Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Oppo Find 5 receives an OTA update, new features and bug fixes aplenty

The Oppo Find 5 is one of the very few phones in the world to receive updates driven by the community. If you had read our review, you might have have noticed us mentioning the overwhelming community support the device gets. Yes, there is a robust feedback system that the company employs thanks to the limited availability and a responsive fan base. Considering the feedback, they released an OTA update earlier, with bug fixes mostly dominating the changelog, and similarly there is another update available now, but this time they have added quite a lot of feature, read past the break to find the changelog.

Continue reading “Oppo Find 5 receives an OTA update, new features and bug fixes aplenty”

Lava E-Tab XTRON+ Unboxing

Lava E-Tab XTRON Plus Unboxing-2

We had reviewed the Lava E-Tab XTRON earlier and found it to be a pretty decent tablet for a really low price. But the company has improved upon the original and has labeled it the XTRON+ that launched recently, and as usual, we have unboxed it to show you what the differences and the box contents. While there are not many changes with respect to the original, you might want to watch the few that we noticed in the video here –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxHls6OKvcc

Continue reading “Lava E-Tab XTRON+ Unboxing”

Oppo confirms new camera centric N-lens series of devices

oppo-n-lens-cameraphone

We have already seen how the Oppo Find 5 had a great camera. If that wasn’t any indication how the Chinese company is serious about cameras, we have more information coming in. Oppo has just confirmed to Engadget on a previous scoop that they are indeed developing a new series of camera centric devices dubbed the “N-Lens”. These devices are more of connected cameras and less of cameraphones if the initial information is to be believed. But, the company also says that the N-Lens series of devices will be “most important flagship series for Oppo going forward.”

Continue reading “Oppo confirms new camera centric N-lens series of devices”

Apple to implement a biometric fingerprint sensor on the new iPhone’s home button?

iphone-new-fingerprint

Biometric fingerprint sensors have long been a popular way of implementing secure environments, even in portable devices like a laptop. While it has reached mainstream on most professional grade notebooks, it hasn’t really caught up in the mobile space, where security is of much higher importance. Companies have tried and implemented it in really niche devices, but the tech has happily avoided the mainstream. It is about to change, as seemingly true information from the iOS 7 beta 4 build points to a “Biometric Kit UI” directory that confirms that Apple is interested in implement high grade security, right on your new iPhone’s home button.

Continue reading “Apple to implement a biometric fingerprint sensor on the new iPhone’s home button?”

HTC posts 41 million USD net profit in Q2 2013, expects first losses in Q3

It is the results season, and every company has been relentlessly working on posting its numbers for the investors to analyze, and HTC is no exception. They have just revealed their complete audited performance numbers for Q2 2013 today. With the HTC One doing well, the revenue has increased, so has the profits, but that hasn’t stopped the company from expecting to post its first losses ever, from 0 to 8%, in the next quarter. The low impact of mid range devices from HTC are to be blamed as the company repeatedly ensured that it will have renewed focus on that specific market segment.

Continue reading “HTC posts 41 million USD net profit in Q2 2013, expects first losses in Q3”

LG reveals Quick Window accessory for the G2 ahead of launch

lq-g2-quick-window

The LG G2 had been officially confirmed as the upcoming flagship phone from LG, but hasn’t seen a proper unveiling yet. But that hasn’t stopped the company from releasing an accessory called “Quick Window” for the phone, which is launching in New York on August 7th. The accessory, which works just like the Samsung S-View cover for the Galaxy S4, literally offers a quick window into some basic functions and lets you access some mini apps. Sporting various colours, as noted from the image above, the cover will presumably launch to retail along with the device itself.

Continue reading “LG reveals Quick Window accessory for the G2 ahead of launch”

Nokia’s upcoming “Treasure tag” Bluetooth accessory lets you find lost items with an app

verge-nokia-bluetooth-treasure-tag

Nokia is reportedly working on a range of Bluetooth 4.0 low power accessories, ever since they revealed that their phones will support the technology starting with the Amber update. One of them has been detailed by The Verge, citing sources familiar with this device. This accessory, called the “Treasure Tag” apparently is a small box that connects to the phone with Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC, and once paired lets the phone track it using Bluetooth as well as GPS using a special app.

Continue reading “Nokia’s upcoming “Treasure tag” Bluetooth accessory lets you find lost items with an app”

MediaTek reveals True Octa-Core chip solution

media-tek-true-octa-core

MediaTek, the company responsible for the countless number of Quad Core devices in the mid range Indian market, has today revealed its “True” Octa-Core solution by taking a slight jab at Samsung’s big.LITTLE based Exynos Octa 5. It has been rumoured for some time that MediaTek is going forward with its plans for a Octa Core solution of its own, but the news has finally reached “not a rumour anymore” status with the company proudly announcing this on its site. This “True” Octa Core solution, as MediaTek claims, utilizes the full potential of all the eight cores for a seemingly better performance and even better battery life management.

Continue reading “MediaTek reveals True Octa-Core chip solution”

Samsung Galaxy Note 510 Review

samsung-galaxy-note-510-review-3

Samsung has been enabling its tablets with calling functionality ever since the first ever non-Apple tablet released, the company’s own Galaxy Tab. While the original Galaxy Tab didn’t have an ear piece to enable phone-like calling, it did have the support. Tab 2 310, its successor on the other hand had an ear piece to let people use it like a phone. Various other manufacturers then warmed up to this idea and released their own calling tablet much to the critics’ ridicule, but a market was definitely there. On that note, Samsung launched the Note 8.0 at the Mobile World Congress this year, and introduced a WiFi as well as a cellular version with calling.

We had reviewed the WiFi version earlier and now we are going to see how the cellular version is different and what its extra features are. Is the calling version really that useful on a 8 inch tablet? Lets find out.

Note: The Galaxy Note 510 is the cellular version of the Note 8.0, literally everything except the below discussed text is same. Do read the complete review of the Galaxy Note 8.0 WiFi version here before proceeding to the review.

Video

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13QF2E7zLnY

Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Note 510 Review”

Apple and Samsung lose marketshare as LG, Lenovo and others soar

idc-q2-total-marketshare

IDC has yet again released a marketshare analysis of all the smartphone vendors for the period of Q2 2013. Interestingly, the action is slowly shifting away from the top two, Apple and Samsung. In the event of stiff and challenging competition from other smartphone vendors such as LG and Lenovo, Apple and Samsung have lost a chunk of their smartphone and haven’t been able to keep up with the rapidly expanding smartphone market. The overall smartphone market has seen a 52.3% YoY change and Apple has lagged with only 20% growth while Samsung has almost kept up, with 43.9% growth rate. Samsung is not in a bad position though, going by their recently revealed numbers.

Continue reading “Apple and Samsung lose marketshare as LG, Lenovo and others soar”

Alleged screen bezel of a 6 inch Nokia Lumia Phablet leaks

nokia-6-inch-lumia-phablet

Just hours after we reviewed a monster of a device with a 6.3 inch screen, a screen bezel has leaked on to the internet from the factories in China. Guess what, it reportedly measures 6 inches in diagonal and it’s a Nokia Lumia. Previously, we had seen a Nokia Lumia device with an aluminium body leak from a mass production line, with unnaturally long sides and we think this screen bezel might be part of that puzzle. With Microsoft and Nokia rumoured to support bigger 1080p resolution displays with a interim GDR3 Windows Phone update in fall, the phablet leak is in line with expectations.

Continue reading “Alleged screen bezel of a 6 inch Nokia Lumia Phablet leaks”

The New Nexus 7 2013 – What’s new? Should you upgrade?

New Nexus 7

The new Nexus 7(2013) launched just within the last 24 hours but a lot has been already said about it thanks to the various leaks and pre orders that went live even before it went official. That said, the full specifications are finally revealed and we have gone through the completely to see if this is really worth the upgrade. Well, is it? Should you upgrade from your old Nexus 7? Lets find out.

Continue reading “The New Nexus 7 2013 – What’s new? Should you upgrade?”

Oppo is reportedly the second most profitable mobile phone company in China

oppo-find-5-photos-29

Oppo, a smartphone and consumer electronics company from China has been responsible for smartphones like the Finder and more recently, the Find 5. Surprisingly, for a small company like Oppo, news comes by the way of China’s Entrepreneur magazine that it is the second most profitable mobile phone company in the country. For a market as big as China, this certainly seems like good news for a relatively unknown company.

Continue reading “Oppo is reportedly the second most profitable mobile phone company in China”

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Review

samsung-galaxy-mega-6-3-review-34

Ever since the original Galaxy Note, Samsung has continuously shocked us with screen sizes on their smartphones. Predictably, that has continued with the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and its bigger brother, the Mega 6.3 with the world’s biggest screen, on a smartphone that is. We initially thought it was ridiculous that Huawei launched a 6.1 inch device at CES, but Samsung has one-upped them, actually 0.2-upped them with a more monstrous 6.3 inch screen. After a good amount of ridicule and plenty of surprises, we have finally tested this Smartphone-Tablet hybrid in whole and here are our complete thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3. Retailing at Rs 32,990, is this the large screen phablet you are waiting for? Lets find out.

Video Review

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec2mdHaJg6I

Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Review”