Google Play Newsstand launched for Android Smartphones and Tablets

Google Play Newsstand for Android

Google has released the Play Newsstand, new magazine app for Android tablets and smartphones. The app lets you discover more of the news and magazines. It also offers breaking news, blogs, and in-depth articles featuring images, audio, and video. It gathers news from range of categories such as sports, business, cooking, entertainment, fashion and more. It also offers both free and paid news and full HD magazines, all in one place. Continue reading “Google Play Newsstand launched for Android Smartphones and Tablets”

Intex i17 with 6-inch HD display, 1.7 GHz Octa-Core MT6592 CPU coming in January for under Rs. 20000

Intex i17 launch

Intex already announced that they have partnered with MediaTek to launch India’s first MediaTek MT6592 Octa-Core-powered smartphone. The company has detailed some specifications of the device. It comes with a 6-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS  display, powered by a 1.7 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592 processor and run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It would feature a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera similar to the Aqua i7. Continue reading “Intex i17 with 6-inch HD display, 1.7 GHz Octa-Core MT6592 CPU coming in January for under Rs. 20000”

Oppo R833T mid range smartphone revealed in China

oppo-r833t-mid-range-smartphone

While flagships like the N1 keep coming, Oppo has sought to gain marketshare and mind share with its mid range devices too. It started with the Oppo R819, and now a new Oppo R833T mid range smartphone has been revealed in China. It’s a 4.3″ device with modest specifications, which is similar to the ones we have here in the Indian mid range market. The device runs on a 1.3 GHz Quad Core Cortex A7 processor and has 1 GB of RAM, with 4 GB of internal storage augmented with a micro SD expansion slot if needed. There is also a 5 MP camera on the back with a single LED flash and this phone unsurprisingly runs on the company’s own Color OS, with Android 4.2.2 underneath. The phone is undoubtedly aimed at the low-mid end range of smartphones which is the fastest growing segment in a market like China or India.

Continue reading “Oppo R833T mid range smartphone revealed in China”

LG and Google launch the Nexus 5 in India officially

google-nexus-5-unboxing-7

The Nexus 5 manufactured by LG went on sale from the Play Store earlier today, now LG and Google have officially announced the launch of the smartphone in India. It packs a 5 inch full HD IPS screen with LG’s own in-cell touch technology, powered by the blazing fast Snapdragon 800 processor and runs on on the latest version of Android 4.4 KitKat. It was announced last month. We’ve already got hold of the 16 GB variant of the Nexus 5 and had unboxed it recently. The Nexus 5 comes with a Qualcomm QFE1100 Envelope Tracking chip that offers 20% more battery life. Continue reading “LG and Google launch the Nexus 5 in India officially”

Twitter for Android and iPhone updated with new Search filters, Trending Timeline and more

Twitter for iPhone v5.13

Twitter has updated both the Android (v 5.0) and iPhone (v5.13) apps with new Search Filters that help you quickly find exactly the Tweets and people you’re looking for. Twitter released v5.0 Beta for Android back in September for a closed group that brought new UI, Navigation menu and more, looks like it has dropped the idea to bring the new UI to 5.0 update in the stable version. The stable v5.0 update doesn’t have the new UI or any Navigation menu. Both these apps were updated with in-line image and video previews few weeks back. Continue reading “Twitter for Android and iPhone updated with new Search filters, Trending Timeline and more”

Opera 18 for Android brings Tablet support with new UI

Opera 18 for Android Tablets

Opera has updated the Android browser to version 18 that brings a completely new UI for tablets specifically designed for tablet. It also has the smartphone features Off-Road mode, that compresses websites images and text on slow connection, Discover that lets you get news from magazines and newspapers, Speed Dial and more. This update also brings bug fixes and various stabilisation and performance improvements for Android devices. Continue reading “Opera 18 for Android brings Tablet support with new UI”

Oppo’s N1 coming soon to India, hints at local stores and customer support

oppo-n1-unboxing-1Oppo hints at N1 coming soon to India, with customer support

The Oppo N1, a huge 5.9 inch device with a focus on the camera and some new innovation like a rear touch panel, was announced for the Chinese market a couple of months back. The device, at 3,468 Yuan = 570 USD = 35,700 INR is set for a global December availability. But even then, the sticking point for many, including users from India, has been the local availability and customer support. It looks like Oppo is planning to fix that because they have just hinted in their forums, regarding their Indian plans for availability and customer support. This is a big step for the Chinese company which has, so far, concentrated only on its home and US/European markets.

Continue reading “Oppo’s N1 coming soon to India, hints at local stores and customer support”

Google Nexus 5 now available for purchase on Play Store in India

google-nexus5-india-playstore

Google has finally started selling the all new Nexus 5 on the Play Store in India after being listed as coming soon after the global announcement. The 16GB version is listed at Rs.28999 as hinted before and the 32GB version is listed at Rs.32999. Both the 16GB and 32GB models in both black and white colours are available for purchase. The Nexus 5 is already on sale at LG dealerships at select cities in India at a slightly higher price of Rs.29999 for the 16GB model and Rs.33999 for the 32GB model. Great to see LG and Google bringing a device to the Indian market within days or weeks of the US launch with some reasonable pricing too!

Continue reading “Google Nexus 5 now available for purchase on Play Store in India”

Moto X gets Android 4.4 KitKat on Verizon before Nexus 4 OTA

moto-x-unboxing-11As if Moto G wasn’t enough of an indication that Google and its subsidiary Motorola are working closely, today the company announced that its Flagship product – Moto X will be getting an update to Android 4.4 KitKat. This is only for Verizon Wireless customers who have bought the Moto X, but it still is way ahead of the KitKat OTA update that has been evading the Nexus devices so far. The Moto X is a neat little device that runs on stock Android, with a couple of hardware related enhancements like the always listening Google Now and the fact that it is now getting all the Android 4.4 KitKat goodness is a nice gesture from Google/Motorola.

Continue reading “Moto X gets Android 4.4 KitKat on Verizon before Nexus 4 OTA”

Google Nexus 5 Display Comparison with Samsung Galaxy Note 3, HTC One and LG G2

Google launched their latest flagship smartphone – Google Nexus 5 and like most flagships of the later half of 2013, it is equipped with a Full HD display and is powered by Snapdragon 800 SoC. The 720p HD display on the yesteryear flagship – Google Nexus 4 definitely wasn’t the best display we have seen and we are going to see if things got better atleast in the Google Nexus 5. Google Nexus 4 was made by LG and it was based on their Optimus G smartphone and the trend continued this year as Google Nexus 5 is based on LG G2 and is manufactured by LG.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq1qngTKQB4 Continue reading “Google Nexus 5 Display Comparison with Samsung Galaxy Note 3, HTC One and LG G2”

Demystifying the Google Nexus 5’s HDR+ mode, what does it actually do?

nexus-5-camera-hdr-plus-what-does-it-do

Demystifying the Google Nexus 5’s HDR+ mode, what does it actually do?

The Google Nexus 5‘s 8 megapixel camera has been a hot topic of discussion ever since it made its way into the market. With people getting their hands on it the day after it released, various reports came in. Some said the camera was average, some said the camera was great, and some said one must always use the in-built HDR mode for the best pictures. It definitely got us intrigued, especially with Google promoting the HDR+ mode one its Nexus 5 product page as “With HDR+, create vivid photos by day and sharper photos by night.” Technically, HDR directly means “Higher dynamic range” which will fuse multiple exposures and output a single photo that is equally exposed, but that doesn’t seem right in line with Google’s description, does it? Well, we set to find out exactly what it does, and the results are quite interesting, to say the least.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2eFmSOvecY

Continue reading “Demystifying the Google Nexus 5’s HDR+ mode, what does it actually do?”

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 OTA update starts rolling out in India

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 India

Samsung has finally started rolling out the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update for the Galaxy Note 2 (GT-N7100) users in India. The Samsung Galaxy S4 was the first device in India to get the Android 4.3 update in India last month. The Galaxy Note 2 was launched in India back in September last year running on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It got the Android 4.1.2 update back in December 2012 that brought customizable Notification Panel, new Notification Toggles, new keyboard with gesture typing and more. Samsung has decided to update the phone directly to Android 4.3, skipping the Android 4.2 update, just like the Galaxy S3. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 OTA update starts rolling out in India”

Xolo Play Tab 7.0 Photo Gallery

Xolo announced their Xolo Play earlier this year which was the first device by an Indian manufacturer to sport the NVidia Tegra 3 chipset. The Xolo Play was all about gaming and Xolo decided to make it bigger and hence we have the Xolo Play Tab 7.0. The Xolo Play Tab 7.0 is the Xolo Play T1000 with a larger 7inch display. In terms of specifications, it is on par with Google Nexus 7 that was released last year.

xolo-play-7-photo-gallery-16 Continue reading “Xolo Play Tab 7.0 Photo Gallery”

ESPNcricinfo launches enhanced HTML5-based Mobile Site, Redesigned iPhone and Android apps soon


ESPNcricinfo updated its Android and iPhone apps with new features back in June with new features . Now the website has released a redesigned mobile website that utilizes HTML5 along with interactive designs for enhanced user experience across smartphone platforms as well as J2ME and other entry-level Java-based platforms such as Nokia S40 devices. The redesigned mobile website makes the content visibly richer and makes scrolling and updates faster. It offers live updates, scores, as well as news, blogs, records, statistics and features. You can also easily share content on social networks as well as the ability for users to view and post comments. Continue reading “ESPNcricinfo launches enhanced HTML5-based Mobile Site, Redesigned iPhone and Android apps soon”

Samsung pauses Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 roll out to investigate issues

Earlier this month Samsung started rolling out the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update for the Galaxy S3, directly from Android 4.1.2, skipping the Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) update. Few week after the roll out, Samsung has temporarily suspended the roll out globally to investigate software issues, reports SamMobile. This update bring Galaxy Gear support, improved Samsung Keyboard, new GPU drivers, New S-Voice (from Galaxy S4) and lots. According to the report Samsung would also introduce KNOX security feature for the phone, when they resumes the roll out. Continue reading “Samsung pauses Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 roll out to investigate issues”