Latest Mobile Phones, News, Reviews in India : FoneArena The Mobile Blog

Google makes it official: sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91bn, retains patents

Hot on the heels of the news that Google might be planning to offload Motorola to Lenovo comes the official announcement. Google today revealed that Lenovo plans to acquire the Motorola Mobility smartphone business for $2.91 billion. Google had acquired Motorola for a whopping 12.5 billion dollars which makes the sale price seem suspiciously low. That said, Google will retain control of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio which seems to have been the intention all along. Lenovo will receive a license to get access to this patent portfolio. It remains unclear if this will be an exclusive license however, Lenovo will also receive over 2,000 patent assets as well as the brand and trademark portfolio for Motorola Mobility. Continue reading “Google makes it official: sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91bn, retains patents”

Lenovo to buy Motorola from Google for 3 billion USD

Lenovo, the world’s no. 1 PC maker and one of the top 5 Smartphone vendors in the world, is reportedly buying out Motorola’s Mobility division from Google for close 3 billion USD, reports Reuters. With final talks between Lenovo and Google going on, Reuters adds that the Motorola mobility division is the one that makes the Moto X and the recently launched popular budget device, Moto G. Lenovo will also be getting its hands on certain patents as a part of the deal, reportedly. Google created a lot of flutter, not long ago, when it announced that it will acquire Motorola’s mobility division for a whopping 12.5 billion USD. It was assumed that the money was for all the patents, but Motorola(under Google’s leadership) announced the Moto X and the Moto G, with very few tweaks and modifications, which possibly signaled more Google intervention than ever, but it looks like that was not the case then, nor is it now.

Lenovo and Google have just made the acquisition official, read here for more details.

Continue reading “Lenovo to buy Motorola from Google for 3 billion USD”

Apple releases iOS 7.0.5 to tackle network provisioning error

Apple is reportedly pushing a new update, iOS 7.0.5, that will fix persistent software issues with the iPhone 5s and 5c being sold in China. There have been reports of problems around network provisioning for units of the iPhone 5s and 5c being sold in China and the update is expected to be a fix for that. The popular phones launched on the biggest operator in China, China Mobile, to much success and the numbers reflected in Apple’s sales figures. Apple managed to push a record 51 million units of the iPhone in Q1 2014. Continue reading “Apple releases iOS 7.0.5 to tackle network provisioning error”

Samsung reportedly toning down TouchWiz tweaks and apps due to pressure from Google

Samsung, the world’s biggest Android manufacturer, is reportedly toning down its TouchWiz UI tweaks and own custom apps due to pressure from Google, reports re/code. Not long before, the Korean Chaebol unveiled a range of new Android devices at the Consumer Electronics Show, all featuring the company’s latest and heavily modified Touchwiz “Magazine” UX, that looked nothing like Android. And then we saw a couple more leaks of its adaptation for the mobile form factor, and even that was a drastic departure from the previous version of TouchWiz, let alone stock Android. This might have set Google off and reportedly, the two companies have come to a compromise(among many other things) in which Samsung will tone down its UI tweaks and replacement apps for Google’s services, going forward.

The image above, taken from a Ars Technica opinion piece paints a clear picture of how Samsung had its own ecosystem around Android, replacing almost every little Google service possible. It is all set to change soon.

Continue reading “Samsung reportedly toning down TouchWiz tweaks and apps due to pressure from Google”

LG G Pro 2 shows up in leaked images

LG G Pro 2 leak

Earlier this week LG confirmed that it would launch the LG G Pro 2, successor of the LG G Pro next month. Live images of the device has surfaced in Korea, which shows off G2-like rear-mounted power button and volume keys, textured back panel, unlike G Pro’s shiny plastic panel with square pattern elements. It also has a sleek curved design, according to the leaked image. Continue reading “LG G Pro 2 shows up in leaked images”

Samsung Galaxy Gear gets another price cut to Rs. 14,999 in India

Galaxy Gear is the first Smartwatch from Samsung, the world leader in consumer electronics. One would have expected it to sell like how the Note sold, even after reviews lambasted it for being too big and otherworldly, but that isn’t the same case for the Galaxy Gear. It has received price cuts after price cuts and we are now at a stage in which it sells at a price of Rs. 14,999 in retail, a huge 8,000 discount from the original launch price of Rs. 22,990. The price has fallen by almost 40%, which indicates the kind of demand that the product is getting in the market. Sure, the market is not really a “Smartwatch” market per se, but bundling it with the Note 3 was a clever strategy from Samsung, which unfortunately did not work in its favour.

Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Gear gets another price cut to Rs. 14,999 in India”

Lava Iris 404e with 4-inch display, Android 4.2 listed online for Rs. 4065

Lava Iris 404e

Lava Iris 404e, the latest smartphone from Lava in the Iris range has been listed on Flipkart. It has a 4-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display, powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS. It has 2G (EDGE) connectivity, Dual SIM support with dual standby, 2-megapixel rear with LED flash and VGA front-facing camera. Continue reading “Lava Iris 404e with 4-inch display, Android 4.2 listed online for Rs. 4065”

Tata Group reportedly planning to exit telecom business

Tata

A year after taking over as chairman of the Tata group, Cyrus Mistry, has decided to exit the telecom business completely, according to a recent report from Economic Times. Tata Group, which includes Tata Communications and Tata Tele has initiated talks with Vodafone to sell the company, but the discussions are at an early stage. Continue reading “Tata Group reportedly planning to exit telecom business”

Gionee Gpad G4 with 5.7-inch HD display, Aluminium body now available for Rs. 18999

Gionee Gpad 4, that appeared online back in November is now available in India from online retailer Snapdeal as Gpad G4. It has a 5.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD one-glass solution (OGS) display, powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589T processor with PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with 28mm wide angle lens. Continue reading “Gionee Gpad G4 with 5.7-inch HD display, Aluminium body now available for Rs. 18999”

Lava Iris Pro 30 Camera Samples

Lava recently announced their latest flagship smartphone – Lava Iris Pro 30. As seen at the announcement event, specifications are not the strength of this device. However, it comes with its own strength in the form of a spectacular build quality; looking like the industry standard iPhone and with a very light 114g body. We recently brought you the unboxing of this device and today we will be checking out how the 8MP camera on the back of the Lava Iris Pro does.

Lava Iris Pro 30-1 Continue reading “Lava Iris Pro 30 Camera Samples”

Celkon S1 with 5-inch 1080p display, 13MP camera launched for Rs. 14999

Celkon S1

Celkon has launched the Celkon S1, the company’s latest flagship smartphone. It has a 5.0-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display based on one-glass-solution technology, powered by 1.5 GHz Quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean). It has a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with dual LED Flash and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone is very sleek at just 6.5mm. Continue reading “Celkon S1 with 5-inch 1080p display, 13MP camera launched for Rs. 14999”

Korea’s KT launches LTE Broadcast powered by Qualcomm’s technology

Samsung and KT LTE Broadcast

KT Corporation, one of the largest telecom providers in Korea has introduced the world’s first commercial LTE Broadcast/eMBMS (evolved Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service) for its subscribers using the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone. We already know that the LTE variant of the Note 3 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. This service is based on Qualcomm’s LTE Broadcast Solution, which includes highly optimized broadcast middleware, a software development kit (SDK) and the eMBMS-enabled Qualcomm LTE Advanced chipset. Continue reading “Korea’s KT launches LTE Broadcast powered by Qualcomm’s technology”

HTC One Android 4.4.2 KitKat update starts rolling out in Europe

HTC One Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Back in November HTC promised that it would roll out the Android 4.4 Kitkat update for the HTC One users in EMEA countries (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) starting from January-end. It has kept its promise and has started rolling out the KitKat update in parts of Europe, including Nordic region. The HTC One Google Play Edition got the KitKat update back in November last year. Continue reading “HTC One Android 4.4.2 KitKat update starts rolling out in Europe”

Opera Mobile Store surpass 100 million users

Opera Mobile Store

Opera has announced that their Opera Mobile Store has reached 105 million monthly visitors at the end of Q4 2013. It now has over 100 million users globally, with a tremendous growth of 230% annually. It currently offers more than 200,000 mobile apps and games across most mobile platforms, including Android, Java, BlackBerry, Symbian and iOS. Last year it got redesigned, which brought new users and more downloads. Continue reading “Opera Mobile Store surpass 100 million users”

Lava Iris 401e Unboxing

Lava Iris 401e is among the very entry range Android smartphones and comes with a now extinct Android 2.3 Gingerbread on board. Compromising on a lot of things, it offers near antique Android experience within a very very affordable range. It is priced less than the Nokia Asha 501 which sets the benchmark for entry range feature phones. Today we are unboxing the Lava Iris 401e smartphone.

lava-iris-401e-unboxing-9 Continue reading “Lava Iris 401e Unboxing”