Samsung releases quad-core, dual screen flip phone designed for Jackie Chan

Remember that ridiculously overpowered Samsung flip phone? It was released earlier today in conjunction with a big charity concert for the launch. Oh, and Jackie Chan was there, too. He got one of the brand new phones for free. Unfortunately, you almost have to be Jackie Chan to afford the phone, as it’s rumored to be priced between ¥18,000 ($2,900) and ¥20,000 ($3,210). For that hefty price tag, you get Android 4.0, dual-3.7-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED touchscreens, a quad-core Exynos 4412 processor with 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory and an 1850 mAh battery, plus the standard 8 megapixel rear camera and 1.9 megapixel front camera.
So who’s putting one of these on their Christmas list this year?

source: Engadget

Android 4.1 Samsung GALAXY S III mini With 4" Screen Available On eBay For Rs 27,000

For Samsung fandroids in India seeking a better-sized smartphone, the wait is finally over: The Samsung GALAXY S III mini is available on eBay.in. You'll be delighted to know that it comes with a one-year manufacturer's warranty, as you'd expect of an officially launched product. For the uninitiated, the SGS3 mini is a smaller version of Samsung's flagship product, the GALAXY S III. This shrunken-down handset is styled similarly to its elder sibling; it runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) out of the box, and is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core CPU with 1 GB of RAM. The 4" Super AMOLED screen has pixel dimensions of 800x480. The handset has a 5 mp snapper with LED flash at the rear, along with a 0.3 mp front camera. The GALAXY S III mini weighs just 111.5 grams, and it's easier to handle compared with the GALAXY S III. NFC enables convenient transactions, while S Beam allows easy file transfer by simply tapping another compatible phone. Here is the specifications list:

• Quad-band 2G (GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Dual-band 3G (UMTS 900,2100 MHz); HSDPA 14.4 Mbps for 3G data transfer.
• Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean); TouchWiz UX.
• 4" Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with pixel dimensions of 800x480, 16 million colours.
• 1 GHz Cortex-A9 dual-core CPU, Mali-400MP, 1 GB RAM.
• 16 GB internal storage, 32 GB microSD card slot.
• 5 megapixel rear camera with flash, 720p@30fps video capture; 0.3 megapixel front camera.
• Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Stereo Bluetooth 4.0, Standard micro-USB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5 mm audio jack, Stereo FM radio with RDS, NFC.
• Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Compass.
• Video Formats: MP4, DivX, XviD, WMV, H.264, H.263.
• Audio Formats: MP3, WAV, eAAC+, AC3, FLAC.
• 4.8" (l) x 2.5" (w) x 0.4" (9.85 mm) (d), weighs 111.5 grams.
• 1500 mAh Li-ion battery.

The handset comes bundled with Samsung-specific features including S Voice (voice recognition), Smart Stay (camera intelligently tracks your eyes and keeps screen on while under gaze), Direct Call (automatically dials when you lift the phone to the ear), and Smart Alert (notifies you about missed calls or messages when phone is picked up).
Launched in Germany last month, the S III mini was expected to be sell primarily in Europe. We like the fact that it's available here: Holding a typical phablet to the ear for long can not only tire your arm, it's also likely to make you the laughing stock of your colleagues!
On eBay.in, the S III mini is selling for Rs 27,000 with free shipping all over India. This, incidentally, is not much more than the Rs 25,000 we predicted. Which is around half the cost of the SGS3, so the question is — is the S III mini the poor man's SGS3? Comment below!

source tech tree

Android 4.1 Swipe Velocity Tab With 8" HD IPS Screen Launched For Rs 11,500

UPDATE: The Swipe Velocity Tab can be purchased on eBay.

Looks like the iPad mini has a domestic competitor. At least that's what Swipe is trying to convince us with its new Velocity Tab, which has been launched with the latest Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The slate sports an 8" IPS screen with 5-point capacitive multi-touch; it has pixel dimensions of 1024x768. Powered by a dual-core 1.6 GHz CPU and 1 GB of RAM, its 8 GB of internal storage can be augmented by up to 32 GB via the microSD card slot. It comes with a rear 2 mp and front 1.3 mp camera for imaging. HDMI-Out allows Full HD (1080p) content playback on a big screen. In addition to Wi-Fi, you can use 3G dongles for internet connectivity. Swipe claims that the tab can work for up to 12 hours without recharging, courtesy its 4500 mAh battery. Here are the specifications of the device:

• Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean), Google Play, Adobe Flash 11.1, Olive Office Premium.
• 8", 5-point multi-touch capacitive IPS screen with pixel dimensions of 1024x768.
• ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core 1.6 GHz CPU, 1 GB of DDR3 RAM.
• 8 GB internal storage, Up to 32 GB supported via microSD.
• 2 megapixel rear and 1.3 megapixel front camera.
• HDMI-Out (Full HD), USB with OTG support, 3.5 mm stereo connector, Stereo speakers.
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b\g\n, External 3G dongle supported.
• Face Unlock secure login.
• 8.2" (l) x 6.4" (w) x 0.4" (10.5 mm) (d), 330 grams.
• 4500 mAh battery that provides up to 12 hours backup.
• Package Contents: Tablet, OTG cable, USB cable, AC power adapter, Warranty card, Service centre list, User manual.

The comparison that Swipe makes of its tablet with the new iPad mini seems favourable, at least on paper. The screen sizes and pixel dimensions are similar, and so is the 5-point capacitive multi-touch functionality. The dimensions and weight are also very much the same. Ecosystem-wise, the iPad mini has the iTunes App store with the largest number of apps, while the Velocity Tab boasts of Google Play, which is fast catching up. However, the Velocity Tab, to its advantage, has a faster CPU and twice as much RAM — in addition to support for 3G dongles and USB peripherals, not to forget mass storage convenience when connected to a PC, for easy data transfer. The claimed battery life of the Swipe tablet is also 2 hours longer than that of Apple's tablet.
That said, the iOS 6 experience still has an edge over Android, which is probably one of the major factors that the iPad mini has in its favour. However, the deal-breaker for the iPad mini is that it (unofficially) costs over twice as much as the Swipe Velocity Tab.
With a price tag of Rs 11,500, the Swipe Velocity Tab currently doesn't seem to have a worthy Android competitor in its price range, but we can expect Droid clones to pop up, as they usually do. Do you think the price for this tablet is justified? If not, what do you think the price should be?

Zen Launches Android 2.3 Ultraphone U1 With 3.5" Screen For Rs 5000

Domestic handset manufacturer Zen has released an entry-level smarphone, the Ultraphone U1. With this launch, the company now has three handsets in its Android portfolio. This dual-SIM (GSM + GSM) handset is powered by a 1 GHz processor and has 512 MB of RAM. Apart from that, it features a 3.5" capacitive touchscreen, 3.2 mp camera, and Wi-Fi connectivity. On the software front, it features the relatively outdated Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) — a proper turn off for Android fans. Here's the complete list of features:

• 3.5" multi-touch capacitive screen.
• 3.2 mp camera with LED flash.
• 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB of RAM.
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP support.
• 512 MB internal memory, MicroSD card slot expandable up to 32 GB.
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).
• Dual-SIM (GSM + GSM), Supports EDGE, No 3G.
• 1200 mAh Li-ion battery.
• Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Gyro.

According to Zen, the handset comes pre-installed with Skype, Facebook, G-talk, Whatsapp, GaneshSpeaks (an astrology app), nexGTV, and MapMyIndia (mapping software). Going by the pics we have, the phone looks much like the recently unveiled Lava Iris N350. Also, there's hardly any difference between the spec sheets.
At Rs 5000, the Ultraphone U1 is Rs 500 cheaper than Lava's offering.

iPad mini Teardown: Should It Really Cost This Much ?

For those of you wondering just how much of the money you pay for your gadgets goes towards the actual hardware, here are some new figures. Case in point: The new iPad mini is estimated to cost Apple about $188 (Rs 10,300), which is 57% of the selling price of $330 (Rs 18,000). A report by IHS (previously known as the teardown website iSuppli) has revealed this number, taking only hardware costs into consideration. Of course, there's very significant investment that companies like Apple and Microsoft make in supply chains, extensive testing (despite which bugs show up now and then), OS development, industrial design, etc. Marketing spends are another expense for the biggies (which don't translate to the ownership experience, but that's another discussion for another day).  As reported on WSJ.com, the above mentioned figures are for base model with Wi-Fi and 16 GB storage: The 32 GB and 64 GB variants increase cost to the manufacturer by $31 (Rs 1700) and $62 (Rs 3400) respectively.
The report also looks at the internals of the Microsoft Surface and Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablets. Parts for the 32 GB Surface tablet, which is priced at $500 (Rs 27,000), have been estimated to cost $271 (about Rs 14,600) — that's about 54% of the selling price. The add-on Touch Cover available for $120 (Rs 6500) probably costs $16 (Rs Rs 900) to make. The other device featured in the teardown is the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 16 GB that is said to cost $165 (Rs 9000) to manufacturer, while its cost is only $200 (Rs 10,800), which makes the Kindle Fire HD the one earning least profits per piece sold for the manufacturer (Kindle ebooks can be a revenue soruce for Amazon though).
Elaborating on the iPad mini, the report further reveals the names of manufacturers who supply parts for the iPad mini.

• The 7.9" display is said to be manufactured by LG Display and AU Optronics and costs about $80 (Rs 4300).
• The A5 processor is from rival Samsung, while memory chips have been sourced from various other manufacturers including Hynix.
• The audio chip is provided by Cirrus Logic.
• Accelerometer comes from STMicroelectronics.
• Wireless chips have been sourced by Broadcom made using wireless chips that were assembled into the wireless module by Murata.

 

If you have read this far, you are probably wondering more now than before, whether the price of some of the premium gadgets is worth the money or not. More so, considering products from lesser known manufacturers with similar form factors and computational power are available for less than just the hardware cost of these premium devices. If a well speced 7" Android tablet costs Rs 10,000 (that's a safe estimate), just how much extra are you willing to pay for a better screen resolution and few lesser bugs? Let us know through the comments.

HTC Launches Dual-SIM Android 4.0 Based Desire SV With 4.3" Screen For Rs 22,600

This week, HTC introduced its Android flagship phone One X+ and Windows Phone 8 devices 8X and 8S in India. The company seems to be on a handset-launching spree, as it has now brought out the mid-range Desire SV. This Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) smartphone comes with a 4.3" Super LCD 2 screen with pixel dimensions of 480x800. The device packs in a 1 GHz dual-core CPU with 768 MB of RAM. The internal storage is, however, a paltry 4 GB, although you can add up to 32 GB to it via the microSD card slot. It comes with dual-SIM GSM capability and features micro-SIM slots. The 8 mp camera comes with autofocus and LED flash, along with Backside Illumination (BSI) sensor for better low-light shots. The smartphone also uses VideoPic that allows photo capture during video recording, and Smart Flash to achieve five levels of flash intensities automatically set by distance to the subject being photographed. As usual the device comes with Beats Audio integration. Let's take a detailed look at the technical specifications below:

• Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with Sense UI.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1 GHz dual-core processor with 768 MB of RAM.
• 8 megapixel camera with auto focus, LED flash, and BSI sensor (for better low-light captures), F2.2 aperture and 28 mm lens, WVGA video recording.
• Dual-SIM, 2G GSM\GPRS\EDGE: 850\900\1800\1900 MHz; 3G HSPA\WCDMA: 900\2100 MHz.
• 4.3" Super LCD 2 with display with 480x800 pixel dimensions.
• Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX enabled, Wi-Fi 802.11 b\g\n with hotspot and tethering, GPS, Beats Audio.
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack.
• Internal storage of 4 GB and expansion card slot for microSD cards.
• G-Sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor.
• Audio Formats: Playback: AAC, AMR, OGG, M4A, MID, MP3, WAV, WMA (Windows Media Audio 9); Recording: AMR.
• Video Formats: Playback: 3GP, 3G2, MP4, WMV (Windows Media Video 9), AVI (MP4 ASP and MP3); Recording: MP4.
• 1620 mAh Li-ion battery with unspecified backup time.
• 5.1" (l) x 2.67" (w) x 0.42" (11 mm) (d) inches and weighs 131 grammes with battery.

As an additional offer, HTC is providing 25 GB of Dropbox space free for two years. Expected to be available in India over the next couple of weeks, the device is priced at Rs 22,600, which is rather steep for a mid-range handset.

HTC Windows Phone 8X And 8S Launched In India, Prices Start From Rs 19,500

Announced in September, HTC's Windows Phone 8X and 8S have finally hit the Indian market. Out of the two, the 8X is the company's flagship Windows Phone device that will compete with the Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung's Ativ S. On the other hand, the 8S is a likely competitor of the Lumia 820.
According to HTC, its colourful phones have been inspired by the Windows Phone OS. Strangely, the Taiwanese manufacturer has been making WP devices for about two years now, which makes me wonder why it didn't release a single colourful device — until Nokia did so with its Lumia series. For those who joined in late, here are the specs for HTC's "signature" WP8 phones:

Windows Phone 8X

• 4.3" Super LCD 2 screen with 720p screen protected by Gorilla Glass 2.
• Qualcomm Snapdradon S4 chipset (1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, Adreno 225 GPU); 1 GB of RAM.
• 8 mp autofocus camera with LED flash.
• Camera Features: BSI sensor (for better low-light captures), F2.0 aperture, 28 mm lens.
• 2.1 mp wide angle (88°) front facing camera.
• Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS (GLONASS).
• Internal storage: 16 GB, Lacks MicroSD card slot.
• 5.2" (l) X 2.6" (w) x 0.4" (10.12 mm) (d); weighs 130 grammes.
• Microsoft Windows Phone 8.
• Supported Audio: AAC, AMR, M4A, MP3, WAV, ASF, WMA (version 9 and 10).
• Supported Video: 3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V, ASF, WMV (version 9 and 10); recording: MP4.
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz); 3G (850/900/1900/2100 MHz).
• G-Sensor, Digital compass, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor.
• 1800 mAh Li-ion battery.
• Available Colours: California Blue, Graphite Black, Flame Red, and Limelight Yellow.

Windows Phone 8S

• 4" super LCD touch screen with WVGA resolution and Gorilla Glass protection.
• 1 GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor with 512 MB of RAM.
• 5 mp autofocus camera with LED flash.
• Camera Features: F2.8 aperture and 35 mm lens capable of 720p video recording; Lacks front camera.
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, GPS antenna with GLONASS.
• 16 GB of internal storage, microSD card slot for additional storage.
• Measures 4.7" (l) x 2.5"(w) x 0.4" (10.28 mm) (d) and weighs 113 grammes.
• GSM\GPRS\EDGE (850\900\1800\1900 MHz); 3G (Europe\Asia: 900\2100 MHz).
• G-Sensor, Proximity sensor and Ambient light sensor.
• 1700mAh rechargeable Li-ion Polymer battery.
• Available colours: Blue, Yellow \ Grey, White \ Black, Red.

The Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC will be available in coming weeks in India. The Windows Phone 8X is priced at Rs 35,000 while the Windows Phone 8S will cost around Rs 19,500. Do you plan to buy one of these or wait for the Lumias?

Windows Phone 8X (L) and 8S (R) by HTC.

Microsoft launches Halo 4 at Rs 3,299 for Xbox 360

Halo 4 is out. Image from Tech2.in.com

“Master Chief” springs back into action on Tuesday with the release of Microsoft Corp’s Halo 4, the latest installment of the Xbox blockbuster that will compete with Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise for holiday-season bragging rights.
The game was also launched in India last night.  According to Tech2,  Halo 4 will be available at retail stores across India on Tuesday, 6th November. The Halo 4 Standard Edition is for Rs 3,299 and Limited Edition for Rs 4,599. 
Microsoft hopes the return of the laconic green-armored super-soldier protagonist of Halo, which has generated $3 billion of revenue since its 2001 launch, after a five-year hiatus will bring out gamers in droves when the title begins selling in more than 40 countries starting midnight.
The Halo series, made by Microsoft Game Studios, spearheaded the company’s foray into gaming that began with the 2001 launch of the first Xbox. It has sold more than 46 million copies to date and helped the console lead the market ahead of Sony’sPlaystation and Nintendo’sWii.
It remains to be seen if the well-reviewed game can revive flagging videogame sales or surpass Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which goes on sale next week and will vie for the title of 2012′s top-selling game. The first-person shooter series is now the biggest title on the Xbox.
Nintendo is also selling its new Wii U console, featuring a companion tablet controller, over the holidays. Microsoft’s rival Activision Blizzard is set to release a dedicated Wii U version for its “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2″ title when the new console hits stores on November 18.
“Because there hasn’t been a game to star “Master Chief” for five years, there’s a bit of a pent-up demand,” said Ryan McCaffrey, Xbox Executive editor at videogame website IGN.com.
“Call of Duty has taken over as the most popular game on the Xbox, so I think it will be very close,” he added.
In Halo 4, “Master Chief” deals out death and destruction to evil aliens while embarking on a quest to save his longtime friend and artificial-intelligence construct Cortana.
Microsoft, which has high hopes for the latest Halo, is pulling out the stops. Halo: Reach, the fourth game in the series sans Master Chief, was launched in September 2010 and raked in $200 million in global sales on launch-day.
The company is hosting marquee events in cities from Seattle and Berlin to London – where the company will stage an as-yet-undisclosed stunt on the Thames river.
Microsoft also held a massive launch event last week in the small country of Liechtenstein in Europe. Some historic landmarks and the countryside of the 62-square mile nation was transformed into a futuristic Halo-like universe and reporters were allowed to test the game.
GameStop Corp , the largest US chain, is also planning midnight events.
With less than 12 hours before the title’s launch, GameStop spokeswoman Wendy Dominguez said fans had begun lining up outside a handful of stores, including at their Flower Mound, Texas outlet. Some dressed in Halo costumes.
“They’ve either pre-ordered Halo or they’re waiting to get their hands on a copy and they’re pretty excited about it,” Dominguez said.