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Lava partnered with Broadcom recently to launch the QPAD e704 tablet with a quad-core Broadcom SoC earlier this month for Rs. 9999. Broadcom has announced that it is powered by a quad-core Broadcom BCM23550 chip with HSPA+ support. It has a RF transceiver, power management IC, connectivity combo chip and multi-constellation GNSS location chip.
The BCM23550 is Broadcom's first quad-core chip that was unveiled last year. Several manufacturers such as Xolo and Micromax started using the chip for their phones, but this might be the first tablet in India to come with the chip.
The Lava QPAD e704 Specifications
7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) capacitive 5-point multi-touch display
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
1.2 quad-core Broadcom (BCM23550) processor with Videocore IV GPU
3.2MP rear camera
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
Full HD 1080p video playback
8.8 mm thick and weighs 200 grams
3.5mm audio jack
3G (via SIM card slot), WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI V1.4, GPS + GLONASS
1GB DDR3 RAM, 4GB internal memory , 32GB expandable memory with microSD
3500 mAh battery
Commenting on the partnership with Broadcom, S.N. Rai, Lava International Co-founder and Director, said
When choosing a connectivity platform for QPAD, we had two key requirements—it must provide users with the full range of capabilities they would expect, and do so at an affordable price point. Broadcom’s innovative platform met these requirements, allowing us to get to ...
Apple and Google are wooing game developers by to get popular mobile games in the their app store first, claims a latest report by The Wall Street Journal. The two tech giants are actively offering incentives and offers to mobile game developers for game availability on their platform.
Citing a source, the WSJ report stated that Apple used incentives to grab a two-month exclusivity for EA’s ‘Plants vs Zombies 2′ game and three-month exclusive for Zepto Lab’s ‘Cut the Rope last year. Apple in exchange for platform exclusivity, promoted the title in iOS App Store banners and featured games lists.
The tussle and desperation for exclusivity comes at a time when over almost 80% of smartphones worldwide run on Android giving a tough competition to Apple. Both the companies have denied the claims and stated that no money was exchanged as asserted by the WSJ report. It must be noted that most of the time, games are offered on both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store almost at the same time. But according to the WSJ sources, Apple and Google want to be the first one to offer a new game.
Amazon is another player which is also interesting in mobile ...
Apple is still fighting the legal court battle with Samsung, but that has not stopped the company from teasing its nemesis. On the occasion of Earth Day the maker of iPhone and iPad has released a print advertisement in one of the UK newspapers about its environmental strategies.
The company has launched a green-themed marketing campaign, also expanding its recycling programme to cover any Apple product or device. The ad reads “There are some ideas we want every company to copy” . The ad further taking a jab at Samsung touts "There’s one area where we actually encourage others to imitate us. Because when everyone makes the environment a priority, we all benefits.”
The ad was first spotted by David McClelland on Twitter. Apple unveiled a new environmental campaign that boasts of a video narrated by CEO Tim Cook. It has adorned Apple Store’s with green leaves as part of its celebrations for the event. It also released a new video ad about Apple’s efforts, narrated by Tim Cook.
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Apple is said to release the iPhone 6 in two variants, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other one with a 5.5-inch screen, according to earlier rumors. The iPhone 6 with a 5.5-inch display, referred as iPhone Air has been delayed since Apple could not find a sufficient battery that measures 2 mm or less to fit in the device's slim body, according to a report from a Taiwan's Industrial and Commercial Times .
The iPhone Air name is not finalized yet. It would interesting to see if Apple expands the name to iPhone too, since it already has MacBook Air and iPad Air. Earlier rumors revealed that manufacturers have started making fingerprint sensors and chips for liquid-crystal drivers for the next generation iPhones and Apple would be working with Sharp, Japan Display, LG Display and other supplier would begin mass producing LCD panels in the second quarter.
A recent report from Reuters revealed that the rumored 5.5-inch version of the iPhone could be delayed due to difficulties with in-cell production technology. The iPhone 6 is rumored to feature a A8 processor and an upgraded camera with optical image stabilization. It is expected to run on iOS 8 that is is likely to be announced at ...
Motorola Mobility has appointed Amit Boni from within the company as the General Manager of India operations. He joined Motorola Mobility in early 2010 taking charge of GTM strategy and sales operations for the Asia region. As a general manager, he will lead the team across the country and be responsible for the Go-to-Market strategy, said the company.
Motorola came back to India after almost one and half years with the successful Moto G and launched the Moto X soon after. It would be interesting to see what it has to offer to the Indian market in coming months. It could to target the budget smartphone segment like the Moto G once again, which is one of the most popular phones in India in this segment.
Commenting on the new appointment, Magnus Ahlqvist, Corporate Vice-President, EMEA and APAC, said
Motorola is a highly relevant brand for Indian buyers and we’re overwhelmed by the positive response for Moto G and the more recently announced Moto X. Our products are doing extremely well and with Amit’s extensive market experience and a rich perspective on the segment, we will continue to grow in India. The India market is absolutely critical to Motorola and Amit's appointment into this role is testament to that.
Amit Boni, the new General Manager, said,
I see ...
The HTC One M8's dual camera setup was all about calculating the depth map and rendering a realistic bokeh to relatively bland photos. But recently, Google released a new Camera app that mimicked the same functionality, just with a little extra manual effort. With "Lens Blur" turned on, the software could work its magic and create a depth map which directly helps in creating a bokeh, just like on the HTC One M8. But this depth map can be used for more than just adding blur, like for example, a 3D mode, which was demonstrated in HTC's software. Want to do the same to the photos from your Kitkat device? Well, thanks to a developer, a solution now exists in the form of "Depthy", an open source initiative that uses the "Lens Blur" depth map to create a 3D parallax view for your photos, among other things.
Google's camera app introduced the Lens Blur feature in its latest update, which eventually replaced the default camera app in Nexus devices. The way it works is by creating a depth map from two images at different angles, and saves it inside a normal JPEG. A developer had already found a way to extract ...
Apple today posted its financial results for Q2 2014 and the numbers shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The company reported earnings of $10.2 billion in a quarter with no new hardware announcements and managed to better its year on year performance as well.
While projected revenues were estimated at between $42 to $44 billion, Cupertino managed to surpass it and managed $45.6 billion in revenues. The numbers were achieved through a significant 17.9 percent year on year increase in iPhone sales. On the other hand iPad sales were down 16.4 percent year on year. The company shipped 43.72 million iPhones in the last quarter in addition to 16.35 million iPads. The iPhone is responsible for the lions share of the revenue with sales numbers for the Mac amounting to 4.14 million units and iPod sales down almost 51% YoY at 2.76 million units sold.
Looking at the broader picture though it is clear to see that the company's growth is slowing down compared to the explosive growth patterns seen before. Apple's guidance for the next quarter is to expect revenues between $36-$38 billion. As analysts begin to raise questions about the slowing growth, hopes are pinned on disruptions in new ...
Gionee started its operations almost a year back in India. Today it has announced that it will open more than 750 service centers across India by March 2015. The Chinese company recently unveiled world's thinnest smartphone Elife S5.5 at Rs 22,999.
While our emphasis is on delivering best in class products always, we have laid equal emphasis on providing top class service right from the time we started business in India. Gionee established a Call Center with its very first sale and with our growing reach we are constantly strengthening our service network to ensure the comfort and trust of our existing and fast growing set of customers.
said, Arvind.R.Vohra, Head - Gionee India.
Gionee says it has already opened more than 400 stores in India in mere one year of its operations. All of these stores are available across Tier I, II & III cities in the country. These service centers will boast of team of expert technicians and specially trained service advisors.
The company has mere 2 percent share in Indian smartphone market and has made Rs 500 cr in sale as per an ET report. Gionee says they ship 23 million handsets per year worldwide.
Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy Beam 2 (SM-G3858) in China. It got certified in China last month and has metallic build. The Galaxy Beam that was unveiled back in 2012 has plastic build. It has a 4.66-inch WVGA screen, powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). The built-in projector projects in WVGA resolution and has background color correction feature for better color output.
It has a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a front-facing camera. No details about the RAM or internal storage.
Samsung Galaxy Beam 2 specifications
4.66-inch (480×800 pixels) display
Built-in projector
1.2 GHz quad-core processor
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
5MP Auto focus camera with flash
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
Dimensions - 134.5 x 70 x 11.64 mm, weight 165 g
microSD slot (up to 64GB)
3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS + GLONASS
2600 mAh battery
The Samsung Galaxy Beam 2 would head to China Mobile. No word on pricing or if Samsung plans to launch the phone outside China.
Source | Via
Lava partnered with Broadcom recently to launch the QPAD e704 tablet with a quad-core Broadcom SoC earlier this month for Rs. 9999. Broadcom has announced that it is powered by a quad-core Broadcom BCM23550 chip with HSPA+ support. It has a RF transceiver, power management IC, connectivity combo chip and multi-constellation GNSS location chip.
The BCM23550 is Broadcom's first quad-core chip that was unveiled last year. Several manufacturers such as Xolo and Micromax started using the chip for their phones, but this might be the first tablet in India to come with the chip.
The Lava QPAD e704 Specifications
7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) capacitive 5-point multi-touch display
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
1.2 quad-core Broadcom (BCM23550) processor with Videocore IV GPU
3.2MP rear camera
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
Full HD 1080p video playback
8.8 mm thick and weighs 200 grams
3.5mm audio jack
3G (via SIM card slot), WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI V1.4, GPS + GLONASS
1GB DDR3 RAM, 4GB internal memory , 32GB expandable memory with microSD
3500 mAh battery
Commenting on the partnership with Broadcom, S.N. Rai, Lava International Co-founder and Director, said
When choosing a connectivity platform for QPAD, we had two key requirements—it must provide users with the full range of capabilities they would expect, and do so at an affordable price point. Broadcom’s innovative platform met these requirements, allowing us to get to ...
Intex started teasing their 'Touch and Type QWERTY' phone earlier this week on their Facebook page. Few hours back it has posted an image, but the image in the background could be a mock-up. It has revealed that the phone would have a 3.5-inch touch screen with a physical QWERTY keyboard, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
It would also come with dual SIM support, similar to the other Intex smartphones. Intex was one of the first companies to launch an affordable QWERTY phone, but this upcoming touch and type device would be their first QWERTY smartphone.
Android smartphones with a small touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keyboard became popular couple of years back. Several companies including Samsung, LG and HTC had launched mid-range smartphones with such features, but they could not succeed like BlackBerry. Since people started moving to large-screen phones or phablets, even BlackBerry started moving towards full touch phones.
The company has not revealed the name of the smartphone yet or its launch plans. Hope we can expect the phone later this month.
Apple revealed its Q2 financial report today by recording $45.6 billion in revenues. The company shipped 43.72 million iPhones in the last quarter in addition to 16.35 million iPads. Giving insights about its performance in India, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that iPhone sales have increased 55% over the past year.
Apple has been aggressively marketing in India with print and television advertisements. But, most importantly an array of EMI, cash back and buyback schemes have acted as a catalyst for increasing sales in the country.
Last month the company announced two week trial offer for iPhones in India to boost sales. It also announced its plan to set up Apple exclusive stores in small towns and cities of the country like in Pune, Vishakhapatnam, Guwahati, Durgapur and Gangtok.
Prior to this, in February, the company also relaunched the iPhone 4 in India at Rs 22,990, that was was discontinued in September 2013. Apple had announced in May last year that iPhones sales recorded 400% growth in India.
Owning Apple products have always been a matter of prestige in India and that has remained constant even with the influx of affordable Samsung handsets along with homegrown low end handset makers like Micromax and Karbonn. In fact, a survey by Upstream and Ovum revealed ...
Viber, popular for its messaging and voice calling app has launched the BlackBerry 10 app finally. It updated the iPhone app to version 4.2 yesterday that brought a flat look to match the iOS 7 and added new features including share multiple images at the same time, record and share longer video messages and block specific phone numbers. BlackBerry 10 has all the popular features such as Viber Out, Viber Sticker Market and more.
Features of Viber for BlackBerry 10
Text with your friends in one-on-one and group conversations
Make free calls with HD sound quality
Share photos, videos, voice messages, locations, stickers and emoticons
Push notifications guarantee that you never miss a message or call, even when Viber is off
Support for the Viber Desktop application on Windows and Mac
Translated into 34 languages
Download Viber for BlackBerry 10 from the BlackBerry World for free.
Sony has launched its Background Defocus app in Google Play Store which can be downloaded for free by all Xperia smartphone users. Compatible on devices running on Android 4.2 and higher, the app enables users to take photo and add a background blur.
Background defocus allows you to create a bokeh effect in your pictures, adding depth of field. The background defocus feature is exclusively available to the Xperia Z1s and the Xperia Z2 users. In order to use the app, you have to frame your shot and tap on an object onscreen to focus.
The app then takes two photos and allows you to control the background blur before finalizing the photo. Sony recommends that the users focus an object that is 15 to 45 cm away from the phone and the background is 5 meters from the concerned object.
Last week, Google released stock camera app in the Play Store for all the Android devices running on 4.4 featuring a similar technology called Lens Blur. Around same time Sony also released Xperia keyboard on Google Play.
Source | Via
Ahead of the launch of the HTC M8, there have been whispers that Samsung has slashed the price of its flagship device ie the Samsung Galaxy S5. The phone was launched at a price point of Rs. 51,500 and has since been available at a price point well below that at a popular online retailer.
When HTC announced that the One M8 will be priced at Rs. 49,900, it was believed that Samsung had dropped pricing of their phone to be able to better compete with the handset. However, the Korean smartphone giant has today issued a statement declining any such thing. Complete statement embedded below.
Samsung Electronics, India’s leading smartphone manufacturer, today clarified that the market price of the Galaxy S5 has not been slashed by the company. Samsung Electronics’ flagship smartphone, which was launched in March 2014, continues to be priced at Rs. 51,500. Galaxy Gear 2 is priced at Rs. 21,900 and both Galaxy Gear 2 Neo and Galaxy Gear Fit are priced at Rs. 15,900 each. This pricing is based on robust demand and increasing sales. The company further added that reports claiming Samsung Electronics has revised prices of Galaxy S5 are false and baseless. Galaxy S5 was ...
Vic Gundotra, the man behind Google's social network ie Google+ is all set to leave the company. Having been at Google for eight years, Gundotra has decided to move to a newer as of yet undisclosed venture. Vic had previously been at Microsoft for 15 years.
Announced via a Google+ post, Vic's departure is effective immediately and David Besbris, VP Engineering in Google+ is believed to be taking over his position.
"We pour our heart and soul into our work and it becomes something we love and cherish. But even the challenges we work on today will one day become "and thens" as we move on to the next," said Gundotra in his farewell post on Google+
Over the past eight years, Vic Gundotra has played an instrumental part in Google's mobile and social strategy. From starting Google I/O, being responsible for all mobile applications and culminating in the creation of Google+, Gundotra has been pivotal in shaping Google as we know it today. This was acknowledged by CEO Larry Page who took to Google+ to thank Gundotra. How this affects the Google+ strategy remains to be seen as it gravitates towards being the overarching backbone that connects everyone who uses Google ...
HTC which recently launched its flagship One M8 has announced that it has teamed up with the IPL team Delhi Daredevils. With this participation the HTC One (M8) has become the official phone of the IPL 2014 franchise.
The Cricket League has an incredible reach and its popularity cuts across demographics and geographies. Delhi Daredevils is one of the most youthful and exciting teams in the League with a good blend of international and Indian stars. We believe HTC and Delhi Daredevils share many common attributes. We see this as the beginning of a longer and bigger association with the Delhi Daredevils in the years to come.
said, HTC India Country Head Faisal Siddiqui said in a statement.
HTC One (M8) is a 5.0-inch phone powered by a 2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat).
Last week, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei partnered Royal Challengers Bangalore as principal sponsor for IPL 2014. Also, telecom company Aircel joined hands with DigiVive to enable users stream IPL 2014 on their mobile.
Micromax Canvas 2 Colors A120, a new smartphone in the Canvas series has been listed on official website. It has a 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display, Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), 8-megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera similar to the Canvas HD A116, but this is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor.
It comes in Dark Grey and White colors and also comes with swappable back cover panels for free. The Dark Grey Canvas 2 Colors would come with Radiant Red, Vibrant Yellow, Splendid Green or Mystic Blue back cover panels and the White Canvas 2 Colors would come with Yellow and Green back cover panels.
Micromax Canvas 2 Colors A120 Specifications
5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display
1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Dual SIM
8MP rear camera with LED Flash
2MP front-facing camera
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory (1.61GB user memory), 32GB expandable memory with MicroSD
3G (HSDPA: 21Mbps, HSUPA: 5.76Mbps), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
2000 mAh battery
The Micromax Canvas 2 Colors A120 is expected to go on sale. No word on pricing yet.
Motorola XT912A, an unknown device has surfaced of GFXBench. The Motorola Droid Razr had a codename XT912, so the XT912A could belong to the Droid family. It could also be the rumored Motorola Moto X+1 and the successor of last year's Moto X. According to the benchmarks, the XT912A would have a 5.2-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) display, powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 GPU and run on Android 4.4.3 (KitKat)
The benchmark listing also reveals that the phone would have a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and full HD video recording and a 2-megapixel 1080p front-facing camera. It would have 2GB RAM, similar to Moto X and 32GB of internal storage (27GB user memory). It also has NFC, but the battery capacity is missing.
Motorola Moto X+1 is expected to come with 25 different back plate options, including leather. It is also expected to unveil more variants of the Moto G and Moto E according to earlier rumors. Motorola has been highly successful after its comeback. It recently reported that it has shipped 6.5 million smartphone in the first quarter of 2014 globally.
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Nimbuzz entered into a partnership with LG Mobiles to provide 100 minutes of free international calls to any number in the US. In addition to this, the Nimbuzz app will be pre-installed on LG devices. For starters, the instant messaging cross platform app will be available on L–Series III smartphones, before expanding to other devices.
International calling is becoming large through Internet services and people look for such minute by minute offers to save cost. It is the new way of calling and right now our biggest focus is around such Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).
told Vikas Saxena, Chief Executive Officer, Nimbuzz, to Hindu Business Line
After a user exhausts his 100 minutes of free calls, Nimbuzz will charge 1 paisa/ second for the calls made to the US. It must be noted that as of now the offer is only available in India. Saxena also revealed to The Next Web that the company will launch the service next in Middle East which is its biggest market after India and South Asia.
Available on Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Blackberry and other platform. Nimbuzz claims 150 million registered users but has not disclosed its monthly active users. It competes with other players like Skype, Viber, WeChat and others.
Acer Iconia B1-730, successor of the Iconia B1-720 has surfaced on Amazon and Acer Retailer website. This doesn't mention the specifications of the tablet but MobileGeeks got hold of the specifications of the device. According to the website, it would come with a 7-inch (1280 × 800 pixels) HD display, powered by a 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 with PowerVR SGX544 GPU and runs on Android Jelly Bean OS.
Earlier this week Acer teased some devices that would be announced at the April 29th in New York event. The last image perfectly matches the pattern an the camera on the tablet. This WiFi-only budget tablet packs 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, microSD expansion slot and a 3700mAh battery.
Acer Iconia B1-730 rumored specifications
7-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) HD IPS display
1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 processor with PowerVR SGX544 GPU
Android Jelly Bean OS
12mm thick
5MP rear camera
front-facing camera
1GB RAM, 16GB of storage and expandable memory up to 32GB with micro SD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, micro USB
3700mAh battery
According to Amazon listing the tablet would be priced at 139 euros ( Rs. 11745 approx.) The official launch is just few more days away to find out if Acer plans to unveil 3G variant of the tablet, Iconia B1-731.
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