July, 2013 | Fone Arena

Intex Cloud X3 with dual-core processor and Android 4.2 launched for Rs. 3790

Intex Cloud X3

Intex Technologies has launched the Cloud X3, the company’s latest entry-level Android smartphone. It has a 3.5-inch (320 x 480 pixels) capacitive multi-touch display, dual SIM support and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). Intex has partnered with MediaTek for the launch and the smartphone is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 chip that has integrated Wi-Fi, FM, GPS and Bluetooth. Intex is the first smartphone maker in India to introduce a smartphone with this chip. Continue reading “Intex Cloud X3 with dual-core processor and Android 4.2 launched for Rs. 3790”

NTT Docomo to launch 150 Mbps Xi LTE service in Japan

NTT Docomo Xi LTE

NTT Docomo has started testing their enhanced Xi (read “Crossy”) LTE service that would offer download speeds of up to 150 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps. The first trial run would being in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture from July 30th . Apart from improving the LTE service NTT Docomo has expanded their current 112.5 Mbps Xi LTE service to more than 130 cities in Japan as of this month. NTT Docomo launched the first Xi LTE service back in December 2010 that offered download speeds of up to 75 Mbps. It was upgraded gradually. Continue reading “NTT Docomo to launch 150 Mbps Xi LTE service in Japan”

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition Unboxing

samsung-galaxys4-google-play-unboxing
I was in New York city recently for an event and managed to get hold of the recently launched Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition for unboxing as I’m a huge fan of devices running stock Android and the Galaxy S4 has some great internals and a full HD Super AMOLED display. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI on top on Android does offer some useful features but it does come at a cost in terms of free space on the device and

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0m1kmTfGhE Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition Unboxing”

Apple and Samsung lose marketshare as LG, Lenovo and others soar

idc-q2-total-marketshare

IDC has yet again released a marketshare analysis of all the smartphone vendors for the period of Q2 2013. Interestingly, the action is slowly shifting away from the top two, Apple and Samsung. In the event of stiff and challenging competition from other smartphone vendors such as LG and Lenovo, Apple and Samsung have lost a chunk of their smartphone and haven’t been able to keep up with the rapidly expanding smartphone market. The overall smartphone market has seen a 52.3% YoY change and Apple has lagged with only 20% growth while Samsung has almost kept up, with 43.9% growth rate. Samsung is not in a bad position though, going by their recently revealed numbers.

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Samsung reports record profit of $8.5 billion in Q2 2013 with 9% increase in mobile revenue

Samsung just reported its Q2 earnings for 2013. The South Korea-based company managed to rack up an operating profit of 9.53 trillion won (~US$8.5 billion), which is the highest Samsung has ever posted in a single quarter and a 9-percent increase compared to last Quarter. It has reported net profit of 7.77 trillion won (~US$6.96 billion) and revenues of 57.46 trillion won (~US$51 billion). Mobile phone sales accounted for 34.58 trillion won (~US$31.1 billion), which is 9-percent increase compared to last quarter. Continue reading “Samsung reports record profit of $8.5 billion in Q2 2013 with 9% increase in mobile revenue”

MediaTek and LG partner to bring world’s first Triple-SIM 3G Smartphone

MediaTek LG

MediaTek has announced that they have partnered with LG to bring the world’s first triple-SIM 3G smartphones. LG had already launched a triple SIM feature phone, A290 with triple support in India last year. LG starting launching dual SIM Android smartphones last year starting with Optimus Net Dual with a dedicated SIM switch key to switch between either SIM cards easily. This continued in the Optimus L Series and L Series II Range. The Optimus L4 II Dual is the latest Dual SIM Android smartphone from LG, which also comes with a dedicated SIM switch key. Continue reading “MediaTek and LG partner to bring world’s first Triple-SIM 3G Smartphone”

Alleged screen bezel of a 6 inch Nokia Lumia Phablet leaks

nokia-6-inch-lumia-phablet

Just hours after we reviewed a monster of a device with a 6.3 inch screen, a screen bezel has leaked on to the internet from the factories in China. Guess what, it reportedly measures 6 inches in diagonal and it’s a Nokia Lumia. Previously, we had seen a Nokia Lumia device with an aluminium body leak from a mass production line, with unnaturally long sides and we think this screen bezel might be part of that puzzle. With Microsoft and Nokia rumoured to support bigger 1080p resolution displays with a interim GDR3 Windows Phone update in fall, the phablet leak is in line with expectations.

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The New Nexus 7 2013 – What’s new? Should you upgrade?

New Nexus 7

The new Nexus 7(2013) launched just within the last 24 hours but a lot has been already said about it thanks to the various leaks and pre orders that went live even before it went official. That said, the full specifications are finally revealed and we have gone through the completely to see if this is really worth the upgrade. Well, is it? Should you upgrade from your old Nexus 7? Lets find out.

Continue reading “The New Nexus 7 2013 – What’s new? Should you upgrade?”

Sony confirms Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for range of 2013 Xperia devices

Sony Mobile would be one of the first companies to announce the upcoming Android updates for their devices. It started rolling out the Android 4.2.2 update for the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL starting last month. Now it has confirmed that the Xperia ZR and the Xperia Tablet Z would start receiving Android 4.2 from early August. It has also confirmed the list of devices that would get the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update. Continue reading “Sony confirms Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for range of 2013 Xperia devices”

NVIDIA shows off next-gen Logan mobile SoC with Kepler GPU

NVIDIA Logan Demo

NVIDIA showed off Project Logan, their next-generation, CUDA-capable mobile processor. It detailed the Tegra roadmap back in March with Logan and Parker SoCs with Kepler and Maxwell GPUs. The Keplar GPU is built on the same Kepler graphics architecture found in its latest generation of PC GPUs such as Nvidia GeForce Titan. The Logan chip would use a similar 4 + 1 arrangement similar to Tegra 3 and Tegra 4 chips and use 4 ARM A15 CPU cores and Kepler GPU with 192 CUDA cores. Continue reading “NVIDIA shows off next-gen Logan mobile SoC with Kepler GPU”

Oppo is reportedly the second most profitable mobile phone company in China

oppo-find-5-photos-29

Oppo, a smartphone and consumer electronics company from China has been responsible for smartphones like the Finder and more recently, the Find 5. Surprisingly, for a small company like Oppo, news comes by the way of China’s Entrepreneur magazine that it is the second most profitable mobile phone company in the country. For a market as big as China, this certainly seems like good news for a relatively unknown company.

Continue reading “Oppo is reportedly the second most profitable mobile phone company in China”

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Review

samsung-galaxy-mega-6-3-review-34

Ever since the original Galaxy Note, Samsung has continuously shocked us with screen sizes on their smartphones. Predictably, that has continued with the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and its bigger brother, the Mega 6.3 with the world’s biggest screen, on a smartphone that is. We initially thought it was ridiculous that Huawei launched a 6.1 inch device at CES, but Samsung has one-upped them, actually 0.2-upped them with a more monstrous 6.3 inch screen. After a good amount of ridicule and plenty of surprises, we have finally tested this Smartphone-Tablet hybrid in whole and here are our complete thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3. Retailing at Rs 32,990, is this the large screen phablet you are waiting for? Lets find out.

Video Review

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec2mdHaJg6I

Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Review”

Asus Fonepad with 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z2460 processor, 32GB internal storage now available in India for Rs. 17999

Asus launched the Fonepad in India with 3G data support and voice calling capabilities back in April. Later the Fonepad was upgraded with a more powerful processor and 32GB internal storage in May. Now the new Fonepad is available from online retailer Flipkart. Apart from the processor and the internal memory, the new Fonepad has similar features including a 7-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) IPS display, 3-megapixel auto focus rear camera with 720p HD video recording, 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). We reviewed the first Fonepad back in May. Continue reading “Asus Fonepad with 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z2460 processor, 32GB internal storage now available in India for Rs. 17999”

Google Play Games app released, lets you discover new games, track achievements and play with friends

Google Play Games

Google announced the Google Play Games services back in May at the Google I/O. Now the Google Play Games app is live in the Play Store that lets you invite a friend and start challenging gamers around the world, compete for top achievements, and race to the top of the leaderboard. You can also discover new games and play with friends and join supported multiplayer games. It also shows notifications and friend’s requests. By default only users from your Google Play circles can send requests, but you can change it from the settings. Continue reading “Google Play Games app released, lets you discover new games, track achievements and play with friends”

Aircel partners with Wikimedia Foundation to offer free Wikipedia access on mobile phones

Aircel has tied up with Wikimedia Foundation to offer free access to Wikipedia on mobile phones for their customers. This is the first service of its kind to formally launch in India. This lets you browse Wikipedia website (m.wikipedia.org) on any internet enabled mobile phone without any data charges. This is a part of Wikimedia Foundation’s Wikipedia Zero program, to enable mobile access, free of data charges, to Wikipedia to billions of people around the world, especially in developing countries. Continue reading “Aircel partners with Wikimedia Foundation to offer free Wikipedia access on mobile phones”