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ZTE ships 11.5 million smartphones in Q2 2013, at 5% of the total smartphone marketshare

ZTE Grand S-4

Amongst a number of highly competitive Chinese smartphone makers is ZTE. This company was recently revealed as one of the Top 5 Smartphone makers in the world, by IDC, pegging it at the fifth position. However, contrary to IDC’s claims, ZTE has posted its Q2 results with a total of 11.5 million(up from 10.1 in the report) shipments, pegging the company at an even more impressive fourth position. With this number, the company now owns a healthy 5% of the total smartphone marketshare. Several Android OEMs are finally starting to make substantial inroads into the market, is the Apple-Samsung duopoly fading fast?

Continue reading “ZTE ships 11.5 million smartphones in Q2 2013, at 5% of the total smartphone marketshare”

Xolo Q600 Unboxing

Xolo Q600 Unboxing-1

Xolo launched the Q600, the company’s latest Android smartphone in the QCORE series last month at a price tag of Rs. 8999. Here we have the unboxing video of the device. The Xolo Q800 was the first phone in the QCORE series that was launched back in March. We reviewed the Q1000, the company’s flagship smartphone recently. The Q600 has a 4.5-inch (854 ×480 pixels) FWVGA capacitive touch screen display at 217 ppi, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589M processor with 238 MHz PowerVR SGX544 GPU and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LapU3TTsjEU Continue reading “Xolo Q600 Unboxing”

Micromax Canvas 4 vs Karbonn S5 Titanium

Karbonn and Micromax have been fighting to get the top spot in the mid-range phablet market in India. Micromax are with their fourth Canvas phone – the Canvas 4 while Karbonn are struggling to establish a single series and they have a very able Karbonn S5 Titanium.

canvas4-s5titanium-16

The Canvas 4 was launched in July while the Karbonn S5 Titanium was released back in May. Both the devices have quite a lot of differences starting right from their internals with the Micromax Canvas 4 being powered by MediaTek’s Quad-core processor while Karbonn S5 Titanium is powered by a quad-core processor from Qualcomm. Both the devices also have different price points with the Canvas 4 on the higher mid-range while the S5 Titanium falls into the low mid-range category.

Lets check out how the two devices stack up against each other.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvc9TNUX1Do Continue reading “Micromax Canvas 4 vs Karbonn S5 Titanium”

iBall Andi 5h Quadro with 5-inch qHD display, quad-core processor launched for Rs. 11999

iBall Andi 5h Quadro

iBall has launched the Andi 5h, the company’s latest smartphone in the Andi series. The phone has a 5-inch qHD (960 × 540 pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with dual SIM support with dual standby. Continue reading “iBall Andi 5h Quadro with 5-inch qHD display, quad-core processor launched for Rs. 11999”

Five interesting Moto X features you need to know

Moto X

The Moto X just went official in the USA, with a ton of information(aka press coverage) doing the usual internet rounds. With modest hardware specifications, Motorola has taken a completely different approach with its latest flagship device. So different, it makes you wonder what really is special with this device. Unless you want to read through various long form articles, you won’t really know what the stand-out features are. We have taken that effort instead, so here is a compiled list of really interesting Moto X features you definitely need to know.

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Google Chromecast Unboxing and Demo

chromecast-unboxing-demo-6

Google launched the Chromecast last week and we already managed to get hold of this interesting device on FoneArena. So what does a Chromecast do ? It is basically a dongle for your TV which lets you watch online video and more on your large screen TV. You can watch Youtube , Netflix , Google Play movies and your Chrome brower tab on your large screen TV using this tiny little dongle which connects to it using the standard HDMI socket.Most modern TVs would draw power from the HDMI itself but certain older ones like mine would require external power. Nice that Google has decided to include a HDMI extender and also a power solution in the box. Watch the unboxing and a short demo in the video below

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csAuKHAcV1A

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Twine, a flirting app for Android and iPhone launched

Twine for Android and iPhone

Twine is a new flirting app for Android and iPhone. The app has been developed by strategy and design firm called Sourcebits and the tagline of the app reads “Never miss an interesting stranger”. The app connects you with people nearby that share similar interests with you. It signs in with your Facebook account matches your account with a suitable stragner of the opposite gender based common interests and also gives you interesting things to chat about with them. The company calls it gender-balanced flirting app since it provides spam-free experience with an even ratio of guys to girls to always get the perfect match. Continue reading “Twine, a flirting app for Android and iPhone launched”

Sony Xperia Z Ultra gets its first software update

Sony Xperia Z Ultra 14.1.B.0.471 Update

Sony Mobile has started rolling out the first firmware update v14.1.B.0.471 for the recently launched Xperia Z Ultra (C6802). The stock firmware is 14.1.B.0.461, so this might be a minor change. The baseband version and the kernel version has a minor change. The new firmware has a build date of July 19th. There is no changelog so this might be a an update to fix some bugs and improve the performance of the device. We did not notice any changes or any new apps on the device after the update. Continue reading “Sony Xperia Z Ultra gets its first software update”

Lava Iris 356 and Iris 402 with dual-core processor, Android 4.2 now available for Rs. 4199 and Rs. 5199

Lava Iris 356

Lava Iris 356 and the Iris 402 that appeared on the official website earlier this week are now available from online retailer Flipkart. The Iris 356 has a 3.5-inch (480 x 320 pixels) display, powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). The Lava Iris 402 packs a 4-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display. Other features are similar to the Iris 402. These have 3G support, Dual SIM with dual standby, rear and front-facing cameras. Continue reading “Lava Iris 356 and Iris 402 with dual-core processor, Android 4.2 now available for Rs. 4199 and Rs. 5199”

TimesCity acquires restaurant recommendation app Gawbl

TimesCity Gawbl

TimesCity, part of Times Internet has announced that they have acquired Gawbl, an Android app that lets users discover places to eat based on their mood. Gawbl was a start-up that began 7 months ago by Pune based team, led by its founder, ChiraghKirpalani. The Android app was launched back in April that offered recommendations in Pune. Continue reading “TimesCity acquires restaurant recommendation app Gawbl”

Micromax Canvas 4 vs Canvas HD

Micromax has slowly grown from a company selling entry-level feature phones to the company creating much hype in the mid-range phablet market in India. Things started to fall in place for Micromax with the Canvas 2 which was launched less than a year ago. Within the last six months, we have seen two flagships from Micromax Canvas HD in February and now the Canvas 4 in July.

canvas4vscanvas3-1

The Canvas HD was a big update over the Canvas 2 considering its quad-core processor, HD display and newer version of Android. The Canvas 4 is not a huge upgrade over the Canvas HD expect in terms of build quality, better camera and more recent version of Android out of the box.

Let’s check out how the Canvas 4 performs against its successor Canvas HD.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vm1KWJGy28 Continue reading “Micromax Canvas 4 vs Canvas HD”

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Review

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active-1

Samsung’s Galaxy line of phones is arguably the most popular mobile brand on the planet right now, with the Galaxy S4 selling 20 million units worldwide since its launch just a few months ago. Keen to capitalise on the buzz surrounding the iconic name, the Korean company has expanded the portfolio with spin-off devices, including the Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy S4 Zoom and Galaxy S4 Active. While the two former phones do little more than exploit the name to gain attention, the S4 Active offers the same power as the original S4 model – with the bonus of carrying IP67 certification, which means it is dust and water resistant. Does this make it a better choice for prospective purchasers, or is this sporty variant not worth bothering with? Keep reading to find out. Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Review”

Microsoft Office for Office 365 launched for Android phones

Microsoft Office for Andorid

Microsoft has finally launched the Office app for Office 365 users using Android smartphones. Microsoft launched the Office Mobile for iPhone back in June. This would let you open and edit Microsoft Office documets such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. It also has support for charts, animations, SmartArt Graphics, and shapes just like the desktop app. You can open documents in the cloud on SkyDrive or SkyDrive Pro. You can edit and view documents offline but you need to be connected to the internet to save the changes on the cloud. Continue reading “Microsoft Office for Office 365 launched for Android phones”

Xolo Play T1000 Review

One of the first mid range handsets to be equipped with a Tegra 3 processor, the Xolo Play T1000 brings with it a promise of high end gaming capabilities. Xolo claims it to be an overall competitive device which should provide some much needed competition in this space. Does it live up to its claims ? We test that and more in our review below. Read on to find out. Continue reading “Xolo Play T1000 Review”