HTC One mini and HTC Desire 500 listed online in India for Rs 37,299 and Rs 21,490

By Vijay 

 

The One mini is available on e-commerce sites in India for Rs 37,299. The Desire 500, on the other hand, is listed online for Rs 21,490 and will ship in the coming days. 

 

 

To recap on the specifications, the One mini flaunts a 4.3-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) display cramming in 341ppi and is powered by a dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.4GHz. Other features included are 1GB of RAM, Ultrapixel rear camera with LED Flash and a BSI Sensor, 1.6-megapixel front camera, Beats audio support, 16GB of internal storage and a 1,800mAh battery. It runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean wrapped under Sense 5 UI and comes pre-loaded with HTC’s BlinkFeed, Zoe and BoomSound.

The dual-SIM Desire 500, on the other hand, sports a 4.3-inch (480×800 pixels) display and is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor clocked at 1.2GHz. It features 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.6-megapixel front camera, Beats audio support, 4GB internal storage that is expandable to up to 64GB using a microSD card and 1,800mAh battery. On the software front, it runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean wrapped under Sense 5 UI.

The fact that they have been listed on e-commerce sites in India indicates that an official launch is right around the corner..

Nokia launches community mapping tool in India for Here maps

By Vijay

 

Nokia’s Here maps are considered to be among the best mapping solutions in the market. Now, the company has launched a community mapping program in India that will combine industrial mapping techniques with crowd mapping techniques. Nokia has hired a team of 1,000 people in India, and it will work with local experts from a dozen of universities around the country. Nokia will leverage the map creator tool that will allow people to add missing streets, bridges, points of interest and other information. This not too dissimilar from what Google is doing with its Map Maker tool in India.

To maintain the accuracy of the data and map quality Nokia has built a community moderation mechanism that will allow the Here team and the community to verify the edits to the maps before they get integrated into the base map.

According to Nokia, Here will work with a variety of communities across the country. In smaller towns and cities, Nokia believes locals will help Here build out road networks, while in densely populated areas contributors will provide information about points of interest and capture changes.

HTC Desire 500 goes up for pre-order in India

By Vijay @ 06:08pm

 

HTC’s affordable dual-SIM smartphone, the Desire 500, is now available for pre-order in India with deliveries expected to start within a week. It is currently available on Snapdeal, where it can be pre-booked for Rs 999, with the balance to be paid at the time of availability. There is no word on the pricing yet but we would be surprised if it is priced upwards of Rs 20,000, though given HTC’s past record they might just price it higher. 

The Desire 500 features a 4.3-inch WVGA display, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. It also features dual-SIM card slots (micro SIM) and the regular connectivity options. We expect HTC to highlight the 8-megapixel rear camera with a 1/3.2-inch BSI sensor, f2.0 aperture and 28mm lens. If priced correctly, this could be one of the best camera phones from a global brand in its price segment.

What worries us, however, is the use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 200 SoC, which has four Cortex A5 cores (there’s a Cortex A7 variant as well but it seems HTC has gone for the Cortex A5 version), which could mean lower performance than competing devices running on MediaTek’s quad-core chipsets. Add to it HTC’s Sense UI and its pricing strategy, which could make the Desire 500, less desirable.

Nokia announced discounts on its latest Lumia 925 and Lumia 625 buyback offers

By Vijay @ 06:02pm

Nokia has extended the buyback scheme it had started with the Lumia 520 and Lumia 620, and has now included the Lumia 925 and Lumia 625. The company claims to now offer up to Rs 10,000 discount on the Lumia 925 and up to Rs 7,000 discount on the Lumia 625 when customers trade in their old smartphones. Under the scheme, the Lumia 925 is available for Rs 28,529 and the Lumia 625 for Rs 14,919. In reality however, the discounts are much lower.

The said discounts are exaggerated and are given on the phone’s MRP, which is much more than the MOP of these phones. Nokia mentions the MRP of the Lumia 925 to be Rs 38,529 while in India the phone was actually launched at an MOP of Rs 33,499. Similarly, the Lumia 625 was launched at Rs 19,999 and is already available for about Rs 16,000 at popular online retail stores. So the effective discount for exchanging an old smartphone against a new Lumia 925 or Lumia 625 phone would be Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively instead of Rs 10,000 and Rs 7,000 as highlighted by the company.

Nokia Lumia 720 and 520 getting GDR2 & Amber update in India Now

By Vijay @ 09:19pm

Nokia Lumia 720 and 520 are getting notifications that the Amber update is now available. The Nokia support site also confirms that Amber has been approved is rolling out in India.

Nokia’s firmware update enables new features like flip to silence, Glance Screen and camera improvements. When coupled with Microsoft’s GDR2 operating system update, users will also receive such features as Data Sense, FM Radio, default-camera selection, Lumia Color Profile, and Call/SMS filtering.

If you haven’t seen an update notification on your phone already, you can go to Settings > Phone Update > Check For Updates to see if you can get it.

Nokia had previously planned to bring Amber to all of its devices by the end of September, which is drawing near. So far they have made steady progress, but with one week left, they are cutting it close.

Source: Nokia; Thanks to everyone who tipped us!

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos Android 4.2.2 update starts rolling out in India.

By Vijay @ 02:09pm

Samsung has finally started rolling out the Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy Grand Duos (GT-I9082). The update started rolling out for the Grand Duos starting from Russia last month. . The phone was announced in December last year running Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean). It was launched in India back in January.

The Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy Grand Duos brings Quick Setting toggles in the drop-down notification bar, faster performance, lockscreen widgets, improved task switching, Daydream mode and lots more new features.  Samsung confirmed Android 4.1 update for range of Galaxy devices last year, but they are yet to confirm the list of device that would get the Android 4.2.2 or the 4.3 update.

Samsung released regional language support for range of Smartphones and Tablet last month, including the Grand Duos. These features would remain even after the update. We also got couple of updates after the Android 4.2.2 update for stability improvements.

The Android 4.2.2 update for the Grand Duos is 488.76MB and is available over-the-air (OTA) and also via Samsung Kies software. You can check for the update manually from the Settings, About, Software update.

Nokia Lumia 1020 listed on Flipkart as coming soon

By Vijay @ 09:29pm

The Nokia Lumia 1020 started out as an exclusive on AT&T in US. Although it didn’t take too long before the device started appearing in other markets. First up was China, then other countries slowly gained the list. For example, a few days ago it went on sale in Germany (and it was the 64GB variant too!). Up next however, is going to be India. Details below.

Head on over to Flipkart and you’ll see the Lumia 1020 sitting there getting ready for you. The device has a “notify me” page set up for anyone interested in the device. Availability is listed as “coming soon”. Unfortunately, details are a bit scarce. There is no pricing on the page. It’s the 32GB model though, not the 64GB which is exclusive to Vodafone. You’ll have your choice of white, yellow, or black when the devices do become available.

We’ll of course let you guys and gals know when more information comes in. Any of our readers in India looking forward to the Lumia 1020? Let me know below in comments…

Source: Flipkart

Videocon A42 launched for Rs. 7490/- in INDIA

By Vijay @ 08:42am

Videocon A42 has been launched in India for Rs 7,490/-. The phone features a 4.5-inch FVGA display and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, with 512MB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front camera, a 1,700-mAh battery, and also has a 4GB inbuilt rom with microSD card slot supporting up to 32GB of storage.

The A42 is a dual-SIM device and supports 3G networks and has a dual-standby functionality. The phone runs on a fairly new version of Android – 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

 

Pre-orders for Nokia Lumia 625 sell out on India’s Snapdeals

By  Vijay @ 08:28am

Nokia has had a big winner with both the entry-level Nokia Lumia 520. Now, it looks like the Nokia Lumia 625 might be following the same footsteps  The handset sporting the largest screen of any Lumia flavored Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 625 was being made available for pre-orders in India from online retailer Snapdeals and has already sold out. Snapdeals was asking for a down payment of Rs.1000/- with the remaining amount due upon the release of the phone in the last week of August.

Despite the large 4.7 inch screen, the rest of the specs are decidedly low to mid-range. The display’s resolution of 480 x 800 results in a rather low pixel density of 201 ppi. Under the hood is a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 with only 512MB of RAM. There is 8GB of native storage inside along with a 64GB capacity microSD slot. A 5MP camera on back captures video in 1080 x 1920 at 30fps and there is a VGA front-facing shooter. The 2000mAh battery keeps the lights on. You can get comparison here along with its previous models 520, 620 & 720.

India’s Snapdeals has sold out the Nokia Lumia 625 while accepting pre-orders for the device

source: Snapdeals via WMPoweruser

Samsung Galaxy Smartphones and Tablets to get support for 9 Indian languages…

By Vijay @ 04:53pm

Samsung today announced support for 9 Indian languages for their Galaxy smartphones and tablets. This would let the Samsung smartphone users to access the user interface and content in these languages. The 9 Indian languages include, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati. These Indian languages will be supported on Galaxy Grand, Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Tab 3 starting from today.

This would let customers access applications from Samsung Application Store in their preferred Indian language in different categories such as entertainment, games, business and more. Bharat Matrimony, India property, Times of India, BSE and Mydala and lots more application would soon be available in these Indian languages. There are lot of applications such as Newshunt, Chaton and more that are available in regional languages. Facebook and Facebook messenger would also be available for select Samsung devices in 9 Indian languages.

Samsung says that they will not work with content providers, but will develop an ecosystem with app developers to let customers experience the apps in their favorites language. At the event, Arvind Pani, Co-Founder & CEO of Reverie language Technologies has announced that they have launched Reverie PhoneBook app that would let users to access PhoneBook in several languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and English. The app would be available from Samsung App Store. It will be available for free till December 2013.

Samsung plans to roll out the regional language support for other affordable smartphones starting from the Galaxy Star starting from this month. It plans to increase the number of devices with regional language content from next month.