Technology

Smartphone

BlackBerry launches Q5 in India for 24,990INR

by Hans Gogia • July 16, 2013

BlackBerry the king of qwerty handsets today on 16th July 2013 launched their latest entrant to the BlackBerry 10 smartphone series and the budget friendly – BlackBerry Q5 at an event in New Delhi. Q5 is the cheapest BB10 running handset available out there which provides an awesome qwerty experience as is the best alternative to Q10, company’s high profile smartphone.

BlackBerry Q5 features an awesome qwerty keyboard which provides one of the best typing experience with an youthful design. It also has a 3.1 inches touchscreen display which makes it for the BB10 gestures and provide best of both worlds in one device. BlackBerry Q5 comes with the BlackBerry 10.1 software upgrade pre-installed with all the BB10 features like Time Shift, BlackBerry Hub, Story Maker, BBM and the other 120,000 applications from the BlackBerry World which shall be compatible with the Q5 as well.

BlackBerry aims this model especially to the youth who want BBM, qwerty keyboard with some really cool colors. Q5 will be available in Pure Black, Pure White and Pure Red color options for 24,990 from authorized retailers in India from 20th July 2013.

After Z10 and the Q10 and their highly incorrect pricing, we think though BlackBerry managed to go down but still Q5 is pricey. Something kind of 9220 here could have done the magic but sigh they lost it once again. BlackBerry Q5 no doubt is a good smartphone which even though being at the lower end feels premium but 25k for this hardware and software combo is too vague for targeting the youth. At a similar price point, we can have some top notch Android smartphones which could be a better value for money for example even today S3 not to forget which was smartphone of the year 2012 comes for about this much price can be a better deal.
In the same price window we can get Huawei Ascend Mate the 6.1 inch Android running phablet with powerful specification packed inside for 25 grands to combine performance, design and size if one is looking for such handsets. Other than this we have the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 for ₹23,699 or the Nokia Lumia 820 for 21k running the Windows Phone 8.

How To

[How to] Force Reboot Smartphones With Non-Removable Battery

by Rohit Khurana • July 16, 2013

With the increasing demand of decreasing thickness smartphone manufacturers have been continuously innovating to bind beauty and the beast. Cutting edge design with super powerful chipsets is their call and in the process of achieving their goal there are some pros and some cons. One such cons is the use of non-removable battery.

Using a non-removable battery device undoubtedly has chances for a better build than compared with that of removable. For instance let’s compare the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. HTC One is a master piece, an exception in the smartphone industry whereas S4 though is good but nowhere near HTC One. Smartphones with non-removable battery have an advantage that they can have less thickness than a smartphone with removable battery as the non-removable battery is embedded into the casing which therefore decreases the thickness.

These were all pros but there are cons as well. Operating system no matter what is prone to crashes, freeze, hangs, lags etc. due to insufficient resources or improper utilization. Earlier when there were removable batteries on smartphones we used to tackle these issues but just removing the battery and inserting it again. This is called the hard reset. But now soft reset seems to be a difficulty as the number of smartphones opting for non-removable batteries are increasing day by day. Now there should be an alternative for this to hard reset the device and the developers figured out a way and set it as a standard to force reboot the device.

Starting with the iPhones which never had a removable battery, the standard way to reboot if the os stuck somewhere is to hold and long press HOME + POWER key and wait till the device reboots. This basically does a hard reset which clears off the RAM and the process which made this happen is no longer in the volatile memory.

Image source: Wikihow

Similarly on Androids Google thought to implement this and came up with a combination of POWER + VOL DOWN which generally all smartphone vendors implement but it may vary. For example, some of the devices may just force reboot by long pressing the home button whereas some may implement this as per the standards.

So whenever you are stuck with a screen freeze you may follow this guide and give us a heads up if it helps. In case there is a demand of anything specific you can drop us a comment below or contact us on our Facebook page or twitter handle @idigestindia

Smartphone

Xolo Play T1000 Powered By Nvdia Tegra 3 Processor launched In India For 15,999INR

by Hans Gogia • July 15, 2013

After some rumors Xolo finally unveiled its plan for a gaming smartphone powered by a Tegra 3 processor which we expected to arrive sometime this quarter but not this soon. Earlier this month following the rumor Xolo started the pre-bookings of the handset in association with an e-commerce portal. It was declared that the smartphone shall be launched on 15 July and here it is for ₹15,999.

Xolo Play T1000 is the company’s first Nvdia powered Tegra 3 processor smartphone aimed to provide its patrons with mobile gaming experience at an affordable price point. Xolo Play sports a 4.7-inch HD capacitive touch screen IPS display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution based on one glass solution (OGS) technology. It features 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 mobile operating system. It has 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory with an expandable option up to 32 GB via a microSD card slot. It comes with a 8MP BSI sensor primary camera with LED flash and 2MP front-facing secondary camera and runs on a 2000 mAh battery. On the connectivity front the device features single-SIM card slot with 3G , Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS/ AGPS support.

The smartphone having Tegra processor comes bundled with an application by Nvidia itself which is the Tegra Zone that would let users search and install Tegra optimized games on their Android. Tegra processor and battery issues though run hand-in hand but Xolo Play shall give 11.2 hours of talk time on 2G and up to 9 hours on 3G under nominal usage conditions.

Xolo Play T1000 is available for purchase online via xolo.in and other retailing web-sites and shall hit the shelves soon across the country.

Xolo Play at this price point will definitely face a huge competition from the budget android market with Canvas 4 and Karbonn Titanium S9 or even Lava Iris 504q from the parent company itself. Most of the features that is quad-core processor, HD display, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, 8MP BSI sensor camera are exactly the same with the prominent difference between the SoC used. Though the rest run on MediTek MT6589 SoC and this on Tegra 3 but now the general public knows about the pros and cons of Tegra chipsets which primarily include battery woes, overheating and undoubtedly better gaming experience than MediaTek inbuild GPU. Let’s see how well the market accepts another struggler in this already stagnated scenario.

How To

[How To] Speed Up Samsung Galaxy Grand TouchWiz UI

by Hans Gogia • July 13, 2013

Samsung Galaxy Grand – the Dual SIM standby to be phablet from Samsung at a very reasonable price point. Even though it comes under the category of reasonable cost, it still is counted in high end dual SIM. Featuring 5-inch LCD screen with 480×800 screen resolution and dual-core processor with 1 GB RAM and 4 GB internal memory, Galaxy Grand still proves the hatred towards TouchWix UI by the general public. But the fact is Grand owners have to live with this because even xda forums does not have any ROM alternatives.

If this helps any better we have got some tips to decrease the lag and help improve the performance of the Galaxy Grand. We will disable the double-tap to home key S-voice shortcut and animations to speed up the UI.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Launched At Rs. 29,900– Is It A Camera Or Phone? Its Both

by Rohit Khurana • July 9, 2013

Samsung India has launched two new devices in the Galaxy S4 range named the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (price and more details here). The Galaxy S4 Zoom is a camera centric phone which is more of a camera than a phone when it comes to the functionality. But the compact form factor and latest Android OS with latest galaxy series features makes it a compelling phone at the same time. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom price is Rs. 29,900 in India. You can buy Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom online from Flipkart.

Galaxy S4 Zoom Camera Features

It has many features which are usually found on high quality point and shoot cameras like the Zoom Ring which can be used for multiple functionalities in the camera more like Zoom and other options selection. When the S4 Zoom is in use like a phone, the same Zoom ring works as a dial to activate features and select options etc.

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini Launched At Rs. 27,900- Details Inside

by Rohit Khurana • July 9, 2013

Updates on 9th July 2013

Samsung has official launched the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini in India at a press event in Mumbai at a price of Rs. 27,990. The phone goes on sale in India in July 2013. It has been launched in two colours- White Frost and Black Mist. More details on the S4 Mini below. You can buy Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini from Flipkart here.

Updated on 30th May 2013

Its not even a day since reports started pouring in about the specifications of the Galaxy S4 mini and so soon the smartphone has been launched in London without much fanfare. Well, global smartphone leader Samsung has announced Galaxy S4 mini, a powerful and compact version of Galaxy S4.

Galaxy S4 mini is claimed to offer superior performance and intuitive user experience, while its sleek design makes it highly portable and compact, thereby making the smartphone an ideal companion for the daily life.

Commenting at the launch, JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile Communication, Samsung Electronics stated, “We appreciate such unprecedented demands for the GALAXY S4 that we aimed to provide users with life companion for a fuller, richer and simpler life. And now, we want to give people more choices with GALAXY S4 mini, similar look & feel of GALAXY S4 for more compact and practical usages. The new GALAXY S4 mini provides consumers with a new way to enjoy the flagship GALAXY S4 experience.”

Specifications

Coming to the specifications, the Galaxy S4 mini measures only 107 grams in weight, hence it is lightweight and compact and is comfortable to operate with one hand. However, being compact the smartphone does not compromise on performance as it is equipped with superior specifications as mentioned below.

4.3-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with 960×540 pixels
1.7GHz dual-core processor
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS
8-megapixel rear camera, 1.9-megapixel front camera
Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, IR, NFC
8GB internal storage of which 5GB is user accessible, micro SD card up to 64GB, 1.5GB RAM
1,900 mAh battery

Availability

There are different variants of Galaxy S4 mini according to the company statement – 4G or 3G or 3G and dual SIM and these are market dependent. Likewise, Galaxy S4, the S4 mini will also come in two color options – Black Mist and White Frost. As of now, there is information on the price or the exact release date of the Galaxy S4 mini.

Moreover, the press release adds some value to the earlier rumored June 20 event in London claiming that the tech media will be invited to experience the Galaxy S4 mini at the Samsung Premiere 2013 event.

Camera Features

Galaxy S4 mini allows users to capture important moments with an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.9-megapixel HD front camera. The camera comes with special features such as Sound & Shot, which can record 9 seconds of sound or voice while capturing a still image, S Travel, which provides trip information, local guides and resources and Story Album, with which users can create albums of daily events, keep special moments in one place using a timeline and publish digital albums.

Stay Connected

Galaxy S4 mini allows users to share and build true connections. Users can simultaneously listen to the same music and play the games together with friends using Group Play feature. Also, they can chat with friends, add animations, voice and video recordings to messages using ChatON.

Life Companion

With Galaxy S4 mini, life can be made simple and easy with the features like S Translator, which provides instant text or voice translation, email, text message or ChatON messages. Further, Samsung Hub provides a single entry for Samsung contents and services and users can browse through music, video, books, games and learning content as well as purchase and manage contents easily using a Samsung Account. Also, the users can control their TV, set top box and more using the WatchON IR remote control feature. Samsung Link also enables users to share content across multiple Samsung digital devices, but is available only in selected countries.

Health and Well Being

Galaxy S4 mini empowers users by keeping them up-to-date with personal health and well-being details. The S Health app can be downloaded to enable users to monitor caloric balance and health condition. Also, there are special S Health accessories that help users to calculate daily steps, monitor sleeping patterns, calculate weight and get real-time heart monitoring. Further, Adapt Display provides an optimal viewing experience customized for each type of application and Adapt Sound offers an optimal level and type of sound, personalized for each user.

Smartphone

Micromax Canvas 4 Video Review, Price And Features And Comparison Videos

by Rohit Khurana • July 8, 2013

Micromax has launched its new flagship phone in the popular Canvas series on 8th July 2013 in a media event in New Delhi India. The new flagship phone is known as Micromax Canvas 4 A210. In this article we share with all the details which you want to know about the phone including a Micromax Canvas 4 Video review, price in India and feature set this new flagship phone has on the offer.

Micromax has created a lot of buzz before the launch of this phone before launch and had also started pre-orders on 28th of June which has generated over 4000 pre-bookings of the phone already even before announcement of price.

It has a unique feature of shake to unlock or blow air on phone to unlock the phone. There is no physical home button and the appearance is like other Canvas series phone with an improved build quality. It feel heavier and more metallic to hold in hand. It has use of metallic casing around the phone which not only makes it look better, also makes it stronger. The super sensitive screen can be used with gloves on. It also offers FOTA or firmware over the air update which allows to update to the latest phone software.