Xiaomi Redmi Note Hands on and First Impressions

Xiaomi Redmi Note-1

Xiaomi announced a total of three devices for the Indian market, the Mi3, the Redmi 1s and the Redmi Note. While the Mi3 is a flagship and the Redmi 1S occupies the lower end, the Redmi Note tries to sit in the median of the other two, with phablet ambitions and a similarly attractive price tag. The phone was announced for Rs. 9,999, a compelling price point for a phablet, especially with the kind of specifications it packs. The Redmi Note sports a 5.5 inch 720p screen, Mediatek’s MT6592 octa-core processor, a 13 megapixel camera and even 2 GB of RAM to support the processor. The spec sheet alone got us intrigued about the device in question, and hence we took it for a spin in front of the camera for a hands on video –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNEhgoC_744

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Facebook rolls out ‘Mentions’ iPhone app for celebrities and public figures

In a bid to increase users engagement on its platform, Facebook has unveiled ‘Mentions’ app for celebrities on iPhone. The app is exclusive only to verified public figures such as actors, athletes, musicians, and government officials.

Facebook Mentions
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Jolla ties up with Snapdeal to launch Jolla smartphone in India within a month

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Jolla, the smartphone start up company from Finland has announced today that it plans to launch its first Jolla smartphone running on its own Sailfish OS. It has tied up with online retailer Snapdeal to enter the Indian market soon. It has an unique design. There are two parts to the smartphone, the front and the cover which Jolla refer to as the other half. Continue reading “Jolla ties up with Snapdeal to launch Jolla smartphone in India within a month”

NVIDIA Shield tablet press image leaked

NVIDIA’s Shield tablet was first revealed in Global Certification Forum earlier this month. Today, an alleged press image of NVIDIA’s Shield tablet has surfaced online thanks to @evleaks. The popular leakster has released a front view image of the tablet.

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Kyocera confirms plans for new phone with sapphire crystal display

Last week there were reports about Kyocera developing a smartphone with sapphire crystal display. Today, the company has released a video and thereby confirming the launch of a smartphone that is equipped with sapphire crystal display.

Kyocera which focuses on durable and rugged smartphones showcases ‘Sapphire Shield’ displays in the latest video. It claims that it has 41 years of experience synthesizing man-made sapphire for electronic components, LED lighting, and high-end wrist watches. The Sapphire Shield display is described as “coming soon,” and will be available in large enough quantities to satisfy Android manufacturers. It also states that this displays will be pure and “truly affordable”.

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CyanogenMod Inc. rolls out CM Home, a Google Now rival

Google Now is one hell of a useful tool if you’re as dependent on your smartphone as me. The context sensitive service provides you with relevant information on the go, be it traffic info, weather, or even sport. It does this by grabbing data from your profile that Google stores bit by bit (you’d be surprised to know what all Google knows about you).

cm home

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Xiaomi Mi Pad Hands on and First Impressions

Xiaomi MiPad-3

If there was one product at the Xiaomi India launch event we’d have really wanted announced for the Indian market, it’d be the Mi Pad. Launched just a couple of months back, the tablet with a 7.9 inch 20148×1536 screen resembles a lot of the iPad mini. The form factor, the size and even the UI pretty much gives the fact away that Xiaomi has its cross hairs squarely aimed at the iPad, and is not afraid to show it. Sporting a really powerful Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset on the inside, the mini tablet claims to be really fast and powerful, but will be available at a price lesser than what the iPad mini with a retina display is selling for. The 16 GB version sells for approximately 14k INR, which is about half the price of the retina-display iPad mini. With that said, we were really interested to check the device out in person, so here is a quick hands on video we made from the event, to see what the device is like –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B6J8uA2mkE

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Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE (SM-G900I) with Snapdragon 801 might launch in India soon

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Samsung plans to launch the LTE variant of the Galaxy S5 (SM-G900I) in India soon, according to a report from Manish Khatri from Mahesh Telecom. The 3G variants of the Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900H) that was launched in India back in April is powered by a Octa-Core Exynos 5422 SoC with Intel XMM6360 for 3G HSPA+ ( up to 42 Mbps) connectivity. The LTE (SM-G900I) variant will be powered by a 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801. Since all the flagship smartphones starting from the Galaxy S3 were launched only in 3G variants with Exynos chip, this would be the company’s first flagship smartphone with Snapdragon chip.

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Sony Xperia new Android 4.4 update brings option to move apps to SD Card

Sony Xperia move Apps to SD

Sony started rolling out Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) update for the Xperia T2 Ultra (v19.1.A.0.473) and its dual SIM variant T2 Ultra Dual (19.1.C.0.116) from yesterday. The new update brings option to move apps to the microSD card in addition to new features. This was not mentioned in the official changelog from Sony.

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Microsoft just killed Nokia’s feature phones and X Android devices

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Stephen Elop’s e-mail to Microsoft employees in the devices and services division and an internal e-mail from Jo Harlow, acquired by BGR, have officially made clear the future of Nokia’s feature phones and the recently launched X range of Android devices. Microsoft will no longer make the Android-based Nokia X devices, but “select designs” from that range will be running Windows Phone in the future. This is understandable, as the company had never been approving of this effort from the Elop-era Nokia, but the axing of the feature phone business, which Jo Harlow details as it being under “maintenance mode” is a tacit admission of the smartphone business completely taking over, and a failure of conversion that Nokia had wanted.

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Microsoft announces 18,000 job cuts next year, 12,500 are from Nokia

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“Starting to Evolve Our Organization and Culture” reads Nadella’s latest mail to his employees which details Microsoft’s 18,000 job cuts next year. The Redmond based software giant has just announced that it wants to go lean and agile, in an effort to re-align with the company’s new vision, a product of the new leadership headed by Satya Nadella. Out of the 18,000 job cuts, 12,500 are from Nokia’s devices and services division the company acquired recently. This completely sends home the point that Microsoft is no longer interested in making phones, as the majority of Nokia’s full time working staff are from manufacturing facilities the company has, around the world.

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Apple iPhone 6 to feature Sony’s 13MP Exmor camera sensor?

iPhone 6 rumors have been looming around for quiet some time now. Today, a new one has added the lot saying that it will feature Sony’s IMX220 Exmor camera sensor. This means that iPhone 6 will boast of 13 MP and a 1/2.3″ sensor, capable of recording 1080p videos.

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Asus Zenfone 6 Unboxing

Asus Zenfone 6-3

Asus launched all the Zenfone smartphones in India last week starting at a price tag of just Rs. 5,999. The Zenfone 6, top-end model in the series with a 6-inch IPS display is priced at Rs. 16,999. We have a different variant of the smartphone that is powered by a 2 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2580 processor and single SIM support. The Indian variant (A600CG / A601CG) has a 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 processor and dual SIM support. Check out the unboxing below. Continue reading “Asus Zenfone 6 Unboxing”

Chrome 36 for Android gets doodles, better text rendering and more

Google has released Chrome 36 for Android with several features along with some improvements. The update brings better text rendering for non mobile optimized sites. Also, Chrome for Android now gets display doodles on new tab pages.

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Spice Smart Pulse M-9010 Watch Phone Unboxing

Spice Smart Pulse M-9010-6

Spice retail launched the Spice Smart Pulse M-9010, a smartwatch with dual SIM support and voice calling capabilities, priced at just Rs. 3,999 (MOP). Other than voice calling and messaging, it has a 1.5-inch QVGA touchscreen, audio and video player, microSD expansion slot and even a VGA camera with LED flash. It has menu, home and back buttons that are usually seen on Android devices, but this runs on proprietary Java-based OS. Check out the unboxing below.

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