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Meet Flow, A Programmable Wireless Controller to Replace Your Old Mouse

If the Indiegogo campaign goes right, this new startup aims to replace your desktop mouse for good. Flow, as simply as it is called, is a small gadget that can be paired with your PC, laptop, tablet and can be programmed with shortcuts to your most frequently used actions.

Created by a team of German hardware designers, Flow can be described as a ‘freely programmable wireless controller’ that combines hand gesture recognition, touch, and haptics in a mobile, hockey puck-shaped design. The idea is to take the core functionality of a traditional mouse and expand it to include much broader capabilities found in touch-based devices, video game controllers, and even motion-and-gesture sensors.

The device is made from aluminum and stainless steel with a durable polycarbonate touch surface and has a replaceable battery promising four months of charge according to its Indiegogo page. Its sensors enable infrared-based hand gesture recognition, 360-degree angular positioning, capacitive touch and luminosity.

Flow, according to the makers, offer support for more than 30 applications, including popular ones like Final Cut Pro X, Photoshop, Premiere, SoundCloud, Spotify and YouTube. Flow has been described as a multiuse device which can be used as a traditional mouse with a PC but also to interface with mobile devices and even hung on a wall as a smart device controller.

At present, most of the information regarding Flow points at its usability with desktops or laptops, but the company also mentioned that there could be support for mobile applications in the future. It measures 70 mm in diameter and 15 mm in height, and ‘connects directly to anything that speaks Bluetooth Low Energy with no additional hardware required,’ according to its makers.

The designers have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $50,000 in seed money. The ongoing campaign has already fetched $19,536 and there is still 40 days left for the campaign. The startup plans to release the product by 2016.

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November 25, 2014
ASUS Brings its Hybrid Device PadFone Mini for Rs. 15,999

ASUS has won a lot of hearts in India with its Zenphone series. The low cost – high specs approach has helped the company to make grounds for itself in the saturated market of India. The Taiwan-based company has now brought its innovative PadFone mini to India.

The PadFone mini is a hybrid device which runs on ASUS’s ZenUI, which is based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It comes with two modules, a 4-inch smartphone, which is fully functional in itself and the time you dock the smartphone in the 7-inch display and voila, you have a tablet!

The processing bits of the 4-inch PadFone are handled by a dual-core 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z2560 processor along with 1 GB of RAM. The internal storage on the device stands at 8 GB and can be expanded up to 64 GB. ASUS also offers 5 GB free lifetime cloud storage on ASUS WebStorage.

PadFone mini comes in multiple color options.

The 4-inch smartphone has a resolution of 800x480p. The 7-inch tablet, on the other hand, has a resolution of 1280x800p, which would make it a good multimedia device. The PadFone mini gets its juice from a 2100mAh battery, which seems rather ill-equipped for a tablet. The phone has a battery of 1200 mAh that might give a satisfactory performance on the 4-inch display.

The company claims that it will be updating to Android KitKat 4.4 soon. This might be an alternative to people who go for phablets instead of tablets. The pocket-sized phone coupled with a 7-inch display makes this a multi-functional device. There is no alternative to this device so it won’t face a lot of competition. At an affordable price of Rs. 15,999, the device will find a good number of takers whether it’s some tech connoisseur or ordinary folks looking to try something new.

November 25, 2014
Hackers Bring Down Sony Pictures, Threaten to Release All Data

One of the major movie studios is facing a hack attack. Sony Pictures’ computers have been rendered inactive by a hacker group which calls itself Guardians of Peace (#GOP). The group took control of some official twitter accounts and was tweeting the same message across all accounts.

Sony Pictures sits at the top brass of movie production studios in Hollywood. It has produced blockbuster franchises such as Spider-Man, Men in Black, Underworld, and Resident Evil. The hackers have captured the computers of Sony Pictures across the country with an image of CGI skeleton. This image warned that if GOP’s demands aren’t met then they will release sensitive information (that they have stolen from Sony’s repository) to the world at 6 p.m. Eastern Time today. Demands of GOP are unsure as of now.

This image has been flashing on all Sony Pictures’ computers across the country.

The group has posted .zip files that contain the details of data that they have stolen. These include sensitive data such as financial documents and a lot of passwords. Reddit users are already working on uncovering the .zip files, and it does have a list of important documents including passport information of major stars. Looking at the severity of this hack, the employees were told to shut off their system and go home. Sony Pictures have just said that they are investigating the ‘IT matter’.

Activism is an important aspect of society; it keeps the people in power under check. Hacktivists group like Anonymous constantly target websites and cyberinfrastructure to send out a message, but they do it ethically and don’t cause severe damage to the institutions they target. But this hack by GOP amounts to theft and blackmailing and can cause major harm to the company. Actions like this brings down the value of activism and changes perception of hackers in the eyes of the general public as high tech but lowly thieves. We still have to wait and see how this stand-off ends, but one thing is sure that this is a deplorable act by this hacking group.

November 25, 2014
Google Rethinking its Sales Strategy for Android One in India

Google’s Android One initiative has been struggling to get hold of the Indian market since its release. However, the budget segment is so crowded with some amazing smartphones like Moto E, Zenfone 5, Redmi 1S and more that there is simply no space for any other device with same specs.

Android One’s first and foremost advantage was the Google’s direct involvement, which meant speedy software updates. However, that also seems to go down the drain as Android One devices still haven’t got the Lollipop update. The company launched the Android One in September, but it has faced some challenges in the market.

Offline retailers have been complaining about low margins for the device. Another big issue was related to its constrained supply. But despite these challenges, around 5 lakh Android One devices have been sold by Micromax, Karbonn and Spice by October-end, according to reports.

Sandeep Menon, Director of Marketing at Google India, commented on the issue, “We continue to get strong consumer demand. We track things like average number of people walking into stores and asking for Android One devices. From that perspective we are extremely happy. Pricing and margins for retailers are in the hands of the OEM partners but we are constantly engaged with them. Our engineers are working with new suppliers in China to benefit OEM partners in terms of choice and availability.”

Even though Menon seemed confident about the sales, the recent reports have shown that Android One devices have been struggling to break into the market and haven’t been able to reach sales goal that the company expected. In order to hook more offline consumers, Google is working on creating awareness about Android One’s features through 30,000 brand ambassadors deployed at various retail outlets.

According to concerned officials, the demand for Android One has increased further after making the product available in the offline channel. Google is trying to make the device a successful initiative as the global rollout of Android One depends on how the device has performed in India.

But that’s not a situation Google has to confront for now. “Our global rollout of Android One is as per the original schedule. There’s no change in that,” said Menon, promising that there would be new announcements on Android One over the next few months.

November 25, 2014
Google Adds New Security Feature to Track Devices Using Your Account

Well, do you remember from how many devices you have accessed your Google account; obviously, no. With the growing number of devices, it is common to see people accessing their Google accounts from multiple devices and later forgetting them. Google’s new Security dashboard will help you keep a track of the devices that still have access, and also will let you cut down the list right from your browser.

Google has added this feature to improve the security measures in ‘Google for Work’, the company’s suite of enterprise business services. However, this feature is available for every account be it a personal one or the business one. The new feature called ‘Devices and Activity dashboard‘ can be seen within the Google Account’s Security settings and it gives you a full rundown of every single device that has had access to your Google Account for the last 28 days.

From the dashboard, you can manually revoke access to any device or just leave it if everything looks fine to you. The details include the last time the account was accessed, location from where it was accessed, as well as the web browser that was used to open the account. Users are also given a single-click option to revoke a device’s access from their account.

If you click on the device, it will show you a list of browsers, the device model, and the account access type. If there’s no Google Account activity in the past 28 days for a given device, Google recommends removing its account access. However, Google no longer displays certain information, like IP addresses and browser versions.

Google has also added a new Security Wizard which guides Google users through steps they can take to turn on or adjust security features. These can range from providing contact info for account recovery (if the domain security policy allows it) to reviewing recent account activity and permissions. Google claims that running the wizard ‘only takes minutes’ and is meant as a way to encourage users to update their settings.

November 25, 2014
Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Users Complain of Scratches on the Screen

Apple had touted that the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus had strengthened Ion-X glass. There were talks of inclusion of sapphire glass on the new generation iPhones, but that plan was shelved. The reason cited for it was the inability of the supplier to fulfill Apple’s demand even after a $1 billion deal. Well, the sapphire glass never came about but now it’s being reported that the Apple’s alternative choice is showing signs of scratches.

A conversation was commenced at Apple’s Support page by a user named jake.underwood26, who posted that he took extremely good care of his device, but still he ended up with scratches on the corners of the display. Presently, there are 654 replies on the forum, and there are multiple complaints of scratches on the display.

Users are claiming that the scratches are showing up at the corners of the display.

One user by the username Jshea74 says, “After 2 years of heavy use and no screen cover, my iPhone 5 never had a scratch. Less than a week into owning an iPhone 6, I have a good sized scratch on my screen. So disappointed. I only ever had a bumper on my old phone and would totally throw it in my purse with my other stuff with no issues. Now I guess I’ll have to get a cover for the screen. Definitely seemed easier to scratch.”

AppleInsider did an investigation on the issue and found out that one of the culprits can be the use a curved display glass with no bezel ‘lip’ to protect against scrapes. In the predecessors of the device, a flat glass was used, and it was surrounded by a thermoplastic peripheral material housed in a harder polymer wrap. This kept the glass secure and prevented shock induced scratches. In the latest device, though the company uses the thermoplastic material but it is now in the middle of display assembly and phone body. Even the hard plastic wall was removed to cover the curves toward the rounded aluminum chassis. Apple is yet to respond on the issue.

Apple hasn’t had an easy path with the launch of the new iPhone. Previously, Bendgate became a major cause of embarrassment for the company when multiple users began complaining about the bending of the device. Seems like Apple didn’t finish its homework before releasing the phones and hopefully, it will fix the issues as soon as possible. The device cost a king’s ransom and it’s a shame that such issues are showing up in a premium device such as this.

November 25, 2014
European Parliament Working on Clipping Google’s Wings

Google is the big brother to the world. Using its position of the biggest search engine in the world, the company has a massive information repository about anyone using its services. The massive data has helped the company to bring some amazing tools and functionalities and has changed the way we use the internet. But even with all the great offerings from the company, the question of privacy of data is still a concern for the users. After multiple cases of privacy theft and since the Snowden revelations, European politicians have grown wary of American internet products.

The European Parliament is currently in the process of preparing a non-binding resolution to curb the influence of major search engines. It is planning to split search from the other businesses of these companies. The European Parliament doesn’t have the right to propose legislation, but it can put pressure on EU to strengthen its anti-trust investigation against Google. The tech giant hasn’t commented on the issue yet.

This draft motion doesn’t name Google explicitly, but it sure appears that the search giant is one of the primary targets. Google holds 90% of the market share in the search market of Europe so it’s obvious that they want to reign the big bird. Google is also facing antitrust investigation in the European Union (EU) and this move will lead to further pressure to strengthen the investigation.

The European Parliament doesn’t have the right to propose legislation but it can put pressure on EU to strengthen its hold on Google

Google has been at odd standing with Europe for a while now. Recently, the EU passed a ruling called ‘Right to Be Forgotten’, using which users can demand the removal of links from Google’s Search listings. These links have to be inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant and people can send in requests to search engines like Google to remove the listings. Google has said that this is akin to censorship and it would need heavy investment in workforce to adhere to such requests.

The judgement if adopted will create precedence in the way we legislate internet companies. It is important to know that there will be no immediate real world implications for Google, but it will encourage further regulations on the companies and prevent them from overreaching. The intentions with moves like this is to bring some accountability and transparency on the internet companies and to safeguard privacy rights. Spying is also a major concern for Europe who found that the NSA was spying on some major world leaders. The American security agency had engaged in hacking of companies and created backdoors in various products to spy on foreign individuals. This also led to distrust amongst the European politicians towards American information products.

As the internet is still an evolving ecosystem which is mutating fast, laws have taken long to catch up to the changes. Google has used the lack of regulation for long to percolate down to all device we own and use the free data to further its business. People are finally realising that Julian Assange was right when he said “when the product appears free, then you are the product.” Google makes billions using the massive collected data and selling it to third parties and it’s about time that it became more responsible with the data it gathers. Europe’s steps are democratic and it is asking the right kind of questions to the company. This is one must-watch case.

November 24, 2014
Panasonic Launches Eluga I to Take on Zenfone 5 in India

Panasonic has just added another smartphone called Eluga I. The company has announced that the new Eluga smartphone will come bundled with a free screen guard and a flip cover. The Panasonic Eluga I has already gone on sale via an online retailer ahead of the company’s official announcement. The Panasonic Eluga I comes in silver and white colours and is priced at Rs. 10,990 online.

The phone is a direct competitor to the highly popular Asus Zenfone 5 and features almost similar specs. The sleek Eluga I sports a 5-inch IPS display of 720p resolution and its raised curve display panel facilitates better viewing angles and makes longer viewing ‘strain-free’ for eyes. Powered by quad-core (1.3 GHz) processor, the new phone runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system, proving an immersive Android experience along with Panasonic’s Fit Home User Interface (UI) designed for single hand operation.

It has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 32 GB, this where it lag behind the Zenfone with sports 2Gb of RAM . The company has also introduced the ‘Smart Swipe’ functionality with Eluga I, wherein a combination of number of fingers and direction of swipe can help users perform various predefined functions, providing ease of access, however, there is nothing new about it and smart swipe seems to give more trouble than helping in getting things done.

In addition to this, the smartphone comes with an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 1080p video recording capabilities. The 2 MP front camera, which is quite usual in this price range. The device sports 2000mAh battery which almost same as the Zenfone 5. Earlier this month, Panasonic launched its selfie-focused Eluga smartphone, the Panasonic Eluga S priced at Rs. 11,190.

November 24, 2014
Apple Watch and Selfie Stick are Some of Time Magazine’s Best Innovations of 2014

Time magazine has released a list of 25 best innovations of 2014 featuring Apple Watch, Selfie Stick, Mangalyaam, Blackphone, Microsoft Surface Pro 3 among others.

Apple Watch ‘wholly reimagines the computer for the wrist, using a novel interface that combines a touch screen and physical buttons’, the magazine said, noting that it can send messages, give directions, track fitness, and can even make wireless payments. The smartwatch is expected to be available early next year at a starting price of $349.

Mangalyaam also made it in the list, with the magazine describing it as ‘The Supersmart Spacecraft’. Time said, “Nobody gets Mars right on the first try. The US didn’t, Russia didn’t, the Europeans didn’t. But on September 24, India did. That’s when the Mangalyaan…went into orbit around the Red Planet, a technological feat no other Asian nation has yet achieved.”

One of the most interesting innovations that the list included was the Selfie Stick. It facilitates taking a selfie from an angle of your choice by positioning your smartphone beyond the arms’ reach. “If 2013 was the year in which selfie became a buzzword, then 2014 was the year selfies became a cultural phenomenon,” Time said, indicating that the new-found infatuation with selfies matured within a year.

Along with this, Hoverboard, Back To The Future inspired skateboard that levitates like a magic carpet, also made it to the list. Granted, there are caveats. Hendo’s hoverboard can float only an inch or so above the ground, and only over conductive materials like copper or aluminum. Just 10 are being made so far. The battery life of the hoverboard is 15 minutes—barely enough time to zoom past your enemies à la Marty McFly.

But the technology that powers it could be revolutionary. Using the $450,000+ it raised on Kickstarter, Hendo Founders Jill and Greg Henderson plan to develop magnetic ‘hovering’ technology to stabilise buildings during earthquakes, protect valuable works of art and more. “The hoverboard is the first step to bringing this technology to the world,” says Greg.

Other than this, 3D printing, wireless electricity, Blackphone, BMW i3, Microsoft Surface Pro 3 also made to the Time magazine’s list of 25 Best Innovation of 2014.

November 24, 2014

Huawei Ascend P7 Full Review

Huawei has added some rather interesting devices in its product range. Its recent addition Honor 6 was a unique piece of hardware primarily focused on performance. Now, the Chinese manufacturer has added another device to its smartphone portfolio with the launch of Ascend P7. The company apparently made some bold claims during the P7’s launch event in France saying that the phone can outclass the best of flagships including the likes of Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One. Last year’s release P6 was a gorgeous looking phone but struggled because of an underpowered chipset.

So, has the company rectified its past mistakes and is the P7 the mid-range smartphone that the company claims it to be?

SUMMARY

Priced at Rs. 26,990, the P7 is certainly an expensive device from a budget manufacturer. It will be available for sale in the Indian market starting 30th November. To a certain extent, it defies Huawei’s image as a budget manufacturer as the Ascend P7 can be deemed as one of the fanciest phones produced by the company. It may not be as crammed with features like the other flagships, but is it better than other handsets in the same price bracket; we’ll find out.

HARDWARE

In comparison to its previous iteration, the Ascend P7’s hardware is cranked up a bit. It has Huawei’s in-house 1.8 GHz Kirin 910T quad-core CPU, Mali-450 GPU and 2 GB RAM on show, which should be up to the task.

Specifications	Ascend P7
Display	5-inch Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) 445ppi
Processor	HiSilicon Kirin 910T quad-core 1.8 GHz
Storage	16 GB + microSD
RAM	2 GB RAM
Camera	13 MP AF BSI F2.0, with Flash 8 MP Front
Battery	2500mAh
Operating System	Android 4.4 KitKat Emotion UI 2.3

BUILD AND DESIGN

At first glance, the Huawei Ascend P7 looks like a blend of the iPhone 4 and the Xperia Z. It’s a neat looking equipment and does feel like a premium built phone while in hand. Its slim form factor makes the phone slip easily into your pocket. It measures only 6.5 mm thick and weighs a mere 124 grams.

We were pretty impressed with the way phone looks and feels. It can easily compete with more established flagships when it comes to looks. The overall feel of the phone is quite brilliant. With the right size, it has just the right amount of chrome and metallic accents, subtle logos along with simply laid out buttons.

It has a nice minimalistic design and finish, so you won’t feel shy flaunting your device amongst your peers. The front houses a speaker, a light sensor, and a massive 8MP selfie cam. On the bottom, we have a microUSB port for charging, while the 3.5 mm jack rests on the top. The left-hand side has no keys and slots, so the right side houses the microSIM and microSD trays. Along with the trays lays the power button mounted in the centre, very reminiscent of Sony’s Xperia range. A nice metallic finish runs along the side of the device, giving it a more premium look.

Turn the phone around, and we see the elegant and subtle non-removable glass back panel with a neat looking finish.

The only downside with design would be the glass back, which makes the device slippery. So, if you have a tendency to slip your phone often, we recommend you to buy a case. In addition, the glass back is made up of very delicate plastic material, which can easily crack. So, make sure you have a case. Apart from that, the design and build of the phone is top notch.

DISPLAY AND CAMERA

The Huawei Ascend P7 has a 5-inch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has a Full HD 1080p display, which is quite impressive and is by far one of the best displays we’ve seen. The 5-inch screen is just lovely and bright with good viewing angles, and enough contrast allows users to watch even the gloomiest of flicks with crisp and sharp details. There are no flaws with the display and it was kind of hard to point out a fault with the phone’s display quality. Bright colours and sharp texts coupled with great viewing angles are as good as a smartphone’s display can get, well unless you get a device with a QHD display.

The optics on the Ascend P7 are quite remarkable. Both rear and front snappers are a delight, with the primary camera equipped with a 13MP Sony BSI sensor. Shutter Lag time is negligible, while response times are just too good. The auto focus is swift, and colours offer the right depth. Meanwhile, the staggering 8 MP front camera takes care of all your selfie needs. The front camera performs astonishingly well, with end results being more than satisfactory. It also includes a front-facing panorama option for wider shots and selfies. The camera app has the same overlay for its menu found in the Xperia Z2. Main options include a selection of shooting modes, with Huawei’s ‘Smart’ shooting feature coming as default. There are a lot of interesting filters, including HDR, Smile detection and Object tracking with a few minor tweaks offered by the manufacturer.

Overall, we were pretty satisfied with the phone’s camera performance. Images rendered were bright and clean and looked superb in full resolution. Have a look at the samples below:

While, video mode is not that impressive. It works fine and you’ll be able to record videos but we rather not talk about it.

MULTIMEDIA AND PERFORMANCE

A blend of advanced hardware combined with fantastic display, multimedia experience on the phone is rather satisfactory. The external speakers position is apt for watching movies and playing games, with sound coming from the centre of the device rather than from the sides. The audio output is quite impressive and should suffice without the need for putting on your headset. It is loud, clear and does not distort even at high volume. The Full HD 5-inch display just takes the whole experience of watching videos and playing games to a whole new level.

The phone’s benchmark scores fall way behind other flagships, but as we know with benchmarks, they do not tell the whole story. It can handle tweeting, making calls, browsing, watching a video at ease without any major hiccups or stutters.

We were a tad worried about its gaming performance looking at the benchmark scores, but boy the Ascend P7 proved us wrong. It ran graphically intensive 3D titles like Asphalt 8 and other games running on full juice without any hassles. The phone’s quite impressive when it comes to daily usage and the fluidity as it performs tasks pretty well and quick.

SOFTWARE

The Ascend P7 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat with Huawei’s Emotion UI 2.3 skin atop. The first thing Android users will notice is the absence of the app tray. Huawei has removed Android’s two-stage launcher, so all apps rest on multiple pages of the home screen – just like iOS. Huawei has crammed several utilities into folders in an attempt to prevent the home screen look unnecessarily cluttered. But it happened the other way round, it just made the home screen look all the more cluttered. So one needs to get used to things a bit and do some shuffling around to get the desired results. Even the app icons look childish and are not so pleasing.

Meanwhile, the home screen comes preloaded with weather, music, gallery and Google search widgets. There’s also a ‘Me’ module, which apparently can offer instant access to single favourite contact, but it’s rather useless. However, there is a wide array of customisation options, and you can tweak the icons and environment according to your preference.

There’s also an option to add a suspend button – a floating launch button with a ring of shortcuts that hovers around the screen. It may come in handy for certain users, offering instant access to utilities like messaging, note-taking, and music playback.

In the Settings menu, Huawei has added two home screen styles, Standard and Simple. While ‘Standard’ is a regular application and widget layout, ‘Simple’ turns your home screen into more of a Windows Phone (adding massive icons to apps and features). It certainly will be useful for the first-time smartphone users or for those who may not have a very good eyesight.

Multitasking in the Ascend P7 is done in the usual Android style, with right hand on screen button popping up a list of recently used apps.

Meanwhile, the pull down notifications tab forms an integral part of the Android ecosystem, and here Huawei has tweaked a bit. A collection of five toggles are housed at the top when you first pull down the notifications, another pull down reveals more controls. These can be customised according to user’s preferences as a seperate menu lets you customise the order in which they appear.

All in all, there are no noticeable performance issues apart from a few home screen jerks when the phone was under heavy usage. It’s a snappy and reliable device. Though, users will notice a lot of battery saving notifications popping up time and again, which can be annoying at times. Along with that, the UI is not as standard and intuitive that we see with other smartphones.

PHONE NETWORKS AND BATTERY

Phone network is quite good. We had no issues with the audio quality of incoming or outgoing calls. It latches onto networks quite easily, and we did not experience any call drops both indoors as well as outdoors.

The Huawei Ascend P7 houses a 2500mAh battery, which is slightly less than the Galaxy S5 (2800mAh) and larger when compared to the 2300mAh battery of the Nexus 5. In our battery test, we ran a 90-minute media file on full brightness and with ‘Wi-Fi turned on’. By the end of the video, the battery went from 100% to 71%.

That’s not awful, but it’s neither great too. The battery can easily suffice for a whole day of normal usage.

CONCLUSION

From decent specs, great camera, awesome display to super sleek and good looks, Huawei Ascend P7 has all the features that you wish in a smartphone. If you’re to judge a phone solely on benchmark scores, the Ascend P7 might put you off but its real time performance is top notch.

At a price tag of Rs. 26,990, the Ascend P7 seems to be a little overpriced. There are a lot of worthy alternatives to consider like the Nexus 5, the Moto X, LG G2, Samsung Galaxy S5 in this price bracket.

The phone’s performance is satisfactory, though it would have been more of a catch if Huawei had created a budget marvel like the Moto G. On the contrary, the company has tried to match up the P7 with other top flagships, and it just falls short.

Had it been priced under Rs. 20,000, it would have been a great alternative to the mid-segment masters.

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS

Great Design and Build Quality
Awesome Full HD display
Superb Camera
8MP selfie Camera

[/tw-column]

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

BAD THINGS

Video Recording below par
Low Benchmark score
Slippery back panel

[/tw-column]

November 24, 2014

Xiaomi Redmi Note Launched in Two Variants, To Go on Sale on 2nd December

Xiaomi added the third device to its India portfolio today. The Chinese electronic powerhouse brought two variants of the Redmi Note to India. The devices will go on sale on the 2nd of December.

As reported earlier, the basic 3G variant will carry octa-core 1.7 GHz MediaTek chipset whereas the surprise offering of the 4G version will sport 1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 chipset. The 4G variant is specially made for India, and it has dual-band support for both TDD-LTE 2300 MHz (Band 40) and FDD-LTE 1800 MHz (Band 3).

Being Xiaomi, there was a last-minute surprise in the pricing front. The 3G variant of the phone comes at a price of Rs. 8,999, while the 4G variant will be up for sale at Rs. 9,999. Considering the offering of a superior processor and 4G capability by shelling just a thousand rupees more, it would be advisable to go for the 4G variant.

One bit of spec sheet that will tilt the scales even further towards the 4G variant is the expansion of the memory. While the 3G variant gives an expandability option of 32 GB, the 4G variant lets you increase you memory capacity to 64 GB via external storage. So the 4G variant is definitely more bang for the buck.

The USP of the device is its 5.5-inch 720p IPS display. The massive screen coupled with a good processor will put out some great performance. We can safely assume that Xiaomi is going to repeat a vanishing act soon with its third offering for India.

November 24, 2014
Apple to Donate Retail Revenues For World AIDS Day

Apple is extending hands to make the globe an AIDS-free place. Starting from today, Apple has launched a campaign for World AIDS Day 2014 to help (PRODUCT)RED. During the campaign, the company will offer special ‘Apps for (RED)’ section in the App Store that will contain 25 apps with exclusive new content that will benefit the Global Fund to fight AIDS.

For two weeks, Apple and the participating developers will donate all global proceeds from downloads as well as in-app purchases to the Global Fund. The effort is one in a series of promotions the American multinational giant is doing during the holiday season with (RED). On Friday, 28th November, the Apple customers in the US will receive gift cards after purchasing selected Apple products. And on Monday, 1st December i.e. World AIDS Day, the company will donate an undisclosed percentage of its retail and online sales to the Global Fund.

“Apple is a proud supporter of (RED) because we believe the gift of life is the most important gift anyone can give,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “For eight years, our customers have been helping fight AIDS in Africa by funding life-saving treatments which are having a profoundly positive impact. This year we are launching our biggest fundraising push yet with the participation of Apple’s retail and online stores, and some of the brightest minds in the App Store are lending their talents to the effort as well.”

The ‘Apps for (RED)’ campaign in the App Store will run from Monday, 24th November to Sunday, 7th December, and will include special versions of apps like Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, djay 2, Clear, Paper, and more. Apple and (PRODUCT)RED have worked together for a number of years, and the latter organisation announced in June that Apple has made a contribution of $75 million. Throughout the history of their partnership, Apple has released a number of (RED) devices including iPod nano and shuffle, iPad Smart Cover, iPhone Bumper, and iPhone cases. With every (RED) product bought, Apple will donate a portion of the purchase amount to the charity.

November 24, 2014
Everything You Wanted to Know About the Upcoming Redmi Note

Xiaomi is about to add a third member to its Indian family. The new device will sit comfortably between the flagship challengers Mi3/Mi4 and the low-end market disrupter Redmi 1S. Xiaomi’s Redmi Note will not be just the third offering from the company; it is also a big screen multimedia lovers delight on a budget. We tell you all that makes the device so unique.

The Specs

Just like Xiaomi’s other offerings, the Redmi Note is good on specs front. It is powered by an octa-core 1.7 GHz processor from MediaTek along with 2 GB RAM. The device gets its juice from a healthy 3100 mAh battery. It has 8 GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 32 GB. The phone is a solid purchase even on the camera front. The main camera is a 13MP shooter, while the front sports a 5MP selfie shooter.

The Display

The huge screen will be appreciated by gamers, readers and multimedia lovers alike.

Redmi Note flaunts a 5.5-inch 720p HD IPS display. This will be a delight for multimedia enthusiasts, e-book readers and gamers alike. With 267ppi, the display of the device has lower pixel count in comparison to the Redmi 1S, so don’t expect the same level of quality. It also doesn’t have the Gorilla Glass protection as is available on the Redmi 1S. So you’d need to spend on a screen protection.

MIUI makes the device unique.

MIUI

The Note, of course, carries Xiaomi’s own MIUI, which is one of the best user interfaces out there. With a slew of regular updates, MIUI is always working towards being bug-free. Xiaomi has released MIUI 6, which is its latest UI buy it is not sure as of yet if the Redmi Note will be getting the update.

Battery Power

The huge battery that powers Redmi Note is one the winning features of the device. The company claims that the phablet can run 14 hours on 3G use, 38 hours on 2G use and offers up to 60 hours on music playback.

Note Cases

Considering the device’s Chinese upbringing, it comes in multiple colour options. These include classy navy blue to hot pink, whatever pleases you.

Overall, this is a great multimedia device on a budget. It has good specs, and the massive screen is its USP. This dual-SIM phablet is the bigger sibling of Xiaomi Redmi 1S and it sure will attract the same kind of attention. The device is expected to be priced at Rs. 9,999 but we will wait till the launch to confirm the same. So keep checking iGyaan for more.

November 24, 2014
Apple iPad Air 2 and Mini 3 Up for Pre-Orders in India

The latest Apple iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are up for pre-orders now. Apple has partnered with Flipkart and Infibeam to sell its latest iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in India and these e-commerce retailers are accepting pre-orders for 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB versions of both the devices. The delivery starts from 29th November onwards.

The new iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi model is priced at Rs. 35,900 for the 16 GB capacity, Rs. 42,900 for the 64 GB and Rs. 49,900 for the 128 GB. While the Air 2 with Wi-Fi + Cellular will be available for a suggested retail price of Rs. 45,900 for the 16 GB version, Rs. 52,900 for the 64 GB and Rs. 59,900 for the 128 GB.

The new Apple iPad mini 3 with Wi-Fi model costs Rs. 28,900 for the 16 GB, Rs. 35,900 for the 64 GB and Rs. 42,900 for the 128 GB model. On the other hand, iPad mini 3 with Wi-Fi + Cellular model is priced at Rs. 38,900 for the 16 GB, Rs. 45,900 for the 64 GB and Rs. 52,900 for the 128 GB version.

Infibeam has announced the availability of the iPad Air 2 for delivery in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Pune, Faridabad, Secunderabad and Nagpur, while Flipkart is not promising any date for delivery right away.

The new refreshed Air is 18 percent thinner with a thickness of just 6.1 mm. As expected, it is powered by the new Intel A8x Chip, a 2nd gen 64-bit architecture, which is 12 times faster than the current one. Apple claims that the graphics performance of the new iPad Air 2 is 180 times faster, which gives console-like gaming experience.

iPad mini 3

On the other hand, the iPad mini 3 is a minor upgrade over the last year’s iPad mini 2. It features a 7.9-inch (2048×1536 pixels) display and is powered by a 64-bit A7 dual-core processor paired with M7 co-processor and 1 GB of RAM. It also features a 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.2 megapixel front camera, a battery that is good enough and lasts up to 10 hours, and a TouchID sensor. On the software front, it too runs on iOS 8.1.

November 24, 2014
“India is Xiaomi’s Most Important Overseas Market” Says CEO Lei Jun

The four-year-old Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi has become one of the most talked about smartphone maker in Indian tech industry. With high-end specs and low costs, the company has managed to create a huge market for itself in our country.

Xiaomi’s chairman and CEO Lei Jun at the recent World Internet Conference commented on ‘how India has become the most important overseas market for Xiaomi. Jun also shared the company’s strategy to become world’s largest smartphone maker.

The panel attending World Internet Conference on ‘Creating an Online Global Village Together’ included tech heavyweights like LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri, Baidu President Zhang Yaqin and China Telecom Chairman Wang Xiaochu.

Talking about India as a market place, Jun said, “India is becoming our largest overseas market.” Its smartphones offering tempting specifications at an affordable price range have been lapped up by buyers.

Xiaomi is hosting an event today in Delhi where it will unveil Redmi Note before it reportedly goes up on sale next week.

Even though, the company has been criticised for the limited availability of its products and privacy related issues, the smartphones have been seen flying out of shelves in a matter of seconds during the flash sales every Tuesday.

CEO Lei Jun showed up late for the conference which made up the headline of various publications. At the same time, the company was hosting a press conference in Beijing to announce that it and Shunwei Capital (of which Lei is also chairman) are investing $300 million in Baidu’s IQiyi.com video website. It’s all part of Lei’s plan to plow $1 billion into video content to help bolster sales of Xiaomi’s Internet-ready televisions and set-top boxes.

“I believe that no one thought the Xiaomi from three years ago, which just made its first phone, would later rank as the third largest player,” Jun said. “Within five or 10 years, we have the opportunity to become number one smartphone company in the world.”

The company has a stronghold on the Indian market already with its current offerings Mi3 and the entry-level Redmi 1S. Xiaomi is now planning to launch the Redmi Note in India. It is hosting an event today in Delhi where it will unveil the phablet, before it reportedly goes up on sale next week.

November 24, 2014