Bharadwaj Chandramouli | Fone Arena

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Unboxing

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Almost six months have passed since the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini in Europe. It never reached the subcontinent as Samsung had planned to launch other devices with similar specifications here, like the Galaxy S Duos, which is basically a Dual SIM version of the Galaxy S3 mini. However, there are lots of differences between the S3 mini and the S Duos when it comes to the internals. Just for comparisons sake, you have to know that the S3 mini looks exactly like the S Duos. With that said, the S3 mini is an interesting device on its own, and since we have got it in our labs now, here it is, our unboxing video –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AqMf9iAPu4

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Apple fixes the lock screen vulnerability with iOS 6.1.3 update

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Just a month after the iOS 6.1.2, Apple has now rolled out iOS 6.1.3 in order to fix a vulnerability. The vulnerability in question is the lock screen bypass that was hacked through a simple combination of fake emergency calls and key presses. With iOS 6.1.3, Apple have fixed this exact vulnerability and it is now available for download. The size of the download is around 18MB as seen above, which is a really small update by Apple’s standards.

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Nvidia updates Tegra roadmap with Logan and Parker, sporting Kepler and Maxwell GPUs

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Nvidia had their GPU Technology conference in San Jose, California yesterday, in which they unveiled their new product roadmap for PCs as well as their Tegra chips, their mobile SoC solutions. The Tegra roadmap after Tegra 4i will be succeeded by Logan, and Parker will succeed Logan, slated for 2014 and 2015 commercial availability respectively.

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Fujitsu’s technology lets the smartphone camera calculate your pulse rate

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Fujitsu, the Japanese company known for its various offerings in the field of consumer electronics and IT services has developed a novel technology to calculate a person’s pulse rate using just the built in camera of a PC, a tablet or just your Smartphone. This is accomplished by Fujitsu’s own software which uses facial imaging algorithms to define the pulse rate of an individual.

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Dropbox acquires the creators of the iOS email app Mailbox

Mailbox, the app obsessed with zero inbox messages just helped cloud storage provider Dropbox acquire its creators. Boasting an atrocious waiting queue for new joinees, the Mailbox app drummed up a lot of interest from consumers and the press alike with it claiming to make email much better in terms of productivity. Today, Dropbox announced in their blog that they have acquired the mailbox team, and they also mentioned that they will be making the app better, by keeping the app intact for the imminent future.

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Nokia Lumia 620 – First Impressions

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The Nokia Lumia 620 is in the house! Yes, this is the good looking mid range Windows Phone 8 device that launched in India recently and has been on sale since just a few days back. We have it in our labs for extensive testing and as a precursor to our detailed review, we thought we should give you a quick hardware overview and our first impressions of the device. Are you ready? First up, the quick hardware overview, video below –

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

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Karbonn Titanium S5 with a 5 inch qHD screen and 1.2 GHz Quad core processor gets priced at Rs. 11,990

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A couple of months have passed since the launch of the Karbonn Titanium S1, with its nice mid range offering. It had a 4.5 inch qHD screen, but Karbonn has felt the need for a bigger screen we guess, and now it has launched the Karbonn Titanium S5 with a bigger 5 inch screen. With it almost mimicking the specs of the Titanium S1 except for the 8 megapixel camera, the 2MP front camera and the battery, it is clear that Karbonn is really catering to demands. It has a 1.2 GHz Quad core processor, presumably the Snapdragon S4 Play, which was the first chipset that added support for dual SIM and was a Quad core processor at the same time. This is the same as the Titanium S1. The device runs on Android 4.1 JellyBean.

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Salora PowerMaxx gets the Android 4.1.2 JellyBean update

Remember the Salora PowerMaxx Android smartphone with a huge 3200 mAH battery? It was launched a couple of months back at a price of Rs. 15,999 and it ran Android 4.0 ICS. Just two months after release, it is receiving the Jellybean update from the company, promising to start the roll out from March 15th, which is today. So, the JellyBean update brings new features including Project Butter and Google now to the device, along with several improvements in performance and stability.

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Sony Xperia E and E dual go up on pre order for Rs. 9,990 and Rs. 10,990 respectively

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Impending announcement of availability or price? Never worry, because Flipkart’s always got you covered with them pushing out the pre order prices before the company itself tells you. They did it with the Lumia 620 and even the Xolo X1000, and now they have done the same for the Sony Xperia E and Xperia E dual(a dual SIM version of the same). They both have gone up on pre order in Flipkart for Rs. 9,990 and Rs, 10,990 respectively. It has been a long time since they were announced and we are finally seeing them land in Indian shores.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 – the features that matter, explained

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It has happened, and how! Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S4 launched today in full glory, with a feature packed spec sheet. Sporting all the flagship hardware features you can imagine, plus a ton of Samsung specific features added to improve the experience, it is rather easy to miss out on the most important ones. We can understand that because we felt exactly the same, too much to swallow at once. So we are going to try to explain and lay out the most important Galaxy S4 features that matter, explained with whatever information we know as of now. Read on past the break.

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Xolo X1000 specs detailed, 4.7 inch 720p curved screen with a 2 GHz Intel Medfield processor

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We are just minutes away from the Xolo X1000 launch in Goa, where we are live blogging the event, but looks like somebody jumped the gun and outed the X1000 in its full glory on the company’s website. It has now been revealed that the device will sport a 2 GHz Intel Medfield Z2480 system on a chip instead of the rumoured Clovertrail chip. Xolo claims this is the fastest phone, but since we have already seen phones(like the Motorola Razr i) sporting the Z2480 chip, we beg to differ.

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Android chief Andy Rubin steps down, to be succeeded by Chrome boss Sundar Pichai

Andy Rubin, the main man behind Android even before it got acquired by Google, has decided to step down from the role as the head of Android to pursue other opportunities inside Google, as the official blog from Larry Page, the CEO of Google details. Andy will be succeeded by Sundar Pichai, who is currently heading the Chrome division, consisting of the browser, OS, apps and more recently the Chromebook Pixel. Does this mean Android and Chrome might finally merge one fine day?

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Another Samsung Galaxy S4 leak, this time with high quality images and full specifications

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In the run up to the most awaited launch event which is just hours away from now, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has leaked in every way possible. Blurrycam? Check, video? Check, official teaser? Check. And now, it has leaked again, with many more pictures, showing off the design and a special S-pen feature activated just by hand! Read on past the break to find out.

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Interview – Nokia’s head of Imaging on the Nokia Lumia 720

We are now in the elongated Mobile World Congress post-hangover phase, because, to be honest, it all seemed like a blur at the event. You can get what we are saying if you take a look at our big MWC 2013 wrap up. But even in that blurry mess, some devices stood out, and one of them was the Nokia Lumia 720. Nokia proudly claimed they are bringing high end innovation to their new mid-range Lumia smartphones, with the Lumia 720 and the Lumia 520. In some ways, they definitely did, especially with the Lumia 720. You can read our in-depth hands on impressions here. Truth be told, we were really impressed with the display and the camera. The camera is a special one. Its 6.7 megapixel sensor coupled with a super fast f1.9 lens is aimed at providing great photos in most lighting conditions. But little did we know there is a lot more to the camera than just megapixels and the aperture. Hence, we contacted Juha Alakarhu, Nokia’s head of Camera Technology, with some questions regarding the Nokia Lumia 720 and asked him all about its imaging capabilities. Read on past the break for the full interview.

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Nexus-like Motorola prototype leaks out in pictures and video

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Motorola has been dormant since the great Google acquisition with only a couple of device launches, namely the Razr i and the Razr/Razr MAXX HD. But with this new detailed leak, few of the remaining fans might be happy to see that the company is working on a new portfolio, which might be influenced by Google design. Known for its earlier high profile leaks, the Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn has leaked a confidential prototype Motorola device that pretty much resembles the Nexus 4 on its front. This mysterious device might just be a prototype, but we would really like to see it get iterated into a real product from Motorola, mainly because it is part of Google, now, and we might actually get to see the Google influences on the devices. You have pictures as well as a video of this device, check out the video below, for a lengthy hands on(warning, it’s Vietnamese)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxYEt8S7q-4#!

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