Samsung Galaxy Star Pro Android smartphone with 4-inch display spotted selling for Rs 6,989

By Vijay

Here comes another Samsung Galaxy smartphone which falls in the 4-inch entry level smartphone segment to compete against the likes of Mircomax and other domestic handset vendors ruling this segment. Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Star Pro S7262 has spotted selling on a popular online retail portal for as little as Rs 6,989. It becomes Samsung’s second 4-inch smartphone priced under Rs 10,000 after the Galaxy Trend Duos.

The Galaxy Smart Pro supports dual-SIM and comes with a 4-inch WVGA display (480×800 pixels) just like the Galaxy Trend Duos. It runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1GHz single-core cortex A5 processor coupled with 512MB of RAM. In addition to that, there is 4GB of internal storage which can be supplemented with a 32GB of microSD card. Basically, aside the display, it is an extension of the Galaxy Star smartphone launched earlier for Rs 5,240.

It also features a 2-megapixel rear camera which is capable of shooting videos but lacks a front-facing camera like the Galaxy Trend Duos. The Galaxy Star Pro supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but doesn’t have 3G connectivity. Other features in the phone include an accelerometer and a 1500mAH battery, which is claimed to offer up to 15 hours of talktime and up to 370 hours of standby time. In addition to that the smartphone will come pre-loaded with several Samsung apps including ChatON, as well as other apps like mFluent IM, and ActiveSync.

With this phone, it is clear that Samsung has its eyes set on its domestic rivals, especially Micromax which with 22 percent smartphone market share has become a threat to Samsung’s 26 percent market share in India.

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.

BlackBerry Z10 price slashed by Rs 11,000, now available for Rs 30,000/- in India

By Vijay @ 02:32pm

As expected BlackBerry has cut the price of its first BB10 smartphone. The Z10 is now available for Rs 30,000 at most retailers with BlackBerry dropping the price by Rs 11,000. Last week BlackBerry had announced it would write off between $930 million to $960 million in unsold inventory, mostly related to the Z10. It also said it would reposition the Z10 as an entry-level BB10 smartphone. The Q5 still remains the most affordable BB10 smartphone, available for approximately Rs 24,000. It remains to be seen whether the price cut has the desired effect, considering BlackBerry has agreed to a letter of intent from Fairfax Financial for a $4.7 billion buyout that would take the company private.

BlackBerry also intends to exit from the consumer market and hopes to focus on the enterprise and prosumer segment. With BlackBerry acknowledging that most of the phones sold in the previous quarter were running BB OS 7 and not BB10, we doubt this would be the last price cut.

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.

iOS 7 to be available for Apple iPhone 5 and 4S on September 18th

By Vijay @ 01:22pm

Apple just revealed that the much awaited  iOS 7 update will be coming over to most Apple devices, but it will reach the iPhone 4S and the 5 on September 18th. The iOS 7 update includes the much awaited user interface overhaul and some extra features like AirDrop and brand new multitasking.

Here we go with new IPHONES…5s & 5c (Videos)

By Vijay @ 08:29pm

Inspite of writing something about this new launches from world famous OS & Device manufacture APPLE. Please check the videos below for in depth….

The Apple iPhone 5c model is replacing the iPhone 5. It features the same internals, but has a plastic shell though it brings a slightly bigger battery and supports even more LTE bands. It adds a few millimeters around the waist and some extra grams, though. Here’s the video

The iPhone 5c pre-orders start this Friday, while the phone will become available on September 20. It costs $99 on contract and $550 contract free. The EU price for the SIM-free iPhone 5C is £469/€599.

The iPhone 5s is company’s new flagship. It has the same screen and design as the now discontinued iPhone 5, but offers a new A7 chipset with better 64-bit processor and OpenGL 3 graphics. The smartphone also offers a better camera with new True Tone dual-LED flash, new motion sensor and a fingerprint scanner on its Home key.

This second one focuses on the new iSight camera:

The Apple iPhone 5s hits the shelves in selected markets on September 20. It costs $199 on contract and $650 off contract in the USA, while the EU price is €699/£549 for the 16GB model.

Another Gold iPhone 5S, all iPhone 5C colors gets hands-on Video

By Vijay @ 08:22am

Another day, yet another video of the upcoming iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, courtesy Sonny Dickson, who has emerged out of nowhere to leak the biggest trove of the new iPhone and iPad photos ever in the history of Apple leaks. This time we have another detailed video of the champagne gold iPhone 5S and all the five colors the iPhone 5C is expected to be launched, well, at least that’s what all the leaks so far suggest. Check out the video after the break.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEp_Gz037lU&feature=player_embedded

LG now offers Rs. 7000/- Off with buyback scheme on Optimus G Pro

By Vijay 03:40pm

After Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry, Nokia and Sony. LG has become the latest smartphone vendor to offer a buyback scheme.

The Korean smartphone vendor today announced a buyback scheme offering up to Rs 7,000/- off, on the Optimus G Pro. Like most buyback schemes, the best buy price has been inflated a little when compared to the market operating price.

Under the scheme, users can exchange their old phone and get the Optimus G Pro for Rs 32,999. The Optimus G Pro otherwise can be bought for close to Rs 35,000. However, the good thing about the offer is that one also gets a two year warranty against the regular one year warranty that comes with these phones.

Lava teases Iris Pro series (Lava’s high end smartphone) expected on August 25th

By Vijay @ 08:14am

Lava which is one the leading indian electronics company is now teasing the Lava Iris Pro series in a TVC. According to the teaser the phone will be available from August 25 onwards. By the looks of it the main USP of the phone seems to be its all new slim design that seems heavily inspired from the iPhone and also exudes a sense of quality that no other phone from Lava can boast.

This teaser also shows a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, and a HD display. Most probably, this device will feature a MediaTek chipset and will probably feature an upgraded camera module.

Like the Micromax Canvas 4 it appears that the premium design of the Iris Pro series will appeal to the consumer.

 

Are you eagerly waiting for a high end Blackberry model with larger screen… here is a video leak

By Vijay @ 07:57am

The wide variety of photos of the BlackBerry Z30 leaked since several days and showed how device is likely to look. If that wasn’t enough, CrackBerry has now posted a detailed hands-on video of the forthcoming device.

The video shows the Z30’s exteriors, its innards after removing the back panel and the software running on the device. The 5-minute video is quite detailed and concentrates on every part of the device. There is hardly anything left to know about the device, except its price and date of availability.

This phone might have a major focus on gaming and will have a larger 5-inch 720p AMOLED display. Additionally, it is expected to pack 2GB of RAM and a slightly faster dual-core processor than the Z10. It is also expected to ship running BlackBerry OS 10.2, which will add some new features including a quick settings menu.