Tag: smartphone

Samsung Announces 6 GB RAM for Phones

Samsung has proved its presence cannot be ignored in the tech world irrespective of the ruckus being kicked up around it. Following the news of the new iPhones, the company made an announcement in a press release last night about its 12 GB mobile DRAM chips. This has just opened the door for 6 GB smartphones in the near future because the 12Gb LPDDR4 enables 3 GB or 6GB of mobile DRAM in a single package by simply using two chips and four chips respectively.

Samsung says that “compared to the preceding 20nm-based 8Gb LPDDR4, the 12Gb version is more than 30% faster at 4,266Mbps, and is twice as fast as DDR4 DRAM for PCs, while consuming 20 percent less energy.” It goes on to comment that these chips won’t be confined to just phones but hopefully would be available for “ultra-slim PCs, digital appliances and automotive device,” as well. One of the advantages of having a high RAM is that it makes multi-tasking on the device incredibly smooth.

Currently, even the fanciest of Samsung phones do not go beyond 4 GB of RAM. However, a 6 GB phone sometime next year shouldn’t come as a surprise now that the official announcement about the technology has been made.

September 10, 2015
Amazon Kills off the Fire Phone

While the world was glued to the launch of Apple’s new smartphones, Amazon quietly killed off its own. The Fire Phone was released last year and has since then fared poorly in the market. The phone was the first and only smartphone launched by Amazon, and the company has no plans on bringing it back.

According to the Amazon website, the phone is currently unavailable and “we don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock”. An Amazon spokesperson told Fortune that “we sold through our inventory of the Fire phone in the U.S. and globally, and we do not plan to replenish stock at this time,”

The plan to discontinue the device comes as no surprise as the phone failed to make a dent in the already crowded smartphone market. One of the main reasons for its failure was designing the phone in a way as to only suit Amazon’s own services, with limited apps and more focus on Amazon shopping.

However, the company will continue to provide support and service for existing Fire Phone users. It seems Amazon’s next move is to focus on the $50 tablet that they plan to launch later this year.

September 10, 2015

Hands On with the New YU Yunique

Yu has released its new offering called the Yunique, and we have all the details.

Firstly, let us go through the specifications briefly. The phone features a 4.7 inch display along with a 1280 X 720 pixels, 312ppi resolution. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragn 410 processor with a 1.2 GHz chipset and an Adreno A306 GPU. Storage wise, it offers 8GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM, while on the camera front there is an 8MP f/2.0 lens primary camera and a 2MP front camera.

Here’s look at its specs:

Features	Yu Yunique
Display	4.7 inch display, IPS HD
Resolution	1280 X 720 pixels, 312ppi
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragn 410 processor, 1.2 GHz
GPU	Adreno A306
OS	Android 5.1
Rear camera	8MP, f/2.0 lens
Front Camera	2MP
RAM	1GB
Internal Memory	8GB
Expandability	32GB
Video	Full HD 1080p at 30fps
Connectivity	Wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 & 4G/LTE
Battery	2000mAh
Price	Rs.4,999

The phone even allows you to record videos with full HD 1080p at 30fps and comes with other connectivity options such as – Wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 & 4G/LTE. The entire phone is charged by a 2000mAh battery.

Now coming to the display, design and other internal aspects of the phone we can see that the exterior of the phone is made out of a rubbery plastic material which perhaps won’t slip out of your hand so easily.

While the UI is fully stock Android. Therefore, this phone barely has an bloatware or tweaks, thereby increasing the storage capacity of the phone overall.

However, they have added a special browser of their own, thought this should not be much of a problem.

In our initial impressions of the smartphone, the interface is pretty fast and responsive. However, we will have to check it out in detail to give you our final verdict.

One more interesting thing about this phone that you need to know before watching our video, is that you also have an option to run it on the Cyanogen OS 12.1, if you want to.

Full gallery:

September 8, 2015

Xiaomi Expected To Unveil Mi 4c On September 24th, 2015

Xiaomi is a rising star, as they capture smartphone users with their affordable prices and high-end specs. New reports on Xiaomi’s Weibo page apparently suggests that it will be releasing a new handset under the Mi 4 line up, called the Mi 4c. This smartphone is expected to be revealed on the 24^th of September 2015 and will launch on the 3^rd of October 2015.

Xiamo has further announced that they will be producing 1 million devices for the first go. They will be releasing two variants – 16GB with 2GB RAM and 32GB with 3GB RAM. If rumours and leaks are to be believed, then their new devices might sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset.

The 16GB version of the Mi 4c is rumoured to be priced at approximately Rs.15,300 while the 32GB version could be priced at around Rs.20,000. Apart from this, the company has not officially released anything about its new flagship phones, however, speculated opinions suggest that it might launch its next flagship around the first quarter of 2016.

September 8, 2015
Moto X Force to be the Official Name of Motorola ‘Bounce’

Motorola has outed the name of its newest smartphone -Moto X Force. Yes, boys and girls, that’s going to be the name of the phone we until very recently were referring to as ‘Bounce’. Along with the official name, we also have a leaked image of the device soon to be made available for retail.

Leaked image of the new Moto X Force. Source: @upleaks

It has been tagged as “shatterproof” by Motorola thereby suggesting a military MIL-STD rating of some sort. Being water and dust resistant through an IP factor is one of the other features it is equipped with. The smartphone boasts of Snapdragon 810 chip from Qualcomm, 3GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of storage, as well as a 3,760 mAh battery, which, let us remind you, is bigger than that of the Moto X Play. The screen will be of a 5.43-inch QHD kind, and the rear camera will be the same 21 MP as in the other two Moto X-branded devices launched earlier this year. All these features along with a 5 MP front camera to go with it all, is what Moto X has to offer.

Source :[tw-button size=”medium” background=” #07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”https://twitter.com/upleaks/status/638914880838328320″]UPleaks[/tw-button]

September 3, 2015
Check Out the OnePlus 2 at Your Closest Airtel Store

Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”), a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has launched a new venture with OnePlus. OnePlus is a rapidly growing technology start-up which is now beginning to make its presence felt in over 35 countries. It’s new smartphone OnePlus 2 would now be available for retail in over 50 Airtel stores in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.

The new smartphone by OnePlus is an ‘online only’ gadget which makes it unavailable for sale in stores. This first-of-its-kind-partnership with Airtel therefore, would allow you to take a look at it, at a store near you.

Additionally, the customers who upgrade to 4G on their existing SIMs or get a new 4G connection would stand to get an invite to OnePlus 2 with which which they can buy this new smartphone.

Only Airtel stores in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai will offer this deal to begin with. But take heart if you’re located elsewhere for Airtel promises to make it available in its stores in other 4G enabled cities soon. For more details about this partnership as well as the list of stores offering these deals, log on to www.airtel.in/oneplus2.

OnePlus has had a reputation of customer satisfaction in the past, and Airtel has maintained a consistently stable position over the years. The partnership of these two names can thus be expected to take care of the expectations of the Indian market.

September 3, 2015
Karbonn Gives India the Titanium S200 HD at Just Rs. 4999

Doing a big favour to tiny Indian pockets is Karbonn’s newest smartphone, the Titanium S200 HD priced at a heart-warming Rs. 4999. The gadget comes equipped with an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with dual-LED flash, and a 3.2-megapixel front-facing camera. In addition to this, the smartphone is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Speadtrum SPC7731 processor combined with 1GB of RAM.

The dual-SIM Karbonn Titanium S200 HD has Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box and features a 5-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) IPS display. The gadget also boasts of a handset of 8GB of built-in storage which is further expandable via a microSD card (up to 32GB).

Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, FM Radio, GPRS/ EDGE, Bluetooth, and Micro-USB. The smartphone is backed by a battery rated to deliver up to 9 hours of talk time on 3G and 650 hours of standby time. Launched in an exclusive partnership with Snapdeal, the smartphone is available at a price of Rs.4999 on the website along with a free protective case.

September 1, 2015
Leaked: Motorola Bounce, The Newest Moto On the Block

Motorola has taken its previous Moto X Style a step ahead with its latest addition to the tech industry. Codenamed Moto Bounce, this new gadget offers a 5.43-inch QHD (1440×2560 pixels) resolution display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, 3GB of RAM and Adreno 430 GPU are some of its other interesting features.

If this wasn’t enough, a 5-megapixel front-camera is coupled with a 21 megapixel rear camera. The Bounce further blows away your mind with an in-built storage of 32GB and 64GB.The gadget is swanky enough to also boast of a 3,760mAh battery capacity. If speculations are to be believed, this would make it one of the´high capacity smartphone batteries in the market.

The tweet which shared the image @upleaks on Twitter also tagged Bounce as “shatterproof”, indicating an MIL-STD rating. Slated for release in December this year, this little gizmo is inarguably one of the most anticipated releases of the year.

Source:[tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_self” link=”http://phandroid.com/2015/08/31/motorola-droid-turbo-2-bounce-leaked-render-hardware-specs/”]UP Leaks[/tw-button]

September 1, 2015

Former Apple CEO Reveals Two New Affordable Android Smartphones

The OBI Worldphone, designed by San Francisco based product studio Ammunition, have introduced two high-quality smartphones – the SF1 and the SJ1.5, both priced at a reasonable rate for buyers in Asia, Africa and Middle East. OBI Worldphone is brand new company founded by (former Apple CEO) John Sculley and Robert Brunner.

The SF1 is a 4G/LTE smartphone featuring exceptional photography and audio capabilities. It has a 5 inch Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and comes with a “fiberglass body and metal accents at the top and bottom of the phone.” It also supports a long-life, quick-charge battery, and a dual SIM slot with micro secure digital (SD) expansion. The price quoted for this device is $199 that is approximately Rs.13,135 with a 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory. However, there is a second variant of this phone that comes at $249, which is approximately Rs.16,444 and comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory.

The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and comes with a 13MP camera with a Sony IMX214 Exmor sensor. The camera also supports a Qualcomm ChromaFlash camera feature to click two photos – one with flash, one without. After taking the picture you can select your focus through the Qualcomm UbiFocus camera feature. Even after that you can zoom in using the Qualcomm OptiZoom camera feature. So, you see how this phone is more of a camera than a smartphone? Nowadays a phone is judged by how intense their camera is, not communications or network or anything like that.

Anyway, they also have Dolby Audio which, according to the company, delivers some ” powerful and crystal clear surround sound though the device speakers and with headphones”. Luckily in case you’ve forgotten that this is also supposed to be a phone, it even features the Qualcomm Quick Charge 1.0 power management technology and runs on the Google Android Lollipop.

Here are the specifications of the erm..phone/camera/music player:

Features	SF1
Aesthetics	Unibody with metallic accents and floating (“raised “) glass display
OS	Android OS version 5.0.2 Lollipop
Processor	Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 with1.5 GHz Octa Core
GPU	Adreno 405 GPU
Display	5-inch full, high-definition in-cell, (1080×1920 pixels), 443 ppi
Primary Camera	13 megapixels, automatic focus with LED flash with Sony IMX214 Exmor sensor, f/2.0 aperture with Geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, and high dynamic range (HDR). Video 1080p@30fps. UbiFocus, Chroma Flash and OptiZoom
Secondary Camera	5 megapixels with LED flash
Memory	3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage, expandable up to an additional 64 GB with micro SD. Also available in 2GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage expandable up to an additional 64 GB with micro SD
Communication	Easy-access, dual SIM (Micro and Nano), Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual band, Wi-Fi direct. Bluetooth – v4.0, A2DP. GPS – A-GPS/ GLONASS. USB – microSB v2.0
Sound	Dolby Audio with 7.1 discrete channels of high-fidelity surround sound. Dual microphone for noise-cancellation
Network	GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/HSPA+/4G/LTE
Cover Glass	Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Battery	Quick-charge, 3,000mAh Li-Po
Price	$199 USD for 16 GB/2GB version, and $249 USD for 32 GB/3GB version

Here are the specs for the SJ1.5

Features	SJ1.5
OS	Android OS version 5.1 Lollipop
Processor	MediaTek MT6580, 1.3GHz Quad Core processor
Display	5” high-definition (720 x 1280 pixels), IPS full lamination screen
Memory	1 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage; expandable up to an additional 32 GB with micro SD
Primary Camera	8 megapixels, automatic focus OV8865 sensor and flash. f/2.2 aperture
Secondary Camera	5 megapixels, f/2.2 aperture
Communication	Easy-access, dual SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, GPS and micro USB 2.0
Networks	GSM/HSPA/3G
Cover Glass	Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Battery	3,000 mAh Li-Po
Price	$129 USD

August 27, 2015

Another Major Chinese Smartphone Manufacturer to Enter India

Meet ZOPO, a new Chinese smartphone company, that is planning to launch a phone called ZOPO Speed 7 in India on the 26th of August 2015. They have currently partnered with Advantage Computers India Pvt. Ltd. (ADCOM) to be their Indian distributor. The ZOPO Speed 7 will be sold online through an exclusive retailer and also through offline stores in India.

The phone is said to come with a 5 inch display and 1080 X 1920 pixels resolution along with a full HD view. It is powered by a 1.5GHz Octa-Core 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 processor with Mali-T720 GPU and a 3GB RAM. It has 16GB of internal memory which is expandable up to 64GB with the help of a microSD slot.

It is also run by the Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and connectivity features include a dual-SIM, 4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The ZOPO 7 Speed comes with a 13.2MP rear camera with LED Flash and a 5MP front camera.

The dimensions of this phone are 146.1×70.6 x8.65mm and weight – 150g. The phone comes with a battery life of up to 2500mAh. It also comes in two colours – Black and White. You can buy the phone on Snapdeal from the 26th of August 2015, at Rs. 12,999.

However, the import of so many Chinese smartphones into India – Meizu, Xiaomi, OnePlus etc, providing high end services at lower rates, is really increasing the competition between Indian companies to step it up. We saw Micromax’s move of starting the Yu Yureka line up of devices to compete with the Chinese companies.

So should we allow the Chinese companies to export their products to India, or should we empower our own companies by boycotting the Chinese devices? Or should the Indian companies just stop whining and step it up? Feel free to leave your comments below.

August 24, 2015
Gartner: China Smartphone Sales Drop In the Second Quarter

New reports suggest that smartphone sales in China have fallen for the first time in their second quarter. This report come as a surprise, since China is the world’s biggest market for smartphones.

Sales had dropped by 4 percent making it the first year-over-year fall said Gartner Inc, a market research company.

“China has reached saturation — its phone market is essentially driven by replacement, with fewer first-time buyers,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.

They also said that the worldwide smartphones sales grew at the slowest pace since 2013, with China accounting for 30 percent of the total smartphones sales during this second quarter.

However, Apple’s smartphone sales rose to 14.6 percent from 12.2 percent, a year earlier. In fact, the iPhone sale in China rose by 68 percent to 11.9 million units. These numbers are attributed to Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Samsung is also said to have suffered a fall to 21.9 percent from 26.2 percent, despite the introduction of the S6 models.

Huawei on the other hand, reported the highest sales growth rate at 46.3 percent due to strong international sales and 4G smartphone sales in China. So, let’s hope that China’s smartphones that have taken India by storm, positively impact China too.

August 21, 2015
Asus All Set To Launch Its New Smartphone and Smartwatch at IFA 2015

Reports suggest that Asus will now launch a new smartwatch and a new smartphone at a press conference on the 2nd of September at IFA-Berlin 2015.

Asus has posted a video on their official Facebook page that shows new products, like a new monitor, a new smartphone and a new smartwatch. Reports suggest that the smartphone could be the ‘Z00TDA’ handset which is said to come with a 5.5-inch FHD display of 410ppi pixel density, an octa-core chipset paired with 2GB of RAM, and 16GB internal storage with support for a microSD card. This new device is also rumoured to be powered by the Android Lollipop and will come with 4G LTE connectivity and 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel camera sensors.

Apart from Asus, Samsung is also planning to launch its smartwatch Gear S2 while Sony gets ready to launch its next flagship smartphones – the Xperia Z5 and the Xperia Z5 Ultra. Other companies such as Huawei, Microsoft and Acer are also expected to launch products at this event. So watch this space for more details on the IFA-Berlin 2015 and more.

Watch the official Asus video here.

August 20, 2015
Google Ventures’ New Startup Netbit Set To Launch a Smartphone in Early September

Netbit, initially a software firm, started by ex-Google and HTC employees is now aspiring to unveil a premium smartphone on the 1st of September 2015. This company is backed by Google Ventures and is headed by Tom Moss and Mike Chan, ex-Google employees who were part of the core-Android team at Google. The design chief of Netbit is an ex-HTC employee named Scott Croyle, who was an important part of the industrial design team behind the HTC One and the M8.

This startup aims to create a smartphone priced between $300 to $400, which is approximately between Rs.20,000 to 26,000. Reports suggest that it is looking to offer a phone that will gradually improve over time by adding cloud storage that immediately offers the user a limitless storage system.

The company is also planning on changing, or perhaps tweaking the Android core a little bit, in order to offer better experience. The phone will be compatible with all Google Apps and as of now, all we can do is wait and see whether this American startup does as well as other Chinese startups such as, the currently trending OnePlus and Xiaomi.

August 12, 2015
Xiaomi Set To Open Offline Stores In India By Early 2016

Xiaomi usually sells its devices online, directly to their consumers via online market places and hence save a lot on marketing expenses. However, the Chinese smartphone company has now decided to start selling via offline stores in India.

“We are experimenting with a new sales channel and getting into general trade to increase our reach and to make our products available more easily,” Jain said.

The company had previously entered a partnership with Flipkart and then eventually launched its own online portal – Mi.com. But now, with offline stores in India, it is eying a bigger share in the smartphone industry’s market shares.

Xiaomi is said to be tying up with Redington (India) Ltd., a cellphone distributor in India, while also working on a commission-based model. However, further reports don’t suggest anything apart from this, and Xiaomi might also be working with multiple partners.

The offline sales are to open in thousand to fifteen hundred stores in fifteen south Indian cities – Chennai, Bengaluru, Mysore, and Visakhapatnam being a few. The first phase of offline sales is said to go live in the next 45 to 60 days, and will eventually be available all over India by early 2016.

Manu Jain, India operations head at Xiaomi, has said, that although the cost of doing an offline business is higher, the margins should not be affected too much. He also added that they would not pass on the cost to the consumers and expect sales in India to contribute to over twenty five to thirty percent of the overall numbers.

With this project in tow, reports also suggest that Xiaomi is in talks with a Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn to make its smartphones in India as well as to introduce air purifiers and televisions here.

August 8, 2015
LG’s New Flip Phone Comes With Android Lollipop and 4G Connectivity

We mentioned earlier that LG may come out with a smartphone that caters to that sect of customers that still appreciate the good old flip phones. Well, now it’s official. LG has launched a flip phone called the Wine Smart that will cater to a global audience.

“Our goal with LG Wine Smart was to create a smartphone that fans of flip phones could embrace. Consumers shouldn’t have to miss out on the smartphone revolution because they prefer a particular phone design over another. With LG Wine Smart, they won’t have to.”

This phone will not just release in its home market, South Korea, but also in select nations like France, Italy, Poland, Spain and Japan, followed by other regions. The pricing and availability of this phone is yet to be announced by the company and will be done at the time of launch.

LG Wine Smart has the same features as the LG Gentle as shown in the picture above

The Wine Smart is a sort of upgrade to the previous LG Gentle and it is also better compared to the phone that the Korean company released last year, under the same name. The company stated:

“Thanks to the positive response to the original Wine Smart introduced in Korea last year, LG optimised the latest model with more advanced multimedia features to make the transition from feature phone to smartphone as seamless as possible.”

Specifications wise, the new LG Wine Smart has the same features and specs as that of the LG Gentle that had released last month. The LG Wine Smart smartphone features a single 3.2-inch LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 320×480 pixels. This means it doesn’t have the front half screen that most flip phones are spotted with. It runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop and the flip phone is powered by a 1.1GHz quad-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM. It also has 4GB of inbuilt storage along with an expandable storage via microSD card.

The phone sports a 3-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, while also including a 0.3-megapixel front camera. It has a removable battery of 1700mAh. Apart from 4G LTE, the LG Wine Smart includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, and 3G connectivity options. It measures 117.7×58.7×16.6mm and weighs 143 grams.

What one can look forward to is the fact that the Wine Smart will come in two colours; Wine (Burgundy) and Navy Blue. The second thing that might either strike you or put you off, in an era of touch screens is that the flip phone features a T9 keyboard that will bring back good memories or perhaps frustrating ones. Lastly, the phone sports a leather-like finish on the rear panel.

The specs for the LG Wine Smart are as follows:

Display 3.2-inch

Processor 1.1GHz

Front Camera 0.3-MP

Rear Camera 3MP

Resolution 320×480 pixels

RAM 1GB

OS Android 5.1.1

Storage 4GB

Battery capacity 1700mAh

August 5, 2015

Display	3.2-inch
Processor	1.1GHz
Front Camera	0.3-MP
Rear Camera	3MP
Resolution	320×480 pixels
RAM	1GB
OS	Android 5.1.1
Storage	4GB
Battery capacity	1700mAh