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Samsung Life Times – a new app under development for Samsung devices

Samsung is known to release new flagship devices along with a lot of software features and gimmicks. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI is one of the heaviest skins in terms of RAM consumption and it comes with a lot of default apps that you cannot uninstall. According to the rumor mill, Samsung’s TouchWiz reportedly getting a big overhaul alongside the launch of Samsung Galaxy S5. But just a couple of days back, Google and Samsung entered into an agreement for patents and Samsung may be toning down on the TouchWiz to make it more Google like.

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Oppo N1 officially arrives in India for a price of Rs. 39,999

Oppo had earlier revealed that they are entering the Indian market today, and right now, they have done just that, at an event in New Delhi. This event also sees the launch of company flagship, the Oppo N1, for a price of Rs. 39,999, for the 16 GB version. The N1, initially rumoured to be a camera centric device, turned out to be a lot more, which we had documented in our review earlier. It has a 5.9 inch 1080p display, a 13 megapixel camera sitting on a rotating swivel, a rear touch sensor for one handed usage, a really cool bluetooth accessory and so on. The hardware alone does not tell the entire story because the N1 is perhaps the most open device on the market, with an unlocked bootloader and a custom recovery that can install ROMs like Cyanogen Mod without any modification. Now that it has landed in India, can the “13 MP selfie” phone make its mark in a highly competitive market?

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Tablets shipment cross 75million in Q4 2013, but growth slows down

In the latest report from IDC(International Data Corporation), tablet shipments have grown to 76.9 million in the last quarter of 2013. The 76.9 million number is a big increase of 62.4% over the previous quarter, but is a relatively small increase when compared to the sales during 2012 – an increase of 28.2% .

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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.

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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”

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”

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”

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”

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.

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Google Chrome Apps for iOS and Android are coming

Google Chrome apps for iOS and Android are coming, as the company has just quietly unveiled, in its Chromium blog, that it is finally ready to extend the reach of Chrome apps to mobile platforms. It was previously rumoured to happen, but Google remained quiet even after the news spread fast. But now that it’s official, it is seen as a landmark announcement, as this might be a strategic move for all things Google, going forward. With Chromebooks gaining ground in the notebook space, thanks to several OEMs backing it up with some really interesting products, Google is now taking the bustling platform to mobile. This is a move that the whole industry has been expecting, ever since Google replaced Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai, the Chrome boss at the Mountain View company. Having developed a tool chain for packaging Chrome apps into native shells for both iOS and Android, this Google-blessed offering will be a dream come true for many developers.

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iBall Andi 4.5 Ripple launched, comes in 2G and 3G variants for Rs. 5499 and Rs. 6399

iBall Andi 4.5 Ripple

iBall has launched Andi 4.5 Ripple that comes in both 3G and 2G variants. These smartphones come with a 4.5-inch (854 ×480 pixels) FWVGA IPS display, powered by a 1.3 GHz dual-core Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). These have a 5-megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. As usual you ave dual SIM support with dual standby. Continue reading “iBall Andi 4.5 Ripple launched, comes in 2G and 3G variants for Rs. 5499 and Rs. 6399”

Lava Iris Pro 30 Benchmarks

Lava launched the Iris Pro 30, the company’s first smartphone in the Iris Pro earlier this month for Rs. 15,999. We already brought you the hands-on and the photo gallery of the Iris Pro 30 from the launch event and brought you the unboxing earlier today, here we have the benchmarks of the smartphone. It has a 4.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589 processor with PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU and runs on Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean). We had already seen several smartphones with an HD screen and a similar quad-core processor. Let’s find out how this competes with other devices in range of synthetic benchmark tests. Continue reading “Lava Iris Pro 30 Benchmarks”

Karbonn A91 with 3.9-inch display, Android 4.2 listed online for Rs. 4490

Karbonn A91

Karbonn A91, the company’s new enty-level smartphones has been listed on Flipkart. It has a 3.9-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display, powered by a 1.3 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 3.2 rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. It has dual SIM support and has 2G (EDGE) connectivity. Continue reading “Karbonn A91 with 3.9-inch display, Android 4.2 listed online for Rs. 4490”