s has already seen a major increase since the last year, with the Rose Gold colour being the most popular choice, accounting for 30 to 40 percent of total units pre-ordered.
Source : [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.computerworld.com/article/2986321/apple-ios/apple-s-iphone-6s-is-setting-new-sales-records.html”]Computer World [/tw-button]
With all the news of smartphones getting bigger, costlier, and more tech-savy, we tend to forget about the good old feature phones that remind us of a simpler time. Though companies like Samsung are working on the next flagship smartphones, they still make time out to focus on ultra low budget phones so that everyone’s happy.
Here’s a list of some popular feature phones under Rs. 4000 for those in the market looking for something cheap and good. We’ve steered clear of Chinese companies offering substandard products and brought you a list of the best:
Nokia 105
We start the list with a brand we know and (used) to love before it went extinct. The Microsoft-owned Nokia 105 was launched in 2013 and got an upgrade in 2015, with a little more internal storage, a rounder shape, and better audio. You also get 15 hours of talk-time, which is an improvement over its 2013 model that gave 12.5 hours. The phone is priced at Rs. 1495 on Snapdeal and Rs. 1249 on Amazon. It is available in Red and Cyan colours. The Nokia 105 is one of the best feature phones in this range and is a favorite amongst many.
Specs
1.45-inch LCD screen, 16-bit, 64k colors
Dimensions: 108.5 x 45.5 x 14.1mm
800mAh removable battery
Micro-USB charger
Dual SIM card
Karbonn K22 Plus
When it comes to low budget phones, both feature and smartphones, Karbonn leads the pack. The Karbonn K22 Plus is an ultra low budget feature phone that looks sleek and stylish, and packs in a lot for less. It comes with FM Radio, USB connectivity and up to 8 GB expandable memory slot. It features a 1.3-megapixel camera. With a 1050mAh lithium-ion battery, the phone provides only 5 hours of talk time on a full charge.
With a 2.4-inch scree, the phone provides great colours and and a clean display. It is available in Black, Grey and White and you can find it on Amazon (Rs. 1290), Snapdeal (Rs. 1099) and Flipkart (Rs. 1190).
Specs
2.4-inch TFT display
Dimensions: 15.5 x 8.1 x 4.8 cm
1050mAh lithium-ion battery
1.3 MP Camera
8GB Expandable Memory
Samsung Guru Music 2
The Samsung Guru Music 2 emphases music for a reason. The phone gives a loud and clear sound quality and comes with an FM and MP3 player. Other features also include dual-sim, 800mAh lithium-ion battery providing talk-time of 11 hours, and an expandable memory up to 16 GB. Go for this if you want a phone that can store all your favorite music and still gives you enough space for everything else.
The Samsung Music 2 is available in Amazon and Flipkart for Rs. 1698 and Rs. 1599, respectively.
Specs
2 inch TFT Display
FM radio
800mAH lithium-ion battery
Up to 16 GB expandability
Samsung Metro Duos 360
This phone falls in the 3k range and with that you get some neat features that include a 2.4-inch screen with 3.1-megapixel camera. The 312 MHz Single Core processor lets your phone run smoothly without lags. and a 1000mAH lithium-ion battery providing a talk-time of about 12 hours.
2.4-inch (6.12 centimeters) TFT display with 240 x 320 pixels resolution
1000 mAh battery
312 MHz Single Core processor
USB version 2.0 and Bluetooth version 3.0
Panasonic GD22
The Panasonic GD22 falls just below the 2k mark and perhaps the best feature about this phone is a 1800mAh lithium-ion battery that gives a talk-time of 15 hour. Other features are standard for a phone in this range. The 2.4-inch TFT display offers a comfortable viewing with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and a pixel density of 167 ppi,
The phone is available in Amazon and Snapdeal and is offered in Black, Grey, Red and White.
Specs
1.3MP primary camera
2.4-inch (6.0 centimeters) QVGA TFT display
Memory expandable up to 16GB
1800mAh lithium-ion battery
Nokia 225
Another great Nokia device under the 4k range is the Nokia 225. The handset boasts of great features that make it worth buying if you have a budget between Rs. 3000 – Rs. 4000. The phone’s main attraction is its sharp 2.8-inch LCD display that brightens everything up. It also comes with a powerful 1200 mAh battery that will give you a whopping 21 hours of talk-time which is the highest in this list.
Nokia 225 can be found on Amazon and Snapdeal for Rs. 3055 and is available in Black, White, Yellow, and Red.
Specs
2MP primary camera
2.8-inch QVGA LCD display with 320 x 240 pixels resolution
