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Mymo: A Fitness Wearable That Pays You to Be Fit

Wearable health devices are slowly flooding the market. Equipped with sensors, these devices are capable of informing you on your activity through the day. But the basic motivation to get moving still has to come from within, so a company called Tupelo brings a wearable that can give you that extra push.

Tupelo’s fitness wearable Mymo is a one of a kind device. The coin-sized wearable which can be clipped on, tracks the users’ steps, distance travelled and calories burnt. The device connects to any Android device; it also works with the iPhone as well as desktop PC’s.

The most convenient aspect of Mymo is that the battery on the device lasts about 6 months before the need for a recharge. This gives it considerable advantage over its competition.

Coming back, the extra push that we spoke of in the beginning; Mymo is perhaps the only device that lets user cash in their fitness points with real life goods. The device starting at Rs. 3,999 offers amazing 12 month rewards package. Users can track their movements and earn ‘MyMiles’. These MyMiles points can then be redeemed for rewards like talk time, groceries, air miles and even international vacations.

You can even compare your results with friends and family through the Tupelo leaderboard. The Tupelo Life app is available now in the Google Play Store and is soon going to be launched in the App Store.

Tupelo is a Dubai based company and it plans to bring more heath devices in India. It plans to build a comprehensive wellness platform here. The company is also offering real Gold for the first 1000 customers. These customers will automatically enter into the program in which their daily activity can earn them a full gram of gold, which at current rates would be worth Rs.2700, the device literally will pay for itself.

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September 6, 2014
IFA 2014 : Samsung Introduces Android-Powered Printers

Samsung has brought out a slew of devices at IFA Berlin this year. The major ones of course were the Galaxy Note 4, the Note Edge, Gear S and the Gear VR, but apart from these there are also some other innovative products brought by the company. One of them is an Android powered printer.

Printers have come a long way, but they still have the usual connectivity issues. In the age of mobility and instant access we don’t want to deal with the whole PC to printer connectivity scenario. This is where Samsung’s Smart MultiXpress printers come in handy.

Samsung has released 10 Smart MultiXpress models, and these are designed to work without being setup through a PC. They have a 10.1 inch touchscreen to help you navigate through the printer. You can search and print documents from web browsers, emails, maps, images and other types of content.

The 10.1 inch display will let your print documents from the web.

These printers are compatible with Samsung Cloud Print and Samsung’s XOA printing platform. To add even more convenience, the printers are also NFC available. You can easily print your documents remotely.

According to Samsung, the printers are will make business’s more efficient and productive. These devices have faster processors to speed up the printing process. Samsung claims they also offer longer lasting toner and drum technologies thereby bringing down the maintenance costs of running them.

So if you are working in one of those offices which have regular printer issues, Samsung’s Smart MultiXpress Series MFP printers might be the solution you were looking for.

September 6, 2014
IKEA’s Parody of Apple is Hilarious

Swedish furniture manufacturer IKEA has brought out a new advertisement for their catalog and it is hilarious. The USP of the ad is that it parodies Apple’s style of promotional videos.

The ad is for IKEA’s new catalog that they satirically call the “BookBook”. From Apple’s signature animation styles to graphics, the ad takes on them all. Some of the features like scrolling through the Bookbook, bookmarking and sharing will make you LYAO.

Apple is about to present its most revamped iPhone yet. So in the wait for it, this ad helps to fill up the void till the 9th of September. So go ahead and check out the video, it will surely make your day.

September 6, 2014
IFA 2014 : Alcatel Announces 6-inch Phablet, OneTouch Hero 2

Samsung is always ahead of everyone when it comes to announcing large smartphones at IFA, however, this year the Korean electronic giant was not the only one who showed off a massive handset. Alcatel, a French global telecommunications equipment company, also launched a 6-inch phablet, named OneTouch Hero 2.

The device is 7.9mm-thin and has a curved aluminium body, its reasonably light at 175-gram weight with a 6-inch, edge-to-edge display. The device comes with a with a stylus that the company promises will turn the phablet into a “creative enterprise tool.” The Hero 2 is said to recognise scribbled number and text very effectively and also solve complex problems in mere seconds.

On the hardware front, there’s an octa-core 2GHz MediaTek MT6592 paired with 2GB RAM which runs on 3,100mAh battery. There is 16GB storage tucked inside the device with expandable memory up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Company claims that the 13.1 MP rear camera with optical image stabilization can produce pictures at the power of DSLRs. The device doesn’t come with secondary camera, which in this selfie-age is unheard of. Other than that, the device is equipped with usual assortments of 3G/LTE bands, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, GPS, AGPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.

Also, company has come up with the wide variety of accessories for their device ecosystem including “MagicFlip LED,” an HTC-style dot-matrix case and, more notably, a MagicFlip DJ controller that turns the whole phone into a set of mixing decks, complete with retro-style controls.

The company quietly began shipping the device a day before, and it is expected to be priced at around Rs. 27,000, if it comes to India.

September 5, 2014
Apple iWatch Rumored to Come in Two Sizes with NFC and Curved OLED Display

This may be the last round of rumours surrounding Apple’s most mysterious wearable. We’ve been waiting to have a Apple product wrapped around our wrist for quite some time. Now we’re wishing and hoping that Apple unveils it on its 9th September event.

The latest leaks have pointed out to the fact that the expected iWatch might come in two sizes, both with curved OLED displays, will be able to track health and fitness data, and will include NFC for to make mobile payments directly from your wrist.

OLED display has been criticised for having over-saturated colors but now, Apple may use the OLED display for its first ever wearable. An OLED display only needs to light up pixels that are actively in use, meaning that Apple’s watch could potentially display some basic information such as an analogue watch face while leaving the rest of the screen black. Using OLED display can save battery in the smartwatch.

The addition of NFC in the smartwatch comes in line with rumors of inclusion of the same technology in iPhone 6, too. This will simplify the process of pairing an iWatch and an iPhone as well as both can be used for encouraging mobile payment directly from the smartwatch, which many companies are trying to achieve but have failed until now.

It is said one of the main features of Apple’s upcoming iWatch is the variety of health sensors. However, the details about this has been scarce. A heart-rate sensor is believed to be one of them. As far as display sizes goes, reports have varied, however, earlier reports have pointed to sizes between 1.3-inches and 2.5-inches. If this to be believed, Apple’s iWatch will have one of the biggest watch face in the smartwatch market.

September 5, 2014
Moto X Makes its Comeback With Better Specs and an Aluminium Frame

Along with the Moto G (Gen 2) and Moto 360, Motorola has just introduced the much-awaited 2nd gen Moto X. The new Moto X is bigger, bulkier and it boasts a number of new features and designs that should definitely increase X’s demand.

The new Moto X is not much bigger than the previous one, with a 5.2 inch AMOLED display and it is still protected by Gorilla Glass. Moto X 2nd gen is about 0.5 inch wider than last year’s X. However, the refreshed model sports a 1080p full HD display instead of a 720p one.

The screen takes almost all the space on the front, leaving the bare minimum for bezels. It measures 72.4mm wide by 140.8mm tall and weighs 144 grams. To give the device a premium feel, the company has added a smooth piece of aluminium wrapping the entire edge of the phone.

Motorola has kept the Moto Maker customization option alive with a new leather option for new Moto X. Additionally, Moto Maker also now lets you add metal accents to power and volume buttons, speaker grills and the Motorola logo on the back.

At the back, it has an updated 13-megapixel camera lens with 4x zoom and a ring flash. The camera has the ability to capture 4K video instead of just 1080p and it’s also got a new feature called Best Shot.

It essentially maintains a rolling photo cache in the background, constantly capturing additional shots before and after a photo is taken. An algorithm then analyzes those photos to find what it thinks is the “best shot,” filtering out blurry shots or pics of people blinking. You can choose the picture selected by the feature or the original one. Another new camera feature is the “Highlight Reel,” which essentially compiles all of your day’s photos and videos into a single video collage much like Google+ photo highlights.

As far as the hardware is concerned you won’t be disappointed. The device runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with a 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, an Adreno 330 578MHz GPU and 2GB of RAM. It is powered by 2,300 mAh battery which Motorola claims will last a full day. The new Moto X has four microphones to help reduce background noise, and comes in a “splash guard” water repellent coating and will be available in both 16GB and 32GB variants.

One the software side, new Moto X comes with hand full of softwares same as older Moto X including Migration tool and some of the tools like Touchless Control, Active Display and Motorola Assist have been renamed in the new Moto X as Moto Actions, Moto Display and Moto Assist respectively. Another great iteration in the new Moto X is that instead of ‘OK Google’ as a voice prompt, you can customize the voice command prompt to anything you like.

The company said that they have more than 1.6 million devices stocked for Indian market which only means they will have enough stocks this time. Pricing details are not yet revealed by the company. The new Moto X will go on sale in late september along with Moto 360.

September 5, 2014
Moto G (2nd Gen) Goes on Sale Today For Rs. 12,999

Motorola has just announced two of its most anticipated smartphones : Moto X and Moto G. The company decided to stick to the previous names, keeping things simple by calling them 2nd Gen devices. The new Moto G has been launched at the price of Rs. 12,999 for 16 GB and is going on sale later today with special offers on Flipkart. The company said that last time around they sold 1.6 million devices through Flipkart for Indian customers, and this time they’ve made sure they have sufficient stock for prospective buyers.

The 2nd Gen Moto G has a 5.0-inch 720p HD IPS display made out of Corning Gorilla Glass. Other improvements to the G include two front stereo speakers and an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing one.

The new G will also now finally come with a microSD card slot, which is located underneath the back cover. It’ll still come with 16GB built-in storage, but an expandable memory slot is always nice to have. However, underneath is the same 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor and 2,070 mAh battery. The new Moto G still shoots in 720p. However, they considered going for 1080p video capability, to compete with the Xiaomi Mi3.

It’ll ship with Android 4.4 KitKat and is upgradeable to Android L as soon as it is released. It does come with a few Motorola apps like Migrate, which helps you transfer old phone contacts to the new one, and Assist, which provides a voice-activated Drive Mode when you’re on the road.

September 5, 2014
The Moto 360 is Finally Here!

We’ve spent months tracking its every move; it is the only smartwatch which promised style as well as utility. And today, amidst all the September Tech madness, Motorola revealed all the details of its most awaited wearable – the Moto 360.

It has stuck to the classic design that it promised months back. The 1.65-inch display is encased in stainless steel, the watch comes in leather straps and has Gorilla Glass protecting the screen from unwanted scratches. We’re extremely pleased with Motorola’s choice of design. Instead of going for bulk, it has stuck to the sleek style of a traditional wrist watch.

The water-proof Moto 360 is going to be a super useful wearable. Powered by Android Wear, it will give timely updates based on location, such as Weather, Time, Reminders, Location and Traffic. It has been enabled with voice control, so even when you’re driving you can easily ask for directions and traffic updates. “Ok Google” can also be used to send text messages. The watch comes with a charging dock, and the battery life is said to last a day.

Like most wearables, Moto 360 has paid attention to our health needs, and provided a heart activity app that tracks daily routine. Priced at $249.99, we’d say it’s a beautiful meddle of leather, glass and technology. Moto 360 comes in two colour variants – silver and black and will be available in India by late September.

September 5, 2014
IFA 2014 : Garmin’s Fitness Tracker Vivosmart Comes With Smartwatch Capabilities

Fitness trackers have created their own niche market in the tech industry. While they are small, easy to manage and minimalistic than most smartwatches, they are also seem restricted to certain features.

At the ongoing IFA 2014, Garmin, popular in-car navigation systems maker, has introduced a new wearable device that combines the communication features of a smartwatch with the fitness-centric capabilities of an activity tracker. The Vivosmart does what typical activity trackers do best, along with which it borrows some of the key features typically found in smartwatches.

Unlike its predecessor, Vivofit, Vivosmart can also receive notifications from your smartphone for everything from social media updates to emails and text messages, all displayed on the device’s horizontal screen. You can also use the Vivosmart to control your smartphone’s music player.

Vivosmart has a hidden OLED display which light ups with a double tap. A finger swipe on the display rotates through various customizable display pages, like the fitness-focused ones. The Vivosmart is waterproof up to about 50 meters and is fueled to get up to 7 days of battery life.

It also tracks your sleep, based on movement, and offers daily reports on how much time you spent moving vs being still. In fact, through the Garmin Connect app, all your activity data gets translated into easier-to-understand charts and graphs.

None of the fitness trackers from the likes of Jawbone or Fitbit, two of the biggest names in fitness bands, can do this, giving the Vivosmart a huge advantage over its rivals. The Vivosmart goes on sale in mid-September exclusively at Best Buy for $169 or $199, it is already up for pre-order.

September 5, 2014
IFA 2014 : Samsung Announces its First Waterproof Tablet, The Galaxy Tab Active

It has been raining smartphones at the IFA Berlin 2014, not that we’re complaining. Amidst the madness, Samsung has surprisingly launched a new tablet called Galaxy Tab Active. It is a rugged version of its predecessor and comes with IP67 certification for water resistance and an anti-shock covering that can withstand a 1.2-meter drop.

The Tab Active is the company’s very first dust and water-resistant tablet. However, unlike other water-resistant gadgets in the market, the new Samsung slate isn’t really made for adventure sports, but for businesses.

The Galaxy Tab Active boasts 10 hours of power from a detachable, 4,450mAh battery with POGO pin charging, and a UI designed for tough work. It also comes with the variant of S Pen, named as C Pen. The company has added the digital pen for those who have to wear gloves in their field of work can use as an alternative to standard touch input.

Running Android 4.4 KitKat, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active features an 8-inch TFT display with 800 x 1200 pixels, LTE connectivity, Samsung KNOX for enhanced security, 1.2 MP front-facing camera, and a 3.1 MP rear camera.

Furthermore, the rugged slate comes with a quad-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable internal memory, and a 4,450 mAh user replaceable battery (for up to 10 hours of usage). The device weighs 393 grams, and measures 213.1 x 126.2 x 9.75 mm.

The Galaxy Tab Active will be available in both Wi-Fi and LTE variants sometime later this year, and will come with the C-Pen and a Protective Cover right in the box. Samsung is only offering the Titanium Green color option. However, pricing hasn’t been revealed, it is expected to be priced same as the Galaxy Note 4.

September 4, 2014
IFA 2014 : Microsoft Unveils Glowing Wireless Charger and Mirroring Tool for Lumia Devices

In addition to two new smartphone, Lumia 830 and Lumia 730, Microsoft has launch two new tools for the Windows ecosystem at IFA Berlin 2014.

Focusing on the first, Microsoft announced a new screen-sharing tool for Lumia devices which will be compatible with any television or other display with an HDMI port. The compact box is 1080p compatible and is powered by a micro-USB. It lets you mirror the content from your Windows phone. It will ship with an NFC “coaster” that lets you pair your handset without walking over to the box itself. The device will work with Lumia devices that support screen projection, along with WiFi Miracast products.

Also, company has announced a new Qi wireless charger which glows for missed calls and texts, or a low battery below 30 percent. The wireless charger is equipped with bluetooth connectivity and fancy LED lights. You can pair it to your phone when it’s off the charger, and it’ll glow if you get any missed calls or texts.

The colour of lights are matched with the green, orange or white color options, and will light in different patterns depending on the notification. Obviously, it also charges your phone or tablet wirelessly, provided it’s a Qi-enabled Lumia model with Windows Phone 8.1.1 and Bluetooth 4.0

Both the tools are expected to ship later this month and mirroring tool is priced at $79, while the Qi wireless charger is priced at $59.

September 4, 2014
iPhone 6 Price Leaked a Week Before Launch

While techies all over the world are busy keeping tabs on the IFA Berlin 2014, the iPhone 6’s prices have been quietly revealed in a leaked image from Hong Kong. Tech blog TK Tech News has posted an image that shows the alleged prices of the highly anticipated 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 models.

The Apple iPhone 6 with 4.7” display will purportedly cost 6,663 HKD, 7,671 HKD, and 8,679 HKD . The aforementioned prices are for devices with 16, 32, and 64GB of built-in memory respectively. According to the leak listing of prices, the iPhone 6 with 5.5-inch display is unsurprisingly more expensive (it is rumored to have more powerful hardware on board). It is reportedly priced at 7,923 HKD for a 16GB model, 8,931 HKD for a 32GB unit, and 9,687 HKD for a device with 64GB of onboard memory.

If you convert these purported prices into Indian currency and add the standard import duties, iPhone 6’s 4.7 inch variant will come at the starting price at Rs. 61,900 approx and the 5.5 inch variant may come at starting price of Rs. 71,800. These prices are more than the introductory price of the iPhone 5S, which was launched last year for Rs. 53,500. If this is true, then Apple may lose a large segment of prospective buyers. Especially since unlike other companies in the market, Apple is never the one to drop its prices after launch.

It is said that new iPhones will come with new-gen iOS 8 out-of-the-box. Both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants said to feature an iPod touch-inspired design; the Touch ID fingerprint sensor; the new Apple A8 SoC, and the long-awaited NFC connectivity.

Apple is expected to unveil the next iPhone in less than a week, so we won’t have to wait too long for official pricing. In the meantime, take the above numbers with a small pinch of salt.

September 4, 2014

Epic Flagship Spec Battle: Note 4 vs Xperia Z3 vs HTC One M8 vs OnePlus One vs Xiaomi Mi3

Samsung pulled off a big show yesterday and introduced its star flagship, the Note 4. The device comes with an updated design with a metal frame and sleeker design. It also brings the device in the 2K display race. Along with Samsung came Sony, who brought the Xperia Z3 along with some innovative devices.

So we decided to check out how these new flagships standup against the best flagship performers of this year. We are pitching the Note 4 and the Xperia Z3 against Oneplus One, Xiaomi Mi 3 and the metal-bodied awesomeness of the HTC One M8. Let’s see how they stand up against each other.

Specs	Samsung Note 4	Sony Xperia Z3	HTC One M8	OnePlus One	Xiaomi Mi 3
Display	5.7 inch QHD	5.2 inch HD	5.0 inch HD	5.5 inch HD	5.0 inch HD
Processor	Exynos Octa-core 5433/ 2.7GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 805	2.5 GHz Quad-core	2.3 GHz Quad-core	2.5 Quad-core	2.3 GHz Quad-core
RAM	3 GB	3 GB RAM	2 GB	3 GB	2 GB
Storage	32 GB	16/32 GB	16/32 GB	16/64 GB	16/64 GB
Expandable Upto	64 GB	128 GB	128 GB	–	–
Main Camera	16 MP	20.7 MP	Dual 4 MP	13 MP	13 MP
Front Camera	3.7 MP	2.2	5 MP	5 MP	2 MP
Battery	Removable 3220 mAh	Non-removable 3100 mAh	Non-removable 2600mAh	Non-removable 3100 mAh	Non-removable3050 mAh
Operating System	Android 4.4.4	Android 4.4.4	Android 4.4.2	Android 4.4.2 upgradable to v4.4.4	Android 4.3 upgradable to 4.4.2 (KitKat)
Miscellaneous	S-Pen	High Res Audio, Water proof	Metal Body	Cynogen	Price

Looking at the specs, Note 4 shows the might to take on its competition. It is one mammoth of a device in terms of functionality and is unmatched by any other device in the market. Coming out with just one storage variant of 32 GB is an advantage for the Note 4. It makes no secret that it is a premium device and will be priced as such.

It is expected to come around the first week of October and we can’t wait to get our hands on this package of goodness.

September 4, 2014

Microsoft’s ‘Affordable Flagship’ Lumia 830 Comes with a PureView Camera

Microsoft, today at IFA Berlin 2014, has launched a new affordable smartphone, the Lumia 830. The company has added a PureView camera feature in the new affordable handset which has typically been associated with Nokia’s premium phones.

The device looks very similar to the Lumia 930, it comes with an aluminum frame and a polycarbonate back. While it uses the PureView name, rumour has it that the rear camera’s 10MP resolution isn’t quite as good as the 930 or 1020.

Further, the company has added a lot of extra software enhancements to improve the experience. The Lumia 830 is essentially a thinner, less bulky, and lighter version of the Lumia 930 on the outside. However, inside there are a ton of differences between the two.

The Lumia 830 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage. The 830 is also a 5-inch handset, but Microsoft has opted for a 1280×720 resolution instead of the beautiful 1080p display on the Lumia 930.

As for the hardware specifications, the Lumia 830 comes with with a 5-inch 720p display, Gorilla Glass 3, slightly curved (2.25D) glass, a 2,200mAh battery and a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400. The device will ship with the Lumia Denim update, which is Microsoft Device’s specially-packaged version of Windows Phone 8.1.1 (Update 1).

That new ‘affordable flagship’ comes with a new version of Lumia Camera, which comes with faster shot-to-shot and pocket-to-picture times and several other enhancements to the imaging experience. Lumia Denim also includes 4K-quality video recording and general improvements to low light images.

Lumia Denim also includes 4K-quality video recording and general improvements to low light images. Microsoft’s Lumia 830 will be available globally this month. It is priced at 330 euros, which when converted is approximately Rs. 27,000.

September 4, 2014
HTC Brings Out The Colourful Desire 820

HTC has had a good year. With the success of HTC One M8 and the Desire line-up, things are looking good for the company. Now HTC is about to bring another phone is its Desire line-up called the Desire 820. The phone was announced at the ongoing IFA event.

The phone is a looker and comes with a bold two-tone color scheme that makes the device standout. Even the HTC logo on the back gets a different color treatment for each phone color option. The device is made in a unibody, polycarbonate casing that HTC defines as its “double shot color technology.” The color scheme surely has a youthful appeal and is pleasing to the eyes.

Like the Desire 816 before it, the Desire 820 comes with a 5.5 inch 720p HD screen. The new phone will be one of the first phones to come with a 64 bit Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 615 chipset. The processor runs on two quad-core chips of 1.5GHz and 1.0GHz. It comes with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage.

The Colors and powerful front camera makes the Desire 820 a youth friendly device.

The main camera on the device is a 13 MP shooter with f/2.2 aperture. Now the shining glory of this phone is the front camera, it packs an 8 MP camera on the front. This can be a selfie hogs’ favorite toy. Unless, of course, you got the money to enjoy the superior selfie and weefie capabilities that were showcased last night on the Note 4.

The device is powered through a 2600 mAh battery. HTC says that the phone will be updated with Android L when it comes out. HTC has been one of the first companies to promise the Android L upgrades for most of its devices. It will also hold HTC’s Dual Boomsound front facing speakers. It will also have its version of the dot view case.

The Desire 820 will come to the markets by the end of September and will be available in glossy and matte colors. This is one colorful treat, and if priced right, it can prove to be some serious competition for others.

September 4, 2014

Blog

Specs

Samsung Note 4

Sony Xperia Z3

HTC One M8

OnePlus One

Xiaomi Mi 3