Tag: specifications

Sony Unveils IMX318 22.5 Megapixel Exmor RS Mobile Camera

Sony today announced a new Exmor R sensor for mobile devices.The sensor will be called the IMX318 and it is the first stacked CMOS sensor with integrated hybrid autofocus and 3-axis electronic image stabilization. The IMX318 is a 1/2.6 type sensor with an effective resolution of 22.5 megapixels. It has a pixel pitch of 1.0 micrometre.

A statement from Sony talking about this launch read,

“The IMX318 boasts a stacked structure and the industry’s smallest unit pixels, which measure 1.0 micrometre in size. With this, the image sensor achieves a compact, type 1/2.6 size suitable for inclusion into smartphones, while still realizing a high resolution of 22.5 effective megapixels, among the top in the industry.”

The sensor is expected to be used in the upcoming Sony Z6, and what’s so exciting about this that it has built in hybrid AF. Sony IMX318 is the first to incorporate this within the sensor’s internal signal processor. The company claims this will result in a focusing time of 0.03 seconds for stills and as fast as 0.017 seconds during 60fps video.

The other major talking point about this sensor is the inclusion of the integrated 3-axis image stabilization. The sensor can correct for pitch, roll, and yaw by taking the input from an external gyro sensor and processing it within its own internal signal processor. This will be more energy efficient as compared to software processing.

February 16, 2016
LG to Unveil Stylus 2 at MWC 2016

LG is gearing up for a busy week ahead it seems. The company had already revealed plans of unveiling the G5 and the new X series mid-range smartphones to the tech world next week at the Mobile World Congress 2016, and now the marketing guys at LG have gone ahead and dropped another bombshell.

The South Korean tech giant has now revealed that a sequel to last year’s G4 Stylus, which will be called the Stylus 2 will also be unveiled at MWC 2016. The Stylus 2 will also come with a pen, but unlike the last iteration, it will come with nano-coated tip instead of the previous rubber-tipped pen. According to LG this will offer increased accuracy.

Specifications of the phone list the Stylus 2 to be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, and sport a 5.7-inch HD display. RAM is 1.5GB, while internal memory is 16GB which will be expandable up to 128GB. The phone will also house a removable 3,000mAh battery which will be great news for users.

On the camera front, the device features a 13MP rear shooter and an 8MP front shooter. Dimensions of the phone are 155 x 79.6 x 7.4mm and it weighs at 145g, the handset will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, and will be available in three colors namely titan, white, and brown. Pricing details were not announced, but LG did reveal that the “Stylus 2 will be exceptionally priced.”

In an official comment, Juno Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said “LG Stylus 2 provides both the big screen and premium notetaking functions of a premium large phone at a price of a mid-tier phone. This device is another example of our commitment to the mass-tier segment where there is so much opportunity for growth and creativity.”

The Stylus 2 will also come with special features aimed at improving user experience. These include Pen Pop and Pen Keeper. Pen Pop “toggles a popup menu when the stylus is removed to offer shortcuts to Pop Memo and Pop Scanner,” Pen Keeper will help prevent the stylus from being misplaced by displaying “a popup message when the phone is detected as being in motion when the stylus bay is empty.”

February 16, 2016
Samsung Galaxy Tab E 7 Press Shots Leak

Reports today suggest that Samsung is working on a 7-inch variant of the Galaxy Tab E. Earlier we had seen specs of a 7-inch Tab E variant leak online, but today press images of the tab have also leaked.

Coming to the internals of the 7-inch monster, the Tab E will come with a 1.3 Ghz 1.3GHz processor, and sport a 720p AMOLED display. On board RAM will be 1.5GB, while internal memory will be 8GB, expandable up to 128GB. The tablet will house a 4,000mAh battery, and run Android 5.1 Lollipop.

Reports suggest that the tablet will come with a plastic body, and will be a budget offering and as such will be expected to retail for around the Rs 10-15k mark.

This tablet which can also be named as Tab A 7.0 could be seen in markets by April-March later this year. The report further states that this upcoming Tab could be seen in two variants, one of them which could feature 4G connectivity.

February 16, 2016
Galaxy Note 6 Leaks Suggest 5.8-inch Display and 6GB RAM

As Samsung prepares to take on the world with its flagship devices this year, this is the latest we have about its phablet Galaxy Note 6.

A Chinese Weibo account has posted some specifications of the Note 6 which mention a 12 MP camera, along with 5.8-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560X1440. Additionally, there is also a mention of 6 GB of RAM. The latter news does not come as a surprise because it was only a couple of months ago when Samsung had announced it 12 GB mobile DRAM chips. This opened the door for 6 GB smartphones in the near future because the 12Gb LPDDR4 enables 3 GB or 6 GB of mobile DRAM in a single package by simply using two chips and four chips respectively.

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

Note 6 will be equipped with an S-pen (who saw that coming?) according to the leak, but there are no updates about the battery-life of the device. Watch this space for all the latest developments.

February 13, 2016
Qualcomm Announces “Snapdragon Wear 2100” for Smart Wearables

Today we saw Qualcomm not just take the lid off it’s upcoming SoCs for mobile phones, but also along with it the company, take the opportunity to unveil its new range of processors for wearables. Qualcomm has aptly named it Snapdragon Wear 2100.

This is rather exciting news for smartwatch makers, and users alike. In the past manufacturers except Apple, and Samsung have had to use low end SoCs meant for mobiles in their wearables which led to improper management of energy, and wastage of scarce battery power.

Qualcomm sensing the need of the market has come out with a fix by introducing the Snapdragon Wear 2100 that is designed with wearables in mind.

The company claims that this dedicated solution will be 30% smaller in physical size than the S400, enabling more compact designs and thinner wearables. It will at the same time be 25% more power efficient than the S400 used in the Moto 360 2nd Gen.

The Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC is a quad-core system with Cortex A7 running at up to 800MHz or 1.2GHz paired with an Adreno 304 GPU and 400MHz LPDDR3.

Qualcomm with the Wear 2100 will also be able to offer an integrated X5 modem for basic cellular connectivity. Two versions of the chip will be provided (Bluetooth/Wi-Fi only), the other – connected, with full 2G/3G/LTE cellular connectivity. The chip also supports NFC and GPS, and comes with Quick Charge 2.0 capabilities.

And just in case more proof was needed about how important this launch is -we have LG’s Wearables branch Vice President David Yoon’s word who indicated that the Korean giant is already working on smartwatches which will be powered by the Snapdragon Wear 2100, and will be launched later this year.

February 12, 2016
Leaks Reveal HTC One M10 Camera Specifications

HTC One M10 is slated to skip a MWC launch in favour of a more sober affair in the coming weeks, making it one of the most anticipated phones to be launched this year. Needless to say, the internet is flooded with leaks and rumours about the phone.

The latest leaks surfacing on the internet are regarding the camera of the phone, which is going to be codenamed “Perfume”. The leaked information suggests, the One M10 will come with a 12-megapixel Sony IMX 377 sensor on the back. It will support laser autofocus as well as phase detection autofocus.

The front camera on the other hand will be a 5MP Samsung s5k4e6 one, which has 1.34µm pixel size – much smaller than the 2µm of the original UltraPixel cameras. This camera will be called UltraPIxel One.

HTC Perfume "UltraPixels":
Main Camera – Sony IMX377 12MP 1.55um + Laser Autofocus + PDAF
Front Camera – Samsung s5k4e6 5MP UltraPixel

— LlabTooFeR (@LlabTooFeR) February 11, 2016

Just to recap, the One M10 will come equipped with a 5.2-inch QHD AMOLED display. The smartphone will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 chipset, paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. A microSD card slot will be available too.

February 12, 2016
Snapdragon Announces Mid/low Range SoCs

Qualcomm has today announced its much awaited mid and low range chipsets for 2016. The Snapdragon 625, 425 and 435 which are slated to come with marked improvements over their predecessors will be more powerful and energy efficient than SoCs from previous years.

These new SoCs which are expected to power handsets around the globe in the coming year support LTE , 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO, dual camera ISPs and the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP for more efficient audio and sensor performance and monitoring. They also support all of Android 6.0 Marshmallow‘s sensor requirements and Quick-Charge technology.

The Snapdragon 625 in particular is an interesting proposition as it is the first chipset from the 600 series to be built using the 14nm process.This chipset comes with eight Cortex-A53 cores to be clocked at over 2Gh. It also comes equipped with an Adreno 506 GPU to take care of graphics intensive tasks.

Qualcomm has also claimed this chipset while being high on performance will still be 35% better than last year’s 617 when it comes to energy efficiency.

February 12, 2016
Samsung Galaxy S7 Gold Images Leaked

Samsung Galaxy S series leaks just don’t seem to be easing up. After the images of the S7 edge in silver making their way to the internet, now new images of the S7 in a gold have surfaced. Thankfully, these images are of the front and back of the phone giving us a fair idea of what the phone will be like from the outside once it’s available for sale.

The phone in the images looks to have curved images on either side of its back while also the camera looks to be protruding slightly.

To recap a bit about the specifications of the phone, the Samsung Galaxy S7 upon launch is expected to to feature a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution, a new 12 MP BRITECELL camera with f/1.7 aperture, and a 5 MP secondary cam. Two SoC configurations are expected. One being a Exynos-based version and the other a Qualcomm-powered model. The battery is expected to be upwards of 3500mAh.

February 10, 2016
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Battery Revealed Through FCC Filing

Though the Galaxy S6 series of phones from Samsung were great devices, they did have their obvious shortcomings. One of the major issues that crippled the S6, and S6 edge was the fact that these phones came with inadequate battery packs. Samsung, as FCC listing reveals plans to fix that with its latest phones.

Samsung in its latest disclosure to the FCC has revealed better battery capacity and the included connectivity features for the S7 and S7 edge. The filing has taken the lid off on what will be a 3600 mAh battery on the S7 edge. This will come as great news for Galaxy S series fans who were disappointed by the inadequate 3000mAh battery provided on the S6 edge.

The specific filing which is for the South Korean version, will come in SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ flavors, and will have LTE, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth and NFC.

This year’s S7 edge is rumoured to come equipped with a microSD slot and waterproofing feature missing from last year’s phone. Additionally, it is also rumoured to come with an Always-On display.

On the specs front, the Galax S7 edge will feature a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display, and will be powered by a Samsung Exynos 8890/Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. It will be paired with 4GB of RAM, and a 12 MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture. A 8 MP selfie camera is expected at the front of the phone. The phone will come in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB.

February 10, 2016
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Live Shots Leaked

It’s hardly a couple of days wait for the official unveiling of the flagship Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones and the Internet has already gone into meltdown mode with leaks and rumours of the much-awaited phones. The latest comes in the form of very believable live shots of the Galaxy S7 edge directly from Vietnam.

These latest shots of the phone show its curved screen front with an instance of Antutu benchmark test running on it seemingly confirming its specifications. The leaked live shots also confirm the S7 edge’s model number as being SM-G935.

According to reports. the Galax S7 edge will come equipped with a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display, and will be powered by a Samsung Exynos 8890/Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. It will be paired with 4GB of RAM, and a 12 MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture. A 8 MP selfie camera is expected at the front of the phone. The phone will come in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB which will be further expandable via a MicroSD card.

Additionaly the phone will come with a larger, 3600 mAh battery, while also being waterproof and dustproof.

February 9, 2016
Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro Specifications Revealed

New leaks have surfaced on the internet regarding the Galaxy A9 Pro which not only provide further proof of its existence but also takes the lid off certain important specifications of the phone.

Latest GFXBench entry of the phone has revealed the phone to come with a 5.5-inch display. This is in conflict with earlier reports that the phone will come with a 6-inch display. This news will come as a surprise as the Galaxy A9 (2016) is already available to Chinese markets coming in at a size of 6-inches. Even the A7(2016) which has recently made its way to Indian markets comes in at 5.5 inches so this news of the phone being equipped with a display of the same size does not sound believable.

Coming to the other specs, the benchmark pegs the phone to come in with a Snapdragon 652 CPU running at 1.8GHz inside a Qualcomm chip. The SoC will be coupled with 4GB RAM for smooth performance. Camera at the back is a 15-megapixel shooter, while the front will be a 7- megapixel shooter. Battery is expected to be a massive 3500 mAh.

There is nothing concrete on the handset as of now, but the way these leaks are coming thick and fast expect the phone to be unveiled sometime in the month or so.

February 8, 2016
HTC Desire 626 Dual-SIM with 4G LTE Support Launches in India

HTC’s newest addition to the smartphone industry Desire 626 launches in India today. The phone has a 5-inch display and resolution of 720 x 1280. Internal storage of 16 GB expandable up to 32 GB with the microSD card, and 2 GB of RAM are some of its other specifications.

Desire 626 is powered by 7 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor, while its Android OS is coupled with HTC Sense. Thought HTC hasn’t specified it yet, we can expect the device to run on Lollipop 5.1.1. The phone has a main camera of 13 MP a BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture, and a front camera of 5 MP, again with BSI sensor. Further, Desire 626 packs a battery of 2,000 mAh.

The handset comes in two colour variants – Blue Lagoon and White Birch and will be available with major retailers for Rs. 14,999 in the coming weeks. Watch this space on all the latest updates on pricing and availability.

February 5, 2016
Xiaomi Mi 5 to Come with 5.7-inch Display and Glass Back

The Chinese tech giant, Xiaomi is all set to unveil its next handset to global audiences on the 24th of this month, and as we near the launch date leaks and rumours regarding the phone are heating up. Details of the SoC on board have already been revealed by the company, but Xiaomi has decided to keep a tight lid on everything else about the handset.

Latest leaked pictures of the phone reveal it to come with a glass back, something that had been widely reported for some time now, but what came as a surprise to us was that the previous leaks failed to reveal that this glass back would have a beautiful pattern running all over it.

A new GFXbench listing though has revealed something not as welcome. According to the report, the Xiaomi Mi 5 will have a 5.7-inch, 1080p display and will be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 820 SoC. This contradicts the 5.5″ and 5.2″ size reports, as well as QHD resolution rumours that have been making rounds for the past couple of days.

The listing pegs the Mi 5 to come with 3GB RAM and 64GB for storage. No other variants are listed. Apart from this, the Xiaomi Mi5 will have a 16MP main shooter with f/2.2 aperture and an 8MP camera on the front. Other expected features include Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with GLONASS, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BDS, OTG and NFC.

February 5, 2016

Samsung Galaxy A5(2016): Hands On

Samsung today unveiled the refreshed models of the budget, Galaxy A5 and A7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Galaxy A5 2016 model is priced at Rs 29,400 in India, and will be available through Samsung’s e-retail partner, Snapdeal, and other offline retailers.

The refreshed A5 features the glass and metal design found on the Samsung Galaxy S6. The A5 (2016) model also comes equipped with a fingerprint scanner. The phone will be available in three color variants gold, black and white.The A5 in terms of design, just like the A7 (click here for A7’s hands on), does look and feel extremely premium.

The Galaxy A5 (2016) comes packing a 5.2 inch Super AMOLED display with full HD resolution. It is powered by an Octa-Core processor clocked at 1.6GHz paired with 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The memory on board is 16 GB which is expandable to 128 GB using a MicroSD card. 4G and Dual – SIM connectivity.

The phone has a 2900 mAh battery. This is a significant bump up from the last generation A5 which came packing only a 2300 mAh pack. To add to this, the A5(2016) also features Fast Charging which is sure to bring smiles on a lot of faces reading this hands on.

The A5 (2016) offers a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. Both the front and rear cameras of the phone come with a f1.9 aperture. The rear camera on the back of the refreshed Galaxy A5 also has an Optical Image Stabilisation feature.

The phone overall is nice. The refreshed A5(2016) does not come with great under the hood specifications. For the price it’s being sold at the return feels inadequate. Full HD display and 2 GB RAM without the capability of capturing 4k Video that even the Rs 10,999 Le 1s comes equipped with only shows the disparity between options in the market and what Samsung is offering here.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Samsung’s Galaxy A5(2016) is still stuck on 5.1.1 and does not come with Android Marshmallow out of the box. But for all its shortcomings what does work in the handset’s favour is the fact that it feels extremely premium when it comes to looks which might help buyers gloss over the hefty price tag that Samsung plans to sell this handset at.

Specification	Galaxy A5(2016)
Display	5.2″ FHD Super AMOLED
Processor	1.6GHz Exynos Octa-Core Processor
RAM	2GB
Front Camera	5.0MP(f1.9)
Rear Camera	13MP (f1.9) AF with LED Flash
Storage	16GB
Expandability	128GB
Battery	2,900 mAh, Fast charging
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC, eSE)
Operating System	Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
Price	Rs. 29,400

February 4, 2016

Samsung Unveils Updated Galaxy A7 and A5 Devices with Metal Bodies

Samsung is back with its updated A-series of devices. Today the Korean giant unveiled its mid-range Galaxy A7 and A5 devices, which feature OIS and fingerprint sensor.

Samsung takes the S6 glass and metal design language forward this year and introduces Galaxy A7 and A5. The updated devices come with a bunch of new features and specs.The A7 sports a 5.5-inch AMOLED FHD screen with 1920 x 1080p resolution and a 1.6 GHz octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB internal storage and 3,300mAh Fast Charging battery.

On the camera front, the A7 features a 13MP primary camera with f/1.9 aperture and OIS. The front camera also features an f/1.9 aperture. The dual-SIM A7 is priced at Rs. 33,400.

The A5 upgrades to 5.2-inch AMOLED FHD screen with 1080p resolution. 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, octa-core processor and bumps the battery to 2,900mAh as well. A5 packs a 13MP primary camera with OIS and a 5MP front camera. This dual-SIM phone is priced at Rs.29,400.

The devices will be available through Snapdeal and offline partners starting 15th February. Both A5 and A7 will have three colours variants -Gold, Black and White. Follow this space for more on Samsung’s A-series launch.

Specification	Galaxy A7	Galaxy A5
Display	5.5″ FHD Super AMOLED	5.2″ FHD Super AMOLED
Processor	1.6GHz Octa-Core Processor	1.6GHz Octa-Core Processor
RAM	3GB	2GB
Front Camera	5.0MP(f1.9)	5.0MP(f1.9)
Rear Camera	13MP(f1.9) AF with LED Flash	13MP (f1.9) AF with LED Flash
Storage	16GB	16GB
Expandability	128GB	128GB
Battery	3,300 mAh, Fast Charging	2,900 mAh, Fast charging
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC, eSE)	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC, eSE)
Operating System	Android 5.1 (Lollipop)	Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
Price	Rs. 33,400	Rs. 29,400

February 4, 2016