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Apple reportedly asked Indian govt to relax FDI policy to open Apple Stores

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Apple is keen on opening up their Apple Stores in India. The Cupertino-based company had asked the Indian government to relax the policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail, according to a recent report from Business Standard. Latest Indian Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy permits 100% stake for foreign businesses, up from the previous limit of 74%, to boost the Indian economy. But current FDI on single-brand retail requires the company to source 30% of its materials locally, for proposals involving foreign investments in excess of 51%.

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Samsung Gear 2 Hands On

Gear 2

Samsung unveiled the Gear 2 at the MWC 2014 earlier this week. It is the successor of the first Galaxy Gear, that was introduced at the IFA 2013. Unlike the first Android-based Galaxy Gear, this one runs on Tizen OS, optimized for wearable devices, hence it is much faster in terms of navigation. The Gear 2 has the same 1.63 inch (320 x 320 pixels) Super AMOLED display that we had seen on the Gear, but the processor has been improved. This also has a 2-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD videos. You can check out the hands on below. Continue reading “Samsung Gear 2 Hands On”

Gionee Elife S5.5 Hands On

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Gionee introduced the Elife S5.5, the world’s slimmest smartphone at just 5.55 mm thickness at an event in China last week. The company showcased the device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, and we got some time to check out the slimmest device. The phone has a 5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED touch screen display from Japan Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is powered by a a 1.7 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor and runs on Android 4.2.2 with Amigo 2.0 UI on top. Check out the hands-on video below. Continue reading “Gionee Elife S5.5 Hands On”

Samsung Gear Fit Hands On and Photo Gallery

Samsung Gear Fit-10

Samsung introduced the Gear Fit, the company’s first wearable fitness band earlier this week at the MWC 2014. We got to check out the device at the event. Unlike the Gear watch series with a square screen, this has a wide 1.84-inch (432 x 128 pixels) Curved Super AMOLED display. The display is bright and the navigation is a smooth. Just like the Gear watch, this one has a Pedometer, Heart Rate sensor, Accelerometer and Gyro sensors. You can remove the Gear Fit unit easily to change the strap. Check out the hands-on video below. Continue reading “Samsung Gear Fit Hands On and Photo Gallery”

Over 44 million smartphones shipped in 2013 in India – IDC

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos vs Micromax Canvas HD-1

India’s smartphone market grew 181% year-over-year in 2013, with shipments of 44 million smartphones, compared to 16.2 million units in 2012, according to a recent report from International Data Corporation (IDC). Over 257 million mobile phones were shipped in 2013. The feature phone market grew just 16% YoY in Q4 13 and the overall mobile phone shipments in the quarter stood at just 67.83 million units, that includes 15.06 million smartphones. Smartphone market crossed one billion shipments for the first time in 2013. Continue reading “Over 44 million smartphones shipped in 2013 in India – IDC”

Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Samsung Galaxy S4: What has changed

The biggest expectation of the MWC 2014 had to be Samsung’s Unpacked 5 event where they were expected to announce the successor of Samsung Galaxy S4 and they did announce it – Samsung Galaxy S5. While a lot of people weren’t convinced about the lack of design change from Samsung Galaxy S3 to Samsung Galaxy S4, even more people joined the skeptical lot as Samsung pulled a Samsung out of the hat and introduced the Samsung Galaxy S5 in a design and specs not so different from the predecessor – Galaxy S4.

FoneArena is live from Barcelona and we were there at Samsung’s really packed Unpacked event. After the unveiling, we were able to get a quick hands on with the device and in the short time, we compared it with the Samsung Galaxy S4. You can check out the quick hands on comparison video right below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KwqG4oxRLA

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Huawei Ascend G6 Hands On

At the MWC 2014, Huawei was rumored to announce a mid-range LTE capable smartphone and as expected, they announced a midrange smartphone in the form of Huawei Ascend G6. Huawei had launched a couple of tablets and a lone smartphone at the event. Unlike the tablets, which are powered by Huawei’s own processor, the Ascend G6 smartphone is powered by a quad-core processor from Qualcomm.

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Huawei MediaPad M1 Hands On

At the MWC 2014, Huawei announced a couple of Aluminum clad tablets and a smartphone. Among the two tablets, the Huawei MediaPad M1 is the mid range tablet. Under the hood, it packs the same processor as the Huawei MediaPad X1, but comes with a not so high resolution display like the MediaPad X1. It features a HD display, but comes with front facing stereo speakers.

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Asus to roll out Android 4.4 KitKat update for Padfone devices starting Q2 2014

Asus Padfone mini 4.3-9

Asus has announced Android 4.4 (KitKat) update for its Padfone devices, including Asus Padfone 2, Padfone Infinity in Asia and Russia, Padfone A80 in Europe and the new Padfone Infinity. The KitKat update would also bring new Asus ZenUI with a new user interface. Continue reading “Asus to roll out Android 4.4 KitKat update for Padfone devices starting Q2 2014”

Huawei MediaPad X1 Hands On

Huawei announced a couple of tablets and a smartphone at the MWC 2014. Among the new series of devices, the MediaPad X1 is a 7inch tablet that comes with calling facilities. Apart from the calling feature on a 7inch device, it comes with a high resolution display and a quad-core processor from Huawei. It is made of Aluminum and looks gorgeous.

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Lenovo S660 Hands On, Photo Gallery

Lenovo S660 MWC 2014 -1

Lenovo introduced three new smartphones as part of their S lines of phones here at the Mobile World Congress. The Android handset brings mid range specifications to a budget price point. We take a brief look at the specifications and how the device feels in the hand. Continue reading “Lenovo S660 Hands On, Photo Gallery”

Apple iPad Mini with Retina Display Review

Introduction

Apple had introduced the original iPad Mini without the RETINA display and that pretty much confirmed that the second generation of Apple iPad Mini would come with the RETINA display. As expected, Apple crammed a high resolution display(same resolution as the iPad Air) into the second generation iPad Mini which Apple calls – iPad Mini with Retina Display. In addition to sporting a high resolution display, the iPad Mini competes with Apple’s iPad Air in terms of specifications. Apple is using the same processing power inside each of its flagship iOS device – iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina Display.

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Google announces Project Ara developer conference

Project Ara module

Motorola announced Project Ara, an open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. Even though Google sold Motorola to Lenovo, Google announced that it will keep Project Ara. Google has created a dedicated webpage for Project Ara and has also announced that it plans for three Ara Developers’ Conferences in 2014. The first one is scheduled for April 15th to 16th. Continue reading “Google announces Project Ara developer conference”

HP Slate 7 Extreme Hands on

FoneArena is live from MWC 2014 at Barcelona and we have a lot of manufacturers showcasing their products. We are at HP’s booth where they have on display – HP Slate 7 Extreme. HP had announced the HP Slate 7 Extreme sometime in September. HP Slate 7 Extreme is just a rebranded version of the NVIDIA Tegra Note and comes with HP’s own Direct Stylus. The HP Slate 7 Extreme looks like a variant of the NVidia Tegra Note, but with HP branding.

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Panasonic P31 with 5-inch display, unique software features launching in March

Panasonic P31 teaser

It has been more than four months since we had seen a smartphone from Panasonic India. The Panasonic T31 was launched back in October, the company has started teasing their upcoming Panasonic P31 smartphone with new software features in their new teasers. The phone would come with Gesture Play, a new unlock feature that lets you draw on the screen to unlock the smartphone and POP-I Player, a new multi-tasking video player. It might have more software features. Continue reading “Panasonic P31 with 5-inch display, unique software features launching in March”