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Is Motorola making the next Google Nexus?

Rumours of a Motorola made Nexus device were ripe once Google acquired the mobile giant, but plans never solidified, citing reasons like “Google not impressed with Moto’s devices” etc. With LG taking charge of the program last year with the Nexus 4, Motorola was left to work on the Moto X, a Google inspired smartphone that is possibly the first device to come out of this acquisition. But this was no Nexus, it didn’t run the latest operating system nor updates will be pushed by Google, so yet again we were deprived of a Moto Nexus, but if recent rumours are to be believed, especially coming from a prolific tipster from Texas(where Motorola assembles its Moto X), the chances of Motorola making the next Nexus 5 device are rather high.

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Nokia Asha 501 – Made in India, by India, for India

Sriperumbudur, a quiet town outside of Chennai, is now increasingly known for its sprawling automobile factories, electronic SEZs(Special Economic Zones), and of course, hot job opportunities. Several automobile and mobile phone giants are part of this story. It all started 10 years back, when automobile companies like Hyundai saw the proximity to a harbour huge enough to handle exports and set up bases here, quickly gaining this city the name “Detroit of India”.

In the same “Detroit of India” lies one of Nokia’s biggest production facilities. The opportunistic Nokia of the past saw the booming mobile market in India in the 2000s, and started setting up their assembling facility here, right in the heart of Sriperumbudur’s SEZ. The logistics for exports had already become robust, thanks to the omnipresent automobile industry in that area, so the opportunity was ripe.

On a surprisingly overcast day, I was on my second visit to Nokia’s Chennai facility with several other bloggers. Having already witnessed the marvel of a huge production facility the first time, I couldn’t wait to see what new tricks Nokia had up their sleeves. Spoiler: It’s the Nokia Asha 501.

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Nokia Lumia 925 gets a pre-order price of Rs. 33999 in India

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Nokia Lumia 925 that was announced back in May, is now available for pre-order in India at a price or Rs. 33,999 from online retailer Flipkart. It has a 4.5-inch (1280 × 768 pixels)Pure Motion HD+ Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen ClearBlack display, powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 with the Amber update that adds glance screen and other new features. The Lumia 925 went on sale back in June starting from Germany. It packs a 8.7MP auto focus rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), dual LED flash and 1080p HD video recording at 30fps. It has 6 element lens and supports upto 3200 ISO.
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IDC – Windows Phone posts the fastest growth in 2Q13, Android leads the market at 79.3%

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Last quarter, we saw how Windows Phone marketshare finally leaped ahead of BlackBerry, and the trend seems to continue here. In the second quarter of 2013, Windows Phone has posted the fastest growth amongst the top 5 smartphone OSes with 8.7 million units shipped, according to IDC, which lines up with growth expectations from other analysts. While the growth percentage is less than what Windows Phone had last quarter(133% – Q1, 77.6% – Q2), it is certainly good news for Windows Phone’s uptake as an operating system. On the other hand, Android shows no signs of slowing down while it is the exact opposite for Apple which has its marketshare reduced from 16.6% to 13.2% while growing slower than the market at 20%.

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Huawei Ascend P1 now available for pre-order in India for Rs. 12990

Huawei Ascend P1

Huawei is all set to release the Ascend P1 in India. The smartphone that was announced back in January 2012 at the CES along with the Ascend P1 S, is now available for pre-order in India from online retailer Flipkart. It has a 4.3-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) Super AMOLED display with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla glass protection, powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It has a 8 megapixel auto focus camera with dual LED flash, full HD video recording and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. Continue reading “Huawei Ascend P1 now available for pre-order in India for Rs. 12990”

LG G2 Photo Gallery

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LG launched the G2 their latest flagship Android phone today in New York City in USA. Andre from our US team was there at this launch event and got us these photos of the G2 just for FoneArena readers. The design of the G2 is the worst kept secret and has been leaked a zillion times but then this is the final real device which was announced today.The display is a gorgeous 5.2 inch full HD IPS screen with a very small bezel and there are no physical keys on the front and the Android keys are on screen like on the Nexus 4. It is only the 2nd device featuring the crazy fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. Continue reading “LG G2 Photo Gallery”

HTC Desire 500 with 4.3-inch display, quad-core processor announced for UK

HTC Desire 500

HTC announced the Desire 500 in Taiwan last month, now the company has unveiled the smartphone in UK. It has a 4.3-inch (480 × 800 pixels) display, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor and runs on Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) with Sense 5. It has an 8-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and BSI sensor and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera with BSI sensor. The phone has BlinkFeed and the Video Highlight software seen first on the HTC One and also comes with Beats Audio support. HTC has also announced that it would come with Dual SIM and NFC support based on the region. Continue reading “HTC Desire 500 with 4.3-inch display, quad-core processor announced for UK”

Nokia Lumia 820 3600 mAh Mugen Power Batteries extended battery review

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The Nokia Lumia 820 is at the fag end of its life cycle, waiting to be succeeded by a more capable Lumia 825 or something, but it is still present in the hands of lots of people, who unanimously face the single most annoying issue on the 820, the disappointing battery life. I know I face it, because I have been using one for the past 7 months and I can tell you outright that the in-built 1650 mAh battery is bad, period.

Seeking respite from the incessant battery drains, my eyes grew wide when the well known Android “extended battery” maker, Mugen Power Batteries, announced that huge extended batteries for the Lumia 820 are in the works. There were two variants announced, and one of them was the 3600 mAh one with a special battery door. Needless to say, I got the biggest one. What follows is my experience with the accessory over a comfortably long term of 2 months to see if it is really worth it or not.

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Xolo A500S with 4-inch display, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.2 launched for Rs. 6999

Xolo A500S

Xolo has launched the A500S, the company’s new smartphone in the A Series. It has a 4-inch WVGA display, powered by the latest 1.3 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 chip that has integrated Wi-Fi, FM, GPS and Bluetooth and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 720p video recording and has a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone comes with dual SIM support with dual standby. The phones has sleek and stylish look that differs from the A500 and the X500 that were launched earlier this year. It also comes pre-loaded with Xolo Secure Anti-theft app. Continue reading “Xolo A500S with 4-inch display, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.2 launched for Rs. 6999”

HTC Big Things Ahead teaser hints at upcoming One Max

HTC Big things ahead One Max Teaser

HTC has started teasing their upcoming One Max smartphone. The company has posted a new Vine video on the official Twitter page with a tag line Big Things Ahead. Even though this doesn’t feature any device, their Instagram video clearly shows a large device, as you can see in the image above. The company has also shared a video on their YouTube Channel that shows a device similar to the HTC One. Continue reading “HTC Big Things Ahead teaser hints at upcoming One Max”

Obama administration vetoes Apple iPhones/iPads import ban, South Korea concerned

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In a turn of events for the Samsung-Apple patent controversy, US president Barack Obama’s administration has vetoed an import and sales ban on some Apple iPhones and iPads, upending a legal upper hand for Samsung. This is reportedly the first time since 1987 that a presidential administration has vetoed a ban by the country’s own International Trade Commission. This has raised a few eyebrows in the far east, in South Korea, where the media criticized the USA for protecting Apple.

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Acer Liquid Z3 with 3.5-inch display, dual-core processor and Android 4.2 announced

Acer Liquid Z3

Acer has unveiled the Liquid Z3, successor of the Liquid Z2 that was launched earlier this year. It has a 3.5-inch (480 x 320 pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and comes with dual SIM support depending on the region. It runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and comes with a 3-megapixel rear camera without flash.

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Micromax A34 with 3.95-inch display, 1 GHz processor now available for Rs. 4399

Micromax A34

Micromax A34, a new entry-level Android smartphone is now available in India from online retailer Flipkart. It has a 3.95-inch (320 x 480 Pixels) capacitive touch screen display, powered by a 1 GHz processor and runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It has Dual SIM support with dual standy similar to other Micromax smartphones. It has a 2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. Earlier this year Micromax launched the A35 Blot with a 4-inch WVGA display and a front-facing camera. Continue reading “Micromax A34 with 3.95-inch display, 1 GHz processor now available for Rs. 4399”

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Review

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Samsung has been recently having an obsession to provide solutions of convergence in weird form factors. We saw that with the Mega 6.3 and the Galaxy Note 510, both being devices with a certain feature, unknown to that specific form factor, hacked in, and the S4 Zoom falls in that same category. It is basically a Smartphone with a camera slapped on its back, or a point and shoot with a smartphone slapped on its back, you get the idea. Samsung started this trend with the Galaxy Camera, a high end point and shoot running Android, which is basically a connected camera, with 3G. Expectedly, Samsung has taken it further with the S4 Zoom adding phone functionality. Priced at Rs. 29,990, is the S4 Zoom a hack job or is it actually a good enough cameraphone? Lets find out.

Video Review

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfz1vMhBbIk

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Smart Namo Phablet with 6.5-inch 1080p display, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor coming soon

Smart Namo Phablet

Earlier this week Smart Namo, Android smartphone named after Gujarat’s Chief Minister, Narendra Modi was announced. These devices are expected to come in 5-inch display, 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589T processor and Android 4.2. These would come in four variants – 1GB RAM and 16GB ROM, 2GB RAM and 16/32/64GB ROM. Now the Smart Namo Facebook page has posted specifications and images of the upcoming 6.5-inch phablet. It would come with a 6.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) display, powered by 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek 6589T processor and run on Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean). It would have a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It would be 9.5mm thick and pack a 3150mAh battery. Continue reading “Smart Namo Phablet with 6.5-inch 1080p display, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor coming soon”