Gadgets

Smartphone

Xolo Q1000 Launched with Quad Core CPU at Rs 14,999: 3 Best Challengers of Newbie

by Rohit Khurana • May 29, 2013

India based mobile phone manufacturers have garnered great attention for their product announcements these days. Reason being, their budget offerings include best and latest specifications and features at reasonable price points. This applies even to low cost handsets that come with impressive features like quad core processor, Android Jelly Bean OS, a high resolution camera all are present in low cost handsets.

One such manufacturer Xolo, which is a sub-brand of Lava is also constantly launching numerous smartphones at budget prices. Recently, the maufacturer is in talks for its quad core and Jelly Bean OS smartphone, dubbed as Xolo Q1000.

Last week, Xolo Q1000 had surfaced online and was available from online retailer Flipkart at Rs 14,999 and now, the company has officially lifted the curtains off the smartphone at the same price tag. As mentioned in the earlier media reports, Q1000 belongs to the quad-core lineup of Xolo.

Speaking of specs, Xolo Q1000 boasts a 5-inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display with DragonTrail Glass and a resolution of 1280×720 pixels, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, dual SIM support, 8-megapixel rear camera with BSI sensor, 1.2-megapixel front camera for video calling, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, 32GB expandable memory with a micro SD card, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and a 2,100 mAh battery.

Although, the brand new Xolo Q1000 has is a latest offering, the Indian market is already haunted with many affordable handsets featuring similar specifications. All possible display sizes ranging from 3 inches to 5.5 inches have been launched packed with beefed up specs. Some of the vendors have also started incorporating quad core smartphones on their devices moving ahead from dual core in order to offer increases performance.

Hence, which are the 3 major rivals which will give Lava Xolo Q1000 a big competition? This is what is being analyzed in this article. Hence, have a look at the slideshow below and acquaint yourself with the top 3 rivals of Xolo Q1000 that also have quad core processor and run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS and might prove to be better than the new handset in the mobile space.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro

Early this month, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Grand Quattro in India with 4.7-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480×800 pixels, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 1.2GHz Cortex A5 quad-core processor, 5-megapixel main camera, VGA front camera, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, micro SD card up to 32GB, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and 2,000 mAh.

With a price tag of Rs 16,900, the dual SIM Galaxy Grand Quattro is slightly more expensive as compared to the Xolo Q1000, which houses a better display offering wide viewing angles, enhanced camera performance and battery.

Micromax A111 Canvas Doodle

Leading India based vendor – Micromax recently launched a quad-core phablet – A11 Canvas Doodle featuring a 5.3-inch multitouch capacitive touchscreen display with 854 x 480 pixels, dual SIM support, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS, 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8225Q processor, 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, 2-megapixel front camera, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal memory, micro SD card up to 32GB and 2,100 mAh battery.

Priced at Rs 12,999, the Micromax phablet costs relatively lesser than Xolo Q1000, but also comes with a stylus for enhanced user experience and better camera. On the other hand, Xolo Q1000 packs an improved display.

Panasonic P51

Panasonic P51 packs a 5-inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. Further, the display has a scratch resistant Asahi Dragontrail glass protection. Also, the Panasonic P51 is equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor, dual SIM support, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS, 8-megapixel rear shooter with autofocus, LED flash and 1080p video recording, 1.3-megapixel front camera, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage, up to 32GB micro SD card, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with aGPS and a 2,500 mAh.

Panasonic has priced P51 at Rs 26,900, which is too expensive for the budget conscious consumers, but at the same time, the handset features superior battery back as compared to Xolo Q1000, which is a low cost offering.

Smartphone

Lava Iris 458q Quad Core Phone Launched At Rs.8,999

by Ritij Khurana • May 29, 2013

Lava has been trying to rival the likes of the Micromax and Karbonn in India by following a dual branding approach by launching Android powered smartphones under Lava and Xolo brands. The company has covered its base in the Xolo series and now is giving the Iris series that shot in the arm. The company has just launched the country’s cheapest quad core device, the Lava Iris 458q for Rs.8,999 and the smartphone seems a nice deal for the beginners.

Spice Smart Flo Pace Mi-422 Launched In India For Rs.4790

by Ritij Khurana • May 29, 2013

Spice has been launching smartphones and tablets at quite a brisk pace and the company wants to give itself a strong footing in the Indian market, something it once enjoyed in the Telecom sector. The company has already launched a slew of top end and mid range smartphones and now it is looking to strengthen its entry range of droids. The latest pawn in the army is the Spice Smart Flo Pace Mi-422 which comes with some modest specs and a price tag of Rs.4,790.

The smartphone is on sale from online retailers. The Spice Smart Flo Pace Mi-422 will be heading the company’s operations in the sub Rs.5,000 price bracket.

Get Special Discounts on iPhone 5, 4, 4S from Snapdeal, Prices Start from Rs 22,800

by Rohit Khurana • May 28, 2013

Apple is striving hard to sell its devices in India, especially when it comes to the iPhones. Recently, the Cupertino based company adopted the EMI scheme for iPhone 5 and exchange offer for the iPhone 4. Now, it seems like it has come up with a different strategy in collaboration with Snapdeal.

Well, it was spotted on Snapdeal Facebook fan page that the online retailer is offering special discounts on iPhone. According to the post, Snapdeal is currently selling the iPhone 5 at 10% discount, iPhone 4S at 25% and iPhone 5 at 20% off.

Consequently, on checking the website, iPhone 4 8GB is priced at Rs 22,800, iPhone 4S 16GB at Rs 33,375 and iPhone 16 and 32GB variants at Rs 40,950 and Rs 47,250 respectively.

Earlier, the same website was selling the 16GB iPhone 5 at Rs 42,900, while its official price is Rs 45,500. At the same time, the 32GB model costing Rs 52,500 was available at Rs 50,100 and the 64GB model priced at Rs 59,500 was listed at Rs 57,200.

The Apple iPhone 5 is not too different from the iPhone 4S and received a lot of criticism while it was launched. However, being one of the best selling smartphones, the iPhone boasts a 4-inch display with a resolution of 1136×640 pixels, Apple A6 chipset and 1GB RAM.

Further, the smartphone comes in three configurations 16/32/64GB internal storage, 8-megapixel rear camera with iSight technology and a 1.2-megapixel front camera for video calling. Based on iOS 6, the iPhone packs connectivity features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G and micro USB 2.0 support and is equipped with a battery offering up to 8 hours talk time and 225 hours standby.

Apple is constantly doing new things and trying new methods to gain market share in India, the second most populous country in the world. In one of these attempts, Apple is offering discounts to those who bring in their old smartphones, and now offers a larger discounts for students up to Rs 7,777 on the purchase of a new iPhone. Another way to get discounted is by using an American Express card, in which Rs 6,000 will be refunded with the purchase of an iPhone.

Smartphone

Nokia Lumia 925 vs Galaxy S4 vs HTC One vs Xperia Z vs iPhone 5: Which Smartphone has Better Camera?

by Rohit Khurana • May 28, 2013

On May 14, Nokia unveiled the Lumia 925 with striking features, a thinner and lighter body and many other improvements than its predecessors. Soon after the launch of the smartphone, the Finnish tech firm took sample images from their latest offering and compared them with the other rival smartphones.

Well, Nokia UK has shared these camera samples on Flickr and these images demonstrate the comparative low light performance between the Lumia 925 and its challengers including HTC One, Sony Xperia Z, iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.

It is of course not too surprising to see the camera capabilities of the Lumia 925 as its predecessor – the Lumia 920 has a good track record in this segment. Being an improved variant, the latest one is sure to pack improved imaging performance with the features like optical image stabilization, superior optics and advanced processing algorithms.

Comparing the camera performance with the other rival smartphones, it clear that even the others possess closer imaging performance, but the Lumia 925 is likely to win the comparison with its capability to capture good photos in almost all the conditions expect a few.

From the first set of images, it is to be noted that the sample scenes from the Nokia smartphone have an extra level of detail and color accuracy as compared to the rest. Finally, the results show the excellent performance of Lumia 925 camera

The second set of images shared by Nokia UK are arguably less fair in terms of comparison as they show the variations in lighting from one side of the image to the other, which also gives the advantage to Nokia’s Lumia 925.

On the Nokia Lumia 925, Nokia Smart Camera takes ten shots in a short burst at a resolution of 5 megapixels and stores all ten for as long as you need them. Users can set Nokia Smart Camera as the default camera interface and open it from the dedicated camera hardware button. The regular camera mode is recommended for low-light and for best picture quality images.

Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, 5.8 Launched in India at Rs 31,490, Rs 25,100: Top 10 Common Software Features of Phablets

by Rohit Khurana • May 28, 2013

Samsung has launched the Galaxy Mega smartphones with 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch display in India today at a special media event in New Delhi. The smartphones are priced at Rs 25,100 and Rs 31,490 respectively and are bundled with special plans from Vodafone.

Firstly, lets have a look at the specifications of the Galaxy Mega smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Specifications

Galaxy Mega 5.8 features a 5.8-inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 540×960 pixels, 1.4GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash and 1080p video recording, 1.9-megapixel front camera for video calling, 8 GB internal storage, 1.5GB RAM, micro SD card up to 64GB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, micro USB and a 2,600 mAh battery. Further, the Galaxy Mega 5.8 is a dual SIM smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Specifications

When it comes to Galaxy Mega 6.3, the handset boasts a 6.3-inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels, 1.7GHz dual-core Quaqlcomm Snapdragon processor, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, HDR and 1080p video recording, 1.9-megapixel front camera for video calling, 8/16GB internal storage, 1.5GB RAM, micro SD card up to 64GB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, micro USB and a 3,200 mAh battery.

Top 10 Features

The Galaxy Mega smartphones not only pack impressive hardware specs but also come with sufficient software features to offer a superior and enriched user experience. Have a look at some of them below.

Group Play

The Group Play enables users to share content to up to eight devices that are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Samsung WatchON

The WatchON feature transforms the smartphone into an IR remote controller and thereby offers a rich TV viewing experience. Users can connect the Galaxy Mega to their home entertainment system and also get the program recommendations, schedules and control the TV using their smartphone.

S Translator

The S Translator will translate the text or voice on email and ChatON instantly.

ChatON

ChatON is well known for its ability of sending multimedia content and files to users in any part of the world.

Samsung Link

This feature allows users to stream photos, videos, notes, or music to their television, tablet or computer.

Air View

The Air View feature, which initially debuted in Galaxy Note 2 allows users to preview information in emails, photos in Gallery, and speed dial contacts just by hovering the finger on top of the display and not touching it.

Drama Shot

This camera feature merges several continuous shots of a moving object and creates an animated shot like a sequence.

Sound & Shot

Sound & Shot is present in Galaxy S4 and it is capable of recording 9 seconds of sound or voice while capturing a still image.

S Travel

S Travel provides trip information, local guides and resources and more and is quite useful for frequent commuters.

Story Album

With Story Album, users can create albums of daily events, keep special moments in one place using a timeline, geo-tag information and publish digital albums in hard copy.

RCom and Vodafone Plans

Samsung India has tied up with RCom and Vodafone for special data plans for the Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3 phablets. RCom customers will get 2GB data per month free for 3 months and unlimited access to Big flicks, WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook. On the other hand, Vodafone users will get 2GB data per month free for 2 months.

Also read- Samsung Galaxy Mega India– Video Review And Comparison Of Mega 5.8 and 6.3

Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Mega India– Video Review, Price, Features And Comparison Of Mega 5.8 and 6.3

by Rohit Khurana • May 28, 2013

Samsung India launches it new smartphones in the Galaxy series or should we say phablets, the Samsung Galaxy Mega in India in New Delhi on 28th May 2013. There are two variants of Mega, the Galaxy Mega 5.8 or i9152 and Galaxy Mega 6.3 or i9202. Both are large screen Galaxy Devices and offer rich multimedia experience with their qHD and HD displays respectively. Here we give you a comprehensive hands on video review of the Samsung Galaxy Mega devices launched in India, we talk about their features, specifications, price and other details. In India, these phones have been launched with a Dual SIM version of DUOS version keeping in mind the needs of Indian buyers who prefer dual SIM phones.