Round 1 – Apple iPhone 5s vs Google Nexus 5 #SmartFone13

3

The second leg of the “Best Smartphone of 2013” championship‘s Round 1 begins today with an interesting battle. It’s the Apple iPhone 5s, the Cupertino company’s latest flagship device vs Google’s latest iteration of its famed Nexus line, the Nexus 5. Apple and Google might have been close partners before, but ever since Android happened, Apple has been seeing Google as a threat. For sure, Android has very well catapulted into leadership in the market, but most of it is attributed to third party players like Samsung. With that said, Nexus 5 is Google’s own, only made by LG and the iPhone 5s is well, the best iPhone till date, as all the new iPhones have been. Both these phones take an evolutionary approach, with the 5s differentiating with its Touch ID fingerprint sensor while the Nexus 5 has its humble approach to keep the phone affordable. Out of these two, which one would you pick? It’s time to cast your votes.

Continue reading “Round 1 – Apple iPhone 5s vs Google Nexus 5 #SmartFone13”

Round 1 – Micromax Canvas Turbo vs Lenovo P780 #Smartfone13

Hello readers! Welcome to the first round of Fonearena’s Best Budget Smartphone Competition. Fonearena is conducting one of a kind smartphone championship where you get to make your favorite smartphone win. This year we are conducting two championships – one for the flagships and one for the budget mid-range smartphones. Among the four interesting first round battles, we have the one between Micromax Canvas Turbo and Lenovo P780 right now.

7 Continue reading “Round 1 – Micromax Canvas Turbo vs Lenovo P780 #Smartfone13”

Karbonn Titanium S5+ with 5-inch qHD display, 1.3 GHz quad-core processor now available for Rs. 10636

Karbonn Titanium S5 Plus

Karbonn launched the Titanium S5, the company’s first smartphone with a 5-inch qHD screen earlier this year, now the successor Titanium S5+ with a faster 1.3GHz quad-core processor (probably MediaTek MT6582) is on sale from online retailers Snapdeal and Saholic in India. It has a 5-inch qHD IPS screen similar to its predecessor, but this is based on On-Cell capacitive touch solution. It runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), packs an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with dual SIM support with dual standby, similar to other Karbonn smartphones. Continue reading “Karbonn Titanium S5+ with 5-inch qHD display, 1.3 GHz quad-core processor now available for Rs. 10636”

Samsung announces Rose Gold White, Rose Gold Black and Merlot Red Galaxy Note 3

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 color options

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Note 3 in 3 new accents – Rose Gold White, Rose Gold Black and Merlot Red. After some rumors, the Red and White Gold Samsung Galaxy Note 3 variants went official on Samsung Argentina website last week. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 3 in Jet Black, Classic White and Blush Pink colors back in September. Other specifications are similar to the old ones. Continue reading “Samsung announces Rose Gold White, Rose Gold Black and Merlot Red Galaxy Note 3”

Samsung reportedly working on 20MP camera modules for 2014

samsung-galaxy-note-3-review-14

Samsung is working on 20-megapixel camera modules for the second half of the 2014, according to a report from ET News in Korea. Samsung Galaxy S5 is rumored to feature a 16-megapixel camera with ISOCELL sensor, but the report says that it would not feature OIS since Samsung needs at least 50 million OIS modules to implement OIS in the Galaxy S5’s camera module.
Continue reading “Samsung reportedly working on 20MP camera modules for 2014”

Apple iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display India launch date set for December 7

apple-ipad-air-unboxing-5

Apple has just announced that the much anticipated iPad Air would be going on sale in India on December 7th at a Maximum Retail Price of Rs.35,900 for the base 16GB WiFi only version.  The iPad mini with Retina display is also launching in India for Rs.28900 for the base 16GB WiFi only version. There is no news about the Cellular/3G versions as of now but they might go on sale at a later date. The new iPads would be available in Silver and Space Gray colours. Decent pricing considering that 1 USD is trading for almost Rs.62 currently. The same iPad Air would cost around Rs.34000 in the US and the iPad mini Retina would cost Rs.27000 approximately.

Continue reading “Apple iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display India launch date set for December 7”

Oppo N1 to be globally available for $599 starting December 10th

oppo-n1-global-availability

Oppo N1, the Chinese company’s top end flagship that we unboxed earlier, will be available for purchase globally for $599, starting December 10th of this year. The N1 is a 5.9 inch device that aims to be address the current trend of gargantuan phones that bridge the gap between phones and tablets. But Oppo adds its own twists in the form of a rotating camera that lets you take full 13 MP resolution selfies, a rear touch sensor called O-Touch that lets you navigate the screen easily and the choice of your operating system in the form of feature rich Color OS or AOSP based Cyanogen Mod. These features and choices make the N1 a little bit more interesting than the other 6 inch devices, let alone the magnificent build quality. Anyways, if you are looking to get this phone, you will be able to purchase it at OppoStyle.com which ships globally and even some other retailers depending on your country, for 599 USD or 449 EURO.

Continue reading “Oppo N1 to be globally available for $599 starting December 10th”

Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504 with 5-inch display, metal body launched for Rs. 6499

Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504

S Mobility has launched the Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X (Mi-504), the latest smartphone in the Spice Smart Flo series with a metal body. It has a 5-inch (480 x 854 pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1.3 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It comes with a 8-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. It has Dual SIM support with Dual Standby and has 2G (EDGE) connectivity. Continue reading “Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504 with 5-inch display, metal body launched for Rs. 6499”

BlackBerry Q10 price temporarily drops to Rs. 38990 in India

blackberry-q10-photos-5

BlackBerry India has just announced that the BlackBerry Q10 would be available in India for Rs. 38,990 starting today, as a part of a limited period festive offer. The BlackBerry Q10 was launched in India back in June at a price tag of Rs. 44,990. BlackBerry India shashed the price of the Z10 back in September, which was announced as a temporary price cut, but the smartphone is available in the market at a much cheaper rate. BlackBerry launched the Z30, the company’s latest flagship in India back in October.  Continue reading “BlackBerry Q10 price temporarily drops to Rs. 38990 in India”

Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite rumored to debut at MWC 2014

Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro vs Galaxy Grand Duos-6

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Grand 2 with a 5.2-inch HD screen and a quad-core processor recently. Samsung is all set to launch the Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite (GT-I9060) at the MWC 2014, according to a report from SamMobile. The Grand Lite would lie between the first Galaxy Grand and the Grand 2 and is expected to sport a 5-inch (800 x 480 Pixels) capacitive touch screen display similar to the Galaxy Grand, but this would be powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor similar to the Grand 2. It would run on Android 4.2 or 4.3 (Jelly Bean), pack a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) camera. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite rumored to debut at MWC 2014”

Oppo R1 coming mid December

Last week, we brought you information that Oppo was going to launch a mid-range device – Oppo R829, but it turns out that the name of the device has been changed. The new mid-range device from Oppo which is expected to arrive during the middle of December 2013 will be named as Oppo R1.

Oppo R1 Continue reading “Oppo R1 coming mid December”

Reliance Jio reportedly signs Rs. 7500 crore deal with Samsung for BTS infrastructure

 

Reliance Tower

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited has signed a deal with the South Korean giant Samsung to supply active BTS infrastructure for 4G, according to a report from DNA. Samsung would venture into base transceiver station (BTS) space for the first time and would supply BTS that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment and the network. Continue reading “Reliance Jio reportedly signs Rs. 7500 crore deal with Samsung for BTS infrastructure”

iBall Andi5-M8 with 5-inch display and Android 4.2 spotted on official website for Rs. 8999

iBall Andi5-M8

iBall Andi 5-E7, the first phone in the Andi5 series went on sale online last week at Rs. 6999, now the iBall Andi5-M8, a new smartphone in the Andi5 series has appeared on the official website. It has a 5-inch (854 x 480 pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1.3 GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). Unlike the Andi5-E7, this has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and comes with 3G connectivity. It also has a front-facing camera and has dual SIM support.

Continue reading “iBall Andi5-M8 with 5-inch display and Android 4.2 spotted on official website for Rs. 8999”

Micromax Bolt A61 with 4-inch display and Android 4.1 goes on sale for Rs. 4999


Micromax Bolt A61, the latest Android smartphone in the Bolt series appeared on the official website last week. Now the phone is available from the official Micromax eStore. It comes with a with a 4-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display, powered by a 1GHz Spreadtrum SC7710 processor and runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It packs a 2-megapixel rear camera with flash and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. It also has 3G connectivity and dual SIM support. Continue reading “Micromax Bolt A61 with 4-inch display and Android 4.1 goes on sale for Rs. 4999”

Round 1 – Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Sony Xperia Z1 #SmartFone13

2

We initiated the first round of polls for the SmartFone championship for the best smartphone of 2013 today. Samsung Galaxy S4 and the LG G2 were the first contenders, but, as we had pondered earlier, Samsung seems to be the only company with two flagship devices in their portfolio, which cater to different audiences at the same time. So we thought it is fair enough that Samsung has another device in our polls. On the other hand, Sony, the company that had been so late to the party on the past few years finally sped up with the launch of the Xperia Z, one of the world’s first 1080p phones, but it has already gotten a replacement in the form of a Sony Xperia Z1, which takes the speed up a notch, having all the latest specifications in a similar package, and with a great new camera. So, how do these two compete? Which one is your pick?

UPDATE: Comprehensive victory for the Sony Xperia Z1!

Continue reading “Round 1 – Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Sony Xperia Z1 #SmartFone13”