ANS and NNG, providers of GPS Navigation Hardware have launched the new ANS Navigator application for Android phones. The turn by turn navigation application that was previously available only for iOS devices is now on the Play Store and comes with mapping data for India that is as recent as Q2 2013. According to ANS, this data covers over 1.7 million kilometers and has over 7.3 million Points of Interest in its database. Continue reading “ANS Navigator App now available on Google Play Store”
As smartphones become more powerful, the popularity of dedicated portable gaming consoles is waning. Why carry two devices when one can serve both purposes, right? However for a breed of hardcore gamers, touch controls will never cut it. Bluetooth game controllers like the iPega are meant to alleviate that specific issue. Giving you the tactile feedback of a console class controller in a package that you can easily slip into a pocket and use with your phone. Does the iPega deliver? We find out in our review. Continue reading “iPega Wireless Bluetooth Game Controller Review”
Amongst the many upstarts in the indigenous smartphone scene in India, one specific brand has caught our eye. Gionee has differentiated itself with its refreshing focus on design and hardware quality. Handsets like Elife E3 stood out from the competition being a device that both looked and also offered a very unique experience to the user. With the Elife E6, Gionee is kicking this up a notch. We’d previously done a preview of the device and here’s our review of the Gionee Elife E6. Continue reading “Gionee Elife E6 Review”
Pebble has just made a couple of announcements that will make both users and developers very happy. After shipping over 190,000 Pebble watches and getting 10,000+ developers onboard, the company is today announcing a brand new SDK. The new Software Development Kit (SDK) will include support for new APIs including Javascript, Accelerometer, Data Logging and Persistent Storage. The benefits of these APIs are multifold. Developers will be able to make apps that interface directly with the web to deliver rich apps that can provide information like transit data or location based check-in. It’ll be possible to make fitness monitoring apps that will then be able to log data directly on the smartwatch even you are disconnected from the phone. Making use of the new API, Pebble is bringing onboard new watch faces from the likes of iControl, Foursquare and Go Pro. The next big addition in terms of software is the new app for iOS that’ll offer seamless integration with iOS 7. Pebble is now completely integrated with Notification Center on iOS and you’ll be able to pick and choose which updates you want to see on your wrist. This should finally help calm iOS users who have been frustrated by the limited functionality offered by Pebble on iOS. Pebble is one of the most successful smart watches out there though we feel that this market is just getting heated up and we’ll see a lot of competition in the near future from the likes of Google and Apple.
HTC today published its financial report for Q3 2013 and disclosed that losses were to the tune of $102 million. The company’s revenue was $1.6 billion which is down from last year’s $2.4 billion. Gross margins too were down at 20.4%. The biggest was to the operating margin which fell from +7% to -7.4% year on year. Continue reading “HTC reports Q3 2013 losses to the tune of $102 million”
Just a few weeks back Nokia announced its first offering in the tablet segment with the Windows RT running Lumia 2520. It looks like the Finnish company might be working on a companion device in the 8 inch tablet segment. Evan Blass, the person behind @evleaks today revealed that the Nokia Illusion will be their offering for those looking for a smaller tablet. For better or worse, this tablet too will be powered by Windows RT. Like the Lumia 2520, expect to see this powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2Ghz and pack a Carl Zeiss equipped camera at the back.
Nokia Illusionist is going to be their second RT tablet, but in the eight-inch class.
— @evleaks (@evleaks) November 4, 2013
We’ve seen the competition really heat up in the smaller tablet segment with the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini doing extremely well. This is partially because of the extra portability on offer and to some extent, the pricing advantage. Nokia’s sunlight readable display would be an even bigger selling point at the 8 inch size segment. We expect to see this device at CES in January.
We’d reported some time back that BlackBerry was all set to be bought over by a consortium led by Fairfax Financials. The company today announced that it is backing away from the deal and will instead switch over to Plan B. This is likely due to the inability to raise a higher a bid for the company which is suspected to be the aim altogether behind the Fairfax bid. BlackBerry is now looking to raise $1 Billion in cash and will be replacing CEO Thorsten Heins. John S Chen, former CEO of Sybase will be taking over as interim CEO while the board looks for a replacement. The company will raise the money with a private placement of convertible debentures and its largest investor, Fairfax Financials will take up $250 million of the debentures. There were rumors that Qualcomm amongst others was about to bid for the dying company but it looks like that deal didn’t go through either. The next few months should be very interesting as we keep a track of what exactly will happen to the iconic brand. BlackBerry is expected to burn through its $2.6 billion cash pile in about 18 months.
HTC has been trying their best to turn the ship around and having a consumer centric approach. From the beautifully designed HTC One to the Google Play Edition and now, fast OS updates, the company has been doing a lot of things right. Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America, has just confirmed that the Google Play Edition of the flagship handset will be running Android 4.4 within 15 days. He also reaffirmed that the Developer Edition and unlock version will be on the new release within 30 days. Continue reading “HTC One to get Android 4.4 KitKat within 90 days”
While the Apple iPhone 5s and 5c will launch in India tomorrow, we’re also about to see something unprecedented. Reliance Communications is all set to launch the iPhone 5c and 5s in India on contract pricing. The package will include unlimited voice calls, SMS and 3G data for a fixed monthly sum. The pricing will vary from between Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 2,800 per month and the contract duration will be 24 months. Continue reading “Reliance Communications to introduce iPhone 5c & 5s on 2 year contract, monthly pricing to range from Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,800”
The long rumored Google Nexus 5 is finally official and it brings with a brand new version of Android as well. Google has opted for top of the line specifications for the handset and we get to see a blazing fast 2.3Ghz quad core Snapdragon 800 processor onboard. There’s also 2GB of RAM. All that power will be pushing pixels to the edge to edge 4.95 inch 1080p display. The battery on the phone is a bit disappointing at 2,300 mAh however you’ll still be able to keep it juiced up wirelessly thanks to Qi support. Connectivity options include LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11ac as well as NFC. Continue reading “Google Nexus 5 with Android 4.4 announced”
Zen announced its next gen full HD product, the Amaze 701 Full HD at a press conference yesterday. We’ve got our hands on the product and are well on our way to put it through its paces. However we do know that you guys love a good tease so here’s our unboxing and a quick intro to the device. Continue reading “Zen Ultrafone Amaze 701 Full HD Unboxing”
Nokia just published its quarterly earnings report for Q3 2013 and has reported sales worth Eur 5.66 billion in the quarter ending September. While sales have gone, profits have also increased at Eur 118 million which is a huge improvement over the Eur 115 million losses that it reported last quarter. Continue reading “Nokia Q3 2013 sales at Eur 5.66 billion, 8.8 million Lumias sold”
Here comes the new iPhone, the harbinger of colorful and affordable iOS running smartphone goodness for all. But hey, its not all that cheap is it? What was expected to be a low cost iPhone for the masses ended up being an iPhone 5 with a colorful plastic shell. Who is the iPhone 5c for ? Does it merit a second glance? We explore this and more in our review of the Apple iPhone 5c. Continue reading “Apple iPhone 5c Review”
Sony India introduced a range of new headphones in India and we got a chance to test them out briefly. While we’ve already brought you our impressions of the very innovative 3 in 1 headset, here’s the Sony MDR-10RNC headphone with built in active noise cancellation.
Continue reading “Sony MDR-10RNC Noise Cancellation Headphones Hands On”
Alongside the Lumia 1520, Nokia also showed off a new protective cover accessory for the giant sized handset. The flip cover style accessory will double up as a stand. The protective cover is similar to the smart cover seen on the iPad and similar accessories have been seen for the BlackBerry Z10 as well. Continue reading “Nokia Protective Cover CP-623 announced for Lumia 1520”
