Saturday, March 19, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Ex-Apple CEO announces affordable, stylish MV1 smartphone
Mumbai: Former CEO of Apple John Sculley yesterday announced that his company is all set to release a new Android smartphone, the MV1.
ZTE Spro Plus smart projector unveiled at MWC 2016
ZTE Spro Plus smart projector.
NEW DELHI:ZTE has unveiled a new portable smart projector called Spro Plus at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016. The device facilitates voice conference, projection, touchscreen and improved visual features. The smart projector has support for external USB camera which allows multi-party video communication using various applications such as Skype.
ZTE Spro Plus features an 8.4-inch Android AMOLED display with 2K resolution. The device is powered by Qulacomm Snapdragon 801 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. The internal storage of the device accounts to 128GB. The device supports Android 6.0 Marshmallow and packs a 12,100 mAh battery.
The projector is designed to provide visual capabilities incorporating vertical and horizontal keystone correction and auto focus. The device makes use of Laser technology in place of LED to project a 300-inch sized picture onto a surface. It also claims to offer enhanced projection ratio as it can project an image of up to 80-inches across.
ZTE Spro Plus also comes equipped with JBL audio system for high quality audio outputs using two 4w speakers and HARMAN sub-miniature microphones for clear voice pickup. It also has meter voice capabilities to make it easy to conduct group meetings to the location of your choice.
The company will roll out two models of the device the Wi-Fi version and the WiFi- 4G version.
Monday, February 22, 2016
MWC 2016: Gionee changes its logo, unveils new brand identity
Gionee is a recognized leader in developing phones with great power and design. The company is competing in growing markets and sees customer engagement and product value are the keys to success.
"The smiling face on new logo shows our desire to create happiness by developing built-in user-friendly technology and easy-to-use communication tools," said William Lu, President of Gionee. "By adding emotional elements to our smartphones, we believe our 'smilephones' will allow us to maintain a place in the hearts of our consumers and gain a stronger position in the industry."
The new logo combines the letters "i" and "j" to form a "G" which represents Gionee and subtly conveys the message, "I am joyful". The brightened orange color signifies an energetic, passionate and warm image.
"Make Smiles" is thecompany's new tagline.The tagline invites customers to engage with Gioneepartake inthe delightful moments in their lives. Whether it is achievements or nice surprises, the phones are developed to capture happiness.
"Given the growing popularity to share our lives on social media, we have found that users are no longer satisfied with static images, and now need active videos," said William Lu, President of Gionee. "Gionee S8 is our first smartphone to carry our new smiling logo and enhance the video sharing experience. It allows us to easily record our precious moments and upload them to social media platforms. Our 'smilephone' is involved in the process of delivering joy."
Lenovo VIBE K5 Plus first impressions: affordable pricing, premium styling
"Thanks to its metallic body, the VIBE K5 Plus is is able to bring premium design attributes at a budget price point"
While the K3 Note was the breakout product of the year for the Chinese brand Lenovo, the company also achieved success with its budget offerings such as the A6000. As part of its new brand strategy, where it'll bucket its affordable and mid-tier devices under the Vibe branding and premium offerings under the Moto brand, the Chinese giant has introduced the VIBE K5 duo at the ongoing MWC in Barcelona.
Dubbed as the VIBE K5 and K5 Plus, it's hard to tell the siblings apart as they're pretty much the same, both in terms of design and internals, barring a few aspects. We managed to get our hands on the more loaded variant, the VIBE K5 Plus and here are our first impressions. These remain valid for the Vibe K5 too, and we'll highlighting the differences as we go along.
The Lenovo VIBE K5 Plus is a compact handset, thanks to a 5-inch display adorning its front. However, unlike the previous phones from the manufacturer- the K3 Note (review), which was built using plastic and even the K4 Note (review), which only featured a metallic frame, the K5 Plus is made of metal entirely. Available in gold or silver hues, the mobile looks gorgeous. It's also quite slender with a frame measuring 8.2mm and weighing 142g.
If you think that the metal body means a non-removable battery, then you'd be wrong, since Lenovo didn't opt for a unibody construction. The Lenovo VIBE K5 Plus offers a removable back panel letting users access the battery as well as a pair of SIM card slots and a microSD card slot.
The VIBE K5 Plus' fascia is mainly covered by the display, along with an earpiece, a couple of sensors and a secondary snapper above and an array of capacitive keys at the bottom for navigation.
The right spine holds the power switch as well as the volume keys, while the left edge is bereft of any controls. Up top lies a secondary microphone, while the base is home to both the micro-USB port and a 3.5mm audio socket.
The rear cover holds the primary camera along with an LED flash. Towards the bottom, it features speakers which are Dolby certified. Sadly, the metal back is extremely slippery.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 616 chipset takes care of the performance department of the Lenovo VIBE K5 Plus. It offers an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. It's combined with 2GB of RAM, and the hardware should be powerful enough to handle graphics-intensive games or multitasking. During our brief usage, the phone showed no trace of lags which navigating between screens or switching between apps. The Lenovo VIBE K5 on the other hand, comes with the lower-rung Qualcomm Snapdragon 415 octa-core CPU humming at 1.2GHz.
For memory, the VIBE K5 Plus features 16GB storage on board, out of which around 8.1GB is available to the end user. It can also be expanded further up to 32GB with the use of a microSD card.
The software side of things consist of Android 5.1 Lollipop topped with Lenovo's custom skin called Vibe UI. It seems a bit odd that Lenovo has opted for Lollipop, which getting outdated now, though the brand has promised an update to Marshmallow 6.0 soon. The interface is similar to other devices from the manufacturer - a unified homescreen, custom icons, and the ability to change themes, among other things. While there aren't any special features, the phone comes with quite a few preinstalled titles such as Evernote, UC Browser, etc. along with Lenovo's popular apps like ShareIt and SyncIt.
Juicing up the VIBE K5 Plus is a 2,750mAh battery, which the company claims, offers a day's worth of backup. The dual-SIM smartphone supports 4G on both the SIMs along with standard set of connectivity options - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS.
Lenovo would be bringing the VIBE K5 Plus and VIBE K5 to Indian shores by next month. While the Indian pricing for the duo hasn't been announced, the VIBE K5 Plus costs $149 and its lower-priced sibling has an asking price of $129, which means that both the smartphones should be priced around Rs 10,000. This price range is among the most competitive segments, though Lenovo's brand pull, premium design attributes and features like dual 4G and Dolby speakers might be able to sway users towards its latest offerings. We'll of course test their mettle to see how they stack up against the competition when the two land in India.
Ringing Bells Freedom 251 smartphone: Telecom Minister asks Deity to probe issue
This has come in response to a letter from BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. "The minister has received a representation from Kirit Somaiya and mobile phone manufacturers where they have expressed doubt about the veracity of this venture," a Telecom Ministry source said. He added that the minister has asked the Deity secretary to go into the whole issue and if need be, states' cooperation will be sought to find out more about the company.
Somaiya has approached a host of ministries, including telecom and finance, regulators Sebi, Trai, RBI, and state governments, raising issues about the company claiming to offer the world's cheapest mobile phone. The Noida-based company Ringing Bells closed its booking for Rs 251 phone and has said delivery of all handsets will be completed by June 30.
Ringing Bells' President Ashok Chaddha said the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace. "By going for Made in India components, we can save on the 13.8 per cent duty. Also, we will be selling online first and thus, save the costs incurred on the large distribution network," he said.
Chaddha also rejected speculation of the handset being subsidised by the government. "The phone will be manufactured in Noida and Uttarakhand. Two plants will be set up for Rs 250 crore each with a capacity of 5 lakh phones. The money will come in the form of debt and equity (1.5:1)," he said.
Chaddha added that the equity is being met by the promoter family of the company that is "engaged in agri-commodities business" in Uttar Pradesh, but declined to give details. But this has not cut much ice with Somaiya as well as the industry. "The response. of Ashok Chaddha of Ringing Bells that how much cost will be saved due to import/local assembling/online marketing. far from convincing," Somaiya said in a letter attached to his tweet.
The mobile phone industry body ICA too has raised some red flags. "We have checked with all operators in the industry and no one has admitted to having been in any kind of bundling deal or partnership with them. I will only say consumers should stay cautious. More than consumers, it may hurt businessmen in small towns if the promise made by the company fails," ICA National President Pankaj Mohindroo said.
The company closed the booking for its 'Freedom 251' phone, citing heavy demand. The notice on the website of company said it has received 3.70 crore registrations on Day 1 and 2.47 crore on Day 2 (as of 1949 hours).
Now, 6GB RAM Smartphones Getting Launched! But Do We Need Them?
There was a time when Android phones with 512 MB RAM were considered good enough for daily usage. We had our phones running on Android ICS back then. Times changed and things evolved. Android KitKat came into being and was touted as one of the most stable Android OS till date. Many KitKat running phones packed 2 GB RAM at that time.
Then came Android Lollipop with its power saving improvements and brought along a new breed of smartphone packing a whopping 4 GB RAM.
These 4 GB RAM Android smartphone created ripples in the smartphone world. OnePlus 2 and Asus Zenfone 2 were among the first wave of such phones packing 4 GB RAM.
And now before we could understand why the need for RAM has increased so drastically in the smartphones, many companies are announcing their next generation flagship models with 6 GB RAM. Yes, you read that right. Six gigabytes of Random Access Memory!
Feb 23, 2016, 10:26 IST Trak.in
There was a time when Android phones with 512 MB RAM were considered good enough for daily usage. We had our phones running on Android ICS back then. Times changed and things evolved. Android KitKat came into being and was touted as one of the most stable Android OS till date. Many KitKat running phones packed 2 GB RAM at that time.
Then came Android Lollipop with its power saving improvements and brought along a new breed of smartphone packing a whopping 4 GB RAM.
These 4 GB RAM Android smartphone created ripples in the smartphone world. OnePlus 2 and Asus Zenfone 2 were among the first wave of such phones packing 4 GB RAM.
And now before we could understand why the need for RAM has increased so drastically in the smartphones, many companies are announcing their next generation flagship models with 6 GB RAM. Yes, you read that right. Six gigabytes of Random Access Memory!
So, you might be wondering which phone is getting launched with 6GB RAM - No, it is not Samsung or Lenovo or Motorola. It is the Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo that has now teased us with their upcoming flagship Vivo XPlay 5 that will (probably) become the first phone with that kind of RAM in India!
While not too many details are forthcoming, the XPlay 5 is expected to be powered by Snapdragon 820 processor and 6GB of RAM. The device is expected to be launched on March 1st in Beijing in China. Interestingly, the phone will have a curved display on the both sides.
The 6-inch display is also expected to come with Quad HD display, 4300 mAh battery sporting a 16mp rear camera!
Modern day smartphones are much more evolved than their predecessors that were launched decades back. They are almost as fast as our early computer systems, but cost a lot less.
Current smartphone users, don't just use their phones for reading and editing office files, playing music, watching videos, browsing, chatting, and capturing photos. We use them for shooting slo-mo full HD videos, playing high graphics game, and even use our smartphones for capturing ultra-HD (4K) videos.
In order understand why we need so much RAM for doing these tasks, let's take a look at the role of RAM in any computer system. All computing devices have some form of permanent storage media (hard disk drives, SSDs, and flash memory) for storing users' data.
Modern apps and even the camera sensor sends and need data at a much faster rate than what is supported by the storage media. That's where RAM comes into the picture. It acts as a bridge between the apps/sensors and the permanent storage as it is blazingly fast.
But you might still ask as to why are phone manufacturers making phones with 4/6 GB RAM.
Short answer- They need to offer better phones with beefed specs for maintaining their competitive edge. Nothing else.
I am not saying that 6 GB RAM in phones is useless, but what I mean is that you won't be able to use 6 GB RAM completely. Android loves to use a lot of RAM for improving user experience, but most of the apps are not yet designed to use the full potential of phones packing 6 GB RAM.
Buying a 6 GB RAM phone will make your purchase future-proof and will also grant you bragging rights, but nothing more than that. Choose wisely!
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