Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Nokia Lumia 1020 Leather Case Hands On

Amongst the many accessories that Nokia launched along with the Lumia 1020, like the Wireless charging shell and the Camera Grip we already went hands on with, there was another limited edition accessory that made its way into the list, albeit very silently for any one to notice. And that accessory, as revealed by our friends at the PureViewClub is the Limited Edition Leather Case for the 41 Megapixel Lumia. We were in Hong Kong recently, and were really lucky to get our hands on it. So, here’s a photo walkthrough of the case, with our hands on impressions.

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Nokia Smartwatch Leaked?

Two pictures of a purported Nokia Smartwatch have leaked onto the internet. Could this be announced at the Nokia World event on the 22nd of October, or is it just some long forgotten prototype? We all know that the wearable gadget revolution is here. Google brought its Glass into the limelight with a firm vision(pun intended) on the future, Pebble made its Smartwatch, followed by Samsung with its Galaxy Gear and Sony with its second version of its pioneering Smartwatch. With the leak, it looks like even Nokia, which is all ready to get acquired by Microsoft, has or had its own plans for a wearable gadget.

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Microsoft wants Windows Phone to run on HTC’s Android phones – Report

Microsoft is apparently trying to court HTC, one of the major Android OEMs, to make Windows Phone run on its Android Phones, according to a report from Bloomberg. Another report from Android Central claims that HTC engineers are already looking at providing Dual Boot options of Windows Phone and Android for its upcoming devices. This is a surprising turn of events for the software giant, as the company has long stood by its licensing model that doesn’t allow this option of dual boot, but things may be changing fast, as the strategy is rapidly moving towards “Devices and Services”, especially with the announcement of a Nokia acquisition.

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Oppo Color ROM Overview on the Find 5

Oppo launched its all new camera centric flagship – the N1 a while back and also announced that the International version of the N1 will come with the Color ROM pre-installed. We know you’re wondering what the Color ROM is all about, and this is precisely the reason we are going to show you an overview of it on the Oppo Find 5. In short, it is more beautiful, more functional than the original firmwares Oppo shipped its phones with, and is possibly the best looking Android UI out there. So, dive into our video to see what it’s all about, and go past the break for a visual walkthrough –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD8NeDfVyUQ

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Coke Studio @MTV app released for Windows Phone and Windows 8

The hugely popular Coke Studio show that airs on MTV India has got its app on the Windows Phone and Windows 8 platforms. With the recent push of local apps on the Windows platform, it isn’t a surprise to see another cool entrant from the Indian pop culture scene. The app is free and available for download on the Windows Phone Store for WP8 devices and on Windows Store for all Windows 8 and RT devices. The show, running in its 3rd season, got big names like Rahman and Ram Sampath for the latest one, which created excellent songs and garnered some insane attention. The app will let you download audio as well as video from inside, and is powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud technology.

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HTC Butterfly S Camera Samples

The HTC Butterfly S, as you might have known by now, has landed in our office and we had promptly unboxed it for a quick look. One of the highlights of the Butterfly S is that it has the same 4 MP UltraPixel camera from the HTC One that the company famously proclaimed as one of the best. We had some tests done that proved otherwise, but it was still an impressive direction that HTC had taken. They went against the Megapixel race by introducing larger pixels for the 1/3″ sensor, but cut down the pixel count by half. You get a 2 micron pixel size after the size cut down and effectively, coupled with a f2.0 lens, it directly means great low light performance. There’s one small caveat though, the Butterfly S is not equipped with an OIS unit, so that makes things less interesting for low light, making us think how it can actually handle those conditions.

And that’s exactly what we are going to see right now. How does the camera perform in various lighting conditions? Check out our camera samples after the break.

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Storyteller app for Nokia Lumia 1520 and 2520 Sirius Tablet leaked, Zoe Highlights remixed?

We all know that Nokia is gearing up for a big reveal at Nokia World on October 22nd, but it seems that it’s not going to be just hardware, but Software too. The Nokia Lumia 1520 “Bandit” and the Lumia 2520 “Sirius” are two of the six devices that Nokia are purportedly going to announce at the event in Abu Dhabi, and thanks to @evleaks, we now have a glimpse of a new app called “Storyteller” that’s going to launch for both these devices with the different form factors. The app looks like a neatly arranged photo album with possibly Zoe Highlights-like features? Certainly looks better than the in-built Photos app, we will give it that.

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HTC Butterfly S Unboxing

The HTC Butterfly S is currently one of the costliest phones available in India. It is even costlier than the already costly Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Launched in India on September 4th with a hefty price tag of Rs. 52,428, the Butterfly S has finally landed in our labs for some extensive testing. We were surprised to see the box was actually from Hong Kong, so we took the box in front of a camera and unboxed it right away. Watch the video below and go past the break for more information on the box contents and a few initial impressions of the device.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fid6L2lSmak

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Camera Samples

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a leather-like texture on the back which is interesting, but what sits on top of it is even more interesting. Continuing the tradition of using the same camera units as the Galaxy S series for the Notes, Samsung has included the similar 13 megapixel camera for the Note 3, the exact same one that you find on the Galaxy S4. The 13 Megapixel sensor is Sony-made and is the 1/3.06″ Stacked EXMOR RS CMOS sensor that you find on various other devices like the very recent Oppo N1 and the Lenovo K900, but what differentiates Samsung devices from them is the Fujitsu-developed ISPs that are custom made for Samsung. With a bundle of great algorithms + ISP hardware and a highly sensitive camera sensor, the Note 3 strives to be as good as the Galaxy S4, or may be even better? Take a look at the camera samples below and find out for yourself!

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Apple iPhone 5c vs iPhone 5, a side by side comparison of what’s new

The Apple iPhone 5c(Check out the 360) in all its bluish glory landed in our labs for a quick unboxing and a photo gallery that we did earlier. While we covered a quick look at how it compares with the older and the very similar 5 in our unboxing video, lot of people were still asking for a deeper look at the comparison between them and here we are, with another video, detailing the same, now with all the details you need to know –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUQj-yaTkJo

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 European version is region locked

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is making its way into about 149 countries around the world starting 25th, which is just two days back but we already have reports of the European version of the device being region locked to the continent, making it impossible for travelers to use it with a local SIM when abroad. This comes via our friends at Clove UK who have stated this fact on their blog. The LTE version, going by the model name SM-N9005 will be region locked to Europe and will not be able to access other International networks when abroad. This is really weird, especially for unlocked units.

Check out our Unboxing!

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Apple Care+ now covers International Travelers, India included in the list of supported countries

A recent change to the Apple Care+ plan now enables service coverage even when traveling abroad. Just after the announcement of the iPhone 5s and the 5c Apple had raised the Care+ coverage for accidental damage from $49 to $79 and with that news, along comes the info that travelers traveling abroad would be able to avail this service for a phone in any country where Service is possible. And surprise, that list includes India. Currently, the Apple Care+ plan is non-existent here and previously, Apple Care+ used to work only in the home country, so for people buying phones abroad from India, this is good news.

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Apple iPhone 5c Blue Photo Gallery

The Apple iPhone 5c, as you know by now, is the company’s only coloured iPhone. It landed in our labs yesterday and we had promptly unboxed it, you should check it out if you haven’t already. We had already posted some photos of the device for the unboxing but as time went by, we could not help but take even more photos of the device just to showcase the blue iPhone 5c in all its glory. So, starting with the one above, the iPhone 5c explored with a camera, presenting you the Blue iPhone 5c Photo Gallery.

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Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera Grip and Wireless Charging shell launched for Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 3,200 respectively

The Nokia Lumia 1020 has finally launched in India today, at an event in New Delhi. The 41 Megapixel PureView camera had been doing its victory lap as one of the best camera phones around the world and it has finally reached destination India, alas without a price tag. But along with the Lumia 1020, accessories were also launched, namely the Camera Grip and the Wireless Charging shell. Weirdly enough, the accessories have been priced, with the Camera Grip coming at Rs. 7,500 and the Wireless Charging shell coming in at Rs. 3,200. Out of the two, the camera grip is almost a must-have for a photography enthusiast, you can check out our unboxing video to find out why –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTZ08GOLfQw

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Apple iPhone 5c Blue Unboxing

The Apple iPhone 5c has finally landed at the Fonearena HQ and we have it in our favourite colour – Blue! The new iPhone 5c is “unapologetically plastic” according to Jony Ive, the man responsible for Apple’s well known industrial design, and we have to say we agree, a lot. The iPhone 5c beautiful to look at and beautiful to hold, no doubt about that, but there are not many changes under the hood. The iPhone 5c is just the iPhone 5 with a new body, but the plastic? The colourful polycarbonate unapologetic plastic? Well, we have shot an unboxing video for you to show just that, and more –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mwshO9iFoE

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