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Gionee had introduced the world's slimmest Smartphone, the Elife S5.5, to India, at a huge event in Goa today. Powered by a MediaTek Octa Core processor, the Elife S5.5 will sell for a price of Rs. 22,999, but that tiny detail aside, the device is all about design and engineering. The svelte frame, machined at a stunningly thin 5.55 mm of thickness makes the device look really appealing to see as well as touch. Sporting a 5 inch 1080p screen, the device looks like a sleek slab from the front as well as the sides. It's styled well, with a minimalistic approach to design, and evidences of it being too thin show up, especially with the camera module. The frame itself is an engineering marvel, as we had seen when we went hands on with the phone at the Mobile World Congress event, where it was introduced to the world. Today, we had our chance to have a look at it again, but this time, without the intrusive cables. Skip past the break for some photos of this gorgeous device.
The Elife S5.5 comes in four really different colours including the normal black and white ones, along with purple and blue. ...
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HTC One was announced more than a year back and it introduced a whole new concept of UltraPixel camera. HTC gave up on the Megapixel race and packed its flagship camera with a 4UltraPixel unit along with OIS. The camera did well in low light conditions, but failed in normal conditions and many claimed that camera was a big let down in the HTC One. A year later, HTC announced the HTC One successor in the form of HTC One M8 and it improves the UltraPixel camera concept.
The new HTC One comes with a similar 4 UltraPixel unit on its back, but it comes with a 2MP companion camera on top of it. What Nokia did with their ReFocus app, HTC has tried to achieve the same with hardware. Hardware implementations are almost always better than the software counterparts, but HTC has proved that it isn't the case always. The combination of this 4MP and 2MP camera is HTC's hope to improve the much criticized camera on the yesteryear generation.
The All new HTC One's UltraPixel camera had to drop the OIS in order to accommodate another camera and it comes with a better 5MP front facing camera. It is such ...
Xolo Q2500, the company’s upcoming phablet with a 6-inch HD display in the Q CORE series has been spotted on the official website. It has a 6-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display, powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and is upgradable to Android 4.4 (KitKat).
It has a 8-megapixel auto focus rear camera with BSI sensor, LED Flash, 1080p full HD video recording and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with dual SIM support with dual standby, 1GB RAM and packs a 3000 mAh battery.
Xolo launched the Q2000 with a 5.5-inch HD display back in November last year. Xolo is calling the Q2500 PocketPad.
Xolo Q2500 Specifications
6-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD capacitive touch screen IPS display
1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor with 500 MHz Mali 400MP2 GPU
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to Android 4.4 (KitKat)
Dual SIM (GSM + GSM)
8 MP rear camera with BSI sensor, LED Flash, 1080p video recording
2MP front-facing camera
Dimensions - 136 x 64.6 x 8.9mm
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with MicroSD
3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, USB OTG
3000 mAh battery
Xolo offers a free flip cover that also doubles up as ...
Motorola would launch Moto G Forte with improved durability than the Moto G for Latin America. Popular leakster @evleaks has posted an image of the smartphone from @evleaksES account. Motorola unveiled the Moto G back in November last year and the dual SIM variant was launched in India last month.
The Motorola Moto G has Corning Gorilla Glass protection to protect the screen from scratches and the some videos even showed it can survive in water for 30 minutes even though Motorola doesn't call it water-resistant.
According to the leaked image, Moto G Forte has a huge casing to protect the sides. So it could be dust proof, shock proof and water-resistant. There are possibilities that this could also be an image of Moto G with a grip cover.
It is not clear if the Moto G Forte would have a removable back cover like the Moto G. We still don't have specifications of the device, but it expected to be similar to the Moto G.
iBall has launched Andi5T Cobalt2, successor of the first Cobalt iBall Andi 4.7G Cobalt that was launched last year. It has a 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS display based on one glass solution (OGS) technology, powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) (Upgradeable to KitKat). It has a 12-megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
It has flip to mute, auto call recording, smart answer, dial from SMS directly, dial from contact directly, shake to answer, voice control for phone, camera and alarms and more new features.
Compared to first Cobalt, the display and the processor has been improved, but the memory has been reduced to 4GB compared to 16GB on the Cobalt and the battery capacity has reduced from 2200 mAh to 1750 mAh.
Commenting on the launch Director iBall, Mr. Sandeep Parasrampuria said,
Cobalt 2 is package of powerful technology with extremely appealing design and features that every user will cherish and feel happy about. We are sure Cobalt2 will be as much liked as our first Cobalt. It also comes bundled with 4 beautiful interchangeable covers with different colors with stunning rose gold tinted rim. To summarize Cobalt 2 is a terrific performer!
iBall Andi5T Cobalt2 specifications
5-inch (1280 ...
Oppo unveiled Find 7, the company’s first Snapdragon 801-powered smartphone earlier this month. It comes in two version, Find 7 with a Quad HD display and the Find 7a has a 1080p display. We already brought you the hands on impressions of the device, here we have the benchmarks of the smartphone. It is powered by quad-core Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974) 28nm HPm Krait 400 CPU clocked at 2.27 GHz with Adreno 330 GPU. It has a 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display, 2GB RAM and runs on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) OS with Color OS on top. Let’s check out the performance in a range of synthetic benchmark tests.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemUR2ScaH4
Quadrant Benchmark
It scores 22381 points in the Quadrant benchmark.
AnTuTu Benchmark 4
It clocked 36215 points in the AnTuTu Benchmark 4
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5
It scored 2997 points in the Vellamo 2 HTML 5 browser benchmark.
Vellamo 2.0 Metal
It scred 1269 in the Vellamo 2 Metal CPU subsystem performance test.
Linpack Single Thread
It managed to clock around 434.7 MFLOPS in the Linpack single thread benchmark.
Linpack Multi-Thread
It managed to clock around 822.7 MFLOPS in the Linpack multi-thread benchmark.
NenaMark 2
It clocked 62.1 fps in the NenaMark 2 GPU benchmark.
GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (On screen)
It managed to clock 28.6 fps in ...
Press images of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 surfaced last week, now image of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 has surfaced. @evleaks has posted press images of the 10.1-inch tablet in Black and White colors. Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, 8.0 and 10.1 got confirmed officially, the LTE version cleared FCC recently and the specifications showed up in benchmarks recently. It has Samsung's signature power button along with capacitive touch buttons.
According to earlier rumors the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 would come with a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) HD display, 1.4 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and run Android 4.4 (Kitkat). It is expected to come with 3-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel camera.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 rumored specifications
10.1-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) display
1.4 quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 GPU
Android 4.4 (Kitkat)
3MP rear camera
1.3MP front-facing camera.
1GB / 1.5 GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, expandable memory with micro SD
4G LTE/ 3G HSPA+,WiFi, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS + GLONASS
Samsung unveiled the TabPRO series with high-end specifications at the CES 2014 back in January. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 series was expected at the MWC last month, but it didn't happen. Press image shows April 24th, so it might be unveiled on ...
Amazon Kindle devices have been on sale in India for sometime now and today, Amazon is introducing EMI offers for the same. Amazon has announced that starting today, consumers will be able to buy the Amazon series of Kindle devices including - Amazon Kindle, Amazon Kindle PaperWhite and Amazon Kindle Fire tablets from Amazon with an EMI option.
When you buy any of the afore mentioned devices online, you can avail EMI options from any of the following three banks - CitiBank, HDFC and ICICI Bank and if you choose to get it offline, you can avail the offer in 9 banks.
In addition to giving the products on EMI, Amazon is also offering a limited period special price for its Kindle devices as a part of the EMI introductory period. The EMI promotion period lasts for two weeks during which you can get the the New Gen Paperwhite for Rs 10080/- which otherwise costs Rs 10,999/- and the basic Kindle model for Rs 5600/- which will otherwise cost you Rs 5999/-. If you choose to take up the EMI offer of 12 months, then you will be getting the Kindle PaperWhite for a monthly cost of INR 900 and Kindle for INR ...
Gionee has launched Elife S5.5, world's slimmest smartphone in India as it promised earlier this month. It was unveiled in China last month and has a 5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED touch screen display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor and runs on Android 4.2 with Amigo 2.0 UI on top. It has a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera with stacked Sony sensor, LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with 95 degree wide-angle lens.
The Elife S5.5 has a 5.5mm thin magnesium alloy frame and Corning Gorilla glass protection on the back too. It packs 2GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage and a 2300 mAh battery. Check out the Gionee Elife S5.5 hands-on from the MWC 2014.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZqDjGcGFno
Gionee Elife S5.5 specifications
5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
1.7 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor with Mali 450-MP4 GPU
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with Amigo 2.0 UI
13MP auto focus camera with LED flash, Stacked Sony sensor, 1080p video recording
5MP front-facing camera
Dimensions: 145.1×70.2×5.55mm; Weight: 130 grams
2GB LPDDR3 RAM, 16GB internal memory
3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WIFI Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB OTG
2300 mAh battery
The Gionee Elife S5.5 comes in Black, White, Pink, Blue and Purple colors and is priced at Rs. 22999.
Wireless charging still hasn't become main stream, yet there are number of devices that support Wireless charging mainly through Qi inductive wireless charging. Some of the top phones that support wireless charging are Google Nexus 4, Google Nexus 5, Nokia Lumia 920 and a few others. Other phones have an option of getting a wireless charging case. Though the phones are less in number, the number of wireless charger options are quite a few and today, we have one among them - RAVPower Wireless Charger.
The RAVPower Wireless Charger retails for $35.00 on their official site and is available in Black and white color options. So, is it worth the price? Lets find out.
Design, Build Quality
The RAVPower Wireless Charger is as minimalist as it gets. It is just a rectangular slab like device with a power icon logo at the center on the front side surrounded by the Qi wireless charging material. On the back, we have just customary information about the charger and there are four support points on four corners.
On the top of the charger, we have the microUSB port and on the bottom, we have the LED notification.
The device is very light and can be very easy to ...
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for iPhone and Android arrived last October. Both these apps got 10 million downloads in just 24 hours after resumed the launch of BBM for Android and iPhone in October last year after some issues. BlackBerry announced that it added 20 million new users a week after its roll out. At that time BlackBerry said it had 80 million monthly active users.
In less than four month monthly active users it has added 5 more million to grab 85 million active users, reports TechCrunch. It has 113 million registered users. BlackBerry already said that BBM would be coming to Windows Phone devices soon. BlackBerry CEO John Chen has confirmed that it would launch sometime in Q2 2014 (April to June) for the Windows Phone platform, the report adds. Nokia X series smartphones already come pre-loaded with BBM for Android.
BBM would also be pre-loaded on Nokia's Windows Phone devices in select markets once it launches. It would have BBM Chat, Personalization, BBM Groups, BBM Channels, BBM Voice, One Click sharing, Emoticons and more. It would be available for free similar to other platforms.
ZeptoLab, the creators of popular Cut the Rope games has released Cut the Rope 2 for Android finally. It was released for iPhone and iPad back in December last year, and the company promised to release the game for Android in early 2014. In this new game, Om Nom breaks out of his box and travels through lush forests, busy cities, junkyards and underground tunnels for Candy. The game also features little green monsters, Roto, Lick, Blue, Toss and Boo, that acts as candy collecting helpers. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwyCaO9J9Qw
Highlights of Cut the Rope 2
New Locations: Travel through an interactive map to discover new locations filled with candy collecting, rope cutting action.
New Characters: Find 5 new characters, the Nommies, to help you on your unexpected journey.
New Hats: Customize Om Nom, choose your favorite candy and select your finger traces.
New Adventures: Experience completely new graphics, sound and gameplay elements, including the ability to move Om Nom.
New Missions: Collect the perfect number of stars and strategically gather fruit to complete the mission in each level.
Cut the Rope 2 for Andorid is available for free, but it is Ad-supported. Ad-free paid version of the game is not available yet. The game started rolling out for Android users across several countries gradually ...
Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8 had "Powered By Android" logo at the bottom of the boot screen. Google has made it mandatory for all the Android devices as a part of Google Mobile Services agreement, according to a report from Geek.com. All the devices that are part of GMS has Google Play Store, Mail etc. Logo placement also has its own separate set of guidelines from Google.
An image from Android Police shows the guidelines for logo placement and the size of the logo, but it doesn't mention that the logo is mandated. The report says it is compulsory as per their sources. Android devices based on Android Open Source Project like the Nokia X series that doesn't have Google Play Services doesn't have any such requirements.
Some smartphone from LG had "with Google" branding and Chromebooks have "made with Google" branding on the back. Making "Powered By Android" boot screen logo compulsory is acceptable, unless they don't make OEMs etch it on the hardware.
All the new Android devices are expected to come with the new Android boot screen logo. Current devices are likely to get an update to add the logo. This might be officially announced at the Google I/O in June.
Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) would launch voice services along with high-speed data services on 4G, reports The Economic Times. Since the company own both 2300 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrums, it would mix airwaves to offer both high-speed data and voice services.
Earlier this month it entered into pan-India tower infrastructure sharing agreement with Viom Networks. It already has tieups with RCOM and Bharti Infratel to use their telecom infrastructure. Reliance Jio received unified License for all its 22 service areas across India recently.
Airtel announced voice services using 2300 MHz in Pune. This users Circuit Switched FallBack (CSFB) voice solution that lets users make and receive voice calls and access voicemails while retaining the experience of ultra-fast data 4G services. It launched 4G on mobile in Bangalore earlier this year and even demoed it recently on LG G2 smartphone with LTE.
Reliance Jio reportedly started testing voice services on 4G networks back in December 2012. It won 1800 MHz spectrum in 14 circles across India in the spectrum auction last year. It already announced its plans to provide FDD-LTE on 1800 MHz and TDD-LTE on 2300 MHz through an integrated ecosystem.
Reliance Jio plans to launch its 4G LTE services later this year.
Reliance Communications (RCom) has launched two new International Roaming Pack – Unique UK and Fabulous Five for its post-paid GSM customers. The Unique UK would offer up to 96% dicount on data usage and up to 82% on outgoing voice calls to India while roaming in the U.K. The pack costs Rs. 849 for one month. You pay Rs. 25 local outgoing calls/min, call back to India and for 1 MB of data usage while roaming in the UK. Incoming calls are charged at Rs. 15/min and outgoing SMS charges cost Rs. 10 each.
The Fabulous Five packs lets users roam across five continents, North America, Asia, Europe, Australia. and Africa at select 42 countries. This pack offers up to 92% discounts on voice calls. It costs Rs. 999 and comes with 30 days validity. Last year the company launched US International Roaming pack - Awesome America at Rs. 849 per month. Since the base tariff for the U.S. has been increased, users now get more discount with this pack.
Commenting on the new offers, Gurdeep Singh, President & Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Business, Reliance Communications Limited, said,
With the launch of the Unique UK & Fabulous Fives packs, RCOM has added yet another dimension to its offerings for retail customers. This is ...
Dell Venue 8 was launched as the company's first 7-inch Android tablet powered by a Intel Atom processor. It is priced at Rs. 17,499. We already brought you the unboxing and the benchmarks of the tablet, here we have the photo gallery of the tablet to view it from all the angles. It is powered by a 2 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2580 processor with PowerVR SGX 544 MP2 GPU.
The tablet has a 8-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) multi-touch IPS display. The display is glossy, as you can see in the image. It has a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It lacks capacitive touch buttons and uses on-screen buttons.
It was launched running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, but now it has been upgraded to Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean).
It has a 5-megapixel auto focus rear camera with 1080p HD video recording, but lacks an LED flash.
The back cover has a smooth matte finish. It has both Dell and Intel Inside branding. It packs 2GB RAM, 16 GB of internal storage with expansion slot and a 4100 mAh battery that promises up to 10 hours of HD video playback. It has WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth and GPS. We will bringing you the complete review of the tablet soon. Check out more ...
OnePlus, a new company from China has been teasing its first phone for the past few months. It already revealed the complete specifications of the smartphone, but it did no reveal how the phone or the software would look. It has also tied up with CyanogenMod Inc. to provide for OS. Engadget has got hold of first screenshots of the Android KitKat based OS that would be called CyanogenMod 11S.
This has a different lockscreen that has new weather and battery indications. It also has shows notifications in solid background and the lockscreen also has a wallpaper. The about screen shows the model number of the phone as "One" and the version is Android 4.4.2 (KitKat). "S" in the 11S would indicate new OnePlus customizations believes Engadget.
The screenshot shows on-screen Android buttons, but the phone is also expected to have optional capactitive touch buttons. As we already know, the OnePlus One would feature a 5.5″ 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 processor, 13MP camera with Sony Exmor sensor, Global LTE support, 16/64GB internal storage and a 3100mAh battery. It would also have custom style swap back covers that are made of kevlar, denim, bamboo and more.
The OnePlus One would go official on April 23rd and would come at sub-$400 price tag.
Gionee had introduced the world's slimmest Smartphone, the Elife S5.5, to India, at a huge event in Goa today. Powered by a MediaTek Octa Core processor, the Elife S5.5 will sell for a price of Rs. 22,999, but that tiny detail aside, the device is all about design and engineering. The svelte frame, machined at a stunningly thin 5.55 mm of thickness makes the device look really appealing to see as well as touch. Sporting a 5 inch 1080p screen, the device looks like a sleek slab from the front as well as the sides. It's styled well, with a minimalistic approach to design, and evidences of it being too thin show up, especially with the camera module. The frame itself is an engineering marvel, as we had seen when we went hands on with the phone at the Mobile World Congress event, where it was introduced to the world. Today, we had our chance to have a look at it again, but this time, without the intrusive cables. Skip past the break for some photos of this gorgeous device.
The Elife S5.5 comes in four really different colours including the normal black and white ones, along with purple and blue. ...
At the launch of the Gionee Elife S5.5, Gionee President, William Lu and Head of Operations, Arvind Vohra, were quick to point out that the company wants to create two distinct lines of flagship level devices. While the earlier launched E series is for the camera centric, performance focussed devices. The S series is aimed at the fashion conscious and imbibes smart capabilities with stylish sensibilities. This is very evident from the outset and here we list out some of the differentiating criteria between the two devices.
The Gionee Elife E7 is clearly aimed at those who want a giant screen for multimedia consumption. The Elife S5.5 on the other hand combines the same resolution with a smaller and more pocketable 5inch panel. The display on the Elife E7 is of the IPS LCD variety while the S5.5 uses a Super AMOLED display.
Moving over to the back, the camera modules are very distinctly set apart. The Elife E7 is equipped with a 16MP rear facing camera and an 8MP front facing camera. The Elife S5.5 on the other hand makes do with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front facing camera. Both the phones have a single LED flash. The ...
We had earlier taken a look at the photo gallery and hardware walkthrough of the Vibe Z and even saw how the camera on the latest Lenovo flagship worked, in our camera review. But, as with any camera, there is always a bit of a learning curve, and over the course of traversing that path, some options become more apparent and useful. On the same note, we did find some really useful tips and tricks, involving workarounds for minor issues and overall knowledgeable execution of the camera, so here they are, the top 5 tips and tricks for the Lenovo Vibe Z's camera.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Uj0_6zRAc
Software Shutter Workaround
We had mentioned in the Vibe Z camera review that the software shutter button, which works for taking photos as well as videos, doesn't have a big touch target. So, it is easy to miss if the phone is held in an awkward position. We found it to be a let down in crucial moments when we just wanted to pull the phone out of the pocket and take a photo. But eventually, we did find a work around, and that is assigning a hardware shutter button from the software.
With the given option, you can eliminate ...
Apple has launched TD-LTE variants of the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display in China. This would brings both TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE support along with standard GSM and WiFi capabilities. Apple already sells WiFi + Cellular variant of the iPad Air and iPad mini in China with support for GSM and CDMA. The LTE model is also priced similar to the CDMA variant.
The iPad Air has a 9.7-inch Retina display and the iPad mini with Retina has a 7.9-inch Retina display. Both iPads are powered by the new 64 bit A7 chip though the clock speeds differ slightly. Back in December Apple introduced iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c with 4G for China Telecom. Apple iPad Air and mini sold in India doesn't have support for Band 40 (2300 MHz) like the iPhone 5s and 5c to runs on FDD LTE to work on Airtel.
Pricing
iPad Air with WiFi + TD-LTE (16GB) - 4,488 Chinese Yuan
iPad Air with WiFi + TD-LTE (32GB) - 5,188 Chinese Yuan
iPad Air with WiFi + TD-LTE (64GB) - 5,888 Chinese Yuan
iPad Air with WiFi + TD-LTE (128GB) - 6,588 Chinese Yuan
iPad mini with Retina display with WiFi + TD-LTE (16GB) - 3,788 Chinese Yuan
iPad mini with Retina display with WiFi + TD-LTE (32GB) - 4,488 Chinese Yuan
iPad mini ...
