iBall Andi5T Cobalt2 smartphone for Rs. 11,999

iBall Andi5T Cobalt2

iBall has launched the Andi5T Cobalt2 smartphone for Rs. 11,999. The company has not yet revealed the availability date of the device. However, the smartphone is listed on the company's official site.

The iBall Andi5T Cobalt2 is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) device and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS. It comes with a 5 inch 720 x 1280 pixels HD IPS display and boasts of OGS one glass solution. The Andi5T Cobalt2 is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor with 1GB  RAM.

It has 4 GB of inbuilt storage and supports expandable storage up to 32GB via microSD card. The iBall Andi5T Cobalt2 sports a 12 megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash, and also there is a 2 megapixel front-facing camera.

For connectivity the device includes 3G, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, EDGE/GPRS and Bluetooth. It packs a 1750 mAh battery and the smartphone is available with replaceable back covers in Blue, Coffee, Red and White colours.

Features:


Display: 5 inch (720 x 1280 pixels) resolution
Camera: 12 MP Main, 2MP Front
Operating System: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Processor: 1.3 GHz quad-core
RAM: 1GB
Memory: 4GB inbuilt, expandable up to 32GB
Battery: 1750 mAh
Connectivity: 3G, WiFi, Micro USB, EDGE/GPRS, Bluetooth

APPLE iPhone 6

IPhone 6

Apple will begin mass producing displays as early as May for the next iPhone, expected to be launched this autumn, with a 4.7-inch screen likely to be produced first while a 5.5-inch version could be delayed. 

Japan Display, Sharp and South Korea's LG Display have all been tapped to make the screens, said the sources, who asked not to be identified. 

Representatives for the three suppliers and for Apple declined to comment. 

Both iPhone 6 screens will be larger than the 4.0-inch panels on Apple's existing iPhone 5S and 5C models. 

Larger iPhones, the subject of months of speculation, would mark yet another incremental tweak to the popular smartphone line and an attempt to catch up to rivals like Samsung Electronics. 

The company that helped to define American technology innovation is under increasing pressure to once again revolutionize the gadget industry, but CEO Tim Cook, while promising only "new product categories" for 2014, has played his cards close to his chest. 

Apple's shares have languished below $600 since November 2012, in part because of worries about smartphone market saturation and its ability to stay at the forefront of tech innovation. 

Both iPhone 6 screens are expected to use in-cell touch panel technology - built into the screen and allowing for thinner construction than with standard touch panel films - that was introduced with the iPhone 5, the sources said. 

But due to difficulties with in-cell production technology for the larger 5.5-inch size, one of the sources said, a decision was made to begin mass production with the 4.7-inch version alone. 

Production of 5.5-inch screens is expected to start several months later, with the possibility of a shift to a film sensor instead of in-cell technology for that size, the source said. 

Japan Display will be the first supplier to start production, at its flagship plant at Mobara, east of Tokyo, as early as May, the sources said. The others are due to begin output around June.

Gionee launches ELIFE S5.5

Gionee unveiled its flagship offering in style category ELIFE S5.5 in India, targeting the youth as well as the professionals segment.

The firm had first shown the handset, which Gionee claims to be the world’s slimmest smartphone, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Spain) last month.

Priced at Rs.22,999, it will be available in the domestic market from April 27.

“We are launching this smartphone in 40 markets across the globe, and India is the second market after China, which itself speaks about the importance of this country for us,” Gionee President William Lu said here.

ELIFE S5.5 is crafted with a distinct metallic frame and Corning Gorillas Glass Uni-Body, he added.

“The device uses the world’s thinnest AMOLED screen, thinnest PCB board with a 0.6 mm and 0.4mm glass rear cover.

We are proud to bring in this unique innovation first time in the world, and it will be our constant endeavour to continue bringing in the best always,” Mr. Lu said. Gionee India Head Arvind Vohra said the firm had seen a rise in popularity within a year of operations in India, and had experienced an unprecedented success with ELIFE series.

Equipped with a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED plus screen, ELIFE S5.5 sports a Octa-core 1.7GHz processor, 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera.

The Android 4.2 powered-phone has a 2300 mAH battery, which, the company said, will reach up to 2450 mAH with the next upgrade.

The phone supports HSPA+42 Mbps with up to 6 different band sets, which allows it to function in most 3G WCDMA coverage areas.

It has launched 14 devices in the country, of which 11 are smartphones.

“We will increase the service centres to 750 (from 400 now) by 2015 fiscal end, and have earmarked Rs.150-crore budget for brand building and marketing for the year,” Mr. Vohra said.

The company considers Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab as its leading markets and now plans to strengthen its position in the metros.

This year, the company planned to sell 35 million handsets worldwide, and 6 million in India, Mr. Lu said.

Gionee is ranked number 10 in the world in the smartphone market share, and aims to break into the top 5 within five years.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo

Samsung has just launched the Galaxy Note 3 Neo in India at the Samsung Forum 2014 in Bali. It went official at the end of last month and packs a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core or a Hexa-Core processor (1.7 GHz Dual Core Cortex A15+ 1.3 GHz Quad Core Cortex A7) and runs on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean). It looks exactly like the Galaxy Note 3 with S Pen Stylus and a faux leather back cover.

It has all the S Pen features under Air Command: Action Memo, Scrapbook, Write Screen, Finder, Pen Window and a range of Samsung-specific software features such as Easy Clip, Multi Window, S Note, My Magazine, S Voice, S Health, Group Play, Smart Scroll, Smart Pause and more. It has Club Samsung Store for Music, Movies, Mobile TV & Gigs, that also offers content in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo specifications

• 5.5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD Super AMOLED display
• 1.7 GHz Dual Core + 1.3 GHz Quad Core Exynos processor
• Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
• 8MP camera with BSI sensor, LED flash, 1080p video recording
• 2MP front-facing camera with BSI sensor
• 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio with RDS
• Dimensions: 148.4 x 77.4 x 8.6 mm; Weight: 162.5 grams
• 2GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory (11 GB user memory), Upto 64GB expandable memory via microSD card
• 3G HSPA+, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac (HT80), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/ GLONASS, NFC
• 3100 mAh Battery
• PRICE: Rs 38,990 

Nokia Lumia 630

The Lumia 630 has surfaced online just days ahead of the Nokia's press event in the upcoming Microsoft Build 2014, a developers' conference, scheduled for 2-4 April.

French technology website, NWE (NoWhereElse) has got hold of the live images of the yet-to-be-released Lumia 630, apparently confirming the device will have dual-SIM slots, the first Windows Phone OS powered device to boast of this feature.

The upcoming Lumia 630 is said to sport a 4.5-inch WVGA (480x800p) display, a Snapdragon series 400 quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB inbuilt storage and a 5.0-megapixel camera (no LED flash support) on the rear-side, and by the looking at the leaked snapshots, phone does not feature a front camera. Other key features like battery capacity, CPU speed is yet to ascertained. 

Besides Lumia 630, Nokia is also said to unveil a new top-end model Lumia 930, touted to be the international variant of the feature-rich Lumia Icon (currently, this Nokia phone is exclusively available in USA via Verizon only). The device boasts metallic chassis on the edge, supported by hard polycarbonate back cover. It flaunts a 5.0-inch full HD (1920x1080p) OLED display having a pixel density of 441 ppi (pixels per inch).

Karbonn Titanium Octane with octa-core processors, Android 4.4 launched for Rs. 14490.

This is the first phone of Karbonn to come with Mediatek's octa core processor as well as with the latest Android KitKat operating system.

After Micromax and Intex, Karbonn has now announced its Mediatek octa core processor based smartphone. The Indian hanset manufacturer has gone a step ahead by launching two octa core phones - Titanium Octane and Titanium Octane Plus. The cheapest among them is the Karbonn Titanium Octane which at Rs 14,990 is also the cheapest octa core phone of India. Both Micromax's Canvas Knight and Intex Aqua Octa are available for around Rs 19,000.

At the launch event in New Delhi yesterday, we had used the Karbonn Titanium Octane for a breif period and here is our first impression of the phone.

Design

To start with, at the launch event, Karbonn showcased the red colour Titanium Octane and calling it an eye-ball grabber would not be an exaggeration. Unlike the other two new Karbonn handsets, the Titanium Octane has a curved bottom panel while the side panels have enough thickness for a comfortable holding. The rear panel has a very smooth matte finish which gives an extremely good grip. The matte finish does not hamper its looks and is not a fingerprint magnet. It does not get scratches easily as well.

The phone measures 145.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm (height, width, thickness). Though Karbonn has not revealed its exact weight, the phone felt a lot lighter. The key placement is also decent with the power button in the right top side, 3.5 mm jack at the top, and volume rocker on the left hand side, and the micro USB port at the bottom. Below its display, there are three on-screen soft buttons - Home, Return, Setting - as well.