Best technology on your screen

LG G6 tipped to sport metallic rear, headphone jack and non-removable battery

2016-12-09T01:01:00.000+05:30

It seems Apple iPhone 8 is not the only hyped smartphone scheduled for next year’s launch. The South-Korean giant LG is also expected to launch the successor of LG G5. Earlier reports of the LG G6 bought some interesting information including the implementation of water resistant adhesive on display, wireless charging, and support of mobile payment.

However, David Ruddock from Android Police revealed some information about the build quality and battery of the alleged LG G6 smartphone.

As per his tweet, the purported LG G6 is expected to come with highly reflective metallic material on the rear panel unlike its predecessor that sported an all metal design without any cover on top.

Moreover, he also added, that the LG G6 will not have a removable battery, meaning it would be no longer swappable. Unlike Apple, LG is expected to keep the 3.5mm audio jack with Quad DAC for high-quality output through the headphone jack similar to LG V20.

As the above information is just an educated guess, we advise you to take it with a pinch of salt. We will be seeing more of LG G6’s leaks and rumors in the coming days.

YouTube will now offer more local language content in India

2016-12-09T00:58:00.002+05:30

YouTube is adding a new feature for its users in India. The video service will now show more local language content on Home and Trending. YouTube will automatically identify your preferred regional languages based on your watch history. It will support Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu languages.

YouTube be display more content in that language on Home. The language preference is based on a combination of your user interface language, your watch history, and your location. If you think that YouTube has identified the wrong language for you, you can change your language. Or you can simply watch more videos in your language and YouTube will gradually correct itself.

In case of Home, you will see more local language content such as movies and music, especially if you are a first time user. If you are an existing YouTube user, you will continue to receive recommendations based on what you watch. Meanwhile Trending will now show trending videos based on your local language. For example, if you have indicated preference for Marathi, Trending will contain videos that are trending amongst Marathi-speaking users in India.

The latest feature has started rolling out for all users in India.

Rockstar Games releases Bully: Anniversary Edition for Android, iPhone and iPad

2016-12-09T00:56:00.000+05:30

Rockstar games has launched Bully: Anniversary Edition game for Android and iOS devices. It was originally released for PlayStation 2 back in 2006. In this game, as a mischievous 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins you’ll navigate the social hierarchy of the corrupt and crumbling prep school, Bullworth Academy. Stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, beat the jocks at dodge ball, play pranks, win or lose the girl and survive a year in the worst school around.

It has Scholarship Edition and has support for high-resolution displays, enhanced graphics, improved lighting and textures, and controls redesigned for touch gameplay, all while adding multiplayer with new Friend Challenges.

Highlights of Bully: Anniversary Edition

Includes the complete Bully story with extra missions, characters, classroom mini-games, and unlockable items from Bully: Scholarship Edition

Gorgeous graphics: high resolution textures, dynamic lighting, shadows and particle effects

Native support for high resolution displays

Challenge your friends anywhere with turn based multiplayer Friend Challenges. Play on the go and get notified when it’s your turn

Intelligent touch controls with contextual buttons only when you need them

Seamlessly continue your game across all your devices with cloud saves via the Rockstar Games Social Club

Physical controller support

Taptic Engine Feedback for all buttons on iPhone 7 class devices (iPhone)

Capture your gameplay with Replay Kit support on iPhone 6S and greater class devices (iPhone)

Download Bully: Anniversary Edition – ($6.99 / Rs. 420) – iPhone and iPad and Android

Fitbit acquisition could kill Pebble Time 2 and Core

2016-12-08T01:05:00.000+05:30

After last week’s report from FT, another report says that Fitbit is reportedly planning to purchase the software assets of Pebble at under $40 million including Pebble’s software engineers, the watch OS, watch apps, and cloud services.

Moreover, this deal does not cover any hardware including the Pebble smartwatches and as a result, the Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Core could get canceled. The refunds will be issued through to Kickstarter backers.

Pebble has announced three watches this year back in May — the Pebble 2, Time 2, and the Pebble Core. However, the company started shipping the Pebble 2 a week ago, to those who funded the startup through crowd-funding site Kickstarter.

After the acquisition, the Pebble stocks will be useless and the money will be directed automatically to the debt holders, vendors, main equity investors, and Kickstarter refunds for the Time 2 and Pebble Core orders, according to the report.

Additionally, the remaining assets of the company including product inventory and server equipment will be sold separately. Once the acquisition is confirmed, the CEO of Pebble Eric Migicovsky will depart from the company, while the employees who aren’t going to make it to the FitBit will be offered with a severance package.

Source

Samsung launches Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge in India Rs. 50900

2016-12-08T00:59:00.000+05:30

Samsung started rolling out new Blue Coral version of the Galaxy S7 edge smartphone in select markets starting last month. Today the company has launched the new version of the phone in India that joins the Black Onyx, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium color variants.

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge specifications

5.5-inch Quad HD (2560×1440 pixels) 534 PPI Super AMOLED always-on curved edge display
Octa-Core Exynos 8 Octa 8890 (2.3GHz Quad + 1.6GHz Quad) processor
4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 32/64GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 200GB with microSD
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Hybrid SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
12MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/1.7 aperture, Smart OIS
5MP front-facing camera, f/1.7 aperture
Heart rate sensor, Fingerprint sensor, Barometer
IP68 ratings water and dust resistance
Dimensions: 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm; Weight: 157g
4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS with GLONASS, USB 2.0, NFC
3600mAh battery, Fast Charging both on wired and wireless (WPC and PMA) charging

The new Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge 32GB version is priced at Rs. 50,900 and will be available from December 15th across Samsung authorized offline and online stores as well as Samsung’s online store.

Commenting on the launch, Manu Sharma, Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, said:

The Galaxy S7 edge has witnessed a tremendous response from Indian consumers. The new colour variant isone of the trendiest must-have colours of the year and will compliment personal styles and offers a touch of sophistication. Coupled with a premium design and impeccable functionality, the new variant will surely add to the phenomenal success of the Galaxy S7 edge in India.

Xiaomi Mi 4 64GB gets a permanent price cut, now available for Rs. 17999

2015-07-26T14:33:00.003+05:30

Xiaomi sold the Mi 4 64GB variant at Rs. 17,999 for a day on Flipkart as a part of their Mi Anniversary. Today the company has announced that the price cut is permanent. This is the third permanent price cut for the smartphone since its launch. It was launched at a price tag of Rs. 23,99, received a price cut to Rs. 21,999 back in April and received its second price cut to Rs. 19,999 last month. So far the smartphone has received Rs. 6,000 price cut in total.

Xiaomi launched the Mi 4i 32GB variant in India for Rs. 14,999 earlier this week, which goes on sale starting from July 28th. It also launched Mi Headphones and Mi In-ear Headphones in the country for Rs. 5,499 and Rs. 999, respectively earlier this week.

The Mi 4 is available on Flipkart at new rate, but it is likely to be available from other retailers as well. Flipkart is also offering up to Rs. 5000 discount on Mi 4 in exchange for old smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge + might have 4GB of RAM and an Exynos 7420 processor

2015-07-26T14:31:00.001+05:30

Up until now, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was said to sport 4GB of RAM while the S6 Edge + was said to have 3GB of RAM just like the S6 Edge. It was also rumored to be packing a Snapdragon 808 processor. However a new rumour stated that the device actually might have a different processor and will pack 4GB of RAM.

The report from Vietnam states that the S6 Edge + will have 4GB of RAM and will be powered by the same Exynos 7420 processor that powers the S6 Edge but clocked at a faster speed.

While the 4GB of RAM and Exynos processor is certainly a welcome change in the rumour mill as it would mean the S6 Edge + is a more powerful device than previously thought, we believe perhaps there might be a variant with a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor as well like Samsung used to have with the older Galaxy devices such as Note 4, S5 etc.

The battery capacity of the phone is said to be 3000 mAH which is certainly more than the original S6 Edge but it still remains to be seen whether it is enough to power a 5.7″ 1440p Super AMOLED display. While these rumours might come from credible sources, nothing is set in stone till Samsung confirms it officially. Hopefully we get more details about the phone soon and we will be sure to share them with you as soon as we do.

Lenovo K3 Note vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G – What’s Different?

2015-07-25T15:05:00.001+05:30

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G can brag about being one of the first cheap phablets on the Indian market to come out with 4G support. It was announced in November last year and made available at the end of December for a price of Rs 9,999. Since then, Xiaomi has seen good success with it as many people have purchased the smartphone for its features as well as its 4G capability at a low price. Since then, many manufacturers have tried to follow the same mantra and launched their own devices at similar prices and packing similar features. The price of the Redmi Note 4G has been reduced to Rs 7,999 last month but since then Lenovo has hit the market with the K3 Note which also retails at a price of Rs 9,999 which was the original asking rate for the Redmi Note 4G. Although it is costlier, it does offer a few improvements and unique features that probably justify the price. Let’s take a look at the specifications and features of both the devices.

To start things off, we can compare the two screens. Both the devices have screens that are sized at 5.5 inches however the K3 Note has a denser 1080p display compared to the 720p unit on the Redmi Note 4G. Neither one has Gorilla Glass or any other branded protection but instead makes do with generic scratch resistant glass. The K3 Note has a higher screen to body ratio and as a result is more compact. It measures 152.6 x 76.2 x 8 mm compared to 154 x 78.7 x 9.5 mm of the Redmi Note 4G.

Both the devices have capacitive touch buttons below the display and neither are backlit. However the Redmi Note 4G has keys that are coloured in red which makes them a bit easier to see compared to the white coloured keys on the K3 Note.

While the Redmi Note 4G had come with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the device did get an update to Android 4.4 KitKat. However, it is still behind the Lenovo K3 Note which comes pre-loaded with Android 5.0 Lollipop. The K3 Note has Vibe UI on top while Redmi Note has MIUI on top.

Qualcomm is the brand of choice for Xiaomi as the Redmi Note 4G is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor while the K3 Note has an octa-core Mediatek MT6752 chipset under the hood. Both the devices have 2GB of RAM but the K3 Note has 16GB of internal memory while the Redmi Note makes do with 8GB. However, the Redmi Note accepts microSD cards upto 64GB while the K3 Note can accept cards upto 32GB only.

Both the phones have 13 Megapixel cameras with maximum resolutions of 3128×3096 pixels.The Redmi Note has an LED flash while the K3 Note has a dual-LED flash. Video recording maxes out at 1080p 30fps and both have a front facing 5 Megapixel camera as well.

Despite being release late last year, the Redmi Note 4G does support the latest ac Wi-Fi standard which some models released even today don’t support. The K3 Note supports it as well. The Redmi Note 4G has a 3100mAH battery and comes in either White or Black colours. The K3 Note has a 2900 mAH battery and comes in Pearl White, Onyx Black or Laser Yellow colours. Both the devices feature removable back panels as well as removable batteries.

The Redmi Note 4G is a single SIM device that supports 4G LTE connectivity. However the Lenovo K3 Note is a dualSIM device that accepts 2 microSIMs and has support for 4G LTE on each slot. But only one slot can have 4G enabled at a time while the other remains in 2G.

LG G Flex 2 goes on sale in India for Rs. 54990

2015-05-07T20:19:00.001+05:30

LG launched its G Flex 2 smartphone in India at the LG Tech Show in Delhi back in March. Today the company has announced that the second generation G Flex smartphone is available across India. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p curved P-OLED display and the smartphone can bend ranging from a radius of 400mm to 700mm across the front, back, sides and top-to-bottom edges.

LG G Flex 2 specifications

5.5-inch (1080 x 1920 pixels ) Full HD Curved Plastic OLED display
2.0 GHz octa-core 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor
2GB DDR4 RAM, 32GB of internal memory, microSD slot
Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
Dimensions – 149.1 x 75.3 x 7.1-9.4mm, weight: 52g
13MP rear camera with OIS+, Laser Auto Focus and dual LED Flash
2.1 MP front-facing camera
4G LTE-A, WiFi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n, Bluetooth Smart Ready (Apt-X) 4.1, GPS, SlimPort, NFC
3000mAh battery (embedded)

The LG G Flex 2 comes in Flamenco Red and Platinum Silver colors and is available for Rs. 54,990 in India. We went hands-on with the G Flex 2 earlier this year, check out the video below.

Commenting on the announcement, Deepak Jasrotia, Business Head, LG Mobiles India said:

LG G Flex2 is as beautiful to hold as it is to behold and it represents the perfect combination of beauty and brains. We are pleased to have Anil Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri join us today to share their experience of using this one of its kind smartphone and officially launch it in India. The G Flex2 is a beautiful, high performance and a highly desirable smartphone that offers users both comfort and style.

Meerkat (beta) live streaming app now available for Android

2015-05-07T14:05:00.002+05:30

Meerkat started taking registrations for Android public beta few weeks back, now the beta version of the app is available for download for everyone. The app was launched on iPhone back in February. Twitter’s Periscope live streaming app was launched for iPhone in March, but it is yet to launch on Android.

Meerkat lets you login using your Twitter account and stream videos instantly for your follower on Twitter by sharing a web link. When your followers have the app, they will also get pushed notified with your live stream, watch, comment and interact with it using the app. You can save your streams to your phone, but Meerkat will never keep them, says the company.

Once the stream has ended, you can’t watch it again. Since this is the first beta version of the app, there might be some bugs and the user interface is not as polished as its iPhone app, but these are expected to be improved in future versions of the app.

Download Meerkat (beta) (free) - Android

40,000 Mi 4i smartphones sold out in 15 seconds in first sale on Flipkart

2015-05-07T12:44:00.001+05:30

Xiaomi sold 40,000 units of Mi 4i smartphones in just 15 seconds in the first flash sale today on Flipkart at 2PM. It received over 3 lakh registrations for the sale. Even though the company sells only the White variant of the smartphone, the company plans to bring blue, yellow and pink colors variants soon.

The Mi 4i was launched in India earlier this month at a price tag of Rs. 12,999. It has a 5-inch 1080p fully laminated display, is powered by an 2nd generation Octa-Core Snadpragon 615 processor and runs on MIUI v6 on top of Android 5.0 (Lollipop). It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with 5-element lens, f/2.0 aperture, two-tone LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with 80-degree wide-angle lens. It has 4G LTE support on both the SIMs with support for India bands, has 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 3120mAh battery.

Registrations for the second Mi 4i sale on May 7th had already started

Flipkart acquires mobile marketing firm Appiterate

2015-05-07T12:41:00.003+05:30

Flipkart has acquired mobile marketing firm Appiterate in a bid to boost its mobile offerings. Financial details of the deal are not known. Based in Delhi, Appiterate specializes in mobile engagement and marketing automation.

Appiterate‘s mobile marketing automation platform will be integrated into Flipkart’s mobile app and the team will also join the e-commerce firm, after the completion of the acquisition. The company has helped leading e-commerce companies combine the power of mobile apps and big data to allow them to do one-on-one targeting of their users though push notifications and in-app messages.

“In a short span of 1.5 years, Appiterate has carved out a niche in the industry as being one of the most disruptive companies in its space. We are confident that their innovative platform and tech team will bring deep mobile capabilities to the table which is a key focus area for Flipkart. We are really excited to have them on board.”

said Nishant Verman, Senior Director, Corporate Development-Flipkart.

The acquisition comes just days after the homegrown e-tailer was in reports for going app only and shutting down its website like Myntra. Flipkart plans to invest in and acquire other companies in this domain and help in building the mobile ecosystem in India. Last month, Flipkart acquired mobile ad network firm AdlQuity for an undisclosed sum.

Google rolls out Password Alert Chrome Extension

2015-05-07T12:40:00.001+05:30

Google has launched Password Alert Chrome Extension that will warn you against phishing attacks. Password Alert will alarm you if a website that you type your sign-in information into is not a legitimate Google sign-in page.

The free Chrome extension will issue the same warning when people use their Google password to log in to other legitimate sites. It generates a warning that the user has just been phished and should change the password immediately. Once a user installes and initializes Password Alert, Chrome will remember a “scrambled” version of your Google Account password. It only remembers this information for security purposes and does not share it with anyone.

Moving on, if you type your password into a site that isn’t a Google sign-in page, Password Alert will tell you that you are at risk of being phished so you can update your password and protect yourself. Password Alert is also available to Google for Work customers, including Google Apps and Drive for Work.

Micromax Canvas Laptab with 10.1-inch display, Windows 8.1, built-in 3G launched for Rs. 14999

2015-05-06T12:12:00.002+05:30

Micromax has launched Canvas Laptab, its latest Windows 8.1 2-in-1 with inbuilt 3G SIM support. The company introduced a dual boot tab last year at the CES, which did not launch. This has a similar design, but it runs only on Windows 8.1 and has better specifications. It has a 10.1-inch (1280×800 pixels) IPS screen, is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor, has a 2-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with Office 365 subscription and also has a keyboard that has a touchpad so that it can double up as a laptop. Micromax has partnered with Amazon India to sell the Laptab.

Micromax Canvas Laptab specifications

10.1-inch (800 x 1280 pixels) multi-touch IPS display
1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor (burst up to 1.86GHz)
2GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage, microSD card slot
Built-in Keyboard
Windows 8.1 OS
2-megapixel fixed focus rear camera
2-megapixel fixed focus front-facing camera
Weight: 1.1kg
3G (via SIM slot), WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, USB
7700mAh battery

The Micromax Canvas Laptab is priced at Rs. 14,999 and will be exclusively available from Amazon.in starting from May 6th. It was

Commenting on the launch, Vineet Taneja, CEO, Micromax Informatics Limited, said:

At Micromax, we have always believed in bringing the best in class and innovative devices to the consumers and have always aimed to bridge the gap between actual consumer device requirement and available device offering and hence, the Laptab promises to bridge the same at a very consumer friendly price point. Today’s launch marks our entry into the PC segment, where we intend to drive category growth and not only garner an available market share. We believe that our vision complements the initiatives for Digital India, and we will be launching a range of exciting products over the next few months in the category.

Commenting on the new launch and partnership Samir Kumar, Director Category Management, Amazon India said:

We are very excited to be the partner of choice for Micromax and offer customers on Amazon.in an exclusive access to the new Canvas Laptab. We see this as a great opportunity to offer customers across India the ease, convenience & joy of shopping for such a great product.

Microsoft Lumia 430 Dual SIM hands on

2015-05-06T09:43:00.004+05:30

Microsoft on Thursday launched another budget Lumia smartphone – the Lumia 430 Dual SIM – in India at Rs. 5,299, and it is company’s most affordable Lumia smartphone till date.

The smartphone is mostly similar to Lumia 435, and since it is the popular $70 device from Microsoft, we were expecting that the company will price it more aggressively for the Indian market. To remind you, Microsoft had launched the Lumia 435 Dual SIM in February at Rs. 5,999.

The Lumia 430 Dual SIM runs Windows Phone 8.1 with the Lumia Denim update out-of-the-box. The company also promises that the phone will receive latest Windows 10, once it’s available.

Upfront, the Lumia 430 Dual SIM features a 4-inch WVGA (480×800 pixels) LCD display, and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM, just like the Lumia 435. About the display, it appeared quite reflective to us and the viewing angles also were not up to our liking, but we will get you more details on that in our full review soon.

The three capacitive touch buttons sits below the display. Right side of the smartphone houses the volume rocker and the power key. Other than than than there are no other physical buttons on the device. The 3.5mm headphones jack is located at the top, while the Micro-USB charging point is at the bottom.

In terms of design, the new Lumia 430 Dual SIM isn’t any different from Lumia 435, except little rounded edges. The smartphone sports a 2-megapixel fixed-focus rear camera without flash and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Our expectations with the camera were very low, and going by what we could figure out in small time of testing, we can say both cameras are just about functional and there is not much to say on that department.

Coming to storage, Lumia 430 comes with 8GB of built-in storage which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). The device is backed by a 1500mAh removable battery. The removable back cover is matte finished plastic, and isn’t prone to excessive fingerprints.

The smartphone is not available via online flash sale, if you think that’s what Microsoft will also do, in fact we interviewed Chris Weber (CVP, Mobile Device Sales at Microsoft) on Tuesday and he told us that company has no immediate plans to adopt that model; you can read the full interview here.

The Lumia 430 Dual SIM can be purchased across all retail outlets (online/ offline) from April 30 and it comes in two colour options – Black and Orange.

Overall, the build of the smartphone seems good for the price, but will this be a value for money product for Microsoft in India, we will find out in our full review soon. So stay tuned.

Google releases Android 5.1.1 factory images for Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi), Nexus 7 2013 (Wi-Fi) and Nexus 10

2015-05-05T22:13:00.001+05:30

Google has released factory images of Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop) for Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi), Nexus 7 2013 (Wi-Fi) and Nexus 10 devices, soon after it released factory images for the Nexus Player. Google Nexus 10 even received 13.9 MB Android 5.1.1 over-the-air (OTA) update today, as noted by Android Police.

The Android 5.1.1 update doesn’t add any new features like the Android 5.1 update, which wasreleased last month. This is just a minor update with minor fixes and enhancements.

You can download factory images for these from the Google Developers website here. OTA update is not available as of now. Google has not rolled out the update for other devices yet. Android 5.1.1 update for the Nexus 9 was already spotted at Developer Portal, so the device should get it directly from Android 5.0.1, skipping the Android 5.1 update.

Uber working on merchant delivery service via UberRush

2015-05-05T21:31:00.002+05:30

Uber is said to be working on merchant delivery service and is in talks with 400 retailers for the same, as per a report from TechCrunch. The company will deliver goods via its UberRush couriers and Uber drivers.

More than 400 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s, and Hugo Boss, have been in discussions with Uber for the new program or testing it, added the report. Uber has also reportedly teamed up with mobile shopping app Spring to test the platform with a limited set of brands, including illesteva, Bing Bang Jewelry, Phyllis + Rosie, Mack Weldon, Jinsoon, Industry Standard, Outdoor Voices and Negative Underwear.

The app will feature an intelligent routing system for orders that will eventually allow drivers to transport both goods and passengers at the same time. The report includes a purported manual from Uber describes a new app for a pilot phase of the program. At present, drivers who were tapped to participate in this program have to carry two official Uber phones: One for passengers, one for packages. Once the Merchant Program comes out as a ready-for-primetime service, the two phones will be combined into one.

Uber’s original plan was reportedly to partner with online retail giants like Amazon and eBay, however sourcing inventory from warehouses proved logistically impractical. UberRush first introduced in 2014, using bike messengers to act as a personal courier for customers for a similar fee to that charged for its standard UberX car service.

LG G4 vs G3 – What has changed?

2015-05-05T14:37:00.002+05:30

LG announced the G4 yesterday, the successor to the LG G3 that was launched last year. The handset will go on sale in Korea starting today at a price of 825,000 KRW (INR 48,880 or US$775) and will eventually release in over 180 countries worldwide.

On first glance, you maybe tricked into thinking that it is actually the G Flex 2. The overall design of the handset is quite similar to the G Flex 2. The design is more angular unlike the rounded G3. While it’s not “flexible” like the G Flex 2, the device does have a slightly curved body and the screen size remains the same as well. But the screen is different in terms of resolution and technology. The screen has also been improved from its predecessor, the G3, even though the size remains the same. The G4 uses a 5.5″ IPS (1440p resolution) display with Quantum Dot technology. LG claims the quantum dot technology will provide more accurate colours and coverage of 98% of the colour spectrum. It is also 25% brighter and offers 50% higher contrast compared to the G3.

The device is overall slightly bigger than the G3 as well. The G4 has a 72.5% screen to body ratio compared to 75.3% of the G3. While the G4 measures 148.9×76.1×9.8mm, the G3 only measured 146.3×74.6×8.9mm. That means that the G4 has a larger footprint than the G3 even though it looks slightly more compact perhaps due to its angular design. The weight has also gone up from 149 grams to 155 grams. LG choose to switch to a nanoSIM with the G4, something that almost every manufacturer is slowly adapting.

While the previous generation G3 had two variants – a 16GB one with 2GB RAM and 32GB variant with 3GB RAM, the G4 has just one variant with 32GB and 3GB of RAM. This is a good decision considering the 2GB RAM model on the G3 did face some performance issues. Speaking of performance, the G4 is powered by a Snapdragon 808 processor. LG might have made the decision to not use the 810 after seeing the issues on the G Flex 2.

The camera has also been upgraded from the G3 which had a 13 Megapixel camera (1/3″ sensor size). The G4 offers an improved 16 Megapixel camera that has a bigger 1/2.6″ sensor with a maximum aperture of f1.8 and upgraded optical image stabilisation that now has 3 axis stabilisation as opposed to the 2 axis unit on the G3. The laser autofocus and Dual tone LED flash are still present from the G3. LG claim that the G4 will launch the camera app faster than the Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge. The camera app offers a Manual mode that gives you a lot of control over your images. You can control the shutter speed, ISO and white balance. You also have a histogram and auto exposure lock toggle along with the ability to shoot in RAW.

The front facing camera has also received an upgrade. It is an 8 Megapixel unit with a maximum aperture of f2.0 and supports gestures to take photos.

The back cover is made of plastic and has a hexagonal pattern on it. The back cover is still removable and gives you access to the battery, nanoSIM and microSD card slots. LG is also offering additional leather back covers that can be purchased as an optional extra. These covers are made of genuine tanned leather and have real stitching that runs down the middle of the phone from top to bottom. The leather cover also has an engraved G4 logo and will be available in different colours as shown above. The battery capacity remains same at 3000 mAH and LG hasn’t mentioned anything about its charging speeds.

Pocket Casts podcast app released for Windows Phone

2015-05-05T12:07:00.003+05:30

Shifty Jelly, the company behind the most popular Pocket Casts app for Android and iOS platforms has finally launched the app for Windows Phone. It has all the important features such as cross platform syncing, variable playback speed, auto download, filters and more. This is the first version, and the company will improve the app based on feedback from the users.

The company says that it’s Android app outsells the iOS version big way and the web version that costs $9 outsold most other podcasting apps on any other platforms.

Features of Pocket Casts for Windows Phone

CROSS PLATFORM SYNCING: Sync your subscriptions, playback and filters between Windows phones, Android and iOS, as well as Pocket Casts Web.
AUTO DOWNLOAD: Customise which podcasts the app will download in the background. No need to even open the app!
UP NEXT: Listen to episodes back to back, no fumbling with your phone during your commute.
VARIABLE SPEED: Play audio all the way from 0.5x to 2.0x.
FILTERS: Want a list of every unplayed episode? Right here. How about sorting your episodes by custom categories? Done.
DESIGN: We’ve paid close attention to the Windows Phone design guidelines and where the platform is heading with Windows 10. As a result Pocket Casts feels right at home on your phone.
CONTROL: Customise the start time of your episodes to skip repetitive intros, and adjust skip intervals to suit your needs.
REFRESH: Instantly refresh all your podcasts before other apps even have a chance to do 1! Our servers monitor your podcasts, so your phone doesn’t have to.
DISCOVER: Choose from over 200,000 podcasts. Find great new content with curated featured, currently trending and most popular podcast lists.

Download Pocket Casts ($3.99 / Rs. 219 ) – Windows Phone

Savelli luxury Android smartphone worth Rs. 66 lakhs launched

2015-05-05T11:25:00.001+05:30

A range of handmade luxury Android smartphones from Swiss firm Savelli were launched in Abu Dhabi by a luxury watch dealer Mohammed Rasool Khouri and Sons.

These luxury smartphones were first unveiled in Dubai last year in November. Savelli is a new jewellery brand owned by Alessandro Savelli and is based in Geneva.

The collection of 11 luxury Android smartphones, titled ‘Jardin Secret’, ranges from AED 30,600 (roughly Rs. 5.28 lakhs) to AED 386,617 (roughly Rs. 66.77 lakhs). The most expensive (priced at AED 386,617) among the 11 handsets is known as Black Insane, which has 75 rectangular baguette-cut diamonds set in an oval shaped crown on the top of the phone. The cheapest smartphone is named Blue Jean Ostrich, priced at AED 30,600.

“I wanted to create something totally new, never attempted before. A jewel of tomorrow, only for women. A design which would bring a new perspective on jewelry and in the luxury goods industry, an obsessive search for beautiful materials to work with. From Ultra-Bombe crystal sapphire to hi-tech ceramic.” He added: “We carefully select the best precious stones and set them using the ‘serti neige’ or ‘snow setting’ technique. Stones of differing diameters sit side-by-side, covering the precious metal to enhance the organic curves of each piece. Where baguette-cut stones are used, Savelli employs a seamless setting technique for an immaculate finish,” said (via Khaleej Times) Alessandro Savelli.

Windows 10 will run repackaged Android and iOS apps

2015-05-05T11:14:00.001+05:30

In a surprising move, Microsoft is now letting developers repackage their Android and iOS apps for Windows 10. Developers will be able to quickly port their app over, with equivalent system-level APIs in Windows that will support as well as extend the app’s functionality. Microsoft will include an Android subsystem on Windows 10 for phones and have supporting APIs for iOS apps. The above image is a demo of an Android app, accessing Windows phone’s native controls and APIs, but the remaining code is the same. This way, it drastically cuts down development costs which companies just can’t afford, to re-write for a platform without substantial market share.

This is similar to the strategy which Blackberry adopted, but this is also similar to what Google adopted, when Android wasn’t getting apps from iOS. They made porting easier, and that’s what Blackberry then, and Microsoft now, have done. Android developers will be able to code Android apps using Visual Studio and re-compile it, with Windows 10-specific APIs in a short time, so they can launch on all platforms at once. Most developers these days rely only on Android and iOS. This is very similar to the work Nokia did for the Nokia X, which might have played a role here too. Navigation in the UI is now more similar, and even the desktop gets the all-important back button for letting them be universal apps.

King’s Candy Crush Saga was shown as an example of an iOS game ported to Windows Phone without many modifications. Microsoft is basically virtualizing these apps in its operating system, a common method adopted for this approach. These solutions are part of the new SDKs that will aim to attract developer interest to the dwindling platform, that is Windows. The possibility of developers porting to Windows Phone is now higher, but will it bridge the mobile industry gap to at least some extent? It certainly didn’t work out for Blackberry or Amazon, but Microsoft has a decently talented hardware division at its disposal, which, we hope, creates possibilities, may be?

Apple launches 16GB iPod touch with iSight camera in India for Rs. 16900

2015-01-07T06:00:00.000+05:30

Apple has launched a new 16GB variant of the iPad touch that now comes with a 5-megapixel iSight camera on the back, similar to the 32GB and 64GB variants. The 16GB variant now comes in pink, yellow, blue and silver colors in addition to space grey.

The iPod touch has a 4-inch (1136 x 640 pixels) Multi-Touch IPS display at 326 pixel density, powered by a dual-core Apple A5 chip, has a 5-megapixel iSight camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording and a 1.2MP front-facing camera with 720p video recording. These have Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and a built-in battery that would offer up to 40 hours of music playback and up to 8 hours of music playback.

The iPod touch is priced at Rs. 16,900 for the 16GB model. The 32GB and 64GB variants have received a price cut and are available for Rs. 20,900 and Rs. 24,900 respectively. The Apple iPod touch would be available through Apple Authorised Resellers across India.

Did Google accidentally reveal HTC-made Nexus 9 render?

2015-01-06T23:30:00.000+05:30

Last week a leak suggested that HTC is making Google’s next Nexus tablet. Dubbed as HTC Volantis, the tablet will pack a 8.9″ display with a resolution of 2048×1440 pixels.

Now Pocketnow points out that Google might have accidentally shown off the HTC made Nexus 9 at the I/O conference. Google shows the new Android L on a tablet in an image on its special Design guidelines page that focuses on Material Design. The tablet in the image looks larger than 7-inch, which could be the 8.9-inch HTC Volantis.

Moving on, the tablet also boasts of other features like front-facing speaker and camera. We have earlier seen front facing speakers on HTC One (M7) and HTC One (M8). The tablet also appears to have a 4:3 ratio, something the Volantis is rumored to sport as well.

The HTC Volantis is rumored to have an NVIDIA Tegra K1 64-bit processor, 2GB of RAM, up to 32GB of storage, an 8MP rear camera and a 3MP front-facing one. It must be noted that this is just a possibility as neither Google or HTC has confirmed about the possible tablet.

Google shows off Project Ara prototype, launches developer challenge

2015-01-06T12:30:00.000+05:30

Google showed off its Project Ara prototype on the second and final day of the I/O developer conference. Paul Eremenko, the head of Project Ara gave a peek about the company’s modular phone project that was announced in February.

The Project Ara is currently in an early stage and hence to spruce it up, Google has announced a contest. Eremenko announced a challenge for developers to work on smartphone module that is different from current phones in the market. Developers who take the challenge will have to build a working Ara module that can do something “current smartphones can’t do”.

Google is offering prize worth $100,000 for a working module along with a trip to Ara’s next developer conference. Also, two runners-up will get priority access to the next Ara developer event due to take place this fall. Reports in April stated that Google will launch Project Ara phone in January 2015. Also, the the modular phones will reportedly be powered by Toshiba chips.

Adobe Photoshop Express finally arrives for Windows Phone

2015-01-06T07:00:00.000+05:30

Adobe has launched Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows Phone devices finally. This offers basic editing such as Crop, Straighten, Rotate and Flip. It also has red eye removal, automatic fixes for Brightness, Exposure and Shadows and has a range of filters. It was launched for Android and iOS few years back. This would be a good alternative to Creative Studio that is present on Lumia smartphones.

Features of Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows Phone

Basic editing such as straighten, rotate and flip
Red-eye removal to fix Red-eye in a photo
Manually adjust Exposure, Brightness or Shadow levels or use the Auto-Fix option
20 filters to choose from
Share edited images through Facebook, Instagram, or by email and SMS.

The app works on all Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 devices with minimum 512MB RAM. The app also has in-app purchases so that you can purchase The Adobe Looks Pack that offers more filters and Adobe Noise Reduction Pack.

Download Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows Phone