Oppo, a smartphone and consumer electronics company from China has been responsible for smartphones like the Finder and more recently, the Find 5. Surprisingly, for a small company like Oppo, news comes by the way of China's Entrepreneur magazine that it is the second most profitable mobile phone company in the country. For a market as big as China, this certainly seems like good news for a relatively unknown company.
The company, as we noted earlier in our Find 5 review, is one of the very few from China that builds high quality smartphones. Starting with the Oppo Finder, which still is one of the world's thinnest smartphones, the company made inroads into the smartphone market in China as well as gained some global approval and recognition. Its current flagship, the Oppo Find 5 is available for shipping globally and has found its way to Europe and other countries.
Having revealed a limited edition red coloured Find 5 and teased a Windows Phone render, Oppo is on the way to becoming more versatile with more choices, in hardware as well as software. It is also important to note that the company has its own software solution for its Android phones which look ...
Oppo, a smartphone and consumer electronics company from China has been responsible for smartphones like the Finder and more recently, the Find 5. Surprisingly, for a small company like Oppo, news comes by the way of China's Entrepreneur magazine that it is the second most profitable mobile phone company in the country. For a market as big as China, this certainly seems like good news for a relatively unknown company.
The company, as we noted earlier in our Find 5 review, is one of the very few from China that builds high quality smartphones. Starting with the Oppo Finder, which still is one of the world's thinnest smartphones, the company made inroads into the smartphone market in China as well as gained some global approval and recognition. Its current flagship, the Oppo Find 5 is available for shipping globally and has found its way to Europe and other countries.
Having revealed a limited edition red coloured Find 5 and teased a Windows Phone render, Oppo is on the way to becoming more versatile with more choices, in hardware as well as software. It is also important to note that the company has its own software solution for its Android phones which look ...
Sony Mobile would be one of the first companies to announce the upcoming Android updates for their devices. It started rolling out the Android 4.2.2 update for the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL starting last month. Now it has confirmed that the Xperia ZR and the Xperia Tablet Z would start receiving Android 4.2 from early August. It has also confirmed the list of devices that would get the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update.
List of Xperia devices that would get Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update
Xperia Z
Xperia ZL
Xperia ZR
Xperia Tablet Z
Xperia SP
Xperia Z Ultra
Another good news is that they are planning to update the select (2012) Xperia devices running 4.1 directly to 4.3, skipping the Android 4.2. The company said that they would reveal more details about the list of devices soon. Sony started rolling out the Android 4.1 update for the 2012 Xperia devices starting from February earlier this year.
It has also detailed the Android 4.3 process and promised faster upgrade times. It says that the software upgrade process has two phases, the first one is the Bring up phase and the Test, and second being the certification and approval phase. Sony delayed the ICS roll out, and accepts that ...
The new Nexus 7(2013) launched just within the last 24 hours but a lot has been already said about it thanks to the various leaks and pre orders that went live even before it went official. That said, the full specifications are finally revealed and we have gone through the completely to see if this is really worth the upgrade. Well, is it? Should you upgrade from your old Nexus 7? Lets find out.
In our usual way of explaining things, let us take you through each and every aspect of the new Nexus 7 vs the old.
Design and build
While the design remains almost the same, with thick bezels on the top and bottom, and curved edges, the choice of materials have changed. The plastic that covered the sides is now completely engulfed by a soft touch material with the glass on the front. This makes it nicer to hold and the dimensions too help. The device has nicely slimmed down from 10.45mm to 8.65mm and weighs slightly lesser from 340g to 317.5g.
Display
The new nexus 7 2013 sports a nicely upgraded true full HD display. The resolution is up from 1280x800 to 1920x1200, but both remain good 7 inch IPS ...
Just hours after we reviewed a monster of a device with a 6.3 inch screen, a screen bezel has leaked on to the internet from the factories in China. Guess what, it reportedly measures 6 inches in diagonal and it's a Nokia Lumia. Previously, we had seen a Nokia Lumia device with an aluminium body leak from a mass production line, with unnaturally long sides and we think this screen bezel might be part of that puzzle. With Microsoft and Nokia rumoured to support bigger 1080p resolution displays with a interim GDR3 Windows Phone update in fall, the phablet leak is in line with expectations.
Adding credibility to the leak is the fact that the same leakster that leaked mass production line leak(the one you see above) has now leaked this bezel. From the looks of it, the bezel is very much similar to what you see in the Galaxy Mega 6.3 and the Ascend Mate 6.1. But that aside, are we really ready to let companies introduce >6 inch devices in our lives? Android devices like the Xperia Z Ultra and the Ascend Mate at least have some sort of spiritual predecessors like any 7 inch Android tablet, but having ...
MediaTek has announced that they have partnered with LG to bring the world's first triple-SIM 3G smartphones. LG had already launched a triple SIM feature phone, A290 with triple support in India last year. LG starting launching dual SIM Android smartphones last year starting with Optimus Net Dual with a dedicated SIM switch key to switch between either SIM cards easily. This continued in the Optimus L Series and L Series II Range. The Optimus L4 II Dual is the latest Dual SIM Android smartphone from LG, which also comes with a dedicated SIM switch key.
The 3G Triple-SIM technology would let you use all the three SIM cards simultaneously. Users can receive receive calls, transmit data, send SMS messages and remain in standby mode concurrently without consuming excessive battery life. MediaTek is one of the popular chip vendors who offers multi-SIM chipset. The company did not reveal details about the chipset or modem that would be used in the upcoming Triple SIM 3G smartphones developed by LG. However it revealed that the smartphones would have built-in user interface to directly adjust or turn off the multi-SIM function.
LG did not reveal when they would show off their triple-SIM 3G smartphones. We can probably expect it at the MWC ...
Samsung just reported its Q3 earnings for 2013. The South Korea-based company managed to rack up an operating profit of 9.53 trillion won (~US$8.5 billion), which is the highest Samsung has ever posted in a single quarter and a 9-percent increase compared to last Quarter. It has reported net profit of 7.77 trillion won (~US$6.96 billion) and revenues of 57.46 trillion won (~US$51 billion). Mobile phone sales accounted for 34.58 trillion won (~US$31.1 billion), which is 9-percent increase compared to last quarter.
Even though Smartphone sales grew led by solid S4 shipments and the Note 8.0 in the tablet sector, profits declined due to increased costs of new product launches, R&D and retail channels investments, etc. Due to this there is a 3-percent decrease in operating profits in the handset sector. Smartphone shipments increased in America (continent) and China. Samsung believes that growth of the smartphone market would be strong in the third quarter but it would slower. Average selling price would come down due to lot of mid-priced smartphones in this quarter.
The OLED panel shipment increased due to the launch of premium smartphones. It aims to bring differentiated smartphone displays through technological competitiveness, including flexible display technology.
Sales of logic chips declined due to lower mobile application processor shipments. Samsung says it would ramp up the production ...
I was in New York city recently for an event and managed to get hold of the recently launched Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition for unboxing as I'm a huge fan of devices running stock Android and the Galaxy S4 has some great internals and a full HD Super AMOLED display. Samsung's TouchWiz UI on top on Android does offer some useful features but it does come at a cost in terms of free space on the device and
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0m1kmTfGhE
Above is the unboxing video of the package which arrived from the Google Play store. The box looks a lot similar to the regular Galaxy S4 which ships with Samsung's Touchwiz UI.
In terms of the specs , this Galaxy S4 is almost identical to the Galaxy S4 in USA and slightly different from the version sold in India but the huge difference is the plain vanilla Android OS instead of any Touchwiz UI layer. The absence of TouchWiz is both a good and bad thing but mostly good. This Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505G Google Play Edition is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor running at 1.9 GHz. This phone offers very good LTE support in the US on T-Mobile and AT&T ...
Intex Technologies has launched the Cloud X3, the company's latest entry-level Android smartphone. It has a 3.5-inch (320 x 480 pixels) capacitive multi-touch display, dual SIM support and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). Intex has partnered with MediaTek for the launch and the smartphone is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 chip that has integrated Wi-Fi, FM, GPS and Bluetooth. Intex is the first smartphone maker in India to introduce a smartphone with this chip.
The MediaTek MT6572 chip has a Cortex A7 CPU sub-system with speeds up to 1.3GHz based on leading 28nm process technology that makes the device power efficient. The phone comes with dual SIM support with dual standby, has a 2-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel rear camera. The phone has glossy finish and curved design.
Intex Cloud X3 specifications
3.5 inch (320 x 480 pixels) Capacitive touch screen display
1GHz dual-core MT6572 processor
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
Dual SIM (GSM+ GSM)
2MP rear camera
0.3 MP (VGA) front-facing camera
2G EDGE/GPRS, WiFi,Bluetooth, GPS
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
256MB RAM, 115MB user memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
1450 mAh battery with up to 6 hours of talk time and about 200 hours of standby time
The Intex Cloud X3 comes in White & Black colors and is priced at Rs. ...
Samsung has been enabling its tablets with calling functionality ever since the first ever non-Apple tablet released, the company's own Galaxy Tab. While the original Galaxy Tab didn't have an ear piece to enable phone-like calling, it did have the support. Tab 2 310, its successor on the other hand had an ear piece to let people use it like a phone. Various other manufacturers then warmed up to this idea and released their own calling tablet much to the critics' ridicule, but a market was definitely there. On that note, Samsung launched the Note 8.0 at the Mobile World Congress this year, and introduced a WiFi as well as a cellular version with calling.
We had reviewed the WiFi version earlier and now we are going to see how the cellular version is different and what its extra features are. Is the calling version really that useful on a 8 inch tablet? Lets find out.
Note: The Galaxy Note 510 is the cellular version of the Note 8.0, literally everything except the below discussed text is same. Do read the complete review of the Galaxy Note 8.0 WiFi version here before proceeding to the review.
Usability
The first constraint we faced was usability. ...
Intex had launched several Android smartphones in the Aqua series last year and earlier this year. It launched the Aqua Wonder quad-core, the company’s first quad-core smartphone back in April. The Aqua I-5 that was launched last month is their flagship Android smartphone with a 5-inch qHD display. We brought you the unboxing and the benchmarks recently. The phone is priced at Rs. 11,690, cheaper than most of the similar range Android smartphone powered by a quad-core processor. Is it worth the price ? Let's dive into the review to find out.
Unboxing
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYUYp9cKLB4
Box Contents
Intex Aqua I-5 smartphone
2000 mAh battery
micro USB Cable
2-pin charger adapter
Headset
Screen guard
Flip Cover
Warranty card
User Manual
Hardware
The Intex Aqua i-5 has a 5-inch IPS display at a resolution of 960 x 540 pixel at 220 PPI pixel density. The display is based on one-glass solution (OGS) technology that reduces the phone’s thickness by reducing the air gap between the touch sensor, display and the cover glass. The display is bright and has great viewing angles. Since it is glossy, it is a finger print magnet.
There is an ear piece on top along with a 2-megapixel camera. The Proximity and Ambient light sensors are present next to the camera.
Below the display there ...
As reported earlier, Hipstamatic went on stage with Nokia at the Lumia 925 launch event and announced that they are bringing their currently iPhone exclusive Hipstamatic Oggl app to Windows Phone 8 devices from Nokia. Popular for its filters and the funky UI, the app remains the only official solution to post directly to instagram. But Hipstamatic does have its own community too and that's called Oggl. The free Oggl app includes five pre-set lenses and films, and the ability to edit and share photos to Oggl, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The app is now available on the Windows Phone Store and you can get it here.
The Oggl PRO on the other hand is an exclusive app especially tailored for the Lumia 1020's awesome camera. It has manual exposure, white balance, ISO and shutter speed, and 3x lossless zoom, which is currently usable only in Nokia's own Pro camera app. This app is exclusive to the Lumia 1020 and is not available for other devices, we presume.
However, as with any high profile free app these days, there are in-app purchases, but in a subscription model. You can either pay 2.99$ quarterly or 9.99$ yearly to get new lenses and gear ...
Xolo had launched phones in the X series powered by Intel Atom processors starting from X900, A series devices are powered by single-core and dual-core MediaTek processors and the devices in the Q CORE series have quad-core MediaTek chips.The T Series is for Tegra-powered devices. Xolo launched the Play T1000, the company first phone powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor earlier this month for Rs. 15,999. The phone has a 4.7-inch HD (1280 x 720 pixels) capacitive touch screen IPS display based on one-glass solution (OGS) technology, powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor with 416 MHz 12 Core NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPU and runs on Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaDBV5ZFZoQ
Box Contents
The box contents include,
Xolo Play T1000
2-pin charger
USB cable
Earphones
2000 mAh battery
Quick start guide
Safety, Warranty and Legal Information booklet
Specifications of the device is mentioned on the back of the box. It has normal set of earphones with a microphone and not in-ear ones like the Q1000.
It comes with a 8-megapixel rear camera with BSI sensor, LED Flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. There is Xolo and NVIDIA Tegra branding on the back of the device. It has single SIM support unlike the A series and Q CORE series ...
What’s the most exciting aspect of the Maglev train in Shanghai that runs at the speed of 400 Kmph ?! Its ability to travel from the middle of the city to an airport located 30 Kms. apart, in nearly 7 minutes!!? Perhaps, one might not pay attention to the speed of the train if busy downloading data, on this train @ 50 Mbps !
Huawei took a few tech enthusiasts on a ride in the Maglev train, to demonstrate high speed LTE that can provide download speed of up to 50 Mbps. This service is still on trial, in Shanghai. In a demo that I witnessed, Speedtest.net showed a max speed of 20 Mbps data download speed on China Unicom Network, this - while the train ran at a speed 300 Kmph. The speeds began to deteriorate as the airport came closer because the LTE network finishes halfway down the track.
[caption id="attachment_76539" align="alignnone" width="574"] Maglev Metropolis Ticketing Center on Longyang road in Shanghai.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_76540" align="alignnone" width="574"] One for the collection - Fancy Maglev and Metro passes.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_76543" align="alignnone" width="574"] My VIP Maglev return Pass priced at 160 Chinese Yuan or Rupees 1600.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_76544" align="alignnone" width="574"] Maglev train: Designed for high speed.[/caption]
[caption ...
Xolo launched thePlay T1000, the company first phone powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor earlier this month for Rs. 15,999. It is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor with 416 MHz 12 Core NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPU and runs on Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean). We brought you the unboxing of the device earlier today. Here we have the benchmarks of the device. Let's find out how the device stacks up with other quad-core smartphones.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF9PVl8CJFg
Quadrant Benchmark
It clocks 4219 points in the Quadrant benchmark, but it couldn't beat the HTC One X powered by a similar processor.
AnTuTu Benchmark 3.3
The Xolo Play Scores 12494 points in the AnTuTu Benchmark 3.3 similar to most of the quad-core smartphones.
Vellamo 2 (HTML5)
It tops the Vellamo 2 HTML5 browser benchmark.
Vellamo 2.0 (Metal)
It manages to score just 401 in Vellamo 2 Metal CPU subsystem performance test.
SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark
It clocks 1133.5 mill seconds in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, but it couldn't beat the One X or the One X+.
Linpack (Single Thread)
Linpack (Multi-Thread)
It tops both the Linpack Single-Thread and Multi-Thread benchmark.
NenaMark 2
It clocks 51.9 fps in the NenaMark 2 benchmark better than most the quad-core benchmarks.
GFXBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex HD (On Screen)
It clocks 5.2 fps in ...
In a fresh leak regarding the rumored cheaper iPhone , a chinese site WeiPhone has got hold of what looks like a tub full of iPhone 5C boxes. Would the cheaper iPhone be known as the iPhone 5 C? One high possibility is Apple brings Colour to the iPhone doing away with just black and while like it did with the iPod recently.This can be fake but would take weeks or even month to fake it so this could very well be the real deal considering we are closing in on the September/October time frame for the new iPhone unveiling. The packaging seems similar to the one used in newest iPod touches and considering this a cheaper iPhone , it would be fair to bet that Apple wants to spend as little as possible on the box.
This is one of the most detailed videos of the rumoured iPhone 5C or plastic iPhone from DetroitBorg
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44biradk84Y
This is not the first time Apple would do a plastic iPhone. The iPhone 3G and 3GS were all made of plastic before they moved to a glass back on the iPhone 4 and 4S and a nice metallic design on the iPhone 5
What do you think ...
Karbonn A1 Star and the A5 Star, new budget Dual SIM Android smartphones are now available through online retailers Saholic and Flipkart. These are the successors of the Karbonn A1 and the Karbonn A5. The Karbonn A1 was launched back in 2011 and the A5 was launched last year. The A1 Star and the A5 Star have 3.5 inch and 3.2-inch display at HVGA resolution. Both these phones are powered by a 1 GHz processor. The A1 Star runs on Android 4.0 ICS, while the A5 Star runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Both these have Dual SIM support, rear and front-facing cameras.
Karbonn A1 Star Specifications
3.5 inch (480 x 320 pixels) touch screen display
1 GHz Processor
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with Dual Standby)
3MP rear camera
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
2G (EDGE), Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
256MB RAM, 512 MB internal memory (163 MB user memory), expandable memory up to 32GB with MicroSD
1450 mAh battery
Karbonn A5 Star Specifications
3.2 inch (480 x 320 pixels) touch screen display
1 GHz Processor
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) with Dual Standby)
3.2MP rear camera
0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
3G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
256MB RAM, 512 MB internal memory (104 MB user memory), expandable memory up ...
BlackBerry has started rolling out a new BlackBerry OS 10.1 maintenance release update for both the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 devices. The BlackBerry 10.1 update was announced back in May at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando that brought HDR Camera, Better BlackBerry Hub features Support for PIN to PIN messages, Fine Cursor Control and lots more. The BlackBerry 10.1 started rolling out soon after the announcement. Now the BlackBerry 10.1 maintenance update brings BlackBerry Hub enhancements, Imprvements to BlackBerry World, New BlackBerry Balance features and more. The New BB 10.1 OS has version number of 10.1.0.4181 / 10.1.0.4537 depending on the device and region.
New features in BlackBerry 10.1 maintenance release for BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 smartphones
BlackBerry Hub : Quickly move between messages – Use a simple gesture to quickly move to the last or next message without having to return to the message list, Jump to the last unread message – If you have a BlackBerry Q10 Pressing the ‘u’ key in the BlackBerry Hub will take you to the last unread message, Email synchronization – ActiveSync and IMAP email users can adjust syncing preferences to keep emails on their BlackBerry smartphone for an unlimited time period
BlackBerry World : Search improvements help you find the apps, games and multimedia content ...
Samsung officially unveiled the Blue Arctic, Red Aurora, Purple Mirage, Brown Autumn and Pink Twilight color variants of the Galaxy S4 at the Samsung Premier 2013 last month. Now the Pink Twilight and Purple Mirage Samsung Galaxy S4 color variants have been officially launched in Taiwan. Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 initially in Black Mist and White Frost color variants and later announced that it would come in new color variants globally.
The Blue Artic variant of the Samsung Galaxy S4 went on sale from NTT Docomo in Japan few months back. The Red Aurora Samsung Galaxy S4 launched on AT&T in the U.S. recently. Still no sign of the Brown Autumn variant. Back in May Samsung announced that they have shipped 10 million Galaxy S4 globally.
These new Galaxy S4 Pink Twilight and Purple Mirage color variants would come in 16GB variants for 21,900 New Taiwan Dollar. It is expected to go on sale in Taiwan later this week. Samsung also offers an official battery charging kit worth 2,090 New Taiwan Dollar free for customers buying the Galaxy S4 between August 1st to September 30th.
Source: Samsung Mobile Taiwan | Via: Sammy Hub
It is the results season, and every company has been relentlessly working on posting its numbers for the investors to analyze, and HTC is no exception. They have just revealed their complete audited performance numbers for Q2 2013 today. With the HTC One doing well, the revenue has increased, so has the profits, but that hasn't stopped the company from expecting to post its first losses ever, from 0 to 8%, in the next quarter. The low impact of mid range devices from HTC are to be blamed as the company repeatedly ensured that it will have renewed focus on that specific market segment.
On the other hand, the HTC One is apparently doing so well that the shipments have been better than what the previous flagship could do, the same time last year. This is largely thanks to the improve market performance in Asian countries like HTC's home Taiwan, China and Japan. However, reiterating the mid range problem, HTC plans to fix it by -
We also have plans underway to launch a range of innovative and competitive mid-tier products in the coming months. We hope to regain momentum and market share in these segments in Q4. This will address our ...
Biometric fingerprint sensors have long been a popular way of implementing secure environments, even in portable devices like a laptop. While it has reached mainstream on most professional grade notebooks, it hasn't really caught up in the mobile space, where security is of much higher importance. Companies have tried and implemented it in really niche devices, but the tech has happily avoided the mainstream. It is about to change, as seemingly true information from the iOS 7 beta 4 build points to a "Biometric Kit UI" directory that confirms that Apple is interested in implement high grade security, right on your new iPhone's home button.
The leak comes from a developer how has had the opportunity to see the leaked folder on the latest iOS 7 beta build with strings like - "..touching the home button with their thumb", "A fingerprint that changes colour during the setup process" and "Recognition is %@ complete". Which more or less confirms that Apple is going to use the home button for fingerprint recognition. This definitely improves upon the easily hackable security solutions the iPhone currently offers, and is even better than the gimmicky face unlock feature on Android which can be easily faked too. ...
