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Indian tablet market soars 3.6% in Q4 2014, iBall overtakes Samsung: Report

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The tablet market in India has reported quarter-on-quarter growth of 3.6%, according to a report by Research Firm IDC (International Data Corporation). A total of 0.96 million tablets were shipped in the Q4, 2014. iBall that was in the third spot, behind Micromax in Q3 2014 has jumped up to the first spot in Q4 2014 overtaking Samsung, to be come the leading tablet maker in the country in terms of shipments. iBall grabs 15.6% market share in Q4 2014, up from 4.5% share in Q4 2013. Samsung grabs 12.9% share, compared to 17.9% share in Q4 2013. DATAWIND comes close with 9.6% share. Micromax that was in the second spot in Q3 2014 is no where to be seen in the top five spots. Since the share of PC OEMs in the market has grown by more than double year-on-year, 2014 has posted tablet shipments of 3.5 million, down 15% compared to 2013, says IDC.  7-inch tablets under $150 (Rs. 9000 approx.) increased in the quarter and will continue to foreseeable future, says the report. 3G tablets posted a double digit growth in Q4 and accounted for about 60% of the total shipments, up from 35% in Q1 2014. Wi-Fi enabled tablets have faced a steep decline over the quarters, down from ...

‎iBall‬ Cobalt Oomph 4.7D with metallic design now available for Rs. 7999

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‎iBall‬ Cobalt Oomph 4.7D, the company's latest smartphone in the Cobalt series with sleek metallic design is now available from retail stores, according to Mumbai-based retailer Manish Khatri from Mahesh Telecom. It has a 4.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS display, is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor and runs on Android 4.4 (Kitkat) that is upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop. It has a 8-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has a large home button and a similar design as the iPhone. It comes with dual SIM support, similar to other iBall smartphones. No details about the dimensions and the weight of the smartphone yet. ‎iBall‬ Cobalt Oomph 4.7D specifications 4.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display at 312 PPI 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD Android 4.4 (Kitkat), upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop Dual SIM 8MP auto focus rear camera with LED Flash 5MP front-facing camera 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio 3G (HSDPA: 21 Mbps, HSUPA: 5.7 Mbps), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS 1850mAh battery The ‎iBall‬ Cobalt Oomph 4.7D is priced at Rs. 7,999. The official launch is expected soon.

Xiaomi Mi 4 Review

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Xiaomi, the Chinese manufacturer entered the Indian market with its Mi 3 smartphone and the smartphone turned out to be a huge success in the country. The unbelievable price tag it carried helped the device sell like hot cakes. Now, the stakes are quite high for its successor and Xiaomi will hoping that its latest introduction, the Mi 4 will be able to replicate the sales performance of its predecessor. We had a chance to spend some quality time with the Mi 4 and here’s what we think about the smartphone. Unboxing Xiaomi’s smartphones have also retailed in an eco-friendly package with very minimalistic looks and it isn’t any different for the Mi 4 either. The company isn’t keen on packing anything other than the basic required accessories and it does help in keeping the retail costs down. The box just contains an A/C adapter and a microUSB cable along with some leaflets. We had already managed to get the Chinese variant of the Mi 4 and give it an unboxing treatment. You can check the video below. Mind you, the packaging of the Indian variant isn’t any different. Design For starters, the Xiaomi Mi 4 has the same form factor as that of Mi ...

YouTube Kids launched on Android and iOS

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Google has launched YouTube Kids app on Android and iOS. The new app that was expected to be released today is aimed especially at children. "Now, parents can rest a little easier knowing that videos in the YouTube Kids app are narrowed down to content appropriate for kids. You can browse channels and playlists in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore. Or search for videos of particular interest to your family, like how to build a model volcano, math tutorials, the amazing (and endless) world of trains—and everything in between." posted YouTube is a company blog. YouTube Kids offers a curated selection of videos that are appropriate for children.The app’s interface features large images, colorful icons and carefully curated launch videos on the main homepage. It will be available on Kurio and nabi kids’ tablets “soon.” YouTube Kids features popular content from DreamWorksTV, Jim Henson TV, Mother Goose Club, Talking Tom and Friends, National Geographic Kids, Reading Rainbow, Thomas the Tank Engine and more. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUmMAAPX6E8 In addition, the app comes with an array of parental controls, including the ability to disable search completely, limit screen time and control the volume. Unfortunately, YouTube Kids is available only in the U.S and there is no word about a global rollout. YouTube Kids ...

Pebble smartwatch with color screen leaks

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Last week Pebble teased a new version of the smartwatch on its website with a countdown for a launch. Today, a render has been spotted on Pebble's own website which shows a larger smartwtch watch color display. The render that was taken down from the website showed the Pebble smartwatch in a thinner body with wider screen and color e-ink display. It is expected that the watch will have Cortex M4 SoC with a 6-axis gyroscope. However, the smartwatch will lack a touchscreen and instead have buttons on the side like its two predecessors.The bezels on the watch are also larger than the existing ones. It is touted that the new watch will come with a built-in microphone.  The new watch will reportedly run a brand new version of Pebble’s operating system that is designed by the tea behind webOS. Pebble is expected to officially announce the device on Tuesday, February 24, at 10 am Eastern time.

TRAI cuts Interconnection Usage Charges for mobile and landline

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has revised interconnection usage charges (IUC) for both landline and mobile after almost six years. It reduced domestic termination charges for fixed to fixed, fixed to mobile, mobile to fixed and mobile to mobile from 30 paise to 20 paise per minute back in 2009. Now it has further reduced mobile to mobile to 14 paise per minute and removed termination charges completely for  fixed to fixed, fixed to mobile, mobile to fixed line. For those who don’t know, Interconnection usage charge or termination charge is the charge payable by an access provider, whose subscriber originates the call, to the access service provider in whose network the call terminates. For example, if a call is being made by a Vodafone customer to BSNL customer, then Vodafone will have to pay some amount of IUC (as fixed by TRAI) to BSNL. Regarding reduction of termination charges, TRAI in a statement, said: To promote investment and adoption of wireline networks so that they may become an effective vehicle for the delivery of high-speed internet in the country, the authority has decided to prescribe FTC (fixed termination) as well as MTC (mobile termination charge) for wireline to wireless calls as zero. Accordingly, MTC for all calls originating from ...

Google acquires mobile payment company Softcard to boost mobile wallet

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Google has officially acquired, mobile payment solution company Softcard following reports last month. Softcard is backed by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a result of the acquisition, U.S. wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile will pre-install its Google Wallet payments app on Android phones running KitKat or higher. Prior to this Google Wallet had limited availability and only Sprint officially supported the service. Similar to Apple Play, Google Wallet allows users to pay at checkouts by tapping their phones in some brick-and-mortar stores. Adding all the major carriers, as well as Softcard, will let more Android owners take advantage of Google's tap-and-pay system. Softcard confirmed the acquisition in a company blog and stated that customers “can continue to tap and pay with the app”. It promised to “share more information with customers and partners in the coming weeks,” which suggests changes are coming. Earlier this week, it was reported that Google is testing a mobile payment service dubbed as 'Plaso'.

Samsung Galaxy S6 expected to launch in April second week in India

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Samsung is all set to introduce Galaxy S6, the company's flagship smartphone at its Unpacked 2015 event on March 1st at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. U.S. carrier T-Mobile already confirmed that it will offer the smartphone for its customers. Even Sprint recently confirmed that it will launch the smartphone. U.S. carriers are planning to sell the smartphone starting from this Spring, which begins late March. Samsung is planning to launch the smartphone in India by the second week of April, according to our sources. This is not a surprise since Samsung had been launching its flagship smartphones in India within few weeks after the announcement. Pre-bookings are expected to start late March. It could launch early second week of April and go on sale later that week, just like the Galaxy Note 4. We will get to know the complete specifications of the Galaxy S6 at the announcement on March 1st. We will also be bringing you the hands-on impressions of the smartphone after the event.

Sony Xperia Z4 Dual SIM UI screenshots surfaces

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Sony may not be announcing the Xperia Z4 at the MWC next month, but a recent leak of screenshots has shown the UI of the Xperia Z4 dual. As per the leak the phone is running on Android 5.0 Lollipop.   The screenshots of the phone show that the Xperia Z4 dual will run the Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 chipset. Material Design elements and features are seen in the screenshot of the phone like settings menu,  dialer and the clock app. In addition, the screenshots also suggests that Sony will use a kernel version beginning with “3.10”, whilst the software build number will start with “28”. Xperia Z4 is expected to sport a 5.2" 1080p or QHD screen, Snapdragon 810 chipset with 3GB of RAM, 21MP camera, waterproof body and stereo speakers.

Xolo Win Q1000 with 5-inch HD display, Windows Phone 8.1 announced for Rs. 8499

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Xolo has announced Xolo Win Q1000, its latest Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone. It has a 5-inch HD display, is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM8212) processor with Adreno 302 GPU, comes with a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Most of the specifications of the smartphone are similar to the Xolo Win Q900s that was introduced last year. It has Dual SIM support with dual standby, comes with 3G support and packs a 2200 mAh battery. Xolo Win Q1000 specifications 5-inch HD (1280 x 720 pixels) multi-touch IPS OGS display 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM 8212) processor with 400 MHz Adreno 302 GPU 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD Windows Phone 8.1 OS Dual SIM Dimensions: 143 x 71.3 x 8.8 mm 8MP camera with PureCel sensor, f/2.0 aperture, LED Flash 2MP front-facing camera 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS 2200 mAh battery The Xolo Win Q1000 comes in black, white and green colors and is priced at Rs. 8,499. The official launch is expected soon.

Lumia 640 specs and price tag surfaces

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It seems like Microsoft is making another budget Windows smartphone. The Lumia 640 that has a code number RM-1072 has surfaced online with specs. The Lumia 640 will apparently sport a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) resolution display, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage. It will have a 8.7-megapixel rear camera, and a 0.9-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone will support Dual SIM/LTE, NFC and wireless charging.  A dual SIM variant of the phone is code named as RM-1077. It is reports that Microsoft Lumia 640 might come priced at around $275. The phone was spotted at Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency and the specs of the phone were seen on the documents.  The certification in Brazil for RM-1109 reveals that the Lumia 640 Dual-Sim has a unique battery model BV-T5C.  Both, RM-1072 and RM-1077 have just passed certification at FCC and reveal that they have battery BV-T5C. Microsoft might unveil the phone at upcoming MWC 2015.

Samsung Galaxy A3 Battery Life Test

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Samsung launched the Galaxy A3 smartphone in India last month for Rs. 20,500. We already brought you the complete review of the smartphone, here we have its battery life test results. The Galaxy A3 packs a 1900mAh built-in battery, slightly smaller than the Galaxy A5. It has a same Snapdragon 410 SoC and runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat, but this come with a smaller 4.5-inch qHD display. Check out the results. Talk Time It lasted for 12 hours and 30 minutes in the Talk Time test, slightly better than the Galaxy A5. 3G Browsing  It lasted for 5 hours and 46 minutes in the 3G browsing test. WiFi Browsing It lasted for 6 hours and 15 minutes in the WiFi browsing test, again better than the Galaxy A5. Video Playback It lasted for 9 hours a 5 minutes, similar to the Galaxy A5, even though this has a smaller display. Overall, the Galaxy A3 achieved a One Charge rating of 7 hours and 46 minutes, better than the Galaxy A5's rating of 7 hours and 32 minutes.

Google Inbox invite program kick starts for Google Apps for Work

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Google's Inbox has arrived for Google Apps customers only days after being launched for iPad and Android tablets. The company has announced that starting next month, it will begin enabling Inbox access for a limited batch of Google Apps customers. "Of course, every company and every person is different, so we want to get more input on how Inbox will work at your company. Starting next month, we’ll begin enabling Inbox for a small group of Google Apps customers to learn about their needs, challenges and use cases." posted Alex Gawley, Director of Product Management, Gmail and Inbox by Gmail in a blog. Continuing the invite system, Google has opened an invitation program for company administrators already using Google Apps to get on Inbox. Starting next month, admins can email the company at inboxforwork@google.com to request access. Google said it will let in only select users that request access as it works to get feedback from early adopters and improve the experience. Inbox was launched in October last year for Android and iOS.

Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 launched in India starting at Rs. 8500

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Lenovo has launched the Tab 2 A7-30 tablet in the A-series in India. It has a 7-inch (1024 x 600) IPS displays, is powered by a 1.3GHz Quad-Core MediaTek MT8382M SoCs and runs on Android 4.4 KitKat. Lenovo launched the Tab 2 A7-10 tablet in India for Rs. 4,999, but this comes in 2G and 3G variants with voice calling capabilities. Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 specifications 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) IPS infinity display 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT8382M processor 1GB RAM, 8GB / 16GB nternal memory, expandable up to 32GB via microSD Android 4.4 (KitKat) OS, upgradeable to Android 5.0 8.9mm thick and weighs 269 grams 2MP rear camera 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera 3.5mm audio jack, front-facing speaker, Dolby Audio 2G / 3G (with voice calling), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS 3450 mAh battery The Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 comes in ebony black color and is priced at Rs. 8,500 for the 2G variant and the 3G variant costs Rs. 11,800. It will go on sale by the end of this month.

Sony Xperia E4g and E4g Dual with 4G LTE and 1.5GHz quad-core SoC announced

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Sony has announced the Xperia E4g and E4g Dual, two new budget smartphones with 4G connectivity ahead of MWC 2015, soon after it unveiled the Xperia E4 and E4 dual 3G smartphones. These have a slightly smaller 4.7-inch qHD IPS display and are powered by a faster 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6732 64-bit SoC, compared to 5-inch qHD display and 1.3GHz quad-core MT6582 SoC in the 3G variants. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTCb7DyfBHU These run on Android 4.4 (KitKat), have a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. These also have NFC support. The 2300 mAh battery with Battery STAMINA Mode promises 2 days of battery life. Sony Xperia E4g and E4g Dual specifications 4.7-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) IPS display with scratch-resistant glass 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6732 64-bit processor with Mali-T760 GPU 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD Android 4.4.4 (KitKat) 5MP rear camera with LED flash 2MP front-facing camera Dual SIM (E4g dual) 3.5 mm audio jack, FM Radio Dimensions: 133x71x10.8 mm; Weight: 135g 4G, Bluetooth 4.1, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, NFC 2300 mAh battery with Battery STAMINA Mode The Sony Xperia E4g and Xperia E4g dual come in black and white colors. These are priced at 129 Euros (US$ 146 / Rs. 9,080 approx) and will go on sale in April 2015.

Uber teams up with Safetipin to improve safety

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With an aim to further boost the security of passenger further, Uber has joined hands with Safetipin, a mobile safety and auditing service. The partnership willenable Uber’s partner drivers to collect area data across New Delhi to improve passenger safety. Uber drivers will receive training and work with SafetiPin safety auditors at night to collect information as a result of the deal. SafetiPin is a free app which collects data of locations based on nine parameters that together contribute to the perception of safety by measuring actual location conditions in order to generate a safety score for an area. The nine parameters are lighting, openness, visibility, security, walk path, crowd and gender diversity and density. Images will be tagged by these parameters with a safety score based. The information is supplemented with comments and photographs from real users and trained safety auditors. “Uber is deeply committed and will continue its tireless efforts to build a comprehensive ecosystem that brings best in class safety to the streets of Delhi and across India. This partnership builds on SafetiPin’s understanding and expertise in this field. By working together on this meaningful cross-border initiative we hope to provide local communities with the technologies to enable them to ...

5G – What is it? What are the benefits? When will it launch?

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4G networks are being widely deployed around the world and although the technology continues to evolve, the focus now switches to 5G - the fifth generation of mobile networks. Dubbed 5G, the next generation network may still be several years away from being deployed but is the buzzword in telecommunications at the moment. As part of a special tour of Huawei's Chinese facilities, we learnt more about 5G and of Huawei's role of making 5G a reality. What is 5G? How does it differ from 4G? 5G is the next major phase of mobile telecommunications and follows the global adoption of the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard since 2012. A new telecommunications standard is introduced approximately every ten years - 2G was in introduced in 1991, 3G in 2001 and 4G in 2012 - and 5G is expected to be made available in 2020-2022. The fifth generation of mobile technology does not have a defined universally agreed upon standard - although a few likely technologies are emerging - and whereas 4G connections offer average speeds of 25-40Mbps at home, 5G is likely to offer speeds in excess of 500Mbps. Many entities believe that 5G will be defined by its ability to offer 1Gbps ...

Apple releases iOS 8.3 beta 2 to developers

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Apple has released the second beta from iOS 8.3 to developers. The beta is available through the iOS Developer Center. It includes Xcode 6.3 and a new version of Apple's programming language, Swift. iOS 8.3 beta 2 is identified as build 12F5037c and it also comes with Xcode build 6D532l and Swift 1.2. The first iOS 8.3 beta brought users CarPlay support, new emojis, support for Google 2-step verification, and the beginnings to bring Apple Pay to China. In addition, Apple has added access to 300 new diversified emoji for iPad and iPhone users. With iOS 8.3 beta 2 Apple now allows users to choose between five different skin tones for 60 different emoji. Moving on, the iOS 8.3 beta 2 make Siri more linguistic. The digital voice assistant now supports Russian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and English for India. The final build of iOS 8.2 is due to be rolled out next month to all compatible devices.  Just yesterday it was reported that Apple will be releasing first ever public beta for iOS 8.3 and iOS 9 in March.

Samsung says it still leads the Indian tablet market

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Earlier this week IDC reported that iBall is the top Indian tablet maker in India with 15.6% market share in Q4 2014 compared to Samsung that grabbed 12.9% share, based on shipments. Today Samsung has issued a statement saying that it is still the leader in Indian tablet market. It grabbed 40.6% volume market share and 49% value market share during October-December 2014 quarter, said the company. It achieved volume market share of 42.9% and value market share of 51.2% in the tablets category in 2014. The data is from market research firm GfK, which is based on actual sales, and not shipments, said the company. We still don't have the entire GfK data chart listing the market share of other companies. Regarding the tablet market in India, Asim Warsi, Vice President, Marketing, Mobile Business, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd., said: It is quite obvious that Samsung continues to be the clear leader in the tablets market in India. We are the number one choice of the Indian consumers. In fact, our syndicated research shows that our volume market share in the fourth quarter is more than the combined market share of the next four brands. The volume share of Samsung tablets for ...

Android One Lollipop update starts rolling out in India

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Google has finally started rolling out Android Lollipop update for the Android One smartphones – Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Dream UNO Mi-498 and Karbonn Sparkle V in India, as it promised earlier this month. Google released new Android One smartphones running Android 5.1 Lollipop in Indonesia earlier this month, so the update could be Android 5.1 instead of Android 5.0, but we are not sure yet. The Android Lollipop update brings Material Design with bold, colorful, and responsive UI design, better notifications, battery saver feature, better security including  Android Smart Lock, New Quick Settings, Improved network hand offs, flexible sharing, faster, smoother and more powerful experience with ART, 15 new languages and more. The Android 5.1 adds several tweaks and features. Caesar Sengupta, VP Android Division, Google, said on Google Plus that Android Lollipop over-the-air (OTA) will be a gradual process, which will be rolled out each week to more phones selected at random. So it will not be available for everyone immediately. Google already promised to offer software updates for Android One devices for two years after its release.
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