Mobile Phones News Blog

Eyeing over 25 per cent growth in sales amid growing competition, Lakshmi Access Communications Systems (LACS) has slashed prices of its tablet by 36 per cent.

With this reduction, Lacs Pepper 74V which is the entry level model with a 7 inch resistive screen will cost Rs 4,995. The tablet comes Android 2.2 OS and a 800 Mhz processor and a powerful 4000 mAH battery.

“We have reduced the prices of our entire range of products by 36 per cent. With the price cut, we expect to increase sales by over 25 per cent,” the company’s national sales head Vikas Anand told reporters in Delhi today.

On being pointed out that companies like Micromax is offering capacitive screen tablets for Rs 6500 with free data card, making it effectively Rs 5,500, a Spokesperson of the company said, “We do not compete on pricing alone. We are offering 1 year warranty with 3 months upgrade warranty, where a consumer can upgrade his device by returning the device and paying the difference for a higher model”.

He added, “We also offer the option of extended warranty up to 3 years, also we take a lot of care in ensuring that our products are best quality in its category”.

Lacs offers a wide range of tablets with a range of Rs 4,995 to Rs 20,500 with 15 different configurations.

Meanwhile, the company launched two new variants of its ‘Magnum’ range of tablets called the Tamarind B7 (with seven inch screen) and T10 (with ten inch screen). The B7 is priced at Rs 11,499 and the T10 at 20,499.

Tamarind T10 features a 10.2 inch capacitive touch screen, 1.2 GHz ARM A8 processor with 512 MB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, 3G dongle support, HDMI port, SD card slot (up to 32GB) and 2.0 mega pixel camera at back and a VGA camera up front.

Tamarind B7 differs on only in terms of screen size, both the devices are based on Android 2.3 operating system.

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• Tablet
  

  HTC planning Samsung Galaxy Note competitor

Every month, price of some smartphone models slide a bit and select ones go for an amazing deals that are totally worth going for. Over here we try to list the smartphone models that are absolutely value for money devices with respect to price weighed heavily as one of the factors.

Here is our list of top 5 mobile deals where in discount may be more or less but at the end of the day, these smartphones at totally worth every buck spent on them.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S

Sony Ericsson had announced Arc S back in September 2011 and made it available in India for Rs 26,900. Appearance wise, this Xperia smartphone is built similar to the original Arc S but has enhancements at the hardware level. Bearing the same 4.2-inch LCD display as its predecessor, the Xperia Arc S supports 480×854 pixel resolution and has Sony Mobile Bravia Engine under it for better visual experience.

Under the 8.7mm slim chassis, the Xperia Arc S houses an overclocked single core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile processor with Adreno 205 graphics. In terms of imaging, this smartphone does have a good potential to deliver nice images with the help of the 8 megapixel camera at the back. This camera has Exmor R image sensor. It also offers capability to shoot 720p HD videos at 30 frames per second. Along with that, the camera also brings bunch of novel features.

Currently it retails with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and the company has just started rolling out the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for this smartphone. Though this smartphone has merely 320 MB user available memory on-board, it bundles an 8 GB micro SD card in the package. With other features remaining standard, this smartphone had 1500 mAh battery. The Xperia Arc S was launched for Rs 26,995 and now can be purchased for as low as Rs 18,990 from eBay.in.

Microsoft has embarked upon a UK marketing assault aiming to extol the virtues of its Windows Phone operating system.

The new ‘Spanking’ campaign involves challenging users of other mobile platforms to complete tasks on their handsets faster than they can be done on a Windows Phone-powered Nokia Lumia 800.

Challenges are based around standard smartphone tasks such as checking your latest social network updates and the weather forecast. Should your device manage to complete the task faster than the Windows Phone device you’ll be handed a £20 note right then and there.

The premise of the campaign is to raise awareness of Windows Phone within the UK market and push it further into the public consciousness, hopefully resulting in increased sales.

Windows Phone has been running the campaign in America for a while, using the term ‘smoking’ (as opposed to the more British ‘spanking’) and has received a great deal of attention. You may have seen the phrase “My Android was smoked by Windows Phone” being used online following coverage of Microsoft’s Stateside marketing endeavours.

However, the idea has fallen foul of a few of the more tech-savvy Android users who have adapted their handsets to speed them up, doing such things as removing the lock screen, which has enabled them to beat Windows Phone Nokias in the assigned tasks.

Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony has now announced the launch of the Android 4.0 upgrade for its Tablet S. There are a lot of new and cool things added in the upgrade that will be available across the globe.

First of all, the update will bring an all new lock screen and an ‘unlock direct to camera’ option. New home screen actions for easier work around the tablet have also been added in this upgrade. The most important thing is the addition of panorama mode that enables users to take wider single shots in one go with the tablet.

Also Sony Tablet S users can now get direct access to notifications and settings, something that has been adopted in ICS from Honeycomb. Also for faster web browsing, a whole new browser has also been added to the device. Also included in the update is the native screen shot taking functionality with which users can shoot high scores and anything on the device just by pressing power and volume keys at the same time.

To get the update, Sony Tablet S owners should connect to WiFi and if the tablet prompt you to do a system update – just click OK to download, and in a few minutes you should be ready to go on Android 4.0. The update is available over the air and no cables or PC software are required for this.

The Sony Tablet S device is available in both a 16 GB and 32 GB version and is being sold at Sony Stores including online and other authorised retailers nationwide.

Update: We have finally managed to get hold of a final production model of the One X, so check out the updated video and see the italicised text below for our thoughts after spending a bit more time with the HTC flagship.

Rumours of a quad-core handset from HTC have been circulating for some time, with numerous reports offering varying details of possible specs and design cues. Initially codenamed Edge and then Endeavour, the handset has finally received an official launch as the HTC One X at Mobile World Congress.

We were fortunate enough to be offered an exclusive preview of the flagship handset at HTC headquarters in Slough ahead of the MWC launch, and this meant we could get our hands on a prototype device and take a look to see if the hype surrounding it was  justified.

Key Features

• 1.5GHz quad-core processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 8 MP camera with ImageSense
• Beats Audio Technology
• Wireless HDMI
• 32GB of internal storage
• 25GB of free cloud storage via Dropbox
• 4.7-inch SuperLCD 720p HD touchscreen
• 1080p and 720p video recording
• Fill Wi-Fi and DLNA connectivity
• Wireless HDMI (via HTC Medialink HD)
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor

Initial impressions of the One X are definitely positive, and its glossy white plastic shell and slight curvature in the chassis offer a gentle evolution on the well known HTC unibody design. The 4.7-inch 720p display has excellent clarity and brightness and features curved edges slightly reminiscent of Nokia’s recent Lumia 800.

Extended use of the handset led to us being even more impressed with the screen and overall design than after our initial hands-on. The phone is stunning in the hand and the display is perfect in virtually all situations.

Aside from the aforementioned quad-core CPU, the handset contains 1GB of RAM with 32GB of onboard storage. Although there is no SD card slot for memory expansion, the One X does come with 25GB of free cloud storage from Dropbox, so space is not an issue here.

The operating system of choice is Android Ice Cream Sandwich and the ever intuitive HTC Sense has undergone an overhaul in order to maximise the capabilities of the Android platform. All the usual Google and HTC software is preloaded but thanks to the quad-core CPU, menu scrolling and handset navigation is an effortless, lag-free experience.

The One X really is lightning fast in everyday use. Despite attempts to slow down the processor through heavy multitasking, the device remained consistently responsive throughout.

Video recording is equally impressive on the handset and one very exciting innovation is the ability to shoot an image whilst recording HD video footage thanks to the on screen dual-capture buttons which sit directly next to each other within the camera app. It’s even possible to capture a frame from the footage whilst watching it back, so if you missed your ideal shot when filming you can go back and grab it later on.

The camera really is a highlight of the handset, with both still image capture and video recording being of the very best quality.

Beats Audio technology has been rolled out across all audio outputs on the HTC One X, which means that the sound enhancement technology can be engaged whether listening to music or even when watching movies or Youtube videos.

Connectivity is another strong point, particularly when looking at wireless options. Of course, the standard Wi-FI and Bluetooth 3.0 are present but also available are NFC3, DLNA and wireless HDMI which, when twinned the HTC Wireless HDMI Unit, means pushing your multimedia content to TV is just a three finger swipe away.

Our time with the HTC One X was extremely limited, but we came away feeling suitably impressed with the device and particularly excited by the capabilities of the on board camera. We will, of course, reserve final judgement until we can get hold of a final production model, following which you can expect a full in depth review.

After more time with the One X we were still totally convinced with its flagship device credentials. Aside from some minor gripes such as limited battery life and the not-quite seamless integration of ICS and HTC Sense, we can honestly say that the One X is undoubtedly one of the most impressive handsets currently available.

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DataWind, the manufacturers of world’s cheapest Android based tablets – the UbiSlate and the globally popular Aakash, has announced a range of accessories for the tablets. Apart from this the company Datawind has kept the prices of these accessories on the lower side as well.

The company has announced a wide range of accessories that include screen protectors, dust covers, silicon covers, Neoprene pouches and sleeves starting at just Rs 45 going up to Rs 195 for soft Neoprene covers.

Along with that there’s also a hard case for the UbiSlate that includes a mini keyboard as well which can be connected to the device via USB cable and is available for Rs 550 only. Along with cases and soft pouches that protect the device, the company has also announced a range of optional accessories that will definitely help users to maximize usability of the tablets.

These include car charger that is available for Rs 295 and along with that a very unique external antenna for the device that can be used to improve the signal reception of the device if required, and is available for Rs 350.

For greater battery backup time, DataWind is also offering few battery extenders out of which there is a solar powered one for environment lovers that charge the battery using solar energy.

It is priced at Rs 550. Also there is a battery extender that can help users double up the battery life of the device with the additional power that this external battery pack offers for an additional Rs 795.

For entertainment lovers, DataWind has tied up with Seagate to offer their WiFi enabled Go Flex satellite portable 500 GB HDD (hard disk drive) for a subsidised price of Rs 10,000 whereas its available in the retail market for Rs 12,000. With the HDD, users can get additional 500 GB of storage plus the satellite is WiFi enabled and thus allows users to access content firm the drive without the need or use of wires.

Although many accessories have been announced, at present DataWind is offering only the car charger and the portable case with keypad to the buyers but more accessories form the announced list will be made available soon to the users. These accessories can be purchased from the online store of DataWind only.

Samsung has formally announced the new quad-core Exynos family processor that will be used in its next Galaxy S III smartphone. Based on the ARM Cortex A9 architecture, Samsung has manufactured the quad-core Exynos processor using 32nm silicon fabrication process. Samsung is now ready to compete with Nvidia Tegra 3 mobile processor.

The next Galaxy smartphone will come with the new quad-core Exynos 4 Quad mobile processor clocked at 1.4 GHz clockspeed. Samsung claims that the new Exynos 4 Quad (quad-core) family processor enables twice the processor power at 20 per cent lower power consumption compared to the Exynos 4 Dual (Dual-core).

The new Galaxy S III smartphone will come with 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quad processor coupled with the quad-core Mali-400MP graphics chip. That means the smartphone or tablets will have twice the computing and graphics muscle than the previous generation Exynos processors based models. As of now the model number of this new quad-core mobile processor has not confirmed.

It would be interesting to see whether the Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich can unleash the true potential of the hardware.

Interesting part is that the recent AnTuTu Android Benchmark list mentioned Samsung Galaxy S III running dual-core 1.4 GHz Exynos 4212 mobile processor. Most likely this may be one of the prototype units Samsung must have worked on.

With the next Galaxy S III featuring quad-core Exynos 4 Quad chip, we can expect the next generation Galaxy tablets to feature the same processor. Most likely the Galaxy Note 10.1 which has been delayed might be launched with this new Exynos 4 Quad processor.

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• Mobile
  

  Chaze Mobile ropes in Sunny Leone as brand ambassador

We’re already well into 2012, so it’s about time we had a new rumour concerning the mythical Facebook Phone, a device which has apparently been ‘in development’ for some time judging by the numerous leaks over the last year.

This time it’s DigiTimes who’re talking about the device, and they say HTC is hard at work on a ‘customised smartphone’ that’s being developed with the help of Facebook. The phone will probably use a heavily altered version of Android, and contain all the major Facebook services and features.

Back in November last year, talk of a project known as Buffy leaked out, which tied HTC with a Facebook phone then too. So is this further proof that such a project exists and is being actively worked on? AllThingsD, who broke the Buffy story, certainly thinks so, and calls it Facebook’s ‘most serious effort to extend its desktop platform on mobile devices.’

Aside from the knowledge that the project is being worked on, there’s little to get excited about just yet, as we’ve no information on the hardware or software, and there’s little chance it’ll go on sale before the very end of 2012.

While such as device is important to Facebook, it’s also important for HTC, as the manufacturer has been struggling to find favour in the Android community recently, especially as Google has repeatedly chosen Samsung to produce its flagship Nexus phones. Making the official Facebook phone will see the company get plenty of attention, and should the software be as radical as we hope, could claw back some of that hardcore Android fan credibility it has lost.

Facebook is also expected to complete its IPO during May or June this year.

Micromax Funbook tablet

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