Dhruv Bhutani | Fone Arena

Instagram 6.0 to bring advanced editing features, compete with VSCO Cam

Instagram’s focus so far has been on simplicity and while the company did start building in more features, the focus still remained on the 18 filters built in. Instagram, now owned by Facebook, has been able to build a huge community by leveraging this simplicity. Now it is about to take a step forward by adding in extensive editing controls.

Instagram 6.0, set to roll out over the next few days for both iOS and Android, will let you adjust contrast, saturation, warmth, brightness, highlights, shadows, vignettes and sharpness in all photos. This brings it right in line with some of the more advanced editing applications out there. Tapping the tool brings up a slider that you can use to make adjustments on a 100 point scale. This works across all the variables involved. Additionally, Instagram 6.0 also allows you to adjust filter strength which is something that can come in extremely handy depending on the image involved. Continue reading “Instagram 6.0 to bring advanced editing features, compete with VSCO Cam”

Apple opens up iOS 8 to 3rd party keyboards, Swiftkey, Swype & Fleksy on their way

With the announcement of iOS 8, Apple as usual brought to its mobile platform a lot of consumer centric features. An unexpected one amongst them was the ability to switch the default keyboard. After giving the application necessary permissions on your iPhone or iPad, replacement keyboards will have system wide access to all the services or applications.

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This comes at a time when Apple themselves revealed a new keyboard for iOS 8 called QuickType. This new way to type essentially brings Windows Phone 8 like WordFlow prediction to iOS. Supported in 14 regions, it will bring up contextual words as you type so as to save time. Continue reading “Apple opens up iOS 8 to 3rd party keyboards, Swiftkey, Swype & Fleksy on their way”

Apple opens Touch ID API for all applications

Last year, Apple introduced the iPhone 5s with its Touch ID sensor on board. This fingerprint reader built into the home button itself was intimately tied in to the operating system. It allowed for a seamless way to unlock the device, offered a few more security related functions.

Touch ID API

With the launch of iOS 8, developers will be able to use the Touch ID API to enable authentication for users. This’ll work in two ways. Developers can either use fingerprint based authentication for applications and in case of more sensitive use cases, offer Touch ID as a secondary means of authentication. Continue reading “Apple opens Touch ID API for all applications”

LG G Pro 2 Review

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The original G Pro was LG’s push into the phablet category with high end specifications and more specifically a gigantic (for the time) display. Fast forward to 2014 and 5.5 inches is fast becoming the norm for smartphones. Owing to consumer trends, the successor has grown bigger still. We have with us the LG G Pro 2 which is the latest large screen wonder from the Korean smartphone manufacturer that aims to tackle the needs of consumers wanting a bigger smartphone viewing experience. Follow on for our review of the LG G Pro 2 as we take a look at what makes this device tick. Continue reading “LG G Pro 2 Review”

Panasonic P81 Benchmarks

Earlier this month, Panasonic revealed its first entrant into the Octa Core race. The Panasonic P81 powered by MediaTek’s MT6592 chipset is the company’s flagship device. The phone has a 5.5 inch 720p display and runs on the 1.7Ghz variant of MediaTek’s chipset with Android Jellybean onboard. We put the handset through a series of benchmarks to pit it against the competition. Follow through to take a look at how the handsets copes up with synthetic benchmarks. Continue reading “Panasonic P81 Benchmarks”

Alcatel One Touch Idol X+ Hands On Impressions

Alcatel, the French smartphone company, has finally launched the One Touch Idol X+ in India. Announced way back in December, we first saw the phone at CES. While the company took its own sweet time in bringing the device to India, it still remains relevant due to the presence of competitive specifications and above average build quality. The company has partnered with Flipkart to handle distribution much like Motorola. We got to spend some time with this octa core handset that enters an already crowded market, here’s our first impressions of the Alcatel One Touch Idol X+. Continue reading “Alcatel One Touch Idol X+ Hands On Impressions”

LG G Pro 2 Benchmarks

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Last year’s LG G Pro was the Korean company’s push into the phablet category with high end specifications and practically anything you might need in a smartphone thrown under the hood. Unfortunately the phone was let down by inconsistent software. Owing to consumer trends, the successor has grown bigger still. While we’ll take a look at the over all improvements in the device in our full review, let’s take a brief look at the device’s performance in synthetic benchmarks first. Continue reading “LG G Pro 2 Benchmarks”

Sony Xperia Z2 Review: Taller, Faster, Sharper

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We got our first glimpse of the Sony Xperia Z2 a few months back at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Set against competition from the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Z2 felt like the antithesis of the Korean flagship. Where Samsung was hell bent on throwing everything at the wall in the hopes of attracting consumer attention, Sony’s flagship felt like a device where the thought was on making improvements all around. Improvements that made sense and improved the experience. Now that we’ve spent more time with the device, we’re all the more sure that Sony thought long and hard when working on the Z2. Read on for our thoughts on what is a solid contender for flagship of the year. Continue reading “Sony Xperia Z2 Review: Taller, Faster, Sharper”

LG G Pro 2 Photo Gallery

Earlier this year, LG showed off its next large format device ie the G Pro 2. Launched in India earlier this month, the phone brings high end specifications and a giant sized display that is well suited for multimedia consumption. Powered by a 2.26Ghz Snapdragon 800 processor paired with 3GB of RAM, the G Pro 2 packs enough firepower to drive any game or high resolution content that you might throw at it. Unlike the LG G2 that had absolutely stellar battery life, we feel that the 3200 mAh unit here wasn’t entirely adequate which is in all likelihood because of the large 5.9 inch panel. While we work on our full review of the phone, we decided to slap together a photo gallery for your perusal. Got questions? Let us know in the comments section. Continue reading “LG G Pro 2 Photo Gallery”

Intex Aqua i5 HD Hands On

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Intex today introduced the latest smartphone in its Aqua series. Called the Intex Aqua i5 HD, the phone isn’t really going to be a breakthrough for the budget segment but it does bring with it a balanced outlook between price, performance and looks. We spent some time with the device today and Intex was quick to point out that camera performance, screen size and design was amongst the top priorities while designing the phone. Here are our first impressions. Continue reading “Intex Aqua i5 HD Hands On”

Sony Xperia Z2 Benchmarks

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Without a doubt, the Sony Xperia Z2 is amongst the hottest new smartphones to be made available in India. Following the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8, the phone brings top of the line specifications and a very balanced approach to the flagship competition. While we’ll be talking about what sets the Xperia Z2 apart from the competition in our full review, here we take a look at it’s performance in synthetic benchmarks. Continue reading “Sony Xperia Z2 Benchmarks”

Motorola Moto E Hands On

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At an event in Delhi today, Motorola made a splash in the budget segment by making its much awaited & leaked device, the Moto E official. The phone boasts of class leading specifications and unrivaled build quality. We spent some time with the phone to gather our first impressions of the device. Read on to find out what we think about the Moto E. Continue reading “Motorola Moto E Hands On”

Motorola Moto E Photo Gallery

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At an event in New Delhi, Motorola launched it’s budget segment device i.e. the Moto E. The phone strikes an interesting balance between price and performance without sacrificing build quality either. We got to spend sometime with what could be the best device in the sub Rs. 10,000 segment and found it be surprisingly appealing. Continue reading “Motorola Moto E Photo Gallery”

LG Uni8 Running Windows Phone 8.1 Leaked

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If today’s leak is to be believed, LG might be getting ready to re-enter the Windows Phone device market with it’s new device dubbed the LG Uni8. The first smartphone from LG running Microsoft’s mobile operating system since their effort on WP7, the LG Uni8 seems to be using capacitive buttons. This lines up with the theory that certain hardware requirements were lifted from the chassis spec to allow OEMs to easily port Windows Phone 8.1 to existing hardware. Continue reading “LG Uni8 Running Windows Phone 8.1 Leaked”

Ari Partinen, Nokia’s Camera Expert moves to Apple

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Ari Partinen, the man instrumental behind some of the most iconic camera centric devices to come out of Nokia just announced his departure from the company. Not one to leave much to doubt, he also confirmed that his next destination will be Cupertino, California. Senior Lumia engineer, Ari has worked on game changing devices like the Nokia N8, PureView 808 and the Lumia 1020. Partinen’s experience stretches from camera module production all the way to tuning final image quality and has worked on tuning at the ISP level for some of Nokia’s biggest projects. Continue reading “Ari Partinen, Nokia’s Camera Expert moves to Apple”