Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Hands on with the HTC One M8 Dot View Case

Accessories have always been key part of the buying experience, especially since the advent of the predominantly touch screen phones. It’s almost a necessity that one cover up their pricey phone to prevent damage. Companies took advantage of this and offered unique solutions as cases to differentiate themselves, like for example Samsung’s “Flip cover” or later, the S-View cover, had a magnetic flap that was attached to the whole back cover and also had a window to display at a glance information. While that was mimicked by LG for its own flagship device using the Quick Window cover, the other flagship maker, HTC, has taken a different route this time. The One M8, unlike the M7, is smoother and more slippery, mandating a requirement for a case this time, and HTC has one, called the Dot View case. Sporting a dotted front made of silicon and a more grippy plastic back, the One M8 also gains a new “Dot view” mode that makes at-a-glance interaction really interesting. Find out how it works, in our video here –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg2GeU4XHTA

Read the HTC One M8 Review here

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ASUS Zenfone 5 Unboxing

ASUS, the Taiwanese manufacturer, has been in the Android race for quite a while now, at times, experimenting with form factors and convergence. Niche markets aside, like any other company, ASUS also caters to the mass market crowd which just wants to pick up a smartphone. Along those lines, the company revealed three devices, with various screen sizes, ranging from 4 to 6 inches in screen sizes, but with identical user experience. These devices under the “Zenfone” range were announced way back in January during CES, but are only starting to appear in the retail market. We bought one off from a Taipei market, and here is our unboxing video to show the device off, to you –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmZXR3xodT4

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Goqii Fitness Band Unboxing

The “internet of things” revolution is only getting started, but there are so many fitness bands out there already. Fitbits, Fuelbands, Smartbands and so on have flooded the market so it’s up to the makers to differentiate themselves in unique ways, which the makers of Goqii have exactly done. Goqii is not just a Fitness band, it’s also a service, which provide expert advice and even a personal trainer, if needed. There is also the usual gamification of fitness, but this time using “Karma” you can actually donate money to charities. These additional services and features are the Goqii’s USPs, so if you are a prospective buyer, what do you get in the box? Let our unboxing video answer that for you –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAaztPkAWq4

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Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM Review: Missed Opportunity

Nokia’s devices and services division, now officially part of Microsoft, unveiled the Lumia 630 Windows Phone at their developer conference at San Francisco. This low end Windows Phone, which will cater to the budget customer, has a number of firsts and even a last, in terms of features. It is the first Windows Phone 8.1 device to be launched into the market, it is the first Dual SIM Windows Phone, it is the first Windows Phone with a quad core Snapdragon 400 chip and also the first one to support on-screen navigation buttons. But, having launched before April 25th, this, along with the Lumia 930, will be the last Windows Phones with a “Nokia” brand on them. Sporting a price tag of Rs. 11,500, the successor to the yesteryear Lumia 620 sports a bigger screen, with roughly the same resolution, undercuts it by a couple of thousands, but loses the LED flash and goes for a cheaper bill of materials (referred to as BoM from here on) generally. With the RAM staying at 512 MB, does the Lumia 630 Dual SIM Windows Phone strike a good balance between price and specifications in this crucial segment? Lets find out in our full review.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixmnsH_1sQI

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Nokia Lumia 630 Camera Samples

The Lumia 630 Dual SIM from Nokia is one of the first devices to be launched with Windows Phone 8.1 out of the box, and of course, with a Dual SIM setup. It is a direct successor to the Lumia 620, but takes a different route in terms of the pricing strategy, moving closer to the Lumia 520 rather than the 620. Priced at Rs. 11,500, the device comes with a 5 megapixel camera, but without a LED flash or a secondary microphone to support it. Nokia have clearly gone for price conscious sourcing here, but will the performance beat our expectations? Here is our camera review that will answer this question, but skip past the video to find the full resolution samples.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxweFjx_b3w

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5 completely new iOS 8 Developer features that will matter to us end users

To much applause, Apple’s CEO unveiled their latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, at the WWDC event in San Francisco yesterday. It’s easily one of the biggest iOS releases ever, but this time, rather than having a bucket load of new end user features, Apple has instead focused on tons of developer features. Most of these features are usually invisible to the end user, and make an impact only when widely utilized by developers. But there are some iOS 8 developer features that already show potential, in terms of prospective apps and functionality for the us, the end users. So we have picked out 5 completely new ones, which, we think, will matter to us, when iOS 8 lands on our iPhones.

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Apple iOS 8’s Handoff lets you handle calls and SMS on the iPad and Mac

As a part of the new “continuity” push on all of Apple’s devices and services, the Cupertino company announced a really nifty feature called “Handoff”. In pure cellular technology terms, this word is used to denote the transfer of a signal from one cell to another. Similarly, the iOS devices will be able to “Handoff” information from one form factor to the other, all thanks to intervention of the cloud and advanced local network features. While you can already accomplish some of these things, like synced notes and reminders, Apple has taken it further by not only including third party support, but also support for voice calls and imessages. Yes, you can now take calls and reply to SMSes or iMessages from your iPad running iOS 8 or even your Mac, running OS X Yosemite.

Read about Apple’s iOS 8 here

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Windows Phone 8.1’s official file manager finds its way to the store

Back when Joe Belfiore took part in an AMA on Reddit, for Windows Phone 8.1, he revealed that Microsoft had an official File Manager app ready and it will be coming soon. That day has arrived, as the “Files” app has made its way on to the store. With the new WinRT APIs for 8.1, Microsoft had enabled the file picker and file access for third party apps, and it was only about time that they made a first party app too. This should have been released along with the operating system, but hey, at least we get full file management on Windows Phone now. Grab it from the link below, from the Windows Phone Store –

“Files” for Windows Phone

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HTC One (M8) Review: One Up

HTC, the Taiwanese manufacturer, has been making smartphones for ages, but a definite breakthrough occurred when the company released the world’s first ever commercial Android handset, the Dream G1. A lot has happened since then, and the journey has been peppered with noteworthy products, especially the flagship “One” series. The One X started it all, as it was the first flagship that could truly stand out from the crowd. Sporting a brilliant 720p display, the One X had great design, build quality and general appeal. HTC continued this trend with last year’s One that won accolades for its slick design and build quality, and of course, a brilliant display. The software too had gone through various iterations under the Sense brand, and we are now at a point where all of it culminated into the company’s latest flagship, the HTC One M8.

Announced at an event in New York, the HTC One (M8) arrived in India not too long ago, which was an encouraging sign. Commanding a starting price of Rs. 49,990, the HTC One (M8) aims to offer the best of everything, with a slightly updated design, a larger screen and a new camera set up, while retaining all the goodness its predecessor was famous for, like for example, the HTC Boomsound. So, is the One (M8) the best HTC device yet? Can it be the flagship device you deserve? Let’s find out in our in-depth review.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6r1pfsd5_I

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HTC Desire 816 Dual SIM Unboxing and First Impressions

HTC’s Desire 816 is the company’s bold bet in the mid range phablet segment, where it has literally been non-existent so far. The 5.5 inch device with a 720p screen was launched along with the HTC One M8 in India, but it has reached the retail only now, but for an attractive price of Rs. 23,990. Competing with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 and the Sony Xperia T2 Dual, the Desire 816 strikes a good balance between specifications and price, which is what the segment exactly wants. We weren’t able to get a complete look at the 816 when it launched at the MWC, mainly because it had the same Sense experience on the software side, but we have finally got the retail version here in India, and we present you our usual unboxing video with a quick look at the phone’s hardware and a bit of the software, take a look –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvmlprtLK04

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Samsung’s next Smartwatch can independently make calls, says report

Samsung is making plans to introduce a new Smartwatch that can work standalone, untethered from the phone, says a report from WSJ. After having released 4 different models of wearable devices already, Samsung is planning to take it to a direction where some smaller companies have already started heading towards, which is the idea of a “Smart watch-phone”. We already heard some rumours of a Gear 2 solo, the independent smartwatch that was reportedly in the works, and the WSJ report could just be a confirmation of the smartwatch of another kind. Yes, it will be different. This kind of a smartwatch is literally a miniature phone on your wrist, which can be used to perform most of the general duties of a modern smartphone, including taking calls, checking mails, the ability to have internet connected apps and so forth. Samsung pursuing this direction could be the desire to be a pioneer in a new category of devices, for a market that’s already been used to this idea in science fiction plots one too many.

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Microsoft’s Surface mini was killed off at the last minute, says report

Microsoft’s plans for introducing a smaller version of the Surface were killed off at the last minute, according to a report from Bloomberg. Initial reports claimed that Microsoft was all set to introduce a 8 inch Surface tablet, tailored for note taking. It was definitely in a bid to compete against all the other small tablets, but Satya Nadella, the Chief Executive Officer at Microsoft, and Stephen Elop, heading the Devices and Services group, had apparently decided to kill the “almost-ready” tablet since it purportedly didn’t prove to be different enough to be a hit, in their eyes. That’s obviously a bold position, considering the product was reportedly in the works already.

What Microsoft really announced – Surface Pro 3 with a 12″ screen

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Gunnar Advanced Gaming Eye Wear Unboxing

Gunnar Optiks is a specialized eyewear company that makes glasses for geeks who sit in front of the computer. For us, gaming is a huge pastime, we can’t deny that, and with it increasingly going mobile, we thought it’d be nice to show you a product that’s tailor made for making your eyes feel better. After all, we are staring at computer screens in many form factors all day, and some might have actual problems with that, like tearing, irritation and all sorts of burning sensations, so here is an unboxing video –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsg0f5Rhp2c

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Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM Unboxing and First Impressions

The Nokia Lumia 630 is the first Windows Phone 8.1 device to launch in the market, including in India, where it has been launched in the Dual SIM flavour, another first. Priced at Rs. 11,500 for the MRP, the device seeks to occupy the place between the 525 and its predecessor, Lumia 620, but sports much improved specs on the inside, keeping things a bit similar on the outside. This new device is set to be the first of hopefully many dual SIM Windows Phone devices from Microsoft, which might make things interesting in the Windows Phone market. Anyway, we have got the Indian retail version of the Lumia 630 and here is the unboxing video of it, with a detailed overview of the device hardware –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u7QUp8VSRI

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Microsoft Surface Pro 3 announced: 12″ screen, 9.1mm, Inking and starts at 799$

The Surface Pro 3 has officially been unveiled at Microsoft’s event today, in New York. The latest addition to the family of Windows 8 powered devices from the company has decidedly gone larger with a 12 inch screen, gotten a lot thinner at 9.1mm and relatively lighter at 800g, for its size. This will officially succeed the Surface Pro 2, which was just a rehash of the original, with improvements mainly under the hood, and of course, the kick stand. The Surface Pro 3 on the other hand, is almost a whole new device, with a shift in ideas and it is indeed pushing the message of a “laptop” replacement a lot harder this time. How? Here is a promo video to get you upto speed, and do go past the break for all the new additions, detailed in text –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t7rSZT_77E

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