Rumors of HTC’s upcoming Windows Phone handset have been going around for a while now. That the handset will be a play on the popular HTC One M8 was also expected. Today, we get a look at a leaked render of the handset that shows it to be nigh identical to its Android counterpart.
Continue reading “HTC One running Windows Phone revealed in leaked press render”
The market for wearables is clearly divided. Smartwatches have lined the upper end of the spectrum with Samsung’s Gear line of devices and now Android Wear based watches being the most prominent ones. The other end of the spectrum includes the standalone fitness focussed wearables. These wearables are then focussed on tracking your fitness related activities and include basic time keeping functionality. Due to the price, functionality divide between the categories, neither of them really have the potential to democratize wearables. And so step in indigenous manufacturers that try to bridge that gap by introducing a device that cherry picks features from higher end smartwatches and makes them available at a very accessible price point. Today we take a look at the Spice Smart Pulse, a device pegged as a smartwatch for the masses by the company. Worth it? Read on to find out. Continue reading “Spice Smart Pulse review: A not so smart watch”
Panasonic today introduced its Eluga range of smartphones in India but these are not the devices that we’ve often lusted over. The Eluga U is a new handset designed straight up for India and as such drops many of the features that made the Eluga series unique. But keeping all preconceived notions aside, we spent some time with the new handset. Here’s what we think about it. Continue reading “Panasonic Eluga U Hands On and Photo Gallery”
Users of Windows Phone devices have long been left out of the fitness bands and wearables group due to lack of official applications on the platform. Earlier this year, Microsoft had claimed that it was working on changing that. With the Windows Phone 8.1 update, the mobile operating system got much improved bluetooth support including much needed Bluetooth LE support which is most important for low power wearables. Fitbit is the first company to take advantage of it. Continue reading “Fitbit comes to Windows Phone 8.1”
As smartphones get more powerful with even greater capabilities, it is battery technology that still hasn’t really caught up. Chipset manufacturers like Qualcomm are doing phenomenal research to reduce power draw but the fact of the matter is that it is hard to find a modern smartphone that can last much over a day. This would also explain the huge variety of portable battery packs or power banks available in the market. Most portable battery packs are in the range of 2,400 to 5000 mAh. Occasionally they also step up to 10,000 mAh. Today we take a look at the Kit: High Power. A battery pack that promises to hold 20,800 mAh of charge. How does it perform? Read on to find out. Continue reading “Kit: High Power 20,800 mAh Dual USB Portable Charger Review”
Xiaomi is known to be a success story in its native country ie China and we expected to see competitive pricing for its products here in India too. Color us surprised to see how low a price point Xiaomi has been able to hit with its Mi3. To launch at Rs. 14,999 the phone brings top of the line specifications.
Read the full review of the Xiaomi Mi3 here
Continue reading “Xiaomi Mi3 to launch at just Rs. 14,999 in India, goes on sale July 15th”
When we first reviewed the Nokia X, we called it a geek’s dream considering it married the Finnish company’s legendary hardware with a much more accepted and liked operating system. As we found out in our Nokia X review, the actual implementation fell well short of our expectations. With the Nokia XL, the company took yet another shot at gathering a bigger foot hold in the critical entry level segment in emerging markets like India. Will this phone meet the same fate as the Nokia X? Find out in our review. Continue reading “Nokia XL Dual SIM Review”
Wearables are the latest fad to have taken the technology world by storm. Inspired by the success of the likes of Fitbit and Jawbone, conventional smartphone makers are also getting into the game. We brought you our review of the Samsung Gear Fit that marries a curved display to a fitness tracker. The Sony Smartband SWR10 takes a decidedly different approach to the same goal. Does it succeed? We find out in our review. Continue reading “Sony Smartband SWR10 Review”
Over the past few months, we’ve been consistently impressed by the offerings brought forth by Gionee. With a focus on bringing high end specifications at a mainstream price point, the company has mostly succeeded with the likes of the Elife E6 and E7. The China based smartphone manufacturer recently announced its launch of what it calls the world’s slimmest phone. Dubbed the Elife S5.5, the USP of the phone is most definitely the aesthetics. But great looks do not make a great phone, are the internals and software up to the task of keeping up with the stellar design? Read on to find out. Continue reading “Gionee Elife S5.5 Review”
FlipKart today launched its first tablet under the Digiflip moniker. The e-commerce giant is aiming to entice prospective buyers through a variety of launch schemes as well as a unique program that lets you return the tablet within 30 days which is great but is the hardware any good? We spent some time with the tablet to gather our thoughts on it. Continue reading “Flipkart Digiflip Pro XT712 Tablet Photo Gallery & Hands On”
There’s no doubting the fact that phablets have gained consumer approval and are now considered a mainstream category of devices. HTC has so far kept its distance from these large screen devices with the One Max being its largest smartphone till date. With the Desire 816, HTC is bringing it’s A-Game to the mid range. As the upper end of smartphones hits a plateau, it is the mid range that is proving to be rather interesting. In our review we take a look at the HTC Desire 816 in a bid to determine if the handset really does fulfill all our desires. Continue reading “HTC Desire 816 Review: Sum of all Desires”
HTC hasn’t been entirely secretive about their plans to launch a new tablet later this year and the latest rumors seem to corroborate those whispers. It is believed that the company might have been tasked with the production of Google’s next Nexus tablet. HTC had been responsible for making the first Nexus handset ie the G1.
Initially known as the Nexus 8 and believed to be codenamed the Flounder, latest news indicated that the handset will be called the HTC Volantis. The tablet will pack a 8.9″ display with a resolution of 2048×1440 pixels. This resolution suggests that the tablet will approach a 4:3 aspect ratio. This would be the same as seen on Apple’s iPad series of tablets and has proven to be more conducive for reading. Continue reading “HTC Volantis with 8.9″ display, Tegra K1 processor leaked as upcoming Nexus tablet”
Google’s gradual move into the connected home space seems to be picking up steam. Nest, a Google company that specializes in internet connected smoke detectors and smart thermostats, just announced that it is acquiring Dropcam in a deal estimated to be worth $555 million in cash. Continue reading “Nest acquires home surveilance company Dropcam for $555 million”
At BlackBerry’s earnings call earlier this week, CEO John Chen revealed some vital statistics relating to their popular messaging application. Called BlackBerry Messenger or BBM, the service has crossed 160 million registered users. Out of these 85 million are active monthly users. While this number might appear large at first glance, it is merely a drop in the ocean compared to the 500 million active user base of the likes of WhatsApp. Continue reading “BlackBerry Messenger crosses 85 million MAU, Hits Windows Phone in July”
Canadian smartphone manufacturer, BlackBerry, announced its financial results for Q1 2015 earlier today. The results while not entirely positive, prove to be marginally encouraging.
BlackBerry has managed to stem its losses for the most part. Revenues were $966 million which is a 1% drop Quarter on Quarter. The revenue breakdown can be explained as 39% towards hardware, 54% towards services and 7% for software. The company has a cash and investments balance equivalent to $3.1 billion which is up from $2.7 billion in the previous fiscal. The company has managed to reduce operating expenses by 57% year on year. Continue reading “BlackBerry announces 2.6 million smartphones sold as part of Q1 2015 earnings report”
