![]()
OmniVision Technologies introduced OV23850, its 23.8-megapixel camera sensor in the PureCel-S series aimed at high-end smartphones, few months back. At the International CES 2105, the company has announced its partnership with Wavelens to bring autofocus (AF) technology that utilizes a microelectromechanical system (MEMS).
With Wavelens' MEMS-based solution, the OmniVision's 23.8-megapixel OV23850 sensor gets high-speed autofocus functionality with DSC-like image quality and performance for flagship smartphones, says the company.
Commenting on the new partnership, Sebastien Bolis, CEO of Wavelens, said:
With our partnership with OmniVision, we are able to fully leverage the high-speed focus and low-power consumption that our MEMS-based autofocus technology offers. Together, we are redefining what users can do with a smartphone camera, allowing them to take rapid multi-frame captures or to have continuous autofocus during video capturing.
Tehzeeb Gunja, senior partnership and business development manager at OmniVision, said:
The OV23850 supports fast-auto focus modes and is our highest resolution image sensor currently available, which makes it the preferred sensor for the MEMS focus technology developed by Wavelens. VCM-based autofocus, while a proven technology, suffers from slow speed to focus and high current consumption. We are excited to take part in the transition to a superior MEMs-based solution that can overcome VCM's shortcomings. OmniVision ...
![]()
Acer launched the Liquid E700 smartphone with triple SIM support last month. Apart from the triple SIM support, the smartphone comes with several attractive features such as LED flash for the front-facing camera and a huge 3500mAh battery. Is it worth the price of Rs. 11,999? Let us find out in the complete review.
Unboxing
We unboxed the Liquid E700 recently, check out the unboxing.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oDZ_8HEHDw
Box Contents
Acer Liquid E700 smartphone in Black
In-ear earphones with microphone
Micro USB Cable
2-pin Charger
Quick Start guide and other booklets
Display, Hardware and Design
The Liquid E700 has a 5-inch display with a pixel resolution of 1280 x 720 and a pixel density of around 294 PPI. It is bright, offers vibrant colors, has good viewing angles and the sunlight legibility is good too. Overall the display is pretty good for the price. The smartphone has huge bezels around the display and a small chin below the capacitive touch buttons, making it taller than other 5-inch smartphones at 147.3mm. It is 73mm wide, which is acceptable. Even though the smartphone has plastic body, the build quality is solid.
Another interesting addition is LED flash for the 2-megapixel front-facing camera that helps you capture better selfies in dark. There is a LED notification light too on the ...
EE this morning announced that it has signed up 7.7 million 4G customers as it continues the rollout of its 4G network to towns and cities across the UK. The figures show that EE managed to increase its subscriber base by 5.7 million customers since the beginning of 2014 and its rollout continued with 210 new major towns and cities added in Q4 2014. EE's rollout means they now offer 4G to 80% of the UK and are likely to meet their target of 98% coverage by the end of 2015.
The network also announced that 2014 saw record mobile data usage and the download peak was during the World Cup (Tim Cahill's goal) with the upload peak taking place on New Year's Eve. The network has seen customers join from rivals as well as existing Orange and T-Mobile customers upgrade to EE to gain access to the advanced network.
EE, who are subject to takeover bid from BT worth £12.5 billion, are the UK's biggest mobile network and they've continued their rollout with a total of 350 cities and towns added during the whole of 2014. EE also doubled available capacity across its entire network in 2014 and introduced 4G+ running ...
Toshiba has announced SD card that comes with built in Near Field Communication (NFC). The Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) is available in three sizes viz,8GB, 16GB and 32GB.
Toshiba is claiming that these are the first SD cards in the world that are integrated with NFC technology. The SDHC with NFC can be used with Android smartphone to find out how much space you have on the card and to also preview thumbnails of your photos. Users will have to download the Memory Card Preview app to their mobile devices to see the content from the memory card.
This way users will no longer need a PC or another card-reading device to see the contents of the card. Up to 16 thumbnail images can also be displayed to identify exactly what images are on each card. These SDHC from Toshiba are UHS Speed Class 1 (capable of recording 4K2K video) and SD Speed Class 10 (10MiB/s minimum). Pricing of the NFC enabled SDHC is not known yet but they will be available starting next month.
via
After JBL, Philips has announced its Fidelio NC1L on-ear headphones at the International CES that doesn't require battery and draws power through Lightning Connector for ambient noise cancellation (ANC). It has 24-bit Digital to Analog Conversion (DAC), amplification and noise cancellation take place in the headphones themselves, ensuring an immerse musical experience that enables you to hear every detail, says the company.
It has high-precision neodymium drivers and comes with memory foam ear pads for ergonomic fit, comfort and breathability. It has four microphones detecting ambient noise before inverting the signal, effectively cancelling it out and converting background noise to silence.
Two FeedBackward microphones positioned next to the headphone drivers provide strong noise cancellation at low frequencies, while the two FeedForward microphones positioned on the outside of the headphone extend the bandwidth of noise cancellation into the mid and high frequencies.
Philips Fidelio NC1L has three modes:
Active Noise Cancelling – for fully immersive noise cancellation
Open-ear listening – lets in ambient noise so that you can hear what’s going on around you when using the headphones
Natural voice – a calibrated level of Active Noise Cancellation to enable a more natural and comfortable experience when making calls using the built-in mic
The Philips Fidelio NC1L headphones will be available in North America in April at a ...
Facebook has bought video start-up technology platform Quick Fire Networks for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2012, QuickFire, helps view high-quality video with low bandwidth.
"Video is an essential part of the Facebook experience. We are excited to bring QuickFire Networks on board as we continue delivering a high quality video experience to the over 1.3 billion people who use Facebook,"
said Facebook spokeswoman Liz Allbright said in a statement.
The news about the acquisition comes just a day after it was announced that Facebook has received more than 1 billion video views every day since June 2014 in the U.S and number of video posts per person are up 75 percent globally. QuickFire has developed a proprietary technology to cut the bandwidth required to consume videos without cutting the quality. Last year, Facebook changed its service so that videos in its users’ news feeds play automatically.
As a result of the acquisition, Quickfire will be winding down business operations and some team members will be joining Facebook. The move will be beneficial for Facebook users in the countries with average bandwith. Earlier this week, Facebook also acquired speech recognition start-up Wit.ai.
source| via
Crossy Road, the popular addictive endless Arcade Hopper game has finally launched on Google Play. It was released on iOS back in November last year and became an instant hit. Later it was launched on Amazon app store in December. The gameplay is simple, you need to cross roads, train tracks and water, avoiding hazards like cars, trains and bird.
The game is free-to-play with in-app purchases, just like the iOS app. You can choose from one avatar before you start, earn and buy in-game coins to unlock more than 50 other characters. Once you sign in using your Google Plus account, you can track your and your friends' scores on the leaderboard.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3pTw0jmxlg
Highlights of Crossy Road
Collect over 50 retro-styled, pop art inspired characters with more added
Cross roads, train tracks, and rivers – endlessly hop forever
Dodge traffic in a candy wonderland with the Android Robot
Simple, pure, innovative gameplay
Free to play
Download Crossy Road (Free with in-app purchases) - Android
LINE messenger has rolled out new types of stickers that come with quirky and witty phrases. Users can tag their friends and family with these sticker phrases.
In order to tag a sticker of your choice, you will only have to tap on it and select "Add tag". These tags will be displayed on the LINE Stickers home page and everyone can access it. Similarly, LINE will now display on your timeline the tags attached by LINE users all over the country. You can change the setting from the selection window at the top if you only want your LINE friends’ tags to be displayed. You can see the popular tags, users, and sticker packs from this menu.
Similar to other stickers, the sticker phrases can be selected from different categories like happy, sad, romance, fear, angry and so on. Stickers have become an important part of the mobile messaging ecosystem and apps like Viber, Hike and Facebook Messenger also have large sticker collection that is used to attract more users.
App link - Android and iPhone
via
Xiaomi is quickly turning out to be a household name. The products from the Chinese company have been the talk of the town, thanks to their affordable price tag and superior hardware configurations.
The latest model from Xiaomi to hit the Indian shores is the Redmi Note 4G. The device is one of the most affordable LTE enabled smartphone out there.
We were just wondering how good the modem on the Redmi Note 4G and what is the speed it is capable of handling. So, we took the device for a spin in order to test what LTE speed the smartphone can achieve.
We were in Bangalore, where Airtel has been providing the LTE service for quite some time and is probably the only location in the country where 4G is widely available. We would like to report that we tested the speeds across various destinations in the city and the overall result was really surprising.
Just like the Apple iPhone 6, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G is also capable of handling speeds up to 40Mbps down. The average speed on the carrier was in excess of 20Mbps which is quite impressive considering the overall internet pace in the ...
ADATA today launched new UC340 USB flash drive in India. It features trim geometric lines, a clean glossy finish and offers USB 3.0 connectivity. It comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities. It has a simple and convenient design. You just need to push to click the colored head to extend the USB connector so that you don't lose the cap.
It has a large triangular lanyard hole that matches the US340’s classy geometric design so that you can carry it on a key ring or wear it on a neck strap or bracelet. It promises read and write speeds of up to 200/120 MB/s. It comes with free ADATA UFDtoGO and OStoGO software and is backed by lifetime warranty.
The ADATA UC340 USB 3.0 Flash Drive comes in Blue and Red colors and is priced at Rs. 920, Rs. 1525, Rs. 2700, Rs. 6500 and Rs. 14000 for 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB variants, respectively.
The BlackBerry Classic has already launched in the UK with Vodafone, Selfridges and BlackBerry Direct and now retailer Carphone Warehouse has announced it is stocking the handset from today. The retailer has the handset available on a range of contracts starting at just £26.50 per month and is also selling the handset for £329.99 SIM free.
If you're looking to get the BlackBerry Classic on a Pay Monthly plan, there's several networks to choose from - the handset is available on 4G plans from EE< O2 and Vodafone and 3G plans on Orange and T-Mobile. With the Classic able to support download speeds of up to 150Mbps, we'd recommend picking a 4G plan and the cheapest is on Vodafone for £26.50 per month with unlimited minutes and texts and 1GB data each month.
For customers on O2, the cheapest is £28 per month whilst EE plans start from £30.99 per month (both with 1GB data, EE limited to 1000 minutes). With superfast data speeds, we'd recommend spending a little more to get more data so the Vodafone plan at £31.50 per month (4GB data), the O2 plan at £33 per month (5GB data) and the EE plan at £38.99 per month (4GB ...
vivo launched Y15 entry level smartphone last month in India for Rs. 8,990 (MRP). We have seen the unboxing of the phone now lets take a look at the hardware in out the photo gallery.
The vivo Y15 sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA (854 × 480 pixels) multi-touch IPS display and is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. It has 512MB RAM, 4GB internal memory that can be expanded with micro SD. It runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
In the front the Y15 has a 2MP wide-angle camera along with the earpiece and sensors.
It has three capacitive buttons below the display.
The Y15 is encompassed in a plastic body and has the vivo branding at the center and the loudspeaker grill at the rear panel.
There is a 5MP Autofocus Camera with LED flash at the back.
The phone has a removable back cover while inside it has slots for two micro SIM cards. Also seen is the micro SD card slot. 1900mAh battery on the phone is removable.
The micro USB port and primary microphone are seen at the bottom.
While the 3.5mm audio jack is seen on the top.
The power button and volume rockers are present on the left side. We will be brining you the benchmarks and the complete ...
OmniVision Technologies introduced OV23850, its 23.8-megapixel camera sensor in the PureCel-S series aimed at high-end smartphones, few months back. At the International CES 2105, the company has announced its partnership with Wavelens to bring autofocus (AF) technology that utilizes a microelectromechanical system (MEMS).
With Wavelens' MEMS-based solution, the OmniVision's 23.8-megapixel OV23850 sensor gets high-speed autofocus functionality with DSC-like image quality and performance for flagship smartphones, says the company.
Commenting on the new partnership, Sebastien Bolis, CEO of Wavelens, said:
With our partnership with OmniVision, we are able to fully leverage the high-speed focus and low-power consumption that our MEMS-based autofocus technology offers. Together, we are redefining what users can do with a smartphone camera, allowing them to take rapid multi-frame captures or to have continuous autofocus during video capturing.
Tehzeeb Gunja, senior partnership and business development manager at OmniVision, said:
The OV23850 supports fast-auto focus modes and is our highest resolution image sensor currently available, which makes it the preferred sensor for the MEMS focus technology developed by Wavelens. VCM-based autofocus, while a proven technology, suffers from slow speed to focus and high current consumption. We are excited to take part in the transition to a superior MEMs-based solution that can overcome VCM's shortcomings. OmniVision ...
Oppo launched the Oppo R5 (R8106), the company’s slimmest smartphone in India last month for Rs. 29,990. We already brought you the photo gallery of the smartphone from the announcement and the unboxing recently. Here we have the benchmarks of the Oppo R5. It is powered by an Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 64-bit processor that has four ARM Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.54 GHz per core and other four Cortex A53 cores are clocked at 1.0 GHz per core. It has Adreno 405 GPU clocked at 550 MHz. It has 2GB DDR3 RAM, 5.2-inch 1080p screen and runs on Color OS 2.0 based on Android 4.4 (KitKat). We had already seen some smartphones powered by the same Snapdragon 615 chip, including the YU YUREKA. Check out the synthetic benchmark scores below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs2pPHJibO0
Quadrant Benchmark
It scored 15254 points in the Quadrant benchmark.
AnTuTu Benchmark 4
It managed to score 27183 points in the AnTuTu benchmark 4.
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5
It managed to score just 1775 points in the Vellamo 2 HTML5 browser benchmark.
Vellamo 2.0 Metal
It scored 794 points in the Vellamo 2 Metal CPU Subsystem performance test and grabs the second spot, behind the Desire 820 that is powered by the same chip.
Linpack Single Thread
It managed to clock around ...
Lenovo just sent out press invites for the India launch of A6000, the company’s latest budget smartphone with 4G connectivity. It was announced at the CES earlier this week and packs a 5-inch HD display, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 GPU and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Vibe UI on top.
Lenovo A6000 specifications
5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display
1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 GPU
1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Vibe 2.0 UI
Dual (micro) SIM
8MP auto-focus rear camera with LED Flash
2MP front-facing camera
8.2mm thick and weighs 128 grams
4G LTE / 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
2300mAh battery
The Lenovo A6000 will be priced under Rs. 10,000 and the company already said it will be priced less than the Redmi Note 4G and the YU YUREKA. We will get to know the exact pricing of the smartphone at the launch on January 16th, Friday. It will be exclusively available on Flipkart.
Huawei is working on a mid range smartphone that will reportedly sport a 64 bit MediaTek processor. The company's next smartphone, Huawei G628 was spotted in China as per a new leak.
The G628 features a 5-inch 720p touchscreen and the MT6752 SoC comes with a 1.5 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU. It will have 8 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 2 MP front camera, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of integrated storage. The smartphone will run on Android KitKat 4,4 and will also have Huawei's Emotion UI 2.3 on the top that will bring new features. The phone will be priced at around CNY 1,000, which translates to $160.
The G628 will support TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA networks. Huawei G628 may make it to other countries as the Ascend G628 but is not confirmed yet.
via
CyanogenMod has officially added support for Android One smartphones. This means users can install official builds of CyanogenMod 11 based on Android 4.4 KitKat.
"Starting today, CyanogenMod 11 (KitKat) builds are available for the ‘sprout’ devices. As the devices are currently setup for CM11 only (work on CM12 is in progress) these builds will trickle once a week, every Sunday."
said Cyanogen in a blog post.
Google launched Android One devices in India last year in September with three manufacturers. All these Android One smartphone features MediaTek processors.Since the first Android One devices feature processors from MediaTek, this makes them the first phones with MediaTek processors to officially support one of the most popular custom ROMs available. CyanogenMod on the other hand is a custom version of Android based on the open source version of Google’s operating system.
In addition to Android One phones, CM team has also added support for Nexus 6 and LG G3 D855.
via
Buying a new phone can be a daunting experience - especially if you are looking to buy one on contract - and dealing with sales people, advice from your friends and family and working out where to buy from can often take weeks of research and deliberation. Then comes the decision on whether to buy online or buy from a retail store and each has their pros and cons - here's some things to consider when deciding whether to buy online or in-store.
1. Price
If you're planning on buying your smartphone outright (i.e. without being attached to a pay monthly plan), the internet is almost always cheaper than buying from a retail store. With the exception of Apple devices - which usually have the same price both online and offline - buying from reputable internet operations such as Amazon, Clove Technology and MobiCity can usually save you up to hundreds of pounds on the purchase price. With online shopping, you can often find voucher codes for your retailer that could save you further money off the cost of your purchase.
The internet is not always cheaper however, especially during sale season. Often retailers such as Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone and O2 will have ...
Samsung may launch Windows powered smartphones this year, according to a new report from Korea Times. The report said that the company is currently testing stability on Windows 8.1 devices.
The South Korean giant is taking this move to cut reliability on Google's Android mobile operating system. Samsung is considering to roll out affordable handsets powered by Windows Phone OS this year.
"Samsung has run pilot programs on the stability of Windows 8.1 software on devices. It is interested in promoting Windows mobiles."
told Samsung representative to Korea Times.
Microsoft and Samsung are currently involved in a lawsuit over royalty charges which is keeping the company from making Windows Phone. If both the companies can settle their litigation, Samsung is expected to start manufacturing Windows powered handsets as soon as third quarter. Samsung had last launched the Verizon exclusive ATIV SE last year in April, which offered flagship specs. As per the report it looks like Samsung will make low to mid range Windows smartphones.
source |via
Micromax’s YU launched the YU YUREKA (AO5510), the first smartphone under YU brand last month for Rs. 8,999. We brought you the unboxing, photo gallery and benchmarks of the smartphone recently. Here we have the battery test results of the smartphone. The YU YUREKA has a 2500mAh removable Lithium-polymer battery. It is powered by a Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 processor, has a 5.5-inch HD display and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat). Check out the battery test results below.
Talk Time
It lasted for 14 hours and 9 minutes in the talk time test, similar to the 2nd Motorola Moto G that packs a smaller 2070mAh battery.
3G Browsing
It lasted for 4 hours and 10 minutes in our 3G browsing test, which is not impressive, but it is decent considering some mid-range smartphones.
WiFi Browsing
It lasted for 5 hours and 15 minutes in our WiFi browsing test and lies behind the Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 that has a slightly larger 2800mAh battery.
Video Playback
It lasted for 9 hours and 5 minutes in the video playback test and tops the chart, better than other competing smartphones.
The overall One Charge rating for the YU Yureka is 8 hours and 8 minutes, which is the total amount of time the smartphone can continuously be used before ...
OnePlus has sold close to one million units of OnePlus One in 2014. The Chinese smartphone maker made its debut in April 2014 with its critically acclaimed OnePlus One.
In November, OnePlus's co-founder Carl Pei revealed that it had sold 5 lakh One units. The company will focus on refining its operations and improving its customer service in 2015. This year, OnePlus will work to improve its operations and customer service. Moreover, the company is also expected to launch the successor of the OnePlus One in the second or third quarter of this year.
OnePlus One is also looking to introduce its third device this year that would cater to an audience who appreciate design over specifications. The 16GB Silk White model is priced at $299 and the 64GB Sandstone Black version is $349. In India the phone is priced at Rs 21,999 and can be bought if you have the invite.
via
