This week’s highlights was Google’s new Nexus devices. The Nexus 6P from Huawei and the Nexus 5X from LG. They also announced the new Pixel C tablet.
The LG Nexus 5X could be called as the successor to the Nexus 5 also from LG. It has a 5.2-inch 1080p display, is powered by an Hexa-Core Snapdragon 808 processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). It has a 12.3-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, laser auto focus and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has a fingerprint sensor on the back for secured lock and payments using Android pay. Google is calling it Nexus Imprint, which recognizes a fingerprint in less that 600 milliseconds. It also lets you wake your phone and unlock apps. It has 2GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage without expansion slot and a 2700mAh built-in battery. It also has reversible USB Type-C port.
The Nexus 6P is sort of an update to the Nexus 6 but not quite. The Nexus 6P is made by Huawei while the Nexus 6 was made by Motorola. It has a 5.7-inch Quad HD display at 518 PPI, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). It has a 12.3-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, IR Laser assisted autofocus and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It has anodized aluminium body and is just 7.3mm thick. It also has a fingerprint sensor on the back for secured lock and payments using Android Pay. Google is calling it Nexus Imprint. It comes with 4G LTE support and has dual front-facing speakers. It has 3GB of RAM, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB storage variants without expansion slot and a 3450mAh built-in battery. It also has a reversible USB Type-C port and always-on Google Now feature that works even when the screen is off.
The Google Nexus 5X comes in Carbon Black, Quartz White and Ice Blue colors and is priced at $379 (Rs. 24,980 approx.) for the 16GB version and $429 (Rs. 28,275 approx.) for the 32GB version. The Google Nexus 6P comes in Aluminium, Graphite and Frost White colors and is priced at $499 (Rs. 32,925 approx.) for the 32GB version, $549 (Rs. 36,220 approx.) for the 64GB version and $649 (Rs. 42,820 approx.) for the 128GB version. Both the devices are already available for pre-order in USA, UK, Ireland and japan and will start shipping in October.
The next product that Google announced is the Pixel C tablet. It is the first tablet in the Pixel series and has a 10.2 inch display with 3200×1800 pixels resolution, 500 nits brightness and 16:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by a Nvidia X1 SoC with 256 core Maxwell GPU architecture. It also has 3GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and will come pre-loaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. There is also a magnetic keyboard that is available for the tablet, sold separately. It has the ability to charge inductively and also works as a protective cover for the screen.
The Google Pixel C tablet is priced at $499 (Rs. 32,900 approx.) for the 32GB storage version and $599 (Rs. 39,490 approx.) for the 64GB version. We could expect them around the holiday season ie in December but no exact date has been provided by Google.
Finally, Google also announced the new Chromecast 2015 as well as a new Chromecast for audio. The new Chromecast still retains the same name without the 2 in its moniker. It receives support for Dual band Wi-Fi as well as 802.11 ac standard. It has a fresh new design that is available in different colours and costs 35US$. It is currently available in 17 countries and will expand to other regions as well. Chromecast Audio has pretty much the same design and WiFi capabilities but instead of the HDMI cable, it comes with a standard 3.5mm audio jack, RCA as well as optical inputs. It is priced the same as the regular Chromecast and is available in the same countries as well.
Next up in line is LG who announced the V10 at an event in New York on October 1st. The V10 is a 5.7″ phablet with a 1440p display. It is quite powerful as it is powered by the hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor and has 4GB of RAM. But it has two unique features that set it apart from most other smartphones. The first is a secondary ticker display above the main display. It is an IPS Quantum display that is 2.1 inches in size and has a resolution of 160×1040 pixels. It is capable of display shortcuts, icons and relevant information with the main screen off or on. The second feature is located to the left of the ticker display. It is a front facing camera system that is made up of 2 5 Megapixel units that has 80 degrees of view in standard angle and 120 degrees in wide angle.
The main camera is a 16 Megapixel unit with OIS 2.0, f1.8 aperture, Laser AF and LED flash. Other than that the device has a 3000 mAH removable battery which supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 as well as support for 4G LTE. It will be released later this month in Korea followed by United States, China and key countries in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East however we don’t have any information regarding its pricing yet.
LG also announced the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition which became the first LTE smartphone to be powered by Android Wear. The display is the same 1.38 inches in size but has a higher 348 PPI display compared to the 245 PPI of the original. The watch will work on both Android and iOS. It has 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory and is powered by a Snapdragon 400 processor. The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition comes in Space Black, Opal Blue, Luxe White and Signature Brown colors and will go on sale first in the United States and Korea, followed by other markets in Europe, CIS, Asia and the Middle East.
HTC went ahead and announced the Butterfly 3. It has a 5.2-inch Quad HD display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 810 SoC, has a 20-megapixel rear camera, secondary rear camera for depth information and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has IPX7 ratings for dust and water resistance. The HTC Butterfly 3 comes in white, carmine (red) and midnight blue colors, is priced at NT$ 19,900 (US$ 600 / Rs. 39,740 approx.) and will be available exclusively in Taiwan starting from October 20th.
HTC also announced an “updated” version of the One M9+ which is known as the Aurora Edition. The One M9+ that was announced back in April and launched in India the same month has a 20.7MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, 27.8mm lens and a secondary depth sensing camera, the new One M9+ Aurora Edition has a 21MP camera with 26.7mm lens, f/2.2 aperture and the secondary camera has been replaced by Laser Auto Focus for faster focus. It also has phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) that further improves the camera’s focus and also includes Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).
Other specifications remain the same as the original One M9+, including a 5.2-inch Quad HD screen, 2.2GHz Octa-Core MediaTek Helio X10 64-bit processor, fingerprint sensor with multi-directional touch-based sensors, 3GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage with expansion slot and a 2840mAh built-in battery. It’ll be available in Gold, Grey, Silver and Black colours and is priced at NT $ 20,900 ( US$ 630 / Rs. 41,750 approx.). It will be available in Taiwan starting from October 15th. No details regarding global availability were revealed.
GoPro announced the new Hero+ action camera that costs US$ 199.99. It offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support over the other features that the basic Hero had. The camera will be available from October 4th onwards and GoPro also announced a US$100 price cut for the Hero 4 Session which will be available for US$ 299.99.
Coming to the launches, Intex launched the Aqua Ace, a 5 inch 720p smartphone with an octa-core Mediatek chipset, 3GB of RAM and 4G LTE support for Rs 12,999. The smartphone has a 13 Megapixel camera at the back, a 5 Megapixel camera at the front as well as a design that is quite similar to the Micromax Canvas Sliver 5 smartphone.
They also launched a new powerbank called the PB11K which has a capacity of 11000mAH. Interestingly, the device has not one, not two but 3 USB ports, two of which support 2A and one has 1A output. It is available at a price of Rs 1099.
Micromax launched the Bolt Q339 which is a budget handset that supports 3G (Dual-SIM) at Rs 3499. It has 4.5-inch FWVGA screen, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, runs on Android 4.4, has a 5-megapixel fixed-focus rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Videocon launched two new smartphones in the Infinium series – the Infinium Z51Q Star and the Z51 Punch. Both the devices pack 5 inch screens with 854×480 pixels resolution, quad-core processors, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory and microSD card slots that support cards upto 32GB.
The main differences lie in the device’s cameras and the battery capacities. The Z51Q Star has a 5 Megapixel rear camera, a 2 Megapixel front facing camera along with a 2000mAH battery. The Z51 Punch has an 8 Megapixel camera at the back, a 5 Megapixel front facing camera and a 3000 mAH battery. The Videocon Infinium Z51Q Star comes in Black color and is priced at Rs. 5,490. The Videocon Infinium Z51 Punch comes in black and grey colors and is priced at Rs. 5,999.
vivo launched 3 new handsets in India. The Y27L costs Rs12,980 and the Y15S costs around Rs 6,000. However, there is no pricing yet for the Y31. The Y27L has a 4.7-inch HD screen and is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 410 SoC and supports 4G LTE. The vivo Y15S has a 4.5-inch FWVGA and the vivo Y31 packs a 4.7-inch HD display. Both the handsets have 3G connectivity. All three phones have 1GB of RAM and support DualSIMs.
iBall launched the Cobalt Solus 4G which as the name suggests supports 4G LTE for both Band 3 FDD-LTE 1800MHz and FDD-LTE 2300 MHz. It has a 5 inch 720p IPS display, a quad-core Cortex A53 powered processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot. The phone runs on Android Lollipop 5.1 and supports Dual SIMs. There is a 13 Megapixel camera at the back with LED flash and an 8 Megapixel camera at the front. The iBall Cobalt Solus 4G comes in White and Blue colors and is priced at Rs. 11,999.
Skullcandy launched two new audio products in India – the in ear STRUM earphones and the HESH wireless headphones. The Skullcandy HESH 2 Wireless headphones are priced at Rs. 8,499 MRP ( Rs. 7,224 MOP) and the Skullcandy STRUM in-ear earphones are priced at Rs. 3,699 MRP ( Rs. 3,144 MOP). Both the headsets come in a wide variety of colours and patterns to satisfy everyone’s needs.