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.

Continue reading “Interview – Nokia’s head of Imaging on the Nokia Lumia 720”

Nexus-like Motorola prototype leaks out in pictures and video

motorola-google-x

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#!

Continue reading “Nexus-like Motorola prototype leaks out in pictures and video”

Nokia Lumia 620 gets a new rugged shell with IP54 dust and water protection

nokia-lumia-620-rugged-shell

The Nokia Lumia 620 just launched in India, and for all you prospective buyers or owners, a good news is that Nokia just announced a rugged shell CC-3061 for the device with IP 54 dust and water protection. This shell is not a cover, not a pouch, but a replaceable shell that can just swap with your present one. The shell can withstand dust and splashes of water defined by the Ingress Protection rating of IP 54. It is slated to be available within a month.

Continue reading “Nokia Lumia 620 gets a new rugged shell with IP54 dust and water protection”

BlackBerry India head resigns

blackberrymd-sunildutt_650_022313074645

Just weeks after launching the BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry’s head honcho in India decided to resign the job, effective immediately. Previously known as Research in motion, the Waterloo company recently launched its revamped smartphone efforts with new devices based on the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The BlackBerry Z10 was launched in India with a hefty price tag of Rs. 43, 490 and it was supposedly sold out within two day, with BlackBerry scrambling to refill the chain with a fresh inflow of devices. But, after all this, it has been revealed that the BlackBerry India head is resigning today.

Continue reading “BlackBerry India head resigns”

The Big MWC 2013 wrap up

The Mobile World Congress 2013 has been one hell of a ride! Our team was there at the event in full force and we got to cover a lot of stuff, churning out more than 70 posts and 38 videos right from the show floor. Pretty crazy, right? We really do hope it will be more than this on our next MWC adventure, but as of now, this is it, so lets get to the big wrap up then! Check out our video of the same –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEb248MDCOQ

Continue reading “The Big MWC 2013 wrap up”

Nokia Lumia 620 goes on sale in India at a price of Rs. 14,999/-

lumia-620-price-india

Yes, the cat is finally out of the bag. Nokia Lumia 620, the company’s mid range Windows Phone 8 device that has been much awaited in the Indian market, has finally gone on sale in the Nokia India online shop. The currently available colours on sale are Cyan, Green, White and Magenta while the Yellow and Black variants are still shown as “Coming soon”, but we think it’s a work in progress at the site, and it might be available soon too. All the colour variations are priced at Rs. 14,999/- with delivery marked as “within 7 days” meaning it is already hitting retail anytime now.

Continue reading “Nokia Lumia 620 goes on sale in India at a price of Rs. 14,999/-“

Google Play celebrates first birthday with gifts and goodies

google-play-first-birthday

Google Play was launched exactly one year ago, in an effort to converge all the ecosystem specific piece under one brand. That was the day the Android Market died, just the name though. And today, it has turned one, and as a way of celebrating the first birthday, Google has some gifts and goodies for all the user out there. With that said, here is a video featuring all the goodies you get, specially made for the Google Play anniversary. Here is a short video explaining what all goodies you get in some games and apps, just for the celebration of Google Play’s anniversary.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyOBz0zNT4

Continue reading “Google Play celebrates first birthday with gifts and goodies”

Sony XPERIA Z and ZL Pre-Order Prices revealed in India, shipping in March 3rd week

xperia-z-zl-pre-order

Flipkart recently revealed the pre order price for the soon-to-be launched Nokia Lumia 620, and today, they have done it again, by announcing pre order prices of the Sony Xperia Z and Sony Xperia ZL which are slated to be announced tomorrow, at a special event. The pre order prices are listed as Rs 38,990 for the Xperia Z and Rs. 35,990 for the Xperia ZL. Flipkart also reveals that the estimated delivery would be 3rd week of March, from which we can safely assume that the retail launch will be some time around the exact time frame. The Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL were announced at the Consumer Electronics show in January and have been since much awaited in the Indian market.

Continue reading “Sony XPERIA Z and ZL Pre-Order Prices revealed in India, shipping in March 3rd week”

ZTE Grand Memo hands on

ZTE had a press conference at the Mobile World Congress on Day one of the event for the announcement of its new phablet device known as the ZTE Grand Memo. It was presided over by ZTE executives as well as Qualcomm executives who shared that the Grand memo will be the first device to sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core processor. So, we were intrigued and wanted to take a closer look at the device, and hence we did a photo gallery initially but now, here is the hands on video below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oaoMfEoZD4

Continue reading “ZTE Grand Memo hands on”

Samsung teases the Galaxy S4 in a unpacked video [Update: New video]

galaxy-s-4

It was already known just a week back that the launch is going to happen on March 14th, but Samsung has gone and just unveiled a teaser video for the Samsung Galaxy S4, undoubtedly one of the most awaited flagship devices this year. The video has “4” prominently written all over it and suggests all kinds of adjectives for the upcoming phone, in a white unpacked box. Here’s the teaser –

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

Continue reading “Samsung teases the Galaxy S4 in a unpacked video [Update: New video]”

Google Chrome to bring server side compression for faster browsing?

chrome-turbo

Opera Mini’s been doing it for a long time, with Amazon Silk and the Nokia S40 Xpress Browser chiming in with similar functionality over the past years, all aimed at reducing the amount of mobile data consumed while browsing on the go. It may seem like a not-so-great idea considering the ubiquity of mobile data today, but the problem is still real, with carriers getting choked on one end, and people unwillingly spending their valuable data on the other end. Like other, Google too is now looking at fixing this using server side optimization of websites using a proxy server. This was spotted by Google Plus user Francois.

Continue reading “Google Chrome to bring server side compression for faster browsing?”

ASUS Transformer pad TF300 is the first non Nexus tablet to receive Android 4.2

ASUS has just announced that the Transformer pad TF300 is receiving the Android 4.2 JellyBean update over the air right now. This entry level Transformer pad was launched in India as the TF300TG, last September. This model too, will be receiving the update, but not immediately, unlike the United States version, which is starting today. Interesting fact is that the TF300 is the first non Nexus Android device to get the Android 4.2 update. So far, the update track record for most ASUS devices has been excellent!

Continue reading “ASUS Transformer pad TF300 is the first non Nexus tablet to receive Android 4.2”

Nokia Lumia 620 gets a pre order price of Rs. 15,199 on Flipkart

The Nokia Lumia 620 has been a long time coming. It was initially slated to be launched on the first week of February but it is already the first week of March, so it is about time it arrived on the market, and signs indicate that it is coming real soon indeed. Flipkart has just put up the phone for pre order at a price of Rs. 15,199, with availability promised within a week.

Continue reading “Nokia Lumia 620 gets a pre order price of Rs. 15,199 on Flipkart”

Photosynth arrives for Windows Phone 8 with a lens app

Photosynth, the 360 degree(horizontal and vertical) photo stitching panorama app that has been there on Windows Phone for quite a while, has finally received an update for Windows Phone 8, with a nice lens app as an addition. Microsoft has been pushing the Photosynth service for a long time with its nice photo stitching capabilities, that are very similar to what you can find in the Android 4.2 camera’s photo sphere application. The Windows Phone 7 version has been there for the Mango devices and above since May 2012 and it is about time that it has been updated for Windows Phone 8, that too with a lens app for the camera.

Continue reading “Photosynth arrives for Windows Phone 8 with a lens app”

Sony Xperia Z to arrive in India on March 6th

The Sony Mobile India facebook just published the above teaser a couple of hours back, and the shining button on the side of the seemingly unknown device photo indicates only one thing, the Sony Xperia Z is going to be launched in India on the 6th of March, which is just five days away.

Continue reading “Sony Xperia Z to arrive in India on March 6th”