Motorola had released the Moto 360 Second Gen smartwatch during the IFA Berlin event earlier this year; however, it was not available in India until now. The smartwatch will be launched in India next month on the 1st of December 2015.
The Moto 360 made a very strong fashion statement by arriving in two models, three sizes and up to 300 different ways of customizable styles. It also came in two sizes – a women’s version, and a sport version with an on-board GPS and outdoor readable display. The device is round in shape and also has a men’s version in two variant sizes – 46mm and 42mm. While the women’s version, is thinner and also comes in two variants – 42mm and 16mm strap mounts.
The prices for these products globally range between $299.99 to $429.99 (Rs. 19,000-Rs. 28,000 approx.). However, in India, the device is expected to go on sale with a price of Rs.17,999 for the 42mm with black leather. So, watch this space for more updates.
Click here for more information on the smartwatch.
Microsoft had recently sent out invites for their product launch event in London and Manchester. Well, this time, the company has also sent out their invites to Windows Insiders in India. The product launch event is scheduled for the 30th of November 2015 and is expected to reveal the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL.
This event will be held in New Delhi and Mumbai at 6:00 pm on the said date. The Insiders who attend the event will be able to purchase the Windows 10 supportive smartphones; and just like at the London event, here too will the sales packages arrive with a Microsoft Display Dock. Watch this space for more updates about this.
Lenovo launched its Vibe S1 in India at Rs.15,999, which will exclusively be sold through amazon.in from the 24th of November 2015.
The Lenovo Vive S1 comes with a 5 inch 1080p IPS LCD display, and a MediaTek MT6752 processor. It also comes with 3GB of RAM space along with 32GB of internal storage. On the camera front, it comes with a 13MP primary camera and an 8MP secondary camera with a 2MP secondary depth sensor. Other connectivity features include a dual SIM and 4G/LTE. The phone is packed with a 2,420mAh battery and runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop.
The handset comes in two colour variants – blue and white. Here are the specs:
Specifications
Lenovo Vibe S1
Display
5.0 inches, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Resolution
HD, 1080 x 1920 pixels
Chipset
Mediatek MT6752
Processor
Octa-core 1.7 GHz
RAM
3GB
Storage
32GB
Expandable Upto
microSD, up to 128 GB
Rear Camera
13MP
Front Camera
8MP with 2MP secondary depth sensor
Video
Yes
Battery
2,420mAh battery
Operating System
Android 5.1 Lollipop
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot. Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP. GPS and Radio.
Samsung India has sent out press invites for an event scheduled for the 7th of September. The company will be launching it’s newest phablet, and it will go on sale soon after.
The Note 5 comes with a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and 16M colours, a 5.7 inches display with a 1440 x 2560 pixels, all protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 4.
The phablet runs on the Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop) with a Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad), 64 bit, 14 nm processor. It does not have an expandable microSD slot, but comes in two variants – 32GB and 64 GB, both with a 4 GB RAM. The S-Pen this time comes at the bottom of the phone with a spring system which makes accessing it a lot more fun.
In the photography section, the Note 5 comes with a 16 MP, 5312 x 2988 pixels, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash primary camera and a 5MP front camera. Other connectivity features include, Wi-Fi 802.11, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, the Bluetooth v4.2, with GPS and NFC support.
The Galaxy Note 5 has some very interesting features that allow you to perform various tasks such as signing documents with the S-Pen on your PDF directly, instead of having to print it out. The phablet also comes with some eye-catching accessories and colours such as the silver titanium, gold platinum, black sapphire and white pearl.
What is also new in the Note 5 when compared to Note 4 is Samsung Pay, a transaction system designed and made to run with virtually all credit card machines globally. This will currently be launched in the US and Korea and will later be available to the world.
Samsung has also added something that they call fast wireless charging into the mix with their new Galaxy Note 5. The Samsung Galaxy S6 supported fast charging via microUSB and wireless charging over various standards. Samsung claims to have combined these technologies and have launched a fast wireless charger, which in theory should also be backward compatible with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
The Galaxy Note 5 is powered by a Non-removable Li-Po 3,000mAh, fast charging, wireless charging compatible with WPC and PMA battery.
We had earlier reported that Xiaomi was going to release its first made-in-India smartphone today – it has; and it’s called the Redmi 2 Prime, which is priced at Rs.6,999. The phone is available on Mi.com/in, Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal in an open sale.
The Redmi 2 Prime was first launched in China as the Redmi 2 Limited Edition and in Singapore as the Redmi 2 Enhanced. It features 2GB of RAM space, 16GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card slot, a 4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) display with Asahi Dragontrail glass which is powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 64-bit quad-core processor.
It also features an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2MP selfie front camera with a 2,200mAh battery which runs for up to 14 hours of talktime.
Other connectivity and function options include dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, run on the MIUI 6 that is based on the Android KitKat.
The specifications are as follows:
Features
Redmi 2 Prime
OS
MIUI 6
Processor
1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 64-bit quad-core processor
Display
4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels), Asahi Dragontrail glass
Last year in July, when Xiaomi entered the Indian market, it took the country by surprise. More than its potential buyers, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer managed to shake up the ground for its competitors. Today, a year later, the company has come a long way. Xiaomi is going to launch its first ‘Made in India’ smartphone, in Visakhapatnam, today. The launch will be conducted by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu; this event will also see Xiaomi make announcements for further expansion plans in India.
The seed of this project is said to have been planted, when the CM visited China, earlier this year. The event today will see CEO Xiaomi India, Manu Jain delivering the welcome address and Hugo Barra, VP Global Xiaomi, briefing the audience on the ‘Journey of Xiaomi in India’. It has also been reported, that Secretary DIPP, Govt. of India, Amitabh Kant, will be the Guest of Honour.
With India estimated to become the second largest smartphone market by 2017, after China, it is said, that many companies will be looking to invest in India, in the near future. However, China is not the first country to show interest in India, and specifically Andhra Pradesh; Japan and Malaysia have all shown an interest in being partners in capital construction and have also come forward to contribute to the construction of people’s capital. It has also been reported that PM Narendra Modi suggested Naidu to send a delegation to cities like Astana and Asghabat, to study and incorporate some of the best practices they follow.
Xiaomi is the third largest smartphone maker in the world, following Samsung and Apple, that has come to Visakhapatnam to launch its first main-in-India smartphone. The phone is being re-branded as MI and is looking forward to a successful launch.
Meizu, a Chinese company, began its smartphone venture with the Meizu M8 is 2008 and back in June 2015 revealed its M2 Note in China. As of today, they have announced the phablet in India, and have priced it at Rs. 9,999. The M2 Note is said to go on sale exclusively on Amazon.in, starting on August 10th, 2015.
This device comes with a 5.5 inch full HD display with 1920 X 1080 pixels resolution, powered by the MediaTek MT6753 octa-core 64-bit processor and 2GB RAM. Other features include a 16GB internal storage with an extendable microSD card slot, a 13MP f/2.2 primary camera with a dual – tone flash and a 5MP wide-angle selfie camera and supported by a 3,100mAh battery.
The connectivity options include dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi dual-band 802.11 n/g/b/a, and Bluetooth 4.0. The device runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Flyme 4.5 OS.
Following are the specifications:
Features
Meizu M5 Note
Display
5.5-inch 1080p
processor
MediaTek MT6753 octa-core
RAM
2GB
Storage
16GB (expandable)
Rear Camera
13-megapixel
Front Camera
5 megapixel
Battery
3,100mAh
OS
Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Flyme 4.5
Connectivity
Dual-SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Price
Rs. 9,999
At this price, the Meizu M2 could face tough competition from Yu Yureka Plus and the Lenovo K3 Note. What do you think?
Just a month ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple has unveiled two newest additions to its Mac family, the new 15-inch MacBook Pro and the huge 27-inch iMac in India.
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro features Force Touch trackpad that promises of a new level of interactivity to the Mac. Simply put, Force Touch is a mechanism that senses pressure. It is an entirely novel innovation that merges the previously released Multi-Touch with force sensors.
This Mac also has new PCIe-based flash storage that provides up to 2.5 times better performance than its predecessor. It has an Intel Iris Pro graphics and offers additional hours of battery life, with up to 9 hours of wireless web browsing and 9 hours of movie playback. Other than this, standard options include a 2.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of flash, with, of course, Intel Iris Pro graphics.
The new iMac boasts of Retina 5K Display, which has 67% more pixels than a 4K Display. It features a 3.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 3.7 GHz and AMD Radeon R9 M290 graphics. It includes 8GB of memory and 1TB of storage, along with four USB 3.0 ports and two Thunderbolt 2 ports that are capable of delivering up to 20Gbps each.
Every Mac will come along with OS X Yosemite. The updated 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is accessible from today on selected Apple Authorised Stores and is priced at Rs 1,59,900. Configure-to-order options include faster quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.0 GHz and Flash storage up to 1TB.
The 27-inch iMac is also available on selected Apple Stores and is available for Rs 1,59,900. Configure-to-order options include faster quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 4.0 GHz with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.4 GHz and Flash storage up to 1TB.
HTC launched its new flagship device at MWC this year with much fanfare. The company now seems to be ready to bring it to India. The company has sent out invites for the One M9 launch in India scheduled for the 14th April. It has been said that this device addresses all the shortfalls of the last HTC flagship, the One M8.
Throwing some light on its specifications – the HTC One M9 is powered by an all new Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, a 64 bit SOC, with an Octa core 2.0 GHz CPU. It offers 3GB of RAM and 32 GB storage which is expandable upto 128 GB. The company also provides 115 GB of Google Drive. The device runs Android Lollipop out of the box and is juiced up by a 2800 mAh battery. It also offers features like quick charge which improves the charge times.
The most stand out improvement of this device is the camera. This new handset offers a 20 MP shooter with a sapphire lens cover. And on the front, is the ultrapixel camera for your selfie needs.
So if you are a fan of HTC’s designing superiority and were waiting for the One M9 to make a landfall in India, well your wait is about to end. Read and watch our hands on review of the new HTC One M9 right here.
Lenovo, which had introduced its competitor for the affordable market, the A6000 a few months back is ready to bring its latest product for the segment. The Lenovo A7000 will take on the likes of Redmi 2, Yu Yureka and other sub-Rs.10000 devices.
The A7000 sports a 5.5 inch, 720 x 1280 pixel display with a pixel density of 267 PPI. It is powered by an Octa-core, 1.5 GHz Mediatek chipset along with 2 GB RAM. The handset sports 8 GB internal storage that can be expanded up to 32 GB. It runs Android 5.0 out of the box and is juiced up by a 2900 mAh.
The handset flaunts a 8 MP main shooter and a 5 MP selfie shooter at the front. The stand out feature of this device is the Dolby Atmos sound that churns out a fuller multimedia experience. When listened to on headphones, the sound from the smartphone feels like it’s coming from all the directions. The company claims that the device can optimize all audio content to deliver the Atmos experience.
With an all round feature list, the A7000 has a price tag of Rs. 8,999. The device will be available through flash sales on Flipkart. The registration for the flash sale will begin today at 2PM and will end on the midnight of 14th April. The first sale for the Lenovo A7000 will be held on 15th of April, so if you were waiting for this feature rich affordable device, now is the time to register for it.
Honor has introduced two new phones for the Indian market, the Honor 6 Plus and the Honor 4X. Both these devices have appealing designs and features. We got our hands on the new Honor 4X and here we bring to you our first hands-on experience with the new smartphone.
Honor 4X sports a 5.5 inch HD(720×1280) display with a pixel density of 267 ppi. It is powered by a Snapdragon 410 processor and comes with 2 GB RAM. It has an internal storage of 8 GB which is expandable up to 32 GB. It runs EMUI 3.0 out of the box which is based on Android 4.4.4 KitKat. The device is juiced up by a 3000 mAh battery.
The camera of the Honor 4X is its stand out feature.
The handset features a 13 MP camera on the back which churns out some great images. On the front of the device sits a 5 MP camera for all your selfie needs. It shoots 1080p videos at 30 fps. The camera app is easy to use and offers features like tap to focus, beauty shot, and multiple filters. It lets you change the focus after taking a shot with its All-focus feature. You can also add record a 10 second audio with a photo with the Audio Note feature and also add a watermark which shows the name of the city you are in along with temperature and date.
The device felt good in our hands, though it was a bit slippery. It has a soft touch back panel which is made from Kevlar, the material used for making bullet-proof vests. This back panel is removable, but the battery has been sealed. The SIM card and microSD card slots are placed inside the back panel.
The EMUI running on the Honor 4X is similar to the likes of iOS and MIUI where all the apps are on the home screen, and there is no app drawer. The UI was found to be fast and responsive and offers multiple customization features like themes and transitional animations. The sample video playback felt great, and the colors felt just right and were not overtly saturated.
Overall the Honor 4X seemed like an excellent all-round multimedia device for those on a budget. The device is priced at Rs.10,499 which gets it competing with the likes of Yu Yureka, Redmi Note and even the Moto G. The company has also said that the 15-month extended warranty of the device won’t be void even if you root the device, which is great news for those who like to tinker around with their handsets.
Honor will be offering accessories such as leather cases, headphones and others on Flipkart. The company has announced that its new devices will get monthly OTA updates for the first six months, followed by quarterly updates. You can pre-order the Honor 4X starting today till March 29 midnight. The flash sale will be held on March 30 at 2pm.
The much hyped Honor 6 Plus is finally going to see the light of the day in India. The company will be launching two devices today, one of which, of course, is the Honor 6 Plus. So let’s go on and check out what Honor has in store for all of us.
The Honor 6 Plus offers a Full HD, 5.5 inch display with 401 ppi pixel density. Its processing abilities are handled by an Octa-core, HiSilicon Kirin processor, developed by Huawei. It comes with 3 GB RAM and a massive 36oo mAh battery.
The USP of the Honor 6 Plus is its bionic parallel dual lens camera on the back. It utilizes two 8 MP camera and is said to offer instant focus within 0.1 seconds. The camera also allows for capturing depth information for panoramic images. We had previously seen a dual lens ultrapixel cameras on the HTC One M8 which wasn’t received all that well in the market leading HTC to bring a revamped version called the One M8 Eye. Now we have to wait just a few hours to know if Honor’s iteration of a dual lens camera wins over the efforts by HTC.
Honor has been well received as a brand around the world. According to the company’s statement, it sold 20 million units in 2014 alone. The brand came to India in October last year to similar favorable responses. Now with an identity of its own, Honor will have to take on a plethora of competing brands in India. Let’s see how it tries to win us over. The balls in your court Honor, show us what you got?
Samsung is ready to let its latest flagships, the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge to take on the world. There is a lot of excitement for these two handsets which is evident from the fact that Samsung received record orders of 20 million units within a week of launch. The Korean electronics giant released these new top of the line phones for sale in India today and here is everything you wanted to know about them.
What’s New?
Samsung had faced a lot of flak in the past couple of years for offering uninspired designs and features in its devices. The company considered the criticisms and said that they would be going back to the basics and create a device from scratch. It was called Project Zero and these two new launches of today are the first handsets to come out of Samsung’s initiative.
The New Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge introduces a premium metal and glass based design. Samsung has put great stress on the design aspects of the new handsets, and the elegant one-of-a-kind design of the S6 Edge is the proof of the hard work undertaken at Samsung’s laboratories. The devices offers unique features such as Samsung Pay, which lets you use your phone for card based transactions. They also offer the most pixel intensive Quad HD display with 577 ppi for a unique, eye-popping multimedia experience. and wireless charging and ultra power saving mode for improved convenience.
Samsung has added a security feature called Samsung Knox on these new flagships which basically lets you use the same device for business and personal purposes. The user presses an icon that switches from Personal to Work use with no delay or reboot wait time. Samsung has claimed this feature will be fully compatible with Android and will provide full separation of work and personal data on mobile devices and addresses all major security gaps in Android.
A Flagship Spec-Sheet
Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge definitely have a spec-sheet that would be the envy of all the lower end devices in the market. The two devices are almost identical and differ only in terms of their processor and battery power.The S6 is equipped with 64-bit Exynos octa-core while a peppier 2.5 GHz Exynos octa-core chipset is embedded on to the edgy Galaxy S6. Both the devices are available in 32, 64 and 128 GB storage variants and there are no expandable storage options.
The success of the Galaxy S6 is essential to Samsung. The company has been constantly losing its market share in the smartphone game. The phones have been received well by the critics and its now the turn of the end consumers to give their verdict on Samsung’s latest flagships. If the new design is appreciated by the target audience, Samsung might also attempt at bringing the design features in devices which are lower in the food chain. The Korean giant needs to re-establish its dominance in the lower end of the market, and a design revamp of the entire portfolio with boost in specs would be one way of achieving that goal. The market results of this year might be able to predict the future of the company.
Price and Availability
Samsung will be bringing the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge with all their accessories to India and they will be available for purchase from the 10th of April. The Galaxy S6 is priced at Rs. 49,900 for the 32 GB variant, Rs. 55,900 for the 64 GB and Rs. 61,900 for the 128 GB variant.
The curvy S6 Edge is priced at Rs. 58,900 for the 32 GB variant, Rs, 64,900 for the 64 GB and Rs. 70,900 for the 128 GB variant.. The devices will be available in all the colour variants (White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum) that were showcased during their international launch. The Galaxy S6 will have an additional colour option of Blue Topaz while the S6 Edge will be available in Green Emerald.
Samsung has also offered some goodies for folks who pre-order their new phones before the April 10th release date. The company is offering 10,000 points to the customers in case the price of the device falls. It is also offering free screen replacement warranty for twelve months from the date of purchase.
Check out our exclusive hands-on video from Samsung’s MWC 2015 launch below:
The Chinese smartphone companies have taken the Indian market by storm. Apart from bigshots like Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Lenovo, there are several smaller brand who are trying to woo Indian customers. Now another major Chinese smartphone brand, Meizu is getting ready to try its luck in the brutal landscape of the Indian market.
Meizu is getting ready to bring the M1 Note to India. The company has begun the marketing process for the new smartphone. A Facebook page for Meizu India is now online, and the company is hosting a giveaway on their page. The winner of the first contest will be declared on 21st of March.
The Meizu M1 Note flaunts an impressive spec sheet. It features a 5.5” Full HD display with a pixel density of 408 PPI. The display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The device is powered by a 1.7 Ghz Mediatek octa-core processor along with 2 GB RAM. The handset is juiced up by a 3140 mAh battery. The M1 Note is available in 16 and 32 GB variants. Unfortunately, there is expandability option.
The smartphone is great on the camera front too. It offers a 13MP Samsung camera on the back which is also protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The main camera is capable of taking 30 photos per second. On the front is a 5 MP snapper which offers enhancement features for selfies. The handset runs Flyme 4 UI, which is based on Android 4.4.4.
The phone has visually appealing design features and with aggressive pricing, it can be a hit.
Meizu M1 Note looks good on paper and has received favorable reviews in markets where it has been launched. It is priced at around $160 (Approx Rs.10,000) in China which is a competitive price tag. The lack of expandable storage though would bother potential buyers, and they would have to depend on cloud storage for their excess data storage. The device looks fantastic, and its aggressive pricing will ensure that it will attract a good number of takers in the Indian market.
Microsoft has today launched two new devices for the affordable segment of the Indian smartphone market. The company launched the Lumia 435 and the Lumia 532 here in Indian capital today. Lumia 532 is a dual sim device with a price tag of Rs. 6,499.
Microsoft Lumia 532 has a 4 inch display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and a pixel density of 233 PPI. It gets its processing might from a Quad-core 1.2 GHz, Snapdragon 200 processor along with 1 GB RAM. The internal storage of the device stands at 8 GB and can be expanded through a MicroSD card to up to 128 GB. Apart from that you also get 30 GB of free OneDrive cloud storage.
On the camera front, the device sports a 5 MP camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front. It is juiced up through a 1560 mAh. The device runs on Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 operating system and will receive the upcoming Windows 10 upgrade.
As with its younger sibling the Lumia 435, the company is also offering free 500 MB data connection from Airtel for a duration of 7 months. A 6-month Truecaller premium subscription worth Rs. 360 is also added for free with this device.
Overall, looking at the spec sheet it seems like Microsoft is trying to clear out the inventory of the devices it inherited from Nokia. There is a plus side to these devices too. As Microsoft is working towards creating a unified ecosystem with Windows 10, you can expect easier interaction between your Windows Phone and your Windows 10 based computers. But it does seem like you would have to overlook the competition that offers more features at present for a unified Microsoft ecosystem of the future.
