News | Fone Arena - Part 2563

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 Play Game services go official for Android, iOS and web

google-play-game-services

Google just announced the Play gaming services for Android, iOS and web, which is a cross platform gaming service for achievements and multiplayer, like, for example, Xbox live and the iOS game centre. This was rumoured quite a while ago, and this includes various features like cloud saves, Google plus integration for adding friends, leaderboards and achievements. The service is going to be made available for iOS and the web too, taking advantage of Google plus in all the platforms. While the demo on stage failed misreably, the concept of multi-player gaming between three tablets with match making over Google Plus circles is really cool.

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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

Logitech launches Boombox Bluetooth speakers and Headphones in India

Logitech new range of Ultimate Ears launch

Logitech India has launched Ultimate Ears line-up of audio accessories.This collection include, UE Mobile Boombox and UE Boombox portable Bluetooth speakers, UE 6000 and UE 9000, over the ears headphones and UE 900, professional Quad armature wired earphone that is aimed at recording artists and sound engineers. The new lineup blends form and function to deliver the right sound for any situation. Continue reading “Logitech launches Boombox Bluetooth speakers and Headphones in India”

MTS launches Striker C121 with bundled offers in Kerala for Rs. 799

MTS Striker C121

MTS has launched their entry-level Striker C121 feature phone in Kerala with attractive offers. MTS buying the phone would get MTS to MTS local calling at just 10 paisa per minute, local calls to other networks at 10 paisa per 20 seconds and STD calls at 10 paisa per 15 seconds. These benefits are available for customers for six months post activation. Continue reading “MTS launches Striker C121 with bundled offers in Kerala for Rs. 799”

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

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 Hands On

Nokia Lumia 925 Hands On
I am here in London , United Kingdom for the Nokia Lumia event where the handset maker announced the latest addition to its Lumia line up of Windows Phones. I got some hands on time with Lumia 925 and here are my first impressions. The Lumia 925 might be the best Windows Phone device to be announced till now. It is also one of the most well made phones we have had a chance to play with in the recent times like the HTC One or iPhone 5. Nokia decided to use an aluminum frame for the 925 and the phone has a premium feel to it because of this. The back is not made of metal but uses plastic, polycarbonate material. The main highlight of the Lumia 925 is the Camera with supposedly best-in class low light camera performance. Watch the hands-on video below

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAjAHjf6PWY

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Instagram for Windows Phone might go official soon, hinted by @InstagramWP twitter account

instagram-windows-phone-official

Only today did Nokia announce a new app in partnership with hipastamatic, which co-incidentally could share photos to Instagram. But as a surprise, we spotted this @InstagramWP account – which claims to be the official twitter account for THE official Instagram client for Windows Phone. While trying to check the credibility, we found that the official Nokia account was actually its first follower, adding more clarification to our doubts. So, yes, the official Instagram app for Windows Phone might be just around the corner then, yay?

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BBM Channels announced as a beta test

At BlackBerry Live, CEO Thorston Heins has announced a new social networking feature that will be built into BBM Chat. The channels feature will allow users to expand beyond their existing friendship circle. With over 60 million active users, the company aims to allow channels to serve as a medium for expression. Continue reading “BBM Channels announced as a beta test”