Xiaomi has posted a teaser via its official Twitter handle for India, @MiIndiaOfficial, hinting at a new product launch on Wednesday, October 8.
The most anticipated product that Xiaomi could launch on Wednesday could be the company's latest flagship smartphone, the Mi 4. The India launch of the Mi 4 certainly fits in with Xiaomi's announcement that Monday's offer would be last time the Mi 3 would be on sale in India. The company certainly needs a flagship in its India portfolio to make up.
The Xiaomi Mi 4 features a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz alongside 3GB of RAM. The smartphone will come in two storage variants 16GB and 64GB. The Mi 4 sports the same 5-inch full-HD display (1080x1920 pixels) found on the Mi 3; although this time the company has used a JDI OGS full lamination display. There is a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera on the Xiaomi Mi 4, with both sporting Sony's stacked CMOS sensors. The smartphone is backed by a 3080mAh Li-ion battery.
Of course, it is possible Xiaomi may launch the Mi Band low-cost fitness tracker, the MiPad tablet, the Mi Box set-top box, or Mi TV. We'll have to wait and see.
LG will launch its recently-introduced circular smartwatch, the LG G Watch R, in South Korea on October 14. The release dates for other markets are not yet known, but the smartwatch is expected to start rolling out globally before the end of October, as promised soon after launch.
The company has confirmed a KRW 352,000 (roughly Rs. 20,300) price tag for the G Watch R. LG's circular smartwatch is considered the most expensive Android Wear smartwatch, with a price that is higher than its rectangular brother G Watch - which was unveiled at $229 (and launched in India at Rs. 14,999) - as well as the Samsung Gear Live (unveiled at $199, and launched in India at Rs. 15,900) and Motorola Moto 360 (unveiled at $249.99 - roughly Rs. 15,300). The LG G Watch R features a circular 1.3-inch Plastic OLED or P-OLED display. The display comes with a 360x360 pixel resolution and unlike the Moto 360, is claimed to utilise 100 percent of the watch face.
The G Watch R is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor paired with 512MB of RAM. The smartwatch features the same amount of inbuilt storage as the Gear S (4GB), and is backed by a 410mAh battery. The smartwatch is also IP67-certified and is claimed by the firm to run for 30 minutes in 1 metre of water.
The G Watch R smartwatch features a stainless steel frame, and is supported by a 22mm calf skin leather strap. The G Watch R will be available only in Black colour.
Intex launched yet another affordable Android KitKat smartphone called the Aqua Y2 Pro. The smartphone is priced at Rs 4,333 and is available online as well as retail stores.
As far as specifications are concerned, the Intex Aqua Y2 Pro sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) display and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor paired with 512MB of RAM. Also included is 4GB internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB using a microSD card.
The smartphone also features 5-megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, and a 1,600mAh battery. Connectivity options include dual-SIM card slots, 3G support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and on the software front, it runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
At this price point, the smartphone will be up against the likes of the Micromax Bolt A082, and the Karbonn Smart A12 Star.
Bharti Airtel, has listed the iPhone 6 Plus without pricing on its official site.
The companyliststhe smartphone with a 'coming soon' tag and has all three storage variants of the handset available in Gold, Silver, and Space Grey colours. Notably, Airtel does not list the iPhone 6.
The iPhone 6 Plus listing was first spotted by TelecomTalk.
Apple is widely expected to launch the new bigger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in India this month, on October 17. Ahead of any official announcement regarding the India launch of the new iPhones, the smartphone made its way through grey market. Few vendors via online retailers are offering the iPhone 6 at a starting price of Rs. 56,000.
It's worth noting that Apple had been going back-and-forth on the India launch date of the iPhone 6. On the day of global unveiling, September 9, the company had listed on its website that the iPhone 6 would be available in India on September 26. However, the company soon after changed the launch day to October 17 on the Apple India website.
The iPhone 6 features a 4.7-inch Retina HD display with a resolution of 750x1334 pixels offering a pixel density of 326ppi. The iPhone 6 Plus on the other hand comes with a 5.5-inch Retina HD display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and a pixel density of 401ppi.
Both the new iPhone models pack the latest Apple A8 processor with 64-bit architecture and M8 second-generation motion coprocessor. Both will be available in 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage versions.
Apple has included an 8-megapixel iSight camera with phase-detection autofocus, while there is a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera onboard. Other features included in both the iPhones are Touch ID home button fingerprint sensor, barometer, 3-axis gyro, accelerometer, and ambient light sensor. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and LTE.
A recent report claims Cyanogen has a deal with Indian mobile manufacturer Micromax to release a CyanogenMod-powered handset as early as the end of the year. The report notably also claimed that Cyanogen had recently turned down a Google buyout offer made by SVP of Android, Sundar Pichai.
The Information report (via Android Police) claims Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster recently told shareholders of the spurned Google deal, saying the company was more focused on obtaining its third round of funding that took it to a $1 billion valuation - "despite barely generating any revenue."
The reported deal with Micromax for launching a CyanogenMod-powered handset in India does seem to be in-line with the Palo Alto and Seattle-based company's obvious intentions to start making some money.
The report claims the release date of the CyanogenMod Micromax handset is still uncertain.
Last week, we heard from two relatively good sources – @upleaks and @LlabTooFeR – that the Eye (codename) is a selfie-centric version of the One (M8).Now @upleaks is muddying the waters – or clearing them, depending on how you look at it – with a report claiming the Eye is actually a Desire device. That, or there actually two Eye devices coming.
Here’s another pic allegedly showing this device:
If this Desire Eye is real, its specifications are a notch above what we typically get from devices in the Desire line, and they’re even comparable to the flagship One (M8) and Butterfly 2.
The most interesting aspect is the presence of 13MP cameras on the front and the back of the device, a setup that we haven’t seen before on mainstream devices. The front facing camera will sport a dual-LED flash, just like the rear camera, which should make for some great self-portraits. The front camera will feature a wide-angle f 2.0 lens as well, to capture as much of the scene as possible.
The design of the Desire Eye resembles a bit the Desire 820, with its simple lines, plastic build, and two-color scheme. Interestingly, the device will be water resistant, a feature we don’t see on many HTCs.
HTC seemingly wants to market the Desire Eye as the “ultimate selfie phone,” but the Taiwanese company will reportedly bring more “selfie-specialized” functions to the rest of its roster, as well, including: One (M8), Butterfly 2, One (E8), and One Mini 2. These functions should land before the Android L update, according to @upleaks.
Whether it’s from the One family or the Desire family, the Eye will become official on October 8 at HTC’s Double Exposure event, alongside the Re Camera action camera.
Would you be interested in a smartphone with two 13MP cameras?
At the launch of the BlackBerry Passport on Monday, we got to spend a little time with the device and formed some early impressions about the device. The BlackBerry Passport will go on sale at retail from October 10 at Rs. 49,990, but at the launch event, the company announced that the handset will be available for pre-order on Amazon.in and at BlackBerry Exclusive Stores from Monday.
Buyers who pre-order the phone will also get a Rs. 5,000 gift voucher on Amazon.in which can be used towards any purchases, and also 5,000 frequent flyer miles from Jet Airways.
The price tag seems pretty steep, but it competes directly with the top flagships of other well established brands, a point BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalvani was quick to make at the launch event. But does this unusual phone from BlackBerry measure up to the competition?
The first thing that you'll notice when you see the BlackBerry Passport is its massive size. The phone has a 4.5-inch display, which sounds small, but due to the square display the display seems larger. At over 3.5 inches wide, the phone is also wider than much larger phones. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which has a 5.7-inch display, is 3.1-inches wide.
The build quality of the phone is extremely good. It felt solid but not heavy and the keyboard felt great. The specifications of the phone are also in line with other top end devices as well. The screen is running at a resolution of 1440X1440 pixels, and there's a 13-megapixel camera that seemed to be pretty good though a little slow to focus. A 2.2GHz processor and 3GB of RAM, along with 32GB of storage round out a pretty good device, on paper.
The actual experience of using the phone was a little awkward thanks to its size, and even for a regular BlackBerry user, the new keyboard comes with a learning curve. The BlackBerry World app store also remains pretty limited, although the Amazon Appstore does widen the net. Not all Android apps (notably Google's like Maps) are available on Amazon though, which could still end up being a deal-breaker for many.
Add to that the reputation BlackBerry has gained for dropping prices in short order - something the company vehemently denied on Monday - and buying the Passport at its launch price may sound like a bad idea to many.
Stay tuned for a detailed review of the BlackBerry Passport on Horn Ok Tech.
LG, soon after revealing price for the LG L Bello and G3 Stylus in the Indian market, has now launched the L Fino at Rs. 14,500. The new LG L Fino, a smartphone that was announced alongside the L Bello in August, has been listed on the company's India site with pricing. There is no official word on the availability details of the L Fino; though, we expect that the company will announce the availability of the smartphone in coming days. Earlier this week, the LG L Bello was officially listed at Rs. 18,500, and the G3 Stylus at Rs. 21,500. All three smartphones are available to purchase via various e-commerce sites however.
The company had confirmed the global roll-out of LG L Fino in September, starting with Brazil and then followed by other countries - Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
While globally announcing the L Fino, the company had stressed that the smartphone is targeted at emerging 3G markets.
The Android 4.4.2 KitKat-based LG L Fino comes with a UX derived from the LG G3. Some of the highlights of the G3-derived UX skin include Touch and Shoot feature that clicks images by tapping anywhere on the display to focus and shoot in one single step; Gesture Shot in the camera allows users to open and close a hand in front of the lens to start a three-second countdown for the shutter, and Front Camera Light, which helps clicking images in self-portrait mode.
Other features include Knock Code, which was first introduced on the LG G2 that allows users to unlock the phone by tapping a personalised 'knock' pattern on the display. The new LG L Fino also support the new QuickCircle cases that were launched alongside the flagship G3 (Review | Pictures).
The smartphone comes with dual-SIM (Micro-SIM) support. In terms of specifications, the LG L Fino comes with a 4.5-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) IPS display offering a pixel density of 207ppi; a 1.2GHz quad-core processor; 1GB of RAM; 4GB of inbuilt storage with expandability via microSD card (up to 32GB); an 8-megapixel rear camera; a 0.3-megapixel front camera; a 1900mAh battery, and 3G support.
The LG L Fino measures 127.5x67.9x11.9mm and will come in White, Black, Gold, Red, Green colour variants with availability that will vary by market.
A popular supermarket chain isn't the first place you'd expect to find an own-brand tablet, but with its low price and a prime spot next to the beans, Tesco's Hudl has sold over 750,000 units since launch. While plans to also enter the smartphone racket have been put on hold, today Tesco's spilled all the details on its second-gen slate: the Hudl2.
The first thing you'll notice is that Tesco has stayed with what works. The Hudl2 shares a similar design with its predecessor, but is a little bit bigger. However, the bezels are vastly smaller, giving it a more premium look. It comes with a toughened 8.3-inch Full HD touchscreen, and a thinner chassis that ships in a variety of eight different colours: black, blue, purple, red, aqua, pink, orange and white.
Tesco's Hudl2
Like the original tablet, Tesco's Hudl2 undercuts many of its rivals at £129, and you can also bring that cost down by trading in some of your Clubcard points. While the device is being unveiled today, you'll have to wait until October 9th to get your hands on it (although pre-orders will open the day before). Inside, there's a 1.83GHz Intel Atom quad-core processor (which Tesco says makes it three times faster than the original) and 2GB of RAM, stock Android 4.4 KitKat, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facer, Dolby-optimised rear-facing speakers, dual-band Wi-Fi, 16GB of internal storage (with a microSD slot taking it up to 48GB) and according to Tesco, a battery that'll last around 8 hours on a full charge.
Recognizing that customers are buying Hudls for their children, Tesco has included a new range of child-safety tools. When they first turn on the tablet, parents will be asked to set up features that can block sensitive content or restrict the amount of time that a child plays on the Hudl 2, to the point where it'll turn itself off when it's time to go to sleep. App access can be locked down in up to seven profiles, protecting young eyes from the darker downloads on the Play Store.
Tesco is also ramping up the number of accessories it offers with its tablet. This year, Tesco is offering up to 64 tablet and case colour combinations for the Hudl2, including the wonderfully-named Perky Purple & Red and Dreamy White & Bluespotted cases, as well as coloured on-ear and in-ear headphones, screen protectors and stylii.
You'll be able to turn every £5 of Clubcard vouchers into £10 towards the hudl2 and its accessories, bringing the price down to just £65. That'll make it a much more attractive proposition when you're traversing the aisles during your weekly shop. Tesco will also continue to sell the original Hudl for £99, but the company says when stock is gone, it's gone.
HTC is reportedly working on a bigger version of this year’s flagship One (M8). Reportedly called One (M8) Max, the forthcoming phablet’s specifications have surfaced online, Phandroid reports.
According to the leak, the sequel to last year’s One Max is said to feature a 5.5-inch QHD (2560×1440 pixels) display and will be powered by a Snapdragon 805 processor paired with 3GB of RAM. Additionally it will also feature a 3,000mAh battery and an 18-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. On the software front, it is expected to run on Android L wrapped under the latest version of Sense UI.
There is however no word on if HTC plans to persist with the fingerprint scanner that was introduced on the One Max. In the meantime however these specifications sound too good to be true, and we would advise you to take it with the proverbial pinch of salt.
In comparison, last year’s One Max featured a 5.9-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, expandable memory, 4-Ultrapixel camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 3,300mAh battery.
Today,Samsung has published an infographic on its Facebook page, revealing that the flagship phablet will launch in India on October 10.
The infographic shows the release date for several markets and many of them will be seeing the phablet this month. Along with India, the phablet will also launch in the UK, and Germany on October 10, followed by Europe, North America, the Middle East, Australia and Asia, on October 17.
The most awaited variant of the LG G3, the LG G3 Stylus has been priced at Rs. 21500 on LG's official site. The phone has made it's way into Kerala prized at Rs 20000. Moments later it was prized for as low as 19,990 on online retailers like FlipKart.
As far as the specifications go, the G3 Stylus sports a 5.5-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) display and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM. The device also includes 8GB internal storage that can be extended up to 32GB via microSD. It also provides cloud storage up to 50GB. The G3 Stylus was launched in Black, Gold and White colour variants.
The G3 Stylus comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity options include 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC support. On the software front, the phone runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. As the name suggests, LG has bundled a stylus with the smartphone, and has also preloaded apps like Gesture Shot, Knock Code, Smart keyboard, and Quick Memo+ among others.
As always we welcome your views and any questions on the device! Do you think it is worthy of competition with the Note 4?
It seems Yota Devices, the Russian company popular for its dual-display YotaPhone, is all set to launch its first device in India, if a newsletter from Flipkart is to be believed. As of now, there is no word about the exact launch day or pricing details about the YotaPhone expected to launch in India, or even which model. Yota Devices have launched two smartphones thus far. The first generation YotaPhone was unveiled at CES last year while started shipping only by December 2013. The company upgraded its original dual-screen smartphone at MWC with the next-generation YotaPhone.
The company at the launch had claimed that the new YotaPhone (2014) is more 'intuitive and interactive', with new hardware and software features, than its predecessor. One of the biggest upgrades in the new device is the full-touch control for its always-on E-ink display, something missing in previous generation device. The new YotaPhone will launch Europe in late 2014, and thereafter in 2015 make its way globally. For now, no pricing details have been given.
The YotaPhone (2014) comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and features a 4.7-inch E-ink display. The smartphone is Android-based, and as for version, Yota Devices had only said 'latest' version at the time of launch. The front display, a 5-inch AMOLED offering, bears a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels, with a pixel density of 442ppi. The next-generation YotaPhone is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor with an Adreno 330 GPU, coupled with 2GB of RAM. It includes 32GB of built-in storage (no details about microSD card slot) and sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash alongside a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The handset measures 8.9mm thin and weighs 140 grams. It supports nano-SIM, 2550mAh battery and comes with 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB 3.0, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS/ A-GPS and Glonass, and NFC connectivity options.
Project Ara, the most revolutionary handset to be released by Google shows some promising features.
For those of you who aren't aware, Project Ara is Google's take at a fully customisable device. Think of a PC in which you can swap memory, Processor etc. as soon as they get outdated.
The Project Ara release date has been confirmed to an early 2015 release date, confirmed by Phonebloks, which revealed the project is on track in terms of timeline. A keynote (linked below) too has been released showing some of the features of the device. The first fully-functional Project Ara prototype will be showcased in December at the 2nd Project Ara Developer Conference alongside the new Project Ara MDK. Let's hope this one manages to boot and work :-P
When Project Ara is released in early 2015, it will run a modified version of Android L that has been developed in collaboration with the non-profit Linaro. The benefits of this modified version of Android L is the Project Ara device will be hotswappable. That means that every module of the Project Ara phone, aside from the CPU and display, can be switched out and changed without turning the phone off.The ability to hot swap the Project Ara device is so sophisticated that it's possible to change the modules even if you are in the middle of a phone call or texting.
The Project Ara modules will be sold on a new online store, specifically for Project Ara and this store will resemble the Google Play Store. For those of us early adopters who are eager to get our hands on a Project Ara device and to try building our own modular smartphone, all of this is good news. What are your views? And would you buy such a device? Drop us a comment below :-)
Just after the launch of the Note 4 in China and South Korea for 5,199 RMB on Friday a new design flaw in the Note 4 emerged.
According to South Korean publication IT Today, some Galaxy Note 4 users have noticed a space between the phone’s frame and the display panel, both on the top/bottom or on the sides, posting images with business cards inserted in those gaps. The report also says that two pieces of A4 paper fit inside the gaps.Some warned the gap would collect dirt and might even allow fluid into the device.
Samsung on Wednesday rejected claims that its new smartphone had a defect, after some customers posted pictures of a gap between the frame and display panel. Samsung insisted the gap was a natural part of design that "does not impact the functionality or quality" of the phone.A company spokesman added that the model had passed rigorous tests for dirt protection and water resistance.
Whether or not it is a true issue only time (and tests!) can tell. Do leave us your valuable comments below!
Samsung just released a Video Introduction on the upcoming Galaxy Note 4!
The device promises to be a major upgrade over the previous Note series.
So we are here to give you the major specifications as well as our views on Samsung's latest offering.
Looks-
The device looks MUCH better and more premium than the previous Note. With a sleek metal bezel around the edges. This should increase the durability of the device (as the bezel easily gets dented in the previous plastic phones)
The device is quite thin (153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm (6.04 x 3.09 x 0.33 in)though a bit larger than the previous note 3 (151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm (5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in). It is also a bit heavier than the previous note (176 g for the note 4 and 168 g for the older note 3). The fluid curvature gives the phone a bit rounder design which may improve it's grip.
From the video it is clear that the phone will come in Charcoal Black, Bronze Gold, Blossom Pink and Frost White. The phone also has a similar faux leather texture on the back panel.
Hardware-
The new Note offers a major bump in hardware with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (Quad-Core 2.7 Ghz) or an Exynos 5433 (Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A57). We are most likely going to get the latter Exynos variant. As compared to the previous Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400) or Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7) This promises to further boost the performance of the note. The Snapdragon variant may be available in Indian markets too owing to 4G availability.The GPU too has been replaced by a faster Adreno 420/ Mali T760. The RAM is 3 GB. The same as the previous Note. Storage space is 32GB. A microSD slot capable of expansion upto 128 GB will ensure that the latter is not a problem.
Screen-
The Note 4 boasts a Super AMOLED 5.7 inch display which is a major boost in visuals. It will be the third phone in the market to launch with a Quad HD resolution with a whopping 515 ppi!The high resolution coupled with Super AMOLED ensures an ethereal viewing experience. The Corning Gorilla glass 3 is same as the previous models.
Battery-
One of the worst performers in battery is Samsung but that is to change with the Note 4 which has a 3220 MaH battery. The Ultra Power saving mode from the S5 makes a comeback and promises a good battery backup. The new fast charging feature ensure that even if your phone fails to make it though the day. It will be up and running in no time. The feature when enabled charges the battery to 50% in 30 minutes. Much like the fast charge feature on the Oppo Find 7.
Camera-
The Note 4 offers an upgraded 16 MP shooter with f 1.9 for "Brighter, Clearer Photos". It also boasts Optical Image Stabilization like the Nokia Lumia and the LG G3 which ensures blur free photos especially at night. The real time HDR like the S5 ensures shadow free images. 4K video recording is standard.
The front camera is 3.7 MP which records 1080p Full HD videos. It is much more selfie ready with a 120˚ wide angle and a 90˚ vertical angle.
Software and S Pen-
Where the Note 4 truly shines is it's new S Pen features. A snapshot feature allows you to click a photo of any written text and then freely annotate it, convert it into written text, edit it as well as export it to other apps. This feature promises to be useful to students.
The smart select feature enables you to selectively clip information from any app ( Text and Images) and store it in a separate clipboard and then export it to related apps like Maps or Share it.
The new multi window truly enhances multi tasking by allowing floating windows of apps which can be minimized into FB like chat heads.
That's all for now folks! Do stay tuned in for further information as we get our hands on it.
What do you think about the device? Would you consider buying it? Leave your answers in the comments!
