Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Skype video messaging graduates to release on every platform except Windows Phone

Skype for iPhone and iPad 4.6

The video messaging service from Skype has been lurking in devices as a beta feature for quite a while now, but has finally gained the official status and launched on major platforms like Windows, iOS, Android and Mac. The voicemail-like feature is present even on the Blackberry devices now, but surprisingly has evaded Windows Phone, which is disappointing. The video messaging feature is completely free of charge and is available for all accounts effective immediately. We think it is a nice feature on the whole, and here is a demo video explaining the usability –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88nDTJyEIz4

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Windows Phone’s Bing Voice Recognition Now More Accurate and Twice as Fast

bing-voice-windows-phone

Microsoft Research has been sitting on various improvements it made to the AI voice and natural language recognition for a while now, but today Microsoft’s research team and the Bing team have allowed Windows Phone to get a taste of it. Showed off earlier in a tech demo at one of the various developer conferences, the new update to Bing’s voice search and voice recognition is now twice as fast and about 15% more accurate. This update is gradually rolling out for Windows Phone users in the US right now, and will eventually reach out to the rest of the world in the coming weeks and months.

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Micromax Canvas 4 teased again in two videos, design is all but revealed

micromax-canvas-4-video-1

It was only yesterday when Micromax had started the teaser campaign in Facebook for its upcoming flagship device, the Micromax Canvas 4, and as a follow up, they have released two teaser videos in their YouTube channel showing off the device in (almost) full glory. The design revealed, bears a close resemblance to some other phones we have seen, but it does seems to have an aluminium frame and the 13 Megapixel camera unit was proudly boasted in the first teaser video. Lets take a look at the teaser videos then –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGGpGoH-5bE

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Nokia EOS 41MP PureView body in metal, or a 5.3 inch phablet?

nokia-eos-metal

Remember the last time when the Nokia EOS and its circular 41 MP camera hump leaked out? It looked a lot like the Lumia 920 with a polycarbonate body that time, but there is yet another leak, and from the looks of it, it’s from the shady factories in China. The above two images literally show off a metallic body for the highly awaited Nokia EOS device to be launched by Nokia at an event in NYC on July 11th. The metallic body is a surprise as the device was already shown off in a polycarbonate body, but from what we can see above, the metallic body seems like an option as a part of the different colours, or at least we hope.

Update: The device in the images above seems to be unnaturally long, especially when you note the openings for the controls on the right. Is this actually a Nokia phablet we are looking at?

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Micromax Canvas 4 teased in Facebook, prebookings starting June 28th

The Micromax A110 Superfone Canvas 2 was the phone that kickstarted a new range of big screened smartphones from Micromax, and after the success of the Canvas HD, Micromax seems ready for yet another device, called the “Canvas 4”. Micromax teased the side-facing image of the upcoming phone and the ever important pre-booking date of June 28.

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AMD powered Android devices coming soon

amd-android-devices-tablets-smartphones

We were at the AMD India Techno Graffiti event last night, and during the Q&A session we asked the all important question of AMD’s future in mobile. The answer first was in the context of mobile being laptops and tablets and how AMD are going for the hybrid nascent segment of low powered computing devices unlike the cheaper small-screened consumption devices. But when asked if Android powered devices are a possibility with AMD chip powering them, the answer was yes. AMD India’s head told us that AMD is working on bringing Android powered devices to its portfolio but couldn’t say when.

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Whatsapp processes a record 27 billion messages in a day

Whatsapp, the ubiquitous instant messaging service, has hit a new record – a whopping 27 billion messages processed in a day. They tweeted out this announcement by explaining the split between outbound and inbound messages over a period of 24 hours. By comparison, Apple’s iMessage service processes around 1 billion messages a day which is a far cry from Whatsapp’s numbers. Having used the innovative form of tying up the service with a phone number, Whatsapp skyrocketed to popularity especially in India as it was basically used as a free SMS service when SMS rates were high and notorious in public holidays.

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Apple to launch bigger 4.7, 5.7 inch iPhones with colours?

samsung-galaxy-s4-vs-apple-iphone-5-4

Get your daily dozes of salts ready, the Internet is quoting anonymous sources for cheaper, colourful and bigger Apple iPhones again. No, seriously, the cheaper iPhone especially has been a long time coming, right since the iPhone 4S, but it didn’t materialize because it never made business sense for Apple. But we are now seeing Apple lose its dominance and coolness, with the latest iOS 7 re-haul being the latest effort to being cool again. Apple also knows that there is a huge demand for big screened phones, popularized by Samsung and colours, popularized by Nokia.

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Google reportedly to buy Waze for $1.3 Bn

waze_logo2

Waze is a one-of-a-kind GPS navigation service, in which some real time data depends on crowd sourced data from users all over the world using its app. Recently, Waze touted an impressive number of 50 million users on its service. It has been rumoured for quite some time that Waze has been on sale and many biggies like Facebook, Apple and Google were in talks to acquire the Israeli company. But if the recent reports from Israel are to be believed, Google has apparently won the race and is all prepared to buy Waze for a cool $1.3 Bn, which is more than what Facebook paid for Instagram.

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Oppo Find 5 Review

oppo-find-5-photos-36

Oppo, a little known brand in the world of smartphones is actually an up and coming player in the consumer electronics world, based in China. Started very recently in 2004, the company has dabbled with Blu Ray players, LCD TVs and various other consumer electronics products and had taken up to smartphones with the launch of the Oppo Finder last year, once the world’s thinnest smartphone and now, the Oppo Find 5. The Oppo Find 5 is, by all means, a flagship product. With great design, build and hardware specifications backing the device, Oppo has the audacity to make it one of the best Android hardware on the planet, but has it? Lets find out.

Video Review

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVSps35zQmQ

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Jetpack Joyride finally arrives on Windows Phone 8

jetpack-joyride-wp8

Months and years after making its presence felt on other platforms, including Windows 8, the Halfbrick hit game “Jetpack Joyride” has finally landed on the Windows Phone 8 store. It is incredibly frustrating that the Windows Phone 8 version took nearly 8 months after launching on Windows 8, and we thought Windows Phone 8 shared code with its parent. But anyways, the game is finally here and it’s free. The “endless runner + Helicopter” style gameplay is incredibly addictive and the power ups are worth playing for.

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Blackberry Q10 hands on first impressions

blackberry-q10-photos-12

Launched way back in January after a lukewarm reception for the Waterloo company’s new Blackberry 10 operating system, the Q10’s main aim is to bring the QWERTY keyboard that the company helped popularize, back in vogue, in a touchscreen dominated world. The device was launched after the full touch flagship, the Blackberry Z10, signaling the company’s move to a complete touch experience at its fore, but to keep the fans happy, the Q10 had to release eventually. And yes, it has finally landed in India, with a hefty price tag of Rs. 44,999. It marched into our labs the same day, and here are our first impressions of the device.

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More images of the 41 MP Nokia EOS pop up, lets speculate!

Nokia EOS camera

It was February 2012, good year after the big announcement when Nokia bid a huge farewell to Symbian in the form of the Nokia 808 PureView launch at MWC. While it lost a legacy, the company actually solidified and stretched its R&D superiority in smartphone cameras. Building on the Lumia 920’s anti-shake merits, Nokia plans to do a repeat of the earlier success, but now with its main strategic flagship OS, Windows Phone. That said, we had just witnessed a barrage of leaks regarding the successor to the Nokia 808, called the Nokia EOS(a codename) PureView, with its circular camera facade housing the purported 41 MP sensor. Unsurprisingly, more images have now leaked, that add more credibility to the earlier rumour. Lets discuss and speculate with the new leaked images then.

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HTC One mini pictures and specifications leak, reportedly packs 4.3 inch 720p display and Ultrapixel camera

htc-one-mini-leak-pics

The HTC One mini, or whatever HTC wants to call it, has been eagerly awaited as the smaller One device which will serve the mid-high range market, for people seeking decently sized devices. Today, it has leaked out in full glory thanks to the folks at Forte, an Estonian portal. The pictures and specifications of the supposed successor to the One S were outed, which fit in with similar mid-high range specs and lower pricing. The One mini is purportedly sized at 4.3 inches with a 720p display and sports the same 4MP UltraPixel camera like on the HTC One.

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Lenovo A390 entry level Android ICS device with dual core 1 GHz processor launched for Rs. 8689

lenovo-a-390

The flood gates are open, and Lenovo has launched a total of six smartphones in India, targeting all kinds of price points and markets. Amongst the ones launched, the Lenovo A390 is a entry level Android ICS 4.0.4 phone that comes at a price of Rs. 8,689. Sporting a 4 inch WVGA display and powered by a 1 GHz MTK6577 dual core processor, the phone aims to satisfy new smartphone buyers as well as budget minded smartphone buyers. It has 512 MB of RAM with 4 GB of internal storage and claims to pack a decent 5 megapixel camera unit, without a LED flash.

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