Infinix Note 4 Review

Gone are the days when you had to shell out a fortune to get smartphones with good features and performance. With the entry of Chinese players, the sub-10k segment has become pretty saturated. Infinix aims to capture this market with their Note 4, and with capable devices like Redmi Note 4 and Lenovo K6 Power to compete with, the company has its task cut out. Let's find out how the device fares in real world usage and if it has enough firepower to be at par with the likes of Xiaomi and Lenovo.

Infinix Note 4 Review

Before getting to the in-depth analysis, let's have a look at the specifications of Infinix Note 4. 

Display- 5.7 inch FHD IPS LCD

Processor - 1.3 GHz Mediatek 6753 Oct Core

GPU - Mali T720

Memory - 3 GB RAM; 32 GB internal storage, expandable by up to 128 GB

Camera - 13 MP rear; 8 MP front

Battery - 4300 mAh

Others - VoLTE support, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Android Nougat, Fingerprint scanner.

Price - Rs. 8,999

Design and Build

The Infinix Note 4 sports a great modern design with curves at the right places. The back panel curves at the edges and looks a lot like Samsung smartphones. The placement of camera and LED flash resembles the Samsung Galaxy S4. The front looks like any other mid-range smartphone from the past year, with a 5.7 inch display and a home button below which acts as the fingerprint scanner, which unlocks the smartphone in 0.15s.  

Though the design looks great, the back panel is still plastic and the shiny nature makes it a smudge magnet. To the front, the fingerprint scanner is flanked by capacitive back and recent apps buttons. Above the 5.7 inch screen resides the earpiece, sandwiched between camera, LED flash and other sensors. The power button and volume rockers are to the right side. The downward facing grill has speaker on one side and mic on the other, with a USB port in between them. Overall, the design is pretty good yet boring, and the build quality is just average.

Display

The 5.7 inch IPS LCD panel has a 1920x1080 (FHD) resolution. The display gets moderately bright and has good viewing angles, with the ability to produce good colors. 

Camera

The rear camera has a 13 MP sensor while the front facing camera is 8 MP. Both the cameras are accompanied by LED flash for better low light performances. The rear camera produces good pictures in well lit conditions. In low light, the camera is not up to the mark with greater levels of noise. There's no support for 4K video. The front camera is average, and tends to soften the images. Though there is a front facing flash, it doesn't improve the low light performance too much. The cameras are not bad by any means if you consider the price of the smartphone, but one shouldn't expect remarkable results from these.

Performance and UI

Though the performance is fairly good with lighter tasks, there are slight stutters when the 1.3 GHz Meditake 6753 is pushed. Even with 3 GB RAM, it becomes noticeable when you have loads of apps open or you games heavily. Heavy games drop frames at higher graphic settings, but it is usable with light to medium level gaming titles. 

The UI form the company is called Chameleon X OS 2.2, which runs on top of Android Nougat. There are a host of pre-installed apps and the UI is a simple and straight forward one with very few extra features.

Battery Life

The Infinix Note 4 comes with a 4300 mAh battery, and with such high capacity onw will expect great battery life. The Note 4 doesn't disappoint in this aspect, with the device lasting a full working day easily even with moderately heavy usage. With light usage, it may even last for almost two days. 

Final Verdict

There are better options in the market especially with aggressive companies like Xiaomi, but Infinix Note 4 won't disappoint you if you keep your expectations in check. It is average or above average in many aspects, with slight slowdowns in performance being the only drawback, which is expected given the low pricing. So, if you want an all rounder, there are definitely better options in the market. But, if you can't live with a Xiaomi or a Lenovo smartphone, then the Infinix Note 4 might be a good option. 

Intex launches shatterproof smartphones Aqua Lions X1 and X1+

The smartphones from Intex were always budget oriented devices, catering to users on a tight budget. Today the company has launched two more devices, with pretty good hardware and shatterproof screen.

Intex launches shatterproof smartphones Aqua Lions X1 and X1+

Intex Technologies, one of the leading brands in India, has launched two new smartphones, the Aqua Lions X1 and Lions X1+. The USP of this new series is the shatterproof screen, which can survive any kind of rough usage, and the company will also be providing a one-time screen replacement for one year.

Commenting on the launch of the shatterproof smartphone series, Ms. Nidhi Markanday, Director, Intex Technologies, said, "The shatter-proof series, Aqua Lions X1 and Aqua Lions X1+, is our latest tech marvel, a symbol of style, strength and performance for the ubiquitous users and the market. For this Diwali, we have brought out a complete package having all the right features - 3GB RAM, fingerprint sensor, big battery and latest OS for the tech savvy consumers. We are sure the shatterproof series will give consumers stress free handling of their smart phone and will be a delight for all."

The devices come with a 5.2 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280x720 (HD), which is protected with shatter-proof glass. The smartphones measure 9 mm at the thickest point and have removable back panels, under which there are two nano SIM slots, with support for 4G and VoLTE, a microSD card slot and a removable battery. The only differences between the two smartphones are the RAM and interal storage capacity - while the X1 has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage, the X1+ comes with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage. Both the devices will be running Android Nougat 7.0 and are powered by a 1.3 GHz quad core Mediatek 6737 processor.

The rear camera has a 13 MP sensor with AF and LED flash, while the selfie camera is a 5 MP one with FF and LED flash. The fingerprint sensor, located at the back of the smartphone, also responds to gestures and can be used for clicking pictures and answering calls. Speaking about gestures, users can take a screenshot by simply swiping down with three fingers. The smartphones will also have pre-installed MiFon Security, Databack, which lowers data usage and SwiftKey keyboard. All these are backed up by a removable 2800 mAh battery.

Price, Availability, Colors and Launch Offers

The Aqua Lions X1 is priced at Rs. 7,499 and X1+ is priced at Rs. 8,499. Both the smartphones will be available in offline as well as online markets, though there were no clarifications regarding exclusive partnerships with e-commerce sites. There are three color options - Black, Champagne and Blue. Additional offers include extra 25 GB data on Jio over a period of six months.

Jio beats Airtel in overall coverage | Delivers best mobile data experience

OpenSignal, a company which specializes in analysis of wireless network mapping, has come up with their second report on State of Mobile Networks. The report is prepared on the basis of more than 7 billion tests obtained from 708,504 mobile devices across India. The tests were conducted over a 3 month period from June 1 to August 31 this year.

Jio beats Airtel in overall coverage | Delivers best mobile data experience

Reliance Jio being the only company with a pan-India LTE license, scores highly in overall coverage. Jio's growth rate has been on the higher side since its launch last year, and with improved speeds, the telecom operator bags the overall speed award. The speeds were not the best, but the huge presence in the country helped it win the top prize.

[Also Read: Jio offers worth Rs 2300 will be bundled with LYF C459 and C451]

Jio averaged a respectable 5.8 Mbps speed, which is a significant improvement over the last OpenSignal report. The number has gone up by 49% compared to previous results, which recorded an average speed of 3.9 Mbps. The already incredible reach of Jio improved further in the last six months. The testers were able to connect to an LTE signal more than 95.6% of time, which is almost 32 points higher than its next competitor.

Talking about network availability, the numbers of other operators lags behind due to their limited reach in the country. Jio is one and half times better than the second placed operator, which is a hug lead. Jio topped overall speed in all the major states of India. Though Airtel recorded higher network speeds and got the award for both 3G and 4G, the number actually went down from 11.5 Mbps to 9.1 Mbps on 4G.

Jio takes a hefty lead in two of the four parameters in which it was counted. Since Jio doesn't have 3G network, it was not counted in download speed and latency for 3G. While the download speed increased significantly, it was still the last placed network in download speeds and latency, but scored outright wins in availability and overall speeds.

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Jio offers worth Rs 2300 will be bundled with LYF C459 and C451

Jio has always succeeded in bringing massive changes related to data connectivity in India, starting it off with cheap data recharge offers. They even provided complimentary offers including free subscription to various services, thereby increasing the effective value of each offer. Now Jio has come up with offers that work with two LYF smartphones, effectively reducing its price to under Rs. 2500.

Jio offers worth Rs 2300 will be bundled with LYF C459 and C451

Jio will be offering special benefits on two models of its C series LYF smartphones. The smartphones, C459 and C451 are priced at Rs. 4699 and Rs. 4999 respectively. The new Jio benefits have a total value of Rs. 2307, thus bringing down the effective costs to Rs. 2392 and Rs. 2692.

Jio Benefits | How it works

The additional Jio Benefits include the following things -

• A complimentary Jio Prime Membership worth Rs. 99
• First recharge of Rs 399 which provides 1 GB/day data for 84 days and unlimited calls and SMS.
• Additional 5GB/month worth Rs. 201 for next 9 months - a total value of Rs. 1809.

The total value of the entire package is Rs. 2307, which means the effective costs for C459 and C451 will be Rs. 2392 and Rs. 2692 respectively. This makes them the most affordable VoLTE enabled smartphones. The offer is valid only till October 22, 2017.

LYF C459 and C451

 Both the smartphones have pretty basic set of features. The IPS LCD display measures 4.5 inches diagonally, with a resolution of 480x854. Powered by a 1.3 GHz quad core Snapdragon processor, the smartphones come with 8 GB internal storage, which can be expanded by up to 128 GB, and 1 GB RAM. The rear camera is a 5 MP one with Auto Focus, while the selfie camera has a 2 MP sensor. The only noticeable difference is in the battery capacity, the C459 has a 2000 mAh battery while the C451 has a 2800 mAh one. Both the phones will be running Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 out of the box.

Nokia 8 launched in India | Dual Camera | Price, Colors and Availability

A decade ago, Nokia was the leading brand in mobile phone industry. Then smartphones came into the picture and the baton was exchanged a few times, finally resting in Samsung's hands. Now after a few years' hiatus, Nokia, currently under HMD Global, is trying to gain their lost position by releasing an array of Android smartphones, and the flagship model from the new line-up has reached the Indian shores.

Nokia 8 launched in India | Dual Camera | Price, Colors and  Availability

HMD Global has announced the launch of the flagship Nokia 8 in India. The Snapdragon 835 touting Nokia 8 packs in great hardware such as Zeiss optics and OZO Audio.

Ajey Mehta, Vice President - India, HMD Global, said: "Millennials, today, are always exploring new ways to create and share content. It's these creative content creators who inspired us to craft a smartphone with them in mind. That's why we've worked to bring three world firsts – the debut collaboration with ZEISS, OZO spatial 360° Audio, and real-time live streaming using Dual-Sight mode."

Speaking on the launch, Larry Paulson, Vice-President & President, Qualcomm India, said "Nokia 8 is the first device from Nokia on the Snapdragon 800 Mobile Platform. With an advanced 10-nanometer design, the Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform offers phenomenal mobile performance on the Nokia 8, delivering an exceptional user experience."

The Nokia 8 features a Snapdragon 835 processor with Adreno 540 GPU handling its graphics. The highlights of this phone are a dual 13+13 MP real camera setup by Zeiss optics, enhanced audio experience with the inclusion of OZO audio. 4 GB of RAM is couple with 64 GB internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD card by up to 256 GB. The display is a 5.3 inch QHD IPS LCD panel with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Out of the box, Nokia 8 will be running on Android Nougat, and will be receiving the Oreo update.

[Also Read: These devices are getting Android Oreo]

There's a Bothie feature through which users can stream videos to social medias like Facebook or YouTube from both cameras simultaneously. Click here for the detailed coverage of features such as OZO audio and Bothie.

Price, Colors and Availability

The Nokia 8 will be available at major retail outlets across the country including Croma, Reliance, Sangeetha Mobiles, Poorvika, BigC (among others) and Nokia's online partner Amazon.in.

Colors: Polished Blue, Tempered Blue, Steel and Polished Copper (will be available few weeks later)

Price: Rs. 36,999

Availability: From October 14 at the retailers mentioned above.

Additional Offers: Jio customers will get up to 100GB additional 4G data on Nokia 8. This will be limited to 10GB extra data for each recharge of Rs. 309 and above, for a maximum of 10 recharges till August 31, 2018. Nokia 8 consumers will also have access to special Nokia Mobile Care Concierge Service in 50 cities across the country. Nokia 8 consumers from these 50 cities can avail of Nokia Mobile Care services from the convenience of their homes.

Panasonic launches Toughbook CF-33 in India | Rugged detachable laptop with 3:2 screen ratio

Computing devices are getting more powerful and sleeker each year. Few flagship laptops are actually known for its looks and light design. Sometimes such devices are required in places and situations where it may get damaged easily. Emergency departments like evacuation teams, police, firemen, or even defense personnel often need high processing power in a rough and tough build, with ability to withstand rains, dust and occasional falls and this product from Panasonic is built just for that.

Panasonic launches Toughbook CF-33 in India | Rugged detachable laptop with 3:2 screen ratio

Panasonic unveiled a 2-in-1 detachable laptop with a 3:2 screen ratio, Toughbook CF-33, extending the companies huge rugged computing portfolio. The device is the company's 7th generation Toughbook laptop and it's ideal for industries such as emergency services, police, defense, field service workers, maintenance technicians who have to work in unforgiving conditions.

The successor to the bestselling Panasonic Toughbook CF-31 and CF-20, this laptop is powered by the latest generation Intel CoreTM vProTM processor, ensuring superior performance. It sports a 2 MP webcam with stereo microphones and 8 MP rear camera and also comes with rich set of interfaces. The tablet portion includes USB 3.0, HDMI, LAN, micro SD-XC and headset ports. On the keyboard dock, there are two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port, LAN, serial HDMI, SD-XC slot and VGA port. Additional options include a Barcode scanner, Smart Card reader and fingerprint reader.

“Users today are looking to do more with rugged devices than ever before. With the evolving needs of enterprise and government sectors, we are transforming with times to offer best computing solutions for our customers. Old bulky laptops present safety concerns, portability issues and are not very resilient to damage. We at Panasonic are constantly looking to offer products that not only improve the efficiency, but enhance productivity and bottom-line performances for a number of years,” said Mr. Vijay Wadhwan, Business Head System and Solution Business, Panasonic India.

“The CF 33 has been built in line considering the new dimensions businesses are now looking to add to their portfolio. Apart from its perennial tough quality, lightweight and detachable characteristics of the laptop make it an ideal fit for corporations who are looking to do more with their computing devices. It is well equipped to allow consumer’s access mainframe company data at all times, in order to maintain seamless workflow management. Panasonic Toughpad’s enjoy a 65% market share here in India, and with the introduction of new products in the Toughbook and Toughpad series we aim to increase our market share to over 70%” said Mr Gunjan Sachdev, Business Head, Toughbook and Toughpad Division.

Key Features and Specifications

Software and Hardware 
Windows 10 Pro
Intel Core i7-7600U vPro processor or Intel Core i5-7300U vPro processor

Display and Cameras
12" capacitive touchscreen with 2160 x 1440 (3:2) resolution
Brightness - 1200cd/m2
IP55 digitizer pen
8 MP (rear) and 2 MP (front webcam)

Memory
4/8/16 GB RAM with 128/256/512 GB SSD

Build and Weight
Magnesium chassis; IP65 rating; drop resistant up to 120 cms
Laptop mode - 2.76 kg (~6.1 lbs); Detached tablet mode - 1.53 kg (~3.37 lbs)

Battery
10 hours battery life

Price
Rs. 2,70,000 (excluding taxes)

Links:
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Intex Launches a Multipurpose Car Inverter Charger

Highlights

• The DC 200 Car Inverter charger can charge up to 4 devices at the same time
• BT-13 wireless earphones comes in a sporty look
• Power Banks with 6000 mAh, 8000 mAh, 10000 mAh and 12500 mAh capacities

Intex Launches a Multipurpose Car Inverter Charger

One of the leading technology brands, Intex has come up with a series of mobile accessories meant for power users. First in the list is a unique car inverter charger which has the ability to charge up to 4 devices at a time. A Bluetooth earphone and a series of power banks were the other products launched today at an event in Bengaluru.

Commenting on the launch of the Car Inverter and other mobile accessories, Mr. Manish Gupta, Business Head - Mobile Accessories, Intex Technologies, said “In today’s busy lifestyle, especially for professionals, mobile accessories have become much more important than the mobile phone itself and so to cater to the convenience of the tech savvy youth, Intex has introduced the multipurpose car inverter charger. The product is especially beneficial to travelers and professionals who regularly travel by road. Intex has always designed products keeping in mind consumers’ needs & demands and we are sure that the latest range of accessories will prove to be a consumer’s delight.”

Intex Car Inverter Charger

The Intex Car Inverter DC-200 comes with a multi-protection system, which prevents overloading, overheating, short circuit and surge protection, ensuring the connected devices are not harmed in case of a mishap. It takes in a DC input and converts it to AC output - enabling users to charge devices that require AC power. Hence it becomes easier for users to power devices such as laptop on the go. The inverter charger has an AC socket, cigarette lighter socket and 2 USB ports with silent heat emission, making the DC-200 a unique accessory.

Key Features

• Output Power: 200W (250W Max) with 2 USB output port (5V @ 3.4A DC)
• Input Voltage: 11V~15V DC
• Output Voltage: 220V~240V/50Hz
• AC Socket, Cigarette Lighter Port
• Built-in 25A/32V fuse
• Protection: Low battery shutdown, low voltage protection, overload protection, short circuit protection, over temperature protection, surge protection

Wireless Earphones BT-13

The wireless earphones, BT-13, flaunts a sporty look with its multi colored casing, and is designed especially for fitness enthusiasts. The design ensures that the earphones are comfortable to wear for longer duration and won't fall off easily so that the users can wear it during a gym session or even while jogging. It supports Bluetooth version 4.1, and comes in three colors - Yellow, Green and Black. It will retail at a cost of Rs. 1,499.

Key Features

• Bluetooth 4.1; up to 10 meters range
• Track: HD Stereo
• Charging Time: 1.5 ~ 2.5 hours
• Talktime: 3.5 ~ 4.5 hours
• Standby: 150 ~ 170 hours
• Modes: A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP, Atp-x

Power Banks

The other set of accessories are the new line-up of power banks. This new Polymer series of power banks come with 6000 mAh, 8000 mAh, 10000 mAh and 12500 mAh capacities. The wide range of capacities and the availability of three colors - Yellow, Black, White - enables the user to select a power bank which suits their needs and style.

LIFX will now support Apple HomeKit | Control your lights via Apple Home or Siri

LIFX bulbs have been a great value for money solution to those looking for smart lighting. It is a cheap and energy efficient Wi-Fi enabled line-up of smart bulbs with great app support. To bring this along with other smart devices under one single roof, LIFX has come up with a new announcement.

LIFX will now support Apple HomeKit | Control your lights via Apple Home or Siri

LIFX announced Apple HomeKit support for all its existing LIFX and LIFX+ models of smart bulbs. HomeKit is Apple's way of streamlining the home automation system under their ecosystem. A single solution such as HomeKit enables all the smart accessories to communicate with each other easily and take the home automation game to the next level. 

Users of LIFX smart lights, starting today, can control it with their voice via Apple Home App or Siri on their Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV and Apple Watch. As mentioned above, bringing HomeKit support to LIFX smart bulbs enables it to seamlessly and securely work with other HomeKit enabled devices.

“The HomeKit ecosystem is something we’re thrilled to be a member of. Apple builds amazing experiences and we’re excited to see LIFX added to the HomeKit ecosystem,” said Marc Alexander, Chief Executive Officer at LIFX.

The smart bulbs, which are equipped with Wi-Fi micro-controller, use a master/slave network to communicate between each other. The master bulb connects to the main network via 802.11 b/g/n connection and the slave bulbs utilize a low power IPv6 802.15.4 mesh network. LIFX bulbs were already controllable by voice commands through Microsoft's Cortana, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The LIFX app is available on all major platforms (download links below), so adding Apple HomeKit compatibility was the next practical step for LIFX.

The LIFX line-up of smart bulbs, which begins at a relatively cheap price of $24.99 for a single LIFX mini white variant, provides at least 800 lumens bright light, with certain models having brightness of 1100 lumens. Depending on the model you select, the supported range of color temperatures vary, thus providing you the right combination of colors for your mood. With an expected lifespan of 22.8 years for all models, this is a great investment for people who want to automate their living room.

Automate your lighting

Users can automate their HomeKit enabled devices via the Home App and control everything using the same interface. You can set your schedules and the LIFX bulbs will wake you up with its wide range of colors or you can even create a perfect lighting to suit your mood. By just sending a voice command via Siri, you can utilize the 16 million colors of LIFX smart lights to create the ideal lighting experience.

Links:

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LIFX [iOS]

LIFX [Android]

LIFX [Windows]

Google buys smartphone team from HTC for $1.1 billion

Through Android, Google has always controlled only the software side of things in the smartphone world. They sold smartphones under the Nexus brand, but it was always through a partnership with certain OEMs which usually changed every year. Pixel smartphones were the first ever Google phones which didn't carry any OEM branding on it, but Google had a team of engineers working on the smartphone who were not exactly Google's employees. Now Google has acquired the team which worked with them for Pixel smartphones, and entered into certain agreements with HTC.

Google buys smartphone team from HTC for $1.1 billion

Google and HTC announced a definitive agreement through which a few HTC employees will join Google. Many of these engineers were already working with Google in developing the Pixel smartphones. As part of this transaction, Google will be paying HTC $1.1 billion in cash. Google will also be receiving a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property (IP).

[Also Read: Moto X4 will be the first Android One smartphone with support for Project Fi]

“As a pioneer of the smartphone market, we are very proud of our history of innovation. Our unmatched smartphone value chain, including our IP portfolio, and world-class talent and system integration capabilities, have supported Google in bolstering the Android market,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC. “This agreement is a brilliant next step in our longstanding partnership, enabling Google to supercharge their hardware business while ensuring continued innovation within our HTC smartphone and VIVE virtual reality businesses. We believe HTC is well positioned to maintain our rich legacy of innovation and realize the potential of a new generation of connected products and services.”

“HTC has been a longtime partner of Google and has created some of the most beautiful, premium devices on the market,” said Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President of Hardware at Google. “We're excited and can't wait to welcome members of the HTC team who will be joining Google to fuel further innovation and future product development in consumer hardware.” 

The transaction will be closed by early 2018, subject to regulatory approvals and other formalities. HTC and Google have been partners since a long time in various projects, with HTC bringing the first ever Android smartphone back in 2008. Then they again partnered with each other to bring Nexus One in 2010, the Nexus 9 in 2014 and he Pixel smartphones last year. Even after this deal, HTC will continue manufacturing smartphones and other hardware products.

This is Google's second such deal with a major manufacturer, the first was with Motorola 6 years ago. Two years later, Google sold majority of what it acquired for a fraction of the price at which it bought Motorola. Looking at the difference in the prices at which it was bought and then sold, the Motorola deal seems like a price Google paid to acquire certain important patents. Now with a move that is aimed at becoming a hardware manufacturer themselves, Google seems ready to take on Apple with complete control over both the aspects of a smartphone - software and hardware. 

Links

Source

Moto X4 will be the first Android One smartphone with Project Fi support

Google's plan to expand Android One program to US by joining hands with Motorola was covered recently on our website. The Moto X4 will be used as the Android One smartphone and this provides a cheaper alternative for people who are looking for stock Android software and regular updates. This also fits perfectly with Google Project Fi's rumored plan to introduce a mid-range device, and just hours ago, this rumor was confirmed.

Moto X4 will be the first Android One smartphone with Project Fi support

The Project Fi supports devices such as Google's Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Pixel and Pixel XL. With the Nexus 6P and 5X going out of stock, the only options one had were the highly priced Pixel and Pixel XL. Now the latest Android One smartphone, the Moto X4, has been added to the list of Project Fi supported devices.

The Moto X4 packs in some powerful hardware, with a Snapdragon 630 and Adreno 508 with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage which can be expanded via mirocSD card by up to 2 TB. The display is a 5.5 inch IPS LCD one with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It also has a dual rear camera setup with a combination of 12 MP Dual Pixel Auto Focus sensor and an 8 MP wide-angle sensor. The IP68 certifies device will have a 3000 mAh battery which supports fast charging at 15W input.

[Also Read: After backlash from users, Motorola promises Android Oreo for Moto G4 Plus]

The device will be available only in the US from $399, which is a lot cheaper to the Pixel series which starts at $649. Though it is not as cheap as the 5X, which was on Fi at $199, it is definitely a step in the right direction. There are two color options - Super Black and Sterling Blue, and users can get it at $16.63/ month for 24 months. There's a trade-in program as well, by which you can exchange an old Nexus device for discounts up to $165, and if done by October 5, you can also get a $50 Fi credit.

Source

Panasonic has launched the Eluga Ray 700 and Ray 500 | Price, Specs and Availability

Flipkart's Big Billion Days are almost here and like every year, there are a few devices which will be launching just in time for the sale period. This year, Panasonic has come up with two new budget-oriented smartphones, the Eluga Ray 700 and Eluga Ray 500.

Panasonic has launched the Eluga Ray 700 and Ray 500 | Price, Specs and Availability

Panasonic has launched the Eluga Ray 700 and Eluga Ray 500 smartphones in India. These smartphones will be available via Flipkart during the Big Billion Days Sale.

Eluga Ray 700

The Eluga Ray 700 comes with a 5.5 inch FullHD display which uses IPS On Cell technology. The 2.5D glass is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The device measures 153.8 x 75.4 x 8.9 mm and weighs 182 g. It will be running on Android 7 Nougat out of the box.

A Mediatek MTK6753 Octa Core processor powers the device. Internal storage capacity is 32 GB which can be expanded by up to 128 GB via a dedicated microSD card slot, and RAM available is 3 GB. Both the rear and front camera sport 13 MP sensors. The rear camera has an aperture of f/2.0 while the front camera has a narrower f/2.2 aperture. Both the cameras are accompanied by LED flash for better low light pictures.

The dual SIM smartphone supports 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4 and GPS. Sensors such as accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, compass and fingerprint reader are also present. The device will be backed up by a massive 5000 mAh battery which can be charged via the mircoUSB port.

Eluga Ray 500

The Eluga 500 sports a 5 inch HD IPS On Cell display with 2.5D curvature to the sides. It measures 144.3 x 71.3 x 9.2 mm and weighs 163 g, lighter than the Ray 700 by 19 grams. The ray 500 will be running on Android 7 Nougat. 

Under the hood, it is powered by a Mediatek MTK6737 quad core processor with a clock speed of 1.25 GHz. 32 GB of internal storage can be expanded by up to 128 GB via a hybrid slot while 3 GB of RAM is available. The rear optics is a dual camera setup - a 13 MP f/2.0 aperture lens with an 8 MP f/2.4 aperture ultra-wide lens. The secondary camera has a 5 MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Only the rear camera has LED flash.

The Eluga Ray 500 supports dual nano 4G SIM, WI-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth version 4 and GPS. It also has accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor and fingerprint reader. A non-removable 4000 mAh battery will power the device.

Price, Colors and Availability

Both the devices will be available exclusively via Flipkart. The Eluga Ray 700 is priced at Rs. 9,999 and the Ray 500 is priced at Rs. 8,999. Sale will start at 12 AM on 21st September (11:59 PM on September 20), and buyers can avail of offers such as exchange discount of up to Rs. 8500. Axis Bank Buzz Credit Card holders can get an additional 5% off. Both smartphones will come in three colors - Champagne Gold, Marine Blue, Mocha Gold.

Now Motorola confirms Android Oreo for Moto G4 Plus

After the launch of Android Oreo, we published an article about the smartphones which, according to our best guesses, will be receiving the latest Android version. As companies are often lazy in giving out details or complete list of phones eligible for upgrades, we try to look at their history with major upgrades and try to predict their update cycle.

And we did the same for Motorola as well, and posted that G4 Plus will not be receiving Android Oreo, which turned out to be correct when the company posted a blog regarding the smartphones which will receive the update. This didn't look like a controversy waiting to happen, since one major upgrade for a mid-range device is still good enough. But after Motorola's official announcement, users turned to social media to make their disappointment clear. Certain users posted an alleged product pamphlet in Spanish, which mentioned clearly that G4 Plus will receive Android N as well as O (both were unnamed at the time of release).

[Also Read: Top Features of Android Oreo]

The Moto G4 pamphlet

Description on Amazon India

Further, Amazon India's landing page also had mentioned the same thing. This quickly became a major issue with complaints pouring in from all sides. The power of social media was pretty evident, with major bloggers and YouTubers joining in and signing an online petition which demanded Android Oreo for Moto G4 Plus. Popular Indian YouTube channel PhoneRadar recently made a video about it as well, which further intensified the issue. And it seems that Motorola is paying heed to public's voice and they have released an official statement.

Now Motorola confirms Android Oreo for Moto G4 Plus

The Lenovo owned company added an update section to its blogpost and clarified the issue. They mentioned that Moto G phones had a history of getting one major upgrade, and hence G4 Plus was excluded from the planned Android Oreo upgrade. They acknowledged that the pamphlets and other related stuffs had mentioned a guaranteed upgrade to Android Oreo, and that it's important to fulfill the promises. 

Their official statement: Since the time of posting this, we have learned of some errors in our marketing materials around Android O upgrades for moto g4 Plus. It’s our general practice for the moto g family to get one major OS upgrade per device, so it wasn’t originally planned for Android O. But it’s important to us we keep our promises, so in addition to the N upgrade it has already received, we will be upgrading moto g4 Plus to Android O. Because this is an unplanned upgrade, it will take some time to fit into our schedule, we’ll update our software upgrade page when we have more info.

So, the company is not running away from this issue by simply blaming it on a mistake from team members. It's a good sign that Motorola is trying to maintain the trust of users and are willing to go the extra mile for it. Let's hope that all companies follow suit and deliver promised updates without giving excuses.

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OnePlus 5 will be available in Croma stores from September 19

When OnePlus first set its foot in the expanding smartphone market, they used an invite-only system, in which prospective buyers had to wait for an invite link to grab the OnePlus One. Slowly but steadily, OnePlus began to expand their reach with their next generation phones being made available in more countries and by ditching the invite-only system for good. The next step to gain more market share is to make their products available offline, and that's exactly what OnePlus will be doing in India.

OnePlus 5 will be available in Croma stores from September 19

The Chinese manufacturer announced that OnePlus 5 will be available in Croma stores starting tomorrow. They published this news via their official Indian twitter handle. Though they technically had offline stores selling OnePlus 5, it was limited to the OnePlus experience stores which were opened in just three cities, Bengaluru, Noida and New Delhi. This is the first time the young company has joined hands with an offline retail store to sell their devices. OnePlus has been teasing about this partnership since a few days, and recently Croma added a product page for OnePlus 5 on their website. As of now, only OnePlus 5 is expected to be brought into offline Croma stores.

OnePlus 5 was launched in India in June this year, as a successor to the popular OnePlus 3T. The device received highly positive reviews and is one of the most preferred phones in the Rs 30k - 40k price bracket. Recently OnePlus also revealed that OnePlus 5 as well as its last two smartphones - 3T and 3 - will be receiving the latest Android version, Oreo, by the end of this year. 

[Also Read: Android Oreo will be the last major upgrade for OnePlus 3 and 3T]

OnePlus 5 comes with a 5.5 inch FullHD display, with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 835 processor under the hood. It also features a dual camera setup to the rear, with a combination of a standard lens and a telephoto lens. The camera performance has improved with frequent updates, one of which even added EIS support at 4K resolution for rear camera. OnePlus also supports the proprietary Dash Charge at an insane 20W, which makes it one of the fastest charging devices. The smartphone is available in two variants w.r.t RAM and storage, 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage. The 4/64 variant is priced at Rs. 32,999 while the 8/128 variant retails at Rs. 37,999. Though highly unlikely, it remains to be seen whether bringing these devices to offline market will have any effect on its pricing.

[Also Read: Motorola confirms the list of devices which will receive Android Oreo]

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Google launches its UPI based payment app Tez in India | How to get started

Digital payment is becoming a trend in India of late, and with easy and cheap access to internet and cheap 4G enabled smartphones, it's a good time to launch payment related apps. Search giant Google is not the one to miss such an opportunity and becomes the latest to join the bandwagon.

Google launches its UPI based payment app Tez in India | How to get started

Google has launched its payment app called Tez in India, at an event in Delhi. The app can be used to send money to friends and family, instantly receive payment directly to the linked banked account, or even pay your bills at your nearby restaurant. The launch event was attended by Mr. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister of India. 

For those wondering, Tez is not a wallet app where you can add money and store it for later use. This is just a payment app, where the transactions take place directly from the linked bank accounts. The app works with all the banks having UPI support, which should make compatibility easier as almost all major banks already have support for UPI. Tez also supports Airtel Payments Bank. There's also a Cash Mode, through which you can simply transfer money with nearby users without giving account details to the sender.

A security feature called Tez Shield will be active all the time to detect fraud and prevent hacking. Tez also gives an option to enable in-app locking, which means you can either use the lock system of your phone or can enable a separate key in the app for security.

Tez offers a wide range of language options with support for Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, along with English. Support for more languages will be coming soon. The app will work only if you are in India, have an account in an Indian bank and an Indian mobile number. Another important thing to note is that it won't work with smartphones having unlocked bootloader, which is a good thing since the software may not be secure.

As of now, only individual payments are supported but future updates will bring feature for adding debit/credit cards and also to pay or set reminders for recurring bills like DTH or telephone. Transaction amount should be at least Rs. 50.

Step-by-step guide to get started

1. Choose your preferred language.

2. Enter your mobile number, which is linked to the bank account you intend to link with Tez. An OTP will verify your phone number.

3. Choose a Google account, via which you will receive verification details, alerts and notifications.

4. Set up an in-app lock if you wish

5. Select your bank account number or link your account by giving basic details like IFSC code. Now you are ready to send/receive money via Tez. 

Privacy issues and bugs

The app has been downloaded by many users even before the official launch took place in the national capital. The issues might be solved with future updates, but there have been a lot of complaints coming in from the users in the review section of the Play Store page.

A lot of users are facing issues in linking the account, with error messages greeting them during OTP verification. Users are also reporting about very slow loading times. Such things will be addressed soon according to a reply by the developer team to a user.

A twitter user with the handle @anivar also pointed out certain privacy issues in this app. First of all, being a recipient automatically means that you are allowing the other user to store your Aadhaar details on their smartphone for future payments. The app won't ask your permission separately, with the T&Cs clearly mentioning that being a recipient is equivalent to giving your consent.

Another issue pointed out by the same twitter user is that Google may charge you for transactions, and the extra fee will be notified before final payment. The app also doesn't offer you the option to set VPA according to your choice, instead you'll be given a random VPA with random UPI handle such as @okicici or @hdfcbank, which is kind of strange since Google could have easily made an address for Tez.

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Source - Tez by Google

Twitter thread by @anivar

Tez [Android]

Tez [iOS]

Vu Televisions launches Pop Smart TV, Office Smart TV and Premium Smart TV series

Ms. Devita Saraf, CEO and Design Head – Vu Luxury Televisions

Vu Televisions launches Pop Smart TV, Office Smart TV and Premium Smart TV series

Vu TV, the largest selling online TV brand in India, launched three new series of televisions aimed at providing unique features to each segment of users. Vu, third largest 4K TV brand in India after Samsung and Sony, has a projected revenue of Rs. 1000 Cr for this fiscal year. This launch witnessed the first Smart TV that is researched and developed entirely in India.

Commenting on the launch, Devita Saraf, CEO & Design Head, Vu TV said, “I am excited to announce launch the new TV series from Vu TV, bringing together unprecedented and immensely required functionalities for today’s generation. Vu is at the forefront of innovation in television technology in India and we are proud to present the Indian Youth and Professionals with the most spectacular solutions.”

Pop Smart TV

This model is a true 'Make In India' product from software to hardware. It's the first of its kind to support PC casting from Windows as well as Mac. It's filled with on demand services like hungama, Eros Now, Daily Motion and others. Pop Smart allows users to share Picture, Video, Music on TV directly from smartphone, with support for both Android and iOS. Users can control the TV from the smartphone itself, with support for keyboard function for browsing the web. 

Sizes and Price: 49" - Rs. 44,500, 43" - Rs. 37,500 and 32" - Rs. 22,000.

Office Smart

This product is aimed at users intending to use larger screen for productivity purposes. The Office Smart TV, claimed as the first ever office oriented TV, comes with in-built Windows OS which can be used for PPT, Excel, Word, Outlook etc. Coupled with 32 GB storage and wired as well as wireless connectivity, the device enables users to send emails directly to the TV. The hassle of connecting multiple input devices for a presentation is eliminated with this unique plug and play solution. It will be available in four sizes - 75", 65", 55" and 49", but the prices were not announced.

Premium Smart

This is the most powerful Smart TV among the entire line-up, with dedicated quad-core Internet Video Processor and Premium OS which offers high processing speed. This model is licensed with YouTube and Netflix and offers superb connectivity and convenience to the users. There are YouTube and Netflix buttons on the App, using which users can directly push videos from these popular video streaming services directly to the TV.

It also comes with a screen mirroring feature, which allows seamless connectivity from mobile to TV. Using Any View cast or DLNA, content from personal devices such as computers, mobiles or tablets can be shared via Wi-Fi or LAN.

Sizes and Price: 55" - Rs. 60,000, 49" - Rs. 44,500, 43" - Rs 38,500, 39" - Rs. 31,500 and 32" - Rs. 20,000.

Other than these three products, Devita Saraf announced the launch of Android Smart, a Google certified Android TV and an upcoming launch of QLED TV, which will be available in the country post Diwali.