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Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock Android and Nexus-like updates gets official, priced at 649$

samsung-galaxy-s4-nexus-pure-google

In a surprising move, Google has announced a Pure Google Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, available unlocked, with Nexus-like updates for 649$ in the United states. This comes as a surprise because this is not a completely new nexus device, like the rumoured Motorola X Phone, but just another Samsung Galaxy S4, with pure Google at heart. Unlocked from carriers and sporting an unlocked bootloader, this device would be the device to get if you are not willing to agree to Touchwiz or all of its features.

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Google Play Music access brings streaming, tailored radio and more to Android phones, tablets and web

google-play-music-all-access

Google has finally made its rumoured new Music streaming official, and it has called it “Google Play Music all access”. The Spotify like streaming service also has few more tricks up its sleeve, with Pandora like tailored radio with curated content with respect to taste. With this service announcement, Google has seriously stepped up its game in the music services field. Priced at 9.99$ per month, this will be available first in the United States and eventually in other markets. India might get it very very late though, as Google Play Music itself is not available here.

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Google announces 900 million Android activations to date

900-million-android-activations

The Google I/O developer conference has just started and the company which has the most popular smartphone platform in the world has just announced that there have been 900 million Android activations till date. This is a huge number, and growth never seems to stop according to Google. Sundar Pichai, the man behind Android, Chrome and Apps at Google announced this number with a nice build up of Android’s history.

Showing a world map, Sundar stressed that there is still tremendous potential, and there is still room for more growth. Asia and African countries are reportedly still only at 10% on Android penetration and Sundar says they are working to bring these 4.5 billion people to the internet, using Android of course. Adding to this, Google also announced that 48 billion app installations have happened from the Google Play store.

You can watch the Google I/O live stream here –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pmPa_KxsAM

ASUS Fonepad gaming performance review

Asus Fonepad Benchmarks

The ASUS Fonepad, the first calling tablet with a Nexus 7-like design left quite an impression on us, and you would know if you had read our review. But a lot of people were asking us how the performance of the tablet was, in terms of gaming, because, it being powered by the Intel Z2420 chip, only has the PowerVR SGX540 GPU which is pretty ancient in current terms. So, here you go, a gaming performance review of the ASUS Fonepad in video –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YdaCFBkFl0

Read on for more information.

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Karbonn Titanium S5 unboxing

karbonn-titanium-s5-unboxing-6

The Karbonn Titanium S5 was launched a couple of months back as a slightly updated Titanium S1 with an improved battery and cameras. The Titanium S5 then went on a huge ad-spend to be well known as the sleek Karbonn phone that can be seen during IPL matches. We have it in our labs for testing finally, and thought it would be nice to show you the Karbonn Titanium S5 box and its contents. So, here you go, the Karbonn Titanium S5 unboxing video –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJA-0hqeL5k

Note: Headphones are supposed to be present inside the box, ours must have been misplaced somewhere, sorry!

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Lenovo P770 Review

Lenovo P770-18

Lenovo released the P770, the company’s latest Android phone with a massive 3500 mAh battery recently. We brought you the unboxing of the device last week. Here we have the complete review of the device. Lenovo showcased the phone at the MWC 2013 earlier this year. It has a 4.5-inch (960 x 540 pixels) qHD IPS screen, powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577 processor and comes with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with Lenovo’s own UI on top. Let’s dive into the review. Continue reading “Lenovo P770 Review”

Micromax A88 Canvas Music with 4.5-inch display, Android 4.1 launched for Rs. 8499

Micromax A88 Canvas Music

Micromax has launched the A88 Canvas Music, the company’s latest smartphone in the Canvas portfolio. It has a 4.5-inch (854 x 480 pixels) display, powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor and run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It has a 5-megapixel auto focus rear camera with dual LED Flash and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone was showcased at the Micromax MTV Video Music Awards in Mumbai last month. MLive app in the phone lets you download over 4 lakh songs.
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Nokia Creative Studio gets a massive update for Lumia WP8 devices, we go hands on!

creative-studio-huge-update

Along with all the Lumia 925 stuff that happened yesterday, Nokia revealed some interesting software additions and updates in the announcement. While the highlight was on the Nokia Smart Camera lens, the picture editing app exclusive for Lumia devices, also called as the Nokia Creative Studio received a rather huge update yesterday. The new update comes with the version number 5.0.7.6, and is available for download here. The update is available for all Windows Phone 8 devices and introduces various new features. Naturally, we went hands on with it and found it to be quite nice actually, take a look –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvREUPbBz6M

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Samsung Galaxy S4 shipments cross 6 million units

Samsung has shipped over 6 million units of the Galaxy S4 in 14 days, according to a report from Korean daily chosun. The report says Samsung Galaxy S4 shipments crossed 4 million units in just 5 days. Samsung could Apple reported last September that they have sold over 5 million iPhone 5′s in just 3 days after launch. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy S4 shipments cross 6 million units”

Wikitude Places beta released for BlackBerry 10

Wikitude Places beta for BlackBerry 10

Wikitude has released the Wikitude Places beta app for the BlackBerry 10 devices. It is a preliminary release of the next generation of Wikitude on BlackBerry’s new BB10 platform that brings whole new UI concept, location based services such as sights, restaurants and hotels and lots more. Wikitude AR SDK for BlackBerry 10 Continue reading “Wikitude Places beta released for BlackBerry 10”

Google Nexus 4 now available for pre-order from Flipkart at Rs. 25990

Google is yet to release the Nexus 4 in India on their official Play Store, but the phone has appeared on the online retail site Flipkart at a price tag of Rs. 25,990. Google started selling the Nexus 7 through their official Play Store in India back in March 2013 and the Nexus 4 page on the Google Play said it is not available in India. The 3G version of the Nexus 7 went on sale from retail stores last month and from online retailers earlier this month, but it is not available from Google Play Store. Continue reading “Google Nexus 4 now available for pre-order from Flipkart at Rs. 25990”

LG Optimus it with 4.5-inch HD display, 1.7 GHz quad-core processor announced in Japan

LG Optimus it

NTT Docomo has announced the LG Optimus it (L-05E) for their Summer 2013 line-up. The Optimus it has a 4.5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) True HD IPS display, powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064T processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 13.2-megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, BSI sensor for better low-light imaging and a 1.4-megapixel front-facing camera with a BSI sensor. It is 10.5mm thick and weighs 131 grams. It has IPX 5, 7 for water resistance. It runs on NTT Docomo’s Xi LTE service and has support for NOTTV support. Continue reading “LG Optimus it with 4.5-inch HD display, 1.7 GHz quad-core processor announced in Japan”

Sony Xperia A with 4.6-inch HD display announced in Japan

Sony Xperia A

Sony Mobile has announced the Xperia A (SO-04E) in Japan in partnership with NTT Docomo on their 2013 Summer Lineup. The Xperia A looks similar to the Xperia ZR that was announced earlier this week. It has a 4.6-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) Reality display with mobile Bravia Engine 2, powered by 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm APQ 8064 processor with Adreno 320 GPU and packs a 13MP camera with LED Flash, Exmor RS sensor for HDR images and a 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera. Continue reading “Sony Xperia A with 4.6-inch HD display announced in Japan”

Nokia Lumia 925 vs Lumia 920, what has changed?

nokia-lumia-925-vs-920-changed

We have been bringing you a lot of Nokia Lumia 925 coverage live from London, including a photo gallery, a Lumia 925 hands on and even a Samsung Galaxy S4 comparison video, so, following that tradition, here is our comparison of the Lumia 925 with its older brother, the Lumia 920. It is an interesting comparison because the Lumia 925 is a natural evolution of the Lumia 920, with it fixing many perceived flaws and shortcomings like thickness, weight and slightly mushy camera. Here is a quick comparison video to let you know some of the changes –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sAwEdWizOI

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BlackBerry Q5 Hands On

BlackBerry introduced two new devices running on its latest operating system, BlackBerry OS 10, earlier this year. Dubbed the Z10 and Q10, the two devices focussed on the upper end of the spectrum with their high end specifications. However the mid range market is still very critical for the smartphone manufacturer that is still fighting a battle to recover from dwindling market shares. The Q5 is its ploy to regain its lost share of the budget to midrange smartphone segment.

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